So Much Stuff to Sing

1975. The Broadway musical is maturing and evolving, and while it's probing deeper than ever before, this new style of musical has yet to produce a record-breaking smash. Enter  A Chorus Line . The first show to set any number of performance records, A Chorus Line was an unlikely smash, seeing as it had no famous stars, was written by a group of relatively unknown theatrical creators, and was abou...

We enter the 1970s: the era of Sondheim and Prince, of a modern Broadway for modern audiences, and of something new and vital that comes to take the place of a Broadway musical formula that had ceased to please. Everything kicks off with Sondheim's 1970 masterpiece Company : directed by Prince, with a book by George Furth and choreogeraphy by Michael Bennet, the show would usher in a new type of B...

The 60s roll on, and we come to the show that, more than any other, defines the 1960s musical:  Hair . The ultimate hippie musical that broke barriers and box office records, Hair has become synonymous with the late 60s counterculture, even though its creators weren't truly a part of it. Still, it addresses sex, race, and numerous other taboo topics head-on in a way that is still uncommon to see,...

And so, with a seemingly endless wash from the cymbals, we enter the modern era. It's 1966, Hal Prince has taken to directing instead of producing, and John Kander and Fred Ebb are going to give life to his vision of a musical about Weimar-era Berlin that would be unlike anything Broadway had ever seen. Cabaret was the show, and, fittingly enough, we're talking about the first song they wrote for...

The 1960s would eventually completely revolutionize huge swaths of the American cultural landcape, including Broadway. But as is often the case, the early part of the decade looks a lot like the decade before: talented young writers, composers, directors, and producers pushing at the boundaries of what Rodgers & Hammerstein had done. It was the Golden Age of the Broadway Musical, and its last mast...

As the 1950s came to a close, Broadway continued to push and expand what could be done in a musical and what was expected of a night at the theater. Stars were becoming less powerful and less of a draw, though some stars found ways to maintain their status by proving that they had a place in the new style of show tha cared more about the truth of a character than simply star power. Once such star...

As the 1950s moved on, new talents were emerging, taking up the challenge laid down by Rodgers and Hammerstein to create integrated musicals featuring real characters dealing with real issues. Among others, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim heard that challenge and rose to meet it, creating something brand new and incredibly challening for 50s Broadway audien...

Rodgers & Hammerstein ushered in a new style with Oklahoma! in 1943, and soon, the old styles died away, putting up various degrees of resistance as they did so. Irving Berlin and Cole Porter both adopted a more R&H approach with their late 40s musicals, but it wasn't only existing masters who were influenced by the new approach. 1950 brought  Guys & Dolls to Broadway, with Frank Loesser making hi...

There's something deeply symbolic -- perhaps almost too much so -- about the Golden Era of the American Musical being ushered in by a song called "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'." But sometimes history is not subtle in her imagery, so here we are. The opening number to Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1943 absolute smash hit and epochal achivement,  Oklahoma! , "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" is modest and si...

Time marches on, and so does our exploration of the American musical's first century. In this episode, we say a bittersweet farewell to the musical comedy as it existed in the 20s and 30s, the era of the Great American Songbook, and the partnership of Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart. Join us as we discuss "My Funny Valentine" from 1937's Babes in Arms . All clips are from a 1953's Chet Baker Sings a...

Stop 2 on our 100 year trip through the history of the American musical: 1935 and Porgy & Bess .  With music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira and original Porgy novelist Debose Heyward, Porgy & Bess was immediately hailed as a masterpiece when it debuted in 1935, though it has been troubled from the start by the question of whether it's too much of an opera to be a musical, and vic...

Welcome to 2026, where we're going to go through the first 100 years of the American Musical from its earliest days until the present to track the changes along the way. As a musical once said, the beginning is a very good place to start, so we're starting with 1927's Showboat -- arguably the beginning of what we'd come to call the American Musical. Written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II,...

After another plague of delays, we finally complete our miniseries on aging with the darkest and most brutal depiction of it we've seen. Once again, we return to Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy with "The Private and Intimate Life of the House." This isn't a fun one, so listen with care.   We will be back on January 15, 2026 with something unlike we've ever done -- stay tu...

