Voice of the Musical

25. 9.23 I’m so very excited to bring you an interview with one of the most hard-working and successful writers around. Composer/lyricist for If/Then, High Fidelity, Bring it On, Almost Famous and of course the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal, Tom was in London for rehearsals for the UK premiere of NtN, and generously gave me some time to chat (from my holiday cottage in France). The interview is preceded by Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary, letting us know their Desert Island Musicals. What will they pick…!

4.8.23 In this episode I talk to the very talented and long-established writing partners Jake Brunger and Pippa Clearer about their work, which includes The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, and The Great British Bake Off Musical, which made a smash in the West End earlier this year.

We talk about community, critics, and the importance of thinking space. Preceded by a new segment where leading writers talk about what would go into their Musical Theatre Room 101…

https://www.jakebrunger.co.uk/jake-and-pippa

https://bakeoffthemusical.com

Something a little different for this episode – a roving report on day two of BEAM 2023, the industry showcase featuring extracts from a host of new musicals. This year BEAM took place at the Oxford Playhouse, and I spoke to a number of participants, organisers and presenters about their experience.

Some of the audio is sometimes affected by wind noise, as it was a beautifully sunny day and I wanted to capture interviews outside on the pavement. A rookie error, but I hope you can still make out the content clearly.

The BEAM interviews are preceded by Darren Clark, who talks to us about his desert island musical.

19.5.22

Here’s an interview with the fantastic Darren Clark, who at the time of writing is about to open The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Southwark Playhouse.

We talk about education in Music Theatre, finding your community, and the importance of establishing a brand. We also discuss Darren’s fabulous initiative for new music theatre writing, New Musicals UK. Links below. Musical examples from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Wicker Husband, and Turing.

http://www.darrenclarkmusic.co.uk

https://www.newukmusicals.co.uk

https://www.bookmusicandlyrics.com

5.4.20

Hey there – here’s an interview with the wonderful Nathan Tysen, one half of Tysen and Miller, and lyricist of Tuck Everlasting, The Burnt Part Boys and Amélie. Music played on this episode includes tracks from the original recordings of Amélie and Fugitive Songs, and Lady of the Sea from Nigel Richards’s album A Shining Truth.

Miller & Tysen website

Lovewell Institute

Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Program at NYU

A chat in the time of coronavirus with one of the most knowledgeable and erudite voices in British musical theatre, Jeremy Sams. A director, translator, composer, lyricist, librettist and playwright, Jeremy has worked throughout the entire landscape of straight theatre, musicals and opera. He’s also a dear friend and mentor, and I’m thrilled to be able to share this special conversation with you.

Hi there!

A “new” interview, recorded in February 2013 (!), lost and recently rediscovered, with the lovely and supremely talented Jeff Blumenkrantz. If you don’t know the wonderful Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast, seek it out immediately. It was great to come back to this interview and remind myself of Jeff’s grace and wisdom. Please leave a like and even a review on iTunes, and let me know your thoughts.

Links:

jeffblumenkrantz.com

@blumietunes

newmusicaltheatre.com

contemporarymusicaltheatre.com

www.bmi.com/theatre_workshop

http://www.bookmusicandlyrics.com

Voice of the Musical returns after a long delay!

It returns however, with a lovely interview with the honey-voiced Scott Frankel, who with his writing partner Michael Korie has been responsible for some of the most rich and sophisticated Broadway scores of recent times. I met Scott on the eve of the European première of Grey Gardens, which runs until February 6th 2016 at Southwark Playhouse. Scott talks about his musical upbringing, his inspirations, and writing twelve-tone music for Pierre Boulez aged seven.

I want to thank Scott for giving his time to talk to me – about from being hugely talented, he is eloquent and passionate on the subject of music and musical theatre, and I hope you manage to catch Grey Gardens before it goes – nearly sold out already. Happy 2016 to all our listeners – I wish you a wonderful and productive year.

Born in 1928, Charles Strouse composed some of the classic musicals of 60’s and 70’s, Bye Bye Birdie, Applause and of course, Annie, which at the time of writing is previewing in a James Lapine revival at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. He is also the author of several film scores, including Bonnie and Clyde, and many works for the concert hall.

Charles was generous enough to give me an interview in January 2012, and talks with enormous warmth about his amazing experiences, of studying with Aaron Copland and Nadia Boulanger, working with Dick van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Sammy Davis Jnr. and Lauren Bacall, and of the elusive and mystical process of the creative artist. I’m so happy to present this podcast to you – I know you’ll be enlightened and moved by spending some time with this Broadway legend.

Home

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer. I can’t tell you how excited I am to present this episode to you. I spoke to Adam Guettel while he was in London performing an evening of his songs, with Musical Director Kimberly Grigsby (Spring Awakening, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark). It’s fair to say that Adam is musical theatre royalty, being the grandson of Richard Rodgers, perhaps the greatest composer of musicals. Stephen Sondheim has been a friend and mentor since Adam’s childhood.

Despite the weight of this considerable legacy, Adam emerged in 1996 with Floyd Collins, a musical with book and direction by Tina Landau, and with one of the most brilliant and original scores of the decade. He has since written a song cycle, Saturn Returns, later retitled Myths and Hymns, and most recently The Light in the Piazza, which bagged a slew of Tonys in 2005.

Given the above, it’s also extraordinary that he’s one of the loveliest people you could meet. I hope you enjoy.

ps – I’d love to know what you think about this and other podcasts in the series. Please leave a comment – it would be great to hear from you!

Tim