Bottomless Broadway

Latest Episodes:

Sunset Boulevard (2024), Part 1 Feb 19, 2025

Show notes

Everything's as if we never said goodbye, because we're back for our new season with a 2 part pre-season bonus! So join us to see if we've found new ways to dream as we talk about the Jamie Lloyd-directed revival of Sunset Boulevard--after all, she may just be the greatest star of all...

Of course, the musical is based heavily on the Billy Wilder movie, and this production even more so. But did you know it was also adapted for radio with the original stars?

If you, like Christine, have been going down the rabbit hole in finding the meaning of everything in this production, check out this primer on Brecht and epic theatre.

Or if you, like Cindy, have also been wondering why people keep congregating around a drugstore, it turns out Schwab's Pharmacy was more than just that.

Check out this interview with Jamie Lloyd and Nicole Scherzinger about this production of Sunset (skip to around 53:00) and how it came to be.

Today's the day!

Music featured in this episode:

SUNSET BLVD: The Album

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram@BottomlessBway, our blog at https://bottomlessbway.home.blog, or email us at bottomlessbway@gmail.com! You can also leave feedback in this 30-second survey.

The Notebook & The Outsiders Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

Our (most likely) final episode of the season is here, and it includes two shows that both included Ryan Vasquez in their out of town tryouts: The Notebook and The Outsiders! So even if you've got "Great Expectations", come take a listen to find out "If This Is Love" from us for these shows.

PLUS we give you a little bonus section with our thoughts on The Heart of Rock and Roll at the end

Christine's reaction to The Notebook was not dissimilar to Jesse Green's reaction, as much as she hates to admit it

My Days has kind of blown up on TikTok, so we're sure to see many more covers of it in the future

Listen to Adam Rapp talk about adapting The Outsiders to a musical on the Stagecraft podcast hosted on BroadwayRadio

Get a deeper dive (with some clips) on how The Outsiders staged their rumble

Let us know what your favorites for the Tonys are, and happy Tonys weekend!

Music featured in this episode:

The Notebook (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

The Outsiders - A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @BottomlessBway, our blog at https://bottomlessbway.home.blog, or email us at bottomlessbway@gmail.com! You can also leave feedback in this 30-second survey.

Lempicka & Illinoise Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

This is coming out a little later than expected, but we're back with another double header, talking about Lempicka and Illinoise. So take a listen to see whether Lempicka really is "Perfection" and come on and feel the Illinoise!

Note: Illinoise deals with the topic of suicide, which is talked about in this podcast.

The "looking for a man in finance" audio that Cindy mentions has spawned many parodies, including this one from the Broadway production of The Great Gatsby.

If you haven't seen Schmigadoon and you're listening to this podcast...well here's your sign to do so! (And for whatever it's worth, Christine thinks that season 2 is even better than season 1.)

Check out the digital program for Illinoise, including Henry's journal

If you're unfamiliar with Sufjan Stevens's music, we hear that Carrie & Lowell and the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack come highly recommended

And if you want to know more about Jackie Sibblies Drury's work, definitely check out her play Fairview

The New York Times critics were divided on the off-Broadway run of Illinoise, with the chief theater critic giving it a rave and the dance critic giving it a pan.

Music featured in this episode:

From Lempicka (cast album out next week!)

Illinoise: A New Musical (Original Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

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Suffs May 12, 2024

Show notes

It's a blast from the past as we come to you with another episode recorded prior to Tony nominations, where we discuss Suffs and Alice Paul's determination to "Finish the Fight" and get the 19th Amendment passed. You won't have to "Wait [Your] Turn" to see Suffs when you can hear us talk about it all right here! (spoilers ahead)

The show that Christine talks about at the beginning is Lighthouse: An Immersive Drinking Musical (whose EP is definitely worth checking out!)

If you (like us) saw Suffs on Broadway in early previews, you might be pleased to see that the horse Inez rides for the march now has a head!

If you haven't seen Greta Gerwig's Little Women, be sure to do so! But this is the Amy March speech that Cindy references in relation to Doris in Suffs.

Can't imagine Jenn Colella with shoulder-length blonde hair? Neither could we, but that's indeed what she was rocking when she was in Chaplin.

Music featured in this episode:

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The Great Gatsby May 01, 2024

Show notes

It's been a while, but we're "Roaring On" with the season in our new episode on The Great Gatsby! "For Better or Worse", this episode was recorded before the Tony nominations were announced, so you'll hear our predictions on what we thought might get nominated (with some mixed results).

This show marks the first musical of the big Great Gatsby adaptation wars of 2023, and the other one will start performances at ART Cambridge in June.

Cindy thought Roarin' On sounded a bit like Blurred Lines, let us know if you agree!

Despite not getting nominated for the category, The Great Gatsby had some of the most stunning set design this season, designed by Paul Tate dePoo III

Don't have time to listen? Check out the (rough) transcript of our episode here

Music featured in this episode:

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Back to the Future & Water for Elephants Mar 27, 2024

Show notes

This week, we come to you to present a double feature in an attempt to get through as many of the new Broadway musicals this season as we can before the Tonys. So join us as we go "Back in Time" to a show that opened last summer and then take it "Easy" with a show that just opened last week!

Note: spoilers present throughout for both shows, along with discussion and spoilers for corresponding movies

(00:00) Introduction

(02:19) Back to the Future

(22:31) Water for Elephants

Despite Back to the Future winning the Olivier Award for Best Musical when it was in the West End, it ended up receiving lukewarm notices on Broadway.

While we weren't impressed by many of the songs, it was still interesting to read through the song-by-song breakdown of the cast album (particularly that nugget of information about Jamie Lloyd being the original director).

Cindy's impressions of circus-related stories hasn't been great, starting with the song in Matilda the Musical and peaking with Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley.

Some examples of the acrobatics in the show can be seen in the New York Times feature, as well as in their Good Morning America performance.

If you ever wanted to know about running away to join the circus, Reddit has some answers for you.

While this episode was recorded during late previews of Water for Elephants, reviews have since come out. Christine was shocked at Jesse Green's critic's pick and agreed much more with Sara Holdren's review on Vulture.

While there's no cast album released yet, you can get a taste of more songs from the sitzprobe, part 1 and part 2.

Music featured in this episode:

Back to the Future: The Musical

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

Water for Elephants:

Easy

The Lion Has Got No Teeth

Wild

The Road Don't Make You Young

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Days of Wine and Roses Mar 13, 2024

Show notes

Are You Blue that Days of Wine and Roses is now closing early? Well you now have until March 31 to catch this show on Broadway, but if you don’t get a chance to, we have you covered with our recap of what happens in the show and our thoughts on its very unique score!

Sutton Foster's episode of Say Yes to the Dress is one that has come up recently in our feeds, so check it out if you haven't seen it!

John McWhorter of the New York Times wrote a piece on the lasting impact "Forgiveness" had on him when he first heard the song, despite its unusual structure.

Hear Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James talk about the show and how it came to be on Variety's Stagecraft podcast.

Music featured in this episode:

Days of Wine and Roses (Original Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

Harmony Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

This Is Our Time...to tell you about Harmony, and while the show has already closed on Broadway, you can listen to us tell you all about it if you take this podcast with you Where You Go!

Have you heard of Damp January? The New York Times seems to think it's a worthy trend.

Take a look at some of the history behind the real Comedian Harmonists, and there's now a podcast that goes through their history as well!

Check out some clips from the earlier production of Harmony in LA that Christine got to see, featuring a very different direction than the version that made it to Broadway.

It's interesting to see how New York Times gave Harmony a critic's pick in the off-Broadway iteration, while the Broadway production received a generally negative review from the same publication (though a different critic).

Music featured in this episode:

Harmony (The Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

Marie - The Comedian Harmonists

YouTube

Here Lies Love Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

In our first episode of the season, we’re talking about the Fabulous One…or is she? Imelda Marcos may be just a Pretty Face, but Here Lies Love takes a look at how she rose to power and why she might’ve considered herself the "Star and Slave" of the Philippines.

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Check out how the Broadway Theatre was transformed for Here Lies Love, as explained by set designer David Korins and take a look at some of the behind the scenes action where the ensemble has to run all the way around the stage area while doing a quick change ⁠

The other major immersive musical happening right now is Guys and Dolls over in London, which involves a similar standing room dance floor concept

The original concept album is quite different from the show that made it to stage, and thanks to the Wayback Machine, we can see the original descriptions for each of the songs from David Byrne’s website

Want to know more about the background of the show and context for the current songs? Take a look at the New York Theatre Guide article that Cindy mentioned

Imelda Marcos was famously known for her many pairs of shoes, supposedly around 3,000 (and not 300 like Christine said), and in case you want to know what happened to them, Vice has you covered

Hear from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist that wrote about the Marcoses and his experience at Here Lies Love

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Music featured in this episode:

Here Lies Love (Original Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

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Here We Are & I Can Get It for You Wholesale Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

It’s 2024 and we’re back with an Off-Broadway highlights episode, showcasing two shows we saw last fall: Sondheim’s last musical, Here We Are, and a revival from Classic Stage Company of I Can Get It for You Wholesale! Note that there are spoilers for both shows in this episode.

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ICYMI: The Frank Rich piece on Vulture explains how Sondheim’s last musical finally came to be on stage.

There are a couple of interviews that have been particularly interesting, featuring members of the Here We Are cast, which you can hear on NPR and WNYC.

While Here We Are is based on two Buñuel films, two other films came to mind that seemed to fit in a similar vein: Bottoms and Triangle of Sadness.

One of the greatest parts of seeing a show at Classic Stage Company is their in-depth show guide, which provides a lot of historical context about when the show was set and some dramaturgical points of interest.

I Can Get It for You Wholesale is actually licensed by Concord Theatricals, and you can see a full synopsis of the show on their site (and see some of the differences from the revisions made by John Weidman in this production). You can also check out this interview with Theatermania where Weidman talks about his process.

In keeping with the Sondheim tie-in, check out Lindsay Mendez performing Who Knows?

Music featured in this episode:

Snippets for Here We Are from the WNYC feature.

I Can Get It for You Wholesale (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

Other excerpts from this revival come from the trailer and Julia Lester's Playbill performance

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