For seven years and 2,507 public performances, Kinky Boots has been raising up audiences at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. For those of us at Ensemblist HQ, the show has a special place in ours hearts because of the ways it showcases its ensemble...

Today we share with you three great stories from three great women, all of whom have understudied leading roles on Broadway and tour. Over the last year, each of these performers shared their stories of going on as understudies with The Ensemblist on our blog. And today we share these stories again with you, read by the actors who wrote them. First up is a story from Christine Cornish Smith. Less than a week after opening Kiss Me, Kate at Studio 54, she received a surprising text. Every actor who’s understudied a leading role knows what it feels like to receive this text. You know, the one where the stage manager writes that the leading lady is out and you’re going on in the role? The next story we have to share comes from Shereen Ahmed, who became the first woman of color to play Eliza Doolittle on Broadway. While she’s a trailblazer in terms of representation, her love of the show My Fair Lady is something she developed at a very young age. And while the role isn’t one that she imagined playing, there are reasons why she was the perfect choice to take on the part as an understudy in the Lincoln Center Theatre revival. Our last story is from Hannah Florence, who was so inspired by her friend Shereen’s story that she wrote her own piece for us inspired by it about going on as Anya in the national tour of Anastasia.

For more than 16 years, the Gershwin Theatre has been home to the most Ozmapolitan of musicals, Wicked. And over the years, the show has been home to literally hundreds of ensemblists, not only on Broadway but on two national tours and in regional sitdown productions across the country. Today, we are sharing some of our favorite stories about Wicked from our blog, read by the actors who wrote them.

For almost a decade, The Book of Mormon has been delighting and shocking audiences at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre. As both Ugandans and Mormon missionaries, the show’s ensemble works together to make a very funny show even funnier. Today we share stories from three of the ensemblists who have graced the production over its tenure. Our first story comes from Tommar Wilson, who joined the Chicago company of Hamilton. after almost seven years in the ensemble of The Book of Mormon. As an original member of the show’s Ugandan ensemble, he had seen the show through years of transitions. And the show also ushered a number of personal transitions for Tommar as well. Our next story is from Kenny Francoeur. As dance captain for the national tour of The Book of Mormon, he helped guide dozens of actors into the production while on the road. He used his signature writing style to write an original piece for us about the do’s - and don’ts - for rehearsing as an understudy. Our final story is new to the podcast from Marja Harmon. Like Tommar, she left the Broadway company of The Book of Mormon to join Hamilton on the road. Upon her departure, she wrote a story for us about the family she experienced at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.

Today on the podcast, we speak to Chris Medlin about his journey from Broadway to Netflix and back again. An original cast member of Mean Girls, he took a four-month leave from the show last fall to film the role of Isaac in the new Netflix series Sweet Magnolias. Currently in the cast of Diana: A True Musical Story, he spoke to us over the phone about how his experiences on Broadway influenced his work on set. Here's our conversation...

