Tag Archives: musicals

The Magic of The Musical: Longest Running Musicals Countdown

September 19, 2026   Programming

NOW AVAILABLE ON MIXCLOUD

Wel­come to September’s episode of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, where host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er explores the songs, sto­ries, and lore of the musi­cal theatre.

Tune in at 2pm slt/pacific on Sat­ur­day, Sep­tem­ber 19th for the newest episode as she counts down the top twen­ty longest run­ning stage musi­cals in the Eng­lish-speak­ing theater.

Join us on-the-air or at Sean­chai Library’s Ceil­u­radh Glen for today’s broadcast.

TMoTM S05E06 — Longest Run­ning Countdown

The list includes all Broad­way shows that have run 1,000 or more per­for­mances as of May 31, 2026 (Play­bill)

1. The Fan­ta­sticks 17,162 the longest run­ning musi­cal in the world has nev­er been on Broad­way. With music by Har­vey Schmidt and lyrics and a book by Tom Jones, The Fan­ta­sticks thrived off-Broad­way from 1960 to 2022 = 42 years.
2. The Phan­tom of the Opera 13,981 The orig­i­nal Broad­way pro­duc­tion of Andrew LLoyd Webber’s The Phan­tom of the Opera has been run­ning for 35 years (1988)
3. * Chica­go (1996 Revival) 11,680 The 1996 Broad­way revival of Chica­go has been run­ning for 29 years. It’s still run­ning and is the longest run­ning revival of all time.
4. * The Lion King 11,305 The orig­i­nal Broad­way pro­duc­tion of The Lion King has been run­ning for 28 years. It’s still run­ning. (1997)
5. * Wicked 8,843 The orig­i­nal Broad­way pro­duc­tion of Wicked has been run­ning for 22 years. (2003)
6. Cats 7,485 20 years and six months. (1982)
7. Les Mis­érables 6,680 Just over 18 years. (1987)
8. A Cho­rus Line 6,137 Just under 17 years. (1975)
9. Oh! Cal­cut­ta! (1976 Revival) 5,959 Just over 16 years.
10. Mam­ma Mia! 5,758 Just under 16 years. (2001)
11. * The Book of Mor­mon 5,667 15 years and six months.(2011)
12. Beau­ty and the Beast 5,461 Just under 15 years. (1994)
13. Rent 5,123 14 years. (1996)
14. Jer­sey Boys 4,642 Just under 13 years. (2005)
15. * Aladdin 4,469 Just over 12 years. (2011)
16. Miss Saigon 4,092 Just over 11 years. (1991)
17. * Hamil­ton 3,909 Just under 11 years. (2015)
18. 42nd Street 3,486 Nine and a half years (1980)
19. Grease 3,388 Just over 9 years. (1972)
20. Fid­dler on the Roof 3,242 Just under 9 years. (1964)

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TMoTM: S05E03 – And the Award Goes to … 2026 Edition!

June 20, 2026   Programming

NOW AVAILABLE ON MIXCLOUD

Wel­come back to the Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, where host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er explores the songs, sto­ries and lore of the musi­cal the­atre. Tune in at 2pm slt/pacific on Sat­ur­day, June 20th for this month’s episode.

It’s Awards Sea­son again! It’s been an inter­est­ing year begin­ning in April with the Olivi­er Awards in Lon­don, then the Dra­ma Desk Awards in greater New York in May, and final­ly the Antoinette Per­ry (“Tony”) Awards on Broad­way this June. Cale observes the win­ners from all three in the cat­e­gories of Musi­cal and Musi­cal Revival, shares songs and mus­es on what trends are rep­re­sent­ed in this year’s nominees.

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TMoTM: S05E02 — We Dance!

May 16, 2026   Programming

Now avail­able on Mixcloud

Orig­i­nal­ly broad­cast Sat­ur­day May 16th at 2pm SLT/Pacific -

Wel­come to The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal – on Vir­tu­al Com­mu­ni­ty Radio – where we explore the blend­ing of music and dra­ma fea­tur­ing the songs, his­to­ry and lore of the musi­cal the­ater with host Cale­do­nia Skytower.

