This Week on Broadway for February 9, 2025: Urinetown @ Encores!

Summary

BroadwayRadio: This Week on Broadway for February 9, 2025 – Urinetown @ Encores!

Hosted by BroadwayRadio

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1. Welcome and Introductions

James Marino kicks off the episode by welcoming his guests, Peter Felicia and Michael Portentier. Peter, a multifaceted playwright, journalist, and historian, introduces his latest project—a day-by-day wall calendar titled A Show Tune for Today: 366 Songs to Brighten Your Year. Michael, a seasoned theater reviewer and essayist, shares insights from his work with castalbumreviews.com and his experience as a theatrical photographer.

2. Song of the Day: "Heart and Soul" from Forever Plaid

Peter announces the song of the day, “Heart and Soul” from the musical Forever Plaid. He ties the selection to a significant historical event on February 9, 1964, referencing the record-breaking Ed Sullivan Show featuring selections from Oliver! and Tessie O'Shea from The Girl Who Came to Supper.
“Heart and Soul From Forever Plaid, February 9, 1964.” ([01:25])

3. New Releases and Supporting Broadway

Peter discusses his new calendar, available at Drama Bookshop and online retailers like Amazon. He encourages listeners to support the Drama Bookshop, emphasizing the importance of backing Broadway-related businesses.
“Support Drama Bookshop. Get over there and get a show tune for today, 366 songs to brighten your year.” ([02:48])

4. Sondheim's Reign: Sweeney Todd Tops the Poll

Michael shares the results of a poll from the Stephen Sondheim Group on Facebook, revealing that Sweeney Todd overwhelmingly topped the list as the favorite Sondheim musical. He adds, “I was very gratified that Sweeney Todd was chosen because I would absolutely place that as number one myself.” ([03:53])

5. Engaging the Community with Brain Teasers

Michael presents a brain teaser related to musicals: “There's a musical that has two lead characters that have names that sound the same as two real life people who collaborated on another musical...” ([06:35]) Peter eventually answers correctly, identifying City of Angels and the collaborators Julie Stein and Peter Stone.

6. Urinetown @ Encores!: A Detailed Review

Michael delves into the latest Encores! production of Urinetown at City Center, reflecting on its enduring appeal over 24 years. He praises elements like Mark Holman's music and Greg Kodis' book but critiques aspects such as casting choices and directorial consistency. Notably, he commends Tiffany Mann's performance as Penelope Pennywise, highlighting her professionalism and vocal prowess.
“Tiffany Mann... had an absolute triumph as far as just really saving the production and being so 1000% professional.” ([16:30])

Peter recalls the emotional moment when Urinetown was first seen before the tragic events of September 11, 2001, emphasizing the show's resilience and intelligent satire.
“It's so amazing that this show with this terrible title has been done so many times.” ([17:19])

7. Celebrating the Ed Kleban Prize for Musical Theater

Peter provides an overview of the recently awarded Ed Kleban Prize for Musical Theater, honoring his legacy as the lyricist behind A Chorus Line. This year, Benjamin Velez and Madeline Myers received $100,000 each for their promising work in lyrics and librettos.
“Benjamin Velez was the winner for the most promising lyricist while Madeline Myers was the winner for the most promising librettist.” ([21:27])

8. Spotlight on the 121 Project Showcase

Michael discusses the inaugural year of the 121 Project at the Lucy Lindet Theater, which showcases excerpts from five new musicals in development. He praises the quality and professionalism of the showcased productions, expressing hope for their future success on Broadway.
“I was so happy and gratified that all of them seemed very, very worthy.” ([27:42])

9. Recent Performances: Schmigadoon and Vanessa Opera

Michael shares his experiences attending Schmigadoon at the Kennedy Center, lauding its humorous take on classic musicals and strong audience reception despite mixed professional reviews. He also reviews a rare production of the opera Vanessa, highlighting stellar performances by Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson.
“I absolutely loved this show... great cast.” ([31:56])

10. Remembering Tony Roberts

The hosts pay tribute to the late Tony Roberts, reminiscing about his contributions to Broadway and his professionalism. Peter fondly recalls Roberts’ acknowledgment of his acting teacher, Alvina Kraus, underscoring the importance of mentorship in theater.
“He really did a lot. I really enjoy him on the London cast album of Promises Promises.” ([53:56])

11. Upcoming Productions: Big Fish Revival and More

James Marino announces the upcoming reading of a Big Fish revival featuring Patrick Wilson. He encourages Broadway enthusiasts to secure tickets promptly as productions gain popularity and ticket prices rise.
“If you're a Broadway fan and a completist... you gotta get on these tickets immediately today.” ([58:07])

12. Musical Moments: Celebrating Bobby Darin

Michael introduces the Musical Moments segment, featuring two of Bobby Darin’s original recordings: “Just In Time” from Bells Are Ringing and “Artificial Flowers” from Tenderloin. He reflects on Darin’s influence in bringing show tunes into pop culture.
“Please enjoy these two recordings of Just In Time and Artificial Flowers by Bobby Darin.” ([66:55])

13. Closing and Brain Teaser Answer

Peter revisits the earlier brain teaser, providing an additional clue about two musicals opening 11 days apart in the early '60s, each featuring an 11 o'clock number mentioning credit cards. The answer involves recognizing connections between well-known and lesser-known musicals, encouraging listeners to engage with the trivia.

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Notable Quotes:

• “Heart and Soul From Forever Plaid, February 9, 1964.” – Peter Felicia ([01:25])

• “I was very gratified that Sweeney Todd was chosen because I would absolutely place that as number one myself.” – Michael Portentier ([03:53])

• “Tiffany Mann... had an absolute triumph as far as just really saving the production and being so 1000% professional.” – Michael Portentier ([16:30])

• “Benjamin Velez was the winner for the most promising lyricist while Madeline Myers was the winner for the most promising librettist.” – Peter Felicia ([21:27])

• “I absolutely loved this show... great cast.” – Michael Portentier ([31:56])

• “Please enjoy these two recordings of Just In Time and Artificial Flowers by Bobby Darin.” – Michael Portentier ([66:55])

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Final Thoughts

This episode of BroadwayRadio offers a comprehensive dive into contemporary Broadway happenings, from in-depth reviews of Urinetown and Schmigadoon to celebrating emerging talents through prestigious awards like the Ed Kleban Prize. The hosts engage listeners with thoughtful discussions, memorable quotes, and interactive segments, making it a must-listen for theater enthusiasts seeking to stay informed and connected with the Broadway community.

