Masterworks Broadway Presents Legends of Broadway

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Stephen Schwartz, Joel Grey, Harold Prince, Maury Yeston, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire will be inaugurating Legends of Broadway, Masterworks Broadway's weekly series of newly-produced video podcasts which premiere November 16, 2011. New videos will debut each Wednesday as free streaming content to anyone who signs up for the masterworksbroadway.com e-newsletter.

The Legends of Broadway video series brings a new dimension to Masterworks Broadway's commitment to explore the history of its unparalleled catalog of musical theater recordings – in fact, the history of the Broadway musical itself. The new videos, produced by the Masterworks Broadway team with director Glen Hoffman and Slam Media Group, began filming in fall 2010. The format allows these legendary figures to reminisce freely about their careers and experiences on Broadway, bringing fresh, first-hand insights to the stories behind the musicals they helped create. Highlights include:

• Stephen Sondheim recalling his doomed attempt to drop the Broadway musical's first f-bomb in West Side Story …

• Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty describing how they dashed off a song ("Your Daddy's Son") in an hour when it hit them that Audra MacDonald had no solo in Ragtime…

• Angela Lansbury on how and why two contrasting composer-lyricists, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim, have meant so much to her career …

• Richard Maltby, Jr. remembering how quickly Ain't Misbehavin' came together as perhaps the greatest of all Broadway revues …

• Joel Grey recounting how he almost lost the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the film of Cabaret …

• Maury Yeston relating the improbable chain of events that resulted in Liliane Montevecchi's show-stopping (and Tony-winning) turn with "Folies Bergere" in Nine …

• Stephen Schwartz taking us back to a chaotic, contentious moment during the San Francisco tryouts in which he realized that Wicked was going to be a smash hit.

These unforgettable moments and dozens more will be available each Wednesday as the series unfolds on masterworksbroadway.com.

Masterworks Broadway is a label of Sony Masterworks.  For email updates and information on Masterworks Broadway please visit www.masterworksbroadway.com.

SOURCE Masterworks Broadway