Jim and Tomic's Musical Theatre Happy Hour

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Benvenuto and welcome to the land of “naked marble boys” with this week's musical fairy-tale “The Light in the Piazza.” We marvel over beautiful lighting design, talk the differences between opera and musical theatre, and contemplate the discussion of mental health in theatre. The Light in the Piazza (Original Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES Watch the wonderful Heidi Blickenstaff on Side by Side by Susan Blackwell confess vacuuming and dusting to songs from Piazza. Two fabulous musical theatre composers in one touching interview: take a look at Adam Guettel interviewing his mentor and friend, Stephen Sondheim. Need more Adam Guettel in your life? Check out two of his other musicals: Myths and Hymns and Floyd Collins. On the topic of opera companies doing musical theatre, take a look at the fabulous English National Opera's production of Sweeney Todd starring Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson. Also, want to learn Italian in 10 minutes? (Complete with the requisite hand gestures?) Check out this guy! A REALLY DIFFICULT QUIZ QUESTION… Jimi and Tommy tweeted these things about next week's show:“DOLLY PARTON BIOPIC?!”“Aww. Shit. I'm in Moscow.”“YES CYCLORAMA!”“If Queen Latifah started mamboing at me, I'd be terrified too.”…what show?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Place your bets, it’s time to shoot craps with the spectacular musical comedy, Guys and Dolls! We boggle over the mystical parallel universe that the musical’s set in, Nathan Detroit - the most popular role in the acting world and tease the possible new movie production! Guys and Dolls (1992 Revival Cast Recoding) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES It wasn’t the Tony’s best year in 2009. Tituss Burgess’ performance of Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat was just one of the many tech fails on the night (check out 4:48) Nathan Lane loved Mr. Detroit so much he named himself after him! Check out him and the glorious Faith Prince! Check out Marlon Brando’s moves! Is this what you need to do to graduate to becoming Don Corleone? Here’s a taste of the recent Chichester Festival Theatre production of Guys and Dolls featuring stunning British musical actress Sophie Thompson! If you’re old enough, and haven’t already, check out the HILARIOUS podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno. The critics are tied, but what do you think? Did any of you see Rebel Wilson play Adelaide? If you’re interested, check out the 1976 Revival recording with updated score and orchestrations to have a Motown vibeInterested in race representation on Broadway as much as us? Read this book! A CLEAN AND POLISHED QUIZ QUESTION The title song of this musical is Heidi Blickenstaff’s go-to cleaning song, what could it be?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Are you ready to seize the day and carry that banner? Well now is the time! Newsboy wannabes Jimi and Tommy talk all about Menken, Feldman and Fierstein’s high-flying smash Newsies! Expect discussion about the historical context of the show, as well as highlighting the stronghold of The Mouse and some severe adoration of Andrew Keenan-Bolger. Newsies: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify  SHOW NOTES Before you do anything, bask in the brilliance of past Broadway Prom “Queens” and Newsies Ryan Steele, Garett Hawe and Tommy Bracco and fall into the Newsies YouTube Hole. For the record, at least 30,000 of these views are from Jimi. And while you’re in the camp mindset, check out Jimi’s favourite film - ‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.’ What do you think? Is Christian Bale acting glaikit on purpose? Watch and decide! Tinfoil hats at the ready! Have a look at Tommy’s Disney conspiracy theory and find out a bit more about the Disney machine! We hope you’ve got the popcorn out, cause we’ve got even more footage for you! One of the alltime greatest Tony Awards performances in our opinion. Check out the heroine that is Aida Overton Walker who was the inspiration for changing the ethnicity of Hedda Larkin in the stage version. It would’ve been nice to have seen a bit of this historical context in the show! What do you think? Why do you think Newsies hasn’t made it’s way across to the West End yet? Let us know over on Reddit! These newsboys are multi-talented! Have a look at Crutchie’s own digital series, ‘Submissions Only’ for a some broadway-shaped tomfoolery! Look what else he can do - have a lot of fun in the summertime!  A BLUNDER OF A QUIZ QUESTION When a recent revival of this musical performed at the Tony Awards, the performer’s microphone failed almost immediately during the telecast. You can overhear a tech guy say “Am I going with it? I’m goin’, I’m goin’, I’m goin’!” Before he runs onstage with a handheld microphone. What musical was this?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Strip off your clothes and let the sunshine in, it’s time to talk all about the revolutionary classic Hair! Jimi and Tommy debate whether or not this one of the most important musicals of all time, Jimi comes out as a latent hippie and the guys discuss the concept of tribe musicals. Hair (Original Broadway Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES Take a listen to the Original Cast Recording for some insightful interviews from the creators of Hair. Have you ever been involved in a show which you would consider tribal? Let us know all about it over on our subreddit! Check out this Broadway.com interview with some of the team from the Diane Paulus revival in Central Park. We love the woman in the pink dress! We love hallucinogenic orgies! Come and enjoy these highlights from the film with us.  AN AWARD-WINNING QUIZ QUESTION… This musical holds the record for producing the biggest number of Broadway Prom ‘Queens’ for any single show - what is it?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Welcome to our podcast on Maple Avenue! This week, we're talking about the fabulously important (and recently closed) musical Fun Home. We chat about the importance of representation, non-linearity, vagaries in the LGBTQ alphabet soup of terminology, and Jimi gets caught up on a particular V-word. Fun Home (Original Cast Recording) Amazon / Spotify / iTunes SHOW NOTES If you haven't read the graphic novel that the musical Fun Home is based on, we highly recommend it! Alison Bechdel's early comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For is archived online. Check it out! After seeing her life on stage, Alison Bechdel responded in the best way possible: with another autobiographical comic strip. Sydney Lucas. Ring of Keys. Tony Performance. 'Nuff said. No matter how you describe it, Ellen's coming out on television was revolutionary in the 90s. Here's a retrospective. Want to hear more about the political drama surrounding the graphic novel in South Carolina? Here's a quick NPR story about it. It never made it to television (SHAME) but, thanks to the power of the internet, you can experience the entire Jeanine Tesori & Lisa Kron Tony acceptance speech. A SCANDALOUS QUIZ QUESTION… What musical revival caused an audience member to strip completely naked because she loved it that much?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Good morning! Unpack your raincoats and dust off your tap shoes as it’s time to celebrate the greatest movie musical of all time - Singin’ in the Rain! We chat all about directorial tyranny, metatheatrical dubbing and Hollywood’s biggest drag queen of all time - Gene Kelly! Singin' In The Rain (Original Film Soundtrack) Amazon / Spotify / iTunes SHOW NOTES She battled through the tyranny of Gene Kelly’s directorial reign and gave birth to the exquisite Carrie Fisher. Check out this amazing interview from Debbie Reynold’s daughter! Check out Hollywood’s most beautiful Drag Queen of all time - Gene Kelly, beat for the gods! This movie contains some of the greatest tap dancing routines ever! Check out ‘Fit as a Fiddle’ at the movie’s opening for a little taste. Oh, and movie producers - bring tap back! Which Beautiful Girl are you? Jimi is naturally number 2 as his cloak is ALWAYS trimmed with monkey fur to lend a dash of drama, Tommy is number 4; always dripping with fringe. Shout to our dearly departed Queen of Dubbing - Marni Nixon! Check out this great interview on NPR. Then have a listen to the magic she can do in this clip of My Fair Lady. Compare Audrey Hepburn’s singing voice with Marni Nixon’s - thank goodness for you, Ms. Nixon! Have a listen to Cole Porter’s ‘Be a Clown’ from The Pirate. Sound familiar? Check out an amazing documentary series on homosexuality in musical theatre by “some guy”. What do you think, is Cosmo Brown a coded gay character? Have a look at the incredible design from Théâtre du Châtelet’s production coming to Broadway…at some point!  A POLITICAL QUIZ QUESTION… The source material for this musical was quite controversial and talks of censorship made it into the American political discourse. In one censorship hearing, a politician criticized the censorship attempt saying: “Are we going to start attacking ABC for Scandal? I mean where does this stop?”

