Why We Theater

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Why We Theater episodes

April 09, 2022 Why We Theater Now: April 2022
In this Season 2 finale, Ruthie recommends currently running Broadway and Off-Broadway shows that speak to Why We Theater.

Paradise Square, now on Broadway

Alex Edelman's Just For Us

Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

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13 min
April 01, 2022ADDRESSLESS meets Choose-Your-Own Activity
In this week’s mini-episode, Ruthie recommends books—some novels, some memoirs—and television episodes that tell stories about homelessness. Then, taking a page out of Addressless’ book, Ruthie offers guides listeners through three at-home activities to better emotionally comprehend what it means to be at risk for homelessness and to experience it.

Organize a Sleep Out of your own.

Try Covenant House's "What Would You Do?" Activity.

Instructions for Losing Your Identity courtesy of Covenant House

Instructions for Privilege For Sale courtesy of Covenant House

Recommended Reads:
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey From Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle

Find your local independent bookstore.

Grey's Anatomy, Season 9, Ep 6
Station 19, Season 5, Ep 12

Create the change:
Learn more at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH)
View homelessness statistics by state
Volunteer with or donate to Covenant House; Organize a Sleep Out in your community
Tell Congress to fund Homeless Assistance Grants (Click to sign a letter)
Read up on current legislation that would impact homelessness
How do we deal with our legislators?
Improve conditions in homeless shelters:
Hire well-trained staff, and hire enough of them
Bring mental health services to the shelters (i.e. have AA meetings on the premises, have mental health counselors on the premises)
What 4 experts have to say
Find a mentorship opportunity
Make cards with contact info to promote nearby shelters to hand out to those who are in need and asking for help
Donate clothes, especially socks, to nearby shelters
Participate in your city’s point-in-time count (signups are generally in Nov/Dec for the upcoming year - Google to find the PIT in your neighborhood)
Try rapid re-housing in your community
Learn about permanent supportive housing
Increase employment opportunities (adjust job applications so they do not require listing a permanent address)
Read the obstacles to solving the homelessness crisis—then counter them
Understand why homelessness is rising
Directory of Homeless Service Organizations by state
Sign up for Advocacy Alerts from the NAEH

Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

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22 min
March 29, 2022ADDRESSLESS and Homelessness
ADDRESSLESS: A Walk in Our Shoes played Off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in February 2022 as a virtual, interactive production. The play intimately and personally illustrated what it means to live homeless in New York City. Hungarian director Martin Boross and playwright Jonathan Payne explored this plight through three individuals living unhoused, each on a mission to acquire $1,500 while staying as healthy as they could. Experts Shams Da Baron (aka Da Homeless Hero), Covenant House International President Kevin Ryan, and playwright Jonathan Payne join host Ruthie Fierberg to dissect the play and offer answers to the solvable homelessness crisis in the U.S.
View the Digital Program for ADDRESSLESS.

Create the change:
Learn more at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH)
View homelessness statistics by state
Volunteer with or donate to Covenant House; Organize a Sleep Out in your community
Tell Congress to fund Homeless Assistance Grants (Click to sign a letter)
Read up on current legislation that would impact homelessness
Improve conditions in homeless shelters:
Hire well-trained staff, and hire enough of them
Bring mental health services to the shelters (i.e. have AA meetings on the premises, have mental health counselors on the premises)
What 4 experts have to say
Find a mentorship opportunity
Make cards with contact info to promote nearby shelters to hand out to those who are in need and asking for help
Donate clothes, especially socks, & personal hygience items to nearby shelters
Participate in your city’s point-in-time count (signups are generally in Nov/Dec for the following year - Google to find the PIT in your neighborhood)
Try rapid re-housing in your community
Learn about permanent supportive housing
Increase employment opportunities for those without housing (don't make a permanent address a requirement on job applications)
Read: Obstacles to solving the homelessness crisis—then counter them
Understand why homelessness is rising
Directory of Homeless Service Organizations by state
Sign up for Advocacy Alerts from the NAEH
Referred to in this episode:
What is StereoAKT?
What is Covenant House?
2020 Point-in-Time Count
About the foster care system
What is a group home?
Foster care vs. Group home
What is transitional housing?
Human trafficking and homelessness
Privilege Sleep Out exercise
Legislation for Wifi in all shelters
Shams fact-check: Shams said, “In Harlem, 40% of the students that are in school here are, are in, are either homeless or housing or facing housing instability.” Reports show 1 in 10 NYC public school students is homeless, up to 1 in 5 depending on the area.
Read more on homelessness of NYC public school students & CUNY students
Greater risk of Black and brown, LGBTQ+ youth
What is Community Access?
How real estate development impacts homelessness
How redlining impacts homelessness (more on redlining)
What is the Lucerne and what was the controversy?
Addressless’ How Can I Help? Worksheet (items incorporated in CTT)
The Childcare Tax Credit: How does it reduce child poverty?
How does that help alleviate homelessness?
What is the Poor People’s Movements?
What are Public Assistance Programs?
Open Hearts in NYC
Does shelter living cost money? Short answer: YES.

