This week’s episode is a little different because it’s two podcasts in one! It’s a collab between David Armstrong’s Broadway Nation and Dirty Moderate With Adam Epstein. My podcast is all about the history of the Broadway Musical, and Adam’s is all about current American politics – today we combine forces to discuss the many connections and intersections between the Broadway Musical and American politics. Twenty years ago Adam and I had the tremendous good fortune to both be involved in the crea...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 71
My guests are the mother/daughter team of Sammi Cannold & Dori Berinstein, who are the co-directors and co-producers of the new documentary The Show Must Go On -- a film that I found to be both fascinating and very moving. Sammi Cannold is a theater director whose recent projects include Evita at New York City Center, Endings at NY Theater Workshop, Ragtime on Ellis Island and Violet on a bus at American Repertory Theatre. In 2019 she was named one of Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30 in Hollyw...
Jun 23, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 70
2022 marks the 5Oth Anniversary of one of the most popular musicals in the history of Broadway – GREASE. My guests on this episode are two of the many stars that emerged from the original Broadway and touring productions of that long running, record breaking show – Barry Bostwick & Marilu Henner. Marilu Henner’s association with Grease goes back to the very beginning when as a teenager she created the role of “Marty” in the original Chicago production of the show. A few years later she playe...
Jun 16, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 69
My guests on this episode are the original producer and director of the Broadway musical GREASE -- Ken Waissman and Tom Moore. This is the second half of our recent conversation. If you missed part one you may want to catch up on that first before listening to this one. This week marks the 50th Anniversary of Grease’s move from the Eden Theater on the Lower East Side to The Broadhurst -- the first of the three Broadway theaters Grease would play during its record breaking eight year run. And it ...
Jun 09, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 68
It may be hard for some of us to believe, but this past Valentine’s Day – Feb 14, 2022 – marked the 50th Anniversary of the New York opening of the musical GREASE, at the Eden Theater on 2nd Avenue. And next week, June 7, will mark the 50th Anniversary of its official move to Broadway. My guests this week are that Grease's original producer, Ken Waissman, and original director, Tom Moore, who along with Adrienne Barbeau (the original “Rizzo”) are the editors of the new book : Grease – Tell Me Mo...
Jun 02, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 67
My guests today are writers Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin. Bob Martin is perhaps best known as the co-creator and original star (The Man In The Chair) of the hit Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone. He also co-created what I think is one of the greatest and most hilarious TV series of all time, Slings & Arrows. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend that you find it and stream it immediately! Chad Beguelin is a six-time Tony nominee who wrote the book and lyrics for the Broadway musi...
May 26, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 66
My guest on this episode is Mark Eden Horowitz who joins me to talk about his fascinating new book, The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein II. Mark is Senior Music Specialist in the music division of the Library of Congress where he has been an archivist or co-archivist for the papers of Jerome Kern, Vernon Duke, Cole Porter, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein He is also the author of the award-winning book Sondheim On Music, and for ten years he...
May 19, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 65
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May 12, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 64
This is the first episode of a new Broadway Nation mini-series that explores what I am calling, “The Other Broadway”. Today when we see or hear the word “Broadway”, we most likely think of New York’s Theater District and it’s 41 active theaters nestled in and around Times Square (where today 36 plays and musicals have thankfully returned to the stage!) Or that word evokes the legendary cannon of shows that have played in those theaters, most especially those great, glorious Broadway musicals tha...
May 05, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 63
Although nobody knew it at the time, in April of 1968 “The Golden Age of Broadway” came to an abrupt end on the opening night of the “tribal rock musical” HAIR, which took America by storm and created a shocking jump cut into what I call “The Modern Era" of the Broadway Musical. In this episode I share the story of the emergence and rise of the so called “Rock Musical”. To many HAIR, and the "Rock Musical", seemed like a total betrayal of the values, craftsmanship and traditions of Broadway. How...
Apr 28, 2022•32 min
“The story of Jazz Dance is the story of America.” My guests today are the creators of the acclaimed new film documentary: Uprooted – The Journey of Jazz Dance, which has been winning awards at film festivals around the world, and in the US can currently be seen on HBO Max. All three of the film's creators are from the UK, they all have extensive training and backgrounds in dance, and with this movie they are all making their feature length film debuts. The film’s director is Khadifa Wong who tr...
