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Tommy Dorfman Star of Romeo & Juliet talks about what it’s like to work on the show of the season from one of the oldest playwright. Tommy discusses playing the duel role of The Nurse & Tibolt, the role of gender in this version directed by Sam Gold and the bond between Rachel Zegler’s Juliet and Tommy’s Nurse. We also discuss her hit series 13 Reasons Why, upcoming movie I wish you all the best written, directed and produced by Tommy and her upcoming memoir Maybe this will save me.
Also in this episode: Julie Andrews Oscar win for Mary Poppins, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade performance line up of Hell’s Kitchen, Death Becomes Her, The Outsiders.
Tommy Dorfman is an accomplished actress, writer, director, and producer whose work spans film, television, and theater. Best known for her breakout role in the hit Netflix series 13 REASONS WHY, Dorfman has since gone on to build a dynamic career, while consistently shining a light on her experiences as a trans woman in Hollywood.
Most recently, Dorfman made her Broadway debut in Sam Gold’s adaptation of ROMEO + JULIET, starring alongside Kit Conner and Rachel Zegler. Opening on October 24 for a 20-week run, this production marks Dorfman’s return to the New York stage and her first acting role since publicly coming out as transgender. In this fresh take on the classic, Dorfman takes on dual roles as the “Nurse” and “Tybalt.”
Recently, Dorfman directed her first feature film, I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST, starring Corey Fogelmanis, Alexandra Daddario, Cole Sprouse, and Lena Dunham. The highly anticipated debut feature premiered at SXSW in March 2024 to rave reviews.
Up next, Dorfman’s memoir Maybe This Will Save Me will be published by HarperCollins in May 2025.
Through her queer lifestyle platform CURRAN and production company DOWN THE LINE, Dorfman’s work focuses on telling stories that highlight distinct and diverse LGBTQ+ experiences. She has worked closely with GLAAD and the Ali Forney Center as well as spearheaded fashion campaigns focused on bringing queer talent front and center with companies like Coach, Valentino, and Calvin Klein.
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Behind the Awards goes backstage at Our Town to talk with actor Noah Pyzik. He talks about working with director Kenny Leon in this and Purlie Victorious. Noah explains what it’s like being a cast member and also an understudy. Noah also talks about his career as a producer and growing up as a theatre kid in Michigan.
Also in this episode we discuss seeing Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler in Romeo & Juliet and Whoopi Goldberg’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Ghost.
Noah Pyzik is an actor, producer, writer, and historian. He’s performed on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning production of Purlie Victorious and Our Town, and in New York at The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, La MaMa, Playwrights Downtown, The York Theatre, A.R.T./NY, National Queer Theatre, Theatre Row, The Tank, Teatro Latea, Snapple Theatre Center, Faison Firehouse, and Brooklyn Art Haus. He is the recipient of a New York Innovative Theatre Award, an Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination, and various film festival honors. His upcoming producing credits include Off-Broadway’s Baldwin et Lucien, Botticelli in the Fire, The Zionists, and Foucault in Warsaw. @noahpyzik on Instagram
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Lorraine Toussaint kicks off Season 5 of The Equalizer this week on CBS alongside her TV Niece Queen Latifah and drops by to chat about her 40 year career of Stage, Film and TV including Any Day Now Co-starring Annie Potts, Orange is the New Black, plus she talks about how Juilliard gave her the training needed to create her own language for Into the Bandlands, and of course her return to the stage after 18 years in Hamlet at the Delacourt as part of Shakespeare in the Park Directed by Kenny Leon.
Also in this episode - Eila & Bruce take a field trip to the invited dress rehearsal of Maybe Happy Ending starring Darren Criss & Helen J Shen, Shirley MacLaine Oscar win for Terms of Endearment.
