Token Theatre Friends

This week, the Friends open the show by talking about Black is King, Beyoncé's new visual album, and folklore, the new album by Taylor Swift that was written and released during quarantine. They talk about how these albums use storytelling as their primary driver, and what other artists can learn about producing during quarantine. And why are the Friends talking about music?

That's because their guest this week is Tony winner BD Wong, who is releasing a visual album of his own (his "gay Lemonade" if you will). Wong and his husband videographer Richert Schnorr have created 18 music videos, set to the theatrical song cycle Songs from an Unmade Bed. It is about the inner musings and romantic life of a gay man living in New York City. The videos will stream at 8 pm EST on Monday, August 10, as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Songs From an Unmade Bed first premiered in 2005 and was created by Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning lyricist and librettist Mark Campbell with 18 composers: Debra Barsha, Mark Bennett, Peter Foley, Jenny Giering, Peter Golub, Jake Heggie, Stephen Hoffman, Lance Horne, Gihieh Lee, Steven Lutvak, Steve Marzullo, Brendan Milburn, Chris Miller, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Kim D. Sherman, Jeffrey Stock and Joseph Thalken.

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The Friends discuss two audio plays: Richard II by Shakespeare and Julia Pastrana by Shaun Prendergast. Richard II was presented by the Public Theater and WNYC, and starred André Holland as the king and Miriam A. Hyman as his foe Henry Bolingbroke. It's still available to download. Julia Pastrana is produced by Amphibian Stage Co. and is about the ugliest woman in the world. It's based on a true story and is meant to be listened to in the dark. How immersive! The Friends discussed what worked about the productions, does race matter when it's radio and how audio plays can give you the ASMR tingles.

This week's guest is playwright Clare Barron, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama for her play Dance Nation. Barron just wrote a new short play called What This Will Be Like When It's Over, for a new theater journal called The Flashpaper. It's about dating during the pandemic. She and the Friends got into a deep discussion about sex and dating, and how Barron is able to get ultra-personal in her plays without feeling self-conscious. Also, she talked about that time she had sex onstage.

There's some very frank talk of sex, with some expletives thrown in, so please if listen on your headphones if these subjects are sensitive to you or anyone around you.

Here are links to things the Friends talked about in this episode.

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This week, the Friends discuss immigration, or rather, how immigration is portrayed on the stage. First off is a review of The Copper Children by Karen Zacarías, a play that was performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and is now being streamed by the theater. It's about a fight between white people and Mexicans in 1904 Arizona, throwing into question the arbitrary-ness of citizenship and whiteness. 

Then the Friends interview playwright (and FX's The Americans staff writer) Hilary Bettis. Her play, 72 Miles to Go is also about family separation, following a Mexican-American family who is torn apart when the mother, Anita, is deported to Mexico. Bettis talks about how the way we're living now in quarantine is not too different from how families who have been torn apart are living, like communicating via phone calls and not being able to touch each other. She also talks about the new Kilroys List, which annually spotlights under-produced plays by women and non-binary folks. This year, the List is a tribute to all of the shows by marginalized people who were cancelled. 

Here are links to things the Friends talked about in this episode.

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Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's epic (and very expensive) musical has moved from the stage to screen thanks to Disney+. A musical as big as Hamilton deserves a big discussion, a cabinet battle, if you will. The Friends are joined by actor and composer Heath Saunders, and theater critic Kelundra Smith. They discuss how Hamilton hits differently in 2020 than it did in 2015 when it premiered, how it's OK for art to be problematic, and whether Hamilton could win the Oscar. This episode was recorded on June 6.

Here are links to things the Friends talked about in this episode.

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The Friends recorded on June 7. This week is a very special episode because there's not one, but TWO, podcast episodes. In the planning for this week, Diep and Jose realized that they had too much content and they didn't want to cut any of it. So this week will be a two-parter. Part one is an interview with George Salazar and part two will be a discussion of Hamilton on Disney+.

