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Everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com switch and now T mobile is in US cellular stores. Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of optional benefits. Plan features and taxes and fees vary.
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Savings with three plus lines include third.
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Line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines.
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Qualifying credit required. It's her time, Tom Turkey ran away but he just came home It's Turkey Lurky time He's really home to stay Never want to grow Let us make.
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A wish and they all our wishes.
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Come true.
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A snowy snowy Christmas A big snow snowy Christmas One turkey larky Christmas to you One turkey larky Christmas to you.
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Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios. This week on Broadway for Sunday, December 28, 2025. My name is James Marino and in the broadcast today we have Peter, Felicia and Michael Portantier. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by day desk Calendar, A show tune for today, 366 songs to brighten your year is available at finer retailers. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select and and many of the places. Hello, Peter. Hi, Peter. It is a cold one out there today.
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Sure.
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Here in New York we're like down in the single digits of Fahrenheit. And so stay in, have some hot cocoa and always remember that subways are for sleeping.
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Yeah, really. Back in 1961, this was the day that indeed the ad ran that David Merrick took the ads proclaiming the subways after Sleeping is the musical of the century. Certainly all the critics agreed. This full page ad ran in the Harold Tribune, nowhere else. Because the New York Times and the other paper said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. There's pictures of these people with the names of these critics. Yeah, there's John Chapman, there's Howard Topman, et cetera, et cetera. But come on, these aren't the real people. So what had David Merrick had done? And what he wanted to do for a long time was to do an ad like this with all these bogus quotes. He invited people with the same names as the drama critics to come and see Subways Alpha sleeping. And then indeed he got wonderful quotations from them. And frankly, Harry Sabinson, the press agent, did a lot of work in creating those quotations as well. And a good time was had by all, except I will Say that I talked to Betty Comden, one of the lyricists on the show, and she said she was not amused by this at all because she really felt, you know, they worked very hard to make the show a success. There are those who say the reason it lasted six months had a lot to do with the sad people. So wait a minute. Is it really that good? Is it really that bad? You know, so who knows? But anyway, the thing was, he had had the idea a long time earlier, but the problem was that there was a critic named Brooks Atkinson who wrote for the New York Times. And the thing was, he could never find a Brooks Atkinson. John Chapman. Yeah, that's easy to find. You know, I mean, Robert Coleman. Yeah, that's easy to find. Brooks Atkinson was a problem. But here's the thing. I don't know if you know this, but Brooks Atkinson's name wasn't Brooks Atkinson, really. It was Justin Brooks Atkinson. And if all those years Justin Atkinson had been used as the byline, it's entirely possible the Merrick would have done this earlier. Finding a Justin Atkinson and do it for another show. Anyway, the song Comes Once in a Lifetime is a marvelously optimistic song. And as you've known, if you've listened to these podcasts at all, the point. Point of the calendar was to do optimistic songs. You won't find Epiphany from Sweeney Todd in it at all. It's just songs that are to brighten your year. And so Comes Once in a Lifetime certainly fulfills that.
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Okay. Also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael is a theater reviewer and interviewer. He's the founder and editor of castalbumreviews.com he is also theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other publications. And he writes reviews of cabaret shows for NightLifeExchange.com Additionally, Michael is known as a producer and director of shows at 54 below, the Lori Beachman Theater and other venues, and began his journey as a docent. Docent. What is it?
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Docent.
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Docent at the Carnegie Hall. So, Michael, how was your first week at Carnegie Hall?
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Well, I only did. I've only done one, and it went very well. There were some people visiting from Pittsburgh, so that was good because Andrew Carnegie has a major, as we might imagine, you know. And then there was another fellow, was a docent himself at some kind of historical house in Texas somewhere. So he said, you know, I'll. I'll be able to appreciate your, you know, your. What you're doing here. And it was just a group of six. On that occasion, we have a limit of 20 per group, but this was only six. And so it was nice and relaxed and formal, and it was great.
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What is the, the old joke? It's first prize one week in Pittsburgh, second prize two weeks in Pittsburgh.
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I always hear Philadelphia. It's very interesting. You know, the Philadelphia used to be the butt of so many jokes, and yet it's really gotten closer to New York now because now they're New Jersey jokes. I mean, Philadelphia jokes at all anymore. But, you know, that would be something to really research. Has there ever been a time on Broadway where there hasn't been at least one show that made a New Jersey joke? Because they really seem to crop up with amazing frequency.
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Speaking of jokes that, you know, of course, it's the Carnegie hall joke. How do you get. Sure.
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That's what I thought you were gonna say.
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Yeah. No, but also there's an. Another funny story that they, they say is apocryphal. So they don't, they don't even sometimes identify the conductor and the, and the pianist, but supposedly a world famous conductor was rehearsing with a world famous pianist and they, you know, with the full orchestra at the hall. And at some point they somehow the pianists got off with the orchestra. They weren't in sync. And so the pianist turned to the world famous conductor and said, where are we? And he said, carnegie Hall.
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That's great.
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So I like, I like to think that's true, even if it's not.
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Oh, boy.
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So, Michael, we were chatting just before we started, and. And you started to reflect on a phone call that you just. That you had a few years back. Why don't you tell us about that phone call?
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Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, I just, I sometimes. Sometimes wind up encountering people that I never dreamed in a million years I would encounter in my lifetime. I. I may have mentioned for. For seven years, I worked at a place called the Century Club, which is a very exclusive club, originally for men only. And then actually as soon as I went to work there, they were in the midst of. They were sued to let women in, and they finally did. So now it's both. And so there I met people like Walter Cronkite, Henry Kissinger, John Lindsay, but also some of our friends like Betty Compton, Ramak Ramsey. That was the first time I ever met Garson Kanan. Yeah. Anyway. But then also then another job that I actually still have part time is I work for a place called Celebrity Service, and our job is to provide the contact Information for celebrities, their managers, their publicists, their, their agents, you know, when, when they are hard to find, we find them. And so one day someone was looking for Brigitte Bardot. And so somehow I found a phone number somewhere and it was obviously in France. So I called her up and fortunately, I speak a little French and there she was on the other end. And, you know, I was probably a 30 minute, I'm sorry, 30 second conversation, but I got to talk with her. And right around that same time, I also got to talk to Gina Lollobrigida. So it was my bombshell week.
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Yeah. You know, I often think when, if, if people who are young decide to listen to the cast albums of the Apple Tree or Stop the world, I, to get off. Ms. Bardot was certainly mentioned in a lyric in each of those shows, and I wonder if they know who she is. But, yeah, yeah, you know, and Lola Brigida comes up in How Now Dow Jones. So, so, yeah, a person who also comes up in both the Apple Tree and How Now Dow Jones is still with us. Sophia Loren. So. And we're glad that she's still here.