Lorraine Toussaint began her career in theatre, before supporting performances in films such as Breaking In (1989), Hudson Hawk (1991), and Dangerous Minds (1995). As lead actress, she is best known for her role as Rene Jackson in the critically acclaimed Lifetime television drama series Any Day Now, from 1998 to 2002, and her recurring role as defense attorney Shambala Green in the NBC legal drama Law & Order. She later appeared as a regular cast member in the NBC police procedural Crossing Jordan (2002–03) and the TNT crime drama Saving Grace (2007–10).
Toussaint received critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance in the 2012 drama film Middle of Nowhere, written and directed by Ava DuVernay. In 2014, she played the role of Yvonne "Vee" Parker, the main antagonist in the second season of the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black, for which she received critical acclaim and a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She also played the role of Amelia Boynton Robinson in the 2014 historical drama film Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay. Toussaint later co-starred in the ABC fantasy-drama series Forever (2014–15), the Fox comedy-drama Rosewood (2015–17), the AMC drama Into the Badlands (2018–19), NBC drama The Village (2019) and CBS crime drama The Equalizer (2021–present).
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James Monroe Iglehart chats with us about starring as Louie Armstrong as well as Co-Directing A Wonderful World. James shares stories of originating the role of The Genie in Aladdin, being part of Memphis and Hamilton. Not only has James had a wonderful stage career but he shares his prolific experience as a Voice Actor.
Also in this episode Scarlett Johansson’s 2010 Tony Win for A View from the Bridge. Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher in Left on Tenth.
Won for his Tony Award-winning performance as the Genie in the original Broadway production of Aladdin. Iglehart assumed the roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway cast of Hamilton in April 2017. He recreated the role of King Arthur in the 2023 Broadway revival of Spamalot and played Louis Armstrong in the Broadway company of A Wonderful World. He can be heard as super producer Steve Jones in As The Curtain Rises, Broadway's first original podcast soap opera. More recently, Iglehart joined the cast of the animated webseries Helluva Boss, as both the Demon Lord of Lust Asmodeus/Ozzie and hellhound bodyguard Vortex, and Hazbin Hotel, as Zestial, as well having written for Marvel Comics, primarily one-shots featuring Spider-Man.
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Ephraim Sykes stops by to discuss creating a George for this generation with Kenny Leon. He tells us all about the field trip on the first day of rehearsal to New Hampshire and how his career has been as series of pinch me moments from being in the original cast of Hamilton to playing Seaweed Stubbs in Hairspray Live and being a Temptation in Ain’t Too Proud. Ephraim shares how getting a scholarship to Alvin Alley changed his career path and what it was like to audition for and tap with Savion Glover to gain the lead role in Pal Joey for NYC Center Center’s Encores.
Also in this episode Richard Gere’s 2003 Golden Globe win for Chicago. Eila & Bruce recount their trip to Our Town now in previews at the Barrymore Theater. Bruce also shares his experience at the Ogunquit Playhouse seeing The World Premier of My Best Friend’s Wedding The Musical Directed and Choreographed by Kathleen Marshall and Lead by Krystal Joy Brown, Tony Winner Matt Doyle, Telly Leung, Lianah Sta. Ana, Morgan Bryant and Zoe Jensen.
Ephraim Sykes made his Broadway debut in 2009, joining the cast of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. He then earned a spot later that year in the Broadway premiere of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Memphis. Sykes made his Off-Broadway debut originating the role of Benny in the 2011 revival of Rent at New World Stages and later that year, he returned to Broadway as part of the original cast of Disney’s Newsies. He followed this turn up as an original cast member of the 2013 Broadway premiere of Motown The Musical.
In January 2015, Sykes returned off Broadway to The Public Theater, originating the role of George Eacker in the musical juggernaut Hamilton. After receiving wide acclaim, the production transferred to Broadway from July 2015, eventually winning the 2016 Tony Award for Best Musical. Sykes remained with the production until September 2016.
