The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast

John Michael Coppola
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Performing Arts
  • Updated Daily

Welcome to The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast; The show where we go behind the curtain with the actors, playwrights, directors, choreographer, designers, creatives and producers shaping Chicago’s one-of-a-kind theater scene. Every episode we sit down with the folks who make this city’s stages come alive. Whether you’re a theater pro, a curious audience member, or just love a good backstage story...This podcast is for you!

  1. Season 4 Trailer

    Season Four Preview!

    Hi everyone! JMC here with the Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast with a quick message that we’re taking a short break this week to catch up with the content we already have in the can for Season 4!This season we continue with an incredible variety of guests, starting on October 26th with the Artistic and Executive directors of Remy Bumppo Theater, Marti Lyons and Margaret McCloskey.  November is going to be an exciting month of incoming touring productions, starting on November 2nd when we chat with the writer and star of the smash hit “Mexodus”, Brian Quijada, as well as two of the stars of the 20th Anniversary tour of “Jersey Boys”, Peyton Schoenhofer and Coby Oram. On November 8th we drop a two part episode where we interview  director Elizabeth Margolius and set designer Nick Schons, as well as Anna Rigo and Rowan Sharma of Northwestern University’s upcoming of “She Loves Me” (the production for which I am also proudly serving as choreographer).  Later that month, we chat with good friends and recent Jeff Award winners from Drury Lane’s production of “On Your Feet,” winner for choreography, Luis Salgado and winner for supporting role in a musical Claudia Quesada. Rounding out November and the beginning of December are the star of Theater Wit’s annual production of “Who’s Holiday”, Veronica Garza and owner of Wilmette’s Actor’s Training Center, Carole Dibo.  Later in December, we return with two episodes in our Our “Out Of The Loop” series; The first with Broadway veteran George Dvorsky and the second with Broadway and Hollywood director Kenny Leon , about his new book, Direction: Making the Most of the Performance of Your Life. So, while we’re taking a break this week, we welcome you to catch up on any past episodes or revisit some of your old favorites! Finally, we want to thank all of our fans and supporters for taking the time to like, subscribe to and share this podcast with your friends and colleagues who you think would enjoy the conversations we’re having. We greatly appreciate your support in this way so we can bring you many more episodes for years to come.  Thanks again for listening and remember to catch Season 4 starting on October 26th wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll see you on the boards soon!

  2. Oct 12

    Vape the Grease Parody Musical with guests Jack Plotnick and Suzanne Sole!

    Today’s guests are the director and one of the stars of Vape: The Grease Parody Musical now playing at Chicago’s Apollo theater.  Director Jack Plotnick has built a career as an award-winning, actor, director and performance coach. He has performed in countless TV shows, commercials and feature films. You most likely recognize Jack from the series regular and recurring roles on Grace and Frankie, Z Nation, The Mentalist, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Reno 911, Action and drawn together. Jack wrote and directed the Sony pictures feature film Space Station 76 starring Patrick Wilson Lyv Tyler and Matt Bomer. He also wrote and directed the Broadway musical Disaster! which became a NY Times Critic’s Pick.  Suzanne Sole is an actor, comedian, writer and singer who recently relocated back to Chicago. Suzanne’s stage credits include Dolly Tait in Annie Get Your Gun at Ravinia, Muriel Eubanks in the National Tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, E. B. Janet on the North American tour of SPANK! The Fifty Shades Parody, and on screen she appeared in Chicago PD, Joey and The New Partridge Family. Her original solo show, Nice to Meet Me - A Comedy Cabaret About Awakening to Yourself blends comedy, cabaret characters, and storytelling. Susanne is also the creator and host of The Spiritual Shit Show with Suzanne Sole; A podcast about navigating the messy, funny deeply human business of being a person. Vape the Musical is playing now through January 3 at Chicago’s Apollo Theatre. For tickets, you can visit the link in our show notes. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jack Plotnick and Susanne Sole. Now let’s go to the top of the show!

  3. Oct 5

    Dead Girl's Quinceanera with guests Ariana Burks and Phanesia Pharel!

