BROADWAY NATION

BROADWAY NATION

A lively and opinionated cultural history of the Broadway Musical that tells the extraordinary story of how Immigrants, Jews, Queers, African-Americans and other outcasts invented the Broadway Musical, and how they changed America in the process.In Season One, host David Armstrong traces the evolution of American Musical Theater from its birth at the dawn of the 20th Century, through its mid-century “Golden Age”, and right up to its current 21st Century renaissance; and also explore how musicals have reflected and shaped our world -- especially in regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, and equality.

Episodes

October 17, 2025 63 mins
Amazingly, this year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In 2005, after an incredibly short development period, opened first off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater, and quickly moved to Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway. It was nominated for six Tony Awards and won two, including “Best Book of a Musical,” and the show would go on to run for 1,136 performances and be ...
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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, dir...
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This is the second part of this Encore Episode from 2021 featuring a conversation with Irene Sankoff & David Hein — the dynamic writing team and married couple that created the international smash hit musical Come From Away which recently topped American Theatre magazine's list of the most produced plays in America in 2025/26. On the previous episode Irene and David related how they got hooked on musicals, and how they went from t...
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My guests today are Irene Sankoff & David Hein – the dynamic writing team and married couple that created the giant international smash hit musical Come From Away. Five productions of Come From Away have recently reopened around the world: Broadway, Toronto, London, Sydney and on tour across America. A live filmed version of the show is also streaming on Apple TV+. Irene and David won the 2019 Olivier Award and were nominated for...
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On this special video and audio episode of Broadway Nation my guests are Dominic Broomfield—McHugh, editor of The Oxford Guides to Film Musicals, along with the authors of the first three books in this new series: Geoffrey Block (Love Me Tonight), Andrew Buchman (Singin' in the Rain), Hannah Lewis (La La Land). You can watch the video version on YouTube, Spotify, and the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. ...
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This is the fifth and final episode in this series of conversations with RICHARD SCHOCH, author of the acclaimed book, HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. This week Richard and I discuss two of Stephen Sondheim's most challenging musicals, ASSASSINS and PASSION, as well as his final show HERE WE ARE. If you missed the first four episodes in this series, you may want to catch up with them before listening to this one. Richard Scho...
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The 1920s brought the second great era of musicals that were written by, staged by, and starring Black 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 Af...
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African American theater artists played a significantly 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
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My guest again this week is RICHARD SCHOCH, author of the much-acclaimed recent book, HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. This week, we explore two of Sondheim’s most brilliant works, Sunday In the Park with George and Into the Woods. If you missed the first three episodes in this series, you may want to catch up with them before listening to this one. Richard Schoch is a Professor of Drama at Queen’s University Belfast in North...
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My guest again this week is RICHARD SCHOCH, author of the much-acclaimed recent book, HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. In the first two episodes of this series, Richard took us deep inside the inner workings and underlying meanings of Gypsy, Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music, and the fascinating characters who inhabit them. This week, we explore two of Sondheim’s most challenging and brilliant works, Pacific Overture...
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“Some people might say CATS is a ripoff of A Chorus Line. I don’t want to go that far but it’s remarkably similar. I think it’s sort of a doppelganger of A Chorus Line.” In this episode, host Mike Abrams welcomes David Armstrong, a fellow Broadway Podcast Network host and author of the newly published book Broadway Nation.'They delve into the rich history of Broadway musicals, highlighting the significant influences and connections...
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Never fear! Richard Schoch will return soon for the third and fourth segments of our conversation regarding his recent book, How Sondheim Can Change Your Life. In the meantime, I am excited to share with you the first of what I anticipate will become an occasional new series, which I am calling IN SEARCH OF LOST BROADWAY. And in this episode, my guest ALBERT EVANS and I will try to rediscover the hit 1927 musical RIO RITA. Be...
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My guest again this week is Richard Schoch, author of the much-acclaimed book, How Sondheim Can Change Your Life. Last week, Richard took us deep inside the inner workings of both Gypsy and Company. In this episode, through his insightful analysis of the musicals Follies and A Little Night Music, and the fascinating characters who inhabit them, Schoch illuminates Sondheim’s incredible genius for plumbing the depths of human exper...
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Join author David Armstrong for a lively conversation hosted by Alan Seales of The Theatre Podcast celebrating the release of Armstrong's new book, Broadway Nation—How Immigrant, Jewish, Queer and Black Artists Invented the Broadway Musical. With co-host Michelle Simone Miller host of the podcast Mentors On the Mic. At this virtual book launch party you will have the opportunity to meet David Armstrong and hear the inside story o...
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After a brief summer break, I am thrilled to be back with an all-new episode of Broadway Nation! My guest this week is RICHARD SCHOCH, author of the recent and much-acclaimed book, HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Just when you thought there might be nothing left to say about the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, Schoch's engaging book opens up a new treasure trove of fascinating analysis and insight. Richard Schoch, is a Profess...
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July 18, 2025 5 mins
 A quick update on what's going on with Broadway Nation podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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In this episode I continue my review of Broadway’s Nostalgia Craze of the 1970s and beyond. Many of the musicals that emerged in the late 60s and very early 70s were also influenced by the incipient Nostalgia Craze, even if overall their shows were decidedly modern. HAIR, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Applause  all included musical sequences that recalled the Vaudeville era and Silver Age of Broadway. ...
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In this episode Albert Evans and I explore the origins of Broadway’s “Nostalgia Craze of the 1970s” — where it came from, and what artistic, social and cultural forces came together to spark this unlikely phenomenon.  We trace its origins in the counterculture youth rebellion of the 1960s, the rediscovery of films from the 1930s and 40s on television, and the popularization of gay camp culture via the off-off Broadway mega hit DAM...
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This episode is adapted from a section of my new upcoming book, Broadway Nation — How Immigrant, Jewish, Queer, and Black Artists Invented the Broadway Musical, which will be released on July 24 (and can be preordered now everywhere books are sold.) In 1919, two gifted young Queer theater artists — Hassard Short and John Murray Anderson —both made their Broadway directing debuts and quickly established themselves as significant fo...
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This week’s episode of Broadway Nation is the second half of my conversation with author Ron Fassler, whose latest book is titled The Show Goes On — Broadway Hirings, Firings, and Replacements. Among the outstanding Broadway performers and creatives who are at the center Ron’s fascinating stories include Abe Burrows, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Comden & Green, Cynthia Erivo, Fantasia, Frank Loesser, Gower Champion, Harold Pr...
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