Scene to Song

From dancer to director, Michael Bennett reinvented what a Broadway musical could be. Shoshana talks with Natalie Guevara, creator of Mirror Man: A Portrait of Michael Bennett and unlike many of our guests, she is someone who didn't consider herself a theater person until Michael Bennett changed that. Natalie got interested because even though Bennett gave us A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, his name...

What do crossword puzzles have to do with "Send in the Clowns"? More than you'd think. This episode, Shoshana is joined by Barry Joseph, author of Matching Minds with Sondheim, to explore Stephen Sondheim's lifelong obsession with puzzles and games, and how that obsession quietly shaped everything from his lyrics to his show structures to his closest relationships. In the "Why Is This So Good?" se...

What’s your favorite musical that no one else has heard of? In this episode of Scene to Song, we talk all about those musicals. The Indie Musicals. The Cult Favorites. Composer and lyricist Will Larche talks about indie musicals and the release of his new album, Bumps in the Bathroom: and other lost shows, which preserves songs from obscure, cult-favorite indie musicals that premiered in the East...

Is Glinda’s side of Wicked memory-based? And why is she so darn optimistic? This episode, Shoshana is joined by actor and singer Jennafer Newberry, best known for serving as the Glinda standby in the Broadway production of Wicked after previously playing Glinda on the national tour. In addition to her performing career, Newberry is also a musical theatre faculty member at the New York Film Academy...

Shoshana is joined by writer and theater aficionado John Verderber, author of Harry Reams Goes to Hollywood and American Father, longtime Little Red Light Theater associate, and contributor to Time Out New York, New York Magazine, and Everything Sondheim. We deep dive into Christopher Guest's beloved mockumentary Waiting for Guffman and the musical within it Red, White, and Blaine. In honor of Cat...

"We watch a Holocaust play and we know that all of these people are gonna die. We watch an AIDS play and we know how badly it's gonna turn out." So what does it mean for a musical to be a period piece marked by tragedy? In this Season 9 premiere of Scene to Song, host Shoshana Greenberg sits down with dramaturg Deborah Blumenthal to explore how musicals like Rent and Falsettos have transformed fro...

Five of this season's guests--William Forrest  ( Episode 118: The Sherman Brothers' Movie Musicals for Disney ), Rick Rhobajt Widen ( Episode 121: Bible Musicals ), Tara Krieger ( Episode 123: Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus's Chess ), Nathan Platte ( Episode 126: Meet Me in St. Louis ), and BethAnn Cohen ( Parody in Musical Theater (Ep. 127) )--return to discuss topics from the seaso...

Did you know writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston wrote a musical? Now you do! Multidisciplinary Black feminist scholar-artist Jordan Ealey discusses Hurston’s 1944 musical Polk County and what this anthropological musical was like, as well as its past and future in the musical theater canon. We also discuss “Sweet Chitty Chatty” from Kirsten Childs’s 2000 musical The Bubbly Black Girl She...

How did William Finn and Jonathan Larson revolutionize musical theater in the 1980s and 90s? Assistant Professor of Music Alex Bádue joins host Shoshana Greenberg to explore the parallel journeys and creative intersections of these two groundbreaking composers. From their early work in the 80s to their hits Falsettos and Rent in the 1990s and more. We also talk about the song “Four Jews in a Room...

BethAnn Freed Cohen joins Scene to Song to discuss parody in musical theater. We discuss “what exactly is a parody?” and what it means in musicals. We dig into what elements make a good parody, using examples such as Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance and the episode “Original Cast Album: Co-op” from the show Documentary Now! As BethAnn notes, ” there are musicals that are funny but ar...

Associate Professor of Musicology Nathan Platte discusses the 1944 movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis and 1989 Broadway musical adaptation, looking at how songs are used and how the story and songs changed from author Sally Benson's treatment to the big screen and beyond. We also talk about the Sherman Brothers' song " Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag) " from the 1964 movie musical Mary Poppins. You...

