musicaltalk's Podcast

As the BFI launches a major retrospective of the career of Gingers Rogers, Thos talks to film writer, Miles Eady, to discuss this versatile and talented actress who became legendary in the 1930s for working with Busby Berkeley, Fred Astaire, George Gershwin, Dorothy Fields, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and many others in the most important musical films of the first musicals golden age, the 1930s.

It’s time to join Thos as he surveys one of the best musical comedies of the last two decades – Kander & Ebb’s wonderful Curtains. This week he chats to the people behind the fantastic production which could be seen at last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe to get a sense of not just the nuts and bolts of putting on a demanding spectacle of a show but also how they interpret the text in hand: In short, it’s a show that shows what show people know about this show with its show within a show. Simple!

In the first of a two part tribute, Thos remembers the wonderful “Renaissance Man of the Theatre”, the late Kit Hesketh-Harvey, who died earlier this month. In this episode we hear Kit in two episodes which highlight his talents on stage and off, in two fascinating – and very funny – interviews covering his work in Kit and the Widow, one of the UK’s most successful cabaret acts, and in his work directing and adapting La Belle Helene by Offenbach, covering everything from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Noel Coward along the way

Well, it’s a brand new year so that can only mean the return of our traditional MusicalTalk festive quiz. Is there any better way of ushering in a new year? Yes, of course there is – but when’ve finished doing that, you can then enjoy this merry mix of quirky questions and superb songs compiled for your diversionary pleasure by that ridiculous old idiot Thos. So put your feet up and let your hair down – and keep everything else where it is. You’ll be wiser and older by the time it’s done!

Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder: In this bumper episode, Thos enjoys a hilarious and insightful conversation with the multitalented Matthew Floyd Jones, the composer of the songs for MusicalTalk’s Pick of the Fringe 2022, Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder. Hear how Matthew’s extensive career as a writer, performer, composer and much more has informed the creation of this five star show – and why you won’t find any plinking and plonking on his watch!

Episode 2: Oklahoma in Depth - Tradition and Revision: Join Colm and Thos for the second part of their in-depth conversation about all things Oklahoma, and find out what they thought of the recent re-interpretation of this evergreen musical which was on at the Yong Vic. Are Curly and Jud simply two sides of the same character? Can ballets in musicals ever avoid obviousness or pretension? And it is a breath of fresh air or pure heresy? It's all er nuthin'!

With all London seemingly talking about the recent Young Vic production of Daniel Fish's reinterpretation of Oklahoma, join Thos and Colm for the first part of a in-depth discussion about the legendary 20th Century musical, Oklahoma. In this first episode, we look at the myth surrounding the show, it's legacy and the people behind it: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Have they gone about as fer as they could go? Find out in this interesting episode.

It’s a brand new year so it must be time for our traditional MusicalTalk musical theatre quiz – a merry mix of quirky questions and superb songs compiled for your pleasure by Thos. This time it’s all about the late Stephen Sondheim who was no mean compiler of mysteries himself. So, old friends, something’s coming! And with so little to be sure of, now you know! It might be agony but once you’ve got a good thing going, and opening doors on your knowledge, what can you lose? And some people might have an epiphany or move on. Or am I simply losing my mind?

Nick chats to Elyse (vocalist) and Chris Willis (composer) on their involvement with cresting the parody TV Series exploring the tropes of the 1940s and 50s musicals - Schmigadoon. We also hear from John Sweeney and Andrew Edwards as they share their thoughts on it!

Chris and Elyse also discuss creating songs and music for the Mickey Mouse shorts on Disney Plus!

Schmigadoon is now streaming on Apple TV+

It’s time to get back inside the MusicalTalk Time Machine to look at the music compiled by Thomas D’urfey in his seminal collection of 17th and 18th Century songs. Thos looks at the connections between D’urfey, John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera, and a well-known nursery rhyme. There’s also a chance to hear a further chat with the multitalented academic and performer, David William Hughes, who talks about another of his one man musicals - this time named after D’Urfey’s famous book, Wit and Mirth.

This week, Thos chats to David William Hughes, academic and performer of historic music, as they discuss his one man musical, Elizabethan, featuring Tudor and Jacobean songs and how music underwent a seismic development soon, ushering a musical world we still have today. They then look forward to next week’s episode which leaps forward about a hundred years to look at the comic songs of the later Stuart monarchs and helped give rise to the Beggar’s Opera, one of the foundations of modern musical theatre.

This week, Thos looks at one of the most significant changes to fringe festivals in 2021 – the advent of the virtual productions! Whilst they’ve been around for ages, it’s only since the pandemic that they really taken off. And with more virtual musicals on offer than live musical productions at this summer’s EdFringe, we take a look at two different shows you could have seen this year, and the variation in their approaches to putting on a show.

It’s the very welcome return of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – and this year it was somehow both a lot smaller and a lot bigger – with a mixture of physical and virtual shows, giving it more of a global reach than ever. As always, MusicalTalk will be talking about the pick of the crop of musicals from this year’s event but to get the ball rolling, and to mark the return of the world’s largest arts festival, Thos and Colm sit down to talk, not about any particular shows, but about the feeling, atmosphere and intoxication of the EdFringe as a thing in itself. It’s time to put out the bunting…

Join Mike Shapiro as he updates Thos about his wonderful Hollywood Fringe adventure musical, Gideon and the Blundersnorp, which having been in a successful virtual version last year has now been redeveloped for a real live theatrical production in 2021. In this bumper episode, you’ll hear songs aplenty and entertaining chat about the show’s unusual developmental journey as well as discussions on everything from orchestrations, poster design, to livestreaming each performance for global viewing!

