The Musical Theater Project

04/12/2026

What a moment. ✨

Here is Evelyn Wright performing “The Man I Love,” made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, from our March 8 presentation of Legendary Black Singers – Great Broadway Songs.

We hope this piece speaks to you and offers even a glimpse of the beauty, power and legacy at the heart of this special program.

Our next performance of Legendary Black Singers – Great Broadway Songs is April 26 at Tri-C Metro. Tickets are currently sold out, but you may still be added to the wait list.

And don’t forget to join us on June 14 for Walk On: The Power of Carousel.

To purchase tickets for Carousel or to join the wait list for Legendary, contact Ashley at 216-860-1518 x701 or [email protected].

04/06/2026

🎶 Harbinger’s Album of the Month: Cole Porter / Rodgers & Hart

Since 1983, the Harbinger label, founded by Bill Rudman and Ken Bloom, has preserved extraordinary recordings from legendary artists and beloved musical theater voices.

This month, we’re highlighting a true gem: Cole Porter / Rodgers & Hart—a beautifully remastered collection that honors lyricist Lorenz Hart, the subject of Blue Moon, our April film.

Performed by Bob Shaver and Louise Carlyle, with dazzling piano arrangements by John Morris and David Baker, this album is full of timeless charm and sophistication.

Best of all, it’s currently 50% off for the month of April.

“The best word to describe this set is classy.” – B.R.
View album:

In the 1950s, Walden Records—founded by Gershwin biographer Edward Jablonski—was a highly respected independent label specializing in the work of the great American songwriters. TMTP/Harbinger has remastered and reissued nearly all of the Walden albums, and this one is special: It’s another wa...

04/04/2026

🎭 Tonight on Footlight Parade and On the Aisle 🎶

This week’s featured program is I Am What I Am—with fifteen men and women (plus a few kids!) making bold statements about who they are.

You’ll hear from unforgettable characters including Nellie Forbush, Albin, Eliza Doolittle, Guido, Fosca, Pal Joey and even Claude from Hair.

You can listen anytime on PRX! Click here to listen now: https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/597587?m=false

You can also hear Footlight Parade locally on WCLV in Cleveland at 6:00 p.m., or catch On the Aisle on SiriusXM On Broadway, channel 77, Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern with an encore Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

04/03/2026

Experience the power, beauty and emotional depth of one of Broadway’s greatest masterpieces.

Join Bill Rudman and Nancy Maier for Walk On: The Power of Carousel, a stirring live docu-concert presented by The Musical Theater Project.

Featuring singers/actors, chorus and instrumental ensemble, this unforgettable performance brings Rodgers & Hammerstein’s extraordinary score to life while exploring the story, creation and lasting impact of this landmark musical.

Blending live music with commentary, rare archival images and video, Walk On: The Power of Carousel offers a rich and moving look at a show that changed musical theater forever.

Sunday, June 14, 2026
3:00 PM
Gartner Auditorium, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Tickets: $50 (Purchase Here: czE3NzUyNDQ1NjIkbzM1JGcxJHQxNzc1MjQ0NTY3JGo1NSRsMCRoMA)
OR reserve your seat by contacting Ashley at 216-860-1518 x701 or [email protected].

Seating is limited, so early reservations are encouraged.

From the soaring hope of You’ll Never Walk Alone to the sweep of one of the most beautiful scores ever written, this is an afternoon of live musical theater you won’t want to miss.

Cleveland Museum of Art Events

04/03/2026

🎬 Discussion: April 9 at 7 PM
BLUE MOON (Sony Pictures Classics, 2025)

Starring Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley
Directed by Richard Linklater
Written by Robert Kaplow

By Bill Rudman
"Before Rodgers & Hammerstein—25 years before—there was, of course, Rodgers & Hart. Lyricist Hart wrote more than 1,000 songs with the composer, including many that reside in our collective unconscious: “Manhattan,” “Where or When?,” “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” “This Can’t Be Love,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Blue Moon” and “My Funny Valentine,” to name but a few.

For fellow lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, Hart was a mentor and a “colossus,” and Richard Rodgers considered him “a kind of genius.” But in 1943, when Rodgers & Hammerstein burst on the Broadway scene with their groundbreaking hit Oklahoma!, Hart’s era suddenly vanished.

In this recent film, actor Ethan Hawke plays the lyricist, who is forced to cope with profound changes in our musical theater. Hawke, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance, was joined by director Richard Linklater and screenwriter Robert Kaplow, forming an artistic troika to be reckoned with.

Their work is witty (as was Hart), sad (as was Hart) and altogether the most astonishing and truthful exploration of a 20th-century American songwriter I have ever seen.

Please join us for the discussion, but prior to April 9, I urge you to spend 10 minutes with my video introduction. The context for the story told in Blue Moon is crucial."

🎥 Join the Discussion
TMTP’s Let’s Go to the Movies…At Home! series highlights not-to-be-missed movie musicals you can enjoy from home.

