Episodit
-
Hi this is David Armstrong. You may be wondering where I and Broadway Nation have been over the past few weeks. As you will hear, I have been battling a wicked case of bronchitis and today is the first day in ten days that I have been able to talk even enough to croak out this brief message.
At the end of the summer, I had been planning to take a few weeks off from podcasting anyway, and this bronchitis has just jumpstarted that break. So here’s the plan:
On September 19 Broadway Nation will return for an exciting new season featuring a fascinating line-up of authors who have written some amazing new books. We will start with author Thomas Hischak who will kick us off with a discussion of Song Of The Season — Outstanding Broadway Songs since 1891. In the weeks that follow, you will meet Laurie Winer talking about Oscar Hammerstein and the Invention of The Musical, Doug Reside on his book Fixing the Musical — How Technologies Shaped The Broadway Repertory, Trevor Boffone who has written about TikTok Broadway. Dustyn Martincich and Pheobe Rumsay will discuss Dance In Musical Theatre — A History of the Body In Movement, Christopher Connelly on Helen Morgan: The original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld’s Last Star, and Joshua Rosenblum and his book Closer Than Ever — The Unique Six-Decade Songwriting Partnership of Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire.
And that’s just the beginning! As always Albert Evans will join me for some deep dives into Broadway’s past and, no doubt, there will be previews of my upcoming book. I guarantee it will all be worth the wait.
In the meantime, you are invited to join more than 2600 fans of this podcast in the Broadway Nation Facebook Group where every day you can find posts and videos about the Broadway musical and Immigrant, Jewish, Queer and Black artist who invented it.
See you soon!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
I’m David Armstrong, and my guest again today is author Andrew L. Erdman, whose captivating new book is titled Beautiful — The Story of Julian Eltinge, America's Greatest Female Impersonator.
In this third and final episode in this series, Andrew shares with us the story of how Julian Eltinge capitalized on his international Vaudeville and Broadway fame and became a major movie star in Hollywood and how that coincided with a golden age of female impersonation in America. We also explore the challenges Eltinge faced during the final years of his career as America became more conservative and began to restrict and censor drag performance in the 1930s.
If you missed the earlier episodes in this series, you may want to catch up with those before listening to this one.
Author Andrew Erdman has immersed himself in this remarkable era of show biz history; his previous book was the equally fascinating Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanquay
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our newest member Alan Teasley.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Puuttuva jakso?
-
My guest again this week is author Andrew Erdman, whose captivating new book is Beautiful—The Story of Julian Eltinge, America's Greatest Female Impersonator.
In this episode, Andrew continues the story of Julian Eltinge’s rise to the absolute highest realms of show business — and we especially focus on three musicals that were created especially for him by top Broadway talents such as Otto Harbach, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin: That Fascinating Widow (1911), The Crinoline Girl (1914), and Cousin Lucy (1915).
Along the way, you will have a chance to hear some of the songs that they created for Eltinge, as performed by a friend of the pod David Sabella (aka Amanda Reckonwith) including “Those Come Hither Eyes” – from the musical Cousin Lucy (lyrics by Schuler Green; music by Jerome Kern), and "Don't Take Your Beau to the Seashore," (music by Irving Berlin; lyrics by E. Ray Goetz).
If you missed the first episode in this series, you may want to catch up with that before listening to this one.
Author Andrew Erdman has immersed himself in this remarkable era of show biz history; his previous book was the equally fascinating Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanquay
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our newest member Alan Teasley.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest on this episode is Andrew L. Erdman, who is the author of the new book: Beautiful — The Story of Julian Eltinge, America's Greatest Female Impersonator.
In the late 19th and early 20th Century — long before the fierce television Drag stars of today — a specific style of drag performance known as Female Impersonation was wildly popular on stage and screen — in America and around the world.
And no female impersonator was more famous, successful, or highly regarded than Julian Eltinge.
Although barely remembered today, in his time, Eltinge was on a par with Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and Fanny Brice, and was so popular and renowned that he even had a Broadway theater named after him! That theater still exists, and you can still go there and see Julian Eltinge — but you will have to listen to the episode(s) to find out where and how.
Author Andrew Erdman has immersed himself in this remarkable era of show biz history; his previous book was the equally fascinating Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanquay
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including members John Schroeder and Alan Brodie.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
This special encore episode of Broadway Nation was first released in the fall of 2022.
My guest is PAUL SALSINI, who many listeners will remember as the founder and original editor of The Sondheim Review, the first and only quarterly magazine ever devoted to a living musical theater composer.
