A talk with leading ladies

Amber Schoop
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  • Performing Arts
  • Updated Weekly

A Talk With Leading Ladies is the podcast about women in theater, 40+. Amber opens the conversation about the things we don't discuss openly enough: career, motherhood, perimenopause, ageism, feminism. Where do we find support — in the industry, in family and friends? Or are we still internalizing it: making a collective problem a personal one? Time to break the stigmas — one conversation at a time.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    #3 - Ana Milva Gomes - Musicalperformer PART 2

    In second first part of the podcast with Ana Milva, we openly discuss Theatre & Perimenopause About Ana.. After living abroad for more than twenty years (mainly in Vienna), Ana Milva has moved back to the Netherlands with her young daughter, Isabella Rose, to be closer to her family. Current work: She balances her life as a performer with a down-to-earth, “normal” life. Ana Milva Gomes (The Hague, 1980) is an internationally acclaimed musical theater actress who plays a prominent role on stages in the Netherlands and Austria. Career and Roles Gomes gained widespread recognition for her versatile performances in major productions: Austria & Germany: She lived in Vienna for many years and was the first Black actress worldwide to play the role of Donna in *Mamma Mia!*. Other major roles included Grizabella in *Cats*, Baroness von Waldstätten in *Mozart!*, and Killer Queen in *We Will Rock You*. Netherlands: In 2026, she plays Deloris van Cartier in the Dutch tour of Sister Act, a role she shares with April Darby. Previously, she has performed in the Netherlands in productions including The Color Purple (Shug Avery) and Aida. She wrote a book in which, as a Black woman on stage, she made a passionate appeal to society for greater openness and conscious intercultural coexistence. Title: Look at Me: Ein schwarzes Mädchen in einer weißen Welt

  2. 5d ago

    #2 - Ana Milva Gomes - Musicalperformer PART 1

    In this first part of the podcast with Ana Milva, we talk openly about her career, the world of musical theater as a woman. In the next episode we will openly discuss Theatre & Perimenopause About Ana.. After living abroad for more than twenty years (mainly in Vienna), Ana Milva has moved back to the Netherlands with her young daughter, Isabella Rose, to be closer to her family. Current work: She balances her life as a performer with a down-to-earth, “normal” life. Ana Milva Gomes (The Hague, 1980) is an internationally acclaimed musical theater actress who plays a prominent role on stages in the Netherlands and Austria. Career and Roles Gomes gained widespread recognition for her versatile performances in major productions: Austria & Germany: She lived in Vienna for many years and was the first Black actress worldwide to play the role of Donna in *Mamma Mia!*. Other major roles included Grizabella in *Cats*, Baroness von Waldstätten in *Mozart!*, and Killer Queen in *We Will Rock You*. Netherlands: In 2026, she plays Deloris van Cartier in the Dutch tour of Sister Act, a role she shares with April Darby. Previously, she has performed in the Netherlands in productions including The Color Purple (Shug Avery) and Aida. She wrote a book in which, as a Black woman on stage, she made a passionate appeal to society for greater openness and conscious intercultural coexistence. Title: Look at Me: Ein schwarzes Mädchen in einer weißen Welt

  3. Jul 13

    #1 - Nicole Piccolomini, mezzo-soprano

    In this first episode, Amber talks with mezzo-soprano Nicole Piccolomini. Originally from Long Island and trained at The Juilliard School, Nicole has built a career of more than twenty years on Europe's great stages — from the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Oper Leipzig to La Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Santa Fe Opera. Based in Berlin, she is known for her rich, dark mezzo in roles from Verdi to Wagner. We talk openly about a life in opera: career, the body as instrument, health, and what changes for a woman on stage over the years. A conversation about the things we don't discuss openly enough.

  • 3 Episodes

About

A Talk With Leading Ladies is the podcast about women in theater, 40+. Amber opens the conversation about the things we don't discuss openly enough: career, motherhood, perimenopause, ageism, feminism. Where do we find support — in the industry, in family and friends? Or are we still internalizing it: making a collective problem a personal one? Time to break the stigmas — one conversation at a time.

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