The Roundtable with Robert Bannon

To Be Young.... I received an email from a 16 year old aspiring Musical Theatre Writer/SuperFan of Broadway who I just had to meet! This is what she said...

"I’m a 16-year-old theater kid working on writing a Broadway musical. I’m a big fan of The Roundtable, and I admire how you engage with such a diverse range of artists, providing insightful and fun conversations that explore their journeys and the craft behind their work.The musical I’m creating, titled 355, is entirely written by teens and follows spies in war-torn 18th century NYC. It captures the essence of Gossip Girl meets Bridgerton meets the Eras Tour. Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with Broadway producers, collaborate with emerging creators, and even be featured on the TODAY Show."

Folks! She is only 16 years old and she is out here hustling, connecting, and working better than most 40 year olds I know! Well, she used social media and connected to theatre influencers to make it happen! We had to find out more! Listen to hear how the youth is creating and cheers for the next generation!

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We admit it! We are some Claymates here at The Roundtable! That second season of Idol was LIFE! Did you know that Clay's iconic Christmas Album is tied for the biggest first week of Holiday sales with Celine Dion!? Well, Clay is back with a new album full of classics and he is singing the only way Clay knows how!

Catapulting to fame on season two of American Idol, he became the first Idol alum in history to have his first single debut at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, to have a single certified platinum and to have an album certified triple platinum. As a concert artist he’s played some of the most iconic venues in North America, including on the 2003 Independent Tour which Clay co-headlined with Kelly Clarkson. Clay’s album, Measure Of A Man, also debuted at #1 with the highest first week sales by a debut artist.

His 2004 holiday release, Merry Christmas With Love, set a record for the fastest selling holiday album of the SoundScan era and remains tied for the highest charting debut of a holiday album in Billboard history. Beyond all of his successes (and near successes) his proudest accomplishment remains his son, Parker. 

Stream "Christmas Bells Are Ringing" Today! Follow Clay on IG - @clayaiken

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

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Three-time Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin making his New York solo cabaret debut “Finding the Joy” on Sunday, November 24 and Monday, November 25 at 7:00 PM. Sold-out west coast audiences have raved about this evening of song, comedy, backstage stories, his insane rise to fame on TikTok, and much more. There will be special guests, surprises and lots of love, light and laughter. Chamberlin will be joined by his music director Michael Orland. Livestream options are available for both shows. Kevin Chamberlin grew up in Moorestown, NJ. In 1985, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Rutgers University. In 2000, Kevin originated the role of Charlie in Claudia Shear’s Dirty Blonde, which earned him his first Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations. The following year, he received his second Tony, Drama Desk and Grammy nominations for playing Horton the Elephant in Seussical. In 2010, he received his third Tony nomination for his portrayal of Uncle Fester in The Addams Family. Other Broadway credits include Amos Hart in Chicago, starring opposite Rita Wilson and pop star Usher. In 2007, he starred in a revival of Terrance McNally’s The Ritz opposite Rosie Perez, directed by Joe Mantello and spent a year playing the Wizard in Wicked on Broadway in 2018. He also appeared on Broadway in My Favorite Year, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and Triumph of Love. Most recently, Kevin starred opposite Phillipa Soo, Jesse Mueller, and Steven Pasquale in Guys and Dolls, receiving the prestigious Helen Hayes Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Along with his producer/director Sam Kite, Kevin has amassed over 11 million followers on TikTok. His viral videos include “Anyone Can Cook” for Ratatouille the TikTok Musical, the first online crowd-sourced musical which raised over 2 million dollars for The Actors Fund during the pandemic. His film credits include Charlie in Die Hard with a Vengeance, In and Out, Suspect Zero, Taking Woodstock (directed by Ang Lee), Lucky Number Slevin, The Road to Perdition (directed by Sam Mendes), Christmas with the Kranks, Trick, and most recently The Prom, co-starring with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and James Corden, and directed by Ryan Murphy. Kevin’s numerous TV credits include the upcoming “Duster” for HBO MAX, “Outer Range,” “The Really Loud Family,” “Grace and Frankie,” “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Modern Family,” “Younger,” “Heroes,” “CSI:NY,” “Frasier,” “nip/tuck,” “Without a Trace,” and “Law & Order: SVU.” Family audiences will recognize him as the lovable butler “Bertram” on Disney Channel’s long-running hit sitcom “Jessie.” Kevin Chamberlin will perform “Finding the Joy” on Sunday, November 24 and Monday, November 25 at 7:00 PM at The Green Room 42 (570 Tenth Avenue at 42nd Street, on the 4th Floor of Yotel). The cover charge ranges from $50-$90. A livestream option is available for $20. For tickets, please visit www.TheGreenRoom42.com __________________________________________________________________

Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

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Ava Monroe is an American Jazz/Soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is the daughter of Sports History Makers, Professional Heavyweight Boxer, Marty Monroe and Author, Jean Dancy.

Ava Started her professional singing career singing behind Michael Jackson at the Super Bowl. "Hearing Billie Jean blasting over the Rose Bowl's sound system, while Michael rehearsed let me know for certain, music would be my path forever."

Ava has been blessed to share the stage with some of the best musical talent in the world: Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie, Kanye West, Patti LaBelle, Fantasia, Yolanda Adams, The Clark Sisters, Smokie Norful, Miki Howard, Kayla Parker, Queen, and Dennis Edwards, lead singer of the famed Temptations.

Ava has performed on The Grammys, American Idol, Idol Gives Back, The Super Bowl, Soul Train, Nickelodeon and more.

Her new Christmas Album, Wrapped In Love, is out and it is a must listen for the holidays!

For More Info: www.AvaMonroe.com

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

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World-acclaimed harpist Rita Costanzi is returning to the New York stage in the world premiere of Woman on a Ledge, based on Costanzi’s memoir and adapted by Hershey Felder. The production will be directed by Lissa Moira. The show will bow at Theater for the New City (Crystal Field, Artistic Director), 155 First Avenue, New York, NY. 

Has a classical harpist—male or female—ever acted solo in a full-length, autobiographical dramatic play before?

Internationally renowned harpist, Rita Costanzi, brings her fascinating life story to the stage in Woman on a Ledge, a highly personal drama exploring the vulnerabilities experienced by a female musician torn between the needs of herself as an artist vs. those of her role as wife and mother

Woman on a Ledge tells the tale of a sensitive artist’s journey of self-discovery and liberation cruelly interrupted by old-world-Italian-Catholic patriarchal ideas of female place and obligation. The show delves into the most universal themes of life, love, art, devotion, conflict and loss- all told through spoken word and the sublime strains of her heart and soul, her harp. 

The show boasts musical excerpts by Debussy, Puccini, Paganini, Bach, Gounod, Liszt, Albinoni as well as traditional Irish and Scottish folk songs--among other music-- performed on the harp by Costanzi.

Performances will run November 7-24, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm.

For Tickets: https://ci.ovationtix.com/35441/production/1216026

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

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We love MTC and the amazing work they do! Up next for them is Eureka Day!

Wildly relevant and bitingly funny, Jonathan Spector’s play comes to MTC in an all-new production following an acclaimed London run. Eureka Day is a private California elementary school with a Board of Directors that values inclusion above all else—that is, until an outbreak of the mumps forces everyone in the community to reconsider the school’s liberal vaccine policy. As cases rise, the board realizes with horror that they’ve got to do what they swore they never would: make a choice that won’t please absolutely everybody. It is as timely as ever!

This all star cast is here! Bill Irwin, Jessica Hecht, Amber Gray, Thomas Middleditch, Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz, writer Jonathan Spector, and Director Anna D. Shapiro are all here to talk about it!

For Tickets and Info: www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/24-25-season/eureka-day/

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

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Kate Hamill is here. She is the most produced Playwright in America! You heard that right! Her adaptations of classics and her originals are done all over the world!

