This is the second half of my conversation with Rebecca Applin Warner, who is the author of a new book: The Musical Theatre Composer As Dramatist — A Handbook For Collaboration. Last time Rebecca shared some of the fascinating concepts and techniques that can be found in her book in regard to breaking down and analyzing the components of a musical, including its principal and supporting themes (both dramatic and musical), as well as what she calls “the shape” of the musical overall, and in its individual segments, including it various “levels of intensification.” And we discussed how all ..read more

My guest this week is author Deborah Phillips whose new book is titled: AND THIS IS MY FRIEND SANDY — SANDY WILSON’S THE BOY FRIEND, LONDON THEATRE AND GAY CULTURE. Sandy Wilson's The Boyfriend — for which he wrote the book, music, & lyrics — is one of the most successful British musicals of all time. It emerged in 1952 out of London’s secretive but vibrant gay theatrical subculture, at a time when you could be sent to prison for being homosexual.  By the following year both The Boyfriend and Sandy Wilson were the toast of London’s West End, and created nearly as much excitement ..read more

My guest this week is playwright Itamar Moses, winner of the 2018 Tony Award for “Best Book of a Musical” for his beautiful work on the Tony Award winning “Best Musical”, The Band’s Visit.  His other theater work includes the plays Bach at Leipzig, The Four Of Us, Completeness, and The Whistleblower, and the musicals Nobody Loves You, and The Fortress of Solitude. He has also written for several acclaimed television series including Boardwalk Empire and The Affair. His current project, and the main subject of our conversation , is his new ..read more

This special Halloween edition of Broadway Nation! This is the first part of my conversation with Adam Abraham, author of Attack of the Monster Musical – A Cultural History of Little Shop Of Horrors.  In this terrific new book Adam relates the unlikely story of how Roger Corman’s schlocky, low budget, 1960’s monster movie was transformed 20 years later into a smash hit, long-running, Off-Broadway musical that became an international sensation and spawned a hit film musical adaptation as well. And of course, today Little Shop Of Horrors is a hit all over again and can currently be see ..read more

My guest today is Peter Felichia who is the author of the new book that he calls The Book of Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, and Disagreements. As a prolific theater journalist and critic Peter has written for Playbill, Theatermania, Broadway Select, Encore, and if you are in my age range you may even remember a magazine namedTheater Week! You can hear him every week on the Broadway Radio podcast This Week On Broadway. Most significantly he is the author of five previous books about Broadway including: The Great Parade: Broadway’s Astonishing Never To Be Forgotten 1963-1964 Season; St ..read more

As you have probably heard, The Phantom Of The Opera – the longest running show in Broadway history –– recently announced that it will close this coming February, just over 35 years after it first opened on Broadway. This New York production of Phantom has been seen by nearly 20 million people and has grossed $1.3 billion dollars. Globally the show has been seen by 145 million people in 42 countries. Since this week marks the anniversaries of both CATS – which first opened on Broadway on October 7, 1982, and Les Misérables – which first opened in London on October 8, 1985, it seemed ..read more

This special Encore episode of Broadway Nation celebrates the birthdays this week of two of Broadways greatest composers -- George Gershwin & Vincent Youmans. Both were born 124 years ago in 1898 and they came into the world just one day apart – Gershwin on September 26, and Youmans on September 27. And even though they were both born in NYC, they came from different worlds.  Gershwin’s parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants, and George grew up on the Lower East Side where his father worked in a shoe factory and George dropped put of school at 15 to go to work. Youmans, however ..read more

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My guest on this episode is Tony Award winning lighting designer Ken Billington who created the lighting for an incredible 105 Broadway plays and musicals, including 21 productions that were directed by Harold Prince.  Ken’s career spans from his very first Broadway show in 1967 when he was the assistant to legendary lighting designer Tharon Musser, to his most recent Broadway show, the hit musical, Waitress.  Along the way he designed the original productions of Sweeney Todd, On The 20th Century, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Scottsboro Boys, The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Lif ..read more

This episode is the second half of my conversation with Gary Flannery regarding the life and career of Broadway dancer, director, choreographer, writer and producer, George White.  Between 1919 and 1939 George White produced 19 Broadway shows including 13 editions of his own lavish and legendary revue – The George White Scandals. In part one Gary shared the story of George White’s unlikely rise from the slums of NY’s Lower East Side to his first triumphs on Broadway.  Gary also began making his very persuasive case that George White is the most underrated and neglected genius in the ..read more