Broadway Backstory

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TodayTix is introducing a brand new podcast called "My So-Called Podcast" all about "MY So-Called Life." Hosted by Broadway Backstory's Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle of The Hamilcast: An American Podcast, the show is a deep and hilarious dive into the 90s drama that invented teen angst, flannel, floppy hair, and Jordan Catalano. Go wherever you get your podcasts to hear our promo and subscribe. Or you can stream the promo and check out our bonus content at mysocalledpodcast.todaytix.com. Episodes 1 and 2 drop Wednesday, April 4th. Join us!

The Most Beautiful Thing in the World! For our season two finale, we're tackling the 2013 Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots. We'll find out how the show, based on true events, developed from a little-known British independent film to an unlikely Tony-winning smash hit, now in its fifth year on Broadway.  Featuring director Jerry Mitchell, composer Cyndi Lauper, book writer Harvey Fierstein, actors Billy Porter, Stark Sands, Annaleigh Ashford and Ellyn Marsh, and producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig. 

Welcome to The Rock! This week, we're tackling the 2017 smash hit Come From Away! When American airspace was shut down on September 11, 2011, 38 planes carrying nearly 7,000 passengers were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland. For five days, the residents of the town took care of these strangers, Come From Aways as they were called. 10 years later, writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein went to Gander to meet the real-life people behind this now famous act of human kindness, and what resulted was this heartwarming musical.  For this episode, we too talk to some of the real-life people including Claude Elilott, the Mayor of Gander then and now, and Captain Beverley Bass, whose pioneering life story is told in the show-stopping song "Me and the Sky." We also chat with Sankoff and Hein, Tony-winning director Christopher Ashley, actors Jenn Colella and Caesar Samayoa, the producers, scenic designer and more as we chart the musical's journey from a Canadian college workshop to Tony-nominated hit. 

Happy Holidays! We're checking in to say thanks for helping to make season 2 such a great success and to let you know when to expect the final two episodes of the season!

This week we bring you the tale of 2012's Bring It On: The Musical. Bring It On was created from the ground up by some of the greatest talents working in theater today: Andy Blankenbuehler (director / choreographer), Lin-Manuel Miranda (music, lyrics), Tom Kitt (Music), Amanda Green (Music, Lyrics), Alex Lacamoire (Orchestrations), and David Korins (scenic design). For the episode, we'll find out how the show developed from a cult hit film to a Tony-nominated fan favorite which broke the mold with its characters and made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records.  This episode features brand new interviews with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andy Blankenbuehler, Tom Kitt, Amanda Green, Taylor Louderman, Adrienne Warren, Gregory Haney, Helene Yorke, and the show's cheer and Stunt coordinator Jessica McDermott.

For this week's episode, we trace The Light in the Piazza's fifty-year journey from its first incarnation as a novella by Elizabeth Spencer to a musical idea handed down through one of musical theater's most prominent families.  We follow the musical, written by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, as it takes shape at the Sundance Theatre Lab, has its first production at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, is restructured for the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, before making its way to Broaday at Lincoln Center. The show would be nominated for 13 Tony Awards and win 8 of them. It would make stars of its two leading ladies and go down as one of the most important new works of our time.  This episode features brand new interviews with composer Adam Guettel, book writer Craig Lucas, actors Victoria Clark, Kelli O'Hara, and Celia Keenan-Bolger, director Bartlett Sher, and Lincoln Center Artistic Director Andre Bishop

FINALLY! With no further ado, we bring you the backstory of THE MOST requested show for us to cover: 2011's Bonnie & Clyde.  In this episode, we'll find out how the show developed from an ambitious recording project at Atlantic Records to a Broadway musical adored by audiences, but not by critics. Interviewees include Jeremy Jordan, Laura Osnes, director Jeff Calhoun, composer Frank Wildhorn, lyricist Don Black, book writer Ivan Menchell, producer Van Dean, and La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christoper Ashley.

"Helene is a slut, Anatole is hot, Marya is old-school, Sonya is good, Natasha is young, and Andre isn't here..." We're OBSESSED with Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812! Through conversations with the show's writer & composer, Dave Malloy, director Rachel Chavkin, producers, set designer and actors, we'll find out how the show developed from 70 pages of War and Peace to the most Tony nominated show of the 2017 season (and all the growing pains in between).

We're kicking off season two with 2 episodes about the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Hamilton. Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Director Tommy Kail, Producers Jeffrey Seller & Oskar Eustis, Alex Lacamoire, David Korins, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, and more, these episodes will dazzle both the Hamilton super-fans and the casual ones as we find out how the show developed from a vacation beach read to a genre-bending international phenomenon.  Part 1 takes us all the way back to 2008 when Lin-Manuel Miranda picked up Ron Chernow's book for the first time and, as Lin says, heard hip hop songs rising off the pages. From there, Lin begins work on a concept album called The Hamilton Mixtape. After a fateful performance of the Mixtape, the wheels are set in motion to develop the album into an off-Broadway musical in partnership with The Public Theater. As the off-Broadway production approached opening night, the creative team knew the work was good, but as The Public Theater's Oskar Eustis says,

