We’ve all heard the age old question when a new revival is announced is…why now? Why this show? The revival of Oklahoma in 2019 took a show that so many people know and truly opened eyes to new themes and new thoughts through a really unique production “sans the frills”. Cast member Will Mann shared about how it was created and why some major choices were made. Here’s our conversation!

As the Broadway shutdown due to the Coronovirus outbreak approaches its catastrophic year anniversary, Megan Ort reflects on being one of the world’s few employed Ensemblists in 2020. As the female swing and Christine Daaé understudy in the World Tour of The Phantom of the Opera, Ort had the distinctly rare experience of being on stage in 2020, navigating international travel, and abiding by strenuous health-code practices in order to perform for sold-out audiences throughout Asia. An experience unlike any other, Ort explains what it was like to perform amidst pandemic fears while watching her home country become devastated by the disease from afar.

This week, I got to speak to one of my favorite people in the theatre industry. Historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper wrote the book of the history of Broadway theatres. In fact, she’s written four of them: her fourth volume of The Untold Stories of Broadway comes out this week. She joined me recently to tell me about why choosing a theatre is as important as casting your leading lady, to talk through some her favorite stories of the book and about writing a book in a pandemic when the artform she is writing about is on pause. Here’s our conversation...

This month, we are collaborating with Broadway performer Shaye B. Hopkins and her new creation: Podcast Portraits. In this new podcast, Hopkins invites guests to share some of life's hairy and hilarious moments and thoughtfully reflect on how those experiences shaped who they are today. This Spring, we will share some of our favorite moments from her interviews, as well as speaking to Shaye herself about the creation of Podcast Portraits. On today’s episode, Shaye chats with Austen Danielle Bohmer. Her colleague on the upcoming Broadway mounting of Diana: A True Musical Story, Austen shares her education, both formal through university, and experiential teaching in India. Here’s their conversation.

The 61st Annual Tony Awards was presented at Radio City Music Hall on June 10, 2007. Just like the last ceremony, the 2007 Tonys had no host but instead a score of celebrity duos as presenters. Heading into the ceremony, two musicals were virtually tied for the most nominations: Spring Awakening with 11 nominations and Grey Gardens with 10. Also with a respectable set of 7 or 8 nominations were Curtains, Legally Blonde and Mary Poppins. Nominated for Best Revival were productions of Company, 110 in the Shade, The Apple Tree and A Chorus Line. The 2006-2007 Broadway season found itself amidst many cultural highs and lows. Right in the middle of President George W. Bush’s second presidential term and his international “War on Terror,” the season witnessed the inauguration of the nation’s first female speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. On a more sober note, 2007 also saw the school shooting at Virginia Tech, which remains the deadliest school shooting in the history of the United States. Culturally, the season also saw the inauguration of the very first version of Apple’s iPhone, propelling the world solidly into the age of the smartphone, allowing all the actors in New York to be able to check their rehearsal schedules, and text their stage managers with they’re calling out, RIGHT from the comfort of their cell phone!

There’s a line in Come From Away that reads “Thank you shopping at Walmart - would like to come to my house for a shower?”Creepy out of context, but in show, it is example of people being helpful and open to other people in a way that feels unfathomable right now. Host Michael Fatica spoke with Alex Finke, a former cast member of Come From Away on Broadway about how this show has a whole new to ring to it in the midst of the events of this past year.

Today Mo Brady talks with Aiko Nakasone - One of the 15 original cast members of Rent. In the conversation, Aiko shares how her experience creating theatre families has influenced her work as both a yoga instructor and financial educator. Rent is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this year, and a virtual celebration is streaming through Friday March 6th, 8pm Eastern as a part of New York Theatre Workshops 2021 Gala. Enjoy!