Apr 21, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 62
This is a special Encore episode of Broadway Nation. I am reprising it not only because I think this is one the best episodes ever of this podcast, but also because it could not be more timely since it relates to a number of things happening on Broadway and in the world this week. First and foremost, April 14th, the day this episode is being released marks the 62nd Anniversary of the Broadway opening of Bye Bye Birdie. This is a show that I don’t think gets nearly the respect it deserves, both i...
Apr 14, 2022•41 min
This is the second half of my recent conversation with author Liza Gennaro, whose fascinating new book is titled: Making Broadway Dance. If you missed part one you may want to catch up on that episode before listening to this one. Liza is currently the Dean of Musical Theater at the Manhattan School of Music and she also has had a very active and successful career as a dancer and choreographer. Interestingly, she is closely related to this subject matter of her book because her father was the To...
Apr 07, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 61
This is the first half of my recent conversation with author Liza Gennaro, whose fascinating new book is titled: Making Broadway Dance. Liza is currently the Dean of Musical Theater at the Manhattan School of Music and prior to that she had a very active and successful career as a dancer and choreographer on Broadway and with prominent theater companies across the country. Most notably she choreographed the hit Broadway revival of Frank Loessor’s The Most Happy Fella. As she writes in the introd...
Mar 31, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 60
When I realized that this week’s episode of Broadway Nation would come out just two days after what would have been Stephen Sondheim’s 92nd birthday, and only three days prior to the Oscars telecast where the new Stephen Spielberg remake of West Side Story will be in contention for seven Academy Awards including “Best Picture” – this seemed like the perfect time to devote an episode to comparing and contrasting the four major visions of this landmark show. I knew, however, that I couldn’t do thi...
Mar 24, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 59
This is a special live and in person episode of Broadway Nation! It was recorded on March 6, 2022 live at the Vashon Center for The Arts where I was joined onstage by a terrific group of singers, and special guest Albert Evans, to pay tribute to the late, great Stephen Sondheim. As you will hear, in these live events there is a little less talking and lot more music than in a regular episode, but I don’t think anyone will be disappointed by that - especially when the music and lyrics are by Mr. ...
Mar 17, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 58
This is a special encore episode of Broadway Nation. March is “Women’s History Month”, so this seemed like the perfect time to revisit one my earliest episodes. Creative and talented women have played vital and important roles in the Broadway musical from the very beginning, but their contributions are often overlooked or undervalued. My students in the Broadway musical history course that I teach at the University of Washington School of Drama are always surprised to discover so many women in l...
Mar 10, 2022•30 min
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Mar 03, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 57
On this episode my guest is acclaimed actor, singer, writer, producer and director Avi Hoffman who specializes in Jewish culture and Yiddish theater. His long running off-Broadway “Too Jewish” trilogy has been seen by millions on PBS and at theater venues around the world, and in 2016 he received rave reviews and a Drama Desk nomination for his performance as "Willy Loman" in the Yiddish language production of Death of Salesman. He is also the founder and CEO of the Yiddishkayt Initiative -- a n...
Feb 24, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 56
This week’s special Encore episode of Broadway Nation celebrates a unique "Broadwayversary": On February 18, 1903 – 119 years ago tomorrow – one of the very first Broadway musicals entirely written, staged, produced, and performed by black theater artists opened at the New York Theatre in the heart of Times Square. That musical was titled In Dahomey. With music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse A. Ship & lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar (with additional lyrics by Alex Rodgers, Cecil Mack, Ben...
Feb 17, 2022•42 min
This is special Encore edition of Broadway Nation! Today, February 10, 2022, marks the official opening night of the much delayed, much anticipated, much talked about big new Broadway revival of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman & Sutton Foster. And, just two days ago Steven Spielberg’s movie remake of West Side Story received seven Academy Award nominations, including “Best Picture.” So, this seemed like the perfect moment to revisit one of my favorite episodes of this ...
