The Ensemblist

She’s defied gravity as an Elphaba standby, “werked!” as Angelica Schuyler, and controlled minds as Allison Hargreeves on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy. But before taking on these roles, Emmy Raver-Lampman had the unique experience of performing in the ensemble of the 2010 national tour of Hair, which ending up playing a Broadway theatre the following summer. Emmy joined me in the studio to chat all about making her Broadway debut and how her experiences as an ensemblist shaped her later work as a principal. Here’s our conversation...

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Ashley Park's portrayal of the hilarious but lovable Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls earned Park nominations for seven separate theatre awards last season. But as I found out when I sat down to speak with her, those are qualities that she also portrayed in her first Broadway outing five years earlier, is an ensemble member in Mamma Mia! during the show's 12th year on Broadway. Here’s a conversation...

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Over the next five weeks, you’ll hear one at a time from the complete ensemble of the newest Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Hadestown, about the characters they’ve created and the careers that got them there.

Afra Hines joined the company of Hadestown fresh off of her performance in the ensemble of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical where she also received the Legacy Robe. She was previously in the original companies Soul Doctor, Motown, Ghost and In the Heights. Afra has toured the country in one of the nation’s companies of Hamilton and was also featured as the show artwork for Shuffle Along: or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. In Hadestown, she plays Worker #2 and covers the role of Persephone. Here’s our conversation…

(Note: We're aware that the audio from this interview is more "echoey" than our typical episode due to our recording location. However, we think that conversation is still great and hope that you'll enjoy!)

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Over the next five weeks, you’ll hear one at a time from the complete ensemble of the newest Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Hadestown, about the characters they’ve created and the careers that got them there.

Timothy Hughes made his Broadway debut in the 2012 production of Chaplin. However, he is probably best known for his role of Strong Man in the film The Greatest Showman and creating the role of Pabbie in the Broadway musical Frozen. In Hadestown, he plays Worker #5 and covers the role of Hades. Here's our conversation...

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Over the next five weeks, you’ll hear one at a time from the complete ensemble of the newest Tony Award winner for Best Musical about the characters they’ve created and the careers that got them there. 

Ahmad Simmons has performed in three original Broadway companies in the last four years: Cats, Carousel and now Hadestown. In addition to performing choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and Justin Peck, he was also featured this spring playing Ben Vereen on the F/X miniseries Fosse/Verdon. In Hadestown, he plays Worker #4 as well as understudying the roles of Hermes and Orpheus. Here’s our conversation...

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Over the next five weeks, you’ll hear one at a time from the complete ensemble of the newest Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Hadestown, about the characters they’ve created and the careers that got them there.

John Krause made his Broadway debut as a replacement in the company of Fun Home. He’s toured in American Idiot and Wicked, as well as playing Drew in the Las Vegas sit-down production of Rock of Ages. John plays Worker #3 in Hadestown as well as understudying the role of Orephus. Here’s our conversation...

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Over the next five weeks, you’ll hear one at a time from the complete ensemble of the newest Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Hadestown, about the characters they’ve created and the careers that got them there.

Kimberly Marable recently completed a five-year residency in the ensemble of The Lion King on Broadway. Beforehand, she had made her Broadway debut as a replacement in Sister Act. In addition to her work onstage, she’s one of the co-founders of Broadway Serves, an organization for community members looking to be the change they want to see in the world. In Hadestown, Kimberly plays Worker #1 and covers the roles of Persephone and the Fates. Here’s our conversation…

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In honor of Black History Month, we're revisiting our July 2019 interviews with the original ensemble of the Tony Award-winning musical, Hadestown. Host Justin Mock looks back at The Ensemblist's interviews with three of the original company members: Afra Hines, Kimberly Marable and Ahmad Simmons.

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Replacing an original company member in a Broadway show is a feat for any performer. But being the first person to replace in a show comes a set of joys and challenges all their own - ones that only get magnified when the show is a huge success like last season’s Tony Award-winning musical, Hadestown. Anthony Chatmon II was deemed that honor when he joined the company earlier this fall, replacing actor Ahmad Simmons as a member of the show’s ensemble. He shared with us what the experience has been like, as well as how it differed from his Broadway debut as a standby on last season’s Be More Chill. Here’s our conversation...

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“Hell on Earth” premiered on April 2, 2012 (Happy...April Fools?). It was written by Scott Burkhardt and directed by Paul McGuigan. The episode was viewed by 6.03 million viewers, which is again down, this time by .11 million. Oof.

Featured Songs? Again, no Bombshell music, unless you count the snippet of the “Arthur Miller Medley” that Brian d’Arcy James sang at the piano, but we did get an original song by Shaiman and Whitman from Heaven on Earth, called “The Higher you Get, the Farther you Fall.” We also get a Times Square cover of “Cheers (Drink to That)” by Rihanna.

Everybody seems to be moving on after Bombshell workshop. Karen is picking up serving shifts and booking orange juice commercials. Ivy is back in Heaven on Earth, probably forever. But she is definitely not enjoying it, as she rolls her eyes and marks her way through performances and taking prescription pills on the side.

Julia’s husband Frank finds sheet music to a song she wrote about former flame Michael Swift. She admits to her affair but Frank storms out, telling her “sorry doesn’t cut it.” Frank confronts Michael, who tells Frank this isn’t the first time they had had an affair. Frank leaves him punched and lying on the sidewalk in front of New York Theatre Workshop, and walks out on Julia and their son Leo. 

Out at a Glasshouse Tavern-type doppelganger, the Marilyn cast laments the production’s need to court a star. Jessica leads the charge, stating “Chasing a star is lame. It’s a musical. It’s a new American musical. Why can’t the songs be the star?” Ivy takes it one step further, digging at Karen that “she walks in with the Midwestern moonface and lands everything.”

Tom, Julia and Derek discuss stars to replace Ivy in the role of Marilyn, as well as a title for the musical about her. But unknown to Derek, Eileen is also meeting with potential new directors of the Marilyn musical, where she is spotted by New York Post columnist Michael Reidel. Derek fumes when he reads Reidel’s column, but agrees to stay on the project as long as Eileen “finds him a star.” Ellis ends up connecting Eileen with an unseen movie star named Rebecca Duvall.

After taking a mysterious prescription at her dressing room station, Ivy takes the Heaven on Earth stage under the influence, falling center stage and getting yelled at by Norbert Leo Butz to “get off the freaking stage.” 

In what is the official jumping the shark of Smash, Ivy Lynn storming out of the Shubert Theatre in costume, wig and mic into Times Square. When Karen, who just happens to there to drop off Ivy’s misplaced sunglasses, follows her out Ivy lashes out at her, Ivy yells “You’re nothing special. There are thousands of girls just like you, millions of girls just like you.”

Karen then follows Ivy into a liquor store, giving her $20 for a bottle of booze and drinking in public on their way into Duffy Square. They then sing an impromptu duet accompanied by a busker on an electronic keyboard, a drummer on five gallon buckets and two guitarists. Tom and Sam end up at an all-night diner until 5am, on what may or may not be a date. But on the bright side, the episode ends with a title for the new Marilyn musical: Bombshell.

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