BROADWAY NATION

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...

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...