Big White Elephants

Cellulloyd Webber month keeps rollin' rollin' rollin' on out with our discussion of Evita (1996).
Grace and Scott try to understand 20th century Argentinian history and politics, discuss Madonna's (mis)casting, and attempt to understand why Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals are so hard to put on film.
Evita, directed by Alan Parker and based on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's concept album and stage show of the same name, stars Madonna as Eva Perón, Antonia Banderas as an unnamed narrator who may or may not be Che Guevara, and Jonathan Pryce as Juan Perón. The newly added song, "You Must Love Me" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, beating out Diane Warren and Adam Schlesinger's "That Thing You Do!", which in one host's opinion is a travesty. 
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts
 

Big White Elephants Presents 'Cellulloyd Webber: The Films of the Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber'. We're kicking things off with Norman Jewison's 1973 adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's first full-fledged musical Jesus Christ Superstar!
Grace and Scott are joined by Grace's Sounds Of Silvestri co-host Clarence to talk about the desert filming locations, stylistic freeze frames, and whatever King Herod is doing!
Directed by Norman Jewison and based on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Time Rice's innovative rock opera of the same name, Jesus Christ Superstar stars Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Josh Mostel, Barry Dennen, and Bob Bingham in a hippy reinterpretation of the Passion of Christ.
You can find Clarence on Letterboxd @ck_lb and listen to Sounds Of Silvestri wherever you get your podcasts
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

Oi, guvnah! We gots a new episode for ya, we has. I tell ya it's a good one too, I reckon! We talk about Professor 'enry 'iggins and all the mean things 'e does to poor li'l Eliza Doolittle. Poor girl! 'e says she don't know 'ow to speak English! I 'eard 'er myself, though, I has. More pleasin' to me than what 'e 'as to say!
Ok, can we stop with this bit? It's an episode on My Fair Lady (1964). Audrey Hepburn does a cockney accent until she doesn't. Rex Harrison speaks through every song. There are really pretty dresses! Is the movie itself misogynistic and classist or is that just the characters? We attempt to figure it out!
Written by Lerner and Loewe and directed by George Cukor, My Fair Lady was the most expensive movie ever made at the time ($17 million--which is like $180 million in today's money!), but was also a huge hit, winning 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. 
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

For episode 62, Grace and Scott are headed to the barricade! It's time to talk about Tom Hooper's Les Misérables (2012).
Why is Russell Crowe singing? Why is Hugh Jackman singing like that. Why is the camera so close to everyone's face? These are the kinds of questions we attempt to answer.
Directed by Tom Hooper and based on the stage musical of the same name by Boublil, Schönberg, and Kretzmer, Les Misérable--or Les Miz if you're freaky--stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tviet, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and more in the epic retelling of mid 19th century French struggles. The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning 3, for Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway.
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

For episode 61, Grace and Scott are joined by Morgan Roberts to talk about Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont's Josie and the Pussycats (2001). 
We talk early 2000's MTV and pop culture, the baffling--and sexist--reaction to the movie on its release, satirical product placement, and more!
Written and Directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont based on the Archie Comics characters, Josie and the Pussycats stars Rachel Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson with Alan Cumming, Parker Posey, and Missi Pyle delivering stellar supporting performances and cameos from Carson Daly, Aries Spears, Eugene Levy and the boy band sensation DuJour! Original songs written by a large roster of writers including Babyface, Adam Schlesinger, Adam Duritz, Dave Gibbs, Anna Waronker, Jane Wiedlin, Kay Hanley, and more.
Subscribe to Morgan's podcast Female Gaze: The Film Club wherever you get your podcasts, and check out the great interview episode she did with Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont here. You can follow Morgan on Letterboxd @msmlroberts
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

To honor the life and career of the great Dolly Parton, we're heading down south to visit the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas!
We talk about dancing college football players, decriminalizing sex work, the Oscar-nominated performance from Charles Durning, and--of course--the effervescence of Dolly Parton.
Directed by Colin Higgins of 9 To Five fame, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas is based off the stage musical of the same name with music and lyrics by Carol Hall and a script by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson. The story is based on the real life Chicken Ranch in LaGrange, Texas which operated from 1905 until it was shut down in 1973 under similar circumstances as portrayed in the film. The movie stars Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLouise, Charles Durning, and Jim Nabors.
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

Well, it's the final week of Camp BWE month and we're closing things out with Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman's Theater Camp (2023)
We talk about mockumentary style, how special summer camp can be, and the Amos and Rebecca-Diane musical 'Joan, Still'!
Directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, the script and songs were written by Ben Platt, Noah Galvin along with the directors and extra music by Academy Award Winner Mark Sonnenblick and James McAllister. It also stars Ayo Edebiri, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Amy Sederis, and a great cast of kids including Alexander Bello, Kyndra Sanchez, and Alan Kim.
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

It's the third week of Camp BWE and morale is starting to dip. We're covering new brand new lega-sequel Camp Rock 3 (2026). This time around Connect 3 is looking for a new opening act for their Reconnect Tour and they're going back to Camp Rock to find a teenager! They recycle a lot of songs, get locked on a bus in a bizarre social experiment, and learn to be a band!
This one's directed by Veronica Rodriguez and written by Eydie Faye and stars Liamani Segura, Malachi Barton, Lumi Pollack, Hudson Stone, Casey Trotter, Ava Jean, and of course, The Jonas Brothers. Plus, special appearances by Milo Manheim and Demi Lovato!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

Alright, Rockers, it's another week at Camp BWE. This time we're heading back to Camp Rock to see what Mitchie and the gang get up to at camp the summer after the first movie. Rival camps, marching with synchronized hand movements, cheese--but only on pizza! This thing's got it all and we can't back down.
Directed by Paul Hoen from a screenplay by Karin Gist, Regina Hicks, and Dan Berendsen, with songs by Kara DioGuardi, Mitch Allen, Antonina Armato, Jamie Houston, Adam Watts, Andy Dodd, and more, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam premiered with 7.9 million viewers and was the final film in the series...until now!
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts

Welcome to Camp BWE! A month-long podcast event where we exclusively cover movie musicals set at summer camps. And by that, we mean all three Camp Rock movies and one other.
To kick it off, we're joined by writer Brittany Spanos (Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, more!). We talk about our history with the Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, why the Brothers' current financial situation seems very weird, and all the amazing 2008 Disney fashion.
Directed by Matthew Diamond from a screenplay by Karin Gist, Regina Hicks, Julie Brown, and Paul Brown, with songs by Kara DioGuardi, Greg Wells, Adam Watts, Andy Dodd, and more, Camp Rock was the 73rd Disney Channel Original Movie and was viewed by 8.9 million people during its premiere! It stars Joe Jonas, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Alyson Stoner, and Meaghan Jette Martin.
You can find Brittany on instagram @brittanyspanos and subscribe to her great substack Britt Pop here. You can also find her appearance on Scott's other podcast This Is The Greatest Song I've Ever Heard In My Entire Life from 2023 here
Big White Elephants is a podcast where two friends, Grace and Scott, dissect movie musicals: Everything from DCOMs to MGM Classics, Japanese Punk Rock films to modern Jukebox Musicals, and all kinds of things in between! We talk about what works and what doesn't, and whether a film is a 'Big White Elephant', based on director Rob Marshall's quote ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” Join us every Thursday to discuss a new musical film wherever you get your podcasts