We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Ann Reinking, Broadway titan. Her memory lives in the souls of so many dancers. The Ensemblist dedicates this episode to her memory. Ann will be deeply missed by our community. Fosse/Verdon’s penultimate episode “Nowadays” premiered on May 21, 2019. It was written by Joel Fields & Steven Levenson, and was directed by Tommy Kail. In this episode we saw the old Fosse standards of “All that Jazz” and “Nowadays” from the musical Chicago, reconstructed by Valarie Pettiford. Here again we see the company of Chicago, featuring Bianca Marroquin as Chita Rivera, and including Broadway stalwarts Tyler Hanes as Jerry Orbach, Sean Patrick Doyle as Michael O’Haughey, Bahiyah Hibah as Candy Brown and Peter Chursin as Christopher Chadman. We even get to see a Ballet Mistress played by Pamela Sousa, who was played by Nina Lafarga in the last episode. “Nowadays” was jam-packed with music -- the most we’ve seen in any given episode this entire series -- and it was all from, you guessed it, the musical Chicago, written by Kander & Ebb.. These four songs included the titular song “Nowadays” featuring our own Velma and Roxie, Bianca Marroquin and Michelle Williams; rehearsals of “All That Jazz” and “We Both Reached For the Gun” featuring Tyler Hanes and Sean Patrick Doyle as Billy Flynn and Mary Sunshine, respectively; and a non-diegetic rendition of “Razzle Dazzle” performed by Michelle Williams. The total viewership for this episode rose by 53000 viewers to a total of 859,000. The main rise came from a growth of DVR numbers to a whopping 492000, with live numbers inflating a tiny bit to 367000. It’s 1975, and Chicago is back in the rehearsal room following Bob’s triumphant return from a heart attack. But Bob feels fucked without his pills - he can’t eat, he can’t sleep and he definitely can’t direct. He’s pushing for Paddy, musicians, dancers - literally anyone he can to get him the dexedrine he can imagine. Gwen is pushing herself to become the ingenue she no longer is, arriving at the rehearsal room hours early to stretch, jump rope and perform vocal trills. But even still Gwen is having trouble keeping up with Bob’s uptempo choreography, leading Bob to change the choreography for “We Both Reached For The Gun” for Gwen to sit instead of dance. Meanwhile, she’s working every angle she knows to get a new, more satisfying ending written for her. But when Kander and Ebb pen the perfect finale to showcase Gwen, Bob flexes his power and makes it a duet between Gwen and Chita. When the reviews come out, they are positive to Gwen and Chita but less so for Bob. His failure reminds him of yet another low point in his personal life: when he was just a failed dancer and unknown choreographer who couldn’t get his famous wife pregnant due to his low sperm motility. Just as Gwen can’t get Bob to sign onto Chicago until she dangles him being replaced by Hal Prince, she can’t get pregnant until they’re scheduled to adopt a child. But even Gwen’s triumphant return to the Broadway stage seems short-lived, when the pregnancy combined with blisters on her vocal chords make her time off of the show - literally without a voice. And even though Bob promises Gwen that there will be no publicity for her temporary replacement, word of mouth for the shortly available Liza Minnelli brings in lines of ticket buyers and a more positive review than the aging Verdon received.

The sixth and seventh episodes turn their focus onto the creation of Chicago. We see Fosse in the rehearsal room as begins staging the show before being sidelined with health issues. When he comes back after four months, the show becomes much darker - tu...

The film adaptation of The Prom - one of our favorite Broadway musicals in recent years - debuts on Netflix today! So I brought along our very own Prom Stan In Residence, Jackson Cline, to discuss how this movie version is different from the stage show, what works about this adaptation and... what doesn't.

Last season, The Prom leapt onto the Broadway scene, delighting audiences with an original queer-themed musical just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In The Prom, teenage lesbian Emma Nolan is banned from attending her high school prom with her girlfriend, Alyssa. When a group of narcissistic Broadway performers hear the news, they travel to Indiana to help Emma and pick up some good press along the way. While this premise sounds quite humorous — which it is, The Prom also moved audiences with its great heart and depth. This week, we asked Caitlin Kinnunen, who received a Tony nomination for originating the role of Emma, into the studio to chat about her experience as a queer actress bringing this role to life. In addition to The Prom, Caitlin has performed on Broadway in Spring Awakening and The Bridges of Madison County. Here’s our conversation…

We’re revisiting our 2015 interview with Cynthia Onrubia. In our conversation, Cynthia chats all about making her Broadway debut as a teenager in the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line, the legendary record-breaking gala performance, and why this ultimate ensemblist musical is so powerful.

