This Week on Broadway for September 14, 2025: Galas @ Little Island

Summary

BroadwayRadio: This Week on Broadway – September 14, 2025

Episode Theme: Galas @ Little Island and the Latest in Broadway News, Reviews, and Theater Discourse

---

Overview

This episode revolves around reviews of recent theatrical productions (including the revival of Charles Ludlam's Galas at Little Island), previews of new works (Saturday Church at New York Theatre Workshop), updates from Broadway and London theater scenes, and lively exchanges on the impact of current events and controversies in the theater community. The hosts—James Marino, Peter Filichia, and Michael Portantiere—offer their insights, opinions, and trademark banter, tailoring the episode for both the passionate Broadway fan and the engaged theater industry follower.

---

1. Opening Banter and Introductions [01:14–03:43]

• Hosts introduce themselves: James Marino (host/producer), Peter Filichia (playwright, historian, columnist, calendar author), Michael Portantiere (critic, reviewer), with lively shout-outs to chat room participants and BroadwayRadio community contributors.
• Show Tune of the Day (Peter): Explains the 1974 Andrews Sisters musical Over Here!—noting its use of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in a comic plot twist. Peter’s pitch: “If you haven’t got Over Here!, get it.” [02:00–03:43]

---

2. Minor League Baseball & Broadway Crossovers [03:44–07:43]

• Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs: James quizzes Peter, a known baseball aficionado, about this Pennsylvania AAA team (farm team for the Phillies), sparking a chat-room interlude detailing the origins of the "Pig Iron" moniker.
• Lena Hall at the Iron Pigs: Amusing recollection of Lena Hall singing all verses of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a game, making the crowd “uncomfortable because it goes on and on.” — James [04:47–05:04]
• Minor league teams and nostalgia: Peter laments the trend of generic naming, missing quirky old minor league team names: “It used to be far more interesting when the team said like the Kalamazoo Celery Pickers.” [04:06]

---

3. Broadway Briefs & Community News [07:43–12:07]

• USA Today Feature: Longtime BroadwayRadio supporter Steve Bell spotlighted, with Michael probing a unique directorial choice in a Little Night Music production Steve directed [08:30–09:31].
• Evita Transfer Gossip: James references a Patreon-exclusive conversation between Matt Tamanini and London theater vlogger Mickey Jo—Evita isn’t likely on Broadway until 2027, possibly due to strained relations between Jamie Lloyd and Andrew Lloyd Webber. “If the London Evita transfers to Broadway in 2027, will Rachel Zegler come with it? We’ll have to see.” — James [11:09]
• Billy Porter & Cabaret: Discussion of skepticism surrounding Billy Porter’s exit from Cabaret due to sepsis. “On the one hand, it’s almost impossible to imagine that anyone would lie about something like that, but if they did, that would be extremely bad karma.” — Michael [12:22–13:18]

---

4. Industry Controversies: Kristin Chenoweth & Social Media [15:08–19:32]

• Kristin Chenoweth Backlash: James explains how Chenoweth’s social media comment about the assassination of a divisive figure (Charlie Kirk) has caused outrage, and speculates about its potential impact on Queen of Versailles ticket sales.
• Contextualizing Celebrity Statements: Michael recalls Chenoweth’s nuanced public stance during a previous controversy regarding her 700 Club appearance, highlighting the delicate balance performers must strike between personal beliefs and their brand or audience expectations.

---

5. Chess on Broadway: Anticipation and Ad Campaigns [20:09–28:18]

• "Chess" Kennedy Center & Broadway: Michael revisits his experience at the Kennedy Center’s semi-staged Chess with a Danny Strong book (now transferred to Broadway with some changes). He notes likely updates including Florence (Lea Michele) singing “Someone Else’s Story” [22:21–24:11].
• Ad Saturation: James and Peter report seeing omnipresent digital ads for Chess: “They do not want to fail...because really, how many times has Chess been morphed into this, that, and the other thing?” — Peter [25:35]
• Concert vs. Booked Versions: Michael’s take: “The most successful productions of Chess have been the ones that almost completely eliminate spoken dialogue and just have a few connecting lines...” [26:10]

---

6. Evita, Masquerade, and Broadway Scheduling [28:18–29:17]

• Why Evita isn’t coming sooner: Matt and Mickey Jo posit that Rice and Lloyd Webber’s full slates (e.g., Masquerade) may delay transfers to avoid internal Broadway competition.

---

7. Review: GALAS @ Little Island [29:42–38:39]

Galas, Little Island Amphitheater

Michael’s Detailed Review:

• First “run-through” performance: Rained out opening led to a unique dynamic—the cast, led by Anthony Roth Costanzo, seized the spontaneity of real fireworks over Hoboken mid-show. “At one point, Anthony just stopped what he was doing and sat on a couch and looked at the fireworks... The audience just loved it.” — Michael [30:05–31:35]
• The Play: Charles Ludlam’s 1983 “fantasia on Maria Callas”—high camp, intentionally over-the-top.
• Cast Critique: While the cast (with Mary Testa, Carmelita Tropicana, et al.) “overacted” as intended, Michael felt the original Ridiculous Theatrical Company style was not consistently recaptured except for Costanzo: “Anthony Roth Costanzo was absolutely phenomenal... His singing was live and it was really impressive.” [33:28–36:00]
• Production Experiences: Outdoor staging may have accentuated the overplaying, but audience response was overwhelmingly positive.
• Tickets: $25, sold out, runs through September 28. [37:12]

---

8. Review: Sober Songs @ Theatre Row [39:12–41:42]

Peter’s Analysis:

• Setup: Michael Levin’s musical set in an AA meeting—six young adults in recovery.
• Content/Critique: “It is well-meaning as you would expect it to be... what he can’t do is surprise us.” — Peter [39:12]
• Lyrics: Praises Levin’s lyrical intuition and character-appropriate writing, but faults for forced accents and predictability.
• Attendance: Noted “almost ill attended”—lowest attended show Peter’s ever seen on Broadway/off-Broadway.

---

9. Broadway Karaoke Night [42:00–47:47]

• Michael’s Night Out: Attended “Sing with the Stars”—a karaoke night typically on the Lower East Side, but this time held in Midtown.
• The “Stars”: While not A-list, they included Amia Gentile (Kinky Boots) and Dylan Klena (Jagged Little Pill).
• Audience & Experience: “Everyone had a fantastic voice...the audience went absolutely nuts” when one singer tackled the Phantom high E.
• Format: Broadway songs interspersed with pop, audience participation via slips, great camaraderie—“It was a lot of fun,” Michael enthused. [42:00–47:47]

---

10. Preview: Saturday Church @ New York Theatre Workshop [47:51–52:18]

Preliminary Impressions (Full review next week):

• Jay Harrison Gee stars (“in a manner of speaking, Jesus”); show based on a film about a queer-affirmative community in the Village.
• Production details: Book/lyrics by James Ijames (“Iams”, pronounced with silent “J” [52:23]), Damon Cudessa, music by Sia, directed by Whitney White.
• Response: “The audience was so enthusiastic—this one seemed a little quicker than most [standing ovations].” — Peter [51:09]

---

11. Sweet Charity (Movie) Revisited [53:03–63:57]

Michael’s Take:

• Prompt: Chat room led to a rewatch. “I’ve always described it as a fabulous mess—so many wonderful moments, scenes and songs.”
• New/Notable Scenes: Credits Peter Stone with two brilliant added scenes, including a heartbreaking job agency scene and an emotional marriage license bureau climax.
• Directorial Style: Fosse’s film debut “doesn’t really cohere,” laden with camera tricks: “Really, Bob, how many things can we do at once?” [55:20]
• Real-life Anecdote: Ran into Leroy Reams (featured dancer in the film) minutes after re-watching—a testament to NYC’s Broadway community. [56:44]
• Peter’s Fix: Outlines script and structural flaws with Charity’s ending and proposes a “simple fix.” “It’s so easy to fix everybody else’s show.” — Peter [59:57]

---

12. Review: House of McQueen [64:36–68:00]

Peter's Review:

• Location: Not an actual mansion, but an industrial theater space on 37th/7th.
• Biographical Musical on Fashion Designer Alexander McQueen:
  • Format/Critique: Relies on “flashback” and well-trodden biographical tropes (difficult childhood, struggle, being gay). “Does any of this sound particularly fresh? No, no.” — Peter [66:21]
  • Writing: Chisa Hutchinson is “strapped by what happened”—lacks surprise or innovation.

