Every week, the culture critics at Token Theatre Friends bring their fresh perspectives to the performing arts on their podcast and video series. The podcast can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher (look for the all-red logo) The video series is available on YouTube. The TTF theme song is by Sean Mason (with vocals by Angela Ramos). The video animation is by Brad Ogden, with logos by Jason Simon.
In this special episode, Jose talks to Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, the composers behind beloved musicals such as Ragtime, Once on This Island, and Anastasia. During the pause provoked by the pandemic, the duo went to their archives to put together a new album called Legacy: Two Song Cycles.
The double album features previously unreleased demos split into two song cycles. The first is called 1859: A Farmer’s Diary and features vocals by Jason Danieley and the great, late Marin Mazzie. The second, A Boy With a Camera, was inspired by photographs taken by Ahrens’ father in the 1950s. It features vocals by Steven Pasquale and Sarah Uriarte Berry.
The duo talked about why some songs never make it to the final version of the musical, and talk about what it means to look back at 37 years of work together. The episode includes a special appearance by Juju Nieto, a Dramaturgy student at Carnegie Mellon University who had some questions for the legendary music makers.
References:
- Ahrens & Flaherty official website.
- Legacy: Two Song Cycles at Broadway Records.
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