His big break as a leading man came after being cast as David Ruffin in Ain’t Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations. Following tryouts in Berkeley, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Toronto, the Broadway premiere opened at the Imperial Theatre in March 2019. Sykes earned his first Tony Award nomination for his efforts, followed by a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020.
On screen, Sykes is known for playing Seaweed J. Stubbs in NBC’s Hairspray Live! in 2016. He has also appeared in 30 Rock on NBC in 2011, Leave It on the Floor (2011), NBC’s Broadway-centric musical series Smash (2013), as Marvin in Vinyl on HBO (2016), Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix (2016), Amazon’s Crisis in Six Scenes (2016), and the movie Detroit (2017).
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Claybourne Edler takes a break from filing The Guilded Age with many Broadway friends to discuss Company, his charity City of Strangers, his current concert series and his love of Patti LuPone.
Also in this episode: Nikki M James winning Tony moment for The Book of Mormon. Eila & Bruce's visit to The Public to see Good Bones written by past guest James Ijames, Pulitzer Prize Winner author of Fat Ham.
Claybourne Edler received rave reviews and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in A Play for originating the role of "Ollie Olson" in One Arm directed by Moisés Kaufman. He was nominated for a 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical for Allegro at Classic Stage. He originated the roles of "Buck Barrow" in Bonnie & Clyde, "Hollis Bessemer" in Stephen Sondheim's Road Show and "Michael Victor" in Venice.
He played the Soldier/Alex and understudied Jake Gyllenhaal in the Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George, which opened in February 2017. He also played the role in the concert performances in October 2016 at New York City Center.
Elder can be heard on the cast recordings of Bonnie & Clyde, Road Show, Venice and Sunday in the Park with George.
Elder guest-starred as Pete O'Malley in the second season of The CW's The Carrie Diaries.
Regionally, Elder played George in Sunday in the Park with George at the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia, in 2014.
On Broadway, Elder played the role of Andy in the 2021 revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.
Elder played Gaston in the 2023 production of Beauty and the Beast at The Muny
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Fresh off the heels of is run in Little Shop of Horrors, Emmy Winner and Tony Nominee Kevin Del Aguila pops by to give us the skinny on David Henry Hwang’s play Yellow Face at the Roundabout Theater. Kevin also talks about his time creating his character in Some Like it Hot, as well as his work as a writer with shows like Altar Boyz and Dog Man the Musical.
Also in this episode - Marcia Gay Harden’s Tony win for God of Carnage. Danny Burstein’s casting in Gypsy.
KEVIN DEL AGUILA is an Emmy-winning writer, Tony-nominated actor, acclaimed director, playwright, and lyricist in New York City.
He is a multi Emmy Award-winning writer of the PBS show PEG + CAT, lyricist of songs featured in the Disney animated movie STRANGE WORLD, and book-writer of the hit comedy ALTAR BOYZ (NY Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk noms) which made history as one of the longest running off-Broadway musicals of all time.
Broadway audiences will recognize him from the original casts of SOME LIKE IT HOT (Drama Desk Award and Tony nom for his performance as Osgood), FROZEN (as Oaken), and PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (as Smee), and children everywhere have heard his voice as a troll in Disney's blockbuster film FROZEN. He's appeared in LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, GOD BLESS YOU MR. ROSEWATER for City Center Encores (featuring James Earl Jones), and in the off-Broadway revival of JACQUES BREL. Television guest appearances include LAW & ORDER: SVU, Hulu's DEADBEAT, and PEG + CAT.
Other writing works for the stage include his middle-aged superhero musical THE ASTONISHING RETURN OF THE PROTAGONISTS! (2013 NAMT Festival), musical adaptations of the DreamWorks film MADAGASCAR, the wildly popular book series DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, as well as Dav Pilkey's DOG MAN and CAT KID COMIC CLUB books.
