Our awards season series “5 minutes of a Tony nominee” returns with more interviews than ever before. From now through the Tony Awards on June 7, 2026, Broadway News will be releasing multiple episodes each day.

Listen in for conversations with actors, directors, designers, writers, choreographers and producers from this year’s hottest shows. We're talking “Liberation,” “Schmigadoon!,” “The Lost Boys,” “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” and more.

Want early access to these episodes? Visit broadwaynews.com every morning to hear these chat as soon as they come out.

Find all “5 minutes” episodes here.

Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire returns to Broadway with a world premiere! The Balusters officially opened on April 21 in a production from Manhattan Theatre Club.

“The Balusters” follows the board of a neighborhood homeowners association across several of their monthly meetings. This neighborhood is the fictional Vernon Point, a historic, landmarked district of wealth and beauty. When new board member Kyra (played by Tony winner Anika Noni Rose) wants to make a change, the monthly meetings turn from collaboration to chaos.

In this episode, Rose and her nine co-stars as well as playwright Lindsay-Abaire and director Kenny Leon give host Ruthie Fierberg a lay of the land when it comes to the brand-new comedy. Listen in to learn what to expect from this cast of wild and familiar characters.

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Welcome to Schmigadoon “where the sun shines bright from July to June” and it's a musical every day. Based on the Apple TV+ series of the same name, “Schmigadoon!” now comes to Broadway. Created by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul, Paul says that he had always intended the show to be a stage musical, but TV came first!

The original musical follows a modern-day couple who end up trapped in Schmigadoon. They must find their true love in order to escape, but is that with each other?

In this episode, host Ruthie Fierberg chats with Paul about his inspiration for the show and his process writing songs that feel fresh and familiar. Director-choreographer Christopher Gattelli offers insights about his ideas for the dance and overall look of the show. Actors Alex Brightman (“Beetlejuice”), Sara Chase (“The Great Gatsby”), Max Clayton (“The Music Man”), Ayaan Diop, Ivan Hernandez (“Dear Evan Hansen”), McKenzie Kurtz (“The Heart of Rock n Roll”), Isabelle McCalla (“Water for Elephants”) and Brad Oscar (“Something Rotten!”) give us a glimpse of their characters and what to expect from Schmigadoon! on Broadway.

Want to be the first to hear these chats? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to broadwaynews.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ today, starting at only $1 per month, and get early access to these episodes, many more exclusive interviews and breaking news stories on Broadway.

Gina Gionfriddo’s dark comedy “Becky Shaw” first bowed Off-Broadway in 2008 and went on to become a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Now, the play is on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre with an intimate ensemble cast of five that stars Patrick Ball (The Pitt), Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale), Alden Ehrenreich (Ironheart), Linda Emond (Cabaret, 2014) and Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill).

Starting with a blind date gone wrong, Gionfriddo’s play tackles issues of class and power in the context of romantic partnership — and the merging of families. 

In this episode, Gionfriddo and director Trip Cullman describe the meat of the play while the actors offer takes on their characters and what to expect from the “savage” play.

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The smash, long-running musical “Cats” returns to Broadway in brand-new and glorious form as “Cats: The Jellicle Ball.” This is not your grandparents’ “Cats.” There isn’t a feline to be found, in fact. The 2026 revival, which started Off-Broadway at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, sets “Cats” in the the context of a ballroom competition. (Think FX’s “Pose.”)

Co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, co-choreographers Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons and members of the cast tell host Ruthie Fierberg about the history of ballroom and the alchemy between ballroom and musical theater in this episode.

Plus, “Cats” actors Jonathan Burke, Baby Byrne, Sydney James Harcourt, Dava Huesca, Leiomy and “Tempress” Chasity Moore weigh in on what’s different about their characters in this version, how they manage all those death drops and duck walks and how ballroom contains a message for everyone.

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“Beaches” made a splash in the cultural lexicon when it debuted in cinemas in 1988. The film starred Bette Midler as Cee Cee Bloom and Barbara Hershey as Hillary Essex, two best friends who met as children under the Atlantic City boardwalk and then weathered life’s trials and tribulations together for decades — until one of them falls fatally ill.

