Fifty Key Stage Musicals: The Podcast is a supplement to the Routledge Press publication Fifty Key Stage Musicals. Each episode focuses on an iconic musical that altered the landscape of the genre and features interviews with theatre professionals and scholars. Hosts: Andrew Child and Robert W. Schneider.
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Ch. 50- DEAR EVAN HANSEN
Season 1 · Episode 51
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 • Duration 39:10
DEAR EVAN HANSEN
COMPOSER: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
LYRICIST: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
BOOK: Steven Levenson
DIRECTOR: Michael Greif
CHOREOGRAPHER: Danny Mefford
PRINCIPLE CAST: Rachel Bay Jones (Heidi), Laura Dreyfuss (Zoe), Ben Platt (Evan),
OPENING DATE: Nov 14, 2016
CLOSING DATE: Still running as of publication
PERFORMANCES: Still running as of publication
SYNOPSIS: Evan Hansen is a high schooler struggling with both peer and self-acceptance. When a fellow student takes his own life, Evan begins to create a fictional friendship with the dead student, tricking not only the student’s family but the whole world.
Producer Stacey Mindich revolutionized the relationship between Broadway musicals and their young fans, making recordings available to the public alongside the announcement of the show’s first tryout, attempting to reflect their experiences on stage without parodying or satirizing them, and even leading a video campaign which includes fan videos in the show’s projection design. Frederick D. Miller explores the ways Dear Evan Hansen comments on a societal reliance on social media while existing in an industry increasingly dependent upon social media to profit and survive. Young writers Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson provided nuanced observations on the budding culture around social media without moralizing or criticizing. It was this musical that then fostered the growth of such musicals as Joe Iconis’ Be More Chill.
Frederick D. Miller is an undergraduate theatre major at the Pennsylvania State University. A dramaturg, Miller’s work focuses on twentieth- and twenty-first-century American theatre. His work has informed productions of Angels in America, A Little Night Music, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Caroline, or Change. He is the regional recipient and national semi-finalist for the 2020 KC/ACTF Award for Outstanding Dramaturgy, and a project associate for the #HereToo Project, which amplifies youth activists’ voices through performance. An advocate for theatre education, Miller is a frequent teaching artist with high schools and theaters in the Central Pennsylvania region.
SOURCES
Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson, Benj Paek, Justin Paul, published by Theatre Communications Group (2017)
Dear Evan Hansen, Original Broadway Cast Recording. Atlantic Records (2017)
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Ch. 49- HAMILTON
Season 1 · Episode 50
Monday, May 30, 2022 • Duration 54:48
HAMILTON
COMPOSER: Lin-Manuel Miranda
LYRICIST: Lin-Manuel Miranda
BOOK: Lin-Manuel Miranda
DIRECTOR: Thomas Kail
CHOREOGRAPHER: Andy Blankenbuehler
PRINCIPLE CAST: Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Leslie Odom Jr. (Burr), Phillipa Soo (Eliza)
OPENING DATE: August 6th, 2015
CLOSING DATE: Still Playing as of this writing
PERFORMANCES: +1900
SYNOPSIS: The life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton is explored from his immigration to the United States through his murder by political rival Aaron Burr.
W. Jerome Stevenson argues Hamilton’s significance as a twenty-first century musical which was able to maintain mass appeal to the public amid a flurry of tourist-oriented Broadway productions. Hamilton’s original score and historical storyline update the structure of a traditional book musical by fusing the narrative with rap and hip hop and reimagining white figures as people of color. The Lin Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Andy Blankenbuehler production set off a global revolution with its contemporary score but was later brought under scrutiny for its lack of accurate representation of Afro-Caribbean and African-American voices.
W. Jerome Stevenson is an Instructor of Performance for the Helmerich School of Drama at the University of Oklahoma and served as the Producing Artistic Director of the Pollard Theatre Company in Oklahoma until 2020. Stevenson is an accomplished director and a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and serves as adjunct theatre faculty at Oklahoma City and Oklahoma Universities. Stevenson’s numerous directing credits include Hairspray, Green Day’s American Idiot, Crowns, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In addition to a variety of work in radio, television, and film, Jerome was the recipient of a 2018 Oklahoma Governor Arts Award for Community Service.
