The Tony Awards often celebrate the names on a show poster, but every Broadway production is carried by countless artists whose work rarely fits neatly into a category. So in anticipation of this year’s awards ceremony, we’re spotlighting a few of the performers, collaborators, and creative forces behind nominated productions.

Beth Callen follows her curiosity wherever the music leads. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and educator, she has traveled from indie folk stages and an all-female Guns N’ Roses tribute band to some of Broadway’s most acclaimed productions, including Head Over Heels, A Strange Loop, Suffs, and now The Lost Boys. 

In this episode, Beth discusses the realities of building a career as a working musician; why mentorship matters for the next generation of artists; and how greater visibility for pit musicians can deepen our appreciation for the live magic that happens eight times a week on Broadway.

Links

Beth Callen: https://bethcallen.com/

The Lost Boys: https://www.lostboysmusical.com/

Maestra: https://maestramusic.org/

The Tony Awards often celebrate the names on a show poster, but every Broadway production is carried by countless artists whose work rarely fits neatly into a category. So in anticipation of this year’s awards ceremony, we’re spotlighting a few of the performers, collaborators, and creative forces behind nominated productions.

Victor Vazquez has spent his career expanding the possibilities of who gets seen onstage and whose stories Broadway embraces. As the founder of X Casting and casting director for CATS: The Jellicle Ball, Victor has helped build one of the most joyful, original, and culturally electric productions of the season from the ground up. 

In this conversation, Victor offers a rare look inside the audition room, reflects on what it means to bring Ballroom culture into the spotlight with care and authenticity, and discusses why he remains hopeful about the future of theater and the artists shaping it.

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LINKS

CATS: The Jellicle Ball: https://catsthejellicleball.com/

X Casting: https://www.xcastingnyc.com/

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts: https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa

The Tony Awards often celebrate the names on a show poster, but every Broadway production is carried by countless artists whose work rarely fits neatly into a category. So in anticipation of this year’s awards ceremony, we’re spotlighting a few of the performers, collaborators, and creative forces behind nominated productions.

Allison Blackwell knows the power of ensemble storytelling firsthand. Currently appearing in Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater as Sarah’s Friend, Allison is part of the acclaimed company behind one of Broadway’s most resonant productions this season. She has built a career defined by extraordinary versatility, emotional depth, and a deep commitment to collaboration onstage. 

In this conversation, Allison reflects on the path that brought her back to theater after nearly pursuing law school; what it has meant to revisit Ragtime across multiple productions; and what recognition for ensemble artists means to her personally.

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LINKS

Allison Blackwell: https://www.allisonblackwell.com/

Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater: https://www.lct.org/shows/ragtime/ 

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts: https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa 

Creative work is often romanticized as spontaneous: a flash of inspiration, a breakthrough moment, a burst of talent. In reality, many artists discover that creativity is less about sudden genius and more about the systems, rituals, and relationships that help ideas grow over time.

For Oliver Richman, creativity has been both an early spark and an evolving practice. As a child, his performances found an audience far beyond his years, from a widely shared rendition of “Defying Gravity” to performing alongside Stevie Wonder at just ten years old. Since then, he has continued exploring new creative paths: studying drama at NYU Tisch, writing and directing numerous projects, and building an online community through his ambitious song-a-day practice.

In this episode, Oliver reflects on balancing spontaneity with structure, building meaningful connections with online audiences, and why creativity thrives when treated as a daily practice.

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LINKS

Oliver Richman: https://oliverrichman.com/ 

Oliver's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliverrichman11/ 

Oliver's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@oliverrichman 

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts: https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa 

Arts organizations thrive when teams stop operating in parallel and begin building together.

Take it from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, which is wrapping its biggest season in over a decade. By creating shared goals across teams and building systems that encourage communication instead of competition, the Symphony has seen unprecedented audience growth in just a few short years.

In this episode, Monica sits down with three leaders from across the organization—Director of Marketing Charles Buchanan, Director of Artistic Planning Melissa King, and Director of Learning & Engagement John Nolan—to explore how deeper collaboration has reshaped both internal culture and audience experience. 

