This episode of Broadway Rewind takes us to the opening night of the musical Passing Strange, but we start things off at the Disney store for the CD release party of Disney's The Little Mermaid, where the cast was on hand to treat the fans with some of the shows songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge says, 'That this episode of Broadway Rewind features something Toxic, something Royal and something Academic.' We drop by New World Stages for a look at the David Bryan and Joe DePietro musical, The Toxic Avenger. We also visit with two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and the cast of Roundabout's production of The Philanthropist, but we kick it off at the opening night of director Neil Armfield's production of Eugene Ionesco's Exit The King, which starred Academy Award winners Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon, Tony Award winner Andrea Martin and Lauren Ambrose. Geoffrey Rush told Ridge, 'I just phoned my wife and said, 'Darling I just made my Broadway debut and it's a marker. It's not what I aimed for. I had never really, seriously ever thought about it... I used to listen to a lot of Broadway musical theatre back in the mid 60's when I was in high school. Next to the Beatles, I was listening to Angela Lansbury in Mame or Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence or Zero Mostel in Fiddler. I'm pretty well seasoned in that kind of energy, and to be able to bring a weird and wonderful play like Exit the King into that arena, has been just so special.'

'This is a very special episode of Broadway Rewind', says BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge. 'I was  joined by award-winning director Richard Jay-Alexander as my co-host, for the opening night celebration for the Abba musical Mamma Mia!, which opened on Broadway on October 18th, 2001 right after 9/11. The musical enjoyed an amazing 14 year run on Broadway.  It's a wonderful episode which features just about everyone connected to the musical. Enjoy'.

This episode of Broadway Rewind takes you to the opening night celebration of the new production of Michael Bennett's Pulitzer Prize winning musical A Chorus Line. But we start things off at a rehearsal for the one night only Actors Fund Benefit of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which starred Emily Skinner as Miss Mona and Broadway's original 'Annie' herself, Andrea McArdle as Doatsey Mae. McArdle told BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge about her take on the role and her song, 'She reminds me a little bit of that Mabel Normand character. Doatsey Mae is very smart. If it wasn't for that Chicken Ranch in town, she would have been a happening girl. She's overshadowed by all of this tardiness in this tiny little town, (and the song), is a heartbreaking number. It's sweet and a great country number.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge continues his journey with the latest  Broadway Rewind, which  takes the audience to Town Hall for the 4th annual ABC Daytime Salutes BC/EFA, but we start things off by meeting the company and bringing you a sneak peek at the Broadway musical Cry Baby, which is based on the hit John Waters film. It starred James Snyder, Elizabeth Stanley and Harriet Harris. Waters told me how he felt about being asked to turn one of his other hit films into a Broadway musical. 'I was thrilled because I had just had such a wonderful experience with Hairspray and to be honest, Cry Baby was the only real musical movie I ever made. Hairspray was a dance movie. The music in this is such a breath of new talent on Broadway.'

'We close things out with a look at the 48th production of City Center's famed Encore's, the glorious musical Finian's Rainbow, which starred Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson, Jim Norton and Terri White. It was directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. Kate told me, 'I get to sing the most beautiful songs. I think Burton Lane was a master of melody.' Cheyenne said he knew the songs but didn't really know the story, 'It's very, very current. I was actually surprised. The main crux of the plot is a bigoted white man in power from the south who is being replaced by an open-minded black man. Hmmm. So, it's very current.''

'We then travel to the exciting opening night of Disney's musical, The Little Mermaid and I asked an exuberant Sierra Boggess, who was making her Broadway debut as Ariel, what that magical day meant to her. 'Did it really happen tonight? Are we sure that that just happened! Before I went on stage tonight, I felt my heart pounding because I was just so excited and there was such anticipation and I realized all I had to do tonight was share Ariel.''

'This episode of Broadway Rewind is such a treat', says BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge, 'because it has CHITA!' We also visit with the cast of Tom Stoppard's play, Rock N' Roll which starred Brian Cox, Rufus Sewell, but we start things off ay the first day of rehearsal for Tracy Letts' groundbreaking play, August: Osage County, which came to Broadway following a sold-out run at Steppenwolf.

'What I loved the most about this episode', says BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge, 'was following the journey of the 2009 musical The Story of My Life. This episode of Broadway Rewind looks at the ill- fated musical, which featured two wonderful performances by Will Chase and Malcolm Gets, but we start off at a rehearsal for Michael Jacobs play 'Impressionism' directed by Jack O'Brien. It welcomed back to Broadway, Tony Award winners Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen along with Marsha Mason, Aaron Lazar and Andre de Shields. Director Jack O'Brien told me why he had to do this play, 'It's about us. We haven't had a really witty, wise, romantic comedy in New York, in a long time and I've got this gorgeous cast.' Joan Allen said,

We then close out the show at the opening night of director Des McAnuff's revival of the classic Frank Loesser musical Guys and Dolls. Des said, 'I wanted to go back to Damon Runyon's time. He wrote the Broadway stories between '29 and '37 so, we set it very loosely in '35, it's a mythic landscape anyway, and I asked Jo Loesser about this idea and she thought Frank would like it, so that was good enough for me.'

We close out at the opening of the Broadway run of Rock of Ages, which features some of the greatest rock songs of the 80's. It had a sensational cast including Constantine Maroulis, Amy Spanger, James Carpinello, Wesley Taylor.

BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge, says of this episode of Broadway Rewind, 'It is jammed packed with Albee, Brooks and Pinter and I had one of the biggest pinch me moments of chatting with one of the greatest playwrights Edward Albee, himself. We head to Second Stage for the opening of Edward Albee's Peter and Jerry but we start off at the first day of rehearsal for revival of the Harold Pinter classic, The Homecoming which featured a stellar cast including Ian McShane, Raul Esparza, Eve Best and Michael McKeen. Director Daniel Sullivan told me what he loved about the play, 'When I read it now, almost 40 years after it was done, it still scares me. I had never directed Pinter, so I thought it was about time.''

BroadwayWorld's own Richard Ridge said of this 2008 episode of Broadway Rewind, 'I loved looking back at the musical Next to Normal and realizing the impact it has had on the musical theatre genre. We start off high a top Rockefeller Center to the Rainbow Room for The Drama League's Gala where they honored beloved producer Roger Berlind. It featured many of the stars and shows that he produced over his illustrious career.  Look for David Hyde Pierce, Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, Donna Murphy, Karen Ziemba and Debra Monk.' 

'This is a very special edition of Broadway Rewind,' says BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge, 'because it is a look at the musical Wicked, which has gone on to become a worldwide phenomenon. It's with the show's original stars, just six months after the show opened. I was invited by the shows original publicist, the beloved Bob Fennel, who passed away way to young, to sit in the dressings rooms of Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Joel Grey, Michelle Federer and the late great Carole Shelley and chat about their individual journeys with Wicked.'

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge continues the Broadway Rewind with a new edition that features Whoopi Goldberg, the late great composer Cy Coleman and starts things off with a sneak peek of the Broadway musical Little Women, which starred Sutton Foster, Maureen McGovern and Danny Gurwin.

We kick things off with one of Broadway's biggest flops, the musical In My Life, which was written and directed by Academy Award winning composer of 'You Light Up My Life', Joe Brooks. The coolest thing about this musical is that Jonathan Groff was dance captain, swing and standby for the two lead roles.

Broadway Rewind continues in Shubert Alley for the Annual BC/EFA Broadway Flea Market, then to the opening night of Richard Greenberg's play A Naked Girl on the Appian Way which starred Richard Thomas, Jill Clayburgh and Matthew Morrison. 'Matthew told me what it was like doing the musical 'A Light in the Piazza', having to leave them and not have to sing in this play.' says Richard Ridge.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge and Broadway Rewind continues with a look at two offerings of the 2004- 2005 theatre season. A sneak peek at the new musical All Shook Up, which featured a breakout performance by Cheyenne Jackson, and we start things off at the opening night of Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical Pacific Overtures. This bold and underrated 1976 musical spans over 150 years. It starred two original members from the 1976 Broadway production, Sab Shimono and Alvin Ing. Tony award winner BD Wong who joined them, told me how exciting it was to be a part of this glorious musical. 'We have gone on this journey as a company. Just an incredible amount of very stimulating and creative work with an incredible director. I mean world class, no pun intended. Fantastic, loving, caring, passionate, creative person. And to have that experience is so rare, and to be in a Sondheim, Weidman musical, when Sondheim and Weidman are there in the room, taking notes and telling you what they think and why they wrote something, is unbelievable.'

Today we  continue with a sneak peek look and performance with the original cast of Jersey Boys in rehearsal. Then, a look at Marilyn Sokol and Peter Scolori in Stewart F. Lanes comedy 'In The Wings', followed by Cheech Marin, director of 'Latinologues', but we start things off by dropping by the Neil Simon Theatre to chew the fat with Hairspray's newest Motor Mouth Maybelle, music legend Darlene Love.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge continues Broadway Rewind with a jam-packed, star-studded look at the kickoff of the 2005- 2006 Theatre season. It includes Bernadette Peters, Yoko Ono, Amanda McBroom and Brooke Shields.

'Throughout my career,' says BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge, 'I have had the opportunity to do in-depth interviews with some of the greatest artists working on stage, screen and television. One of my favorite interviews, is also one of the rarest, which is a two part sit down with three-time Tony Award recipient, Bernadette Peters. She has done many interviews, but I have never seen another interview with her at this length, that delved so deeply into her illustrious career, which began at the age of five. I conducted this interview on Dec. 1, 1997 and we follow her career highlights from the Horn and Hardart show through the one-night-only Into the Woods reunion. I really hope you enjoy this very special Broadway Rewind.'

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge follows two shows from the 2004-2005 season on this edition of Broadway Rewind. It's a look at The Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations, but we start things off at the opening night celebration of the New York production of Michael Frayn's play Democracy which starred Richard Thomas, James Naughton and Robert Prosky. Richard talked about sharing the stage once again with his friend, James Naughton. 'We go way back. This is our fourth play we've done together. We love being onstage together. We're so different in every way, physically and vocally. It's a terrific match for us and we just love to talk to each other onstage.'

Just last month, Broadway celebrated the return of West Side Story- a daring new interpretation from director Ivo van Hove. In 2009, Broadway was celebrating the opening of a different West Side Story. This version, which opened March 19 at the Palace Theatre, starred Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione, and Tony winner Karen Olivo, and new Spanish lyrics from Lin-Manuel Miranda. The revival would go on to play 748 performances, running just under two years.

Pal Joey return to Broadway in 2008, almost seven decades after it originally premiered in 1940. This time, the beloved Rodgers and Hart musical starred Christian Hoff, Martha Plimpton and Stockard Channing. The Roundabout revival played 85 performances at Studio 54 and earned four Tony nominations that season.

Daniel Radcliffe made his Broadway debut in the 2008 revival of Equus, costarring another Harry Potter veteran, Richard Griffiths. The revival, directed by Thea Sharrock, transferred from the West End, and attracted much attention for its nude scene, which was performed by a then 17 year-old Radcliffe.