Scene to Song December Newsletter
"December 24, 9 PM, Eastern Standard Time. From here on in, I shoot without a script."
The big focus of December is wrapping up the current season and putting on the Season Finale Live Show. If you are reading this newsletter, you are probably someone who would watch the Live Show tomorrow. I hope you’ll tune in at 2pm Eastern Time on the Scene to Song Facebook page to watch in real time. And not just watch, you can participate as well! You’ll be able to comment on the video with thoughts and/or questions on what we’re discussing, or a question to start a discussion. And if you’re game, you can call in to the webcast to ask your question or let us know your thoughts. Multiple guests from season six will be there for what promises to be a thoughtful and entertaining group discussion.
If you can’t join us live, you can send in your questions ahead of time to scenetosong@gmail.com and you can watch the webcast on the Facebook page after it airs. It will also become a podcast episode next week.
I hope those celebrating this holiday season have a wonderful time, and I am looking forward to more Scene to Song in 2024. And if you are not yet subscribed to these emails and want to be, subscribe here:
— Shoshana
Recent Episodes
Episode 101: David Bryan and Joe DiPietro’s Diana
In this episode, filmmaker, actress, podcaster, and singer Tammy Tuckey discusses David Bryan and Joe DiPietro's 2021 musical Diana. We also talk about the song "Vivre" from Riccardo Cocciante and Luc Plamondon's 1998 French musical Notre-Dame de Paris.
Music played in this episode:
"Underestimated" from Diana
"Pretty, Pretty Girl" from Diana
"Snap, Click" from Diana
"Secrets and Lies" from Diana
"If (Light the World)" from Diana
"Vivre" from Notre Dame de Paris
"Live for the One I Love" from The Best of Celine Dion
Episode 102: Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller’s Once Upon a Mattress
In this episode, writer Victoria Myers discusses Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller's 1959 musical Once Upon a Mattress, looking at the comedy in musical theater, female protagonists, and the upcoming Encores! production. We also talk about the song "Just in Time" from Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green's 1956 musical Bells are Ringing.
Music played in this episode:
"Shy" from Once Upon a Mattress
"The Swamps of Home" from Once Upon a Mattress
"Happily Ever After" from Once Upon a Mattress
"Just in Time" from Bells are Ringing
Meet the Guests!
Tammy Tuckey is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, actress, podcaster, and singer. Since 2011, Tammy has hosted, edited & produced The Tammy Tuckey Show podcast. Aside from hosting her podcast, Tammy has starred in over 20 theatrical productions, most recently seen in Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap." She released her 2nd cover album of Walt Disney World tunes called "Glowing in Timeless Places" in April of this year.
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Current Town: Philadelphia, PA
What are you Working on Right Now: The Tammy Tuckey Show Podcast on YouTube
What do you have coming up: "It's A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play" at Town and Country Players
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: "Belle," the 2021 Japanese animated musical. It's a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast and the music is haunting!
Where can we find you online/social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singertammytuckey
Twitter: www.twitter.com/TammyTuckey
Instagram: www.instagram.com/TammyTuckey
Website: www.tammytuckey.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/tammytuckey
Victoria Myers is a writer currently focused on film and television projects. She recently wrote, directed, and starred in her first short film A Legend is Hatched, based on a character created for her comedic newsletter. Additionally, she occasionally writes about pop culture. For five years she was the founder and editor-in-chief of the game changing theater publication The Interval. Two of her favorite pieces for The Interval are her profile of Bernadette Peters and her profile of Lear deBessonet.
Hometown: I born and raised in Akron, Ohio, which is known for rubber manufacturing.
Current Town: I currently live in NYC.
What are you Working on Right Now: I just wrote, directed, and starred in a short film called A Legend is Hatched. A Legend is Hatched is the first film in a short episodic film series about an unflappable gal-about-town and her madcap quest to get her own television show. It's based on a character that I created for a comedic newsletter that I started roughly two years ago.
What do you have coming up: Since the short film is designed to be the first in a series (with the ultimate goal of it becoming an actual television series), we're hoping to make the next installment soon. So, right now, we're in pre-pre-production for that.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Barbra's memoir, obviously. But also The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning.
Where can we find you online/social media: I am @victoriafication on Instagram and my comedic newsletter is:
Musical of the Month
Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
I first saw Show Boat in the late 1990s when the tour of the Hal Prince revival came through Philadelphia. Tom Bosley was Cap’n Andy. I was on a high school trip, and I was riveted. I remember sitting in my orchestra level seat, loving every minute. I even bought a t-shirt that said, “Life Upon the Wicked Stage,” which was a good shirt to wear to play rehearsals.
