Broadway Journeys » podcast

Aca-believe it! Sofia chats with the PITCH-PERFECT Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Spring Awakening, Hamlet 2, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)!!! Skylar is best known for starring as Treblemaker Jesse Swanson in the hit a capella film Pitch Perfect as well as its sequel, and as repressed theatre kid Rand Posin in the satirical indie film Hamlet 2.Skylar has been featured onstage as Mark Cohen in the Hollywood Bowl production of Rent,Georg Zirschnitz in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening, Tony Wyzek in West Side Story at Carnegie Hall, Norman Mushari in the New York City Center production of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and Weber in What We’re Up Against. He has been featured on television as Brody Moyer in Ground Floor, Isaiah Miller in Graves, John P. Roberts in Taking Woodstock,Casey Altman in 21 & Over, Dean Parker in Cavemen, Branch in Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, Glee, Girls, Comedy Bang! Bang! and Wreck-It Ralph. Skylar most recently starred onstage as J. Pierrepont Finch in the Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He is currently starring as the new, reimagined version of Greg on The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and is set to star as Max in NBC’s upcoming musical dramedy pilot Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Skylar and I discuss his experience playing J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed, the changes that were made to How to Succeed for the Kennedy Center production, his experience playing the new, reimagined version of Greg on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and much more! You can catch Skylar now on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on the CW and soon on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC!

Sofia chats with the FABULOUS Jenna Ushkowitz (Glee, Waitress, Hello Again, The King and I, Spring Awakening)!!! Jenna is best known for starring as Tina Cohen-Chang on the mega-hit Fox TV series Glee, and made her Broadway debut at the age of 9 as a Royal Child in The King and I. She has also been featured onstage as Ilse Neumann in Spring Awakening, Jeannie Ryan in Hair and Julia Sullivan in The Wedding Singer. On television, Jenna has been featured in The Glee Project, Hello Again, Yellow Fever, Sesame Street, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, This Is How I Made It, When I Was 17, Little Bill, MasterChef, Educated and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. She has also served as an executive producer of the 2014 documentary Twinsters. Jenna most recently starred as Dawn Williams in Waitress on Broadway, and co-produced the hit Broadway musicals Once on This Island and Be More Chill. Jenna and I discuss the differences between producing on Broadway and on television, her love for Sondheim musicals,  her auditions for Glee and Waitress, why she would love to play a female Aaron Burr as well as Marcy Park in a revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and much more! Jenna has played so many different roles in the theatre industry from actress to producer, and it was so fascinating to hear about her experiences. Be sure to catch Jenna in her upcoming indie film One Night in San Diego!

She’s over the moon! Sofia chats with the MARVELOUS Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Sunday in the Park with George, Rent, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again)!!! Annaleigh is best known for starring as as Lauren in the original cast of Kinky Boots, for which she earned a Tony nomination. She has also starred onstage as sorority girl Margot in Legally Blonde: The Musical, Maureen in Rent, Glinda in Wicked, the title role in Sylvia, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jeanie in Hair, Marcy in Dogfight and Essie Carmichael in You Can’t Take It With You, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. On television, she has been featured as Columbia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, Betty Dimello in Masters of Sex, Elizabeth Coté in American Crime Story: Versace, New Year’s Eve: Bernstein on Broadway, Frozen and Smash. Annaleigh most recently starred as Dot/Marie in the critically-acclaimed 2017 revival of Sunday in the Park with George. Annaleigh is set to star as stage and screen actress Judy Holliday in the upcoming biopic Smart Blonde. Annaleigh and I discuss her favorite music and backstage rituals from Sunday in the Park with George, her potential career as a wedding designer, her audition for Legally Blonde, why she would love to play Harold Hill and much more! You can see Annaleigh at this year’s Miscast gala at the MCC Theater on April 1st.

Sofia chats with the ROCKIN’ Tony winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Becks, Kinky Boots, Lena Hall Obsessed, 42nd Street, Cats, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage)!!! Lena is best known on Broadway for starring as Yitzhak in the original Broadway cast of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, for which she won the Tony award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and for starring as both Hedwig and Yitzhak in the musical’s national tour. Lena has also been featured onstage as Nicola in the original cast of Kinky Boots, Demeter in Cats, Pip in How To Transcend a Happy Marriage, Second Vampire in Dracula, the Musical, Carly in Bedbugs!!!, Annie Get Your Gun, The Toxic Avenger, Green Eyes and Radiant Baby Off-Broadway. On television, Lena has been featured in Good Girls Revolt, BoJack Horseman, Sex and the City, Nature Cat, The Graduate, Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and will soon star in TNT’s science fiction epic Snowpiercer. Lena most recently starred as the title character in the critically-acclaimed indie film Becks. She has released twelve solo EPs in her Lena Hall: Obsessed series, and continues to release a new one every month. Lena and I discuss her journey as Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, faking specials skills on her resume, her childhood obsession with Cats, making her Broadway debut at the age of 19, Marie Kondo-ing her life and much more! You can go see Lena’s one-woman show Art of the Audition: From Falling Apart to Nailing the Part on Thursday, January 31st, Friday, February 1st and Saturday, February 2nd at Feinstein’s at the Nikko.

