The Ensemblist

This week, we're turning over the mic to Christine Shepard from the Broadway companies of Head Over Heels and Mean Girls. Today Chris chats with Chris Fink, one of the creators of Radial Park.

Radial Park in Queens is Broadway at the drive-in. An interactive, theatrical experience, from the safety of your own vehicle. Guests will come to enjoy a show on the big screen with live, sing-along entertainment, performed by Broadway stars.

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There isn’t a theatre choreographer more associated with their own unique style than Bob Fosse. The infamous Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning director and choreographer created his own signature technique that distinguished shows like Chicago, Pippin, and Damn Yankees into dance masterpieces. This April, FX launches a new limited television series Fosse/Verdon, based on the 2013 biography by Sam Wesson with a focus on his marriage and collaboration with Gwen Verdon. 

In the third episode of the F/X Fosse/Verdon miniseries, the episode’s primary musical moment does not celebrate Fosse at all. It is a flashback sequence where a young Gwen Verdon, working as a reviewer for the Hollywood Bugle, first sees the work of seminal choreographer Jack Cole. Performing in a nightclub as Cole’s dancers are Eliza Ohman, Adrian Lee, Reed Luplau, Ryan Steele and my guest for this episode, Ricky Ubeda. 

Ricky Ubeda made his Broadway debut in the Broadway revivals of On The Town, which he joined just after winning the 11th season of television’s So You Think You Can Dance. Since then, he’s become a mainstay of the Broadway stage, playing Mistoffelees in the revival of Cats and in the revival Carousel choreographed by Justin Peck.

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In the wake of COVID-19, never has it been more time-sensitive than to provide a virtual home and community for creatively displaced theatrical artists and creators.

In this edition, we spoke with award winning Director and Choreographer Jason A. Sparks, President and Theatrical Director of Fosters Theatrical Artist Residency. Fosters is a new nonprofit organization designed to support and nurture artists and their new theatrical works to their truest, greatest potential. 

Special thanks to Jason A. Sparks for opening up about Fosters Theatrical Artist Residency. If you would like more information, please visit FostersResidency.org.

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Although many of us may be inclined to skip the song “A Sentimental Man” on the Wicked cast recording, keep your thumb away from that skip button. Kevin Bianchi and Quincy Brown have launched SENTIMENTAL MEN, a new interview-based podcast about musical theatre and the women who make it wonderful. 

In their premiere season, Quincy and Kevin are taking a deep dive into the musical Wicked from Elphaba’s point of view, joined by a different actress who has performed the role in each episode. There are currently five episodes available for streaming, featuring conversations with actresses such as Lindsay Pearce, Caroline Bowman and this one, with longtime Wicked ensemble member and Elphaba understudy Stephanie Torns.

New episodes are scheduled to be released every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most major platforms. For more information, you can find them on social @sentmenpod or email them at [email protected].

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At the 2020 TheaterMakers’ Summit about “The Art of the Pivot," The Ensemblist's Mo Brady spoke to four titans of the American musical theatre about their love for theatre, how that love was satisfied as a performer and how they’ve pivoted that love into a different mode of creation. Please enjoy a portion of that conversation, with Asmeret Ghebremichael, Stephanie Klemons, Steve Rosen and Luis Salgado.

Special thanks to Ken Davenport, Mary Dina and the team at TheaterMakers Summit 2020 for allowing us to share a portion of the conversation with you. To hear this full panel, as well as dozens of others you can still gain access to the summit at TheTheaterMakersStudio.com.

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“Me and My Baby” premiered on April 23rd, 2019. It was written by Debora Cahn, and directed by Adam Bernstein. In this episode we are treated to our first numbers not originally choreographed by Bob Fosse: the opening dream sequence to “Wilkommen” and the Jack Cole revue number, both choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. Portraying a bevy of beautiful secretaries are Mackenzie Bell, Anna Noble, Sam Farrow, Mindy Wallace and sisters Leigh-Ann and Sara Esty. In a flashback to Gwen’s early career in Los Angeles, we also see a quintet of Broadway’s best: Adrian Lee, Ricky Ubeda, Ryan Steele and Reed Luplau, all centered around the flawless Eliza Ohman. 