Paul passed away earlier this month, at the age of 88, so I thought this was a very appropriate time to revisit this fascinating conversation.
Paul launched the magazine in 1994, and over the following ten years, Paul exchanged notes, letters, faxes and phone calls with Stephen Sondheim — who it was clear was reading every word of every issue of the magazine — and Sondheim often had corrections and comments, or as he called them, “emendations.” On a few occasions these notes and phone calls included “vigorous objections” to what Paul had included the magazine, but overall Sondheim was wonderfully supportive and helpful.
In his book SONDHEIM AND ME, Paul chronicles his unlikely relationship with Sondheim during an eventful period that included the New York premieres of Passion and Saturday Night, the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Celebration, Broadway revivals of six of Sondheim’s major works, and the decade long development of the musical that would eventually be called Road Show.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest this week is award-winning entertainer Richard Skipper, who joins me to talk about his new show, Still Going Strong—A Celebration of 60 Years of Hello Dolly!, which he will be bringing to various venues on several continents over the next few months, starting with Crazy Coqs in London on August 5th.
As you will hear, it was Richard’s friendship with Carol Channing that inspired him to begin chronicling the history of Hello Dolly!, and over the past fifteen years, Richard Skipper has interviewed more than 1,000 participants of various productions of the show. That this discussion follows on the heels of the Bette Midler series of podcasts is a happy quirk of serendipity!
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including long time members Larry Spinelli and Geoffrey Block
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Today I am excited to share with you the third and final segment of my conversation with author Kevin Winkler regarding his new book, On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide.
In this engaging book, Kevin focuses on all aspects of Bette Midler’s career — on stage, recordings, film, and television. But in this conversation, again we focus primarily on her work as a theater artist. If you missed the other two episodes in this series, you may want to listen to those before jumping into this one.
For more than twenty years, Kevin was a curator, archivist, and administrator at the New York Public Library, and prior to that, he was a professional dancer on Broadway. His previous books include the award-winning Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical, and Everything is Choreography: The Musical Theatre of Tommy Tune.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including long time members Mark Stanton and Andy Wigginton.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
On today’s episode author Kevin Winkler returns for the second part of our discussion of his fascinating new book, On Bette Midler — An Opinionated Guide.
If you missed part one of this conversation, you may want to catch up with that before listening to this one.
In that episode, Kevin and I touched on Bette’s childhood, explored her early years in the off-off-Broadway experimental and very campy Gay theater scene, detailed her unusual rise to at least demi-stardom at the Continental Baths, her debut on Broadway in Fiddler On The Roof, and her Tony Award wining concert at the Palace Theater which set the stage for the first of what Kevin calls her Broadway musicals of her own devising: Bette Midler’s Clams On The Halfshell Revue, conceived and staged by Broadway director/choreographer Joe Layton, and the shows that followed.
For more than twenty years Kevin Winkler was a curator, archivist, and administrator at the New York Public Library, and prior to that, he was a professional dancer. His previous books include the award-winning Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical in 2018, and Everything is Choreography: The Musical Theatre of Tommy Tune. Kevin and I discussed that terrific book on several episodes of Broadway Nation back at the beginning of 2022.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including long time member, ANNE WELSH.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
This week I am excited to welcome author Kevin Winkler back to Broadway Nation to discuss his new book, On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide.
This engaging book is a critical analysis of every aspect of Bette Midler’s career on stage, recordings, film, and television, but in this conversation, we focus primarily on her work as a theater artist. To date, Midler’s long career has been bookended by her appearances in two classic Broadway musicals, Fiddler On The Roof and Hello, Dolly! In between, she invented her distinctive brand of musical theater—“musicals of her own devising,” as Kevin calls them.
For more than twenty years Kevin Winkler was a curator, archivist, and administrator at the New York Public Library, and prior to that, he was a professional dancer. His previous books include the award-winning Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical in 2018, and Everything is Choreography: The Musical Theatre of Tommy Tune. Kevin and I discussed that terrific book on several episodes of Broadway Nation back at the beginning of 2022.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including long time member, ANNE WELSH.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
In this Encore Episode from 2021, author Rick Pender takes us inside the creation of The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia.
