Broadway To Main Street

A practically perfect episode in every way: the original 1964 movie, the current sequel, the stage version, Julie Andrews, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dick Van Dyke, Louis Armstrong--what more could you ask for?

It's our eighth season on the air, so we polish up some buried treasure: great songs from forgotten musicals, tuneful charmers given their proper due, sung by Phil Silvers, Rose Marie, Robert Goulet, Bobby Short, Noël Coward and more.

With The Cher Show on Broadway, we look at some of the great divas of the musical theater, opera, and pop worlds: Streisand, LuPone, Audra, Judy, Diana Ross, Marilyn Horne, Renee Fleming and Cher herself--all crowding the spotlight.

Celebrating the extraordinary range of Nancy Wilson's repertoire of the Broadway songbook; unforgettable takes of tunes from Funny Girl, No Strings, Hello Dolly!, Golden Boy and more.

We'll welcome in the New Year with a panorama of holidays from the calendar year ahead; songs from Fiorello!, Jesus Christ Superstar, 1776, Promises Promises and more.

Our holiday date from Broadway's The Prom is Christopher Sieber, live in our studio from Times Square, sharing beloved songs from Scrooge, Annie, Spamalot and a brand-new cut from The Prom.

From our radio studio in the Hotel Astor, high above Times Square...a recreation of a 1930s broadcast, featuring songs performed by Eddie Cantor, Ethel Merman, Johnny Mercer, and our special guest, George Gershwin, who will play his latest songs.

A thoughtful retrospective of the Broadway artists we lost in 2018, including Marin Mazzie, Barbara Harris, Gary Beach, Patricia Morison and more.

The mist of May is in the gloaming and it's time to celebrate this classic Lerner and Loewe score with a sneak preview of the 2017 New York City Center cast recording with Kelli O'Hara, joined by other great renditions from Robert Goulet, Shirley Jones, and others.

Front and center, the most fierce and fearless heroines of the America musical demonstrate their performative persistence. Jennifer Holliday, Barbra Streisand, Tammy Grimes, Julie Andrews, and more.

A merry march through the music of the madcap Marxes--the songs of Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and sometimes Zeppo, from the movies and the Broadway shows they inspired. Hooray, hooray, hooray!

BLOOD-Vay to Main Street's annual Halloween broadcast, taking you on a haunted houseful from the Broadway beyond! Songs from Fiddler on the Roof, The Lion King, Next to Normal, Ghost and more.

Go into your trance as we look at the "improbable" 1964 musical version of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, with a mélange of the Broadway cast, the London cast, a dash of cabaret singers, and Noel Coward himself.

MEDIEVAL MUSICALES Forsooth! We're having a Middle Ages crisis on our program, verily, with songs from Camelot, A Connecticut Yankee, Spamalot, Canterbury Tales and others.

Cabaret virtuoso Eric Comstock joins us in the studio to honor the supreme musicianship of Mel Tormé; songs by Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Jule Styne, Cy Coleman, and the Velvet Fog himself.

Great shows--Funny Girl, South Pacific, Evita, Les Misérables--and the great songs you forgot were in them: the stealth ballads that fly under the radar and break your heart. Streisand, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Julie Andrews and more.

The sidekicks and supporting players that kept Broadway in stitches for decades: scene-stealers from The Producers, Waitress, Guys and Dolls, and more.

A survey of songs discussed in your host’s brand-new book—yes! “Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America,” recently published by Oxford University Press. If you listen to this program every week, this one’s for you!

We celebrate "Doc" Simon's bountiful contribution to the American musical, with selections from Promises, Promises; Sweet Charity; Little Me; and more.

We motor our way to Detroit with the radio on: Motown's best artists--Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, the Jackson 5--get it together and knock some Broadway classics out of the ballpark!