Hello, Donna! Sofia chats with the EXCEPTIONAL Broadway legend Donna Murphy (Tangled, Passion, The King and I, Hello, Dolly!, Into The Woods, Follies, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Wonderful Town, LoveMusik)!!! Donna is best known for voicing the villainous Mother Gothel in the hit 2010 musical Disney film Tangled. On Broadway, she is best known for starring as Fosca in Passion and as Anna Leonowens in The King and I, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. Donna has also been featured onstage as the Witch in Into The Woods, Edwin Drood in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town, Phyllis in Follies, Lotte Lenya in LoveMusik, Bubbie/Raisel in The People in the Picture, Hello Again, They’re Playing Our Song, The Human Comedy and Twelve Dreams. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Armanda Agrelo in “Someone Had to be Benny”, an episode of the HBO series Lifestories: Families in Crisis. Donna has also been featured on television as Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection, Rosalie Octavius in Spider-Man 2, Jane Green in Mercy Street, Dita Mandy in The Bourne Legacy and Judy Braddock in The Nanny Diaries. Donna most recently starred as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the critically-acclaimed 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly! This year, Donna will star as Yara the Enchantress in the upcoming Anastasia film. Donna and I discuss the deep similarities between Mother Gothel and the Witch in Into The Woods, the challenges and gifts of creating the role of Fosca in Passion, the scarily dramatic outfit she wore to her audition for Into The Woods and much more! Donna’s kindness, wisdom and passion (no pun intended) for the theatre are absolutely infectious, and I loved hearing about her experiences creating some of her most iconic roles! You can hear Donna as the voice of Mother Gothel in Tangled: The Series on Disney Channel.

He’s looking for his Donna! Sofia chats with the SPLENDIFEROUS Will Swenson (Hair, Les Miserábles, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical, Waitress, The Royal Family of Broadway)!!! Will is best known for starring as George Berger in the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair, for which he earned a Tony nomination, as well as its previous Shakespeare in the Park production and subsequent West End revival. Will has also starred as Javert in Les Miserábles, Earl in Waitress, and Tick and Mitzi in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical. Will has been featured onstage as Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages, Cody Bridger in 110 in the Shade, Chris in Miss Saigon, Richard Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine, Sir Sagramore in Camelot, Tony Delvecchio in Disaster!, Warm-Up and Satan in Jerry Springer: The Opera, Rick Shaw in Adrift in Macao, Laurent and Marquis in Lestat, Cleon in Pericles, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Brooklyn, Blueprint Specials, We Will Rock You and Murder Ballad. He has starred in the The Singles Ward film series, and has co-written, directed and starred in the film Sons of Provo. On television, Will has been featured in Treasure Chest, Dear John, Gods Behaving Badly, This Is Where I Leave You and The Switch. Will most recently starred as Philo Barnum in The Greatest Showman and as Tony in The Royal Family of Broadway at the Barrington Stage Company. Will is set to star in Nantucket Sleigh Ride at the Lincoln Center Theatre In 2019. Will and I discuss his approach to the characters of Berger and Javert, performing with the cast of Hair on the Tony Awards, why playing villains is often more interesting than playing heroes, growing up in a very theatrical family, his favorite places to go on a holiday trip and much more! Will is one of the most versatile actors in the world of musical theatre and is such a nice guy, and I loved chatting with him about his experiences in Hair, Les Miserábles, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and more! Go see Will star in Nantucket Sleigh Ride at the Lincoln Center Theatre in February of 2019!

Sofia chats with the EXTRAORDINARY Alex Boniello (Dear Evan Hansen, Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Brooklynite, 21 Chump Street, Million Dollar Quartet)!!! Alex is best known on Broadway for starring as the Voice of Moritz Stiefel in the Deaf West Theatre’s 2015 Broadway production of Spring Awakening, in which he also acted as the guitarist in the on-stage band, and is currently starring as troubled outcast Connor Murphy in the blockbuster Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen. Alex has also been featured onstage as the Rock & Roll Boyfriend in American Idiot, Tevin in 21 Chump Street, Blaine Tuttle in Cruel Intentions: The Musical, Brooklynite, Million Dollar Quartet, Stilyagi, Here’s Hoover! and I Am Harvey Milk. Alex has been featured on television in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Happyish, Unrelated, Alien Dawn, Saturday Night Live, Detachment, Floored, Welcome to Greenpoint, Contest and Alt Space. Alex most recently recorded an acoustic version of “Disappear” opposite Taylor Trensch on the Dear Evan Hansen deluxe album. Alex and I discuss his experience of portraying Moritz in Deaf West’s Spring Awakening and Connor in Dear Evan Hansen, his favorite backstage rituals at Dear Evan Hansen, his embarrassing audition for Spring Awakening at the age of 18, his obsession with video games, the culmination of his wackiest survival jobs ever, the perfect musical theatre role for his cat Penny and much more! Alex is one of the greatest talents in contemporary musical theatre and is such a nice guy, and I loved chatting with him about his experiences of stepping into the roles of Moritz and Connor! You can go see Alex as Connor in Dear Evan Hansen at the Music Box Theatre.

