Ilana Levine

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Episodes

  1. Episode 509 - Dane Laffrey

    6d ago

    Episode 509 - Dane Laffrey

    Dane Laffrey is a Tony Award-winning designer, creative and producer based in New York City. He studied at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art and resided in Sydney from 2002 - 2006. On Broadway he’s designed the set for The Lost Boys (Palace) Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco) which won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Musical and for which Dane won Tony, Drama Desk Awards and Henry Hewes Awards, Parade (Jacobs) which won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; set and costumes for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (Nederlander), which he co-conceived with director Michael Arden and for which he is nominated for Hewes and Tony Awards; the 2018 Tony-winning revival of Lynn Ahren's and Stephen Flaherty's Once On This Island (Circle in the Square) for which he received Henry Hewes, Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations; set and costumes for the acclaimed Deaf West revival of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s Spring Awakening (Brooks Atkinson); set for the Broadway premiere of Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love (Friedman). In New York, around the US, and internationally Dane has designed world premiere plays and musicals by writers including Todd Almond, Will Aronson and Hue Park, Nell Benjamin, Rachel Bonds, Nilo Cruz, Lindsey Ferrentino, David Greenspan, Noah Haidle, Lucas Hnath, Sam Hunter, Sarah Jones, Tom Kitt, Michael John LaChiusa, Dan LeFranc, Matthew Lopez, Craig Lucas, Charles L. Mee, Alan Menken, Kim Rosenstock, Martin Sherman, Jenny Schwartz, Stephen Schwartz and Jen Silverman. Dane’s work in New York has been seen at theatres including Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theatre, The Public Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, Atlantic Theatre Company, Transport Group, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, B.A.M. Harvey, Vineyard Theatre, The Joyce, SoHo Rep., Labyrinth, The New Group and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, among others. His work has been seen at major theaters around the US including Center Theatre Group, The Geffen Playhouse, The Goodman, The Humana Festival, The Hollywood Bowl, The Old Globe, Huntington Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Deaf West / Wallis Annenberg Center, Shakespeare Theatre D.C., Denver Center Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Coast Rep., Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Rep., Woolly Mammoth, Two River Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, The Studio Theatre D.C, Yale Opera, Long Wharf Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, and others. Internationally, Dane has worked in Hamburg, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Oslo and throughout Australia. Dane has served on the advisory committee for Lincoln Center Theatre's LCT3 and as a guest artist / guest designer at Yale School of Music, The Juilliard School, NYU, Carnegie-Mellon University,  Interlochen Arts Academy, The University of Western Sydney and NIDA. He has served on the faculty of Purchase College. Dane won a 2017 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume design and has been nominated for 3 Tony Awards, 3 Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, 9 American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, 5 Ovation Awards (winning 2), and a Sydney Theatre Award, as well as numerous regional accolades.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    37 min
  2. Episode 508 - Zhailon Levingston

    May 18

    Episode 508 - Zhailon Levingston

    Zhailon Levingston  is a Louisiana-raised storyteller, director, and activist who co-directed CATS: The Jellicle Ball, an immersive reimagining of the classic musical that premiered in 2024 at New York City’s Perelman Arts Center. The production earned him an OBIE Award (co-directing) as well as a Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Musical.  Zhailon’s first “Broadway” job was selling tickets to Broadway shows in Times Square. In 2017 he sold concessions for multiple Broadway theaters. At 27 years old, he became the youngest Black director in Broadway history, directing the Broadway production of Chicken and Biscuits. His other directing credits include Wonderful Town at New York City Center Encores!; Reconstructing at Brooklyn Academy of Music (co-directed with Rachel Chavkin); Little Miss Perfect (Olney Theater Center); Patience at Second Stage Theater; and Table 17 at MCC Theater (Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Direction) and currently at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.  Levingston is a board member of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Artistic Director of Inheritance Theater Project, and co-created a ‘Theater of Change’ course at Columbia University School of Law that is still being taught today. Once a year he returns to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    27 min
  3. Episode 497 - Bradley Whitford