In this episode, singer, actress, writer, lyricist, and voiceover artist Amanda Fischler discusses Greek mythology in musical theater from Hadestown to The Golden Apple and all the aspects that go into writing these stories. We also talk about the song " In My Own Little Corner " from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1957 TV musical Cinderella, specifically the 1997 TV version with Brand...

In this episode, dramaturg, director and producer Shaun Leisher discusses the Muppet movies as musical theater. We also talk about the song " Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You " from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's 1970 musical Company, specifically The Muppet Show version with Loretta Swit. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question about an episode or about m...

In this episode, attorney and writer Tara Krieger discusses Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus's 1986 musical Chess. We also talk about the song " This Is the Hour " from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's 1989 musical Miss Saigon. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest...

In this episode, writer and director Michael Boyd discusses Tom O'Horgan, Helen Miller, and Eve Merriam's 1971 musical Inner City, the story behind this short-lived musical, most likely the first Broadway musical with a score by two women, as well as a look some of the songs. We also talk about the song "Hushaby/My Mother Said" from Inner City. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comme...

In this episode, theater Reviewer, composer, lyricist and librettist Donald H. Sandborn III  discusses Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's 1973 musical A Little Night Music. We also talk about the song " Send in the Clowns " from A Little Night Music. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast gues...

In this episode, writer Rick Rhobajt Widen discusses bible musicals, running the gamut from Children of Eden, Two by Two, and Jesus Christ Superstar to religion-adjacent musicals like Saved and Leap of Faith . We also talk about the song " Writing a Gospel Play " from Michael R. Jackson's 2022 musical A Strange Loop. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question about an episo...

As I prepare to record more episodes, I am sharing a conversation I had with former podcast guest Spencer Robelen on his The Hitchcock Gays podcast about Hitchcock’s 1945 film Spellbound starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. I hope you enjoy getting to know Spencer’s podcast, and Scene to Song will be back in two weeks with a new episode. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment...

In this episode, composer, lyricist, music director, and educator Katya Stanislavskaya discusses representations of Russia/the USSR in musical theater from Fiddler on the Roof to Anastasia to off-Broadway's Iron Curtain and many in between. We also talk about the song " The Beauty Is " from Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas's 2005 musical The Light in the Piazza. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com...

In this episode, actress, Chair of Performing Arts at New York Film Academy, and original Wicked cast member Kristy Cates discusses Elphaba's journey in Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's 2003 musical Wicked. We also talk about the song " No One is Alone " from Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 1987 musical Into the Woods. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question ab...

In this episode, writer, dramaturg, and publishing professional William Forrest discusses the Sherman Brothers' Movie Musicals for Disney, tracing their trajectory from their early pop hits to the sophistication of of the book musical in such films as Mary Poppins (1964). We also talk about the song " Soon It's Gonna Rain " from Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's 1960 musical The Fantasticks. You can...

In this episode, five of this season's guests--Robert W. Schneider ( Episode 114: Queer Characters in Musical Theater ), Christopher Culp ( Episode 105: Class, Race, and Gender Anxiety in Little Shop of Horrors ), Andi Carter ( Episode 112: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Musical Cats Part 2 ), BethAnn Cohen ( Episode 108: The Bimbo or Ditz Character in Sondheim Musicals ), and Matt Koplik ( Episode 109: Je...

In this episode, composer, lyricist, and playwright Spencer Robelen discusses musical theater in the films of Alfred Hitchcock, from his early silent movies to Waltzes from Vienna to Stage Fright to The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). We also talk about the song " Miss Up-to-Date " from his 1929 film Blackmail. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question about an episode or a...

In this episode, theatre historian, author, and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper discusses women writers in musical theater as part of her new book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy That the History Books Left Out . We also talk about the song " Old Friend " from Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford's 1978 musical I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail...

In this episode, artistic director, producer, director, and podcast host Robert W. Schneider discusses queer characters in musical theater as part of his upcoming book. We also talk about the song " I Am What I Am " from Jerry Herman and a book by Harvey Fierstein's 1983 musical La Cage aux Folles. You can write to  scenetosong@gmail.com  with a comment or question about an episode or about musica...