Scene to Song

A musical full of menace and sublime darkness. Sweeney Todd is a Sondheim classic that goes places many musicals won’t.

Shoshana Greenberg welcomes writer and editor Conor Crockford to Scene to Song to discuss Sweeney Todd and the devil’s chord.

While you may expect Sweeney Todd fans to be horror fans, that is not always the case. We talk about the themes of Sweeney Todd, the use of the devil’s chord, and the tragic themes it covers.

If you like Sweeney Todd, or it has never quite been your thing, you’ll get something from this episode!

Music Played in This Episode:

“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” from Sweeney Todd

“Joanna Quartet” from Sweeney Todd

“The Judge’s Return” from Sweeney Todd

“Another Life” from The Bridges of Madison County

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/ and consider supporting on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scenetosong . Theme music by Julia Meinwald.

Your favorite musical may be full of vamps and pedal points. But you don’t even know what they are?

So what are vamps and pedal points? And how do they change musicals?

In this episode of Scene to Song, Shoshana and Willian Forrest discuss how vamps and pedal point function as storytelling tools in musical theater.

Vamps are repeatable, utility-driven units. Pedal points are a sustained pitch that anchors a changing harmony to create tension and allow dissonance without losing the listener.

Music Featured:

“Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along
“Everybody’s Talking” by Harry Nilsson
“One Day More” from Les Miserables
“Nothing” from A Chorus Line
“Stay Alive” from Hamilton
“Someone in a Tree” from Pacific Overtures
“Another Hundred People” from Company
“You’ll Never Get Away from Me” from Gypsy

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/ and consider supporting on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scenetosong . Theme music by Julia Meinwald.

Here We Are, is the 2023 musical by Stephen Sondheim and David Ives, it was Sondheim’s last musical, produced posthumously. In this conversation we discuss surrealism in musical theater, the relationship of the main characters Marianne and Fritz, if this is this an unfinished work, and more.

Music Featured:

“The Road 1 (Part 1)” from Here We Are

“Oh, Look, Here’s the Embassy” from Here We Are

“Bistro a la Mode (Toast 2)” from Here We Are

“The Road 1 (Part 1)” from Here We Are

“Shine” from Here We Are

“The Soldier’s Dream” from Here We Are

“Interlude 1: Marianne and The Bear” from Here We Are

“Dear Bill” from Operation Mincemeat

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/ and consider supporting on Patreon. Theme music by Julia Meinwald.

Shoshana is joined by Christie Baugher back on Scene to Song to discuss melodic and harmonic suspensions as a musical-theater storytelling device.

Christie Baugher is a Los Angeles-based writer/performer. Her musicals include The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul and Leni Riefenstahl Is Going To Tell You The Truth.

A suspension is a held note that clashes with a new chord and resolves, and we explore how it is used throughout musical theater to create tension and further storytelling. Or as Shoshana says, “it's dissonance, but one that is tied to what came before”

Music Featured:
”Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma!

“People Will Say We’re in Love” from Oklahoma!

“Somewhere” from West Side Story

"Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" from Jesus Christ Superstar

“Pinball Wizard” from The Who’s Tommy

“Almost Forgotten” from The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul

“Yours, Yours, Yours” from 1776
You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/ and consider supporting on Patreon. Theme music by Julia Meinwald.

From dancer to director, Michael Bennett reinvented what a Broadway musical could be.

Shoshana talks with Natalie Guevara, creator of Mirror Man: A Portrait of Michael Bennett and unlike many of our guests, she is someone who didn't consider herself a theater person until Michael Bennett changed that.

Natalie got interested because even though Bennett gave us A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, his name barely comes up in the same breath as Sondheim or Jonathan Larson. Natalie noticed that gap and made it her mission to fill it!

They trace Bennett's journey from dancer to one of Broadway's most visionary director-choreographers, hitting Promises, Promises, Company, Follies, A Chorus Line (born from taped personal testimonies), Dreamgirls, and the unrealized projects cut short when he died of AIDS-related illness at just 44.

Music featured:

•

"Turkey Lurkey Time" from Promises, Promises

•

"Who's That Woman" from Follies

•

"Better" from A Class Act

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/ and consider supporting on Patreon. Theme music by Julia Meinwald.

What do crossword puzzles have to do with "Send in the Clowns"? More than you'd think.

This episode, Shoshana is joined by Barry Joseph, author of Matching Minds with Sondheim, to explore Stephen Sondheim's lifelong obsession with puzzles and games, and how that obsession quietly shaped everything from his lyrics to his show structures to his closest relationships.

In the "Why Is This So Good?" segment, Shoshana and Barry dig into "Good Enough to Eat" from Schmigadoon! Season 2.

Music featured:

•

"Ten Years Old (The Fabulous Fifties, 1960)" from Sondheim Sings Vol. II (1946–1960)

•

"Hesitation (Reprise)" from Here We Are

•

"A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd

•

"Good Enough to Eat" from Schmigadoon! Season 2

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you'd like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast."