For more detailed discussions and updates, subscribe to BroadwayRadio at broadwayradio.com or support them on Patreon.

Transcript

[Unknown Singer]

Now you're here and I know just where I'm going. No more doubts or fears I have found my way. For love came just in time. You found me Just in time. And changed my lonely life that lovely day. Just in time.

[James Marino]

Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios. This week on Broadway 4 for Sunday, February 9, 2025. My name is James Marino, and in the broadcast today, we have Peter, Felicia, and Michael Portentier. Peter is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by Day wall calendar, A show tune for today, 366 songs to brighten your year has been released. Peter has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select, and many other places. Hello, Peter.

[Peter Felicia]

Hi.

[James Marino]

It's February 9th, Peter. What is our song of the day?

[Peter Felicia]

This was an easy one because it refers to Forever Plaid. And I chose Heart and Soul, Frank Lester, song that I'm crazy for, which was in Forever Plaid. And the reason is that literally, Forever Plaid dealt with four young men who had a group, the Plaids. Yeah, I think you can tell from the name of the group that they were a little bit on the conservative side. But anyway, they were on their way to appear and they ran into a bus and it didn't happen. But it was also the night of that famous ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964, when the nation tuned in to see the selections from Oliver that were going to be on and as well as Tessie O'Shea, who was in the Girl who Came to Supp. It was a big night for Ed Sullivan and set a lot of records as the most watched program that he had ever had. So that's what I'm celebrating. Heart and Soul From Forever Plaid, February 9, 1964.

[James Marino]

All right, so you don't have to wait for us every week to find out what the song of the day is. You can jump over. Is it a drama bookstore?

[Peter Felicia]

I believe it is. Yeah. I know they were supposed to get in.

[James Marino]

So, you know, support Drama Bookshop.

[Peter Felicia]

Indeed.

[James Marino]

Support Drama Bookshot. Get over there and get a show tune for today, 366 songs to brighten your year. Or you could go to the Death Star, Evil Empire, and Amazon and get it there as well. And. And it's. Although also at finer bookshops as well.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right.

[Michael Portantier]

So.

[James Marino]

All right, so check that out. Also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael's a theater reviewer and essayist. Essayist. All right, we'll try that one more time. Also with this is Michael Portentier. Michael is a theater reviewer and essayist. He's the founder and editor of castalbumreviews.com he is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other major publications. You could see his photography [e-mail] hello, Michael. Hello, Michael.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

What is your favorite musical? According to Facebook, There's a group, Facebook.

[Michael Portantier]

Group called the Stephen Sondheim Group. And they. Yeah, and they did a poll of, of the members of the group as to what their favorite Sondheim show is and also to rank the top 20. You know, and so it says the ultimate winner was. Well, they asked all of the members, actually. I'm sorry, they asked them to name their top five Sondheim shows. 327 people responded and 256 of those. Wow. Chose Sweeney Todd. And 88 of them had it in first place, more than double the second place choice, which was Sunday in the park with George. So I think that's interesting in many ways. As I wrote, I'm very gratified that Sweeney Todd was chosen because I would absolutely place that as number one myself. I was a little surprised. I personally would play several shows before Sunday in the park, including Folly's Little night Music and Co. And maybe a few of the others. But. So it was surprising to me in that sense, but not at all surprising that Sweeney Todd was voted number one. That really made me very happy.

[James Marino]

The moderators of that group are very, very strict and think, you know, I, I tried to participate and I, I put them. My favorite musical was Starlight Express and they banned me from the group and banned, done.

[Michael Portantier]

Actually, I'm, I'm a member of another group called Finishing the Chat. Yes, but, but I forget if I'm actually, I guess I'm a member of Stephen Sondheim group because I got, I saw the, I saw the, you know, the post. But yeah, as you say, they're, they're very, they're very exclusive.

[James Marino]

Yeah, there's a few really good Broadway groups on Facebook. Joseph Moliner's got one. I can't remember. It's a Broadway themed one. I can't remember the name of it. Oh, right. But you know, talk about, if you want to talk about Broadway all day long, you can certainly do it on Facebook or Reddit or Broadway World's chatboards or all that chat on talking Broadway. Some really great communities.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, and by the way, I was going to post this, but I'll give it here first. I thought of what I think is a fun brain teaser. Okay. So there's a musical that has two lead characters that have names that sound the same as two real life people who collaborated on another musical.

[Peter Felicia]

Wow.

[Michael Portantier]

Okay. And in one. In one case, one. One name is spelled differently from its counterpart. But as I said, both pairs sound exactly the same. Anything leap to mind?

[Peter Felicia]

Wow, that's incredible. No, I'm terrible at this.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, it's terrible, James. It involves one of your favorite musicals.

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, really? Ah, yeah, I can dish it out, but.

[Michael Portantier]

Okay, well. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. It's Stein and Stone.

[James Marino]

Oh, City of Angels.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes. And, and, and then we had. For Sugar, we had a collaborate. Collaboration of Julie Stein, although spelled differently, and Peter Stone.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, yeah, good point. Excellent, excellent.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, sometimes they, you know, they leap out at you.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, yeah, sometimes they do. Yeah.

[James Marino]

All right, excellent. So let's. Oh, you know what? I wanted to mention that Jan Simpson's most recent all the drama, the old maid, the 1935 winner for the Pulitzer Prize for drama, is now available to the general public. You could have gotten it earlier if you were a Patreon member, but it is now available to everybody. So check that out in the regular feed or get over to patreon.com broadwayradio and you can get it there as well.

[Peter Felicia]

Yesterday I met a terrific woman named Kristen Stultz Presley who is doing a book on the 10 Pulitzer Prize winning musicals. And that sounds terrific to me and I'll look forward to that. I mean, she's. I think she's just started, but if we live long enough, I think we'll see this from her and I am very much looking forward to it.

