In the Season 1 finale of Does It Sing? with David Goldsmith, we do something we haven't done since Episode 1: no guest, just a solo deep dive into the craft of musical theatre — through one very famous song.

In this episode:

• A recap of Season 1 and its guests:

  • Alexandra Silber and her revelatory new book for the upcoming BRIGADOON at Pasadena Playhouse

  • Dick Scanlan and the reimagined THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE workshop (with a cameo mention for my wife, Bryonha Marie)

  • Stephen Flaherty on THE LORAX and the RAGTIME prologue

  • Zina Goldrich on the Broadway-bound EVER AFTER

• What’s coming in Season 2:

  • Lynn Ahrens on reshaping DAMN YANKEES for the 21st century

  • David Javerbaum on parody lyrics, The Daily Show, and why rhyme, meter, and prosody matter even more when you’re trying to be funny

• A few personal updates:

  • Writing “Maybe I’m Falling” for the new Disney series Vampirina: Teenage Vampire (along with some special fan footage and personal demos!)

  • Upcoming film Christmas Karma, written and directed by Gurinder Chadha, with songs I’ve co-written

• And then: a forensic breakdown of “The Wizard and I” from Wicked

  • How the ASCAP/Disney Workshop (with Stephen Schwartz at the helm) shaped my thinking about giving notes

  • Why Wicked is both a towering achievement and a mixed bag of craft

  • The prosody and rhyme gymnastics in “The Wizard and I” — when they work, and when they pull you out of the story

  • The tension between cleverness and clarity

  • How the show brilliantly seeds the “melting” payoff from this I Want song all the way to the final scenes

Along the way we talk about actors rescuing awkward scans, the danger of writing to impress instead of to serve story, and why Wicked still answers the three essential questions: Does it sing? Do I care? Why this show, why now?

🔔 Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube (DoesItSing-WDG) so you don’t miss Season 2.

🎹 Zina Goldrich breaks it all down for you.
In this episode, Zina takes us inside the writing of “Who Needs Love?” — the Cinderella “I Want” song for the Broadway-bound Ever After — and shows how it transformed into a completely different Act 2 number with a brand-new dramatic job.

From there, she sits at the piano to premiere the Prince’s counterpoint, putting the whole puzzle together in real time.

And at the end?
You’ll hear the full demo of “Zina With a Z,” the patter song we wrote together — the one that dares to follow Kander & Ebb.

🎧 Episode 9 is streaming now.
🎹 A rare composer-behind-the-piano masterclass.

In Episode 7 of Does It Sing?, David Goldsmith and Tony-winning composer Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once On This Island, Anastasia, Seussical) dive deep into the Prologue of Ragtime — one of the greatest opening numbers in Broadway history.

🎭 This episode covers:
• How Flaherty & Ahrens constructed a 10-minute overture of characters, ideas, and themes
• Writing four spec songs to “audition” for Ragtime — and why Ragtime (Prologue) came first
• Flaherty’s trick of avoiding the tonic for 10 minutes to create explosive release at the end
• Integrating three worlds (New Rochelle, Harlem, and the Immigrants) musically and dramatically
• Weaving historical characters and motifs into a single evolving ragtime theme
• Lessons from Terrence McNally, Sondheim conversations, and the “small bouquets” clue in Doctorow’s novel
• Building inevitability, subtext, and tension into large-scale musical architecture
• CCM, Schubert Archives, Jerome Kern sketches, and Flaherty’s ragtime band The Fleeting Moments Waltz and Quickstep Orchestra
• Why Ragtime resonates even more today — and how Lincoln Center’s new revival is taking shape

🎧 This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation with Stephen Flaherty. Part 1 (Episode 6) covers The Lorax sequence cut from Seussical.

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About Virtual Stage Lab
Virtual Stage Lab (co-founded by David Goldsmith & Paul Gordon) film-captures original musicals and plays to democratize development, viewing, and licensing. Watch full captures free on the VSL YouTube page.
Pitch a segment: virtualstagelab@gmail.com
More: virtualstagelab.com

Fair Use note: Any audio/video excerpts are for commentary/education. Please support the rights holders by streaming or purchasing official recordings.

00:00 Welcome back — Part 2 of the Stephen Flaherty interview
03:00 How Ragtime (Prologue) became one of David’s 25 best songs of the century
07:15 Sondheim chats & harmonic language
11:00 Flaherty’s three “languages”: minor, hopeful major, and industrial
16:00 Dr. Seuss vs. Lynn Ahrens — seamless lyric writing
20:30 Mystery to flashback: signaling time jumps musically
26:00 Cat in the Hat “drive-bys” and Seussian sounds
32:00 The Colonial Theater: chaos, tarot cards, and “fire & smoke”
40:00 Boston breakdown: losing director, set, costumes — but forging trust with Lynn
47:00 Seussical’s “world’s most expensive workshop” and eventual happy ending
54:00 Transition to Ragtime: pitching the prologue at Café Un Deux Trois
59:00 Avoiding the tonic for 10 minutes — why the final Ragtime lands so hard
1:06:00 Writing four spec songs; reversing perspective from Colehouse to the Little Boy
1:13:00 Three worlds, three main characters, and musical assimilation
1:20:00 Lessons for conservatory composers: counterpoint, dissonance, clarity of melody & bass
1:28:00 Journey On preview — staging the impossible
1:34:00 La-la-la courage: Lynn Ahrens’ prosody challenges
1:40:00 Ragtime’s relevance today and the upcoming Lincoln Center revival
1:47:00 Closing reflections & Virtual Stage Lab info

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The Prologue of Ragtime is nearly 10 minutes long — but it feels inevitable.

Subscribe for more deep-dive episodes of Does It Sing? and catch Part 1 on The Lorax sequence in Seussical.