Episode 842: Hannah's First Time at Wicked

In this week's episode, you can enjoy songs from Jingle Street, the five star hit musical from the 2023 EdFringe, and hear insights and observations from its writer, lyricist, producer, director, choreographer, assistant director and one of the lead actors on what it takes to create and develop a show for the Fringe and beyond, particularly as a new theatrical company.  And as a special bonus, there's a chance to hear an exclusive recording - a rather brilliant cut song from this wonderful musical show. You'll love it - we "pinky swear" it!

It's songs galore and laughs aplenty as Thos talks to the talented people behind Chordstruck Theatre about their hit shows, On Your Bike (Winner of the Best Musical at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2021) and Jingle Street (Five Stars from MusicalTalk, EdFringe 2023).  It's a lovely, insightful and fun filled conversation about the collective creative process of making not just one, but two, musicals! As Felix, one of the characters in On Your Bike, might say "Winner Winner Chicken* Dinner"    (*falafel also available)

Join Thos as he talks with Shaye Poulton Richards, the talent behind the EdFringe success, Lies All The Way Down - a New Chamber Musical, a show that uses polyphonic sounds beyond the usual soundscape provided by a quartet to create the intense atmosphere needed for a pyschological thriller exploring the friend we make and the lies we tell. And hear songs and music from the show that help illustrate Shaye's creative process and her favoured combination of modern folk and contemporary classical sounds.

Wicked has been playing in the West End for over 15 years so Nick thought it was about time that Hannah sees the show - so they did.   With the film coming out next year it seems the right time to discuss the show, its legacy and - more importantly - what it's like seeing it nowadays with very little knowledge of it!  Does it live up to the hype?  Is it still wonderful or is it still just popular?  

Nick and Hannah discuss a myriad of musicals that they've seen in the last year including The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Book of Mormon, Aladdin and more! 

In 2020 Coronavirus threatened to kill opera! By 2022, only one man could save it - using his one person production of La Serva Padrona - where baroque meets 1970s funk in a new English version of Pergolesi's 1733 comic masterpiece. Thos joins the extremely talented musical academic and performer, David William Hughes, to discuss the third of his historic music trilogy - a joyous and delightful version of La Serva Padrona - served up from "an emergency opera kit" saved over from the Cold War era!  It's a funkadelic relic!

Nick has a large collection of theatre programmes which acts as a wonderful topic generator! Nick digs through it to discuss, with Hannah, many shows from the past. Shows discussed include Let it Be, Forbidden Planet, Riverdance, Derren Brown, Saturday Night Ever, Mary Poppins, Rock Hamlet, Grand Hotel, Sweeney Todd and others!

What is musical theatre?  It's a big questions and Thos is asking it. Can a show be a musical without words? Can a show be a musical without music? Is there any point in actually trying to define what makes a musical anyway?  And as an illustration of how wide musical theatre can really be, Thos talks to the talented people behind five-star EdFringe show, The Wreck of the Queen Thomasina, which is a verse play with songs and definately plays with the form in a delicious way.  Vivat Regina!

Join Nick Hutson as he sits down with composer Alan Menken to discuss Hercule's current production in Hamburg, Germany.  Learn about the new songs, direction and history of the show.  You can also hear Alan talk about collaborating, processes and the legacy of the late Howard Ashman

In this episode, Thos talks to the multi-talented actor, writer and composer, Asher Muldoon, about his wonderful five star show, Mine - A Solo Ghost Story Musical - a multi-layered masterpiece of musical story telling. How do you make a ghost story also function as a comedy? How do you read an audience to amend your performance? And how do both Sondheim and Dear Evan Hanson repackage songs in different ways?  All this and some delightful and evocative music will make Mine forever yours!