Thos talks to musical theatre royalty, the amazing Kim Criswell, about her new show, the wonderful Rodgers and Hammerstein revue, A Grand Night for Singing, which is being presented at the Edinburgh International Festival this summer and brings together both well known and neglected F&H gems. Kim shares her thoughts on this great songwriting partnership and the difficulties faced by the production in the age of Covid-19 restrictions in a wonderful, wide ranging and hugely enthusiastic conversation which is bound to delight any lover of musical theatre.

We return to part two of our special in-depth look at the fantastic free new musical drama podcast, The Ballad of Anne and Mary, created by Laurence Owen and Lindsay Sharman about the famous 18th Century pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. This week we discuss the story, themes and structure used to tell the take effectively over several weeks, and we listen to and analyse the wonderful title song! It’s not Yo Ho Hum!

Join Thos over the next three weeks for a special in-depth look at the fantastic new musical, The Ballad of Anne and Mary. In this first episode, he talks to the show’s creators, Laurence Owen and Lindsay Sharman, about the development of this fantastic venture which is presented as a free five-part musical drama podcast, and tells the story of famous 18th Century pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. You’ll also hear how their other hugely successful drama podcast, Mockery Manor, used songs to give a sense of place and influenced this later production – and you’ll learn the best way to get a tune out of a cat!

Join Thos as he revisits the much praised 2010 Regents Park Open Air Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, which is viewable to watch in a streaming version online. Cast your mind back to the heady days of a decade ago when the world was celebrating Sondheim’s 80th birthday, Dame Judi Dench was the Giant’s Wife and you could cast real trees as part of this evergreen musical! And if you don’t like it, you’re the one to blame - it’s your fault! (as someone once cleverly wrote)

Welcome to this bumper edition of MusicalTalk crammed with great songs and fine chat as Thos brings us a brand new interview with talented writer, Alexander S. Bermange, creator of I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, a wonderful show shortly be made available in a specially recorded version for online viewing via the Kings Head Theatre website. In this lively and information conversation, you can hear how you deal with success at the Fringe, how the coronavirus has changed how theatre is made and how you tailor a theatrical success for online streaming.

With the five star revue, I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical – a must see for all fans of musical theatre – being made available for streaming, join Thos for the first of two interviews with Alexander S. Bermange, the talented writer and creator of the show. In this week’s episode, we hear about the show when it was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 and how it came to be in the first place, prior to next week when we discuss how you transfer a show to a virtual streaming situation.

It may be a reduced Christmas this year with the pandemic and lockdowns, but that’s no reason not to have a good old quiz and songfest here on MusicalTalk. So that can only mean its our traditional MusicalTalk Crimbo Musical Theatre Quiz – a merry mix of quirky questions and superb songs compiled for your diversionary pleasure by Thos who is on totally MAD form (hint: this might be a clue).

In this week’s bumper episode, we look again at Jekyll Versus Hyde, the frankly brilliant adaptation of the evergreen story by discussing the musical with its creators, Laurence Owen and Lindsay Sharman and hearing what Thos and Mike thought about its investigation into duality. There’s also a chance to hear a ten point review of the recent West End version of 42nd Street which has been made available as a virtual show that you could watch online!

With 2013’s epic new musical, From Here to Eternity, recently revived on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Show Must Go On website, listen to Thos and Tim as they talk about the weaknesses and strengths of the original London production, and then, following the sad death of Bobby Ball, of British comedy double act Cannon and Ball, there’s a chance to hear Ed’s 2009 interview with them both as they talk about their career and appearances in pantomime.

Colm and Thos discuss Drive By Shooting (A Street Art Opera), a brand spanking new ten minute opera that unexpectedly uses the model of the three hundred year old intermezzo they discussed last week, and then keeping it in the eighteenth century, Josh chats with Thos about a recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion that uses a modern model of performance but with a score from the late 1700s.

Join Thos and Colm as they talk about The Secretary Turned CEO, a radical modern re-interpretation of Pergolesi's seminal comic opera of 1733, The Maid Turned Mistress, before Thos catches up with Danyal Dhondy, the Musical Director of the 2015 EdFringe production who talks about bringing this godparent of modern musical theatre bang up to date with a bawdy new English libretto by Becca Marriott, and his own contemporary guitar-based arrangement of the score. It’s a hoot!

Fancy seeing a new musical for free? Well, you’d best join Thos as he chats to Mike Shapiro about Mike’s latest show, Gideon and the Blundersnorp, and how in the absence of this year’s Hollywood Fringe, he’s taking that old film cliché, and putting on a show! With songs and chat, and plenty of musical theatre references from Peter and the Wolf, Les Miserables and Oliver by way of Sondheim and Blood Brothers, enjoy this in-depth look at this magical new piece, including details about how you can watch its first virtual performance for free! It’s not impossible!

Return to the House of Edgar – Disinterring the Past: Having recently heard about the future of the House of Edgar, MusicalTalk’s Pick of the Fringe 2018, join Thos as he explores the history of this amazing musical in the company of two of its talented stars, Sarah Dean and Eoin McAndrew, in a laugh-filled interview recorded during the show’s run in 2018: It’s all about Edgar but it’s far from po-faced!.