Wednesday afternoon The AIR brings you special brand-new episodes of Beatles Blast and Curtain Call!  You can tune in at the website, or or you could just stay on this page, and  listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking over in the right-hand column of this blog.

At 2 PM, your truly returns to host a colorful  Beatles Blast mixtape. Stealing my own idea from this week’s episode of The Swing Shift, I decided to put together a show of Beatles’ tunes with colors mentioned in the title. Sure, it’s a gimmick, but it’s a fun one. We have music from The Fab Four, together and solo, plus some unusual cover versions plucked from the rainbow of Beatles songs. Check out the playlist…

Beatles Blast 072

The Beatles “Baby’s In Black”
Ringo Starr “Red and Black Blues”
George Harrison “Going Down To Golder’s Green”
Wings “Bluebird”
John Lennon “Out The Blue”
Harry Nilsson and John Lennon “Black Sails”
The Beatles “Red Sails In The Sunset”
Dee Long “Blue Jay Way”
Desmond Dekker “Blackbird”
Paul McCartney “For You Blue”
The Beatles “Watching Rainbows”
Paul McCartney “Ebony and Ivory”
George Harrison “Old Brown Shoe”
Wings “Morris Moose and the Grey Goose”
The Dirty Mac “Yer Blues”
Ringo Starr “Yellow Submarine”

Beatles Blast can be heard every Wednesday at 2 PM, with replays Thursday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday afternoon.

At 3 PM on Curtain Call, Mel Larch salutes the 50th anniversary of Godspell, the Jesus-y rock opera/musical that boasted a number of legendary performers among its many casts around the world.

This week Curtain Call brings you the audio from Broadway HD‘s recent concert special presentation of Godspell.

The Godspell 50th Anniversary Concert features unmissable performances from theatrical legend Ruthie Henshall (Chicago; Billy Elliot) and Darren Day (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) – reprising their roles from the 1993 cast recording – alongside Sam Tutty(Dear Evan Hansen), Ria Jones (Sunset Boulevard; High Society), Jenna Russell (The Bridges of Madison County; Fun Home), and other popular West End performers.

“Godspell has always been a show that brings joy and hope to audiences.  It seems to me this year, we need it more than ever!  I hope this beautiful concert of Godspell helps to lift everyone’s spirits this holiday season,”  Stephen Schwartz.

Godspell is the acclaimed work conceived and originally directed by John-Michael Telebak with music and new lyrics by renowned composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked; Pippin; The Prince of Egypt) which tells a series of parables leading up to the Passion of Christ. Directed by award-winning Michael Strassen (Billy; Assassins), the concert was recorded from the cast’s homes and edited together. This is a revival revamped for the modern age. With a driving message of hope and community, Godspell is the tonic that we need after a year of divisiveness and chaos.

Celebrating this iconic piece of musical theatre on its 50th anniversary, the production also stars leading West End talents: Jodie Steele (SIX; Heathers), Danyl Johnson (The X Factor finalist), Jenny Fitzpatrick(Tina, The Musical; Our House), Natalie Green (The Prince of Egypt; Hair), John Barr (The Story of Bart; Tommy), Sally Ann Triplett (Mamma Mia!; Viva Forever), Matthew Croke (Aladdin), Alison Jiear (Jerry Springer: The Opera), Shekinah McFarlane (Six; Hair), Lucy Williamson (The Fix; Judy & Liza), Ronald Brian(Beautiful, The Carole King Musical; Newsies), Jerome Bell (The Voice USA; Hairspray) and supported by an ensemble from Italia Conti. 

Curtain Call can be heard on The AIR Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM and 9 PM, Saturday at 8 PM and Monday at 9 AM. A six-hour marathon of classic episodes can be heard Sunday evening starting at 6 PM, and an all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.