From its earliest days, the Broadway Musical has to a very large degree, been a Queer creation. In this episode David Armstrong shares the fascinating stories of early queer producing and life partners Charles Frohman and Charles Dillingham; the first great gay director Hassard Short; drag superstars Julian Eltinge & Bert Savoy; the “Pansy Craze”; and the delightful, delicious and delovely Cole Porter!
The 1920’s brought the second great era of musicals that were written by, staged by, and starring African-American theater artists to Broadway. In this episode I profile these brilliant creators and stars including Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle, Flournoy Miller & Aurbry Lyles, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and their musicals — “Shuffle Along”, “Runnin’ Wild”, “Blackbirds of 1929”, “Hot Chocolates” and more. It also includes a brief history of that great African-American/Irish-American co-creation — Tap Dancing.
African-American theater artists played a much larger role in the creation of the Broadway Musical than is generally acknowledged — including an entire decade of nearly forgotten hit shows and songs! In this episode we will rediscover the early history of Black Broadway, and the amazingly multi-talented men and women whose legacy still inspires Broadway today,
In this episode David Armstrong and special quest Albert Evans continue the amazing story of how Jewish, Irish and other immigrants invented the Broadway Musical — including the immortal contributions of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, McCarthy & Tierney, Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice,, and Florenz Ziegfeld.
In this episode, host David Armstrong, along with special guest, Albert Evans, begin to tell the amazing story of how Immigrants, Jews, Queers, and African-Americans invented America’s signature art form — the Broadway Musical.