Go Behind the Scenes of 'A Broadwaysted Carol Channing' Finale Starring Iglehart, Cerveris, Leung, Elless, and More

This week, the Broadwaysted Crew released Part Three of their spoof of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol written by show cohost Kevin Jaeger. In the epic conclusion of A Broadwaysted Carol Channing, Scrooge (Michael Cerveris) attends a party hosted by his niece, Fred (Jenna Ushkowitz) and gets a terrifying glimpse of his future.

The cast of Broadway stars is joined by Broadwaysted regular Robbie Rozelle and members of Broadwaysted's theatre podcast family: Patrick Hinds (Theater People, Broadway Backstory), Gillian Pensavalle (The Hamilcast), and Ilana Levine (Little Known Facts)!

BroadwayWorld is back with the final edition of the exclusive, Behind-the-Scenes chat with the Broadwaysted Crew about the creation of A Broadwaysted Carol Channing.

To join the Broadwaysted Crew's campaign to support Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS this holiday season, visit www.donate.broadwaycares.org/Broadwaysted

Cast (in Order of Appearance)

Bryan......Himself
Kevin......Himself
Kimberly......Herself
Toast of Broadway Present......James Monroe Iglehart
Scrooge......Michael Cerveris
Fred......Jenna Ushkowitz
Fred's Husband......Bryan Plofsky
Party Guests......Aaron J Albano, Sarah Jenkins, and Kimberly Schmidt
Toast of Broadway Yet to Come (Carol Channing)......Kevin Jaeger
Producer One......Patrick Hinds
Producer Two......Gillian Pensavalle
Old Joe......Robbie Rozelle
Laundress......Ilana Levine
Undertaker......Andrew Briedis
Mrs. Cratchit......Kimberly Schmidt
Bobby Cratchit......Caesar Samayoa
Caroler......Telly Leung
BC/EFA Volunteers.....Mo Brady & Nikka Graff Lanzarone
Tapping Tim......Hannah Elless

Here's the episode if you haven't listened yet:

Because I Am a Wife!

Bryan: This is the first episode where all three of us appear as our characters in the story!
Kimberly: That's right! I even got two characters--thanks, Kevin.
Kevin: Couldn't have a game in the play without the Game Master present!
Kimberly: And I love the meaning behind naming Bryan's character "Fred's Husband."
Kevin: In every version of A Christmas Carol that I've seen or been in, Fred's wife is never given a name. She's simply referred to as "Fred's Wife." When I told people I was thinking of naming a male character simply "Fred's Husband," most of them laughed and said "that's so weird." Which it is...but why isn't it also weird to refer to a woman only as the spouse of a man? So that's kind of the point I was trying to make when I named the character "Fred's Husband."
Bryan: You also wanted to mess with me, too.
Kevin: Oh absolutely. That's always a factor in my decision making.

There's No Crying in Radio Plays!

Kimberly: So things get kind of real in this episode.
Kevin: Yeah, the story at the core of A Christmas Carol--
Bryan: CHANNING! Sorry, continue...
Kevin: The story has a deep emotional impact. While we were obviously going for a comedic approach, I couldn't totally shy away from the more tender, touching moments--and the loss of a child like Tapping Tim is the emotional "punch in the gut" that fully awakens Scrooge to the horror of his ways.
Kimberly: Still, we didn't expect for people to get as emotional as they did.
Kevin: The number of texts or tweets I got from people who cried during Bobby Cratchit's monologue at Tapping Tim's grave was surprising for sure.
Kimberly: Why? You used the emotional father lyrics from The Secret Garden--
Bryan: And paired it with "Alone in the Universe" from Seussical. That's what wrecked me.
Kimberly: And Caesar sounds so sad!
Kevin: I know! It turned into a really touching moment.
Bryan: Well, that's what we do here at Broadwaysted. Make people feel all the feels.
Kimberly: About fictional tap-dancing urchins.
Bryan: Exactly. Very "on brand."

I Love You, Broadway...Let Me Count the Ways!

Kevin: The two questions we've been asked most frequently since the release of Part Three are 1. Is this really the last part? and 2. How many musical references are there in the script?
Bryan: And the answers are 1. Sort of and 2. We don't know!
Kimberly: Okay, I'll explain the "sort of" part. So yes, Part Three is the last part of the story--but we do have a special holiday treat next week for everyone.
Bryan: To experience the full glory of A Broadwaysted Carol
Kevin: CHANNING! Sorry, I wanted to see what that felt like.
Kimberly: Anyway, next week we'll be releasing "A Broadwaysted Carol Channing: The Bartender's Cut." All three parts of the story seamlessly blended together into one complete tale--and as an added bonus, the gag reel we've been gagging about!
Bryan: Okay, and the "we don't know" part. We don't actually know how many musical references the whole radio play contains!
Kevin: Halfway through writing A Broadwaysted Carol Channing, I started actually speaking in musical lyrics. I was dreaming lyrics nonstop. It was insane. So I definitely lost count of how many are in the scripts.
Kimberly: But there just might be a game going on at BroadwayCon 2018 where having a good guess of how many musical references are in A Broadwaysted Carol Channing could get you a pretty stellar prize!
Kevin: Really?
Bryan: It's best not to question the Game Master when it comes to games.
Kevin: Good point.
Bryan: Kev--how'd you get the lyrics out of your head?
Kevin: I rewatched last season of American Ninja Warrior on Hulu.
Kimberly: That'll do it.