CONVERSATIONS with Ed Tracy

Ron Kellum, Cirque du Soleil's Artistic Director for VOLTA, joins the CONVERSATION during the hit show's Chicago run to discuss Cirque's development process and the extraordinarily gifted performers in the company.

Season 4 Episode 7 Originally posted June 22, 2019

Former State Senator William Marovitz joins the CONVERSATION to talk about the 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series victory and the upcoming world premiere of "MIRACLE-The Musical" at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago.

Season 4 Episode 6 Originally posted May 6, 2019

The talented Chicago actor and vocalist Sharriese Hamilton joins the CONVERSATION to discuss the Chicago Children's Theatre production of "The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963" and what's up next: the role of Hannah in the Australian company of the international hit "Come From Away."

Season 4 Episode 5 Originally posted April 28, 2019

Cory Lippiello, Artistic Administrator for Lyric Opera of Chicago, joins the CONVERSATION to talk about casting the highly-anticipated production of West Side Story.

Season 4 Episode 4 Orginally posted April 15, 2019

Director Louis Contey joins the CONVERSATION to discuss the Shattered Globe Theatre production of Kate Foder's "Hannah and Martin" tracing the relationship—and passionate love affair—between the German-Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt and her mentor, the celebrated German philosopher Martin Heidegger and the impact that the rise to power of the Nazi party had on the course of their lives. Season 4 Episode 3 Originally posted April 8, 2019

Dana Tretta and Christopher Kale Jones, the two powerhouse stars of the Mercury Theater Chicago production of "Little Shop of Horrors" directed by L Walter Stearns with musical director Eugene Dizon, join the CONVERSATION to talk about just how fiendishly desperate—and painfully real—things are for the star-crossed lovers in the macabre 1982 hit with music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman.

Season 4 Episode 2 Originally posted March 19, 2019

Renowned soloists Alfreda Burke and Rodrick Dixon join the CONVERSATION to talk about Too Hot To Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah, the universality of Handel's work and the power of music to inspire and uplift our lives in advance of the 2019 concert at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

Season 4 Episode 1 Originally posted January 8, 2019

Tony Award-winning director and playwright Mary Zimmerman joins the CONVERSATION to discuss her new work The Steadfast Tin Soldier based on the Hans Christian Andersen children's story presented in pantomime at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company. In an extraordinary career that has spanned the worlds of theater and opera, Zimmerman received the 2002 Tony Award for directing Metamorphoses. Season 3 Episode 21 Originally posted December 17, 2018

Janet Ulrich Brooks, one of Chicago's most gifted actors working in theater, film and television, joins the CONVERSATION to discuss her role as the legendary opera diva Maria Callas during the run of the TimeLine Theatre Company production of Master Class at Stage 773.

Season 3 Episode 20 Originally posted November 23, 2018

Historian Neil Hanson joins the CONVERSATION in London for a fascinating look back 100 years to the end of World War I and the events that followed. His book, UNKNOWN SOLDIERS: The Story of the Missing of the First World War (Knopf 2005) recounts the life and combat history of three soldiers – an American from Chicago, George Seibold, an Englishman, Alec Reader and a German, Paul Hub – representing the over 3 million who fought and died on all sides whose remains have never been accounted for.

Season 3 Episode 19 Originally posted November 10, 2018 Recorded in London.