---

13. Broadway Briefings and Upcoming Excitement [79:32–81:22]

• Classic Stage Company News: Excitement over an all-star Baker’s Wife cast announced (Robert Cuccioli, Judy Kuhn, Scott Bakula)—ambitions for a Broadway transfer discussed.
• Community Chatter: More theater gossip, quick plugs for finding contact info and subscribing to BroadwayRadio.

---

14. Brain Teaser [70:08–71:13]

• Answer: To the previous week’s brainteaser—song mentioning 51 in "110 in the Shade" (the "rain song").
• New Teaser: Which 80s Broadway performer played one role in first musical, four in second, and seven in third?

---

15. Musical Moments: Carmen & Carmen Jones [71:25–79:32]

Michael Reflects:

• Anniversary: 150th anniversary of Bizet’s Carmen.
• Hammerstein’s Carmen Jones: Adapting the opera for a WWII-era, all-Black cast— Michael praises the “superb” lyrics and contextualizes its historical significance and periodic controversy.
• Video Links: Opening/closer music clips from Carmen Jones: Dorothy Dandridge (dubbed by Marilyn Horne) in “Dat’s Love” and Greg Baker in “Stand Up and Fight.”
• Classic Stage’s 2018 Carmen Jones: Noted as a recent successful revival.

---

16. Closing Chatter and Notable Quotes [81:22–end]

• Notable moments: Michael delivers the punchline, “You're nothing without me,” a loving coda from City of Angels.
• Hosts wrap up: Thanks to the audience, pointers to show notes, and reminders to subscribe for weekly Broadway wisdom.

---

Notable Quotes

• On Lena Hall and the Star-Spangled Banner: “...they have a video of everybody in the stands getting really uncomfortable because it goes on and on.” — James [04:54]
• On overacting in Galas at Little Island: “The play is meant to be overacted...it’s just, the way they did it didn’t seem to me that it was quite right. But that's a very subjective opinion.” — Michael [37:28]
• On “Sober Songs”: “[It] is well meaning as you would expect it to be...but what [the writer] can’t do is surprise us.” — Peter [41:01]
• On Broadway's embrace of camp and risk: “Anthony Roth Costanzo was absolutely phenomenal in terms of both his acting—which is not, you know, his, his main thing—and his singing.” — Michael [34:29]
• On Michael's Karaoke Night: “Everyone had a fantastic voice…even did the high note at the end. The audience went absolutely nuts.” — Michael [45:17]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:51] — Show tune of the day (Over Here!, Andrews Sisters)
• [07:43] — Broadway Community News & Steve Bell USA Today feature
• [29:42] — Galas @ Little Island review
• [39:12] — Sober Songs @ Theatre Row review
• [42:00] — Karaoke with Broadway Stars
• [47:51] — Saturday Church preview
• [53:03] — Sweet Charity (movie) rewatch and discussion
• [64:36] — House of McQueen recap
• [70:08] — Brain Teaser
• [71:25] — Carmen Jones history & musical moments

---

Final Thoughts

This packed episode covers the breadth (and depth) of New York theater, with insightful reviews, historical asides, gossip, and the hosts’ wry, affectionate theater geekery. Highlights include the spontaneous joys—and hazards—of outdoor theater, ongoing discussions about problematic endings and adaptations, and the intersection of Broadway with sports, politics, and pop culture. Whether you’re seeking information, entertainment, or just the sensation of eavesdropping on smart theater fans, this episode is a satisfying listen.

Transcript

[Peter Felicia]

Introducing Family freedom from T Mobile.

[Michael Portentier]

We'll pay off four phones up to.

[James Marino]

$3200 and give you four free phones.

[Peter Felicia]

All on America's largest 5G network.

[James Marino]

Visit your local T Mobile location or.

[Peter Felicia]

Learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom. Up to $800 per line via virtual.

[James Marino]

Prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits.

[Peter Felicia]

With finance agreement, eg. Apple iPhone16128 gigabyte 8. $29.99 eligible trade in eg iPhone 11.

[James Marino]

Pro for well qualified credits.

[Peter Felicia]

End and balance due if you pay.

[James Marino]

Off early or cancel contact T Mobile. Love's a baby that grows up wild and he don't do what you want him to. Love ain't nobody's angel, child and he won't pay any mind to you. One man gives me his diamond stud and I won't give him a cigarette. One man treats me like I was mud and all I got that man can get. That's love.

[Michael Portentier]

That'S love.

[Peter Felicia]

You go for me and I'm taboo.

[James Marino]

But if you're hard to get a go for you and if I do. Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios, this week on Broadway for Sunday, September 14, 2025. My name is James Marino, and in the broadcast today we have Peter, Felicia and Michael Portentier. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by Day Desk Calendar, a show tune 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.

[Peter Felicia]

Hi, Peter.

[James Marino]

What is our show tune for today?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, and Will Holt, the book writer for Over Here, the Andrew sisters musical from 1974, is awfully glad he did, because it was a part of the plot, actually, the Star Spangled Banner, because what's happening is the two surviving Andrew sisters played the DePaul sisters in World War II. And in those days, really, a trio was best for public consumption. So they needed somebody else. Well, they did find somebody who certainly had the voice and the right harmonies and all. That's terrific, except she turned out to be a German spy. And the way they found out is they asked her to recite the second verse of the Star Spangled Banner and she did it. And they said, nah, no true American knows the second verse to the Star Spangled Banner. And that's how she's outed. So anyway, but in happier times, at the end of the first act there was a song called We Got it which needless to say sounds optimistic as the songs are in the calendar. There's enough tough stuff in the world that we need optimism and the Andrew Sisters even though they hated each other personally certainly didn't show it on stage when they were doing over here and it's a very good album by the way if you like the big band sound of. Of that time and and in fact even though it's a Sherman Brothers score there's no funky word like supercalifragilistic etc and I am told that one of the reasons it sounds so good is because I think it's Patty Andrews husband worked on made sure that those songs sounded right for the for the era and they certainly do so if you haven't got over here get it and here we got it.

[James Marino]

Peter?

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

I know that you are a baseball fan.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

Have you ever heard of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs?

[Peter Felicia]

It may be in the book that I wrote where I listed every team that ever played is that. Are they playing now? It doesn't sound like.

[James Marino]

Yes, they're a AAA team.

[Michael Portentier]

Really?

[Peter Felicia]

Maybe.

[James Marino]

Maybe the double A team.

[Peter Felicia]

That surprises me because so many teams now just adopt the name of the parent team. It. It used to be far more interesting when the team said like the Kalamazoo celery pickers.

[James Marino]

Yes.

[Peter Felicia]

You know. So Lehigh Valley what Iron Pigs.

[James Marino]

I iron I R O N Pigs. They're a AAA team for the Phillies.

[Peter Felicia]

That's really surprising because I would think they'd be called the Lehigh Valley Phillies because that's really what's happening more and more with. With minor league teams. So.

[James Marino]

Sure. So I guess you weren't at the Lehigh Valley iron pigs in 2013 when our own Dear Lena hall sang the Star Spangled Banner.

[Peter Felicia]

Ah.

[James Marino]

And how did she sang all of the verses?

[Peter Felicia]

She did. Really?

[James Marino]

And they have a video of everybody in the stands getting really uncomfortable because it goes on and on.

[Peter Felicia]

Isn't that something?

[James Marino]

And on and on.

[Peter Felicia]

Boy, when the umpire finally said play ball they must have all chewed like crazy. Wow.

[James Marino]

Sort of like. Sort of like Bill Clinton at the DNC when he gave that long speech.

[Michael Portentier]

In conclusion, if one is going to do that doing it at a ball game seems like a terrible idea.

[Peter Felicia]

And everybody had to stand, you know.

[James Marino]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

Even that.

[James Marino]

Yeah. Even the Iron Pig.

[Peter Felicia]

My God, what a name.

[James Marino]

Sure. Well, a lot of iron ore comes from that area of Pennsylvania. Rob Johnston are in our chat room. Our local. Our pig Iron. What is Pig Iron Rob. So Rob is Filling us in, in the, in the chat room right now.

