Bottomless Broadway

Omigod you guys, in this episode, we’re joined by Jeff Parsons of A Musical Theatre Podcast to shine a light on musicals of Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe (and Kevin Murphy and Jeff Richmond)! We’re talking Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, and Heathers because more is better, so take a listen and see if they’re so much better than the original movies. -- Listen to A Musical Theatre Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and check out the Heathers episode with original cast member Rachel Flynn, and you can also hear us discuss My Fair Lady. Hear Barrett Wilbert Weed and Jeff Richmond discuss the lyrics to I’d Rather Be Me. Check out the Apex Predator performance on the Today Show to just watch The Plastics strut their way around Rockefeller Plaza. Listen to different performances of the ending of So Much Better. Watch Laura Bell Bundy keep going after kicking off a shoe during So Much Better. If you want to hear more about the process of turning Legally Blonde into a musical (including the shoe incident), you can

While you’re stuck in quarantine, why not join a shipload of fools in a new murder mystery musical? Hop aboard and listen to us talk about A Killer Party, the newest big cat joining the ranks of other virtual theater offerings! — You can purchase A Killer Party for on-demand viewing and find more information on their website: https://akillerpartymusical.com/ The original teaser leading up to the announcement of the show involved a lot of Broadway stars in black and white photos, which can still be seen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/whatsinthesoup/ Laura Osnes gives a bit of a peek behind the scenes to how she and Jarrod Spector filmed their scenes while quarantining together: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy2sKqJrVB/ If you want another Broadway-related murder mystery offering, check out Andrew Barth Feldman’s Broadway Whodunit, a live improv event where you get to be the detective: https://www.broadwaywhodunit.com/ If our review doesn’t satisfy you, try checking out what Jesse Green of

You won’t have to wait for it any longer because our episode on Hamilton is now here! You’ll be back after listening to us discuss the Disney+ capture, camera angles, historical context, public criticism, and just how much of a weirdo Alexander Hamilton really was. — Watch Jonathan Groff talk to Steven Colbert about how his King George walk came about: https://youtu.be/03IpD4QWPgQ Alysha Deslorieux amazed and astonished Christine as Angelica, and you can watch her take on Satisfied: https://youtu.be/uHi9jukDAL0 David Rockwell’s She Loves Me set was quite a sight to behold, and you can check out a VR version here: https://youtu.be/AUJWJGzNN90 Check out some hidden secrets in David Korins’s set: https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2018/05/31/7-hamilton-set-secrets/ Watch Andy Blankenbueler break down the meaning of each movement in his choreography for My Shot (https://youtu.be/VmYTsOrnWP0) and  Battle of Yorktown (https://youtu.be/gb67f2HLVGM) The critique of Hamilton is worth hearing out for its di

What’s new, Buenos Aires? Nothing much since Broadway is dark through 2021, but we’re here to talk about the new(est) Evita revival from City Center with a few tangents into insecticide, Isabel Peron, Attila the Hun, Lauren Bacall, and insecticide. -- If you’ve never listened to The Lady’s Got Potential, Patrick Flynn from The Original Cast podcast has a great primer: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/13648631 For the record, Christine watched By Jeeves when it aired on The Shows Must Go On and rather enjoyed it. Sir Tim Rice’s podcast: https://getontomycloud.podbean.com/ The Grass is Always Greener is a hilarious song from Woman of the Year performed by Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Cooper: https://youtu.be/aP7maJavkQE The song from Smash is the Twentieth Century Fox Mambo (not Fox Trot), but this is how Christine imagines Rainbow High should be staged: https://youtu.be/sUbS8uWEj5c Patti LuPone does not hold back when talking about President Trump (https://youtu.be/XwIrm3Kawkk), which is ironic consi

Cindy had some mic problems, so she’s phoning it in this week to the very first Bottomless Broadway Phony Awards, where we award shows we’ve seen this season, both on Broadway and off! So grab a drink (or two) and join us in celebrating the past year of theater in less time than it would take to watch the usual Tonys telecast. — Support black theater-makers!  Check out the first inaugural Antonyo Awards (and vote on your picks): https://www.broadwayblack.com/snax_poll/vote-antonyo-awards/  Follow along as we go through our list of nominees: https://bit.ly/2AX428o We included some shows that we hadn’t talked about on previous episodes: Emojiland: https://www.emojiland.com/ Lightning Thief: https://www.lightningthiefmusical.com/ Scotland, PA: https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/2019-2020-season/scotland-pa/ Soft Power: https://publictheater.org/softpower  Evita: https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2019-2020/evita/ Road Show: https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2018-2019/road-show/

