Easter is this weekend and, while you might think I'm featuring the show "Sugar Babies" to make an allusion toward those sweet treats found in children's Easter baskets, well, you're right! BUT, thanks to my always incredibly knowledgeable gues...

"Promises, Promises" had a dream team of talent, both backstage and onstage. Neil Simon, Hal David, and Burt Bacharach are the big three, but it was also directed by Robert Moore ("The Boys in the Band" off-Broadway, "Woman of the Year") and ch...

It's about music, it's about race relations, but it's NOT about how to be a good radio disc jockey. In giving a very loose account of the rise and fall of true-life music pioneer Dewey Phillips, the musical "Memphis" amps up the conflicts - whi...

Am I too on the nose here? Pretty much any time seems like a good time to reflect on the founding of the United States of America, but boy howdy, does this current time we're in seem like a specifically good time to do so. The musical "1776" is...

Nope - I am definitely NOT making any kind of political statement by doing an episode on "Cabaret" at this specific moment. Nope, not at all. My delightful conversation with actor and director Doug Schneider steers clear of any chatter about wh...

Valentine's Day has been commercialized to such an outrageous degree, pushing models of hetero-normative romantic commitment so hard that any other kind of love can end up seeming marginal or even invisible. That's one of the reasons why "Once"...

When you want to hear about Michael Jackson, it's best to talk to the man himself...or, given the impossibility of that, the man who's playing him. As of New Year's Eve 2024, the actor playing the title role in "MJ: The Musical" on the show's f...

Happy New Year to all! During these cold winter months, there's nothing as cozy as an old-timey murder mystery and "Sleuth" is one of the twisty-est. Helping me navigate the plot -- not to mention the embedded commentary on class, race and miso...

Happy Hanukkah! Oh, and Merry Christmas, but to be honest, this is more of a Hanukkah-forward episode, only because "Brighton Breach Memoirs" is very succinctly the story of a Jewish American family, the challenges, foibles and laughs shared am...

In the first ever bonus episode of Chasing Phantom, Phil Crosby and I talk about the ending of "The King and I," one that was a surprise to me so don't listen if you want it to be a surprise to you! We also get back into some of the history of ...

We are hurtling towards the holidays and so, for this episode, I make the case for "The King and I" to be considered among your holiday viewing options. Even though it's a 70+ year show, it's a smart and sophisticated musical with interesting c...

For this pre-Thanksgiving episode, we hurtle up the list of long-running productions to give everyone something to celebrate and lift our spirits. "Mamma Mia!" may be the longest-running jukebox musical ever to run on Broadway (so far) but it's...

On the week after Veteran's Day, my friend Jesse and I dig into "Mister Roberts," a play about sailors during World War II and humble hero who was an example of (mostly) passive resistance to a petty tyrant. When we recorded this episode, I had...

What could be more terrifying than to think you’re going insane? That basic horror makes “Angel Street” the perfect show to talk about during spooky season. Originally produced in London as “Gas Light” and adapted for the screen (twice) as “Gas...

When you want to know about a production, there's no better source than talking to someone who was in it. I never thought that would be possible with the original Broadway run of "Annie Get Your Gun" - I mean, it closed in 1949! But Mary Ellen ...

"Torch Song Trilogy" was a ground-breaking production and opened many doors for openly gay artists. It launched the career of Harvey Fierstein who would go on to write and perform in some additionally landmark shows on Broadway. In my hometown,...

We all know that sex sells, but is that the only thing that drove thousands of people to see "Equus" back in the mid-1970s? Listen in on my discussion with McLean Fletcher  as we discuss the explosive intersection of sex, religion and psyc...

The chase is back on! Welcome to season 2 of the podcast dedicated to exploring...and sometimes explaining...Broadway's longest running shows! Today's episode features a true Broadway history whiz: author, dramaturg & professor Jord...

We're back - better than ever! The second season of "Chasing Phantom" will feature celebrity guests, unexpectedly popular productions, and a cavalcade of trivia, insights and lively conversation about the longest running shows on Broadway. Be s...

For this very special episode, we welcome Barbra Streisand to "Chasing Phantom" to help us explore a show that was a monster hit in the 1930s. OK, it's more the spirit and definitely the Voice of Babs that highlights this exploration of "Pins a...

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is responsible for Mark Zuckerberg. Don't believe me? Listen as accomplished actor, director and video wizard Matt Polson and I wander around in nerd culture for a while, discussing this seminal musi...

Once again, the joy of this podcast for me is getting schooled on stuff I don't know about. In talking about "Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk," Dr. Julinda Lewis introduces me to a flurry of tap dance masters from the past that were influ...

Before the iconic picture of Marilyn Monroe with her white dress billowing over a subway grate obliterated any other reference point, "The Seven Year Itch" was a long-running Broadway show. In fact, it was the longest running show of the 1950s ...

Leapin' Lizards, what is going on here? Chasing Phantom has been methodically working through the list of 1,000+ performances on Broadway from the bottom up but, this week, we take a radical leap into the higher realms of theater success with a...

If you're reading this, I expect either you or someone you know has been in a production of "Guys and Dolls." There are so many reasons this show is a classic, from the colorful supporting characters to the silly romantic misadventures to the u...