Be sure to sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com , and consider supporting the show on Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

What’s your favorite musical that no one else has heard of?
In this episode of Scene to Song, we talk all about those musicals. The Indie Musicals. The Cult Favorites.

Composer and lyricist Will Larche talks about indie musicals and the release of his new album, Bumps in the Bathroom: and other lost shows, which preserves songs from obscure, cult-favorite indie musicals that premiered in the East Village.

Music played in this episode:

“Clarity” from Lesbian Love Octagon

“Bumps in the Bathroom” from Bumps in the Bathroom

“Apple Pie” from BAIL OUT THE MUSICAL

Mentioned:

https://www.indiespace.org/

Is Glinda’s side of Wicked memory-based? And why is she so darn optimistic?

This episode, Shoshana is joined by actor and singer Jennafer Newberry, best known for serving as the Glinda standby in the Broadway production of Wicked after previously playing Glinda on the national tour. In addition to her performing career, Newberry is also a musical theatre faculty member at the New York Film Academy.

The main conversation dives into Glinda’s character arc in Wicked, exploring the idea that the story may be Glinda’s memory-based retelling of Elphaba’s life. Shoshana and Newberry unpack Glinda’s privileged optimism at Shiz University, the comic brilliance of “Popular,” and how songs like “Dancing Through Life,” “One Short Day,” and “Thank Goodness” reveal her gradual transformation. They also discuss the emotional weight of “For Good” and the leadership role Glinda ultimately steps into by the end of the story.

In the “Why Is This So Good?” segment, they analyze “Agony” from Into the Woods, exploring how Stephen Sondheim uses humor, structure, and character to elevate the song into one of musical theater’s great comedic duets.

Music featured:

•

“Popular” from Wicked

•

“Dancing Through Life” from Wicked

•

“One Short Day” from Wicked

•

“Thank Goodness” from Wicked

•

“For Good” from Wicked

•

“Agony” from Into the Woods

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @‌ScenetoSong

Be sure to sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com and consider supporting the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scenetosong . The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Shoshana is joined by writer and theater aficionado John Verderber, author of Harry Reams Goes to Hollywood and American Father, longtime Little Red Light Theater associate, and contributor to Time Out New York, New York Magazine, and Everything Sondheim. We deep dive into Christopher Guest's beloved mockumentary Waiting for Guffman and the musical within it Red, White, and Blaine. In honor of Catherine O’Hara we thought diving into Waiting for Guffman was timely.

We explore what makes the film endure: its uncanny authenticity to the world of community theater, the emotional stakes bound up in the hope of Broadway recognition via the elusive Mort Guffman, and the genuine earnestness at the heart of its musical numbers. They also trace its influence on the wave of mockumentary-style comedies that followed.

In the Why Is This So Good? segment, Verderber makes the case for "The Dream" from Fiddler on the Roof.

Music featured:

A Penny for Your Thoughts from Waiting for Guffman.

Stool Boom from Waiting for Guffman

The Dream from Fiddler on the Roof.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

"We watch a Holocaust play and we know that all of these people are gonna die. We watch an AIDS play and we know how badly it's gonna turn out." So what does it mean for a musical to be a period piece marked by tragedy?

In this Season 9 premiere of Scene to Song, host Shoshana Greenberg sits down with dramaturg Deborah Blumenthal to explore how musicals like Rent and Falsettos have transformed from contemporary stories into historical texts. They examine these iconic Broadway shows through the lens of the AIDS crisis, discussing how audiences experience them differently now than when they first premiered.

The conversation also features an analysis of "New York" from the 2024 West End musical Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• How Rent and Falsettos function as AIDS-era period pieces
• The evolving audience relationship with tragic historical musicals
• Deborah's dramaturgical approach to reviving classic shows
• Her upcoming production of Heartbreak Hotel
• What makes a musical become a "period piece"

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Five of this season's guests--William Forrest (Episode 118: The Sherman Brothers' Movie Musicals for Disney), Rick Rhobajt Widen (Episode 121: Bible Musicals), Tara Krieger (Episode 123: Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus's Chess), Nathan Platte (Episode 126: Meet Me in St. Louis), and BethAnn Cohen (Parody in Musical Theater (Ep. 127))--return to discuss topics from the season and answer listener questions and comments. We also discuss the song "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the 1964 film Mary Poppins.

This discussion was held live on Monday, December 22nd on Scene to Song’s YouTube channel, and was recorded for this podcast almost in its entirety. Scene to Song will return in January 2026. In the meantime, you can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow us on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music you are hearing is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Mary Poppins

Did you know writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston wrote a musical? Now you do!

Multidisciplinary Black feminist scholar-artist Jordan Ealey discusses Hurston’s 1944 musical Polk County and what this anthropological musical was like, as well as its past and future in the musical theater canon. We also discuss “Sweet Chitty Chatty” from Kirsten Childs’s 2000 musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin.

