June 28, 2023 • 17 mins
Michael Riedel chats with Stephanie J. Block & Marylee Fairbanks about their podcast 'Stages.' They connect with creative people and talk about how art threads through every stage of life. They also talk about personal projects they are currently working on. Christine Nagy was off this week.
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(00:02):
iHeartRadio Broadway presents Inside Broadway, thepodcast about everything theater. It's where you
hear what happens from the ticket windowto the stage door, with the stars
and creative forces that make it allcome alive. Here are your hosts,
w Rs. Michael Reidal and LightFM's Christine Nagy. Hey, it's Michael
(00:24):
Ridle. My co host, ChristineNagi is on vacation this week, so
let's see if I can handle thispodcast by myself. Well, if you
love the theater as I do,you want to check out this terrific podcast.
It's called Stages right here in theiHeartRadio family. You can find it
on the iHeartRadio app. The cohosts are Stephanie J. Block, the
(00:45):
big Broadway star she was terrific inThe Share Show. And Mary Leaf Fairbanks,
also an actress but now a producerand she has started a company with
my friend Leshaun's and they're going tobe co producing a new musical called The
Outsiders. So Stephanie and Mary Lee, good to talk to you guys.
Oh my gosh, thanks for havingsure are you Michael? So let me
start with you, Mary Lee.Give me a sense of what the Stages
(01:08):
podcast is all about. Well,you know, Stephanie and I were talking
on the phone a lot during thebeginnings of COVID and the lockdown, and
you know, there was a lotof uncertainty and upheaval. Everybody was feeling
that at the time, you know, and we would have these long conversations,
and one day I think I justblurted out, you know, we
(01:30):
should do this with all of ouramazing friends and the creative people and talk
to them about how is creativity helpingto sustain you through all of this turmoil.
And she said, I'm in Let'sdo it. Let's call it stages.
And really that's what happened, andwe just started having these really candid
(01:51):
conversations with the people who have joinedus have been so gracious and so open,
and it sort of feels that eachepisode is really special in its own
kind of way. You know,hopefully it reflects the uniqueness of each guest,
and that's at least what we're aimingfor, that we find some of
their essence and infused that particular episodewith who they are and what are your
(02:14):
fears and what are your foibles andwhat are your joys and how do you
approach the work, and it's beensuch a joy. Now Stephanie, you
and Mary Lee go back to thewill Rogers Follies in Branson, Missouri.
Yes, yes, we do,Michael I went. I guess I was
twenty one years old at the time. It was a nonex production, so
(02:38):
we were doing twelve shows a weekafteroon our Will Rogers, so we were
in we were in the trenches together, so you know, the middle of
ozarks. But I found my peoplethere. Merry Lee. At the time,
we couldn't have been more polar opposites. She was, you know,
the social butterfly. The side ofher dressing room was just so kayotic and
(03:00):
messy, and I was very organizedand anal retentive and it be places and
Mary we still wouldn't have her damncostume on and I would freak out.
But then we continued. It's true, we continued our relationship, writing letters
to one another, and then ofcourse, you know, keeping in touch
through all it's going to sound cliche, but all the stages of our life.
(03:23):
And she's very right. She calledme during COVID, I couldn't have
been more sad, and she recognizedthat in me, and she said we
got to start making something and wegot to have these conversations, and as
she just said, that's how thepodcast was born. But I do feel
like every conversation is like sitting downwith a friend with mary Lee and another
(03:45):
friend and we're just having coffee.And how their hearts open up to us
and what they feel comfortable sharing withus has really been illuminating. And we
feel so honored that they feel safeand trust us to have these conversations going
places that none of us expected.So at the end of the hour,
kind of all of us are going, Wow, we didn't think the conversation
(04:08):
was going to go this way,but we are so thankful that you felt
comfortable enough to share what you justshared. So mary Lee, who have
been among your guests? Oh gosh, We've had so many amazing guests.
James Lapine, Danny Burstein, AnnalieAshford, Lynn, Aaron, Stephen Flaherty.
