The Gospel of Musical Theatre

Dec 06 2024 50 ep. 60 mins 10
The Gospel of Musical Theatre Podcast artwork

A deep dive into your favorite musicals and how they intersect with spirituality, culture, and social justice. And the clothes. And the chorus boys. Hosted by your favorite musical theater queens: Nathan LeRud and Peter Elliott!

  Arts  Religion & Spirituality  Music
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7.5 Hamilton!

Dec 06 2024 75 mins  
Who gets to tell the story? It's the season finale, and it feels like a perfect time to travel back to 2015, when a blockbuster hip-hop musical about America’s founders took the world by storm. That's right... Today, Peter and Nathan return to the room where it happened and consider the theology of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. _________________________________________ You’l

7.4 Urinetown!

Nov 22 2024 64 mins  
It’s the worst-ever name for a musical (thanks, Lutherans) but Peter and Nathan think that 2001’s Urinetown is worthy of your attention – and sustained theological reflection.

7.3 Les Miserables!

Nov 08 2024 78 mins  
Somewhere beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see? There’s no more overtly theological (or more popular) musical than Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boubil’s 1980 Les Misérables, based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel. From Valjean and Javert to Eponine and Fantine, this musical crams more pathos, prayer, and bad wigs into three hours than any other musical w

7.2 Ragtime!

Oct 25 2024 66 mins  
Immigration, capitalism, feminism, intersectionality, and the civil rights: Ragtime has it all! But is it actually just an extended commercial for Ford?

Season 7: Cabaret!

Oct 11 2024 85 mins  
In the election run-up, Peter & Nathan are talking about musicals that deal with political unrest and social change. We kick off with the 1966 Broadway classic Cabaret, one of the darkest, kinkiest, and most-enduring musicals of all time.

6.4 Frozen!

Aug 16 2024 54 mins  
What better way to celebrate summer than with a frozen cocktail of Disney Princess mania? It’s 2013’s Frozen, beloved by aspiring Elsas and Annas, reviled by parents and caretakers who threaten to lose it if they hear “Let it Go” one more time (trigger warning: you’ll hear it in this episode).

6.3 La La Land!

Aug 02 2024 48 mins  
“A bit of madness is key to give us new colors to see.” Today, we continue our Summer Movie Happy Hour Fizzy Summer Tour... thing... as we talk about 2016’s contemporary take on the classic film musicals of the 1940s, 50s and 60s: LaLa Land. 2016 feels like a La La Land ago. How does this film hold up almost a decade later? _________________________________________ We talk ab

6.2 Barbie!

Jul 19 2024 63 mins  
We fixed everything in the real world so all women are happy and powerful. Just kidding... but we ARE talking about The Barbie Movie! We’re so excited to be joined by Arwen Myers, executive director of the podcast, musicals aficionado – and the person Barbie was made for – to talk about Greta Gerwig's blockbuster 2023 summer hit. Is it a musical? We think it is. _____________

6.1 The Music Man!

Jul 05 2024 50 mins  
It’s Summer Movie Madness! For the Fourth of July weekend, we’re talking about the most American musical ever: The Music Man!

5.7 Yentl!

May 03 2024 59 mins  
Papa, can you hear me? It’s the last episode of our Season of Barbra Streisand, and we’re going out strong! That’s right: today we look at her magnum opus, the 1982 film Yentl – which Barbra both directed and starred in.