Dear Multi-hyphenate

“Broadway is like going to the NBA. But do you really want to play basketball everyday? That’s different – waking up and wanting to play ball is different than waking up and wanting to go Broadway. I’ve met regional actors in Seattle and Minneapolis who have full lives and they work year round and they are great actors – and they are not on Broadway. So are you chasing a dream for a status or are you chasing the craft?”

What’s in this episode?

Stories from Parade at Encores

How an Instagram message sent Chicken and Biscuits to Broadway

Longevity in the theatre

Making money in the theatre

Multi-hyphenating

Changing the infrastructure 

Making an impact

Douglas Lyons is a multi-hyphenate artist originally from New Haven, CT. He wrote the 2021 Broadway comedy Chicken and Biscuits, which earned him a GLAAD nomination. As an actor, Broadway/NYC: Beautiful (Original Cast), Book of Mormon and Parade (NY City Center). Tours: Dreamgirls, Rent and Mormon 1st Nat’l. Regionally: Yale Rep, Hartford Stage Company, Huntington Theatre Company, 5th Ave Theatre, The Muny and more. As a writer: Apple TV's Fraggle Rock, Five Points (Theater Latte Da world premiere) now in development with Papermill Playhouse, Beau (ATF) and the 2018 Off-Broadway Alliance Award-winning musical, Polkadots. Douglas is currently developing television with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and Sky Dance. Douglaslyons.net. @Chocolatehipster

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“I think that multi-hyphenates, and I’m flattered to be included in that bracket, they’re just creatives. It’s like you have a drivers license but some days you drive a truck, and some days you drive a car, and some days you drive a forklift, or whatever – the vehicle changes but I think they artist’s heart is always the same. We love to create things, we love to express who we are, we love to maybe entertain, we love to connect with people in that way. So I don’t really think it’s a matter of what your skill set is, it’s just if you have that artist perspective and way of thinking and moving through the world, it translates to different things.” 

What’s in this episode? 

Queer eye and the original intent behind the show

Carson’s love for drag

His philosophy on saying ‘yes’

How Carson joined RuPaul’s Drag Race

How opportunities are based on relationships

The fulfilling yet terrifying experience of being in a musical

Supernatural experiences involving Princess Grace!

Michael’s Titanic past life story.

Carson’s Joan Rivers’ connection.

Emmy Award winning TV personality, style expert, fashion designer, interior designer and New York Times best-selling author are some of the credits of the multi-talented and unforgettable Carson Kressley. 

Carson started his career as an independent stylist and became invaluable to major designers such as Ralph Lauren. He took a leap into television & became a breakout star on Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which won a primetime Emmy and gained a worldwide following for Carson. In collaborations with Oprah Winfrey, Carson revolutionized America’s personal fashion sense of style. He’s hosted multiple TV shows including Lifetime’s How to Look Good Naked, & ABC’s True Beauty, appeared as a fashion critic & commentator on shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show & Good Morning America. Carson has competed on several reality shows including NBC’s hit show Celebrity Apprentice, Food Network’s Celebrity Cupcake Wars, ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud, and the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars where he was a fan favorite, raising awareness & donations for several charities. Carson is a key judge on TV series RuPaul’s Drag Race, which continues to win multiple Emmy's. New fan favorites included his interior design show, Get A Room with Carson & Thom, Freeform’s Wrap Battle, and his home entertainment talk show, Couched, where he interviewed A-list celebrities & elite interior designers. Amongst being a strong supporter of many philanthropic causes, when Kressley is not starring on stage or screen, he can be found astride one of his American Saddle-bred show horses, with which he has achieved World Champion status.

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“I think that multi-hyphenates, and I’m flattered to be included in that bracket, they’re just creatives. It’s like you have a drivers license but some days you drive a truck, and some days you drive a car, and some days you drive a forklift, or whatever – the vehicle changes but I think they artist’s heart is always the same. We love to create things, we love to express who we are, we love to maybe entertain, we love to connect with people in that way. So I don’t really think it’s a matter of what your skill set is, it’s just if you have that artist perspective and way of thinking and moving through the world, it translates to different things.” 

What’s in this episode? 

Queer eye and the original intent behind the show

Carson’s love for drag

His philosophy on saying ‘yes’

How Carson joined RuPaul’s Drag Race

How opportunities are based on relationships

The fulfilling yet terrifying experience of being in a musical

Supernatural experiences involving Princess Grace!

Michael’s Titanic past life story.

Carson’s Joan Rivers’ connection.

Emmy Award winning TV personality, style expert, fashion designer, interior designer and New York Times best-selling author are some of the credits of the multi-talented and unforgettable Carson Kressley. 

