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This Week on Broadway for March 30, 2025: Buena Vista Social Club
01:21:10
Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Buena Vista Social Club, Othello, Purpose, Love Life @ Encores!, Vanya @ Lucille Lortel, Scott Siegel’s Broadway By The Season: 1934/35 & 1946/47 @ Merkin Hall,
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- [00:00]
James Marino
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- [00:27]
Peter Felicia
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- [01:03]
Unknown Singer
Somewhere beyond the sea Somewhere waiting for me My lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing Somewhere beyond the sea she's there watching for me if I could fly like birds on high and straight to her arms I'd go sailing it's far.
- [01:45]
Michael Portantier
Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios this week on Broadway for Sunday, March 30, 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 book. Peter's new Day by Day desk calendar, a show tune for today. 366 songs to brighten your year is now available. Peter also has columns at Masterworks Broadway, Broadway select and many other places. Hello, Peter.
- [02:14]
Unknown Guest
Hi.
- [02:15]
Michael Portantier
Somebody asked me the other day, they were like, you know, it's March, nearly April. Why do we keep talking about a calendar? Because this is an evergreen calendar. It doesn't have the day of the week on. It has the date on it. So you can, you can, you can buy it right now. And if someone were to buy it right now, Peter, what's today's song show tune for the day?
- [02:43]
Unknown Guest
Well, it's to commemorate the Roxy Music hall, which, sad to say, on this date in 1960 was torn down. It used to be at 153 W. 50th St. It had 5,920 seats, but it was eclipsed by the Radio City Music Hall. In fact, ironically enough, originally the Rockettes were called the Rockyettes Roxyettes because they actually started there. So at the Roxy Music hall, the recording I'm urging everybody to get. Which is so terrific. It's from a two disc set called Songs of New York and Paula Lawrence does a wonderful job with it. When I first heard this on my CD player, it ruled it for the night. I must have listened 40 times. So I hope you'll listen to it at least once. Paula Lawrence at the Roxy Music Hall, Songs of New York.
- [03:38]
James Marino
That song, I believe, was introduced by Audrey Christie.
- [03:41]
Unknown Guest
That's right, yes. In which show I Married an Angel.
- [03:46]
James Marino
Of course, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [03:49]
Unknown Guest
I can understand why you would not immediately have the show come to mind, because if you've seen I Married an angel, which I have, twice, it comes out of the blue. I mean, it has nothing to do with anything, but It's a great 11 o'clock clock numbers, so. But there's nothing logical for you to hang on to, to say, oh, of course, it must come from, blah, blah, blah. So I married an angel and Peter.
- [04:12]
Michael Portantier
You'Ve been holding out on me. Although Michael says you mentioned it. What are you doing tomorrow night, Monday evening?
- [04:19]
Unknown Guest
I've written a new version of the Merchant of Venice, where Shylock is not the bad guy or the fall guy. When I was a kid in Catholic high school, where they loved to teach the Merchant of Venice because Shylock becomes a Christian at the end. And what could be better than that? Even at 14 years old, that was a pulse. So I've done a different version entirely. So we have a very nice cast. We have Chip Sign, who's going to play Shylock. We have Michael McCormick, who's going to play Antonio, his villain. The play is called Shylock, the Antonio, you know, like in legal terms, V period. We have Julie Banko from Funny Girl fame playing Portia. So we have Aria Sasagemi, who was in Prayer of the French Republic playing Bassanio. So. And then a new actor that's new to me but very highly regarded, I'm told. Ben Sussman, I think his name is, and he's going to play Malachi. And if you know the play, you know there's no Malachi in the play. But there isn't mine. Lonnie Price is directing and it's just tomorrow night, so many of you will hear about this much too late. But it's a benefit, so it's pricey. It's a 200 ticket, though they do promise wine and dessert afterwards. But anyway, I'm certainly looking forward to it. And it's just a reading. Music stands, that's all. But I. I think it's going to be good. And we'll see, we'll see, we'll see. We'll let you be the judge.
- [05:48]
Michael Portantier
200 bucks. That's a rush ticket for Broadway.
- [05:52]
Unknown Guest
I suppose it is. Everything's I suppose it is. Was the pity.
- [06:00]
Michael Portantier
We're going to talk about our little expensive forays into the the later on this morning, but also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael's 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 work@followspotphoto.com hello, Michael. Hello, Michael. So I, I have two, two different ways to greet you this morning, but I wasn't sure which one would be funnier. So I'll give you both of them and you tell me which one.
- [06:40]
James Marino
Oh, God.
- [06:41]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so I know which cast recording you are playing over and over at your apartment these days, right? It's which version of Kiss Me Kate or when you come home. This is part B. This is the second thing. When you come home, do you say they walk into the apartment and say, Kiss me Kate?
- [07:08]
James Marino
Well, little Kate has actually gone off to another foster as of yesterday, but she was incredibly adorable.
- [07:18]
Michael Portantier
She was.
- [07:19]
James Marino
She is, yeah, she, she, I think she's the youngest dog I fostered. She was less than six months and typical puppy energy, you know, and just really adorable. And I don't know if that name is going to last, you know, because whenever people adopt them permanently, they, you know, they, they often change. But I thought it, you know, it continued the, the tradition of me getting dogs that have musical theater names. I mean, I suppose many names could be thought of as musical theater related in one way or another, but some, some more so. And obviously Kate, when we hear Kate, you know, we know what comes immediately to mind, as you pointed out. So, so I was able to say Kiss me Kate to her and she did.
- [08:14]
Michael Portantier
So which cast recording of Kiss Me Kate is your favorite?
- [08:20]
James Marino
Well, I would have to be the original. They did quite a good job of the rerecording in stereo with most of the original leads. But there, you know, but there's still a theatrical energy about the original one that, that can can never be topped. And the cast, you know, the great Patricia Morrison who has been a guest on our podcast, and everyone else, Harold Lange, of course, Alfred Drake and Lisa Kirk. And, and that was that that that has the distinction of being the first cast album that in its Initial release appeared on long playing records in 1948 or early 1949.
- [09:08]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, I would think it would be 49.
- [09:10]
James Marino
Yeah, they. I think they recorded it. It opened. The show opened in late 1948 and.
- [09:16]
Unknown Guest
December 30th, in fact.
- [09:18]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah, really, really late and was recorded, I guess recorded right after the new year and then. And then put out. So yeah, there is really something about it that recording that the energy of it is. It's palpable, you know, if you have the time.
- [09:34]
Unknown Guest
The two discs at the studio cast recording that's really complete, or at least more complete is really terrific.
- [09:41]
James Marino
Oh, that's the J T E R Records.
- [09:44]
Unknown Guest
I don't know what label.
- [09:45]
James Marino
Oh, wait a minute.
- [09:46]
Unknown Guest
No, it's two discs. I think John McLinn did it.
- [09:49]
James Marino
Oh, Josephine Barstow and. Yeah, I. Yeah, I don't have that one. I've heard it.