“Who’s Got the Pain” premiered on April 16th, 2019. Like the pilot, it was written by Steven Levenson, and directed by Tommy Kail. As always, the numbers featured in the episodes were choreographed by Bob Fosse himself, but were reconstructed by members of his artistic progeny: Dana Moore recreated the choreography to “Who’s Got the Pain” and “Whatever Lola Wants,” and Lloyd Culbreath recreated the choreo and rehearsal staging for “Two Lost Souls.” All the featured songs in the episode, including “Heart” in addition to those previously mentioned, are all from the musical “Damn Yankees,” with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Featured in the rehearsing cast of Damn Yankees are a legion of Broadway vets, including Ryan Vandenboom, Kyle Brown, Darien Crago, Haley Fish, Shonica Gooden, Afra Hines, Evan Kasprzak and Adrian Lee. Rounding out the cast performing “Heart” are also Broadway’s PJ Benjamin, Brain Cali, Nick Blaemire, and Aaron Kaburick. The viewership for this episode was down from last week all across the board, with a live viewership at 425,000, and a DVR viewership of 597,000. The total viewership was 1.023 million, down 321,000 from the premiere. At least its still in the millions though! During production of the film of Cabaret, Joan Simon is so glad that Gwen and Bobby have escaped to Majorca with them for some time away together. But Gwen has been burned by Bob one too many times - cheated on so often that she practically has a script in place for how he will apologize. He doesn’t see why he shouldn’t be able to see his German translator on set and then come home to Gwen, and offers that she should be able to do the same. But Gwen isn’t the cheating type. Or at least, she isn’t now. We flash back to 1955, when Gwen learns that her new Broadway musical, a baseball-themed show called Damn Yankees will be choreographed by a young talent named Bobby Fosse. She’s concerned that he won’t be dark enough for this modern-day Faust, but the producer promises her there is a real sense of humor in his work. Gwen swallows her pride and agrees to a work session with the young upstart. After making small talk about each other’s significant others, Bob begins to teach Gwen the seductive steps to “Whatever Lola Wants.” They bond over witty banter and their childhoods working in burlesque houses and Gwen - obviously - lands the job. The new team quickly begins seducing each other in the rehearsal room as well as in the bedroom, until it becomes too complicated for Gwen to be fooling around with her choreographer behind the back of his ailing wife. Things get more complicated when the Damn Yankees producers threaten to cut Bob’s Act I finale because it isn’t landing with audiences. Knowing he has to prove himself to both the creatives and the critics, he wakes up Gwen in the middle of the night and takes them both away from their respective spouses to get to work on a new number. Working through the night, Bob and Gwen are out of ideas. That is, until the pianist suggests a silly mambo and Bob realizes that the lighthearted number can be a cover for characters in agony. And with that, “Who’s Got the Pain?” is born. But while Bob is solving problems onstage and making a name for himself with Gwen as his new muse, Bob’s current wife Joan McCracken lets Gwen know that this scene has been played out before - when Bob left his first wife for Joan.

One thing that has become clear about the Coronavirus pandemic is that it's not a sprint, but a marathon. We will be in this holding pattern for weeks in not months where live performance can not happen in ways we are used to. And so I've been particularly intrigued by artists that are finding new ways to share live performance during this time. Broadway veteran Robi Hager (Dr. Zhivago, Bye Bye Birdie, Spring Awakening) is using Facebook Live to stream a performance of his musical Basic Witches. Described as "Drag Race meets Hocus Pocus," the show is sure to be a much-needed distraction for theatre fans. Here's our conversation... Watch Basic Witches this Saturday, April 11 at https://www.facebook.com/basicwitchesmusical/

One thing that has become clear about the Coronavirus pandemic is that it's not a sprint, but a marathon. We will be in this holding pattern for weeks in not months where live performance can not happen in ways we are used to. And so I've been particularly intrigued by artists that are finding new ways to connect with each other during this time. Ben Cook (Mean Girls, Tuck Everlasting) along with his Newsies castmate Dan DeLuca have created a "Mindfulness in the Arts" training course that launches this Friday, April 17. Ben joined me over the phone to tell me how his mindfulness practice began and how other artists can join he and Dan on this journey. Here's our conversation...

One of the most defining factors of ensemble characters is how undefined these characters are on the page. Often, the actors playing these roles are up to their own devices to decide who they are and how they fit into the world of the play. So how do you bring truth to a character who is intentionally surface-level? That's the question I posed to Jon Hoche, who created the role of Chief Justice in the musical Soft Power. Here's our conversation...

Starring Micheal Urie, Christian Borle, Mary Testa, Lillias White, James Monroe Iglehart, Ann Harada, and tons more of your favorite theatrical geniuses, TWITS is the newest radio play comedy from the Broadway Podcast Network. Visit bpn.fm/twits for more info, or listen and subscribe wherever you are listening to this podcast now!