Carson started his career as an independent stylist and became invaluable to major designers such as Ralph Lauren. He took a leap into television & became a breakout star on Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which won a primetime Emmy and gained a worldwide following for Carson. In collaborations with Oprah Winfrey, Carson revolutionized America’s personal fashion sense of style. He’s hosted multiple TV shows including Lifetime’s How to Look Good Naked, & ABC’s True Beauty, appeared as a fashion critic & commentator on shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show & Good Morning America. Carson has competed on several reality shows including NBC’s hit show Celebrity Apprentice, Food Network’s Celebrity Cupcake Wars, ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud, and the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars where he was a fan favorite, raising awareness & donations for several charities. Carson is a key judge on TV series RuPaul’s Drag Race, which continues to win multiple Emmy's. New fan favorites included his interior design show, Get A Room with Carson & Thom, Freeform’s Wrap Battle, and his home entertainment talk show, Couched, where he interviewed A-list celebrities & elite interior designers. Amongst being a strong supporter of many philanthropic causes, when Kressley is not starring on stage or screen, he can be found astride one of his American Saddle-bred show horses, with which he has achieved World Champion status.

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“I believe the world is a better place if there is more theatre in it. There is only more theatre in it if there are more people making it. So, I do everything I can to help inspire, educate people to make more theatre. Does that mean I can produce every show? Unfortunately not.” 

What’s in this episode?

Get a sneek peak into the brand new musical The Griswold’s Family Vacation!

What exactly is producing?

How do you pick a city to do an out of town tryout? 

How does the industry treat multi-hyphenates?

How are multi-hyphenates like small businesses?

How does Ken commit to being an accessible producer?

How Hal Prince inspired Ken by saying one simple thing. 

What is successful producing? 

Joy the Musical!

“In the business world, if you invent a product – you are the creator of that thing. You are an artist. You just designed the thing – you made it out of nothing. And then you have to raise the money for it. So, you’re producing it yourself. All those people that go on Shark Tank, they are raising the money, they are doing the things. No one says, “Ugh, how dare you!” No, that’s what they do. That’s what Sara Blakely had to do for Spanx, that’s what Mark Zuckerberg had to do for Facebook – all of it. They create something and then they raise it – but in our industry people roll their eyes.”

Ken Davenport (Producer) is a two-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer whose credits include A Beautiful Noise, Once On This Island (Tony Award), The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Tony Award), The Visit (Tony nomination) as well the Off-Broadway productions of Altar Boyz, The Awesome 80s Prom and many more. Davenport’s productions have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world. He was the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and is the Theatrical Consultant for Primary Wave Music Publishing. His blog has been featured in every major publication around the world, from the New York Times to Vanity Fair. He conceived the best-selling boardgame Be A Broadway Star (available on Amazon) and he is an avid golfer. Ken is a Massachusetts native, raised in Sturbridge, MA, who grew up going to shows at the Colonial Theatre. He dedicates his career to his late father, Dr. Kenny Dipchand Hasija, an Indian immigrant who always dreamed about going into the theater but encouraged his son to do so instead. Other productions in development include Harmony by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation, Joy and The Ten. www.kendavenport.com Instagram: @kendavenportbway

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Tony-winning writer and performer, Sarah Jones, is making her directorial debut when her new film Sell/Buy/Date which Cinedigm will be releasing in theaters in LA on October 14th, NYC on October 21st, and streaming in November on Amazon Prime. The wide release announcement exclusive is out with Variety here.

The deeply personal film is a witty documentary / narrative hybrid following Jones and her multicultural characters (she plays 5 characters in the film!) on a journey exploring our relationship to the sex industry via Sarah’s hilarious comedy and social justice lens. Sell/Buy/Date is written, and directed by Sarah Jones, and is executive produced by Meryl Streep with appearances by Ilana Glazer and Bryan Cranston. 

“I want the whole world to know about Sarah Jones. I think she's an extraordinary artist--a once in a lifetime artist,” said Meryl Streep. 

Sell/Buy/Date has seen various iterations over the past six years, first starting as Sarah's off-Broadway one-woman show in 2016, which she then remounted in Los Angeles in 2018. At the start of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, she brought some of her stage characters to life on social media for her #yesimsarahjones IG Live Show to ignite conversation around the black lives matter movement. And now, Jones is ready to debut her Sell/Buy/Date feature film. In the past Sarah and the live version of the show received feature coverage in Vogue and Vogue.com, The Economist, The New York Times, Town & Country, WMag.com and much more.  