It's no longer Christmas, and we might be betraying our original intent to only do musicals, but one may as well begin with the sound inside this episode as we discuss the other plays we've seen this season, including A Christmas Carol, Betrayal, The Inheritance, and The Sound Inside. If you want to avoid spoilers for The Inheritance, be sure to skip 26:30-29:08. -- Missed part 1 of our plays recap? Check it out over here: https://link.chtbl.com/pp1pod We adored Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol and loved even more that this show highlighted actors with disabilities: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/theater/tiny-tim-a-christmas-carol-disabled-actors.html Adam Feldman did a roundup of all the different versions of A Christmas Carol playing in NYC this year, has anyone seen them all? https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/where-to-see-a-christmas-carol-in-nyc We’re not sure if this production will ever be back on Broadway, but check out some clips of A Christmas Carol, including the gorgeous set we raved about!

We've used up our well of musicals, so we'll be play-ing it by ear for the next two episodes! Take a listen to our thoughts on Sea Wall/A Life, Slave Play, The Minutes, and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune in this episode. Some spoilers WILL occur, so if you'd like to avoid them, heed the timestamps below: 6:01-7:44 - spoilers for Sea Wall, none for A Life. 7:51-23:37 - spoilers for Slave Play, might also be some minor allusions to events that happen in the rest of our discussion. 27:05-36:14 - spoilers for The Minutes, may also be minor allusions as well. Some discussion of the ending for Frankie and Johnny, but no major spoilers. -- Sea Wall/A Life is now on Audible (https://www.audible.com/pd/Sea-Wall-A-Life-Audiobook/B0875MV37V)!  But if you don't want to subscribe, you can also hear Jake Gyllenhaal doing a selection of A Life: https://youtu.be/PmTXgAkgCl8 The New York Times review that Cindy mentions about an alarm going off during Sea Wall: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/theater/sea

It's been a while since we've sat side by side by side, but have we got the podcast for you, with part 2 of our Company recap!  After all, what would we do without you, listening to us run our mouths on theatre? -- If you missed our first episode on the Company revival, you can find that here: https://link.chtbl.com/company1 Jesse Green on Sondheim, in pure fanboy mode: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/theater/stephen-sondheim-playwright.html This is Patti LuPone's third time as Joanne in Company, with the first two being the Lincoln Center Concert with Neil Patrick Harris as Bobby (https://youtu.be/UvXEQ4lZt8k), and the second being the original London version of this production, with Rosalie Craig as Bobbie (https://youtu.be/2hQkUgSQ2TE), though also check out her first performance of Ladies Who Lunch if you haven't already, done in front of Elaine Stritch herself: https://youtu.be/oTsuK_HGFJg.. Some snippets from the cast members performing selections of the songs: https://youtu.be/mQIq6zRt8ys Want

Your phone may be ringing and your door chiming less often, but in comes our episode on the gender-swapped revival of Company, where you can hear us unironically judge the life choices of a woman a decade older than us.  --  Christine's first introduction to Company was when Glee did "Getting Married Today", which worked surprisingly well in the show: https://youtu.be/pLRNEILRVjw For Sondheim's birthday, The New York Times put out a series of articles honoring him, including Jesse Green's tribute: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/theater/stephen-sondheim-playwright.html Patti LuPone is definitely making the most out of her quarantine, so check out the first of four (so far) basement videos she's posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PattiLuPone/status/1241891274321539072 The letters of "Company" that we mention in "Another Hundred People" can be seen on the musical's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hIa-7H_24/ If you want a deeper dive into the Company musical itself, as well as comp

Could it be? Yes it could. Something’s coming, something good? Well you won't have to wait, because we’re here tonight with our first revival, West Side Story! Warning: There is mention of attempted sexual assault in this episode, so if that’s something that you’d like to skip, that occurs at 35:00-37:30. -- If you want to find out more about the Amar Ramasar controversy and protests, this article is a good place to start: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/theater/west-side-story-amar-ramasar.html Ben Brantley's review of this revival for the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/theater/west-side-story-review-sharks-vs-jets-vs-video.html And for a completely different take, David Rooney's review for Hollywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/west-side-story-theater-1280016 This production uses the film version of "America", which can be seen with Rita Moreno as Anita: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e2igZexpMs Alternatively, the stage version can be seen with Karen Olivo as A

