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This Week on Broadway for November 2, 2025: Bat Boy @ City Center
01:03:21
Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Bat Boy: The Musical @ City Center, Out of the Box Theatrics’ production of Beau The Musical, Gingold Theatrical Group presents Pygmalion @ Theater Row,
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- [00:00]
Michael Portantier
Hey, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
- [00:01]
James Marino
Now I don't know if you've heard.
- [00:03]
Michael Portantier
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- [00:24]
Peter Filicia
Of $45 per three month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.
- [00:29]
James Marino
Seemintmobile.com.
- [00:37]
Musical Performer
Last night I went to see the Gypsy and ah, the thing she had to say she told me I would meet a stranger A lean handsome hero who'd sweep in and sweep me.
- [01:01]
Peter Filicia
Away.
- [01:07]
Musical Performer
I sat there trembling at the.
- [01:10]
James Marino
Table.
- [01:13]
Musical Performer
And smelled the incense in the.
- [01:16]
James Marino
Air.
- [01:19]
Musical Performer
Someday you'll hear a cry she told me A sharp piercing sound and when.
- [01:28]
James Marino
Hello and welcome to Broadway Radio's this Week on Broadway for Sunday, November 2, 2025. My name is James Marino and in the broadcast today we have Peter, Felicia and Michael Portantier. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's New Day by Day Desk Desk Calendar, a show tuned for today 366 songs to bright New Year is available at finer retailers. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select and many other places. Hello, Peter. Hi, Peter. One of my favorite things is to make butter out of cream.
- [02:06]
Peter Filicia
It's a great song from Catch Me if youf can. And you may be wondering why indeed November 2nd has anything to do with Catch Me if youf can because it certainly opened in the spring and closed in the fall. But it was 55 years ago today that Frank Abagnale Jr. Was captured. So it all started in 63 when he was a 15 year old kid and his father essentially told him how to cut corners. And boy, he had no idea what it would lead to. That Frank would certainly turn out to be quite the criminal. Ironically enough, I will never forget as long as I live and I mean this, when they had a press preview of Catch Me if youf can and Frank was there and he seemed so embarrassed about his past. I mean he really made a point of saying that I was young. He made it clear I have no financial interest in this show. Show. Nobody paid my airfare to get here today. I'm disappointed that what I did between 16 and 21 is what seems to define me. And the people want to know about that more than anything else. So. So as a result, he was quite, quite contrite and it was and nervous. It was really something because certainly he that wasn't the case when he was a kid. But anyway, Butter out of Cream is a marvelous song by Mark Shaiman. I don't know who orchestra because Mark and Larry Blank, a tremendous orchestrator, both have credits on as orchestrators for the show. But it is a perfect replication of a Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Rat Packy type number. And that orchestration is just perfect for that as well. So as a result, I really recommend listening to Butter out of Cream whatever day it is.
- [04:02]
James Marino
Okay. 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.
- [04:25]
Michael Portantier
Yes.
- [04:27]
James Marino
Tell us about the upcoming Broadway by the Season.
- [04:31]
Michael Portantier
Oh, yeah. Scott Siegel is doing I mean, he does these regular concerts at Broadway by the Season, and it's just what it sounds like. They will do songs from Broadway shows that opened within a particular season. But he's got a big gala benefit coming up on Monday, November 10, at Merkin hall, where the shows are done now. And so that one will be selections from shows from, I guess, throughout history. Broadway shows throughout history. And he's got a great cast. William Michaels, John Easterlin, Cooper Grodin, who's now currently one of the phantoms in Masquerade, Ryan Knowles, Michael Winther, who I spotted in who I spotted in the movie of Kiss of the Spider Woman.
- [05:21]
Peter Filicia
Is that right?
- [05:22]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Yeah.
- [05:23]
Peter Filicia
Oh, nice.
- [05:24]
Michael Portantier
I like Michael Ben Jones, Leanne Marie Dobbs, who's really not as well known as she should be. I've seen her in several of Scott's shows. She was in a regional man of La Mancha and you could. And she's got an amazing voice and she's a beautiful woman. And Alex Gatlin, who I worked with and many other really great people. So you might want to attend that if you have a Monday, November 10th evening free. And Merkin is, as I mentioned, is a great place that I imagine many of our listeners have not been to, but it really is very nice, somewhat intimate concert hall. And so that's another reason to go. Peter, that's interesting what you said about Frank Abnegale, because as I think I mentioned when I went to see Catch Me if youf can he was in the audience.
- [06:20]
Peter Filicia
Wow.
- [06:20]
Michael Portantier
And I would describe him as holding court.
- [06:25]
Peter Filicia
He made a spectacular recovery, I guess, sir.
- [06:28]
Michael Portantier
Or maybe.
- [06:29]
Peter Filicia
Well, you know, because there's a difference between journalists and he probably wanted to come across better for journalists than he did for people in the audience. Good point, I guess.
- [06:40]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, good point. Yes.
- [06:43]
James Marino
All right, so Broadway belly season is coming up November 10th, so you have eight days to plan your arrival there. We'll mention it again next week, and then I guess we'll. Michael, give us a review in two weeks from now. And then everybody can't say, oh, I wish I knew. Because now you know.
- [07:08]
Michael Portantier
Now you know.
