On this week’s episode, Jamie and Rob are back at Orso where they are joined by Tom Schumacher, President of the Disney Theatrical Group and Chairman of the Board of the Broadway League. Together, they discuss his incredible career, the impact of Disney on Broadway, and Tom’s spectacular book, “How Does The Show Go On”, now in its third edition.
On the first episode of “Stage Left: The Podcast”, anchor Rob Russo is joined by Casey Mink, senior staff writer at Backstage, and Ayanna Prescod, theatre critic and founder of OurBKSocial, for a roundtable conversation about three top shows of the fall season: “Slave Play”, “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”, and “Jagged Little Pill”.
On this week’s show, Jamie, Rob, and Jennifer are joined by Tony and Academy Award nominated star of stage and screen, Barbara Barrie, who originated the role of Sarah in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s landmark musical “Company” in 1970. We discuss that iconic show, including her experience working with Harold Prince and Elaine Stritch, and the legendary eighteen hour recording session of the original cast album. Later on, Rob gives more background on the famous documentary about that recording session.
"West Side Story" will now open on February 20th; "To Kill a Mockingbird" will play a special free performance at Madison Square Garden on February 26th for 18,000 students; Daniel Fish will premiere a new production of Frank Loesser's 1956 musical "The Most Happy Fella" at the Bard SummerScape Festival; 2019 Broadway grosses were 3.7% below the record set in 2018, but attendance reached a record 90.51%; Greta Gerwig is writing a new musical that will feature tap dance; RIP composer Allee Willis, playwright Pamela Payton-Wright, composer Jerry Herman, and production designer Peter Larkin
Richard Jones directs a new adaptation of Ödön von Horváth’s 1937 noirish procedural “Judgment Day” by playwright Christopher Shinn, performed in the Park Avenue Armory’s drill hall on a grand scale. The experience is mesmerizing and effective, even if not essential to the text.
As we begin a new decade, I look back at my past decade of theatre-going and pick my top 10 favorite plays and musicals.
Happy New Year & Happy New Decade! On this week’s show, Rob and Jamie discuss their top ten favorite plays and musicals from the past decade, tweet us yours @fabulousInvalid!
"Beetlejuice" to close June 6th, making way for "The Music Man"; "Is This A Room" returns to the Vineyard Theatre; Red Bucket Follies raised $5.6M for BC/EFA; Chip Zien, Caissie Levy, John Cariani, and more join Sharon D. Clarke in "Caroline, or Change"; Adam Chanler-Berat, Tavi Gevinson, and Andy Grotelueschen join Judy Kuhn, Steven Pasquale, Will Swenson, Wesley Taylor, and Brandon Uranowitz in Classic Stage Company’s “Assassins”; "Slave Play" pioneers new ticket gifting program; "Little Shop of Horrors" will record a cast album; Rashidra Scott rounds out the principal cast of "Company"; Tony Goldwyn to step into "The Inheritance"; Samantha Barks to star in London bow of "Frozen"; RIP René Auberjonois, Ron Leibman, Danny Aiello, Richard Easton, and William Luce
On this week’s show, Rob, Jamie, and Jennifer are back at their usual table for the final Orso Restaurant episode of the decade! They’re joined by director Sammi Cannold, who just directed a stunning new production of “Evita” at New York City Center and will present Celine Song's “Endlings” at New York Theatre Workshop Off-Broadway this winter. Together, they discuss Sammi’s impressive career to-date, what’s next, and the importance of female mentorship in the theatre.
“Jagged Little Pill”, the new Alanis Morissette musical, is a moving mood board collection of disparate images, sounds, and text in search of cohesion; commendably containing an original story touching on relevant themes of today, like drug addiction and sexual assault, the musical sounds great and is well-performed, but suffers from conceptual whiplash as if composed by a committee following focus group instructions.
“Sing Street” is an undercooked musical (play with music, really) adaption of the 2016 hit indie Irish film. A sweet coming-of-age story with a gorgeous heart, the stage version gets none of the charm or quirkiness of the film right, and the thin, surface-deep story does not sustain its length. Still, it remains a promising property that has the potential to be a knockout on stage, perhaps after more time in development.
The York Theatre Company in Midtown East presents the first mainstage production of their 50th anniversary season with “Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston”, a delightful new musical revue in tribute to composer and lyricist Maury Yeston.
