
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
Jeff Blumenkrantz
All episodes
Best episodes
Top 10 The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Man in the Moon - sung by Nancy Anderson
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
11/07/06 • -1 min
Nancy and I met in 2001, performing together in the Broadway production of A Class Act, where she was my "show girlfriend." Nancy created the role of "Mona" in the Manhattan Theatre Club production and subsequently made her Broadway debut in that role when the show moved to the Ambassador. She had already created a sensation Off-Broadway in Jolson & Company, which earned her her first Drama Desk nomination.
Since then, she has been dazzling audiences with her many stellar performances, most notably as Lois/Bianca in the revival of Kiss Me, Kate, first on the US Tour and then in the West End production, which was later filmed for PBS. (Does she nail the period or what?) Don't forget her wonderful performance in the 2003 revival of Wonderful Town! (Period!!) This past season, at the York Theatre, she won over critics and audiences alike in the title role of Fanny Hill. (She even nailed the 18th Century, as well as a second Drama Desk Nom!)
If you're wondering whether she can pull off a contemporary role (yes!), then you must have missed her hot, hot performance in this year's Off-Broadway play, Burleigh Grime$.
In this episode, Nancy sings "Man in the Moon", an audition spec song I wrote this summer. (What this means is, when producers are considering several different people or teams to write their new show, sometimes they'll ask them all to write songs for that project as part of the audition process.) The project in question takes place around 1930, and that's about as specific as I can be right now. (Recorded 11/3/06.)
Luckily, you'll have some opportunities to see and hear Nancy coming up! Foremost among her many November appearances is her engagement at The Metropolitan Room, two Tuesday night shows, November 14 and November 28, at 9:30 PM. Not to be missed!
And speaking of other things not to miss, I'd also like to remind you about the Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert at Birdland on Monday, November 20th at 7PM, featuring Liz Callaway, Victoria Clark, Michael McElroy, Mary Testa, and Alysha Umphress! Call 212 581 3080 to reserve, or buy your tickets online.

He'll Never Get What I Do - sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
05/02/06 • -1 min
This week it's "He'll Never Get What I Do", written for a musical entitled Hush, which dealt with the relationship between a gay theatre composer and a deaf video artist. This song is sung by the composer and is pretty self-explanatory. Music and lyrics by me. Recorded 5/2/06.
As for Hush, I worked on it for a while with the marvelous playwright, Tina Howe, but we couldn't crack the story to our mutual satisfaction, so it's on the shelf. Writing an original musical is a complicated proposition, to say the least. Makes me REALLY appreciate the ones out there that work...
...like, for instance, my favorite new musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, which opened on Broadway last night. It's directed by a certain Mr. Casey Nicholaw, whom I met doing my first show in NY (The Pajama Game at the Equity Library Theatre - Does that date us or what?). Seeing his spectacular production of The Drowsy Chaperone left me awestruck and in tears (literally, hysterical tears of pride, joy, and awe). The show is heaven - don't miss it!
Meanwhile, some of the fabulous people I got to chat with at the opening night party:
George Lee Andrews, the longest-running actor on Broadway, and star of my favorite teen-years album, Starting Here, Starting Now. George is an admitted listener of this podcast, and I'm honored.
Nellie McKay is the brilliant Polly Peachum in the new Threepenny Opera at the Roundabout. She has no idea who I am or that I have a podcast, but I enjoyed chatting with her, and I love her songwriting and her fancy debut double CD, Get Away From Me.
And last but not least, the kids from [title of show] were all there. They recently ended their initial run at the Vineyard, but they'll be back there this summer for a recently-announced return engagement! Dare I see it a 6th time? I dare! Don't miss this one either.
Check out my recommendations page for more things I like!

I Burn - sung by Donna Lynne Champlin
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
01/21/08 • -1 min
I do feel the need to mention: As wonderful as Donna Lynne has been in other people's shows, she could never be better than she is in her own one-woman show, Finishing the Hat. It is, hands down, the most spectacular solo show I have ever seen in my life. Donna Lynne tells a series of stories about herself and her life (chosen from a hat by the audience), and she does so with a level of wit and comedy and pathos and musicality and drama that is truly in a league of her own. DO NOT MISS THIS if she ever does it again. (Donna Lynne, do it again.)
In the meantime, you lucky D.C.er's can catch her at the Kennedy Center in Henry (Dreamgirls) Krieger and Bill (Sideshow) Russell's Up in the Air, playing February 7-10.
In this special episode, she sings "I Burn," from the dearly departed, unfinished musical, Hush. (Recorded 1/11/08.) The song is from a show-within-the-show, i.e. the main character, Miles, is writing a musical which deconstructs Great Expectations and centers around the character of Miss Havisham. This song finds Miss H. on the morning of her wedding day, before she discovers that her fiancé has been deceiving her and will not marry her after all. The song would later be reprised as a duet between young Miss H and old Miss H, as the latter dies in a fire, still wearing her wedding dress.
By the way, The BMI Workshop Songbook Podcast is now officially up and running. Tune in to hear me interview the wonderful members and alumni of this acclaimed writers' workshop and to listen to performances of their songs by our too, too talented guest stars! Subscribe here via iTunes.

