The Unauthorized Critics Circle

The Unauthorized Critics Circle knows no bounds, as they valiantly open their first Symposium discussing Funny Girl in this first of a three part series.

Part 1 - The Movie, The Magic, The Legend

Streisand was descended from on high to prove to us mere mortals what we can only dream to achieve. Listen to us try to explain this most Holy of phenomena.

Tune in next week for Funny Girl Symposium: Part 2 - Critics LIVE! Funny Girl Broadway Revival 2022...What Will They Make Of Beanie?

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

Bon voyage! Dan and Joshua evade the ever-looming copyright threats by taking to sea with the publicly consumable pro-shot of the Barbican Centre's production of Anything Goes, recently broadcast to cinemas and through PBS' Great Performances series! The Broadway revival schleps its away across the Atlantic with a series of surprising last minute passengers. (Forget Billy Crocker, Sutton's on for Megan Mullaly? How zany!) With too many all-inclusive vodka stingers under their belts, our hosts address various elephants in various rooms, offer up some modern revisions (with dashes of Ivo), and remark upon Daniel’s affinity for seamen. 

Tune into next week's episode when we discuss the motion picture adaptation of Funny Girl!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

A musical that kicks off with a condemnation of the Disneyfication of New York... finally, a show for US! Strap on your stilettos and shimmy up your strap-ons, cuz we're hitting the pavement to partake in The Life! A star studded cast fronts this fascinating chapter of Cy Coleman's resume, and as our hosts wait to calculate the additions of their own life experiences they commiserate about the logistics of a Best Ensemble Tony award, casting the OBC of The Life into Follies, and... yeah. *That* Encores production.

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss Anything Goes; specifically, the London production's brand new pro-shot recording!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast 

Episode #66 then - a musical in its third decade. Some of you may recall the strange affair of The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway show in history... a mystery never fully explained. We're told that this is the very production that figured in the famous disaster (that, of course, being Cameron Mackintosh's stranglehold on American musical theatre). Rehearsals over the pandemic have restored it, so that we may get a hint of what it may have felt like when it was new. One may even feel the presence of the two co-hosts who bore witness to this very production, and hear the reverberations of their discussions pertaining to gift horses, the CATS movie, and whether or not the show with over 13,000 performances is a good musical. Perhaps we may frighten away the ghostly bitches of so many words ago with a little conversation. Gentlemen!

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss The Life; specifically, the Broadway production's performance from April 24th 1997!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

In the most chaotic episode in UCC history, Joshua and Dan head In My Life, and talk about a musical that defies description. Some flops are bad. Some are forgotten. Some are unfairly dismissed. Some are infamous. What can be said? Jonathan Groff was a dance captain. A... dance... captain. Listener! That is discussed. What else? The uncanny valley of vibrato (ominous). Touched By A Gangle. The rigors of internal logic and if it's really needed. This is a time, listener. Enjoy!

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss The Phantom Of The Opera on Broadway as part of our Critics LIVE! series.

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

Take off those commonfolk footwear and put on your dancing shoes - we're fulfilling our showbiz dreams with Crazy For You! Hop the train to the picturesque, lively, and completely barren Deadrock, Nevada in this jukebox musical where the Gershwins are on full display. As stockbrokers and cowboys showcase their musical comedy talents, our hosts give you the lowdown on the Great Performances catalogue, writing for adjectives, and how Gershwin music catches the heart.

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss In My Life; specifically, the Broadway production's performance from October 12th 2005!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast 

Hosts Joshua and Dan head into a whole new world as they cover their first Disney Broadway show. In typical UCC fashion, they found the one show Disney produced that has nothing to do with any of their movies - Aida! Lines are drawn, sides are taken, and our hosts find themselves in the crossroads of their elaborate lives as discussion rambles on. Topics include a thorough discussion of the state of Tim Rice and his sovereignty, the lack of social hipness in opera plots, and Queen Heather Headley.

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss Crazy For You; specifically, the Papermill Playhouse pro-shot from 1999!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

Is your lederhosen wrinkled or are you just happy to see us? This week, Dan and Joshua offer up a podcast about the legendary rock musical Spring Awakening, surely fulfilling what Frank Wedekind imagined of his legacy. The topics vary as aggressively as the population count of Melchior's friends, touching upon the advent of teenage fandom on Broadway, the smash-hit Ben Franklin in Paris, and whether we learned all the wrong lessons from Spring Awakening. Cast aside that spell of anemia and tune in!

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss Aida; specifically, the Broadway production's performance from March 29th 2000!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

Ah listeners, you know why we are here: we've too much time and quite the episode here. This week, our hosts discuss their experiences attending the 50th Anniversary Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar in a discussion that runs longer than the original concept album. With Superstar being one of Joshua's favourite musicals, Dan's typical amount of in-episode singing is given a run for its money - occasionally interrupted by actual conversation about British fop characters, Ted Neeley's crucifixion worries, and an impassioned dissertation about the recent London revival of Carousel.

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss Spring Awakening; specifically, the Broadway production's performance from November 29th 2006!

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast

Write a check and finance the garment district with Joshua and Dan as we give a full appraisal on I Can Get It For You Wholesale. We hope you ate a little something, because this episode covers everything from Gemini all the way to Capricorn. Topics include the level of Jewishness in Musical Theatre, why people find Dan intimidating, and, of course, Barbra Streisand.

Tune in to next week's episode with the return of Critics LIVE! as we discuss the 50th Anniversary Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Contact us:

[email protected]

Twitter: @unccpodcast

Instagram: @unccpodcast