[Michael Portentier]

Is he the pig iron expert? I guess so.

[James Marino]

Alan Teasley says they sometimes play here with the Durham Bills, you know, and down in Durham we have the adaptation of.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right, that's right.

[James Marino]

Of Bull. Do you. At Lauren Kennedy's theater. What's Lauren Kennedy's theater's name? I can't think of it. I just think of it always says Lauren Kennedy's theater.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, I know. I do too.

[James Marino]

Theater Raleigh. Theater Raleigh. Everybody's chiming in. Yes.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, but Bull Durham is coming to Paper Mill.

[James Marino]

Yeah. So we'll see what happens there. Yeah, I think it's playing right now at Theater Raleigh just about.

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, is that right? Uh huh.

[James Marino]

Yeah. So. So Nick Walker starting next month. Okay, I see what you're saying. So you've given me an answer on pig iron. Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate. Intermediate good. Used by the iron industry for the production of steel. Definitely a Pennsylvania thing. So that makes sense.

[Peter Felicia]

Things I'm learning today. Yeah.

[James Marino]

Thank you, Rob Johnston again.

[Peter Felicia]

Again, indeed.

[James Marino]

All right. Alan Ceasley in the chat room says though Bill Durham played theater on Duke campus rather than in Raleigh. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. It's at the Duke campus, but it, it's being produced by Theater Raleigh. That's right. So yeah, we, we have a, we have a family trip to Duke planned in the next couple of weeks. So I have to see if I can see if it'll be playing the same time.

[Peter Felicia]

I hope it is. Yeah.

[James Marino]

Oh yeah. So you know, Broadway radio listeners, not only are they smart, but they are good looking too. And we've been able to check that out because our own Steve Bell had a profile in USA Today. Really? Yeah. There was a lifetime in performance, Steve Bell's Journey through Stage and scores by Maria Williams in USA Today. I'm gonna put a link to that in the show notes so everybody can take a listen. Take a look at it. You can listen to it. I guess somebody reads it to you. So congratulations, Steve Bell.

[Peter Felicia]

Indeed.

[James Marino]

Thank you. For many years of support of Broadway radio.

[Michael Portentier]

Oh, yeah, well, there was some, there was particular item in that article that was very intriguing to me. So perhaps either Peter or Steve can answer it because I'm pretty sure Peter saw this production, the, the production of A Little Night Music that Steve did. And it said something about how there was a change made at the end without actually changing a word of the text, that it implied that it, that it involved Madame Armfelt. I think and that it really, you know, gave a different interpretation to the show without actually changing any text. So can you speak to that?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, I remember saying that, that there was a change and yet at the moment I'm not 100% sure what it was. I have forgotten. It's been a while now, but I do remember there was something, oh, gee, that's different. So that's the best I can do, which is not good at all.

[Michael Portentier]

Right. Well, perhaps Steve will write in and he'll remember.

[James Marino]

Did you guys know that I did Sweeney Todd with Steve? He was the director. Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

Really?

[James Marino]

Where at? Bergen County.

[Peter Felicia]

Huh? Yeah, he's a fixture there.

[James Marino]

Yeah. So in the Broadway radio feed over the weekend, Matt Tamn talked with Mickey Jo from Mickey Jo Theater, who is primarily based in London but comes back and forth to the U.S. right. And does a lot of stuff. And Mickey Joe and Matt talked about the, the Evita that's happening in London right now and if it will transfer. And Mickey Jo, who is more right than they are wrong, has said that it's not coming to Broadway until 2027. So I, you know, I defer to Mickey Jo. I had heard earlier, but also it seems that there is some sort of falling out between Jamie Lloyd and Andrew Lloyd Webber. And there and Matt and Mickey Joe talk about this. This is a Patreon exclusive. It's not going to be in the public feed, so if you want to listen to it, you're going to have to get over to patreon.com and download it there. Great conversation. It's so funny because Matt, you know, Matt does a ton of work in the fall on college football. And so he's been really busy and I, he and I have not really chatted in depth in a lot in at least two or three weeks. And I was just gonna reach out to Mickey Joe to see if Mickey Joe wants to come on this week on Broadway. And I'm like, oh, here it is. Matt's got Mickey Joe in, in there. So if the London Evita transfers to Broadway in 2027, will Rachel Zegler come with it? We'll have to see. She's very, very high in demand person to be tying up.

[Peter Felicia]

All I can say is if Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jamie Lloyd are having issues, I wish they had them a few years ago before Sunset Boulevard.

[James Marino]

Sunset Boulevard is to Peter Felicia as Mamma Mia is to James Moreno.

[Michael Portentier]

Mickey Jo just did a very passionate episode about Billy Porter and Cabaret.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Michael Portentier]

Specifically how, you know, he was quite. Mickey Joe was quite outraged that that People would even question the, you know, the announcement that Billy is that. Yeah. That Billy has sepsis. Sepsis. And is not continuing for that reason. So, I mean, I can understand why. And as I said, I think I said on the one hand, it's almost impossible to imagine that anyone would lie about something like that, but if they did, that would, I think would be extremely bad karma. So I certainly. So on the one hand. So I'm not saying I hope he has sepsis. No, of course. But, you know, I mean, I, I hope that they have. That there has not been any lying involved.

[James Marino]

What's that. What's that term that they use when the obvious answer is. Is the obvious is the true answer? I can't think of that.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, that term.

[James Marino]

Rob Johnson, come through with me. What's that term called? What's that term called?

[Peter Felicia]

So, yeah, lying goes in the other direction. For example, like when Lee Remick left Agnes of God, they said she just couldn't stand all the smoking, but it really was that she was suffering from CANC cancer. And so usually they lie the other way to protect the bad diagnosis, but.

[James Marino]

Occam's Razor.

[Michael Portentier]

Occam's Razor.

[James Marino]

Thank you, Rob Johnston again and again and again. Wow. Forever. I don't even know how we did it. Did a podcast last week without Rob. You know, Rob was at. Was at Hamilton up, up in the Heights.

[Michael Portentier]

Right.

[James Marino]

Rob, was that where you were last week? He couldn't be with us on Sunday morning because he was hanging out with his friend Lynn. You know.

[Peter Felicia]

I see.

[James Marino]

So that's. I see how that is. You know, so Mickey, Joe, talking about Billy Porter, did he end it with. I said, good day, sir. I said good day. So also in. That's the Stephen Colbert, when he was ending, he was like, I have the last word on this. So also in the public Broadway radio feed was Jan Simpson's all the drama Street Scene 201929 winner for the Pulitzer Prize for drama. We can't say the 29 winner anymore because 19 can't be assumed when 2029 is just around the corner. So crazy.

[Michael Portentier]

It's really true.

[James Marino]

So. Oh, the Hamilton United Palace. Sing along the sing along. Rob. Did anybody record it? Perhaps accidentally leave their iPhone on and accidentally. And record that. That would be fun to hear 3,000 people singing Hamilton. That'd be great. So Jan Simpson's all the drama Street Scene 1929. Pulitzer Price for dramas in the public feed and you can listen to it there. We've had a lot of news outside of Broadway happen this week. And I'm not necessarily, you know, wanting to talk about the political aspect of this, but Kristen Chenoweth posted about the killing of the assassination of Charlie Kirk and a lot of fans are really upset with Kristen about it. I can understand people being upset with it, but my thought about it is that I wonder if this will affect Queen of Versailles tickets. Queen of Versailles is going into previews just in a couple of weeks, October 8th with an opening night of November 9th. And Kristen's character in Queen of Versailles seems to be quite a maga supporting character. And I wonder if this will be a positive, negative or no net effect on ticket sales or anybody going to protest or things like this. So we'll have to see what happens with Queen of Versailles. But that is, that is all the rage in social media on the broad Broadway related social media these days. Last couple of days, people really upset with Kristen.

[Peter Felicia]

Well, we remember when Nicole Schinger, sure, yeah. Had a, had an issue like that and it certainly didn't keep her from winning a Tony. So.