Another grandmother joins us for this installment in our songs about aging, though Abuela Claudia isn't just anyone's grandmother, she is everyone's grandmother. Her solo "Patiencia Y Fe" is one of the standout moments in the standout score of Lin-Manuel Miranda's breakthrough show In the Heights , and Olga Merediz gives it everything she has.  All clips are from 2008's In the Heights: Original Br...

We're back! We had an illness related delay, which was us being thematic, since illness is part of growing older...yeah, let's go with that.  But we are back on track and here to talk about Stephen Schwartz's Pippin. In particular, we're looking at the 2012 revival and Andrea Martin's performance of "No Time at All." Definitely watch the performance for the full effect. You'll be glad you did. All...

Out with the new and in with the old! Yes, we're moving from songs about growing up to songs about the act of having grown up, i.e., songs about aging and growing old.  We're starting with a song from a show we have been slightly remiss in having only discussed once way back in the early days of our podcast, despite its tremendous popularity and cultural impact. Join us as we talk about "Sunrise,...

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy podcast. After 5 years and 125 episodes, we're finally talking about one of the major smashes of the past decade: Pasek and Paul's Dear Evan Hansen . Winner of 6 Tonys -- including Best Actor for overnight sensation Ben Platt -- the show has had quite the interesting journey over the past couple of years. So join us as we talk about the DEH phenomeno...

More bildungsroman ! More childhood discovery! More tears! This time, it's  Fun Home that's making us cry, based on Alison Bechdel's graphic novel of the same name. The musical is by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Krohn and won the 2015 Tony for Best Musical and features the absolutely wondrous and devastating song "Ring of Keys." Buckle up! All clips are from 2014's Fun Home: Original Cast Album featuri...

Who here wants to cry at the innocence and fragility of childhood?! Well, ready or not, here we go, because this episode features "When I Grow Up" from  Matilda: The Musical written by Tim Minchin. And it definitely enters then canon of "SMSTS episodes where one or both hosts audibly stifles tears." Enjoy!(?) All clips are from 2011's Roald Dahl's Matilda: The Musical Original London Cast Recordin...

Merriam-Webster defines a  bildungsroman as " a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character ." Well, we're not talking novels, but musicals --but otherwise, that definition fits nicely for our next mini-series, featuring songs about young people growing up. First up, "13 (Becoming a Man)" the title song and opening number to Jason Robert Brown's anti-triskaidekaphobic work...

Shannon and Erik (but mostly Shannon) are here to close out our miniseries on comic duets with "You and Me (But Mostly Me)" from The Book of Mormon , written by Matt Parker, Trey Stone, and Bobby Lopez. Erik, meanwhile, details his theory of comic characters and why, for him, a lot of this song falls flat.  All clips are from 2011's The Book of Mormon: Original Broadway Cast Recording featuring An...

What if a brilliant comic duet was also incredibly vulgar? Yes, we're talking "Class" from Kander & Ebb's Chicago,  and we get into both why it was almost cut from the original production and why it  was cut from the 2002 Oscar-winning film.  All clips are from 2002's  Chicago: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture featuring Katherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah and are protected by the Fair Use...

We're back again, and just in time for Pride Month (Happy Pride!), we're talking about one of the queerest songs ever to appear in a totally "straight" musical: "Bosom Buddies" from 1966's  Mame , with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Join us as we talk about Broadway, bitchiness, and Bea. All clips are from 1966's Mame: Original Broadway Cast Recording featuring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur an...

A few days late, but we hope it's worth the wait: it's new miniseries time! This time, we're looking at comedic duets, and we start with one of the most iconic examples of the genre: "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" by Irving Berling from 1946's  Annie Get Your Gun . We talk a lot about the show, the song, and why the latter seems destined to outlive the former. All clips are from 1999's Anni...

One final SondheimB-side before we depart. This time, we're looking at a show that's gone by many names, but has failed to make a huge impression under any of them. We're discussing at "Talent" from  Road Show , aka  Bounce aka  Wise Guys. Never heard of it? You're not alone. N.B.: There is a very light swear in the song, at the very end. If you don't want your kids to hear it, just stop when we s...