BROADWAY NATION

This is the second part of my recent conversation with author Margaret Hall, the remarkable young theater historian whose new book is titled Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond. If you missed part one, you may want to catch up on that episode before listening to this one. Margaret spent much of the pandemic interviewing Paul Gemignani who is without a doubt one of the most signif...

My guest this week is Margaret Hall, a remarkable young theater historian who is the author of the celebrated new book Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond. As you will hear, Margaret spent much of the pandemic interviewing Paul Gemignani who is without a doubt one of the most significant, and at the same time most under-appreciated, figures in the history of modern musical. Since...

The 1920's brought the second great era of musicals that were written by, staged by, and starring Black theater artists to Broadway. In this episode I profile these brilliant creators and stars including Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle, Flournoy Miller & Aurbry Lyles, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and their musicals -- "Shuffle Along", "Runnin' Wild", "Blackbirds of 1929", "Hot Chocolates" and more. It al...

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This is a special holiday rerelease of the very first episode of Broadway Nation. In this episode David Armstrong and Albert Evans begin to tell the remarkable story of how Immigrants, Jews, Queers, and African-Americans invented America's signature art form -- the Broadway Musical. This includes a special emphasis on George M. Cohan, the grandson of Irish immigrants who to a great extent invented...

This week’s episode is a little different because it’s two podcasts in one! It’s a collab between David Armstrong’s Broadway Nation and Dirty Moderate With Adam Epstein.   My podcast is all about the history of the Broadway Musical, and Adam’s is all about current American politics – today we combine forces to discuss the many connections and intersections between the Broadway Musical and American...

My guests are the mother/daughter team of Sammi Cannold & Dori Berinstein, who are the co-directors and co-producers of the new documentary The Show Must Go On -- a film that I found to be both fascinating and very moving. Sammi Cannold is a theater director whose recent projects include Evita at New York City Center, Endings at NY Theater Workshop, Ragtime on Ellis Island and Violet on a bus at A...

2022 marks the 5Oth Anniversary of one of the most popular musicals in the history of Broadway – GREASE.  My guests on this episode are two of the many stars that emerged from the original Broadway and touring productions of that long running, record breaking show – Barry Bostwick & Marilu Henner. Marilu Henner’s association with Grease goes back to the very beginning when as a teenager she create...

My guests on this episode are the original producer and director of the Broadway musical GREASE -- Ken Waissman and Tom Moore. This is the second half of our recent conversation. If you missed part one you may want to catch up on that first before listening to this one. This week marks the 50th Anniversary of Grease’s move from the Eden Theater on the Lower East Side to The Broadhurst -- the first...

It may be hard for some of us to believe, but this past Valentine’s Day – Feb 14, 2022 – marked the 50th Anniversary of the New York opening of the musical GREASE, at the Eden Theater on 2nd Avenue. And next week, June 7, will mark the 50th Anniversary of its official move to Broadway.  My guests this week are that Grease's original producer, Ken Waissman, and original director, Tom Moore, who alo...

My guests today are writers Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin. Bob Martin is perhaps best known as the co-creator and original star (The Man In The Chair) of the hit Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone. He also co-created what I think is one of the greatest and most hilarious TV series of all time, Slings & Arrows. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend that you find it and stream it immediately!...

My guest on this episode is Mark Eden Horowitz who joins me to talk about his fascinating new book, The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein II. Mark is Senior Music Specialist in the music division of the Library of Congress where he has been an archivist or co-archivist for the papers of Jerome Kern, Vernon Duke, Cole Porter, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers and Oscar...

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This is the first episode of a new Broadway Nation mini-series that explores what I am calling, “The Other Broadway”.  Today when we see or hear the word “Broadway”, we most likely think of New York’s Theater District and it’s 41 active theaters nestled in and around Times Square (where today 36 plays and musicals have thankfully returned to the stage!)  Or that word evokes the legendary cannon of...

Although nobody knew it at the time, in April of 1968 “The Golden Age of Broadway” came to an abrupt end on the opening night of the “tribal rock musical” HAIR, which took America by storm and created a shocking jump cut into what I call “The Modern Era" of the Broadway Musical. In this episode I share the story of the emergence and rise of the so called “Rock Musical”. To many HAIR, and the "Rock...

“The story of Jazz Dance is the story of America.” My guests today are the creators of the acclaimed new film documentary: Uprooted – The Journey of Jazz Dance, which has been winning awards at film festivals around the world, and in the US can currently be seen on HBO Max.   All three of the film's creators are from the UK, they all have extensive training and backgrounds in dance, and with this...

This is a special Encore episode of Broadway Nation. I am reprising it not only because I think this is one the best episodes ever of this podcast, but also because it could not be more timely since it relates to a number of things happening on Broadway and in the world this week. First and foremost, April 14th, the day this episode is being released marks the 62nd Anniversary of the Broadway open...

This is the second half of my recent conversation with author Liza Gennaro, whose fascinating new book is titled: Making Broadway Dance.  If you missed part one you may want to catch up on that episode before listening to this one. Liza is currently the Dean of Musical Theater at the Manhattan School of Music and she also has had a very active and successful career as a dancer and choreographer. I...

This is the first half of my recent conversation with author Liza Gennaro, whose fascinating new book is titled: Making Broadway Dance. Liza is currently the Dean of Musical Theater at the Manhattan School of Music and prior to that she had a very active and successful career as a dancer and choreographer on Broadway and with prominent theater companies across the country. Most notably she choreog...

When I realized that this week’s episode of Broadway Nation would come out just two days after what would have been Stephen Sondheim’s 92nd birthday, and only three days prior to the Oscars telecast where the new Stephen Spielberg remake of West Side Story will be in contention for seven Academy Awards including “Best Picture” – this seemed like the perfect time to devote an episode to comparing a...

This is a special live and in person episode of Broadway Nation! It was recorded on March 6, 2022 live at the Vashon Center for The Arts where I was joined onstage by a terrific group of singers, and special guest Albert Evans, to pay tribute to the late, great Stephen Sondheim.  As you will hear, in these live events there is a little less talking and lot more music than in a regular episode, but...

This is a special encore episode of Broadway Nation. March is “Women’s History Month”, so this seemed like the perfect time to revisit one my earliest episodes. Creative and talented women have played vital and important roles in the Broadway musical from the very beginning, but their contributions are often overlooked or undervalued. My students in the Broadway musical history course that I teach...

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On this episode my guest is acclaimed actor, singer, writer, producer and director Avi Hoffman who specializes in Jewish culture and Yiddish theater. His long running off-Broadway “Too Jewish” trilogy has been seen by millions on PBS and at theater venues around the world, and in 2016 he received rave reviews and a Drama Desk nomination for his performance as "Willy Loman" in the Yiddish language...

This week’s special Encore episode of Broadway Nation celebrates a unique "Broadwayversary": On February 18, 1903 – 119 years ago tomorrow – one of the very first Broadway musicals entirely written, staged, produced, and performed by black theater artists opened at the New York Theatre in the heart of Times Square. That musical was titled In Dahomey.  With music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse...