BROADWAY NATION

This is the final episode of a three-part conversation with author Elizabeth T. Craft regarding her recent book, Yankee Doodle Dandy — George M. Cohan and the Broadway Stage, the first book major work about Cohan in fifty years. If you missed the first two episodes in this series, you may want to catch up with those before listening to this one.

In this episode, Elizabeth Craft and I discuss the final decades of Cohan’s remarkable career, during which he continued to establish and define the very nature of celebrity, including the significant impact he had on young Oscar Hammerstein II and the next generation of Broadway innovators. Elizabeth also shares with us how, during the 1920s, in a series of hit musicals, Cohan, for the first time, put his Irish American heritage and identity at the center of his work, which was not without controversy. Along the way, she reveals the truth behind Cohen’s claim that he was born on the 4th of July, provides us with an inside view of the making of the classic 1941 Cohan bio-musical, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and sums up his enduring legacy as the primary inventor of the myth of Broadway.

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This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of longtime Patron Club Member Ruth Oberg.

If you are a fan of Broadway Nation, I invite you to become a PATRON!

For as little as $7.00 a month you can receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussion that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. And you will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast.

And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:

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Welcome to a new season of Broadway Nation — the podcast that delves deeply into the remarkable history of the Broadway musical, with a special focus on the Immigrant, Jewish, Queer, and Black Artists who invented it.

My guest today is Tony Award-winning Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell.

After a short break, I am excited to be back with a new season that will be jam-packed with fascinating Broadway history, including interviews with an amazing lineup of authors of some brilliant new books that take us back to the earliest days of Broadway and bring us right up to the twenty-first century — from George M. Cohan to how TikTok and the digital age have impacted the Broadway musical.

Today, we start things off with a bang with a delightful conversation with Brian Stokes Mitchell, whose career spans over forty years on television, films, recordings, concert appearances, and, most notably for our purposes, ten Broadway shows. He made his Broadway debut in 1988 in a short-lived musical called Mail, and in 1990, he was cast as the lead in David Merrick’s revival of the 1926 Gershwin musical Oh, Kay! He next went on to two very high-profile gigs — first replacing Gregory Hines in Jelly’s Last Jam and then Anthony Crivello in Kiss Of the Spiderwoman. In 1998, his unforgettable Tony-nominated performance as Coalhouse Walker in Ragtime firmly established him as a true Broadway star, and the following year, jumping from musical drama to musical comedy, he won the Tony Award for his performance in Kiss Me Kate. His performance in August Wilson’s play, King Hedley II, in 2001 earned another Tony nomination, and the next year, he took on the title role in Man Of La Mancha. His most recent Broadway appearance was in 2016 in George Woolf’s behind-the-scenes look at Shuffle Along, but as you will hear, Brian Stokes Mitchell may be back on Broadway very soon in a new musical that he is very excited about.

In addition, our conversation today ranges from two tear-inducing new video performances that he has recently been involved in creating and performing: a Ted Talk with Leer deBessonet, which you can find at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZNhuRIGQZs and "Hope" with Jason Robert Brown, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJkqV2xwars.

Also, his work with The Entertainment Fund and the soon-to-be-released video capture of their reunion concert of Ragtime, as well as a peek inside his process and approach to interpreting a song.

Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!

This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including our newest member, Alan Teasley.

For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact, I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host, Albert Evans, that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation, there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:

https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/

Thank you in advance for your support!

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My guest again this week is the noted journalist and theater critic Laurie Winer, who returns for part two of our conversation about her book, Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of The Musical.

If you missed part one, you may want to catch up with that before listening to this one.

Following the triumph of Show Boat, during the 1930s Hammerstein experienced a very challenging decade of devastating flops on Broadway and very limited achievement in Hollywood. And that’s where we pick up our conversation.

Topics included in this episode include the musicals Oklahoma!,Carousel , and Allegro! as well the the stark differences between the personalities of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, their working methods, and their fruitful collaboration and contentious relationship with choreographer Agnes De Mille.

How to become a PATRON of Broadway Nation!

This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including Producer Level Patrons Paula & Steve Reynolds.

For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact, I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth discussions with my frequent co-host, Albert Evans, that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation, there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:

https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/

Thank you in advance for your support!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the second of two special holiday bonus episodes of Broadway Nation. Just like the first, this is an audio version of a Broadway Nation Live! performance that was given in December of 2019 at the Vashon Center For The Performing Arts on Vashon Island, WA. If you prefer to watch a video of this performance you can stream it on their website at: vashoncenterforthearts.org

In Part One we looked at how the Jewish-Russian immigrant songwriter, Irving Berlin -- in addition to being one of the prime inventors of the Broadway Musical -- also created an entirely new category of popular song: “the Christmas Standard”. In this episode we explore how Berlin was aided and abetted in that endeavor by the son of Irish and German immigrants from Washington State who became one of the most popular performers of all time -- Bing Crosby. Along with Judy Garland I call Bing one of Broadway’s greatest stars who never appeared on Broadway.

But first, we start off with Albert Evans’ amazing in-depth analysis of the genius of Irving Berlin, and the inspiration and craft that is behind the most popular song of all time. As you will remember the last episode ended with me introducing Albert and asking him this question: “Why? Why, is White Christmas the most popular song of all time?” You won’t want to miss his answer!

This live show features musical performances by Cayman Ilika, Eric Ankrim, Chris DiStefano, and Albert Evans. Happy New Year!

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Although nobody knew it at the time, in April of 1968 “The Golden Age of Broadway” came to an abrupt end on the opening night of the “tribal rock musical” HAIR, which took America by storm and created a shocking jump cut into what I call “The Modern Era" of the Broadway Musical. In this episode I share the story of the emergence and rise of the so called “Rock Musical”.

To many HAIR, and the "Rock Musical", seemed like a total betrayal of the values, craftsmanship and traditions of Broadway. However, I see it, and the other new forms of musicals that rose to the forefront in The Modern Era, as just part of the inevitable ongoing evolution of a form that had always closely reflected what was going on in American culture.

In the immediate wake of HAIR there were many shows that tried to emulate its triumph -- but only three found real success: Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Later, the success of Godspell would lead directly to PIPPIN, and the success of Superstar led to Webber & Rice’s 1979 blockbuster EVITA, and the expansion and of their early musical Joseph And His Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The term “Rock Musical” is something of a misnomer. Rock music, in is purest form, actually does not lend itself very well to musical theater storytelling. It’s musical, rhythmic, and lyric forms are much too limited and repetitive. The most successful “Rock Musicals” – from HAIR to RENT -- would more actually be called “rock flavored” musicals that employ a variety of rock, pop, R&B, folk, and latin styles mixed with traditional forms of songwriting.

Over the coming years both Stephen Schwartz and Andrew Lloyd-Webber would move further and further away from Rock and do what Broadway composers had always done – combine the pop music of their day with an eclectic mix of musicals styles that best suited the story and characters they were dramatizing.

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