Episode 36: Everything Sondheim: Inside the Creation of The Stephen S…
Today my guest is Rick Pender, author of The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia, the new and extraordinarily comprehensive guide to ev…
Episode 35: "Sensory Abundance!": or, Why We Are Hooked On Musicals
Why are the great Musicals so unforgettable? Why do musicals have so much power and impact? How is it that they are able to live …
Episode 34: Community: The Major Themes Of The Broadway Musical, part…
Musical theater is a very effective form for dramatizing entire communities of people – and often the community itself becomes a …
Episode 33: Equity, Justice & Inclusion: The Major Themes of the Broa…
At least 30 popular and successful Broadway musicals have stories, plots and themes that explicitly deal with Equity, Justice, an…
Special Bonus Episode: "White Christmas": The Story Behind The World'…
This is the second of two special holiday bonus episodes of Broadway Nation. In Part One we looked at how the Jewish-Russian imm…
Special Bonus Episode: "White Christmas": The Story Behind The World'…
This week’s special holiday episode tells the story of how the great Jewish-Russian immigrant songwriter, Irving Berlin, not only…
Episode 32: Transgressive Women: Major Themes of the Broadway Musical…
This is the first of three episodes highlighting the principal themes of the Broadway Musical. Today I look at the single most u…
Episode 31:"Defying Gravity" - The Broadway Musical in the 21st Centu…
Perhaps surprisingly, the current generation of Broadway creators has re-embraced and reinvigorated both the “Musical Comedy” and…
Episode 30: "Razzle Dazzle": The Broadway Musicals Of The 1990s, Part…
The second half of my interview with NY Post columnist Michael Riedel about his new book, Singular Sensation – The Triumph of Bro…
Episode 29: "The Triumph Of Broadway": The Musicals Of The 1990s, par…
In this episode I interview NY Post columnist Michael Riedel about his new book, "Singular Sensation - The Triumph Of Broadway", …
Episode 28: Cameron Mackintosh & The British Invasion of Broadway (or…
The Modern Era of Broadway, part 7. In this episode I explore what is often called “The British Invasion of Broadway” – a ten-y…
Episode 27: Broadway Comes Out: Gay Liberation & The AIDS Crisis On B…
In this episode I explore the growing visibility of queer stories, themes and characters on Broadway in musicals such as Hair, C…
Episode 26: Harold Prince & the Concept Musical - The Modern Era of B…
In this episode I explore the history of what is called the “Concept Musical”, including its key creators: Harold Prince, Stephen…
Episode 25: The Black Musical Returns! - The Modern Era of Broadway, …
In this episode I celebrate 1970s Broadway, and the return of the Black Musical. More than a dozen hit black musicals opened dur…
Episode 24: Crazy For Nostalgia - The Modern Era of Broadway, part 3
In this episode I continue my review of Broadway’s Nostalgia Craze of the 1970s and beyond. This includes the musicals Grease, I…
Episode 23: "Everything Old Is New Again": The Modern Era of Broadway…
In this episode Albert Evans and I explore the origins of Broadway’s “Nostalgia Craze of the 1970s” -- where it came from, and wh…
Episode 22: "Let The Sun Shine In" -- The Modern Era Of Broadway, Pa…
In April of 1968, “The Golden Age of Broadway” came to an abrupt end on the opening night of the “tribal rock musical” HAIR, whic…
Episode 21: Jerry Herman & The Golden Age of Broadway, part 3.
As the 1950’s came to a close, Broadway Musicals were at the very center of American culture. Then in 1960, as if on cue, two im…
Episode 20: GYPSY vs. THE SOUND OF MUSIC & The Golden Age Of Broadway
In this episode I focus on the 1959–1960 which brought us Gypsy vs. The Sound Of Music. And you could subtitle this episode Ethe…
Episode 19: West Side Story vs. The Music Man & The Golden Age of Bro…
In this episode, Albert Evans and I take an in-depth look at two classic musicals that went head to head at the 1958 TONY Awards …
Episode 18: Patricia Zipprodt & The Women That Invented Broadway
This is the second part of my discussion with Tony Award winning Costume Designer Ann Hould-Ward in which we trace the legacy cha…
Episode 17: Irene Sharaff And The Women That Invented Broadway
One of the main threads of this podcast is how the arts and crafts of the Broadway Musical have been handed down directly from on…
Episode 16: Jule Styne, Frank Loesser & The Golden Age of Broadway, P…
The Golden Age of Broadway’s new revolutionary way of writing musicals did not just apply to musical plays like those of Rodgers …
Episode 15: Trude Rittman & The Women That Invented Broadway
In this episode Albert Evans and I tell the story Trude Rittman who during the "Golden Age of Broadway" (and beyond) composed mu…