The 61st Annual Tony Awards was presented at Radio City Music Hall on June 10, 2007. Just like the last ceremony, the 2007 Tonys had no host but instead a score of celebrity duos as presenters. Heading into the ceremony, two musicals were virtually tied for the most nominations: Spring Awakening with 11 nominations and Grey Gardens with 10. Also with a respectable set of 7 or 8 nominations were Curtains, Legally Blonde and Mary Poppins. Nominated for Best Revival were productions of Company, 110 in the Shade, The Apple Tree and A Chorus Line. Well Mo, aside from me being in the city and you being in Seattle, the 2006-2007 Broadway season found itself amidst many cultural highs and lows. Right in the middle of President George W. Bush’s second presidential term and his international “War on Terror,” the season witnessed the inauguration of the nation’s first female speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. On a more sober note, 2007 also saw the school shooting at Virginia Tech, which remains the deadliest school shooting in the history of the United States. Culturally, the season also saw the inauguration of the very first version of Apple’s iPhone, propelling the world solidly into the age of the smartphone, allowing all the actors in New York to be able to check their rehearsal schedules, and text their stage managers with they’re calling out, RIGHT from the comfort of their cell phone! Just think, in only 6 years, they’ll be able to hear the dulcet tones of Morgan Brady and Nikka Graff Lanzarone from those same phones every week…

In this episode, host Kerstin Anderson talks with Daniel Goldstein, the associate director of Come From Away. He was one of the first theatre practitioners in the world to reopen theatre following the shutdown. He talks with Kerstin about traveling to Melbourne Australia to reopen the show, how the theatremaking experience was modified to keep people safe, as well as both the joy and trauma he believes theatregoers will experience as they are allowed to watch live performances once again

Actor and playwright Rodney Hicks’ RENT journey began 25 years ago at New York Theatre Workshop, when he was just 21 years old. In 2007, Rodney would return to the Nederlander and take on the role of Benny, a part he once understudied a decade prior. Rodney can be seen as Benny in 2008’s RENT: Filmed Live on Broadway, a pro-shot of RENT’s final performance of the original Broadway production. Please enjoy our one-on-one with Rodney Hicks as he memorializes his early memories in the show, his personal journey of self growth and discovery, and what RENT means to him.

Choreographer and performer Charlie Williams is no stranger to The Ensemblist, nor is he a stranger to Disney’s mega musical, Frozen, which closed on Broadway last May, but has sparked new life internationally. Charlie has played a critical role in Frozen’s legacy, as both an ensemble performer and Associate Choreographer. When it came to mounting the show in Sydney, Australia, where audiences and performers can finally return to in-door gatherings and performance spaces, Charlie was the obvious choice to step in and train the show’s newest crop of ensemblists.

Disney’s Aladdin, beloved animated classic turned hit musical, opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam theater in March of 2014, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw with score by Alan Menkin, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin. Featuring both iconic songs originally written for the animated movie as well as some brand new tunes, it received five Tony nominations, and gave James Monroe Iglehart his first Tony win. Ho Audiences have been dazzled, not only by 100,000’s of swarovski crystals, but the timeless story of street-rat to prince, and trapped princess turned independent woman. Since then the magic of Agrabah has been brought all over the world and to every corner of North America! On today’s episode, we share some of our favorite stories from members of the Broadway and national tour casts of Aladdin, originally shared on the podcast or on our blog.

The 38th Annual Tony Awards was hosted by Julie Andrews and Robert Preston on June 3, 1984. Presented at the Gershwin Theatre, current home of the long-running Wicked, the show featured three medleys dedicated to composers: John Kander and Fred Ebb, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim. Heading into the ceremony, two musicals were virtually tied for the most nominations: Sunday in the Park with George with 10 nominations and La Cage aux Folles with nine. Baby and The Tap Dance Kid followed behind with seven nominations each. This season there were no musicals nominated for Best Revival. The 1983-84 Broadway season spanned a time with many notable events. Marking the final year of President Ronald Reagan’s first term, 1984 found itself a leap year, an election year, and a Summer Olympics year, which the US hosted in Los Angeles, CA; in an internationally petty move, our long-time Cold War rivals, The Soviet Union, boycotted those games. This season also saw the creation of the federal holiday to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with Reagan having signed its originating bill the previous November. This year also would see the founding of Canada’s famed entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil. In New York, one of the largest events to take place, and it is mentioned in the telecast, is that A Chorus Line makes history as the longest running musical on Broadway; after eight years, and 3,389 performances, A Chorus Line broke the record on September 29th, 1983. It would continue to hold that record until 1997, when it was overtaken by Cats. Today it holds the Number 7 spot on the list of longest running Broadway musicals, surpassed only by Phantom, the Chicago revival, The Lion King, the original production of Cats, Wicked, and the original production of Les Miserables.

