So Much Stuff to Sing

From "Waiting for Life" to "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" -- it's Sondheim time once again. This year, we're focusing on conversation songs, a sub-genre Sondheim may have himself invented. We begin with the aforementioned octet (!) from 1971's  Follies and talk about why this song may be the key to understanding the whole show. All clips are from 1985's  Follies in Concert  are protected by the...

We wrap up our miniseries on "I Wish" songs with "Waiting for Life" from  Once on This Island by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Topics include whether being made into a tree is a good thing,  The Little Mermaid , and whether Ahrens and Flaherty were the right fit for this source material. DW: This episdoe contains mentions of racism, sexual assault, and self-harm. Listener discretion is advised...

And we're back again with another "I Want" song, but we're still in the 1970s. This time we're tackling  The Wiz and it's end-of-show I want song, "Home." Topics include Stephanie Mills, Diana Ross, and why the 80s really, really sucked.  Editor's Note: Yes, this episode sounds different. New computers, new set-ups, etc. We're still ironing out the kinks. Also, the original cast album is cuirrentl...

We're just getting started with I Want songs, and we're tackling another classic. This time, from 1972's  Pippin , we're talking about "Corner of the Sky." We talk Stephen Schwartz, Bob Fosse, and where cats and children fit. Strap in. All clips are from the 1972 Original Broadway Cast Recording of Pippin featuring John Rubinstein as Pippin and are protected by the Fair Use guidelines of Section 1...

We're back! We're starting our 5th year a little late, but as opinionated as ever! We're looking at "I want" songs here in 2024, and we're starting with one of the most famous and beloved examples: "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from Lerner & Loewe's Golden Age classic  My Fair Lady . But is it beloved by your intrepid hosts? Only one way to find out...   All clips are from the 1956 Original Broadway Ca...

Oh, it's a jolly holiday season here at So Much Stuff to Sing! This year, we're looking at one of the all-time great film musicals, Walt Disney's  Mary Poppins . With songs written by Richard and Robert Sherman, and featuring seminal performances by Dick van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynnis Johns, and (in her film debut!) Julie Andrews, the film is both a landmark of cinema and a timeless masterpiec...

To round out our off-Broadway miniseries, Shannon and Erik take a look at "Beautiful" from the online hit Heathers: The Musical , and don't always like what they see. Are they just the wrong audience, or is this the wrong adaptation? All clips are from 2014's Heathers: The Musical (World Premiere Cast Recording) featuring Barrett Wilbert Weed are used in accordance with the Fair Use Exemption for...

From one queer, cult, off-Broadway hit to the next, it's time for Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch and what is arguably its thesis song: "The Origin of Love" Shannon is escited because of Eddie Izzard, and Erik is excited because of Plato. All clips are from 1999's  Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Original Cast Album featuring John Cameron Mitchell are used in accorda...

Happy Halloween, everyone! By sheer coicidence, our Off-Broadway miniseries timed up with spooky seaon, creating a wonderful synchronicity whereby our episde about "Science Fiction Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Show is coming out just before Halloween. Wait...did you not know that Rocky Horror was a smash London and L.A. musical before becoming a movie? Well, grab a seat in the back row an...

We're back -- a little late -- but we come bearing a new miniseries! This time, we're heading off-Broadway to explore the wide range of shows and songs that fall under that collective banner. We start with one of the either best -- or least -- well-known musicals of all time, depending on which co-host you ask. Yes, it's 1960's  The Fantasticks which ran off-Broadway for over four decades, becomin...

We finish our miniseries on 11 o'clock numbers with one of the defining shows and numbers of Broadway's current era: "She Used to Be Mine" from  Waitress . The discussion gievs us a chance to talk pop versus Broadway, how Sara Bareilles conquered Broadway, and proper theater etiquette. CW for discussions of domestic violence, abuse, and murder. All clips are from the 2019 v ideo " Shoshana Bean Si...

And now for something truly and genuinely completely different. Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori's  Caroline, or Change first premiered on Broadway in 2004, and while the show wasn't a success either at the box office or the Tonys, it made an impact. Another recent Broadway production similarly failed to enflame the ticket-buying public, but it helped cement the show as something of a modern classi...