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ *Cough!* *Hack!* *Eeech!* Hairball got you down? We've got the perfect solution: Andrew Lloyd Webber's mega-hit musical Cats. It's team Jimi (aka Cats Trash) vs team Tommy (aka the rest of the world). Are we talking about high concept art? Or the lowest common denominator. The gloves are off in this cat-astrophe of an episode. Cats (Original Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES Do you share Jimi's crush on Tony Vincent as Simon in Jesus Christ Superstar? You will soon… Reminisce with this Independent article published the morning after Cats's record-breaking 6,138th performance." We're rats. We're RATS! We're furry and forlorn!""Who out there is a fan of Stephen Ward?" Did you miss that Lloyd Webber flop? We've got you covered. Wanna see an old-man theatre cat get scared out of his wits by the creepiest cat you've ever seen? Of COURSE you do… Tune in to Broadway.com's backstage coverage of the Cats revival with the oh-so-handsome Tyler Hanes. Want too much information about Cats (but nothing about it's critical reception)? Check out the Wikipedia page. Really – check it – it's a work of art. Get your Elaine Page fix over at her BBC Radio 2 page. Do you think she's "The First Lady of Musical Theatre?" Get a load of Ruthie Henshall (and Bernadette Peters and Julia McKenzie) doing "You Gotta Get a Gimmick." A MISTRANSLATED QUIZ QUESTION… What musical's title song's first lyric goes like this, when poorly translated: "Condone violence in the cloud from any location monitoring.    

