Scene to Song

Here We Are, is the 2023 musical by Stephen Sondheim and David Ives, it was Sondheim’s last musical, produced posthumously. In this conversation we discuss surrealism in musical theater, the relationship of the main characters Marianne and Fritz, if this is this an unfinished work, and more.

Music Featured:

“The Road 1 (Part 1)” from Here We Are

“Oh, Look, Here’s the Embassy” from Here We Are

&ld...

Shoshana is joined by Christie Baugher back on Scene to Song to discuss melodic and harmonic suspensions as a musical-theater storytelling device. Christie Baugher is a Los Angeles-based writer/performer. Her musicals include The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul and Leni Riefenstahl Is Going To Tell You The Truth. A suspension is a held note that clashes with a new chord and resolves, and we explore how it is used throughout mus...

From dancer to director, Michael Bennett reinvented what a Broadway musical could be.

Shoshana talks with Natalie Guevara, creator of Mirror Man: A Portrait of Michael Bennett and unlike many of our guests, she is someone who didn't consider herself a theater person until Michael Bennett changed that.

Natalie got interested because even though Bennett gave us A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, his name barely comes up in the same breath...

What do crossword puzzles have to do with "Send in the Clowns"? More than you'd think.

This episode, Shoshana is joined by Barry Joseph, author of Matching Minds with Sondheim, to explore Stephen Sondheim's lifelong obsession with puzzles and games, and how that obsession quietly shaped everything from his lyrics to his show structures to his closest relationships.

In the "Why Is This So Good?" segment, Shoshana and Barry dig into ...

What’s your favorite musical that no one else has heard of? In this episode of Scene to Song, we talk all about those musicals. The Indie Musicals. The Cult Favorites.

Composer and lyricist Will Larche talks about indie musicals and the release of his new album, Bumps in the Bathroom: and other lost shows, which preserves songs from obscure, cult-favorite indie musicals that premiered in the East Village.

Music played in this...

Is Glinda’s side of Wicked memory-based? And why is she so darn optimistic?

This episode, Shoshana is joined by actor and singer Jennafer Newberry, best known for serving as the Glinda standby in the Broadway production of Wicked after previously playing Glinda on the national tour. In addition to her performing career, Newberry is also a musical theatre faculty member at the New York Film Academy.

The main conversation dives...

Shoshana is joined by writer and theater aficionado John Verderber, author of Harry Reams Goes to Hollywood and American Father, longtime Little Red Light Theater associate, and contributor to Time Out New York, New York Magazine, and Everything Sondheim. We deep dive into Christopher Guest's beloved mockumentary Waiting for Guffman and the musical within it Red, White, and Blaine. In honor of Catherine O’Hara we thought divi...

"We watch a Holocaust play and we know that all of these people are gonna die. We watch an AIDS play and we know how badly it's gonna turn out." So what does it mean for a musical to be a period piece marked by tragedy?

In this Season 9 premiere of Scene to Song, host Shos...

Five of this season's guests--William Forrest  (Episode 118: The Sherman Brothers' Movie Musicals for Disney), Rick Rhobajt Widen (Episode 121: Bible Musicals), Tara Krieger (Episode 123: Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus's Chess), Nathan Platte (Episode 126: Meet Me in St. Louis), and BethAnn Cohen (Parody in Musical Theater (Ep. 127))--return to discuss topics from the season and answer listener questions and comm...

Did you know writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston wrote a musical? Now you do!

Multidisciplinary Black feminist scholar-artist Jordan Ealey discusses Hurston’s 1944 musical Polk County and what this anthropological musical was like, as well as its past and future in the musical theater canon. We also discuss “Sweet Chitty Chatty” from Kirsten Childs’s 2000 musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Cham...

How did William Finn and Jonathan Larson revolutionize musical theater in the 1980s and 90s? Assistant Professor of Music Alex Bádue joins host Shoshana Greenberg to explore the parallel journeys and creative intersections of these two groundbreaking composers. From their early work in the 80s to their hits Falsettos and Rent in the 1990s and more. We also talk about the song “Four Jews in a Room Bitching” from William...

BethAnn Freed Cohen joins Scene to Song to discuss parody in musical theater. We discuss “what exactly is a parody?” and what it means in musicals. We dig into what elements make a good parody, using examples such as Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance and the episode “Original Cast Album: Co-op” from the show Documentary Now! As BethAnn notes, ” there are musicals that are funny but are not...

Associate Professor of Musicology Nathan Platte discusses the 1944 movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis and 1989 Broadway musical adaptation, looking at how songs are used and how the story and songs changed from author Sally Benson's treatment to the big screen and beyond. We also talk about the Sherman Brothers' song "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" from the 1964 movie musical Mary Poppins. You can write to scenetosong@gmail...

In this episode, singer, actress, writer, lyricist, and voiceover artist Amanda Fischler discusses Greek mythology in musical theater from Hadestown to The Golden Apple and all the aspects that go into writing these stories. We also talk about the song "In My Own Little Corner" from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1957 TV musical Cinderella, specifically the 1997 TV version with Brandy. You can write to scenetosong...

In this episode, dramaturg, director and producer Shaun Leisher discusses the Muppet movies as musical theater. We also talk about the song "Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You" from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's 1970 musical Company, specifically The Muppet Show version with Loretta Swit. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you&rs...

In this episode, attorney and writer Tara Krieger discusses Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus's 1986 musical Chess. We also talk about the song "This Is the Hour" from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's 1989 musical Miss Saigon. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Insta...

In this episode, writer and director Michael Boyd discusses Tom O'Horgan, Helen Miller, and Eve Merriam's 1971 musical Inner City, the story behind this short-lived musical, most likely the first Broadway musical with a score by two women, as well as a look some of the songs. We also talk about the song "Hushaby/My Mother Said" from Inner City. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or ...

In this episode, theater Reviewer, composer, lyricist and librettist Donald H. Sandborn III discusses Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's 1973 musical A Little Night Music. We also talk about the song "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on ...

In this episode, writer Rick Rhobajt Widen discusses bible musicals, running the gamut from Children of Eden, Two by Two, and Jesus Christ Superstar to religion-adjacent musicals like Saved and Leap of Faith . We also talk about the song "Writing a Gospel Play" from Michael R. Jackson's 2022 musical A Strange Loop. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or ...