Welcome to the Ether Game weekly podcast! Start spreading the news, because our month-long Musical Metropolis tour concludes this week, and our final stop is back here in the United States to the Big Apple, Gotham, the City So Nice They Named It Twice: New York City! Can you name this Manhattan melody? (The answer is below) Remember to keep your ears out for a portion of Tuesday night's Teaser selection. And don't forget to tune into the full show on Tuesday, May 29th at 8:00pm for a chance to win a prize!

Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990): On The Town, "New York, New York"

London Symphony Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor.

Leonard Bernstein: Reaching For The Note (Deutsche Grammophon)

"New York, New York" is not to be confused with "The Theme From New York, New York." That latter song (you know the one, "Start spreading the news…") was written by Kander and Ebb in 1977 for the Martin Scorsese movie New York, New York. This "New York, New York" song comes from Leonard Bernstein's first full-length musical On The Town written in 1944. On The Town was inspired by Bernstein's first foray into the world of pop music, a ballet he wrote called Fancy Free. It was choreographer Jerome Robbins who had the idea to turn the ballet into a full-fledged musical, and both stories concern sailors on leave in the City That Never Sleeps. For the show's lyrics, Bernstein turned to his former roommate Adolph Green, who co-wrote it with his writing partner Betty Comden. Comden and Green had many more successes after On The Town, including the Tony-award-winning musicals Applause and The Will Rogers Follies, and the film Singing In The Rain.