[Michael Portentier]

But also Kristen had her own quite a few years ago when involving the 700 Club when she went on that. Does everyone remember that? And you know, it sounded very sincere at the time. She, she, she addressed it and she said that she is a Christian and she believes in God and she has her beliefs but she does not agree with, with all of the things that some of the people say, including most importantly the attitudes towards gay people. And it's, it did sound sincere and it sounded very believable to me and she got through it. But here it's just that this particular person who was assassinated said such specifically horrible things about gay people, black people, women, Jews. Can we, can I go on that. That I don't know. I don't know how. And Kristen did try to cover herself, quote unquote to an extent by saying even as she. She memorialized this because she said I didn't agree with everything he said. But I think many people feel that if you're going to say things like that that it doesn't matter what else you say and that you just are a cancer, you know. And those ideas should not be. I mean they shouldn't be censored but they should not be condoned or downplayed in any way.

[James Marino]

Yeah. Well, have to see how this, how this plays out. It's amazing, you know, thinking about the parallels between Kristen and Tammy Faye the person and amazing that that Kristen didn't end up in that musical somehow.

[Michael Portentier]

Right.

[Peter Felicia]

But all things considered, you Know, really, when you come right down to it, I remember being at a party and overhearing Christian channel talking to somebody. I didn't know who it was. Talking about the fact that it was very easy for her to believe in God, considering that God's been so good to her and which nobody can deny. So I can understand why she would have deep feelings about God, given her success.

[James Marino]

Peter, I know that very often when you talk with folks, you ask them your time machine question. If you had a time machine, are. Are you using the time machine right now? Because if not, I'd like to borrow it.

[Peter Felicia]

Where you want to go?

[James Marino]

Okay, well, I, I want to put Michael in the time machine and send him back to February 2018, when he chess at the Kennedy center and talked with our friend Deb Schrager about it. So, Michael, remind us about that discussion about chess at the Kennedy Center.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, I remembered that we had talked about it. And so I'm so glad that our podcasts have such a great search function. I think I've said that before. I mean, I just went to the main page and I typed in chess and then it came up and it was very easy for me to find it. So I had forgotten how in depth we spoke about it. First Debbie and then me having seen the production that was at the Kennedy center in the Eisenhower Theater in 2018, and the stars then were Ramin Karimlou, Raul Esparza, Karen Olivo, and I'm sorry, I just had a blackout. Ruthie Ann Miles, Svetlana. Yeah, but. And none of whom are in the upcoming Broadway production, but it was the same director, Michael Mayer, and even more significantly, it was the same that production featured, I think it was the first production, I think, with a new book by Danny Strong, and that is presumably the same book that is going to be heard and seen on Broadway. So I feel like Debbie and I and anyone else who saw that production at the Kennedy center got a preview of this one in terms of the book. And also the, you know, one big question about Chess is always the song placement. And, but, you know, but there again, we can't necessarily assume that the, the song placement for this Broadway presentation will be the same as Kennedy Center. And in fact, I believe we have already read that the song Someone Else's Story will indeed be sung by Lea Michele as Florence and not in. In the, by the role of Svetlana. So that's at least one big difference. You know, I, I always say when I see these things, I wish I had a photographic memory like Mary Lou Henner and other people like that. So I could really compare, you know, one to the other because I. I don't remember lots of specifics. I do remember one thing I mention in our review that Debbie and I gave was that Danny Strong attempted to add a lot of humor to the show, which sounds admirable because it can be very dour and very, very dark, and some people think it takes itself too seriously. But I didn't think, as I recall, that the humor was that successful. So I applauded the effort, but not necessarily the execution. And we'll see. We'll see what happens with. With this presentation. I. I do think the cast is phenomenal, as the cast was at the Kennedy Center. They also had. Oh, wait a minute. Is Bryce Pinkham. Is he in this one or that one?

[James Marino]

I think Bryce Pinkham's in this one, isn't he? See here, Chess.

[Michael Portentier]

Well, my notes have gone.

[James Marino]

Let's see, on sale details. Aaron Tveit, Liam Michelle Nicholas, Christopher. Bryce Pinkham Arbiter. Is he.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes. Well, I think he's a great choice. You know.

[James Marino]

I don't have him in the press release, but I think I remember Rob Johnston, help us out here.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, yeah. Yes. Yes, he is. Yeah, I found it.

[James Marino]

Okay. You found it okay. Yeah, I thought he was, but, God, I can't depend on my memory for anything we're all doing. Yeah. So, tangentially, in relation to Chess, did you guys read this morning's special Broadway Briefing on a Sunday morning?

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. Wow.

[James Marino]

Sunday morning Broadway Briefing. It was a special on advertising on Broadway, and the Broadway briefing talked with people at aka SpotCo, Situation RPM and Serino Coin. Oh, they did an interview with them about advertising on Broadway. And I don't know, is it just me that's getting, like a million Chess ads wherever I am on the Internet? I'm like, you're wasting time.

[Peter Felicia]

They do not want to fail. Because really, how many times has just been morphed into this, that, and the other thing? As I mentioned before, the podcast is the first show I ever saw in three different continents because I actually saw it in Australia as well as here and in London. So, boy, everybody tries it because everybody likes that score. And speaking of someone else's story, it's one of the best songs written after a show has had a production. It really is such a terrific song, and I imagine Lea Michelle is going to do it proud.

[Michael Portentier]

I made the point in that podcast that we're discussing, and I've made it also many times before. In my view, the most Successful productions of Chess have been the ones that almost completely eliminate spoken dialogue and just have a few connecting lines and basically presented in concert form, going from one song to the next. But I'm surprised that the creators, Tim Rice and the ABBA guys haven't realized that and keep trying to make it a full musical. One thing that did come up in the podcast was I had forgotten the Kennedy Center One was presented in concert form in the sense that the, pretty much the entire cast remained on stage for the whole show and they would sit sort of at the rear of the stage in a, you know, in a semicircle, sort of like, you know, the current still running, now and forever production of Chicago. And so in that sense, it was more of a concert feel and yet there was all this dialogue. So I, I don't know why they haven't realized that. I, I, I guess they feel that it's not complete if it doesn't have a book. I don't know. And it will be interesting to see how the book is received because I remember that it was received with mixed reviews in the, in the D.C. production and on Broadway. Oh, no, but I mean the Danny Strong book.

[Peter Felicia]

Okay. But the Richard Nelson.

[Michael Portentier]

Oh, absolutely, yeah. Absolutely.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

I couldn't believe the same. So I saw in London, if that London production had actually been replicated here.

[Michael Portentier]

It would have run absolutely one of the few shows I saw in London. And I remember that. And there again, very little dialogue.

[Peter Felicia]

Very little indeed.

[James Marino]

So one of the things that Matt Temenini's discussion with Mickey Jo Theatre focused on was that bringing EV to transferring it right now may not be in the cards because both Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber have shows coming to Broadway. Right. That might be taking everybody's time. And, and they don't want to saturate the, you know. Yeah, have, have one, have one production eating into, into ticket sales of the other things. So that was one point that they brought up that I hadn't thought of. That's, but go over and listen to it. It's, it's such a great interview.

[Michael Portentier]

On that note, I'm, I'm unclear. Is Masquerade intended to be an open ended run?

[Peter Felicia]

I haven't turned.

[James Marino]

I think so. Yeah, I think so.

[Michael Portentier]

Okay. Okay.

[James Marino]

All right, so let's get into our reviews this morning. Last week we talked about Gallus at Little Island. We did a little preview of it. Michael has seen it this week and is going to report back on what he thought about it. So Michael, tell us about this production at Little Island.

