The Roundtable with Robert Bannon

Can it really be 100 episodes already? It sure can! Since we made our debut here on "The Broadway Podcast Network" in October, we have been proud to share over 100 guests with our listeners! Thank you all for listening from the bottom of our hearts!

This episode is fun! Host/Creator Robert Bannon lets the script be flipped for the first time ever! He is in the hot seat getting the questions! How did it start? What goes into making this show? What are his takes on some of his favorite and most infamous guests? Award Show Correspondent Adrienne Colon is asking all the hard hitting questions as we celebrate "The Roundtable" on BPN!

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We have a movie star in the house today! We are so honored to have the one & only Robby Benson on "The Roundtable!"

Robby Bensonis an American writer, director, composer, lyricist, actor, professor of film, filmmaker and novelist. He began his career in the theater, (Oliver, The King and I); on Broadway (co-starring in Zelda, The Rothschilds and Joseph Papp’s The Pirates of Penzance, where he met and fell in love with the great, Karla DeVito!); Benson wrote the libretto and composed the music for the musical that opened in NYC at The Historic Cherry Lane Theatre (Open Heart), and wrote the best-selling novel, “Who Stole The Funny?” (HarperCollins), along with the medical memoir, “I’m Not Dead… Yet”. Benson was nominated for a Golden Globe (one of several) for his second film, “Jeremy” which also won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. He sold his first screenplay to Warner Brothers at 18 years-old entitled, “One on One”. He has starred in such films as One on One, Ode To Billie Joe, Ice Castles, Jeremy (Golden Globe nominee) Tribute, Harry and Son, Running Brave, The Chosen, Die Laughing (wrote screenplay & music), Walk Proud (scored the film as well), The End, Lucky Lady, Death Be Not Proud (Golden Globe nominee), The Last of Mrs. Lincoln, and Our Town among a few.

He also wrote and directed the feature film, ‘Modern Love’ and composed the score for Straight Outta Tompkins and co-wrote the hit song in The Breakfast Club (“We are Not Alone” – the iconic John Hughes film – the scene where the kids dance in the library) with his wife and loving partner of 40 years, the great Karla DeVito! Benson and DeVito have received RIAA Gold Records, including Nobody Makes Me Crazy, which was covered by Diana Ross; Benson has also written scores for feature films. Benson also voiced ‘Beast” in Disney’s Academy Award nominated ‘Beauty and the Beast.” In television, Benson has exec. produced and directed over one hundred episodes of Network shows: from one-hour single camera to 30-minute sitcoms including many top ten shows such as Ellen, Friends, Dharma & Greg, Jesse, The Naked Truth, Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place, Sabrina The Teenage Witch (also directed the pilot), Dream On (nominated Best Director/Single Camera), Muddling Through, Good Advice, Monty, Evening Shade and many more. Robby Benson has been a professor of film production at several universities for 20 years. At NYU’s famed Tisch School of the Arts in the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, Benson received the honor of being nominated for both NYU’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006, and the David Payne-Carter Award for Teaching Excellence in 2010. Robby is currently co-starring in the second season of Apple TV’s hit show “Severance”.

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JEAN LICHTY has appeared Off-Broadway in A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, The Traveling Lady, Nora, A Loss of Roses, The Moth's Mentors, Muses, and Monsters, Letting Billy, Newton's Wad, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Golden Boy, and The Einstein Doll; and regionally in A Loss of Roses at Arkansas Rep and Bus Stop at Olney Theatre Center. Her digital presentations include The Night Of The Iguana (Artios Award) while her films include Close Call (Sundance Finalist) and Durang's Wanda's Visit. After graduating from Barnard College with theater honors, she trained with William Esper, Wynn Handman, and Larry Moss. The proud founder and Executive Director of La Femme Theatre Productions

La Femme Theatre Productions  (Jean Lichty, Executive Director), renowned for its dedication to showcasing the diverse female experience, is set to illuminate the Off-Broadway stage this season with an evocative 21 century production of Tennessee Williams's timeless masterpiece, The Night of the Iguana.  Under the direction of Tony Award nominee, Emily Mann , this production will star Emmy Nominee Tim Daly (Broadway:  The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.   TV: "The Sopranos,” "Madam Secretary,” "Wings'), Tony Award - Winner Daphne Rubin-Vega (Broadway: Rent, Anna in the Tropics),  Drama Desk nominee Lea DeLaria (Netflix "Orange Is the New Black." Broadway: POTUS) , Tony nominee Austin Pendleton (Broadway: Between Riverside and Crazy, The Minutes) , and Jean Lichty (Off-Broadway: La Femme's A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, The Traveling Lady ). It will begin performances on December 6 in advance of its opening on December 17. It will run through February 25, 2024 at The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center  (480 West 42ndStreet, Jim Houghton Way) .  The Night of the Iguana is not a production of Signature Theatre.