[James Marino]

Oh, excellent. So first up, Michael, you were over at City center, where you got to see the latest Encores production, which is Urinetown. So tell us, how has this held up over the last 24 years?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, I think the show itself has held up brilliantly. Music and lyrics by Mark Holman. Book and lyrics by Greg Kodis. I have very, very fond memories of the original production, which I first saw when it started at that theater on 54th street, which I think is called the American Theater of Act. And it was part of. Was it part of Nymph or the Fringe? The Fringe, yes, that's right. And that was incredible to see it there because it was. It came out of nowhere and it was just so well done and so clever, really. Basically a spoof of musicals with the primary target being, I guess, the Brecht Weil style of musicals, but references to other types of shows in it as well. And of course, Year and Town went on to great Success on Broadway, I suppose thought of very unlikely success at the time given the title. But it's the kind of show that it's so meta and so self referential and there are even comments in the show about, you know, how ridiculous the subject matter and the title are and how, you know, and how too much exposition can really kill a musical. You know, what we do. I would say this was a fitfully successful production directed by Teddy Bergman, who I'm not that familiar with, but he did K Pop and Mary Mitchell Campbell as the excellent musical director. This show is written by. For a much smaller orchestra than has been featured in most encores shows, although I think somewhat expanded from the original, but still much, much smaller. There were no strings in the show, which you know, is part and parcel of the whole Brecht Weil sound, you know. And yeah, so Teddy Bergman, I would say, was intermittently successful in directing this show. This is the kind of show where every single element, every single actor has to be on the same page with the director in terms of the tone of it because it's a, you know, it's a very fine line where you're walking a very fine line between spoof and sincerity. You know, how much do the actors wink at the audience and how much do they play the characters as if. Because after all, the characters arguably are not supposed to know they're in a spoof, you know, so it's that whole thing and it becomes very, very tricky. And I would say that again, that's where this production was not completely successful. It didn't, did not seem, quite seemed that everyone was playing in the same style. I think one big mistake was casting an actual very young woman or child in the role of little Sally Pearl Scarlet Gold. And I hate to say anything negative because she's obviously very talented, but I didn't think she quite had the right attitude that Spencer Caden so brilliantly brought to the role in the original. And I just think it was beyond her as a, you know, as a young, as a child. So I can see why the casting was done, but I do think it was a big mistake. Other people were far more successful with the style. Greg Hildreth as Officer Lock Stock, my friend with whom I attended and I agreed that the absolute star of the show was of all people, Stephanie Stiles in the role of Hope Cladwell, which is not, I think most people would agree, not the most stellar role in the show. But she, we thought she had it absolutely down as far as how spoofy to be and Just the exact degree to which she should do that. Also, I very much enjoyed Jeff Hiller as Mr. McQueen. An odd disappointment to me was Kevin Cahoon as Old Man Strong and Hot Blades Harry. I have adored Kevin Cahoon in several shows, most recently, I suppose, in Shocked. He was just beyond brilliant in that. And I think he's another one of those comic genius people, but I don't know, I just thought he missed in both of these roles. I felt he was doing a lot of screaming and maybe that's something the director might have helped him. Did not. And another disappointment, I'm sorry to say, was Rainn Wilson as Caldwell B. Cladwell. He was not. He was not bad, he was not awful, but he just didn't have that edge, that comic edge that John Cullum so effortlessly had and other people whom I've seen do the role in other productions. So it was. Yeah, so it was a very big spag in that, in that regard. And, and here also is something amazing, kind of amazing that happened. The opening performance did apparently feature Keala Settle as Penelope Pennywise, but then I am told that since then she has not performed this, this weekend. And I saw the second performance and the role was taken by Tiffany Mann, who was so great as far as vocally and also just in, you know, presence. And the fact that you would never, ever have known that she was just thrown into it with, I'm sure, very, very little rehearsal. So because of that, I, I don't almost don't even want to mention that she was another person who I felt didn't quite have the right comic sensibility for the role. But, but I, you know, I, again, I don't even want to focus on that because she had an absolute triumph as far as just really saving the production and, and being so 1000% professional. And she got quite. And ovation after her first song, which comes rather early on, very early on in the proceedings. I think she certainly stood up vocally to memories of Nancy Opal, who. And I can give no greater compliment than that because Nancy Opal is phenomenal when she did the role originally. So, yes, Tiffany Mann, if you're not that familiar with her, I think that this is going to be a tremendous feather in her cap and bravo to her for really just being so 100%, 1000% professional under very trying circumstances.

[Peter Felicia]

I will never forget, and many people in my audience will never forget seeing Urinetown at its final preview, or what was supposed to be its final preview, September 10, 2001. We all left that Theater so enthusiastic. Everything always right with the world. And little did we know, in a matter of hours it wouldn't be. But. But it's so amazing that this show with this terrible title has been done so many times. I've seen it in high schools, so. Yeah. So it's really great that it overcame what could have been a knee jerk reaction that people just wouldn't even pay attention to it because of the title. But it's a very, very smart show and we will see a lot of it in the future as well.

[Michael Portantier]

Very smart. And as we talked about it not long ago, I don't remember how it came up, but I mentioned that it was the first show that I saw when Broadway reopened after 911 a few days later. And as I said, I think everyone in the audience that night felt it was the best show they had ever seen.

[Peter Felicia]

Sure, sure.

[Michael Portantier]

It was just. Just incredible.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. Yeah.

[James Marino]

All right. So Michael, as we ask all the time for encore shows, what do you think?

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I don't.

[James Marino]

I don't know.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I don't think so. I don't.

[James Marino]

Didn't even have to finish that.

[Peter Felicia]

No. Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

The Times review was quite. Overall, several of the others that I saw were far more mixed or negative.

[James Marino]

Yeah. So interesting. Maybe a limited run or maybe some sort of national tour or something like that. We'll have to see how this shakes out. I mean, certainly the encores. It really wasn't an encore production. The ragtime thing, was that a. That was a gala production. That was.

[Michael Portantier]

It was. Yeah, right. Non encore City center production.

[Peter Felicia]

If anything suggests that it's expensive to move a show you're in town would have to be a good example because the set of the original looks like it could have been put in a U Haul and moved. But they had to get out of their theater because of course there was going to be construction. They were at what is now the Stephen Sondheim Theater. But as anybody who had been there before when it was the Henry Millers can tell you that it's been very much changed. But there was a skyscraper going up, etc. Etc. So they had to get out. And the thing was, was too expensive for them to move. I dare say that you're in town would have passed a thousand performances easily if indeed that had not been a factor that they had to get out. But what a shame that they couldn't continue. So. So in a way it's continuing now.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[James Marino]

All right. So the production that Michael was talking about at City Center Encores is got another week Left. It's through next Sunday, February 16th. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes.

[Michael Portantier]

And I hope Keala Settle is okay.

[Peter Felicia]

I hope she comes back, lovely lady.

[Michael Portantier]

But if not, you are not going to be disappointed in Tiffany Manny.