- [09:55]
Unknown Guest
Oh, it's wonderful. But you have to have the time, really. It was amazing. I remember driving back from Massachusetts in 1990 and it ended just as we approached the Martin Beck Theater to go in and get tickets for Grand Hotel. So it was just perfect, frankly. My favorite is the second iteration with Alfred Drake and Patricia Morrison, as Michael alluded to as it was the first one I got because it was in stereo. That was the big thing. A lot of things got rerecorded again because they were in stereo and they weren't originally. So this is the one that is most apt to be closest to the original because they, as Michael said, they had most of the original people coming back to do it. So. But you know, you always fall in love with the first when you hear. And so that's the one I gravitate to just because it takes me back to when I was a teenager and just discovered it was the second show I saw, the first one ever in summer stock, so I have very fond memories.
- [10:57]
James Marino
The other recording you were talking about was in 1990. It's on Angel Records also.
- [11:02]
Unknown Guest
It's pretty new. We saw it. Okay.
- [11:04]
James Marino
Yeah, I'm. I'm looking through cast.
- [11:08]
Unknown Guest
It is. Yeah, it is Angel, Right.
- [11:09]
James Marino
And yeah, it was Thomas Hampson, the opera singer, and Josephine Barstow, two opera singers. Yeah, but.
- [11:16]
Unknown Guest
But they don't sound like opera singers, thank God.
- [11:18]
James Marino
Yeah, and also those roles, if any.
- [11:20]
Unknown Guest
Sure. Close to operas. That's true. Yeah.
- [11:24]
James Marino
Also George Divorce, Kim Criswell, David Garrison and Davis Gaines.
- [11:30]
Unknown Guest
I just saw David Garrison last night. How funny. He's in a new musical called who Is Jimmy Pants? So it's nice to see him still full of beans. And he is. Because he has to do a lot of dancing here and there, and he's quite good at it.
- [11:45]
James Marino
Oh, that's why I saw him at the West Bank Cafe. I didn't. I didn't know if he was currently in something. That's great.
- [11:52]
Unknown Guest
He is.
- [11:53]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [11:53]
Unknown Guest
Yeah. Nice. Nice guy.
- [11:55]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [11:55]
Michael Portantier
So, Peter, when you said if you have the time, it reminded me of something I saw earlier this week. That was the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival announced their 2025 season Summer Theater series, and they are doing Hamlet. And Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
- [12:18]
Unknown Guest
But.
- [12:19]
James Marino
Not as a double bill.
- [12:22]
Michael Portantier
But I thought to myself, what? Has anybody ever done them concurrently?
- [12:28]
Unknown Guest
I imagine so, but that's just a guess on my part. So I like that company quite a bit. I've been there a number of years.
- [12:35]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, that's why I thought about it. I mean, their summer season, they're doing Penelope, the Producers, Raisin in the Sun, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Timon of Athens, play on the Princess and the Princess and the Frog Prince, Shakespeare kids. So I expect that we're going to talk a little bit. A little bit about them this summer.
- [13:00]
Unknown Guest
It could very well be. Yeah. I have been known to travel to Center Valley, Pennsylvania. So we'll see what happens.
- [13:07]
Michael Portantier
Excellent. So, yeah. All right, so far, first up in our review section, the three of us got over to the Schoenfeld to see Buena Vista Social Club. So, Michael, why don't you get us started on Buena Vista?
- [13:28]
James Marino
Well, I don't have a lot to say about it, except that I absolutely loved it off Broadway and again on Broadway. I think it's one of the most entertaining shows ever. I think that the music is so infectious and so wonderful that even if you have no knowledge or background or familiarity with that kind of music, I just can't imagine anyone not liking it. I mean, I guess that's an odd statement, but that's. That's kind of how I feel. It's just. It's just amazing. And I was trying to think that I suppose maybe I had, you know, an appreciation for that kind of music implanted in me very early without realizing it through I Love Lucy. You know, I mean, because when you, you know, there was quite. There was quite a lot of Desi Arnaz and the band, you know, featured in that show. And I was at a very young and impressionable age, so I didn't. I mean, I didn't wind up collecting records of Cuban music or anything like that, but that was implanted in my brain and I just love hearing it again whenever I hear it. So this is a wonderful musical book by Marco Ramirez, music by the Buena Vista Social Club, which is an actual group project, the whole industry at this point, and many people may be familiar with it through the 1990 documentary called Buena Vista Social Club, directed by Wim Wenders about these people, these actual people and their music. On that note, I just find this amazing. Are you all aware that one of the central characters is an amazing woman named Omara Portuando? And do you know that she is still alive?
- [15:41]
Unknown Guest
Wow.
- [15:43]
James Marino
It was born in 1930. She is now 94. And I mean, I just think that's. That has a whole other level of appreciation to it and it, I think it's a model example of how Marco Ramirez wrote a book around the music of these people. And what I think maybe is most fascinating of all, I think it's one of very, very, very few musicals, maybe the only one, where every song in it is diegetic. None of the songs are used as musical theater songs with people, you know, singing to each other in real life situations. Which, you know, for my money, a lot of other musicals would have been better off taking that approach. For example, the Neil diamond musical had many moments where that were kind of cringe worthy where they tried to shove a. A song into the plot of his life and it didn't, it just didn't work. There. There is another musical that comes to mind that's mostly. Most of the music is used diegetically, maybe almost all of it. And that's the Carol King musical. Can you all think? Yeah, I think maybe there were.
- [17:13]
Michael Portantier
How about Lady Day?
- [17:15]
James Marino
Lady Day, Yes, Lady Day.
- [17:18]
Unknown Guest
It's a different type of thing though.
- [17:19]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [17:20]
Unknown Guest
It's meant to be a concert.
- [17:22]
James Marino
Right. It's. Anyway, such musicals are very rare. And of course there's the, the, the brilliant way in which Cabaret, when it was made into a film, did exactly what we're talking about, but they had to cut a lot of songs to do it. So I, I think that this just, just works so wonderfully that way. And I'm, I'm glad they, they took that approach rather than trying to shove the songs into a narrative which might have been disastrous. The singing, the acting, everything about it is great. The choreography, certainly by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, the whole thing developed and directed by Sahim Ali and such a brilliant cast. But I do have to single out Natalie Venecia Balcone as Belcone as the older Amara, but also Issa Antonetti as the young Amara and and lots of other wonderful people in it. Julio Mangue, Leonardo Reina Devonti Moody, Mel Semme, Ashley de la Rosa, Justin Cunningham, Renicito Avi. Just so, so, so entertaining. I hope I haven't been paying attention to the grosses. I hope this show doesn't get lost in the shuffle of all of the stuff that's opening on Broadway right now. Because it really deserves to have a very long life and I highly recommend it it with no reservations whatsoever.
- [19:02]
Michael Portantier
Okay. Peter, how about you?
