Explaining Musicals, with Lindsay Ellis

If an emotion is too big for talking, you sing. If it's too big for singing, you dance. And if it's too big for dancing, well, you just gotta podcast!

Author, podcaster, and video essayist Lindsay Ellis knows a thing or two about outsized Broadway emotions—in addition to her many other pursuits, she's created a whole side endeavor talking about them on her musical theater podcast, Musicalsplaining. Ellis guested on last year's Strong Songs episode about Hadestown, and it seemed only natural to have her back for a longer conversation about musical theater.

Back in March, she and Kirk hopped on Zoom and chatted about the first musicals they loved, why musicals resonate with teens, how Hadestown's visual design helps tell a story, and just what the deal is with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

CHECK OUT LINDSAY'S WORK

Lindsay's bestselling debut novel Axiom's End is now available, and her second one is on the way. She's a prolific video essayist, and has made some terrific videos about Lord Andy himself. She's also a co-host on the Musicalsplaining podcast.

REFERENCED ON THIS EPISODE:

“All I Ask of You (Reprise),” and “Point of No Return” from The Phantom of the Opera (Original London Cast) by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart, 1987“Cool” by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim from West Side Story, New Broadway Cast Recording, 2009“Dead Mom” by Eddie Perfect performed by Sophia Anne Caruso from the Beetlejuice OCR, 2019"Non-Stop” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from Hamilton, 2015“Heaven on their Minds” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice from Jesus Christ Superstar, original concept album, 1970“The Club” by Lin-Manuel Mirands from In The Heights, 2008“Any Way the Wind Blows,” “Come Home With Me,” “Chant,” and “Wedding Song” by Anäis Mitchell from Hadestown, 2019An offhand joke about “The Phantom of the Mall” which is an actual 1989 movie“Willkommen” by Kander, Ebb and Masteroff performed by Alan Cumming in the 1998 version of Cabaret"Man of Constant Sorrow,” trad. American Folk first published by Dick Burnett, performed by Dan Tyminski and the Soggy Bottom Boys in O Brother, Where Art Thou, 2000“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd from After Hours, 2020

STRONG MERCH

Visit the Strong Songs merch store for some cool t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more: store.strongsongspodcast.com

KEEP IT SOCIAL

You can follow Strong Songs on Twitter @StrongSongs: http://twitter.com/strongsongs

And you can find Kirk on Twitter @Kirkhamilton and on Instagram at @Kirk_Hamilton: https://www.instagram.com/kirk_hamilton/

NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST

Sign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://kirkhamilton.substack.com/subscribe

STRONG PLAYLISTS

Kirk has condensed his Strong Songs picks into a single list, which you can find on Spotify and Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!

This bonus episode was made possible by Strong Songs' lovely Patreon backers. For more on how to become a patron and support the show, go here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs

APRIL 2021 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS

Donald Mackie
Liam Keogh
Melissa Osborne
Per Morten Barstad
Christopher Miller
Tim Byrne
Allison Clift-Jennings
Patrick Funston
Jamie White
Angus McKimm
Christopher Kupski
Christopher McConnell
Joshua Jarvis
Rick Klaras
Niko
Joe Laska
Laurie Acreman
Ken Hirsh
Jez
Jenness Gardner
Simon Cammell
Guinevere Boostrom
Narelle Horn
Nathaniel Bauernfeind
Bill Rosinger
Anne Britt
David Zahm
Erin
Aidan Coughlan
Jeanneret Manning Family Four
Doug Paton
Robert Paul
R Watson
Viki Dun
Christer Lindqvist
Sami Samhuri
Craig J Covell
AccessViolation
Ryan Torvik
Merlin Mann
Fraser
Glenn
CALEB ROTACH
Andre Bremer
Mark Schechter
Dave Florey
Dan Apczynski

APRIL 2012 HALF-NOTE PATRONS

Christopher
Michael J. Cunningham
Kari Kirk
Mark Boggs
mino capossela
Mary Schoenmaker
Sarah
David Joske
Åshild Margrete Østtveit Odéen
Emma Sklar
Spencer Stanford
Bernard Khoo
Andrew Shpall
Robert Heuer
Matthew Golden
Brian Meldrum
David Noah
Ben Hunt
Geraldine Butler
Richard Cambier
Madeleine Mader
Andy Smith
Fernando Rodriguez
Timothy Dougherty
Jason Pratt
John Hargis
Stewart Oak
Caroline Miller
Abbie Berg
Sam Norton
Nicole Schleicher
Dermot Crowley
Achint Srivastava
Ryan Rairigh
Michael Berman
stephen matthews
Bridget Lyons
Melody Valdez
Olivia Bishop
Jeremy Schwartz
John Gisselquist
Elaine Martin
Thomas König
Kouroth
Belinda Mcgrath-steer
Eoin de Burca
Kevin Potter
M Shane Borders
Pete Simm
Shawn McCarthy
Dallas Hockley
Jana J
Jason Gerry
Rich Roskopf
Melissa Gallo
Nathan Gouwens
Will Dwyer Alethea Lee
Lauren Reay
Eric Prestemon
Erika L Austin
Cookies250
Spencer Shirley
Damian Brady
Angela Livingstone
Jeffrey C. Yarnell
David Friedman
Phillip Dalton
Christopher Cudnoski
Sarah Sulan
Diane Hughes
Kenneth Tiong
Jo Sutherland
David Catlett
Michael Casner
Michael York
Barb Courtney
Derek Bender
Jen Small
Don Hutchison
Lowell Meyer
Etele Illes
Stephen Tsoneff
Lorenz Schwarz
Becca Sample
Wen
Jack Sjogren
Aparajit Raghavan
Benedict Pennington
Geoff Golden
Robyn Fraser
Alexander Geddes
Pascal Rueger
Randy Souza
JC
Brendan Jubb
Clare Holberton
Jake Tinsley
Diane Turner
Tom Coleman
Judy Chapple
Mark Perry
Malory
Dhu Wik
Mel
Eric Helm
Jake Roberts
Briony Leo
Bill Fuller
Jonathan Daniels
Steven Maron
Michael Flaherty
Jarrod Schindler
Zoe Little
Albukitty
Caro Field
michael bochner
Duncan
Dave Sharpe
brant brantphillip
David Cushman
Alexander
Jeremy Dawson
Gavin Doig
Sam Fenn
Tanner Morton
AJ Schuster
Jennifer Bush
David Stroud
Amanda Furlotti
Andrew Baker
Chris Brown
Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua
Matt Gaskell
Jules Bailey
Eero Wahlstedt
Bill Thornton
Brian Amoebas
Brett Douville
Jeffrey Olson
Matt Betzel
Mueller
Nate from Kalamazoo
Melanie Stivers
Richard Toller
Alexander Polson
Tom Lauer
Earl Lozada
Jon O’Keefe
Justin McElroy
Arjun Sharma
James Johnson
Andrew Lee
Kevin Morrell
Tom Clewer
Kevin Pennyfeather
Nicholas Schechter
Justin Liew
Emily Williams