Today on the pod, we share part of a conversation with Octet’s Margo Seibert. In this conversation, our sister podcast Page to Stage talks to Margo about her work in the Drama Desk Award winning ensemble of Octet. Hosted by Mary Dina and Brian Sedida, Page to Stage features excellent conversations with theatre makers. We are big fans of this up-and-coming podcast and are so grateful to them for letting us share a portion of their conversation with Margo Seibert. Enjoy!

With the Broadway League declaring theatre shutdown through at least June 7, this theatrical season has effectively come to an end. So we wanted to take stalk of the abbreviated theatre season and talk about our favorite ensemble performances on and off-Broadway. Joining us is David Gordon, Senior Features Writer for Theatremania.com and President of the Outer Critics Circle.

This month, we are collaborating with Broadway performers Jack Sippel and Brendan Stimson and their new podcast: Again From The Top. In this new podcast, these two Broadway dance captains and creative best friends offer goofy banter and behind the scenes stories featuring special guests who have created some of Broadway’s biggest hits. Listen as they uncover how professionals discovered their unique 5-6-7-8 and take it “Again from the Top”. Today, we are sharing a portion of their full conversation with iconic Broadway legend Angie Schworer. Angie, of course, is a beloved treasure of the American musical theatre. She has performed in 10 Broadway musicals: including the original casts of The Will Rogers Follies, The Producers and Something Rotten! She is also the original performer and the inspiration of the role of Angie in The Prom. A castmate of both Jack and Brendan on various incarnations of that musical, the gentlemen lovingly interview Angie about her unique theatrical training and how she learned how to find her lane and thrive in it. Here’s their conversation...

The latest True Crime / Broadway crossover podcast from Broadway Podcast Network: THIS IS REALITY. A completely true story, still unfolding.

Come From Away is one of the best examples of ensemble storytelling to hit the Broadway stage this century. Having played more than 1,200 performances at the time Broadway shutdown, the show is a tour de force for a dozen onstage performers to guide audiences through a small town’s response to having a very big role on September 11th. After crisscrossing the country in a series of pre-Broadway tryouts, Come From Away opened at Broadway’s Schoenfeld Theatre on March 12, 2017. Since then the show has played London, Dublin, Melbourne and across both Canada and the United States. Today, we share a trio of stories from members of the show’s Broadway and touring productions.

Helen Hayes panelist Matthew Kacergis is a DC based arts administrator and arts advocate. He has a long history of performing at regional theaters across the country, and now works as a Project Associate at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management. We talked about the Helen Hayes Awards, the categories they use to celebrate ensemble work and what kind of performances typically get celebrated in those categories.

Eva Price is a Tony Award-winning producer for her work spearheading the recent Broadway revival of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! Originally conceived for a cast of principals and chorus, this revival directed by Daniel Fish did away with the show’s traditional chorus and made an ensemble of twelve leading characters. Eva is also one of the lead producers of Jagged Little Pill, a musical with a chorus of 13 performers that work as the conscious of the show’s leading characters. She recently joined me to talk about these two different kinds of ensemble - and how in the commercial Broadway theatre, awards for performances are the kind of thing that can make or break a show’s life. Here’s our conversation...

After speaking to producer Eva Price about the commercial Broadway theatre, awards for performances are the kind of thing that can make or break a show’s life. So if awards ultimately behoove the theatrical landscape, why not have more of them? Well, that’s exactly what happened in 2020 when a new awards ceremony was added to the New York theatre industry: the Antonyo Awards. The Antonyo Awards were created in 2020 by Drew Shade and Broadway Black, an organization that supports Black theatre. Named as a light-hearted reference to the Tony Awards, these awards acknowledged Black artists from both the Broadway and off-Broadway theatre communities. The inaugural ceremony was produced by Shade and a committee of associates, including Darnes Barnes. Darius Barnes made his Broadway debut as a replacement in the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis in 2011. In the decade since, he’s performed in five additional Broadway musicals: as a replacement in Mean Girls, Cinderella and Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark and an original company member of the 2019 revival of Kiss Me, Kate and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He is also slated to open the new Broadway show MJ the Musical when Broadway returns. In addition to his obviously busy performing schedule, he worked on the production team of the Antonyo Awards. He joined me recently to talk about how the team created an awards ceremony from scratch - and why he made the decision not to include a category for Best Ensemble. Here’s our conversation...

