Theater History and Mysteries
I take a musical theater production and do a deep dive to find a richer understanding about the lessons the show has for theater and life. And, I’ll never miss an opportunity to pursue any mystery, bizarre coincidence, improbable event, or supernatural suggestion along the way because, in the words of Dirk Gentley, it is all connected. Released every other Tuesday. Coming release dates are Jan 28, Feb 11, Feb 25, Mar 11, Mar 25, April 8. Music by Jon Bruschke and Andrew Howat, arranged, performed, and recorded by Andrew Howat.
Episodes
A young music producer has just seen a production of Jesus Christ, Superstar and was hit by his muse … he wandered the streets of Manhattan, unable to sleep. A native of France, Alain Boublil felt he had to keep walking until he found a theme that could match the power and emotional intensity of what he’d just seen, and something uniquely French. He came to the defining national moment…the French Revolution. That ...
Errata: At about the 12 minute mark I say that Phantom of the Opera is a Victor Hugo story. It isn't -- it's French, but the author is Gaston LaRoux.
A young music producer has just seen a production of Jesus Christ, Superstar and was hit by his muse … he wandered the streets of Manhattan, unable to sleep. A native of France, Alain Boublil felt he had to keep walking until he found a theme that could match ...
Starting in September 1853 Victor Hugo, exiled to an island off the coast of France because the now-Emperor Louis Napoleon has told the army to shoot Hugo on sight, has been holding a series of seances. There are been hundreds of them. They have all been transcribes. Scores of people have participated. Many have served as amateur mediums.
he results have been spectacular; they’ve made contact with their tragically...
Seance transcript images:
Pages 1187 and 1189 of the seance transcripts contain the words "fille" and "morte," but neither includes the words Leopoldine. Page 1189 of the seance transcripts. Page 1187 of the seance transcripts.
Show summary:
It is September 11, 1853, and the already famous author Victor Hugo has been mourning the loss of his daughter for 2 years. He’s also been exiled from France, ...
Thanks almost entirely to his mistress, Victor Hugo escaped France with his life and an early manuscript of Les Miserables. While living in exile and on an island close to the coast but under British control, he finishes the book 10 years later. It’s an immediate international smash hit, with an appeal so broad that even soldiers on BOTH sides of the US civil war love it.
From there it’s a roller coaster…hugely pop...
This episode covers 5 real historical figures that helped inspire the novel, and a whirlwind plot summary of the original Victor Hugo novel.
Errata: For some reason I kept referring to the character Marius as "Marcus" -- please just skip that.
Here's a link to the image of the Bishop's plaque, identifying that character in the novel is based on the actual Bishop of Deign.
Introduction
Against t...
It's 1860, and Victor Hugo, having taken to the barricades against the hated Louis Napoleon, has escaped Paris with a price on his head. And his mistress, not his wife, has successfully smuggled both he and his unfinished manuscripts out of France. But now he's in exile, living in an island off the French coast but under British control. How is he ...
It’s 1848 and there is yet another violent transfer of power going on in France. One of its greatest citizens – both a member of the legislative body and the Legion of Honor, has been in hiding for 9 days with a price on his head. If he’s found by the wrong people he will surely be killed. He is an author and he does have a pile of manuscripts he’s working on, but first he’s got to get out of France. How did he do...
Errata For some reason I keep calling Andrew Lloyd-Webber Andrew Lloyd-Wright, which is weird because I know nothing about architecture. Anyway, the author of Phantom of the Author is Andrew Lloyd-Webber, not Andrew Lloyd-Wright. Together, however, I feel they would make a spectacular opera house.
Intro: On Oct 13, 2016 the Phantom of the Opera is scheduled to open in the Mogador Theater. The narrative i...
It’s the fall of 1923, and Lon Chaney Sr. has just starred in a smash hit based on Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. There is going to be a follow-up show, and it is going to be a hit. But who’s idea was it? And why will that matter to the critical reception of a musical that won’t come out for another 80 years?
Flash forward two years, and now It’s the summer of 1925. Universal Pictures has invested a pile of...
This is EPISODE 4. The next episode, EPISODE 5, will drop on December 16.
It’s 1786, and a male ballet dancer (“Dahn- sir”) and ballerina both dance at the Paris opera house, and the man falls in love with the woman. But so does a solider, and in the love triangle the dahn-sir is killed. With his dying breath he asks that he be buried in the opera house to be near his love in death if not in life, and his ...
In the early 1970s and a writer for plays, movies, and television is holed up in Palm Springs at one of the most unusual restaurants in operation. There was a sole proprietor, the menu has one dish, and there is no advertising or tourists because there are only 4 tables. The topic of conversation is whether to turn a stage play into a musical, and the server, cook, owner, and sole employee is also a psychic.
<...
This is the story of how one of the greatest books ever written, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, became one of the most successful musicals in broadway history, which of course was The Man from La Mancha by Dale Wasserman.
The year is 1579, and a solider being held in an Algerian prison, and he’s about to make his 4th, and failed, attempt to escape. And this is only one of a multitude of life mishaps tha...
Thank you to the fan from Los Angeles who writes: "Hi. I've been enjoying your Cervantes podcast but unless the show on Broadway that was made from the book by Cervantes turned it into a spy story, the proper title of the musical is "Man of La Mancha." Not the man and not from." All true, I can only identify this as errata.
This is the story of how one of the greatest books ever written, Don Q...
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