Ted Otten

There are many things associated with celebrations and observances, but one that seems to come to the forefront is a bell. Bells are rung for weddings, funerals, “festive cheer,” to bring people together, and to summon help. We’re going to look at some “musical” bells on this week’s Dress Circle (11/8 7:00 p.m.) that signal love, are metaphors for life, simply metaphysical, and one that we’re not quite sure about.

November has arrived with all of its natural beauty and human angst, but we’re going to focus on some beauty on this week’s Dress Circle (11/1 7:00 p.m.) as we continue with overtures and opening numbers from a selection of the musicals that opened this month spanning 182 years of Broadway musical history.

Long-time listeners to The Dress Circle know that we’re fond of “calendar art,” and this week’s program (11/25 7:00 p.m.) continues with that. We’re offering a “Halloween Prep” that features some of our favorite pieces from programs past.

Pupazzo, fantoche, puppen, dukker, puppets, or whatever they’re called, have always been a part of story telling and theatre around the world, and on this week’s Dress Circle (10/18 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to be looking at a variety of musicals in which puppets were central or featured components.

We’re playing a numbers game on week’s Dress Circle (10/11 7:00 p.m.), rather small numbers, as we look at musicals and revues calling for casts of one to four performers.

We’re looking to just a few of the shows that opened on Broadway this month for this week’s Dress Circle (10/4 7:00 p.m.) and a collection of overtures, preludes, and opening numbers.

While excavating a pile of paper that has remained untouched for far too long, we came across an idea for a program which we started some time ago, and we thought it was about time that we presented it, so on this week’s Dress Circle (9/27 7:00 p.m.), we’ll be looking at some title songs, but the catch is that they come from musicals with one-word titles.

Break out your dancing shoes because this week’s Dress Circle (9/20 7:00 p.m.) is celebrating National Dance Day. This “dance” program isn’t featuring actual dances per se; It’s looking at songs from musicals about dance including dance as a metaphor for life and living.

During a recent medical procedure that involved anesthesia, Michael came up with a brilliant idea for this week’s Dress Circle (6/13 7:00 p.m.). We never program a “Labor Day” program because the Sunday of that weekend is generally the first Sunday, so we default to our monthly feature looking at shows that opened in September. Through the dim haze of waking up, Michael thought, “What comes after Labor Day?” The response came quickly and with great clarity: After Labor Day comes “Baby Day”! For some reason Ted wanted to run with that idea, so we’re bringing you a program of “baby” songs from the musicals showcasing a wide variety of “babies.”

As usual, we’re showcasing some of the musicals that opened this month on this week’s Dress Circle (9/6 7:00 p.m.). Since there hasn’t been a new musical open since 2020, we thought we’d do something a little different. We’re still looking at overtures and opening numbers, but this time, we’re focusing on eight operettas.