    Today’s guests are the writer and one of the stars of Dead Girl’ s Quinceañera currently running at the Goodman Theater. The Goodman is the second stop of the play’s triple collective world premiere, where it began at Barrington Stage earlier this summer and from here will debut at Hartford Stage in Spring of 2027. Writer Phanésia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright and screenwriter from a dragon fruit farm in Miami and the daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer. Her plays have been developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, New Harmony Project, Playwrights’ Center, New York Stage and Film, SolFest, Shattered Globe, and Echo Theater Company. Phanésia is the Playwriting Fellow (2025–2027) at Emory University, where she serves as a visiting professor and will have a new play produced by the university’s repertory company. She is also member of the Obie Award-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective. As a screenwriter, she is an alumna of Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Screenwriting Lab. Most recently, she recently made her Off-Broadway debut at the WP Theater with her play The Waterfall, which was co-produced by Thrown Stone. Actress Ariana Burks, is a born and bred Chicago Native whose credits span across the country. Her very first theatrical credit was as Little Inez in Drury Lane Theatre’s production of Hairspray! Since then she has been seen on area stages including 8 years in the Goodman’s perennial favorite, A Christmas Carol, at Steppenwolf in both The Compass and Dance Nation, in Paramount’s Hairspray and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Gospel at Colonus and Antigone at Court Theatre, Porchlight’s Spring Awakening and Urinetown at BoHo Theatre. From there, she appeared in The Muny’s In The Heights, Broadway’s Real Women Have Curves and most recently the 1st National Tour of Suffs. Her Film and TV credits include Beats, South Side, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Neon Galaxy. Dead Girl's Quinceanera is playing in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre now through November 1st. For tickets visit this link. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ariana Burks and Phanesia Pharel. Now let’s go to the top of the show!

  4. Sep 28

    A Red Orchid Theatre with Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald!

    Today’s guest is a proud member of the Artistic Ensemble at A Red Orchid Theatre and has served as their Artistic Director since 2008.  As an actor she has originated roles in the world premieres of The Cave, Grey House, Traitor, Pilgrim’s Progress and Weapon of Mass Impact (A Red Orchid); at the Goodman in Swing State and I hate It Here ; at Victory Gardens in Lettie and Appropriate; AND at Steppenwolf in Mary Page Marlow and The Qualms. Among some her additional acting favorites, she includes Clybourn Park at Steppenwolf), Sweat at Goodman, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage at Defiant, and both The Sea Horse and Abigail’s Party at A Red Orchid. On TV she has been seen in Dark Matter, Shining Girls, Somebody Somewhere, The Exorcist, Sirens, The Big Leap, Chicago Med/Fire/Justice, Underemployed, ER and in the films Rain Reign, Widows and Working Man.  Recent directing credits include the world premiere of Gorgeous by Keiko Green for Raven & Rivendell Theatres, Dance Nation at Northwestern University’s Wirtz Center, as well as The Moors and Birds of North America at A Red Orchid. Birds of North America went on to win this year’s Equity Jeff Awards in 4 categories: Best Production of a Play, Best Director a Play, Best Sound Design (all in the Midsize category) and Best Original Music for a Play. A Red Orchid’s production of ‘Birds of North America’ is back by popular demand and running now through October 4th. For tickets, you can visit this link. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kirsten Fitzgerald. Now let’s go to the top of the show!

  5. Sep 21

    TimeLine Theatre Company with guest, Artistic Director, PJ Powers!

    From its humble beginnings at the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ where they remained until this year’s grand opening of their new home at 5035 N. Broadway, TimeLine Theatre’s focus has remained unchanged: To present stories inspired by history that connect with today’s social and political issues. Today's guest is one of the co-founders and current Artistic Director of TimeLine.  Since becoming Artistic Director in 1999, he has overseen the production of more than 80 plays, including 12 world premieres and more than 38 Chicago premieres.During his tenure, TimeLine has garnered 60 Jeff Awards, including 11 for Outstanding Production, as well as awards for excellence in arts management, including the 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. He was instrumental in establishing TimeLine’s original home on Wellington Avenue; expanding the company’s programming to include productions in numerous other venues, including the Broadway Playhouse; creating the TimePieces play reading series and First Draft Festival of new work; launching the Living History Education Program in Chicago Public Schools under the direction of TimeLine co-founder Juliet Hart; and of course planning for TimeLine’s new home in Uptown. As an actor, he has appeared in 18 productions at TimeLine, including THE APPLE FAMILY PLAYS: THAT HOPEY CHANGEY THING, THE FRONT PAGE, THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION, FIORELLO!, HAUPTMANN and EUREKA DAY. He also has appeared at Writers, Northlight, and Shattered Globe, among others. A graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, he has served on the Board of Directors for the League of Chicago Theatres, was awarded the Meier Achievement Award for mid-career artists, and received a Goldman Sachs Senior Fellowship at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.  I hope you enjoy my conversation with PJ Powers. Now let’s go to the top of the show!