About Our Guests:
Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Jonathan Payne, Playwright @JPayneWrites
Shams DaBaron, Performer/Script consultant, Activist @homeless_hero
Kevin M. Ryan, President of Covenant House International @CovHousePrez

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1 hr 16 min
March 18, 2022DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA meets The Prophet
Last week, American Utopia performer Tendayi Kuumba and experts Drs. Vinoo Alluri and Alejandro Lleras helped host Ruthie Fierberg take step back and welcome a broader perspective to problem-solving, beyond “What are the next steps to create change?” to “How do we find the next steps to create change?”

The human brain is not a muscle, but it does need exercise—so to speak. To change the way we solve problems, we must change the way we approach problems. Change the very way we think. Actor and producer Salma Hayek had this same idea when she produced the 2014 animated film The Prophet, a movie adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s 1923 eponymous book. Hayek also believed: “We need a new generation that goes into the unknown and finds solutions that we have not seen or heard.” So this week, Ruthie recommends The Prophet as the companion piece to American Utopia—currently on Broadway through April 3, 2022.

Listen to David Byrne’s American Utopia on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music.

Get tickets to David Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway.

Watch David Byrne’s American Utopia on HBOMax.

Watch the animated movie The Prophet.

Purchase the book The Prophet from your local independent bookstore.

Sign up for Ruthie’s monthly newsletter at ruthiefierberg.com.

Referred to in this episode
Read: Ways to help those in Ukraine
Help refugees throughout the world
Kahlil Gibran’s book The Prophet
Ruthie’s Parents.com interview with Salma Hayek

Connect with your host!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
11 min
March 11, 2022DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA and Expanding Our Thinking to Solve Problems
You might think David Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway is a concert. It’s not. Yet, it’s not exactly a play or a musical. It’s something else outside the box. The Talking Heads frontman— along with choreographer Annie-B Parsons’ and a band of international musicians, vocalists, and dancers—creates a show about exploring the unconventional, especially when it comes to unconventional thought and thought processes.

American Utopia made host Ruthie Fierberg wonder: How many solutions to society’s conflicts might we be overlooking because we think the way we have always thought? American Utopia performer Tendayi Kuumba and experts Dr. Vinoo Alluri and Dr. Alejandro Lleras join us to explore: What problems could we solve if we used more of our minds and used our minds differently? Could we achieve an American Utopia?

Listen to the album of David Byrne’s American Utopia.

Watch David Byrne’s American Utopia on HBOMax.