“All I Care About Is Love” premiered on May 14th, 2019. It was written by Ike Holter, and directed by Minkie Spiro. In this episode we step into the rehearsal room of the original production of Chicago, and are treated to a recreation of the famed “All That Jazz.” This iconic number, originally choreographed by Bob Fosse, was reconstructed by Valarie Pettiford. Performing as the cast of Chicago are Bianca Marroquin as Chita Rivera as Velma, Tony-nominee Robyn Hurder, along with Bahiyah Hibah, Fred Odgaard, Michael Williams, Alex Wong, J.C. Schuster, Morgan Marcell and Heather Lang. Only two featured songs appear in this episode, both of which are from Kander and Ebb’s Chicago: the previously mentioned “All That Jazz” sung by Bianca Marroquin, and the titular song “All I Care About Is Love” theoretically sung by Jerry Orbach, at least according to the subtitles...it sure doesn’t sound like him tho… The total viewership hit its all-time run-of-show low this week, clocking in at 806,000 viewers, down 72,000 from the previous episode, with DVR viewers also dipping down to 442,000; however, live viewers went up from last week to 364,000. So hm. Bob is on the knife’s edge, with editing the Lenny Bruce biopic six months behind schedule and rehearsals for Chicago scheduled to start in just three days. But his diet of dexedrine, cigarettes and stress is giving him coughing fits in rehearsal that send him to the emergency room - arriving just time for doctors to observe his first heart attack. Forced to come face-to-face with the ticking time bomb inside his rib cage, Bob thinks back to the beginning of his career, proving himself to bored patrons in sleazy nightclubs, and a father who looks down on him but won’t let him quit dancing. That need for audience’s validation and push to prove himself follows Bob to this day, but that inner drive may also be the thing that kills him. The heart attack sidelines Bob’s work on Chicago by postponing the project for at least four months, but Gwen has contractual approval over the director and she won’t approve anyone but Bob. The new plan is to start back up in the new year and open in New York in June. Gwen works to orchestrate his recovery, from getting the entire company of Chicago to sign a get well card to making up their daughter to look like an adult so she can visit Bob in the hospital. After spending six minutes technically deceased, Bob is on the slow road to recovery. But it isn’t until he knows he can still have sex does he feel sure that he is fully himself again, so he convinces Ann to have sex with him in his hospital bed. But the incident gives both of them “the holy trinity” of shame, pleasure and confusion - something Bob is familiar with since his teenage years.

Once again, it’s time to dance! When The Prom opened on Broadway in November 2018, we fell in love with its catchy score, delightful comedy, and heartwarming message of love and acceptance. Oh right - and the zazz. We’ve shared many stories from members of the cast and creative team of The Prom over the past two years, and we’re looking back on some of our favorites in celebration of the film adaptation premiering on Netflix today!

We’re revisiting our 2014 interview with Broadway veteran Mary Beth Peil. Among her many Broadway credits are revivals of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and Follies. Mary Beth spoke with us about the highlights of working on Sondheim’s musicals - both on Broadway and regionally, the rewards of working with Sondheim and what makes his musicals so special.

It felt so good to reunite virtually with theatre fam and fans over the performances from Broadway shows at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We spoke to Jagged Little Pill's Ezra Menas about how the opportunity to perform on the parade came about, the safety precautions they took and how it felt to be reunited with show family after eight months ago.

