BROADWAY NATION

This is special Encore edition of Broadway Nation! Today, February 10, 2022, marks the official opening night of the much delayed, much anticipated, much talked about big new Broadway revival of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman & Sutton Foster. And, just two days ago Steven Spielberg’s movie remake of West Side Story received seven Academy Award nominations, including “Best P...

This is the third and final part of my recent conversation with Kevin Winkler, author of the fascinating new book: “Everything Is Choreography” – The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune.  If you missed parts one and two, you may want to go back and listen to those before starting on this one. As we ended the last episode, Tommy Tune had just received two 1990 Tony Awards for his direction and choreograp...

This is the second part of my conversation with Kevin Winkler, author of the fascinating new book: Everything Is Choreography – The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune.  If you missed part one, you may want to go back and listen to that before embarking on this one. Today Kevin relates the saga of the all of the incredible behind-the-scenes drama that transpired during the rehearsals and out of town try...

This episode is made possible in part by the generous support of Broadway Nation “Backstage Pass Club” Producer Level Members: Steven & Paula Reynolds.  Today my guest is Kevin Winkler, author of the new book: Everything Is Choreography – The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune.  Kevin’s much acclaimed and award winning first book, Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical, was released in 2...

This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of Robert Braun who is a "Producer Level Member" of our Broadway Nation “Backstage Pass Club”. Information on how you can become a member of The Backstage Pass Club can be found here: https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.com. What you are about to hear is the second half of my recent conversation with Dominick McHugh author of:...

This week my guest is author Dominick McHugh, author of the recent book, The Big Parade – Meredith Wilson’s Musicals From The Music Man To 1491.  Dominick is Professor of Musicology at the University of Sheffield in the UK. His previous books include Loverly, The Life And times of My Fair Lady, Adapting The Wizard Of Oz – Musical Versions From Baum To MGM And Beyond, and he has also served as edit...

This is the second of two special holiday bonus episodes of Broadway Nation. Just like the first, this is an audio version of a Broadway Nation Live! performance that was given in December of 2019 at the Vashon Center For The Performing Arts on Vashon Island, WA. If you prefer to watch a video of this performance you can stream it on their website at: vashoncenterforthearts.org In Part One we look...

This is a special holiday encore of one of Broadway Nation's most popular episodes:. It's an audio version of a Broadway Nation Live! performance that was presented in December of 2019 at the Vashon Center For The Performing Arts on Vashon Island in Washington State. Several previous episodes of Broadway Nation have explored the crucial role that the Jewish-Russian immigrant songwriter, Irving Ber...

This episode is made possible in part by the generous support of Broadway Nation "Backstage Pass Club" Producer Level Member, Tracy Wellans.  For information on how to join the "Backstage Pass Club" please go the show notes for this episode at www.broadway-nation.com In this episode I continue my Centennial celebration of the groundbreaking musical Shuffle Along! with the second half of my convers...

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Shuffle Along!, the groundbreaking musical that kicked off an entire decade of vibrant black musical theatre on Broadway which included more than a dozen shows that were created by black songwriters, black bookwriters, black producers, black directors and choreographers -- and these shows brought hundreds of black actors, singers, dancers, and musicians to...

This week’s episode is a little different.  I recorded this just five days after it was announced that Stephen Sondheim had died and as it happened my friend, colleague and frequent co-host and contributor to Broadway Nation, Albert Evans, was spending the Thanksgiving weekend with me, and so we were together when this news began to break and during the incredible reaction and response this loss o...

This is the second part of my recent conversation with Irene Sankoff & David Hein -- the dynamic writing team and married couple that created the international smash hit musical Come From Away. Five productions of Come From Away have recently reopened around the world: Broadway, Toronto, London, Sydney and on tour across America. A new Dutch production has just opened, as well, and a live filmed v...

My guests today are Irene Sankoff & David Hein – the dynamic writing team and married couple that created the giant international smash hit musical Come From Away. Five productions of Come From Away have recently reopened around the world: Broadway, Toronto, London, Sydney and on tour across America. A live filmed version of the show is also streaming on Apple TV+. Irene and David won the 2019 Oli...