Show Boat opened on Broadway on December 27, 1927, in a different form from what I saw in high school. One song, “In Dahomey,” was cut from the score after the 1946 Broadway production, and guest Rob Weinert-Kendt and I discuss it on episode 96 (The Musicals of Kurt Weill).
Songs and scenes may have come in and out, but the overall story, adapted from Edna Ferber’s novel, has remained. The racial elements in the piece may be problematic, but it’s fascinating to see early musicals tackle race in this way. The miscegenation scene—when the sheriff comes to arrest actors Julie and Steve because Julie’s mother is Black and therefore as a couple they are in violation of the law—was shocking to see as a young person, and I still think about that moment. Michael R. Jackson talks a little about his experience seeing Show Boat when he was younger in episode 4 on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Musical Theater.
It’s also a show about time, a very relevant theme as we end one year and start a new one.
Also in December…
December 2: Happy Birthday, lyricist and librettist Adolph Green (1915)! Listen to a discussion of one of his songs, “Babbette” from On the Twentieth Century, in episode 97 on The Character of Rose in Gypsy.
December 4: Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul'sDear Evan Hansen opens on Broadway (2016). Listen to a discussion on this musical in episode 94 on Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul's Dear Evan Hansen.
December 5: Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones’s I Do, I Do! opens on Broadway (1966). Listen to a discussion of this musical in episode 92 on Marriage in Musical Theater.
December 10: Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty’s My Favorite Year opens on Broadway (1992). Listen to a discussion of this musical in episode 25 on The Lesser-Known Musicals of Ahrens and Flaherty.
December 11: Cy Coleman and David Zippel's City of Angels opens on Broadway (1989) and Happy Birthday, bookwriter Joe Masteroff (1919). Celebrate by listening to episode 61 on The Musicals of Cy Coleman and listen to a discussion of the song "Cabaret" in episode 6.
December 17: Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry's Parade opens on Broadway (1998). Listen to a discussion of this musical in episode 60, Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s Parade.
December 18: Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins opens Off-Broadway (1990). Listen to a discussion of this musical in episode 26, Sondheim and Weidman’s Assassins.
December 19: Meredith Willson's The Music Man opens on Broadway (1957). Listen to a discussion of this musical in episode 8, Meredith Willson's The Music Man.
December 20: George Haimsohn, Robin Miller, and Jim Wise’s Dames at Sea opens off-Broadway (1968). Listen to a discussion on this musical in episode 67 on The Musical Roles of Bernadette Peters.
December 21: Cole Porter, Dwight Taylor, and Reginald Lawrence's Out of This World opens on Broadway (1950). Listen to a discussion of this song in episode 90 on The Lyrics of Yip Harburg.
December 25: John O’Hara, Lorenz Hart, and Richard Rodgers's Pal Joey opens on Broadway (1940). Listen to a discussion of this musical in episode 82 on John O’Hara, Lorenz Hart, and Richard Rodgers’s Pal Joey.
December 27: Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's Subways Are For Sleeping opens on Broadway (1961). Listen to a discussion about the song "I Said It, and I'm Glad" from Subways are for Sleeping in episode 23 on The Musicals of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.
December 30: Cole Porter and Bella and Samuel Spewack's Kiss Me Kate opens on Broadway (1948) and Harold Arlen's House of Flowers opens on Broadway (1954). Listen to a discussion of the songs of Cole Porter and the song "So in Love" from Kiss Me Kate in episode 40 on The Songs of Cole Porter: Two Things Can Be True at Once, as well as a discussion of House of Flowers in episode 71 on Black Women in Musical Theater History.
December 31: Happy Birthday, Composer Jule Styne (1905)! Celebrate by listening to episode 80 on Jule Styne, Bob Merrill, and Isobel Lennart’s Funny Girl and episode 78 on The Musical’s Drive Toward Comedy, which has a discussion of the song "That Something Extra Special" from Yip Harburg, Jule Styne, and Nunnally Johnson's 1968 musical Darling of the Day.
Find more musical theater history for December at musicals101.com.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for December:
Article: “Stephen Sondheim Belongs in the Pantheon of American Composers.” “Sondheim was a titan of musical theater. But four recent shows onstage in New York argue for his place among classical music luminaries, too.”
Film: “A Legend is Hatched: ‘I Become Famous... in My Own Mind.’” Recent podcast guest Victoria Myers created a short film, based on her newsletter, that she alluded to in her recent episode.
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.” Support the podcast on Patreon.
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.