I Think - sung by Rita Gardner
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
05/30/06 • -1 min
I met Rita last year in rehearsals for The Transport Group's production of The Audience, directed by Jack Cummings III. I was fortunate enough to have been one of the songwriters on the show, and my assignment was to write a piece for Rita's character, Rosie, a woman who attends the theatre with her dead husband's ashes. In a private moment, she sings to the urn. Rita stopped the show every night with her sensitive rendition of "I Think." Recorded 5/22/06.
Now, Rita's stopping another show with a very different kind of performance! She's appearing as Rosie, the rapping grandma, in this season's Broadway crowd pleaser, The Wedding Singer, based on the Adam Sandler film of the same name. She sings, she raps, she does gymnastic tricks (well... not really) - she's wonderful!
And next month marks the release of Rita's new CD, Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway, a live recording of her show chronicling her career Off-Broadway. It's filled with stories, songs, both classic and unknown, and of course, Rita's glorious voice.
P.S. Rita appeared in a ten-minute Raw Impressions movie musical in RIPFest #6 and was kind (read "game") enough to make a cameo appearance in my RIPFest #6 film, Freefall!

Why Can't I Kiss You? - sung by Jose Llana
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
10/28/07 • -1 min
Jose is remembered, most recently, for his portrayal of the adorable Chip Tolentino ("My Unfortunate Erection," anyone?) in the Drama Desk Award-winning original cast of the Off-Broadway/Broadway hit, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A Broadway "veteran" at 31, he made his debut at the tender age of 19 as Lun Tha in the '96 revival of The King and I, and he's been working non-stop ever since. On Broadway, he's also appeared in Street Corner Symphony, as Angel in Rent, and as Ta, the leading man, in the '02 revival of Flower Drum Song. Add to that his stints in Off Broadway's Saturn Returns (aka Myths and Hymns) and On the Town at the Public, the National Tour of The Return of Martin Guerre, appearances on the HBO series Sex and the City and the feature film Hitch, and an eponymous solo album, Jose, that reached #2 on the charts in Manila, and you'll realize we are talking about an amazingly accomplished young guy!
Jose will be singing a self-contained song I wrote this past year, "Why Can't I Kiss You?" (Recorded 10/24/07.) After having spent the preceding six months writing songs for a project that was set in the 30's, clearly I was still in the mood. As for what inspired the song, I'll never tell....
But if you want to hear this and lots of other never-heard-before songs of mine, then hop on over to Birdland on November 4th at 7PM for a concert where I'll be bringing out the secret goodies, with the help of my amazing guest stars , Adinah Alexander, Donna Lynne Champlin, Laura Patinkin, David Perlman, and Alysha Umphress. Call 212 581-3080 for reservations, or

Pure Acceptance - sung by Helen Slater
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
07/17/11 • -1 min
Last month, I selected Jon Orton's Twitter suggestion to write a song about July at the summer theatre camp Stagedoor Manor, which I attended in the 70's and where Jon was a musical director the summer of 2002. Once I started conceiving "Pure Acceptance," I knew that it needed to be sung by my friend, the stellar film and TV actor/wonderful singer-songwriter, Helen Slater. Not only did Helen and I attend this camp at the same time, but also Helen has a teenage daughter, and I knew I wanted to explore the mother/daughter experience in this song. Jackpot!!
Once Helen said yes, I wasn't going to let the fact that she was shooting a TV series in Austin, Texas stop me from making this episode happen. Luckily, Helen was game: she recorded the song in a studio in Austin and then did the interview via phone from her home in Los Angeles! And it pretty much sounds like all my other episodes. Amazing and space-age!! (Wait, are we post-space-age now?)
Back to Helen - her credits are an embarrassment of riches, so I'm only going to list a few of her films: you may remember her in the title roles of Supergirl and The Legend of Billie Jean, not to mention her performances in Ruthless People, City Slickers, and The Secret of My Success. She's also appeared on countless TV programs, but you can check all that out yourself on her IMDB page.
As distinguished as her acting career is, her singing and songwriting is equally impressive. She has three CDs: One of These Days, Crossword, and Shine, and each one is as yummy and wonderful as the last. She somehow manages to blend folk and pop and jazz and warmth and charm and beauty and clarity, and I just love listening to her music. And maybe there's a musical or two on the horizon? Please??
This episode was recorded July 14 and 16, 2011.

