If you have been reading “Un-Block The Music” and listening to WFYL 1180Am’s “From Bullets To Broadway,” you know what a fan I am of Dr. Jeff and Jacob Foy. You also know that I have a daughter who is a musical theater writer/actress. You may also know that Debbie Galante Block was a pop music/pro audio journalist for a lot of years. HOWEVER, this radio show is my first foray in broadcasting (That might be obvious after hearing me on the show this past weekend! LOL) During the episode, you heard, The Foys’ “Santa Bring Broadway Back,” then you got to hear me gush about the amazing virtual holiday show that Holly Block and Elizabeth Jerjian put together to raise money for Toys For Tots and for their original musical Safe & Sound.
What “Un-Block The Music” loved most about the live streamed show, is that we got to hear brand new songs in a live format, something I believe music enthusiasts have been craving in the last 9 months. On this episode, Dr. Jeff and Jacob Foy talked about writing this song, which is a laughing tribute to the Broadway shows still on pause during this pandemic. Jeff and Jacob talked extensively to show host Sgt. Dan McCaughan about how they put this song together and how writing it was a lot different than the songs they have written for Emergency and One Night Only. At last look, the Foys’ song, sung by Jacob, had over 600 views on YouTube and 800 views on Facebook. Want to hear it again?
Holly said, “Jacob is dear friend who is extremely talented. I asked him to be part of the show because I knew he would come up with something not at all typical, and of course he offered to write an original song with his dad Jeff! He has always been supportive to me, and I thought this could be a way I could be supportive to him as well. I was so excited when I first heard it, and I listened to it over and over again so I could analyze it. Pure brilliance!” In addition to “Santa Bring Broadway Back,” the virtual holiday presentation also featured holiday music sung by upcoming Broadway talent as well as three songs from Safe & Sound (“I’m Not Ashamed,” “Hold This Love” and “Safe & Sound”).
On “From Bullets To Broadway,” Sgt. Dan questioned Jacob about the livestream process which you may or may not know is a lot different than just putting out a video. Holly, who lives in NYC, asked Mom if she could come up to the suburbs and basically turn the family home into the North Pole. While all of the songs were prerecorded, Holly and Elizabeth were live. With a little help (or rather a lot of help) from their friends Cooper Aquilino and Ryan Doyle, they used OBS (Open Broadcast Software,) which is free. OBS is sponsored by companies such as YouTube, twitch and Facebook. Check it out at: https://obsproject.com/
Why not just offer a video? “The best part of theater is that it is live so the livestreaming (even with the early technical difficulty) kept the energy up and enthusiasm the entire time,” Holly said. “This was the first-time trying livestreaming, and it turned out even better than I expected. I can’t wait to do it again.” As “Un-Block The Music” and everyone else has been reporting, Broadway’s future may seem precarious, but younger and emerging artists are helping to change the way their art is viewed, and I have no doubt they will bring us into the future…and bring Broadway back even if Santa doesn’t follow through!
Holly and Elizabeth were so excited to report that they surpassed their goal for the amount of money they hoped to raise, and Holly said, “we were able to buy lots of toys for kids who need it more than ever this year.”
If you didn’t hear this episode of “From Bullets To Broadway, The Anatomy of A Broadway Show, featuring Emergency The Musical,” you are in luck, it will be rebroadcast at noon this Saturday December 19, 2020 at noon.
To hear music from Emergency The Musical, go to https://www.emergencymusical.com/
To hear music from One Night Only, go to https://www.onenightonlythemusical.com/
To hear “I’m Not Ashamed” from Safe & Sound, go to https://www.safeandsoundmusical.com/
BTW, if you have missed any of the other past episodes of the radio show, it’s not too late to hear them. Go to https://www.1180wfyl.com/ and hit “podcasts.”
Un-Block The Music 
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