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But the way, the reason we brought up Brigitte Bardot is she, she has just died. Word has just come that she died at 91. So rest in peace for her. She had a very interesting life. She, she did. She was, you know, initially just a beautiful model and an actress, but then she became an animal rights activist. So we love those people.
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Yes.
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So our show this week on Broadway, not really much has happened this week. So Peter and Michael have been spending time with family and friends and loved ones, and we don't have much to talk about in the last seven days, but the last 365 days, we thought it would be a great time to talk about what we really loved in 2025. So, Peter, why don't you get us started on some of the things that you really loved in 2025.
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Well, I'm going to start atypically, because I'm going to start with a book. I think the best book of the year is the Other side of Broadway, written by Steve Wells. I urge you to get it, because there have been a million books about Broadway musicals, many about hits, a few about flops, a few about seasons, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We've all read those books. This is a book that more than off, more often than not, deals with shows that almost got on. And the point is, he really is so amazing. He was going to be a producer and so amazing about Showing how close some projects get and yet do not happen. And this is the power of the book that you realize that when a show is announced, you are still so far away. Richard Adler, I became friendly with him towards the end of his life, and he said to me, whenever they say there's a production of Pajama Game or Damn Yankees coming up, it is not enough for me to be in the theater with the playbill on my lap. I do not believe it's going to happen until the curtain goes up. And I understand that totally. And you'll understand that from this book you're going to hear names like Larry Gelbart, Hal Prince, powerful people. And you really do believe that these things are going to be green lit. The things about green lights, though, is they do turn yellow and they do turn red. And that's what happens with so many of these projects that look like there's no way to stop it. It's going to happen. Start making plans now for opening night. And yet, boy, you know, they say the chain is as strong as the weakest link, and all you need is a weak link to really sabotage a production. And you see things in this book that you don't see coming at all. And here they come. Oh, my God. So this is a valuable book for anybody who wants to be involved in the theater. You will be able to see how certain things just fall apart and you will feel better when you're producing and your things fall apart and say, oh, yeah, well, this, this is part of the game. This is what happens, you know, and you move on to the next one, which indeed, with Steve Wells did. He did produce shows. Indeed he did. You will see shows mentioned that you have seen. But nevertheless, you will also see things saying, oh, I didn't know they were going to make a musical of that. Oh, I didn't know there was going to be a play version of that. I'm telling you, I sat down and I read something like the first 172 pages without stopping. The next morning I finished it. It is that good. Beautifully written. So you must get the Other side of Broadway by Steve Wells.
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That's some amazing high praise for somebody who very often writes Broadway books himself.
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God love you.
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Michael. What's something about 2025 that you really loved?
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Oh, well, where to start? I maybe should start with saying that we're going to focus on theater here. But so many of the great things I see are beyond Broadway and Off Broadway at the Met Opera and the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall. So I Always like to remind our readers to pay attention of what's going on at those venues. And, you know, it's. I, I made our list. I knew what we were going to be talking about today, and I made my list of the best of 2025, and I was quite shocked at how few Broadway things are on.
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Overall.
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I, I mean, I, I guess we have sort of mentioned that in passing, but to see it all in black and white, it was, it was really kind of amazing. I mean, there are some things from Broadway, but many are many, many are not. Let me start back in the spring. You're in town at City Center. Encores was really terrific. Then there was the Antiquities, which I saw on Theodore Row. And that is the same author as Marjorie prime, which, of course, I don't have his name right in front of me, but Jordan Harrison. So I saw two things by him this, this season, this year. And, you know, I, I just yesterday got a chance to go back to see Marjorie prime because a friend of mine had an extra ticket and I had. I don't often see shows twice, and I certainly don't even often see shows twice within two or three weeks. So. But I love it so much. I love this place so much that I really wanted to see it again. And I'm glad I did because actually seeing it twice so close together gave me cleared up a couple of questions I had about some of the plot elements. I still have many questions. I wish they would. I'm going to maybe write to the producers and see if they can do a talk back, unless they already have them scheduled and I don't know about it. I would so love to ask questions of the playwright and the cast about just little elements of the story that, that I'm not quite clear on because I love it overall. I love it so much that I would like to clear those things up in my mind. But in the meantime, Marjorie prime still running. Absolutely. Get there, if you haven't seen it already.
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Yeah.
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Marjorie prime running through February 15th. So you have a little bit of time to brave the cold and get here and see that. Peter, what else is on your list for 2020?
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Well, given the fact that Michael said he wasn't going to talk about Broadway particularly much, I will. But nevertheless, it brings up the fact that I want to endorse J2 Productions, and they really had a very, very good year, amazingly good year. And I'm delighted to be able to say that the highlight was Rob Schneider's production of Smile, a musical that I always feel got A terrible deal. I don't understand why it got a terrible deal. It was one of the few times that Frank Rich really, really disappoint because I really thought that it was a terrific original production. But nevertheless, this company is really doing wonderful stuff. Jim Jamiro, the executive producer and co founder is, is the person who we really have to thank for this. But Rob Schneider's smile and also what they did, this may not have been one of the triumphs of all time, but they did a very interesting evening when they did Cat and Mouse. The original title of Drat the Ca. And what had happened was is Ira Levin originally decided to write his own music. Now we know Ira Levin from Death Trap and Rosemary's Baby and the Stepford Wives. I mean, you know, I mean, he was, he had quite a career. But he did do Dress the Cat, but before that happened, he did his own music. Now I'm reasonably friendly with Nick Levin, his son, who told me that Ira went to Frank Lesser and said, here's my music. And Frank said, ira, get a composer, please. But I thought the music was quite good and certainly the lyrics for Draft the Cat are wonderful. There was a studio album made some years later because she only ran a week. And I wrote the liner notes and I'm very, very fond of it. And then they did Drat the Cat, which was really great too. So. So J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company is the full name and they had a very good year. And I'm delighted that we're going to see three musicals this spring. We're going to see Milk and Honey, we're going to see Carnival and we're going to see the Mystery of Edwin Drood. So that's coming up and I bet they're going to be wonderful.
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Yes. I just learned yesterday that Carnival had replaced Do I Hear a Waltz? Apparently due to rights issues.
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Yeah, maybe somebody is doing something with Do I Hear a Waltz? Which I think is a very underrated show because it does something that I don't know any other musical does. What it does. It, it ends with the two people you expect are going to get together, not getting together. But the point is this woman who has been on vacation learns something about herself and is a better person for having taken the vacation. That's the point of Do I Hear a Waltz? So I wish everybody would learn that everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon. By getting built in benefits, they leave out Check the math at@t mobile.com switch and now T Mobile is in US cellular stores. Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of optional benefits. Plan features and taxes and fees vary.
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Savings with three plus lines include third.
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Line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines.
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Qualifying credit required. You know, I'm a very big. I'm a big picture guy. I'm terrible at the details, but. But I saw somebody wrote something, so please, folks in the chat room, correct me as I get this wrong. The, you know, to kids that are just coming into their, you know, teens and twenties and graduating high school and college, their relationship to Rent is the same thing as people in the 80s. Relationship to Oklahoma in the 50s.