While the titular song from Chicago does not appear in the episode, the featured music that does all comes from the musical Cabaret, with music and lyrics by Kander & Ebb. We are treated to Ethan Slater portraying the legendary Joel Grey in “Wilkommen” and “Two Ladies” accompanied audibly by Alysha Umphress and Morgan Weed, and visually by Lindsay Dunn and Kaitlyn Edgar, as well as footage of Kelli Barrett singing “Mein Herr” from a previous episode.

Bob ends his vacation early to begin the editing process of the Cabaret film, but is not happy to find that the editing team has already created an “unwatchable” rough cut that makes him feel like the world is falling apart. Bouncing into Gwen’s apartment with Chinese food, he asks Gwen to join him in the editing room because he’s “feeling a little lost right now.” However, Gwen isn’t available to assist Bob because she’s going to be in rehearsals for a play - a straight play - called Children! Children! 

The two play power struggle with their daughter Nicole, both claiming that they can’t be responsible for her while they are working. When Gwen passes her off to Bob for a dinner meeting with her manager Mel, Bob passes her off to his friend Paddy. When Gwen finds out, she explodes at Bob who considers watching his own daughter a favor.

Being taken advantage of by Bob reminds Gwen of her teenage self living in Culver City, California, when caught the eye of James Henaghen, a prominent theatre critic who rapes, impregates and then agrees to marry the young Verdon. Filling in for her deadbeat husband, he reviews a performance of the Jack Cole dancers and realizes she needs to perform for him, leaving her bastard infant son with her parents to go on tour.

In addition to playing wife and mother to Bob, the writers of Children! Children! want Gwen, two-time Tony Award winner, to audition for the role. She pretends to love the audition process: “it’s like a first date with a new crush,” and gets the part, although Mel confides in her that she was “not everyone’s first choice.” In rehearsal Gwen gets singled out with more notes and adjustments than she’s used to, a sharp juxtaposition to how she was lauded for her performance in Can Can. Feeling inept at her work in the rehearsal room, Gwen offers her services in Bob’s editing bay where she is subservient but shines.

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We’re revisiting our 2015 interview with Krysta Rodriguez. In 2006, Krysta performed in the ensemble of the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening, understudying four principal roles. 9 years later, she took on Ilse, one of the roles she previously understudied, in the show’s Broadway revival. In our conversation, Krysta chats all about how the two productions differed, why she wanted to revisit the material, and how she approached the role differently her second time around.

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There isn’t a theatre choreographer more associated with their own unique style than Bob Fosse. The infamous Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning director and choreographer created his own signature technique that distinguished shows like Chicago, Pippin, and Damn Yankees into dance masterpieces. This April, FX launches a new limited television series Fosse/Verdon, based on the 2013 biography by Sam Wesson with a focus on his marriage and collaboration with Gwen Verdon. 

The second episode focuses on the creation of Damn Yankees, from rehearsals in New York to its out of town tryout in New Haven, CT. In the episode, Fosse inserts a mambo-inspired dance duet called “Who’s Got The Pain?” into the show to showcase Verdon and a dancer named Eddie Phillips, played by this week’s guest Ryan VanDenBoom. A veteran of Broadway’s Bandstand, Ryan VanDenBoom has performed on screen before as a sailor in the Channing Tatum-led film Hail, Caesar!. In Fosse/Verdon, he has one of the series’ largest dance features. Here's our conversation...

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On November 13, 1997, 23 years ago today, Disney Theatrical Productions opened The Lion King at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre. It was a smash hit, winning six Tony Awards, leading to numerous productions all over the world, and becoming the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time. The Lion King is currently the third longest-running Broadway show and has dazzled audiences for an impressive 9,302 performances and counting. 

Although performances are currently paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of The Lion King’s beloved cast members are joining us to share some of their favorite memories of working on the show. These pieces were originally shared on our blog to celebrate The Lion King’s 20th anniversary in 2017. Here, in their own words, are Rosie Lani Fiedelman, Blake Hammond, Kimberly Marable, Arbender Robinson & L. Steven Taylor:

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On this episode, we’re revisiting our 2013 conversation with Harvey Evans. We chat all about the tradition of the Legacy Robe, the history, the ceremony, Harvey’s memories from the two shows he received it for, and so much more. 

Please note that when this interview was recorded, the Legacy Robe was known as the Gypsy Robe. The name was changed in 2018, because of the insensitive nature of its previous title.

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