Burning Man - sung by Brooks Ashmanskas
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
08/22/11 • -1 min
Brooks and I crossed like ships in the night 15 years ago, when he made his Broadway debut taking over the role of Bud Frump from me in the last (first) Broadway revival of How to Succeed.... That marked the start of a truly impressive Broadway career that has included such plays and musicals as Dream, Little Me, the Bernadette Peters Gypsy, The Producers, The Ritz, Present Laughter, Promises Promises, and of course his Tony-nominated turn in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.
Add to that a bunch of Off Broadway and regional productions and wonderful recordings (Songs for a New World, It's Only Life) and you start to get a sense of how versatile and accomplished and BUSY a guy he is!
Big thanks to Dan Adler, who put forward this month's song idea and is about to participate in his fourth consecutive Burning Man! If you don't know what Burning Man is, you should definitely check it out. It seems like an amazing event....
And special thanks to the wonderful composer Debra Barsha for her great song idea, which isn't the central idea for this song but is woven in nonetheless.
This episode was recorded August 19, 2011.

Nothing's Gonna Change - sung by Carmen Cusack
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
04/01/17 • -1 min
While Bright Star did mark Carmen's Broadway debut, it certainly wasn't her first theatrical outing. Her career began in the UK, including such star turns as Christine in Phantom, Fantine in Les Mis, and then back in the US on the national tours of Wicked as Elphaba and South Pacific as Nellie. Add in regional gigs playing Annie in First Wives Club, Mother in Ragtime and Dot in Sunday in the Park... and you've got a seriously impressive resume!
Since Bright Star closed, Carmen has kept busy with numerous concert gigs and a one-woman play, Do This, at the Gulfshore Playhouse. Coming up are appearances at the Kennedy Center for a Pete Seeger tribute on April 15th, a solo show at 54 Below on April 16th, and a concert with me (!) at the Axelrod Arts Center in Deal, NJ on May 20th!
Today's selection is a "trunk song" from yet another one of my abandoned musicals, Hashi, on which I collaborated with Beth Blatt. Hashi was loosely inspired by Pollyanna, i.e. a hardened, spinster aunt gets custody of the newly orphaned child of her estranged sister. In our version which takes place today, the aunt, Barb, is a 40something, single NY businesswoman with no time for parenthood, and instead of a niece, Hashi is her nephew, born and raised in Africa and Asia by Barb's free-spirited, hippie sister. Barb has just learned she will have to take custody of the boy, who arrives the next day. With no information about him and his life, she speculates on how "Nothing's Gonna Change."
This episode was recorded on March 20, 2017.

The Fifth of November - sung by Billy Porter
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
11/30/11 • -1 min
Month Upon a Time, Episode #6 (November): Look who I got for this month's episode: Ghetto Superstar Billy Porter! Billy has been a friend since the early days, and it was only a matter of time before he popped up on here. What an interesting journey and varied career he's had - everything from Star Search winner (1992) to Broadway musical theatre star to recording artist to film/TV actor to one-man-show diva to serious dramatic ekhtor, with some stops along the way for writing, directing, arranging, and choreographing. Kind of amazing.
Right now he's gearing up to play one of the leads in the upcoming workshop of the new musical Kinky Boots, based on the film of the same name. Jerry Mitchell + Cyndi Lauper + Harvey Fierstein + Billy Porter sounds like a pretty fabulous combo! Additionally, he'll be choreographing the cool new musical Pop at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh and continuing his affiliation with the fledgling theatre company Exit Pursued By a Bear. He does like to keep a full plate!
This month's song idea comes courtesy of the beautiful and talented Alexandra Silber (@alexandrasilber), late of this year's Master Class revival and the Transport Group's Hello Again. I guess having spent all those years in the UK studying and living and working, she came to regard Guy Fawkes Night as a holiday of her own. I, myself, had never heard of it until now. Special thanks to my Brit friends Suzanne (Squeezie) Thomas and John Blakey for confirming that it's really a holiday :-) and sharing their 11/5 experiences with me.
This episode was recorded on November 29, 2011.

Recuerdo - sung by Liz Callaway and Jeff Blumenkrantz
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast
02/01/06 • -1 min
Since her Tony-nominated performace in Baby, she's maintained flourishing careers on Broadway (Miss Saigon, Cats, The Look of Love), in film (providing the singing voice for the title characters in the animated films The Swan Princess and Anastasia), and in cabaret and recordings (check out her most recent CD, The Beat Goes On, and Sibling Revelry, the terrific recording of her show with her super-talented sister, Ann Hampton Callaway). Liz's discography is incredibly impressive, and rightfully so.
Show more best episodes

Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast have?
The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast currently has 53 episodes available.
What topics does The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast cover?
The podcast is about Music, Podcasts, Musical, Jeff, Arts, Theatre, Broadway and Performing Arts.
What is the most popular episode on The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast?
The episode title 'Nothing's Gonna Change - sung by Carmen Cusack' is the most popular.
How often are episodes of The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast released?
Episodes of The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast are typically released every 7 days, 19 hours.
When was the first episode of The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast?
The first episode of The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast was released on Dec 7, 2005.
Show more FAQ

Show more FAQ