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Sure, sure.
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You know, it's. It's like it's been, you know, 30 some odd years or so.
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I know it's really something.
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So you, you think about that, you know, and, and I, I think of Oklahoma as a classic musical. I, I can't imagine thinking of, you know, Rent as a same sort of classic music. And I love Rent, but it's, it's.
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So it's past the time. A period piece now, of course, at the end of the millennium is actually a lyric and Lord knows that's stated, but nevertheless. But I will say I've heard a lot of young people say, rent, rent of that show. Rent. These people expecting not to pay rent. Come on, what's going on? So it does have its young critics as well.
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And, and the young folks don't know what Y2K is or some of these anachronistic references in the musical. You know, just think about that. We know when you're writing stuff and even, even all of the technology references and in Dear Evan Hansen, you know, are like, so passe these days.
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A
So, yeah, it doesn't take long for things to date. It was not going to date in my mind, though. And that's Sarah Snook in the picture, Dorian Gray. This was an amazing experience. I was flabbergasted at what I was seeing because I wasn't prepared for the fact that she was going to play all the parts in the show and did them astonishingly. There was one point where, through technology, she was sitting at a table and there were other people at the table. The other people were her. But it was technology that made it look that way. And yet I swore that, that those are real people up there. So it really was a dazzling show. Not only was she magnificent in doing all these parts, but the technology and the people around her who took a curtain call. The people with the cameras certainly deserve that curtain call as well. An amazing experience and I really believe, you know, we say this all the time, I'll never forget it, but this is one I will never forget.
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Yeah, camera operators. Five camera operators got their entries into the ibdb.
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Yeah. Who saw that coming?
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Yeah. I wonder if. Did they get Equity contracts? I do not know this. And three of them, I'm noticing. Oh, four out of the five are denoted in the IBDB as having their Broadway debuts. Which begs the question. Peter.
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Yep. Right. Well, you know there are nine judges for the theater awards which in case our listeners don't know, give up prizes to people making their Broadway or Off Broadway debuts. But I can't say that any of these people were noticed by the judges. Certainly not I and certainly not the other eight. So I'm sorry, apologies to all. But it's not that we loved you less, it's just that we loved other people more.
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Those just for posterity sake. The five camera operators were clue, C L E W. That's a one word name. The second one is Luca Kane, Natalie Rich, Benjamin Sheen and Dara Wu. So all of whom didn't expect to.
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Get their names mentioned today, I'll tell you.
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But yeah, that's great. That's great.
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B
So Michael, what else? In 2025 you sent me some stuff. Are you ready to reveal the stuff you sent?
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Yeah, well, continuing in the non Broadway vein, there was a wonderful mint production of Garside's Corner, an obscure play in Garside's Corner with Daniel Marconi, who's a full disclosure, a friend of mine, but also really, I think one of our finest new young actors there was the Jonathan Larson project, which had a regrettably very short run down at the Orpheum. Is that right?
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Yeah, yeah.
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I'm hardly ever there.
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Yeah.
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But I just heard, I think we actually mentioned last week that it's going to be playing in London or in South Southwark.
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Yeah, that's right.
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Yeah. So good for them. I hope it has a life and you know, it's, it's failure here had nothing to do with lack of quality. It was a fantastic show with an amazing ca. And really put together by the aforementioned John Simpkins, partly by him who are going to have. Did you, did we announce that already?
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No, we talked about it pre, but we're going to. We're. We talked with John this week and we're going to have him on. We just haven't nailed down a date yet. To get him on. But we're going to talk with John Simpkins who was the director of the, of the Jonathan Larson project and that's great. One of the co creators. Yeah.
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Then there was Streetcar Named Desire at BAM with Paul Mescal et al. There was Grangeville at On Theater Row. This was the other Samuel Hunter play of the. Of the season. The other one being Little Bear Ridge Road. And I personally vastly preferred Grangeville. Little Bear, Rich Road was entertaining but I think it had some pretty serious flaws in it. Grangeville was a wonderful, beautiful play, a two hander, exquisitely acted by Brian Smith and Paul Sparks. And then I, I guess I'll, I'll stop now and, and have Peter bump in. I'm still compiling my for me the.
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Best play of the 24, 25 season and we are limiting it to 25 but nevertheless I'm going to say that even the before that was Becoming Eve by Emil Weinstein. It's based on a memoir by Abby Chavez Stein. You know, there are so many stories including it comes up in the second act of Fiddler about Jews who are just their fuses are blown when their kids are involved with gentiles and there's going to be a romance or a marriage. But wow, what happens when a rabbi's kid turns out to be trans. Whoa. I mean that's really taking it up a notch or 2 or 287. So it was a very, very powerful play down at the Abrams Art center where we don't get very often, 466 Grand Street. I'm sure a lot of people don't even know where it is.
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B
But nevertheless, this is a New York Theater Workshop. But the. It was produced by New York Theatre Workshop but at the Abrams.
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A
Right? That's right. I should have mentioned that I had forgotten that, to be perfectly frank. But anyway, it was an amazing edge of your seat type of drama because whoa, you know, how can this work out with a super conservative rabbi? And I mean this is really a dilemma. So. And I won't tell you how it ends because I am hoping that this play will have another life. But becoming Eve really packed a wallop for me. I was so, so, so impressed by it. And I haven't heard that it's going to be anywhere else. And I'm sorry to hear that. I've been looking at regional theaters hoping that I'm going to find that somebody is doing it, but I must say that I haven't found that yet. I'm also going to go back for a play That I mentioned just recently, and that's Diversion by Scott Orgon. And I mentioned the fact that it was extended to January 11th, and I do believe that it's terrific. It's at an Office Building, 520 Eighth Avenue on the ninth floor. It's not a theater, it's a room. Chairs rather than seats, but not folding chairs. I mean, they have arms. But a very, very fine play about the medical world. Oh, no, I. I think that's really important to let people know whether, you know, I mean, I kind of.
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B
No, I was just thinking of this orange menace and putting marble armrests in the Kennedy Center.
