MusicalSplaining

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MusicalSplaining
Presentation
Hosted by
  • Kaveh Taherian (2020–2023)
  • Lindsay Ellis (2020–21)
  • Angelina Meehan (2022–2023)
Genre
  • Discussion
  • music
  • theater
FormatAudio
Created by
  • Lindsay Ellis
  • Kaveh Taherian
LanguageEnglish
UpdatesEvery other Tuesday
Length~60 minutes
Production
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes80
Publication
Original releaseFebruary 4, 2020 –
December 26, 2023
RatingsChartable
ProviderAmazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, Nebula, Podchaser
Related
WebsiteApple Podcasts

MusicalSplaining is a podcast hosted by filmmaker Kaveh Taherian and writer Angelina Meehan. Each episode, the two hosts are introduced to a different musical and they discuss its plot, themes and production.[1] The podcast was pitched as a show for both musical-lovers and musical-haters.[2] Prior to 2022, the show was hosted by Taherian and Lindsay Ellis.

Overview[edit]

The format of the show leaned into the divisive nature of musicals, with Ellis or Meehan assuming the role of a musicals fan and Taherian a theatre skeptic.[2][3] The episodes covered a mixture of classic musicals like The Phantom of the Opera and The King and I, and newer musicals including Frozen and SpongeBob SquarePants.[4]

Ellis and Taherian attended film school together at USC. Ellis stated that she chose Taherian as a co-host because he could balance his performative anger at musicals with a critical tone.[5] The two hosts were sometimes joined by a guest host, which have included Hank Green and fellow YouTuber Jenny Nicholson.[6]

Two months into the podcast, theatres in California shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] In an interview with OnStage Blog, Ellis described how the hosts had originally planned to tour around the state to see musicals in theatres, but COVID-19 "totally wrecked" those plans. They have since relied on proshoots to watch and review each musical.[5]

The podcast is available via Amazon Music,[8] Apple Podcasts,[9] Spotify,[10] Google Play,[11] Stitcher,[12] Nebula.[13], and Podchaser.[14]

On December 17, 2021, in "The Lion King" episode, it was announced that the show was going on an indefinite hiatus following Ellis's retirement from online content creation.[15] The show returned on January 18, 2022 with an episode on the film Tick, Tick... Boom! with frequent guest and Ellis's former co-writer Angelina Meehan taking over as the podcast's new co-host.[16]

On November 14, 2023, in the "Gypsy" episode, it was announced that the show would end by the end of the year.[17] The show released the final episode on December 26, 2023.[18]

Episodes[edit]

Episode no. Episode title Musical discussed Guest host Original podcast release date
1 Cats Cats N/A February 4, 2020
2 Frozen Frozen Jenny Nicholson February 18, 2020
3 Hadestown Hadestown N/A March 3, 2020
4 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice N/A March 17, 2020
5 The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera Angelina Meehan March 31, 2020
6 Six Six N/A May 5, 2020
7 Rent Rent N/A May 19, 2020
8 The King and I The King and I N/A June 9, 2020
9 American Idiot American Idiot N/A June 23, 2020
10 Love Never Dies Love Never Dies Angelina Meehan July 14, 2020
11 Hamilton Hamilton Hank Green July 28, 2020
12 SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical SpongeBob SquarePants N/A August 19, 2020
13 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Angelina Meehan September 9, 2020
14 Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical Ratatouille the Musical N/A January 5, 2021
15 Moulin Rouge! Moulin Rouge! Angelina Meehan January 19, 2021
16 Repo! The Genetic Opera Repo! The Genetic Opera N/A February 2, 2021
17 The Sound of Music The Sound of Music N/A February 16, 2021
18 The Wizard of Oz The Wizard of Oz Antonella Inserra March 2, 2021
19 O Brother, Where Art Thou? O Brother, Where Art Thou? N/A March 16, 2021
20 Om Shanti Om Om Shanti Om Siddhant Adlakha April 20, 2021
21 The Descendants Descendants Jenny Nicholson May 4, 2021
22 Phantom of the Paradise Phantom of the Paradise Angelina Meehan May 18, 2021
23 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

N/A June 1, 2021
24 In The Heights In the Heights N/A June 15, 2021
25 Moana Moana Princess Weekes June 29, 2021
26 Singin' in the Rain Singin' in the Rain N/A July 13, 2021
27 The Greatest Showman The Greatest Showman Jenny Nicholson August 3, 2021
28 Muppet Treasure Island Muppet Treasure Island N/A August 17, 2021
29 Xanadu Xanadu N/A August 31, 2021
30 Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Todd in the Shadows September 14, 2021
31 Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors Elisa Hansen October 5, 2021
32 Special Episode: Truth of the Divine Truth of the Divine Abigail Thorn October 19, 2021
33 Wicked Wicked Princess Weekes November 9, 2021
34 Chicago Chicago N/A November 23, 2021
35 The Lion King The Lion King Angelina Meehan December 17, 2021
36 (Angelina Meehan became a full-time cohost starting in this episode.) Tick, Tick... Boom! Tick, Tick... Boom! N/A January 18, 2022
37 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat N/A February 1, 2022
38 Into The Woods Into the Woods N/A February 15, 2022
39 Jekyll & Hyde Jekyll & Hyde N/A March 1, 2022
40 West Side Story West Side Story