SOURCES
Hamilton, Original Broadway Cast Recording. Atlantic (2016)
Hamilton, starring Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr., directed by Thomas Kail. Walt Disney Pictures (2020)
Hamilton: One Shot to Broadway, starring Lin Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom, Jr., directed by Elio Espana. Symettrica Entertainment (2017)
Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, published by Grand Central Publishing (2016)
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Ch. 40- RENT
Season 1 · Episode 41
Sunday, May 22, 2022 • Duration 43:58
RENT
COMPOSER: Jonathan Larson
LYRICIST: Jonathan Larson
BOOK: Jonathan Larson
SOURCE: La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini (1896)
DIRECTOR: Michael Greif
CHOREOGRAPHER: Marlies Yearby
PRINCIPLE CAST: Adam Pascal (Roger), Anthony Rapp (Mark), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Mimi)
OPENING DATE: Apr 29, 1996
CLOSING DATE: Sep 07, 2008
PERFORMANCES: 5,123
SYNOPSIS: Mark and Roger are two bohemian artists living in New York’s lower East Side at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Mark is a documentary filmmaker and Roger is an HIV positive songwriter. When Roger meets Mimi, a drug addict, he falls madly in love but is unsure if he should tell her of his impending mortality.
Composer Jonathon Larson set out to bring musical theatre to a new generation with Rent, a rock opera based on Puccini’s La Boheme and set in Lower Manhattan’s East Village. The musical helped break taboos and stigma around queerness, trans liberation, and AIDs. Jordan Dragutsky chronicles Larson’s quest for giving his generation a voice that sounded like the popular music of the time with the sophistication of musical theatre composition, the advocacy of Rent by New York Theatre Works, the unique casting and design process that was helmed by director Michael Greif, and how the unexpected death of Larson catapulted Rent, and its stars, to global popularity.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jordan Dragutsky grew up surrounded by the entertainment industry and relocated to New York in 2010 after graduating from UCIrvine (BA Drama/Minor Queer Studies). Jordan has assisted in press offices and production/merchandising for over 30 Broadway, Off-Broadway, dance, and touring productions including: Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, Hair, Wicked, and Book of Mormon. He joined the administrative staff at the New York Film Academy in 2012, and from 2015-2020 he served as Senior Dept. Coordinator for the Musical Theatre department. Jordan is a proud member of SAG/AFTRA with experience working on over 100 TV/Film sets. Featured credits include The Cobbler (Goth Guy), Only Murders In The Building (Hulu), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Ocarina Player).
SOURCES
Rent, Original Cast Recording, Dreamworks Records (1996)
Rent by Jonathan Larson, published by It Books (1997)
Rent starring Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, directed by Chris Columbus, Columbia Pictures (2005)
Rent Filmed Live on Broadway starring Will Chase and Adam Kantor, directed by Michael John Warren, Radical Media (2008)
Rent Live starring Jordan Fisher and Brennin Hunt directed by Michael Grief, 20th Century Fox Television (2019)
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, And The Musical Rent by Anthony Rapp, Simon & Schuster (2006)
Rent FAQs: All That’s Left To Know About Broadway’s Blaze of Glory by Tom Rowan, published by Applause (2007)
On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution by Drew Hodges, published by Rizzoli (2016)
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Ch. 39- GREASE (1994)
Season 1 · Episode 40
Friday, May 20, 2022 • Duration 01:00:32
GREASE (1994)
COMPOSER: Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey
LYRICIST: Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey
BOOK: Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey
DIRECTOR: Jeff Calhoun
CHOREOGRAPHER: Jeff Calhoun
PRINCIPLE CAST: Ricky Paull Goldin (Danny), Rosie O’Donnell (Rizzo), Susan Wood (Sandy)
OPENING DATE: May 11, 1994
CLOSING DATE: Jan 25, 1998
PERFORMANCES: 1505
SYNOPSIS: At Rydell High greaser Danny falls in love with good-girl Sandy. Throughout their high school days, they, and their friends, try to figure out life and love.
Casting Director Stuart Howard details the way producers Fran and Barry Weissler changed the Broadway landscape by employing “Stunt Casting”-- the hiring of celebrities who will draw audiences to a show after the box office inevitably slows-- in the 1994 Broadway revival of Grease. Differences between “Star Casting”-- in which a celebrity with significant stage experience or training replaces a previous performer in a run-- and “Stunt Casting”-- in which no regard is paid to a performer’s experience but their notoriety is instead exploited-- are outlined. Though the stars brought to the show elicited a range of responses from the theatre community, audiences, and critics, ultimately, the choices aided by rigorous and inventive advertising campaigns, kept the show running with fresh audiences buying tickets. Some of the celebrities that rotated through the production included Linda Blair, Joe Piscipo, Jon Secada, and Brooke Shields. Following their success with Grease, the Weisslers have continued their infamous casting practices with their revival of Chicago and other productions have taken note and followed suit.