✔️ Watch Bill’s short video introduction ahead of time for context and insights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwTgMTd7vUQ)

✔️ Stream the film (free with Netflix or available to rent on YouTube or Amazon)

✔️ Then join us LIVE on Zoom at 7 PM on April 9 for a post-film discussion (https://us02web.zoom.us/s/6191233524?pwd=YXI0S2owK0swRVk0NUtUT3M3c2pTdz09 )

Can’t attend live?
📧 Send questions in advance to [email protected] and we’ll include them in the conversation and share the Q&A recording with you

Join us for an evening of film, history and conversation—and a deeper look at the music that shaped Broadway. 🎶

04/02/2026

✨ The Song Is You! ✨
The live performance series from The Musical Theater Project, The Song Is You! is one of five signature programs that bring audiences closer to the music, artists and stories that define the American musical. 🎭

These unforgettable concerts celebrate the songs, lyrics and legendary performers who give the art form its passion and importance. Showcasing some of the finest theater and film music ever written, each program also explores the cultural and historical impact of musical theater as a uniquely American art form.

Often described as “docu-concerts,” these performances blend live music with engaging commentary—alongside rare photos and video—to illuminate the stories behind the songs.

🎶 Legendary Black Singers—Great Broadway Songs
Hosted by Dee Perry (pictured below)
📍 Tri-C Metropolitan Campus
🗓 Sunday, April 26 | 3 PM
🚨 This performance is SOLD OUT 🚨

BUT...
..want to attend if seats open up?

📧 Email [email protected] to be added to the waiting list.

Experience the voices, stories and songs that shaped Broadway—and continue to inspire us today. 💫

03/25/2026

Join us for “A Real Nice” Luncheon and Walk On: The Power of Carousel on Sunday, June 14, 2026 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. 🎭✨

This very special benefit event for The Musical Theater Project begins at 1 PM with a beautiful luncheon overlooking the museum gardens, followed by a 3 PM performance of Walk On: The Power of Carousel in Gartner Auditorium.

Created by Bill Rudman and Nancy Maier, this captivating docu-concert brings Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel to life through breathtaking live performance, storytelling, commentary and rare archival images and video.

In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the greatest musical of the 20th century — and this unique theatrical experience explores exactly why.

Ticket options:
• $175 – Includes lunch, beverage, free parking and a preferred seat for the performance
• $350 Patron Level – Includes all of the above, VIP seating, recognition as a TMTP Patron and a $175 tax-deductible donation
• $50 – Concert admission only

Please note: if you purchase a luncheon ticket, the concert is already included. Luncheon seating is limited to 100 guests, so we encourage early reservations.

To reserve tickets, please contact Ashley at 216-860-1518 x701 or [email protected]. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Barbara at 216-860-1518 x709 or [email protected].

Because songs matter. Because stories matter. Because the next generation is listening. 💛
Purchase tickets: https://shop.musicaltheaterproject.org/products/walk-on-the-power-of-carousel?variant=46299552547005

03/20/2026

For 27 years, The Musical Theater Project has preserved and honored the 20th-century American musical through songs, stories and social history.

Through live performances, school programs, radio broadcasts, online discussions and recordings, we help people connect more deeply with this art form and the world it reflects. We are committed to inclusion, honest storytelling and providing the context that helps history speak clearly.

In a time of growing division, we believe the American musical still has the power to bring people together in joy, hope, love and understanding.

Learn, laugh, cry and love with us. It’s why we do what we do.

03/17/2026

🎭 TMTP’s Kids Love Musicals!® is back in classrooms across the Cleveland area! 🎶
It’s time to close the laptops and get students on their feet—singing, dancing and learning with our acclaimed two-day residencies. 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of these hands-on, high-energy programs!

Here’s what happens in just two days of 50-minute sessions with our professional teaching artist:
✨ Students sing, dance, act and explore classic musicals—discovering the Mowgli, Dorothy or Cinderella inside themselves.
✨ They work with costumes, music and standards-based lessons that inspire imagination, creativity and critical thinking.
✨ They build teamwork, focus and problem-solving skills—all while connecting learning to the world around them.

Program Highlights:
Ignite Creativity 💡
Explore the Arts 🎭
Move & Groove 🕺
Collaborate with Professional Artists 🎶
Unlock Personal Expression 🗣️
Connect to Ohio Learning Standards 📚

Give your students the gift of musical theater in motion, where learning leaps off the page and into song, dance and story.

📅 Interested in bringing Kids Love Musicals to your classroom? Give us a call at (216) 860-1518 or email us at [email protected]

03/16/2026

🎶 Joe Hunter – “It Ain’t Necessarily So” 🎶
From our March 8 Legendary Black Singers – Great Broadway Songs concert, enjoy this electrifying performance by Joe Hunter of the Gershwin classic It Ain’t Necessarily So (1935).

Did you know? The song comes from the groundbreaking opera Porgy and Bess, which Gershwin described as “folk opera” and which was one of the first major works to feature an all-Black cast on Broadway. Its cheeky lyrics famously challenge popular assumptions—making it as bold and witty today as it was in 1935.

✨ Watch, enjoy and share the magic of this timeless musical storytelling!

Experience Joe Hunter performing the Gershwin classic “It Ain’t Necessarily So” from our March 8 Legendary Black Singers – Great Broadway Songs concert.This ...