Are You Famous, Yet?

http://www.cherylcoons.com

01:35 - When did Cheryl know she wanted to be a writer and how did she become interested in writing musicals?

08:02 - What is Cheryl's writing process like?

14:57 - Why is it particularly hard to write musicals?

18:30 - What aspects of a musical does Cheryl write?

26:42 - Cheryl's show, "River's End."

28:52 - What it was like to write lyrics for Chicago Shakespeare Theater's "Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Measure for Measure."

41:26 - Highlights of being a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists.

51:32 - Why Cheryl loves teaching.

59:13 - Promotions: June 24th and 25th performances of "The Revolving Door" with StoryCatcher's Theatre and TLD Temporary Lockdown Ensemble. Cheryl's Klimt musical will be a part of: The American Musical Theatre Project at Northwestern University during this school year/cycle and at Berkeley College of Music in Boston as a developmental workshop in the Fall and will then be produced there in the Spring.

Next Dramatists Guild Meeting:  Tuesday, June 21st at 7 pm at The Goodman Theatre.

1:01:15 - What Cheryl loves most about being the Chicago/Regional Representative for The Dramatists Guild.

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

01:20 - When did Carolyn know that she wanted to do theatre?
04:25 - Carolyn was a member of The European Repertory Company.
10:18 - Carolyn was on the pilot of the TV show, "Empire."
17:30 - Carolyn teaches Performance at The Theatre School at DePaul and Movement at The Chicago Performing Arts High School.
19:31 - Carolyn played a time traveling rockstar.
21:07 - Collaboraction/Fix Your Teeth, Bitch
23:20 - Carolyn has worked with Door Shakespeare.
33:54 - Carolyn went to school with previous podcast guest, Dan Taube
36:25 - Carolyn's favorite roles
39:36 - More work at Goodman and also at Steppenwolf.
46:38 - Carolyn is a company member of Collaboraction; they are doing "Peacebook." http://collaboraction.org And, Carolyn just got cast in "Mr. Punch" with House Theatre, which is happening this Fall. http://www.thehousetheatre.com Carolyn is on Twitter. Instagram.
Vimeo.

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

01:55 - Sean knew he wanted to be a magician at the age of 7, when he was given TV Magic Cards as a birthday present.

05:06 - Sean's first magician gig at the age of 12 and won Chicago's Junior Magician of the Year Award at the age of 15.

06:34 - Sean studied Theatre and French at ISU; how his education has affected his career in magic.

10:15 - How Sean got his start as a magician after college.

11:38 - International Puppetry Festival in France & Sean's use of puppetry in his magic.

15:51 - Sean also performed at his daughter's 11th birthday party.

17:09 - Sean performs the whole gamut of magic; doesn't travel a lot, performs mostly around Chicago.

27:05 - Sean's feelings about producing, space rentals, and promotion.

37:50 - Sean was in his first movie, "Silhouettes," which was shown at the Gene Siskel Film Center. 

39:55  - Sean's advice for those who want to do magic. He recommends Magic Inc.

46:55 - Magicians that fool other magicians and magician culture.

51:36 - Sean's practice regimen

53:07 - Promotions: Sean will be performing at The Old Town Art Fair on June 11th and 12th. He will be back at Theatre Wit in the winter. Check out Sean's website: http://mastersonmagic.com

01:43 - When did Dana start writing/know when she was a writer?

05:02 - The Space Theater in New Mexico

07:26 - A benefit of getting her MFA in Playwriting

14:49 - Dana is a writer who "tells stories about the disillusionment of the American Dream through the context of the lower economic classes of our society," as described on her website.

16:15 - Dana's play, "Frequency 98.6"

20:05 - Dana is also a playwriting teacher; what are some of Dana's favorite parts of her curriculum?

23:54 - How has being a preschool teacher affected Dana as a playwright?

27:45 - "American Beauty Shop" and how Dana sees plays as a puzzle that the audience puts together

36:41 - Instant Theatre at Chicago Dramatists

47:58 - Promotions: American Beauty Shop is being performed at Chicago Dramatists now, get your tickets here. The script of "American Beauty Shop" has been published, buy it on Amazon. Something Marvelous & Chicago Dramatists are producing "Johnny Ten Beers" in 2017. Take a class with Dana at Chicago Dramatists.

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

01:16 - Why Barbara wanted to be a puppeteer when she was little

14:34 - How Barbara wrote the children's play "The Nerdy Girl and the Intergalactic Dog"

18:22 - Barbara likes to write about what people don't say and what they hide as manifested in "180 Degree Rule"

20:59 - Barbara's play "Warped"

22:38 - Barbara's play "Echo"

27:57 - Miscommunication is a theme of Barbara's writing

29:06 - Barbara's writing process

31:06 - Who are The Babes with Blades and how did Barbara get involved with them?

