In this episode, we explore My Excellency with presenter and reader Jonathan Cohen, an award-winning poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of inter-American literature, whose work has focused extensively on bringing Spanish-language literature to English-speaking audiences. Cohen is the editor of My Excellency, his edition of William Carlos Williams’s translation of the Puerto Rican play, published by Swan Isle Press in 2025. Joining him is actress, voice-over artist, producer, and arts advocate Gy Mirano, whose work spans theater, film, television, and cultural institutions throughout New York.

We also look at the remarkable connection between Puerto Rican dramatist Luis Rechani Agrait and American modernist poet William Carlos Williams. Rechani Agrait was one of Puerto Rico’s major dramatists of the twentieth century, and My Excellency was first produced in 1940 by the Sociedad Dramática Areyto, an experimental theater company dedicated to developing a distinctly Puerto Rican national theater.

Set in an “imaginary country” resembling Puerto Rico during the Great Depression, My Excellency is a political farce about Buenaventura Padilla, an idealistic but naive man who rises to power through a corrupt election. His pompous language, malapropisms, and hilarious mistakes turn the political satire into a comedy about corruption, materialism, and the corrupting power of success. Williams’s translation preserves the play’s distinctive mixture of popular idiom, nonsense, and verbal invention, bringing Rechani Agrait’s political comedy to a new English-speaking audience.

Together, Cohen and Mirano discuss the play, its Puerto Rican theatrical history, and Williams’s fascinating role as translator—connecting two major literary voices across language, culture, and time.

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Join us for a live podcast recording, talkback, and signing with renowned casting director James Calleri, as he discusses the 9th edition of Acting Professionally: The Essential Guide for the Actor. This updated edition reflects the changing landscape of the acting world, including the impacts of BLM, #MeToo, and the Covid-19 pandemic, while providing practical advice for navigating auditions, representation, and opportunities across stage, screen, and digital platforms.

With decades of experience launching the careers of actors like Elisabeth Moss, Adam Driver, Jessica Chastain, and Sterling K. Brown, Calleri shares insider knowledge, career-building strategies, and essential guidance for actors at any stage of their journey.

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In this episode, Taylor Mac joins us to discuss their latest musical-theatrical work, created with composer Matt Ray and set in ancient Athens on the eve of Socrates’ execution. Sentenced to death for “corrupting the youth,” Socrates spends his final hours debating virtue, singing, dancing, and communing with friends, while Plato attempts to record the events. Blending philosophy, history, and theatrical playfulness, the piece celebrates what cannot be written down: the joyous, essential experience of “the hang.”

The conversation is moderated by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, an Obie and Whiting Award–winning writer and director who was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Public Obscenities. His multidisciplinary work across theater, music, poetry, and film has earned numerous honors, including a United States Artists Fellowship and a Princess Grace Award.

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In this episode, we talk with playwright Ellen Abrams, whose work has been produced Off-Broadway at Urban Stages and whose plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Next Stage Press. Her extensive body of work includes Spark of Life, Closing Time, Lizzie Borden Gets Engaged, Hamlet Investigations, Inc., Giving, and many others, spanning comedy, history, and stories inspired by real people and events.

We dive into her play Eleanor and Alice, which brings together two of the most influential women of the 20th century: Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt. First cousins, friends, rivals, and “frenemies,” the two women meet at eight pivotal moments throughout their complicated lives, debating and arguing over their husbands, children, politics, and the state of the world. Through their sharp exchanges, laughter, and disagreements, Eleanor and Alice explores the remarkable lives of two women who found themselves at the center of American history from very different vantage points.

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Step behind the curtain with Broadway theatre manager Dan Landon in this episode, talkback, as he discusses his memoir From the Back of the House. Spanning four decades and more than 50 shows, Landon shares backstage stories and encounters with Broadway legends, Hollywood icons, and even U.S. Presidents, offering a vivid portrait of an unforgettable era in theatre history.

Joining him is Tony Award-winning actress Priscilla Lopez, who brings her own Broadway insights and moderates a lively discussion about the magic, challenges, and personalities that define life behind the scenes on Broadway.

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Join us for a special conversation presented in partnership with the League of Professional Theatre Women, celebrating the work of five acclaimed theatre artists and authors. Featured guests include playwright Jenny Lyn Bader, playwright and educator Michael angel Johnson, Broadway performer, director, and League President Lynnie Godfrey, theatre historian Alexis Greene, and producer and arts leader Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder.

Together they'll discuss their latest books: The Whole Megillah, a witty reimagining of the Purim story; The Goddess of Hygieia, a play about pioneering women Edmonia Lewis and Dr. Harriot Hunt; Sharing Lessons Learned While Seeking the Spotlight, Lynnie Godfrey's reflections on a life in the theatre; Emily Mann: Rebel Artist of the American Theater, a biography of the groundbreaking playwright and director; and Most Of It Was Beautiful, Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder's memoir chronicling the creation of one of America's most influential theatres for young audiences.

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Join us for a live podcast recording, talkback, and signing with acclaimed playwright and actor Tom Dugan, as he discusses Wiesenthal: The Life of a Nazi Hunter. This riveting one-person play chronicles the extraordinary life of Simon Wiesenthal, who survived Hitler’s SS and dedicated his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice.

Drawing on decades of meticulous research and theatrical expertise, Dugan shares the stories, humor, and courage behind Wiesenthal’s remarkable journey, offering audiences an intimate portrait of “The Conscience of the Holocaust” and the enduring fight for justice.

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In this episode, we sit down with Richard Hoehler to discuss his book Acting Out: How a Prison Theatre Workshop Broke Free. He shares stories from decades of leading theatre workshops with incarcerated men, mounting full productions, and creating transformative spaces for expression, connection, and growth. The episode also features a live performance by members of the Acting Out company.

Richard Hoehler is an award-winning playwright and educator whose work has run Off-Broadway, regionally, and abroad. He founded Acting Out, teaches at HB Studio and Stella Adler, and has led theatre workshops in prisons for over 30 years.

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In this episode, we sit down with Eric Simonson to discuss his memoir Between the Lines: Steppenwolf's Seagull and A Reluctant Actor's Journey Back to the Stage. The book chronicles Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s bold return from the Covid-19 shutdown with a $43 million new theater and a fresh adaptation of The Seagull. For Simonson—an acclaimed writer, director, and longtime Steppenwolf ensemble member—it meant stepping back onstage after 33 years away. Part diary and part history of the Chicago Theatre Renaissance, the memoir takes us behind the scenes of this landmark production while tracing Simonson’s personal battle with stage fright, self-doubt, and rediscovery of the joy of acting.

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Barry M. Putt, Jr. is a playwright and screenwriter whose work centers on identity, resilience, and human connection. His plays and scripts, produced both nationally and internationally, often amplify marginalized voices and explore urgent social themes. Joining the conversation are director Robert Liebowitz, who has helmed more than 100 productions over the course of his career, and cultural consultant Asal Abasian, an Iran-born writer, journalist, and queer feminist activist whose work focuses on exile, gender, and resistance.

Omeed’s Tapestries follows an Iranian shopkeeper and his partner as they prepare to flee their homeland in hopes of living openly as a same-sex couple. When a devout neighbor uncovers their secret, their future is suddenly threatened. Inspired by extensive firsthand accounts and research, the play examines love, fear, and survival under oppression, while highlighting the universal human desire for freedom and dignity.

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