"The Color Purple"'s LaChanze talks about The Oprah Effect on that show, as well as her personal identification with the challenges faced by her character Celie; reflects on her fruitful artistic partnerships with director Graciela Daniele and the team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty; and considers the challenges and opportunities she's had on occasion to explore roles originally conceived for causcasian actors. Original airdate - February 24, 2006.

While Mrs. Lovett playing the tuba may seem strange to some, "Sweeney Todd"'s Patti LuPone explains that she's no stranger to the tuba, as she recalls her years in the high school band, as well her formative years at Juilliard and in John Houseman's Acting Company, the mixed blessings of her triumph as "Evita" and why she always wants to be thought of as an actor, not a star. Original airdate - February 10, 2006.

Sarah Jones talks about the shift from slam poet to Broadway star, performing at United Nations, the melting pot of Queens, NY, and what its like to have Meryl Streep as your number one fan. And she brings along a few of her characters from "Bridge and Tunnel" as well. Original airdate - January 27, 2006.

Straddling the worlds of musical comedy and rock and roll, "Sweeney Todd"'s Michael Cerveris talks about how his extensive work with Stephen Sondheim makes it hard to sing more conventional musical theatre works, recounts learning how to be a rock star from Pete Townshend of The Who in preparation for "Tommy", and recalls how his disparate performing worlds united in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch". Original airdate - January 20, 2006.

With the cast album of "Dessa Rose" now in stores, here's the "Downstage Center" March 2005 interview with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty in which they survey their career from jingle writing to "Ragtime" and everything in between (including "Once on this Island" and "My Favorite Year"), with Stephen briefly at the keyboard to illuminate a few stories. Original airdate - March 25, 2005.

Legendary composer Jerry Herman plays and sings snippets of some of his most famous compositions as he recalls the creation of such seminal musicals as "Hello Dolly", "Mame" and "La Cage aux Folles" in this one-of-a-kind interview from November 2004. Original airdate - November 5, 2004.

One of the busiest directors in New York, Tony-winner Doug Hughes, talks about revisiting "Doubt" with a new cast; how he handles the heightened expectations for "Defiance", his next collaboration with playwright John Patrick Shanley; and whether, for the child of two actors, becoming a director is the ultimate revenge on your parents. Original airdate - January 6, 2006.

Stage veterans Rosemary Harris and John Cullum talk about meeting for the very first time to play husband and wife in Ariel Dorfman's "The Other Side", discuss their feelings about seeing their children follow in their acting footsteps, and recall the subdued 1966 Tony Awards, when Cullum was nominated for "On a Clear Day..." and Harris won for "The Lion in Winter". Original airdate - December 30, 2005.

Audra McDonald recounts her start in theatre as an alternative to therapy for childhood hyperactivity, her teenage years at small theatres in northern California (including her performance as Eva in "Evita"), balancing her stage and concert careers, and the wide variety of musical styles to which she is devoted. Original airdate - December 23, 2005.

Early in his first season at the helm, Oskar Eustis, the new artistic director of The Public Theater, talks about his plans for that seminal theatrical institution, both on stage and off, lets slip plans to pay tribute to the company's original traveling Shakespeare mandate with new theatrical ventures in all of the city's five boroughs, and reflects on the choice of Rinne Groff's "The Ruby Sunrise" as his first directing project of his tenure. Original airdate - December 16, 2005.