[James Marino]

So, Peter.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

Ed Kleban, right. Who is, you know, just the Broadway insiders know his name and outside of Broadway, we really don't hear everyday civilians knowing about Ed Kleban at the Ed Kleban Prize for Musical Theater was just awarded for 2025. But why don't you give us 30 seconds on Ed Kleban?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, actually, if you know the musical A Class act, it's more than 30 seconds and it's an excellent musical about the fact that he was a man who after he wrote Chorus Line, the lyrics for Chorus Line, that he was pretty much blocked because how do you follow up a success like that? So nothing was good enough. He did musical versions of the American Nation, Americanization of Emily. He did music version of A Thousand Clowns. He did a show called Gallery. We saw none of them. And, and it's really too bad that we talk about people being victims of success or a fear of success. This was another variation on that. However, because he died so young, I think he was 47, he had tongue cancer, which really is a terrible thing, period. But the idea of a lyricist having that is even worse. He decided to leave a lot of money from the Chorus Line prophets to help young writers to get started. And so as a result, two writers a year get a hundred thousand dollars. And this year, Benjamin Velez was the winner for the most promising lyricist while Madeline Myers was the winner for the most promising librettist. And they did selections from their shows, two songs each. And I'm telling you they were wonderful. We always hear about the fact that, oh, there's not a tune you can hum, I'm telling you, all the way out of the the ASCAP offices, which is where the ceremony took place. I'm telling you. There I was for at least 10 minutes humming wanna go out from Benjamin Veles's musical Borderline. By the way, he's gonna have a show represented on Broadway very soon. The real women have curbs show is is his so so Borderline was a Roman rom com musical. But you the, the woman and man trying to get together and hoping to find some commonality was really very good. Meline Meyer show is far more adventurous, I'll tell you. It's called Double Helix and it deals with DNA and who found it and how it happened and all that goes with that. It's already been done. It was done at the Bay Street Theater and if we live long enough, I guess we'll see it. A lovely ceremony, certainly, because Richard Malpy Jr. And Murray Eston were the co emcees and had a lot to say. Very witty, of course, as they, as they always are. So it was really quite nice. Had a very nice conversation with John Weidman, who's on the board as well, because John wrote A Hasty pudding show in 1967 and whenever we get together, we start singing songs from it. Written. The lyrics, by the way, were written by Stephen Mohannon, who was best known as Gus the theater cat in the original production of Cats. So a lovely ceremony and such good feeling in the room and everybody was just so enthusiastic to. To see two young people who really proved how worthy they were in, in their songs to get this, this nice prize. Now indeed, if you are a musical theater bredest and lyricist, you do have until St. Patrick's Day, March 17th to. Oh, I'm sorry, you starting on March 17th, I got it wrong. You can apply to the prize which is at www. Newdramatists.org KlebanPrize. There's a hyphen between cleavann prize and there's hyphens after prize between musical and theater. Theater is spelled with an ari, by the way, so. But you'll find it. And you have till May 15th to apply and I think you really should because $100,000 may not go as far as it used to, but it's still pretty good. And you'll have a lovely time at the ceremony as well. So I was delighted to be there and delighted to applaud these two young people who I do believe we're going to hear from in the years to come.

[James Marino]

With $100,000, you can actually go to a C. Othello.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right. Yes. Yes. You might even be able to bring someone. Yeah.

[James Marino]

Doesn't include parking and dinner, though.

[Peter Felicia]

No, not a chance. No, no, no.

[James Marino]

And congestion pricing.

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, yeah, that too.

[James Marino]

Yeah. All right. So that was the Cleveland Prize for musical theater. The 2025 ceremony at ASCAP was an invitation only event on February 3rd. And I'll have a link to a Playbill article about it in the show Notes on feature. February 3rd. Michael was not at ASCAP, but he was at the Lucy Lortel theater seeing the 121 project showcase. So, Michael, tell us about this.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I'm just realizing it was the same night and I guess a very similar type of event. I wasn't aware of this project until I got a press release about this particular presentation. Had you heard of it before?

[Peter Felicia]

Yes, I got. But the same way you did from the, from the press release.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, but not before that.

[Peter Felicia]

Not before. Not before.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I mean, I guess it's been. It's not brand new, if I understand, but what it is, it's. It's another musical. New musical development program. And so they showcased excerpts from five new musicals in development, all recipients of support from the inaugural. Oh, it is the inaugural year. The inaugural year of the 121 Project. And the reason it's called the 121 Project is the address of the Lortel Theater is 121 Christopher street and that's where they're based. And it's described as a tailored artistic development program to help writers take their musicals to the next level. So quite similar to the Cleban.

[James Marino]

So, Michael, it's. I think what's confusing is that the 2024 was the inaugural year, but they've just announced their 2025 recipients.

[Michael Portantier]

Right, but I. But I thought maybe it went back further than 2024 and I guess not.

[James Marino]

Okay, I see what you're saying. Yeah, but they do have. You know, that's what's confusing to me was that they just announced their 2025 recipients. But you saw the 2023, four recipients, correct?

[Michael Portantier]

Yes. And they had a six piece band and they had, I would say, two or three selections from each of the five musicals. And those musicals are Barnstormer by Cheryl. Cheryl L. Davis and Doug Cohen.

[Peter Felicia]

Right.

[Michael Portantier]

Cole C O A L by Nicholas Connors, Hart Island H A R T Island by Michelle Elliott and Danny Hangill Larson Little Duende by Georgina Escobar and Robbie Hagar, and the Break by Christopher diamond and Michael Kooman. And it really was. I was so happy and gratified that all of them seemed very, very worthy. And I would say that maybe one song from one of the shows struck me as less than very good. All of the others were at least very good, or I would say some of them were pretty great. You know, I'm just on first hearing and that's quite, quite a statement. Plus Gilding the Lily. They had excellent singers such as Andrew Durand, Jerry Dixon, Natasha, Yvette Williams, Jelani Remy and many others who I was not familiar with, but were also really great. So it was such a, such a thrilling evening for me to see such an incredibly high level of achievement across the board. I mean, you would think that maybe one of the shows would not have struck me as a winner, but I think that they all certainly seemed, on the basis of what was presented, that they all deserve a future life. And I hope that they all get that.

[Peter Felicia]

You know, somebody said to me recently, gee, you wouldn't assume that Lucille Loisel would be developing musicals. You'd think it'd be plays. But the funny thing is that the Lucille L'htel Theater, known as the Theater Delise, originally really made its mark because of a musical, the revival of the Threepenny Opera, a show that had run 13 performances on Broadway, suddenly was running 2,000 plus performances at that theater. It really was a very important boost to off Broadway in a time when off Broadway was really just finding itself in the, in the mid-50s. So. So in a strange way, this is coming full circle for Lucille Lotel.

