{"podcast":{"title":"Closing Night","slug":"closing-night-6469355","podcast_index_feed_id":6469355,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/closingnight","website_url":"https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/closing-night/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/2bf54e30-ece8-11ed-a593-5fb14b3bb4ec/image/0e5e80b73eca08e43e01183cdb9984a4.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"WINMI Media, LLC","episode_count":47,"summary":"Every Broadway show has an opening night. This podcast is about what happens next. Closing Night explores famous and forgotten shows that closed too soon, using the stories of individual productions to uncover the larger history of Broadway. Through deep research and immersive storytelling, each episode examines the artists, ambitions, successes, and failures that have defined American theater. From legendary flops to celebrated classics, every closing night has a story worth telling.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-06T08:18:11.835863+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355"},"episode":{"title":"The Little Prince and the Aviator (1982)","slug":"the-little-prince-and-the-aviator-1982","published_at":"2025-04-30T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355/the-little-prince-and-the-aviator-1982","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355","url":"https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcasts/closing-night/little-prince-1982","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/BPNET2005337598.mp3?updated=1746159730","summary":"In the early 1980s, producer Joseph Tandet put the failure of the 1974 movie musical of The Little Prince behind him and set his sights on Broadway. He secured the rights and assembled an award-winning creative team—including Academy Award-winning composer John Barry and his lyricist Don Black as well as three-time Tony winner Hugh Wheeler. But what unfolded behind the scenes was anything but magical. From rewrites and cast changes to last-minute creative disagreements, The Little Prince and the Aviator was plagued by setbacks from the very beginning. The show never officially opened on Broadway, but it made it all the way to the theater, with sets built, actors rehearsed, and a score ready to be sung—until everything fell apart. In this episode, we explore the chaotic and fascinating path of a musical that almost was, using firsthand accounts from Tandet’s revealing memoir and a personal interview with Anthony Rapp, who was just 10 years old when he was cast in the title role. It’s a story of ambition, mismanagement, and the delicate balance between creative vision and theatrical reality—and why some shows never make it to opening night. --- Theme Music created by Blake Stadnik. Click here for a transcript and list of all resources used. Produced by Patrick Oliver Jones and WINMI Media with Dan Delgado as co-producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"In the early 1980s, producer Joseph Tandet put the failure of the 1974 movie musical of The Little Prince behind him and set his sights on Broadway. He se…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2262,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/closing-night-6469355/episodes/the-little-prince-and-the-aviator-1982/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355/the-little-prince-and-the-aviator-1982.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}