Last week we had John Kerrani andthat was one of my favorite.
(04:30):
He was such fun. He justyou know, I threw a quiz at
him and he jumped in and tookit. I mean, can I interview
am out? Just because we allwatched the Tony's and we kept shaking and
screaming because it was Brandon Uranoitz whowe have an interviewed, Ronnie Milligan,
David Lindsay, a bear, Itjust went on. We had michaela We
(04:53):
had Gavin Creolon and Betsy Wolf andRobert Horne. So it's really just these
cavalcade of people where I am nowan old horse in this race of Broadway.
We call you a veteran. Okay, I'll take that. That sounds
a little better than that I wassaying. But you know, through that
(05:14):
community, Michael, you know betterthan anybody, you start having these wonderful
people that are so much more thanjust acquaintances or peers and co workers.
And so the cold call is veryeasy to say, hey, so rule
would you mind coming on and discussingyour new book, But then it does
go beyond. We also have alot of really wonderful healers and designers.
(05:38):
And you know, we had DanielPink who was a New York Times best
selling author, political speechwriter. We'vehad raiky masters, We've had guerrilla doctors
and casting agents. It's been sucha varied and really wild ride with all
these different personalities. If I maymake a suggestion, for someone to have
(05:59):
on the shows a little hard toget. But Michael Reidal is the author
of two great books about Broadway,Razzle Dazzle, The Battle for Broadway in
Singular Sensation The Triumph of Broadway.I've interviewed him before. He is a
great guest, He's terrific. Soundsvery interesting. Do you think you have
an inn with him? Could youput in a good word? You know,
I'm close to his agents, solet me see what I can do.
(06:20):
But I mean he brings can youtalk to his people and get back
to me? Which he brings thirtyyears of Broadway history right to the table
every time. Nad they can't evenlook at me with a straight face,
my producer here or so. So, now that you're out of COVID,
I guess the podcast is sort ofshifted in tone. It's no longer we're
(06:42):
trying to pick ourselves up because we'reisolated. Is it's a little more effervescent
in bubbling now it is. Imean, the laughter runs rampant. We
always have at the end of everysingle episode five kind of quick fire questions
that it's about twelve questions that wepull from, but they're always five and
they always surprise us, one ofwhich and you're gonna giggle. So be
(07:04):
ready, okay for your interview.Okay, okay, I'm ready. Michael.
Yes, if you were nail polish, what color would that be?
And what is the cheeky little nameof that nail polish? It would be
purple because that's my favorite color minetoo, believe it or not, There
you go, and it would bea purple nail biter, A purple nailbiter
(07:26):
because I bite my nails, myteeth and my lips would be purple.
The Purple nail Biter a new lineof nail polish from Michael Reidal. So
there you go. So heaven Nowwe're always the go ahead. I'm sorry,
we're gonna have to come up witha new question for him now,
Stephanie, when he comes on ourpodcast. We can't certainly, yeah,
but we know we at least knowwhat the episode will be called Purple nail
(07:49):
Biter. You got it. Now, before we wrap this up, Stephanie,
tell me what you're up to.I know you're in San Francisco into
the woods with your husband, rightI am. Can you believe it?
It's been really wonderful so we startedat the Saint James together on Broadway,
we just were not done telling thestory. And believe it or not,
Michael, that entire Broadway company thattook the final bow at the Saint James
(08:13):
said yes to go on this sortof special engagement in these different cities.
So yeah, Gavin Creel is outhere with us, and Nancy Opal is
out here with us, and it'sbeen quite a ride. So we're finishing
up in San fran and then wehave five weeks left in Los Angeles at
the Almondson, and then the journeywill be done. The journey will be
over. And also you've got toI'm sorry, go ahead, Mary Lincoln.
(08:35):
I can say one thing about thatshow. I've seen it three times,
and to me, it's one ofthe most perfect pieces of theater.
That past is incredible. The showitself and the way it's told and directed
is just perfection. So if youhave the chance to see it, you
really, really really should. Yeah, it was. It was a great
production. I saw the original aboutfive times, which was wonderful. James
(08:58):
Lepine James Leapines original production, Butthis is a perfic and you know,
I'm trying to remember Stephanie my favorite. Everyone likes that song no One Is
Alone, which is a beautiful song. But I like, yeah, I
like the song that you have.What has it not done? At any
moment, any moment, Yeah,I think that's a beautiful song. Any
anything can happen. Yeah, anymoment. I feel feel so. I
mean, you know, we alwaysfeel blessed. I do. I feel
(09:22):
the same as Mary Lee. ThatInto the Woods is kind of the you
know, it's the holy grail ofmusical theater. And I've become so close
with James Lapine that to tell thisparticular story with my husband alongside me is
it's been a real gift. Itreally has. Unfortunately, the giant steps
on you midway through the second act. So then alert everybody if you have
(09:43):
to pay thirty five years now,Mary Lee, tell me about your production
company with Lechans, who I've knowna long time, and I realize she's
become a producer. Are you withher on Kimberly A. Kimball. I
think she's one of the producers onthat show. She is one of the
cod users on that I'm an investorin in that show. We um right
(10:03):
at the beginning of COVID. Sheand I had teamed up and created a
production company called Tema, and thenCOVID hit she and so she we we
sort of went off and learned aboutproducing in different venues on our own,
and now we're coming together with Timaand we're going to bring The Outsiders to
the stage. So that's going tobe really fun. She's a very dear
(10:24):
friend. We met in La doinground time and she has stayed one of
my closest friends. Yeah, andit's wonderful to see her reaching these new
heights. And it's really interesting becausewhen we interviewed her, she was talking
about she wanted to venture out intonew things. And now to watch because
she was one of our first interviews. Now to watch it all coming to
(10:46):
fruition. Is she just so excitingreally, it's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah,
Now I'm so pleased with her successbecause you know, I knew her
when her husband was killed in theNorth Tower the World Trade Center. He
worked for I think he worked forCantor Fitzgerald if I'm not mistake, and
so he did. Yeah, incrediblydifficult. And what is the musical The
Outsiders about? It's based on thebook Um the se Hinton book. So
(11:09):
you know in the movie, ofcourse, all any of us who were
around in the eighties, we wereall about with that movie and all the
cute boys. And now Mary Lee, we're all middle aged women that still
think we can get with a greaser. So I think you're gonna have a
beautiful subscriber base. Well, it'sfunny because when when it came out,
(11:31):
I used to go to the firstshow on Saturdays with my best friend Magda,
and then we would hide in thebathroom and wait for the second showing
to start and then sneak in andby the time we got home we had
headaches from crying and we had stomachaches from all the popcorn. But we
were in love with all the greasers. Yeah, you know, ladies,
calm down, take a shower,all right, come on, all right.
(11:54):
Yeah, you guys are delightful.Stephanie J. Block and Mary Lee
Fairbanks. You want to check outtheir podcast called Stages, part of the
iHeartRadio iHeartMedia Family. You can getit on your iHeart Radio app right on
your phone. Check it out.Great to talk to you guys. Have
a great day, Michael. I'llbe waiting for the phone call. To
join you on your podcast. Ohall right, take care. So my
(12:22):
usual co host, Christie Nagy,she's on vacation, so Natalie's here.
And Natalie our producer, a bigBroadway fan, and some sad news.
Natalie. Sheldon Harnick we knew himpretty well. I knew him pretty well.
Fiddler on the Roof lyricists dead atninety nine years old. I mean
Fiddler on the Roof, She lovesMe Fiarello, three of the great great
Broadway shows of the fifties and thesixties. And I think on our morning
(12:45):
show Len Burman and Michael Redle inthe Morning, Sheldon Harneck came in once
and he was about ninety eight then, and he was absolutely charming and delight
I know it was actually it wasactually twenty nineteen. He was pre COVID.
If you think he came in studioyou know me a long time ago.
Yeah, it was a long time. I guess it was. You
know, a couple was probably ninetyseven at the time, but absolutely came
(13:07):
in. He was talking about thedocumentary and what an amazing person to meet.
