Chasing Phantom

Send us Fan Mail Cool off with a breezy bit of bonus content from the Chasing Phantom live podcast event held in May of 2026. The absolute font of Broadway knowledge Phil Crosby and I continue our conversation about the musical "Mame," spurred on by questions from the lovely Richmond Triangle Players audience. Be sure and check out the Chasing Phantom website and come back in September f...

Send us Fan Mail The energy of a live show cannot be duplicated but listening to this episode is the next best thing to being in the room where the Chasing Phantom live event happened. Most Valuable Guest and dear friend of the program, Phil Crosby, brings his extensive knowledge of theater history to bear in this lively conversation about "Mame," a show that cemented the vision of a ric...

Send us Fan Mail My first guess for Neil Simon’s longest running show on Broadway would have been “The Odd Couple,” maybe followed by “Brighton Beach Memoirs” or “The Sunshine Boys.” But nope – the breezy romantic comedy “Barefoot in the Park” ran for nearly 4 full years. It was an auspicious production for many other reasons as well: it marked director Mike Nichols’ arrival on Broadway and Robert...

Send us Fan Mail As has been chronicled extensively on this podcast already, many older Broadway shows do NOT hold up very well over time. The ones that do - your "Guys and Dolls" or "Oklahomas" - still regularly get produced. But "Me and My Girl" is a bit of an anomaly. I personally think it totally holds up at least as well as many of the oft-produced Golden Age mus...

Send us Fan Mail You may think that a person in the midst of performing a role is too close to it to have insightful things to say about it. That's certainly not the case about Crystal Kellogg who at the time of this conversation was smack-dab in the middle of the national tour for "& Juliet," playing the catalyst to the musical's action, Anne Hathaway. She has many astute...

Send us Fan Mail Just a quick scheduling note to let listeners know that the episode I had suggested (threatened?) might come out today will not actually come out until NEXT week, on Tuesday rather than Wednesday.  In the meantime, be sure and get your tickets for the National Tour of " & Juliet " so you know exactly what we're talking about. And you can always go to ChasingPhan...

Send us Fan Mail He is famous for playing the Frankenstein monster and voicing the Grinch but people often forget that Boris Karloff also made a big impact on the stage starting with "Arsenic and Old Lace." Not only did he steal the show as the murderous Jonathan Brewster, he was also a major investor in the Broadway production, meaning he made money on the movie version even though he w...

Send us Fan Mail Don't cry for me, Chasing Phantom fans! I have brought back yet another one of your favorite guests, the diva-tastic Melissa Chase, host of the lifestyle television show, " Showcase ." We discuss the diva-centric "Evita," a show solidly in Ms. Chase's wheelhouse thanks to her love of all things Andrew Lloyd Webber. Don't expect a lot of dissectin...

Send us Fan Mail Happy April Fool's Day! Sure, " The Music Man " included some incredible songs, featured one of the most career-defining performances in Broadway history, and captured a unique clash of squeaky-clean Midwestern living with the machinations of a cynical con-man. But it also has what I would call the only April Fool's style prank at the core of its plot: Prof. Ho...

Send us Fan Mail Who could have known that this near-forgotten play from the 1940s would be so relevant in the 2020s? The title is from the Bible, a verse in the Song of Solomon that actually references a turtledove, not the shelled amphibian: "The time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." Playwright John Van Druten of "I Am A Camera" fame, tu...

Send us Fan Mail With this episode, we reach an important milestone in "Chasing Phantom" history: this 64th episode marks the moment we pass the halfway point on the way up the list toward "Phantom of the Opera," still the longest running show in Broadway history. In honor of that moment, the episode features one of my favorite shows, "The Sound of Music," and a conve...

Send us Fan Mail Think "Blazing Saddles" but on Broadway and with 1930s era sensibilities. That's what "Hellzapoppin'" was and, honestly, for the times it was pretty cutting-edge stuff. Weird running gags, satirical songs lampooning contemporary issues, risqué and ribald jokes, and even fourth-wall breaking hilarity. Sure, it was silly but it was smart silly, not stup...