Following the journey of The Addams Family has been surprising. Before I started, I wasn’t even sure the original creative team would want to go on record with me about the show’s tumultuous development. And yet, their gracious excitement to jump back into the world of The Addams Family showed me something that I hadn’t experienced as a member of the Broadway cast: many people like this show. First and foremost on that list was book co-author Rick Elice, who enjoyed getting his hands dirty as he wrote and rewrote the book to uncover clearer and more specific obstacles for his characters. Also on that list were Dontee Kiehn and Steve Bebout who, after closing the Broadway and national tours, went on to stage many, many well-received productions of the musical around the globe. And then there were those who are mounting the show now: the teachers and students creating little Addams Families of their own all across the country.

The 38th Annual Tony Awards was hosted by Julie Andrews and Robert Preston on June 3, 1984. Presented at the Gershwin Theatre, current home of the long-running Wicked, the show featured three medleys dedicated to composers: John Kander and Fred Ebb, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim. Heading into the ceremony, two musicals were virtually tied for the most nominations: Sunday in the Park with George with 10 nominations and La Cage aux Folles with nine. Baby and The Tap Dance Kid followed behind with seven nominations each. This season there were no musicals nominated for Best Revival. The 1983-84 Broadway season spanned a time with many notable events. Marking the final year of President Ronald Reagan’s first term, 1984 found itself a leap year, an election year, and a Summer Olympics year, which the US hosted in Los Angeles, CA; in an internationally petty move, our long-time Cold War rivals, The Soviet Union, boycotted those games. This season also saw the creation of the federal holiday to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with Reagan having signed its originating bill the previous November. This year also would see the founding of Canada’s famed entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil. In New York, one of the largest events to take place, and it is mentioned in the telecast, is that A Chorus Line makes history as the longest running musical on Broadway; after eight years, and 3,389 performances, A Chorus Line broke the record on September 29th, 1983. It would continue to hold that record until 1997, when it was overtaken by Cats. Today it holds the Number 7 spot on the list of longest running Broadway musicals, surpassed only by Phantom, the Chicago revival, The Lion King, the original production of Cats, Wicked, and the original production of Les Miserables.

Bradley Gibson made his Broadway debut as a swing on the 2014 musical adaptation of Rocky. Since then, he created the role of Tyrone in A Bronx Tale The Musical and is currently storming the Pridelines as Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King. He joined me in the studio for a candid conversation about how race has played into his career thus far, and where he sees opportunities for better representation on Broadway stages. Here’s our conversation...

This week, we’re talking about a musical that host Michael Fatica's middle school self would have loved - Spongebob Squarepants. I bet you’re thinking that it's just a musical for kids, but in his conversation with Oneika Phillips, she turns that misconception upside down. We chat about fake news, racism against squirrels, and so much more.

Nearly one year ago, Broadway went dark, leading to the longest emergency shutdown in Broadway’s 150 year legacy. Born out of this extended intermission have been a handful of grassroots movements to support those impacted within the theatre community. “When The Lights Are Bright Again,” by and for Broadway professionals, is a creative response to the shutdown, with 90% of proceeds benefiting The Actors Fund. We are privileged to present six touching letters to be featured in “When The Lights Are Bright Again,” immortalizing this unprecedented time in history.

In learning about how The Addams Family found popularity after its initial professional mountings, I wanted to dig one level deeper. Thanks to Jim Hoare at Theatrical Rights Worldwide, I had learned why the show was a popular choice for amateur and student groups. Beyond all of the reasons a school would choose The Addams Family, I wanted to know about their experience producing the show: How did their mountings vary from the professional production I had heard about, both those in the U.S. and around the world? And were these students able to experience a kind of joy working on the show that I didn’t experience in the Broadway company? Luckily, Jim himself was able and willing to connect me with one of the first high schools to produce an amateur production of The Addams Family: Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia. A thriving theatre program with not one, but two full time theatre teachers, Rock Ridge produced the show as its fall musical in the 2017-2018 school year. And lucky for me, I was able to speak to both of those theatre teachers about how their students experienced the show...

