The Quiet Part Out Loud

Claybourne Elder (The Gilded Age, Company) is one of the nicest guys in show business. What follows is a surprising and vulnerable conversation about the personal costs of people pleasing, even when it might make others more comfortable.

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Whitney Bashor (MJ, The Bridges of Madison County) has the voice of an angel. And what are angels other than perfect? In this episode, Whitney discusses the origins of her perfectionism, which drove her as a child through obedience, body image, and achievement. She shares the surprising drawbacks of having a talent that others perceive to be so perfect, and the work she has done, both as an individual and as an artist, to banish the impossibility of perfection from the menu, and to replace it with the much more interesting complexity of being human.

Help guide the show with me! Submit your request for guest and/or topic(s) to cover by visiting https://bpn.fm/quietquestions

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Daniel Isaac just finished a seven year run on the hit TV show Billions. He shares the story of his "good boy" part. He’s the son of a single mother, a Korean immigrant and devout Christian who he felt an intense responsibility to represent. From his from earliest memory, we was not just Daniel, but he was a representative of his family, of immigrants, of Koreans, and literally, of God himself.  As an adult, Daniel has found happiness in creating his own value systems, and is still on the quest for how to define goodness on his own terms.

Help guide the show with me! Submit your request for guest and/or topic(s) to cover by visiting https://bpn.fm/quietquestions

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Ben and Bobby met doing the Broadway revival of Ragtime. Ben was 11, Bobby was 27. Fast forward, now Ben is 26 and starring in the Broadway production of Illinoise. He is on the verge of a big moment, one that he is intent on staying present and grateful for, no matter how it unfolds. The actors discuss hard won lessons in leading with expectations that have led to disappointment and loss of core purpose, while sharing how they both returned to values that redefine success in more personal terms.

Help guide the show with me! Submit your request for guest and/or topic(s) to cover by visiting https://bpn.fm/quietquestions

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Shannon Tyo (2023 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence) is a prolific and versatile actor who can take on just about any role. She shares her experience as a transracial, transnational adoptee, and how the mysterious unknown of her origins was the source of her vivid imagination - something that has led to enormous strengths as an artist, and also something she's had to work on in terms of choosing the narratives that serve us best.

Help guide the show with me! Submit your request for guest and/or topic(s) to cover by visiting https://bpn.fm/quietquestions

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Rory O’Malley (The Book of Mormon, Hamilton) is a fellow performer of inspiring perspective and heart and kindness.  In this episode, we discuss the parts of us that are driven by ambition - how powerful it can be in the life of a younger performer, and how that ambition is so often driven by the need to be seen, to be validated, and ultimately, to stave off the pain of shame. Rory shares how his ambitious parts have entirely transformed through his experience as a parent, and as someone whose values have found home in family, health, curiosity for the moment.

Help guide the show with me! Submit your request for guest and/or topic(s) to cover by visiting https://bpn.fm/quietquestions

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Have you ever wondered how your favorite performer actually feels? Well, here’s your chance! Tony nominee and psychotherapist Bobby Steggert dives deep with Broadway's finest. Part interview/part therapy, he goes right to the heart of things with some of your favorite artists - What they still struggle with. What lessons they’ve learned. What they haven’t figured out yet.  There’s enormous power in saying the quiet part out loud...are you listening?

Help guide the show with me! Submit your request for guest and/or topic(s) to cover by visiting https://bpn.fm/quietquestions

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