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A
Yes. But, you know, I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've gone to off. Off Off Broadway productions and they've been terrific. And I write in the review. I write in the review the people were on the edge of their folding chairs because let people know what they were in for. So that was a play that I really, really admired. I will also mention that going to the Huntington Theater Company in Boston and seeing the Hills of California, which we had seen the season before here, was tremendous, a wonderful production. And Alison Jean White playing the parts, plural, that Laura Donnelly played on Broadway. She was. She was her equal. So she was really good. It was perhaps, yeah, I would say, next to Sarah Snook, because of course, that was really a tour de force, if we're talking about, you know, roles in a play. That's a very. A genuine, you know, play play. Quincy Tyler Bernstein in well, I'll Let yout Go, about a woman whose husband has died and she thinks she's found out something terrible about him, truly terrible, that devastates her. But as the play goes on, we find out the truth. But she was amazing. And this was done out in Brooklyn in essentially a gym. I mean, it may not have been a gym, but think of a gym and literally seats on each side like you see in a gy. There weren't many. I think it was something like 40 seats, something like that. But, boy, it was one. The wonderful thing about when you see people across from you when you're sitting in bleachers on each side of a stage, like Circle in the Square, that type of thing, is that you can see the expression on people's faces. And because the house lights are up during the entire play, I believe they were seeing the riveted expressions on people's faces was really something. So this is another one that I hope is going to get to the next step. Well, I'll let You go. It certainly deserves to be seen by more than 40 people a night.
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B
I am looking at their website here. I, I don't recall us talking about this on, on Broadway Radio.
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A
Really? I should have mentioned him.
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B
No, no, I, I probably just missed.
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C
It, but I, it sounds familiar to me.
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A
Does it? Yeah.
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B
Producers. Lauren Weinberger and she certainly could move, you know, could take this. So I don't know if 40 people sounds like they dipped their toe in the water and I wouldn't be surprised if they showed back up here. Wow, that's great. I love that. So, Michael, what else have you got for us?
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C
Let's see, where did I leave off? You left somewhere in the, Somewhere in the fall. Yeah. Oh. I always enjoy and I always publicize Scott Siegel's Broadway by the season shows. They're always great.
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A
Christiane Knoll was wonderful in one that I saw.
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C
Yes, yeah, yeah. Always love to see Her Purpose by Brandon Jacobs. Jacobs. We finally hit a Broadway show here that I really enjoyed. And then of course, you know, I think we have to hand it to George Clooney for doing Good Night and Good Luck, which he did not have to do. You know, I think it's a, the kind of project that he, he believes in. So I, you know, I wouldn't describe it as a vanity project in any way. And it gave him, we've discussed. It gave him the opportunity. Yeah, right. But it, you know, it gave all those people the opportunity see a real bonafide movie star who rarely if ever performs on stage in a part that I thought he fit perfectly. So that was fantastic. And speaking of movie stars. And there was Vanya with Andrew Scott, his one man version down at the Lortel. That's one I'll never forget. Wow. That was absolutely a tour de force. Just thrilling. Just thrilling. Another Broadway hit, John Proctor is the villain. I recommended that show to so many people and every single person came back to me and said, thank you. I really thought that was a great play. Nobody that in my experience disliked it. So that was fantastic. And to, to, to. And for the moment, Floyd Collins. Although I think, I don't know, it seemed somewhat disappointing in its reception to a certain extent. But I, you know, I. That show's never going to be for everybody. It is very unique. The score does not have mass appeal, even though it's a beautiful score. So I think they did an excellent job with it at Lincoln Centered Theater and was very, very wise of them to cast Jeremy Jordan in that role in which he was wonderful when apparently the project had originally been planned for Gavin Creel, who very sadly, we lost.
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A
So.
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C
And then one more thing for the moment, of course, just in time. Spectacular success on the part of several people, but. But most notably Jonathan Groff, just universally beloved in a role that I. I still arguably would say he's miscasting, but. But.
- [35:54]
A
But the real thing is so wonderful is his coming out and saying, hello, I am John Fink Roth, and I'll be a Bobby Darin tonight. A. On the thing you hear with waiters when you go to a restaurant, and that's so smart because all automatically he doesn't have to look like Bobby Darin or sound like Bobby Darin and whatever. So I think that is such a wonderful escape clause. That was very, very smart. But, yeah, he was terrific. And by the way, for all this talk about sweating and all that, I have to say, I. He came up very close to me. I was sitting on the aisle and he came up close to me, asked me to dance, and I didn't see any of that. I'll grant you it was early in the show, but nevertheless, I didn' come away from. From that. That's become such a major joke, maybe the biggest joke of the season. But I. I thought he was terrific, and I did enjoy the show, amazingly for Jukebox Musical. But the musical I felt bad about that I liked very, very much was Boop. And I didn't expect to Jimmy Jasmine. Amy Rogers was so wonderful as the character Betty Boop, um, had a wonderful voice for it, and especially a few weeks ago when we had her on the podcast, that's your voice. I mean, she wasn't putting on a voice, so the voice. I could really understand why she came into the audition. They said, wow, you know, that's the voice. You know, Boop had a tiny problem, a big problem, really. And that was the fact that at the end of the show, she has to return to the land of the comics because she had a relative, had invented a machine that got her to New York City, which. And she had a good time there, really. One thing after another, one good time after another. Falls in love, you know, helps him, the right mayoral candidate to get elected, blah, blah, blah, makes new friends, having a wonderful time. Then she's told that she's got to go back, and you feel bad because, you know, she's really in love with this guy, and, you know, he was very appealing and. And okay. But she goes back and suddenly people show up from New York and, whoa, wait a minute. What's happening? A shameless plug here. I've just finished a new book called Musical Makeovers, Suggestions for Broadway's Flops and Hits, in which I say, what should have happened is that at the beginning of the show when she's going to take this trip and she's discouraged from doing it, she says, look, you know, the guy who's drawing me is no kid. He could die at any moment, and then where would I be? All right, so at the end of the show when they say, you got to go back, what we find out is not the guy who draws her is dead, but he's retiring and a new person is taking over. And that person is going to draw Betty Boop. So as a result, Betty Boop can stay in Manhattan. Happy ending, you know, so. Oh, it's so easy to fix everybody else's show. But anyway, I really enjoy. I think, really, it had the song of the year, too. And why, look around the corner, the 11 o' clock night number, and astonishingly clever costumes by Greg Barnes, especially for the second act opener, because there was a lot of talk about black and white and color, and indeed, Greg Barnes certainly accommodated that very, very well and something I've never seen before. So. So that was really good, too. I hope Boop gets done again. And. And I wouldn't mind if they took my suggestion.
- [39:23]
B
So I want to tie back two things that. One that Michael talked about and one that Peter talked about. Peter, you talked about the. The Huntington right outside of Boston or in Boston proper. In Boston. Talked about the Huntington Arts Center.
- [39:41]
A
You.
- [39:42]
B
You were mentioning the hills of California, and then Michael talked about John Proctor as the Vision villain on Broadway. The Huntington did John Proctor as the villain in 2024. Peter, did you get it?
- [39:56]
A
Did you see. No. No, you didn't see that? So my admiration for the play is as strong as Michael's. I will say that I wish they weren't an intermission. I think it should have plowed ahead, But. But nevertheless, when you're complaining about an intermission, that's the first thing that comes to mind, which it does, is a flaw. Good Lord. I mean, you know, then, you know, you're really seeing. Talking about something good, you know, anything about stranger things. But, boy, was I entertained by watching what was going on that stage. I mean, if somebody said, what was it about? I can't tell you. I really don't know. But this is one that if I were invited back to, I would have gone again because it was just such fun to watch so many special effects that were really special. So So I enjoyed that immeasurably.