Kevin has written for the HBO comedy special SKETCH PAD and for numerous children's television shows, including WAFFLES + MOCHI'S RESTAURANT for Netflix and the Obamas' Higher Ground Productions, and as Head Writer of BLUE'S CLUES & YOU for Nick Jr. and the CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG reboot for Amazon and PBS Kids (GLAAD Media Award Nomination).
Kevin is the recipient of the Heideman Award for his play THE GREEKEST OF TRAGEDIES (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and has earned several Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominations for his work on the off-Broadway productions of SKIPPYJON JONES, CLICK CLACK MOO, and WE THE PEOPLE.
He has directed several productions of his own plays, including his comedy
6 STORY BUILDING (Best of 2002 NY Fringe Fest), NUMBER ONE: A POLLOCK PAINTING, and his adaptations of THE VELVETEEN RABBIT and SKIPPYJON JONES: SNOW WHAT off-Broadway. He directed the world premieres of FUNKED UP FAIRY TALES and SEE ROCK CITY at Barrington Stage, and has written and directed several events for the New York Philharmonic, including their famed YOUNG PEOPLE'S CONCERTS at Lincoln Center.
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Break out star of Orange is the New Black Uzo Aduba joins us for an in-depth look at her new book The Road is Good. The Emmy Winner also shares starting off in theater, roles she didn’t get and the road that led her to Orange is the New Black. Uzo recounts her time with Clydes, Godspell, The Wiz Live and so much more.
Also in this episode - Rue McClanahhan, Yellow Face at the Roundabout Theater featuring our upcoming guest Kevin DelAgula and The Broadway Flea Market.
Uzo Aduba gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2015, and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2015. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role.
In 2020, Aduba played Shirley Chisholm in the Hulu miniseries Mrs. America, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries. Aduba has appeared in films including American Pastoral (2016), My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), Candy Jar (2018), Miss Virginia (2019), and Lightyear (2022). In 2021, she starred in Lynn Nottage's play Clyde's on Broadway for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
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Eric Roberts and his wife Eliza join us to discuss his new book Runaway train and being a new cast member of Dancing with the Stars. The brutally honest Oscar Nominee goes into the Broadway run of Burn This, working with Bob Fosse in Star 80. He also gives us a glimpse of into growing with a difficult father and his lifelong friendship with Martin Luther King Jr’s family.
Also in this episode, Cher’s Oscar win and The Hills of California.
In a career spanning 50 years, Roberts has amassed more than 700 credits and appeared in blockbusters, independent films, television series, animation, short films, student films, and music videos. As of 2024, he is one of the most prolific English-speaking screen actors of all time.
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Tony Winner Joe Mantegna talks all things Criminal Minds, Madonna, David Mamet, and being part of The Godfather. From Stage to Screen to TV Joe recounts his 55 year career as an Actor/Director/Writer.
Also in this episode, Andre DeShields Tony win for Hadestown. Eila & Bruce stop by Our Town rehearsal and give you a glimpse of what’s to come.
Joe Mantegna has starred in the CBS television series Criminal Minds since 2007 as FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi. He has voiced the recurring role of mob boss Fat Tony on the animated series The Simpsons, beginning with the 1991 episode "Bart the Murderer", as well as The Simpsons Movie (2007).
Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical Hair. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jefferson Award for portraying Richard Roma in the first American productions of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize–winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, the first of many collaborations with Mamet. His long-standing association with Mamet includes the premieres of A Life in the Theatre, The Disappearance of the Jews and Speed-the-Plow on Broadway. Mantegna also directed a highly lauded production of Mamet's Lakeboat, which enjoyed a successful theatrical run in Los Angeles. He later directed the film version of Lakeboat. In addition to theatrical appearances directed by Mamet, Mantegna appeared in Mamet's films House of Games (1987), Things Change (1988), Homicide (1991), and Redbelt (2008).
