Chasing Phantom

With this episode, Chasing Phantom inaugurates an intermittent series on shows that haven't technically made it over the 1,000 performance mark but are on the fast track to getting there.

SIX was the …

Look, everyone knows this show was bonkers and, even after running more than 1,000 performances, was possibly the biggest money loser in Broadway's history. It'd be easy to just rag on "Spider-Man: T…

Marrying slices of Shakespeare with perhaps Cole Porter's finest score, "Kiss Me Kate" is one of the ultimate old Broadway hits. Fashioned as a response to "Oklahoma" and built with sturdy story beat…

"It transformed my life." That's the kind of statement you want from someone talking about a cultural experience. "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" broke all sorts of barriers on Broadway in 1972 but i…

For better or worse, the song "Freedom" is one of the most persistent earworms around but what do we think about the show that spawned such a tenacious tune? "Shenandoah" used to be a regional favori…

Watch out -- it's the 50s! The romantic dynamics, not to mention the workplace politics and the capitalistic shenanigans, might seem like artifacts from ancient history in the plucky musical, "The Pa…

It's a show that you wish was just about the songs -- "There's No Business Like Show Business," "I've Got the Sun in the Morning," etc. -- but, for better or worse, it's set in a time (late 19th cent…

Hey there, Chasing Phantom phans! We're taking a little break this week from chasing after all that theater-related historical yumminess in order to introduce you to a brand spanking new podcast, Did…

Welcome back to the wacky 1950s! It may be a little mind-boggling that a show so prominently featuring an actor in yellowface ran longer on Broadway than beloved classics like "Grand Hotel" and "Damn…

The first revival on the list also happens to be my personal favorite show of all time. In honor of the occasion, I have invited a panel of Les Mis experts to talk about the differences between the s…

In honor of Independence Day, we talk about a show that is as All-American as apple pie, featuring America's favorite pastime: selling your soul to the devil. No, no, no -- I mean, baseball!

Through t…

It is classic, quintessential Broadway: the Tommy Tune directed musical, "Grand Hotel." Strangers intersect in a hotel in 1930s Berlin with passion, crime and redemption the natural results, not to m…

"Contact" was such an anomaly on Broadway that it inspired a new Tony Award category: Best Special Theatrical Event. It was a musical with pre-recorded music and a play with almost no dialogue. The p…

How do you avoid talking about a dreadful show? You invite on a delightful guest! The so-called comedy, "Never Too Late," was a play that ran for an unbelievable 1,007 performances back in the early …

How the hell did they get away with this? Join me with a only slightly legalistic consideration of what they were thinking when they made "Beatlemania." It opened in 1977 when sadness about the super…

Join Chasing Phantom for a rollicking ride down "Big River," the 1985 musical based on Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" that ran for 1,005 performances. My buddy, Christopher Haushal…

In the inaugural episode of "Chasing Phantom," I review and reflect on "Newsies," the Disney screen-to-stage adaptation that ran for 1,004 performances. I am joined by Dr. Caroline Weist, a professor…

On April 16th, 2023, the historic run of "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway will end just shy of 14,000 performances. While the next closest show will need to run at least 9 more years to catch it, t…