About Sarah Jones: Called “a master of the genre” by The New York Times, Sarah Jones is a Tony® Award-winning solo performer, writer, comedian and activist. She recently made her debut as a film director with the hybrid documentary Sell/Buy/Date, in which she also stars. The film, which is executive produced by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, world premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and will be distributed (theatrical and streaming) by Cinedigm this fall. Jones is mainly known for her multi-character one-person shows, including Broadway hit Bridge & Tunnel, also originally produced by Streep, and the critically-acclaimed play Sell/Buy/Date, which inspired the film. She has also appeared in various film and TV projects, including co-starring (along with Elisabeth Shue, Giovanni Ribisi, and Julie Delpy) in the Netflix series, On the Verge; Noah Baumbach’s Oscar® nominated film Marriage Story opposite Scarlett Johansson, and on the final season of Broad City. Jones also appeared in Chris Rock’s Good Hair documentary, and, at the request of Vogue and Anna Wintour, co-created and starred in a short film with designers Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Zac Posen, Diane Von Furstenberg and Vera Wang, directed by Fisher Stevens for the CFDA Awards. Additionally, Jones’ writing credits include the Golden-Globe nominated Showtime series SMILF. Renowned as “a one-woman global village,” she has also given multiple main-stage TED Talks garnering millions of views, performed for President and First Lady Obama at the White House, and given a performance at The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as the first artist on its stage normally reserved for heads of state. She has also been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, raising awareness of gender, ethnic, racial, and economic injustice and disparities, including in the United States. Jones recently launched Foment Productions, a social justice-focused entertainment company aligned with her progressive activism, with Sell/Buy/Date as its first production. The film tackles the intersection of race, gender justice, the economy, and various other issues through the unexpected lens of the sex industry. Using humor, investigative interviews, celebrity cameos (including Rosario Dawson, Ilana Glazer, and Bryan Cranston) and her own personal story, the film highlights how this topic is closer and more relevant to all of our lives than we may realize.

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“There is something that I think gets in my way, or has gotten in my way in the past when thinking about the multi-hyphenate,” says é boylan. “And I think it’s the hyphen. It’s the idea why I like I’m a non binary human that doesn’t like to hyphenate the non and the binary because that’s another binary! It’s like the barrier in the middle. It feels sometimes like it’s divisive within myself.”

Topics of conversation:

individual approaches to the multi-hyphenate

the pros and cons of branding

capitalism in multi-hyphenating

bragging about callbacks on social media

misinformation on social media

é’s new project The Doctor is Dead. 

é is the creator of The Doctor is Dead, a new audio musical released by Musical Theatre Factory. This podcast series is a contemporary fantasy for queer imaginations following a secret society of trans outcasts living underground. Using their unique abilities to investigate a mysterious empty coffin, the outcasts sing a song of leaving, of grief that becomes giving, of what begins in the end. The production can be heard on all podcast platforms beginning September 2nd, with new episodes released weekly. You can listen to the trailer now, HERE.

 é boylan (they/them) is a NYC based director, creator, and composer developing new work towards trans liberation. Selected Honors Include: New Writer in Residence at Lincoln Center Theater, 2019 Trans Lab Fellow, 2019-20 Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, 2021 Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriter, 2021 Prospect Theater Co. MT Lab, 2022 MTFxR Garage Artist, 2020-22 Roundabout Theatre Co. Directors Group, and currently Musical Theatre Factory's Makers Cohort. www.eboylan.com

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“All of a sudden,” says Moellenberg. “While I was sitting there, I literally heard for about 15 - 20 minutes a deep, male voice, which I assumed was a higher being, telling me that I had a long life to live. It was going to be very productive and my purpose was to help create beauty in the world. And the suggestion was made that that beauty might be through helping to create theatre.”

According to Carl, he came out at the absolutely worst time. And after being diagnosed with HIV in the 1980’s, he found himself undergoing a transition. A transition of spirit, a transition of healing, and a transition from investment banker into a producer.

He became many things – a Reiki master, a counselor, an ordained minister – all things focusing on what multi-hyphenating is all about. 

Regardless, Moellenberg couldn’t have started in a better place. The first project he invested in was Wicked and the first project he co-produced was Spring Awakening. Two very big hits.

So what is a producer? What’s their responsibilities? How does one become a producer? Check out this episode to learn more about what goes into producing on Broadway. Plus, in this episode check out why a ‘Why’ Statement is incredibly important to have, how everyone can come together to make theatre more accessible, and learn about Carl’s new book, Carl Moellenberg's Story: Broadway and Spirituality as a Path to Survival — available wherever you purchase books now.

Carl began his career in banking, and after debilitating illnesses threatened his life, he took a new approach to spirituality and healing, and re-found his love and passion for Broadway. He has since gone on to be on the producing teams for some of Broadway's most successful shows: Spring Awakening, War Horse, Hair, Death of a Salesman, Pippin, All the Way, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Dear Evan Hansen, Angels in America, The Band’s Visit, Oklahoma, Hadestown and Company. His aim has always been to tell compelling stories or to present stunning music which transforms people. 

