BROADWAY NATION

My guest today is Jesse Green who, in addition to being the Chief Theatre Critic for the New York Times, is the author of the most acclaimed and talked about theater book in recent memory – SHY: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers. This is the first of two episodes in which Jesse Green shares with us the story of how Mary Rodgers selected him to tell her remarkable, sometime harrowing...

This is the second half of my conversation with author Elysa Gardner whose new book is titled:  Magic To Do — Pippin’s Fantastic, Fraught, Journey To Broadway And Beyond. On our previous episode Elysa shared the story of how PIPPIN’s composer & lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, first began work on the show when he was a student at Carnegie Tech (soon to be Carnegie Mellon) University, where an early and...

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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...

Here is the link to join the Backstage Pass Club and support Broadway Nation: https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.com/new_landing This is a special holiday reprise 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 just outside of Sea...

This week’s special ENCORE Episode is in celebration of Noel Coward’s birthday! Noel Coward was born just outside of London on December 16, 1899, and in fact he was named him Noel because his birth came so close to Christmas! For some reason, ever since I was very young, this lower middle-class, midwestern American gay boy from Cincinnati, Ohio has had a strong affinity for everything Noel Coward...

My guest this week is author Laura Frankos whose delightful and entertaining new novel is titled Broadway Revival — What If Gershwin Had Lived? Although this is the first work of fiction that I have featured on this podcast, as you will hear, Broadway Revival is filled with fascinating and meticulously researched Broadway history. One of the greatest joys of this book is that it provides all of us...

This is the second half of my conversation with my dear friend and frequent co-host, Albert Evans, in which we explore the differences between stage and film musicals. If you missed part one you may want to catch up before listening to this one. Of course, we don’t really hate any movie musicals, and as you heard on the previous episode and will continue to hear on this one, we actually love quite...

This episode is in response to a question I get quite often from listeners: Is Broadway Nation ever going to focus on movie musicals? Well, today is the day! Of course, I don’t really hate any movie musicals. And I love quite a few of them. In fact, it was largely old movie musicals from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s that I watched on TV when I was a kid back in the 60s and 70s that made be fall in love...

My guest this week on Broadway Nation podcast is Paul Salsini, author of the memoir, Sondheim & Me.  Many listeners will know Paul as the founder and original editor of the much beloved magazine, The Sondheim Review, the first only quarterly magazine ever devoted to a living musical theater composer. Paul launched the magazine in 1994 and over the following ten years Paul exchanged notes, letters,...

 New episode out now! My guests this week are JULIE BOARDMAN & DIANE NICOLETTI — the founders and driving forces behind the Museum Of Broadway! In this episode Julie and Diane share with us the story of how this first ever Broadway museum has come to be. They profile the team extraordinary talents they put together to create it, and most importantly they give us the inside scoop on what to expect...

This is the second half of my conversation with Adam Abraham, author of the engaging new book Attack Of The Monster Musical – A Cultural History Of Little Shop Of Horrors. If you missed the previous episode you may want to catch up with that one before listening to this one. Last week Adam shared the unlikely behind-the-scenes story of the making of Rodger Corman’s original low budget horror film...

This special Halloween edition of Broadway Nation! This is the first part of my conversation with Adam Abraham, author of Attack of the Monster Musical – A Cultural History of Little Shop Of Horrors.  In this terrific new book Adam relates the unlikely story of how Roger Corman’s schlocky, low budget, 1960’s monster movie was transformed 20 years later into a smash hit, long-running, Off-Broadway...

My guest this week is Ted Chapin who’s captivating 2003 book Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical “Follies,” has recently been reissued in a revised and updated edition.  As you may know, this book is based on Ted’s first-hand experience as the production assistant on the original Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, & James Goldman landmark musical Follies. Of cou...

My guest today is Peter Filichia who is the author of the new book that he calls The Book of Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, and Disagreements. As a prolific theater journalist and critic Peter has written for Playbill, Theatermania, Broadway Select, Encore, and if you are in my age range you may even remember a magazine namedTheater Week! You can hear him every week on the Broadway Radio podc...

As you have probably heard, The Phantom Of The Opera – the longest running show in Broadway history –– recently announced that it will close this coming February, just over 35 years after it first opened on Broadway. This New York production of Phantom has been seen by nearly 20 million people and has grossed $1.3 billion dollars. Globally the show has been seen by 145 million people in 42 countri...

This special Encore episode of Broadway Nation celebrates the birthdays this week of two of Broadways greatest composers -- George Gershwin & Vincent Youmans. Both were born 124 years ago in 1898 and they came into the world just one day apart – Gershwin on September 26, and Youmans on September 27. And even though they were both born in NYC, they came from different worlds.  Gershwin’s parents we...

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My guest on this episode is Tony Award winning lighting designer Ken Billington who created the lighting for an incredible 105 Broadway plays and musicals, including 21 productions that were directed by Harold Prince.  Ken’s career spans from his very first Broadway show in 1967 when he was the assistant to legendary lighting designer Tharon Musser, to his most recent Broadway show, the hit musica...

This episode is the second half of my conversation with Gary Flannery regarding the life and career of Broadway dancer, director, choreographer, writer and producer, George White.  Between 1919 and 1939 George White produced 19 Broadway shows including 13 editions of his own lavish and legendary revue – The George White Scandals. In part one Gary shared the story of George White’s unlikely rise fr...

This is the first part of my conversation with Gary Flannery who somehow, while pursuing his own spectacular career as dancer, also found time to become the leading expert on the tumultuous life and career of George White – the fabled Broadway producer, director, choreographer, writer, songwriter and dancer. White rose to fame in Vaudeville and as a featured performer in The Ziegfeld Follies and t...

Continuing our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of HAIRSPRAY – The Musical, my guest this week is the show’s original choreographer JERRY MITCHELL who shares with us a first-hand, behind-the-scenes look into the creation of that Tony Award winning musical -- especially in regard to the how the show’s unique staging, choreography, design, as well as many of its most memorable moments were first...

My guests on Broadway Nation today are the Tony Award winning songwriting team of Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman who join me to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Hairspray – The Musical. That’s right! It was 20 years ago, during the summer of 2002, that Hairspray first received its World Premiere in June at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre (where at that time I had the great pleasure and privilege of se...

This is the fourth and final section of my conversation with author Margaret Hall, about her recent biography of Paul Gemignani that is titled Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond. If you missed the previous episodes in this series, you may want to catch up on those before listening to this one. Paul Gemignani served as the Music Director for more than 40 Broadway musicals includi...

This is the third part of my conversation with author Margaret Hall, whose captivating new book is titled Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond. If you missed the first two parts you may want to catch up on those episodes before listening to this one. As the title suggests Margaret’s book is a biography of Paul Gemignani who served as the Music Director for more than 40 Broadway mu...