Scene to Song

Scene to Song Episode 91: Stephen Sondheim’s Obsession with Moments and Dreams in His 1980s Musicals.

In this episode, podcaster Kyle Marshall discusses composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s obsession with moments and dreams in his 1980s musicals through four songs: “Merrily We Roll Along”, “Move On”, “Moments in the Woods”, and "Everybody’s Got the Right." We also talk about the song "Better" from David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori's 2021 musical Kimberly Akimbo. 

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
“Merrily We Roll Along” from Merrily We Roll Along
“Move On” from Sunday in the Park with George
“Moments in the Woods” from Into the Woods
"Everybody’s Got the Right" from Assassins
"Better" from Kimberly Akimbo

Scene to Song Episode 90: The Lyrics of Yip Harburg

In this episode, director Mike Meaney discusses the lyrics of Yip Harburg, lyrics from the musicals Bloomer Girl, Finian's Rainbow, The Wizard of Oz, and many in between. We also talk about the song "They Couldn't Compare to You" from Cole Porter, Dwight Taylor, and Reginald Lawrence's 1950 musical Out of This World. 

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Eagle and Me" from Bloomer Girl
"It was Good Enough for Grandma" from Bloomer Girl
"When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love" from Finian’s Rainbow
"When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich" from Finian’s Rainbow
"How are Things in Glocca Morra" from Finian’s Rainbow
"The Jitterbug" from The Wizard of Oz
"Napoleon" from Jamaica
"Lydia the Tattooed Lady" from The Marx Brothers's At the Circus
"Buds Won’t Bud" from Hooray for What
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz
"They Couldn’t Compare to You" from Out of This World

Scene to Song Episode 89: The Musicals of Stephen Schwartz

In this episode, theater reviewer and composer/lyricist/librettist Donald H. Sanborn III discusses the musicals of Stephen Schwartz, looking at his whole career but focusing on Wicked. We also talk about the song "No One Mourns the Wicked" from Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's 2003 musical Wicked. 

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"The Hardest Part of Love" from Children of Eden
"Children of Eden" from Children of Eden
"One Short Day" from Wicked
"What is this Feeling" from Wicked
"For Good" from Wicked
"Defying Gravity" Wicked
"No One Mourns the Wicked" from Wicked

Scene to Song Episode 88: Song Cycles in Musical Theater

In this episode, composer, lyricist, and librettist Timothy Huang discusses song cycles in musical theater, exploring what makes a piece a song cycle as opposed to a revue, concert, or book musical. We also talk about the song "The Butterfly" from Neil Bartram and Brian Hill's 2009 musical The Story of My Life. 

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Scene One: The Whore and the Soldier" from Hello Again 
"Patti by the Pool" from First Daughter Suite
"Hear My Song" from Songs for a New World
"Apocalypse in Tennessee" from Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
"Anytime (I am There)" from Elegies
"The Butterfly" from The Story of My Life

Scene to Song Episode 87: Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Flournoy Miller, and Aubrey Lyles’s Shuffle Along

In this episode, author and journalist Caseen Gaines discusses Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Flournoy Miller, and Aubrey Lyles’s 1921 musical Shuffle Along, looking not just at the musical itself but how musicals can get lost to history. We also talk about the song "Skid Row (Downtown)" from the Little Shop of Horrors. Gaines's book When Broadway Was Black comes out February 7, 2023. Learn more and purchase the book.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"I’m Just Wild About Harry" from Shuffle Along
"Love Will Find a Way" from Shuffle Along
"Election Day" from Shuffle Along
"Skid Row (Downtown)" from the Little Shop of Horrors

Scene to Song Episode 86: Season 5 Finale

In this episode, eight of this season's guests--Eric Matthew Richardson (Episode 72: Disney Parks Music as Musical Theater), Emel Greer (Episode 73: Evil Characters in Musical Theater), Tammy Tuckey (Episode 75: Marvin Hamlisch, David Zippel, and Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl), David Armstrong (Episode 79: Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mark O’Donnell, and Thomas Meehan’s Hairspray), Ilana Kresch (Episode 80: Jule Styne, Bob Merrill, and Isobel Lennart’s Funny Girl), Orian Israelsohn (Episode 81: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe’s The Phantom of the Opera), Marc Eliot Stein (Episode 82: John O’Hara, Lorenz Hart, and Richard Rodgers’s Pal Joey), and Rose Ginsberg (Episode 84: Abolition in Musical Theater), as well as BethAnn Cohen--return to discuss the topics from the season and listener questions and comments. We also discuss the song "Inner White Girl" from the 2022 Michael R. Jackson musical A Strange Loop.

This discussion was held live on Sunday, December 18th on Scene to Song’s Facebook page, and was recorded for this podcast almost in its entirety. Scene to Song will be going on a brief hiatus to prepare for Season six and will return in early 2023. In the meantime, you can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow us on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.”  And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music you are hearing is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Inner White Girl" from A Strange Loop

Scene to Song Episode 85: History in Musical Theater

In this episode, composer/lyricist and theatrical producer Gregory Jacobs-Roseman discusses history in musical theater, looking at how American history is written about through Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone's 1969 musical 1776 and others. We also talk about Jerry Herman's song "Avenue A" from the 1996 TV Movie Mrs. Santa Claus.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Sit Down, John" from 1776
"The Lees of Old Virginia" from 1776
"Cool, Cool, Considerate Men" from 1776
"Avenue A" from Mrs. Santa Claus.

Scene to Song Season 5 Finale Teaser

No new episode this week because I took a break for Thanksgiving. We’ll have a new episode next week, and then we’ll have the annual season finale live show! The date is set for Sunday, December 18th at 1pm Eastern Time, and as usual we’ll have an assortment of guests from this season to chat about musical theater and this season’s episodes. The video will live stream directly to Scene to Song’s Facebook page, and you don’t need a Facebook account to watch it. Just go to www.facebook.com/scenetosong and you’ll find it. 

One of the things I love about the season finale episode is that everyone can participate. If you have a question or a comment about musical theater or one of the season 5 episodes, we’ll respond to it during the show. There are many ways to submit your questions or comments. You can email scenetosong@gmail.com, you can use one of the Scene to Song social media platforms–Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram–and leave a comment on a post or send a direct message, you can watch the show live on the Facebook page on December 18th and comment on the video. Someone will be watching the comment thread to make sure that all comments and questions are addressed. And, the most fun way to participate, you can call in directly during the show and comment or ask your question on the air. I’ll post the phone number on the Facebook video and read it out loud during the livestream. These are all great ways to participate, and the guests and I hope to hear from you. 

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Scene to Song Episode 84: Abolition in Musical Theater

In this episode, community-based theatre director, deviser, workshop facilitator, producer, and educator Rose Ginsberg discusses abolition in musical theater and how those ideas are present in the stories of various musicals. We also talk about the song "You're Never Alone" from the 2014 Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman musical The Bridges of Madison County.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"You're Never Alone" from The Bridges of Madison County.

Scene to Song Episode 83: Musicals Whose Scores Outshine Their Books

In this episode, playwright and filmmaker Patrick Flynn discusses musicals whose scores outshine their books, looking at how that happens in different ways in musicals such as Merrily We Roll Along, Hair, In the Heights, and more. We also talk about the song "Rich and Happy" from the original Merrily We Roll Along.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Rich and Happy" from Merrily We Roll Along (1980)
"That Frank" from Merrily We Roll Along