On the Saturday July 19, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse we meet Louise Pitre. Often hailed as Canada’s first lady of musical theatre, she is a Tony-nominated actress renowned for her powerful performances on Broadway and across North America and Europe. Best known for originating the role of Donna Sheridan in “Mamma Mia!,” she has also played Fantine in “Les Misérables” and Edith Piaf in “The Angel & the Sparrow” among many others. Today we talk about “Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812,” an innovative musical from Mirvish that follows Natasha’s scandalous affair and Pierre’s existential crisis amidst the backdrop of 19th-century Moscow, drawn from Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”

Then, we’ll meet British author, academic, and adventurer Robert Macfarlane. A Cambridge University fellow, Macfarlane’s work often reflects his deep engagement with wild places, from ancient pathways to subterranean realms, earning him acclaim for his evocative prose and environmental advocacy. Today we talk about his new book “Is a River Alive?” a book that suggests rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings, who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law.

On the Saturday July 12, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. You know the Canadian Screen Award winner as family patriarch Appa on “Kim’s Convenience,” and as Inspector Albert Choi, the new head of Station House No 4, on “Murdoch Mysteries” and as Captain Carson Teva on the Star War series “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Ahsoka.”

We’ll also meet a guest who began his career as a child actor, appearing in everything from “Back tio the Future II” to Internal Affairs opposite Richard Gere. He became an international star after playing Frodo Baggins in the acclaimed “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He’s Elijah Wood, and his extensive filmography now includes “Bookworm,” an intriguing film about a 12-year-old named Mildred whose life is turned upside down when her mother lands in hospital and estranged, American magician father, Strawn Wise, played by Elijah Wood, comes to look after her. Hoping to entertain the bookish tween, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness, and the pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding — a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.

Then, we spend time with Gabrielle Drolet, a journalist, essayist, and cartoonist based in Montreal. She regularly contributes cartoons to The New Yorker and the Globe and Mail and is the first woman to receive a National Newspaper Award nomination for Editorial Cartooning. In 2020, she developed a condition that made her unable to use her hands. It only worsened over time, and as a writer and artist, she had to learn new ways of creating and expressing herself. She placed her first cartoon in The New Yorker—and then was unable to draw for a full year. She has since found ways around this using graphic design software, exercises, and many, many breaks, but the experience has completely changed her life.

She writes about her experiences in her new book, “Look Ma, No Hands: A Chronic Pain Memoir,” an often funny but profound book on chronic pain, accessibility, and young adulthood.

On the Saturday July 5, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we celebrate Canadian music and the people who make it.

We meet Kevan Staples, co-founder of the legendary Rough Trade. In this interview from 2021 Staples, who passed away earlier this year, talks about his legendary band and their best-known song, “High School Confidential.”

Household name Randy Bachman stops by. He’s best known as the lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member of the 1960s and 1970s rock bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman was also a member of Brave Belt, Union and Ironhorse, and has recorded numerous solo albums. He is also a national radio personality and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016… In this interview we talk about where it all began for him.

We’ll listen to an interview from my archive with legendary musician Robbie Robertson. The Band guitar player, who passed away in 2023, joined me several years ago to talk about his earliest musical inspirations, how he was booed by Bob Dylan’s audience and how he once almost turned to a life of crime when he couldn’t get gigs.

And, we’ll get to know Mike Downie, director of “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” the definitive four-part documentary series about the band who, as the programmers of TIFF noted earlier this year, “went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.”

On the Saturday June 28, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet acclaimed Canadian filmmaker R.T. Thorne. Known for his work on television series like The Porter and Utopia Falls, he brings a unique perspective shaped by his Trinidadian and Chinese heritage, as well as his roots in Calgary and Toronto.

Today we’ll talk about “40 Acres,” a poignant exploration of family, survival, and resilience that premiered at TIFF and garnered praise at festivals like SXSW and Red Sea. It’s a post-apocalyptic film starring Danielle Deadwyler and Michael Greyeyes, in which a family fights invaders and cannibals to protect their remote 40-acre plot of land.

