 You Will Be PopularIn writing about filmed live musicals, I tend to not write about movie musicals (that may soon be changing, stay tuned…), but I would be remiss not to mention the box office record breaking, utterly stunning, film adaptation of Wicked. Perhaps you've heard of it?! As I wrote in 2018, it’s not an industry secret that when a movie version of a stage musical is released during the run of the musical, ticket sales go up at the box office. The same is true of livestreams. Musicals on screen also boost ticket sales on the road, and increase the likelihood of a show being licensed regionally and by amateur groups and schools. Of the top 10 musicals produced by high schools in the 2022-23 season, every single title was either based on a movie or filmed live on stage. Now while Wicked is a Broadway stalwart that needs no help selling tickets (except for a few expected dips here and there, attendance has been at 100%, or close to it, for the vast majority of its 21-year run at the Gershwin Theatre), the brand recognition for the Broadway show and national tour has undoubtedly sky-rocketed. On Broadway, December shows have just about all sold out, and the handful of tickets left in January start at $150US. You can bet that when the film is released to streaming for home viewing (expected to be February or March in 2025), interest will boom again. For a myriad of reasons, including cost, complex contract negotiations, and a refusal to change the status quo, Broadway is infuriatingly behind the eight ball when it comes to filming shows and making them available for public consumption. This leaves theatre fans, and even industry professionals, to rely on bootlegs to access shows that they might not otherwise be able to see because of cost, geography, lack of childcare, and a myriad of other reasons. In an interview published on Gizmodo, Wicked film director Jon M. Chu shared that he watched bootlegs of Wicked on stage as he was preparing for the film. During pre-production Zoom meetings, Chu requested videos of the stage show from writer Winnie Holzman, composer Stephen Schwartz, and producers Mark Platt, and Dana Fox. According to Chu, “...they were like, “We don’t have a recording.” I’m like, ” You have one in the back closet.” They’re like, “We do not.” I’m like, “That’s crazy, guys.” So I went on YouTube and found pirated versions and would just watch sections and be like, “Oh, yeah, that’s what happened.”” (emphasis my own) Just a few days ago Ariana Grande shared in her Variety “Actors on Actors” interview that she had sought out bootlegs of co-star Cynthia Erivo after first seeing Erivo perform at the Oscars (skip to around 34min in). While the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts does have a recording of Wicked on Broadway, taped on November 16, 2004, the recording will not be available to watch (with restrictions) until the show closes on Broadway. Good luck...
In the meantime, as of December 16th, it’s only 344 days until the second installment of Wicked is released in theatres. If you're looking for some Wizard of Oz-adjacent filmed live musicals content in the meantime check out these wickedly fun filmed live musicals:
0 Comments
Host Luisa Lyons chats with David Nando Rodgers, an actor/singer/writer whose new cabaret My Sunday Clothes will be livestreamed from NYC’s The Green Room 42 on March 17, 2024.
In this thoughtful and enlightening conversation, David shares his journey into the world of musical theatre which began with sitting in the second row of a matinee of the Phantom of the Opera. Dive into the practice of theatre from the perspectives of drama school, performance, being a repeat viewer, and creating a new cabaret from scratch. David Nando Rodgers is an actor, singer, and writer. Recently, he appeared in The REV Theatre’s Evita in the ensemble and covered Juan Perón. Other select credits are Marat/Sade, Jane Eyre, The Rover, and Sweet Revenge. He co-adapted a production of Dracula and he’s been co-writing a new musical, The Starving Artist. David also has a longstanding non-profit administration career. Training: BFA, University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London. www.davidnandrodgers.com @davidnandorodgers Show Links Listen to the PodcastWatch the Podcast
The Filmed Live Musicals podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on YouTube. Listen elsewhere? Find the show on your favorite podcast app here.
