Scene to Song April Newsletter
"With the wheezes, And the sneezes, And a sinus that's really a pip!"
Two big announcements this month! One is that Scene to Song is switching from a bi-weekly release schedule (with a sizable summer hiatus) to a monthly release schedule. The next episode will come out the first Monday in May. I won’t take as big a summer break, though, so the episode count for the year should still be about the same. I’ll see how this goes and either stick with it, or go back to the previous release schedule. I had been thinking of making this change last year, however I had so many episodes recorded in advance that it seemed silly to wait 4-5 months to release some of them. I now feel in the right place to try this.
The other big item is that I will be making my Joe’s Pub debut next month! Songs from my musical Days of Rage with Hyeyoung Kim will be part of this awesome concert. I'm so excited to hear them in this renowned venue, one of the best in the city. If you are in the area, I'd love to see you there to celebrate on Thursday, May 23rd at 7pm. You can find more info and a link to purchase tickets here.
And if you are not yet subscribed to these emails and want to be, subscribe here:
— Shoshana
Recent Episodes
Episode 108: The Bimbo, or Ditz, Character in Sondheim Musicals
In this episode, home care nurse and educator BethAnn Freed Cohen discusses the bimbo, or ditz, character in Sondheim musicals. We also talk about the song "Glitter and Be Gay" from the 1956 Leonard Bernstein, Richard Wilbur, and Lillian Hellman musical Candide.
Music played in this episode:
"Could I Leave You" from Follies
"Lovely" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
"That’ll Show Him" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
"Barcelona" from Company
"Everybody Loves Louis" from Sunday in the Park with George
"Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide
Episode 109: Jeanine Tesori Musicals
In this episode, podcaster, actor, and playwright/screenwriter Matt Koplik discusses Jeanine Tesori musicals. We also talk about the song "Changing My Major" from the 2015 Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron musical Fun Home.
Music played in this episode:
"Our Disease" from Kimberly Akimbo
"Skater Planet" from Kimberly Akimbo
"Make a Wish" from Kimberly Akimbo
"Hello, Darling" from Kimberly Akimbo
"Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie
"Dotty and Caroline" from Caroline, or Change
"16 Feet Beneath the Sea" from Caroline, or Change
"Come to the Fun Home" from Fun Home
"I Think I Got You Beat" from Shrek
"On My Way" from Violet
"Changing My Major" from Fun Home
Meet the Guests!
BethAnn Freed Cohen is a home care nurse and educator. She sings with the New York City-based choruses Essential Voices USA and the Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus, which has been singing Yiddish choral repertoire since 1922.
Hometown: Amherst, Massachusetts
Current Town: The Bronx
What are you Working on Right Now: Moving to Queens
What do you have coming up: Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus "From Varshe and Vilne to Vashington Heights" a concert about immigration on Sunday June 16th at 1:00 PM at Merkin Hall
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: If you haven't seen Russian Doll on Netflix, check it out.
Where can we find you online/social media: Watch me imitate art on Instagram @batyachanna
Matt Koplik is best known to theatre kids as the host of the popular and long-winded theatre podcast “Broadway Breakdown.” He’s worked as an actor in plays such as the Drama Desk-rejected “Daddy Issues” where critics said that he was “gregarious” and that “his averageness works.” He’s also had work as a critic and playwright/screenwriter, his newest play “Yours, Truly” recently being named a semifinalist for the 2024 Terrence McNally New Works Incubator. He’s frequented 54 Below and Chelsea Table and Stage as a guest singer, with one critic referring to Matt as a lion in a cage and the audience as his prey…which he takes as a compliment. But if you really want to see Matt in his element: your best bet is to go straight to his instagram @mattkoplik and read his more unhinged, yet possibly astute, critical assessments of the Broadway season.
Hometown/Current Town: New York City (then and still)!
What are you Working on Right Now: My current podcast, Broadway Breakdown. Plus a developmental reading of my play and scheduling a pilot episode for a possible new podcast.
