Episode 149: "A Song About Hope" — A Conversation with BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL
09/19/24 • 60 min
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!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
Season Preview — A Special Message from Broadway Nation
Hi this is David Armstrong. You may be wondering where I and Broadway Nation have been over the past few weeks. As you will hear, I have been battling a wicked case of bronchitis and today is the first day in ten days that I have been able to talk even enough to croak out this brief message.
At the end of the summer, I had been planning to take a few weeks off from podcasting anyway, and this bronchitis has just jumpstarted that break. So here’s the plan:
On September 19 Broadway Nation will return for an exciting new season featuring a fascinating line-up of authors who have written some amazing new books. We will start with author Thomas Hischak who will kick us off with a discussion of Song Of The Season — Outstanding Broadway Songs since 1891. In the weeks that follow, you will meet Laurie Winer talking about Oscar Hammerstein and the Invention of The Musical, Doug Reside on his book Fixing the Musical — How Technologies Shaped The Broadway Repertory, Trevor Boffone who has written about TikTok Broadway. Dustyn Martincich and Pheobe Rumsay will discuss Dance In Musical Theatre — A History of the Body In Movement, Christopher Connelly on Helen Morgan: The original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld’s Last Star, and Joshua Rosenblum and his book Closer Than Ever — The Unique Six-Decade Songwriting Partnership of Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire.
And that’s just the beginning! As always Albert Evans will join me for some deep dives into Broadway’s past and, no doubt, there will be previews of my upcoming book. I guarantee it will all be worth the wait.
In the meantime, you are invited to join more than 2600 fans of this podcast in the Broadway Nation Facebook Group where every day you can find posts and videos about the Broadway musical and Immigrant, Jewish, Queer and Black artist who invented it.
See you soon!
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Next Episode
Episode 150: Song of The Season — Outstanding Broadway Songs Since 1891, part 1
Author Thomas Hischak returns to the Broadway Nation this week to tell us about his captivating new book, Song Of The Season — Outstanding Broadway Songs Since 1891.
For this book, Hischak analyzed every Broadway season since 1891 and selected one song as the most outstanding. In this episode, we discuss “Oh, Promise Me” from Robin Hood (1891), “In The Good Old Summertime” from The Defender (1902), “Defying Gravity” from Wicked (2003), “In Old New York” from The Red Mill, “They Didn’t Believe Me” from The Girl From Utah, “Charleston” from Runnin’ Wild, and “Begin The Beguine” from Jubilee (1935).
Thomas Hischak retired from full-time teaching in New York State and now teaches theatre part-time at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, USA. He is the author of more than 30 indispensable non-fiction books on theater, film, and popular music, and long-time listeners will remember him from episodes 104 and 105, where we discussed his previous book, The Abbott Touch — Pal Joey, Damn Yankees and the Theatre of George Abbott.
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!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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