Send us Fan Mail Valentine's Day is coming up, a time when the warmth of love takes our minds off the cold weather. So it's the perfect time for an episode about a show I love without reservation: "Dreamgirls." I'm not alone - critic Frank Rich called it "the most exciting staging of a Broadway musical in this decade." Others have labeled it "one of the most...

Send us Fan Mail It's weird how prescience can come from such unexpected places. When I recorded this episode about "Matilda the Musical" with the delightful Shannon Schilstra, I had no idea how relevant the show's themes about the bad behavior of bullies would be. It's a good thing that cloud wasn't hanging over our conversation, allowing Shannon and I to have a fun...

Send us Fan Mail For this first episode of 2026, I expose perhaps the most embarrassing gap in my theater knowledge. I often say I'm not as devoted a theater nerd as you might expect from someone who's written about theater for more than 25 years and has a theater history podcast but this episode is the proof.  I am ashamed to say I have never in my life seen what may be the ultimate Bro...

Send us Fan Mail In the midst of your "Merry, Merry Christmas," let me interest you in a little "Mary, Mary" Broadway! Don't feel bad if you've never heard of this play -- I certainly hadn't -- but like so many other shows I've covered, there are SO many crazy and interesting stories related to this surprising entry in the pantheon of long running production...

Send us Fan Mail Sure, you "Ain't Misbehavin'" at holiday time, but what about the rest of the year? For an expert on not misbehaving year-round, what person could I talk to that would be better than Desirée Roots ?  Roots has graced Virginia stages for decades and her exceptional voice has made her a consistent draw for cabarets, big band performances, and special appearances...

Send us Fan Mail If you look down the list of Pulitzer Prize-winning musicals, past more recent capital "I" important musicals like "Hamilton" and "A Strange Loop," you eventually get to "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Sure, it's a caustic take on corporate culture but prize-winning? That seems a stretch, even with the creative team...

Send us Fan Mail In approaching "Oh! Calcutta!" today, it's hard not to react with a "What! Really?!?" This is a show, that between the original production and its revival, had more than 7,200 performances on Broadway. Really? Full of nudity and bawdy - but also mostly bad - comedy, the popularity of this show is truly dumbfounding. And when dealing with something I have t...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Halloween! We have the perfect show to dig into for spooky season - mostly because it's downright scary how bad this musical is!  Frank Wildhorn's "Jekyll & Hyde" is a musical that, if there was a just theater god, would be forever relegated to the dustbin of Broadway history. There are many musicals I don't like but this is one I actively despis...

Send us Fan Mail It's one of the most famous and beloved titles in musical theater. Because of its iconic mismatched lovers storyline and nostalgia evocation of the 1950s, "Grease" has been performed in high schools, colleges and regional theaters across the country for decades. The movie version with Travolta and Newton-John was the highest grossing movie musical of all time when i...

Send us Fan Mail "School of Rock" opened on Broadway just a few years after "Billy Elliot" closed but, even though the shows have some surface-level similarities, it's hard to think of two more different stories. The earlier show was a rough-and-tumble look at a working class young boy's potential escape from his impoverished life; the latter was about adults who act...

Send us Fan Mail Fifteen years ago, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" was all the rage on Broadway. It was a show where hot button social issues -- from labor relations to social mobility to questions about gender expression -- mixed with a searing family drama, plus there was a LOT of really great dancing. Tack on a score co-composed by Elton John and there was little doubt this was going to...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to season 3 of "Chasing Phantom!" If this episode is any indication, it's going to be the best season yet.  At a time when debate about Billy Joel, his music and his legacy, has enjoyed a surge of attention thanks to the HBO documentary, " And So It Goes ," that debuted this past summer, I welcome Tony Award nominee and Astaire Award-winning dancer...

Send us Fan Mail Hey there, Phantom Chasers! I've been a lax podcaster during the languid summer months but I'm prepping some very cool, very fun episodes for September. In the meantime, this is a conversation with my friend Grace Todd, whose podcast " Didn't Read It " is a must-listen for those who love classic literature...and erudite, playful and thoughtful conversation...