He’s not a simple sponge! Sofia chats with the FANTASTIC Ethan Slater (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, The SpongeBob Musical, Fosse/Verdon on FX, Baghdaddy, Diner)!!! Ethan is best known on Broadway for originating the role of SpongeBob SquarePants in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, for which she earned a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, as well as its 2016 world premiere production as The SpongeBob Musical in Chicago. Ethan starred as Jerry Samuel in the musical Baghdaddy Off-Broadway, and is also featured in the show’s original cast recording, Who’s Your Baghdaddy, or How I Started the Iraq War. He has also been featured onstage as Modell in a regional Delaware production of Diner, and has been featured on television in EVOL: Theory of Love, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Murphy Brown and the web-series Redheads Anonymous. Ethan is a songwriter, playwright and screenwriter with many new pieces in development, including a musical called Edge of the World and a webs-series called Roasted. Ethan is set to star as Joel Grey in the upcoming FX biography series Fosse/Verdon. Ethan and I discuss his favorite backstage rituals and preparation techniques for SpongeBob SquarePants, his favorite set piece from SpongeBob SquarePants, his upcoming musical Edges of the World, his star turn as Leo Bloom in a high school production of The Producers, why we love Fiddler on the Roof and much more! Ethan is incredibly kind and truly a theatrical triple threat, and I loved talking with him about his experience as SpongeBob as well as his many exciting new writing projects! Go see Ethan perform songs from his new musical Edge of the World at the W Times Square on January 12th!

Sofia chats with the SPECTACULAR Beth Malone (Fun Home, Angels in America, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Ring of Fire, Bingo, The Marvelous Wonderettes)!!! Beth is best known on Broadway for originating the role of Alison Bechdel in the revolutionary musical Fun Home, for which she earned a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and has starred as Molly Brown in various regional productions of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Beth made her Broadway debut as June Carter Cash in Ring of Fire, and has also been featured onstage as Betty Jean in The Marvelous Wonderettes, Annie Oakley in multiple productions of Annie Get Your Gun, Alison in Bingo, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Grand Hotel, 9 to 5, Babes in Arms and A New Brain. Beth created and starred in her critically-acclaimed solo cabaret show, Beth Malone: So Far… in 2011, and continues to perform her cabaret nationwide. She released her solo album, “Lunch Shift”, in 2008. On television, she has been featured in One Minute Soap Opera, What’s On, Judging Amy, Room 101, Hick, Intelligent Life: Change Your Mind, Change Your World, Reno 911!, BrainDead, Bull and The Good Wife. Beth most recently starred as the Angel in the 2018 Broadway revival of Angels in America. Beth and I discuss her experience of portraying Alison in Fun Home, her genderbent dream roles (they involve Steve Martin and Georges Seurat), her adventures in hair-dying, why she wants to be a rock star, adjusting to New York City life after living in Castle Rock, Colorado and much more! Beth is truly one of the sweetest humans ever, and it was incredible to hear about her journey in show business and specifically with Fun Home. If you haven’t already, go listen to Beth in the Fun Home cast recording and prepare to bawl your eyes out.

You all know who he is: evil genius, giant brain! Sofia chats with the FABULOUS Wesley Taylor (The Addams Family, Rock of Ages, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, “The Indoor Boys”, “It Could Be Worse”, Smash)!!! Already a seasoned Broadway veteran at the age of 32, Wes made his Broadway debut as comedic German city developer Franz in Rock of Ages, bringing the house down with his rendition of “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, and went on to originate the role of Lucas Beneike in The Addams Family. He has also starred as the Emcee in Cabaret, God in An Act of God, Tales of the City and Little Miss Sunshine. Wes is the creator and star of the critically-acclaimed web-series “It Could Be Worse” and “Billy Green”, and has more recently co-written, directed and starred in the web-series “The Indoor Boys” alongside Alex Wyse. He is also a published playwright, and his work has been featured at the The Artists’ Exchange, the LGBT Center, the Manhattan Repertory Theatre and New World Stages for The Actor’s Fund. On television, Wes has been featured as chorus member Bobby in NBC’s Smash,The Good Wife, Tomorrow People, One Life to Live, I’m Dying up Here, Difficult People and Looking. Wes most recently starred as the iconic protozoan super-villain Sheldon J. Plankton in SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical. He is now set to star as the Mad Hatter in the new musical Alice by Heart, written by the creators of Waitress and Spring Awakening. Wes and I discuss his experience portraying the Emcee and Plankton in SpongeBob SquarePants, writing and filming “The Indoor Boys” and “It Could Be Worse”, the madness of auditioning and more! He has taken on so many different roles as an actor, writer and director, and I loved talking with him about all of his experiences- the good, the bad and the kooky. Go see Wes star as the Mad Hatter in Alice by Heart this coming January!