[Michael Portantier]

Yep.

[James Marino]

Okay, so I have a link back to the 121 project with more information and some other great stuff stuff there. So check it out if you are interested. Michael, last couple of weeks we have been talking with you remotely. Last week from the Kent from Washington D.C. you were down there seeing Schmigadoon and you couldn't talk about Schmigadoon because the embargo hadn't been lifted yet. But now you are free to roam the country. That's something else. Wait, Southwest Airlines. Okay. So, Michael, Schmigadoon, what did you think about this adaptation from the television show?

[Michael Portantier]

I loved it. I and I. Yes, I went to the press opening, so that's, that's why I couldn't talk about it. And also it was the day after. No, well, no, I'm sorry. It was the same day that of the podcast, but it was later that day. So yeah. Book music and lyrics by Cinco Paul based on the TV series of the same title, of which I saw precisely about five minutes. I don't know why, but that's all I saw of it. And it so happens that the only five minutes of it that I saw of the TV series was a number sung by Anne Harada in the role of the mayor's wife. And she is the only member of the TV cast to be repeating her role in this live production at the Kennedy Center. So that was fun for me. For those of our listeners who are unfamiliar with the show and probably no one here is unfamiliar with it, it's yet another. I've had a very spoofy. It's another meta show about, in this case about a couple you know a present day couple who somehow get stuck in a musical in a town where, where people conduct themselves as if it's a musical. And the title is a. Is a clear takeoff on Brigadoon. And that's one of the shows that's primarily spoofed. But also you'll see a lot of Carousel, the Music man, bits of Oklahoma. And lots of other mid 20th century shows. And this is really interesting. I absolutely loved this show, which by the way was directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli who also worked on the TV series. And I my immediate reaction was not only because I loved it, but also the audience response to that opening performance was so great and so over the top that I immediately said, well, I'm gonna run home. And when I talk about this on the podcast, I'm gonna predict that this is going to be a Broadway transfer. But then I read several professional reviews and also comments online from some people that were far more mixed. And I think it' those people were familiar with the TV series, whereas I am not. And so apparently a lot of it is very. This is almost apparently a condensed version of the TV series with mostly the same songs and I think two, two or three new ones. And I guess some people. So in the eyes of some people it was old hat to an extent because they've already seen it. And again, not only the songs, but I guess a lot of the dialogue has been recreated for this musical. So maybe that's the reason why some other people had a much more mixed reaction to me. But I'm still gonna stick with my prediction because the audience's response, as I said, was just over the top adoration. And I don't think that anything that gets that kind of response can be dismissed. And so I would not be surprised, of course, if a theater is available if you see this on Broadway for a limited run at some time over the next months or whatever. Great, great cast. Alex Brightman and Sarah Chase, just perfect as the central couple. And then we had Kevin Dell Aguila as the Reverend Anne Harada Said is the mayor's wife and Brad Oscar as the mayor. His name is Mayor Menlove. It's not exactly subtle. Isabella McCalla, Javier Munoz, Mackenzie Kurtz, Emily Skinner, just really stealing the show in one of the supporting roles. And then Ryan Vasquez was the Billy Bigelow stand in. He did a phenomenal job with that, I think. Whereas I mentioned that you're in town, I thought maybe the director wasn't able to get everyone on the same page as Far as the tone of the show, I think there was no such problem here. And Chris Gattelli did a magnificent job with that. Chris Gattelli, who really started as a choreographer and only recently has, has graduated to directing also. But I think he's going to be one of our best musical theater directors and already is. I think, you know, he just needs to get more under his belt. So I, I, again, I loved it. It's like you're in town. It's important that a show like this has an emotional underpinning to all of the, you know, the irony and the spoofing. And I think this one does too. I didn't like the way it started. Apparently that's where some of the condensation came in. There's a very brief scene at the beginning, a non musical scene where Alex Brightman and Sarah Chase their characters kind of meet very cute. At a vending machine. They're both supposed to be doctors working in a hospital and they, they meet at a vending machine. And then there's a very brief scene and they hop into bed. The, the vending machine becomes a bed that they hop into. And then there's a blackout. And then it says six years later. Six years later. And they're still together, but now they're having problems with their relationship, which is why they go on this kind of of retreat sort of thing to hopefully repair their relationship. And they're in the forest and that's where they get lost in schmigadoon. So I don't know, I think that maybe that could have been reconfigured and maybe it could have been that this was supposed to be like one of their first dates rather than them trying to repair their relationship because they were trying to cram all this information into like a scene or two. And I didn't think that was very successful. So they, that might be something that they might look at if this does have another life. And I, and I hope it does.

[Peter Felicia]

Do you know what the original title of Brigadoon was?

[Michael Portantier]

Was that the. No, that was not Fan Faroon. That was. That was my friend lady.

[Peter Felicia]

Right, yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

Brigadoon. I forget that.

[Peter Felicia]

Rigadoon. Yeah. Without the B. I mean, I can't say I know why they changed it or why they even came up with that word to begin with, but nevertheless, Frigate Dune was the first name for Brigadoon.

[James Marino]

I don't know. Brigatoon is much funnier than Rigadoon, I guess. Yeah. Michael.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[James Marino]

Jeffrey Finn was, is the artistic director and executive producer of Broadway center stage at the Kennedy Center.

[Michael Portantier]

At least for now.

[Peter Felicia]

At least for now.

[James Marino]

Yeah. That's a whole separate topic. Yeah, sure is. But Jeffrey Finn is also quite an accomplished Broadway producer.

[Michael Portantier]

Exactly.

[James Marino]

So I, you know all these people. Sure. I'm sure that they had fun, but they didn't sign up for two weeks of performances of their lives.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, no. And I think one of you worked.

[James Marino]

For months on it. Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

I think one of you recently mentioned that it seems like that for a while coming up that the Palace Theater is going to have short bookings rather than long ones. So I would not be surprised if this is one of them.

[James Marino]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we were to see Schmigadoon in some form or another make its way to Broadway sooner than later, even if it's a limited run. You know, limited runs are great like that, Newsies. Limited run for 99 performances only. It ended up 700, 800 performances or something.

[Peter Felicia]

Over a thousand. Slightly over a thousand.

[James Marino]

Yeah. So, yeah. So, you know, Schmigadoon at the Kennedy center closed last. Oh, closed today. Closes today at the Kennedy Center. But I think that we will get to see these folks again, hopefully. And also tangentially, as Michael alluded in the news, we. I don't know what's going to happen at the Kennedy center with the Trump administration saying they've firing the board and Trump made himself the leader of the board. I don't even know.