Stuart Howard taught at The Juilliard School for ten years and gave Master Classes and lectured at S.U.N.Y. Purchase, the Stella Adler Academy of Acting, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, NYU’s CAP21, and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Stuart, Janet Hayes Walker and John Newton founded The York Theatre Company in New York City. Stuart has had his own casting company, Stuart Howard Associates, since 1980. They have cast scores of productions for Broadway, off Broadway, National Tours and London’s West End. Recently, they cast the Broadway revival and National tour of West Side Story, Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning August: Osage County, and the original production of La Cage Aux Folles. He is currently involved in the casting of the world premiere of The Heir Apparent by David Ives, Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away, The Maids by Jean Genet and two new musicals based on the life of Josephine Baker.
SOURCES
Great Rock Musicals by Stanley Richards, published by Stein & Day Publishing (1979)
Grease, Revival Cast Recording. Masterworks Records (1994)
Grease starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, directed by Randal Kleiser. Paramount Pictures (1978)
Grease: You’re The One That I Want starring Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, directed by Nick Murray. NBC Television (2006)
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Ch. 38- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Season 1 · Episode 39
Thursday, May 19, 2022 • Duration 01:18:39
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
COMPOSER: Alan Menken
LYRICIST: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice
BOOK: Linda Woolverton
SOURCE: Disney’s animated film Beauty and The Beast (1991)
DIRECTOR: Robert Jess Roth
CHOREOGRAPHER: Matt West
PRINCIPLE CAST: Gary Beach (Lumiere), Susan Egan (Belle), Terrence Mann (Beast)
OPENING DATE: Apr 18, 1994
CLOSING DATE: Jul 29, 2007
PERFORMANCES: 5,462
SYNOPSIS: Belle is a young girl who stumbles into a castle and is kept captive by its owner, a monster who was once a prince. Along with his staff, once humans now physical objects due to a witch’s curse, Belle will try to teach the Beast to love again before the Prince permanently stays as a monster.
This episode traces the way musical theatre artists Alan Menken and Howard Ashman reinvigorated the mass-appeal of Disney’s animated films, which in turn lead to a profitable pipeline between the children’s media conglomerate and New York City, beginning with a stage adaptation of the animated box office hit, Beauty and the Beast. The planned 1994 opening of Beauty and the Beast at the Palace Theatre directly influenced Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s prioritization of the commercial cleansing of Times Square, Disney’s exclusive access to the newly-renovated New Amsterdam Theatre, and the creation of Disney Theatrical Productions, which continues to adapt Disney films for the stage. Though critically panned, Eden Hildebrand demonstrates how the musical signaled a new age for Broadway’s reliance on spectacle, a future for family-friendly tourist entertainment, and a new definition of robust merchandising presence in the commercial theatre.
Eden Hildebrand is a Canadian performer, choreographer, director, and pedagogue. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from San Diego State University, and both a Bachelor of Arts in Dance (with a concentration in Choreography and Performance) and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Calgary.
MARCIA MILGROM DODGE’s work as a director & choreographer has been seen throughout the United States, in Canada, England, Asia, Denmark and the Middle East, in theatres on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at acclaimed regional theatres such as the New York City Opera, John F. Kennedy Center of The Performing Arts, Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Glimmerglass Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Huntington Theatre, Bay Street Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Music Circus, Flat Rock Playhouse and abroad at the Nanta Theatre-Seoul, S. Korea, Fredericia Teater-Denmark, Royal Opera House-Muskat, Oman, Wintergardens Theatre-Blackpool, England.
Evan Ruggiero began dancing at the age of five in his hometown studio and by age ten, he was accepted into the famed New Jersey Tap Ensemble. Upon entering his sophomore year at Montclair State University while pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre, Evan was suddenly diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer of the right leg. Enduring nine surgeries in a six-month period in an effort to save the leg, the cancer returned more aggressively than the original diagnosis. He was faced with the ultimate decision of amputation in order to stop the cancer and save his life, as well as undergoing chemotherapy for sixteen months. Eighteen months after the amputation, and only two days after receiving his “peg-leg”, Evan was tapping again.
