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Musical Theatre and Theatre With Music

Content in this section explores the popular art form of musical theatre and theatre works that integrate music in other ways. You’ll find thoughts and conversations from artists, articles about contemporary and historical works, and performance videos. The #MusicalsWeek series is a great place to begin, as is “The Black in Black Musical Theatre” episode of the Daughters of Lorraine podcast.

The Latest

Opening the Channel with Masi Asare
Podcast
Opening the Channel with Masi Asare
by Masi Asare, Leticia Ridley, Jordan Ealey
28 February 2024
Justice for Movie Musicals, or Why the Musical Adaptation of The Color Purple Matters 
Podcast
Justice for Movie Musicals, or Why the Musical Adaptation of The Color Purple Matters 
by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley
14 February 2024
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
Essay
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
by Giulianna Marchese
5 October 2023
Comparing Notes with Noel Katz
Essay

Comparing Notes with Noel Katz

17 May 2016

In this installment, Donald Sanborn interviews Composer and Lyricist Noel Katz about his career and process.

Hamilton, Democracy, and Theatre in America
Essay

Hamilton, Democracy, and Theatre in America

13 May 2016

Professor Patricia Herrera writes about teaching Hamilton through the lens of American democracy.

Men vs. Women on Broadway This Season
Essay

Men vs. Women on Broadway This Season

12 May 2016

Jonathan Mandell explores the gender politics of Broadway offerings such as American PsychoWaitressEclipsedThe Color Purple, and more.

Mi tierra, my testimony
Essay

Mi tierra, my testimony

a #HamilTestimonio

1 May 2016

Rebecca Martinez writes about how Hamilton changed her personal relationship to her country.

Why I Paid Too Much for Tickets to Hamilton, and Other Musings on the Fragility of Life
Essay

Why I Paid Too Much for Tickets to Hamilton, and Other Musings on the Fragility of Life

28 April 2016

Playwright Melinda Lopez shares her experience buying tickets to see Hamilton, and addresses the cost of watching a Broadway show versus the cost of caring for her mother.

Lyricist Sheldon Harnick talks Fiddler on the Roof
Essay

Lyricist Sheldon Harnick talks Fiddler on the Roof

28 April 2016

Marcina Zaccaria speaks with Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick as he approaches his ninety-second birthday.

Interview with Javier Muñoz
Essay

Interview with Javier Muñoz

21 April 2016

Marisela Treviño Orta interviews Javier Muñoz, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s alternate in Hamilton.

Que Onda? with Alex Lacamoire, music director of Hamilton
Essay

Que Onda? with Alex Lacamoire, music director of Hamilton

1 April 2016

Trevor Boffone interviews Hamilton’s music director, orchestrator, and co-arranger Alex Lacamoire about his journey as an artist, his Cuban heritage, and collaborating with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Comparing Notes
Essay

Comparing Notes

A Conversation with Dr. Steven L. Rosenhaus

25 March 2016

In this first installment, Donald Sanborn interviews Dr. Steven Rosenhaus about his career in musical theatre and teaching.

Ham4Ham
Essay

Ham4Ham

Taking Hamilton to the Streets

18 March 2016

Trevor Boffone discusses Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wildly popular Ham4Ham show, and how it fits into a Latina/o theatre tradition.

fall springs logo
Fall Springs
Essay

Fall Springs

A Musical Disaster

16 March 2016

Listen to a demo of Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's new musical.

Non-stop Between Subway Stops
Essay

Non-stop Between Subway Stops

Underground Reflections on Hamilton

4 March 2016

Actor and writer Oscar A. L. Cabrera kicks off the Café Onda series about Hamilton’s Latinidad, discussing the personal impact Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work has had on him.

Jody Christopherson’s Spin on Greencard Wedding
Essay

Jody Christopherson’s Spin on Greencard Wedding

1 March 2016

Marcina Zaccaria on Jody Christopherson’s Greencard Wedding at Dixon Place in New York City.

Gimme Gimme
Essay

Gimme Gimme

the I Want Song in Musical Theatre

26 February 2016

Sarah R. Warren examines the placement and function of the I Want Song in musicals.

Why Hamilton is Not the Revolution You Think it is
Essay

Why Hamilton is Not the Revolution You Think it is

23 February 2016

James McMaster on the politics of Hamilton and the need for a musical theatre revolution.

Memorial Concert for Composer Elizabeth Swados
Video

Memorial Concert for Composer Elizabeth Swados

Sunday 14 February 2016
New York, NY, United States

Livestreamed a memorial concert, celebrating the life and work of internationally renowned award-winning composer Elizabeth Swados featuring performers, speakers, and artists who have worked with Liz over the course of her extensive career in a diversity of artistic communities. The event broadcasted from the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa ETC in New York City on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 14 February at 20:00 GMT (London) / 3 p.m. EST (New York) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 12 p.m. PST (Los Angeles).

Writing Musical Theatre’s Future, While Looking Into the Past
Essay

Writing Musical Theatre’s Future, While Looking Into the Past

A Conversation with James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director of the York Theatre Company

27 January 2016

A conversation between Donald H. Sanborn and James Morgan, producing artistic director of the York Theatre Company, New York City.

Livestreaming Ghost Komungobot by Composer Jin Hi Kim
Video

Livestreaming Ghost Komungobot by Composer Jin Hi Kim

Saturday, December 12 2015
New York, NY, United States

Culturehub SeoulArts/La MaMa presents the livestreaming performance of Ghost Komungobot by composer Jin Hi Kim (Composers Now Creative Resident 2015, Guggenheim Fellowship 2010) in collaboration with acclaimed visualist Benton C Bainbridge (Beastie Boys, MOMA, The Whitney Museum), and sound designer Alex Noyes. Livestreaming as part of Culturehub's Refest on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday, December 12 at 5pm PST (Los Angeles) / 7pm CST (Chicago) / 8pm EST (New York).

Exploring Gay Panic Humor in Broadway’s Something Rotten!
Essay

Exploring Gay Panic Humor in Broadway’s Something Rotten!

8 December 2015

Manuel Betancourt on gay panic humor in Something Rotten! on Broadway.

Invisible Thread
Essay

Invisible Thread

Turning Well-Meaning into Well-Done

3 December 2015

Jonathan Mandell reviews the Second Stage production of Invisible Thread, a musical based on the real-life experience of theatre artists Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews creating a charity in Uganda.

In Praise of Poop Jokes
Essay

In Praise of Poop Jokes

Toilet Fire and the Merits of Unserious Theatre

24 November 2015

Brett Aresco on Eliza Bent’s ode to poop, Toilet Fire, in New York City.

History vs. Theatre
Essay

History vs. Theatre

Hamilton, Perfect Arrangement, Who’s Your Baghdaddy? and More

5 November 2015

Jonathan Mandell explores how several recent works on New York Stages portray history and the questions they raise. 

Gigi, “What Miracle Has Made You the Way You Are?”
Essay

Gigi, “What Miracle Has Made You the Way You Are?”

29 October 2015

Donald Sanborn on the evolution of Gigi from novella to film, film to stage, and stage and to stage once more.

From The Public to Broadway
Essay

From The Public to Broadway

Fun Home’s Growing Pains

22 October 2015

Manuel Betancourt on the development journey of Tony-winning Broadway musical Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori.

Cafecito
Essay

Cafecito

Amparo Garcia-Crow

10 October 2015

Regina García interviews playwright Amparo Garcia-Crow about her musical on Gus Garcia, a Mexican-American civil rights leader.