- [40:44]
B
Can I interrupt you for a second?
- [40:46]
A
Of course.
- [40:48]
B
So very difficult to buy Christmas presents for my children. You know, it's just every time I try to think about what to get them, I can't come up with anything. So I go to them and I say, what would you like? Stranger Things.
- [41:12]
A
Really? Tickets.
- [41:13]
B
Stranger Things tickets. Look at that. Both 22 year old son and 18 year old daughter won Stranger Things tickets. But not together. Different nights. Okay, so four house seats please. But, but yeah, I, I, I think very interesting to pull back to the whole we were talking a few weeks ago about. I called it A Tale of Two Broadways. You know, some of Broadway is doing very, very well and some of Broadway is doing very, very poorly. And it's interesting to see how the dichotomy of, of, of, of two different houses side by side. You know what, just what just clothes that I was stunned about the play at the booth. What?
- [42:18]
A
Yeah.
- [42:19]
B
Little Bear Ridge.
- [42:20]
C
Little Bear.
- [42:20]
B
Little Bear Ridge Roach. Yeah. I mean great show, great talent and you know, closed early. I, it was always scheduled for limited.
- [42:29]
A
Run.
- [42:31]
B
And good show and you know, we talked about. Boop. You know, these are all you literally within, you know, less than five minutes walking distance from each other and, and couldn't pull, pull the numbers in. So interesting to see there. But I, I interrupted your Stranger Things thing.
- [42:56]
A
But it, no, no, no, I was done. I really was. I really was.
- [42:59]
B
You know, but I was thinking when I get back to the Huntington, I was like, peter, maybe you should call up the artistic director at the Huntington and ask them if they considered. Boop.
- [43:12]
A
That'd be great.
- [43:13]
B
Something for them. Michael, what's next on yours?
- [43:17]
C
Didn't want to fail to mention Bus stop. The transport group and csc, Excuse me. Did a co production that was really fantastic with an all Asian cast. Might sound unusual, it was an excellent production and I, you know, it's hard to make that play work nowadays. I think it's very old fashioned in some ways, but they did it so good for them. Bo the musical. I've already seen it twice. Once when it was down on Christopher street and more recently when in its current home at the theater at St. Luke's on 46th Street. It runs through the 4th of January and I really think I might try to buy another ticket because I loved it so much. Really one of the best new musicals I've seen. I hope, I hope, I hope that that has another life. I don't know what it might be, but I hope everyone Gets this. See it. Two special events. Jonathan Groff at the 92nd Street Y. And there was a tribute to Lin Manuel Miranda at Town hall and those who I think in the same week that. So that was kind of amazing. Hello Dolly at Carnegie hall. The Transport Transport Group fundraising production with a full orchestra and an amazing cast including, including Harold and May Prince Faggot, which I almost did not go see because I was so turned off by the title and my expectations of what I was going to see. But as we know what we expect and what we assume does not always happen, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a very serious play, despite what you might think by the title. And I didn't think it was actually disrespectful in any way. I thought it was very intriguing and very probing fantasy of what might happen if young Prince George grows up to be gay and were to want to marry a man. So. So that was a real highlight for me. And all the more so because I just was so surprised by how much I liked it. I mentioned I saw a production of Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare in the parking lot, which was a total delight. And I'll end my current section by saying reminder that I saw three Fiddlers in just a few months time. The first one was a community theater production on Staten island island. And the second one was a high level community theater production at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, N.J. and the third one was the fabulous Signature Theater production down in Arlington, Virginia with Doug Sills in the title role. Absolutely. I think one could call that musical Indestructible, which one could almost say it for Guys and Dolls. Guys and Dolls survived this very recent, this current production that I saw also in D.C. at the Shakespeare Theater, epically misdirected by Francesca Zambello. But even Guys and Dolls did not survive that Broadway revival directed by Des Macanough. That was a. What is it called? A textbook case of how not to direct a musical. A classic musical. So. But you learn a lot when you see things like that. It's just that it's not very pleasant.
- [47:21]
A
To watch, you know, off the beaten path again. Something I've never mentioned, but I'd like to, is living in the bonus round by Steve Shacklin. Now Steve Shacklin, composer and lyricist and had AIDS and was so close to death at one point, it really seemed like there was no hope whatsoever. What's really amazing is that I'm not going to tell you who, but a famous character, well, the actor actually playing who played a Famous character on a very famous 1970s sitcom. Really gave so much hope to Steve Shackland's husband, Jim Brochu. And it really calmed him tremendously. And Steve came through. That's why he says he's living in the bonus round. And he sings a lot of songs about that. He's written a lot of songs about what happened to him. A lot of observations about life in general. And a terrific song, the song of the year for this type of venue, My New York Life. A great song. So I hope to see a winning, winning performer. He had a few people supporting him, but it was mostly his show and he really did a wonderful job. And this is another one that I hope shows up that again, one had to look far and wide to find a reference to it. But it was at Urban Stages, which is , I believe, 30th street, very close to 8th Avenue. And a very small space, like 99 seats of that. But they were filled. And boy, if you heard a recording of the applause afterwards, you would think it was far more than the number of seats that were there. So that was really great too. I want to commend Brian Stokes Mitchell for being in Love Life. He was really not quite a last minute replacement, but he was a replacement. He wasn't supposed to do it and you'd never know it. I mean, all these shows at don't have the luxury of four weeks of rehearsal. So I thought he was really quite wonderful. This was a very controversial, controversial production. And a lot of people were disappointed because it wasn't exactly what Love Life was back in 1948. But nevertheless, you had to be impressed by him and you had to be impressed by Kate Baldwin as well. Both of them were terrific. They had wonderful chemistry together. So Love Life has been mentioned so many times for encores. I think that our expectations were wildly high. And again, this is a story about a married couple. Couple. And they go through decades, if not centuries, and they never age. And this happened with the musical Hallelujah Baby too. And it's. It's not a good idea to do that because the point is they don't become real people. They. You can't bond with these people. All of us age. They don't. I mean, you know, so. So it's a bad conceit, it really is to do that type of thing. So I think that's one of the reasons why Love Lice didn't over almost as well because we couldn't get emotionally involved, involved because they didn't seem real, you know, that they're going through all these different decades and as I say, even from one century to the next. So I think that's a problem for the show itself. Alan J. Learner and a Kurt Vile score. Nice songs. Definitely. No question. But anyway, I really had to commend Brian Stokes Mitchell for saving the day when he did step in at the last.
- [50:54]
B
Moment. I was sort of compiling links and notes and things like that and it brought up Lincoln Center Theater production Brian Stokes Mitchell love life in 2005. But I did, I did find the encore stuff as well, but I didn't realize that he.