So where do we go from here? When host Mo Brady started this mini-series eight episodes ago, he was positive that there was a way to recognize theatre ensembles. He was so sure of it that he figured the best and most equitable way to do so was to ask the Tony Awards to add a new competitive category for Best Ensemble. At the time, he assumed that recognizing ensemble performances was a no-brainer and that we only had to figure out what we were celebrating in order to move that plan forward. Oh, how wrong he was.

Today, we celebrate the Broadway sensation Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. The shows follows the Temptations journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock n Roll hall of fame. In order to the five actors playing the Temps themselves, the 16 onstage cast members play a myriad of real life personalities, including Berry Gordy, Johnnie Mae, Smokey Robinson and more. Prior to the shutdown, Ain’t Too Proud had played more than 400 performances at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre. On today’s episode, we share some of our favorite stories from ATP cast members originally shared on the podcast or on our blog.

Today we talk to Soft Power's Billy Bustamante about his favorite musical, the 1990 classic Once On This Island. Somehow, the alchemy that is a musical can help us feel seen, heard and valued. So we here at The Ensemblist are talking to some of our favorite musical theatre performers about their favorite musicals.

Today’s episode guest has indeed run the gamut, A to Z. E. Clayton Cornelious has graced the boards of Broadway an unbelievable eight times during the twenty years since his debut. The show then was Disney’s The Lion King, and today this Broadway ensemblist is bringing to life the electrifying story of The Temptations in Ain’t Too Proud. Throughout the years his career has span the gamut, performing in everything from The Scottsboro Boys to A Chorus Line. And in addition to his work onstage, he is a producer and investor on shows including Caroline, or Change and Hadestown. E. Clayton joined me over the phone to discuss how he keeps the momentum moving forward in his career, as well as how it is never too late to learn something new. Here’s our conversation…

Somehow, the alchemy that is a musical can help us feel seen, heard and valued. So we here at The Ensemblist are talking to some of our favorite musical theatre performers about their favorite musicals. We couldn't think of a better person to launch this mini-series with than our co-creator Nikka Graff Lanzarone. She joined me over the phone from her home in Brooklyn to talk about her favorite musical, the 1975 seminal hit A Chorus Line. Here's our conversation...

Creating a character in a new Broadway musical is a gift for any artist, because you get to infuse the show with your own artistry. But it is the lucky few who get to create characters multiple times in multiple musicals. By originating roles in multiple musicals, they helped in a small but meaningful way to shape the legacy of musical theatre for generations to come. ...at least, that’s easy for me to say from the outside. But does it feel like that to the actors who create these ensemble roles? Do they think about the characters they create once the shows close? I posed this question to five of the most experienced and storied ensemble actors working on Broadway today before a live audience at BroadwayCon 2020. Currently performing in Broadway’s Beetlejuice, Chicago, Frozen, Hadestown and Wicked, they each shared stories about the small but mighty influence they’ve had on some of our favorite musicals.

For our third episode in this miniseries, we’re so excited to bring you a true renaissance woman in the industry. She’s been an associate to multiple Broadway choreographers, she’s been a dance captain, she’s starred in shows, and she’s also one phenomenal educator, the brilliant Lizz Picini. Currently teaching sold out classes at Broadway Dance Center, Lizz is in high demand with several other projects in the works. We’ll talk about how learning on the job has made her stronger, what insight she’s gained from being on all sides of the table, and why being present- whether that be in the audition room or on stage- is your biggest strength. All right listeners, here’s my conversation with Lizz Picini.