Feb 10, 2022•40 min
This is the third and final part of my recent conversation with Kevin Winkler, author of the fascinating new book: “Everything Is Choreography” – The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune. If you missed parts one and two, you may want to go back and listen to those before starting on this one. As we ended the last episode, Tommy Tune had just received two 1990 Tony Awards for his direction and choreography of Grand Hotel, and, as Kevin noted, the following year he won two more Tonys for The Will Rodgers...
Feb 03, 2022•38 min•Season 2Ep. 55
This is the second part of my conversation with Kevin Winkler, author of the fascinating new book: Everything Is Choreography – The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune. If you missed part one, you may want to go back and listen to that before embarking on this one. Today Kevin relates the saga of the all of the incredible behind-the-scenes drama that transpired during the rehearsals and out of town tryout of My One and Only – the “new” Gershwin musical that stared Tommy Tune and Twiggy. He also shares...
Jan 27, 2022•30 min•Season 2Ep. 54
This episode is made possible in part by the generous support of Broadway Nation “Backstage Pass Club” Producer Level Members: Steven & Paula Reynolds. Today my guest is Kevin Winkler, author of the new book: Everything Is Choreography – The Musical Theater of Tommy Tune. Kevin’s much acclaimed and award winning first book, Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical, was released in 2018. And you may have seen Kevin as an on-screen commentator in the acclaimed documentary, Merely ...
Jan 20, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 53
This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of Robert Braun who is a "Producer Level Member" of our Broadway Nation “Backstage Pass Club”. Information on how you can become a member of The Backstage Pass Club can be found here: https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.com. What you are about to hear is the second half of my recent conversation with Dominick McHugh author of: The Big Parade – Meredith Wilson’s Musicals From The Music Man to 1491. In part one Dominic shared t...
Jan 13, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 52
This week my guest is author Dominick McHugh, author of the recent book, The Big Parade – Meredith Wilson’s Musicals From The Music Man To 1491. Dominick is Professor of Musicology at the University of Sheffield in the UK. His previous books include Loverly, The Life And times of My Fair Lady, Adapting The Wizard Of Oz – Musical Versions From Baum To MGM And Beyond, and he has also served as editor of The Letters Of Cole Porter, and The Complete Lyrics Of Alan Jay Lerner. As it turns out, the ti...
Jan 06, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 51
This is the second of two special holiday bonus episodes of Broadway Nation. Just like the first, this is an audio version of a Broadway Nation Live! performance that was given in December of 2019 at the Vashon Center For The Performing Arts on Vashon Island, WA. If you prefer to watch a video of this performance you can stream it on their website at: vashoncenterforthearts.org In Part One we looked at how the Jewish-Russian immigrant songwriter, Irving Berlin -- in addition to being one of the ...
Dec 30, 2021•44 min
This is a special holiday encore of one of Broadway Nation's most popular episodes:. It's an audio version of a Broadway Nation Live! performance that was presented in December of 2019 at the Vashon Center For The Performing Arts on Vashon Island in Washington State. Several previous episodes of Broadway Nation have explored the crucial role that the Jewish-Russian immigrant songwriter, Irving Berlin, played in the invention of the Broadway Musical. Now I share the story of how he also invented ...
Dec 22, 2021•34 min
This episode is made possible in part by the generous support of Broadway Nation "Backstage Pass Club" Producer Level Member, Tracy Wellans. For information on how to join the "Backstage Pass Club" please go the show notes for this episode at www.broadway-nation.com In this episode I continue my Centennial celebration of the groundbreaking musical Shuffle Along! with the second half of my conversation with Richard Carlin & Ken Bloom who are the co-authors of Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Rac...
Dec 16, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 50
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Shuffle Along!, the groundbreaking musical that kicked off an entire decade of vibrant black musical theatre on Broadway which included more than a dozen shows that were created by black songwriters, black bookwriters, black producers, black directors and choreographers -- and these shows brought hundreds of black actors, singers, dancers, and musicians to Broadway. This landmark is being celebrated with the release of two wonderful new books. Earlier thi...
Dec 09, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 49