Join us for the annual Scene to Song Live Show on December 22nd at 8PM EST- streaming on Scene to Song's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@SceneToSong

Music played in this episode:

"Halihmuhfack"

“Wake Up, Jacob”

“Sweet Chitty Chatty” from The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin

How did William Finn and Jonathan Larson revolutionize musical theater in the 1980s and 90s? Assistant Professor of Music Alex Bádue joins host Shoshana Greenberg to explore the parallel journeys and creative intersections of these two groundbreaking composers.

From their early work in the 80s to their hits Falsettos and Rent in the 1990s and more. We also talk about the song “Four Jews in a Room Bitching” from William Finn’s 1981 musical March of the Falsettos and then William Finn and James Lapine’s 1992 musical Falsettos.

Music played in this episode:
”Rent” from Rent
”Republicans” by William Finn
”All Fall Down” from Romance in Hard Times
“Rap Mitzvah” by Jonathan Larson, Jeff Kahn, and Ben Stiller
“Four Jews in a Room Bitching” from March of the Falsettos/Falsettos

💌 Write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest.

🫶 Follow on Instagram at @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.”

✅ sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/.

❤️ Support the independently produced show on the Patreon.

The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

BethAnn Freed Cohen joins Scene to Song to discuss parody in musical theater. We discuss “what exactly is a parody?” and what it means in musicals. We dig into what elements make a good parody, using examples such as Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance and the episode “Original Cast Album: Co-op” from the show Documentary Now! As BethAnn notes, ” there are musicals that are funny but are not parodies and there are musicals that copy styles but are not funny.” We also talk about the Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers song “The Boy From…” from 1966 revue The Mad Show.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
”With Cat-Like Tread, Upon Our Prey We Steal” from The Pirates of Penzance
”IAm the Very Model of a Modern Major General” from The Pirates of Penzance
”The Element Song” by Tom Lehrer
”My Home Court” from “Original Cast Album: Co-Op”
”I gotta go” from “Original Cast Album: Co-Op”
”Holiday Party (I Did a Little Cocaine Tonight)” from “Original Cast Album: Co-Op”
”The Boy from…” from The Mad Show

Associate Professor of Musicology Nathan Platte discusses the 1944 movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis and 1989 Broadway musical adaptation, looking at how songs are used and how the story and songs changed from author Sally Benson's treatment to the big screen and beyond. We also talk about the Sherman Brothers' song "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" from the 1964 movie musical Mary Poppins.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Over the Bannister" from Meet Me in St. Louis
"Under the Bamboo Tree" from Meet Me in St. Louis
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Meet Me in St. Louis
"Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" from Marry Poppins

In this episode, singer, actress, writer, lyricist, and voiceover artist Amanda Fischler discusses Greek mythology in musical theater from Hadestown to The Golden Apple and all the aspects that go into writing these stories. We also talk about the song "In My Own Little Corner" from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1957 TV musical Cinderella, specifically the 1997 TV version with Brandy.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Why We Build the Wall" from Hadestown
"The Tirade" from The Golden Apple
"In My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella

In this episode, dramaturg, director and producer Shaun Leisher discusses the Muppet movies as musical theater. We also talk about the song "Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You" from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's 1970 musical Company, specifically The Muppet Show version with Loretta Swit.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Moving Right Along" from The Muppet Movie
"Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie
"Going to Go Back There One Day" from The Muppet Movie
"Hey It’s a Movie" from The Great Muppet Caper
"Happiness Hotel" from The Great Muppet Caper
"Cabin Fever" from Muppet Treasure Island
"You Can’t Take No for an Answer" from The Muppets Take Manhattan
"Scrooge" from The Muppet Christmas Carol
"Side by Side/What Would We Do Without You" from Company

In this episode, attorney and writer Tara Krieger discusses Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus's 1986 musical Chess. We also talk about the song "This Is the Hour" from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's 1989 musical Miss Saigon.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Merano" from Chess
"Pity the Child" from Chess
"One Night in Bangkok" from Chess
"Someone Else's Story" from Chess
"Nobody's Side" from Chess
"The Arbiter" from Chess
"Quartet (A Model of Decorum and Tranquility)" from Chess
"Endgame #1" from Chess
"Endgame #3" from Chess
"This Is the Hour" from Miss Saigon

In this episode, writer and director Michael Boyd discusses Tom O'Horgan, Helen Miller, and Eve Merriam's 1971 musical Inner City, the story behind this short-lived musical, most likely the first Broadway musical with a score by two women, as well as a look some of the songs. We also talk about the song "Hushaby/My Mother Said" from Inner City.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

StageStuck! Conference Information

In this episode, theater Reviewer, composer, lyricist and librettist Donald H. Sandborn III discusses Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's 1973 musical A Little Night Music. We also talk about the song "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music.

You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at http://scenetosong.substack.com/. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald.

Music played in this episode:
"Now / Later / Soon" from A Little Night Music
"The Glamorous Life" from A Little Night Music
"The Glamorous Life" from A Little Night Music film
"Every Day a Little Death" from A Little Night Music
"A Weekend in the Country" from A Little Night Music
"Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music
"Finale: Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music

Glynis Johns singing "Send in the Clowns" on television.