THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO – the Clay Warnick, Mel Pahl and Edward Eager musical

Presented by Rob Morrison on 21st July 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 21st July will feature a 70th anniversary tribute to the Clay Warnick, Mel Pahl and Edward Eager musical The Adventures of Marco Polo (based on the themes of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) from the 1956 U.S. TV cast recording starring Alfred Drake and Doretta Morrow, with Paul Ukena and Ray Drakeley.

The programme will conclude with selections from the 2019 compilation CD album Alfred Drake – Lucky to Be Me – A Life in Music featuring recordings from 1940 to 1962.

So Long 174th Street – from 1976

Presented by Rob Morrison on 14th July 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 14th July will feature a 50th anniversary tribute to the Stan Daniels musical So Long 174th Street,(based on the play Enter Laughing by Joseph Stein from the novel by Carl Reiner) from the cast recording featuring members of the original 1976 Broadway production including Robert Morse, Loni Ackerman, George S. Irving, Barbara Lang, Lawrence John Moss and Arthur Rubin, plus (for the recording) Kaye Ballard, Patti Karr and Stan Daniels.

The programme will conclude with the 1963 album A Jolly Theatrical Season featuring Robert Morse and Charles Nelson Reilly singing songs by Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Adler and Ross, Bock and Harnick, and others.

EL CAPITAN – Sousa’s Comic Opera

Presented by Rob Morrison on 7th July 2026

Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 7th July will feature a 130th anniversary tribute to the John Philip Sousa and Tom Frost comic opera El Capitan, from the 1997 University of Illinois studio cast recording starring Douglas Webster, Lucille Beer, Sherri Karam, Harold Gray Meers, Darryl Edwards, Gerald Dolter, Mary Ann McCormick and Donald Hartmann.

The programme will conclude with orchestral selections from John Philip Sousa’s comic operas The Irish Dragoon and The Bride Elect played by the Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra conducted by Keith Brion.