A lot of pretty, pretty girls have graced the Broadway stage, but is Diana the main event? — While a cast album has been announced, so far only two songs have been released, but you can listen to them here: Underestimated: https://youtu.be/5_YuxRGGLg4 If: https://youtu.be/7yZjS1DadLs Christine also talks about the original opening number, Once Upon a Time, which you can hear the instrumental of here (or stick around at the end of the episode): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1153502634824560 Cindy mentions the cape dance from Cursed Child, which you can see in action: https://youtu.be/jViplYpkKwc It doesn’t seem like the tabloids have changed much since Diana married Charles, with what they’ve said about Meghan Markle: buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-double-standards-royal A playlist of songs with alternate parenthetical titles (and feel free to let us know about ones that we missed!): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/51ZsCaZTdGXZxFm5xZV0s9 Check out what William Ivey L

All You Wanna Do is listen to our new episode on SIX, where we Get Down into the details of each song and each queen’s life.  — If you aren’t familiar with Six, the Olivier Awards performance of the opening number is a great place to start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJbaU4j0JCo The program provides some information about the queens and their "queenspirations" but if you haven’t gotten one, this article talks a bit about the influences behind each queen: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/six-the-musical-which-modern-day-pop-stars-are-the-queens-inspired-by.html/ If you want to know even more about the development process of the show, The New York Times did a fantastic piece on its history (or rather, herstory): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/theater/six-broadway.html We still don’t completely understand Tik Tok, so for those in a similar situation, here are some examples of how Six is used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RjRGr_aQhc The megamix is the only number not on the cast album, s

Ooh, this could be messy, but we don't seem to mind, so take a listen to our discussion on the latest jukebox musical to open this season! -- Correction: Christine misidentifies the entr'acte song as "Wake Up" when it should be "Hands Clean". Hear the creators talk about how they approached the music of Alanis Morissette and what working with her was like: https://variety.com/2019/legit/news/jagged-little-pill-musical-making-of-broadway-1203367695/ The average household income of Broadway theatergoers really is $261k according to this survey, though we guarantee you we aren't making that much even with our combined salaries: https://www.broadwayleague.com/press/press-releases/the-broadway-league-reveals-the-demographics-of-the-broadway-audience-for-2018-2019-season/ Take a listen to this absolutely gorgeous mashup of Head Over Feet and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow from Glee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQwhvrX5WL4 Check out the Jagged Little Pill New Year's Eve performance, featuring Lauren Patten alon

Welcome back, for part 2 of our Moulin Rouge coverage, where we talk absinthe, Tony Awards, and "More, More, More!"  So go ahead and listen to us pull back the curtains on this "Backstage Romance"! If you need to catch up on part 1, you can do so here: https://anchor.fm/bottomless-broadway/episodes/Moulin-Rouge--Part-1-eabe8f -- In case you need a reminder of the process for obtaining songs for this show, the New York Times has got you covered: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/theater/moulin-rouge-musical-songs.html Speaking of the New York Times, take a look at Ben Brantley's review that we reference a few times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/theater/moulin-rouge-review.html Choreographer Sonya Tayeh made her Broadway debut with Moulin Rouge, and will also be choreographing Sing Street later this season, but take a look at what she has to say about approaching such an iconic film: https://www.broadway.com/buzz/197761/choreographer-sonya-tayeh-on-expressing-impossible-love-and-her-ravishing-moulin

Welcome to the Moulin Rouge, where there are so many songs that we couldn't fit them into one episode.  We're not sure the starving artists of the Bohemian Revolution would approve of this display of extravagance, but then again, maybe Broadway can keep alive what they couldn't.  So "Shut Up and Raise Your Glass" as you listen to us break down the Bohemian values currently on display at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.  --   Shout-out to The Original Cast (https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/6051662) and Movie Musical Shakedown (https://www.onstageblog.com/movie-musical-shakedown/2019/7/6/movie-musical-shakedown-ep-28-moulin-rouge) for giving us a way to review the movie without watching it ourselves!  Want to know the backstory behind getting the rights to all of the songs in the show? Check out this New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/theater/moulin-rouge-musical-songs.html  Or, listen to music supervisor Justin Levine talk about some of his song