SOURCES
Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical, Original Cast Recording. Walt Disney Records (1994)
Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, directed by Bill Condon. Walt Disney Pictures (2017)
Disney’s Beauty and The Beast: A Celebration of the Broadway Musical by Don Frantz, published by Disney Editions (1995)
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Ch, 37- FALSETTOS
Season 1 · Episode 38
Wednesday, May 18, 2022 • Duration 48:09
FALSETTOS
COMPOSER: William Finn
LYRICIST: William Finn
BOOK: William Finn and James Lapine
DIRECTOR: James Lapine
PRINCIPLE CAST: Stephen Bogardus (Whizzer), Michael Rupert (Marvin), Barbara Walsh (Trina)
OPENING DATE: Apr 29, 1992
CLOSING DATE: Jun 27, 1993
PERFORMANCES: 486
SYNOPSIS: In the early 1980s, Marvin is married to Trina but is having an affair with Whizzer. Deciding to live his life as a gay man, Marvin leaves Trina and begins a rocky relationship with Whizzer, whose life is put in peril when he is diagnosed with AIDS.
Falsettos is the fusion of two William Finn musicals exploring the trajectory of gay male relationships during the AIDS epidemic, Falsettoland and March of the Falsettos. Jack Lechner highlights the reasons that, although Falsettos wasn’t the first musical to tackle same-sex relationships or even the first musical to tackle the AIDS crisis, the show had a lasting emotional affect on audiences and influenced later works dealing with similar subject matter. Finn’s libretto, with James Lapine’s direction, lives in authentic ignorance of impending doom through all of Act I, and the familiar character development alongside witty lyrics set the audience up for a jolt when one of the main characters contracts a mysterious illness in Act II. Despite inherent controversies, producers Barry and Fran Weissler attempted to keep the marketing for the show broad to appeal to a wide range of audiences. Though the musical has blazed a trail which can be traced through later works, this chapter notes the equally significant influence Finn has had as an educator of young musical theatre writers and how he continued to develop his unique voice in musicals A New Brain and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Jack Lechner wrote the lyrics for the 2010 off-Broadway musical The Kid. His producing credits in film and TV include The Fog Of War, Blue Valentine, The New Yorker Presents, and the pilot of Mad Men. As an executive at Miramax and Film Four, he was involved in the production and development of dozens of movies, including The Crying Game, Good Will Hunting, and The Full Monty. His book Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You was published in 2000, and his picture book Mary Had A Little Lamp in 2008. Jack Lechner is chair of the graduate film program at the Columbia University School of the Arts.
SOURCES
March of the Falsettos/Falsettoland, Original Broadway Cast Recording. DRG Records (1992)
Falsettos, starring Christian Borle and Andrew Rannells, directed by James Lapine and Matthew Diamond. Live From Lincoln Center (2017)
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Ch. 36- THE SECRET GARDEN
Season 1 · Episode 37
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 • Duration 54:47
THE SECRET GARDEN
COMPOSER: Lucy Simon
LYRICIST: Marsha Norman
BOOK: Marsha Norman
SOURCE: Frances Hodgson Burnett’s book The Secret Garden (1911)
DIRECTOR: Susan H. Schulman
CHOREOGRAPHER: Michael Lichtefeld
PRINCIPLE CAST: Daisy Egan (Mary), Alison Fraser (Martha), Mandy Patinkin (Archibald)
OPENING DATE: Apr 25, 1991
CLOSING DATE: Jan 03, 1993
PERFORMANCES: 709
SYNOPSIS: After her family dies of cholera, young Mary Lennox is sent to live with her austere, widowed Uncle Archibald. At night she is convinced that she hears the sounds of crying and discovers that Archibald’s bed ridden son, Colin, has been locked up out of sight for many years. Determined to bring sunshine to the boy, Mary begins to discover the other secrets the house protects.
Director Susan H. Schulman traces the development of The Secret Garden as the first collaboration between an all-female creative team in a Broadway musical. Amongst a female writing team (Marsha Norman/Lucy Simon), producer (Heidi Landesman), and design team (Florence Klotz/Tharon Musser), there are noted recurring instances of significant memories reading Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel about a little girl struggling with life in a new home. By broadly describing the educational and professional obstacles overcome by three women involved in the premiere of the musical in their studies at Yale School of Drama, a bleak case is outlined for gender parity within commercial American theatre. Despite mixed reviews, audience responses to The Secret Garden were collectively positive and led the show to international success. This chapter examines the ways later female-helmed Broadway productions, such as Waitress, have benefited from or even overshadowed The Secret Garden.
