Apologies for a bit of a late newsletter this month, but it works out that it’s coming to you on Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s birthday (more on that below).
I am so excited about the latest episodes, and I hope you will listen to them if you haven’t already, as well as share them with folks who may also enjoy them. Jason K Purdy is a returning guest, and I was so happy to have him back to talk about neurodivergence and disability representation in musical theater, a topic near to my heart as well. I was also delighted to have The Theater Lovers on to chat about comedy songs. I am not a meme person, but if there’s anyone who can make me laugh at a meme, it’s The Theater Lovers. They are not only funny but incredibly smart about musical theater.
I’d really love to hear your thoughts on these episodes and the musicals we discuss, so please let me know by emailing scenetosong@gmail.com, commenting on a social media post, or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Reviews are so important, and I haven’t gotten one in a while. So if you haven’t reviewed yet, please write a sentence or two on why you love the show and make my day.
And if you are not yet subscribed to these emails and want to be, subscribe here:
— Shoshana
Recent Episodes
Episode 106: Comedy Songs in Musical Theater
In this episode, theater content creators Will Anderson and Rachael Joyce-Anderson, also known as The Theater Lovers, discuss comedy songs in musical theater. We also talk about the song "Adelaide's Lament" from the 1950 Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, and Abe Burrows musical Guys and Dolls.
Music played in this episode:
"Grand Old Ivy" from How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying
"Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from Kiss Me Kate
"Comedy Tonight" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
"Dance: Ten; Looks: Three"
"A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd
"Adelaide’s Lament" from Guys and Dolls
Episode 107: Neurodivergence and Disability Representation in The Light in the Piazza
In this episode, bookwriter, lyricist, and composer Jason K Purdy discusses neurodivergence and disability representation in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas's 2005 musical The Light in the Piazza. We also talk about the song "Drift" from the 2023 Rebekah Greer Melocik and Jacob Yandura musical How to Dance in Ohio.
Music played in this episode:
"The Beauty Is" from The Light in the Piazza
"Fable" from The Light in the Piazza
"Drift" from How to Dance in Ohio
Meet the Guests!
We're Will and Rachael, a real life married couple who make funny and educational theatre content online best known as The Theater Lovers. Alongside our memes, sketches and videos, our captions frequently delve into theatre history and current events, detailing the reasons why these musicals and plays have the power to move us.
Hometown: Rachael is originally from Chicago and Will is from Pittsburgh.
Current Town: We’ve lived in Brooklyn for nine years now.
What are you Working on Right Now: In addition to our usual content, we’re now part of The Arts Insider program with AKA, which connects theatre brands to influencers so that all of our audience can find their new favorite show.
What do you have coming up: We’re organizing a birthday party cabaret tribute to Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber called Birthday Buddies! Rather than pitting these two against each other, it’s a celebration of their work and impact with lots of special guests. More details will be revealed on our IG.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Jack Viertel’s book The Secret Life Of The American Musical is still an all-time favorite guide to theatre. We can pick it up any time and get wrapped up in it.
Where can we find you online/social media: Together we’re @the_theater_lovers, but separately, we’re @itsrachaeljoyce and @wlander on Instagram. We also just got a new puppy named Dot Seurat, who you can find at @our_dog_dot.
Jason K Purdy is a bookwriter, lyricist, and composer. With music by Yan Li: Sweet Nothings (NYU Reading, Asian American Composers & Lyricists Concert, Portsmouth University Dramaturgy Project, Cap 21 Residency, O'Neill Center NMTC Finalist); Enjoy the Ride (Prospect Musical Theatre Lab, Barrington Stage, National Asian Artists Project: Discover New Musicals); The Puzzling Disappearance of Yingxing Villa (Leviathan Lab commission, additional words by Yan Li, BD Wong dir.); or, the Whale adapted from Moby Dick (Prospect Summer Intensive commission). Additional works include Wings of the Dove and NYMF Next Link Selection Blood [By the Mummers]. 2021-22 Kleban Award Finalist. He is the animator, writer, and producer of Mandee & Mort. Dramatists Guild Member. MFA NYU GMTWP.
Hometown: Greene, NY
Current Town: Astoria, NY
What are you Working on Right Now: I’ve been devoting most of my energy to seeing what I can do with animation, including creating a sort of animated/digital cabaret space, an original animated musical series, and a multimedia piece dealing with Autism; I also have a full length adaptation of Henry James’ Wings of the Dove that I’m always fussing with.
What do you have coming up: Nothing concrete at the moment, but I’m aiming to be putting out a variety of work this coming year. Likely on the YouTube.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: I’m pretty much always reading (listening to) books on neurodivergence these days so Strong Female Character by Fern Brady, Drama Queen by Sara Gibbs, and Unmasking Autism by Devon Price. Unrelated to all of this I recommend the film Spring from 2014, which is what would happen if David Cronenberg made the Before trilogy.