- [51:18]
A
Had. Maybe it's one night.
- [51:20]
B
Thing. Yeah.
- [51:20]
C
Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what that.
- [51:23]
B
Is. Yeah, yeah.
- [51:24]
A
May. Maybe it's a typo. Maybe it's supposed to be 2025, you know, as opposed to 2005. 5. Who knows? Maybe.
- [51:30]
B
That'S. But anyway, yeah, no, so, yeah, so life is a big circle. Everything keeps coming around. You guys had Michael talked about Classic Stage Company a few minutes ago. Uh, uh, with Bus Stop and Tran, uh, the transport and Classic Stage Company production of Bus Stop. But uh, you guys haven't mentioned Baker's Wife yet. Did Baker's Wife make the list for either one of.
- [52:04]
A
You? Oh, sure. Yeah. This is my fifth production of Baker's Life going all the way back to the original production that wound up closing out of Town. Never played Broadway even though the marquee was up at the Martin Beck Theater for it to come and they were raring to go. Paul Sovino and the Baker's Wife. But it's a small show and so it really, really profited from being in a small space. And it was really one of the surprise hits of the season because who expected there'd be such a demand for it. But a lot of people who hadn't seen it and had fallen in love with the recordings that have existed certainly made the most of it and said I'm not, I'm not losing the chance to see it now. So yeah, hot, hot, hot, hot ticket. So. And I'm very delighted to say that it was very, very well done and I was so glad to be. Be.
- [52:57]
B
There. Michael, how about you? What's next up on your.
- [53:03]
C
List? Before we do that clarification. Brian Stokes Mitchell starred in Something Called Love slash.
- [53:10]
A
Life.
- [53:11]
C
Oh. At the Beaumont. And I guess it was a one man show. Yeah, like maybe like something, something like Barbara Cook did there back in the day. Yeah, yeah. I mean I'm looking it up and I'm not seeing a whole lot of information. But there's a photo of him as a baby in the playbill and he had. Let's see, he had five musicians, so I guess we all missed it.
- [53:41]
A
Or I guess we.
- [53:42]
C
Did. And. Oh, and Peter, if I may correct the.
- [53:48]
A
Pronunciation. Oh, go.
- [53:49]
C
Ahead. Steve. Schaller. Shulkin. There's an L in there. Shalklin. Excuse me, I. I can. Correcting it. I was.
- [53:57]
A
Incorrect. Okay.
- [54:01]
C
Yeah. And I was a little.
- [54:03]
A
Confused.
- [54:03]
C
Why. Why were you unable to name the. The famous person? Because he's not a.
- [54:11]
A
Magician. Never reveals his tricks. No, I, I want that to be a surprise. I won't. I want this to be done again. And you're going to be amazed to find out who was giving support because on the sitcom he very much was a silly.
- [54:26]
C
Character. Oh.
- [54:27]
A
Okay. And. And for him to really rise to the occasion and really tremendously help in an empathetic. First off, why is he in the hospital doing this? You know, I mean, that, that alone was really quite wonderful. So.
- [54:42]
C
So. Okay. So you just thought it would be a.
- [54:43]
A
Spoiler.
- [54:44]
C
Yep.
- [54:44]
B
Yeah.
- [54:45]
C
Okay. I. Some other things. I loved two productions of. Two different productions of the Bridges of Madison County. Who would expect that excellent community theater production on Staten island and of course, the recent all star Broadway reunion concert at Carnegie Hall, Both with many pleasures to be had, play on at the Signature down in Arlington. I still have hope that it might do a Broadway.
- [55:22]
A
Transfer.
- [55:22]
C
I'm. I'm almost surprised that we haven't heard it yet, but things are still being announced, you know, so we'll see. And you know, I mean, doesn't have to be this spring, but momentum wise, that would be nice. Damn Yankees. Its signature. Another prime. Prime. Prime candidate for. I'm sorry, Damian gave. Is not its signature. It was an Arena.
- [55:50]
B
Stage. Arena.
- [55:51]
C
Yeah. Yeah. Prime candidate for. For transfer. Haven't heard anything about that yet either. As I. We've mentioned, it would be perfect for Circle in the Square. So remains to be seen if indeed if Just in Time is going to continue after Jonathan leaves, which he has announced he's leaving in March sometime. And then I have just a few more things. Caroline at.
- [56:19]
A
Mcc. I think I was going to mention that.
- [56:21]
C
Too. Yeah, that one, just a gem of a little moving, intelligent, tasteful, Very, very. Oh, what. What word would you use for it? It's all of those things, but it's. It's just so. It's not sensational in any way, even though the subject matter could have been. It's about a. A mother with a very young trans child. And that in itself could be obviously very controversial, but it's just treated very humanly. I. I can't imagine. I almost can't imagine anyone. One being upset by this play, even people who tend to be upset by such things. So we'll.
- [57:11]
A
See. And the kid, River.
- [57:14]
B
Smith.
- [57:15]
A
Whoa. Yeah. You know, and I think we're going to see this kid in more shows as time goes on. But wonderful. What a wonderful, wonderful relationship she. He had with the mother. They had with the mother. It was really, really.
- [57:33]
C
Something. Oh, gosh, yes.
- [57:35]
A
Yes. And that was played by. Was it Amy Landecker? Was that who that was? Or was it Chloe Grace Moretz? I. I don't really. I know that those two names were attached to it, but. But. And of course, what happens when the grandmother gets involved as well? You know, it.
- [57:53]
C
Has. She's totally, totally.
- [57:55]
A
Unexpected.
- [57:56]
C
Yeah. As far as I was concerned.