- [19:04]
Unknown Guest
I had a reservation when it was at the Atlantic and it seems to have been solved. I'm not going to be specific because I don't want to embarrass anybody, but there was one performer who was an instrumentalist who had such an over the top personality off Broadway. It was like, can you believe you are in the middle of such greatness? And seeing as this instrumental. Can you believe what I do? You can't do this. Nobody can do this. I'm the only one who can do this. And it really seems to me that he has been tremendously toned down. Tremendously. So I didn't find him obnoxious in terms of Michael statement, but Lost in the shuffle. Not impossible. However, I think this is really a dark cost that I think is going to surprise a lot of people at Tony time. I'm not saying it's going to win the big prize, but I can't imagine it going home empty handed. It is definitely quality work and you do get emotionally involved with this character who isn't singing anymore. And I wish they wouldn't give away so early a hint why she isn't singing anymore. But aside from that, I do believe it's quite worthy in getting to your heartstrings as well as getting to your ears. Being very, very much entertained by the music that is pouring out. It is meant to be a good time, by and large. And that's exactly what it delivers. By and large. Sure, if you're dealing communist Cuba, there were going to be times when it's not going to be great fun. But those situations are handled quickly and with the least amount of difficulty that could be posed by such things. So. So I really do believe it's a terrific experience and I do hope people will go to it. But I. I would be surprised. Tony Knight. We'll see what happens.
- [21:03]
Michael Portantier
So I agree with both of you. I had a really great time. I think that it's. I kept on thinking about what the categories are going to be like and I Think they're going to get a lot of nominations that had a very, very strong cast, a strong director.
- [21:24]
James Marino
Yes.
- [21:26]
Michael Portantier
What's it look like for the theater world? Are these a lot of debuts?
- [21:30]
Unknown Guest
I. I haven't really checked, but I'm looking now. The young Amara. Is it still the same cast as the Atlantic?
- [21:43]
James Marino
That was my next. My question for you, actually.
- [21:46]
Unknown Guest
I didn't.
- [21:46]
James Marino
I didn't pay that close attention.
- [21:49]
Unknown Guest
Yeah. It's very possible that these people were eligible way back when. So I don't know. I'm going to have to. This is going to be that blisteringly difficult night where I go through every show and see who's making debuts, so. And let me tell you that the IoBDB, not IBDB. IoBDB has changed its website, and it's very hard to navigate now, especially for me to get what I need, so.
- [22:17]
James Marino
That's too bad.
- [22:18]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, it's gonna be very hard. So anyway, but we'll certainly see what happens. But certainly these people are deserving of many awards, and I'm not going to be the least surprised if they get them.
- [22:33]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, the grosses, they're. They're selling a lot of tickets, but not at a high price. They're not breaking the million dollars a week. They're at $891,000 last week, average ticket price just over doll. Um, so I think that they got to work on that a little bit. My audience was very different than a typical Broadway audience. We had the ushers had their hands full with. With people pulling out their phones and trying to record the whole performance.
- [23:20]
James Marino
Oh. Oh, that's too bad.
- [23:24]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. So they made a very strong announcement for the thing, but people still did it all during, especially when a lot of the band stuff, the entr'act was so good. On top of Act 2 is so, so good. And people were pulling out their phones and recording this stuff, and you just can't do that on Broadway. And the woman next to me sang for the entire show, and I felt bad because, you know, she was in her 70s or so and she knew every word to every song.
- [24:05]
Unknown Guest
Wow.
- [24:07]
Michael Portantier
But what a cast. What? I really. I went in not really not knowing anything, not expecting anything, and was blown away. I loved it. Tons and tons of fun. I think it's a challenge for the marketing people now to step up and make this thing run as long as they can, because the cast and the creative team have done everything correctly. Now it's up to marketing to make it run.
- [24:36]
James Marino
Yes. Yes.
- [24:38]
Michael Portantier
So that's Buena Vista Social Club at the Schoenfeld. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, you got the much heralded Othello ticket. Did they give you a single or two?
- [24:52]
Unknown Guest
They get two, in fact. Yeah, yeah. And Linda's a big fan of Shakespeare, so she definitely was there for the entire show. Wow. Yeah. And it's, needless to say, a long show. It's. It's close to three hours. And of course, there have been cuts. That said, I found this a very decent production of Othello. It moved, I thought, quite well for the length of a time, and I was always interested. But as always is the case of these productions when, when you have two big stars, and you certainly do here, it always happens that somebody stands out who isn't one of those two people. And for me, it was Andrew Burnap playing Casio. And of course, we saw him not that long ago playing Arthur in Camelot at Lincoln Center. But he had a wonderful human factor here, and he's a guy who's really done wrong in this play. Well, a lot of people have done wrong, but I thought his natural ability with Shakespeare was terrific. That said, I felt that both Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington did a fine job. I enjoyed watching them. I was always engrossed. So I have no problem with this production whatsoever. And I do believe it's the fact that. That we are in a situation where the prices have dictated people's opinions before they go see the show. And that's the problem. But funny, isn't it that Kenny Leon is directing this? And this is his second time this season at that same theater, the Ethel Barrymore, because of course, he was there with Our Town, so. And of course, Our Town became famous, if not notorious for speeding by at the speed of summer lightning. And this one manages to be go at a fast clip as well. I'm not saying it's as speedy as Our Town. You won't notice the way you would at Our Town, that it was that lickety split. But nevertheless, I found it quite, quite watchable and enjoyable. The surprise to me was Molly Osborne as Desdemona, and she was older than I expected. But I guess that's because Denzel is no kid and I think they wanted to make something age appropriate there. Of course, it's a little. Really have to take yourself back to the fact that somebody who seems so old and has a father who has so many opinions. But after all, this was a long time ago. What I want to mention, though, this is always an issue with me, with Shakespeare. And I mean always. And I mean always. Wouldn't it be nice if there were a Shakespearean production that did not take place on a unit set? It's a very stone cold, gray, brooding set. And we're in Venice. I mean, you know, come on, Venice, it's a good town. It's a happy town. Even as it's sinking it. It really. I would love to see sets fly in and fly out. There's just simply a rectangle that comes up from the stage and comes up and disappears every now and then. That's. That's it, you know. And again, I'm not really coming down on this production for doing it because everybody does it. But somewhere along the way, given the fact that you don't have to pay royalties to play. Right. Is it possible you could spend that money on having more than just a unit set? So keep that in mind. But it's. This is a tragedy and I guess the brooding set, Gray to Black is. Is a way of commenting on the fact that you are in for a tragedy. So. But I'm. I'm not coming down hard on it at all. I like Peter.
- [28:39]
James Marino
I haven't seen it and probably won't, but I have to ask. Some people have reported that at least at certain performances, there has been laughter at highly inappropriate moments, including the final scene when Othello comes in preparatory to killing Desdemona. Desdemona. So did you have that at your show?
- [29:05]
Unknown Guest
Yes, just as much as I had at Romeo and Juliet too. This is. We. Linda and I talked about this at great length when it was over and we don't understand it, but it does seem to be happening. Maybe it's because the language is artificial to most people that they. They just don't know how to react. We have no answer to that. But yes, indeed, that is quite true. Some of the audience really did find it a laugh riot. It.
