Behind the Curtain - Page 9

Everyone step to the rear and let Tony Roberts take the day. One of America's most beloved character actors drops by Shetler Studios to look back on his career with Rob and Kevin. While Tony's film career includes such movies as ANNIE HALL, PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM, and SERPICO, we will discuss his amazing theatre career, which includes HOW NOW, DOW JONES, SUGAR, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, DON'T DRINK THE WATER, XANADU, and VICTOR/VICTORIA.

This Week: Happy Halloween! To celebrate the spookiness of the season, Rob and Kevin reveal their costumes, Mrs. Garrett pulls a Patty Duke, Tim Curry can't find his tambourine, Charles Strouse gets spooky, Big Daddy Whiz goes to the pumpkins, Rob meets Christine Pedi, Liza Minnelli has a pokerface, Rob plays Daddy Warbucks, and Christine Pedi wants to save the Cafe Edison!

Even if your feet's too big come to the heavyside layer and join Rob and Kevin as they sit down with the incredible star of THE WIZ, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, CATS, and the iconic THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, the warm and wonderful Ken Page.

This Week: Life post-Merrily We Roll Along, Kevin gets to watch THE WORLD GO ROUND, Rob brings back 24 BROADWAY BOUND musicals, Rob breaks the rules that Kevin follows, Van Johnson sees red, Letterman loves La Cage, the joys of My Mama's Attic, Kevin is a dancer and a dancer dances, celebrating CENTER STAGE, and Donna Murphy hits the barre.

Everyone's favorite little bird, little Chavala, Neva Small, sits down with Rob and Kevin to look back on her fabulous career both onstage and on the screen. Neva takes us back to the filming of the immortal FIDDLER ON THE ROOF film, as well as how her career as a child actress led to her Broadway appearances in SOMETHING MORE, HENRY, SWEET HENRY, THE IMPOSSIBLE YEARS, FRANK MERRIWELL, and SOMETHING'S AFOOT.

This Week: Rob and Kevin sit down with Ben Van Buren and Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed, the co-founders and editors of Musical Theater Today, a new, yearly periodical inspired by the extraordinary variety of artists, institutions, and audiences engaged in the musical theatre world. Ben and Lucas not only discuss the genesis of the book but discuss some of its contributors and its most fascinating articles.

The musical theatre of the 1970s offered audiences the most diverse style of musical entertainment. There were traditional golden age shows, concept shows, revivals, nostalgia crazes, social commentary shows, and Pat Birch was involved in every genre.

This Week: Looking back on THE LAST FIVE YEARS, celebrating HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, creeping on JRB, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG opens this Friday, international Sondheim, back to Bacall, a sneak peak of a bygone Broadway, teaching Bacall to dance, the librettos of Doc Simon, secrets of A CHORUS LINE, the importance of the libretto, Sid Caesar, the grittiness of Charity, what its like to show doctor, musicals that have other, unaccredited creators, the loss of obscurity, is Joshua Harmon the new Neil Simon, the 'boulevard comedy' and a demand for humor in the theatre.

This Week: Hide the children because this episode gets a bit naughty with acclaimed writer and director Ben Rimalower (PATTI ISSUES, BAD WITH MONEY). The gents discuss Patti LuPone as a gateway drug, Ben's Top 5 Divas, the joy of ranking cast albums, the best auditions ever seen, what was Ben's most controversial Playbill article, what it's like to have Patti in the audience, INTO THE LIGHT returns, a lengthy discussion about length, what shows need to come back, a case for why THE WIZ movie is better than THE WIZ stage play, and Rob does Robert Goulet in FIDDLER.

Rob and Kevin go together with Broadway's original Sandy, Carole Demas, on this week's fascinating episode. Carole looks back not only on her time with Grease, and what it was like to create one of Broadway's most iconic heroines, but also Carole discusses the resilience she created within herself when she was let go from both the revival of NO, NO, NANETTE and Stephen Schwartz's THE BAKER'S WIFE.

Listening devices, Mrs. Lovett vs. Joanne, the role of the prompter, the top ten most produced high school plays and musicals, the soothing voices of NPR, a book that foretold the podcast, and Rob and Kevin debate the greatest musical episodes!

One of Broadway's greatest leading men, Ron Husmann, joins Rob and Kevin in a telephone discussion about his incredible Broadway career that started with FIORELLO and was a whirlwind of big shows, big stars, and big hurdles.

This Week: Kevin passes the football, Rob is confused by the meaning of NFL, celebrating the all-black revival of GUYS AND DOLLS, who wanted to be Broadway's second PHANTOM, and Peter Filichia ranks the greatest musical theatre moments in history.

If you are in the musical theatre business, chances are you have thanked heaven for the brilliance of Michael Lavine. While any one of us could easily go and pick up the scores to MY FAIR LADY, CAROUSEL, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, or HAMILTON, what do we do when we need a song cut from one of those shows? Or, the whole score of a musical that closed on opening night? What if we want to see the cut songs from OKLAHOMA? We go to Michae Lavine, who owns one of the world's largest private collections of musical theatre music.

This Week: Merrily We Roll Along, a secret YouTube clip, a magazine from the past, celebrating the orchestrator, and there WILL be trumpets! Every week director Robert W Schneider and actor Kevin David Thomas pull back the curtain on neglected, forgotten, and under appreciated musicals, as well as bizarre performances, endearing television appearances, and all things show business.

Thanking the Sound Gods, onstage mistakes, the Holy Grail of Broadway impressions is found within Robbie Rozzelle, Gwen Verdon wants to go to the movies, the joys of a second whorehouse, Tommy Tune does double duty, praising the poster, Lincoln Center's greatest weapon, and much more!

This Week: Mourning Thomas Meehan, celebrating the great bookwriters of yesterday and today, Michael Jackson wants to be David Merrick, Larry Hart meets Larry Hart, Diane Sawyer snoops around Smile, Ariel wants to go to Disneyland, and the puzzlement of the 1986-1987 Broadway season. 

THE SECRET GARDEN. LITTLE WOMEN. VIOLET. The revivals of SWEENEY TODD and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. All that, and much more, were directed by Susan H. Schulman, one of the very first female directors of musical theatre. At a time when women were rejected from Yale's graduate directing program and told to become actresses not directors, Susan triumphed in New York, and abroad!

Praising the bible of Musical Theatre geekdom, Where in the World is Ken Mandelbaum, the Beckettian podcast from last week, praising Yma Sumac (or, Amy Camus), what would go in a 'Not Since Carrie 2, and more!

One of Broadway's most acclaimed designers, Clint Ramos, joins Rob and Kevin, via phone, to discuss his illustrious career, which includes collaborating on such recent productions as SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, IN TRANSIT, ECLIPSED, VIOLET, SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, KID VICTORY, and countless others.