“I’m incredibly excited that I believe it is an inspirational story, and I believe it will encourage people that are maybe early in their career in the arts as you’ve been referring to. I believe it will be a story of surmounting obstacles in people’s lives. That’s my sole aim – I didn’t write it, again, to talk about me or my career as a producer or going through each show and talking at length about all the shows I’ve been involved with – I did it to talk about a personal journey in hopes that my personal journey will inspire other personal journeys. That’s what I’m excited about.”

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#themajesticisfitforaprince

When Carol Burnett wants something done, it's gotta get done. That's why fashion writer and producer Eila Mell joined forces with Burnett to start the campaign The Majestic is Fit for a Prince, getting the Broadway, television, and film industries to rally behind the renaming of this legendary theatre. Yes, the very same theatre which has held The Phantom of the Opera for 35 years.

In this episode we discuss how the campaign started, what Hal Prince means to the three of us, untold stories of how Hal helped Carol during the loss of her daughter, why The Carol Burnett Show is timeless, and, keeping it in theme of the podcast, how the multi-hyphenate has grown and adapted over time as well as how the principles of the multi-hyphenate is helping getting the campaign done. Make sure you get your voice across by posting a video on social media saying, "The Majestic is fit for a Prince" and use the hashtag #themajesticisfitforaprince when you post!

Carol Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. She is best known for her groundbreaking comedy variety show The Carol Burnett Show, which originally aired on CBS. It was one of the first of its kind to be hosted by a woman. She has achieved success on stage, television and film in varying genres including dramatic and comedic roles. She has received numerous accolades including six Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, a Grammy Award, and seven Golden Globe Awards. Burnett was awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2013 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2015.

Eila Mell is the author of the official guide to the hit television series Project Runway, titled Project Runway: The Show That Changed Fashion. Among her other books are Designing Broadway, New York Fashion Week and, with Ty Hunter, Makeover from Within: Lessons in Hardship, Acceptance, and Self-Discovery. Mell has been featured in the New York Times, Marie Claire, Glamour, and CBS’s The Insider, as well as in the documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s. She is the co-host of the podcast Jiffy Pop Culture. 

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“People are dying from your fatphobia and that’s wild. We are so hung up on the way theatre has looked forever that we can’t change our perspective enough to literally save people’s lives.” 

TW: Discussion of eating disorders.

I found Greg on TikTok. Greg is the founder of EveryBODY on Stage, which aims to break down stigma and fat-phobia in the arts. There is such multi-layered dialogue when it comes to each person’s experience. Being a CoVid long hauler changed my body by gaining weight – and even when I find the positives and self love when it comes to myself, my body, and the industry, it’s rooted in privilege. 

And when it comes to weight and age – why is it that a bigger body in educational theatre equals playing someone older or someone not worthy of love? How does that affect someone in their formative years?

Why is it we are praised for losing weight, even when it’s done in an unhealthy way? Greg and I breakdown how fatphobia dominates the theatre industry, while shedding light on the people who are doing their best to fix this. Plus, we also get into how Funny Girl on Broadway battled responses based in fatphobia and anti-semitism and how as an industry, we need to move forward by communicating with kindness. 

Please note – the group I talk about in the episode who’s name slips my mind is The Industry Standard Group (TISG) who are innovating Broadway by finding new pathways toward equitable representation in commercial theatre.

Also, use the code “MULTI” at the EveryBODY on Stage store for a discount at https://www.everybodyonstage.com/

“There is this narrative that a fat body is bad and ugly and gross. I’m done with that. I don’t care if other people find me attractive because I don’t need that anymore. I am happy in my body and I deserve to take up space in this body. So, like, I don’t know… get into it society.” 

Greg Carruthers (he/him, she/her) is a Toronto-based choreographer, actor and body-positive activist (@EveryBODYonStage). Hailing from Bradford, Ontario, Greg studied Music Theatre Performance at St. Lawrence College which recently nominated him for an Ontario Premier's Award. Greg has choreographed for Theatre Sheridan, Hart House Theatre, Canada’s Wonderland, The Madinat Theatre (Dubai), and the July 1st ceremonies at Queens Park (Toronto). As a performer, Greg was most recently seen on the 1st National Tour of 'Trey Parker's Cannibal the Musical'. As the Artistic Producer and Founder of EveryBODY on Stage, Greg has produced projects for Musical Stage Co’s “Musical Moments” and Buddies in Bad Times “Queer Pride Festival”. With funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Greg conceived, choreographed and produced a short film titled "Cell Block Tango: Reimagined" which was screened as part of the Toronto Outdoor Picture Show. Greg is very excited to be choreographing "Into The Woods" at the Grand Theatre in London this fall as well as developing a new queer musical and a dance film. www.everybodyonstage.com 

Instagram: @gregcarruthers 

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