SWEET CHARITY – Happy 60th, Big Spender

Presented by Rob Morrison 27th January 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 27th January will feature a 60th anniversary tribute to the Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields musical Sweet Charity (based on the Fellini film Nights of Cabria), from the 1966 original off-Broadway cast recording starring Gwen Verdon, John McMartin, Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, James Luisi, Arnold Soboloff and John Wheeler.

This will be followed by an archival radio report of the show’s opening night and interviews with Ethel Merman, Gwen Verdon, Helen Gallagher and librettist Neil Simon.

The programme will conclude with selections from Cy Coleman’s 1966 record album If My Friends Could See Me Now interspersed with songs from Barbara Cook’s 1993 CD album Close as Pages in a Book paying tribute to the lyrics of Dorothy Fields.

Mary Rodgers’ THE MAD SHOW in 1966

Presented by Rob Morrison 20th January 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 20th January will feature a 60th anniversary tribute to the Mary Rodgers musical revue The Mad Show (based on the satirical Mad magazine, with lyrics by Marshall Barer, Stan Hart, Larry Siegel, Steven Vinaver & Stephen Sondheim, & sketches by Larry Siegel & Stan Hart), from the 1966 original off-Broadway cast recording starring Paul Sand, MacIntyre Dixon, Dick Libertini, Linda Lavin and Jo Anne Worley.

This will be followed by an archival interview with Mary Rodgers recorded during her visit to Melbourne in January of 1994; plus the 1957 recording of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves 40 with music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Sammy Cahn narrated and sung by Bing Crosby.

The programme will conclude with a selection of songs from the 1960 London cast recording of the Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer musical Once Upon a Mattress (based on the fairy-tale The Princess and the Pea), featuring Jane Connell, Thelma Ruby, Patricia Lambert and Australians, Bill Newman and Bill Kerr.

Sondheim’s PACIFIC OVERTURES at 50

Presented by Rob Morrison 13th January 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 13th January will feature a 50th anniversary tribute to the Stephen Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures, from the 1976 original Broadway cast recording starring Mako, James Dybas, Timm Fujii,  Alvin Ing, Patrick Kinser-Lau, Isao Sato, Sab Shimono, Mark Syers, Ricardo Tobia, Gedde Watanabe and Fusaka Yoshida.

This will be followed by selections from Sondheim – A Musical Tribute featuring an all-star Broadway cast performing the songs of Sondheim recorded “live” in concert at the Shubert Theatre in New York on the evening of 11 March 1973.

George M. Cohan musical Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway

Presented by Rob Morrison 6th January 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 6th January will feature a 120th anniversary tribute to the New York premiere of the George M. Cohan musical Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway, from the 1959 U.S. TV cast recording starring Tammy Grimes, Larry Blyden, Russell Nype and David Burns, with Howard St. James, Polly Rowles, Diana Millay and Michael Clarke Lawrence.

This will be followed by an episode of the 1951 3DB Melbourne radio series With a Song in My Heart paying tribute to George M. Cohan featuring singers Michael Walker, Max Blake and Joan Clarke with the 3DB Radio Orchestra and Chorus conducted by William Flynn and narration by Kevin Brennan.

The programme will conclude with a selection of recordings by George M. Cohan from 1911 and a medley of his hit songs sung by Cohan recorded at a “live” concert performance in San Francisco in 1940.