Ilana Levine

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  1. Episode 522 - Zach Heinzerling

    16h ago

    Episode 522 - Zach Heinzerling

    Zach Heinzerling is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning director based in New York City. He began his career at HBO working on four consecutive Emmy Award-winning documentaries and the Emmy Award-winning series “24/7” as a Field Producer and Cinematographer. In 2012, he left HBO to complete his feature debut, the multi-award-winning film, “Cutie and the Boxer”, which he both directed and shot. “Cutie and the Boxer” was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film also won a 2015 Emmy Award for Best Feature Documentary. In 2015 he was enlisted by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter to direct the five-part web series “Self-Titled” for her album, “Beyoncé.” In 2019 he directed an episode of “Dirty Money” for Netflix. In 2021, he directed the critically acclaimed 6-part series “McCartney 3,2,1” starring Sir Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin for Hulu. Salon called it “quite simply, the most engaging documentary ever made about the songwriting exploits of popular music’s most successful composer.” His latest docu series entitled “Rafa” is a four part show for  HBO  that follows Nadal through his final professional season. He is also the director of  “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult of Sarah Lawrence”  which the The New Yorker calls “a remarkable work, advancing the prestige true-crime genre’s slow but steady reorientation toward centering victims,” while Variety raved “…with a startling rawness and directness, Heinzerling’s work makes a case for itself as an unusually sensitive and strong outing in its genre.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. Episode 519 - Betty Buckley

    Aug 3

    Episode 519 - Betty Buckley

    Betty Buckley is a legendary, multi-award-winning actress/singer whose career spans theater, film, television and concert halls around the world. She is a 2012 Theatre Hall of Fame inductee and the 2017 recipient of  the Julie Harris Awards from The Actor’s Fund for Artistic Achievement and received The Lifetime Achievement Award from The American Songbook Association in 2023. She won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats and received her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical for her performance as Hesione in Triumph of Love. She received an Olivier Award nomination for her critically acclaimed interpretation of Norma Desmond in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, which she repeated to more rave reviews on Broadway. Ms. Buckley is featured in the film By Design, written and directed by Amanda Kramer, and it made its debut at The Sundance Film Festival in January 2025. She is also featured in the film Eternity for A24 Studios, starring Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen, released in November 2025. In March 2024, she co-starred in Imaginary for Blumhouse Productions and released by Lionsgate. She co-starred with James McAvoy in the M. Night Shyamalan hit film Split, one of the top international box office hits of 2017. She received a Saturn Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress for her work in the film. Her other films include her debut in Brian de Palma’s screen version of Stephen King’s Carrie, Bruce Beresford’s Tender Mercies, Roman Polanski’s Frantic, Woody Allen’s Another Woman, Lawrence Kasdan’s  Wyatt Earp and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. In 2024, The Mayfly, an animated short film written, produced and narrated by Ms. Buckley played the film festival circuit and won several awards, including Best of Festival, Best Director and Best 2D Character Based Animation at The Los Angeles Animation Festival. The film also won Best Animation at The Lady Filmmakers Festival in Los Angeles. A love letter to New York City and music, The Mayfly is a lyrical tale that was inspired by a true event at the Café Carlyle, with a score composed by seven-time GRAMMY® nominee Christian Jacob. Her other Broadway credits include 1776, Pippin, Song and Dance, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Carrie. She headlined the first National Tour of the new Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! in 2018/2019. Off-Broadway credits include the world premiere of Horton Foote’s The Old Friends, for which she received  a Drama Desk Nomination in 2014, White Lies, Lincoln Center’s Elegies, the original NYSF production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Eros Trilogy, Juno’s Swans. Getting My Act Together and Taking It On  The Road. Regional credits include The Perfectionist, Gypsy, The Threepenny Opera, Camino Real, Buffalo  Gal, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Old Friends at Houston’s Alley Theatre and Grey Gardens at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY and The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in 2016 for which she received an Ovation Award Nomination. In London, she starred in Promises, Promises for which she was nominated for An Evening Standard Award and in the 2013 British premiere of Dear World. On television, Buckley had a recurring role on Law & Order SVU for NBC. She co-starred in the third season  of AMC’s hit series Preacher and has guest starred on the Fox/Warner Bros. TV shows: The Cleaning Lady, The CW hit Supergirl, the NBC Series Chicago Med and ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars. For HBO, she has appeared on Getting On, The Leftovers, The Pacific and for three seasons had a recurring role on OZ. She  starred as Abby Bradford in the hit series Eight is Enough. For more information, visit www.bettybuckley.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. Episode 275 - Caissie Levy

