Theatre Artist Podcast

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Maurice Parent. Maurice grew up in Prince George’s County Maryland, attended Carnegie Mellon where he received his B.S. in Business Administration, attended NYU where he received his M.A. in Vocal Performance, and studied at Dance Theater of Harlem before moving to Boston. His first Boston gig was Ragtime at New Repertory Theatre and he has since gone on to act and direct in many shows around Boston as well as teach at numerous universities and schools in the area. Maurice came into one of my classes in the fall to do a mock audition, so I was so grateful to have had him on the podcast since then and sing his praises. Like in last weeks episode with Dawn Simmons, his partner at Front Porch Arts Collective, Maurice was so willing to get real with these topics of discussion and we get into things such as the gig economy, color blind vs color conscious casting, making space for underrepresented people in plays vs musicals, and shattering the glass ceiling.

*This episode was recorded in April. 

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and I’ll check back in for a fact check and recap and reinforce later. But for now, here’s my conversation with Maurice Parent.

Follow us on social media @theatreartistpodcast, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Dawn Simmons. Dawn is the Executive Director of Stage Source, an arts service organization focusing on work force development and sector improvement in theatre across New England. She is originally from Buffalo, NY, where she received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Buffalo. She went on to study playwriting at Boston University. She has since gone on to direct for regional theatres such as The Front Porch Arts Collective, WAM Theatre, The Nora Theatre, Greater Boston Stage Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Bad Habit Productions, Fresh Ink Theatre and Lyric Stage Company. She is the co-founder and artistic director of the Front Porch Arts Collective, a black theater company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theatre. She also founded New Exhibition Room in 2008 to produce provocative, political, and affordable theater events. Before taking on the role of Executive Director of Stage Source, Dawn served on the Board of Directors and as the Director of Programs for nine years. More recently, she served as the Director of Performing Arts at the Boston Center for the Arts.

One thing to note before we get into the episode;  I mention Maurice towards the beginning of the episode, who is her partner for Front Porch Arts Collective and will be next week's guest. I will have him linked for you in the Fact Check, but I wanted to mention it at the top so that you have some reference.

Dawn was so inspiring and so easy to talk to. We talked about so many incredibly important and impactful things that resonated deeply with me like not fighting for, but advocating for voices, being of service, living a purpose driven life, responding to need, the importance of fostering and nurturing new voices, being fearless to ask questions and being fearless to be in the rooms, the importance of mentors, political and personal theatre, and learning to develop your voice.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Follow us on social media @theatreartistpodcast, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

How you can support and participate in the Black Lives Matter Movement: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Gabi Chiriboga. Gabi is my classmate and one of my friends from Boston Conservatory who graduated with me and the class of 2020 a few weeks ago. For most of her life Gabi has lived in Zumbahua, Ecuador and Cambridge, MA. Her dad is Ecuadorian and her mom American. They met while trying to save the world, running a missionary hospital in the Andes, where Gabi spent her childhood years. Gabi’s family has been discussing the details of Covid and she shares the importance of social distancing and how not-so-little of a crisis this really is, as is reinforced by her parents. We discuss what it’s really like being a young artist, being a pandemic artist, auditioning, having agency, sexism in auditions, navigating your morals and ethics in what we do, standing up for what is right, theatre being activism, double standards, and theatre being a collaborative art form.

A few things to note before we get into the episode; we reference some people that I will have linked for you and talk about during the Fact Check, but I wanted to mention them at the top so that you have some reference. I mention Tyler Lenhart and Lauren Lukacek, both of which are Boston Conservatory alumni, and were part of a Q+A session that was held for the seniors of the Musical Theatre Department. Gabi mentions a list of theatres that I created, which is a breakdown of information listing theatre companies that are led by women that I started curating about a year ago. If you know of any that aren’t listed, I’d love to hear about them and add them to the list. We also mention Joy Arcolano, who taught us a couple of Voice Over courses and also gave me the nudge to start this podcast.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Follow us on social media @theatreartistpodcast, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Gulshirin Dubash who directed me in a show at Interlochen Arts Academy and has been an incredible mentor and inspiration over the past 6 years. Gulshirin grew up in Bombay, India and after undergrad, attended the Dell‘Arte School of Physical Theatre. She later studied at the Kita School and trained in Japanese Noh Theatre with The Noh Training Project led by Richard Emmert. Theatre Nohgaku. She is currently on sabbatical in India and is a theatre instructor at Interlochen Arts Academy where she teaches physical theatre, commedia dell’arte, melodrama, clown, and devised work. On top of all of this, she also created close to 400 performances of environmental street theatre in Bombay. 

A few things to note before we get into the episode; we reference some people and shows that I will have linked for you and talk about during the Fact Check, but I wanted to mention them at the top so that you have some reference. I mention Bill when talking about working at Interlochen last summer, referring to the Director of Theatre Arts, William Church and I also mention Matt, referring to Matthew Lindstrom who was the choreographer in the show Gulsh directed me in, A Secret in the Wings by Mary Zimmerman. 

I also wanted to mention that later on in the Fact Check, I’ll read her convocation speech that she wrote for the Interlochen Arts Academy class of 2012. It is so moving and if you are part of the class of 2020, I hope that it can have some sort of impact on you as we continue to forge on in our journeys and figure how we can be working artists in our post Covid world. 

I’m so happy that I could cackle and learn more about myself and Gulsh in this hour I got to speak with her. The audio literally cut out so many times because we were cry-laughing so hard. I hope that, if you’ve listened to previous episodes where I reference Gulsh, you have been able to experience her greatness at least a little bit from this episode. Her experience in the theatre and in life beyond of American theatre brings such a wonderful perspective and deeply helpful insight into what it really means to be an artist and a healthier way to approach being a working actor. In this episode, I really tried to convey my fears and confusion about my future after 6 years of higher education in theatre. When we recorded this episode, I still think I didn’t really understand what “the business” was/is to me and since then, I think I’ve gathered some thoughts on what that is, which I’ll talk about during the Fact Check. I hope that the way Gulsh suggested advice to me can also apply to some of you who might also be experiencing these fears and confusing thoughts about theatre. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Follow us on social media @theatreartistpodcast, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Niani Feelings who was a senior at Boston Conservatory when I was a freshman and is currently in the ensemble in the national tour of Mean Girls. Niani is currently at home in South Carolina, waiting to go back on tour, but before she was cast in Mean Girls, she was Oklahoma! And Love’s Labour’s Lost at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as well as assistant choreographing their production of Hairspray. Before that, she was the assistant choreographer for The Scottsboro Boys at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston.

I’m so happy that I could catch up with Niani and soak up all of her nuggets of wisdom, and discuss how to talk about representation, where and when we can voice our thoughts as actors in the room, and the musical theatre and non-musical theatre worlds. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and I’ll check back in for a fact check and recap and reinforce later. But for now, here’s my conversation with Niani Feelings.

Follow us on social media @theatreartistpodcast, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast . 

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Kendyl Yokoyama whom I’ve had the privilege to perform with and witness her greatness in person. Kendyl grew up in L.A. dancing, singing, and acting in many community and regional theatre productions as well as a number of short films and a Skrillex music video. Kendyl attended Boston Conservatory before leaving to be a swing and later a Peggy understudy on the Hamilton Angelica tour. Before she left, we were in A Chorus Line together (she played Connie and I Cassie), she was in Allegiance at SpeakEasy Stage Company (as Peggy), and we were also in the dance ensemble of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at school together before she took a leave of absence to perform on the 90th Academy Awards in the Greatest Showman performance of “This is Me”. 

A few things to note before we get into the episode; we reference some people that I will have linked for you and talk about during the Fact Check, but I wanted to mention them at the top so that you have some reference. Again, we reference Larry Sousa, who was referenced in the episode with Rachel. He teaches at Boston Conservatory and in the Boston area. We also talk about our experience in A Chorus Line and I refer to Eliza, Eliza Richards who was our Sheila. We talk a lot about Hamilton and we mention our friend Sean Jones who was in the Angelica tour as Samuel Seabury and her roommate and fellow swing Alaina Maderal, who is mutual friends with our friend from BoCo, Trent Tyson. About ¾ the way through the episode, I refer to Gene Kelly and if you don’t know who he is, just stop the episode right now and educate yourself because he is the movie musical god of the Golden Age of Hollywood...along with Fred Astaire, but maybe I’ll need to make a separate episode about them. I’m so happy that I could catch up with Kendyl, highlight how wonderful of a person and friend she is, and talk about some of our audition struggles, social media, and how important it is to own who you are. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

Follow us on social media @theatreartistpodcast, Check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. Today’s conversation is with Tucker Stampen, my fellow Midwesterner. We attended Interlochen Arts Academy together and have kept in touch since then, following each other’s journeys and supporting them from states away. Tucker is originally from Middleton, Wisconsin, attended Elon University for Musical Theatre, discovered his love for casting and worked at Stewart/Whitley, Roundabout Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and Tara Rubin Casting, and is currently an Agent Assistant at TalentWorks.