- [57:58]
A
They'Re going to be opinions there. So this was at MCC Theater, which is at 511 W. 52nd St. A little off the beaten path, but nevertheless worth going to two handsome houses in their reasonably new theater space. That was really, really something I enjoyed when I went to London, and I hope it comes here called the Comedy About Spies. Okay, so this is a British farce, and it's entirely possible that it wouldn't go here, though certainly the play that goes wrong has had no problems, has it? But they're the spies, and they understand that the people they're. They're supposed to capture are in room, let's say, 314, okay? However, the people they're supposed to capture went into the room, didn't like it and went into a different room. Yeah, please, we're changing our room, okay? So new people come in, totally innocent people, okay? And they have a problem with the room, too. Maybe the same problem like the shower leaks or something like that. So anyway, so they call the front desk and listen, can you have somebody come up and. And fix this? So anyway, they're waiting, and in burst the two guys who are supposed to capture the spies with Tommy guns, okay? And they see immediately these are not the people they were going for. So they say, yeah, we're with the hotel. We just want to make sure your room is all right. Well, imagine somebody coming in with Tommy guns, you know, saying, is the room all right? The people going, yeah, yeah, yeah, everything's great. Yeah, yeah. God, you know, you're threatened with guns. Are you kidding me? Good Lord. That's just one of the most delightful things that happens in the comedy about spies. I Don't know if it'll come here, but I don't know if it's still running in London, but if it is and you get over there, by all means do that. I think you'll have a wonderful time certainly seeing it. So that was. That was a highlight for me of. Of my trip to London. I. I think I enjoyed that more than anything else I saw there. Certainly more than Oliver. If we're going to do a worst of the year, boy, I certainly would include the Oliver that's over there now. I left after the first act, couldn't take it. So. But anyway, we're here. We are here to praise, so not to bury. That's right. Yes, indeed. Right. You know, so. So I'm going to do it. It was see English way back early in the year. A play that takes you about five minutes maybe to understand, oh, they're speaking English now, when they're not speaking English in actuality. So that was great fun to. When you finally catch on and, you know, it took me about five minutes. It may have taken you less time than five minutes, a fewer minutes, but nevertheless, it took me that long to put two and two together. But a very, very powerful play and was really glad to see it get to Broadway, even if it wasn't for that long a time. It would have been nice if it were longer, but nevertheless, it certainly did its job while it was there. So I was very, very glad about that. And I also have to say that a show that didn't get good reviews and seemed to be disappointing to everybody, I thought had two good performances. In fact, one of the performances was really panned tremendously, and that was Kieran Culkin and Glengarry Glen Ross. I thought he was fine. And I also very much enjoyed Bob Odenkirk in the same production, so. And that one didn't last long at all either. But I found it worthwhile. And even though Smash disappointed a lot of people, what I really thought was smart about Smash was the fact, here's a musical that's four weeks, you rehearse and rehearse three weeks. And it couldn't get worse. There were problems with the show. I'm not going to dismiss that. But what I loved was that they weren't worrying about the New York Times, they weren't worrying about critics. I don't even know if the word critics even came up in the show. They were about the teenage influencers getting on the net and giving their opinions. And so it was really up to date. And I thought that was really a very clever. I would have loved to have been in the room when somebody came up with that idea. And I, I, I just can imagine the joy that happened when that was embraced. So I thought that was really quite wonderful as well. So I was, I, I admired Smash for.
- [62:21]
B
That. Michael, what finishes out your.
- [62:29]
C
List? Oh, just a few more. I wanted to mention again, Sweeney Todd, which I saw at nyu, the Steinhardt School. Really an excellent, excellent production. And I also wanted to mention it's been, I guess, seesaw time at the York Theater, because if I could have a moment to indulge the, the burying part, they, they produce two of the worst things I've ever seen. This is not a drill. And also Platinum Dreams, but currently I think it's still running. They have one of the best shows they've ever done and another show that I've been recommending to everyone called Got a dad Dance. I know Peter loved it and I, and everyone I know has, has loved it as.
- [63:24]
A
Well. So the lunch recently with Ricky K. Larimer, who certainly a big power at the York, she assures me they're moving to stage.
- [63:33]
C
42. Really? So she said, wow, that would be, that would be.
- [63:40]
A
Big. Yeah. Yeah.
- [63:42]
B
So. So we've talked about stage 42 and, and the right type of show to fit in that space. That's interesting because.
- [63:53]
C
Yeah. Well, now, but that's. That, that might be really interesting because then would that mean presumably the York would retain their nonprofit.
- [64:01]
A
Status? I don't know anything about that. But anyway, she tells Peter, do.
- [64:05]
B
You mean Gotta Dance is Moving to stage 42 or York is moving to stage.
- [64:09]
A
42? No, I'm sorry. Gotta Dance.
- [64:10]
C
Dance. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you meant the whole.
- [64:14]
B
Company. Yeah, yeah. No, I immediately thought what Peter was saying and then I saw what you were saying, Michael, and I was like, yeah. No, no, no. So we clarified it. So, yeah, Got a dance. Might be a nice fit in 42 if it goes over.
- [64:31]
C
There. I hope that happens. It's just.
- [64:34]
A
Fantastic. Yeah. On a very different note, I admired tremendously Brandon J. Darned in In Waiting Funkadot. I thought he was magnificent as the guy who comes in in the first act who's rich and famous and powerful and yet in the second act is not so. He's very effective. I admired Natalie Palmides in a show called We E R We Are. She played a man and she played a woman. If you saw her turn one way, she was a woman. If you turn saw the other way, she was a man. So Split in half, the costume and she, the voice used for the woman and the voice used for the man. I'm not sure that either one was her real voice, but boy, they were convincing. So a tremendous, tremendous performance. I really admire the direction of Performance Punch. Adam Penford, the play about the young man who kills somebody and the ramifications that happen after that with his family. So very, very beautifully, beautifully staged and a very tough show to do, but he really made it very special. And this was at the Manhattan Theater Club at the Friedman Theater. And I liked it immeasurably and by the way, way, whatever you want to say. I thought the sets by Dane Laffrey and the costumes by Christian Cowan, both for the Queen of Versailles were.
- [66:06]
B
Terrific. All right, Michael, anything left to add from your.
- [66:15]
C
Side? I just read a real interesting comment on all that. Chat, chat, people talking about how, you know, some people are surprised that shows involving major talents can flop so badly. And, you know, somebody wrote something very cogent about that. He said, well, the question is always in the air though, right this season, how could Michael Arden or Susan Stroman or Jerry Mitchell or in London, Casey Nicholson Law not have noticed that what they were putting up was not even close to working? And it always happens. Latter day Tommy Toon, latter day Hal Prince until Phantom, latter day Jerry Zaks. You always wonder how people whose previous work indicates great taste and judgment stray so far. And yes, I know about loss of objectivity when you are too close, but that wouldn't explain early career greatness followed by late career bad judgment. So I guess it just points up the fact that, I mean, experience and talent are really, really great, but they're not always going to guarantee a hit because there are so many variables, so many varials in putting together a show and how an audience reacts to.
- [67:42]
A
Them. Well, as I always say, more than 20,000 men have played Major league baseball. And the Highest career batting average,367 by Ty Cob.67 out of a thousand. That means he got every time. Thousand times he was up. He got 367 hits. Doesn't sound so good, does it? But that's the batting average. That's the best that anybody has done over an entire career. So he had his flops, too, and plenty of them. And to use a football analogy, only the Miami Dolphins in 1972 had an an undefeated season. Every other champion in who won the super bowl, all that kind of business lost games. So failure is just inevitable part of life. You know, as I've always said, too when we were playing Monopoly as kids, they should have said, somebody should have said to us, this is real life, kids. This is real life. Sometimes, yes, you are going to get that bank error in your favor and get $200, but sometimes you are going to to be assessed for street repairs. It's going to happen, you know, so be prepared for that. That life is going to be a series of ups and downs and ups and downs like a roller coaster. But the thing is when you're on a roller coaster ride, when it's over, you're glad you took the.