In film and on television, Mantegna is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos (1986), The Godfather Part III (1990), Forget Paris (1995), and Up Close and Personal (1996). He starred in the television series First Monday (2002) and Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005). He has earned Emmy Award nominations for his roles in three different miniseries: The Last Don (1997), The Rat Pack (1998), and The Starter Wife (2007). He has also served as executive producer for various movies and television movies, including Corduroy (1984), Hoods (1998), and Lakeboat (2000), which he also directed. Additionally, he played Robert B. Parker's fictional detective Spenser in three made-for-TV movies between 1999 and 2001, and has narrated a number of audiobook readings of the Spenser novels.
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Eila & Bruce and are joined by Robert Bannon of BPN’s The Roundtable to dish and predict this years Emmy’s. From The Bear to Abbot Elementary to The Guilded Age and everything in between. Jennifer Aniston, Matt Bomer, Carol Burnett or Selena Gomez…who will go home with a trophy. Watch the Emmy’s Sunday September 15th and see which of us predicts the best!
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Current Emmy Nominee Carol Burnett does a deep dive on Palm Royale, The Carol Burnett show, Annie and so much more. This legend also shared her excitement for Sutton Foster’s Once Upon a Mattress currently running on Broadway and her quest to have theater named for icon Hal Prince.
Also on this episode Martin Short’s 1999 Tony Win for Little Me. Broadway Boxed Up Founder Anant Das.
Carol Burnett is an American comedian, actress, and singer. Her comedy-variety show The Carol Burnett Show, which originally aired on CBS, was one of the first to be hosted by a woman.[1][2] She has performed on Broadway, on television, and in film of varying genres, including dramatic and comedic roles. She has received numerous accolades, including seven Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, a Grammy Award, and seven Golden Globe Awards. Burnett was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2013, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2015.
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Coming off heels of an Off Broadway run in Pre-Existing Condition Tony winner Deirdre O’Connell stops by to chat about her new MAX Series The Penguin Starring Colin Farrell. She takes us back on the journey to create Dana H. And the woman the play is based on.
Also in this episode - Judith Lights Isabelle Stevenson Award Speech at the Tony Awards. Closing of The Notebook and the many lives of Catwoman past, present and future.
O'Connell began her career at Stage One, an experimental theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. She made her Broadway debut in the 1986 revival of The Front Page, and was nominated for the 1991 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the off-Broadway production Love and Anger. She is the recipient of two Drama-Logue Awards and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her stage work in Los Angeles.
O'Connell made her screen debut in Tin Men. Additional film credits include State of Grace, Straight Talk, Leaving Normal, Fearless, City of Angels, Hearts in Atlantis, Imaginary Heroes, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Wendy and Lucy, What Happens in Vegas, Secondhand Lions, and Synecdoche, New York.
She was a regular on L.A. Doctors and has made numerous guest appearances on series such as Kate & Allie, Chicago Hope, The Practice, Six Feet Under, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Nurse Jackie. From 1994 to 2010, O'Connell appeared on six episodes of Law & Order, four of them as Dr. Valerie Knight, Anita Van Buren's oncologist in Season 20.
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Adrian Martinez talks about working with Jerry Seinfeld in Unfrosted, Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez in Only Murders in the Building, and Nicole Kidman in the Interpreter. Adrian shares his love being a stage actor and directorial debut in the award winning iGilbert.
Also in this episode Christine Lahti’s bathroom break/Golden Globe win. Eila and Bruce reminisce about popular TV Theme songs and how they don’t have a place in Emmy history.
Adrian Martinez is an actor, director, writer, and producer, with over 120 film and TV credits, including his directorial debut, “iGilbert,” based on his original screenplay. iGilbert was purchased by Gravitas Ventures and is now available on all major streamers in the US and Canada. iGilbert has been accepted and archived as part of the Academy of motion pictures arts and sciences core collection and recently won best feature and the audience award at the London film festival, Dominican film fest, and several best actor nominations and wins including the prestigious Imagen awards as well as many other international awards.
