We made it to May! Happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating. The question on this day is, obviously: who is your favorite mother character in a musical? There’s Mama Rose in Gypsy , Mother in Ragtime (that’s literally her name), Anna in The King and I, Caroline in Caroline, or Change… a lot to choose from. Today I’ll go with the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods. She wanted to be a mother for a long time, and then when she finally became one she barely got to experience it. She navigates being a wife and mother in terrible situations with strength and is never perfect at it. Listen to episode 66 on Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods for more on this topic.
I’m very excited about the recent episodes. I haven’t been able to get the musical God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater out of my head since I first saw it six years ago, so it was a joy to do a deep dive into that show as the foundation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s work. And the discussion of the changing role of music in musical theater took us so many interesting places—Gershwin musicals, Cabaret, The Kind and I, The Wild Party, Sweeney Todd. It’s always important to examine music’s role, both in an individual musical and in all musicals. Check out these episodes and thank you, as always, for listening. — Shoshana
P.S. If you have Gmail, your email might cut off. Make sure you click “view entire message” at the bottom to see all of it.
Recent Episodes
Episode 76: The Musicals of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
In this episode, multidisciplinary artist Sandy Sahar Gooen discusses the musicals of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, looking closely at their first musical, Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, as the foundation for their later work. We also talk about the song "A Firestorm Consuming Indianapolis" from Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Dennis Green's 1979 musical Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.
Music played in this episode:
"Cheese Nips" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"Overture" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"Dear Ophelia" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"Since You Came to This Town" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"The Rosewater Foundation" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"Somewhere That's Green" from Little Shop of Horrors
"Look Who's Here" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"Skid Row (Downtown)" from Little Shop of Horrors
"A Firestorm Consuming Indianapolis" from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Episode 77: The Changing Role of Music in Musical Theater
In this episode, composer Paul Nelson discusses the changing role of music in musical theater. We also talk about the song "You'll Be Back" from Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2015 musical Hamilton.
Music played in this episode:
"So What" from Cabaret
"Fascinating Rhythm" from Lady Be Good
"Master of the House" from Les Miserables
"My Cousin in Milwaukee" from Pardon My English
"Money Money" from Cabaret
"March of the Siamese Children" from The King and I
"Uptown" from The Wild Party
"Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Sweeney Todd (original cast recording)
"Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Sweeney Todd (2005 cast recording)
"You'll Be Back" from Hamilton
Meet the Guests!
Sandy Sahar Gooen is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans from music direction and production to writing and performing. In addition to his work, he writes about theatre on Medium as a devotee and nerd.
Hometown: Randolph, NJ
Current Town: NYC
What are you Working on Right Now and what do you have coming up: Pretty soon, an MFA in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy; Conducting lessons/mentorship; Broadway Cares; A new musical called Twink Piece, other writing projects.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation : The documentary about Spring Awakening coming soon, the revival of for colored girls, Which Way to the Stage at MCC.
Where can we find you online/social media: SandySaharGooen.com, @ftsgooen on twitter, @silentwhat on Instagram. Sandy Sahar Gooen on medium.
Paul Nelson has a bachelors in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and an MFA from the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program. He's composed five musicals with subjects ranging from Detroit Hair Salons to avant-garde Korean poetry with a sixth one on the way. His most recent musical, Black Hole Wedding, premiered at the last, and final, New York Musical Theater Festival, NYMF, in 2019.
Hometown: Aiken, South Carolina
Current Town: Annapolis, Maryland
What are you Working on Right Now: Musical set in a nursing home in Hawaii about four residents who play bridge based on my mom and her two sisters called The Rules of Bridge
What do you have coming up: Just appeared on Domino Masters as a member of the "OG Topplers" team, a FOX network competition reality show, where the teams compete to build amazing and fantastic domino toppling and chain reaction builds.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Bound for the Promised Land, an amazing and well researched biography of Harriett Tubman (native Marylander!) by Kate Clifford Larson. It unearths the incredible human from the Harriett Tubman mythology.
Where can we find you online/social media: Instagram & YouTube: "PaulLovesDominoes". Twitter: "PLovesDominoes".
Musical of the Month
Damn Yankees! by Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, George Abbott, and Douglass Wallop (novel)
Damn Yankees opened on Broadway on May 5, 1955. I did this show my senior year of high school (I was Meg), but for those who don’t know it, it’s a retelling of the Faust story. A middle-aged man named Joe makes a deal with the devil to became a young baseball player for the Washington Senators (this is no longer the Washington, DC baseball team in case you’re wondering). But Joe misses his wife, Meg, and the devil, Mr. Applegate, sends his assistant Lola to entice Joe to remain a young baseball player so that he can keep Joe’s soul.