I mean, the man wrote thathe wrote the lyric to Matchmaker.
He wrote Sunrise Sunset. I know, you know, he wrote she Loves
Me. He wrote all those beautifulsongs with his writing partner for many years,
the composer Jerry Bach, who diedseveral years ago. They had really
a great partnership, but it endedbadly. Interestingly enough, they had these
(13:30):
big hits on Broadway, and thenthey did a musical about the Rothchild's Rothchild
family, the multi millionaire family,and they got into a dispute during that
show. And this was back inlike nineteen seventy seven or seventy eight,
I think, and they fought overthe director. One of them liked the
director, the other one to firethe director, and it just got so
(13:50):
ugly that that great partnership broke upand they never worked again together. I
mean, there are so many writingteams or partnerships in Broadway. How many
of them last a lifetime or isthere always or do they just live with
you know, like like a marriedcouple fight here, makeup. There can
(14:11):
be a little of that. Iremember. It was unfortunate that Sheldon and
Jerry because they were good friends andgreat, great writing partners, but they
just couldn't patch it up. Theypatched it up years later when they were,
you know, veterans and legends andall that kind of stuff. But
after the Rothchilds they never wrote anothershow together. John Kander and Fred Ebb,
who did cabaret in Chicago, theyhad a very good relationship. John
(14:33):
is still with us, he's ninetynine. I think you know something I
was going to say, Broadway.There's something about Broadway that must be good
for your health, right, becauseyou know, you live a long time.
You hear a lot of people livingclose to one hundred. Absolutely,
But John, John and Fred theirattitude was we worked together. They worked
together every day. Every single day. They went over to Fred's kitchen,
(14:56):
they worked in his kitchen in hisapartment. But when the workday was they
did not socialize. They had completelyseparate lives. They were not hey,
let's go have a drink, let'sgo to dinner. It was like the
workday is done. John went wentoff and did his thing. And John
was not a show biz guy.He just went off and lived a quiet
life. And Fred was more ofa showbiz guy, and he'd go off
with his friends to see an openingnight or something like that. But that's
(15:18):
how they figured it out that youknow, we have a great working relationship.
We love each other, we respecteach other, but when work is
done right, we're not hanging out. So they put their life in a
compartment's right and then close that.To me, that's amazing. I would
feel like that would have to takemy entire being twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week. I couldnever leave that because I don't think
(15:39):
I can turn on and off creativitylike that. You know who can do
that? Lend my co host offmorning show? Well, let's think Lena
Ever, Hey, let's go outto lunch after the show. You think
that's gonna happen. I don't think. I don't think that's gonna happen.
The sad end, the saddest endof a partnership, though, of all
time, was Richard Rodgers and LarryHart, his first lyricist before he hitched
(16:03):
up with Oscar Hammerstein. Larry Hartwas a sad, depressed alcoholic, and
he was becoming more and more erraticand difficult to work with. And Richard
Rodgers he was an alcoholic too,but he was a functioning alcoholic right and
he could and he was ready togo at nine o'clock in the morning,
boom, ready to knock the melodyout and Larry Hart would be missing,
(16:27):
not there, And it was becomingincreasingly frustrating for Richard Rodgers to work with
him, so he severed the partnershipand went with Oscar Hammerstein. And then
he and Larry were at a revivalof I think it was a Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur's Court, and Larryshowed up totally bond, completely trashed,
(16:48):
to the point where he was removedfrom the theater. Oh and then he
disappeared. And he was found afew days later in the gutter with pneumonia,
taken to the hospital and he died. That is that's the I think
that's the most tragic end to apartnership on Broadway. I would think.
So. Well, your partnership herewith Christine Nage will continue when she comes
back. I promise you won't findme drunk in the gutter. Well,
(17:11):
I'm not sure about that, butyou know, Christine will move on.