But the truth is, “Beaches” was a novel before it was a movie. And that novel was inspired by author Iris Rainer Dart’s own friendship. In this episode, Dart reveals the connections between the cultural, tear-jerking phenomenon and her own life.

Plus, host Ruthie Fierberg gets the scoop from composer Mike Stoller, co-directors Matt Coward and Lonny Price, producer Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso and stars Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett about what to expect from the stage musical version of the beloved “Beaches.”

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Vampires return to Broadway with the new musical “The Lost Boys,” an adaptation of the 1987 movie, which starred Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland and Dianne Wiest. The musical stars newcomer LJ Benet, Ali Louis Bourzgui and two-time Tony Award nominee Shoshana Bean.

The story follows the Emerson family: mom Lucy, played by Bean, and her two sons Michael (Benet) and Sam (Benjamin Pajak). Michael falls in with a gang called The Lost Boys, who are both a rock band and, secretly, a coven of vampires.

Real-life indie rock band the Rescues makes their Broadway debut writing the original score for "The Lost Boys." (You may recognize their music from the "Grey's Anatomy" soundtrack.) Broadway News executive editor spoke to the bandmates turned musical theater songwriters, as well as book writers Chris Hoch and David Hornsby ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and director Michael Arden about creating the musical. Then, we hear from Bean, Benet, Bourzgui and more actors from the company about what to expect from their characters, the story and the epic production of "The Lost Boys" on Broadway.

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The interactive solo play “Every Brilliant Thing” has become a famous title around the world. In February 2026, the dramedy makes its Broadway debut, starring Tony Award winner (and forever Harry Potter) Daniel Radcliffe.

Written by Duncan Macmillan with Johnny Donahoe, the play is structured as a list of all of the things worth living for as told by a child whose mother suffers from chronic depression. Radcliffe will play that child, who begins at age seven and ends the play closer to the actor’s actual age.

“Every Brilliant Thing” also involves the audience as helpers in building this list. (Though Radcliffe has an important PSA about audience participation in this episode.)

The play has been produced in over 60 countries. It was captured for HBO. But Macmillan, Radcliffe and co-director Jeremy Herrin tell host Ruthie Fierberg what to expect from this specific Broadway mounting in this episode.

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Mentioned in this podcast:

A Life of Its Own: The Incredible Journey of ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

In 2025, host Ruthie Fierberg gathered five leader of top-tier Broadway advertising and marketing firms for an advertiser roundtable. That foundational conversation raised even more questions and led to this Part 2.

Fierberg chats with Liz Furze, chief executive officer of AKA NYC; Callie Goff, managing director and chief creative officer of SpotCo; Jeremy Kraus, managing partner of Situation; Ilene Rosen, founder of RPM; and Matt Upshaw, chief executive officer of Serino Coyne. They shared their expert insights and got into greater detail for the industry professionals out there.

In this Part 2, they break down 1) what data they are paying attention to, how they use it and why it’s important, 2) what they wish clients better understood, 3) why moment-making is (or isn’t) useful to a campaign, 4) how they’re thinking about social media versus websites and 5) how AI can be used as a benefit to theater.

Want to watch the video of this conversation? Click here.

Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominee Carrie Coon returns to Broadway for the first time since 2013 with “Bug,” a psychological thriller by Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner Tracy Letts.

In this episode, host Ruthie Fierberg talks to Coon about her “Bug” character, Agnes, and the differences between Agnes and her famous characters from “The Gilded Age” and “The White Lotus.” Plus, Coon declares “Bug” is the art we need right now. You'll also hear from Letts, who shares the genesis of the play; director David Cromer, who reveals the key to the play's ending; Coon's co-star Namir Smallwood, who offers thoughts about building his character; as well as supporting actors Randall Arney, Jennifer Engstrom and Steve Key.

Ruthie admits that, based on the description of the show, she's excited but also nervous to see the play. If you share the same fear, this episode is a must to understand what you can expect in this 2026 Broadway mounting of “Bug.”

Want to be the first to hear these chats? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to broadwaynews.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ today, starting at only $1 per month, and get early access to these episodes, many more exclusive interviews and breaking news stories on Broadway.