- [07:10]
James Marino
Now you know. And talk about anticipation, but not for that reason. Michael, you were over at City center, where, with the great anticipation of the return of Bat Boy at City Center. So tell us, Michael, what did you think of Bat Boy?
- [07:35]
Michael Portantier
Well, I like this show to begin with very much, and I thought it was a wonderful. It is a wonderful production. I guess they're two weeks, right. So they're running next. Next week also.
- [07:47]
Peter Filicia
Yeah.
- [07:47]
Michael Portantier
So you have time to catch this one also. And I highly recommend it. Really great score. Music and lyrics by Lawrence o'.
- [07:56]
James Marino
Keefe.
- [07:58]
Michael Portantier
I honestly, I. I really liked the show when I saw it. I. I have not honestly spent a lot of time listening to the cast album, but for no good reason. I mean, I, I really. Hearing all of the songs again, I was reminded how great they are in terms of both the music and the lyrics. There are a number of changes, number of cuts and additions. So. And you know, that, as always happens, that that might. Might upset some people who really love the original, but I would say that. That most of the really, really good songs are still in it and wonderful, wonderful adaptation of. I mean, they say that a musical can be made out of anything if it's well done. And I guess that's certainly an example here because it's based on this tabloid story about this half bat, half boy who was supposedly discovered in a cave somewhere many years ago. And so that's the. The source of this, of the musical. But, you know, when you're going to write something like that, what tone do you take? And I would say it's a lot of. It is very spoofy, but it's also got a lot of heart to it. And there is, you know, this deeper level about how this Bat Boy doesn't fit in and how he's, you know, he's discriminated against and some people, you know, hate him just because he's different and he's the other. So that's certainly applicable unfortunately to all of history. Really great cast. Kerry Butler, who played the young love interest originally, now plays her mother. We've got Andrew Durand as Rick Taylor who's sort of a. Well, he. Not really a villain character, but he's. He, he. He fits into that somehow. Mary Faber as Lorraine. Evan Harrington as Ned. Tom McGowan. Always love to see him on stage as Sheriff Jacob Mink. Trent as the Reverend Alex Newell in a real showstopping moment as the God pan with a. A really roof racing number. Olivia Puckett as Ruthie Taylor. Christopher Sieber as Dr. Parker Taylor Trench. It just really perfect this bad boy. As soon as I heard that he was cast, I thought, oh, well, that is some really great casting. And Rema Webb as Maggie Marissa. Jared Winiker as Mrs. Taylor. So I'm very, very, very well directed by Alex Timbers. I went to the Saturday afternoon performance and they had a talk back afterwards with some people, including Jenny Gersten, who's the current artistic director, the new artistic director of the encores. And she mentioned that the way somebody asked or she. She volunteered how, how this particular show was chosen. And she said, well, in this case, she said, I really wanted to work with Alex Timbers. And I went to him and I said, what shows would you like what to do most? And she said, he named two and one of them was Bad Boy. She didn't say what the other one was. But anyway, he's a great director and he did a fabulous job. Connor Gallagher did the choreography. Excellent. Andrew Resnick is the music director. Interestingly, when I got there and I sat down, well, I guess the curtain. No, the curtain wasn't opened at the beginning. But when it did open, it struck me, guys, I said, the stage seems much larger than usual. And it took me a little while to realize it's because this is the first encore show I've ever seen as far as I can remember, where the orchestra is not on stage. Oh, yeah. So maybe that means, among other things, maybe that really means they think about transferring it. They showed us the orchestra on a monitor at the end of the show. I guess they're in the basement. But another interesting point about this production is that the orchestrations have actually been increased since the original, which I think we were told was only five musicians, and now it's considerably more than that. So in. In an age when orchestras and orchestrations tend to be shrinking, that was a very, very nice surprise.
- [12:58]
James Marino
Wasn't. Wasn't the. Originally at the Union Square Theater that's right, Union Square. And, and so that, that, that makes sense there. And what about set wise? Did they. Maybe they just didn't have space for the orchestra because sets involved.
- [13:17]
Michael Portantier
Not really, because most of the set was, was just background and it look, it looked really great there. There are staircases and, and drops. And it seemed to me that there, there was space for the orchestra in the back if they wanted to put them there. But you know, I, I wish they did have a Q and A session. And I actually, I was going to ask that, but I didn't get to. So I'll see if I can get that answer from someone as to how they. Why they decided for this particular show to not have the orchestra on stage.
- [13:51]
James Marino
And City center has that amazing state of the art sound system where they can record live shows.
- [14:02]
Peter Filicia
If.
- [14:03]
James Marino
So, I wonder. So I wonder if they have the orchestra in isolation so that they can easily crack everything for, for mixing. Exactly. It can add to it or fix a clunker or something like that. Whereas if everything is on, you know, a master track. Right. That's problematic.
- [14:26]
Peter Filicia
Maybe.
- [14:26]
James Marino
Just, you know, thinking off the top of my head, I. It's just so strange that they would put the orchestra. They would put the orchestra in the basement where.
- [14:34]
Michael Portantier
That's why I really wish I could have asked my question. But I, you know, I'm sure I can ask the. Yeah, the press agent or whatever and maybe get an answer on that.
- [14:45]
James Marino
So as Michael mentioned, Bat Boy has another week at City center. And yeah, you know, City center is like the size of Madison Square Garden. Right. 20,000 seats, 30,000 seats. You know, should be able to get a ticket.
