A Musical Theatre Podcast
Conversations revealing the cultural and emotional impact of our favorite musicals in theatre history. On each episode of “A Musical Theatre Podcast,” Jeff welcomes a special guest to explore one musical from theatre history. Together they get to the heart of the show’s cultural and emotional impact by looking at its creators, context, and storytelling. Always fun and heartfelt, this is the podcast to celebrate the humanity of our musical theatre art form.
Episodes
June 29, 2025 • 76 mins
PARADE is by no means a "happy musical." But the way it has aged not only with audiences but within our culture has given it a happier ending than when it first opened in the 1999 Broadway season.
This week, actor Max Chernin (Broadway's PARADE, BRIGHT STAR, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE) takes a moment from playing "Leo Frank" in the show's current national tour to discuss how the wounds from the original 1913 trial continue to ...
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June 4, 2025 • 71 mins
"They're creepy and they're kooky," but they also mean a lot to so many of you! THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a musical based on the beloved characters by Charles Addams is one of the most performed musicals in the United States. Today, we look at why that might be.
Joining us is one of Broadway's "Wednesdays," the amazing Rachel Potter (EVITA, WICKED), whose new album "Stages" features one the musical's most popular songs.
Follow Rachel on...
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May 20, 2025 • 78 mins
SMILE, a musical by Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch about a teen beauty pageant may not have won the crown when it premiered on Broadway back in 1986, but it was the winner of this year's "Flop Shop" PATREON! poll. We're hoping now a few more people will know just how important this musical is!
Director, podcaster, and educator Robert W. Schneider joins us just having finished directing a production of this lesser-known gem. Tun...
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May 4, 2025 • 69 mins
Just as DEATH BECOMES HER celebrates 10 Tony nominations, we're thrilled to celebrate our new episode dedicated to this brand-new Broadway hit!
Joining us is one of the nominees, the hilarious book writer himself, Marco Pennette (TV's Ugly Betty & Mom), and one of hard-working cast members keeping the show going 8 performances a week, Kaleigh Cronin (Cabaret, A Bronx Tale, Jersey Boys).
Marco is an open, pardon the pun, "book," a...
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April 12, 2025 • 73 mins
"Let me give you the lowdown, we're K-razy for 'Lew!'"
This week we're covering a game changing musical based on a game changing musical (get ready for Jeff's "Expired Ketchup" metaphor) featuring the Broadway debut of a performer who's now enjoying her Broadway debut as a choreographer! It's CRAZY FOR YOU with Shannon Lewis!
Shannon (JUST IN TIME, FOSSE, CURTAINS, SWEET CHARITY, and so many more...) never forgets a count of chor...
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March 29, 2025 • 66 mins
Beetlejuice...Beetlejuice...Beetle-just kidding, we're not that crazy.
Today, we're talking about "you know who," and we're doing it with original Broadway cast member and current dance captain on the BEETLEJUICE national tour, Ryan Breslin! (NEWSIES, THE BOOK OF MORMON, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY) Join us as we delve into the history of this fan favorite musical, the lore of the Netherworld, and what happens when Congress...
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March 15, 2025 • 75 mins
This week we're the luckiest people in the world as "funny girl" Ruby Karp joins us to discuss the legendary musical FUNNY GIRL. Throughout the conversation there is plenty of love for Babs, plenty of "not love" for Nicky Arnstein, and even a hypothesis regarding who Fanny Brice's third husband would have been in the 2020s.
Follow Ruby on Instagram at @rubykarp and don't miss her show I DON'T TRUST ADULTS playing Soho Playhouse fr...
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February 28, 2025 • 74 mins
Be careful when you open the loop...
A STRANGE LOOP is a musical outlier in many ways: it's one of the few Broadway shows to include book, music, and lyrics by one individual. It also won pretty much every award it could have (including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama) during its New York runs. But maybe most impressive is the sheer number of conversations one can have about it.
This week we welcome Tony nominee L Morgan Lee (A STRA...
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February 15, 2025 • 77 mins
This week we wrap our three-episode series on recent entries into musical theatre history with one of today's biggest Broadway hits!
THE OUTSIDERS became standard reading for young people in the United States following its novel debut in the 1960s, and now the story has become essential viewing for all musical theatre fans. Joining us to discuss how and why this show became a certified blockbuster is an expert in "musical gangs" a...
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January 25, 2025 • 68 mins
It's beyond privilege to record an episode about a musical with the writers of said musical, and that is exactly what we have this week!