  6. Sep 14

    Metropolis PAC, with guests Johanna McKenzie Miller and Tiffany Gates!

    Today's guests are the dynamic duo leadership team at Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Arlington Heights. Artistic Director, Johanna McKenzie Miller joined metropolis in 2025 to lead the artistic programming, as well as to define and propel the Metropolis School of the Performing Arts. She stepped into this role with a clear, artistic mission, focusing on expanding storytelling, championing new voices and reimagining classics through a fresh lens. She brings years of experience as a well-known Chicago director, actress and singer appearing on the Stages of such theaters as the Marriott Theater, Drury Theater, Court Theatre, The Goodman, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and with directing credits including Cinderella at Metropolis, Kiss Me, Kate at Marriott, Shrek at Music Theater Works and co-directing Beautiful alongside Jim Corti at Paramount theater. Executive Director, Tiffany Gates, has had a 20 year history at Metropolis in several leadership positions, include being head of the voice department, the music theater faculty, and education director for the school of performing arts and served as interim ED prior to her full-time appointment in the role. She is a seasoned performer, director, choreographer, producer, entrepreneur and voice instructor with decades of experience in both performance and education. Her performance highlights include appearances at Lincoln Center, the Triad, Great Lakes Theatre, Carousel Dinner Theater, Music Theater Works and Folks Operetta among others. She holds a bachelor of music and vocal performance from Ohio Northern University, and studied at Circle in the Square Theater School in New York City. Metropolis PAC's production of Ride the Cyclone opens September 16th and runs through October 25th. For tickets, visit https://www.metropolisarts.com. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Tiffany Gates and Johanna McKenzie Miller. Now let’s go to top of the show!

  7. Sep 7

    Therapist Zero with guest Brian Leonard!

    Today’s guest is a writer and performer known for his intelligent, darkly funny style. His diverse career includes over a decade of national stand-up touring and writing for A-list talent such as Jason Sudeikus, Mindy Kaling, and Ellen Degeneres. He has also written for BBC Radio’s The Treatment, and worked as a story consultant for Pixar Animation. His one man show Therapist Zero chronicles his journey as a parent navigating the challenges of advocating for his daughter within the mental health care system. He most recently performed the piece as part of the San Francisco Fringe, Indy Fringe, Minnesota Fringe, Brighton Fringe and Hollywood Fringe. His next stop is Chicago’s Athenaum Theater, where Therapist Zero runs this September 11th through September 13th. For tickets, you can visit this link. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Brian Leonard. Now let’s go to the top of the show.

  8. Aug 31

    National Wellness Month Finale Pt. 2: Mental Wellness with guest, Lili Torre!

    Thanks for tuning in to part 2 of our National Wellness Month finale as we continue our conversation on mental wellness. Our guest in part 2 is former musical theater performer and director in New York City, who is now a Licensed Professional Counselor based in Kansas City, KS. She utilizes her past skills of exploring emotions, making creative connections and listening with openness and curiosity to help people get out of their heads and tap into their emotions, encouraging them to examine their own life stories to make meaningful, lasting change. She offers counseling for adults 18 and over on such issues as anxiety, depression, trauma, disordered eating and grief using such approaches as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (aka as ACT), Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing (aka EMDR), Internal Family Systems (aka IFS) and Intuitive Eating Interventions. Just like our guest from part one, she also offers a free 15 minute intro call to see if she would be a good fit for you. Although do keep in mind that her practice is limited to this Kansas City area. If you would like to reach out to her you can find her at her website. For the 12 Stages of Burnout reference mentioned in this episode, please go here: Finally, we want to thank for tuning into our entire wellness series and especially both parts of our important conversations about mental wellness. If you or someone you know is struggling with any of the issues discussed in this week’s episode, we hope that you’ll seek the necessary help and wish you continued success on your wellness journey. I hope you enjoy part 2 of our wellness month finale and my conversation with Lili Torre. Now let’s go to the top of the show!

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About

Welcome to The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast; The show where we go behind the curtain with the actors, playwrights, directors, choreographer, designers, creatives and producers shaping Chicago’s one-of-a-kind theater scene. Every episode we sit down with the folks who make this city’s stages come alive. Whether you’re a theater pro, a curious audience member, or just love a good backstage story...This podcast is for you!

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