- [14:59]
Peter Filicia
Yep.
- [15:01]
James Marino
I guess truthfully, it's about 2000 seats. 20.
- [15:04]
Michael Portantier
20, 20? More like 2700, I think.
- [15:06]
James Marino
2700 or 2500. You should be able to get a ticket to. If you would like to see it over at City Center. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Next up, Peter, you got a chance to see Bo the Musical. So tell us about this musical.
- [15:27]
Peter Filicia
Yeah, this is a very nice show because it deals with a young man whose father skipped out on the family and so his mother has had to bring him up by herself. But now she's got a boyfriend who's a very glad, handy type guy. Think of the character Glad Hand in West side Story, the one who tries to get the Sharks and the jets to be nice to each other during the dance. He's that type of guy. He. He certainly has a sense of humor that he thinks is very funny. But anyway, so it's always hard when a single mother meets a man and. And the kid has to deal with that. Certainly Norman Bates didn't like that when it happened to him. So. So. But there's a bigger issue here, and the fact is that Ace is the actual main character. You think it would be Bo, given the fact that that's the name of the show. But our real character that we're paying attention to, the sun is Ace. And Ace says a very interesting line when he says, my bully was my first kiss. Indeed. This is one of these closeted gay guys. The bully who certainly comes across tough and, yeah, you faggot, you know, all that kind of stuff. And then, of course, turns out to be gay himself. Though his rationalization is, you and I are doing what we're doing until we can find girls stupid enough to do what we are doing. So that's. That's his mindset or his rationalization. I think it's more that than anything else. And eventually he will own up to the fact that he. He has desires that are certainly not what he claims them to be. But as for Ace, there he is having been told that his grandfather is dead by his mother, and that turns out not to be true at all. And that's who Beau is. And certainly this young man who is looking father figure certainly finds one in Beau who also teaches him how to play the guitar. And it seems the guitar playing skipped a generation. Is. I'm not going to be more specific than that because I want you to see the show. Now, this was down at Theater 154 at 154 Christopher street and now it's moved to St. Luke's but here's the thing. I mean, it's done very much in the style of Dead Outlaw, if you saw that show. But the point is, down at Theater 154, they plastered the walls with license plates and posters and all that kind of stuff that you actually see if you go into a dive bar down south. All right, now here they are moving to St. Luke's and it's a bigger space, and yet they've covered those walls. I'm telling you, they've spent money on this. It's really very impressive. Daniel Allen, the scenic designer, I don't know if he demanded it or if they said, daniel, do what you want, but I'm telling you, place really does resemble a dive bar down south. And so it was very atmospheric. And you know what occurred to me? This is so interesting to me, the fact is that here it is very presentational. Everybody who is in the cast plays an instrument, and it's done very presentationally. Okay, but, you know, remember the kerfuffle that happened when John Doyle asked his characters, his actors to play instruments? And there was a lot of stuff about that, about, oh, isn't this terrible? And so and so forth. We don't accept it in a traditional book musical that we're used to seeing with orchestra members in the pit or even on stage, but nevertheless, not as people play characters playing their own instruments, but for a thing like this, which is set in a bar, that type of thing, we give our indulgence in a way that we don't with John Doyle's, what he used to do. So I find that very, very interesting. But it's. It's a lot of fun, a lot of get fidd type of music, and I think it's a worthwhile show. So it certainly doesn't seem like a Golden age show by any stretch of any imagination. But you really have to give Douglas Lyons, who not only is credited with book music and lyrics, but also with concept. Now, granted, Ethan D. Pakchar is also listed as a composer as well, but nevertheless, this is obviously Douglas Lyon's show, and I ain't lying to say that he's done a good job.
- [20:12]
James Marino
All right, so the out of the Box theatrics production of Bo the Musical is playing at St. Luke's Theater through December 7th, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael and Peter both got a chance to see Pygmalion over at Theater Row in Theater five. So, Michael, why don't you get us started on Pygmalion?
- [20:41]
Michael Portantier
Well, I think this is a great opportunity to see Pygmalion because for, I guess, incredibly obvious reasons, it's not done much anymore because it's been superseded, in a way by My Fair lady, the musical based on it. I did see that Broadway production with Peter o' Toole and Amanda Plummer, but I don't expect we'll see it on Broadway again ever or certainly not anytime soon, just because, you know, for the reason I said. But it is wonderful to see it in its original form, even though so much of the script is taken word for word and transplanted into My Fair Lady. But. But it's fun to see how the differences and how it works without music. See where the song cues come or not. See the. What changes were made. For example, in the play, Freddy Einsford Hill has a sister named Clara, who has a fairly large role, but she's not in the musical at all. And then there are other changes and additions. I think this is a very wonderful production, and I think that David Stoller, who directed and adapted it, note the word adapted.
- [22:18]
Peter Filicia
He.
- [22:18]
Michael Portantier
He did something very, very smart.
- [22:21]
Peter Filicia
He.
- [22:22]
Michael Portantier
He has. Actually, there's a unit set, a very attractive unit set, and these four people come out and they introduce themselves as gods, and they kind of give the background of the myth of Pygmalion, which was a myth about a sculptor who creates a statue of a woman that is so beautiful that he falls in love with it and it comes to life. And anyone who knows My Fair lady or Pygmalion, the play, can certainly see how that would apply to the story of either of those.