    12/13/2021

    Episode 275 - Caissie Levy

    Caissie Levy most recently seventh Broadway show, as Rose Stopnick Gellman in Roundabout’s revival of Caroline, Or Change, after originating the role of Elsa in Disney's blockbuster hit, Frozen. She recreated the iconic role of Fantine in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables on Broadway, and is known to New York and London audiences for originating the roles of Molly in Ghost, and Sheila in the Tony Award winning revival of Hair. Her other Broadway credits include Elphaba in the Broadway and Los Angeles productions of Wicked, Penny in the Broadway, 1st National Tour and Toronto companies of Hairspray and Maureen in the national tour of Rent. Off-Broadway, she played Patti Davis and Julie Nixon in the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's First Daughter Suite at The Public Theater, and Sara in the Off-Broadway production of Murder Ballad. She has starred in the short films Options and Ms. Bula Banerjee, and guest starred opposite Sean Pertwee on Fox's Gotham. In concert, she headlined Carnegie Hall with the NY Pops, backed up Sir Rod Stewart during his Las Vegas residency, guested with The United States Military Academy at West Point, and performed solo shows to sold-out audiences across the US and the UK. Recordings include Frozen, Ghost, Hair, First Daughter Suite and over twenty singer/songwriter's albums, including her own EP, With You, available everywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. Episode 449 - Merri Sugarman

    03/31/2025

    Episode 449 - Merri Sugarman

    Initially an actress ('Les Miserables', 'Aspects of Love', et al.), Merri found herself out West some years back where she quickly made a name for herself at Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting, then Liberman/Patton Casting, working on such shows as Seinfeld, Party of Five, HBO’s Band of Brothers, the feature film My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the Miramax feature film "Playing By Heart", starring Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie.  In 2000, Merri moved to Dreamworks Studios as the Casting Executive in charge of TV Pilots and Series- including "Spin City", “Freaks and Geeks” and the critically acclaimed "The Job", starring Denis Leary. She was then offered a position as the Director of Casting for Dramas and Movies at ABC Television, overseeing the casting of the series "Alias", "NYPD Blue", "The Practice" and the made for television movies "Gilda Radner - It's Always Something" and "The Music Man", starring Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth, to name just a few.  Merri then returned to the East Coast to teach and coach actors – something she still does (and loves) as time permits, when Tara Rubin offered her a Senior Casting Director position where she’s been happily ensconced ever since, working on, among many others - the Broadway, touring and international companies of THE WHO’S TOMMY, COMPANY, AIN’T TOO PROUD, JERSEY BOYS,THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LES MISERABLES, SCHOOL OF ROCK, MISS SAIGON, A BRONX TALE, CLUELESS the Musical, TREVOR the Musical (2023 Artios Award) and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (2024 Artios Award) The TRC office is also responsible for the casting of Billy Crystal’s series “Before” for Apple TV and the Broadway productions of The Outsiders, SIX and Death Becomes Her, just to name a few  Merri also casts for many theaters regionally – including The Papermill Playhouse, Lyric Opera of Chicago,  The Old Globe, Seattle Rep, The Goodman and The La Jolla Playhouse.  She is the very proud Casting Director of the critically acclaimed web series SUBMISSIONS ONLY and also boasts having cast many other independent TV & film projects, workshops and readings. In 2024, Merri took on some passion projects on the side, as well. These include the highly acclaimed and starry concert production of “FOLLIES” at Carnegie Hall for Transport Group’s annual benefit gala, and a reading of a new play at The Actors Studio written by Lyle Kessler (“Orphans”) and directed by Academy Award winner Bobby Moresco – starring Chazz Palminteri, Tim Blake Nelson and Gina Gershon. In addition, Merri is now also the Casting Director at The South Carolina New Play Festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. Laura Linney & Cynthia Nixon: A Tony Awards Special