    Mar 2

    Episode 497 - Bradley Whitford

    Bradley Whitford, a classically trained stage actor, gained fame as “Josh Lyman,” on NBC’s 'The West Wing,' which earned him his first Emmy award in 2001. He went on to win Emmys in 2015 and 2019 for his work in 'Transparent' and 'The Handmaid’s Tale' and is grateful to have had the opportunity last year to direct the show’s fifth season penultimate episode, “Allegiance.” He is currently filming “The Diplomat” alongside his West Wing co- star, Allison Janney. Whitford appeared in AMC’s limited series 'Parish' alongside Giancarlo Esposito, a drama about a taxi driver whose life is upended after picking up a Zimbabwean gangster. He also starred in the independent film 'I’ll Be Right' There with Edie Falco and completed work on Netflix’s limited series 'The Madness,' opposite Colman Domingo. He is also known for his work in the Oscar-nominated films 'Get Out,' 'The Post,' 'Scent of a Woman,' and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 'tick, tick… BOOM!' Whitford also produced the documentary, 'Not Going Quietly,' about the life of progressive activist Ady Barkan. Other notable film credits include Warner Bros’ 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters,' Disney’s 'Saving Mr. Banks,' and HBO’s Lyndon B. Johnson biopic, 'All The Way,' among many others.  TV credits include Apple TV+’s 'Echo 3,' NBC’s 'Perfect Harmony,' which he executive produced and starred in; FOX/Netflix’s 'Brookline Nine-Nine,' Showtime’s 'Happy-ish,' ABC’s 'Trophy Wife,' CBS’ 'The Mentalist,' FOX’s 'The Good Guys,' and NBC’s 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,' among others. Growing up in Wisconsin, Whitford studied theater and English literature at Wesleyan University and attended the Juilliard Theater Center. He has appeared on Broadway in Aaron Sorkin’s 'A Few Good Men' and in 'Boeing, Boeing' with Mark Rylance. Off-Broadway credits include 'Curse of the Starving Class,' 'Measure for Measure' at Lincoln Center, and 'Three Days of Rain' at Manhattan Theatre Club. Regional credits include the title role in 'Coriolanus' at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., and Oberon and Theseus in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' at Hartford Stage. In 2021, Whitford starred in the Old Vic’s production of 'A Christmas Carol' at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles as “Ebenezer Scrooge.” Also at the Ahmanson, in 2023, Whitford recently played the scene-stealing “Narrator” in the hit farce 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 14m
  4. Episode 506 - Secret Mall Apartment - Michael Townsend

    May 4

    Episode 506 - Secret Mall Apartment - Michael Townsend

    Michael Townsend draws on everything. For over twenty years he has been spear-heading collaborative drawings using low-adhesive tapes that can be stuck on facades, sidewalks, walls, whatever without permanent repercussions. The drawings started as nightly guerrilla raids on the surfaces of Providence, Rhode Island and as interest in these ephemeral works grew he has been invited to perform over 500 of his Tape Art creations on walls around the world. His work with the Tape Art medium has optimized his efforts as a community artist and he has worked collaboratively with tens of thousands students both young and old. The uniquely accessible nature of his teaching practice have made this participatory work a good fit for prisons, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes and communities struggling to have their voices heard. When he is not pressing tape onto walls, Townsend might be found in front of a computer editing footage from his films, choreographing short dance pieces, working on a subterranean sculpture pieces or working relentlessly on one of his epic secret projects. Townsend and his collaborators became an international curiosity when it was discovered that they were building a fully-functioning apartment space inside the Providence Place Mall that they had occupied, undiscovered, for four years. The project was ended abruptly before the wood floors were installed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54 min
  5. Episode 472 - Dominic Fumusa and Kadia Saraf

    09/08/2025

    Episode 472 - Dominic Fumusa and Kadia Saraf

    Kadia Saraf stars as Detective Claudette Wallace in Showtime and Paramount+’s Dexter: Resurrection and has also appeared as U.S. Attorney Anya Avital in Law & Order: SVU. Her additional credits include The Better Sister, Blue Bloods, FBI: International, and The Good Fight. Fluent in four languages and conversant in ASL, Kadia is also a martial artist and amateur boxer. She volunteers at the Animal Care Center, fostering and caring for cats and neonatal kittens. Dominic Fumusa currently plays “Detective Melvin Oliva” on the hit Paramount / Showtime series “Dexter: Resurrection.” Fumusa is best known for playing "Kevin Peyton" opposite Edie Falco on Showtime's acclaimed show "Nurse Jackie" which ran for seven seasons from 2009-2015.  Fumusa's film work includes playing the real life hero John "Tig" Tiegen in "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" directed by Michael Bay.  Fumusa appeared opposite Will Smith and Margot Robbie in the romantic comedy "Focus."  Other film work includes "The Report," "Allegiance," "Helena from the Wedding," "Management" and "Little New York."  Fumusa plays opposite Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman on Apple TV's "Echo 3" written and directed by Mark Boal.   Additional television work includes major season-long arcs on "Homeland," "Godfather of Harlem," "Divorce," "Goliath," and "The Purge," as well as guest starring roles on "Damages," "Sex and the City," "The Sopranos," and many others. Fumusa's extensive stage experience includes originating roles in the New York premieres of Sarah Ruhl's plays "Stage Kiss" and "Passion Play", Richard Greenberg's Tony Award winning "Take Me Out" (NY and London), Melissa James Gibson's Obie Award winning "[sic]" and Stephen Belber's plays "The Power of Duff," "Fault Lines," and "Tape" (NY, London and Los Angeles).  His Broadway debut came in the 1998 revival of "Wait Until Dark" opposite Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino.  Select regional theater credits include numerous plays at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Stratford Festival in Canada, the Huntington Theater in Boston, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and the Humana Festival at the Actors Theater of Louisville. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    48 min
  6. Episode 301 - Harvey Fierstein