- [23:03]
James Marino
So.
- [23:04]
Michael Portantier
But because this is an Off Off Broadway production of the Gingold Theatrical Group, and this cast, by necessity, has to be quite small, the gods explain to us that they're going to play multiple roles. And the only. Let's see, the only three people in this production. Well, well, no, that's not. Not quite true. The only two people who play only one role are Mark Evans as Henry Higgins and Synova Carlson. Remember that name. S Y N N O V E Carlson, K A R L S E N in her New York City debut as Eliza Doolittle. But all of the other people play multiple roles. So, for example, the entire cast is as follows. Carson Elrod plays Pickering, and then, you know, one of the gods, Teresa Avia Lim plays both Clara. And another role, Mary Lizanne Mitchell plays both Mrs. Pierce and Mrs. Higgins, and Matt Wolp plays both Freddie and Alfred Doolittle. And I have to give a major shout out to him because he was absolutely fantastic in those two roles, which have nothing to do with each other. No, no similarity in terms of personality, the way they fit into the plot. And he. With just a tiny little bit of a physical transformation, I think he maybe just combed his hair differently and then wore, you know, I mean, a different costume, obviously, but he was thoroughly believable as both Freddy and Alfred Dolittle. So I think that the way that David Stoller chose to provide this framing device, I thought it was really quite extraordinary and very, very effective. And I don't think that. I think if there were cuts in the play, they're only very minor. I did not miss any things that I remember from the play that are meant to be there, even though the characters are far fewer. And so maybe occasionally a line that was delivered someone Else is now delivered by. By someone else. But it. It's really an excellent way to present this play and in a. In a way that's affordable, whereas otherwise you might not be able to see it at all. And I think the acting was excellent across the boards. There were certain directorial touches and maybe line readings that I didn't agree with, but of course that's always going to happen. And overall, I think Mark was superb as Henry Higgins. Maybe the youngest Henry Higgins you will ever see. Looked maybe even younger than the fellow that. Whose name came. Went out of my head at the moment, who played it in My Fair lady at Lincoln Center. Harry. Harry Hayden Patton?
- [26:21]
Peter Filicia
Yes.
- [26:21]
James Marino
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [26:23]
Michael Portantier
Maybe even looking younger than him. And in fact, our colleague and friend David Barber was at the performance that I was at and we were talking about him and David said he looks like Harry Potter because he does, with glasses. And he. I will say his hairstyle seemed maybe not terribly appropriate to Higgins. It was kind of a tousled hair style that it was attractive, but it didn't seem very appropriate to Higgins. But other than that, he's just fantastic in the role. And really, let me give you that name again because it's a little unusual, but you will be hearing again from Synova. S Y N N O V E Carlson K A R L S E N who played Eliza. She was absolutely fantastic as both the cockney gutter snipe and the grand lady. And very, very beautiful also, which of course doesn't hurt so. And is important for that role, I think. So Run, Don't Walk to Pygmalion, which continues through November 22nd at. It's being done at Theater Row by the Gingall Theatrical Group. And because it is off of Broadway, the tickets, I would describe it, are as very affordable.
- [27:45]
James Marino
I. I wonder if, you know, the changing times have led us to make sure that Henry Higgins is younger than anticipated in the past. Because having Henry Higgins in his 60s and Eliza Doolittle in her 20s seems to be very creepy these days, you know.
- [28:10]
Michael Portantier
Well, I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. Bear in mind, though, that the. The famous 1938 movie of Pygmalion has Leslie Howard, who was certainly considerably younger than Rex Harrison when he did it, and when you see the movie with him and Wendy Hilder, Wendy Hiller, you do not get that creep factor.
- [28:36]
James Marino
So, Peter, what did you think of Pygmalion?
- [28:39]
Peter Filicia
I think it's very interesting that Michael has had two experiences that are very similar because indeed, Bat Boy has to learn his stuff, too. So. And very interesting in terms of Bat Boy. Let me get to that, even though I'm not seeing it till tonight, that he gets frustrated with himself when indeed he cannot get things right, at least in the original production. I don't know about you, but he, like, he slams his fist into his hand saying, oh, God, I missed that one. I should have known that one where Eliza is far more contentious. You know, she doesn't see what the big problem is that when she makes a mistake. But anyway, yes, I agree entirely about Sanobi Carlson. Marvelous. I mean, this really is one of the great roles for. For any actress because she has to be so many different things. She has to be virtually illiterate. She has to struggle. She has to become a princess, so to speak, as Kaparthy thinks. It's also fascinating to see what Alan J. Lerner did with this play, because one of the most significant things in it, My Fair lady, that is not in this play, is the fact that in the second act, Doolittle shows up and he's dressed to the nines. Because indeed, Henry Higgins wrote a man who was interested in funding somebody who had great promise. And he just announces that deep in the play, while in My fair lady tells, Mrs. Pierce, I listen, write that guy and tell him that Alfred P. Doolittle is the guy he wants. So it's better set up there. Now, in terms of this new framework, the irony is David Stoller has notes that he passes out beforehand that says, this was actually George Bernard Shaw's idea for the 1938 movie. What he wanted to do was actually have people. Yeah. Did you get that piece of paper?