I’ve always loved this musical for its portrayals of three very different types of women in the 1950s: the sexual and confident Lola, the sassy professional sports reporter Gloria, and the capable and loving housewife Meg. And on today’s theme, none of them is a mother (that we know about anyway). Joe may be the main character but these three women keep the musical’s engine humming. They also get some great songs, such as “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo.” for Gloria, “Whatever Lola Wants” for Lola, and “Near to You” for Meg, which in the 1994 revival went from a duet to a trio, incorporating both young and old Joe. And I will argue with anyone that “Six Months Out of Every Year”, in which Meg and the other housewives complain about their husbands’ addiction to watching baseball, is one of the best opening numbers.
Damn Yankees won seven Tony awards in 1956, including Best Musical and Best Choreography for Bob Fosse. Another show by Adler and Ross, The Pajama Game, also opened in May: May 13, 1954. This was Fosse’s first job as choreographer for a musical.
Also in May…
May 2: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George opens on Broadway (1984). Listen to a discussion of the song “Move On” from Sunday… in episode 63 on Latinx Stories and Bilingualism in Musical Theater.
May 3: Happy Birthday, Howard Ashman! Celebrate his work by listening to episode 76 on The Musicals of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
May 11: Happy Birthday, Irving Berlin (1888)! And George Abbott, Robert Russell, John Kander, and Fred Ebb’s Flora the Red Menace (1965) opens on Broadway. Listen to a discussion of the song “A Quiet Thing” from Flora the Red Menace in episode 61 on The Musicals of Cy Coleman.
May 12: Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford, and Lawrence D. Cohen's Carrie opens on Broadway (1988). Listen to a discussion of the song “And Eve Was Weak” from Carrie in episode 46 on Horror in Musical Theater.
May 14: Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso’s Working (with various composers/lyricists) opens on Broadway (1978). Listen to discussions of Micki Grant’s song “Cleanin’ Women” from Working in episode 9 on The Female Gaze in Musical Theater and in episode 71 on Black Women in Musical Theater History.
May 18: Happy Birthday, Meredith Willson (1902)! Celebrate by listening to episode 8 on Meredith Willson’s The Music Man.
May 23: Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, F.E. Miller, and Aubrey Lyles's Shuffle Along opens in New York (1921). Listen to a discussion of the song “Memories of You” from Shuffle Along in episode 74 on Black History of British Musical Theater.
May 24: Jerome Lawrence, Robert Edwin Lee, and Jerry Herman’s Mame opens on Broadway (1966). Listen to a discussion on Mame in episode 34 on The Musicals of Jerry Herman.
May 26: Happy Birthday, Al Jolson (1886)! Celebrate by listening to a discussion of his film The Jazz Singer in episode 24 on The Formation of White/White Jewish Identity in America and the Racial History of America Constructed through Musical Theater.
May 28: Rodgers & Hammerstein's Me and Juliet opens on Broadway (1953). Listen to a discussion on Me and Juliet in episode 65 on Artist Characters in Musical Theater.
May 30: Happy Birthday, Fiddler on the Roof librettist Joseph Stein (1912)! Celebrate him by listening to episode 28 on Bock and Harnick’s Musicals Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds.
Find more musical theater history for May 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.
Be Like Joe
The fairy-tale rock musical Be Like Joe was recently done at The University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance April 27-30. I first heard the musical in 2006 while it was being developed at NYU and loved it. Find out more about the musical Be Like Joe!
Creative Team: Written by Kyoung-Ae Kang and Seán Stone
Synopsis: In the fishing village of JoeLand, everyone is inexplicably drawn to adore and protect the charismatic young resident Joe, who has achieved rock star status, both figuratively and literally. When a natural force threatens Joe’s safety, the villagers plan to destroy the creature, only to have their efforts thwarted by Julianne, a feisty young environmentalist from the outside. Joe has never encountered someone like Julianne, who speaks her mind and does not adore him automatically. Their developing relationship uncovers the source of Joe’s ubiquitous appeal and opens the villagers’ eyes to a broader world outside their island home.
Development History Highlights: Created as part of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts’ Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, the musical won the inaugural New Musical Award from the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company in Vermont.
Get more info on Be Like Joe.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for May:
Article: “A Homecoming to Knoxville”. My article on Knoxville, a new musical based on Agee’s ‘Death in the Family’ from Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Frank Galati that debuted at Florida’s Asolo Rep, almost exactly two years after COVID shut it down.
Podcast: Thesis on Joan. Former podcast guest Holly Sansom’s queer podcast with Mghan Dixon, dedicated to amplifying voices from the LGBTQ+ community in the New York performing arts scene and examining the industry from a queer perspective, returns for season three.
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.