Where can we find you online/social media: JasonKPurdy on Twitter, IG, YouTube (where some of my early animation work is) & I’m getting a Medium page going as well.
Musical of the Month
Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber
In lieu of a musical of the month this month, I’m celebrating the birthdays of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (1930) and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948). I’m not alone. March 22 has become a theater holiday, with many tributes and concerts honoring them. There are two such concerts tonight, one by our recent podcast guests The Theater Lovers at Green Room 42 at 9:30pm called Birthday Buddies, and one by an upcoming podcast guest Matt Koplik at 54Below at 7:00pm and 9:30pm called My First Sondheim. Streaming links are available for both.
I usually observe this day by watching my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber musical number: “The Andrew Lloyd Webber Love Trio.” It features Audra McDonald singing “Love Changes Everything” from Aspect of Love, Marin Mazzie singing “Unexpected Song” from Song & Dance, and Judy Kuhn singing “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar. The performance was at Carnegie Hall in September 1998 as part of the concert My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies.
Each singer takes a turn singing separately, and then they all come together in a dazzling arrangement by David Loud. “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” the third song, remains dominant as the other songs weave their way back in until they all come together on the line “I never thought I’d come this,” breaking apart again as “Love Changes Everything” takes over as the dominant tune with the other two as undercurrents, finally ending on a declarative, “Love will never ever let you be the same” from all three. I enjoy and respect much of Webber’s work, but I consider this the best thing to come out of his oeuvre.
I can’t forget about Sondheim. I celebrate Sondheim on this day not with one video, but with a list I made in 2010 on his 80th birthday of my top ten favorite Sondheim moments.
1. Watching Sondheim watch his own show in the audience of the final performance of the Pacific Overtures revival, 2005.
2. Going to the Paley Center in NYC every weekend with former and upcoming podcast guest BethAnn Cohen during Sondheim's 75th celebration in 2005. We saw everything Sondheim ever did for TV.
3. My dad taking me to see the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production of Follies when I was 15. We sat in the last row of balcony. I still remember the ghosts appearing in the prologue.
4. My grad school class getting a special Q&A with Sondheim at the Dramatists Guild. Sondheim used the word "kerfuffle."
5. Sitting outside Symphony Space in 2005 for Wall to Wall Sondheim. I couldn't get in but I didn't need to. It was broadcast outside, and there was a party on the street!
6. The 2005 Sweeney Todd revival. 2nd time from the front row.
7. Merrily We Roll Along at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia in 1998. A great production that introduced me to the show in the best way. (I’m seeing the current revival this weekend, and I’ll see how it compares.)
8. Discovering the Into the Woods video in 3rd grade. One of my very first obessions. (Hear me talk about this on the latest episode of Kyle Marshall’s Sondheim podcast Putting it Together.)
9. Discovering the Sunday in the Park with George video in high school.
10. Attending/Volunteering at Roundabout Theatre Company's Gala for Sondheim's 80th Birthday on the day I made this list. This was in conjunction with their production of Sondheim on Sondheim, which I got to work on while I was a marketing intern and saw six times. I delivered Sondheim’s opening night gift to his townhouse. He did not answer the door.
And since 2010, I have had a few more moments to add to the list, mainly my moment fulfilling a long-held dream to seat Sondheim as a volunteer usher. I had seen him at a show once before, but he went in the other door. Then, at New York Theater Workshop in 2019, he finally came through my door, and I finally got to ask him, “Do you know where you’re headed?” In my little fantasy he would say, “It doesn’t matter where I’m headed as long as I’m moving on.” But in reality he simply said, “Tell us.”
You can celebrate these two towering figures in musical theater by listening to episode 91 on Stephen Sondheim’s Obsession with Moments and Dreams in His 1980s Musicals, episode 68 on Stephen Sondheim and Rhyme, and episode 55 on The Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber. And get ready for a new Sondheim episode on Monday!
Also in March…
Women’s History Month! Celebrate by listening to some of our women-centered episodes such as episode 18 on The Women of Rodgers and Hammerstein, episode 9 on The Female Gaze in Musical Theater, and episode 71 on Black Women in Musical Theater History.
March 1: Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler opens on Broadway (1979). Listen to a discussion on the song the song "Kiss Me/Ladies and Their Sensitivities/Kiss Me Quartet" from Sweeney Todd in episode 64 on Rock Musicals.
March 2: Happy Birthday, composers Kurt Weill (1900) and Marc Blitzstein (1905)! Celebrate by listening to episode 96 on The Musicals of Kurt Weill.