[Michael Portantier]

Chairman of the board.

[James Marino]

Chairman of the board.

[Michael Portantier]

Who knew he even had. Yeah, exactly. It seems to me he's doing a lot of things that he doesn't necessarily have the power to do and is just daring people to stand up to him.

[James Marino]

So if you're a listener, before you unsubscribe, I'm not going to talk politics here because I get those emails every week I mention Trump, so.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, it's really hard not to. But I understand. I understand your part. I'm just glad I got to go to this Kennedy center twice last week.

[James Marino]

Yeah. Let's talk about the other thing you saw. You saw Vanessa, which is an opera at the Kennedy Center. So tell us about that.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I did just want to mention it briefly because this was a fabulous concert production of an opera that for some reason is not done very often, even though when it premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958, it was a huge success, you know, especially for an American opera, which don't. They don't tend to necessarily take the world by storm, but this one has music by. By Samuel Barber. And a libretto by his partner, Giancarlo Minati. And it's a really wonderful story about a woman who. Well, in a nutshell, it's about a woman who is living in seclusion in a. In a house with her mother and her niece. And this woman, Vanessa, has been waiting for 20 years for the return of her lover, Anatole. We're not told exactly what happened to break them up, but she's been pining for him ever since then. And she's covered all of the mirrors in the. In the house and she's, as I say, been basically living in seclusion. And then suddenly she hears that he's coming back, but it turns out that the person who arrives is not Anatole, but his son, who promptly starts courting both Vanessa and her niece Erica. And let's just say that things don't go well and things end very, very badly. But as I say, it was a huge success in the original production, which starred Eleanor Steber as Vanessa, Rosalinda Lias as Erica, Giorgio Totsi played the very plum role of the Doctor, small but plum role of the Doctor. And I just don't know why it has not been done since, but we had a great cast here. Nicole Heaston, Janae Bridges, Susan Graham, who I recently loved in A Little Night Music at Carnegie hall. And she was also wonderful in Dead Man Walking when the Met did that recently. She's having a wonderful autumn of her career, I would say. And she was phenomenal as Vanessa's mother, the old woman who also lives with them. And then Thomas Hampson, one of the great opera stars who is still singing and still sound really, really great, even though he's quite old now. It was so wonderful to see him. And he, he was the best actor on the stage and also had the best diction of anyone. And then also, you know, we. We discussed recently, which we discussed a few minutes ago, the substitution in Urinetown. Well, here the role of Anatole was supposed to be sung by Matthew Polanzani, and he in fact did it at the first performance on Thursday. I saw the second performance on Saturday, but then I guess he got sick. And as I mentioned, this opera is never done anymore. But somehow they found someone. They found a tenor named Garson, excuse me, Ganson, G A N S O N Salmon, who happened to know the role because he had learned it and sung it at. When he did a production at the Manus School of Music here in New York. And so they flew him in from Indianapolis on the day of this performance and threw him on stage and he sang, you know, flawlessly because he knew the role. But I, I mean, that was probably several years ago that he did it. So here's another person who just saved the day. And, and even more incredible in this case because as I say, it's so, so rare that anyone does this opera. And I, I don't know how they even found him. You know, I mean, maybe somebody said, oh, you know, they did it@madness 10 years ago. We can see if we can find that guy. It was just incredible. Just incredible. You know, these people, they're, they're, they're so professional and they're, they're so ready to go at a moment's notice. I, I guess it's, it's just mind boggling. And anyway, this was a phenomenal concert production conducted by Gin Andrea Nozada. And. And also it turns out it's being recorded because there is only. At the moment, I think there's only one. There's that original recording that I mentioned of the original Met production and I think one other. So there's certainly room for another one. And maybe some of the performance I heard will make it onto the recording, but presumably not the sections with Anatole because they'll use Matthew Polanzani as he was the main cast person. But it was exciting to be there and again, great to be at the Kennedy center before this nonsense was announced. And we'll see. Well, we'll certainly see what happens with that.

[James Marino]

All right. What was I going to ask you about, Michael? You know, you were talking about your. Both at Schmigadoon and at Urinetown. You're in town about the satire part of it where the characters have to be serious, yet winking at the audience as well.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes, yes.

[James Marino]

Did you guys feel that Nicole Scherzinger did that in Sunset?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, I, I absolutely did. And I thought that was the director's concept.

[Peter Felicia]

It sure is.

[James Marino]

Yeah. It's funny because we don't, we don't think of Sunset as satire or things like that. Oh, no, but it, but anyway, I just, I thought about that when you had mentioned it and I was like, yeah, you know, I guess it's the way I feel about Sunset as well.

[Peter Felicia]

Talking yesterday about the terrible Merchant of Venice that was done at csc. Oh, yeah. I said, I think it was directed by Jamie Lloyd under an assumed name, so.

[James Marino]

Oh, that's what it was about. Bringing in the, the understudy who had done it before. Before we started recording. We were talking a little bit about Denzel Washington and Othello that's coming to Broadway. And Denzel played oth when he was 22 years old, which is nearly 50 years ago. I can't believe Denzel, 70 years old. And the New York Times reporter who was interviewing Denzel, you know, talked about a little bit about that, touched upon it and it's interesting to go back and revisit, revisit a role when you're in a different, different part of your life, you know?

[Michael Portantier]

Sure.

[James Marino]

You know, a 22 year old Othello versus a 70 year old Othello. And, and they said, they said to him, well, do you remember the lines? He's like, I, you know, I sort of remember the lines, things come back to me and things like that. And I totally get that.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

You know, it's like I can barely remember what I wrote or said three days ago, much less 50 years ago. So the Othello thing is, is going to be very interesting because we have such big starry vehicles. Good Night and Good Luck with George Clooney and company and Denzel. And these things are selling really, really well right now. So if you're a Broadway fan and a completist and you want to see everything in the season, don't wait for reviews to get these tickets. You gotta get on these tickets immediately today because they just get more scarce and more expensive and so don't wait on those things.

[Michael Portantier]

I had lunch with Sandy Duncan the other day, has been a guest on our podcast and she spent a lot of time asking me what I'd seen and what I loved and what I didn't love. And, and she mentioned, she didn't mention Othello, but she did mention Good night and good Luck. And the first thing out of her mouth was, I can't believe the ticket prices.

[Peter Felicia]

Sure.

[James Marino]

So in the news this week, we got the sad news that Tony Roberts had passed away. Peter, do you have any remembrances of Tony that you want to mention?