Last sea­son we explored fairy tales on the musi­cal the­atre stage. In that episode we passed over one notable pro­duc­tion: “Once on this Island.”  Inspired in part by Hans Chris­t­ian Andersen’s “The Lit­tle Mer­maid” and based on Rosa Guy’s nov­el “My Love, My Love,” this unique one-act musi­cal by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Fla­her­ty is a Calyp­so-fla­vored fairy tale explor­ing themes of love, prej­u­dice, and hope. Be ready to dance!

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TMoTM: S05E01 — Musical Questions

April 18, 2026   Programming

This show is now avail­able on Mixcloud

SATURDAY April 18th at 2pm SLT/Pacific - Wel­come to Sea­son 5 of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal - where host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er explores the songs, sto­ries, and lore of the musi­cal theatre.

What kind of fool am I? Why would a fel­la want a girl like her? What do the sim­ple folk do?

These are all exam­ples of songs in the inter­rog­a­tive case al la musi­cal the­ater. Join Cale­do­nia as she kicks off the newest sea­son of our pop­u­lar orig­i­nal series, The Mag­ic of the Musi­cal with “Musi­cal Questions.”

Tune in here!

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TMoTM S04E06: Pirates!

November 22, 2025   Programming

This show is now avail­able on Mixcloud

Gilbert & Sul­li­van’s The Pirates of Pen­zance; or, The Slave of Duty pre­miered on Decem­ber 31, 1879, where it was well received by both audi­ences and crit­ics. Yet even as far back as that open­ing, the show has been a har­bin­ger of change — blur­ring the lines between light com­ic operetta and musi­cal com­e­dy. The recent Broad­way re-imag­in­ing Pirates! The Pen­zance Musi­cal pushed those bound­aries even further.

In this episode of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, Host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er explores this Gilbert & Sul­li­van classic’s remark­able his­to­ry and its role in mak­ing the once vaunt­ed exclu­sive realm of the “savo­yard” acces­si­ble over 140 years after its premiere.

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TMoTM S04E05: Five Lessons — Carey Wong

October 17, 2025   Programming

LISTEN AGAIN: This pro­gramme is now avail­able to lis­ten again on Mixcloud

Orig­i­nal­ly broad­cast on Octo­ber 25th, 2pm SLT/Pacific Time

This month, Cale­do­nia con­tin­ues her “Five Lessons” sub-series of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, where she inter­views actors, direc­tors, design­ers, dancers and oth­ers who have spent time and life in musi­cal the­atre. They share the lessons that being a part of a per­form­ing com­mu­ni­ty have taught them about life, the stage, and humanity.

If you are lucky, you get to inter­view your heroes. In this month’s episode of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er (aka Judy Cullen) shares her con­ver­sa­tion with one of her heroes as they dis­cuss art, music, and stage design: friend and men­tor Carey Wong. Dur­ing a career span­ning over 50 years, Carey has designed sets and cos­tumes for more than 300 pro­duc­tions, includ­ing operas, plays, musi­cals, and bal­lets, plus art exhi­bi­tions and oth­er cre­ative spaces. Tune in for a fas­ci­nat­ing dis­cus­sion! More about Carey Wong.

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TMoTM S04E04: What Theater Taught Me

September 20, 2025   Programming

This show is now avail­able to Lis­ten Again on Mixcloud.

Sep­tem­ber 20th, 2pm SLT/Pacific Time: it’s the third Sat­ur­day in the month and time for a new edi­tion of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal with Cale­do­nia Skytower!

“Why would you get a degree in the­ater?” It’s not always about dreams of bright lights and paparazzi. The­ater is a col­lab­o­ra­tive art form that teach­es much more than just the art of mak­ing it. Host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er (Judy Cullen) shares her con­ver­sa­tion with three of her col­lege class­mates as they reflect on their dif­fer­ing paths and the lessons that cre­at­ing the­ater hath wrought, plus the musi­cal the­ater songs that have had the great­est per­son­al mean­ing to them.

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TMoTM S04E03: Five Lessons #1 — Sharry O’Hare

August 16, 2025   Programming

This pro­gramme is now avail­able on  Mixcloud.