Create the Change
Volunteer with Headcount to register voters at a performance of American Utopia
Volunteer with Headcount in general
Cultivate new and varied ways of thinking:
Enhance your own synesthesia
Try any of these “6 Ways to Rewire Your Brain”
If your main way of processing and working is to sit in one spot and concentrate, try talking a walk, dancing, exercising to make your brain work differently by engaging different activity patterns in your brain.
Develop your “openness” (one of the Big 5 personality traits)
Read about how openness can help you see the world differently
Read David Byrne’s How Music Works
Listen to music outside of your normal playlist
Dig into more research on music and cognition
Listen to “happy” music to promote divergent thinking (which leads to increased creativity)
Explore social justice through music, a curriculum
Improve your allyship
Referred to in this episode (in order of mention)
Letter from David Byrne about American Utopia
Listen to “Here” from American Utopia
See American Utopia’s set and costumes
Read about and watch Annie-B Parsons’ American Utopia choreography
Your brain on music
Your brain listening to different genres of music
Grooviness of music
What is embodied cognition?
What is embodied cognition to music?
American Utopia’s partnership with Headcount
Watch Janelle Monae’s official music video for “Hell You Talmbout”
Your brain choreographed movement vs improvised movement
Watch this video debunking the MYTH: “Humans use 10 percent of our brains.”
What is pruning in the brain?
Babies learning language
What is synesthesia?
Research by Berit Brogaard to unlock more of brain’s potential
The truth about left brain vs. right brain
What is dadaism?
Listen to “I Zimbra” from American Utopia
David Byrne Talks Being a Good Ally and American Utopia
How making music can promote brain plasticity

About Our Guests:

Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Tendayi Kuumba, Performer @whostendayi

Dr. Vinoo Alluri PhD, musicologist and neuroscientist

Dr. Alejandro Lleras PhD, psychologist

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1 hr 18 min
February 17, 2022Re-Release: IF I FORGET and American Jews, Anti-Semitism, and Tribalism
With the recent controversy surrounding Whoopi Goldberg and her remarks about the Holocaust, with the recent hostage situation at a Texas synagogue, with generational trauma and anti-Semitism on the brain, Why We Theater re-releases this episode from Season 1 with a new intro and new context.
Dig into Tony Award winner Steven Levenson's play IF I FORGET with Steven himself and experts Rabbi Shuli Passow (B'nai Jeshurun in New York City) and scholar Judah Isseroff.

Watch IF I FORGET on BroadwayHD.
Michael’s monologue, as performed by Tony Award nominee Jeremy Shamos, appears with the permission of Roundabout Theatre Company, which premiered IF I FORGET Off-Broadway in 2017, and Steven Levenson.

Referred to in this new intro
Watch: Whoopi Goldberg shares thoughts on the Holocaust on The View
Debra Messing tweets a helpful response to Goldberg
Banning of "Maus" in schools.... and the subsequent nationwide results
Hostage situation at Texas synagogue
Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA
What is Zionism?
Referred to in this episode
“The Rise of Social Orthodoxy: A Personal Account” by Jay P. Lefkowitz
“The Problem with ‘Social Orthodoxy’” by Joshua R. Fattal, a critical response to Lefkowitz
“What is the Talmud? Definition and Comprehensive Guide”, Yehuda Shurpin
Who is Theodore Herzl?
Who is David Ben-Gurion?
Who is Sheldon Adelson?
Who is “Adolf Eichmann”?
Who is Hannah Arendt
Neveragain.com
Anti-Defamation League: Fighting Hate for Good
What is Jerusalem Syndrome”?
Create the change
Learn more about Judaism — knowledge facilitates compassion with “Introduction to Judaism” OR “The Basics of Judaism”
Name anti-Semitic incidents as such, report them, and speak out against them
Use Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide
Learn about The New Israel Fund, which envisions a Jewish and democratic state
Fight for justice guided by Jewish values with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
Be aware of your own bias — it’s evolutionarily built in us to be tribal and we need to self-examine our thoughts and introduce dissenting viewpoints
If you are Jewish and looking for ways to become involved:
Choose a small tradition and incorporate that into your home, like lighting candles on Friday night for Shabat or saying the “Shema” before bed each night
Take inspiration from B’nai Jeshurun’s The Jewish Home Project
In COVID, many synagogues have moved services online; explore to find a place that feels right to you

Why We Theater is a product of part of the Broadway Podcast Network, edited by Derek Gunther, and produced by Alan Seales.
Follow us @whywetheater on Instagram & Twitter.
Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.
Our logo is by Christina Minopoli. See more at MinopoliDesign.com.
Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Dori Berinstein, Leigh Silverman, Patrick Taylor, Tony Montenieri, Elena Mayer, Wesley Birdsall, and Suzanne Chipkin.