- [29:35]
James Marino
Well, not having seen it, I would say it might be really bad direction.
- [29:39]
Unknown Guest
I understand, but I don't think I really. We. We were mystified as to say, why did that get a love? So, I mean, it wasn't played for a love. Nothing was played for a love.
- [29:49]
James Marino
Oh, I'm sure. I hope not.
- [29:50]
Unknown Guest
No, I. But nevertheless, people just reacted that way. So really we. We did discuss it. We have no answers. But anyway, be prepared for that. If you go.
- [30:04]
James Marino
Some people's theory seems to be that it has something to do with the fact that there are real big stars involved and people want to enjoy them and and somehow I can see that. I, I, I don't, I don't, I don't know.
- [30:21]
Unknown Guest
I can see that. That makes sense to me. Yeah. Okay.
- [30:25]
Michael Portantier
You know, there's a lot of people that end up at Othello that don't know the story. Maybe it shocked them.
- [30:33]
Unknown Guest
There are people at Gypsy who don't know the story. Really. When she says, I'll make you a star at the end of the first act, they were gasps at the Bible said. When she said, my daughter can do it, meaning stripping again, more gasp. I suspect a lot of people think this is just a fictional story. Gypsy. I really do. Who knows who Gypsy Rose Lee is anymore? I think that a lot of people just think this is just another music musical that happens to have a plot with characters that somebody invented.
- [31:02]
Michael Portantier
But other, other than Mr. Felicia's 11th grade English class, a lot of 11th grade English classes do teach Othello.
- [31:12]
Unknown Guest
Not in my high school.
- [31:16]
Michael Portantier
All right, so that is Othello at the Ethelberrymore through June 8th. Convenient date.
- [31:24]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, isn't it? Yeah.
- [31:27]
Michael Portantier
And we'll have a link to that in the show. Notes. Michael and Peter saw the production of the much heralded purpose out there. So, Michael, why don't you get us started on purpose.
- [31:43]
James Marino
This is a play by Brandon Jacobs Jenkins. And I think in some ways it's very different, but in other ways quite similar to his play. Appropriate yet. Or appropriate, depending on how you pronounce that. That one was an examination of, well, basically about the history of racism in the United States, particularly in the, you know, in the Southern states with all white characters. Whereas this one is, I guess, supposedly, well, the family, the black family at the center of this play is, I. You wouldn't say based on or, but maybe like loosely inspired suggested by Jesse Jackson and family. But, but, but in, but, but what I felt about Appropriate and, and this play too, and I, I remember I made this point about appropriate and also some other plays that we've seen recently is how audiences love to see families at war with each other. There's just something about it, I guess, you know, it can be cathartic depending on your own situation or, or just, you know, you can look and add in a play, oh, my God, this reminds me so much of my family. Or you could alternatively say, thank God, this is nothing like my family. It's a dynamic that has been used in countless plays and is used in both of these, I think, to very, very entertaining effect. To me, this play, like, appropriate. Both of them were much longer than they needed to be as entertaining as they were, especially this one. In act two, I felt like it started to feel attenuated and I did not. And also, as I said, I said basically what appropriate was about and basically what purpose is about. But I think that that's just kind of a framework that doesn't get a lot of, of a lot of examination there. It's really. Most of it is just family squabbles and, and family melodramatics rather than really saying any, anything message wise about the civil rights movement if, if that is supposed to be the, the foundation of it. So. And Peter mentioned earlier that the, the, the running time of Othello, this performance of purpose that I attended ended at three minutes to 11, which is very, very close to overtime. They must have it, they must have it timed down to the second and you know, if anything goes wrong, the hell with it. We're just going to go ahead. And I do not think that it needed. I felt at the end of Act 1 that Act 1 was almost perfect. And significantly, Act 1 seemed to me almost entirely. Almost entirely comedic. The audience was in hysterics, and rightly so about, about the, the. The little conflicts and the reposts and the, and the, the put downs and the, and the, the things that people were saying to each other and, and all of the character relationships. But then in Act 2, it just seemed so overstuffed to me and didn't completely lose its entertainment value. But, but I do think that it, that that editing would have improved it tremendously. Other than that, it still is very, very entertaining, especially Act 1, very well directed by Phylicia Rashad with a powerhouse cast. Latonya Richardson, Jackson, Henry Lennox. John Michael Hill. John Michael Hill plays a character called Nazareth, shortened as Naz Naz. And he does a lot, a lot of direct address to the audience which some people consider to be not great playwriting. And I'm on the fence on that. I think he acts it so well and the things he says are so well written by the playwright that I thought that I really did not mind it and I actually thought it was an asset to the play and interestingly enough, you know, would play. This reminded me of somewhat in some ways, Brighton Beach Memoirs, the way that Eugene keeps stepping out of, in and out of the. Yeah. And there's even a scene, a pivotal dinner table scene in both plays where, where that character in both plays keeps stepping in and out and making comments to the audience. So as different as this is from Brighton Beach Memoirs in many ways, I Did think it'd have similarity others in the cast, Alana Arenas, Glen Davis, and the phenomenal Kara Young. She has become one of the theater's treasures over the past several years and it's always a delight to see her on stage. So I do recommend purpose with those caveats that I mentioned.
- [37:53]
Michael Portantier
Okay. Peter, how about you?
- [37:55]
Unknown Guest
Well, I liked it tremendously. And because it brought up situations that I've never remotely thought about. Just as the case that Jesse Jackson in real life had a son who disappointed him legally, that's what happens in this play, too. What we have here is a father who was a founding father of the civil rights movement. Fictional, of course, here, but he really was a mover and shaker. And when Carrie Young shows up thinking she's going to have dinner with her good friends parents, she has no idea that it's going to be this famous man. Because of course, Naz hasn't told her anything about it because he, like so many times, people who are sons and daughters of famous people take a low profile on it because they want to be like for themselves. But there's a complication here, and that is the fact that carrying wants a child. And she has used Naz as a sperm donor because she's a lesbian. And that comes out at the table too. And you can imagine what that is like in a house of people who are religious, super religious, because he's the paterfamilias, is a pastor as well. So that's a big problem. What's really fascinating, I don't even know if this is legally possible. I've never heard of this because the grown son had pulled around and has done prison time. He has a wife who was also implicated and she is going to do prison time because they have kids. The court decided, okay, the father will go to jail first so that the mother can take care of the kids, and then the mother will go to jail so the father could take care of the kids. I don't know if this is true. Possible, standard practice, I have no idea. But imagine the fact that the son has just got out of prison and his mother is trying to make the best of a bad situation. Welcome home. And isn't it wonderful? This is a great day. While his wife is sitting there knowing that she's going to go to prison soon. I mean, I find that very, very powerful. So I like that quite a bit. And of course, we assume, considering the fact that Carrie Young's character needs a sperm donor and Nez is saying okay, that we think that he's going to have some sort of relationship with the child and be a father, since he's saying okay. I mean, not that everybody does. I have a friend who used to make money by donating sperm during his college years. That's how he got through college. Better than working at McDonald's, I guess. But you assume that the boy is gay for much of the play. No. Here's another difference, too. He's asexual, and he really feels that. Of course, it comes up later in the show when his father asks him, if you're asexual, how did you come up with sperm? And the explanation may not be terribly convincing to many of us or any of us, but nevertheless, there's something nice about his explanation as well. So I think this is what we're going to hear about a good deal of Tony time, too. And there's no question that it's long. But I have to say I was with it every step of the way.