Adrian is filming “The Amateur,” opposite Oscar winner Rami Malek for Disney and is in the new season of “Only Murders in the Building,” working opposite Selena Gomez and Steve Martin.
His other recent work includes “Renfield,” side kicking with Nicolas Cage, and Awkwafina, and directed by Chris McKay for Universal, and the soon to be released “Unfrosted,” Jerry Seinfeld’s directorial debut for Netflix.
Adrian can also soon be seen in ’Sugar,’ for Apple tv+ in a recurring role opposite Colin Ferrell, and Ben Stiller’s ‘Severance,’ for Apple TV+
Adrian’s hysterical performance in Warner Bros “Focus,” opposite Margot Robbie and Will Smith is presently running on Max.
Adrian’s work as a series regular in “Stumptown” opposite Cobie Smulders (How I met your mother) is now available on Amazon prime video. Adrian can also be seen on season 1 of CBS all access’ ‘No Activity’ produced by Will Ferrell and Funny or die. This is Adrian’s follow up to a Series Regular role in NBC’s ‘The Blacklist: Redemption’ on NBC. Adrian’s career began as a high school track star on NBC’s “Unsolved Mysteries”. Some in casting have called Adrian, “the sidekick to the stars,” as evidenced by his sidekick work in “The Guilty,” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal for Netflix, Amy Schumer’s sidekick in ‘I feel Pretty,’ now on all digital platforms, Ben Stiller’s sidekick in his Fox remake of “Walter Mitty,” Will Ferrell’s sidekick in Lionsgate’s “Casa de mi Padre,” and a lot of dogs in Disney+ “Lady and the Tramp” remake, to name a few.
Mr. Martinez’s TV work also includes over seventy guest spots.
Adrian is writing and developing film and TV projects through his production company, Paloma Pictures Inc., and is in pre-production for his untitled comedy for a major streamer.
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Pulitzer Prize Winner James Ijames gives us the scoop on Fat Ham and his upcoming show Good Bones at the Public Theater.
Also in this episode Henry Winkler’s Emmy win for Barry. Eugene & Dan Levy announcement as 2024 Emmy Hosts and possible 2025 Oscar Hosts.
James James is a Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award nominated playwright, a director and educator.
James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright's Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.
James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ....Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play for Fat Ham
James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective.
He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. He resides in South Philadelphia.
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Santino Fontana takes us behind the scenes of what it took to get Carol Burnett to introduce the Hal Prince Award at this year’s Drama Desk Awards. Santino describes what it’s like to be in the center of a Tootsie tornado and his secret Frozen identity.
Also in this episode Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Emmy win for Abbott Elementary, Phylicia Rashad, and Summer Binging.
Santino Fontana is an American actor and singer. He began his career in 2006 playing Hamlet at the Guthrie Theater and soon gained wide acclaim for his leading performances on and Off-Broadway. He has received a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award, and Clarence Derwent Award. In 2019, Fontana won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his lead performance as Michael Dorsey in the stage adaptation of Tootsie.
Fontana is known for his dynamic versatility. In 2016 he appeared opposite Jennifer Lopez in NBC's Shades of Blue. He was awarded the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work in Brighton Beach Memoirs. David Rooney of Variety wrote, "Fontana brings such strength of character to Stanley that his threatened departure sparks sobs in the audience.” Fontana won a Lucille Lortel, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his work in the 2011 Off-Broadway production of Sons of the Prophet. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times raved, "The sensitive performance of Santino Fontana, one of the most promising young actors to emerge in the New York theater in recent years is the play's trembling emotional heart. In addition to his stage and TV work, Fontana voiced Prince Hans in Disney's 2013 animated film Frozen.
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Off the heels of a successful Off Broadway run White Rose Director/Award winner Will Nunziata talks about what it takes to get his new show Figaro to London’s Palladium Theater. Will shares how the Pandemic lead to an explosion of creativity, as well as what it’s like being in the business with his twin brother Anthony and the parental expectations that go along with that.