Rick Pender is a longtime member and former chair of the American Theater Critics Association. He first began reviewing theater in 1985 for a public radio station he managed at Northern Kentucky University. He later became the theater critic for CityBeat – Cincinnati’s alternative weekly newspaper -- and eventually became its arts and culture editor. He also often contributed articles to The Sondheim Review, a quarterly magazine that I know many of you remember fondly, and for 12 years, from 2004 to 2016, he served as its managing editor. His latest venture, The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia, is a 638 page overview of anything and everything related to Sondheim’s work, life and career.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest again this week is author BEN WEST who returns for the fourth and final segment of our conversation in regard to his exceptional new book The American Musical – Evolution of an Art Form.
As you will hear, in today’s episode, we move into what I call the Modern Era of Broadway from the 1970s right up to today and detail the major changes in the way musicals are made over the last 50 years. Our discussion touches on such shows as Hair, Your Own Thing, Rent, The Wiz, Jelly’s Last Jam, Hamilton, The Band’s Visit, and more!
If you missed the previous episodes in this series you may want to go back and catch on that before listening to this one.
Ben West is a musical theatre artist and historian who created the extensive “Timeline Wall” exhibits for the Museum of Broadway that trace the history of the Broadway stage from 1732 to 2021, spotlighting more than 500 productions and 100 artists. He has worked in various capacities on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally and created and directed Unsung Carolyn Leigh for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. He has lectured and spoken at Yale University, University of Michigan, the Dramatists Guild, and the Shubert Organization.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our Producer Level patrons, Paula & Steve Reynolds.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
This is the third segment of my conversation with author BEN WEST, regarding his new book:
THE AMERICAN MUSICAL — EVOLUTION OF AN ART FORM.
As you will hear this book is a comprehensive history of the American Musical from its origins in the 19th Century right up to the turn to the 21st Century. Along the way Ben West sheds new light on a myriad of shows, authors, directors, and performers including a host of often-overlooked women and African-American artists.
If you missed the previous episodes in this series you may want to go back and catch on that before listening to this one.
Ben West is a musical theatre artist and historian who created the extensive “Timeline Wall” exhibits for the Museum of Broadway that trace the history of the Broadway stage from 1732 to 2021 and spotlight more than 500 productions and 100 artists. He has worked in various capacities on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally, and created and directed Unsung Carolyn Leigh for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. West has lectured and spoken at several institutions including Yale University, University of Michigan, the Dramatists Guild, and the Shubert Organization. He is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our Producer Level member, Bob Braun.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Today’s episode is the second part of my recent conversation with author BEN WEST, regarding his his exceptionally comprehensive new book: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL — EVOLUTION OF AN ART FORM.
This book traces the American Musical’s creative journey from its 19th Century beginnings through its 20th Century maturation, and on to the turn of the 21st century. Along the way, Ben West sheds new light on a myriad of shows, authors, directors, and performers including a host of often-overlooked women and African-American artists.
If you missed the first episode in this series you may want to go back and catch on that before listening to this one.
As our previous episode ended Ben and I were discussing the revue form, especially the annual revues such as the Ziegfeld Follies and Earl Carroll’s Vanities. Today we pick up conversation with some of the other forms of musical theater that Ben explores in Part Two of his book, a section that he titles Birth Of An Art Form.
Ben West is a musical theatre artist and historian who created the extensive “Timeline Wall” exhibits for the Museum of Broadway that trace the history of the Broadway stage from 1732 to 2021 and spotlight more than 500 productions and 100 artists. He has worked in various capacities on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally, and created and directed Unsung Carolyn Leigh for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. West has lectured and spoken at several institutions including Yale University, University of Michigan, the Dramatists Guild, and the Shubert Organization. He is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our newest member, Taryn Darr.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest this week is author BEN WEST, who joins me to discuss his exceptional new book: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL — EVOLUTION OF AN ART FORM.
This book is a comprehensive history of the American Musical that traces the form’s creative journey from its 19th Century beginnings through its 20th Century maturation, and on to the turn of the 21st century. Along the way Ben sheds new light on a myriad of authors, directors, and craftspeople who worked on Broadway and beyond.
In a similar way to this podcast, this book actively addresses the form’s often-overlooked female and African-American artists. It also goes beyond the strict boundaries of Broadway to explore such outside influences as minstrelsy, vaudeville, nightclubs, and burlesque as well as the dynamic relationship between the American Musical and and the consciousness of its country that gave it birth.