- [30:41]
Michael Portantier
Yes, you know, I did, but I didn't use it. I just used it for the. To get to the program. I didn't actually read all of those notes.
- [30:50]
Peter Filicia
Yeah, so he says. So Shaw's draft of the 1938 screenplay. He rightly assumed that the average person had no idea what Pygmalion was. So he impishly devised a framing device in which he would introduce the film and the scene set on Mount Olympus. So. So if you think, oh, wow, David Stoller has no right to do this, he's actually following something that Shaw wanted to do. And then, of course, the Hollywood people said, no, no, no, you're not doing that. So that's the end of that. The other thing I want to mention, I'm not really very happy about correcting a pronunciation, but actually it's wolpe. And the reason I mentioned that is because Matt Wolpe, who is excellent. I agree with you entirely. Michael, who is excellent, is the son of Lenny Wolpe, who has shown up in a lot of shows, certainly Onward Victoria, something that you may well have missed since it closed on opening night, but he was Ed Koch in the musical May Charles Strauss Rose. And also a show that's very much on the horizon now, the Baker's Wife, he did out of Paper Mill. That's just three of his credits. Believe me, he has many, many, many, many more. But here's his kid, and he's really holding up the family tradition of being an excellent performer. What a treat to see Carson Elrod as Pickering, because not only is Mark Evans younger than your average Henry Higgins, but Carson Elrod is substantially younger than your average Pickering, too. And there's no reason why these people can't be younger. I have My Fair lady line cropped up when you were talking, Michael, because you talked about the fact that his. His hair is mussed. At least in My Fair Lady, Higgins does complain that straightening up the hair is all they ever do talking about women. So maybe it's fine for Henry Higgins not to care about the way his hair looks. Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Excellent production. The fact is, sometimes you really resent seeing people play multiple roles, but here it seems like a showcase to show what. What depth each of these people has. And that's what's really so wonderful about this production. So, yes, it's great fun to see where the shards of My Fair lady came from. And on its own, it's. It's a wonderful play to begin with.
- [33:08]
Michael Portantier
Anyway, I. I especially agree about that, that last thing you said, because it's set up so beautifully that everyone's going to be playing multiple roles that you. It never for a moment bothers you, and quite the opposite. So I guess maybe, maybe every show that has people playing multiple roles should do that and explain it at the beginning. No, no, I don't think we want that. And thank you for telling me about. Well, first of all, I didn't know that Matt Wolpe was Lenny Wolfe's son. And also, I'm not sure I knew the correct pronunciation of Lenny and Lesnia.
- [33:48]
Peter Filicia
All right.
- [33:51]
James Marino
Okay, so Gingel Theatrical Group's production of Pygmalion is at theater row through November 22nd. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Next up, Peter, you were over at stage 42, a couple hundred feet away from Theater Row to see Romeo and Michelle the musical. So tell us about that, this.
- [34:18]
Peter Filicia
Well, I have to say that I think this show is astonishingly well directed. I thought it was really terrific that it moved like lightning. And I really was very, very impressed too, that Lara Bell Bundy is so committed to this show. It is really amazing to see how involved she is that she is trying so hard. It's really wonderful when you see a performer who's that committed to a property. Now, that doesn't mean that Kara Lindsley, who plays Michelle, Laura Bell Bundy, who's Romy, isn't devoted as well. But nevertheless, I just felt that there was such an extra energy. Whoever decided at the very beginning, hey, let's get Laura Bell Bundy, must be so happy that indeed they did, because she's really quite wonderful. Okay. I also have to say that Jordan Kai Burnett, who I've seen in the past and have admired, is very good to his Heather. Heather is the girl who in high school was a goth girl and nobody liked her and she had a crush on the nerd. But nevertheless, he wasn't paying attention to her because he was more interested. So it's very Chekovian when you think of it. People are in love with the wrong people. So. So that's pretty impressive. So she's wonderful as well. But really, it's so great to see a show that moves like wildfire lightning. I mean, it really is. So Kristen Hange, that's H A N G G I does a wonderful job. The choreographer, Calip Puno Garcia. It's more musical staging than choreography much of the time, but nevertheless, that's top notch as well. What I really admire, and you know what I'm going to say if I'm going to talk about lyrics. Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay have music and lyric credit together. I don't know who did the majority of the lyrics, but the craft is quite wonderful. The rhymes are there, very few false accents, and more to the point, the ideas in the lyrics are quite good as well. So I think that's terrific. Robin Schiff did the movie and she's done the book here. She has a very funny bio and she talks about the fact. She implies that when she was in high school, she was considered an outcast and she wasn't part of the A team, so to speak. And so expensive production projections that are terrific. I mean, really quite, quite something. Those projections and a million of them, I mean, they just keep on coming and you really do get your money's worth. So this is stage 42, which has had a checkered History. It's very hard for stage 40, and you may recall it was originally called the Little Schubert. And it's interesting the Shuberts took their name off it, so they obviously didn't want to be associated with this house that was getting flop after flop after flop after flop after flop. But this may change the time. Of course, they've. They've had successes since then, certainly one, I think. Well, I was thinking of Pups. Did Puffs not do well? I thought it did. Which one are you thinking of?
- [37:36]
Michael Portantier
Michael Fiddler. Oh, right, yeah, sure.
