The Roundtable with Robert Bannon

Performer Robert Bannon sits down with the best and brightest artists to have in-depth, fun, craft filled chats with stars of Broadway, Stage, Screen, and Social Media. It could be the Tony Winner of the Moment to a Tik Tok Star going viral, literally there is something for everyone! This show is not about gossip, scandal, or gotcha questions. This is a show about the journey, the craft, and a whole lot of fun! Join us for special Red Carpet Events from Broadway Openings, NY Galas, to The Tribeca Film Festival! We cover everyone and everywhere! We will be uploading new chats weekly, so make sure to subscribe and join us! Direct from over one million views on YouTube, "The Roundtable" makes its podcast debut with The Broadway Podcast Network! Follow us on on all Social Media- @RobertMBannon

  1. 2h ago

    Julia Murney Takes Spelling to the Cape!

    Broadway powerhouse Julia Murney is back at the Cape Playhouse — and this time, she’s ringing the bell at one of musical theatre’s funniest competitions! On this episode of The Roundtable with Robert Bannon, Julia joins Robert to talk about starring as Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, now playing at the historic Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts through September 19. The Tony Award-winning musical features music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. This new Cape production is directed by Broadway favorite Claybourne Elder and choreographed by Jeffrey Gugliotti. Julia leads a terrific company that includes Tatianna Córdoba, Raymond J. Lee, Evan Tyrone Martin, Viveca Chow, Khadija E. Sankoh, Cody Jamison Strand, Joel Waggoner and Alex Wyse. And if you know Spelling Bee, you know the audience is part of the fun — volunteers enter the competition alongside the cast, making every performance just a little unpredictable. For Julia, the Cape Playhouse is familiar territory. She previously took on one of musical theatre’s great roles there, Mama Rose in Gypsy. This time around, she gets to trade Rose’s ambition for Rona Lisa Peretti’s spelling lists, trophies and memories of her own championship glory. Of course, Julia’s career goes far beyond the Cape. Broadway audiences know her as Elphaba in Wicked and from Lennon, while her acclaimed performance as Queenie in Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party earned her a Drama Desk nomination. Her stage credits also include Between the Lines, Falling, Time and Again, A Little Night Music, Ragtime and Evita, along with television appearances including Sex and the City and the Law & Order universe. Robert and Julia talk about returning to the Cape, finding the comedy and heart inside Spelling Bee, working with Claybourne Elder and this wildly talented company, and the incredible career that has made Julia Murney one of Broadway’s most distinctive voices. Because beneath all the hilarious words, awkward adolescents and dreaded DING!, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee remains a show about something we all understand: wanting to belong, wanting to win — and figuring out that sometimes losing isn't the end of the world. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays the Cape Playhouse through September 19, 2026. Tickets & Show Information — The Cape Playhouse For more info, go to RobertBannon.com and follow Robert on IG @RobertMBannon. #TheRoundtable #RobertBannon #JuliaMurney #SpellingBee #The25thAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee #CapePlayhouse #Broadway #Wicked #TheWildParty #MusicalTheatre #ClaybourneElder #BroadwayWorld Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  2. 1d ago

    Stephen Sheffer Brings Lean-To to The Roundtable!

    What happens when three strangers head into the woods looking for an escape—and find connection, loneliness, laughter, and a little Britney Spears instead? Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based playwright Stephen Sheffer joins Robert Bannon on The Roundtable to talk about his new play, Lean-To, making its world premiere Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in New York City. Presented by New Light Theater Project and Pendragon Theatre and directed by Jesse Jou, Lean-To follows an overprepared hiker and a not-so-prepared couple who find themselves sharing a rustic shelter in the woods. As they bond over Britney Spears, shared supplies, and their mutual desire to get away from city life, an unexpected connection begins to form—but something else may be brewing around the campfire. Part comedy and part tender drama, Lean-To explores loneliness, our need for human connection, and what happens when we leave the noise of everyday life behind. Stephen tells us how a real night spent in a lean-to during the depths of COVID inspired the play, why forests and wild spaces continue to show up in his writing, and his fascination with what he calls “grounded existentialism.” We also talk about the idea of humans being part of nature rather than separate from it—and why protecting our wild spaces feels especially urgent right now. Stephen's work has been seen at Ars Nova, Rattlestick Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Hartford Stage, The Flea, and more. His plays include SOS, Private Property, the award-winning Back To Mine, The Spark, and IRMPOV SHOW. He's also a screenwriter, performer, teaching artist, and founding member of NYC's long-running Dirty Little Secrets Improv Show. Lean-To runs September 10–October 10 at 59E59 Theaters for a limited Off-Broadway engagement. It’s theater, nature, Britney Spears, and a conversation about why—even when we run away from everything—we still need each other. For more info, go to RobertBannon.com and follow Robert on IG @RobertMBannon. #TheRoundtable #RobertBannon #StephenSheffer #LeanTo #OffBroadway #59E59 #59E59Theaters #NYCTheater #NYCTheatre #Theater #Theatre #Playwright #NewYorkTheater #NewLightTheaterProject #PendragonTheatre #BroadwayWorld #BroadwayPodcastNetwork #BritneySpears Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  3. 2d ago

    Exposé Is Still Changing the Seasons!