Eila & Bruce also discuss Patti LuPone’s Tony win for Gypsy and working with Arthur Laurents. Also in the Episode Eila and Bruce chat about a handful shows that surprisingly did win Best Musical including Dreamgirls, Into the Woods and Wicked.
Will Nunziata is a NYC-based award-winning director, writer, and creator of theatre, concerts, television, and film. Film: The Old Guitarist (Writer, Director). Awards: London Movie Awards (Best Short Film, Best Director), New York Movie Awards (Best First Time Director of a Short), Paris Film Awards (Best First Time Director of a Short). Screenplay: Lillith (Winner of Best Original Screenplay, 2023 Hollywood Blood Horror Festival). Theatre: Figaro: A New Musical (Director, Co-Book Writer - West End 2024), White Rose: The Musical (Director - Off-Broadway). NYC: Miss Peggy Lee (Director, Book Writer, Co-Conceiver) starring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman. Award: Broadway World Best Director. Our Guy Cy: The Songs of Cy Coleman starring Tony Award winners Randy Graff, Cady Huffman, Judy Kaye, and Lillias White (Director, Conceiver). Over Here! starring Tony Award winner Debbie Gravitte (Director, Adapter). Upcoming: An Entirely Ordinary Town: A New Musical (Director), Faygele: A New Play (Director), By the End of Tonight (Director), Little Black Book: A New Musical (Co-Conceiver). Will is a proud graduate of Boston College and a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Union. For more, please visit www.WillNunziata.com and @willnunzofficial on Instagram.
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Christine Ebersole talks all things Grey Gardens, Bob Hearts Abishola, Tootsie & SNL. This Broadway legend is as much fun as she is tenacious, and impressed us how she took her career into her own hands and became a Producer. Join Behind the Awards for Christine’s stories of her 50 year career.
Eila & Bruce also chat about Jonathan Groff’s Tony win for Merrily We Roll Along, Being the Tony Awards, and listener picks for Frank N Further Dream Casting in Rocky Horror.
Christine Ebersole recognized with a string of honors that includes two Tony Awards, she has appeared in twenty Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, as well as gracing television series and specials, films, concerts, recordings and opera.
It was for her “dual role of a lifetime” as Edith Beale and Little Edie Beale in Grey Gardens that Ebersole won her second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, as well as virtually every available Off-Broadway honor. Other memorable New York roles include her Tony-winning turn as Dorothy Brock in the hit revival of 42nd Street, her Tony-nominated portrayal of Elizabeth Arden opposite Patti LuPone in War Paint, her Tony- and Outer Critics Circle-nominated appearance in Dinner at Eight, her Obie-winning and Drama Desk-nominated appearance in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, her performance as Guinevere alongside Richard Harris and Richard Burton in Camelot, and her leading roles in Oklahoma, On the Twentieth Century, Steel Magnolias, The Best Man and the revival of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit. In 2018 she made her operatic debut under James Conlon’s leadership as the Old Lady in Francesca Zambello’s production of Candide at L.A. Opera.
Recently starring as Lucille Dolittle, a role based on Lucille Ball, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-nominated Licorice Pizza, Ebersole has appeared in numerous feature films. Previous film credits include The Wolf of Wall Street, Amadeus, Black Sheep, Dead Again, Folks!, Ghost Dad, My Girl 2, Richie Rich, Tootsie, True Crime and The Big Wedding, which features her account of her original song “Gently Down The Stream.” Since launching her TV career alongside Eddie Murphy as a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live, Ebersole has also accrued a long list of television credits. Currently starring in Chuck Lorre’s hit CBS sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola, she recently portrayed Estelle Schneider in the award-winning Netflix series The Kominsky Method, and has appeared on American Horror Story, Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, Murphy Brown, Pose, Search Party, The Colbert Report, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Will & Grace and Gypsy, in which she played Tessie Tura to Bette Midler’s Mama Rose.