- [37:39]
Peter Filicia
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe it didn't run as long as it should have, but nevertheless, it certainly was a fine, extraordinary production. But. But also, there's a Dungeon and Dragony thing there that I ran a while too, I think. But anyway, I. I wish this show well. I think if you like the movie, you're going to be very, very pleased by what's going on here. It does follow the movie quite a bit. I. I'll grant you, I haven't seen the movie in a long time, but it seemed to really hit all the points that I remembered from the movie, so. So again, certainly not a major musical from the vantage point of One for the Ages or anything like that, but I dare say a good time is had by all.
- [38:22]
Michael Portantier
I don't know this property and I haven't seen this production yet, but did you say that that supporting character's name is Heather?
- [38:30]
Peter Filicia
Yeah.
- [38:30]
Michael Portantier
Well, that's interesting, isn't it?
- [38:32]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [38:33]
Michael Portantier
Is that other show running?
- [38:35]
Peter Filicia
Sure, sure. Yeah. I have to say that occurred to me, but I didn't think of saying it now. But it did occur to me while I was watching it. And of course, it is a name that was one that was very, very popular for girls in that period of time, so. Which is why we have a musical called Heathers, apparently, with contributions from the gentleman who wrote Bat Boy.
- [38:55]
Michael Portantier
Yep.
- [39:00]
James Marino
Totally. Just thinking off the top of my head, and I have no information about this. I'm just spitballing here. Do you think it's possible that the stage 42 could be expanded to become a legit Broadway theater?
- [39:19]
Peter Filicia
You know, that's been talked about more than once, and I think the decision was made that would just be too expensive to expand it. But that is not the first time that's been brought up.
- [39:30]
Michael Portantier
Well, and it's not the first time it's been brought up on our podcast, either. I believe it's heaven. We. Isn't it just under 500 seats? Yeah, like 499 and all they could need to do would be to add two seats. And the salient point here is that if I have this correct, and I imagine it's still true that the reason, one reason why they haven't had hits there is that the stagehands are on a Broadway contract for some reason season. And so that makes it extremely expensive, more expensive than a, than an other than a regular off Broadway show. So I don't know why. I mean there was a. I think there was a lot written about it at the time as to why exactly the Schubert's made that deal, but that is my understanding. I. I can't quite figure why. Why at this point, given the track record of the theater, why they don't just try. Try it with, with a couple of more seats. And, and the other thing is, the other thing is there seems to be a need sometimes for intimate Broadway theaters. And of course every, anything that would play there would still be eligible for a Tony Award. But if you want to, if you have a small play or a really small musical, not everything can go to the haze.
- [41:01]
James Marino
I was just going to say the, the haze is seemingly anecdotally. I haven't looked at the data booked all the time.
- [41:12]
Michael Portantier
Right.
- [41:13]
James Marino
So, you know, if Second Stage can make a go of it with the Haze, maybe this Seaview, you know, Seaview theater producing company that took over the second stage on 9th Avenue or so, you know, one of those organizations could, you know, take over this thing and, or you know, the Schubert's surely have, surely have the expertise to run a Broadway theater. But it seems like this stage 42 is just floundering out there and it's in no man's land. It doesn't seem to be working for Off Broadway.
- [41:52]
Michael Portantier
No.
- [41:54]
James Marino
I wonder if they could make it.
- [41:55]
Peter Filicia
Work as a big change you say is just a few steps away from theater grow, you know. You know, so it's a very attractive place.
- [42:03]
Michael Portantier
I'm. I'm wondering, I mean, you would think that maybe there must be a specific reason why they haven't done that because it seems so obvious. Maybe there's some, some specific reason. We can't imagine why they haven't made it a Broadway theater. I don't know.
- [42:22]
James Marino
All right, so that's Romeo Michelle. And it's got tickets on sale through March 1, 2026. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you jumped 12 blocks up to 54 below. I almost said Studio 54, but it was below Studio 54. Right, 54 below. To see Marilyn May So tell us about.
- [42:54]
Michael Portantier
Well, she's there again through November dates through November, including a performance on Thanksgiving Day and the day after, the night after. So please catch her if you haven't already. She's just a phenomenon. She's doing yet another variation on her Johnny Carson tribute show because this year is the hundredth. Would have been the 100th birthday of Johnny Carson. And so she really loved him. She famously appeared on his show 76 times, which is a record for any singer. And he loved her. She loved him. And so I almost, well, I hesitated to even go again because I've seen, I thought I had seen this show twice before in provincetown and at 54 below. But amazingly, even though Marilyn is 97, she keeps switching it up. So the song stack was not exactly the same as what I've seen before with several differences. This, this performance, this edition is notable for. She starts with a clip from her singing cabaret on the Carson show from back in 1966 or, or 67, because she was the first person to record it and I think also pretty sure the first person to sing it on tv. And so, and then it goes from the clip into Marilyn singing the song live. So, you know, suddenly 60 years vanish and, and it's just thrilling for the audience and would be worth it, the price of admission, if only for that. But then she goes on, she has a wonderful program. She includes two Steve Allen songs. This could be the start of something big. And I love you Today. She does wonderful mini medleys, if that's the word for them. Well, she'll combine two or more songs that have a similar theme, but you wouldn't necessarily think of combining them them. But when she does it, you think, oh, you know, those really do kind of go together really well, even though they're very different. So, so, for example, she starts with those were the days, those were the days, my friend, into I will Survive. And she starts with the song I'll, I'll Go My way by Myself from I think the bandwagon into Being Alive from Company Symphony. And then she has a medley of how about Me into it's going to Take some Time, that Carpenter's song into maybe this Time. So. And I think she. My understanding is that she comes up with most or all of those ideas herself to combine songs like this. She's really very, very smart woman, aside from her great talent as a singer, so she never disappoints. And as I say, she's there if you check the calendar at 54 below, she's there through November so you have lots of opportunity to see her again.