What do you have coming up: Other than the podcast and seeing lots of theatre, I'll be performing at 54 Below in mid-May!
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Because I'm seeing so much new theatre (An Enemy of the People is a favorite right now), I've been enjoying re-watching/re-reading some things I hadn't been in touch with in a long time. I recently loved re-watching The Talented Mr Ripley and re-reading Shopgirl.
Where can we find you online/social media: You can find me on instagram! @mattkoplik
Musical of the Month
Titanic by Maury Yeston and Peter Stone
Titanic, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone, opened on Broadway on this day, April 23rd, in 1997, and won five Tony Awards including Best Musical. People really had the Titanic on the brain in the late 90s because the blockbuster film came out later that same year, but I guess it took over 10 years for people to be inspired by the 1985 discovery of the wreckage, write their scripts, and get them made.
I saw the original production at some point during its run with my high school chorus on one of our trips to New York. The show stands out to me because it was the first time I sat in the mezzanine in a theater as opposed to the orchestra. I remember realizing that there are tiers to a theater just as there are tiers to a ship like the Titanic. And I was sitting in 3rd class!
We all face this stratification every time we buy tickets and come to the theater, though I actually prefer the mezzanine (or balcony) these days. And soon I’ll be sitting in the mezzanine again to see Titanic at New York City Center Encores! It will be a nice return to a show I remember enjoying. I haven’t talked about it too much on Scene to Song, but there is one discussion of the song “The Blame” in episode 52 on Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Music in Plays and in Musical Theater. I’ll probably have a lot more to say after I see it again this June.
Also in April…
April 4: Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’s Anyone Can Whistle opens on Broadway (1964) and Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins opens on Broadway (2004). Listen to discussions on Assassins in episode 26 on Sondheim and Weidman’s Assassins and in episode 57 on Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company.
April 7: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific opens on Broadway (1949).
April 8: Happy Birthday, Lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896), lyricist Fred Ebb (1932), and Follies director/choreographer Michael Bennett (1943)! Celebrate by listening to episode 90 on The Lyrics of Yip Harburg and episode 48 on Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies, which also features a discussion of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s song "Class" from Chicago.
April 14: Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, and Michael Stewart’s Bye, Bye, Birdie! opens on Broadway (1960).
April 15: Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt’s Next to Normal opens on Broadway (2009). Listen to a discussion of “I Miss the Mountains” and Next to Normal in episode 14 on Portraying Mental Illness in Musical Theater.
April 18: Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas’s The Light in the Piazza opens on Broadway (2005) and Beauty and the Beast opens on Broadway (1994). Listen to a discussion of Light in the Piazza in episode 107 on Neurodivergence and Disability Representation in The Light in the Piazza and a discussion of “Fable” from The Light in the Piazza in episode 44 on The Everyman in Musical Theater. And listen to episode 53 on Disney Musicals.
April 19: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel opens on Broadway (1945) and Micki Grant’s Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope opens on Broadway (1972). Learn more about Micki Grant and her work in episode 71 on Black Women in Musical Theater History.
April 21: Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin, and Thomas Meehan’s Annie opens on Broadway (1977). Listen to a discussion of “Tomorrow” and Annie in episode 56 on Adaptations of Comics in Musical Theater.
April 23: Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joe Masteroff’s She Loves Me opens on Broadway (1963).
April 26: Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company opens on Broadway (1970). Celebrate by listening to episode 57 on Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company.
April 28: Richard Maltby, Jr., David Shire, and John Weidman’s Big: The Musical opens on Broadway (1996). Listen to a discussion of the song “It’s Time” from Big: The Musical in episode 39 on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
April 29: Gerome Ragni, James Rado, and Galt MacDermot’s Hair opens on Broadway (1968) and Jonathan Larson’s Rent opens on Broadway (1996). Listen to a discussion on Rent in episode 65 on Artist Characters in Musical Theater.
