The Original Cast

Broadway's Belting Bonnie herself is here to talk about the show that put Sutton Foster on the map in a big way.

The Tony Awards are this Sunday! So we've got Don Mike Mendoza ( Hot   Mikado ,  Do I Hear a Waltz? , It's the Tonys!) and Roddy Flynn ( Anyone Can Whistle , It's the Tonys!, It's the Tonys!!, It's the Tonys!!!) and the essence of Kari Ginsburg ( Gypsy , It's the Tonys!!, It's the Tonys!!!) here to talk about the TONYS!!!! We go through the nominees, talk about this year in theatre, and predict ou...

Did you know that Jonathan Larson wrote a musical version of George Orwell's  1984 ? Neither did Patrick. But Robyn did. Featured recordings :  The Jonathan Larson Project  - Original Cast (2019) Have you checked out our  PATREON ? You haven't? Then how are you going to listen to our patrons-only podcast  The Original Cast at the Movies ? April's episode has perennial favorites Kari Ginsburg ( Gyp...

From the official Broadwaysted podcast, it's writer-man Kevin Jaeger who's here for a Zeitler pop opera about a gay couple in a Catholic boarding school. As you might imagine there is very little conflict or angst and everyone is happy through the whole show and it definitely doesn't end with a GHB overdose suicide during a performance of  Romeo and Juliet . Topics  include: Catholic school, over-...

I was very lucky to have the chance to chat with Kurt Peterson who produced  Sondheim: A Musical Tribute  and was in the original Broadway cast of  Follies  (1971). Kurt spills some tea on how the first Sondheim tribute came together, talks about his plans for the upcoming 50th anniversary, and what it was like to be in  Follies  before it was considered a classic of American musical theatre. You...

Composer/lyricist (and former subject of this podcast), Doug Cohen is here for the first ever Sondheim tribute. Topics  include: cut songs, Ethel Merman, Sondheim's singing voice, the glorious Nancy Walker, and drowning your babies. Featured recordings :  Sondheim: A Musical Tribute  - Original Broadway Cast Recording (1973) •  Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall  - Stephen Sondheim (1992)  •...

Jeanine Tesori & Tony Kushner's  Caroline, or Change  opens tomorrow at Astoria Performing Arts Center. Patrick speaks with Dev Bondarin (director and APAC's Artistic Director) and leading actress LaDonna Burns (Caroline) about the show, their process, and why this is a show more people should be doing. Have you checked out our  PATREON ? You haven't? Then how are you going to listen to our patron...

Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning producer ( Kinky Boots ), podcaster, and entrepreneur and he's here to talk about a show that had all the ingredients of a hit but just . . . wasn't. He also tells us one thing he wished everyone knew about producers. Topics  include: knowing a show isn't working, 2nd-Acting-musicals,  Falsettos ,  Falsettoland ,  March of the Falsettos , Tower Records, and Bo...

Some musicals have title songs and we cover a bunch: good, bad, and in-between. Featured recordings :  Hello, Dolly!  - The Original Broadway Cast Recording (1984)  •  Mame  - Original Broadway Cast (1966)  •  La Cage Aux Folles  - Original Cast Recording (1983) LIVE SHOW! Sunday, April 14, 12:00pm at the Flying V Awesome-a-Thon in Bethesda, MD! Our theme this time out is "Musicals Based on Comics...

Straight from Broadway's Imperial Theatre and  Ain't Too Proud  it's Joshua Morgan, Patrick's newest brother from another mother, here to talk about the Shakespeare of musical theatre and his classic work. Topics  include:   Bombay Dreams , Sondheim Divas, 3rd weddings, the incomparable Joanna Gleason, and stage dooring John McMartin. Featured recordings :  Into the Woods  - Original Cast Recordin...

Kimberly and Patrick start out talking about  My Fair Lady  at Lincoln Center and end up talking about  Be More Chill  by way of the time Patrick went to an Arctic Monkeys show and Matt Helders wore a Go-Pro. LIVE SHOW! Sunday, April 14, 12:00pm at the Flying V Awesome-a-Thon in Bethesda, MD! Our theme this time out is "Musicals Based on Comics!" Go to UnknownPenguin.com/Live for more information....

Journalist/broadcaster/singer Eliza Berkon is here for a musical another show I can't believe took this long to come up. Topics  include:  singing through braces, having a table dropped on your foot during a show, and ELIZA WAS ON THE SING-OFF OH MY GOD I'M FREAKING OUT! Click here to listen to samples of Eliza's radio show Formative Tracks on Apple Podcasts. Featured recordings :  Godspell  - Ori...