We're kicking off season two with 2 episodes about the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Hamilton. Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Director Tommy Kail, Producers Jeffrey Seller & Oskar Eustis, Alex Lacamoire, David Korins, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, and more, these episodes will dazzle both the Hamilton super-fans and the casual ones as we find out how the show developed from a vacation beach read to a genre-bending international phenomenon.  Part 2 picks up on the opening night of Hamilton at The Public Theater. The reviews were ecstatic and the creative team began to plan for a Broadway transfer. Hamilton moves uptown and opens at the Richard Rodgers Theatre just 70 days after closing at The Public. Hamilton becomes the hottest ticket in generations, The #Ham4Ham show is born, and Hamilton earns more Tony nominations than any show in history.  Download the TodayTix app in googleplay or the app store or visit todaytix.com to see what's playing this month and treat yourself to a show. And u

Annnnnnnnd, we're back! Season two brings you eight brand new episodes that find out how some of your favorite shows developed from an idea to a full Broadway production. Our first two episodes drop on Tuesday, September 19th and will cover Hamilton. We take a fresh look at the show and offer some never-before heard insight into how the show developed from a vacation beach read to an international phenomenon earning more Tony nominations than any other show in history. Through exclusive interviews with Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail, orchestrator Alex Lacamoire, The Public Theater's Oskar Eustis, actors Phillipa Soo & Renee Elise Goldsberry, and more, you'll rediscover Hamilton and learn new information about how the show got made.         

Through conversations with the show's writers, producers, director and stars, we'll find out how Next To Normal developed from a college project, to a 10-minute musical, to a NYMF favorite, and then found its footing off-Broadway and out of town before becoming the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning hit. 

This episode finds out how Legally Blonde was transformed from a hit film to the long-running, peppy, and empowering Broadway hit. From a now Tony Award-winning Broadway director's debut to agonizing over choosing between two actresses for the lead role, this episode journeys from the first workshop rehearsal to an emotional opening night on Broadway. This season is sponsored by TodayTix. To get $15 off your first purchase, download the app or visit TodayTix.com and use the promo code BACKSTORY. Follow us on Twitter @bwaybackstory and go to TodayTix.com/BroadwayBackstory for more info. 

This episode finds out how the stunning re-imagining of the groundbreaking musical Spring Awakening began as a ten day workshop, was developed at a 99-seat theater near LA’s Skid Row, quickly transferred to famed regional theater in Beverly Hills, and ultimately landed on Broadway, all in a little over a year. Through conversations with the show’s original creators, director, producers and stars, we’ll find out how this “little show that could” made the unlikely journey from West Coast workshop to beloved Broadway revival.

This episode finds out how The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee developed from an off-off-off-Broadway improv show to the beloved, hilarious and quirky Broadway hit. Through conversations with the show's conceiver, actors, producer, and iconic director James Lapine, we'll find out how the show survived a condemned East Village theater, found its footing at Barrington Stage, and then captured the hearts of New York audiences off-Broadway at Second Stage before making it to Broadway at Circle in the Square. This season is sponsored by TodayTix. To get $15 off your first purchase, download the app or visit TodayTix.com and use the promo code "BACKSTORY". Follow us on Twitter @bwaybackstory and go to TodayTix.com/BroadwayBackstory for more info. 

This episode finds out how The Secret Garden developed from the classic 1911 children's book to one of the most beloved American musicals of the 1990s. Through conversations with the show's creators, producers, and Tony-winning child star Daisy Eagan, we'll find out how the show survived a 'disastrous' out of town tryout and overcame unfavorable reviews to become the long-running family-favorite hit.   This season is sponsored by TodayTix. To get $15 off your first purchase, download the app or visit TodayTix.com and use the promo code "BACKSTORY". Follow us on Twitter @bwaybackstory and go to TodayTix.com/BroadwayBackstory for more info.

This episode traces Fun Home's journey from a popular graphic novel to the groundbreaking Broadway hit. We'll hear from the book's author who didn't think a musical was possible, the history-making composing team who took 7 years to get the show up on its feet, the actors who lived through draft after draft of the work, and the producers who helped shape the show and find it a Broadway home.   This season is sponsored by TodayTix. To get $15 off your first purchase, download the app or visit TodayTix.com and use the promo code "BACKSTORY". Follow us on Twitter @bwaybackstory and go to todaytix.com/broadwaybackstory for more info.     

Picking up where episode 1 left off, episode 2 follows In the Heights from the show's first workshop to the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions. There was no guarantee that In the Heights would move beyond the workshop. Tough decisions were made and the show found its way, becoming the most Tony​-​nominated show of 2008 and taking home the all important award for Best New Musical.    This season is sponsored by TodayTix. To get $15 off your first purchase, download the app or visit todaytix.com and use promo code "BACKSTORY".   Follow us on Twitter @bwaybackstory and go to todaytix.com/broadwaybackstory for more info.

Episode 1 covers the early days of In the Heights. From the show's beginnings as a college project to the off-off Broadway readings that attracted big deal Broadway producers, we'll hear how the plot of the show took shape, the creative team was assembled, and the money was raised to get the show on its feet.      This season is sponsored by TodayTix. To get $15 off your first purchase, download the app or visit todaytix.com and use promo code "BACKSTORY".   Follow us on Twitter @bwaybackstory and go to todaytix.com/broadwaybackstory for more info.