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Aisha Jackson has been a constant presence on Broadway stages for the last five years. Starting as a swing on Beautiful and then creating one of the ensemble tracks in Waitress, this month she finishes her run as the Anna standby in Frozen on Broadway. She joined me in the studio to talk about her experiences as an actress of color, particularly in taking on characters created by her cauasian counterparts. Here’s our conversation...

The 53rd Annual Tony Awards were held at the Gershwin Theatre on June 6, 1999. Unlike every other award ceremony we’ve discussed in this miniseries, the show did not have a formal host. Heading into the ceremony, the closed Lincoln Center Theatre production of Parade led the pack with nine nominations. Following closely behind was the eventual winner for Best Musical: Fosse. Also in the running for Best Musical were It Ain’t Nothin But The Blues and The Civil War with four and two nominations, respectively. In the race for Best Revival of a Musical were You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Little Me with four nominations, and Annie Get Your Gun with three nominations, followed by Peter Pan with a singular nomination, for Best Revival. The 1998-1999 Broadway season found itself in a very tumultuous time in US history. Smack-dab in the middle of President Bill Clinton’s second term in office, domestically the country was facing a multitude of newsworthy events: among them were the impeachment and acquittal of said president in the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky, the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, WY, and the mass school shooting in Columbine, CO that would sadly become the first of a number of school shootings in the nation, in what the Washington Post would eventually refer to as a “uniquely American crisis” in 2018. Abroad the world was embroiled in the Kosovo War, which permeated the American zeitgeist as well.

Black History Month… let’s do it. Today I do not want to go on and on and saturate you with more sad news. Key word of the day is celebrate, so we shall do such. The rest of this episode is a party, so go grab your drinks and relax. After a moment of silence for all those we’ve lost, please enjoy the stylings of DJ Malcolm Flex featuring the work of up-and-coming Black artists.

In my conversations with the original creative team of The Addams Family, I was learning how the show was refined and restructured to become a success on tour and around the world. But this wasn’t bridging the gap between these professional productions and the success the show has seen in schools and non-professional settings. So I reached out to the folx who were in charge of sharing The Addams Family with legions of schools across North America: Theatrical Rights Worldwide. With a mission to cultivate and extend the production life of musicals to all theatrical marketplaces, TRW is responsible for licensing amateur productions of theatrical properties to student and amateur producers across the country and (in fact, as their name suggests) the world. I spoke with Jim Hoare, their Executive Vice President of Education and Community Initiatives about how the show became a part of the TRW catalogue. A former high school theatre teacher himself, he has directed over one hundred shows and musicals, including the first high school production of Once On This Island and the world’s first production of Les Miserables, School Edition. Over the phone, Jim shared expert knowledge of what has made The Addams Family such a popular choice for amateur licensing. Here’s our conversation...

The 53rd Annual Tony Awards were held at the Gershwin Theatre on June 6, 1999. Unlike every other award ceremony we’ve discussed in this miniseries, the show did not have a formal host. Heading into the ceremony, the closed Lincoln Center Theatre production of Parade led the pack with nine nominations. Following closely behind was the eventual winner for Best Musical: Fosse. Also in the running for Best Musical were It Ain’t Nothin But The Blues and The Civil War with four and two nominations, respectively. In the race for Best Revival of a Musical were You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Little Me with four nominations, and Annie Get Your Gun with three nominations, followed by Peter Pan with a singular nomination, for Best Revival. The 1998-1999 Broadway season found itself in a very tumultuous time in US history. Smack-dab in the middle of President Bill Clinton’s second term in office, domestically the country was facing a multitude of newsworthy events: among them were the impeachment and acquittal of said president in the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky, the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, WY, and the mass school shooting in Columbine, CO that would sadly become the first of a number of school shootings in the nation, in what the Washington Post would eventually refer to as a “uniquely American crisis” in 2018. Abroad the world was embroiled in the Kosovo War, which permeated the American zeitgeist as well.

What is Clubhouse? Leroy Church, associate producer on the Clubhouse production of Dreamgirls, gives us an inside look at creating theatre on an emerging app with some on Broadway's greatest performers. What has brought Sheryl Lee Ralph, Marisha Wallace, Gerald Caesar, Amber Riley, Kayla Davion, Raena White, Jelani Remy, Nick Rashad Burroughs and more to this show?