Tuesday’s 9-11pm
Rob Morrison
Rob pays tribute to the best of Broadway, London’s West End, the Australian stage and the occasional European operetta in a 2 hour program celebrating significant anniversaries in the world of Musical Theatre.
With a background in science and biophysics, Rob is equally at home in the Performing Arts having performed in over 70 stage productions since 1975, including plays, revues and musicals for a number of amateur theatre companies based in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
As a broadcaster, Rob has been heard on Melbourne community radio 96.5 Inner FM since 1992 contributing to the Local Theatre and Concert Hall programmes in past years and as the current host of the weekly light-music Kaleidoscope and Musical Theatre Melodies programmes.
Rob has also contributed information and articles to the on-line Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, Gilbert and Sullivan Discography and Edward German Discography websites.
As a member of Theatre Heritage Australia since 2006, Rob has contributed numerous articles on theatre history and performers to both the print and on-line editions of the organisation’s quarterly-published newsletter On Stage.
Rob also currently serves on the THA committee in a variety of capacities.
A selection of Rob’s past archived interviews from Musical Theatre Melodies can also be found on the Theatre Heritage Australia website
Available podcasts include:
28 March – Oklahoma! (Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II) – 1943 original Broadway cast recording + introduction by Ted Chapin + the Dream Ballet sequence “Laurey Makes Up Her Mind” from the 1955 film soundtrack recording.
21 March – Half a Sixpence (David Heneker) – 1963 original London cast recording + introduction by Rex Bunnett + addtional and alternate songs from the 1965 Broadway cast and 1967 motion picture soundtrack recordings of Half a Sixpence + a selection of songs by David Heneker from the original cast recordings of Charlie Girl, Jorrocks, Phil the Fluter and The Biograph Girl.
14 March – Irene (Harry Tierney & Joseph McCarthy, (with additional music and lyrics by Charles Gaynor & Otis Clements, with Wally Harper & Jack Lloyd) – 1973 Broadway cast recording starring Debbie Reynolds + interview with the Stage Manager of the 1973 Broadway revival Bob Schear
7 March – A Grand Night For Singing (Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II) – 1993 original New York cast recording + interview with former Head of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization Ted Chapin
28 February – A Little Night Music (Stephen Sondheim) – 1973 original Broadway cast recording + interview with original Broadway cast member Teri Ralston
21 February – Wonderful Town (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden & Adolph Green) – 1953 original Broadway cast recording starring Rosalind Russell + Comden and Green Perform Their Own Songs – selections from the compilation albums recorded in 1955 featuring songs from On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, Good News, Two on the Aisle, Peter Pan and It’s Always Fair Weather.
14 February – Old Chelsea (Richard Tauber, Bernard Grun, Walter Ellis & Fred S. Tysh) – 1943 BBC radio transcription recording featuring the original London cast including Richard Tauber, Australian soprano Nancy Brown, Carole Lynne & Charles Hawtrey + a St. Valentine’s Day selection of romantic ballads sung by Richard Tauber from the operettas of Franz Lehár and the stage and screen musicals of Jerome Kern.
7 February – Baby (David Shire & Richard Maltby Jr.) – 2022 Off-Broadway revival cast recording (world premiere radio broadcast) + interview with Tony Award-winning director, lyricist and writer Richard Maltby Jr.
31 January – Hazel Flagg (Jule Styne & Bob Hilliard) – 1953 original Broadway cast recording + Walter Willison interview regarding the Pippin 50th Anniversary Original Broadway Cast Reunion Concert & Irene Ryan tribute (featuring her unreleased 1973 Motown recordings receiving their world radio broadcast debut.)
24 January – On Your Toes (Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart) – 1983 Broadway revival cast recording + interview with Tony Award-nominated cast member Christine Andreas