We will move on. That's right, Christine Nagy and Oscar Hammerstein, the
second host of the Inside Broadway podcast. Here, all right, we'll talk
to you. When do we talkto the next week? Two days from
a winter we'll be talking again soon. That's right inside Broadway. Find us
on the iHeart
iHeartRadio Broadway presents Inside Broadway, thepodcast about everything theater. It's where you
hear what happens from the ticket windowto the stage door, with the stars
and creative forces that make it allcome alive. Here are your hosts,
w Rs. Michael Reidal and LightFM's Christine Nagy. Hey, it's Michael
(00:24):
Ridle. My co host, ChristineNagi is on vacation this week, so
let's see if I can handle thispodcast by myself. Well, if you
love the theater as I do,you want to check out this terrific podcast.
It's called Stages right here in theiHeartRadio family. You can find it
on the iHeartRadio app. The cohosts are Stephanie J. Block, the
(00:45):
big Broadway star she was terrific inThe Share Show. And Mary Leaf Fairbanks,
also an actress but now a producerand she has started a company with
my friend Leshaun's and they're going tobe co producing a new musical called The
Outsiders. So Stephanie and Mary Lee, good to talk to you guys.
Oh my gosh, thanks for havingsure are you Michael? So let me
start with you, Mary Lee.Give me a sense of what the Stages
(01:08):
podcast is all about. Well,you know, Stephanie and I were talking
on the phone a lot during thebeginnings of COVID and the lockdown, and
you know, there was a lotof uncertainty and upheaval. Everybody was feeling
that at the time, you know, and we would have these long conversations,
and one day I think I justblurted out, you know, we
(01:30):
should do this with all of ouramazing friends and the creative people and talk
to them about how is creativity helpingto sustain you through all of this turmoil.
And she said, I'm in Let'sdo it. Let's call it stages.
And really that's what happened, andwe just started having these really candid
(01:51):
conversations with the people who have joinedus have been so gracious and so open,
and it sort of feels that eachepisode is really special in its own
kind of way. You know,hopefully it reflects the uniqueness of each guest,
and that's at least what we're aimingfor, that we find some of
their essence and infused that particular episodewith who they are and what are your
(02:14):
fears and what are your foibles andwhat are your joys and how do you
approach the work, and it's beensuch a joy. Now Stephanie, you
and Mary Lee go back to thewill Rogers Follies in Branson, Missouri.
Yes, yes, we do,Michael I went. I guess I was
twenty one years old at the time. It was a nonex production, so
(02:38):
we were doing twelve shows a weekafteroon our Will Rogers, so we were
in we were in the trenches together, so you know, the middle of
ozarks. But I found my peoplethere. Merry Lee. At the time,
we couldn't have been more polar opposites. She was, you know,
the social butterfly. The side ofher dressing room was just so kayotic and
(03:00):
messy, and I was very organizedand anal retentive and it be places and
Mary we still wouldn't have her damncostume on and I would freak out.
But then we continued. It's true, we continued our relationship, writing letters
to one another, and then ofcourse, you know, keeping in touch
through all it's going to sound cliche, but all the stages of our life.
(03:23):
And she's very right. She calledme during COVID, I couldn't have
been more sad, and she recognizedthat in me, and she said we
got to start making something and wegot to have these conversations, and as
she just said, that's how thepodcast was born. But I do feel
like every conversation is like sitting downwith a friend with mary Lee and another
(03:45):
friend and we're just having coffee.And how their hearts open up to us
and what they feel comfortable sharing withus has really been illuminating. And we
feel so honored that they feel safeand trust us to have these conversations going
places that none of us expected.So at the end of the hour,
kind of all of us are going, Wow, we didn't think the conversation
(04:08):
was going to go this way,but we are so thankful that you felt
comfortable enough to share what you justshared. So mary Lee, who have
been among your guests? Oh gosh, We've had so many amazing guests.
James Lapine, Danny Burstein, AnnalieAshford, Lynn, Aaron, Stephen Flaherty.
Last week we had John Kerrani andthat was one of my favorite.
(04:30):
He was such fun. He justyou know, I threw a quiz at
him and he jumped in and tookit. I mean, can I interview
am out? Just because we allwatched the Tony's and we kept shaking and
screaming because it was Brandon Uranoitz whowe have an interviewed, Ronnie Milligan,
David Lindsay, a bear, Itjust went on. We had michaela We
(04:53):
had Gavin Creolon and Betsy Wolf andRobert Horne. So it's really just these
cavalcade of people where I am nowan old horse in this race of Broadway.
We call you a veteran. Okay, I'll take that. That sounds
a little better than that I wassaying. But you know, through that
(05:14):
community, Michael, you know betterthan anybody, you start having these wonderful
people that are so much more thanjust acquaintances or peers and co workers.
And so the cold call is veryeasy to say, hey, so rule
would you mind coming on and discussingyour new book, But then it does
go beyond. We also have alot of really wonderful healers and designers.
(05:38):
And you know, we had DanielPink who was a New York Times best
selling author, political speechwriter. We'vehad raiky masters, We've had guerrilla doctors
and casting agents. It's been sucha varied and really wild ride with all
these different personalities. If I maymake a suggestion, for someone to have
(05:59):
on the shows a little hard toget. But Michael Reidal is the author
of two great books about Broadway,Razzle Dazzle, The Battle for Broadway in
Singular Sensation The Triumph of Broadway.I've interviewed him before. He is a
great guest, He's terrific. Soundsvery interesting. Do you think you have
an inn with him? Could youput in a good word? You know,
I'm close to his agents, solet me see what I can do.
(06:20):
But I mean he brings can youtalk to his people and get back
to me? Which he brings thirtyyears of Broadway history right to the table
every time. Nad they can't evenlook at me with a straight face,
my producer here or so. So, now that you're out of COVID,
I guess the podcast is sort ofshifted in tone. It's no longer we're
(06:42):
trying to pick ourselves up because we'reisolated. Is it's a little more effervescent
in bubbling now it is. Imean, the laughter runs rampant. We
always have at the end of everysingle episode five kind of quick fire questions
that it's about twelve questions that wepull from, but they're always five and
they always surprise us, one ofwhich and you're gonna giggle. So be
(07:04):
ready, okay for your interview.Okay, okay, I'm ready. Michael.
Yes, if you were nail polish, what color would that be?
And what is the cheeky little nameof that nail polish? It would be
purple because that's my favorite color minetoo, believe it or not, There
you go, and it would bea purple nail biter, A purple nailbiter
(07:26):
because I bite my nails, myteeth and my lips would be purple.
The Purple nail Biter a new lineof nail polish from Michael Reidal. So
there you go. So heaven Nowwe're always the go ahead. I'm sorry,
we're gonna have to come up witha new question for him now,
Stephanie, when he comes on ourpodcast. We can't certainly, yeah,
but we know we at least knowwhat the episode will be called Purple nail
(07:49):
Biter. You got it. Now, before we wrap this up, Stephanie,
tell me what you're up to.I know you're in San Francisco into
the woods with your husband, rightI am. Can you believe it?
It's been really wonderful so we startedat the Saint James together on Broadway,
we just were not done telling thestory. And believe it or not,
Michael, that entire Broadway company thattook the final bow at the Saint James
(08:13):
said yes to go on this sortof special engagement in these different cities.
So yeah, Gavin Creel is outhere with us, and Nancy Opal is
out here with us, and it'sbeen quite a ride. So we're finishing
up in San fran and then wehave five weeks left in Los Angeles at
the Almondson, and then the journeywill be done. The journey will be
over. And also you've got toI'm sorry, go ahead, Mary Lincoln.
(08:35):
I can say one thing about thatshow. I've seen it three times,
and to me, it's one ofthe most perfect pieces of theater.
