MusicalTalk - The UK's Independent Musical Theatre Podcast

The MusicalTalk Pick of the Fringe 2018:  MusicalTalk continues its odyssey into the best of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 2018 with this funny and playful interview with two of the stars of The House of Edgar, Eoin McAndrew and Sarah Dean.  In this bumper episode, you'll get insights into the craft of acting and how different roles demand different approaches, as well as hear songs from this...

In this week's episode - Nick shares his thoughts on Company now playing at the Gielgud Theatre and Michael Gordon Shapiro talks to Thomas F Arnold and Ben Philipp about their musical - The House Of Edgar - that was this year's Pick of the Fringe.  

Episode 588: A Gallant Life is a historically-inspired musical about the career of Muriel Thompson, a racecar champion from the early days of automobiles who went on to drive ambulances for the Allied forces in WW1. Deep in the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe, Mike Shapiro chats with show author/director Kate Stephenson and cast member Jessy Roberts.

Nick, Robert and Olaf sit down to re-visit The Rink and Little Shop of Horrors - two musicals that create a different area whilst written in the 1980s!   They then discuss The King and I, directorial choices all whilst relating it back to audience attitudes over the last 60 years.  

In this week's episode - Mike Shapiro (on his recent trip to the UK) joined Antonia to see Everybody's Talking About Jamie - playing at the Apollo Theatre in London).    

Is Hamilton the second-coming of musical theatre as so many people claim it to be or is it a bit flawed beneath the surface?  Whatever your views on the piece may be - it certainly has its positive but there may be some negatives there too.  Listen to find out... What do you think?  Let us know!   www.twitter.com/musicaltalk www.facebook.com/musicaltalk www.musicaltalk.co.uk  

To mark the launch of the amazing Quentin Dentin Show original cast album, Thos talks to the people behind the recording - writer, Henry Carpenter, and music producer, Paul Garred, one of the founding members of the Kooks, about "directing" a recording and making it a work of art in its own right. It's a fabulous in-depth conversation with two of the most exciting talents in current British musica...

Thos joins Luke Lane, the star of the brand new Quentin Dentin Show original cast album on making a musical theatre recording.  Learn how it differs from a stage show and is a production in its own right as well as the different approach an actor has to make when recording a show score without an audience present. A musical masterclass!

Cast albums are such a big part of most musical theatre fans' lives, so what better way to celebrate the launch of the Quentin Dentin Show original cast album than an in-depth look at how they come about.  In the first of a three episode series, we talk to star of the new album, Luke Lane, on his career and how he became the eponymous character in this most exciting of new British musicals in an h...

As avid fans of Little Shop of Horrors, it was a pleasure to be able to interview the three mysterious chorus girls (played beautifully by Reneé Lamb, Christina Modestou and Seyi Omooba) and hear their thoughts on playing the roles in this amazingly unique setting amongst the trees and plants of the open air theatre in Regent's Park! Nick then discusses the show with Andrew and it didn't disappoin...

David Herzog gives us the step-by-step and blow-by-blow account of bringing his new show, Chwedl – Fairytales from Wales, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in this fascinating collection of audio blogs that give you a sense of what goes into putting on a show.  With excerpts from the development process, and interviews with the people behind the show, it's a unusual insight into the creative proces...

Thos sits down with Rebecca Humphries to discuss her award winning five-star musical show, Prom Kween, "a riotous musical theatre piece" which is a coming of age story loosely based on real life events - and all set around an American High School. How could it ever not be a musical? Remember, jazz hands and sequins are sometimes just not optional!

As the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018 gets underway, MusicalTalk starts its traditional and extensive coverage of just some of the musicals you can see there. In this episode, Thos talks to Colm Molloy about World in Progress, David discusses Chwedl – Fairytales from Wales, and we welcome the return of The House of Edgar: three totally different but thoroughly engaging kinds of musical offering. W...

Tonia shares her thoughts on the Mamma Mia sequel with Nick. Visit our website at www.musicaltalk.co.uk Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/musicaltalk  

It's songs galore today as MusicalTalk looks at three very different shows in this bumper episode. Thos chats to the remarkably talented John Hinton about his barnstorming, showstopper of a musical, the Ensonglopedia of Science, and David speaks to Luke Montague about his sensitive new World War Two show, The Silence Between Us. And there's a chance to hear the latest instalment of David Herzog's...

Thos sits down with Leoe Mercer and Stephen Hyde, fresh from their success with the Marriage of Kim K, to talk about their latest work, Guy – A New Musical, currently on at the Menier Theatre's new studio space, the Bunker, and about to go on a tour of the Country.  Enjoy an honest and wide-ranging conversation about "keeping it real", poetry versus lyrics, live music or pre-recorded scores,...

Would you Adam and Eve it? Could it be possible for one of the greatest poems in the English Language, John Milton's Paradise Lost – the story of the Garden of Eden - to be converted in a new rock musical based on the template of a 1960s Elvis musical film?  You bet your blue suede shoes it could!  Join Thos as he sits down with Simon Indelicate and Francesca Brook to talk about their ne...

Join Nick and Dom for a whirlwind discussion involving lots of random shows and topics - including On The 20th Century, Girl Crazy, The Woman in White (and Black), Billy Elliot, I had a Ball, Annie, Annie 2, Two By Two and others - all whilst trying to link things back to fairgrounds and theme parks!

Is the ENO and the Coliseum being used to its full potential? Chess is currently playing at the ENO so Nick shares his thoughts on seeing the show for the first time with Robert and then he and Antonia talk about the state of the ENO and The London Coliseum when it comes to staging musicals, what works and what doesn't and what the problems may be.

Thos meets Jenny Eastop, the director of the first professional revival of Warner Brown and David Heneker's well received 1980 classic British musical, The Biograph Girl, exploring the history of silent films and the ever-present tussle between art and business.  With a multi-layered book and score, it's the sound of silents!   And there's a chance to hear episode two of David Herzog's Edinburgh F...

Nick chats to Robert about musicals we've never mentioned on MusicalTalk - Everybody's Talking about Jamie and The Girl from the North Country (as well as touching on other topics) and we then hear from Mike Shapiro about Love Never Dies - which he saw recently in California.

Dom treats you to this week's episode - as he talks to Alisdair Kitchen about this production of Sondhiem's Marry Me A Little (open at the Drayton Arms Theatre in South Kensington) - and then he and Tonia check out Strictly Ballroom - now playing at the Piccadilly Theatre.

As the Royal National Theatre announces that its star-studded and star-attracting production of Sondheim's Follies will be returning to London in 2019, Thos sits down with composer and Sondheim expert, Colm Molloy, to dissect and discuss the show.  Is it a concept musical?  Is it really a revue?  Does it even have a narrative? Is it all spectacle and no heart like the original Follies shows it lov...

In this bumper episode, Dom and Thos have a wide ranging conversation about Gilbert and Sullivan (with a dose of Offenbach thrown in) and find many conversational tributaries and diversions taking them all over the wide wide world of musical theatre and beyond - including the Ruddigore cartoon, Savoy spin offs, Fred Astaire, Allegro, Pacific Overtures, Three Men Naked from the Waist Down and Anima...

It's confession time as Thos chats to Harry Style and Arnoud Breitbart, the two people behind the fresh and impressive new British musical, Forgive Us, Oh Father!.  Hear about the creation of this impressive show and how various ideas permutated over time until it became a little slice of Heaven!  The main character, Stephen-Peter, an incredibly lazy priest, might end up in purgatory – but you cer...