This episode continues my conversation with author Stacy Wolf about her most recent book: Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure And Promise of Musical Theater Across America , where she relates her cross-country journey from Maine to California during which she visited grade schools, middle schools, high schools, summer camps, festivals, and community theater in cities and towns, large and very small, and...

I recently had the pleasure of to chatting with author Stacy Wolf about her most recent book entitled, Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure And Promise of Musical Theater Across America. Stacy is a Professor of Theater at Princeton University and the Director of their Program in Music Theater. She is also a leading scholar of musical theater, and her other acclaimed books include Changed for Good: A Femi...

My guest today is theatrical animal trainer Bill Berloni. Beginning with the original production of ANNIE in 1977, Bill has provided and trained animals of all species and sizes for 27 Broadway musicals and plays, as well as for countless Off-Broadway shows, National Tours, regional theaters, movies, television shows, commercials and the NYC Ballet – and he found almost all of those animal actors...

This is the final part of my conversation with Broadway actor, singer, dancer, director and choreographer Lee Roy Reams, at least for now. I am sure I will have Lee Roy back for another discussion in the not so distant future. There is no end to the amazing insights and classic show-biz stories that he has locked in his memories. If you missed the first two parts you may want to listen to those ep...

This is the second part of my conversation with Broadway actor, singer, dancer, director and choreographer Lee Roy Reams whose nine Broadway musicals span from Sweet Charity in 1966 to The Producers in 1996, and as you will hear – he is still going strong! If you missed Part 1 you may want to listen to that episode first. We left off there with Lee Roy leaving his job as a dancer on the Carol Burn...

I recently had the delightful opportunity to chat with beloved Broadway actor, singer, dancer, director and choreographer Lee Roy Reams whose nine Broadway musicals span from Sweet Charity in 1966 to The Producers in 1996, and he is still going strong having recently celebrated his 79th birthday with performances at 54 Below and The York Theatre Company! Our conversation ranges from his childhood...

During an incredible Broadway career that stretched from 1953 to 1998, composer Cy Coleman created the music for 12 Broadway musicals. Unlike most Broadway composers, however, he was never part of an ongoing songwriting team but instead worked with seven very talented but very different collaborators. My guest today is one of those esteemed lyricists -- David Zippel who partnered with Cy Coleman o...

This week I continue my conversation with author Cassen Gaines whose fascinating new book Footnotes: The Black Artists Who Rewrote the Rules of the Great White Way tells the story of how in 1921 four talented and determined young black vaudevillians -- Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles -- against incredible odds, teamed up to produce a runaway Broadway hit that ushered in...

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Shuffle Along! The groundbreaking musical that kicked off a decade of vibrant black musical theatre on Broadway which included more than a dozen shows created by black songwriters, black bookwriters, black producers, black directors and choreographers -- and these shows brought hundreds of black actors, singers, dancers, and musicians to Broadway. This land...

Author Rick Pender takes us inside the creation of The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia.  Rick Pender is a longtime member and former chair of the American Theater Critics Association. He first began reviewing theater in 1985 for a public radio station he managed at Northern Kentucky University. He later became the theater critic for CityBeat – Cincinnati’s alternative weekly newspaper -- and eventua...

Why are the great Musicals so unforgettable? Why do musicals have so much power and impact? How is it that they are able to live in our hearts and memories for a lifetime? Musicals are experiences that get embedded in our psyche. We remember them forever -- vividly and in often in great and specific detail. And they get embedded in our emotional and physical memory as well. Our bodies and nervous...

Over the past two episode we’ve explored the principal themes that underly the greatest number of Broadway Musicals. Two weeks ago we looked at “Transgressive Women”, last week it was “Equity, Justice and Inclusion”, and today we explore “Community”.  The Musical theater is a very effective form for dramatizing entire communities of people – and often the community itself becomes a major character...