April 30: Happy Birthday, lyricist Sheldon Harnick (1924)! Celebrate him by listening to episode 28 on Bock and Harnick’s Musicals.
Find more musical theater history for April at musicals101.com.
New Musicals!
While Scene to Song mainly looks at musicals already part of the canon, I definitely want to highlight new musicals and musicals in development.
Sweetwater
I’m fresh off seeing the new musical Sweetwater at the Polyphone Festival at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It’s just so refreshing to see new musical theater that’s still in development but with all the production elements, especially with all the musicals I know are out there. In my ideal world, one would be able to see productions of new musicals in development like this every weekend.
Creative Team: Book and Lyrics by Patricia Noonan; Music by Liz Filios and Sean Mahoney.
Synopsis: As World War II shakes the nation, sisters Beth and Frankie journey to Sweetwater, Texas, where they join with women from across the country to fly for the US Army Air Forces. Though they master 77 types of planes and become among the first to test the new B-29 bomber, these pilots know all too well they risk their lives every day without the benefit of military status. Frankie, Beth, and the others must decide how to serve a country that needs their skills but refuses to fully acknowledge their sacrifice – and how to honor the sisters they have found in the process. From the fringes of the history books, Sweetwater brings the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) center stage in a story of duty, love, sisterhood, and the joys and costs that come with being pioneers.
Development History: Sweetwater was developed as a part of the Goodspeed Writers' Grove and Festival of New Musicals presented by Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT. It was also part of the 2018 NAMT Festival of New Musicals.
Hear music from Sweetwater.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for April:
Article: “An oral history of Mrs. Lovett, one of theater’s greatest, bloodiest roles” in the Washington Post. Mrs. Lovett probably comes up the most as the favorite villain in the “Get to know our guest questions.” In this article, Patti LuPone, Sutton Foster, Helena Bonham Carter and others who have played the pie-making schemer from ‘Sweeney Todd’ explain what makes her iconic
Podcast: Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came to Broadway. Join Broadway historian, director, and all around musical theater nerd Robert W. Schneider for a wild and exhaustively researched celebration of the musicals that had set their sights on Broadway but missed the mark. The first season explores ten Broadway Bound musicals that were based on movies. I’m personally more fascinated by shows that don’t make it to Broadway, so this podcast is right up my alley.
Audio: “‘Defying Gravity’ - Earliest Recording Oct 2001 - Liz Callaway” on YouTube. Broadway performer Liz Callaway sings “Defying Gravity” to a very small audience with Stephen Schwartz at piano in Baltimore, Maryland, in October, 2001, two years before Wicked would open on Broadway. This video has been up for seven years, but for those who haven’t found it yet, or for those who want to revisit, it’s wild to hear this early version of the song with Liz Callaway’s voice.
Cast Recording: White Girl in Danger and The Gardens of Anuncia. There are some great cast recordings being released this year, and two came out this past month. I’ve loved revisiting both Michael R. Jackson’s White Girl in Danger and Michael John LaChiusa’s The Gardens of Anuncia after seeing both in 2023.
Hosted by writer Shoshana Greenberg, Scene to Song brings on a guest to talk about a musical, musical theater writer, or a topic or trend in musical theater. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.
You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.”
Shoshana Greenberg is a lyricist, librettist, singer, and theater journalist. Her musicals include Days of Rage with Hyeyoung Kim and Lightning Man with Jeffrey Dennis Smith. She has also written the opera “The Community” with Kevin Cummines. Her songs have been heard at venues from Lincoln Center to the Duplex, where she performed her one-woman show Not Coming Back. She’s written for American Theatre Magazine, is a contributing editor for the publication Musical Theater Today, and created and hosts the musical theater podcast Scene to Song. She holds an M.F.A. from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU and a B.A. from Barnard College.
Wow, I didn’t know my first time singing Defying Gravity was up on YouTube!