“Where Am I Going?” premiered on May 7th, 2019. It was written by Charlotte Stoudt, and directed by Tommy Kail. The total viewership dipped about 32,000 viewers from the previous week, coming in at about 878,000. The live viewership fell to 312,000, while oddly the DVR viewership rose to 565,000. This bottle episode had very little music in it; it was almost like a normal TV show!! The only featured song we had was an uncanny rendition by Michelle Williams of “Where Am I Going?” from Sweet Charity, with music and lyrics by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, honestly proving why her star-turn as Gwen Verdon earned her an Emmy. Three months after checking himself into the Payne Whitney Psychiatry Clinic, Bob and his new girlfriend Annie are hosting a party for Neil Simon following the death of his wife, Joan. But joining them at their Southampton rental for the first time are Gwen and her new beau Ron. In their first moment alone, Bob asks Gwen what she thinks of Annie, telling her “Nicole really loves her.” But all Gwen wants to talk about is Chicago: scheduling a meeting with producers and telling him they have a theatre for the show. However, Bob is more interested in making his next project a biopic on Lenny Bruce starring Dustin Hoffman. Not only does that put Gwen’s plans for Chicago in jeopardy but it concerns Ann, who knows that his doctors suggested he take a year off of work or he’d end right back in the Clinic. The conversation comes to head after their dinner to celebrate Joan, where Paddy and Gwen both challenge Bob about his motivations for rushing Lenny to the screen. Amidst the adult conversations is Bob and Gwen’s daughter Nicole, who cycles through the rooms of the house wearing a midriff and refilling cigarette cases. After dinner, Gwen courts Ann to be on her side in persuading Bob to postpone Lenny, but it becomes clear they are both on different sides: Gwen wanting him to work on Chicago and Ann wanting him not to work at all. When Gwen puts Bob’s feet to the flame: “You wanna know the truth?. I’m finished with these corny, bullshit musical comedies.” It isn’t until Gwen admits she’s not sure that he’ll be alive to direct in two years and throws Hal Prince’s name into the ring that Bob agrees to kiss and make up. Well, it’s a kiss that leads to a lot more than just a kiss. In the early hours of the next morning, Gwen and Ann have a heart-to-heart over croissants: Gwen gives Ann her blessing because Bob has introduced her to Nicole. She also tasks Ann with keeping him from going off the edge, promising “he’ll give you what he gave me: Lola, Charity, Roxie.” But while Gwen has seemed to win Bob over into directing Chicago, Bob proclaims that he will be doing them both at the same time.

In a recent live stream event with Broadway Podcast Network, we got a behind-the-scenes look into performing with on the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Actors and fellow podcasters Cara Cooper (The Prom, Mama's Talkin' Loud Podcast), Elliott Mattox (Beetlejuice, Equity One Podcast), Vasthy Mompoint (SpongeBob SquarePants, Vasthy's Friends) and Jessica Rush (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Mama's Talkin' Loud Podcast) shared their favorite stories of performing in one of Broadway's favorite traditions.

The fourth episode. Man, it’s a friggin doozy! Using the development of Pippin as a jumping off point, we really get to see into Fosse’s process. Through power plays and an incredible amount of sexual misconduct in the workplace, Fosse woes the company i...

In a recent live stream event with Broadway Podcast Network, I got a behind-the-scenes look into performing with on the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Actors and fellow podcasters Cara Cooper (The Prom, Mama's Talkin' Loud Podcast), Elliott Mattox (Beetlejuice, Equity One Podcast) and Jessica Rush (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Mama's Talkin' Loud Podcast) shared their favorite stories of performing in one of Broadway's favorite traditions.

“Glory” premiered on April 30th 2019, and marks the halfway point to the acclaimed mini-series. It was written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Jessica Yu. We see two moments of choreography in this episode, the first is the rehearsal sequence featuring the infamous Manson trio, originally choreographed by Fosse and reconstructed by Lloyd Culbreath and Pam Sousa. The second is the nightmare “Pippin medley” that acts as the finale to the episode, choreographed by Joan McCracken herself, Susan Misner. All of our music this episode comes from the musical Pippin, with all music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. The cast of Pippin features Ahmad Simmons as Ben Vereen, Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Leland Palmer, Bahiyah Hibah as Candy Brown, and Alexis Carra as the fictional Sherry (said to be based on the experiences of original cast member Jennifer Nairn-Smith). Also in the cast are Nina Lafarga, Peter Chursin, Emma Caymares, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Tessa Grady, Colin Bradbury, Michael Hartung, Raymond Baynard and Michael McArthur. At the premiere of his film Cabaret, Bob is weighed down by the memory of his flop Sweet Charity three years earlier. But when the reviews come in they call Cabaret a masterpiece, meaning Bob has a “blank check” in the entertainment industry. So in the rehearsal room for Pippin Bob follows his gut. Calling the script “boring and small,” he chooses to “blow the whole thing up” both by demanding script changes and conspicuously sleeping with the entire female ensemble. That is, except for the one dancer avoiding his advances - a young woman named Annie Reinking. Gwen drops by Pippin rehearsal to confide in Bob that the show is in trouble, but he finds himself too wrapped up in his own career to make time for hers. Gwen is ready to move onto the next project - and has already secured the rights to turn the play Chicago into a musical. But Bob has a lot of job offers after this and can’t guarantee Chicago is the next thing he wants to do.” On top of her career, things are sleeping away in Gwen’s personal life as her best friend Joan Simon is in the hospital with only a month to live. Bob is pressuring the authors to change the ending of Pippin, for the title character to choose lighting himself on fire rather than fall in love. He’s also making his power known in his courting of the female ensemble: taking away a featured spot in the show’s “Manson Trio” from a dancer who won’t sleep with him and giving it to Annie, who “knows she doesn’t have to visit his hotel room to get the solo.” Months later, Bob calls Gwen at 3am asking her to come to Washington DC and help him fix the end of the show. In bed with her new boyfriend, she hangs up on him. But in the following year as he wracks up Tony, Emmy and Oscar Awards for Best Direction, he conspicuously thanks “a good friend of mine, Gwen Verdon,” for her contributions. But it’s been 13 years since she won her last Tony Award, and spending time at home with their daughter just isn’t enough for a woman who “won’t rest until she knows she has it all.” Bob is on his own downward spiral though. Much like the title character in Pippin, Bob is looking for something fulfilling - completely fulfilling. In a fever dream, Ben Vereen, Paddy, Gwen and his female conquests taunt Bob to jump out his hotel room window, with Gwen saying “the ones who die young, they’re the ones who live forever. If you do this, you’ll eclipse me, you’ll eclipse everyone.” But it’s the thought of their daughter Nicole that keeps him from jumping, much to the chagrin of the voices in his head.

This week, we're turning over the mic to Christine Shepard from the Broadway companies of Head Over Heels and Mean Girls. Today Chris chats with Chris Fink, one of the creators of Radial Park. Radial Park in Queens is Broadway at the drive-in. An interactive, theatrical experience, from the safety of your own vehicle. Guests will come to enjoy a show on the big screen with live, sing-along entertainment, performed by Broadway stars.

In the third episode of the F/X Fosse/Verdon miniseries, the episode’s primary musical moment does not celebrate Fosse at all. It is a flashback sequence where a young Gwen Verdon, working as a reviewer for the Hollywood Bugle, first sees the work of sem...

In the wake of COVID-19, never has it been more time-sensitive than to provide a virtual home and community for creatively displaced theatrical artists and creators. In this edition, we spoke with award winning Director and Choreographer Jason A. Sparks, President and Theatrical Director of Fosters Theatrical Artist Residency. Fosters is a new nonprofit organization designed to support and nurture artists and their new theatrical works to their truest, greatest potential. Special thanks to Jason A. Sparks for opening up about Fosters Theatrical Artist Residency. If you would like more information, please visit FostersResidency.org.

Although many of us may be inclined to skip the song “A Sentimental Man” on the Wicked cast recording, keep your thumb away from that skip button. Kevin Bianchi and Quincy Brown have launched SENTIMENTAL MEN, a new interview-based podcast about musical theatre and the women who make it wonderful. In their premiere season, Quincy and Kevin are taking a deep dive into the musical Wicked from Elphaba’s point of view, joined by a different actress who has performed the role in each episode. There are currently five episodes available for streaming, featuring conversations with actresses such as Lindsay Pearce, Caroline Bowman and this one, with longtime Wicked ensemble member and Elphaba understudy Stephanie Torns. New episodes are scheduled to be released every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most major platforms. For more information, you can find them on social @sentmenpod or email them at sentimentalmenpod@gmail.com.

At the 2020 TheaterMakers’ Summit about “The Art of the Pivot," The Ensemblist's Mo Brady spoke to four titans of the American musical theatre about their love for theatre, how that love was satisfied as a performer and how they’ve pivoted that love into a different mode of creation. Please enjoy a portion of that conversation, with Asmeret Ghebremichael, Stephanie Klemons, Steve Rosen and Luis Salgado. Special thanks to Ken Davenport, Mary Dina and the team at TheaterMakers Summit 2020 for allowing us to share a portion of the conversation with you. To hear this full panel, as well as dozens of others you can still gain access to the summit at TheTheaterMakersStudio.com.