- [46:22]
James Marino
Okay, so Marilyn may at 54 below with various dates through November as Michael just mentioned. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. So Michael, in the news we have this Broadway production of Punch that is to going to be offering a stream. So tell us more information about this.
- [46:44]
Michael Portantier
Well, apparently some people were upset because they weren't first of all they weren't sure if it was going to be a live stream or not. And apparently some people were disappointed when they found out that it was not going to be a live stream but a pre taped performance because the way it was set up, this is all I'm, this is all secondhand but I'm sure it's correct. I myself did not try to do seemed like the indication was that it was going to be live. And I guess that makes a difference to some people, a big difference in terms of excitement for them to think they're actually watching something live rather than pre taped. Even though in a way you would think, well it's really not much difference. But for some people apparently it is a big difference. And the issue here that the, that I'm not sure if all of the tickets were this price but they were charging $75 for a, for what was not a live stream but a stream of a pre taped performance. And many people seem to think that that's pretty outrageous. So yet another area for controversy. And you know we're probably going to see more of these because Hamilton as we know the live capture. Well, not the live capture, you know what I mean? The video capture of Hamilton was a tremendous hit when it was first streamed and then also when it was shown recently in movie theaters. And then we have coming up, I don't think it started yet, but we have Merrily we roll along the same situation. So I think this is going to keep happening. It'll be interesting to see how the price points change or you know, or get evened out and what winds up being the kind of the going rate to watch a stream of a show whether it's live or not live.
- [48:58]
James Marino
So the League of Live Stream Theater. Yeah they have a logo so they must be real. Real. So it's interesting how they're couching this. It's only available. Oh I guess today is the last day that it's available. So it started on Tuesday, October 28th at 7pm and you can purchase a live stream today ticket $75 which includes the $9 service fee and you can stream it within a 24 hour window.
- [49:47]
Michael Portantier
So, but, so the, the very use of the word live stream is unclear. Right. Because does that mean that the show is actually being obviously not in this.
- [49:59]
James Marino
Yeah, no. So it says it there that it was captured at Manhattan Theater Club, this special as live as hyphen, live presentation.
- [50:11]
Michael Portantier
So whatever that means.
- [50:13]
James Marino
Yeah, I, I guess that it means that it's not live live.
- [50:17]
Michael Portantier
You know, but maybe it had an audit was with an audience. Maybe that's what they mean by live.
- [50:22]
James Marino
It seems like it. And, but anyway, it wraps up today and it says that limited streaming inventory. So I guess at a certain, after a certain number of live stream tickets are sold, it's no longer available. So anyway, I'll have a link to this league of live stream theater in the show notes and if somebody wants to check it out. And then, Michael, you and I have been talking offline about the theater's use of QR codes. And the Actors Equity contract that they've agreed to for Broadway allows for some new use of some QR codes.
- [51:13]
Michael Portantier
Yes. And the elimination of theaters will no longer have to stuff playbills with those hard copy notices. When there is an understudy or a standby, they can just use a QR code instead. But as we've discussed, that can lead to problems because they don't always work and not everyone has the technical ability to use them. And so now, so the rule used to be that you had to do two of three things. When there was an understudy, you had to have the A board in the lobby announcing that the understudy. And then you had to either stuff the playbills with those notices or make an announcement from the stage. Well, not from the stage. You know, an announcement over the PA right before the performance started, you had to do two of those three things. And that's still true. But now instead of the hard copy notes in the playbill, they can have the QR code.
- [52:33]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah. It's received some pushback from fans and some pushback from, from actors who are understudies and standbys and various folks like that. I, I wonder if this will lead to actors who have a little bit more power during negotiation to say you're going to have to insert them into the, you know, put it into their contract. Correct. So I don't, I don't know, we'll, we'll see how this all shakes out. But some folks were also talking about how, you know, out, you know, outside of the US when you go to see shows, you don't get a playbill at all. You can purchase a program but you don't get the playbill handed to you when you come into the theater. So we've all had that with various London, Australia shows and things like that outside of the country where you have to purchase the program. So I guess a little bit of a gradual change coming to Broadway there with the QR codes. But it's sad because I keep those slips with all the shows that I go to see. See, because.
- [54:06]
Michael Portantier
Right. I mean theoretically you could still now you could I guess write it into the playbill, you know, or you make a note somewhere yourself. But we can understand why people wouldn't want to do that. And a lot of people are, are very upset by this and also by, as you mentioned, just the switch from, in some cases, especially Off Broadway, from printed programs to just QR codes which sometimes don't work. And as James and I discussed earlier, sometimes you can't even download them. It's just something you can go to, you know, a list on a website somewhere, but it's not going to be there in perpetuity. So that can be a big problem. And I, I just really, really, really don't like, like it.