- [41:07]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so purpose is at the haze. It's playing through July 6th, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, you were over at City center encores to see this week's production of Love Life. So tell us about it.
- [41:25]
Unknown Guest
Well, this is a 1948 musical that is seldom thought of, partly because it didn't get a cast album in an era where cast albums were happening. But there was a musician strike, and as a result, no cast album was ever made. And so it's always been a bit of a mystery. I will tell you, the first time I ever heard of it was in 1965 when I was going through records and a priest came over to me and said, ah, so interested in Broadway. Do you ever hear of a show called Love Life? And he said, you know, this one was really, really different. And what he meant was the fact that it was a concept musical. He didn't use that term because we hadn't really started using that term in 1965, but nevertheless, because much like Cabaret or Chicago would do later, there would be numbers that would comment on the action sometime successfully and sometimes not as successfully, I have to say. But it also won a Tony Watford and that Febre for playing Susan Cooper, who is a wife throughout history. Yes, it starts in 1791, and it goes to 1948. It still does even today at the City Center. So the point is that this married couple, the Sam Cooper, is played by Brian Stokes Mitchell, who really did a rescue job here because on March 3, they had somebody else playing the part. Suddenly he wasn't so Stokes, who was indeed originally supposed to do it five years ago, before the pandemic hit, said, yeah, I'll do it. And I had to wonder if, indeed, Nonefa Bray and Ray Middleton, who was the original Frank Butler in the Annie get yout Gun just before that. I wonder if they got the type of entrance applause that Stokes and Kate Baldwin got, because there was great appreciation for both these people as they walked on. Now, the problem with a show like this is when a couple does not age through hundreds of years of history, they really become symbols rather than people. And you really get emotionally detached in a strange way. So in a way, that type of thing will never work. And that occurred to me when I saw How Old Are you, Baby? Which uses the same device of traveling through time and nobody ages. And so it's artificial in that way. But there are some things in it that are truly, truly fascinating. One of the things is that when the show gets into the late 1800s, Sam is at home singing a song about how it's, gee, isn't it wonderful to just have your own home? And you're sitting here and it's so pleasant and placid, and the wife's out of the house. She's at a meeting that she goes to once a week. And he doesn't think anything about the meeting. And it's very interesting to hear what this meeting is, which we do soon see. Not only are the women trying to get the vote, which this wouldn't happen for more than 20 years, but not only did they want to get the vote, but they have ambitions. Wouldn't it be nice if I could be a doctor? Wouldn't it nice if I could be a farmer? And Kate Baldwin has a shocking line when she talks about, yeah, wouldn't it be nice to meet the father's son? Indicating that all is not rosy back home, as rosy as Sam thinks. He's very naive to think that these women might just be sitting around making quilts. No, there's more to it than that. And what must it have been like in 1948 when all those Rosies who had been riveting during the war and enjoying having a career suddenly were back home again in the kitchen with, comparatively speaking, humdrum lives? And what was it like for that 48 audience? That's why whenever you see a show that's set in the way back when, you really should put yourself in that time frame when it was produced and try to think of what. What it was like for people sitting there at that moment in time. And that must have been astonishingly powerful. Well, at the time that this was happening in 1948, Lerner was in the middle of his second of what would be seven divorces. Yes, this is the man who wrote how to Handle a Woman. And it must have really been something and influenced him, because this is not a happy marriage, ultimately. And they do split. And it's funny, I've never. Follies comes to mind a lot in the show, too. I mean, it's funny. The original, originally, there's a song in it called oh, Billy O. And they mentioned fictional characters who were not in the show at all. And I was reminded of Lucy and Jessie. There are so many parallels with Follies that. And of course, we, needless to say, have to admit that love life came first. But it's an unhappy marriage. And eventually we get the impression that they may. May get back together. It's very ambiguous at the end. And it's very famous for having a certain thing that would necessitate. Necessitate having two people in rehearsals rehearse a long, long time. I don't want to give it away, and that's why I'm being purposely obfuscating. But. But here it's very cleverly handled at Encores, which, after all, didn't have that much rehearsal time. So very, very clever the way it ends. But it doesn't end as optimistically as Follies. It suggests that it's going to have an optimistic ending. Only suggest. But it could be effectively argued that it doesn't with Follies. I have never believed that these four people are going to live happily ever after after the night they've been through, that this night is going to change their lives. Never believed it in 1971, and I still don't. But just as Sondheim had to ameliorate company by changing his 11 o'clock number from Happily Ever after, that marriage is living happily ever after in hell, to if you don't have it, you don't really feel alive. So this one here has a little more reality to it. But the point is that Lerner must have done some wishful thinking as he's going through his second divorce, literally two months after Love Life closed. That's when the divorce was final. I did check, and. But there were vaudeville numbers that are sprinkled in between. And that's the point that they comment on the action, as I alluded to. And the highlight of that really occurs in a song that's simply called Love. So song in which it's originally done by a hobo. I don't think you get the impression that it's a hobo here. A beautiful song. John Edwards sings it, and he does very, very well by it. There are two kids of the show, and their kids, of course, the couple's kids. Christopher Jordan and Andrea Rosa Guzman play them. And while they do a very fine job with the dialogue and when they have to sing, not often they do find that they do a tap dance that everybody was delighted by, that they were such good dancers. And one has to even suspect that they were first cast because of their dancing rather than anything else they could do. Joe Keenan worked on the book with Victoria Clark, the director. Joe Keenan wrote one of the. Well, when TV Guide pointed out his hundred best sitcom episodes, he was listed as, I think, number 47. His episode. Frankly, I can't even remember what the series was. Do you know Michael James, what he worked on? I guess it's in the credit. It must be. But Frazier. Is that what it was? Yeah, it is. I'm looking right now. Yeah. And he won five Emmy Awards. How bad could he be as a writer? So. And his novel, Blue Heaven. I'm telling you, I was reading.
- [48:55]
James Marino
Hilarious.
- [48:56]
Unknown Guest
Yeah. Reading on the subway once and people saying, what could be so funny? God Almighty, will you stop laughing? Disturbing us. But it's that funny. So. So I. I do believe that what he did mostly was shorten things because after all, encore to do that. But also because it's not a show that really lends itself to much comedy because it gets serious very quickly. It also very subtly makes an indictment of suburban life, too, that even though we're in Massachusetts, these people are Iowa stubborn. When the Coopers move into town. And it really reiterates the fact that when you're a husband, you have to be a good provider and a lot of people are depending on you and. And the pressure of that is tremendous. And when the divorce happens, he has a big number that almost could be considered the son of the soliloquy in Carousel, because if Billy Bigelow had lived and been a father to Louise, he might very well have sung this song after the divorce, which probably would have happened. But it is a man musing on the good things about being divorced and the bad things, too. Too. That he's. Sorry. Grateful here as well. So I think you can tell from all this that love life is a very complicated show. And there are times when many of my friends said, I think it's boring. You couldn't keep Linda There for the second act, I'll tell you that. And, but really put yourself in the 1948 frame of mind and I think you'll really be astonished at what an achievement it is if you look at it under those circumstances.
