Scene to Song November Newsletter
"It's been so long since Mark made his all-male Thanksgiving where we gave thanks."
Two items of note this month. One… Scene to Song has reached 100 episodes! The most recent episode, TV Musical Episodes Part II, is officially the 100th episode of the podcast (not counting the mini-episodes and announcement episodes in there). I’m very proud of this output—100 conversations about musicals! And there are so many more conversations to be had. Two more episodes are still to come this season, and I’m already planning for season seven.
The second item of note is that I’ll be taking a week off the week of November 27th, so no new episode that week when there should be one. The reason is that I’ll be starting rehearsals that week for a reading of one of my musicals (more on that below). As much as I would love to be a superwoman and release a podcast episode during that time, I know that I’m only a lowly human being with limited capacity. So, new episode on Monday, November 13th, and then another new episode again on December 11th. For those eagerly consuming these episodes as they are released, thank you for your patience. For those who are behind, here’s an opportunity to catch up before the season finale episode!
Speaking of the season finale episode, I’m planning to hold this annual live show the weekend of December 16th and 17th. More info on the official date and time, as well as which guests from season six will be returning, will be announced soon.
I hope those celebrating American Thanksgiving have a wonderful holiday this month. And if you are not yet subscribed to these emails and want to be, subscribe here:
— Shoshana
Recent Episodes
Episode 99: Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s Fun Home
In this episode, performer and producer Andrea Prestinario discusses Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's 2015 musical Fun Home. We also talk about the song "He Plays the Violin" from Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone's 1969 musical 1776.
Music played in this episode:
"Days and Days" from Fun Home
"Telephone Wire" from Fun Home
"Maps" from Fun Home
"Edges of the World" from Fun Home
"Ring of Keys" from Fun Home
"He Plays the Violin" from 1776
Episode 100: TV Musical Episodes Part II
In this episode, educator and trainer Christopher Culp discusses TV musical episodes, using the first episode on this topic as a jumping off point to include the new Star Trek Strange New Worlds musical episode and relating it to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode and many more. We also talk about the "Tonight (Quintet)" from Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents's 1957 musical West Side Story.
Music played in this episode:
"We Are One" from Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 9: "Subspace Rhapsody"
"I've Got a Theory"/"Bunnies"/"If We're Together" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6, episode 7: "Once More, with Feeling"
"How Would That Feel" from Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 9: "Subspace Rhapsody"
"Tonight (Quintet)" from West Side Story
Meet the Guests!
Andrea Prestinario is a queer award-winning performer and producer who has worked extensively throughout the country over the last 20 years, with NYTW, Asolo Rep, American Conservatory Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Lyric Opera Chicago, Gulfshore Playhouse, Writers’ Theatre, York Theatre, and more. Favorite roles include Alison in Fun Home (Studio Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage), Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls; (Weston Playhouse), Eliza in My Fair Lady; Maureen in RENT (Paramount Theatre), Martha in 1776 (Asolo Rep), and Louise in Gypsy (Drury Lane Oakbrook). She received a Jeff Award for her work as Violet in Side Show (Boho Theatre).
A graduate of Ball State University and The School at Steppenwolf, she is also the Co-Founder and Founding Executive Director of Ring of Keys: a 501(c)3 nonprofit artist service organization for queer women and trans artists in musical theatre. She created RoK’s signature programming: Queering the Canon: A Concert Series which she produced in addition to other concerts for the org (Joe’s Pub, Birdland). She created her solo show sMOkeyTOWN: The Songs of Smokey Robinson which played throughout NYC (54Below, Laurie Beechman) and Chicago.
Hometown: Southside of Chicago (but really just the burbs)
Current Town: Manhattan
What are you Working on Right Now: Creative producing production debut for Show Me Eternity at Culture Lab LIC November 30 - December 4. A new queer musical about Emily Dickinson's legacy and the love that inspired her.
What do you have coming up: Co-producing our Queering the Gala: A Benefit for Ring of Keys with our signature concert series Queering the Canon: Alan Menken.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Books: We Will Not Cancel Us by adrienne maree brown; The Dip by Seth Godin; Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit; Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. Film: anything by Pedro Almodovar; Fried Green Tomatoes
Where can we find you online/social media: @andreaprestinario on instagram; www.andreaprestinario.com
Christopher Culp (he/him) is an educator and trainer with a vast array of experiences teaching and facilitating all age groups. He currently works full time as a trainer and curriculum developer for a capacity building organization that focuses on sexual and reproductive health, while also adjunct teaching music and human sexuality courses throughout Buffalo, and teaching clarinet lessons and chamber groups at a local non-profit. You may find him teaching, performing, or presenting at a conference.
Hometown: I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania (too small of a town)
Current Town: Buffalo, NY
What are you Working on Right Now: One of my major projects is applying and using philosophy and aesthetics to analyze musicals, as there's very few aesthetics-focused writings on musical theater. Scott McMillan's "The Musical as Drama" is one of my foundations for this work.
What do you have coming up: I'm preparing a Francis Poulenc chamber music recital that will have the flute, oboe, and clarinet sonatas along with the Sextet. (I'm a clarinet player.) The reason for this is the sonatas use similar melodic gestures and so putting them side by side would be an interesting experience for audiences.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: I recommend Ryan Bunch's "Oz and the Musical" because it delves into the performance of American identity through musicals, including the exclusion that occurs.