    06/13/2022

    Episode 301 - Harvey Fierstein

    HARVEY FIERSTEIN wrote the books ( or adapted the books ) for the Broadway musicals Funny Girl, Kinky Boots. Newsies as well as Torch Song Trilogy (Tony®, Drama Desk, and OBIE Awards), La Cage aux Folles (Tony® and Drama Desk Awards), The Sissy Duckling (Humanitas Award), A Catered Affair (12 Drama Desk nominations), Safe Sex (Ace Award), Legs Diamond, Spookhouse, Flatbush Tosca, Common Ground, and more. His political editorials have been published in The New York Times, TV Guide, The Huffington Post, and broadcast on PBS’s “In the Life”. His children’s book, The Sissy Duckling, is now in its fifth printing. As an actor, Mr. Fierstein is known worldwide for his performances in films like Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day, and on stage in Hairspray (Tony Award®), Fiddler on the Roof, La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy (Tony Award®), and TV shows such as “Smash,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Good Wife,” “Cheers” (Emmy nomination), “The Simpsons,” and “Nurse Jackie.” Acclaimed originally for his groundbreaking writing and performance in his 1981 Torch Song Trilogy, Harvey Fierstein has refined and redefined the persona of the drag queen in the theater. Two years later, Fierstein brought that insight and humor into his book for the musical adaptation of La Cage aux Folles. As Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times, this “is the first Broadway musical ever to give center stage to a homosexual love affair – but don’t go expecting an earthquake. The show at the Palace is the schmaltziest, most old-fashioned major musical Broadway has seen since ‘Annie,’ and it’s likely to be just as popular with children of all ages.”  Fierstein subsequently wrote the book for Legs Diamond (1988) with music and lyrics by Peter Allen, who also starred in the show. He did not return to Broadway until 2002, when he took on the role of Edna Turnblad in the musical adaptation of Hairspray (book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan; music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman). According to Ben Brantley, Fierstein’s performance as Edna “is not just a cross-dressing sight gag. She’s every forgotten housewife, recreated in monumental proportions and waiting for something to tap her hidden magnificence.”  After playing Tevye in the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof, Harvey Fierstein wrote the book and starred in the 2008 musical, A Catered Affair. As a writer and actor, Fierstein has won three Drama Desk Awards and four Tonys®, most recently for his portrayal of Edna in Hairspray. His most recent memoir is called I Was Better Last Night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54 min
  7. Episode 465 - John Proctor Is The Villain

    07/21/2025

    Episode 465 - John Proctor Is The Villain

    Kimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. This is her Broadway debut, and she’s probably crying about it right now. Plays include JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN (2024 Huntington Theatre, 2022 Studio Theatre, 2019 Kilroys List, published by Broadway Licensing, Farm Theatre College Collaboration Project); LOST GIRL (2018 Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award, published by Concord Theatricals); and SAINT PIGTAIL (commissioned and developed by Studio Theatre, 2023 O’Neill Finalist). Kimberly has worked with South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alliance Theatre, Ojai Playwrights Conference, among others. She was also a narrative lead at Meow Wolf, where she wrote a short film with original music by Beach House. Kimberly proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and teaches playwriting at Emory University in Atlanta. Gabriel Eber - Broadway: Matilda The Musical (Tony Winner, Featured Actor), Pass Over, Casa Valentina, Brief Encounter, Time And The Conways, Therese Raquin, Red. Off-Broadway: 4000 Miles (OBIE Winner), Preludes, Gently Down The Stream, Sally & Tom, Peer Gynt, Prometheus Bound. Film/TV: News Of The World, “Dickinson,” I Am A Seagull, “Mr. Mercedes,” Ricki And The Flash, The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, and the upcoming Dope Thief. As a singer, he’s performed at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall and with the New York Philharmonic. Fina Strazza - Broadway: Matilda in Matilda the Musical. Off-Broadway: Animal, A Loss of Roses, Member of the Wedding. TV: “Paper Girls” (series lead), “Law and Order: SVU” (recurring), “Madam Secretary,” “FBI: Most Wanted” “Last Week Tonight.” A student at NYU’s Tisch, her eight films include Above the Shadows, A Christmas Melody (recording “Oh, Santa!” with director Mariah Carey), and Netflix’s upcoming “Fear Street: Prom Queen.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    49 min