[Michael Portentier]

Well, I wound up seeing the very first performance because it was supposed to open on. Oh, yeah, it was supposed to open, I believe, on Saturday the 6th, but it got rained out. So I saw the first performance On Sunday the 7th, which the artistic director of Little island spoke before the show. And the way he phrased it was, thank you for joining us for the first run through, you know, because I guess it was also the first run through, the first time they ran through the show complete, you know, because of the rain. So I would say it was very impressive for a first run through there. I noticed a few little lighting flubs, maybe. And one interesting thing is they also announced this before the show, that there was going to be fireworks during the performance because they were going to be fireworks in Hoboken for, I believe they said Italian American Day. I think they said that was the event. And they were, you know, I guess they were unaware of that, but also there was nothing they could do about it. So sure enough, in the middle. Middle of the show, the fireworks went off. And the cast, led by Anthony Roth Costanza was very game in. You know, at one point, Anthony just stopped what he was doing and sat on a couch and looked at the fireworks for a few minutes. And the audience just loved it. You know, audiences love things like that, spontaneous things. So it turned out to be an interruption in a way, but really almost a plus because it really added to the. The fun of the evening. My capsule review is that Anthony Roth Costanza was absolutely fabulous in the role of, basically, Maria Callas. This is a 1983 play by Charles Ludlum that I saw back then, one of several of his shows that I saw when he was doing them down in the Village. And it was not one of my favorites at the time, and still is not, but it's still Charles. Charles Ludlum. And so it definitely has its moments. And it's. I've described it, I think, last week as a sort of a fantasia on the life and career of Maria Callas, with the names changed slight and in a very, very silly way, the. I was reminded, I did in 2018, I did an interview with Everett Quinton, who was Charles Ludlam's longtime life partner and collaborator. And because he was doing at that time a. An off Off Broadway revival of Gallus. And so we discussed it, the original production and this one, and Everett now is. Is gone, too. They're both gone. So it's history. The show is history. But I was reminded that the.

[James Marino]

The.

[Michael Portentier]

The original script has a note that says the characters in the play are real, only their names have been changed to. Right. So it's, it was a very, you know, a very silly, very, very campy show in the, in the style of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. And I personally don't think that that style was successfully recreated in this production which was directed by Eric Ting. I mean the, the general style was as I remember the original production, just very over the top, very campy. But somehow I didn't think it worked with these actors who included in addition to Anthony Roth Costnzo included Carmelita Tropicana, Caleb Eberhardt, Erin Markey, Patricia Black, Samora La Perdida, Austin Durant, Jeremy Rafal and Mary Testa in the pivotal role of Callis's maid whose real name was Lina Bruna Raza, but here is called Bruna Lena Rasta. That's the kind of name changes they do. I thought. Even Mary Testa I thought was not really especially funny in this show. Just something about the. It seemed like everyone was really overacting in a way that was, to me that was annoying rather than funny. But it's a very fine line and I'm sure many people would disagree with me and the audience overall really seemed to love the production. But one thing I think we would all agree on though is that Anthony Roth Costanza was absolutely phenomenal in terms of both his acting, which is not, you know, his, his main thing, and his singing. Because in this production Callas sang several arias including VC Date, Casta Diva and the Habanero from Carmen. Whereas in the original production, as I recall, Charles Ludlum just lip synced to recordings. But, but Anthony Roth Castando is a famous countertenor and so he sang live here too. Although he sang two tracks, orchestral tracks, but his singing was live and it was really very impressive, especially because the kind of music he would normally sing as a countertenor in opera is very different from the repertoire that Maria Callas sang which was never, ever, ever, ever intended for a countertenor. So I thought he had a personal triumph in this show. And it's always nice to see something at Little island, this really wonderful mid sized amphitheater overlooking the Hudson river at, you know, just really below Hudson Yards. If you haven't seen a show there, please try to get to see one. And the ticket prices tend to be extremely, extremely reasonable. I paid $25 to see Gallus, so yeah, so that's my view. It continues till the 28th, is apparently completely sold out. But you can maybe try to do a rush or get in somehow, if you, if you would like to try to experience it.

[James Marino]

Michael, I wonder about the overacting. Is it, is it because of the outdoorness? You know, you get on stage in an outdoor theater and you're like, holy moly, I gotta feel this place, you know.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, thanks for mentioning that because I, I almost added that as well. I'm sure that might have, that might have been an additional factor. But, you know, but don't get me wrong, I mean, the play is meant to be overacted. It was overacted originally. It's just the way that they did didn't seem to me that it was quite right. But that is a very subjective opinion and I'm sure many of the people in the audience disagreed with me. The audience response seemed very, very positive. Overall. I have not yet read any major reviews of this, so we were talking before we started recording the podcast. I'm not sure if it has officially opened yet or if they have an official opening, but while the Times, New York Times did a major interview with Anthony Roth Costanzo, you know, in advance of the opening, I have not seen a review and I just checked for one this morning, so not sure what's up with that. That will be interesting to see other critics thoughts on it.

[James Marino]

All right, so as Michael mentioned, it is running through September 28, hard to get ticket, and it's an outdoor theater, so be aware of that as well. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. So, Peter, you were over at Theater Row where you got to see Sober Songs, a musical based upon six young adults in recovery at a local AA meeting. So tell us about this.

[Peter Felicia]

Well, actually, the title Sober Songs would almost suggest a review, wouldn't it? That you would hear one song after another about, about drinking or its problems that it brings or what have you. But yes, this is. Even though the word alcohol economics isn't mentioned per se, and I think there may be a rights issue with that. It is essentially an AA meeting. And so Michael Levin is the gentleman who wrote the book, the music and the lyrics. And it's perfectly fine. It's perfunctory, and nothing happens that you don't expect to have happen. I'm sorry to say. Whether or not you like the people you're dealing with is the real issue. Because after all, there are no surprises that somebody drops out, somebody commits suicide, et cetera. All that, all that stuff that you would expect to happen happens. It's real, it's truthful. But it's not surprising. There Is nothing in it that makes you say, oh wow, nothing. I will say that Michael Levin has a very good sense of lyric writing, aside from the fact that there are so many false accents that's like if you would use the word happiness as opposed to happiness, that type of thing does that a lot. Too much. Rarely does he have a rhyme that isn't perfect. But the ideas behind what people are singing about are solid and above the norm. So I think he's a very good lyricist in knowing how to put the right words in character. So I like that quite a bit. But otherwise it just goes along. I'm sorry to say that that it's one of the least attended shows I have ever been to in my entire life. So I was astonished at how few people were there. It was almost like going to Perfect Crime. It was incredibly ill attended. So I don't know if that'll pick up. And I know that what I'm saying certainly isn't going to help anybody to rush out and get a ticket, but it is well meaning as you would expect it to be. I have no idea if Michael Levin was certainly involved with AA ever in his life or is just intrigued by the subject. He knows the subject well, but what he can't do is surprise us.

[James Marino]

Okay, so Sober Songs at Theater rose, running through September 28, 2025. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you decided to spend an evening doing karaoke with Broadway star. Tell us about this.

[Michael Portentier]

Oh, this was really fun. This fellow named Harry Welchel runs a weekly event and it's normally held on the Lower east side at a place called Baby grand on Orchard Street. And he's been inviting me for, for quite a while. But I, I mean, I hate to sound provincial, but I don't know, I just. Whenever I have to go to the Lower east side, I'm like, really? I mean, it's so silly. I mean, you know, I go to D.C. and Boston to see shows. You know, I can go to the Lower east side. But anyway, it's just been somewhat inconvenient for me. But then this last Friday he had, I guess a pop up version of the show at a place named aura on Easter 57th Street. And I said, all right, well, you know, so this would be a really good time for me to check it out. And it's a lot of fun. It's called, well, I don't know if it has an official title. Karaoke with Broadway Stars. Sing with the Stars. It's also called and to be 100% accurate stars is maybe slightly, slightly misleading. You're not going to probably find Kristen Chenoweth or Sutton Foster there. But the edition that I went to did have two Broadway people very heavily involved. One of the singers was Amia Gentile, G E N T I L E, who was in Kinky Boots. And the host was Dylan Kleina, who is Derek Kleina's brother, who. I'm not even sure I realized that this happened. But he replaced Derek in Jagged Little Pill in that role in that musical. Although that couldn't have been for very long because that show, I remember, had an early closing because of the pandemic. So he was really a lot of fun and very energetic. And I believe the setup is that they have. Harry Welchel has a sort of a stable of Broadway type singers. And the first half of the show, every time they do it, consists of those people getting up and singing. You know, they can sing anything. At first I thought I misunderstood the assignment because the first five or so songs that were sung were pop songs that I didn't recognize and, you know, had nothing to do with Broadway. But then as it went on, two people got up and sang Suddenly Seymour, and two other people got up and sang A Whole New World. And. And then two other people got up and sang that, believe it or not, the title song from Phantom of the Opera. And I didn't catch any of these people's names, but they were all fantastic. I mean, I. I sometimes go to karaoke. I'm really more of a piano bar person myself. When I. When I want to go and sing along and maybe sing, you know, sing with a group or sing solo, I. I like to go to a piano bar rather than a karaoke that has tracks. But I have gone to several of them and they, you know, all too many of them have people just getting up and the people who are singing are having fun because they're just, you know, letting it all hang out. But it's not that pleasant for the audience because a lot of the singers are really just screaming and not even matching pitches. That is not the case with this karaoke with Broadway people, because everyone had a fantastic voice. And the woman who sang the Christine part in Phantom of the Opera even did the high note at the end. Isn't that like a high E? She even did the high note and the audience went absolutely nuts. So. And then they took an intermission, and after that I, I think they. They pull. They have a fishbowl where if you, you. If you buy a drink you get to put your name on a slip of paper, the song you like to sing, and you throw it in and then they call them and you get up and you sing and they didn't get to me. I had to leave before that. But there was a lot of really great people just getting up and having fun and singing a very wide range of songs. So I. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. And if you're not as averse to the Lower east side as I am, check it out, because I do think that they normally do it just about every week at this baby grand place on the Lower East Orchard Street. And who knows, maybe they'll do some more in midtown. This one was extremely successful. It was very packed and they sold a lot of drinks, which, of course is the goal. So I. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I. I was glad that I finally made it. It was a lot of fun.