August 16th, 2pm SLT/Pacific Time: it’s the third Sat­ur­day in the month and time for a new edi­tion of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal with Cale­do­nia Skytower!

This month, Cale­do­nia rolls out a new sub-series of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal. In “Five Lessons” she inter­views actors, direc­tors, design­ers, dancers and oth­ers who have spent time and life in musi­cal the­atre. They share the lessons that being a part of a per­form­ing com­mu­ni­ty have taught them about life, the stage, and humanity.

In this debut episode Cale shares a con­ver­sa­tion with actress Shar­ry O’Hare, explor­ing the expe­ri­ences of 65 years of musi­cal the­ater per­for­mance. Ms. O’Hare shares some of the lessons musi­cal the­atre has taught her, with select­ed musi­cal num­bers to accom­pa­ny them. Think tread­ing the boards is just about find­ing your light and how many songs you get? Guess again.

 

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TMoTM: S04E02: “Once Upon a Time” Fairytales on Broadway

July 19, 2025   Programming

Wel­come to The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal –on Vir­tu­al Com­mu­ni­ty Radio – where we explore the blend­ing of music and dra­ma fea­tur­ing the songs, his­to­ry and lore that make up the musi­cal the­ater canon. 

As Sec­ond Life’s 22nd birth­day came to a close, “The Mag­ic of the Musi­cal” cel­e­brat­ed this year’s theme of “Myths and Leg­ends” with an explo­ration of folk­tales and fairy­tales on the musi­cal the­ater stage. Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er presents. Orig­i­nal­ly broad­cast Sat­ur­day, 19th July, live from the VCRa­dio stu­dio at SL22B

This show is now avail­able on Mixcloud

Explore videos of some of the shows and songs fea­tured in this episode.

Rodgers & Ham­mer­stein’s Cin­derel­la (1957, Kinescope) — Julie Andrews, Jon Cypher, Edie Adams

Once Upon a Mat­tress “Shy”  (1959, Car­ol Burnett)

Once Upon a Mat­tress “Shy” (1972, Car­ol Burnett)

Into the Woods “Agony” (Motion Pic­ture) – Chris Pine, Bil­ly Magnussen

Into the Woods “Finale” (1991 Orig­i­nal Broad­way Production)

Wicked “Defy­ing Grav­i­ty” (Orig­i­nal Broad­way Pro­duc­tion Tony Award per­for­mance) Idi­na Men­zel & Kristin Chenoweth

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TMoTM: S04E01 – And the Award Goes to … !

June 21, 2025   Programming

Wel­come to Sea­son 4 of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, where host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er explores the songs, sto­ries and lore of the musi­cal theatre.

Now avail­able on Mixcloud!

This episode, broad­cast live at 2pm SLT/Pacific Time on Sat­ur­day, June 21st, is our annu­al look at the biggest awards events in the New York and Lon­don the­ater sea­sons: The Olivi­er Awards bestowed in April, and the Dra­ma Desk and Antoinette Per­ry (“Tony”) Awards bestowed in June. The win­ners are in, and we take a look at the nom­i­nees and win­ners in the cat­e­gories of new musi­cal and musi­cal revival.

Cale­do­nia presents the show live from the VCRa­dio stu­dio at SL22B.

TMoTM S04E01 Use­ful Links:

The Olivi­er Awards

Best Revival of a Musical

Fid­dler On The Roof — WINNER

music by Jer­ry Bock, lyrics by Shel­don Har­nick, book by Joseph Stein

Regen­t’s Park Open Air Theatre

YouTube Trail­er

Best New Musical

The Curi­ous Case Of Ben­jamin But­ton ‑WINNER

music & lyrics by Dar­ren Clark, book & lyrics by Jethro Compton

Ambas­sadors Theatre

***

The Dra­ma Desk Awards

Best Revival of a Musical

Gyp­sy — WINNER

Best New Musical

Maybe Hap­py End­ing — WINNER

***

The Antoinette Per­ry Awards (Tony)

Best Musi­cal

Bue­na Vista Social Club

Dead Out­law

Death Becomes Her

Maybe Hap­py End­ing — WINNER

Oper­a­tion Mince­meat: A New Musical

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