Where can we find you online/social media: Insta: thegoofyphilosopher; Twitter: @ChristosMCulp; cmculp.weebly.com
Musical of the Month
Pal Joey by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and John O’Hara
I saw the new version of Pal Joey last weekend at New York City Center. I’m not going to review that production, which changes the story slightly to be about a “Black jazz singer in the 1940s struggling to make it big his way, with his sound, on Chicago’s vibrant nightclub circuit,” but I will say that after seeing it I revisited the Scene to Song episode on Pal Joey from last season. A few takeaways from the show and that discussion:
There’s no complete record of what the original 1940 production was like, and the show has been revised multiple times since then. As much as we all want to see the original Pal Joey, it seems like we’ll never see the original Pal Joey, and every production is going to be revised with a certain new vision from those authors.
Joey is an unlikable character in every version, and that’s tough dramatically. In this latest version it seemed like the new writers were trying to fix that element so the audience would be on his side. Whether or not they were successful is up for debate.
The Pal Joey score is really great, and as much as I like the entire Rodgers and Hart catalogue, I wasn’t sure why they wanted to swap out numbers in this most recent production. I missed “In Our Little Den of Iniquity,” among others, which we talked about in the episode.
What would happen if Vera Simpson were the main character? We discuss this in the episode. This recent production focussed even more on Joey, so I’m not sure it would have worked in this instance, but if people are constantly revising the book, I’d like to see that version.
A young John Travolta would have made a great Joey. We discuss casting in the episode as well, and thank you to podcast guest Marc Eliot Stein for this inspired casting idea that will never be.
Pal Joey continues to be a fascinating piece of theater, mostly for the space it gives people to interpret it and the inevitable discussions of how far audiences think it strays from what it may have once been or what should be. Perhaps like the show itself, Joey Evans is that jerk you want to love and change, but he inevitably disappoints you when you realize deep down he’s really just a jerk, but we keep trying.
Also in November…
November 5: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods opens on Broadway (1987). Listen to a discussion on this show in episode 66 on Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods.
November 9: Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton's The Scarlet Pimpernel opens on Broadway (1997). Listen to a discussion of the song "Storybook" from The Scarlet Pimpernel in episode 37.
November 10: Happy Birthday, lyricist Tim Rice (1944)! Celebrate by listening to episode 39 on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and episode 22 on Rock Operas in Musical Theater.
November 12: Tommy Tune, Luther Davis, Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Maury Yeston's Grand Hotel opens on Broadway (1989). Celebrate by listening to episode 35’s discussion of the song “Love Can’t Happen” from Grand Hotel.
November 15: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank, Gene De Paul, and Johnny Mercer’s Lil' Abner opens on Broadway (1956). Listen to a discussion of this show in episode 56 on Adaptations of Comics in Musical Theater.
November 16: Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along opens on Broadway (1981). Listen to discussions on this musical in episode 59 on Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along and episode 83 on Musicals Whose Scores Outshine Their Books.
November 17: Cy Coleman, Neil Simon, and Carolyn Leigh's Little Me opens on Broadway (1962). Celebrate by listening to episode 61 on The Musicals of Cy Coleman.
November 18: Happy Birthday, Lyricist/librettist/director W. S. Gilbert (1836). Listen to a discussion of "Alone, and yet Alive" from The Mikado in episode 22.
November 20: Joe Masteroff, John Kander, and Fred Ebb's Cabaret opens on Broadway (1966). Listen to a discussion of the song "Cabaret" in episode 6.
November 23: Happy Birthday, composer Jerry Bock (1928). Celebrate his work by listening to episode 28 on The Bock and Harnick Musicals Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds.
November 24: Happy Birthday, lyricist/director/performer Martin Charnin (1934) and Jo Swerling, Abe Burrows, and Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls opens on Broadway (1950). Celebrate by listening to episode 5 on Adaptations of Comics in Musical Theater and episode 12 on “Musical Worlds” in Musical Theater, Featuring Frank Loesser.
Find more musical theater history for November 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.
Days of Rage
At some point I would have to include one of my own shows here, and now is the time! As I mentioned in the intro, my collaborators and I are doing an industry reading of this musical on December 4th. If you would like to contribute to its development process (this reading, as well as future workshops, etc.), we have a GoFundMe campaign open for that purpose.
Creative Team: Book and Music by Hyeyoung Kim; Lyrics by Shoshana Greenberg
Synopsis: How can we stop the cycle of violence? Days of Rage explores this ever-present question through the experiences of various activist groups during the late 1960s and early 1970s in Chicago. Jean Avery leads a militant protest group that tries to stop the war and bring troops back home, and David Hayward, the leader of the Black Angels, tries to build a community and protect their homes from Urban Renewal. As David and Jean’s paths intertwine, they grow closer and apart in a turbulent time of war, civil rights, and rage.
Development History Highlights: New York Theater Barn New Works Series and Reading (2016), Mini Workshop at Town Stages as part of the Sokoloff Fellowship (2018).
Listen to some of the music.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for November:
Article: “John Weidman Talks About Bringing ‘I Can Get It For You Wholesale’ Back To The Stage.” “His first Broadway collaboration was with Stephen Sondheim in 1976. His newest is with his late father.”
Podcast Episode: “Adapt or Perish Episode 8: Fun Home.” A podcast about adaptation I listened to while prepping for the Fun Home episode.
Album: “Regretting Almost Everything.” I just listened to the concept album of Lauren Taslitz and Danny Ursetti’s musical Regretting Almost Everything, and it’s delightful. Beth Leavel and Jeff Blumenkrantz sing 16 tracks, chronicling the story of a middle-aged woman who needs more in her life.
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.