- [69:02]
B
Ride. I, you know, it there, there's so much for me in my head that's exploding to say here about commenters who have never, you know, never been in, in the position of making final decisions on that for a, you know, a Broadway show is a business and most Broadway shows fail. Yeah, well, most small businesses fail as well and Broadway is considered a small business. And, and the thing is, is that you're capturing lightning in the bottle. You know, you start out with an idea idea that doesn't hit the stage until five years.
- [69:45]
C
Later.
- [69:46]
B
Exactly. And what made sense five years ago doesn't make sense now. And you know, it's, it's the, you know, how does a plane get so far off course? Because it could be just 1% off course but you know, three hours later it's thousands of miles off course course. And yeah, and that's, that happens in Broadway shows, you know, Queen of Versailles. Let's talk about Wicked. Wicked was in Chicago. All reports out of Chicago was disaster, negative, total disaster. Before it got to the Gershwin in New York. It was like, what was Kristen thinking? Who is this Idina? You know, it's like nothing works. Nobody's going to be interested in this, this storyline. The music isn't great. It, I mean you just never know. You just never, never know. But you know, for Queen of Versailles, it was out of town and booked the theater in New.
- [71:00]
A
York.
- [71:01]
B
York. And you have, you just try to have to make it work. They knew that it wasn't working. They knew it wasn't working. But the thing is you're too far along. You can't just stop.
- [71:14]
C
It. Well, as, as we discussed, you know, I mean David Merrick would do that, but that was very, very rare. And James, Wicked was San.
- [71:29]
B
Francisco. Yeah, San Francisco was.
- [71:33]
C
Yeah. But I'm glad you mentioned Wicked because you know, we always like to give heads up to people so they don't miss things, especially if they're one nighters. And I got my Tickets to A Wicked Evening with the Wizard February 21st at NJPAC New Jersey Performing Arts Center. It says the Wizard Will See youe Now, composer, lyricist Stephen Schwartz has penned some of the most popular quote unquote Broadway and Hollywood musicals of the last five decades. On this special night, he leads a symphonic celebration of Wicked's 22 years on Broadway and the release of the film Wicked for Good. Along with a 12 piece pops orchestra, the stars will come out to perform hits from Schwartz's award winning career. From Godspell to Pippin to Wicked and Beyond. And I just checked the. As I said, I bought tickets, I checked the website, there's lots of of good tickets available for not a whole lot of money. So you heard it here first.
- [72:33]
A
Folks. Yeah, apparently so. In terms of all this though, I'm always reminded of a lyric that Lee Adams wrote talking about Broadway musicals. But when it works, forget the jerks who told you it wouldn't go. There's nothing like a Broadway show. Now granted that was in a musical that ran one night called a Broadway Musical. That was the title, a Broadway musical. But the sentiment does ring.
- [72:58]
B
True. And sad news out of all that chat is Cafe Un de.
- [73:08]
C
Trois. Oh yes.
- [73:11]
B
Yeah. I mean Cafe Un de Trois. So many, so many Broadway shows were born there and you know, deals with made and things like that. So if you do have a chance and are in town, please stop by one last time to Cafe Un de.
- [73:30]
C
Trois. You still live in that building? I'm really gonna have to make a.
- [73:34]
B
Pilgrimage. 123 West.
- [73:37]
C
44Th.
- [73:38]
B
Correct. All right, so before we wrap up for today and move on to our next things, I want to you remind remind everybody that you can subscribe subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link that way each and every time there's a new episode of this week on Broadway be automatically downloaded to Apple podcast for you. Of course you don't have to listen to us in Apple podcasts. There's many ways to get us. One way is Patreon P A t r e o-n.com broadwayradio. You can get us early. You can get some special bonuses there. Also listen to us on Sunday morning Live. We have a handful of folks here that are Patreon supporters that are listening to us record live and all of our mistakes and the pre show and the post show and things like that. Also I think it was Sean Logan reminded me that the dates for the sign up for Listen to Us Live only went through the end of 2025, which, which is just another three days. So I put in the new 2026 dates into the thing. So if you are a Patreon supporter, you can sign up through 2026 to listen to us live on Sunday morning. Contact information for Peter from Michael and me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer to last week's brain.
- [75:09]
A
Teaser? Its original production ran over 1800 performances. With a run like that, you'd think that the title would be kept now and forever. And yet, fewer than 11 years later, after the show's original opening, the title was changed. Well, on October 9, 1978, Jacques Brell died. So the 1968 Off Broadway smash could no longer say that Jacques Brell was alive and well and living in Paris. So I've seen it mostly as Jock Brell is the new name. Frankly, I thought that mentioning 1800 performances would flummox our brain master because they just naturally assume I meant Broadway. But I couldn't fool the likes Bell, who was first followed by Tony Janicki, Josh Israel, Sean Logan, J. Aubrey Jones, Brigad and Fred Abramowitz. This week's question. Here are three phrases I observe. The carpet bag, the pool of tears. How could these three phrases possibly have an affinity, affinity with Neil.
- [76:12]
B
Simon? If you have an answer for that, email us@triviabroadrayradio.com we'll let you know if we're on the right track. So, Michael, what do we have in this week's musical.
- [76:24]
C
Moments? Well, we've been featuring lately Broadway related Christmas music and I guess it's still the Christmas season, at least until, well, a few more days. So I wanted to highlight today two songs. Songs. There are two Christmas songs in Promises, Promises. I don't know how many other shows not about Christmas have two Christmas songs in them. So I think that's kind of neat. And one, of course, is Turkey Lurky Time. We have here for the opener a link to something really neat there. There was a video of the the mo. Well, most of the original cast, it's Donna McKechney and Bayork Lee. And then I think it's a third girl who was not the original performing Turkey Lurky time on the 1969 Tony Awards Show. And but what someone did is they took the recording from the cast album, which is in stereo and far better sound than the TV sound, and they synced the it up to the video. So I think it's really very enjoyable and, and you'll have fun seeing that, especially if you haven't seen it before. And then our closer is the other an excerpt of the other Christmas song from Promises, which I think is not that famous. And I'm a little surprised it never became more. It's a beautiful, beautiful song called Christmas Day. I, I think maybe the reason why it didn't never became very popular is there's a sadness to it. And also I, as far as I know, very few people ever covered it. So we could have used the Broadway cast performance of that, but instead I did find one cover version sung by Jack Jones, one of my favorite singers. So that is our closer. And please enjoy these two Christmas tunes from Promises Promises by Bert Bacharach and Hal.
- [78:42]
B
David. All right, so on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye bye.
- [78:55]
C
Bye. Bells ringing out Goodwill to men and peace on earth. Everything they taught you when you were a child. The things a child once taught the world. If Christmas Day is really in.
- [79:28]
A
Your.
- [79:29]
C
Heart you don't have to save up all your love to give Once I learn to give Try to live, try to live each day like Christmas.