We’ve got the Lutherans to thank for this one.

It’s the worst-ever name for a musical, and it still hasn’t quite found its audience two decades later. Peter and Nathan think that 2001’s Urinetown, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis, is worthy of your attention – and some sustained theological reflection.

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We talk about:

• The show's origin story (thanks, Lutherans!) and its unfortunately timed Broadway debut on the heels of 9/11.
• The politics of Urinetown – capitalist overlords versus the people's revolution, all painted in broad, satirical brushstrokes. Are there any responsible political figures in this show?
• What is Urinetown? A prison for malefactors? A way for the powerful to prey on the vulnerable? Death? Despair?
• "Following your heart" – What does that mean? And what if whatever your heart seems to be telling you turns out to be wrong?
• The power of music (particularly Gospel music) to move us to action. Who "should" be singing this music, and who is it for?

You’ll hear:

• "Too Much Exposition" / "What is Urinetown?" – satirical take-downs of conventional musical theatre tropes
• "I See A River" / "Run Freedom, Run" / "Follow Your Heart" – Urinetown asks some complicated questions about love and justice. And the music is pretty dang good.

You’ll hear Hunter Foster, John Cullum, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jeff McCarthy, Spencer Kayden and the Original Broadway Cast from the 2001 recording.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Jesus Christ Superstar!
• Schmigadoon! (Season 1 / Season 2)
• West Side Story!
• Yentl!
• Frozen!
• Barbie!

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Somewhere beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see?

There’s no more overtly theological (or more popular) musical than Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boubil’s 1980 Les Misérables, based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel.

From Valjean and Javert to Eponine and Fantine, this musical crams more pathos, prayer, and bad wigs into three hours than any other musical we know. Do you hear the people sing?

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We talk about:

• Prologue (the Bishop) / Stars / Javert’s Suicide – Javert, the police inspector, embodies a law-and-order version of the Christian gospel (shout-out to our Jansenist followers!) – and ultimately, the mercy he is shown destroys him. Are these competing atonement theories, or is there more subtlety in Les Mis’ treatment of the Christian gospel and its consequences?
• I Dreamed a Dream / On My Own / A Little Fall of Rain – Fantine gets one, brief, shining moment before she dies (it's a weeper), and Eponine stands in for every alto who dreams of being the soprano – and then she dies, too. Why do most of the women in Les Mis end up dead?
• Turning, Turning – "What's the use of praying if there's nobody who hears it?" In a musical where women are mostly prostitutes or virgins, the women’s chorus gives voice to one of the show’s darkest and most provocative theological questions.
• Bring Him Home / Do You Hear the People Sing? – What does an evangelized life look like on the ground – and what does “somewhere beyond the barricade” really mean?

You’ll hear Colm Wilkinson, Phillip Quast, Lea Salonga, Michael Ball and Judy Kuhn from the 1995 “Dream Cast Recording.”

You’ll also hear Anne Hathaway sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from the 2012 film soundtrack because she won an Oscar for it, and attention must be paid.

_________________________________________

Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Jesus Christ Superstar!
• Schmigadoon! (Season 1 / Season 2)
• West Side Story!
• Yentl!
• Frozen!
• Barbie!

Never miss an episode! Sign up for our email list to get updates when new episodes are released, info about upcoming special events, and more.

Immigration, capitalism, feminism, intersectionality, and the civil rights: this musical has it all!

Flaherty & Ahren’s 1998 musical Ragtime is a big, expensive show with lots of plot (never Peter’s strong suit) – but we love this musical and what it has to say about kingdoms of power and the kingdom of God.

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Peter & Nathan make some highly controversial claims:

• "Ragtime" is the greatest opening number in Broadway history.
• "Daddy's Son" – Nobody sings this like Broadway’s GOAT, Audra Ann McDonald. Nathan will fight you on this.
• "Henry Ford" & "Wheels of a Dream" – Is Ragtime just an extended commercial for Ford?

And we wonder together about hearing "New Music," listening for resurrection, and what it means to live faithfully "‘Til We Reach That Day."

You’ll hear Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie, Peter Freidman, Judy Kaye and the cast of the 1998 Original Broadway Cast.

_________________________________________

Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Jesus Christ Superstar!
• Schmigadoon! (Season 1 / Season 2)
• West Side Story!
• Yentl!
• Frozen!
• Barbie!

Never miss an episode! Sign up for our email list to get updates when new episodes are released, info about upcoming special events, and more.