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, we had a little joke going on. Every time he would show up somewhere, I would clear the path in front of him and I said, well, everyone here kindly step to the rear and lead the way. Because he was the leading man of how now Dow Jones Build at that time is Anthony Roberts, by the way. So we were on a panel once and he was so wonderful in talking about the fact that here he was in his life. He never expected that he would play two roles, not one, but two, where he would be in drag because one of course was Sugar and the other was Victor Victoria. But he also. So I never saw him on a panel either. When I was on, when I was moderating, when I was just witnessing whatever, where he didn't mention Alvina Kraus, who is an acting teacher at Northwestern. And he would always give her credit for how he turned out to be. And I thought it was really quite wonderful that I'm talking 30, 40, 50 years later that he was still mentioning Alvina Krauss and how important she was to him. Another reminder of the fact that so many times teachers influence us. And I really do believe that teachers should be far more acknowledged. And I was very grateful that Tony Roberts always acknowledged the one that was so important to him.

[James Marino]

Michael, how about you?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, if you look him up on ibdb, it's really just incredible. I, I, I, I didn't quite realize how much he's done on Broadway. Some things I forgot. Did, did either of you remember that he was a replacement in Jerome Robbins Broadway?

[Peter Felicia]

Yes, yes, but I didn't see him do it, but yes, I know, isn't that funny?

[Michael Portantier]

I did not remember that. Yeah, yeah, I mean, obviously I didn't see him, but our friend Josh Ellis posted that he did one show with Mr. Roberts and it was called Murder at the Howard Johnsons. And I saw it.

[Peter Felicia]

I did too.

[Michael Portantier]

Opening Date May 17, 1979 Closing Date May 20, 1979 Directed by Marshall Mason.

[Peter Felicia]

It doesn't sound like a Marshall Mason project, does it?

[Michael Portantier]

No, no, it really does not. Written by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, they did a lot of those.

[Michael Portantier]

I have almost no memory of it. I do remember that Joyce Van Patten was in it and I seem to remember a scene where she was tied to a chair.

[Peter Felicia]

I remember what it looked like. By the way, that play is still available for production, but now they call it, it Murder at the Best Western because Howard Johnson's disappeared.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, and that there it was a three member cast and the third person was Bob Dishy. But anyway, yeah, no good cast. A lot of people have hailed Mr. Roberts as a, as a great journeyman actor and the essence of professionalism. I remember there was a situation where he, of course he created the role of Toddy in the stage musical version of Victor Victoria, originally opposite Julie Andrews. But when she had vocal problems, Liza Minnelli came in and that apparently did not go that well. And he did not react well to her well, her conduct or her abilities during the show. And you know, I felt for him because I could understand what, you know, I mean, just reading descriptions of what happened, why he would feel that way. So I did feel for him and understood how difficult it must have been for a professional to be in that situation. But he, yeah, he really did a lot. He's. I really enjoy him on the London cast album of Promises Promises with Betty Buckley and as Peter mentioned, of course, the, the How Now Dow Jones cast album as well. And, and of course, he had a sort of an ancillary career and all of those Woody Allen movies.

[Peter Felicia]

Sure.

[Michael Portantier]

Woody Allen really, really seemed to like him and used him many times. So I would say, I would say a really wonderful career.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, I'll say.

[James Marino]

Other news, we had finally the Long Day's Journey and tonight film is coming with Jessica Lang. Oh, yeah, it's, it's going to be debuted at the Dublin International Film Festival on February, February 27th. And, and I guess we'll get to see it somewhere afterwards. That should be exciting for us to finally be able to, to see this film. The Broadway League says we're all getting older. Did we know that? Did we know that?

[Michael Portantier]

Nothing. Well, in a way, that is a surprise to me because, I mean, there's so much focus on, on young people at shows and, and I seem to see a lot of them, you know, but maybe they just make themselves more vocal.

[Peter Felicia]

What surprised me amazingly was that the, the heavy theater go and now goes to five shows a year. The last survey that I saw the heavy theater go went to four shows a year. We're talking Broadway now. And I would have thought with prices escalating, stratospheric, stratospherically, that indeed it would be down to three or two.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

So. But they claim five.

[James Marino]

Any, any of you guys get the inside track on the Big Fish reading? Did you guys get invited to it?

[Peter Felicia]

No, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't able to go. Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

But yeah, I don't, I don't even know what you're talking, talking about.

[James Marino]

Patrick Wilson Big Fish revival had a reading this week, so first I've heard of that.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, I, I'm glad to hear that because I think Big Fish has a number of assets and even seeing it in a community theater production, Albuquerque showed that it has a lot of strengths and I wouldn't mind it getting stronger.

[Michael Portantier]

And Patrick Wilson, as we mentioned recently, is one of the producers of the Lost Boys. So he's, God love him, he's. He's in there doing it, you know, on both levels.

[James Marino]

Well, he has been missing in action on Broadway for many years. You know, he's been basically In Hollywood doing television, film and things like that, so.

[Michael Portantier]

But he was great when they did Brigadoon at City center. And that. Yes, that made him a. For a terrific cast album. Him. And what was that woman's name in it? James? Kelly?

[James Marino]

Ellie something, something.

[Peter Felicia]

You know who we mean?

[James Marino]

Kelly O'Shaughnessy. No. Oh. Oh, Patrick. Oh.

[Michael Portantier]

Irish name.

[James Marino]

Irish of some sort. Yeah. I would venture to say that if you're listening to this, this broadcast, that some of you may have art on your walls of Godspell Follies or Little Shop of Horrors. Right. You know, I know all of us. David Bird, Peter, Michael and I passed away. He's the creator of Cotspell Folly's Little Shop, artwork and more and more. Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

So as I always say, Follies has the best opening number, the best song written out of town. I'm Still Here. The best production number. Who's that Woman? And the best logo of all time. David Bird. Ironically enough, he was 30 years old to the day. The day The Follies opened, April 4th. So he was born 30 years before 1971. Do the math. And so what I would. I've been meaning to do is look at Ted Chapin's book and see if the date on which David Byrd died, if indeed that turned out to be a significant date in Folly's history, too. But I haven't done it yet, so maybe next week.

[Michael Portantier]

It's interesting to look at earlier versions of the Folly's art that Mr. Byrd had come up with. And also. Now, let me see if I get this right. The Godspell art was previously used for something else or something like it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

I didn't know that.