[James Marino]

All right, that's great. So we'll have a link to singwithstars.com in the show notes so that you can check it out. It's for the future times. It sounds like a really fun time.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes.

[James Marino]

Close to the Lower east side, but just a couple of blocks up into the west by a couple of blocks is the New York Theater Workshop, where Saturday Church is just about to open this week. Michael and Peter have seen it, but it hasn't opened yet. But we wanted to let you guys know some information about the New York Theater Workshop production of Saturday Church. So, Peter, why don't you give us some information about it? We'll review it next week.

[Peter Felicia]

I think a lot of people are going to be interested because Jay Harrison Gee is in it, who did such a good job and made such a splash in Some Like It Hot sometime back. And here he is. So he must believe in it very much to go down to this reasonably small theater in the Village. And so he's going to play, in a manner of speaking, Jesus. In a manner of speaking. Let's leave it at that. In terms of what Jesus means to this show. But. But it. What's really. It's so hard to talk about without reviewing it. So. But what I will say is that the audience is very responsive to this show. And so I don't think it's unfair to say that under the circumstances. But what's really nice too, in terms of credits is the fact that James. James. Is that how it's pronounced? I don't know.

[James Marino]

I.

[Peter Felicia]

The last name is I. James. The first name is James. Do we know how it sounds?

[James Marino]

Yeah, it's It Jan Simpson interviewed him, that person, and she has an official pronunciation. Let me see if I can find it on the great thing. But keep going forward and I'll see if I can find it.

[Peter Felicia]

So certainly, who has had some nice history off Broadway is one of the book writers and one of the lyric writers. We're not quite sure exactly what that means because the credit is book and additional lyrics by him and Damon Cordesis. The music and lyrics officially are by somebody named Sia. Sia. That's it, the whole name. And there's additional music as well by somebody called Honey. Dijon. And Dijon, actually is the name of a character in the show, is a joke about mustard in the show. Whitney White, who's done very well in recent years, is the director. So attention must be paid, let's put it that way. Let me also say that even though I'm not officially reviewing it, I don't think it's the last time I'm going to see the show.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, I was, I was going to add that I think it, the chances of this moving to Broadway are very, very high. And the involvement of Jay Harrison Gee is further testament to that, that.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, it's a big cast too. 16.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes.

[Peter Felicia]

So I, I did count during the curtain calls where of course, I had to stand because the audience was so enthusiastic and, and you may say, well, yeah, there are standing ovations for everything, but this one seemed a little quicker than most. So, So I didn't know the movie that it's based on, but, um, did you, Michael, do you know that?

[Michael Portentier]

No, no. Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

And I don't know if the movie was called Saturday Church, but anyway, it's, it's a funky term actually, considering with I, I, I, I guess the meaning of Saturday church is that it's not Sunday and so therefore it's a different church. Different type of church.

[Michael Portentier]

I guess that's what I presume, you know.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Michael Portentier]

Alternative and.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michael Portentier]

I mean, this is a, well, it's a very gay, positive and queer positive gathering place for, for these people.

[Peter Felicia]

So, so it, we'll, we'll talk more next week.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes, it opens officially tomorrow.

[James Marino]

All right, so the official, the official pronunciation is imes James I M E S. Really? Yeah. James Iams.

[Peter Felicia]

So the J is silent.

[James Marino]

The J is silent. And the second last name. Yeah.

[Michael Portentier]

Oh, thanks for telling us.

[James Marino]

No. All right, so we will talk about it again next week. So stay tuned. Michael, something led you to. You told me why, but I don't remember. But all of a sudden you watched Sweet Charity, the movie again. Why, why did you watch it again?

[Michael Portentier]

Well, this chat room that I go to, someone just brought up the movie and, and, and a lot of people weighed in. A lot of people have feelings about it, positive and negative. And I think many people have both positive and negative feelings about it. I've always described it as a fabulous mess. There are really so many wonderful moments, not only musical numbers, but scenes as well. Because Peter Stone wrote the screenplay. The book for the original Broadway production was by Neil Simon is credited to Neil Simon. And. But then when the, the movie came to be made, Peter Stone was put on as the screenwriter and he added, he added a lot. And, and, and specifically he added two really, really well written and brilliantly well acted scenes. One of them is when Charity, she's finally fed up with, with her life at the dance hall and she, she goes to try to find a real job and she goes to an employment agency and she sits down with this fellow who. And it gradually becomes apparent that she has absolutely no skills whatsoever, but she still wants a job because she wants to get away from, from that lifestyle. And, and so it starts out as a hilariously funny scene but then as it goes on it becomes very, very heartbreaking making when it becomes clear how, how badly she wants to change her life and that she just doesn't have the skills for it. And then, oh, what happens is that the, the fellow who's trying to help her, he eventually thinks that it must be a put on and that it can't be. That she really, you know, can't do anything and that the fellows down the hall maybe put her up to this as a joke to come into, to, you know, pretend to be completely helpless and, and completely skill free in order to, to, you know, to play a joke on him. And she, Charity goes along with it because she's just so embarrassed. And then she leaves. And then as she's walking out of the, out of the office, we see her sort of crying as she walks down the hall. So that's one scene that he added. And then there's a, an absolutely devastating scene at the end which I think is in the show but in a much, much shorter form where Charity and Oscar go to the marriage license bureau to, you know, to sign up for a marriage license. But unfortunately, Oscar has, has been dwelling on Charity's past. Even though he said he told her, you know, in certain terms that it didn't matter. It seems like he, he cannot, he cannot get over it. So he leaves her at the marriage license Bureau. And it's just absolutely devastating the way that scene is played, the way it's written and the way it's played by John McMartin and Shirley MacLaine. And one of the changes that was made for the movie that I think was an improvement was that the song Where Am I Going? Was shifted to that spot in the narrative. Right. Charity sings it right after Oscar walks out on her, whereas in the show it's earlier and maybe not quite as effective where it occurs in the show. So that was one of the many changes. Bob Fosse does a lot of very creative things, but I always feel like he was showing off in his directorial debut and he. Stylistically, the movie, it just doesn't really cohere because he, he keeps trying all these weird camera tricks. And just when you think you've seen the last weird camera trick, he throws in a new one during the, during the I Love to Cry at Weddings number where at various points during the number, suddenly the. Not only does the action freeze into a, A, a, a still photo, but it's also turns into black and white. It's like, really, Bob, how many, you know, things can we do we have to do at once? So he, he, you know, he matured greatly after that and was, was, thank God, given the chance to direct the film of Cabaret, where he is much more disciplined in that. But it's fascinating to look at Sweet Charity and, And see. See him trying different things, even if so many of them are not successful. Also, the, the musical numbers are. Are pretty fabulous as one might imagine. And the fun thing that happened, it actually was, was yesterday I was reading about the movie online and then I thought, well, let me look at it again, because it's been a while since I saw it. So I watched most of it, rewatched most of it at home and, and then after, right after I finished watching it, I left to go see Saturday Church. And as I was walking down 42nd Street, I ran into Leroy Reams, who is in the movie. And not only in the movie, but featured a featured dancer in both the nightclub sequence that includes the rich man Sprug and those other two dancers dances, but also in the Rhythm of Life number that's led by Sammy Davis Jr. So that was fun. And I thought to myself, well, this is why I live in New York. It was really, really fun to run into Leroy 10 minutes after I saw him dancing in the movie with Ben Vereen and Sammy Davis Jr. And, and Shirley MacLaine. So if you don't know the movie Of Sweet Charity. I. I strongly advise you to. To check it out. And if you have seen it, but it was a while ago, you might want to reacquaint yourself to it and to remind yourself of both. It's its great pluses and its considerable flaws.

[Peter Felicia]

The real problem is the ending. It always has been. There have been more endings for Sweet Charity than Franklin Delano Roosevelt had administrations. And it's such a simple fix, because what happens in the actual Neil Simon script is that charity. He finds out the charity doesn't work at a bank, that she works at a dance hall, and. And he forgives her. It's okay, no problem. But after a night's sleep, the next day he breaks up with her and even throws her in a lake. So the exact opposite should happen, that he should break up with her. Once he says, I know you don't. You lied to me. I know that you don't work at a bank. I know that you work in a dance hall. I know what you do. That's it. Then, after a night's sleep, he comes back to the dance hall and says, I've made a mistake. What difference does it make? So on. So then everybody could sing I Love to Cry at Weddings. And it would be a big celebration. And then at the end, after that, he could say to her, may I have this dance with you? And they dance to a waltz as the curtain falls. It's so easy to fix everybody else's show.

[Michael Portentier]

That sounds good. I don't know if I've ever heard that solution.

[Peter Felicia]

That's mine. That's in my new book.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

Where I fix everybody's show. So. So that's. That would be very nice. Also, you know, when you think of it, Sweet. Sweet Charity. Sweet Charity. And what's the first thing you hear when you go into the theater? Does that sound like we're going to have. It's a great vamp. But notice even too, the Charity does not appear in the Big Spender number. Part of that, I'm sure, was the fact that Bob Fosse wanted to give Gwen Verdon a break.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes.

[Peter Felicia]

After all, it's a big, demanding role. Helen Gallagher famously said when she took over the part when Gwen Verde went on vacation. When Gwen came back, you can have it. My God, this show is much too much. Work.

[James Marino]

Work.

[Peter Felicia]

So as a result, you know, I mean, that's one reason, of course, why she's not in Big Spender. But also, you know, that's a tough number. And there's no question that you don't feel that anybody there is sweet in that number. So as a result, that vamp is not a good way to start Sweet Charity. As good a vamp as it is.

[Michael Portentier]

Well, I have to disagree with you there because I think that's, I think that's irony and I think it's, that's the point of could very well be.

[Peter Felicia]

But it's the first thing you, you experience in that show and it's essentially saying this is going to be a.

[Michael Portentier]

Hard hitting show when it's interesting. You mentioned that because when it was revived with Christina Applegate and as we may all recall, she almost didn't get to do it because she was injured.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right.

[Michael Portentier]

And, and so when I saw the pre Broadway run in Boston, it was not Christina, it was Charlotte D. Right. Who, who was phenomenal in the role.

[Peter Felicia]

I'll bet, I'll bet.

[Michael Portentier]

But I do remember you. You. This is, you'll find this interesting, Peter. It did not start with that vamp. And I wrote a review and I said I think that's a horrendous mistake and they should put that vamp back immediately. And they did. So I don't know listening to me specifically, but also, Peter, I had my own idea for a solution for the ending. It strikes me that as it is in the show and in the movie, the only man who's nice to her is Vittorio Vidal, the film star who picks her up. You know, it's just a pickup at first, but he winds up being really, really nice to her. And I thought maybe one, you know, what could happen is that somehow she re encounters him at the end and he tells her that he's broken up with, with that woman. Ursula. Ursula. Ursula. And that, you know, he, he hasn't stopped thinking about her and he'd really like to be with her. So that's, you know, just one other possibility of, of how it could end alternatively. But I like yours. That's a really nice one.

[Peter Felicia]

Thanks, I appreciate.

[James Marino]

So earlier in our discussion of Saturday Church, I said the Jan Simpson interviewed James Iams. It was actually Ashley Steeves who interviewed James I. And I put that interview with Ashley and James Iams in the show notes in case you want to go back and listen to it. It was during, I think during Fat Ham's run. So. All right. Finally this morning, Peter, you know, again, hanging out in mansions.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, you think?

[James Marino]

So this one wasn't Gatsby. No, this one wasn't Gatsby. It was, it sure was The House of McQueen. Alexander McQueen. So tell us about this, this show.

[Peter Felicia]

Is it a concert?

[James Marino]

What is it?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, it's not a mansion, I'll tell you that. I mean, it's an industrial build.

[James Marino]

They.

[Peter Felicia]

They do say mansion. But I mean, you're thinking, where. Where is there a mansion on 37th street in 7th Avenue? Well, there's no mansion at all, but it is a theater that I've never been to. I mean, it's a real theater. It has theater seats, stadium seating and all that. So that's the good news. House of McQueen is. Is certainly about the. The famous fashion designer, as you would expect. But, you know, I was thinking of a Funny Girl while I was watching it, because I remember even when I was 17 years old and seeing the triode of Funny Girls girl, I was so impressed when good luck came her way very quickly, and there was Streisand saying, yeah, but where's the years of struggle? Where's all that? The. The pain, the. The rejection, whatever those words are. But you know what I'm talking about.

[Michael Portentier]

She does Hard Knocks. Hard Knocks, right.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. You know, and that's. And I remember 17 saying, that is so smart to get that over with in. And. And. Well, the thing is that in so many biographies on stage, we do have the backs and what have you. So this story, even though it deals with the fashion world and not the entertainment world per se, the thing I was talking about with sober songs, really applies here as well, that there are no real surprises that we. We have the thing about having a difficult childhood. We have a thing about the. The father who's difficult, the. The mother who's supportive. You know, all those things that you expect will happen, happen. And that is really part of the real problem with this show, that Derek Cloud is a good writer. I've seen things of hers that I've really liked, but this, I'm sorry to say, is not one of them. But I think she's really strapped by the fact that this is what happened. It's very interesting that the lead character never looks as if he's going to be. Do anything with fashion, considering that he's in a T shirt and jeans for most of the show. But it. It just goes on and the way you expect. Yes, there's going to be stuff that people are going to criticize him. He comes from a working class and he wants to better himself. And is that a surprise? There's going to be drugs, there's going to be difficulties because he's gay. He's going to get in trouble because he's gay. Does any of this Sound particularly fresh? No, no. And also one of the big bugaboos for me is it's done as a flashback, so you know how it's going to end at the beginning and why people have to do flashbacks is always amazing to me. I don't know why that appeals to people. But anyway, it starts, it continues, it ends, and we all win. Home.

[James Marino]

Flashbacks. Number one reason I hated the Carousel movie.

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, I love. I love the line City of Angels, when Buddy Fiddler puts down flashbacks that they've just been done too often. Flashbacks are a thing of the past. It's a good line.

[James Marino]

That's clever. God, I love City of Angels.

[Peter Felicia]

And I love Larry Gelbart. Oh, God, he's so great.

[James Marino]

Great.

[Peter Felicia]

So great.

[James Marino]

Oh, my goodness.

[Peter Felicia]

Try to find the video of Master Gate. It was done on tv. Oh, there's one great line after another, I'm telling you. Phenomenal. Not. Not quite a good ending, but nevertheless, up until then, phenomenal.

[Michael Portentier]

He was a genius.

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, absolutely.

[Michael Portentier]

Is he still with us?

[Peter Felicia]

No, I'm afraid. Long gone. Long gone, I'm sorry to say.

[Michael Portentier]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[James Marino]

You're nothing without me. Me. All right, so that wraps it up for today. Before we get on to our brain teaser and a musical moment, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link. That way each and every time we have a new episode of this week on Broadway, it'll be automatically downloaded to Apple podcasts for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us in Apple podcasts. There's many ways to get us. One way place is Patreon. P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com BroadwayRadio is one way that you can support all of the Broadway radio shows, as well as get us a little bit earlier than the general public and get all sorts of bonuses like I talked about Matt Taminati's discussion with Mickey Jo Theater, all sorts of other things. So contact information for or. Peter for Michael Mickle. Michael Pickle. Pickle, yeah. There's a pickle portentiere for Peter. Michael and me can be found at the show [e-mail] as well as links to some of the things we've talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer. Do you have an answer to last week's brain teaser?