Susan H. Schulman: Broadway credits: the Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden as well as its highly-successful U.S./Canadian national tour (Drama Desk nomination), the revival of Sweeney Todd†at Circle in the Square (Tony Award, Drama Desk nomination), the revival of The Sound of Music (Tony nomination Outstanding Revival) and Little Women and its successful national tour. For her direction of the premiere of Violet at Playwrights Horizons (New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical), Susan received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Director. She received an Obie Award for directing Sondheim and Furth's musical Merrily We Roll Along at the York Theatre. Susan also directed the national tour of Sunset Boulevard with Petula Clarke as well as three productions for City Center Encores. She has directed for regional theatres throughout U.S.A., Canada and Australia, and most recently a new musical in Denmark. Susan is a graduate of Yale Drama School, Hofstra University and New York's famed High School of Performing Arts. Susan holds a full professorship at Penn State University where she heads the Graduate Program in Directing for the musical theater stage.
SOURCES
The Secret Garden, Original Cast Recording, Columbia (1991)
The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, published by Samuel French Inc (2010)
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Ch. 35- MISS SAIGON
Season 1 · Episode 36
Monday, May 16, 2022 • Duration 01:48:27
MISS SAIGON
COMPOSER: Claude-Michel Schonberg
LYRICIST: Richard Maltby Jr & Alain Boublil
BOOK: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg
SOURCE: Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly (1904)
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Hytner
CHOREOGRAPHER: Bob Avian
PRINCIPLE CAST: Willy Falk (Chris), Jonathan Pryce (Engineer), Lea Salonga (Kim)
OPENING DATE: Apr 11, 1991
CLOSING DATE: Jan 28, 2001
PERFORMANCES: 4,092
SYNOPSIS: In war torn Saigon, Chris, an American soldier, meets Kim, a sex worker lorded over by The Engineer, and begins a romance that produces a child. When Chris returns to America, Kim, dutifully and tragically, awaits his return to rescue her and his son.
A discussion of the impact of Miss Saigon on the casting industry and on the AAPI community. A film documenting the casting of Lea Salonga in the leading role sheds light on the racist and patriarchal process facing the young actors auditioning for the protagonist and a survey of public correspondence from Actors Equity representatives, critics, and artists illustrates the racism present in the casting of white actor, Jonathan Pryce in the role of a Eurasian character. Postcolonial theorists have written extensively about the troubling implications of the show’s commercial success. This chapter seeks to outline the shortcomings in the Asian and Eurasian representation in Miss Saigon while envisioning possible futures for racially-charged stories on the commercial stage.
Jeanmarie Higgins is an associate professor in the Pennsylvania State University School of Theatre. A new works dramaturg, she publishes widely on the intersection of theory and practice. Jeanmarie is the editor of Teaching Critical Performance Theory in Today’s Theatre Classroom, Studio, and Communities (Routledge 2020), and her performance criticism is published in Theatre Journal, PARtake: Journal of Performance as Research and Theatre and the Macabre (University of Wales Press 2021).
Micah Rosegrant- Micah (they/them) is a twink poet who carves queer divinity through breath, word, and movement. They are cousin and learner with all life, glitching their myriad selves to shape change as a spirit guided by relation, a Co-Director at Arts Connect International, and an online avatar @micah_pdf. Previous A.R.T. collaborations include: Creating Equal (Steering Committee); Making Democracy Work with the Harvard Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (Co-Creative Ensemble); Dragon Cycle (Assistant Director); and Clairvoyance (Love Nurse).
Sarah Shin (she/her/hers) is a Schwenksville-raised Boston-trained, Brooklyn-based Korean American theatre artist. She co-founded and still runs Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston (AATAB) to empower and connect Asian American student and working artists in Boston, is on the steering committee of API Arts Network, and serves as a Board Member for StageSource and Advisory Board Member for Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. She is a member of National Queer Theatre’s Artistic Collective, an Artistic Associate of Sanguine Theatre Company, and a 2020-2021 Asian American Arts Alliance Artist-in-Virtual-Residence, where she developed her solo work exploring Asian identity and Whiteness in musical theatre. She’s passionate about more diverse representation, community and family, music, and gifting love in all ways possible. BFA Theatre Arts Boston University.
Lianah Sta. Ana- Broadway: Miss Saigon, YoungArts Theatre alumna and Apollo Amateur Night winner. Has trained at FPAC in HHS.