- [50:42]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so that is Love Life at Encore's City Center. It is playing through this afternoon.
- [50:51]
Unknown Guest
No, tonight too.
- [50:53]
Michael Portantier
Tonight?
- [50:54]
Unknown Guest
Yeah.
- [50:54]
Michael Portantier
Okay, tonight at seven. And. And Michael, you said you're going to go see the.
- [51:01]
James Marino
This afternoon?
- [51:02]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so we'll talk about it again next week. All right. Peter, you were over at the Lortel to see this production, this one person production of Vanya. So tell us about it.
- [51:22]
Unknown Guest
Well, of course, the real power of the production is the fact that Andrew Scott is doing it. And he's certainly a name these days. And as result, I do believe that the Lortel was packed because people want to see him and not because they have this big love of Chekhov's place. So it really is a tour de force, as all these one shows are, when people play all the parts. I do have to say that if you don't know Uncle Vanya, you might be terribly confused. If you do know Uncle Vanya, you might be somewhat surprised to find out that he doesn't always go in sequence. He jumps around in the plane. I don't think he was making him mistake. He really seemed to be very sure footed. So. But it's just another one of these shows as far as I'm concerned, that where somebody's playing the part adopts different voices, different mannerisms and yes, it's amazing. But if you really want to see Uncle Vanya, I think you should see Uncle Vanya, not Vanya. It's been cut down too. But what I did, as I always do, I love doing homework on these things. I watched a great video of Uncle Van Lanya with David Warner and Marielle Master Antonio. Terrific BBC production from I think 1991. Really wonderful. And as a result, I was aware of how many cuts. I was aware of how many jump cuts, so to speak, and aware of how difficult it'd be to follow if I hadn't done my homework the night before. So caveat emptor James tells us that he has heard rumors that it's going to be moving to Broadway. And I'm sure it will please a lot of people to see Andrew Scott on stage. But I'm telling you, if you go get a video of Uncle Vanya before you go so that you can see really what he's doing.
- [53:10]
James Marino
Of course we saw it. Not that long ago at Lincoln center in a non conventional production. So that. That might help some people.
- [53:18]
Unknown Guest
Sure, sure.
- [53:18]
James Marino
If they saw that.
- [53:19]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, yeah. Though and I'm not trying to be snarky. A lot of people certainly have said that they want to forget that production.
- [53:27]
James Marino
Yes.
- [53:27]
Unknown Guest
So. So that's another issue as well.
- [53:29]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, yeah, good point. The. The one person show. We haven't talked about Sarah Snooks, Dorian Gray, but I suppose in the next couple of weeks we will. You guys scheduled to see it?
- [53:45]
Unknown Guest
Yes, I have. It's extraordinary beyond belief. It's nothing like you've ever seen in your life. It is a true triumph of multimedia presentation. It goes in directions that I don't think you could possibly expect it to go. And there are times you really swear that there are other people on stage. The multimedia effects are so incredible.
- [54:08]
James Marino
Wow.
- [54:10]
Michael Portantier
All right, so we'll do a more formal review of that in the next weeks, coming up, when Michael and I get a chance to see it. But the big shock was that I've been saying Sarah Snook wrong. It's Snook.
- [54:24]
Unknown Guest
Oh, is that right?
- [54:25]
Michael Portantier
Nuke Nuts? No.
- [54:27]
James Marino
Thanks for telling us.
- [54:28]
Unknown Guest
So.
- [54:28]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. So that was what I learned on Today on Broadway this week.
- [54:34]
James Marino
Oh, by the way, I wanted to mention I. I go through periods where I watch Jeopardy. Religiously and. And then other times when I just. For whatever, I get out of the habit. But I saw it recently for the first time in a long time and I forgot they always tend to have Broadway commercials on it. So, you know, because. Target audience.
- [54:55]
Unknown Guest
Right.
- [54:56]
James Marino
You know, and so I saw one commercial that I had not seen before, which is redwood, and it was pretty elaborate, you know, pretty elaborately shot. And the other one, which I had seen online was for just in Time. So both of those on the same job. Jeopardy. Telecast, I am told.
- [55:20]
Unknown Guest
Justin Time is really selling.
- [55:23]
James Marino
That's great. Yeah.
- [55:25]
Michael Portantier
So I. I am terribly embarrassed. Do you guys play the New York Times games?
- [55:31]
James Marino
No.
- [55:32]
Michael Portantier
Trans and Connections and Wordle and Spelling Bee and things like that. Of course, the crossword. But today I failed at Connections and there's a very heavy tie into Broadway and that's what I failed on.
- [55:53]
Unknown Guest
Oh, it's so embarrassing when that happens. Yeah. There was once a Broadway question on a quiz show and I was watching and I just zigged when I should have zagged. And I was so embarrassed. I mean, thank God nobody was with me. But yeah, it happens, you know, I mean, Brooks Robinson, who was an astonishing third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, who almost, you know, there are nine guys in the field. So I can't say he single handedly won the 1970 World Series, but elected into the hall of Fame the moment he could be, et cetera, et cetera, made three errors in one inning. So, I mean, it happens to all of us.
- [56:33]
Michael Portantier
Well, Peter, the first six batters for the Yankees hit a home run yesterday.
- [56:38]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, I heard that bat did.
- [56:41]
Michael Portantier
You see, there's a new bat. The Yankees have a new bat, and now people are complaining that it's the. They're going to challenge the bat itself. See, that's a whole other podcast.
- [56:50]
Unknown Guest
What manager leaves it. Was it the same pitcher? What manager leaves in a pitcher?
- [56:55]
Michael Portantier
No, I. I think. I think it was multiple.
- [56:59]
Unknown Guest
Okay, all right, that makes sense to me. But wow.
- [57:03]
James Marino
So first, the six batters hit home, right? Runs.
- [57:07]
Michael Portantier
The. The six batters. The first six batters in the lineup hit home runs. Not. Not six in a row, you know, throughout the game.
- [57:16]
James Marino
Oh, okay. But still, wow.
- [57:19]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, exactly. So. But they're. They're very concerned about this new bat that the Yankees have developed in the off season. So we'll see what happens.
- [57:28]
Unknown Guest
This is this year's pine tar.
- [57:32]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, pine tar. Yeah. Or the. Hopefully not the Astros scout. There'd be a whole Damn Yankees Part 2. So, Michael, you were over at Merkin hall in the Upper west side, one of my favorite little theaters or a concert venue. More than a theater. Very hard surfaces there. Lots of bouncing sound. But to see Scott Siegel's Broadway by the season. 1931, 1932 and 2013. 2014 seasons was last Sunday evening, I believe. So tell us about this.