George Salazar is the beloved actor behind Be More Chill on Broadway. He also starred in a buzzy revival of Little Shop of Horrors in 2019, opposite MJ Rodriguez. Salazar has been doing a lot during his COVID: he sang in a Pride virtual concert in June and hosted his own weekly talk show (which he's currently revamping and planning on bringing back). He came onto the podcast to talk about the upcoming Night of a Thousand Judys concert and his late-in-life love for Judy Garland. Plus, Salazar also talks about why he criticized the Tony Awards on Twitter.

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The Friends recorded on June 29. They open the show by talking about Zoom plays, what's been working about them, what hasn't been working, and things they've seen on Zoom that they love. Then they talk about two shows they've seen. First, To My Distant Love from On Site Opera, an opera done over the telephone (remember those?). Then they talk about a play they watched on BroadwayHD: Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau, about a Black mother who is worried about how her son is doing in school, and how the play really benefited from multiple viewings.

This week's guest is Taylor Reynolds, who is one of the artistic leaders of the Obie-winning Movement Theatre Company in New York City. She talks about how the company was created (to provide opportunities for young artists of color) and what they're doing now: giving love to designers who are out of work, and don't have Zoom plays to keep them creative. Reynolds is also a director, whose work on Plano by Will Arbury blew both of the Friends' minds when it played Off-Off Broadway last year. She also talks about how she wraps her head around super-weird theater.

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The Friends recorded on June 23 where they discussed the news that Broadway will not be back until January 2021 (at least). They also went into a deep dive on 2666 by Seth Bockley and Robert Falls—a five-hour play adaptation of the Roberto Bolaño novel, that is currently available to stream for free at the Goodman Theatre's website. 

Then they hop on a Zoom call with Raúl Esparza, where Jose manages to hide his excitement and act like a professional. The four-time Tony nominee has been doing a lot of virtual theatrical experiences, including hosting the Stephen Sondheim birthday special, Take Me to the World, and doing a monologue from his kitchen. Esparza talks about getting type-casted and how he hopes the theater of the future will be cheaper. This weekend, he will be doing a live reading of the comedy Tartuffe, produced by Molière in the Park.

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

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The Friends sat down and recorded over Skype on June 14 and talked about "We See You White American Theatre," an open letter that got more than 50,000 signatures (including from a bunch of celebrities) and what can be done to solve racism in the American theater. Then they whistle a happy tune and discuss The King and I. They watched a video of the 2015 Broadway revival and talk about how it's problematic but they love it anyway, and how they would improve The King and I. #YourFavesAreProblematic

Their guest this episode is actor April Matthis, who was the star of the play Toni Stone by Lydia Diamond, and who's been up for every acting award in New York City for her performance. This Obie-winning star has also been in Gatz by Elevator Repair Service, and she called in to discuss Playing on Air, a theater podcast where she acted in short plays by Dominique Morisseau and Ngozi Anyanwu, and trying to create theater in the time of COVID-19..

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

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The Friends sat down and recorded over Skype on June 8. They discuss the recent discovery that Broadway theater owners the Nederlanders gave over $150,000 to the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and why we should care. Plus, they talk about two theater productions that were filmed: Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu (available on Amazon Prime) and American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown (available on Netflix). They compare and contrast police brutality as portrayed by a Black playwright versus a white playwright.

Their guest this episode is Jasmine Batchelor, whose film The Surrogate is out for virtual release starting June 12. Batchelor discusses how the film opened her eyes to inequality for disabled people and what's it like for your mom to be played on screen by Tony winner Tonya Pinkins. 

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

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On the first episode of the newly revamped Token Theatre Friends podcast, the Friends sat down and recorded over Skype on June 1. They discussed Black Lives Matter and the protests that have erupted around the world around the murder of George Floyd and police brutality. They also discuss how different brands have released statements to support BLM, including Broadway shows and theater companies across the country, though some of these statements have been better than others. At the end of the episode, they also chat about what they’ve been up to in quarantine and their opinions about virtual theater. So buckle up because the girls are back in town!

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

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