Like what you hear? Rate and review us on Apple or Spotify! Let's get social! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Want to support the preservation of the history of filmed stage musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all? Become a patron or make a tax-deductible donation! Filmed Live Musicals is created by Luisa Lyons, an Australian actor, writer, and musician. Luisa holds a Masters in Music Theatre from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and now lives, works, and plays in New York. Learn more at www.luisalyons.com and follow on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 
Host Luisa Lyons chats with Doug Reside, curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division at the New York Public Library and author of Fixing the Musical: How Technology Shaped the Broadway Repertory, which looks at how the musicals that we remember, and the ones that are the most performed, are the musicals that were able to use the technologies of their time such as cast recordings, sheet music, and video, to document and share the work with those who would never see the original production on stage.
Doug shares his background in English and Computer Science, the challenges of preserving theatre history and the challenges of digital preservation, and we dive into his book Fixing the Musical and the fascinating history behind filming Broadway for public distribution, what needs to happen to make film recordings as ubiquitous as cast recordings, and how you can access the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library! Doug Reside is the Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and manages all aspects of the division’s collections and public services. He joined NYPL in 2011 first as the digital curator for the performing arts before assuming his current position in 2014. Prior to joining NYPL, Reside served on the directorial staff of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities at the University of Maryland. He holds a PhD in English from the University of Kentucky. SHOW LINKS (The below are affiliate links and as an associate, Filmed Live Musicals may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you.) Fixing the Musical: How Technology Shaped the Broadway Musical
The Filmed Live Musicals podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on YouTube. Listen elsewhere? Find the show on your favorite podcast app here.
Like what you hear? Rate and review us on Apple or Spotify! Let's get social! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Want to support the preservation of the history of filmed stage musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all? Become a patron or make a tax-deductible donation! Filmed Live Musicals is created by Luisa Lyons, an Australian actor, writer, and musician. Luisa holds a Masters in Music Theatre from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and now lives, works, and plays in New York. Learn more at www.luisalyons.com and follow on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 
Host Luisa Lyons chats with Jim Augustine and Oren Michaels, the founders of The League of Live Stream Theater (LOLST).
Discover how The League of Live Stream Theater came into existence, its purpose, the challenges of filming non-profit theatre, the process of filming, the challenges of archiving, LOLST’s Revenue Generating Grant Program and the upcoming stream of Jocelyn Bioh’s Broadway play Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Jim Augustine is a media and tech entrepreneur. Formerly COO of Zuckerberg Media, he most recently co-founded ZM subsidiaries Sue's Tech Kitchen, the Zuckerberg Institute, Broadway Beta Ventures, and Assemble Stream Inc. As Co-Founder & Managing Director of Broadway Beta Ventures, he facilitated investments in Hadestown (Best New Musical), Lin Manuel Miranda's Freestyle Love Supreme (Special Tony Award), The Inheritance (Best New Play), Magic Mike Live, and more. As Co-Founder & COO of Assemble Stream, Jim worked with Second Stage to produce the first-ever simulcast run of a Broadway show (Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s). Oren Michaels is an entrepreneur, investor, board member, and advisor to technology startups in the US and internationally. As CEO, he co-founded Mashery in 2006, taking an idea on a napkin and $100k in seed funding through multiple venture and strategic funding rounds and acquisition by Intel. In the theater world, Oren is the former executive director and CEO of The Groundlings and serves on the board of Second Stage. He is co-producer of the upcoming Broadway musical Lempicka.
SHOW LINKS
The League of Live Stream Theater (ticket purchases made through this link will provide a small revenue to Filmed Live Musicals at no extra cost to you)
The Filmed Live Musicals podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on YouTube. Listen elsewhere? Find the show on your favorite podcast app here.
Like what you hear? Rate and review us on Apple or Spotify! Let's get social! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Want to support the preservation of the history of filmed stage musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all? Become a patron or make a tax-deductible donation! 
In this special crossover episode, host Luisa Lyons chats with Ebony Vines and Pamela Shandrow of the Theatre Geeks Anonymous podcast.
