The Performers Podcast

Gil Garratt is the artistic director at the Blyth Festival, which focuses on new play development and work with rural themes. Plays developed at Blyth have been produced around the world, which is impressive especially considering Blyth is a rural town of 1,000 people. In our conversation Garratt shares his progressive thoughts on the Canadian dramaturgical and development process, adding that working on comedies can be the most divisive of all genres. I have witnessed, in the rehearsal of comedy, more relationships destroyed, friendships obliterated over the course of the comedy, than I have working in tragedy. Garratt graduated from the National Theatre School's Playwriting Program and holds an Honours BA from the University of Waterloo, and an MA from the University of Guelph.

Michael Rubinoff is the Associate Dean of Sheridan College's Department of Visual and Performing Arts. He's also the creator and a producer of the Broadway hit musical "Come From Away." If you have ever wondered how an idea becomes a Broadway show you'll love this episode. We start out by talking about Michael's time studying law at the University of Western Ontario and then move into the process behind developing his idea for a musical into a Broadway hit.

Ken Cuperus is an award winning screenwriter and producer. We met decades ago when Ken approached me after a performance at the Winnipeg Fringe festival, asking if I'd help his comedy troupe. A few years later Ken and his pals, known as the Brave New Weasels, were performing to sold out crowds at Fringe Festivals. We talk about the gutsy move to leave the comfort of being a big finish in a small pond, Winnipeg, to start with nothing more than one month's rent in Toronto. We also touch on working with Gene Simmons and Ken's worst pitch meeting.

Robert Chafe is an award winning playwright whose work has been seen across Canada, the UK, and Australia. Two of his plays ("Tempting Providence" and "Butler's Marsh"), were shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Drama. His play "Afterimage" won the award in 2010. Robert is Artistic Director and playwright for Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, where he frequently collaborates with NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley. In the podcast we discuss his transition from playwriting to writing a collection of short stories. Robert shares his experience seeing his plays on stage and watching the audiences' reaction to them. He mentions that observing audiences has lead him to understand that "how I feel about my work actually has nothing to do with how an audience is going to experience it."

Irene Sankoff and David Hein are the co-writers of the hit Broadway show "Come From Away." We talk about how Irene and David interviewed people to create the foundation for the musical. They explain the development process, with theatre students at The Canadian Music Theatre Project, which is part of the Sheridan College Music Theatre Performance Program. They also worked with Goodspeed Musicals, a non-profit organization dedicated to musical theater based in Connecticut. Come From Away is a perfect intersection of David's love of folk music and Irene's love of Broadway musicals.

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Stephanie Rothenberg is currently an ensemble member in "Sunset Boulevard," with Glenn Close, on Broadway. Prior to appearing in "Sunset Boulevard," Rothenberg was a part of the original Broadway ensemble of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe and understudied the role of Rosemary, performing it many times opposite Radcliffe She then assumed the role full time when Nick Jonas replaced Radcliffe. Between Broadway appearances Stephanie starred as Maria in "The Sound of Music" at the Stratford Festival, she appeared in Aziz Ansari's popular Netflix show "Master of None" and acted in an award winning short film that might be on its way to an Oscar nod in 2018. I spoke with Stephanie, between performances in New York, about the high and lows of life on stage as well as the difference between the ensemble in "How to Succeed" vs. "Sunset Boulevard."

Sandra's career began in Toronto on the stages of The Second City and the legendary night club The Rivoli where she shared the highs and lows of a struggling young performer with fellow entertainers including The Kids in the Hall. But it was at the Edmonton Fringe Festival where Sandra finally broke out, with her hit show "My Boyfriend's Back and There's Going to be Laundry." A few years later, she started a new life, moving to a farm where, she took a break from creating and traversed her internal landscape, surveying her life, and how it intersected with those around her. And soon the former urban dweller let herself fall into the rhythms the surrounding nature. She's performed at top theatres in Canada and is recognized for not only her writing and performing, but her work as an impresario.

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Joseph was born in Minneapolis and studied theatre at the University of Minnesota. He was accepted into the National Theatre School of Canada and graduated in 1979. From 1980-82 he was a member of Christopher Newton's first acting ensemble at The Shaw Festival. In the podcast he talks about performing with Nora McLellan in Brecht's "A Respectable Wedding." As well as being part of the Stratford Festival company from 1984-87, Ziegler appeared in many TV shows including "Street Legal," "North of 60" and "ENG." In 1990 Robin Phillips invited him to play Clarence opposite Denzel Washington in a New York production of "Richard III" in Central Park. Ziegler's work with Philips, as well as other influential directors comes up in the podcast. In 2010 he played Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" at Soulpepper opposite Nancy Palk his wife. He mentions that despite his love of Shakespeare it was his favourite role. Ziegler is currently appearing as Henry VIII in the Soulpepper production of "The Last Wife," featuring the original cast from The Stratford Festival. In response to a listener's question from Facebook we touch on the similarities between Donald Trump and Henry VIII. Ziegler shares one of the greatest lessons he ever learned about acting when he was the understudy for "Othello" at Stratford and unexpectedly had to play the role with no rehearsal.

Seán Cullen was regular on the Tonight Show and he's appeared on stages in Chicago, Toronto and at the Stratford Festival. He writes books for young readers, his "Hamish X and The Cheese Pirates," won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Book. Plus he has a podcast, the Seanpod, and with all that going on he still finds time to play hockey three times a week. Seán Cullen and I talk about his improvisation and writing, as well as his path to success in comedy. He also talks about his work on stage and why he describes his time performing 8 shows a week in "The Producers" as "just trying not to get sick." Seán mentions his time as a CBC Radio host and says "I was rambling completely and this drove the CBC Mad." But his rambling got the attention of a book publisher that led to the opportunity to his write books for young readers. Seán's Books: Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain The Prince of Neither Here Nor There The Prince of Two Tribes[Paperback]

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Ross Petty is one of Canada's most successful and enduring theatrical impresarios. For the past 20 years he's been producing family musicals at Toronto's historic Elgin theatre. The shows are in the tradition of the British holiday Pantomime, where actors ad lib and the audience interacts with the antics on stage. If you've ever produced a show you'll want to listen because Ross talks about how he went from being an actor in the show to taking over as producer, getting sponsors, hiring writers, actors, being the driving force behind one of Canada's most successful, ongoing theatrical events and how he recovered when he lost money. I forgot to mention as well as doing all that Ross also stars in the shows, wearing a dress. Ross has performed at Le Lido in Paris and appeared with Betty Grable in the London West End musical Belle Starr. He made his Broadway debut in Arthur Kopit's Wings, created the role of Eddie Dorrance on All My Children, and co-starred with Ginger Rogers and Sid Caesar in a national tour of Cole Porter's Anything Goes.