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[0:00] Robert W. Schneider: Hello, friends. I'm excited to say that Broadway Bound, the musicals that never came to Broadway, the podcast where we celebrate the bizarre, the brilliant, the bold, and occasionally the completely bonkers musicals that aim for Broadway and somehow miss the mark, is coming back for its third season. And I am your host, Robert W. Schneider. For the past two seasons, we've explored movies that became musicals, songwriters who chased one more hit, and enough out-of-town disasters to make a producer wake up screaming in the middle of the night. But this season? This third season is different. This season is called I'm The Greatest Star because every musical has a leading character, but sometimes the real story is the star.

We're talking about 10 larger-than-life performers who had already conquered Hollywood, television, recording studios, concert halls, Broadway, and popular culture itself, and then decided a musical needed them. Some were legends, some were icons, some were geniuses, some were absolutely convinced they were geniuses, and all of them found themselves attached to musicals that never made it to Broadway. This season, we will hear how. Dorothy Zbornak takes Oedipus to Bensonhurst. Jessica Fletcher and Marion Peru can't solve the mystery of why no one wants to see their shows about mental health. Margot Channing is a back-brace-wearing school marm. The Candyman is Little Tramp. Harold Hill is Pancho Villa.

Jerry Lewis crying. Jean Barry preening. Ginger Rogers tapping. And Randy Quaid doing something. Yes, A Mother's Kiss is Lone Star Love. We Take the Town, Watergate, the musical. These and so many others are covered on this season of Broadway Bound, the musicals that never came to Broadway. It's about stars. And we will ask the big questions. What happens when the thing that made you famous becomes the thing you can never escape? What happens when audiences stop seeing the character and start seeing the celebrity? And what happens when a performer who spent an entire lifetime being the center of attention suddenly discovers that Broadway doesn't care who you used to be? Because whether you're Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Bea Arthur, or Anthony Newley, Broadway is the one star that's always bigger than you.

Season three of Broadway Bound, the musicals that never came to Broadway, begins July 2nd, wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, every show has a story. And sometimes the story is better than the show.