In the midst of your "Merry, Merry Christmas," let me interest you in a little "Mary, Mary" Broadway! Don't feel bad if you've never heard of this play -- I certainly hadn't -- but like so many other shows I've covered, there are SO many crazy and interesting stories related to this surprising entry in the pantheon of long running productions that reveal fascinating aspects of Broadway history.

And the perfect person to bring a near-bottomless depth of knowledge to the subject of plays on Broadway is, of course, Jordan Schildcrout, author of "In the Long Run: A Cultural History of Broadway's Hit Plays." As we get to talking about this play, Jordan lays out the context for its unexpected success and we explicate how it ends up being weirdly both pro- and anti-feminist. We also spend some time ruminating on the career of Barbara Bel Geddes, known to most from "Dallas," but actually rose to fame initially for originating Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," a role Elizabeth Taylor would go on to own thanks to the movie adaptation.

This "Mary, Mary" isn't so contrary a subject for the holidays as, in its own oddly traditional way, it reinforces conservative values and the sanctity of marriage. But at the same time, we can look back at it and be thankful that we truly have moved on past when women weren't "allowed" to be both pretty and witty.

Be sure to check out our website, ChasingPhantom.net, for more information and related video clips. For "Mary, Mary," the whole movie is actually out there on YouTube. Happy holidays and see you in the new year!

Sure, you "Ain't Misbehavin'" at holiday time, but what about the rest of the year? For an expert on not misbehaving year-round, what person could I talk to that would be better than Desirée Roots?

Roots has graced Virginia stages for decades and her exceptional voice has made her a consistent draw for cabarets, big band performances, and special appearances with groups like the Richmond Symphony. Not only is she a great performer, but she has become a knowledgeable and savvy non-profit arts administrator and she brings all of that experience to bear in our deep dive into this show that features the enduring music of Fats Waller.

"Ain't Misbehavin'" is a unique show - a jukebox musical of sorts before there was such a thing, but also a musical revue where the actors in the Broadway production would become the "characters" actors would play for all future production. There is only one other musical revue of its kind that ran longer on Broadway ("Smokey Joe's Cafe") so it is situated in a weird but fascinating niche in the Broadway canon.

Is "Ain't Misbehavin'" overlooked and underproduced? Or does it remain an underappreciated but still regularly staged show in the regional circuit? Desirée and I talk about all of that and more in this great conversation.

Check out my website at ChasingPhantom.net for more information about this show and associated video clips. And please reach out to me at davidhintztimberline@gmail.com with comments, suggestions or cries of outrage!

If you look down the list of Pulitzer Prize-winning musicals, past more recent capital "I" important musicals like "Hamilton" and "A Strange Loop," you eventually get to "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Sure, it's a caustic take on corporate culture but prize-winning? That seems a stretch, even with the creative team behind arguably the most beloved musical ever, "Guys and Dolls," on board.

Luckily, I was able to talk to the woman who wrote the book on this subject, Kristin Stultz Pressley, to help make sense of this situation. Her book, "Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals: Of Thee I Sing to A Strange Loop," provides fascinating background on the 10 shows that have earned the prestigious prize and the sometimes unexpected reasons for their recognition.

Dr. Pressley and I dig in deep on "How to Succeed..." and I came away from our conversation with a new appreciation of this show and also a deeper understanding of why it was honored some 60 years ago.

As this episode is being released during Thanksgiving week, I thought it was a great time to highlight new friends I've made through this podcast, like Dr. Pressley, and also take a small aside at Black Friday which follows on the heels of the holiday. If you are feeling cynical about capitalism, "How to Succeed..." sure provides plenty of grist for that particular mill!

Be sure and check out my website, ChasingPhantom.net, for more information and links to video clips relevant to our conversation. I am thankful for all of you listeners and hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!

In approaching "Oh! Calcutta!" today, it's hard not to react with a "What! Really?!?" This is a show, that between the original production and its revival, had more than 7,200 performances on Broadway. Really?

Full of nudity and bawdy - but also mostly bad - comedy, the popularity of this show is truly dumbfounding. And when dealing with something I have trouble understanding, I often turn to my very wise friend, Dr. Jesse Rabinowitz, for insight and a reality check.

Dr. J provides that and more in this very fun episode explicating a very odd show.

And after listening to it, you'll want to visit my website, ChasingPhantom.net, where I've added a new section with more info on some of my podcast guests that includes a *special offer* from author and historian Jordan Schildcrout. Check it out!

Happy Halloween! We have the perfect show to dig into for spooky season - mostly because it's downright scary how bad this musical is!

