Stagecraft with Gordon Cox

Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, the stars of the new Broadway musical "Maybe Happy Ending," on cross-cultural storytelling, navigating their show's technologically complex set, and why robots are uniquely suited to telling a very human story.

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In this supersized episode of Stagecraft, we bring you three conversations from Variety's Business of Broadway breakfast, featuring the stars, creators and producers behind some of the biggest shows on Broadway this fall.

In our first conversation, Erik Piecuch of City National Bank moderates a discussion with the producers Hunter Arnold ("Maybe Happy Ending," "Othello"), Caroline Kaplan ("Redwood"), Mara Isaacs ("Gypsy," "Hadestown"), and Sammy Lopez ("How to Dance in Ohio," "JOB").

In our second talk, Variety's Rebecca Rubin talks with four of the stars of the new Broadway revival of "Our Town": Zoey Deutch, Jim Parsons, Ephraim Sykes and Michelle Wilson.

And in our final interview, Variety's Brent Lang talks to two of the creative forces behind the buzzy new revival of "Sunset Boulevard," star Nicole Scherzinger and director Jamie Lloyd.

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The Tony-winning playwright and Oscar and Tony-winning director talk memory, loss and making “The Hills of California,” their latest Broadway play. Plus: the joys and pitfalls of franchise moviemaking.

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The "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-0" actor takes listeners behind the scenes of his return to Broadway, portraying a flawed, fictionalized version of the playwright David Henry Hwang in Hwang's comedy of mistaken racial identities, "Yellow Face."

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Jeanine Tesori, the Tony winning composer of “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Fun Home,”

talks about her upcoming Metropolitan Opera debut, “Grounded,” and what it’s like when a musical theater composer finds herself working with an 80-piece orchestra and 60-voice ensemble. Also discussed: the launch of the “Kimberly Akimbo” national tour, the revisions she and David Lindsay-Abaire made to “Shrek,” and why “Soft Power,” the musical she wrote with David Henry Hwang, is like the Renaissance Faire.

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There's a new tarot deck that brings Broadway to the tarot through the work of legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld — and I got a taste of the deck in action with a reading from its creator, Emily McGill, in a conversation about the spirituality of theater, the "casting" of theatrical icons as specific tarot cards, and how theater fans might use the deck for insight and self-reflection.

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Talking with Tony-winning Broadway star, who says she’s playing “an unhinged version of myself” in the new Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress.”

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Behind the scenes with three of the creators of "Cats: The Jellicle Ball," the colorful, queer reimagining of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that's become a breakout hit of the summer.

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Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, the directing-producing duo behind the Tony Awards telecast, talk wowing the audience, innovating the staging, and why the Tonys always have the best acceptance speeches.

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The Tony-nominated star of "Appropriate," Sarah Paulson, and its nominated playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins share some real talk about Tony season, reveal how the extended run of "Appropriate" has changed things both for the actors on onstage and for the audiences in the house, and banter about why Paulson should maybe play Prince in "Purple Rain."

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