[Peter Felicia]

But I will say this. If we didn't have the Follies logo we have now, and he had used the one that he had done before, where the woman is standing in the middle of construction beams, we would have thought it was terrific, too.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, sure.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. It was a very good logo for something. But as Buddy Fiddler says, nothing could be hurt by being improved, so.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, I. Hot off the presses. I just got a text from Gerard Alessandrini.

[Peter Felicia]

Okay.

[Michael Portantier]

I am with Forbidden Broadway up in Boston playing the Colonial Theater. It's so much fun. Exclamation point. Bizarre, but wonderful. And it's been nearly full. So strange. In a good way. I'll text you some pictures.

[Peter Felicia]

Wow.

[Michael Portantier]

There was a wonderful interview with Gerard in the Globe. Globe, Boston Globe. And he talked about, you know, how he spent so much time at the Colonial as a as a young person and saw so many legendary shows there and tryouts and so it must be really, really amazing for him to come back to it in this capacity. He said during the interview. He said, I could tell you exactly where Stephen Sondheim was standing in the lobby when I went up to talk to him during intermission of Follies.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. And of course, Gerard is a favorite son because of course he comes from that part of the world and but boy, I don't know how many seats the Colonial has now, but when I was living there, it was 1646. And if they're selling out, that's pretty impressive.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes, yes. Especially I mean that edition, this edition of the show, it's the one that was most recently seen at Theater555, Forbidden Broadway, Merrily We Stole a Song. And it was not such a great success here for I guess, a number of reasons, but they're doing it at the Colonial for one weekend only. But as you said, it's a big theater.

[Peter Felicia]

It sure is.

[Michael Portantier]

So they're probably going to wind up playing the more people than they play to here.

[Peter Felicia]

Worrying.

[James Marino]

Yeah, the Emerson colonial theater has 1700 seats. So yeah, that's quite the catch there. So finally this morning we got excellent news that Titus Burgess is going to star as Mary Todd Lincoln and O Mary. Oh my God, I love that. I totally Love that. For three weeks only, March 18th through April 6th. So get your tickets now. Get your tickets early. He is going to be taking over that role and checking that out. So that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our Braden Teaser and our musical moments, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link that way each and every time we have a new episode of this week on Broadway, we automatically download it to Apple Podcast for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us on Apple Podcast as many ways to get us patreon.com P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com Broadway Broadway radio is one way that you can support all of Broadway radio shows and get us early and visit us on Sunday mornings live and get bonus shows and things like that. So check it out there. Contact information for Peter from Michael and me can be found in the show [e-mail] 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 teaser.

[Peter Felicia]

Two musicals that opened 11 days apart in the early 60s, each had an 11 o'clock number that mentioned a credit card. While I'm talking about Sail away, which opened October 3, 1961, and how to Succeed in Business, which debuted on October 14, 1961, the former had Elaine Stritch mentioning American Express and why do the wrong people travel? And Robert Morse mentioned members of the Diners and Brotherhood of Man. In the latter, Sean Logan got it immediately, soon followed by Paul Witty, Juliet Green, Josh Israel, Tony Janicki, Nikki Juvan, Jeff Valenga, J. Aubrey Jones, Jack Leshner, David Robinson, Deb Popple, Brigadoon, and John Conti. So not very many people were stumped on this one. This one strikes me as hard. We'll see what happens. I'm looking for the names of four different musicals. Two pairs, really. Each pair consists of one very famous musical and one not so famous musical. The first pair tied as winners of a very prestigious award approximately five months before the other pair tied as winner of a different prestigious award. What are the four musicals and what are the awards that the four wonders?

[James Marino]

Hmm. If you have an answer for that, email [e-mail] we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, what do we have in this week's musical moments?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, one of the shows we are looking forward to opening on Broadway in the next few months is Just In Time, the Bobby Darin musical starring Jonathan Groff. And as I think I've said before, I personally think it's a terrible title because I don't think that song is associated with Bobby.

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, yeah, really?

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, and I'm very surprised at that. I don't know what I would have chosen instead. I don't suppose Mack the Knife would have worked. Maybe Splish Splash, at least that's kicky, right? Anyway, but regardless, that is the title and so we shall see. I saw an earlier version of this show at the 92nd Street Y A couple of years ago and it was a huge success there. But that one, as I think I mentioned, seemed to me more of a review. It sounds like it has been reconceived as more of a book musical in this case with Jonathan going to actually be playing Bobby Darin. So we will see how it turns out and you know how different it is from, from, from what I saw. But anyway, you know, I think Jonathan has a great following and many, many people love him, so we're all going to be very happy to see him Back on Broadway. And so our musical moments for this week are two original recordings by Bobby Darin. As we have mentioned many times on this podcast, until the mid-1960s, maybe the late 1960s, it was very common for songs from musicals to become part of pop culture and be recorded by many pop singers of the days on their albums and sung on the radio and sung on television, et cetera, et cetera. So. So we have two such examples as our musical moments this week. The opener is in fact, Just In Time, which is from Bells Are Ringing, and was a big hit for Tony Bennett, that's who I associated with, but also was recorded, obviously by Bobby Darin. So this is his recording. And then the closer is another show tune, Artificial Flowers, from what show?

[Peter Felicia]

Peter Tenderloin.

[Michael Portantier]

Tenderloin. And yeah, so I guess I think that Mr. Darren focused on that one because Mac the Knife had been such a huge hit in it. And Artificial Flowers is another one of those story songs.

[Peter Felicia]

However, it doesn't sound anything like it does in Tenderloin.

[Michael Portantier]

No, no, no, no. It's an up tune version of very sad song. Right, but that's what happens when. When pop stars get their hands on songs.

[Peter Felicia]

Sometimes you can.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, so Bobby Darin was. Was a great singer and he.

[Peter Felicia]

Who.

[Michael Portantier]

He died too young. He had a heart condition. Born with a. With a heart condition.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

So. So it will be nice that this show is bringing him back to currency in that respect. And in the meantime, please enjoy these two recordings of Just In Time and Artificial Flowers by Bobby Darin.

[James Marino]

All right, so on behalf of Michael Portentier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye, bye.

[Peter Felicia]

Bye.

[Unknown Singer]

Alone in the world lived a poor little lamb as sweet a young child as you'd find her parents had gone to their final reward Leaving their baby behind this poor little child was only 9 years of age When Mama and her dad went away still she bravely worked at the one thing she knew to earn A few pennies a day she made artificial flowers Flowers Artificial flowers Flowers for ladies of fashion to wear she made artificial flowers Artificial flowers Made out of Annie's despair.