Join us as we nerd out about musical theatre, and take a look at three short-running Broadway musicals that were all filmed live: At the Drop of a Hat (1962) starring British comedy duo Flanders and Swann; Show Girl (1961) starring Carol Channing, and Allegiance (2017) starring George Takei, Telly Leung, and Lea Salonga. Guest bios Ebony Vines is a writer, director, producer and the co-host of Theatre Geeks Anonymous. Ebony’s love of musical theatre was passed down from her late Mother who loved to watch musical movies with her daughter while grading her students' homework. After a long conversation with her friend Pamela about growing up a theater geek, obsessively listening to cast recordings and also loving true crime, they created the podcast Theatre Geeks Anonymous. Her producing and directing credits include the Typecast Benefit Concert at The Duplex in which she raised money for two not-for-profits that are making massive social changes. In 2019 she produced The Women's Cycle at The Cell Theater, which was a showcase for female identifying artists who told stories that aren’t often highlighted in the mainstream. She has been featured in blogs and publications for her theatrical work and is a 2020 graduate of the CTI fourteen-week commercial theatrical producing program. Ebony is a founding member of the Think Tank for Theatrical Innovation which is a "collaborative community of theater professionals who provide innovative strategies to promote inclusion, equity, diversity, and access in the creation and business of theater." At a very young age, Pamela Shandrow knew she wanted to be an actress. It was at 10 years old, when she watched the PBS version of Into The Woods with Bernadette Peters, that she decided her future would be in musical theatre! Since then she’s performed in numerable regional shows, but is most proud of her work in the Broadway National Tours of Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked, as ensemble/Carlotta US and ensemble/Madame Morrible US respectively. Her life has taken an eclectic shift as she is now working as a dog groomer, but her passion and love for musical theatre and Broadway has never waned. In fact, it has only gotten stronger! And now, she and her equally passionate friend Ebony, get to share that love with all of you on their podcast Theatre Geeks Anonymous. Show Links
The Filmed Live Musicals podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on YouTube. Listen elsewhere? Find the show on your favorite podcast app here.
Like what you hear? Rate and review us on Apple or Spotify! Let's get social! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Want early access to site content? Becoming a patron! Your financial support will help preserve the history of filmed stage musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all. Filmed Live Musicals is created by Luisa Lyons, an Australian actor, writer, and musician. Luisa holds a Masters in Music Theatre from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and now lives, works, and plays in New York. Learn more at www.luisalyons.com and follow on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 
Host Luisa Lyons chats with the person who inspired the entire Filmed Live Musicals project, Ellen M. Krass!
Ellen M. Krass is the Emmy award winning producer behind the live captures of The Robber Bridegroom, Little Johnny Jones, Follies in Concert, Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn, Sweeney Todd with the San Francisco Philharmonic, Candide with the New York Philharmonic, the Broadway revival of Company starring Raul Esparza, Sondheim The Birthday Concert, Company with the New York Philharmonic starring Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert et al., Gypsy Live from the Savoy starring Imelda Staunton, and the Broadway revival of She Loves Me, which was the first Broadway musical to be livestreamed online. Ellen shares her insights into her historic journey working in film and television, and filming live theatre for the screen. Visit the Filmed Live Musicals database to learn where to watch all the musicals that Ellen has produced! 
This Week on the Calendar
Find out where to stream these musicals and more on the Filmed Live Musicals calendar.
Sugar, Butter, Release Date Pie: Waitress Opening Up in Cinemas
Sara Bareilles’ musical based on the 2007 Adrienne Shelley film was filmed live on Broadway in 2021 starring Bareilles, Charity Angél Dawson, Caitlin Houlahan, Drew Gehling, Dakin Matthews, Eric Anderson, and Christopher Fitzgerald. After premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023, the film will be released in cinemas across the United States by Fathom Events on December 7, 2023. HEX Released on National Theatre at Home Based on Sleeping Beauty, the new musical by Tanya Ronder, Jim Fortune, and Rufus Norris was filmed live at the National Theatre during its run in late 2022/early 2023. Available on demand via the National Theatre’s At Home. RuneSical to be Released Online A choose-your-own adventure musical comedy, RuneSical was created by British company GiggleMug. The musical was filmed live at The Town & Gown Theatre in Cambridge. It will be available for free on YouTube from September 29, 2023. There can be miracles! The Prince of Egypt to be Released in Cinemas and Streamed Online A musical adaptation of the DreamWorks animation which tells the story of Moses learning his true identity and following his destiny to be the leader of his people. Filmed live in the West End in 2019, The Prince of Egypt will be released in cinemas worldwide by Trafalgar Releasing on October 19, and online in the United States via BroadwayHD on November 15, 2023.
