Scene to Song September Newsletter
"We shall still revere the lessons learned in our days at dear old Shiz"
September is the month for going back to school (though I think many go back in August now?). Even if you’re not in school, life still seems to get busier. I hope you have some time for a musical theater discussion, though!
This month we look at Rodgers and Hart musicals. While I knew many of them already, I still learned so much because there are so many songs to listen to and musicals to explore.
I’m also curious, as readers of this newsletter and podcast listeners, what are some topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast and what are some new fun things, or just different things, you’d like to see from Scene to Song. Email scenetosong@gmail.com and let me know!
And if you are not yet subscribed to these emails and want to be, subscribe here:
— Shoshana
Recent Episodes
Scene to Song Episode 113: Rodgers and Hart Musicals of the Late 1930s and Early 1940s
In this episode, writer John Verderber discusses Rodgers and Hart musicals of the late 1930s and early 1940s, focusing on Babes in Arms, The Boys from Syracuse, and Pal Joey. We also talk about the song "Disneyland" from Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch's 1986 musical Smile.
Music played in this episode:
"This Funny World" from Betsy
"I Wish I Were in Love Again" from Babes in Arms
"Where or When" from Babes in Arms
"The Lady is a Tramp" from Babes in Arms
“Prologue” from The Boys from Syracuse
“I Had Twins” from The Boys from Syracuse
"Can’t You Do a Friend a Favor" from A Connecticut Yankee
"Disneyland" from Smile
Meet the Guests!
John Verderber writes musicals and lives in New York. Born there in 1992, Mr. Verderber’s individual theatre songs have been showcased by the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop and Little Red Light Theatre, among other organizations. He has also written commentary and essays as incisive and intriguing as his work as a songwriter and dramatist, and besides being a multi-episode guest on the podcast Scene to Song, his prose has been seen in New York, Time Out, and Signature Theatre’s Everything Sondheim. Little Red Light Theatre will be producing the premiere production of his musical, Harry Reems Goes to Hollywood, this September in New York.
Hometown: I was born in Queens.
Current Town: I grew up on Long Island, and I still reside there most of the time.
What are you Working on Right Now: Right now, rehearsals are beginning for the premiere production of my show, Harry Reems Goes to Hollywood, which will play at the Ripley Grier Performance Space on West 38th Street September 20th and 21st. Besides that, I'm always anxious to start a new project, and I have one in mind, but what happens with it remains to be seen.
Book, TV, film, or Theater Recommendation: Listening-wise, I'm going through a Mozart phase, as opposed to a brat summer. I'd highly recommend any good recording of his Requiem, Le Nozze di Figaro (the recording conducted by Karl Bohm is a favorite) or Don Giovanni. I really enjoyed Ron Howard's documentary, Jim Henson: Idea Man now streaming on Disney+. It comes highly recommended for everyone, but especially restlessly creative people. And Criterion Channel always has a good lineup whether you're looking for an art house film, something from one of our contemporary filmmakers, or a look back at Old Hollywood ...or maybe new Old Hollywood-- because art isn't old if you've never experienced it before.
Musical of the Month
Knoxville by Frank Galati, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty
Yesterday, September 18th, was composer Stephen Flaherty’s birthday. There are so many musicals of his to choose from, but I want to focus on his most recent musical Knoxville, currently in production in Knoxville, Tennessee itself through this weekend at the Clarence Brown Theatre.
Knoxville, an adaptation of both James Agee’s 1957 Pulitzer-winning autobiographical novel A Death in the Family, and of Tad Mosel’s Pulitzer-winning 1961 play adaptation, All the Way Home, premiered in 2022 at Asolo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, Florida. The musical begins in 1955, the year of Agee’s death and the year he completed the novel’s first draft, with Agee looking at his life and what he’s become.
As I wrote in my piece for American Theatre magazine during that first production, bookwriter and director “Galati first read Agee’s novel, about how the death of a father affects surviving family members, in high school, and he said a musical version had been gestating in his mind ever since. Galati, a resident artist at Asolo Rep, reached out to Ahrens and Flaherty, with whom he’d worked on Broadway’s Ragtime and Suessical in the 1990s and early 2000s, to see if they would work on the adaptation with him.”