To celebrate last season's WATER FOR ELEPHANTS debut in the licensing world, Tony-nominee Rick Elice (JERSEY BOYS, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, SMASH) as well as three members of innovative theatre team PigPen Theatre Co. (THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON) join us to spend a little more time "under th...
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January 11, 2025 • 74 mins
New for 2025: new episodes of "A Musical Theatre Podcast" will drop on Saturday mornings!
Also new for 2025, we're spending the first episodes of the year discussing some of the newest entries into our musical theatre canon. First up is a "flop" from the 2024 Broadway season with a larger cultural and emotional impact than shows with three times as many performances.
LEMPICKA is a musical that introduces us to an icon too few kno...
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December 31, 2024 • 74 mins
We're celebrating the end of the year this week with the musical A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD. And just like the musical itself, this week's episode is filled with much more than you'd expect:
A salute to the Midwest musical theatre contributions that made this groundbreaking show possible? Check.
Perspectives from the show's original Broadway choreographer? Check.
Real talk on the successes and pitfalls of Theatre for Young Audien...
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December 22, 2024 • 71 mins
In 1964, Carol was bringing down the house as Dolly, Barbra was blowing the roof off as Fanny, and for 9 performances only, Angela Lansbury belted out Sondheim as Cora Hoover Hooper in ANYONE CAN WHISTLE.
It's no surprise to hear that "flop" is not a curse word on "A Musical Theatre Podcast," but that goes double for a show with an incredible score and some of the biggest storytelling swings in musical history. (Some of which are b...
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November 25, 2024 • 82 mins
"Come and meet those dancing feet!" Why? Because those feet have been through a lot!
Karen Prunzik originated the role of "Anytime Annie" in one of Broadway's biggest hits 42ND STREET. This 1980 stage adaptation of the 1933 film gave birth to musical theatre lore we still talk about to this day, and Karen had a front row seat for it all. Join us as we discuss the plot twists both onstage and off that came together to create a class...
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November 18, 2024 • 82 mins
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA enjoyed 13,981 performances on Broadway, the most of any musical of all time, but now it finally gets its true crowning glory: its own full episode of "A Musical Theatre Podcast."
This week, Jeff is joined by actress, author, and public speaker Sandra Joseph who has a record-breaking title of her own: "the longest running leading lady in the longest running Broadway show of all time." With over 1,500 perfor...
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October 27, 2024 • 83 mins
Are you "Team Cathy" or "Team Jamie?"
Exploring the arc of a five-year relationship from beginning to end (or end to beginning?) is no small feat, and this week we do it thanks to Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST FIVE YEARS. Singer/songwriter and social media star Grace Yurchuk joins Jeff to discuss this musical that has broken hearts and devastated audition accompanists since it's off-Broadway premiere in 2002. What did we get right?...
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October 13, 2024 • 70 mins
THE PROM is an original musical that very much connected with audiences when it first premiered on Broadway in 2018. It features great characters, clever dialogue, and energetic songs. But those things don't write themselves, do they?!
This week we sit down with the show's lyricist, and half of its book writing team, six-time Tony nominee Chad Beguelin! (THE WEDDING SINGER, ALADDIN, ELF) Chad takes us to "the prom" by way of explor...
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September 22, 2024 • 71 mins
"Here she is boys! Here she is world! Here's... one of the best written musicals of all time!" GYPSY is part of Jeff's top three, and we have a top tier guest this week to celebrate it. Two-time Tony nominee Alison Fraser (THE SECRET GARDEN, ROMANCE/ROMANCE, IN TROUSERS) was a close friend of writer Arthur Laurents and played the role of Tessie Tura in the famous 2008 Broadway revival. Join us as she helps us explore the striptease...
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September 8, 2024 • 57 mins
This week's episode may have one of the all-time great backstories in musical theatre history: a woman composes a new Broadway score with her husband during the Great Depression while he works with the US president, and she falls in love with one of the biggest composers of all time.
FINE AND DANDY is much more than its title implies, but it sure does have one humdinger of a "fine and dandy" score. Join producer and musical theatre...
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August 25, 2024 • 17 mins
Few musicals have captured the hearts of audiences quite like Disney's ALADDIN. But did you know the beloved stage adaptation of the classic animation almost never came to be? This podcast pulls back the curtain on the untold story of ALADDIN's journey from conception to Broadway triumph.
Join 11-time Emmy Award winning entertainment journalist for NY1 and NY1OnStage host Frank DiLella on an in-depth exploration that begins with th...
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