Want to be in the know about upcoming filmed live musical releases?
Sign up for the FREE Filmed Live Musicals newsletter to have upcoming streams delivered straight to your inbox! 
Host Luisa Lyons chats with the Grammy nominated, and Tony, Olivier, Drama Desk, and Emmy Award winning Broadway producer Jim Kierstead. Jim’s extensive producing credits include Kinky Boots, Pippin, Hadestown, The Inheritance, The Lehman Trilogy and The Inheritance. He is also the co-founder of Broadway Virtual, a new company that aims to help artists develop work for stage and screen.
Jim shares how his background in computer science, and clinical and counseling psychology helps him be a Broadway producer, the importance of filmed theatre, capturing The Gospel According to Heather off-Broadway, why Broadway shows like Kinky Boots are being filmed in the West End, the virtual benefit of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, the Yank 10th anniversary concert, and the movie version of Be More Chill! Jim Kierstead (Producer) is a Grammy-nominated, Emmy, Olivier, and six-time Tony Award-winning producer of the Broadway, touring, Toronto, and London productions of Kinky Boots, Pippin, Hadestown, The Inheritance, The Lehman Trilogy, and Company. In addition, he has been a co-producer of 25 Broadway productions. Off-Broadway projects include The Gospel According To Heather, Unexpected Joy, Yank! (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Nominees), Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, and Thrill Me (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominees). He has also produced extensively in London’s West End and produced Miami’s hit immersive show Amparo. Jim is on the Board of Directors of The York Theatre Company and The Abingdon Theatre Company and is the founder of the digital theatre content creation company Broadway Virtual. Show Links
Host Luisa Lyons chats with the London based Australian director Brett Sullivan - the director behind the captures of Love Never Dies, Billy Elliot, Miss Saigon, Newsies, Kinky Boots, Les Miserables for BBC’s The One Show, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Waitress, and the upcoming releases Prince of Egypt, and Aladdin.
Topics include the impact of AI in filming live theatre, filming for live broadcast, working with stage directors who are also film directors, the process behind setting up for a live capture, capturing footage for Here Lies Love, what’s in the archive, and more! Brett Sullivan is a London based Australian filmmaker. He is a founder and Creative Director at Steam Motion and Sound, located in London and New York (steammotionandsound.com). His work across the West End and Broadway for the world’s biggest producers and productions has redefined how to film live stage shows for the screen. His directorial and producing roles span commercials, trailers through to feature film captures. Productions include Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, The Lion King, Billy Elliot, War Horse, Waitress, Newsies, and many more. Alongside the theatrical work Sullivan has produced music videos, tv specials and concert films for artists such as Michael Bublé, Ed Sheeran, Madonna, Phil Collins,, Natalie Merchant, Bette Midler, Josh Groban, Robert Plant, Bruno Mars and others.
The Filmed Live Musicals podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on YouTube. Listen elsewhere? Find the show on your favorite podcast app here.
