On episode 30 of the Filmed Live Musicals podcast, host Luisa Lyons chats with Emmy-Nominated producer and director Kenneth Ferrone.  

In this epic episode, Luisa and Kenneth discuss multiple filmed live musicals including Sistas: The Musical, Grease Live!, RENT Live on Fox , and SpongeBob the Musical!  Learn about the role of Riverside’s Children Theatre in Kenneth’s theatre development and the importance of arts education, how the TV show Smash was Kenneth’s gateway to television and what happened when it was cancelled, the decision behind airing the dress rehearsal of RENT, how digital theatre can compliment live theatre, and so much more! 

Kenneth Ferrone is an Emmy-Nominated Producer and Director. He produced the award winning GREASE LIVE!, including the show’s live second screen content, and RENT on Fox, as well as the drama series, RISE and SMASH on NBC. Kenneth is currently directing THE WANDERER, a new musical based on the life of Rock and Roll artist, Dion DiMucci. The Pre-Broadway production will premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse in Spring 2022.  He directed the critically acclaimed 1st National Tour of CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE 90’S MUSICAL, based on the cult film, the Off-Broadway musical, SISTAS, which was produced for television by BET and RLJ Entertainment, and he Associate Directed the 12-Time Tony Nominated Broadway musical, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, including the prime-time cable broadcast for Nickelodeon TV, as well as COLIN QUINN: THE NEW YORK STORY, which was named NY Times “Critic’s Pick” Off Broadway  and adapted for Netflix.

​Available wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Enjoyed this podcast? Leave a review and help spread the word!

In this week's episode of the podcast, I chat with Kelly Kessler, Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at DePaul University, about her new book Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical. 
​
We talk about Kelly's research, why television networks produce live musicals, the role of adverts, the first musicals on television, the first Broadway musical to air live on television (and who got to watch it), and why we should put musicals on television!

​Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical is available at all major bookstores.

About This Week's Guest
Kelly Kessler is an Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at DePaul University. Her work draws on three main areas: the American musical, the intersection of genre and gender, and the mainstreaming of lesbianism in American television and film. Her scholarship can be found in works such as Studies in Musical Theatre, The Journal of E-Media Studies, The Journal of Popular Music Studies, Television and New Media, Movies, Moves, and Music: The Sonic World of the Dance Film, Televising Queer Women: A Reader, and The New Queer Aesthetic on Television: Essays on Recent Programming. Kessler has published two books, including Destabilizing the Hollywood Musical: Music, Masculinity and Mayhem and Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical.