We really like hearing what our audience has to say, so we invite you to contact us with your comments or questions about COMPACT BROADWAY. And if you have heard our pilot spotlighting Avenue Q, then we hope you will share your thoughts. Our Avenue Q Survey takes just a few minutes to complete, so let us hear from you!

In the meantime, since our pilot has only recently made its debut on our web site, we thought we would share a few of the comments that we have received for our demo spotlighting Thoroughly Modern Millie as a way of encouraging your feedback. But before we start with Millie, here's one comment about our show on Avenue Q.

"It is fabulous! Actually, I darn near had an accident - I was listening in the car and got so involved forgot I was driving!"

— Judith

We welcome the compliment Judith, and we're happy to hear you didn't have an accident! But your comment reminds us of what National Public Radio calls a "driveway moment," which they describe as something like this: As you're driving home listening to a story on the radio, you suddenly find yourself in your driveway (or parking space or parking garage) and rather than turn the radio off, you stay in your car to hear the piece to the end. Given that you weren't parked though, maybe this qualifies as a drive by moment! Seriously though, we do appreciate the praise, especially since COMPACT BROADWAY is not on the radio yet. But we have to admit that this isn't our first documented driveway moment, as you'll read in this next comment about our Thoroughly Modern Millie demo.

"I listened to it as I went to the airport and actually pulled over in the rental car lot and sat there for another 20 minutes just so I could finish it. What a great idea and what wonderful execution! Like your ordinary listener, I absolutely love to hear about the behind-the-scenes happenings and the genesis of the show in the early stages of development...but as a theatre actor myself, I can spot BS pretty quickly...and there was none of that in your program."

— Gregory

Not only do we appreciate that you made time to listen to the show Gregory, but thanks also for your thoughtful observations. When it comes to the media, it seems like most of the entertainment industry coverage is about either hyping shows and performers or ripping them apart. And while that may be great for other shows, COMPACT BROADWAY is about telling the stories of musical theatre and the people that are involved in its creation, while also exploring how musical theatre intersects with popular culture. And to give our audience a fair and balanced look at our subjects, we think it's important to provide an environment of trust for our guests so that they can honestly discuss their work and their careers. So even though we have chosen not to review or critique shows, it also means that we're not just another stop on a press junket for promoting a show. Regardless of the subject matter, our goal is to tell the most compelling stories possible and that means that some of our programs will appeal to some people more than others, just like musicals. Here's a great example of that.

"I've enjoyed very much the Millie demo, but I must admit the one about Little Women was more interesting, as it displayed a new musical, not a musical that mostly everyone has heard about. The use of music from a demo recording also helped to make theatre fans pay more attention, being their first exposure to the score."

— Inigo

We're glad that you like the Millie demo Inigo and we completely understand your point. The show that Inigo is referring to is the musical version of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women that opened on Broadway January 23, 2005. We produced a one hour demo about Little Women as a way of introducing COMPACT BROADWAY to the musical theatre community way back in 2001. Although our format and production style have undergone a few changes since then, one of the interesting things about that demo for us was telling the story of a musical that was in its early stages of development. Today we are even more committed to covering new musicals and when COMPACT BROADWAY begins airing on public radio stations as a series, you can expect us to not only focus on shows that are currently running on Broadway, but we'll also preview musicals in various stages of production, including readings and workshops. And because the landscape of musical theatre extends beyond Times Square, our program will also cover shows that are performed Off-Broadway, as well as touring and regional theatre productions. Here's another perspective on the Millie demo.

"I have listened to your Thoroughly Modern Millie demo program and 'thoroughly' enjoyed it!... Hearing the creative staff talk about all their hard work and the performers talking about everything from understudy rehearsals, nerves, the thrill of the first audience, and having a Tony Award sitting on their shelf...it's inspiring! When you see them onstage, they are characters, but listening to them 'as themselves' on your program, they are just people...and dreams do come true!...Thank you, and I look forward to hearing more!"

— Jan

And thank you for your remarks Jan! You know, as much as we love the art form of musical theatre, we find that the most engaging stories are about the people who create and perform the shows we cover. From theatre veterans to those just starting out, the people on stage and behind the scenes are just like the audiences who go to see their shows — they have families, they work for a living, they struggle with their careers, and some times they find success but most times they don't. From our interviews with Stephanie D'Abruzzo and John Tartaglia to Annie Lawrence's piece on the people who stand in line for lottery tickets, these are the kind of stories you'll hear in our show on Avenue Q. Here's a suggestion about one of the other core elements of our show, music.

"Have more music including rare sounds from the show. For instance, it would be interesting to hear from a performance from the live show or hear a song that was cut."

— Rachel

We agree that music should be an integral part of any show about musical theatre. While our Millie show had just a couple of excerpts from a pre-Broadway recording of Millie, it's always been our intent to include more unique music and that's exactly what we did for Avenue Q. First, there's the subtle underscoring provided by our Musical Director John Coffey in the Rick Lyon segment and then creators Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx performing some excerpts of their music from Avenue Q, including their favorite song that was cut from the show, "Tear It Up And Throw It Away" (The Jury Duty Song). And you'll even find more bonus material from Lopez and Marx that wasn't included on our show by visiting the pilot page. So let us know what you think of these changes Rachel. Now here's a comment about COMPACT BROADWAY in general.

"Bravo and hooray for your COMPACT BROADWAY concept...The demo is fantastic and I'm now hooked...Educating audiences has been a passion of mine for years and I am glad to know that an organization has found a way to make the education entertaining and accessible...Bravo again! I'm ready for the encore."

— Randy

We love encores, so we'll gladly accept your kudos Randy. When we first began developing COMPACT BROADWAY, one of our goals was to create a show that could equally engage and entertain the listeners of public radio. And since most of our staff has been involved with arts in education at some point in their respective careers, it shouldn't be a surprise that we enjoy making education entertaining and accessible. One of our favorite education moments in the Avenue Q pilot happens during Peter Royston's History of Puppetry segment when Bart Roccoberton explains the genesis of the word marionette. Of course we don't want to give anything away, but when you hear it for yourself we think you'll understand exactly what we mean. Now back to a Millie comment.

"It gave great insight 'behind the scenes' of a huge Broadway production, and it showed that it takes so much work to produce a huge musical especially a great one. It also gave a lot of information about the pre-production process which I found extremely interesting. I think you should try and make these COMPACT BROADWAY shows available to the public for sale or archive."

— Dillia

We think that the process of how a musical gets created is as interesting as the final product, so we're glad to hear that this appeals to you too Dillia. And thanks for your suggestion about making the show available to the public. Although our program has been developed with a public radio audience in mind, we also want to share COMPACT BROADWAY with the largest audience possible. Eventually we have plans to make episodes available to educators and students as a teaching resource, but for now our focus is on getting the series up and running. And speaking of the future, here's a final related question.

"Hi, I've discovered your site and wondered when you do go on the air, will it be broadcast on the web too? I'm in UK so it's the only way I can listen."

— Duncan

It's always good to hear from our fans across the pond Duncan. And yes, once we go on the air you will be able to hear our shows on the internet. In the meantime, you can listen to COMPACT BROADWAY right here on our web site!

That's all for now, but feel free to drop us a note and share your comments or questions!