Galati, who passed away in 2023, shortly after directing that production, told me, “We realized, wait, this is the story of Knoxville, and also remembering Knoxville and reassembling Knoxville.” The latest production in Knoxville includes many members of the original cast. I wish I could see it, as I’m sure it must be very special in the city in which it’s set.
For more on Stephen Flaherty’s work, listen to episode 25 on The Lesser-Known Musicals of Ahrens and Flaherty.
Also in September…
September 12: Happy Birthday, composer Harvey Schmidt (1929)! Celebrate by listening to a discussion on his work in episode 23 on The Musicals of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Also, Happy Frank Mills Day!
September 18: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Richard Maltby Jr.’s Song and Dance opens on Broadway! Celebrate by listening to discussions on Song and Dance in the mini outtakes episode from 2021, Episode 67: The Musical Roles of Bernadette Peters, and Episode 55: The Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
September 22: Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof opens on Broadway (1964). Listen to a discussion of Fiddler on the Roof in episode 28 on The Bock and Harnick Musicals Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds.
September 24: Happy Birthday, composer/lyricist Michael Friedman (1975) and lyricist and bookwriter Chad Beguelin (1969). Celebrate Friedman’s birthday by listening a discussion of his songs "I'm Not That Guy" and "I'm So That Guy" from his 2010 musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in episode 11 on Rock Operas in Musical Theater. Celebrate Beguelin’s birthday by listening to episode 53 on Disney Musicals.
September 25: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita opens on Broadway (1979). Celebrate by listening to episode 55 on The Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber and episode 11 on Rock Operas in Musical Theater.
September 26: Happy Birthday, composer George Gershwin (1898) and Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents’s West Side Story opens on Broadway (1957)! Celebrate Gershwin’s work by listening to episode 77 on The Changing Role of Music in Musical Theater.
Find more musical theater history for September 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.
This month’s new musical is by this month’s podcast guest, John Verderber, and is being produced this weekend in New York City.
Harry Reems Goes to Hollywood
Creative Team: Book, Music, and Lyrics by John Verderber
Synopsis: It’s 1976, and a time of ever-changing social mores and show business trends. Harry Reems, the charismatic and egocentric star of Deep Throat leaves New York City (and hopefully, legal peril) behind him for the sunshine and stardom that Hollywood, California offers. But will dark clouds resurface once he reaches la-la land, or will old friends come to the rescue?
Development History: Harry Reems Goes to Hollywood will be produced by the Little
Red Light Theatre this September 20th and 21st at the Ripley Grier Performance Space on West 38th Street in New York City
Listen to “Lowdown Uptown” from Harry Reems Goes to Hollywood.
Find out more about Harry Reems Goes to Hollywood.
Something Wonderful
Some additional recommendations for September:
Production: “Seldom-Seen Sammy Cahn Musical Skyscraper Is Getting an Off-Broadway Revival” in Playbill. “James Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn, and Peter Stone's 1965 musical Skyscraper will get a rare revival at Off-Broadway's UrbanStages via Regeneration Theatre and Combustion Collective, in association with Nelda Yaw Buckman. The work will play UrbanStages November 7-17. The work features a book by Stone, adapted from Elmer Rice's play Dream Girl; music by Van Heusen; and lyrics by Cahn, centering on an antique shop owner navigating the realities of a rapidly urbanizing 1960s New York City. The musical played a 248-performance run in 1965, and was nominated for five 1966 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. But the title has scarcely, if ever, been seen since in a major production.”
Video: “The Rodgers & Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty.” Guest John Verderber recommended this video to watch in conjunction with his episode. “The professional partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart is examined through a combination of archival footage, interviews with colleagues and family members, and performances of several of their best-known songs in sequences staged for this program. The emphasis is on their work for the Broadway stage, but their contribution to Hollywood films is also examined.” Originally broadcast on WNET-TV, Channel 13, New York, N.Y., Jan. 6, 1999.
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.