West Side Story

N/A March 15, 2022
41 Rock of Ages Rock of Ages N/A March 29, 2022
42 Jesus Christ Superstar Jesus Christ Superstar Emily St. James

Lindsay Ellis

April 12, 2022
43 Company Company (2006 revival) Sarah Zed April 26, 2022
44 All That Jazz All That Jazz Josie Azzam May 10, 2022
45 Annie Annie N/A May 24, 2022
46 Hairspray Hairspray N/A June 7, 2022
47 Waiting for Guffman Waiting for Guffman June 21, 2022
48 Elvis Elvis N/A July 5, 2022
49 Sunday in the Park with George Sunday in the Park with George N/A July 19, 2022
50 The Last Five Years The Last Five Years N/A August 2, 2022
51 The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera Lindsay Ellis August 16, 2022
52 Hair Hair (1979 film) N/A August 30, 2022
53 Amadeus Amadeus (1984 film) N/A September 13, 2022
54 My Fair Lady My Fair Lady (1964 film) N/A September 26, 2022
55 Oklahoma! Oklahoma! (2019 revival) N/A October 11, 2022
56 Hello, Dolly! Hello, Dolly! (1969 film) N/A October 25, 2022
57 Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (1964 film) N/A November 8, 2022
58 Across the Universe Across the Universe N/A November 22, 2022
59 The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon (musical) Hannah Hillam December 6, 2022
60 The Muppet Christmas Carol The Muppet Christmas Carol N/A December 20, 2022
61 Diana: The Musical Diana: The Musical N/A March 7, 2023
62 Mean Girls Mean Girls N/A March 21, 2023
63 Matilda the Musical Matilda the Musical (2022 film) N/A April 4, 2023
64 Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 Emily St. James April 18, 2023
65 Shrek The Musical Shrek The Musical Big Joel May 2, 2023
66 Bad Cinderella Bad Cinderella Princess Weekes May 23, 2023
67 Rocketman Rocketman (2019 film) N/A June 6, 2023
68 Some Like It Hot Some Like It Hot (2022 musical) N/A June 20, 2023
69 Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping N/A July 18, 2023
70 Cyrano Cyrano (2021 film) N/A August 1, 2023
71 Fiddler on the Roof Fiddler on the Roof (1971 film) Austin Wintory August 15, 2023
72 Les Misérables Les Misérables Lindsay Ellis September 5, 2023
73 Cinderella Cinderella Princess Weekes September 19, 2023
74 Aladdin Aladdin (touring production) N/A October 3, 2023
75 South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Steven Ray Morris October 17, 2023
76 Newsies Newsies (2017 pro-shoot) N/A October 31, 2023
77 Gypsy Gypsy (2015 revival) N/A November 14, 2023
78 Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris Amal El-Mohtar November 28, 2023
79 Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch Lady Emily December 12, 2023
80 Cabaret Cabaret Lindsay Ellis December 26, 2023

References[edit]

  1. ^ Shah, Imman (September 30, 2020). "A treat for theatergoers: 'MusicalSplaining' podcast review". The Torch. St. John's University. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cochrane, Greg (April 9, 2020). "Greg Cochrane's Podcasts For The People #16 – 10 new podcasts for your enduring isolation". NME.com. NME. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021. Musicalsplaining promises to be a show for people who love musicals… and those who hate them.
  3. ^ Nicolaou, Elena (April 7, 2020). "The Best New Podcasts of 2020 to Get Lost In". Oprahdaily.com. Hearst Magazines. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021. Hosted by one super-fan and one professed musical hater
  4. ^ Walker, Amy (December 16, 2020). "MusicalSplaining – 12 Days of Podmas". Setthetape.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Golden, Noah (May 12, 2020). "Lindsey Ellis & Kaveh Taherian on Their New Podcast "Musicalsplaining"". Onstageblog.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  6. ^ McDevitt, Sinead (August 21, 2020). "Staff picks: These podcasts will help you escape your pod". The Pitt News. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  7. ^ Horan, Molly (December 4, 2020). "The Best Podcasts of 2020". Shondaland. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  8. ^ "MusicalSplaining Podcast on Amazon Music". Amazon Music. June 20, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  9. ^ "MusicalSplaining on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. February 4, 2020. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  10. ^ "MusicalSplaining | Podcast on Spotify". Spotify. February 4, 2020. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  11. ^ "MusicalSplaining". Google Play. February 4, 2020. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  12. ^ "MusicalSplaining on Stitcher". Stitcher Radio. February 4, 2020. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  13. ^ "MusicalSplaining Nebula". Nebula. December 27, 2021. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "MusicalSplaining – Music Podcast". Podchaser. June 6, 2022. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "MusicalSplaining: The Lion King on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. December 17, 2021. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  16. ^ "MusicalSplaining: Tick, Tick... Boom! on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. January 18, 2022. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  17. ^ "MusicalSplaining: Gypsy (2015) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. November 14, 2023. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  18. ^ "MusicalSplaining: Cabaret (Series Finale!!) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. December 26, 2023. Archived from the original on December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.