Connect with Ruthie!
RuthieFierberg.com
Instagram: @ruthiefierceberg / @whywetheater
Twitter: @RuthiesATrain / @whywetheater

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 hr 34 min
February 10, 2022 THE COLOR PURPLE meets Prayer for the French Republic
Continuing our discussion about the musical The Color Purple (which is also about to become a movie musical starring Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, and Corey Hakwins), this week Ruthie recommends Joshua Harmon’s new Off-Broadway play Prayer for the French Republic.

The Color Purple—originally a novel by Alice Walker—was adapted into a musical and first opened on Broadway in 2005 and revived in 2015 and depicts the abusive relationship between Celie and Mister (among many other things). But is it as simple as “Mister is a bad guy?” Last week in “THE COLOR PURPLE and Generational Trauma,” we spoke about what it was like for actor Isaiah Johnson to play Mister—why he wanted to, how it was healing, and how it was challenging. Isaiah also pointed out that generational trauma is not unique to Black Americans and Prayer for the French Republic reminded me of that.

Prayer takes place in 2015-2016 Paris and 1945-1946 Paris, depicting multiple generations of French Jews in the same family. Rising anti-Semitism in Paris confronts the present-day Benhamou family, stoking fear and worry, and forcing them to wonder “When do you leave? When are the signs enough to tell you to leave? And where do you go? Where is safe?” Listen to this full episode for the connections between these two theatrical pieces, the communities they portray, and why you should run to see both.

Buy tickets to Prayer for the French Republic at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Visit the website of International Center for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma

Read the International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma

Explore the work of Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Braveheart

Read On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Connect with your host!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
13 min
February 03, 2022THE COLOR PURPLE and Generational Trauma
In all its forms, The Color Purple is a powerful account of generational trauma in the Black community. The novel by Alice Walker was published in 1982 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 before being adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. In 2005, the musical version opened on Broadway starring LaChanze with a book by Marsha Norman and a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Ten years later, the musical came back to Broadway in a 2015 revival and won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

Actor Isaiah Johnson, who played the role of Mister in the original Broadway cast of the 2015 revival production, opposite Cynthia Erivo, joins us to discuss the musical as we look at the character of Mister and generational trauma. What does it mean to carry the trauma of your ancestors? How does this type of trauma affect people, specifically Black Americans? What tools are there to heal this trauma for those experiencing it? And how can non Black people support Black healing? Experts Curtis Smith, Cymone Fuller, and Dr. Schekeva Hall weigh in, as well.

Create the Change
Begin or deepen your mindfulness practice (resources from Moment of Mindfulness here)
Seek out a therapist with cultural competency training
Search Therapy for Black Girls, Psychology Today, Alma, etc.
Consider a restorative justice process to heal pain and trauma in lieu of punitive justice
For members of the Black community:
Build relationships and unify Black people
Check out the youth organization Jack and Jill of America or any of the 10 on this list
Discover the Black Feminist Project
Tell your truths, your stories, express yourself
For members of non-Black communities: LISTEN.
Read Dr. Yael Danieli’s book International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma
Find more research on generational trauma via the International Center for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma
Read “Breaking the Chains of Generational Trauma”
Learn more about generational trauma
Explore the work of Dr. Joy DeGruy
Referred to in this episode
Michaela Angela Davis
Clips from the Schomburg Center Color Purple panel
“Lynching Memorial” aka The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama
What is generational trauma?
What is mindfulness?
Moment of Mindfulness LLC
What is restorative justice?
Impact Justice
Statistic: Children of Holocaust survivors over-represented 300 percent
Generational Trauma in Indigenous communities and its impact

Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 hr 26 min
January 27, 2022 SANCTUARY CITY Meets The Sun Is Also A Star
Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok writes the story of high-schoolers B & G in Sanctuary City. As undocumented teens, the two lean on each other. When G gets citizenship and B has to choose to stay in New Jersey or return with his mom to their country of origin, questions of identity, friendship, sacrifice, and love emerge.