That past is incredible. The showitself and the way it's told and directed
is just perfection. So if youhave the chance to see it, you
really, really really should. Yeah, it was. It was a great
production. I saw the original aboutfive times, which was wonderful. James
(08:58):
Lepine James Leapines original production, Butthis is a perfic and you know,
I'm trying to remember Stephanie my favorite. Everyone likes that song no One Is
Alone, which is a beautiful song. But I like, yeah, I
like the song that you have.What has it not done? At any
moment, any moment, Yeah,I think that's a beautiful song. Any
anything can happen. Yeah, anymoment. I feel feel so. I
mean, you know, we alwaysfeel blessed. I do. I feel
(09:22):
the same as Mary Lee. ThatInto the Woods is kind of the you
know, it's the holy grail ofmusical theater. And I've become so close
with James Lapine that to tell thisparticular story with my husband alongside me is
it's been a real gift. Itreally has. Unfortunately, the giant steps
on you midway through the second act. So then alert everybody if you have
(09:43):
to pay thirty five years now,Mary Lee, tell me about your production
company with Lechans, who I've knowna long time, and I realize she's
become a producer. Are you withher on Kimberly A. Kimball. I
think she's one of the producers onthat show. She is one of the
cod users on that I'm an investorin in that show. We um right
(10:03):
at the beginning of COVID. Sheand I had teamed up and created a
production company called Tema, and thenCOVID hit she and so she we we
sort of went off and learned aboutproducing in different venues on our own,
and now we're coming together with Timaand we're going to bring The Outsiders to
the stage. So that's going tobe really fun. She's a very dear
(10:24):
friend. We met in La doinground time and she has stayed one of
my closest friends. Yeah, andit's wonderful to see her reaching these new
heights. And it's really interesting becausewhen we interviewed her, she was talking
about she wanted to venture out intonew things. And now to watch because
she was one of our first interviews. Now to watch it all coming to
(10:46):
fruition. Is she just so excitingreally, it's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah,
Now I'm so pleased with her successbecause you know, I knew her
when her husband was killed in theNorth Tower the World Trade Center. He
worked for I think he worked forCantor Fitzgerald if I'm not mistake, and
so he did. Yeah, incrediblydifficult. And what is the musical The
Outsiders about? It's based on thebook Um the se Hinton book. So
(11:09):
you know in the movie, ofcourse, all any of us who were
around in the eighties, we wereall about with that movie and all the
cute boys. And now Mary Lee, we're all middle aged women that still
think we can get with a greaser. So I think you're gonna have a
beautiful subscriber base. Well, it'sfunny because when when it came out,
(11:31):
I used to go to the firstshow on Saturdays with my best friend Magda,
and then we would hide in thebathroom and wait for the second showing
to start and then sneak in andby the time we got home we had
headaches from crying and we had stomachaches from all the popcorn. But we
were in love with all the greasers. Yeah, you know, ladies,
calm down, take a shower,all right, come on, all right.
(11:54):
Yeah, you guys are delightful.Stephanie J. Block and Mary Lee
Fairbanks. You want to check outtheir podcast called Stages, part of the
iHeartRadio iHeartMedia Family. You can getit on your iHeart Radio app right on
your phone. Check it out.Great to talk to you guys. Have
a great day, Michael. I'llbe waiting for the phone call. To
join you on your podcast. Ohall right, take care. So my
(12:22):
usual co host, Christie Nagy,she's on vacation, so Natalie's here.
And Natalie our producer, a bigBroadway fan, and some sad news.
Natalie. Sheldon Harnick we knew himpretty well. I knew him pretty well.
Fiddler on the Roof lyricists dead atninety nine years old. I mean
Fiddler on the Roof, She lovesMe Fiarello, three of the great great
Broadway shows of the fifties and thesixties. And I think on our morning
(12:45):
show Len Burman and Michael Redle inthe Morning, Sheldon Harneck came in once
and he was about ninety eight then, and he was absolutely charming and delight
I know it was actually it wasactually twenty nineteen. He was pre COVID.
If you think he came in studioyou know me a long time ago.
Yeah, it was a long time. I guess it was. You
know, a couple was probably ninetyseven at the time, but absolutely came
(13:07):
in. He was talking about thedocumentary and what an amazing person to meet.
I mean, the man wrote thathe wrote the lyric to Matchmaker.