Like what you hear? Rate and review us on Apple or Spotify! Let's get social! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Want early access to site content? Becoming a patron! Your financial support will help preserve the history of filmed stage musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all. Filmed Live Musicals is created by Luisa Lyons, an Australian actor, writer, and musician. Luisa holds a Masters in Music Theatre from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and now lives, works, and plays in New York. Learn more at www.luisalyons.com and follow on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 
9th Cancerversary
Sunday, July 23rd, will be 9 years since I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The survival rate for this disease beyond 5 years is just over 25%. Needless to say, I am *very lucky* to be here. Although the treatment saved my life, there was a long stretch where I was immune-compromised and unable to ride the subway, eat takeout, or do my favorite thing in the world, go to live theatre. During that incredibly difficult time, I started Filmed Live Musicals. I’m proud that I’ve since created a database of over 180 musicals (with a back catalog of nearly 400 more), interviewed nearly 70 industry professionals about the making of filmed stage musicals on the podcast, and sent out over 180 newsletters featuring hundreds of upcoming musicals! I’m excited to share that Filmed Live Musicals was recently accepted for fiscal sponsorship by The Field. This means that folks in the US will soon be able to make tax deductible donations to continue the work of cataloging filmed staged musicals and the curation of one easy place to find them all. Watch this space! If you’re outside the U.S., or would like to make a one-off or regular donation, you can do so here. I can’t think of a better way to be celebrating my 9th cancerversary than to be in-attendance at BroadwayCon in New York City! You can bet I will be at the panels on podcast musicals, livestream and captures and proshots, musicals and mental health, and the world premier screening of Between the Lines: A New Musical with Jodi Picoult!
RENT in Concert: Symphonic World Premier
I’m also very excited to be attending the world premier of RENT performed with a symphony orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC next weekend! Keeping my fingers and toes crossed the concert will be filmed and made available to a wider audience. Directed by Sammi Cannold, the cast includes Jimmie Herrod (Angel), Myes Frost (Benny), Jordan Donica (Collins), Awa Sal Secka (Joanne), Andrew Barth Feldman (Mark), Ali Stroker (Maureen), Lorna Courtney (Mimi), and Alex Boniello (Roger). I loved Ali Stroker’s performance as Ado Annie in the most recent Broadway revival of Oklahoma! (I also very much enjoyed the intermission corn bread), and it would be amazing to see more representation of people with visible disabilities on the Broadway stage. New Streaming Platform: ReelAbilities Stream The ReelAbilities Film Festival, an organization dedicated to promoting accessibility and inclusion that presents awards to films by and about people with disabilities. The org has released a new streaming platform featuring films celebrating the lives and stories of people with disabilities. While the platform doesn’t (yet) feature any musicals, there are a few theatre-related shorts available to stream on demand for less than $5US each. Currently only available in the United States.
This Is Going to Be Big
A new Australian film about a group of neurodivergent teens as they prepare to come of age and hit the stage in their school’s time-travelling John Farnham–themed musical. The film will receive its world premier in August as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival, and will be available to stream Australia-wide August 18-27, 2023.
Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert
The audio of a special concert performance of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s musical Ragtime performed at Tanglewood is now available to stream on demand. Conducted by Keith Lockhart and directed by Jason Danieley, featuring Alton Fitzgerald White (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Elizabeth Stanley (Mother), John Cariani (Tateh), Nikki Renée Daniels (Sarah), David Harris (Father), A.J. Shively (Mother’s Younger Brother), and Klea Blackhurst (Emma Goldman). Available via Classical 99.5. Oklahoma! on TV in 1951 I’ve been reading through the incredible tome The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein II, edited and compiled by Mark Eden Horowitz, and nearly fell out of my seat when I came across a letter detailing the live television transmission of a performance of Oklahoma! in Berlin in 1951. I’m investigating whether or not the footage still exists but the surface level digging I’ve done thus far is proving fascinating. I can’t wait to share more soon! The Artist in the Open Jar: Susan Stroman, John Kander, David Thompson, Sharon Washington Open Jar Studios in NYC hosted a panel with the creative team of the new Kander and Ebb musical New York, New York. Filmed in March, 2023. This week on the calendar
?Between the Lines
World premier of the musical based on Jodi Picoult’s novel. ? Ragtime in Concert Stream the audio of the symphonic concert of Ragtime direct from the Tanglewood Festival. ? Come to the Cabaret Catch Lucie Arnaz, composer Emma Ashford , The Players from & Juliet, and Broadway veteran Lee Roy Reams performing in their own cabaret shows. ?Spring Awakening in concert Stream a performance from a sold-out run of Spring Awakening filmed live in San Francisco. ? Go to the Festival Catch brand new musicals from the Ice Factory @ New Ohio Theatre in NYC, She L.A. Arts Summer Theater Festival and the Orlando DigiFringe. |
Archives
December 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed