The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales Broadway Podcast Network

Actress Kiera Allen was named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of their breakout stars of 2020, due in no small part to her performance opposite Sarah Paulson in Hulu's psychological thriller Run. She is the first wheelchair user to star in a major thriller in over 70 years, which has advanced the conversation about disability representation in the industry. Kiera has a collection of regional theater credits, including the world premiere of Bekah Brunstetter’s Girl #2, and is currently studying Creative Writing at Columbia University. She can now be heard as Pansy Freehold in the Broadway Podcast Networks’s new original radio comedy TWITS, starring opposite Michael Urie and Christian Borle. 

Kiera talks about being exposed to the world of theatre from a young age, and how as a result of growing up around creatives, she learned about the hard work and dedication required to succeed, as well as to have respect for the process. She speaks candidly about holding space on social media for important conversations pertaining to the disability community, and shares her thoughts on being called “an inspiration”. Keira also chats about working on TWITS, and why she is proud to be a part of the project.

In this episode, we talk about: 

Finding inspiration from the new Beatles documentary 

Mental health, and why she finds acting and writing therapeutic 

Being in a writer’s group with Tom Alan Robbins 

Booking her debut feature film role opposite Sarah Paulson

Changes she hopes to see in the industry pertaining to disability and representation 


Connect with Kiera:

IG: @kierajallen


Twitter: @kierajallen


Listen to TWITS on Broadway Podcast Network

Watch Run on Hulu


Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.


Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.
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Major Attaway has over 20 years of experience as an entertainer, actor, singer, and voiceover artist, and may be best known for playing the Genie in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway for the longest amount of time (three years). He also debuted in Mack and Mabel as Fatty Arbuckle at NY City Center Encores in 2020, and his regional credits include Hot Mikado, Hands on a Hardbody, Little Shop of Horrors, and Ain’t Misbehavin. An accomplished Voice Actor and Twitch Streamer, Major has lent his voice to numerous projects including One Piece, Bread Barbershop, Fairy Tail, Battleborn, Borderlands 3, and more. He can be seen in an upcoming HBO series as well as in The Netflix original series Orange is the New Black, and is currently revamping his Disney based cabaret show, Genies Jukebox, for an upcoming 54 Below performance. 

Major shares how singing led him to musical theatre, and the life lessons he learned as a child while performing at Casa Mañana Theatre in Ft. Worth, Texas. He chats about continuing his growth as an artist through voiceover work, and how he gets into character for those roles. Major also talks all things Genie on Broadway, as well as his cabaret, Genie’s Jukebox, where he delves into Genie's life before/after Aladdin by exploring questions like: What if the Genie had villain friends? - Maybe he used to be friends with Ursula. How does Genie spend his free time? - Maybe he takes magic courses. Major calls the show a combination of his dream of being a Disney villain, and a love letter to Disney. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

Working on the Netflix Pokemon movie 

Finding peace in art 

Receiving his first standing ovation

Standbys and swings as unsung heroes

Being the voice of NuCalm


Connect with Major:

IG: @majorattaway


Twitter: @majorattaway


Facebook: @BigTexGenie



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.


Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie Styles is an actress, singer, and dancer who made her Broadway debut in the recent Roundabout Theatre revival of Kiss Me, Kate, opposite Kelly O'Hara, Will Chase, and Corbin Bleu. Other credits include Katherine Plumber in the national tour of Newsies, The Sound of Music national tour, and Kingdom Come at Roundabout Underground’s Black Box Theatre. On TV she may be best known as Autumn on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, and can also be seen as Kate in the Netflix series Bonding. Her film credits include Bombshell, and Booksmart. Stephanie can now be heard on the original studio cast album of Goosebumps The Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium, available wherever you get your streaming music.

Taking us back to the beginning, Stephanie shares her story of seeing The Phantom of the Opera for the first time at four years old (two nights in a row), and how it set the course for the rest of her life. She opens up about her love for all things Disney, and why she thinks both children and adults alike are drawn into Disney’s “sense of imagination, innovation, and hope”. Stephanie also chats about what it means to be part of the new original studio cast album of Goosebumps The Musical, and her experience singing and recording during COVID. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

Being a D23:The Official Disney Fan Club charter member 

Horoscopes, and being a Libra 

What type of music she is drawn to singing 

Disney Theme Parks 

Her love for Broadway and musical theatre 


Connect with Stephanie:

IG: @bystyles


Web: stephaniestyles.com



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.


Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glynn Turman is an Emmy Award winning actor, writer, director and producer, who made his Broadway debut at 12 years old originating the role of Travis Younger in A Raisin In The Sun. With a successful TV and film career spanning more than 50 years, Glynn has had notable roles in films including Cooley High, The River Niger, Gremlins, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Men of Honor, Justine, The Way Back, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. His TV credits include Peyton Place, Matlock, The Wire, In Treatment, House of Lies, How to Get Away with Murder, Mr. Mercedes, Fargo and many, many more. Glynn has also directed episodes of Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, A Different World, and The Wayans Bros. He is now the newest face for Beyonce’s new Ivy Park denim line, and can also be seen starring opposite Tony award winner Adrienne Warren in ABC’s new limited series Women of the Movement. 

Glynn credits his mother for getting him into theater and acting, and talks about what life was like growing up in NYC's Greenwich Village in the 50’s and early 60’s, immersed in a bohemian lifestyle. He chats about his love for all things horses and rodeo, and tells the story of a dinner with Beyonce that led to him becoming a spokesperson for her new Ivy Park line. Glynn also reflects on his career and the opportunities that have led to where he is now - “I’m glad that I’ve lived long enough to see that we as a black people have gotten the opportunity to tell some of our stories from our point of view”. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

Auditioning for playwright Lorraine Hansberry, a friend of his mother’s and the creator of A Raisin in the Sun


Skipping school to spend time with the horses in Central Park

Getting into character as Mose Wright for Women of the Movement


Auditioning to be the original Han Solo, and booking it 

Acting icons James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Sidney Poitier, and Ruby Dee


Connect with Glynn:

Twitter: @GlynnTurman


Learn more about Women of the Movement


Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.


Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Debra Sperling is a professional voiceover artist with over 26 years of experience. Throughout her career, Debra has been the voice of dozens of national television campaigns such as Charmin, Cascade, Pampers, Maybelline, Listerine, Walmart, Folgers, Kellogg’s, Olive Garden, Johnson and Johnson, Band-Aid, and many more. Debra is a big player in the Promo world as well, having been the voice of The Oxygen Network and the voice of WEtv, with ongoing promo spots for many networks including NBC, National Geographic, USA, Investigation Discovery, A&E, Animal Planet, and HBO. She is also equally passionate about teaching and coaching, and her renowned "Authenticity in Voiceover" class has helped students worldwide.

After attending the High School of Performing Arts, Debra went on to earn her BA in Theatre, her MFA in Acting, and has “been an actor since”. Although she makes her living as a voiceover artist now, she speaks candidly about how her journey began, noting she didn’t really know what voice overs were when she first started out. Debra talks about her approach to acting for theatre, TV or film compared to acting for voice overs: why “it is the same thing” for her, and how it starts with bringing your authentic self to the microphone, stage, or set. She also opens up about her love for teaching and coaching, and shares why she feels like leading her voice over class on Zoom during COVID saved her. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

The culture shock she felt while attending her first show in London 

Morgan Freeman’s voice 

Why she tells people to “stop acting words” 

Stephen McKinley Henderson as a mentor and teacher 

Missing the collaborative aspect of voice over work due to COVID


Connect with Debra:

Web: debrasperling.com/about


IG: @debrasperlingvo



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.


Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've successfully completed yet another year around the sun (sorry flat Earthers, the truth hurts), this time with only about 4 months of Broadway theatre to talk about, and we're already seeing more shows permanently closed than expected due to Omicron breakthrough cases. Sheesh.
Ayanna Prescod, a Broadway producer, critic, writer, and creator, and host of What's Up Broadway joins us for this final episode of the year as we discuss our favorite moments, shows, and what we're looking forward for in 2022.
A big shout out to all the shows of 2021 that closed too early:

Is This A Room

Dana H

Chicken & Biscuits

The Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Diana, the Musical

Thoughts of a Colored Man

Jagged Little Pill

Waitress

Beautiful

Ain’t Too Proud


Connect with Ayanna:

Twitter: @AyannaPrescod


Web: OurBKSocial.com


Listen to What's Up Broadway: bpn.fm/wub



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.


Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices