The 1950s were crowned by four legendary musicals that went head to head for the “Best Musical” prize at the TONY Awards. In the last episode we looked at the 1958 contest of West Side Story vs. The Music Man,. In this episode I focus on the 1959–1960 which brought us Gypsy vs. The Sound Of Music. And you could subtitle this episode Ethel Merman vs. Mary Martin! Spoiler alert: There was a tie for the Best Musical Tony Award that season, but if you don’t already know the story, it probably didn’t...
Sep 23, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Every Broadway theater season during the 1950’s gave us at least one great, classic Golden Age musical – and a number of seasons produced several. The decade was crowned by four legendary musicals that went head to head for the “Best Musical” prize at the TONY Awards. During the 1957–1958 season it was West Side Story vs. The Music Man, and 1959–1960 brought us Gypsy vs. The Sound Of Music. Of course, there are still Broadway aficionados that remain upset over which shows won, and which musicals...
Sep 16, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 19
This is the second part of my discussion with Tony Award winning Costume Designer Ann Hould-Ward in which we trace the legacy chain of Broadway costume design expertise that was handed down directly over a 100 year period from Aileen Bernstein to Irene Sharriff to Patricia Zipprott to Ann Hould-Ward, herself. If you missed the previous episode you may want to listen to that first. During our discussion was also touch on the careers of the legendary designers Florence Klotz, Ann Roth, Willa Kim, ...
Sep 09, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Irene Sharraff is the legendary Broadway costume designer whose incredible 56 year career spanned from 1933 to 1989. She designed the costumes for more than 52 Broadway musicals including As Thousands Cheer, Jubilee, On Your Toes, The Boys From Syracuse, Lady In The Dark, The King And I, West Side Story, Flower Drum Song, Funny Girl, Sweet Charity, and Jerome Robbins Broadway. She was nominated for six Tony Awards and won the Tony for The King And I, and she recieved five Academy Awards for her ...
Sep 02, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 17
The Golden Age of Broadway’s new revolutionary way of writing musicals did not just apply to musical plays like those of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Lerner & Loewe – it also transformed the Musical Comedy. These shows too would now need to have well-structured plots, and three dimensional, captivating characters. Two unlikely “Silver Age” songwriters would pioneer this new development – Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. In this episode I share the stories of how their success with Annie Get Y...
Aug 26, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 16
You may not know the name, Trude Rittman, but you have certainly heard her music. During the "Golden Age of Broadway" (and beyond) she composed music for 33 Broadway musicals including Carousel, Brigadoon, South Pacific, Fininan’s Rainbow, The King and I, My Fair Lady, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, The Sound of Music, and Camelot. In this episode Albert Evans and I tell the story of one of the least known, but most significant, women that invented the musical. Learn more about your ad cho...
Aug 19, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Over the last few episodes we explored how Oklahoma! and Carousel created a groundbreaking disruption that changed the Broadway Musical forever, and ushered in the “Golden Age of Broadway” -- which in my estimation began on the opening night of Carousel and extended through the 1960’s. However, not all of the credit for can be given to Hammerstein and Rodgers for inspiring this revolution. In this episode I will explore two other musicals that led to this Golden Age -- Lady In The Dark and On Th...
Aug 12, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Stephen Sondheim considers "The Bench Scene" in Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL to be “the singular most important moment in the evolution of contemporary musicals.” In this episode the amazing Albert Evans takes us inside the music with a fascinating, in-depth look at this landmark musical sequence, and explains how and why it was such a crucial and important development in the invention of the Broadway Musical. The Bench Scene's innovations would go on to inspire nearly every musical thea...
Aug 05, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this episode Albert Evans and I continue our exploration of the amazing "legacy chain" during which the art and craft of writing Broadway Musicals was handed down directly from Otto Harbach to Oscar Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim to Lin-Manwell Miranda. The shows of these four great artists encompass nearly the entire 125 year history of the Musical and demonstrate how the Musical evolved from "Silver Age" to "Golden Age" to the "Modern Era", and right up to HAMILTON today. Learn more about ...
Jul 29, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The art and a craft of creating Broadway Musicals has been passed down directly from one artist to the next, generation to generation, for more than 125 years. We can literally trace the first-hand connections between composers, lyricists, bookwriters, directors, producers and performers from the earliest days of the musical right up to those working on Broadway today. In this episode and the next Albert Evans and I explore one of the most significant examples of this kind of "legacy chain" -- t...