Ben West is a musical theatre artist and historian who created the extensive “Timeline Wall” exhibits for the Museum of Broadway that trace the history of the Broadway stage from 1732 to 2021 and spotlight more than 500 productions and 100 artists. He has worked in various capacities on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally, and created and directed Unsung Carolyn Leigh for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. West has lectured and spoken at several institutions including Yale University, the University of Michigan, the Dramatists Guild, and the Shubert Organization. He is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our newest member, Taryn Darr.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact, I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest this week is Jack Viertel who joins us to talk about his delightful new novel, Broadway Melody. This is one of a fascinating wave of novels that explore the history of Broadway though a combination of fictional characters and real-life Broadway figures.
Jack Viertel began his theatrical career as a drama critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and then worked as a dramaturg at the Mark Taper Forum. This led to him serving three decades as Creative Director and Senior Vice President of Jujamcin Theaters where he oversaw the production of 50 Broadway plays and musicals. Simultaneously, during two of those decades, he also served as the Artistic Director of the New York City Center’s Encores! series, producing 65 musical revivals. And he was a creative force behind a string of blockbuster musicals including Smokey Joe’s Café, Dear Evan Hanson, and Hairspray. He taught musical theater at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Secret Life of The American Musical.
I want to thank all of our Broadway Nation Patron Club members, including our longtime Producer Level patrons, Paula & Steve Reynolds. Their generous support helps to make it possible for me to bring this podcast to you each week. If you would like to support the creation of Broadway Nation, here is the information about how you too can become a patron.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
During an incredible Broadway career that stretched from 1953 to 1998, composer Cy Coleman created the music for 12 Broadway musicals. Unlike most Broadway composers, however, he was never part of an ongoing songwriting team but instead worked with seven very talented but very different collaborators. My guest today is one of those esteemed lyricists -- David Zippel who partnered with Cy Coleman on the score for the 1990 Tony Award winning "Best Musical", City Of Angels the hit musical that altogether received 10 Tony Awards including Coleman and Zippel’s win for Best Score. That show launched David on his own stellar career which has honored with two Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Award nominations, and three Golden Globe nominations. His songs can be heard on over twenty-five million CDs around the world that include recording by Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Mel Torme, Ricky Martin, Cleo Laine, Barbara Cook, Nancy LaMott, and include the Original Broadway Cast and Soundtrack recordings of The Goodbye Girl, The Women In White, The Swan Princess and Disney’s Hercules and Disney’s Mulan.
David and I first met shortly after we had both arrived in NY in the early 1980’s and have remained friends and colleagues ever since. Today we begin our conversation talking about Coleman’s Russian-Jewish heritage. So many Broadway songwriters -- Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein to name just a few were the children or grandchildren of Russian-Jewish immigrants.
If you enjoy this podcast, I invite to join my Broadway Nation Facebook Group where there is a large and lively community of musical theater enthusiasts. We have a great deal of fun and I feel certain that you will too!
And If you would like to hear more about Carolyn Leigh, Dorothy Fields, Betty Comden and other women who invented the Broadway musical, you may want to check out Episode 7 and 8 of Broadway Nation.
Special thanks Special thank the Julia Murney and David David Burnham, everyone at KVSH 101.9 FM the voice of beautiful Vashon, Island Washington, and to the entire team at the Broadway Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
This is the second part of my discussion with Tony Award-winning Costume Designer Ann Hould-Ward in which we trace the legacy chain of Broadway costume design expertise that was handed down directly over a 100-year period from Aileen Bernstein to Irene Shariff to Patricia Zipprodt to Ann Hould-Ward, herself. If you missed the previous episode you may want to listen to that first.
During our discussion was also touch on the careers of the legendary designers Florence Klotz, Ann Roth, Willa Kim, and Theaoni Aldredge. All in all, these amazing women designed more than 500 Broadway plays and musicals!
Ann Hould-Ward is the Tony Award-winning costume designer whose work includes the original Broadway productions of Beauty And The Beast, Into The Woods, Sunday In The Park With George, Falsettos, and the revival of The Color Purple.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
To celebrate Women's History Month he is the first of two episodes recorded during the pandemic about the history of Broadway Costume design with special guest Ann Hould-Ward.
Irene Sharraff is the legendary Broadway costume designer whose incredible 56-year career spanned from 1933 to 1989. She designed the costumes for more than 52 Broadway musicals including As Thousands Cheer, Jubilee, On Your Toes, The Boys From Syracuse, Lady In The Dark, The King And I, West Side Story, Flower Drum Song, Funny Girl, Sweet Charity, and Jerome Robbins Broadway. She was nominated for six Tony Awards and won the Tony for The King And I, and she received five Academy Awards for her designs for the now classic films An American In Paris, The King And I, West Side Story, Cleopatra, and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf.