Another 11 o'clock number, please! This time, we're talking 1950's Guys & Dolls , Frank Loesser, and Nicely-Nicely Johnson -- yes, it's time for everyone's favorite gangster revival number, "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat."  All clips are from 1992's Guys and Dolls: The New Broadway Cast Recording featuring Walter Bobbie as Nicely-Nicely Johnson and are used in accordance with the Fair Use Exem...

We're back and starting a brand new miniseries. This time, we're looking at the so-called "eleven o'clock number" in a vairety of its permutations. First up, we have an archetypal example of the genre -- "Fifty Percent" from 1978's Ballroom . Trust us, you may now know the show, but you need to know the song. All clips are from 1999's My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies featuring Dorothy Loud...

Our final title song is also our most recent. We're back to Michael R. Jackson's  A Strange Loop , which has opened -- and closed -- on Broadway since we last discussed it, but not without winning the Best Musical Tony.  All clips are from 2022's  A Strange Loop: Original Broadway Cast Recording featuring Jaquel Spivey as Usher and are used in accordance with the Fair Use Exemption for criticism a...

Another title song, and this time it's a title song that opens the show and sets up the rest of the show. We're talking about  In the Heights again, exploring how Lin-Manuel Miranda uses its opening number to set up both the main characters and most of the plotlines that we need to know. All clips are from 2021's   In the Heights: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack featuring Anthony Ramos as Usnav...

We're continuing with our title songs miniseries, and we're back with Kander and Ebb for the first time in a while. This time, we're talking about "Kiss of the Spider Woman," and Shannon makes a shocking confession about this song.  All clips are from 1993's Kiss of the Spider Woman: The Musical - Original Cast Recording featuring Chita Rivera as Aurora and are used in accordance with the Fair Use...

We're back with a new miniseries! We're tackling title songs over the course of the next four episodes, and we're starting with the one that you're probably thinking of already. We're back to Rodgers & Hammerstein, but we're starting with their first show together. It's the beginning of the Golden Age of musicals, and the moment everything changed for the art form: it's time for 1943's Oklahoma! ....

It's the end of our annual Sondheim birthday celebration, and our last murder ballad. This episode, we're back with  Assassins looking at "The Ballad of Guiteau." Charles Guiteau is a thorny historical figure, but Erik and Shannon do their best to try to make some sense of him, his song, and this entire show. All clips are from  Assassins: The 2022 Off-Broadway Cast Recording  featuring Ethan Slat...

We're continuing our Sondheim birthday miniseries, this time focusing on his murder ballads, and we're moving on to a show that is dominated by murder ballads -- 1991's Assassins . Join us as we look at "The Ballad of Booth"and try to pick apart both this extremely rich song and the show's message.  Audio note: It was raining when we recorded this episode, and you will occasionally hear the rain s...

To quote Shannon, "Murder! Murder! Murder!"  Yes, we're carrying on with this year's Sondheim theme of murder ballads, and we're carrying on with  Sweeney Todd . This episode, we discuss the sort of duet, but not really, "My Friends."  All clips are from the 2002 production of  Sweeney Todd in Concert featuring George Hearne as Sweeney Todd and Patti Lupone as Mrs. Lovett and are used in accordanc...

It's Sondheim time again -- the most wonderful time of the year here at SMSTS. This year, Shannon got her pick of themes, and she chose Sondheim's murder ballads. So, y'know, buckle up. We're starting off with the opening of 1979's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street appropriately named "Prelude/The Ballad of Sweeney Todd." Attend the tale. All clips are from the 1979 Original Broadway...

We conclude our look at inspirational songs with "I Know Where I've Been" from  Hairspray , the 2002 Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman musical based on the John Waters film of the same name. It's been a few years since we talked about the show's propulsive and endlessly optimistic closing number, so how does this song -- coming just before the final sequence and featuring a darker, if still optimisti...

We return to  Annie , a show we last talked about a few years back with Miss Hanigan's delicious villain song. This time, however, we're taking a look at the show's signature tune --and one of the most recognizable musical theater songs of all time -- "Tomorrow." Is it inspirational or an example of what's wrong with America? Buckle up. All clips are from 1977's Annie - Original Braodway Cast Reco...

Some great shows have a few mediocre songs, and some great songs come from otherwise mediocre shows. Such is the case with this episode's selection -- or is it? Join us as we continue our journey of inspiration with "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" from Man of La Mancha .  All clips are from 2002's  Man of La Mancha: The New Broadway Cast Recording featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell and are used in...