Canadian Olympic gold medalist, television host, and inspirational speaker Jon Montgomery. He won the men’s skeleton event at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, famously celebrating with a “beer walk” through Whistler Village, and since 2013, he has hosted “The Amazing Race Canada,” earning two Canadian Screen Awards. Today we’ll talk about his latest project, “Savour the North” is a new, docu-style cooking series showcasing Canadian brands, recipes and the unique, authentic stories behind them.

On the Saturday June 21, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we spend some time with 8x JUNO Award-winning and multi-Platinum selling blues-rock artist Colin James. He released the first of his eighteen albums in 1988. He’s had international hit singles like “Five Long Years,” he’s worked with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bonnie Raitt, Albert Collins, Pops Staples, Robert Cray, Albert King and Mavis Staples to name a few. He appeared on an episode of the television program Corner Gas and gave a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II. Today, we talk about his first band, his new record “Chasing the Sun,” the impact Stevie Ray Vaughn had on his career and working with regular collaborators like Tom Wilson and Colin Linden.

Then, Brittlestar, also known as Stewart Reynolds, is a social media personality and author of two books. His last book, the best-selling “Welcome to the Stupidpocalypse: Survival Tips for the Dumbageddon,” is a collection of short comedic essays on politics, life, and more as a field guide for life.

His latest book, available now wherever fine books are sold, is “Lessons From Cats For Surviving Fascism.” Through humor, sharp insights, and unapologetic defiance, the book lays out eleven essential cat-inspired strategies for resisting control and reclaiming power. From staying nimble and unpredictable to demanding what you need with the confidence of a hungry tabby, each chapter is packed with lessons that are as subversive as they are practical.

On the Saturday June 14, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet meet JUNO Award-winning Indigenous artist Crystal Shawanda. Born and raised on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario, Crystal began her career in country music, signing with RCA Nashville. After parting ways with the label, she launched New Sun Records and shifted her focus to the blues. Her highly anticipated new album “Sing Pretty Blues,” blends blues and Southern country soul with Stax, Chess and Motown influences, is available now via her very own label, New Sun Records on all streaming platforms.

Then, Canadian director, playwright, and screenwriter, Celine Song stops by. In 2023 she became a Hollywood darling with her Oscar nominated feature film debut, “Past Lives.” The film, nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, follows two childhood best friends who reunite in adulthood years after one emigrates from South Korea to the United States.

She returns to theatres with a new film staring Dakota Johnson. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the Rom Com Capitol of the World®, “Materialists” sees Johnson play Lucy, a matchmaker for the rich and famous. She has arranged nine marriages but personally keeps romance at arm’s length after a messy break-up. Things change for the “eternal bachelorette” when she meets wealthy charm-bomb Harry Castillo, played by Pedro Pascal. As romance blossoms, Lucy’s life is upended by the return of her broke ex-boyfriend, John, played by Chris Evans, forcing her to choose between a perfect match and her imperfect ex.

Then, Eric McCormack, you know him as as Will Truman of the TV series Will & Grace, a role that won him won a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy Award stops by to talk about his new Hollywood Suite show “Hell Motel.” On the creep new show, 10 true crime obsessives are invited to the opening weekend of the newly renovated Cold River Motel, the site of a 30-year-old unsolved Satanic Mass Murder. History repeats itself when the guests get start getting knocked off one by one.

Eric plays Hemmingway, a chef with a wickedly sinister flair. In this interview we talk about Hell Motel, and how to play dead on camera.

On the Saturday June 7, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet magician and New York Times crossword constructor David Kwong. A Harvard graduate with a passion for the history of magic, he created “The Enigmatist,” an acclaimed theatrical show combining immersive puzzles and illusions that the Chicago Reader said, has one a-ha moment after another. David brings the show to Toronto at the Black Box Theatre until June 22. Get more info tickets at starvoxent.com.

Then, we’ll get to know Matthew Lillard, one of the stars of the new film “The Life of Chuck,” an adaptation of a Stephen King novella. You know him as Stu Macher in “Scream,” and became a household name as Shaggy Rogers in the live-action Scooby-Doo films. Today we talk about stepping into Stephen King’s world, especially in a non-horror story like The Life of Chuck.

Finally, we’ll meet Nashville-based, P.E.I. raised rising country artist Alli Walker, who was recently announced as the opener for Shania Twain’s Toronto show on July 16 at The Theatre at The Great Canadian Casino Resort. This marks Alli’s second time sharing the stage with Shania—following their viral moment at the 2024 Churchill Music Festival, where Shania invited Alli onstage to showcase her bagpipe skills, captivating millions online.

With a unique blend of traditional country sounds and pop/rock sensibilities, showcased in hits like “I Like Big Trucks,” “Creek,” and “Dirt On Us,” Alli has quickly become one of the most exciting voices in the genre.

On the Saturday May 31, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet one of country music’s most exciting and dynamic new voices, Niko Moon. He first garnered attention as a co-writer for Zac Brown Band, contributing to hits like “Homegrown” and “Beautiful Drug.” He has also wrote songs for Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, Rascal Flatts, and Morgan Wallen before breaking out as a solo artist with his 2020 multi-platinum single “Good Time”.

His debut solo album "Good Time" showcased his ability to write a catchy-hook and he continued to deliver the optimism and hope he’s been known for on 2024 album "Better Days" and on his latest releases, "These Are the Days" and "These Are the Nights."

This tour follows Niko’s latest EPs "These Are The Days" and "These Are The Nights," which features great tunes like “Money Can’t Buy” and “Summer Don’t Go”.

Then, we’ll get to know Pete Crighton. He came of age in the early/mid 1980s in the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Growing up in Toronto, he was terrified that his friends and schoolmates would find out that he was gay at a time when being gay felt like a death sentence. He found comfort in music and eventually curated a massive record collection. That music, and his mid-life sexual awakening, from one-night stands to friendships resulting from app-based hookups, is the subject of his new book “The Vinyl Diaries: Sex, Deep Cuts, and My Soundtrack to Queer Joy.”

On the Saturday May 24, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Farren Timoteo, star, Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer of “Made in Italy,” a tour-de-force solo show packed with disco, fantastic singing and a host of hilarious character, which plays at the CAA Theatre in Toronto until June 8, 2025.

Based on his Italian family, in particular his father, it’s the story of an Italian teenager growing up in Jasper, Alberta in the 1970s, caught between two worlds and determined to make his mark. Farren and the show are the winners of a shelfful of awards, including the Calgary Theatre Critic's Award for Outstanding Performance in a One-Person Show.

Then we’ll meet Christophe Lebold, the professor of literature, performance studies and rock culture from Strasbourg, France whose book, “Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall,” is being called “an extraordinary piece of work, at every level” and the best book ever written on Leonard Cohen.

On the Saturday May 17, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Keith Elliot Greenberg. Before obtaining a college degree at Queens College in Communication in journalism, this longtime pro wrestling fan began writing pro wrestling stories professionally at age 19. Since then, Keith Elliot Greenberg has become a noted pro wrestling historian, who is also a New York Times best-selling author. His illustrious work includes writing for WWF Magazine and penning the autobiographies of pro wrestling legends, i.e. “Classy” Freddie Blassie, “Superstar” Billy Graham and Ric Flair.

Today we’re talking about his latest book, "Bigger! Better! Badder: WrestleMania III and the Year It All Changed." It is the story behind Wrestlemania III, told from the perspective of company executives, wrestlers who appeared on the card, fans who attended the show, and other wrestling personalities.

Then, we’ll meet writer, producer and director Bruce David Klein. His new film, “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story,” about stage and screen legend Liza Minnelli premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews. The Hollywood Reporter called it a "gorgeous portrait", Deadline called it a "must-see", and The Wrap said it is "delightful."

We’ll talk about the movie, Liza and find out what makes the film a truly terrific absolutely true story.