A few things to note before we get into the episode; we reference some people that I will have linked for you and talk about during the Fact Check, but I wanted to mention them at the top so that you have some reference. We talk about our experiences at Interlochen and refer to Gulsh and Matt. Gulshirin Dubash and Matthew Lindstrom are Instructors of Theatre Arts and were our respective teachers and also directed and choreographed a musical that I was in there titled A Secret in Wings. I also have scheduled to record an episode with Gulsh and I can’t wait for y’all to hear and experience an hour of Gulsh. I’m so glad that I could catch up with Tucker and talk about theatre education, normalizing the strength of diversity, and try to figure out what our views on representations are. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Follow us @theatreartistpodcast on social media, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast . 

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. 

Today’s conversation is with Rachel Bertone whom I’ve been able to assist in a couple of shows this year and, as you’ll hear, quickly became someone I just vibed with and we understood each other’s language pretty early on. Rachel grew up dancing and attended Boston Ballet School and then attended Boston Conservatory’s dance program before switching gears and going into musical theatre. She went on to become an actor and performed in numerous productions before transitioning into directing and choreographing. She has taught at Boston Conservatory, Emerson College, and the A.R.T. Institute at Harvard University. Rachel is currently teaching at Long Island University, LIU, and is also teaching Musical Theatre workshops and dance classes on Zoom during quarantine. You can find more about her on her website www.rachelbertone.com . A few things to note before we get into the episode; we reference some people and shows that I will have linked for you and talk about during the Fact Check, but I wanted to mention them at the top so that you have some reference. We talk about our experience doing Hair at New Repertory Theatre with the Artistic Director Michael J. Bobbit (whom Rachel refers to as Michel), Angie Jepson was our Intimacy Director for Hair (whom Rachel refers to as Angie), and Emily White was our dramaturg and she is currently the Publications Coordinator at The Public Theatre. Rachel also mentions Larry, referring to Larry Sousa who teaches at numerous Boston area colleges and also directs many plays and musicals across the country (and he’s worked with queen Bernadette Peters...maybe I’ll have him on as a guest just so that we can talk all things Bernadette). I’m so happy that I could catch up with Rachel and continue our very regular conversations that I’m lucky enough to have with her during rehearsal processes. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

Follow us @theatreartistpodcast on social media, check out the Fact Check page with links at www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with , and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. Today’s conversation is with the Alexander Technique queen, Jess Webb. Jess has been my teacher, mentor, and Alexander goddess over the past few years and I’m so glad that she agreed to carve out some time, after 4 hours of sleep, to talk to me. I wanted to have this conversation because I’ve always deeply admired the way she holds a room, reveals her honest to god truth,  and the energy and knowledge that she radiates and shares with everyone. I have gone to her countless times for mini, or full Alexander sessions and advice and guidance to navigate my way through something and I am beyond grateful that she has always been there. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Follow us @theatreartistpodcast on social media, check out the document with the link on our Facebook page (and www.kasiagneiser.com/links-for-a-conversation-with ), and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .

Hey y’all! Welcome to the Theatre Artist Podcast | Diving Into the Craft and Business for Theatre Artists. I am so excited for you to hear this conversation I had with Chris Webb. He has been my mentor, teacher, and director over the past few years and has been a huge influence on my journey as an actor and human being. I wanted to have this conversation because he has had an unwavering belief in me and a full understanding that I’m human and am constantly navigating who I want to be and who I can become. I am constantly going to him for advice and nuggets of knowledge and guidance that he can give me and he is always willing to do so, which I am eternally grateful for. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Follow us @theatreartistpodcast on social media, check out the document with links on our Facebook page, and support us at www.patreon.com/theatreartistpodcast .