Jul 22, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 11
During the 1930s Broadway was severely impacted by the economic disaster of the "Great Depression". However, somehow out of all that hardship and struggle came an extraordinary period of artistic achievement and spectacular continuing development for the Broadway Musical. The inventors of these shows included several new and defining masters of the musical, as well as many of the bright lights of the 1920’s, who now achieved their full wattage in the 1930’s. Among these were Dietz & Schwartz...
Jul 15, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Most historians have labeled the entire period from the 1920’s through the 1960’s, “The Golden Age of Broadway”, but I find it much more useful to call the era that spans from the end of WWI to the opening of Carousel in 1945, “The Silver Age of Broadway”. During this vibrant time more than 300 musical comedies, operettas, and revues opened on Broadway, and overwhelmingly they were the creation of a second wave of Jewish, Irish, African-American, and Queer men and women. In this episode I focus ...
Jul 08, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Women have played a much more significant role in the history of the Broadway Musical than they are generally given credit for. In this episode I share the often overlooked stories of Broadway's groundbreaking female choreographers including Aida Overton Walker, Gertrude Hoffman, Albertina Rauch, Hanya Holm,, Onna White, and especially Agnes DeMille who may be the most important woman in the history of the Musical. I also profile the women who direct and choreograph during the modern era, and th...
Jun 24, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Women have had a much more significant impact on the Broadway Musical than has generally been reported or acknowledged. In fact, talented, dynamic women have been a major force in the creation and development of the American musical theater from the very beginning and right up to today. In this episode my special guest Albert Evans and I will share the often overlooked stories of songwriters and bookwriters Rida Johnson Young, Dorothy Donnelly, Nora Bays, Ann Ronell, Kay Swift, Betty Comden, Bel...
Jun 20, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 7
To a great extent the Broadway Musical has been a queer creation -- and for more than 125 years the musical theater world has been filled with brilliant and creative LGBTQ people, including many in the highest positions of power and influence. In this episode David Armstrong shares the fascinating stories Broadway's defining queer choreographers Robert Alton & Jack Cole, the legendary gay songwriters Noel Coward and Larry Hart, directors Monty Wooley and Moss Hart, and prolific bookwriter He...
Jun 13, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 6
From its earliest days, the Broadway Musical has to a very large degree, been a Queer creation. In this episode David Armstrong shares the fascinating stories of early queer producing and life partners Charles Frohman and Charles Dillingham; the first great gay director Hassard Short; drag superstars Julian Eltinge & Bert Savoy; the "Pansy Craze"; and the delightful, delicious and delovely Cole Porter! Special thanks to Billie Wildrick and David Sabella for their vocal contributions. Learn m...
Jun 06, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 5
The 1920's brought the second great era of musicals that were written by, staged by, and starring African-American theater artists to Broadway. In this episode I profile these brilliant creators and stars including Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle, Flournoy Miller & Aurbry Lyles, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and their musicals -- "Shuffle Along", "Runnin' Wild", "Blackbirds of 1929", "Hot Chocolates" and more. It also includes a brief history of that great African-American/Irish-American co-crea...
May 30, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 4
African-American theater artists played a much larger role in the creation of the Broadway Musical than is generally acknowledged -- including an entire decade of nearly forgotten hit shows and songs! In this episode we will rediscover the early history of Black Broadway, and the amazingly multi-talented men and women whose legacy still inspires Broadway today, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 23, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In this episode David Armstrong and special quest Albert Evans continue the amazing story of how Jewish, Irish and other immigrants invented the Broadway Musical -- including the immortal contributions of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, McCarthy & Tierney, Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice,, and Florenz Ziegfeld. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 16, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In this episode, host David Armstrong, along with special guest, Albert Evans, begin to tell the amazing story of how Immigrants, Jews, Queers, and African-Americans invented America's signature art form -- the Broadway Musical. The Broadway Musical was born around the turn of the last century and it emerged out of what we used to call “the melting pot” – that simmering confluence of cultures and races that were packed into the teeming tenement neighborhoods of New York City. To an enormous exte...
Apr 29, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1