    Few groups captured the sound, style, and energy of late-’80s and early-’90s pop quite like Exposé. With Jeanette Jurado, Gioia Bruno, and Ann Curless, the groundbreaking trio became one of the defining female groups of the era, blending pop, dance, freestyle, and powerhouse vocals into a sound that helped shape a generation. Their debut album, Exposure, became a massive success and made Billboard history when Exposé became the first group to score four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 from a debut album. What followed was a remarkable run on the charts, millions of records sold, international success, and a catalog that remains part of the soundtrack of an entire era. Decades later, Jeanette, Gioia, and Ann continue to perform together, bringing that unmistakable Exposé energy to audiences around the country — and proving that their bond, their voices, and their place in pop history have endured. Now Exposé joins Robert Bannon on The Roundtable to talk about their incredible journey, surviving and evolving in the music business, the legacy they created together, and what it means to still share the stage all these years later. Exposé performs Saturday, September 19 at 8 PM at Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit. For more info, go to RobertBannon.com and follow Robert on IG @RobertMBannon. #Expose #TheRoundtable #RobertBannon #PopMusic #Freestyle #DanceMusic #MusicLegends #80sMusic #90sMusic #Detroit #SoundBoardDetroit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  4. 6d ago

    MATT COPLEY IS BROADWAY PUNK! 🤘🎭

    What happens when Broadway gets louder, heavier, and a whole lot more punk? Matt Copley is about to show us! The Michigan-based recording artist, theatrical producer, and creator behind the viral Broadway Does Punk series is taking the phenomenon from your screen to the stage for the first time ever! Copley has built a massive following by taking songs from shows like Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, The Greatest Showman and more and completely reinventing them as full-throttle pop-punk and rock anthems. His interpretations have generated more than 16 million Spotify streams and hundreds of thousands of followers. Now, Broadway Does Punk LIVE hits New York City’s Abrons Arts Center October 2–3 for a limited run featuring a full-band, full-production rock experience. As the show describes it: a stage built like a Broadway musical — and a Broadway musical built like a concert. Matt joins The Roundtable with Robert Bannon to talk about turning Broadway favorites upside down, building Broadway Does Punk into a viral sensation, his rock roots, taking the project LIVE, and why musical theatre sounds pretty damn good with some distortion behind it! If you love Broadway AND rock & roll, this one's for you. For more info, go to RobertBannon.com and follow Robert on IG @RobertMBannon. #MattCopley #BroadwayDoesPunk #BroadwayPunk #Broadway #MusicalTheatre #PopPunk #RockMusic #TheatreTok #TheRoundtable #RobertBannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. Sep 5

    John Pagano & Adrian Galante Are “Going Bacharach”

    What the world needs now… is a little more Burt Bacharach! On this episode of The Roundtable with Robert Bannon, we are celebrating one of the greatest songbooks in American music with John Pagano and Adrian Galante from the acclaimed musical revue Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon. John Pagano has a connection to this music that very few people can claim. For 26 years, he was the featured male vocalist in Burt Bacharach’s touring band, traveling the world and performing alongside the legendary composer. Bacharach became more than a collaborator — he was Pagano’s mentor and friend. John joins us to share memories of the man behind the music and what it means to continue singing these songs today. Then there is Adrian Galante, the brilliant Australian pianist, clarinetist, arranger and musical director helping introduce Bacharach’s music to a whole new generation. Galante co-created Going Bacharach and created the show’s arrangements and orchestrations, finding fresh ways into classics we have known and loved for decades. And what songs they are: “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?,” “A House Is Not a Home,” “That’s What Friends Are For,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and so many more. Going Bacharach brings three powerhouse vocalists together with a five-piece band for a musical journey through Bacharach’s extraordinary career. After acclaimed engagements in New York and Chicago, the show returns Off-Broadway this fall at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, beginning September 9. We talk about Burt, the stories behind the music, John’s decades performing alongside him, Adrian’s fresh arrangements, and why these songs still sound unlike anything else ever written. This one is for the music lovers. For more info, go to RobertBannon.com and follow Robert on IG @RobertMBannon. #GoingBacharach #BurtBacharach #JohnPagano #AdrianGalante #TheRoundtable #RobertBannon #OffBroadway #BroadwayWorld #Bacharach #WhatTheWorldNeedsNow #WalkOnBy #CloseToYou Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Performer Robert Bannon sits down with the best and brightest artists to have in-depth, fun, craft filled chats with stars of Broadway, Stage, Screen, and Social Media. It could be the Tony Winner of the Moment to a Tik Tok Star going viral, literally there is something for everyone! This show is not about gossip, scandal, or gotcha questions. This is a show about the journey, the craft, and a whole lot of fun! Join us for special Red Carpet Events from Broadway Openings, NY Galas, to The Tribeca Film Festival! We cover everyone and everywhere! We will be uploading new chats weekly, so make sure to subscribe and join us! Direct from over one million views on YouTube, "The Roundtable" makes its podcast debut with The Broadway Podcast Network! Follow us on on all Social Media- @RobertMBannon

More From Broadway Podcast Network

You Might Also Like