“Me and My Baby” premiered on April 23rd, 2019. It was written by Debora Cahn, and directed by Adam Bernstein. In this episode we are treated to our first numbers not originally choreographed by Bob Fosse: the opening dream sequence to “Wilkommen” and the Jack Cole revue number, both choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. Portraying a bevy of beautiful secretaries are Mackenzie Bell, Anna Noble, Sam Farrow, Mindy Wallace and sisters Leigh-Ann and Sara Esty. In a flashback to Gwen’s early career in Los Angeles, we also see a quintet of Broadway’s best: Adrian Lee, Ricky Ubeda, Ryan Steele and Reed Luplau, all centered around the flawless Eliza Ohman. While the titular song from Chicago does not appear in the episode, the featured music that does all comes from the musical Cabaret, with music and lyrics by Kander & Ebb. We are treated to Ethan Slater portraying the legendary Joel Grey in “Wilkommen” and “Two Ladies” accompanied audibly by Alysha Umphress and Morgan Weed, and visually by Lindsay Dunn and Kaitlyn Edgar, as well as footage of Kelli Barrett singing “Mein Herr” from a previous episode. Bob ends his vacation early to begin the editing process of the Cabaret film, but is not happy to find that the editing team has already created an “unwatchable” rough cut that makes him feel like the world is falling apart. Bouncing into Gwen’s apartment with Chinese food, he asks Gwen to join him in the editing room because he’s “feeling a little lost right now.” However, Gwen isn’t available to assist Bob because she’s going to be in rehearsals for a play - a straight play - called Children! Children! The two play power struggle with their daughter Nicole, both claiming that they can’t be responsible for her while they are working. When Gwen passes her off to Bob for a dinner meeting with her manager Mel, Bob passes her off to his friend Paddy. When Gwen finds out, she explodes at Bob who considers watching his own daughter a favor. Being taken advantage of by Bob reminds Gwen of her teenage self living in Culver City, California, when caught the eye of James Henaghen, a prominent theatre critic who rapes, impregates and then agrees to marry the young Verdon. Filling in for her deadbeat husband, he reviews a performance of the Jack Cole dancers and realizes she needs to perform for him, leaving her bastard infant son with her parents to go on tour. In addition to playing wife and mother to Bob, the writers of Children! Children! want Gwen, two-time Tony Award winner, to audition for the role. She pretends to love the audition process: “it’s like a first date with a new crush,” and gets the part, although Mel confides in her that she was “not everyone’s first choice.” In rehearsal Gwen gets singled out with more notes and adjustments than she’s used to, a sharp juxtaposition to how she was lauded for her performance in Can Can. Feeling inept at her work in the rehearsal room, Gwen offers her services in Bob’s editing bay where she is subservient but shines.

We’re revisiting our 2015 interview with Krysta Rodriguez. In 2006, Krysta performed in the ensemble of the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening, understudying four principal roles. 9 years later, she took on Ilse, one of the roles she previously understudied, in the show’s Broadway revival. In our conversation, Krysta chats all about how the two productions differed, why she wanted to revisit the material, and how she approached the role differently her second time around.

The second episode focuses on the creation of Damn Yankees, from rehearsals in New York to its out of town tryout in New Haven, CT. In the episode, Fosse inserts a mambo-inspired dance duet called “Who’s Got The Pain?” into the show to showcase Verdon and a dancer named Eddie Phillips, played by this week’s guest Ryan VanDenBoom. A veteran of Broadway’s Bandstand, Ryan VanDenBoom has performed on screen before as a sailor in the Channing Tatum-led film Hail, Caesar!. In Fosse/Verdon, he has one of the series’ largest dance features.

On November 13, 1997, 23 years ago today, Disney Theatrical Productions opened The Lion King at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre. It was a smash hit, winning six Tony Awards, leading to numerous productions all over the world, and becoming the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time. The Lion King is currently the third longest-running Broadway show and has dazzled audiences for an impressive 9,302 performances and counting. Although performances are currently paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of The Lion King’s beloved cast members are joining us to share some of their favorite memories of working on the show. These pieces were originally shared on our blog to celebrate The Lion King’s 20th anniversary in 2017. Here, in their own words, are Rosie Lani Fiedelman, Blake Hammond, Kimberly Marable, Arbender Robinson & L. Steven Taylor:

On this episode, we’re revisiting our 2013 conversation with Harvey Evans. We chat all about the tradition of the Legacy Robe, the history, the ceremony, Harvey’s memories from the two shows he received it for, and so much more. Please note that when this interview was recorded, the Legacy Robe was known as the Gypsy Robe. The name was changed in 2018, because of the insensitive nature of its previous title.

In the wake of this pandemic that has altered the face and shape of how we consume so much popular media, particularly when it comes to musical theatre, we’re spotlighting One Million Musicals. Created by Jacob Ben-Shmuel and Alan Blake Bachelor, One Million Musicals is an ambitious, independent endeavor to produce - you guessed it - ONE MILLION high quality musicals to the podcasting space. With a team of artistic collaborators, not to mention many notable swings and ensemblists from Broadway, Jacob and Alan drop a new podcast with an entirely original story and set of songs and characters every month. To explain the creation and execution of One Million Musicals in their own words, here is our interview with Jacob and Alan.