- [58:13]
James Marino
No, Friday.
- [58:15]
Michael Portantier
Oh, March 23rd, it says on the Merkin website. Okay, well, Friday. Okay.
- [58:21]
James Marino
Oh, okay.
- [58:22]
Michael Portantier
Do I have the right years? 1931, 1932 and 2013. 2014.
- [58:27]
James Marino
Oh, no, maybe he. God, did he do two that closely together? No, this was act one was 1934. 35. And act two was 1946. 47.
- [58:38]
Michael Portantier
Oh, I need to fix that. Okay, so tell us about it.
- [58:42]
James Marino
Well, first of all, yes, I agree with you. Merkin is a wonderful, I guess, smallish concert hall at the Kaufman Music Center. And I'm not sure when it happened, but it wasn't until last night that I noticed that they did some renovation on the stage. Those. Those panels at the back that I guess maybe are acoustical panels, they look like they were all replaced. And they look. Aesthetically, they look much better. And so that's just something I wanted to mention. It's a really great place that you should be aware of both to see things and also if you want to produce a show that's appropriate, appropriate to that. To that size venue. And, you know, I mean, I think it's somewhat less expensive than some of the others, so it really is worth a look. And this was a wonderful addition in the Broadway by the Season series. Scott has done Broadway by the Year, sometimes by calendar year and sometimes Broadway by the season. But this one was by the season, as I mentioned, Act 1, 1934, 35, and Act 2, 1946, 47, with Ross Patterson as musical director, pianist. And he has been working on and off with Scott for decades, and he is really just about the best you can possibly find. So that was phenomenal. And then they had a great cast for the show. Clea Blackhurst, Molly Bremmer, Neil Devlin, Jason Grah, Ben Jones, Kyle Scatliff, Jenny Lee Stern, Sal Viviano and Michael Winter. Moi Pay were supposed to be in it, the three identical triplets from Kenya. But Scott announced that they got sick. I mean, I don't know if that means they all got sick, but they are. You know, it's possible because they spent a lot of time together, and so that was unfortunate. But their numbers were covered by other people at the last minute. People just really pitching in and. And stepping up. And it was interesting that act one, I would say, was dominated by Anything Goes, which was the big hit of the 34, 35 season. But Act 2 was dominated by three shows. Finian's Rainbow, Brigadoon and Annie Gets yout Gun. So. And also particularly interesting about this edition was there were several songs that have become very famous, and I think many people would have no idea that they were originally in Broadway shows. For example, the first number we heard in Act 1 was yous and the Night. And the music sung beautifully by Ben Jones, which is from a show that I don't think I've even ever heard the title of Revenge with music. Okay, but then we got Blow, Gabriel Blow, Clea Blackhurst from Anything Goes, followed by. By the title song from Anything Goes, sung by Jenny Lee Stern, pitching in for Moi Pei. And then I get a kick out of you. Also from Anything Goes, sung by Sal Viviano. And then you're the top. Also from Anything Goes, sung by Jason Grah. And then we moved on to, I guess, another song from a show that people might not know the show. Let's take a Walk around the Block from Life begins at 8:40, sung by Molly Bremmer then. So interesting. I mean, we always. I don't even I. I think sometimes don't think of Porgy and Bess as a Broadway show, but of course, that's where it. That's where it premiered at the Alvin Theater, what was then called the Alvin Theater. And Kyle Scatliff did a phenomenal version of There's a Boat that Sleavins Suit for New York. So it was great to see and hear him again. I had not encountered him on stage in a while, and, God, I forgot how tall he is. He's this huge guy, especially standing next to Scott Siegel. So that was really great. Then yet another song from a show that people don't associate with Broadway, Autumn in New York from Thumbs Up Some by Michael Winter. And then finally the. The last song in Act 1 was Zing with the Strings of My Heart from Thumbs up. Also Jenny Lee Stern. So that's two songs from Thumbs up that have survived a show that I'm. I mean, I don't think anyone does Thumbs up anymore. But that always amazes, is amazes and. And fascinates me. These shows that are completely forgotten, but the songs live on. And then many highlights in Act 2, I have to single out Sal Viviano Did Come to Me Bend To Me from Brigadoon, which he not only sang it beautifully, but with what sounded to me like a perfect Scottish accent. I did not do the research. I would not be surprised if he has done the role of Charlie Dalrymple before and if not, then, even more power to him for working on an accurate accent and doing such a beautiful job of it for this one shot. So either way, very impressive. Ben Jones, almost Like Being in Love, which I heard him sing at that same theater just a few weeks ago in Rob Capolo's program there. And many, many other highlights for Act 2, Clea Blackhurst closed out the show leading there's no business like show Business. And then the entire company joined her for that, which was great because the rest of the evening, all solos, but it was wonderful to have everyone on stage at that point. And, oh, do keep your. Your eyes and ears out for this Neil Devlin. Really gorgeous voice. Very, very young man who I, as far as I know, is a newcomer. And in. In Act 1, he. He was great in Act 1. And then in Act 2, he triumphed with There but for you Go I from Brigadoon, which is a song that always, almost moves me to tears. It's so beautiful in. In terms of the music and the lyrics, but also the, you know, what. What the lyrics say. So a really great evening. Another one to thank Scott Siegel for.
- [65:36]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so that was one night only. But Scott Siegel's got lots and lots of things going on, so I'm sure that we see more of that soon. Certainly he's up to 34 and 35 and 46 and 47. He's got a few more seasons to go. Peter, you were over at the schubert Theater on March 24 Monday evening to see the 11th anniversary of the High School Theater Festival for New York City Public Schools. So tonight, tell us about it.