    05/30/2017

    Laura Linney & Cynthia Nixon: A Tony Awards Special

    Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon are both nominated for 2017 Tony Awards for their roles in The Little Foxes. These two stars of stage and screen switch roles nightly which is a stunning achievement, especially because the women they play are polar opposites. Here are my interviews with Cynthia and Laura, revisited in honor of their nominations and their beautiful work in Lillian Hellman's Tony Award nominated play. Laura Liney - Laura Linney is an American actress who works in film, television and theatre. Her film work includes Genius, Nocturnal Animals and The Dinner. Most recently she has been seen in Mr. Holmes, You Can Count On Me, Kinsey, The Savagaes, The Fifth Estate, Hyde Park on Hudson, The Squid and the Whale, Mystic River, Absolute Power, The Truman Show, Primal Fear, The Mothman Prophecies, Love Actually, The House of Mirth, The Details and Congo, among others. She starred in and produced the Showtime Series The Big C for four seasons for which she won a few awards, as she did for her portrayal of Abigail Adams in the HBO miniseries John Adams directed by Tom Hooper. Early in her career she starred as Mary Ann Singleton in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series, a job for which she continues to be most grateful and proud. She appeared as Kelsey Grammer’s final girlfriend in the last six episodes of Frasier, was directed by Stanley Donen in Love Letters, and starred opposite Joanne Woodward in Blindspot.  She has appeared in many Broadway productions, most notably Time Stands Still and Sight Unseen both directed by Daniel Sullivan and written by Donald Margulies, and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible directed by Richard Eyre opposite Liam Neeson with whom she has worked many times. Other plays include Six Degrees of Separation, Honour, Uncle Vanya, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Holiday and The Seagull. She has been nominated three times for the Academy Award, three times for the Tony Award, once for a BAFTA  Award, and five times for the Golden Globe. She has won one SAG Award, one National Board of Review Award, two Golden Globes and four Emmy Awards. She holds two honorary Doctorates from her alma maters, Brown University and The Juilliard School. Cynthia Nixon - Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City for which she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She reprised the role in the films Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2. Her other film appearances include Amadeus, The Pelican Brief, Baby's Day Out, Little Manhattan, 5 Flights Up, Stockholm, Pennsylvania, James White and A Quiet Passion. Nixon made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of The Philadelphia Story. Other Broadway credits include The Real Thing, Hurlyburly, Indiscretions and The Women. She played Eleanor Roosevelt in the HBO TV film Warm Springs. She went on to win the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the original production of Rabbit Hole, a second Emmy Award in 2008 for her guest role in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2009 for An Inconvenient Truth. In 2011, she played Michele Davis in the TV film Too Big to Fail, before returning to Broadway in the 2012 play Wit.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. Episode 14 - Kristin Chenoweth

    07/26/2016

    Episode 14 - Kristin Chenoweth

    Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth’s career spans film, television, voiceover and stage. In 2015, Chenoweth received a coveted star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in “Pushing Daises.” In 1999, she won a Tony Award for “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” and she was also nominated for her original role of Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked” in 2004. Chenoweth has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and for a People’s Choice Award for her role on “Glee.” In 2009, she wrote an uplifting candid, comedic chronicle of her life so far, “A Little Bit Wicked,” which debuted on the New York Times Hardcover Non Fiction Best Seller List.  In 2015, Chenoweth earned a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for her lead role in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s “On the Twentieth Century.” She also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Drama League Award. Chenoweth has performed to sold-out audiences across the world, including performances at Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. In 2014, she released a CD and DVD of her own live concert performance, “Kristin Chenoweth: Coming Home.” Notable television appearances include “The West Wing,” Disney’s “Descendants” and most recently “The Muppets.” In film, Chenoweth voiced the role of Gabi in the hit animated film “Rio 2” and Fifi, Snoopy’s beloved French poodle in "The Peanuts Movie." This spring, she starred in the indie teen drama entitled "Hard Sell" and began pre-production on Lionsgate/Hasbro’s My Little Pony movie, set for a fall 2017 release. She is currently working on a new album due out this fall. This December, she will star in NBC’s “Hairspray Live!” as Velma Von Tussle. Chenoweth’s dream of designing her own collection came to fruition, and much success when her exclusive modern fashion jewelry collection for HSN became available for purchase on www.hsn.com. Each piece of the collection tells a unique story that is representative of her life story and passions.  Chenoweth is a graduate of Oklahoma City University with a Master’s degree in Opera Performance. She formed a charity partnership with the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center (BA PAC) Foundation in her home state of Oklahoma. Kristin is also a passionate supporter of charities which dedicate their time and efforts to helping those in need.  She is an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  7. Episode 62 - Allison Janney