March 3: The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown opens off-Broadway (2002). Listen to a discussion on the song “I’m Still Hurting” from The Last Five Years in episode 10 on Plot Twists in Musical Theater.
March 4: Marvin Hamlisch, David Zippel, and Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl opens on Broadway (1993). Listen to a discussion on this musical in episode 75 on Marvin Hamlisch, David Zippel, and Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl.
March 5: Happy Birthday, Alain Boublil (1941)! We talk about the Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg musicals Les Miserables and Miss Saigon in multiple episodes, including episode 73 on Evil Characters in Musical Theater and in episode 58 on Sung-Through Musicals in Musical Theater.
March 6: Happy Birthday, composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz (1948)! Celebrate by listening to episode 89 on The Musicals of Stephen Schwartz.
March 8: Greenwillow by Frank Loesser opens on Broadway (1960). Find out more about this show in episode 12 on Musical Worlds in Musical Theater, Featuring Frank Loesser.
March 9: In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes opens on Broadway (2008). Listen to a discussion of “Blackout” from In the Heights in episode 17 on Directing Middle School and High School Students in Musical Theater.
March 12: Les Miserables by Alain Boublil (book and lyrics) and Claude-Michel Schönberg (book and music), Jean-Marc Natel (original French lyrics), and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics) opens on Broadway (1987). Listen to a discussion on Les Miserables in episode 84 on Abolition in Musical Theater.
March 13: Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Brigadoon opens on Broadway (1947). Listen to a discussion on this musical in episode 84 on Abolition in Musical Theater.
March 15: My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe opens on Broadway (1956). Listen to episode 15 on The Musical My Fair Lady.
March 16: 1776 by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone opens on Broadway (1969). Listen to a discussion on 1776 in episode 85 on History in Musical Theater.
March 18: Happy Birthday, composer John Kander (1927)! And Seesaw by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields opens on Broadway (1973). Find out more about Seesaw in episode 61 on The Musicals of Cy Coleman. And celebrate John Kander by listening to discussions of his songs “Cabaret” from Cabaret in episode 6 on Outsider Characters in Musical Theater and "Class" from Chicago in episode 48 on Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies.
March 26: Funny Girl by Isobel Lennart, Jule Styne, and Bob Merrill opens on Broadway (1964). Listen to a discussion on Funny Girl in episode 80 and a discussion of the song “I’m the Greatest Star” from Funny Girl in episode 73 on Evil Characters in Musical Theater.
March 29: The King and I by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (1951) and It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman by Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, David Newman and Robert Benton open on Broadway (1966). Find out more about …Superman in episode 56 on Adaptations of Comics in Musical Theater.
March 30: Applause opens on Broadway (1970). We talk about Applause and the character of Eve in episode 73 on Evil Characters in Musical Theater.
March 31: Oklahoma by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II opens (1943). Listen to a discussion on “Many a New Day” from Oklahoma in episode 45 on The Illusion of the Everyman in Musical Theater.
Find more musical theater history for March 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.
Far from the Tree
I read and loved the book Far from the Tree : Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon years ago, and I was surprised to see recently that it’s being adapted into a musical. The book is non-fiction and based on many interviews with families. Each chapter is a different way in which children can fall far from the tree of their parents—disability, autism, Down Syndrome, prodigy, and more. I’m looking forward to being able to see it produced.
Creative Team: Book by Justin Warner; music by Robert Maggio; lyrics by Kristin Maloney
Synopsis: Based on the award-winning New York Times bestselling non-fiction book by Andrew Solomon, Far From The Tree weaves several stories of parents raising profoundly different children with Solomon’s own unusual journey toward parenthood. The musical explores the profound and sometimes painful love that parents have for their children, through the lens of one essential question: “What happens when the self your child inhabits is beyond your recognition or understanding?”
Development History: Far from the Tree recently won the 2024 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater. More development history can be found here.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for March:
Podcast Episode: “Witch’s Lament - Into the Woods (with Shoshana Greenberg”, Season 18, Episode 29 of Putting It Together: The Music of Stephen Sondheim. I'm so happy to be back on former podcast guest Kyle Marshall's awesome Sondheim podcast Putting It Together, which goes through Sondheim’s musicals show by show, song by song. He’s in the Into the Woods season, and I'm talking about the "Witch's Lament" in the second act. It's a great discussion about one of my favorite shows, and I also get to talk about Life With Mikey and Faerie Tale Theatre.
Article: “Lost Gershwin Musical La La Lucille Recovered” in Playbill.com. The musical, which played Broadway in 1919, was written when Gershwin was just 21 years of age.
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.