Tony Award Winners on Working In The Theatre

The panel of theatre professionals -- playwright Michael J. Chepiga (Getting and Spending), choreographer Graciela Daniele (Ragtime), playwright/director Christopher Durang (Sex and Longing), director Garry Hynes (Best Director Tony Award for The Beauty Queen of Leenane), and director Joe Mantello (2003 for Best Direction for Take Me Out and 2004 for Assassins) -- discuss how they got their start, auditioning actors, controversy surrounding a play, and taking on alternate roles of choreographer, actor, or director.

The Side Man production team -- general manager Roy Gabay (Tony winner for the 1998 revival of A View From the Bridge), producer Jay S. Harris (Tony Winner for 1999’s Side Man), advertising representative, Drew Hodges, producer Peter Manning (Tony Winner for 1999’s Side Man), marketing representative Nancy Richards, and press representative Gary Springer -- discuss moving the Roundabout production to a commercial Broadway run, marketing tactics, ticket pricing, breakdown of the production budget, working on multiple shows simultaneously, and the differences between not-for-profit and commercial theatre.

The panel of lighting designers -- Jules Fisher (seven-time Tony Award winner for, among others, Pippin, Chicago, Dancin’ and Jelly’s Last Jam) and Donald Holder (Tony Awards for The Lion King and the 2008 revival of South Pacific), scenic designers Eugene Lee (Tony winner for Candide, Sweeny Todd and Wicked) and Ming Cho Lee (from the Public Theater and 1983 Tony Award winner for his scenic designs for K2), and The Lion King associate costume designer Mary Peterson -- discuss the challenges of designing their current shows, how sets, lighting, and costumes complement each other, display and detail a costume from The Lion King, and present a model of one of the Ragtime sets.

The international panel of performers -- Scottish actor Iain Glen (The Blue Room), Australian actress Nicole Kidman (The Blue Room), Irish actress Anna Manahan (Tony winner for The Beauty Queen of Leenane), and Filipino actress Lea Salonga (Flower Drum Song and winner of a Tony for Miss Saigon) -- discuss their training, the rehearsal process, taking a whole approach to both film and stage work, overcoming stage fright, how audience responses varies from London to Broadway to Australia, and how changes in the political climate of their respective countries have affected theatre.

Actors Blythe Danner (1970 Tony Award for Butterflies Are Free) and Edward Herrmann both from The Deep Blue Sea, Brian Stokes Mitchell (Ragtime and a 2000 Tony Award for Kiss Me, Kate), Alfred Molina (Art), Natasha Richardson (winner of Tony Award in the 1998 revival of Cabaret), and John Vickery (The Lion King) discuss how their training and first professional jobs, obtaining and preparing for their current role, what has been their biggest break in theatre, the difference between theatre audiences in London and New York, and anecdotes of flubbing lines.

What is the role of a producer? That was the question that started the discussion among four of Broadway's top producers -– Tony Award Winners Roger Berlind (2005 Best Play for Doubt and 2006 Best Play for The History Boys), Margo Lion (for Hairspray in 2003 and Elaine Stritch at Liberty in 2002), Jeffrey Richards (2008 for Best Play with August: Osage County and for the 2009 revival of Hair) and Jeffrey Seller (Best Musicals for Avenue Q and In the Heights) -- as the conversation turned to whether they produce for profit or passion and how they balance between the two; what the shows they produce reveal about themselves; what the opportunities are for new producers; the increased role the internet and other new media plays in theatre today; the escalating cost of producing a show on Broadway today; and what they feel are the major issues facing theatre producers as they look to the future.

The Lion King production team -- press representative Chris Boneau, composer Lebo M, advertising representative Rick Elice, producers Peter Schneider and Thomas Schumacher, and director, costume and mask designer Julie Taymor (Tony Award for the show) -- talk about the development of the animated film, the subsequent development of the theatrical show led by Taymor's vision, forming a creative design team, merging Western and African music into a unique collaborative sound, the publicity and advertising challenges, and marketing a nearly sold-out show for a long run

Playwright Jeff Baron (Visiting Mr. Green), director/playwright Moises Kaufman (Gross Indecency), playwright Warren Leight (Tony winner for Side Man), Tony Award winning-director Michael Mayer (for Spring Awakening), actor/director Lonny Price (Visiting Mr. Green), and director Matthew Warchus (Tony winner for 2009’s God of Carnage) discuss the working dynamics between a playwright and a director, the differences between screenwriting and playwriting, transitioning from acting to directing, and the development of Side Man and Art.

Lyricist Lynn Ahrens (1998 for Tony for Best Original Score with Ragtime), producer Garth Drabinsky (Tony Award winner for Kiss of the Spider Woman), composer Stephen Flaherty (1998 for Tony for Best Original Score with Ragtime), director Frank Galati (two 1990 Tony Awards for The Grapes of Wrath), book writer Terrence McNally (four-time Tony Award winner for Kiss of the Spider Woman, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class and Ragtime), and advertising representative Jon Wilner discuss the journey of the American musical Ragtime -- from adapting E.L. Doctorow's novel, to comparisons with the 1981 film, through numerous workshops, to the full-scale Toronto and Broadway productions.

Actors Roger Bart (Young Frankenstein and Tony winner for the 1999 revival of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown), Brian d'Arcy James (Next To Normal), Priscilla Lopez (In The Heights and Tony winner for A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine) and Sherie Rene Scott (The Little Mermaid) -- collectively veterans of more than 30 Broadway and off-Broadway musicals -- talk about the differences between performing in musicals and straight plays; acting techniques and voice training; how they prepare for a performance; dealing with the ""triple threat"" of acting, singing and dancing; balancing their lives on and off stage and their opinions on today's new composers.