Musicals

Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez tell Terry Gross about the inspiration for "Let It Go" and a "very strong strike across the bow at all princess-myth things" song that didn't make the film.

With an unforgettable story and score, the 1927 musical tackled complex racial issues. Music critic Lloyd Schwartz says the 1936 film version of Show Boat is the best — and it's now out on DVD.

Two veteran directors adapted the Broadway shows to film. And while many such translations are too stage-bound, critic David Edelstein says Clint Eastwood and Roman Polanski got the balance right.

The Metropolitan Opera will be celebrating New Year's Eve with Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow in a new production starring soprano Fleming. But its greatest incarnations have been on film.

NBC is airing a live version of Peter Pan on Thursday, nearly 60 years after the first live telecast. Critic David Bianculli says the cast and the revival of the medium are genius.

Grey explains how he brought his decadent Cabaret character to life on both the stage and screen, and reflects on coming out as gay after years of living closeted. His memoir is Master Of Ceremonies.

A revival of the 1963 musical She Loves Me opens Thursday on Broadway. Director Scott Ellis and lyricist Sheldon Harnick (whose Fiddler on the Roof is also back on Broadway) join Fresh Air.

Theatre producer Scott Rudin always wanted to be a producer and at age 15 he started working in producers' offices on Broadway. He went on to create his own production company and produced the Broadway hit The Book of Mormon. Five of his shows are currently nominated for Tony Awards.

The Late Late Show host talks about belting out songs with celebrities like Elton John, Steve Wonder and Adele. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross he doesn't know what he did to deserve this great gig.

Director Damien Chazelle talks about his movie La La Land, a love story set in the present day, but the influence of old Hollywood and musicals of the past is all around.

Bloom talks to Fresh Air's Ann Marie Baldonado about the CW musical comedy series, now in its second season, that she co-created and stars in. Bloom plays a woman who follows an ex across the country.

Cook, who starred in Broadway shows like The Music Man and Candide, died on Tuesday. She spoke to Fresh Air in 2016 about her struggle with addiction and her second career as a cabaret singer.

Todd Purdum's new book, Something Wonderful, is about the creative partnership and strained personal relationship behind such hit shows as Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The Sound of Music

A new, Yiddish language production of the musical is currently running off-Broadway. Steven Skybell, who plays Tevye, and Joel Grey, who directs the show, explain why the play still resonates.

"I always considered song parody kind of cheap," the Emmy-nominated lyricist and performer says. "But ... I've gotten [such a] response from others ... that I'm appreciating it as an art form."

A film of the original Broadway production of Hamilton, taped in 2016, will begin streaming on Disney+ on Friday. Miranda, who stars in the title role, calls the film a "a love letter and thank you" to the company.

Champion, who died Oct. 21, danced with her husband Gower in the movie musicals Till the Clouds Roll By, Showboat and Lovely to Look At. Originally broadcast in 2001.

James Lapine worked with Stephen Sondheim on Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and Passion. In Putting it Together, he draws on interviews with Sondheim and members of the cast and crew.

Cecily Strong stars in the new Apple TV+ satire — a couple gets lost in the woods and end up trapped in a town where life is a musical and the townspeople frequently burst into song.