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ This time around we’re going in heavy with Stephen Sondheim’s harrowing hit ‘Assassins’. We try and tease apart the intricacies of the American Dream, discuss how musical theatre can be used as a form of therapy in times of crisis and discuss what it means to be a ‘docu-musical’. Assassins (Original Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify Assassins (Revival Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SOME BUSINESS… Big thank you once more to Dave Malloy and Team Comet for giving us a shout out! If you’re new to the podcast feel free to check out some of our older episodes. Jimi’s top choice is ‘A Cabaret Cocktail’ and Tommy’s is ‘Dinner With Dolly’ but take your pick, pour yourself a drink and enjoy! This episode was recorded prior to the killings in Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas and are therefore not discussed among the other tragic events in Orlando. SHOW NOTES If you didn’t join us, you can check out Tommy’s "high-budget" live stream here where so many of you asked us to talk about Assassins! Check out some pictures of the amazing all-star cast in rehearsal for the recent Menier Chocolate Factory production of Assassins here and bow down to the glory of Aaron Tveit in a beard. There aren’t many musicals whose characters are still alive today, but Assassins is surprisingly one of them. Here are some fascinating/chilling interviews with Sara Jane Moore and Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme. Have a look at the chilling photo of Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination after his arrest in 1963. If you’re interested, you can have a look at the publicity photos from Jimi’s production of Assassins in 2012! Also if you’re an amateur director looking to flex their creative muscles look no further than this show! If you want to ask Jimi any questions about it just drop us an email via our contact box.  We’ve got no quiz question this time, just a request - go out there, spread some love and listen to some musical theatre!

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Come with us to 19th century Russia where we attend the stunning musicopera, “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” based on a chapter of Tolstoy’s epic ‘War and Peace’. Seeing as it’s regarded as one of the longest novels, we thought we’d make this one of the longest podcasts - so here’s part 2! We chat about the joys and importance of feminism on Broadway, Jimi unleashes his musical theatre homosexual agenda and Tommy has his best line-reading of the word "YEAH" ever! Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Original Cast) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify ◀ DID YOU LISTEN TO PART 1? SHOW NOTES Keep following along with us on Genius for more tidbits from the maestro, Dave Malloy. Have a listen to the breathtaking Brittain Ashford perform Sonya Alone at the recent Sh-K-Boom anniversary concert. Get a glimpse of the spectacle of Comet and see how much audiences freak for this show! Want to hear more magic from Dave Malloy? A journey into the hypnotised mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff perhaps? Maybe an electro-grunge exploration of the story of Beowulf and Grendel? Check out his website for heaps of free music! A RULE-BREAKING TRIVIA QUESTION Despite its original production premiering Off Broadway, when this show was remounted 14 years later, the Tony administration committee deemed it only eligible to be nominated as a revival of a musical. What was the show?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Come with us to 19th century Russia where we attend the stunning musicopera, “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” based on a chapter of Tolsty’s epic ‘War and Peace’. Seeing as it’s regarded as one of the longest novels, we thought we’d make this one of the longest podcasts - so here’s part 1! We muse about how Comet will leave its mark on the future of musical theatre, whether it’s Mosc-OH or Mosc-OW, and generally bask in the brilliance of Mr Dave Malloy! Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Original Cast) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES Shout out to superfan, Brad, who supplied us with an amazing relic from the American Rep production of the show – an actual, honest to goodness programme! Come join us on our obsession with Dave Malloy - check out his blog for some magic musings from the maestro himself! Get a glimpse of the stunning production values and interviews from the creative team. Is it Mosc-OH or Mosc-OW? Linguists of the Happy Hour, let us know! Bored of reading the Hamilton genius pages for the millionth time? We’ve got you covered. Join us for a shot of your finest Russian standard and tasty pierogi and stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!

During the interval, Jimi and Tommy gossip and gab about Tony noms, Hamil-hype, and more. Plus some (inadvertent) hints about the next podcast's show. Enjoy!

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Can you spell F-I-N-A-L-L-Y? After a longer-than-anticipated hiatus, Jimi and Tommy are back! This time with the William Finn penned musical, The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee. Listen as Jimi and Tommy discuss the tribulations of pre-adolescence, the intensity of actual spelling bees and hear Jimi confess his undying love of Barrett Foa. E-N-J-O-Y! The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Original Broadway Cast) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES Who would have guessed that even Dame Julie Andrews herself would trip over her lines! Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. Still, her guest star role during Spelling Bee is a heck of a good time.Interested in the real-life cutthroat world of high stakes spelling? Here's a trailer for the documentary Spellbound. (And compare that to the Weimaraners from Best in Show.) Like sports AND musical theatre? (Or, at least, like making fun of sports with musical theatre?) You'll love watching Billy Eichner and Jason Sudeikis bro out as they tailgate Wicked. Here's that whole Kids Bop cover of Thrift shop. Listen. If you dare! TheatreMania (hire us!) put together a great compilation of theSpelling Bee reunion concert. You'll never see a happier group of actors. Leaf Conybear has cats. He makes cat capes. Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre holds her breath. Man, remember when internet marketing was young? And finally, have you ever heard the word “sardoodledom?” Like, have you ever heard anyone say it? Trust us, it's worth a listen.  A MYSTERIOUS TRIVIA QUESTION This musical is one that we've never listened to before, based on a book that neither of us have ever read.The person who famously never sang as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady played the title character of this show in a 1956 film adaptation of this book that we've never read. What musical?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Put on your Sunday clothes no matter what day it is and come on down to Yonkers and join us in celebration of everyone’s favourite matchmaker (sorry, Yente!) - Hello, Dolly! Jimi and Tommy are back after a little break with one of the most successful musicals ever. They babble about Pearl Bailey and the vitally important all-black production, decide on who did Dolly best and Tommy shares a hilarious corn-shaped anecdote. Hello, Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast) iTunes / Spotify / Amazon  Hello, Dolly! (1968 Revival Cast feat. Pearl Bailey) iTunes / Spotify / Amazon SHOW NOTES The song that didn’t start it all! Here’s Satchmo himself singing the title song. Take a glimpse at the original New York Times glowing review of the 1964 Broadway production : These are the ultimate friendship goals! Here’s Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey on Broadway in 1969 from the very suitably titled, “Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey: On Broadway” They say that Beyoncé and Lady Gaga are the modern day Carol Channing and Liza Minnelli. Christine Pedi just proves it here. This was Jimi’s introduction to Hello, Dolly! in the greatest love story ever told: Wall-E A TOTALLY REAL TRIVIA QUESTION "This musical was Julie Andrews’ last Broadway performance to date where in an unfortunate turn of events she flubbed on her lines left the stage in embarrassment. What was the musical?

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ We swing back in time to Chateau Sondheim and visit that Frank in “Merrily We Roll Along”! Together we fanboy over the artistry in one of Tommy’s ALL-TIME favourite musicals, Jimi channels his inner Irene Cara and has a crisis about LA and the boys get the deep about the nature of artistic relationships. Also - singing! Merrily We Roll Along (New Cast Recording) iTunes / Spotify / Amazon SHOW NOTES It started out with a song, which which was a nursery rhyme, which then became a theme tune for maniac cartoon characters! Check out when our podcast deity Lin-Manuel Miranda (alongside Celia Keenan-Bolger and unhyphenated Colin Donnell) was in the Encores! production. Have you ever seen “Six By Sondheim”? Well you should! Potentially the sexiest line up of Merrily ever? Jimi’s hyped-up libido certainly thinks so! Go look! What do you think about LA? Are you team Charley or team Frank? Whatever the decision, the Tony Awards have successfully mocked those that tried. Will Jeremy Jordan be next? Who can say! Hey! Have you got a favourite theatre game? We want to know cause we’re adult children! Hit us up over on Reddit and we’ll talk about them in another podcast if they’re good! A SPARKLY TRIVIA QUESTION “Known for its flashy costumes and extravagant hats, one sparkly dress from the original production of this musical now resides the the smithsonian national archives. What musical?”

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Let us take you back to that glorious age of Italian cinema and explore Guido Contini’s mental breakdown as we discuss the smash-hit stage musical and less-of-a-hit movie musical, Nine! We come down with a case of the sandy tambourines, discuss where we feel this show stands in the world of feminism and Jimi exposes Tommy to Fosse’s love for agendered hypersexualised choreography. Nine (Original Broadway Cast) iTunes / Spotify / Amazon SHOW NOTES Check out original Nine director Tommy Tune in his greatest role of all time - as Mr Fantastic in Arrested Development Season 4! Catch the sandy tambourines and watch Fergie provide us with the only good reason to watch the movie. In contrast, check out the ‘82 Tony Awards where Nine swept up the award for Best Musical. Is this the best choreography for children on a Broadway stage? Yes. Yes it is. Nice try, Billy Elliot. Have you seen ‘All That Jazz’? It’s so similar to ‘Nine’! But maybe better? Do you agree? Or is Jimi just biased? Enjoy this clip from the movie that is one of Jimi’s all time favourite things. He wants it played at his funeral. Potentially a bit R-Rated, some tasteful nudity awaits you behind the link. A SONDHEIM TRIVIA QUESTION “Stephen Sondheim has said that ‘musical comedies aren’t written, they’re rewritten,’ this musical of his, arguably one his longest writing processes, took at least 32 years of revision before Sondheim deemed it worthy of his satisfaction.”