Broadway Binge

7. Carousel

Carousel is just the worst. But luckily for you, Hannah and Jeremy come into this one hot, and you'll hear what they really think about Rodgers and Hammerstein's second musical. There is some explicit language in this episode, so keep that in mind.

6. On the Town

On the Town marked the very first Broadway musical for Leonard Bernstein (music), Jerome Robbins (choreography), and Betty Comden & Adolph Green (book and lyrics). On the Town was loosely based on a ballet by Robbins and Bernstein called Fancy Free which had opened in April 1944, and they completely made On the Town from scratch by December 1944! Fancy Free itself was inspired by Paul Cadmus' painting "The Fleet's In" from 1934, seen below.

 

5. Oklahoma!

At last, we talk about the most important musical of all time, Oklahoma! The first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! was the start of the golden age of musical theatre, and every musical since then exists in the genre Oklahoma crystalized. We'll talk about why the show was so important, play you some clips, read you some scholarly quotes, and talk about how well it holds up. And we'll rank it alongside the other musicals we've reviewed!

4. Pal Joey

This week we discuss 1940's Pal Joey with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, book by John O'Hara, based on a series of short stories he published in the New Yorker, directed by George Abbott (the Hal Prince of his day).

We discuss the songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart, the most popular hit-writers of the 1930s, in their most well remembered show, and one of their last before Rodgers replaced Hart with Hammerstein. We've got more clips than ever this week, with three from Pal Joey and three others from earlier in Rodgers and Hart's career (including some songs you probably know!). If you ever wondered what Rodgers and Hart sounded like, but not enough to go to the effort yourself, this podcast will be all you need!

Next week is Oklahoma! We'll be talking about the movie version, so feel free to watch it before you listen if you don't know the show or want to refresh your memory.

3. Porgy and Bess

For episode 3, we discuss Porgy and Bess, music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Dubose Heyward, libretto by Dubose Heyward. As usual, no familiarity with the show is required to enjoy the podcast, as we play ample audio clips and the plot isn't unexpected or interesting for you to worry about us spoiling you. Porgy and Bess rides the line between opera and musical, and has been performed as complete opera, complete Broadway musical, and every shade in between. We discuss the show, the Gershwin brothers, and we take a look at how criticism of the show's handling of race has changed in ways you might not expect.

Apologies for Jeremy's worse microphone today and Hannah's audio getting wonky in the last ten minutes. Neither of those problems surface again in future episodes.

 

2. Anything Goes

For our second episode, we discuss Anything Goes (1934) with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. You genuinely don't need to have seen the show to enjoy this episode, as the plot of the musical is entirely irrelevant, and we play a few clips from the songs. If you want to know why the show is good, all you need to do is watch this one four-minute video of the 2011 Tony performance of the title song "Anything Goes," featuring Sutton Foster.

Apologies for the very slight echo, that isn't in subsequent episodes.

1. Show Boat

We begin our quest to discuss and review every important musical from Show Boat to today with Show Boat itself, music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. This 1927 show is considered by some to be the first modern musical, or at least the single most important step on the way to Oklahoma!, considered by many more to be the first modern musical.

Show Boat was a huge step forward for the American musical, considered by Hammerstein to be a musical play instead of the light musical comedies that were popular on Broadway at the time. In this episode, find out what came before Show Boat and why it was such a revolution for the form, and hear what we think of the faithful 1936 movie adaptation. You can enjoy the podcast without knowing the show, but watching some or all of the movie will certainly help.

Note that racism is discussed, and Jeremy and Hannah, as two white people, are not the most qualified in the world to address the topic, but they try their best in this premiere episode.

If you would like to see the 1936 movie version of Show Boat, finding a copy to rent is nearly impossible, so check this stream out. Trigger warning for blackface in one number midway through:

1936 Movie Part 1: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3miour

1936 Movie Part 2: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mj7fq_show-boat-1936-2-2_shortfilms 

To discuss this episode and more with other fans, check out the Broadway Bingers Facebook Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2034413620120525/