Make sure to check out Eila's book, "The Tony Awards", and all her other amazing books: https://amzn.to/43WMu5Y.
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Adrienne C Moore drops by to discuss Orange is the New Black, Theater and the moment she made it as a New York Actress.
Eila & Bruce also discuss Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tony win for Best Book of Musical for Hamilton. Emmy Nomination standouts Carol Burnett and Aja Naomi King as well as Cher’s first appearance on Will & Grace opposite Sean Hayes.
Adrienne C. Moore is an accomplished television, film, voice over and theater artist. She is best known for her seven seasons starring as 'Black Cindy' on the ground-breaking hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Her work on the series earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series) as well as the Vanguard Award at Essence Magazine's Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon. She and the cast share three SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Additional TV credits include Law and Order: SVU, Homeland, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and 30 Rock. Films include New Line’s Shaft sequel, The Lennon Report and the recent indie Modern Persuasion.
Most recent animation work includes voicing ‘Etta Candy’ in DC’s animated feature Wonder Woman: Bloodlines and the upcoming Netflix interactive choose-your-own-adventure special We Lost our Human. Additional animated projects include Curious George and Doug Unplugged. It was also her distinct honor to be chosen by Ann Druyan for the audiobook narration of Carl Sagan’s The Varieties of Scientific Experience. She has completed numerous voice campaigns for brands such as Vaseline, General Mills, and Jergens.
Often calling it her 'gym,' Adrienne is just at home on a stage as she is on camera. She most recently starred in The Public Theater’s critically acclaimed and award-winning revival of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf. She worked with Phyllida Lloyd on Shakespeare in the Park's The Taming of the Shrew and introduced the world to the timid ‘Keera’ in Kirsten Greenidge's Milk Like Sugar (LaJolla Playhouse & Playwrights Horizons), earning award nominations along the way. Other productions include Dot (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), Ethel Sings (Dir. Will Pomerantz) and Suzan Lori-Parks' 365 Plays/365 Days (The Public Theatre.)
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Adrienne was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her B.A. in Psychology, History and Religion from Northwestern University and an MFA from The New School University. She is most proud of and passionate about her advocacy work with rescue animals and enjoys volunteering with the 52nd Street Project in New York.
Make sure to check out Eila's book, "The Tony Awards", and all her other amazing books: https://amzn.to/43WMu5Y.
Connect with Eila and Bruce:
Instagram @behind_the_awards
Eila @eilamell
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Miriam Silverman chats about Mary Jane, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and more. Miriam gives us the scoop on upcoming project and what it was like to work with Anne Kauffman and Rachel Brosnahan.
Eila and Bruce also discuss Hannah Waddingham’s Emmy win for Ted Lasso as well as their most recent TV Obsession Claim to Fame.
Miriam Silverman won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her critically-acclaimed performance as "Mavis" in the Broadway production of THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN'S WINDOW, opposite Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, as well as winning the 2023 Drama Desk Award for the same role at BAM. Other Broadway / Theater includes: JUNK ( Broadway Debut), ANATOMY OF A SUICIDE (Atlantic Theater Company), world premiere of Ethan Coen's A PLAY IS A POEM (Mark Taper Forum), the recent world premiere of Find Me Here (Clubbed Thumb) & more. TV / Film: BREAKING with John Boyega and Connie Britton, DEAD RINGERS (Amazon) opposite Rachel Weisz, THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (Amazon), FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE (Hulu),THE BLACKLIST (NBC), and BLUE BLOODS (CBS). Upcoming feature MOTHERLAND, opposite Holland Taylor, Netflix’s THE NIGHT AGENT, and the new Apple TV series YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.
Make sure to check out Eila's book, "The Tony Awards", and all her other amazing books: https://amzn.to/43WMu5Y.
Connect with Eila and Bruce:
Instagram @behind_the_awards
Eila @eilamell
Bruce @cominghomewithbruce
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