Come down to Skid Row, where roses AND tickets cost $100!  Cindy and Christine make their triumphant return from their hiatus, here to talk about Westside Theatre's production of Little Shop of Horrors and the show itself.  Ya Never Know what you might find ahead, so be aware of man-eating plants and spoilers in this episode! -- Curious about how a movie with carnivorous plants made it to the stage? Learn more about it over on Playbill! (http://www.playbill.com/article/how-howard-ashman-and-alan-menken-created-the-iconic-little-shop-of-horrors) Check out the original movie ending (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RjFvcw6ToQ) and see how it compares to the one that made the final cut (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtJtYayW4VQ)! Take a look at pictures of Jonathon Groff as Seymour in this production, along with Christian Borle and Tammy Blanchard!(http://www.playbill.com/article/see-photos-of-jonathan-groff-tammy-blanchard-and-christian-borle-in-little-shop-of-horrors?fbclid=IwAR1M1nOSGJjfeucyWCvDn8

 ’Tis the season to be judgmental.  As we all know, Christmas comes six months early when you’re a theatre fanatic, and Cindy and Christine are here to guide you through their picks for the best of this Broadway season. Want to join in on the judgment?  Come judge us and let us know how we’re doing on our nifty little feedback form: https://forms.gle/12jUJ1sc8f4qwcoE8 We’ll be live-tweeting the Tonys on location at Radio City Music Hall, so make sure to follow our Twitter account @BottomlessBway (https://twitter.com/BottomlessBway) and tweet us if you agree or disagree with any of our predictions.  Or if you have a burning passion that can’t be contained by Twitter’s character limit, email us at bottomlessbway@gmail.com. Follow along with the winners and see if we get it right on Sunday, June 9 at 8pm EDT https://www.tonyawards.com/winners/ This marks the end of our normal season, but make sure you’re subscribed for any surprise episodes coming out before our next season starts up again

"The Beat Goes On" in this season's crop of jukebox musicals that "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" you to go see them.  But stay just a little bit longer and listen to our recap, discussing how they stack up to other shows like Summer, Beautiful, Motown, and the ultimate gold standard of Jersey Boys. --  Find out more about how the actors got involved in The Cher Show and their interactions with the actual Cher in this podcast episode. Alternatively, find out how the five actors portraying The Temptations come to their characters in this episode. The costumes in The Cher Show are a definite highlight, so check out what the designer Bob Mackie has to say about them. Want to know more about the progression of autotune after Cher?  Check out Switched on Pop! Jarrod Spector has now been in three different bio-musicals, so he knows a little bit about playing real people. Want to see how the three Chers and Sonny stack up to the original?  Christine made a playlist on Apple Music so now you can! The Che

We'll just be voices in your head as you listen to us break down Be More Chill in this week's episode.  So join us on this ride through this teenage musical phenomenon, picking up right where we ended last week! --  Want to know even more about the songs?  Take a look at Joe Iconis's track-by-track breakdown for act 1 and act 2. What would a show about technology be without some cool tech behind it?  Check out some of the design elements behind what you see and hear in Be More Chill. Learn more about the orchestrator, Charlie Rosen, who's largely responsible for bringing that technological soundscape to life. Smash--gone too soon or not soon enough?  Either way, it introduced a lot of us to Joe Iconis, who has a couple of songs featured in its show-within-a-show, along with our good friends Pasek and Paul (they're not actually our friends, we can only dream). We recorded this before the Broadway cast recording came out, so all the tracks you'll hear are from the original New Jersey re

Pretty woman, walkin' down the streets of Broadway. But will she charm theatregoers of New York City like she did the Beverly Hills elite?   This is another two-parter that got split into two separate parts, so keep an eye on your feeds for our episode on Be More Chill next week! -- If you want to know how Samantha Barks, Orfeh, and Andy Karl actually got cast, check out the episode from Billboard on Broadway! Take a look at the tribute to Gary Marshall and some of his original ideas for the Broadway show. Listen to the Broadway cast recording and let us know what your favorite songs are over on Twitter @BottomlessBway! iTunes / Spotify