Chasing Phantom

The energy of a live show cannot be duplicated but listening to this episode is the next best thing to being in the room where the Chasing Phantom live event happened. Most Valuable Guest and dear friend of the program...

My first guess for Neil Simon’s longest running show on Broadway would have been “The Odd Couple,” maybe followed by “Brighton Beach Memoirs” or “The Sunshine Boys.” But nope – the breezy romantic comedy “Barefoot in...

As has been chronicled extensively on this podcast already, many older Broadway shows do NOT hold up very well over time. The ones that do - your "Guys and Dolls" or "Oklahomas" - still regularly get produced. But "Me...

You may think that a person in the midst of performing a role is too close to it to have insightful things to say about it. That's certainly not the case about Crystal Kellogg who at the time of this conversation was...

Just a quick scheduling note to let listeners know that the episode I had suggested (threatened?) might come out today will not actually come out until NEXT week, on Tuesday rather than Wednesday. In the meantime, be...

He is famous for playing the Frankenstein monster and voicing the Grinch but people often forget that Boris Karloff also made a big impact on the stage starting with "Arsenic and Old Lace." Not only did he steal the...

Don't cry for me, Chasing Phantom fans! I have brought back yet another one of your favorite guests, the diva-tastic Melissa Chase, host of the lifestyle television show, " Showcase ." We discuss the diva-centric...

Happy April Fool's Day! Sure, " The Music Man " included some incredible songs, featured one of the most career-defining performances in Broadway history, and captured a unique clash of squeaky-clean Midwestern living...

Who could have known that this near-forgotten play from the 1940s would be so relevant in the 2020s? The title is from the Bible, a verse in the Song of Solomon that actually references a turtledove, not the shelled...

With this episode, we reach an important milestone in "Chasing Phantom" history: this 64th episode marks the moment we pass the halfway point on the way up the list toward "Phantom of the Opera," still the longest...

Think "Blazing Saddles" but on Broadway and with 1930s era sensibilities. That's what "Hellzapoppin'" was and, honestly, for the times it was pretty cutting-edge stuff. Weird running gags, satirical songs lampooning...

Valentine's Day is coming up, a time when the warmth of love takes our minds off the cold weather. So it's the perfect time for an episode about a show I love without reservation: "Dreamgirls." I'm not alone - critic...

It's weird how prescience can come from such unexpected places. When I recorded this episode about "Matilda the Musical" with the delightful Shannon Schilstra, I had no idea how relevant the show's themes about the bad...

For this first episode of 2026, I expose perhaps the most embarrassing gap in my theater knowledge. I often say I'm not as devoted a theater nerd as you might expect from someone who's written about theater for more...

In the midst of your "Merry, Merry Christmas," let me interest you in a little "Mary, Mary" Broadway! Don't feel bad if you've never heard of this play -- I certainly hadn't -- but like so many other shows I've covered...