Frank Wildhorn's "Jekyll & Hyde" is a musical that, if there was a just theater god, would be forever relegated to the dustbin of Broadway history. There are many musicals I don't like but this is one I actively despise, partially for its innate flaws but also for its utter failure to achieve anything close to what it was aspiring for.

Despite this - or maybe because of it - this podcast episode is delightful! It gave me the opportunity to catch up with classic literature maven and host of the podcast "Didn't Read It," Grace Todd, to get extremely snarky about all that is wrong with "J&H." We touch on everything from its complete abnegation of the original story to the lackluster and lazy staging of the Broadway production. And even after more than 30 minutes of criticism, we really only scratched the surface.

By all means, please just listen to this episode and DON'T, for the love of god, spend any of your precious time watching this musical or listening to its music. You'll only encourage the man behind it, the notorious Frank Wildhorn, to do more violence to the good name of musical theater. If you do have time to spare, check out the podcast Grace and I did together called "Convince Me I Care." It's a lot more fun than Jekyll or Hyde!

And of course as always, head to ChasingPhantom.net for more information about this show and others I've covered in the past, as well as video clips related to each production. And check back in 2 weeks for more of the best of BOO-roadway!

It's one of the most famous and beloved titles in musical theater. Because of its iconic mismatched lovers storyline and nostalgia evocation of the 1950s, "Grease" has been performed in high schools, colleges and regional theaters across the country for decades. The movie version with Travolta and Newton-John was the highest grossing movie musical of all time when it came out.

With all of that history, there seems like maybe not much else could be said about "Grease" but, thanks to my awesome guest, Patti D'Beck, we find plenty to say about it. Before she was an award-winning director and producer for regional theater, Patti was the assistant choreographer for this revival revival, working closely with Broadway legend, Jeff Calhoun. Even though it ran a long time, the revival had less than half the performances of the original production and, some might argue, it's longevity was goosed by the ongoing parade of stars used as replacements in the cast.

Patti and I delve into all of that, including her unique perspective on stars and their different learning styles. Because of her long and varied career, we also can't avoid a quick detour down a tangent about "A Chorus Line." It's a great episode thanks to Patti, clips of the banging tunes from the show don't hurt!

You'll definitely want to check out the clips to appreciate the "over-the-top" aspects of this production. Go to ChasingPhantom.net for those and see what Patti and her husband, David Leong, are up to at GoldenAges.net.

"School of Rock" opened on Broadway just a few years after "Billy Elliot" closed but, even though the shows have some surface-level similarities, it's hard to think of two more different stories. The earlier show was a rough-and-tumble look at a working class young boy's potential escape from his impoverished life; the latter was about adults who act like children and very posh adolescents learning to shed some of their rich-kid stuffiness.

Both shows were handicapped in their long runs because of their reliance on young actors who are wont to age-out of plum roles relatively quickly, as I talk about with my guest Brian Baez.

Brian has an extensive career as a performer but his vocation over the past decade or so has been in the realm of casting. He has worked casting talent for cruise ships for many years and recently opened his own business in the Netherlands that expands that core mission into different creative directions.

Brian and I talk quite a bit about working in "non-traditional venues" like cruise ships and theme parks. His work related to "School of Rock" was at a theme park during the time when the show was being developed from its movie incarnation to the stage version. He has plenty of fun anecdotes from that time and he provides some interesting background on what's involved in that fascinating corner of the live performance world.

Check out my website at ChasingPhantom.net for more information and be sure and follow Baez Theatrical on Instagram to keep up with what Brian is up to!

Fifteen years ago, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" was all the rage on Broadway. It was a show where hot button social issues -- from labor relations to social mobility to questions about gender expression -- mixed with a searing family drama, plus there was a LOT of really great dancing. Tack on a score co-composed by Elton John and there was little doubt this was going to be a hit.

What's curious is that this story seemed to fade from view in the subsequent years, even though ALL of the social issues continue to be compelling components in the current zeitgeist. As I discuss with the fight director for the Broadway production, David Leong, the ongoing challenge of finding young actors who could portray such a demanding role eventually proved too much for the show and continues to hamper efforts to stage the show.

Not to denigrate fight directors AT ALL but it's worth noting that David Leong is SO MUCH more than a fight director. As chair of the theater department at Virginia Commonwealth University, he helped raise the standards and the overall quality of the program to a nationally recognized level of excellence. He is also a savvy entrepreneur who has leveraged his ongoing involvement in the performing arts into several different companies.

This episode spotlights a lesser known job among those needed to make a Broadway production work, a theme that will continue is several of the next episodes.

Be sure and check out my website at ChasingPhantom.net for more information and video clips related to this show, including the full pro-shot of the London production. For more information on the company David Leong and Patti D'Beck started, check out GoldenAges.net.