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LINKS

Sydney Symphony Orchestra: https://www.sydneysymphony.com/ 

Emil Kang's The Reprise: https://emilkang.substack.com/ 

Susan Magsamen has spent her career arguing that creativity and aesthetic experiences are not luxuries, but biological necessities woven into how we heal, learn, and connect.

A researcher, educator, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Your Brain on Art, Susan has become one of the leading voices in the growing field of neuroaesthetics: the science of how the arts and sensory experiences shape the brain and body. Through her work with the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins and the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative, she has helped bridge the gap between scientific research and real-world practice in healthcare, education, and community life.

In this episode, Susan reflects on the winding path that led her into this emerging field and explains what the latest research reveals about the profound impact of arts engagement on human wellbeing. She also explores how arts organizations can better communicate their value, why community-centered approaches matter, and what it will take to make neuroaesthetics a mainstream part of public policy in the years ahead.

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LINKS:

Your Brain on Art: https://www.yourbrainonart.com/

International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins: https://www.artsandmindlab.org/

NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative: https://neuroartsblueprint.org/

Neuroarts Resource Center: https://www.neuroartsresourcecenter.com/home

Jacob Jonas consistently questions who dance is for, where it belongs, and how it can be sustained. 

From his early days as a street performer on Venice Beach to founding his own company at just 21, his work reflects a conviction that art must evolve alongside audiences. That perspective has shaped his drive to build new models for the field just as much as it has informed his creative practice.

In this episode, Jacob discusses expanding access to dance beyond traditional ticketed spaces, and bringing movement to the screen through his global platform Films.Dance. He also reflects on the gaps he sees across the dance ecosystem—from outdated funding models to legacy approaches to marketing—where emerging leaders have opportunities to rethink the future of the field.

Giorgia Lupi has built a career at the intersection of design, storytelling, and information, treating data not as cold fact but as something deeply human. 

From organizing buttons in her grandmother’s tailor shop in Italy to becoming a partner at Pentagram, her work consistently challenges the idea that analysis and artistry exist in separate worlds. 

In this episode, Giorgia reflects on her path from architecture to information design, and unpacks her philosophy of data humanism: an approach that embraces subjectivity, emotion, and storytelling as essential to how we understand data. She also talks about her work in branding, including Capacity’s recent rebrand, and what it means to design in a world increasingly shaped by AI.

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LINKS

Giorgia Lupi: https://giorgialupi.com/ 

Pentagram: https://www.pentagram.com/ 

Letterform Online Archive: https://oa.letterformarchive.org/ 

What's the root of the audience growth problem? Relevance. Few people understand that better than Ruth Hartt.

Ruth has built a career at the intersection of performance and business innovation, moving from a 17-year career as a professional opera singer to advising cultural organizations on how to rethink audience engagement. Drawing on her work at the Clayton Christensen Institute and her deep grounding in the arts, Ruth challenges long-held assumptions about how and why people connect with cultural experiences.

In this episode, Ruth unpacks the limitations of traditional, product-centered marketing and makes the case for a more human, need-based approach. Along the way, she reflects on her own journey from the stage to strategy, and what it means to build a more responsive, relevant future for the arts.

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LINKS:

Cindr: https://cindr.co/

Cindr Webinar: https://cindr.co/webinar

Culture for Hire: https://www.cultureforhire.com/

Christensen Institute: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/ 

Libraries are often thought of as quiet repositories. But at their best, they are living, evolving spaces where culture is preserved, interpreted, and reimagined.

Brent Reidy serves as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at The New York Public Library—one of the most expansive and dynamic cultural collections in the world. With a career that spans musicology, consulting with arts institutions, and nearly a decade at NYPL, Brent brings a unique perspective on how libraries function not just as archives, but as active participants in the cultural ecosystem.

In this episode, Brent reflects on what it takes to engage new audiences; how digitization efforts intersect with access and institutional mission; and how preserving the past can help shape a more inclusive and imaginative future for the arts.

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LINKS:

The New York Public Library: https://www.nypl.org/ 

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts: https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa 

StoryCorps Archive: https://archive.storycorps.org/