Broadway Binge

Your favorite Bingers are back! And here to stay? The coronavirus pandemic has forcibly removed every excuse Jeremy and Hannah have to delay, so they are back with brand new content for you! How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying premiered in 1961 with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's satirical 1952 book of the same name.

Hannah and Jeremy update their Is It Good scores for Oklahoma, Carousel, and Kiss Me Kate after seeing the recent Broadway revivals.  Oklahoma is famously a huge success, but did the other two, which Jeremy and Hannah previously hated, improve at all for 2018/19? Of course not.

If you're listening to this on the weekend it's being released, enjoy our 2019 Tonys preview! But we spend the vast majority of the episode raving about Hadestown, so you'll enjoy it just as much if you happen upon this episode any time in the future.

Camelot, by My Fair Lady's Lerner and Loewe, plus Moss Hart, came out in 1960 to tepid reviews. But it is now perceived as having been an important American musical culture despite itself.  Find out why in this episode, and get a sneak peek review of Alice By Heart, the new musical by Spring Awakening's Sheik and Sater.

We cover the longest running musical of all time, Off-Broadway's The Fantasticks, with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones, loosely based on the play Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand (of Cyrano de Bergerac). Jeremy also shares his theory about the "Broadway genre" of music.

Broadway Binge is back for its second season! We kick things off by ranking each of our top five animals played by humans in Broadway History!

We enter the 1960s with Bye Bye Birdie, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, book by Michael Stewart, and directed and choreographed by Gower Champion. Does it hold up well? What's with all the Ann-Margret hype? Find out here.

This week we go over Flower Drum Song, the 1958 minor hit by Rodgers and Hammerstein, based on a novel by C. Y. Lee, which features an almost entirely Asian cast and takes place in (then) modern day San Francisco. A lot is being written about the 1961 movie version of Flower Drum Song at the time this podcast is being released, as it is one of the only three movies Hollywood has ever made taking place with an all-Asian cast in the modern day, the other two being 1993's Joy Luck Club and 2018's Crazy Rich Asians. Without going into any spoilers about Crazy Rich Asians, Jeremy talks about how Flower Drum Song tried to accomplish what Crazy Rich Asians successfully accomplished over 50 years later, by highlighting the tensions between Chinese Americans and people actually born in China/Singapore.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's only true flop was 1955's Pipe Dream, based on a short novel by John Steinbeck.  Unlike the earlier forgotten R&H shows, Allegro and Me and Juliet, neither of the pair was actually excitied about this one, so it's odd that it was even made. In this episode, you'll hear how some of the songs in pipe Dream sound suspiciously similar to earlier R&H songs. 

We take a look at 1959's The Sound of Music, the final collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein. While the 1965 film is universally beloved, it is possible that the original stage musical was...bad??? Hannah and Jeremy investigate.

Gypsy (1959) with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, and directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, is considered by many critics and scholars to be the greatest Broadway musical of all time? Do Hannah and Jeremy agree? Find out on this episode of Broadway Binge.

Today, Jeremy will tell you all you need to know about Rodgers and Hammerstein's forgettable and regrettable musical, Me and Juliet, from 1953, and then you'll never need to think about it again. It is not about Romeo and Juliet, and it is not an early-2000s teen comedy, as much as the title suggests it might be. Rodgers threw Hammerstein a bone by agreeing to do Allegro in 1947, and this show is Hammerstein returning the favor. There is one fun song though, so check this out for that.

Pete the Retailer from the Star Wars Minute, Alphabeatical, and ABCDEVO podcasts joins us to talk about The Music Man, which he acted in as a child. The Music Man has music and lyrics by Meredith Wilson, and is considered to be an American classic. But does it hold up today? And is Robert Preston wearing a toupee in the movie?? Here is a picture of him in The Music Man movie, and here is a picture of him in the movie SOB, in what the LA Times calls a "deep-pile toupee."  If you think he had a toupee in The Music Man tweet with #toupee to @Broadway_Binge, and if you don't think so, tweet with #notatoupee.

We finish off West Side Story with a deep dive into every number, discussing casting, the music, the lyrics, the dancing, the differences between the show and the film, and even conspiracy theories! And at the end, we rank it against all the other shows we've discussed so far.  See how it does! Check out the Broadway Binge Listen-Along Spotify Playlist here, for all the best songs in all the musicals we've discussed!

We finally reach West Side Story! A show so important we're devoting two weeks to it. This week, we discuss how the 1957 show with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by rookie Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, directed and choreographed by Leonard Bernstein, came together for the stage. We also discuss the changes made for the 1961 movie, and we begin to dive into the show itself! Tweet your thoughts at us at @Broadway_Binge   One correction, we note in the episode that Heaven on Their Minds has a section in 7/4 time, and that When Your Mind's Made Up is in 5/4 time, but upon reflection, those might actually be 7/8 and 10/8. The scores will contain the truth.

In preparation for the upcoming West Side Story episodes, Jeremy takes us through the higlights of Wonderful Town (1953) and Candide (1956), Leonard Bernstein's two Broadway efforts in between On the Town and West Side Story. Wonderful town is basically a discount On the Town, and Candide is Bernstein going full operetta.   

We're finishing off our Broadway song rankings, with Hannah's and Jeremy's top 5 songs.  Plus, a listener sent in her list, so we read that one too. Hear all of our selections at the Broadway Binge Favorite Songs Playlist.

We're pleasantly surprised by Damn Yankees, the second and final musical by Adler and Ross after the disappointing Pajama Game.  Damn Yankees is surprisingly high concept, and surprisingly non-baseball focused.  West Side Story is up next, so if you want to watch the movie in preparation, now is the time.  

Hannah and Jeremy rank their 10th through 6th favorite Broadway songs, plus some honorable mentions.  There are some oddball choices in here, to be sure. Listen to all of our choices on this special Spotify Playlist, which will be updated when we release Part 2 with each of our top 5 songs.  Broadway Binge Favorite Songs Playlist.

Rodgers and Hammerstein had their first flop with Allegro (1947) a pet project of Hammerstein's coming on the heels of their smash successes of Oklahoma and Carousel.  They would never stray so far from their established formula again after the swing and miss of Allegro.  But what made it a flop, and what is the story behind its creation? Find out on our second Minisode.