Theater People

We are SOOOOO excited to finally welcome everyone's favorite Screltress, Shoshana Bean to the show! As if I need to tell you guys, Shoshana made her Broadway debut in 2002 in the original cast of "Hairspray." She, of course went on to be the first replacement for the role of Elphaba in the Broadway company of "Wicked." She is also beloved internationally as a recording artist with her chart-topping albums "Superhero," "O'Farrell Street," and "Shadows to Light." We LOVE her! Enjoy!

YOU GUYS!! today is the day that we get to bring you our interview with the one and only Rachel Bay Jones. You all helped us book her when you all responded to my call via twitter to let her know just how much we wanted to chat with her. She is amazing and hilarious. She made her Broadway debut in 1989 in "Meet me in St Louis", She was in the recent Broadway revival of "Hair", she has a HILARIOUS story of understudying Patti LuPone in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" that she shares with us here. You probably also remember her as Catherine in the 2013 revival of "Pippin." And if you’re anything like me, you’ve been crying your eyes out listening to her and the rest of the cast on the recently released cast album of "Dear Evan Hansen" in which she stars as Heidi Hansen, Evan’s mom. We did this interview in her dressing room just before a show. She was warm and delightful and I LOVED chatting with her! Enjoy!

YOU GUYS!! today is the day that we get to bring you our interview with the one and only Rachel Bay Jones. You all helped us book her when you all responded to my call via twitter to let her know just how much we wanted to chat with her. She is amazing and hilarious. She made her Broadway debut in 1989 in "Meet me in St Louis", She was in the recent Broadway revival of "Hair", she has a HILARIOUS story of understudying Patti LuPone in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" that she shares with us here. You probably also remember her as Catherine in the 2013 revival of "Pippin." And if you’re anything like me, you’ve been crying your eyes out listening to her and the rest of the cast on the recently released cast album of "Dear Evan Hansen" in which she stars as Heidi Hansen, Evan’s mom.

We did this interview in her dressing room just before a show. She was warm and delightful and I LOVED chatting with her! Enjoy!

We are SO SO SO excited to welcome Tony-winning actress LaChanze back to the podcast! For this return visit, we get to talk about her life and career in a way that we didn't the first time. We start with a little bit of background about growing up and discovering her talent at a young age, we then talk about her iconic work in "Once On This Island," "Bubbly Black Girl...," and "The Color Purple. And we end with some exciting news:On February 27, 2017 LaChanze is bringing her one-woman show "Feeling Good" To the Highline Ballroom. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at www.highlineballroom.com

Tony nominee--and just fabulous human--Orfeh has an incredible story of growing up in NYC, going to high school at the famed La Guardia High School (the "FAME" school), starting a pop band and getting a record contract that took her all over the world, and then landing on Broadway in such shows as "Saturday Night Fever," "Footloose," and "Legally Blonde"--earning a Tony nomination for playing the role of Paulette. She's divine and totally my kind of gal. Enjoy!

The handsome and charming Michael Park is currently co-starring in this season's hottest new musical, "Dear Evan Hansen." Michael has been a working NYC-based actor for almost 25 years. He got his start off-Broadway in the almost legendary productions of Michael John Lachiusa's "Hello Again" and Jeanine Tesori's "Violet." Prior to "Dear Evan Hansen", his Broadway credits include "Carousel," "Smoky Joe's Cafe," and one of my favorites from last season, "Tuck Everlasting." We loved chatting with this guy! Enjoy!

The genius Orchestrator / Arranger / Musical Director tells all about his experiences working on Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, In the Heights, and more! We go deep and get great stories of working alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Tommy Kail, Michael Greif, Ben Platt, and more!

We're OBSESSED with Emily Skinner and we FINALLY get to meet her!! Emily made her Broadway debut in 1997 in the original Broadway cast of "Jeckyll & Hyde." Less than a year later she originated the role of Daisy Hilton in "Side Show." She was next seen in "James Joyce's The Dead" before originating the role of Vicki Nichols in "The Full Monty." She was most recently seen on Broadway in "Billy Ellliot: The Musical" where she was hand picked by director Stephen Daldry to play the role of Mrs. Wikinson. She's amazing and we love her to pieces.

For today's show, we're doing something a little different! We're traveling to Philadelphia, PA to spend the afternoon with the creative team behind the fabulous new musical "Found," which is now playing at the gorgeous Philadelphia Theatre Company. The show, which began in the basement theater of the Drama Bookshop and had it's off-Broadway premiere last year at the Atlantic Theater Company, is inspired by the popular "Found Magazine" and it's founder Davy Rothbart. Our guests are Davy Rothbart, Lee Overtree (co-book writer / director), Eli Bolin (music & original lyrics) and Victoria Lang (producer)

Today's the day, Theater People! Our brand new podcast," Broadway Backstory", premieres today! Episodes 1 and 2 tell the incredible true backstory of the Tony Award winning "In The Heights". We're playing the first 20 minutes of episode 1 here, but you can get the first two full episodes RIGHT NOW by searching iTunes, Stitcher, Googleplay or any other podcast catcher for Broadway Backstory. Enjoy!