- [66:15]
Unknown Guest
Well, you know that I often talk about how wonderful community theater is and how it rarely, rarely, rarely disappoints me. I've had great experiences too with high school theater as well. So I wasn't astonished to find out that there are magnificent performers that are appearing in high school. So what the Shubert foundation does is every year choose five scores schools to do about 15 minute excerpts from the shows that they have done. This year was four musicals in one play. One play was the Skin of Our Teeth. So it's really something that a high school took that on, though, frankly, at the high school I taught way back when, Susan Hillfit, who became the costume designer of Wicked Plate Sabina. So it does get done occasionally in high school, but it's not, but it's not often done. What I want to concentrate on the fact is that there were so many outstanding performances. So listen to this podcast in 20 years and see if any of these people wound up becoming rich and famous and therefore happy too. So first in the Heights, Brandon Henriquez playing us Navi. And Gabe Salcino as Abuelo. Phenomenal. Really quite wonderful in Skin of Our Teeth. J. Avaluto playing Henry. Magnificent. That's the son who is who certainly rails against his father as time goes on. And Natasha Pierre. Natasha, Gloria Manning. Magnificent beyond belief in Chorus Line. Yes, indeed, Chorus Line Richie, played by Uganda David Ritchie. Terrific. And in Sweeney Todd, Joshua Soto as Sweeney Todd. These were the standout performances. But isn't it something that so many of those shows are very ambitious shows and not easy to do, to say the least. Nor were they censored in a time where of course, we're hearing a lot of criticism and a lot of book banning and et cetera, et cetera. It was very interesting to hear the profanity in these shows left as is. And, and that's what happened. Are frankly sexual situations left as is. So, and, but just as I always say about community theater, there are so many talented people who opted for the paycheck on Friday and wanted Marriage and children as opposed to going on auditions and being hearing thank you from time to time. And that's it. High school teachers, boy, yeah. So many of them are so gifted and this was really proved here by the discipline that they, their kids showed in really developing characters and delivering the goods. So bless the Shubert foundation for reminding us of this. And to hear kids in the audience so enthusiastic and employ applauding the other schools, four schools in the audience going crazy for the one school performing on stage because they know how hard it is. They know how much work they put into theirs and therefore they know how much the ones they're watching right now now put into theirs as well. So it's a wonderful positive evening and I, I was just mesmerized from stem to stern, so. And in case anybody saw me leave at the end of the first one, that was simply a trip to the men's room. I watched the whole thing from the back of the house on. So yes, I was there and I wouldn't have left at all. So congrats to all these kids, but especially the ones that I singled out. And we'll see as time goes on if they continue doing it. I do believe they should.
- [70:05]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so just one of the many great programs that the Shubert organization is involved with and we'll have a link to that in the show notes.
- [70:17]
James Marino
Yes, and they were, I believe, you know, you would say late to the party in comparison with the Jimmy Awards, which is the Nederlanders. Right. But you know, the more the merrier. I say.
- [70:32]
Unknown Guest
Sure, sure.
- [70:35]
Michael Portantier
So we're not in the habit of recommending other podcasts, but Michael, you have one that is a must view podcast called Inside the Art House. So tell us about this.
- [70:53]
James Marino
Oh yeah, I just wanted to mention this because even though it's not technically about live theater, it's about something that interests me so much. It's Raphael Sparge, the actor who has been on Broadway in Wilderness and other shows, although not lately. He has this. Well, first of all, he made a documentary movie called Only in Theaters and it focuses on the Lemley L E L A E M M L E family and specifically Greg Laemmle, who's the scion of that, that very, very famous Hollywood family and his, his forebears were, were instrumental in, in the early days of Hollywood. But Greg Laemmle, for many decades has, has run art, what are called art house theaters in the Los Angeles area and they show the kind of movies that, you know, would, would not be seen in your Local multiplex, but really, really wonderful movies, independent movies and classics and, and things like that. And, and my thing with theaters like this, as I mentioned recently with the Paris Theater and what they've been doing and what they've been showing lately, is it's so, so wonderful to experience film with a live audience. I mean, it's, of course it's not the same as experiencing theater with a live audience, but it is still a community event. And I think it can make such a difference in the way one reacts to a film when you're experiencing it with an audience full of people who love it, you know, and really want to be there and you hear the reactions to it. And it does approach the experience of live theater with one huge difference, obviously. But I can't recommend enough the film only in theaters and also this podcast that Raphael and Greg Langley have started called Inside the Art House. So we've included a link to the website and you can check out both of those things on that website and I, I really, really hope that you do. I just have to mention as we are talking, I just read word that Richard Chamberlain has died at age 90. And he certainly has a rich history in live theater as well as his all of all of his accomplishments on television and film as well. So that's something that I'm sure many of our listeners will be sorry to hear. But he had a great life, 90 years old and a great career and in all media. So rest in peace to him.
- [74:08]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our brain teaser and our musical moments, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page 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 be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us in Apple podcast as many ways to get us. One way is Patreon P A T r e o n.com Broadwayradio is one way that you can support Broadway radio's offerings as well as get it get us a little bit earlier than everybody else. Contact information for Peter, for Michael and for me could be found on 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 teaser?
- [74:58]
Unknown Guest
This performer appeared in a film that is referenced in the Rocky Horror show or Rocky Horror Picture. Show, if you prefer. And this performer also appeared in the stage version of a Henry James novel. I'm talking about Howard Keel, who appeared in Ambassador in 1972, which is an adaptation of a Henry James novel almost of the same name. His was called ambassadors, plural. In 1963, he appeared in the Day of the Triffids, which is referenced in the line, when I saw Jeanette Scott fight a triffid that spits, poisons and kills in Rocky Horror, Paul Witty was the first to get it, followed by Josh Israel, Sean Logan, Ingrid Gammerman, Tony Janicki, Brigad, and Fred Abramowitz. Okay, this week's Question session. It's a spoken two word phrase that ends a song heard in a 1970s Tony Winning musical. The song, aside from one line, is entirely sung by a performer who would win a Tony for this musical. These two words, identical words, by the way, also became the name of another 1970s musical that followed a few years later. It was written by two brothers, and although it never played Broadway, it did play a theater in New England. So the question becomes, what indeed is the phrase, the song, and the names of both musicals? You don't have to name the brothers, but they didn't become rich and famous and therefore happy too. At least not musical theater. But yeah, let's see the phrase, the song, and the names of both musicals.
- [76:40]
Michael Portantier
Okay, if you have a guess at that, email us@trivia broadwayvadio.com we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So Michael, what do we have in this week's musical moments?
- [76:53]
James Marino
Well, we are tributing Jonathan Grof, who has been a guest on our podcast twice, I believe, and appropriate to do it this week because for two reasons. March 26 was his 40th birthday and tomorrow is the date of the first preview of his new Broadway show, Just in Time, which I believe we mentioned earlier, Previews were pushed back a few days, apparently because the show's playing in Circle in the Square, and I'm reading that the reason for the delay was it has something to do with the reconfiguration of the theater, which apparently is now set up as if it were a nightclub or a cast cabaret. So I don't know more details than that, but it is now scheduled to begin previews tomorrow. And as we've mentioned past, Bobby Darin included several show songs, musical theater songs in his recordings and his live performances, famously Mack the Knife, also Artificial Flowers and others. But the two songs I chose our two videos from YouTube. The opener is beyond the Sea and the closer is Dream Lover. So, as I think Peter mentioned earlier, I wasn't sure if it was before or after we started recording. It seems like Just In Time is starting out very well at the box office. And I'm not surprised because I do think that Jonathan is very beloved of audiences. And also, you know, there probably are still many of us of an age, of a certain age who know who Bobby Darin was and really appreciate his music as well. So best wishes to that show and please enjoy these two musical excerpts.
- [78:59]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to your broader videos this week on Broadway. Bye. Bye.
- [79:10]
Unknown Guest
Bye.
- [79:18]
Unknown Singer
She'll bring her love to me Dream lover Until then I go to sleep and dream again that's the only thing to do Till all my lovers dreams come true Because I want a girl to call my own I want to dream a lover so I don't have to dream alone I set a dream lover so I don't have to dream alone I wanna dream lava so I don't have to dream alone.