One of the main threads of this podcast is how the arts and crafts of the Broadway Musical have been handed down directly from one practitioner to the next, generation to generation.
Irene Sharaff is at the center of a succession of dynamic women that goes back more than 100 years to the earliest days of the Broadway Musical and continues right up to today. All of these women were mentored by one or more of the great female designers that came before them, all of them became Tony Award-winning star designers in their own right, and all of them have passed on the art and craft of theatrical costume design to the next generation.
In this episode, I trace the legacy chain of Broadway costume design that was handed down from Aileen Bernstein to Irene Sharaff to Patricia Zipprodt to Ann Hould-Ward. I recently had the pleasure of discussing all this with Ann Hould-Ward herself.
Ann Hould-Ward is the Tony Award-winning costume designer whose work includes the original Broadway productions of Beauty And The Beast, Into The Woods, Sunday In The Park With George, Falsettos, and the revival of The Color Purple.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest this week is Robert W. Schneider who joins me to talk about his new podcast, Broadway Bound — The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway.
Each of the ten episodes in the first season of this wonderfully researched new series focuses on a high-profile musical that was on its way to Broadway but for various reasons never made it. Analyzing and identifying those reasons is part of what makes this series so fascinating. Musicals featured in the first season include Arthur, Minsky’s, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, The Baker’s Wife, Juliet Of The Spirits, Busker’s Alley, The Graduate, and The Mambo Kings.
Rob Schneider is an original programming producer at 54 Below, where he has produced and directed more than 100 events, and Artistic Director of the J2 Spotlight Theater Company. In addition to Broadway Bound, Rob is the host and producer of two other popular theater podcasts: Behind the Curtain: Broadway’s Living Legends and Fifty Key Stage Musicals, which was inspired by his book of the same title. All three of which can be heard on the Broadway Podcast Network.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
I want to thank our Broadway Nation Patron Club members, such as longtime members Chris Moad and Judy Hucka, whose generous support helps to make it possible for me to bring this podcast to you each week. If you would like to support the creation of Broadway Nation, here is the information about how you too can become a patron.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast.
All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
My guest again this week is author Maya Cantu who returns for the third and final part of our conversation about her fascinating book: Greasepaint Puritan — Boston to 42nd Street in the Queer Backstage Novels of Bradford Ropes.
In this episode we focus on Ropes’ 1934 novel, Go Into Your Dance, the third in his evocative backstage trilogy which also includes 42nd Street (the source material for both the classic film and the stage musical), and Stage Mother, (a sort of proto version of Gypsy). All three of these novels were heavily inspired by Ropes’ actual experiences as a dancer and performer on Broadway and in Vaudeville during the 1920s.
To a great extent Go Into Your Dance is a roman á clef of the star dancer & legendary showman George White and his scandals, both professional and personal, including his long-standing relationship with Broadway star Ann Pennington, fictionalized by Ropes as "Ted Howard," who rises from messenger boy to dancer to one of the most powerful figures on Broadway, and his indispensable collaborator, "Nora Wayne."
Ted Howard's series of "Town Talk" revues become major competition for "Lane's Frivolities" (Ziegfeld Follies), and along the way he interacts with figures from what Maya and I dub the "Bradford Ropes Literary Universe" such as producer/director, "Julian Marsh," dance director, "Andy Lee," and "the Wilson Brothers," a thinly disguised version of the Shuberts).
Of perhaps greatest interest are the two gay chorus boys, Arthur and Bobby, who befriend Ted when he joins the chorus of Marsh's musical "Sweet Sally," and play a crucial role in the plot of this remarkable novel.
Maya and I also discuss the major themes that tie these novels together, as well as her remarkable six-year journey in unearthing and re-discovering the life and work of Bradford Ropes.
If you missed the first two episodes in this series you may want to catch up with those before listening to this one.
May Cantu is a dramaturg and historian who teaches on the Drama Faculty of Bennington College and is also the author of American Cinderella on the Broadway Musical Stage: Imagining the Working Girl from “Irene” to “Gypsy”.
Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!
I want to thank our Broadway Nation Patron Club members, such as longtime members Kelly Allen and Elizabeth Troxler., whose generous support helps to make it possible for me to bring this podcast to you each week. If you would like to support the creation of Broadway Nation, here is the information about how you too can become a patron.
For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast.
All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.
If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:
https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/
Thank you in advance for your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices - Näytä enemmän