    09/26/2017

    Episode 62 - Allison Janney

    Allison Janney, a seven-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, had dreams of becoming an Olympic figure skater. That dream ended when, at age 17, she ran through a sliding glass window. The injury was serious, and, suddenly Allison's future goals shifted. She found herself at Kenyon College and she became a theater major. While at Kenyon Allison was discovered by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward who had come to the college to direct a play at their alma mater. They encouraged Janney to go to NYC and pursue a career in acting professionally. What happened after that is the subject of this funny and intimate conversation with host Ilana Levine, a dear friend of Allison's. The two met and became fast friends when Ilana was starring in the HBO series "Tanner 88" with a mutual friend. Allison walks us through her audition for "The West Wing" and opens up about why the recent loss of her brother makes starring on the CBS hit show "Mom" all the more important for her during this emotional time. The incredibly versatile Allison Janney has taken her place among a select group of actors who combine a leading lady’s profile with a character actor’s art of performance. Currently starring alongside Anna Faris in the CBS/Chuck Lorre sitcom, “Mom,” Janney also received rave reviews for her turn as ‘Margaret Scully’ on Showtime’s groundbreaking drama “Masters of Sex.” Janney won Emmys for both roles in the same year; a rare feat in Emmy history. She won a second Emmy for “Mom” the following year, bringing her total number of ATAS statues to seven. She was also recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition, Janney has continually taken on movie roles during her hiatus weeks from the sitcom. She’s completed filming “I, Tonya” with Margot Robbie for Miramax Films. Janney also appeared in two of the previous summer’s biggest box office titles: the adorably animated “Minions” and “Spy” with Melissa McCarthy. Prior feature work includes “The Duff,” Jason Bateman’s directorial debut “Bad Words,” the Dreamworks’ animated film “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” and “The Way, Way Back” with Steve Carell and Toni Collette. Additionally she co-starred in the much anticipated feature film "The Help" based on the best-selling novel of the same name, winning the Ensemble awards from the Screen Actors Guild, National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics. For her role in Todd Solondz's film "Life During Wartime" she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the Spirit Awards. She received another Spirit Award nomination for her work in the independent feature “Our Very Own,” and starred opposite Meryl Streep in “The Hours,” which received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Other feature credits include the Academy Award winning film “American Beauty” (for which she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture) as well as “Nurse Betty,” “How to Deal,” “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “Primary Colors,” “The Ice Storm,” “Six Days Seven Nights,” “The Object of My Affection,” and “Big Night.” On TV, she is renowned for her starring role in the acclaimed NBC series "The West Wing," where she won a remarkable four Emmy Awards and four SAG Awards for her portrayal of White House Press Secretary ‘CJ Cregg.’ She made her Broadway debut in Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” for which she earned the Outer Critics Circle Award and Clarence Derwent Award. She also appeared in Arthur Miller’s "A View from the Bridge," receiving her first Tony Award nomination and winning the Outer Critics Circle Award as well as the musical "9 to 5," Janney made her return to Broadway earlier this year in the revival of John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. Episode 435 - Robert Greenblatt

    12/23/2024

    Episode 435 - Robert Greenblatt

    ROBERT GREENBLATT is one of television’s most prolific executives and producers, with a career spanning broadcast television, cable, streaming, and the Broadway stage. As Chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment until 2020, he ran HBO, TNT, and oversaw the launch of HBO Max which — as Max — now has over 100 million subscribers.  As Chairman of NBC Entertainment from 2011 to 2018, he brought NBC back to #1 after a decade in last place with acclaimed series such as The Voice, the Chicago trilogy, This Is Us, The Blacklist, Smash, Superstore, and The Good Place. His passion for theatre resulted in reviving the lost art of live musicals on television and NBC became the proud home of The Sound of Music Live! (seen by 20 million people), Peter Pan Live!, The Wiz Live!, Hairspray Live!, the Emmy-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!, and Annie Live! (for which he was also executive producer). Greenblatt is a Peabody and Golden Globe-winning producer in television with credits that range broadly from The Gilded Age and Six Feet Under to The Hughleys, American Family, and Elvis. He is also a prolific Broadway producer and the recipient of four Tony Awards and two Oliviers. He is currently lead producer with Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg of the musical adaptation of Smash, which will debut on Broadway in April, 2025. Prior to NBC, Greenblatt was President of Showtime Networks from 2003 to 2010 engineering a significant renaissance of that cable network with a string of hits such as Weeds, Dexter, Shameless, Nurse Jackie, Californication, This American Life, and The Tudors. He began his career at Fox Broadcasting where he is responsible for indelible shows that included Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, The X-Files, Party of Five, Ally McBeal, King of the Hill, and The Sopranos, a pilot he developed that eventually found its way to HBO.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  9. Episode 514 - Rachel Chavkin

    Jun 29

    Episode 514 - Rachel Chavkin

    Rachel Chavkin received the 2019 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Musical for Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown. She is a director, writer, and dramaturg, as well as the founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based ensemble the TEAM (theteamplays.org), an internationally renowned experimental company whose consensus-driven collaborative process was the subject of the documentary The TEAM Makes a Play (directed by Emmy winner Paulette Douglas). Additional selected: Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway featuring Denée Benton & Josh Groban); Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould’s Lempicka (Williamstown); Caryl Churchill's Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (New York Theatre Workshop), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (Old Globe, Lincoln Center); Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova, Off-Broadway, National Tour); Sarah Gancher’s I’ll Get You Back Again (Round House); and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, including The Lily's Revenge, Act 2 (HERE). In addition to her awards for Hadestown, Chavkin is a recipient of a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical, three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, multiple Lortel Award nominations, two Doris Duke Impact Award nominations, and the 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity along with Dave Malloy. Her first film, Remind Me, was an official selection of the Venice and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. Feature film  - Hadestown and Shrew's Nest (Paramount). Proud NYTW Usual Suspect and Member SDC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices