Theater People

We loved chatting with this guy!! He's funny, charming, has a GREAT head of hair, and really knows how to tell a story! Brandon made his Broadway debut in 2011's "Baby It's You." He received a Tony nomination for his turn as Adam Hochberg in last season's "An American in Paris," and can now be seen eight times a week as Mendel in William Finn's and James Lapine's hilarious and heartbreaking "Falsettos." He shares great stories about his long road to booking "Falsettos," how James Lapine was lovingly hard on him throughout the rehearsal process, and that time he accompanied Katie Holmes on a shopping spree.

WE"RE OBSESSED! We had the MOST fun hanging out with Mandy Gonzalez in her dressing room backstage at the Richard Rodgers Theater before a performance of "Hamilton." It had been less than two weeks since she'd taken over the role of Angelica, and she still hadn't completely moved in!Mandy made her Broadway debut in 2000 in "Aida" as the Amnneris standby-she eventually took the role over full time. She went on to originate roles in "The Dance of the Vampires" and "Lennon" before winning her breakout role as Nina in Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In the Heights"--a role she originated in the show's pre-Off Broadway days. She went on to take over the role of Elphaba in "Wicked," and can now be seen eight times a week in the hottest show on Broadway--"Hamilton."

I am so excited to announce that Theater People has partnered with the fab folks at TodayTix to create a brand new podcast called Broadway Backstory. Each episode tells the story of how a show develops from an idea to a full Broadway production. We get the behind-the-scenes story directly from the people who lived it - the concievers, actors, directors, producers, composers, and more. Season 1 will feature stories from "In the Heights", "Fun Home", "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", "The Secret Garden", "Legally Blonde", and the Deaf West production of "Spring Awakening". And the best part: You, our listeners, get to vote on our 7th show! We've picked another 5 shows for you to vote on, and the most popular wins! We'll get to work interviewing everybody we can find who was involved with the show!Episodes 1 and 2, which premiere on Tuesday, November 15th, tell the incredible true backstory of the Tony-winning "In the Heights."

I"m a little obsessed with today's guest, Jay Armstrong Johnson. I loved him in "Hands on a Hardbody" and "On the Town" and I think I've listened to his new album "Jay Armstrong Johnson Live at Feinstein's / 54 Below" like 100 times. It's that good. He made his Broadway debut in 2009 in "Hair" and went on to standby for Aaron Tveit in "Catch Me if You Can" before originating his roles in "Hands on a Hardbody" and "On the Town." This episode has TONS of music from Jay's new album. Enjoy!

The Legendary three-time Tony nominee talks "Fun Home," The secrets to having a long career, and we even talk politics! Rebecca made her Broadway debut in the original Broadway cast of "The Phantom of the Opera"--She was a Christine standby before eventually taking over the role full time. Other highlights from her amazing career on Broadway include Lily in "The Secret Garden," Magnolia in "Showboat,"Maria in "The Sound of Music," and Marian in "The Music Man."

It was such a thrill to chat with the Tony winning "Hamilton" director all about the magic of that show! We also go all the way back to the beginning and talk "In the Heights," "Lombardi," and the short lived "Magic/Bird." And we, of course, talk "Grease Live" for which Thomas just won the Emmy Award for directing!

The handsome, charming, and SMART Jose Llana talks lying his way into his first NYC audition (the most adorable story every), starring in two productions of "The King and I" on Broadway, the productions of "Flower Drum Song," Spelling Bee," and his new album "Altitude."

Happy Friday, Theater People!. As many of you know, the fabulous "The Ensemblist" podcast has recently launched their new season. Hosts Mo Brady and Nikka Graff Lanzarone tell us all about it!

YOU GUYS! I’m still hyperventilating over the fact that I got to sit in a room with Will Chase and Rob McClure. These two gorgeous and hilarious men are currently starring in the absolutely fabulous "Something Rotten" currently running at the St. James Theater. I have to say, I’ve seen the show three times now and it NEVER gets old. With Rob McClure in the leading role of Nick Bottom--a struggling playwright in Renaissance-era London and Will Chase in the role of Shakespeare, who, in this telling is a pompous, lady killing, self-doubting mega-star, the show is every bit as hilarious as it was when I saw it in previews. Rob McClure, of course, is best known for originating the roles of Charlie Chaplin in "Chaplin" and Jack Singer in "Honeymoon in Vegas." Will Chase is best known for his work in "Rent," "Aida," "High Fidelity," and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" in addition to a thousand TV shows. It was so much fun to get to chat with these two. Enjoy!

You guys, I’m gonna use a word that I don’t think I’ve ever used before to describe a guest. Are you ready? Debonair. That’s right, today’s guest, Jeremy Kushnier, is best described as… debonair.....He’s handsome and charming and has one of those, like, gorgeous deep voices. And he’s funny and humble and is just one of those guys who has great insightful stories and ideas who you could just talk to for hours.Anyway, Jeremy made his Broadway debut in the starring role of Ren McCormick in the 1998 production of "Footloose"—the story, by the way, of how he got that job will knock your socks off. He went on to star in "Rent", "Jersey Boys", and the stunning 2012 revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in which he understudied both Jesus and Judas and yes, we do talk about how on Earth he was able to pull that off. He was recently in the original New York company of "Shear Madness", a show that I’m sort of obsessed with from Boston. It’s that’s a hilarious, improvey who-done-it, and we talk all about it. Jeremy can currently be seen starring in Cirque Du Soleil’s first ever Broadway show—"Paramour"—which is playing at the Lyric Theater. I loved talking to this guy. Enjoy!