Happy Tony Awards Day! No former Scene to Song guests are nominated this year (last year there were 2!), but I’m happy for the nominees, particularly Max Vernon and Helen Park for Best Original Score for KPOP. Between late April and late May I saw six musicals and musical theater concerts, each of which I loved. None was on Broadway. The Tony Awards are a fun celebration, but I always like to remember on Tony day that Broadway is not the same thing as theater, and the Broadway musical is not the same thing as a musical or musical theater. Off-Broadway has performances tonight (one of my most bad-ass moments was skipping the 2007 Tony Awards to go see Passing Strange at The Public), as does regional theater, community theater, off-off-Broadway, etc. Bill Sampson from the film All About Eve said it best:
“The Theatuh, the Theatuh - what book of rules says the theater exists only within some ugly buildings crowded into one square mile of New York City? Or London, Paris or Vienna? Listen, Junior. And learn. Want to know what the Theater is? A flea circus. Also opera. Also rodeos, carnivals, ballets, Indian tribal dances, Punch and Judy, a one-man band - all theater. Wherever there's magic and make-believe and an audience - there's theater. Donald Duck, Ibsen, and The Lone Ranger, Sarah Bernhardt, Poodles Hanneford, Lunt and Fontanne, Betty Grable, Rex and Wild, and Eleanora Duse. You don't understand them all, you don't like them all, why should you? The theater's for everybody - you included, but not exclusively - so don't approve or disapprove. It may not be your theater, but it's theater for somebody, somewhere.”
But that’s not the only big news item of the day. The date is set for Scene to Song’s five-year anniversary, and, as I mentioned last month, we’re going to have a party! Well, another live webcast similar to the season finale shows. I’ve invited guests from all five seasons back to chat musical theater and Scene to Song episodes, and you’ll have the opportunity to send questions, thoughts, and feelings either in writing or by calling in. Join us live on our Facebook Page on Sunday, June 25th at 1pm. If you’d like to send thoughts, feelings, a memory of your favorite episode… anything! in advance, email scenetosong@gmail.com. We’ll read them during the show.
And if you are not yet subscribed to these emails and want to be, subscribe here:
— Shoshana
Recent Episodes
Episode 94: Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul’s Dear Evan Hansen
In this episode, composer, lyricist, and playwright Jamie Cowperthwait discusses Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul's 2016 musical Dear Evan Hansen and why we love and don't love this musical. We also talk about the song "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen.
Music played in this episode:
"To Break In a Glove" from Dear Evan Hansen
"For Forever" from Dear Evan Hansen
"You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen
Meet the Guests!
Jamie Cowperthwait is an award-winning composer, lyricist, and playwright. He is a recipient of the BMI Jerry Harrington Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Musical Theater Writing. His short musical, The Caribbean Queen (written with Composer Salomon Lerner) was published in 2017 as part of Keen Theater's "Keen Teens" series. His comedy songs have been performed in venues around New York City including 54 Below, The Laurie Beechman, The D-Lounge, and others. His short play Hillary Clinton in Hell won Best Comedy at the 2020 Appolonia Theater Festival. As a Music Director at The Possibility Project, he co-created nine full-length musicals with New York City teenagers. He lives with his wonderful partner and two kids in West Orange, NJ. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work with the goal of helping people who struggle with addiction.
Hometown: Greenwich, CT
Current Town: West Orange, NJ
What are you Working on Right Now: A new play called The Gulf about a thirty-something creative type who pays a surprise visit to his wealthy parents to ask for money only to find that they're having Tucker Carlson over for cocktails.
What do you have coming up: I hope to have a reading of The Gulf in the coming months.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Lady Chatterley's Lover. So good and felt far more contemporary than its title would imply.
Where can we find you online/social media: Website: www.jamiecowperthwait.com
twitter: @jamesquatch
Musical of the Month
Grease by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, and John Farrar
You can hear all my thoughts on Grease in the episode of The Original Cast I was on earlier this year. But you’re here reading an email, so I’ll fill you in (make sure you listen to the podcast episode later though).
I enjoyed Grease as a kid, but by the time I was in high school and it was our school musical, I wanted nothing to do with it. I was listening to Sondheim at this point; Grease was for children. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that I actually do love Grease. All those songs that I heard in our high school production that weren’t in the film (“Those Magic Changes,” “It’s Raining on Prom Night,” “Freddy, My Love”) came back to me, and I couldn’t stop singing them. I realized how smart the score was, and that the show is more a commentary on that era than just pure nostalgia, although the nostalgia can be effective, too.
The ending—Sandy changing herself for a guy—has given the show a bit of a bad rap. To me, Sandy’s final act is not as earth shattering as people make it out to be. She’s a teenager, a time when identity is fluid (though arguably identity is always fluid), and it’s fun to see characters try different personas and explore various parts of themselves. Will Sandy stay like this forever? Maybe, maybe not. Who cares? She’s having fun.
Grease opened on Broadway on June 7, 1972, after playing in Chicago and off-Broadway, and last year it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a concert and the release of the book Grease, Tell Me More, Tell Me More: Stories from the Broadway Phenomenon That Started It All. Joe Iconis and I also discuss Grease in Scene to Song episode 6 on Outsider Characters in Musical Theater.
Also in June…
June 2: Happy Birthday, composer Marvin Hamlisch (1944)! Celebrate his work by listening to episode 75 on Marvin Hamlisch, David Zippel, and Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl
June 3: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Bob Fosse’s Chicago opens on Broadway. Celebrate by listening to episode 48 in which we discuss the song “Class.”
June 7: Happy Birthday, composer Charles Strouse (1928)! Celebrate Strouse’s work by listening to episode 56 on Adaptations of Comics in Musical Theater.
June 9: Happy Birthday, composer/lyricist Cole Porter (1891)! Celebrate by listening to episode 40 on The Songs of Cole Porter: Two Things Can Be True at Once.
June 10: Happy Birthday, composer Frederick Loewe (1904)! Celebrate his work by listening to episode 15 on The Musical My Fair Lady.
June 12: Happy Birthday, composer/lyricist Richard M. Sherman (1928)! Celebrate by listening to his work on episode 72 on Disney Parks Music as Musical Theater.
June 14: Happy Birthday, composer Cy Coleman (1929)! Celebrate by listening to episode 61 on The Musicals of Cy Coleman.
June 20: Happy Birthday, composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown! Celebrate by listening to episode 47 on Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman’s The Bridges of Madison County.
June 28: Happy Birthday, Richard Rodgers (1902)! Celebrate by listening to discussions on his musicals in episode 35 on The Great White Way and Whiteness and White Identity in Musical Theater and episode 18 on The Women of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
June 29: Happy Birthday, Frank Loesser (1910)! Celebrate by listening to episode 12 on “Musical Worlds” in Musical Theater, Featuring Frank Loesser.
June 30: Oliver! opens in London (1960) and Happy Birthday, composer/lyricist Micki Grant (1929)! Listen to a discussion on the character Bill Sykes in episode 73 on Evil Characters in Musical Theater and celebrate Micki Grant with episode 71 on Black Women in Musical Theater History.
Find more musical theater history for June 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.
Double Helix
The new musical Double Helix is having its world premiere at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY (on Long Island). I interviewed the writer, star, and director (see the Something Wonderful section for a link to that article) and wish I could get out to see this production.
Creative Team: Book, Music, and Lyrics by Madeline Myers
Synopsis: Double Helix tells the story of the race to discover the structure of DNA in the 1950s and follows the brilliant young researcher, Rosalind Franklin, as she contends with adversity, anti-semitism, and love to uncover one of life's great mysteries.
Development History Highlights: World premiere production at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, running through June 18th.
Watch a video of the song “The Solution” from Double Helix.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for June:
Article: “A Composer/Singer Collaboration That’s in the Show’s DNA” in American Theatre. Madeline Myers has written the new musical Double Helix with and for its lead performer, Samantha Massell, who plays a woman scientist unjustly neglected by history.
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.