37:00 - How did Barbara start working with the late MEH Lewis?

41:16-24 - GarageBand, which we use for recording, inserted some weird static/distortion here. A bug report has been filed and we apologize for the disruption.

43:37 - What is Barbara's favorite play or favorite plays that she's written?

46:00 - What is it like to have Barbara's wife act in the plays she's written?

48:18 - Barbara's advice for aspiring writers

50:39 - Promotions: See "180 Degree Rule", "Girl Found" will be produced by 20% Theatre - 20 plays by 20 women and Dana Lynn Formby's "American Beauty Shop" at Chicago Dramatists

Barbara's website: http://www.barbaralhota.com

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

01:25 - How and when did Paul start writing and what is his process like?

03:57 - Paul's "lecture" as a psychologist.

06:10 - What are the secrets to getting a play produced?

07:47 - "Gruoch, or Lady Macbeth" was Paul's first full production to be produced.

08:19 - Paul's play about Artemisia is being workshopped with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble. 

15:06 - Paul mentions the song "Look What They've Done to my Song Ma," by Melanie. 

20:07 - Paul's comparison of theatre in New York vs. Chicago.

21:42 - Background of Paul's "Gruoch, or Lady Macbeth." 

25:17 - Plot of "Anna O."

33:13 - How does being a clinical psychologist affect Paul as a playwright?

38:55 - What does Paul like about having music in his plays?

44:33 - Promotions: Chicago Danztheatre w/Artemisia - June 25th, Paul will also be working with middle schoolers at Adventure Stage

52:43 - Paul's closing joke/story

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

01:15 - How did Tana Karo, AKA "Tank", first start performing

03:43 - Tank served popcorn for Cirque du

07:12 - What is fashion school like?

11:13 - Burning off part of a costume for a burlesque

14:15 - Circo Arts School in New Zealand for a year...

15:06 - ...then transferred to a circus school in Australia to

23:25 - Enchantress of the Elements.

26:48 - The idea for a nerd circus.

40:23 - Superheroes are circus performers.  They both have

43:10 - Promotions:  Check out all of their events on

47:15 - Gwenpool costume play, AKA "Cosplay."

48:55 - What can you expect to see from Acrobatica Infiniti at Uptown Underground?

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro

02:05 - Working with the "Young Americans"

05:11 - What was it like to work with Liberace?

10:00 - And how about Arsenio Hall?

12:09 - Michael's experience working on cruise ships

15:40 - How Michael started teaching

19:01 - Please donate to The Professional Theatre and Dance Youth Academy

24:03 - Jake has more questions about cruise ships

31:09 - The origin of Soul Train

37:30 - May 25th spring performance, "Variety," at 

39:33 - Watch Michael dance with one of his

43:12 - For the first time, PTDYA is offering a summer arts

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro

03:25 - Why Thom talks while doing his act.

09:00 - Thom started working at a traveling carnival/circus at the age of 15/16

12:10 - How did Thom get the idea to start doing his own circus act?

14:01 - "It's as if Spalding Grey went to the sideshow..."

19:55 - The genesis of Thom's one man show, "Freakshow & Tell" http://freakshowtell.com

26:06 - Why does Thom show a lot of his work online?

32:17 - How did Thom get his deep voice?

35:44 - Danger Circus Company http://dangercircus.com/#circus-1

42:16 - Thom wants to work with people who are in his pocket

48:04 - Thom's strategy in asking for money

51:01 - Freakshow & Tell has only been performed 7 times in legal spaces

https://www.facebook.com/DangerCircus/ https://twitter.com/dangercircus https://www.instagram.com/p/9mx_ffoDYd/

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

Apologies for the "blow outs" and the "thumps" - it was a great interview with a few recording issues.

01:55 - How the Q Brothers started writing and performing hip hop using Shakespeare as the source text.

07:50 - GQ on how he got involved with "Drumline." 

09:40 - Video for "White Nigga from Drumline" by the Retar crew

10:38 - Genesis of "Funk It Up About Nothin'" and how it came to Chicago Shakespeare Theater

19:16 - The Q Brothers' heritage

27:05 - "Othello: The Remix" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

28:43 - GQ gives Jake the business about having a hefty serving of salt with his pepper.

31:12 - "Othello: The Remix" was commissioned by The Globe (of London) in 2012

53:40 - The Q Brothers' shaving business and Small Flower TV

1:04:35 - "Q Gents" and "Mad Summer"

1:05:49 - GQ flips the script and ask us how "Are You Famous, Yet?" began.

1:08:54 - Q Brothers Freestyle!!!

See the Q Brothers in "Othello: The Remix" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, April 12th - May 8th

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Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers