On this week’s episode, Jamie and Rob chat with Broadway actor and activist Raymond J. Lee. Together, they discuss Ray’s career, his deep love for Disney, the challenges of being a parent during a pandemic, and the importance of representation on stage. From “Mamma Mia!” to “Aladdin”, “Groundhog Day”, “Soft Power”, and Britney Spears ... Ray’s got the range, and he’s optimistic about Broadway’s future.

This week’s music: “Part Of The World”, “Disney’s The Little Mermaid: Motion Picture Soundtrack”, “Anything Goes” from “Anything Goes, New Broadway Cast Recording”. “I’m with Her”, “from “Soft Power”. “Hawaii/Waiting for You”, from “Honeymoon in Vegas, Original Broadway Cast Recording”. “Nobody Cares”, and “Day One”, from “Groundhog Day”, “Old Fashioned Lesbian Love Story” from “The Wild Party” (Encores). “Good Guy With A Gun”, “Democracy, reprise”, both from “Soft Power”. “Volez Vous” from “Mamma Mia, Original Cast Recording”.

On this week’s show, Jamie and Rob celebrate the recent release of the “Soft Power” cast album with the musical within a play’s Tony Award winning composer Jeanine Tesori, best known for writing the scores to “Fun Home”, “Caroline, or Change”, and “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, among others.  Together, they talk about the unique inception and development of “Soft Power”.  Then, Jeanine offers a master class in musical theatre composition as they dive deep into the album with a discussion and analysis of the intention and craft behind each song—from overture to finale!

 This week’s music: “Soft Power: Original Cast Recording"

We love a list! On this week’s show, Rob and Jamie discuss Rob’s top ten favorite shows from 2019 (plus a few of his honorable mentions) as reviewed on Stage Left. Tweet us your top ten @fabulousInvalid!

This week’s music: “Burning Down The House”, “American Utopia”, “Election Night”, from “Soft Power”, “Prologue”, and “Who’s That Woman” from “Follies: 2018 National Theater Recording”, “Road To Hell”and “Road To Hell, reprise”, from “Hadestown”and “Today” from “A Strange Loop”.

This week, Jamie and Rob sit down with self-proclaimed “theater nerd” Ted Chapin, whose knowledge and love of the theater extends well beyond his over 30 year career at The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the licensing agency, rental library, and music publishing company that oversees the R&H catalogue, and countless others, including Irving Berlin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more. We talk about Ted’s career at R&H, his favorite of their shows, and, of course, his incredible book, “Everything Was Possible”, an account of his time working on the original production of Follies.

This week’s music: The King and I ‘s“Finale to Act 1,” Lincoln Center Theater’s South Pacific, City Center Encore’s production of Pipe Dream “Overture” and “Sweet Thursday,” Liz Callaway singing “The Gentlemen Is A Dope” from Allegro and Alexis Smith singing “Could I Leave You” from Follies.

This week, Jennifer, Jamie, and Rob sit down with Broadway veteran Jose Llana at Orso Restaurant. We discuss Jose’s life and 24-year career in the theater, including his marriage, the 2016 election, his roles in The King and I, Flower Drum Song, and On The Town. We also chat about representation on Broadway, having to tell his Filipina mother he was playing dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Here Lies Love, and the incontrovertible coolness of David Byrne.  Before Jose joins us, we discuss our love for Orso, The Big Apple, and how to relax and survive living in the city. Finally, Rob gives us a bit of insight into the wonderful wealth of Filipino performers working on Broadway.

This week’s music: Jose singing “I Have Dreamed” from The King and I, Jose and Lea Salonga singing “You Are Beautiful” from Flower Drum Song, “Stay Up Late” by “The Talking Heads,” Jose Singing “A Perfect Hand” from Here Lies Love, and Ruthie Ann Miles singing “Why Don’t You Love Me” and “Here Lies Love,” from Here Lies Love.

This week’s show features our sit down with Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, and Patrick Pacheco, a journalist and award-winning commentator who served as editor of American Theatre Wing, an Oral History, a beautiful book published last year to celebrate 100 years of The Wing—an organization dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theater.  We discuss the mission of the Wing over the last one hundred years, diversity, inclusion, education, and what the future looks like.  But before that, Jennifer, Jamie, and Rob each share the show that “did it” for them.

 This week’s music: Irene Ryan singing “No Time At All” from “Pippin”, “Charming” from “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812”, and “Far From the Home I Love” from the Original Cast Recording of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

On this episode, Jamie, Rob, and Jennifer chat with Tony Award-winning playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and activist David Henry Hwang. We discuss David’s very early start as a playwright, his complicated relationship with “The King And I” and how the 2016 election changed the course of his newest work, “Soft Power.” David also discusses his role as Chair of the American Theater Wing, his lifelong activism, including his views on color conscious casting, and his brief stint in a punk band.

This week’s music: We hear a brief clip from David’s punk band days with John Vomit and the Leather Scabs, “I Suck,” a small sample of the score from “Soft Power” and “One Hundred Million Miracles” from the 2001 Revival of “Flower Drum Song."