She is deeply passionate about creating new feminist, female-centered classics, both in new plays and in adaptation - stories that center around complicated women. Her work as a playwright celebrates theatricality, often features absurdity, and closely examines social and gender issues - as well as the timeless struggle to reconcile conscience / identity with social pressures. As an actor, she tends to play people with intense drives and desires - truth-tellers, oddballs, and misfits.

Kate was named 2017's Playwright of the Year by the Wall Street Journal. She has been one of the 10 most-produced playwrights in the country for the last 7 years running, from 2017-2024; she is now the most-produced playwright in the USA. In both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, she wrote two of the top 10 most produced plays in the U.S.; many of her plays have been produced internationally. Future productions on the Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, at A.R.T., Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, PlayMaker’s Rep, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre (8 Helen Hayes Award nominations; Winner, best production), Shakespeare Theater of DC, The Alley, A.C.T., and more.

She is here to talk about her new work, she wrote and stars in, The Light and The Dark (the life and times of Artemisia Gentileschi). At the height of the Italian Renaissance, artists are reshaping the very image of humanity. Artemisia Gentileschi wants to become one of the great painters...but women are not thought capable of true artistry. With persistence and bravado she quickly establishes a groundbreaking perspective, but just as her career begins to gain momentum, a series of devastating betrayals crack the foundation of her life and art. Told through her piercing point of view, The Light and The Dark (the life and times of Artemisia Gentileschi) weaves a magnetic and empowering tapestry of art, ambition, rage, and resilience. Now at Primary Stages!

Kate’s Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice,Vanity Fair, and Little Women are published by DPS; Kate’s Emma, Dracula (a feminist revenge fantasy), and Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, - Apt. 2B are published by TRW. She is currently working on an adaptation of The Odyssey and a Christmas play called Scrooge for Senate as well as several new original plays - including Love Poem, In The Mines (Sundance Semi-Finalist), Em (Red Bull New Play finalist), the Prostitute Play (O'Neill Semi-Finalist), The Piper (O’Neill Finalist, PlayPenn Haas Fellow play, and The Light and the Dark.

Kate is also a screenwriter and has a feature film in development at the moment… stay tuned.

For Tickets To The Light & The Dark: https://www.primarystages.org/the-light-and-the-dark

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

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Superstar Director Terry Loane Is Here! A good ole Irishman like myself! He has a beautiful new film that you must see called "The Last Rifleman" starring Bond Himself Pierce Brosnan. How did it come to be? We find out!

Inspired by a true story, the heartwarming WWII drama stars Pierce Brosnan as Artie Crawford, a World War II veteran living in a care home in Northern Ireland who has just lost his wife. On the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, he decides to escape his care home and embarks on a journey to France to pay his final respects.

Co-starring Clémence Poésy, Jürgen Prochnow, John Amos, Desmond Eastwood, Claire Rafferty, Ian McElhinney, and Samuel Bottomley, THE LAST RIFLEMAN is directed by Terry Loane and written by Kevin Fitzpatrick. 

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

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He's a mean one! I think he is the most famous guest we have ever had! The Grinch is here! What does he think of this holiday season? What is life like on the road? Is Max there? We go on a deep dive to find out all the scoop about this season's must see holiday theatrical event!

For Tickets & Dates: www.grinchmusical.com

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

TikTok-@RobertMBannon

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We love Luxx! From the second she struttered onto Drag Race, we have been fans! This Jersey Queen has been giving looks, shade, and lip synching moments for years, but did you know she can sing! Well, she is here to talk making her NYC Off-Broadway Debut in "Drag The Musical" now at New World Stages! She stars alongside Alaska, Joey McIntyre, Nick Adams, Brita Filter, and so many more!

Luxx also has a new album out that you need to hear! She tells us how she writes, stays inspired, and does it all!

For Tickets to Drag: www.dragthemusical.com

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Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, and on social media!

For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com

Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

TikTok-@RobertMBannon

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