In Tennessee Williams's The Night of the Iguana, a defrocked clergyman encounters inside disturbances amid outside disturbances during one stormy night at the Costa Verde Hotel in Acapulco as the world prepares for World War II. After four women of different ages and backgrounds, along with a 97-year-old poet, engage in the clergyman's spiritual struggles, their lives leap dramatically forward. And the catalytic, defrocked clergyman survives the night.

The Night of the Iguana will begin performances on December 6, 2023 - February 25, 2024; opening night is December 17, 2023. It will play Wednesday – Friday at 7:30 PM; Saturday at 2 PM and 8 PM; Sunday at 3 PM. The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center is located at 480 West 42nd Street, Jim Houghton Way. Tickets are $59 - $159 and can be purchased by visiting IguanaPlayNYC.com

Follow on social media @IguanaPlayNYC. For more information about La Femme Theatre Productions click here.  

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Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

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We are your Award Show Source for this 2024 Season and we are recapping two big ones! Critics! We love them! We hate them! We have all the scoop from one of Hollywood's Biggest Nights! The Jokes! The Insults! They brought the drama this year!

Then the Primetime Emmys were back and they reunited some of our favorites! It was a sweet and emotional night of the best of television! From the success of "Succession" to the "I Thank Myself" moments, we have you covered with all the fun and scoop from TV's Night!

Listen and then tell us your thoughts over on IG! @RobertMBannon @TheRoundtablewithRobertBannon

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Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

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He was Goose in "Top Gun," Dr. Green in "ER," and is now on Broadway in "Prayer For The French Republic" Anthony Edwards is here! We chat with him and the cast on "The Roundtable!" Do not miss this show over at MTC right now! It was a rainy day, but the excitement was bouncing off the walls inside MTC's Opening Night! We chat with the whole cast:

Ethan Haberfield, Richard Masur, Nael Nacer, and Daniel Oreskes complete the production's company, joining previously announced cast members Betsy Aidem (Leopoldstadt), Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk winner Francis Benhamou, Ari Brand, Molly Ranson, Nancy Robinette, Anthony Edwards (ER, Top Gun), and Aria Shahghasemi (Legacies). Aidem, Benhamou, Brand, Ranson, and Robinette are all reprising their performances from the work's 2022 Off-Broadway world premiere, also staged by Manhattan Theatre Club.

Winner of the 2022 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best New Off-Broadway Play, Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic bursts onto Broadway after MTC’s highly acclaimed extended, sold-out Off-Broadway run. A celebrated work by the author of Bad Jews and Significant Other, which The Wall Street Journal calls "easily the finest play of the Broadway season." The New York Times calls it "thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and wickedly funny"; The Chicago Tribune calls Prayer for the French Republic "gripping and epic," and New York Stage Review gives it five stars, stating "Prayer packs a wallop." Directing is David Cromer, a Tony Award® winner for The Band's Visit.

All this and so much more only on The Roundtable with Robert Bannon!

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Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

www.RobertBannon.com

Follow on IG @RobertMBannon or @theroundtablewithrobertbannon

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We have an inspiring chat for you today! Tommy Burke has come out swinging with his new memoir! LISTEN TO THIS! Author Tommy Burke, whose autobiography Not Just Sunglasses and Autographs, 30 Years of Film & Television Production with Life (& Near Death) Lessons, is a captivating memoir that follows the author's journey from bar bouncing in Boston to working on award-winning television shows and movies. This is an endearing story of overcoming the odds through dark humor, tenacity, authenticity, and happiness. Initially envisioned as a memoir about a man who had beaten Hodgkin's Lymphoma and lived to tell the tale, the author was then thrown a major curveball with a Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Equal parts pep-talk and gut-punch, this unvarnished and vulnerable memoir-meets-handbook shares lessons learned in life and work. These pages encourage readers to keep moving forward, embrace resilience, step out of their comfort zones, and take life head on.

About Tommy BurkeWith more than 30 years of TV and film production experience, Tommy Burke brings an extensive and diverse list of credits to his latest creative endeavor: a book about the industry and insurmountable odds. A graduate of Boston College, Burke started out in television as a production Assistant while working other odd jobs – from bar bouncer and golf caddy to factory assemblyman – to sustain the meager TV industry income. His work ethic and build came in handy, scoring him a gig loading grip trucks for Powerhouse Films, which further exposed him to commercials and films in and around the New England area. He soon became the 'go to' guy of Production Assistants in Boston, working every motion picture produced in Massachusetts. After a move to Los Angeles in 1990, Burke quickly moved up the production ranks, working as First Assistant Director on an independent film with Johnny Depp. Nicknamed the "the Irish Bull" by his west coast colleagues, Burke went on to secure Assistant Director credits including Jerry Bruckheimer's acclaimed TV series Skin, Close to Home, CSI Miami and the pilot for Desperate Housewives.He spent his last five years on Chicago PD. In 2003, Burke was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Three years of doctor visits, nine operations and chemotherapy treatments were all included in part of his rigorous 14-hour shoot day routine. To no surprise, given his well-known tenacity, Burke conquered the disease into remission mostly by himself. Now, as he faces Parkinson's disease – his most challenging health problem yet – true to his style and heart, Burke is compelled to motivate and inspire others, so they learn from this experience.For more information on the book, including excerpt, photos and book purchase links:https://tommyburke.com

All this and so much more only on The Roundtable with Robert Bannon!

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Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

www.RobertBannon.com

@RobertMBannon

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We are your Award Show Source for this 2024 Season and we tackle two big ones! Critics! We love them! We hate them! Well they are up next with their picks for the best in film! Who do we think will win? Tune in and find out!

Then the Primetime Emmys are back! After the SAG strike, some thought they would not happen! Who is nominated? Who is hosting? Who do we think is going to win? We have all the tea, thoughts, and hot takes!

Listen and then tell us your thoughts over on IG! @RobertMBannon @TheRoundtablewithRobertBannon

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Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

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Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

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Kersten Stevens, queen of the violin and six-time winner of the historic Amateur Night and Showtime at The Apollo has a brand new album "Queen Rising" featuring jazz great, Christian McBride.

Kersten Stevens new album  QUEEN RISING featuring the single"Release The Grace" an ode to Luther Vandross is available on all DSP’s now.

The album, QUEEN RISING is co-produced and performed with 8x Grammy Award-winning bassist, recognized as one of the world's best jazz musicians and innovators, Christian McBride.   QUEEN RISING embodies four original songs written and co-produced with Christian McBride which are "Queen Rising," "Release The Grace," "Beginnings and Endings," and "Crowned."The pair also collaborated on three new arrangements: "Someday We'll All Be Free," "Fantasy," and "Best Part."

The album features revered musicians including one of the most "In Demand Drummers of his Generation," Eric Harland. Harland is a multi-Grammy nominated drummer who's worked with music greats Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spaulding, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, and McCoy Tyner, to name a few, expertly performs throughout the album.

Renowned flutist Ragan Whiteside, recognized as the 2022 Best Contemporary Jazz Artist by the Jazz Music Awards, showcases her extraordinary talents on the song "Queen Rising."

The star-studded musicianship does not stop there! GRAMMY-nominated piano/ keyboard player, arranger, and musical director Miki Hayama, whose credits include Aretha Franklin, Nnenna Freelon, Jazzmeia Horn, and Kenny Garret, plays throughout the release.

The original new single, “Release The Grace” is streaming now on all DSPs 

Queen Rising is available on all DSPs on Friday, November 3rd. 

About Kersten Stevens ~ The Violinist 

Kersten Stevens, queen of the violin, is among the most exciting and unique emerging artists in jazz. She is a six-time winner of the historic Amateur Night and Showtime at The Apollo; she's performed with music greats Kim Burrell, renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter, international jazz bassist Christian McBride, and performed for esteemed notables President Barack Obama, Ray Charles, Denzel Washington among others, now launches her much anticipated fifth album, QUEEN RISING. Her latest release, QUEEN RISING, leads a growing breed of performers innovating jazz authenticity by collaborating with some of the industry's most outstanding and respected musicians. Listen to QUEEN RISING on all DSPs Connect with Kersten @kerstenstevens kerstenstevens.com 

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Speaking fun & up & coming musicals, we are talking "Blood/Love!" We have one of the writers and stars Carey Sharpe with us as well. How did she come up with this idea and how did she get it to become the phenomenon it is today? She is telling her story to The Roundtable! This story and idea took off like a rocket. Now it is coming to Joe's Pub with an all-star cast of Broadway Superstars! Hear all about it and how it happened!

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Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

www.RobertBannon.com

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Courtney Reed is Sunshine, Happiness, & Magic rolled into one! Her energy is infectious, and we love catching up with her! She is right now starring in "Moulin Rouge" over at the Hirschfeld eight shows a week! It is a fun time! Grab tickets! In her off time she is taking a moment to be in a new musical "Love/Blood' at Joe's Pub for two special shows!

Listen as she tells us her routine, her journey, and what she eats after a show!

LIKE. COMMENT. SUBSCRIBE!

Check out “The Roundtable with Robert Bannon” every Thursday 7pm EST/4pm PST PLUS: The Talk Series where artists share their art and their heart.

www.RobertBannon.com

Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon

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