SOURCES
Miss Saigon, Original Cast Recording, Geffen Records (1990)
The Story of Miss Saigon by Edward Behr and Mark Steyn, published by Arcade Publishing (1991)
The Heat Is On: The Making of Miss Saigon starring Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga, directed by David Wright, Freemantle Home Entertainment (1989)
Miss Saigon 25th Anniversary starring Jon Jon Briones and Eva Noblezada, directed by Brett Sullivan, Cameron Mackintosh International (2016)
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Ch. 34- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Season 1 · Episode 35
Sunday, May 15, 2022 • Duration 58:52
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
COMPOSER: Andrew Lloyd Webber
LYRICIST: Charles Hart
BOOK: Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
SOURCE: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (1909)
DIRECTOR: Hal Prince
CHOREOGRAPHER: Gillian Lynne
PRINCIPLE CAST: Steve Barton (Raoul), Sarah Brightman (Christine), Michael Crawford (The Phantom)
OPENING DATE: January 26th, 1988
CLOSING DATE: Still Running as of this writing
PERFORMANCES: +13,370
SYNOPSIS: Lurking deep in the bowels of the celebrated Paris Opera House lives a disfigured man, The Phantom, whose passion for soprano Christine Daae turns into a dangerous obsession.
The Phantom of the Opera held audiences captive since its Broadway premiere. The rock-infused score and traditional stage technology helped set a standard for British imports to the New York stage which would become mega-successful international sensations. Cast member Susan B. Russell introduces audiences to the corporate world of Phantom, as dictated by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the producer, specifically creation under the confines of recreation and the effect this philosophy had on performers in a post-Phantom world, with a first hand account of how the corporation handled the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Susan Russell is an Associate Professor in the School of Theatre at The Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate literature/criticism, and Playwriting. She received her PhD in Theatre Studies from Florida State University’s School of Theatre in 2007, her Master of Arts degree from Florida State University in 2003, and her BA in Theatre from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC in 1979. She experienced a twenty-five-year career as a professional actor on and off-Broadway, and her plays have been produced by Emerging Artists Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Penn State University. Dr. Russell is co-founder and co-Director of The Center for Pedagogy in Arts and Design, cpad.psu.edu which is a unique place where information and the arts collaborate in extraordinary ways.
RESOURCES:
Hal Prince Reflections on The Phantom of the Opera
Rehearsal Footage
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Ch. 33- LES MISERABLES
Season 1 · Episode 34
Saturday, May 14, 2022 • Duration 55:57
LES MISERABLES
COMPOSER: Claude-Michel Schonberg
LYRICIST: Herbert Kretzmer
BOOK: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michele Schonberg, Jean-Marc Natel
SOURCE: Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables (1862)
DIRECTOR: Trevor Nunn and John Caird
CHOREOGRAPHER: Trevor Nunn and John Caird
PRINCIPLE CAST: Randy Graff (Fantine), Terrence Mann (Javert), Colm Wilkinson (Jean Valjean)
OPENING DATE: Mar 12, 1987
CLOSING DATE: May 18, 2003
PERFORMANCES: 6,680
SYNOPSIS: Jean Valjean is a convicted thief who attempts to rebuild his life with a new family while being mercilessly hunted by the pious Inspector Javert. As these two men battle for their souls, the Paris streets are littered with a political revolution that will forever alter the lives of these two men.
Robert Meffe traces the development of Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and Herbert Kretzmer’s epic mega-musical, Les Misérables through inception and how it created the template for musicals that would successfully fuse their scores with popular musical forms. Significantly, the creative team of Trevor Nunn and John Napier struggled to adapt the French novel’s storyline in a way that would resonate with a contemporary British audience both in pacing and the application of universal themes. The show’s success inspired a fleet of musicals whose plots waxed epic including The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, and Titanic.
Robert Meffe- Broadway: Associate Conductor of Little Women and the last six years of Les Misérables, keyboards for Evita (2012 revival), Newsies, The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, Spelling Bee, Grey Gardens and Bombay Dreams. National Tours: Music Director of Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Associate Conductor of Les Misérables, Sunday in the Park with George. Off-Broadway: Myths & Hymns, Violet, The Prince and the Pauper, and Gutenberg! The Musical!. TV: Encore! (Disney+), Earth to America (TBS), Renee Fleming-Live at Lincoln Center (PBS). Mr. Meffe is currently the Head of the MFA Musical Theatre Program at San Diego State University.
SOURCES
Les Miserables, Original London Cast Recording. First Night Records (1985)
Les Miserables starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, directed by Tom Hooper, NBC Universal (2012)
Les Miserables: The Dream Cast In Concert starring Lea Salonga and Colm Wilkinson, directed by Gavin Taylor, Sony Pictures (1998)
The Complete Book of Les Miserables by Edward Behr, published by Arcade (2016)
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