In Nicola Yoon’s New York Times bestseller The Sun is Also a Star, Natasha and Daniel are also from immigrant families—Daniel a first-generation Korean-American and Natasha an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica. This book is magical. It’s simultaneously a surprising love story, a philosophical exploration about our universe, and a very real fight to survive another day. Listen to find out why if one story intrigues you, so will the other.

Read The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon.

Purchase the book from your local independent bookstore.

Connect with your host!
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network produced by Alan Seales and edited by Derek Gunther.

Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez. Hear more at BenjaminVelez.com.

Special thanks to Genesis Johnson, Leigh Silverman, Suzanne Chipkin, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, Patrick Taylor, and Dori Berinstein.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10 min
January 20, 2022SANCTUARY CITY and U.S. Immigration Reform
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok debuted her new play, Sanctuary City, Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in the fall of 2021. The drama follows B and G, two best friends, both undocumented immigrants. After 9/11, B’s mom decides to return to her country of origin, but the U.S. is the only home B has ever known. As he decides whether to stay or leave, G might be able to offer him a solution. How much are they each willing to sacrifice?

Sanctuary City puts U.S. immigration policy and the people it affects under a microscope and humanizes the stories behind the legalese. Host Ruthie Fierberg, along with Majok and experts Katherine Benton-Cohen (Author Inventing the Immigration Problem: The Dillingham Commission & Its Legacy), Carolina Canizales (Immigration Legal Resource Center), and Christian Pinochet-Paul (Presidents’ Alliance) discuss the evolution of immigration policy in the United States to present day, potential reforms to make policies more humane, where immigrants can find support, and more.

Create the change
Support your local immigrant communities
Create a warm and safe space at community centers
Welcome them in the PTA and at school functions
Become a patron of immigrant-owned businesses
Assist in supporting refugees
Dispel myths about immigrants (Read “The 14 Most Common Arguments Against Immigrants and Why They’re Wrong”)
Donate to/partner with TheDream.US
Donate to the International Rescue Committee
Volunteer with/Join a campaign at United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led network
Visit the State Policies map to see the policies of colleges & universities in every state
Advocate for in-state tuition for all students with your state representatives
If you work at a college or university, visit Presidents’ Alliance for resources, research, and tips to support international, immigrant, & undocumented students
If you or someone you know is an immigrant, undocumented or otherwise, who needs support:
Check your eligibility for DACA and apply (DACA toolbox)
Apply for a National Scholarship or Opportunity Scholarship for higher education
Seek support from United We Dream
Reach out to Texas Organizing Project
Contact the Workers Defense Project
Find a Dream Center near you
Referred to in this episode
Timeline of U.S. immigration laws
What is DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)?
What is DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)?
The Dillingham Commission
Katie’s book Inventing the Immigration Problem: The Dillingham Commission & Its Legacy
Chinese Exclusion Act
1907 Gentlemen's Agreement
1965 Hart-Celler Act
What is the DREAM Act?
Who are Dreamers?
Paul Kramer TED Talk: “Our Immigration Conversation Is Broken”
Section 1325 (Unlawful Entry….) and Section 1326 (Re-entry After Deportation)
Business Insider article on inflation and immigration
Presidents’ Alliance, Best Practices
Gaby Pacheco scholarship (via TheDream.us)
Julian Castro’s proposed immigration policies
Libby Garland’s book After They Closed the Gates: Jewish Illegal Immigration to the United States, 1921-1965
The number of immigrants and undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

About Our Guests:
Ruthie Fierberg, Host
Ruthiefierberg.com
IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater
IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain

Martyna Majok, playwright
Twitter: @martynamajok

Katherine Benton-Cohen, PhD, professor of history and author
Twitter: @guprofbc

Carolina Canizales, Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Twitter: @the_ILRC

Christian Penichet-Paul, Presidents’ Alliance
Twitter: @donchristian92

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1 hr 26 min

About Why We Theater

From the publisher's feed

Social justice meets theatre in this podcast from Playbill’s former Executive Editor Ruthie Fierberg. Artists and experts unite for curated panels, using plays and musicals (Broadway, Off-Broadway,…