He wrote Sunrise Sunset. I know, you know, he wrote she Loves
Me. He wrote all those beautifulsongs with his writing partner for many years,
the composer Jerry Bach, who diedseveral years ago. They had really
a great partnership, but it endedbadly. Interestingly enough, they had these
(13:30):
big hits on Broadway, and thenthey did a musical about the Rothchild's Rothchild
family, the multi millionaire family,and they got into a dispute during that
show. And this was back inlike nineteen seventy seven or seventy eight,
I think, and they fought overthe director. One of them liked the
director, the other one to firethe director, and it just got so
(13:50):
ugly that that great partnership broke upand they never worked again together. I
mean, there are so many writingteams or partnerships in Broadway. How many
of them last a lifetime or isthere always or do they just live with
you know, like like a marriedcouple fight here, makeup. There can
(14:11):
be a little of that. Iremember. It was unfortunate that Sheldon and
Jerry because they were good friends andgreat, great writing partners, but they
just couldn't patch it up. Theypatched it up years later when they were,
you know, veterans and legends andall that kind of stuff. But
after the Rothchilds they never wrote anothershow together. John Kander and Fred Ebb,
who did cabaret in Chicago, theyhad a very good relationship. John
(14:33):
is still with us, he's ninetynine. I think you know something I
was going to say, Broadway.There's something about Broadway that must be good
for your health, right, becauseyou know, you live a long time.
You hear a lot of people livingclose to one hundred. Absolutely,
But John, John and Fred theirattitude was we worked together. They worked
together every day. Every single day. They went over to Fred's kitchen,
(14:56):
they worked in his kitchen in hisapartment. But when the workday was they
did not socialize. They had completelyseparate lives. They were not hey,
let's go have a drink, let'sgo to dinner. It was like the
workday is done. John went wentoff and did his thing. And John
was not a show biz guy.He just went off and lived a quiet
life. And Fred was more ofa showbiz guy, and he'd go off
with his friends to see an openingnight or something like that. But that's
(15:18):
how they figured it out that youknow, we have a great working relationship.
We love each other, we respecteach other, but when work is
done right, we're not hanging out. So they put their life in a
compartment's right and then close that.To me, that's amazing. I would
feel like that would have to takemy entire being twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week. I couldnever leave that because I don't think
(15:39):
I can turn on and off creativitylike that. You know who can do
that? Lend my co host offmorning show? Well, let's think Lena
Ever, Hey, let's go outto lunch after the show. You think
that's gonna happen. I don't think. I don't think that's gonna happen.
The sad end, the saddest endof a partnership, though, of all
time, was Richard Rodgers and LarryHart, his first lyricist before he hitched
(16:03):
up with Oscar Hammerstein. Larry Hartwas a sad, depressed alcoholic, and
he was becoming more and more erraticand difficult to work with. And Richard
Rodgers he was an alcoholic too,but he was a functioning alcoholic right and
he could and he was ready togo at nine o'clock in the morning,
boom, ready to knock the melodyout and Larry Hart would be missing,
(16:27):
not there, And it was becomingincreasingly frustrating for Richard Rodgers to work with
him, so he severed the partnershipand went with Oscar Hammerstein. And then
he and Larry were at a revivalof I think it was a Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur's Court, and Larryshowed up totally bond, completely trashed,
(16:48):
to the point where he was removedfrom the theater. Oh and then he
disappeared. And he was found afew days later in the gutter with pneumonia,
taken to the hospital and he died. That is that's the I think
that's the most tragic end to apartnership on Broadway. I would think.
So. Well, your partnership herewith Christine Nage will continue when she comes
back. I promise you won't findme drunk in the gutter. Well,
(17:11):
I'm not sure about that, butyou know, Christine will move on.
We will move on. That's right, Christine Nagy and Oscar Hammerstein, the
second host of the Inside Broadway podcast. Here, all right, we'll talk
to you. When do we talkto the next week? Two days from
a winter we'll be talking again soon. That's right inside Broadway. Find us
on the iHeart
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