Golden-age musicals are problematic. Even the ones you don't think are problematic are problematic. Have you checked out our  PATREON ? You haven't? Then how are you going to listen to our patrons-only podcast  The Original Cast at the Movies ? February's episode features Lauren Halvorsen ( The Wild Party ) and Kenny Neal ( Starlight Express ) talking about  Bugsy Malone  (1976) which is like the...

It's our THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY so we've got a big episode with a big guest talking about a small show that has big ideas about small moments and long songs. Very long songs. So very, very long, these songs. Topics  include:  Man 2 is the worst, Mic time for sad white men, why these songs are so long, why are all Man 1's songs gospel-infused, Woman 2's agency, Woman 1's agency, JRB's guest vocaliz...

Before it was a Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally musical,  Ragtime  was a Miloš Forman movie. And before that, it was a novel by E.L. Doctorow. And before that, some of the characters were real people. And before that, some of those real people were real babies. We don't go back that far. Featured recordings :  Ragtime  - Original Broadway Cast Recording (1997) Have you checked out our  PATREON ? You haven...

Rachel is here for a show about exceeding your expectations that maybe doesn't exceed Patrick's expectations (or does it?). Topics  include:   Challenging roles,  Pippin , the joys of singing high, and the unattainable awesomeness of Jessica Vosk. Also  Mean Girls . Link to the  Broadway Backstory  podcast episode on  Legally Blonde  Patrick mentions . Featured recordings :  Legally Blonde  - Orig...

Composer/lyricist Douglas J. Cohen (No Way to Treat a Lady) and librettist/lyricist/novelist Dan Elish (13) are here for a phone interview with Patrick about the newly released cast album for their show  The Evolution of Mann . Patreons of The Original Cast can download a free mp3 of the song  "What's the Matter with Henry?"  from  The Evolution of Mann   right now. BUY THE EVOLUTION OF MANN NOW!...

We've got a dramaturg to talk about a musical that really could've used a dramaturg. A musical with more concept albums (5) than actual cast albums (1), the last one released fifteen (15) years after it opened on Broadway. A mega(?)- hit from American musical theatre's Saleri: Frank Wildhorn. Topics  include:   Laura & Patrick's unironic love of this show,  Laura &  Patrick's ironic love of this s...

Patrick is a guest this week on the wonderful Broadway Baby Podcast talking about Chess (shocker). Here's a snippet of the episode to whet your appetite. The full episode is available HERE. Enjoy! Have you checked out our  PATREON ? You haven't? Then how are you going to listen to our patrons-only podcast  The Original Cast at the Movies ? January's episode features Beth Amman ( Wicked ) and Don M...

While our topic is ostensibly the first Disney Broadway musical (and, as of this release, 10th longest running show in Broadway history), Anna and Patrick spend most of this episode on being a young actor and how one gets started in this business at such a young age.   Topics  include:  Social Anxiety in theatre, Young Cossette, and is the Enchantress the  real  villain of this story?   Featured r...

Did you know you could major in "Hope Theory?" Did you know "Hope Theory" was a thing? Patrick didn't. Have  you checked  out our  PATREON ? You haven't? Then how are you going to listen to our patrons-only podcast  The Original Cast at the Movies ? January's episode features Beth Amman ( Wicked ) and Don Mike Mendoza ( Hot Mikado  /  Do I Hear a Waltz?  1965) talking about the Disney/Rodgers & Ha...

Costume designer Heather C. Jackson is here to talk about one of the best musicals ever. Not that anyone's ranking. But if we did, this would be high on the list. But we're not ranking. (Like, high   high.) Topics include: Romantic atmosphere, (The Queen) Judy Kuhn (long may she reign), and how someone tries to kill themselves 20 minutes from the end of Act I & we don't learn their fate until the...

We were all in high school (some of you, statistically, still are), we all did theatre in high school (some of you, statistically, still do), we all had a tap solo sophomore year in  Funny Girl  that probably should've been cut but we can still do on command 23 years later . . . just me? We talk about all that. Also parenting. Have you checked out our  PATREON ? You haven't? Then how are you going...

Actor/singer/teacher Katherine Riddle is here for our third Les Miz  episode covering the 3-disc, complete recording. Katherine has played Cossette twice and has some interesting insights into that most maligned of ingenues. Topics include: How much stage time does Cossette actually have? Cossette v. Eponine: Who is least annoying? Is Cossette's name sung more times than the character has lines? F...

As you may or may not (but probably may) know, over at our Patreon page we have a patrons-only podcast called  The Original Cast at the Movies . It's a long-form movie discussion podcast about musical movies. In 2018 we've had guests like as  Tia Shearer Bassett , Kari Ginsburg , Lee Liebeskind , Tracy Lynn Olivera , Michelle Polera , Jason Schlafstein , Courtney Laine Self , Holly Twyford , and E...