[Peter Felicia]

I do. During the 1963-64 season, one song in a musical mentioned the number 51 in a most unconvent. Well, what I'm talking about is the rain song in 110, the shade in which Starbuck, who would be rainmaker, claims that he has 40, 11 different methods to bring rain. So that's 51 in between Sean Logan and Tony Janicki. Getting it. Who else got it? Michael Potantier. And Michael does not hear these questions in advance. He gets no official notice beforehand, so he got it on his own. So there. That was it, though. Three people. That was it. This week's question. Many, many musical performers start out by playing multiple roles in a show and then when they rise through the ranks, eventually play one character. But in the 80s, when this performer appeared in three Broadway musicals, he did it the other way around. One role in his first musical, four in his second, and seven in his third. Who's this performer and what were the musicals?

[James Marino]

If you know who Peter is asking about, email [e-mail] we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, what do we have in this week's musical moments?

[Michael Portentier]

Well, as we mentioned last week, it suddenly dawned on me that this year it marks the 150th anniversary of the premiere of the opera Carmen, Carmen by Georges Bizet in Paris. And I'm guessing that's why I'm hearing and seeing a lot of Carmen. As I mentioned, several weeks ago, they screened in Bryant Park a video of a production at the arena di Verona that was directed and designed by Franco Ceffarelli. And I don't know that they've ever shown anything like that in Bryant park before. I was glad I went because it was really quite a production. The arena, the Verona, if you all are unfamiliar with it, is an actual Roman arena that survives in Verona. And it's huge and it has a tremendous stage, what is now used as the stage. And so they do absolutely spectacular productions of operas there with casts of literally hundreds. You know, most of them, them supers, super numeraries, but. But just tremendous elaborate sets and huge casts and. And you. I think you have to get tickets years in advance because they always sell out. So they've done. They tend to do like, really spectacular operas like Tur and Dot. But they did Carmen and it was a really wonderful production that, That I saw on video there. And then as Peter mentioned, he just. Was it just last week, I think.

[Peter Felicia]

The week before, but yeah, yeah, close enough.

[Michael Portentier]

Went to see a live performance of what turned out to be excerpts of Carmen as performed by what. What is left of the New York City Opera Company. So anyway, the point is Carmen is an all time classic. I've often heard, heard that many people who don't like any other operas like Carmen because the music is very, it's a lot of, it's very rhythmic and very bouncy and even though it was written by a Frenchman, it's, it's the, the opera set in Spain and it has a lot of really piquant, catchy Spanish rhythms to it and the orchestrations are phenomenal and, and it's just, you know, it's just almost in a class by itself in terms of the style of the music. Probably that's why it was that opera that Oscar Hammerstein decided to adapt into a Broadway musical called Carmen Jones which opened in 1944 right after the success of Oklahoma. The phenomenal success of Oklahoma. With Richard Rogers. Hammerstein took the time to work on his own for a while on this adaptation of Carmen, which I think he had started before that. And it was quite a, quite an achievement. I mean it's, you know, translating and writing singable lyrics, English lyrics to, to an entire opera is really quite, quite something. Especially since we've always heard that when Rogers and Hammerstein worked together, the lyrics tended to come first. Here it was obviously the opposite. So it's just a triumphant achievement. I think the lyrics to Carmen Jones are superb and they sound so natural. And the setting has changed from Seville, Spain in the 1800s to a parachute factory in the southern United States during World War II. And the original production of Carmen Jones had an all black cast which was quite, yeah, quite something for, for that time. And it featured some really great talents in the leads, including Muriel Smith, who later went on to play the role of Bloody Mary in South Pacific in London and to dub the role for the film where it was, you know, acted by Juanita hall who played the role originally on Broadway. Anyway, it's, it's a great thing. But Carmen Jones I think would be viewed today as very dated in some respects. And some of the racial aspects of it might make people uncomfortable today, which is why I don't know if you'll. Well, I mean, you know, I, I was actually quite amazed when it was done by a classic stage company not that long ago. What was it? Less, less than 10 years, right? Oh, definitely, yeah, yeah, with an economy rose in it. And you know, I, I don't recall any protests. I think it went over really well. So I don't know if you'll see it again, but I'm glad That, that it, that was done and you know, just so that it can be in living memory. Anyway, there was a 1954 big budget Hollywood film version of Carmen Jones starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte and Diane Carroll and Pearl Bailey and Brock Peters and just about every major black star at the time. Very few of them doing their own singing in the movie. In fact, only I think Olga James who played Cindy Lou and Brock Peters did some singing in the movie, although not necessarily for his own character. Oh, and Pearl Bailey does have one number in the movie that she sings in her own voice. But the movie was. Was quite a hit and really an incredible thing that happened in 1954, given the times and what was going on, on in the country racially. So the role of Carmen was dubbed by Marilyn Horne, who would go on to be one of the great opera singers of all time, dubbing for Dorothy Danders. And I would say it's one of the best examples of movie dubbing that you'll ever see and hear. So our opener for today is from the movie. We put a link to a video clip of the. The number that's Love actually spelled Dat's Love. D A T S Love, which is the habanera from Carmen as acted by Tardy Dandridge and sung by Marilyn Horne. And the closer is actually a video from a 1991 London production of Carmen Jones that I was fortunate enough to see live with the great Greg Baker in the role of Husky Miller, which is the. The Hammerstein version of the toreador. Escamillo in the original has become a prize fighter named Husky Miller. Greg Baker, who was in several productions of Porgy and Bess and, and was just really phenomenal on stage with a magnificent voice and great presence. So that is the closer. The song is Stand up and Fight, which is the Hammerstein version of the fam. Ms. Toreador Song from Carmen. And you know, glad to join in celebrating the 150th anniversary of a classic opera which has obviously become immortal.

[James Marino]

So Carmen Jones was at Classic Stage Company in June of 2018.

[Michael Portentier]

Okay.

[James Marino]

So. Yeah, yeah. So that's. And we had big news this week from Classic Stage Company.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes.

[James Marino]

Wow. How are they going to get that entire cast into that small space?

[Michael Portentier]

And now it's an amazing cast for their production of the Baker's Wife. Our friend Barnaby Edwards wrote. His comment was that this cast is stacked. They have Robert Cuccioli. They have Judy Kuhn. Who else?

[James Marino]

Let's see. It was the Baker's Wife cast. Oh, Kevin Della Gilla Scott Bakula, Ariana Tabose. That was previously Savannah. Savannah Lee Birdsong, Arnie Burton, Robert Cuccioli, Alma Civic Cuervo, Kevin Delagila. Bill English, Zachary Friar Harrison Samantha. Marisol Gershwin. Nathan Lee Graham. Judy Kuhn, Kelly Lester, Sally Murphy.

[Michael Portentier]

Sally Murphy.

[James Marino]

Carousel. Yeah. Lincoln Center. Back in the day. Manu Narayan Mason. All Shavasky. All Shavasky. Kevin William, Paul, Will Roland, of course, Will Roland and Haley Thomas. I mean, I know they have to be. They have to be pointing towards Broadway, aren't they?

[Michael Portentier]

Say I.

[James Marino]

Directed by Gordon Greenberg.

[Michael Portentier]

Yes. Yeah.

[James Marino]

Yes. So, wow. I mean, huge, huge production in a tiny space downtown. So we'll see what happens there. So on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to your Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye. Bye.

[Michael Portentier]

Bye. Paul Whitty.

[James Marino]

Got tickets?

[Michael Portentier]

You ask me how's he done? I gotta train a man who shows me all I know sure feels good to have him in my corner Hear his voice Always been low he says remember, you must remember Stand up and fight until you hear the bell Stand.

[Peter Felicia]

Toe to toe Trade blow for blow.

[Michael Portentier]

Keep punching till you make your punches tell so that crowd will roll until you hear that bell that final bell.

[Peter Felicia]

Stand up and fight like hell Stand.

[Michael Portentier]

Up and fight until you hear the bell Santos it. Stand up and fight like.

[Peter Felicia]

Stand up.

[Michael Portentier]

Sam.