#9: Consider Yourself – One-Hit Wonders

How many exclamation points is too many? On Monday’s episode of The Broadway Ginger Podcast, we explore the answer through the eyes of Lionel Bart, composer and lyricist of Oliver Get a sneak peek of the week’s show notes below!

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When Bart penned one of the greatest British musicals of all time, he had no reason to think his first hit would be his last. But the story of this Dickens musical writer ended up, as one critic put it, a “rags to riches, back to rags” one.

Join us as we delve into the success of Oliver! and the bizarre trajectory of its author in this week’s episode about one-hit-wonder composers. Along the way, we discover a burlesque Robin Hood musical was a real thing, a future pop star was in the original cast of Oliver!, and Ashley has a strong Pavlovian response to hearing the album. 

Shout-outs

• Oliver! rocks our socks off. I recommend listening to the Original West End cast recording, and Ashley recommends making cookies while you listen to the movie soundtrack.
• You know what else rocks our socks off? The Pumphouse Players in Cartersville, GA! Please check out the work they’re doing and consider supporting them on PumphousePlayers.com. 
• Our favs: Oliver!, Lionel Bart, Ron Moody, Phil Collins, Danny Sewell, Michael Caine, Davy Jones, Patti LuPone, Rowan Atkinson, Kerry Ellis, Eric Rodgers, The West End, Blitz!, Twang!!, Mark Lester, Roger Ebert, my #TwitterlessTwin (aka, our resident Dickens expert)
• Off-topic mentions: The Music Man, Meredith Wilson, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Mitch Leigh, The Man of La Mancha, Richard Kiley, The King and I, Joe Darion, The Monkees, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cats, Starlight Express, Jane Krakowski, Matthew Morrison, Sean Connery, From Russia with Love, Mark Steyn
• Special thanks to Crazy Love Coffeehouse, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee, Ground & Pound Coffee, and Noble & Main for being the best editing offices.

Bonus Videos

For the budding theatre fans

For the fangirls

For the die-hards

Addendums

In defining “One Hit Wonder Composers,” we said they had to have had one hit on Broadway, but of course we really meant any “hit” whether that’s a big movie, West End run, or Off-Broadway run.

That brilliant “Rags to riches to rags” line appeared in the UK’s Independent in an article by Michael Convevey called “Lionel Bart: Appetite for destruction.” 

Y’all. The “burlesque Robin Hood” musical Twang!! Was so real. Watch this slideshow of production shots and take a look inside the original program with the title number in the background. I apologize in advance if you have the single lyric, “Tuhwang!” going through your head the rest of the day.

Etiquette corner

In today’s etiquette corner, I make a case for why arriving 30 minutes before curtain time is the best way to see theatre for your own sake but also for the sake of other audience members.

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