- [54:58]
James Marino
I can see it now along with the eight dollar bottle of water that you can buy at the Schubert. You can now buy a ten dollar Sharpie.
- [55:07]
Michael Portantier
Yes.
- [55:09]
James Marino
So, all right. And finally coming up this Thursday night we have the Wicked TV concert is going to be airing. So set your DVRs if you have a DVR and if you have television, I mean who has got television anymore? So it's going to be available for streaming on Peacock. It's called Wicked One Wonderful Night.
- [55:39]
Peter Filicia
And.
- [55:42]
James Marino
Check it out. So I guess that wraps it up for this week.
- [55:48]
Peter Filicia
Week.
- [55:48]
James Marino
Before we get on to our brain teaser, our musical moments, I'd like to remind everybody that you could 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 be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcast 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 it's one way that you can support all the Broadway radio shows as well as get us a little bit early and get a few extra bonuses here and there. Contact information for Peter from Michael and me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked about today. So Peter, do you have an answer to last week's brain teaser?
- [56:34]
Peter Filicia
I do. He was a Tony winning performer in the early 50s. One of his most famous songs was also the title of a Tony losing music musical in the first fifth of the 21st century. Harry Belafonte, someone we don't usually associate with Broadway, nevertheless won a 1953-54 Tony for John Murray Anderson's Almanac and had a hit song with Matilda, which was the name of a 20122013 Tony nominated musical. Good Lord, does that really seem like 13 years ago? I mean, Tony Janicky resumed his first rung perch, followed by the also reliable Paul Witty, Sean Logan, Juliet Green, Jack Lesher, who pointed out it's really Matilda the Musical, Steven Sokolov, Lee Korn, Guy Matthews, Brigadoon, and Ingrid Gammerman. This week's question in one of Harold Hill's songs, he uses a word. I'm going to put the word word in quotation marks. He uses a word that would eventually become the name of a popular candy bar. What is it? And in what song does it appear?
- [57:40]
James Marino
Okay, if you have an idea, please email us@triviaroadreavideo.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?
- [57:52]
Michael Portantier
Well, this is really interesting to me. As I had reported, I did see the film version of Kiss of the Spider Woman, and honestly, I'm not that familiar with the show. I certainly did see it on Broadway with the great Chita Rivera and only once. I I didn't see any of her replacements, but I don't it's not one of my favorite shows and so I don't listen to the album a lot. So interestingly enough, I noticed something in the movie that I never noticed before. The song Her Name Is Aurora has a melody that's very, very similar to the main melody of this song. That's called Lament from Evita, which Evita sings at the very end of the show, although we also hear the melody at the beginning during the funeral sequence. So I have provided links to both of those Her Name Is Aurora from the original Broadway cast album as performed by Chita Rivera as our opener, and the Lament from Evita as performed by Patti LuPone from the original broadcast recording of that as our closer. And you can please listen to them and see if you note the extremely close resemblance between the melody of both of them. Now, it only just occurred to me, like, maybe two minutes ago that both of these things are set in Argentina. So I wonder, I haven't done this extra bit of research. I wonder if perhaps Andrew Lloyd Webber, in 1976, when Evita was first issued as a concept album, I wonder if he based the melody on a. Perhaps on an actual Argentinian pop or folk melody. And then is it possible that John Candor did the same thing in 19. In, in the 1990s when. When Spider Woman was written? I wonder that. I don't know if I'm going to be able to find out, but I think you might be surprised, as I was at how close the melodies of those two are. And of course, Lloyd Webber is the one who's often accused of copying other people's melodies. John Kander is not accused of that. So I think it, you know, it might just be a weird coincidence or, or maybe there is some, some source in Argentinian music. So I will try to find that out, and if I, if I do, I'll report on some subsequent podcast.
- [60:51]
James Marino
I wonder if, you know, some of the trunk songs from Candor showed up in, in more than one iteration of Spider Woman. You know, maybe something from a while ago.
- [61:07]
Michael Portantier
Well, well, I, we talked about that also. I. I had been told that I had been told that there was more than one song in the movie that, that Fred Ebb had written lyrics for, but John Kander had not never written music to them. And it turned out that wasn't exactly true. But there was one song that was going to be in the movie that fit that description. And then they didn't include it in the movie itself, but I think it might be on the soundtrack album as a bonus or something like that. So, yes, and then, and then as we also mentioned last week, and I provide, provided that link to there, there is a video of, of several songs that were performed only when the show was done at Purchase, New York, before Broadway and never made it to Broadway. And those several songs are all in the movie to compensate for many of the songs that weren't in the Broadway show that were cut. So it gets a little complicated. But, but if you listen to all the different iterations of Kiss of the Spider Woman, there's a lot of songs and, and they're all, you know, most of them are pretty great because they're John Kander and Fred E.
- [62:27]
James Marino
All right, so on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye. Bye.
- [62:39]
Musical Performer
The choice was mine and mine completely I could have any prize that I desired I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire or else or else I could choose time Remember, I was very young then and a year was forever and a day.
- [63:24]
Peter Filicia
So what.
- [63:25]
Musical Performer
Use could 50, 60, 70, 73. I saw the light and I was on my way and how I lived, how they shone but how soon the lights were gone.