The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales Broadway Musicals & Plays

Infected by her mom's love for Broadway shows, Ilana was introduced to the world of theatre at an early age. After getting a haircut by one of the most handsome people she's ever seen when she was 18 years old, she ended up at his acting studio in New York and walked into a room of people performing a private moment exercise, which changed everything in her life from that moment on, including her college major. Chance after chance, and with the luck of being surrounded by other talented people, Ilana highlights the importance of having an artistic community where you can "fail beautifully over and over again." Apart from acting, Ilana also entered the podcast universe in 2016. According to her supportive friends, there’s something about her that makes it easy for people to open up about all sorts of things. Today, she hosts a couple of podcast shows, which to her have become a great avenue and a safe space for people to share stories, and complex issues. This, and her love for creating art with others, tie in neatly with what motivates her in life: connecting.

Ilana Levine is an actress best known for her role as Lucy Van Pelt in the Broadway revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". She also starred on Broadway's “Jake’s Women”, "Wrong Mountain" and "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" and performed at the Tony Awards. Ilana also appeared in many television shows and movies, including the infamous Seinfeld episode, "The Contest", "Law & Order", "Tanner '88", "Damages", "Tanner and Tanner", "Failure to Launch", "Friends with Kids", "The Nanny Diaries", and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" among others. In 2016, she started hosting the podcast show, “Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine”. Today, she also hosts the podcast shows, “And the Award Goes To... Hosted by Ilana Levine” and “How To Be More Chill”.

Connect with Ilana:


Listen to And the Award Goes To: bpn.fm/atagt


Listen to How to Be More Chill: bpn.fm/howtobemorechill


Instagram: @littleknownfactspodcast

Twitter: @ilanalevine

Website: littleknownfactspodcast.com



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


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


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Driven to inspire other people with art, Brandon Victor Dixon has been sharing his talent with the world for decades now. And this month, the actor slash theatrical producer is part of the much-anticipated world premiere of the award-winning "MacGyver: The Musical’s" album which will be released on January 27th. Apart from theatre, Brandon is also doing advocacy work. He talks about the We Are Foundation which he created, and how he uses it to bridge gaps between art and us as communities. He brings up a good point on human behavior, what makes it for some people to be kind, and how art can be a gateway to understanding and helping them. In choosing a role or a piece, he considers the tools that can make his role and the exchange between him and the audience the most effective. He adds that the pieces choose him and come into his life at a time when he needs them the most. When he was just starting, Brandon had to pause his graduation to go on a national tour, come back, finish school, and then originate a role on Broadway for which he got a Tony nomination. He recalls his audition process for the role of Simba, why he thinks he shouldn't have been cast, and how he overcame his doubts and the challenges he encountered as it was happening. As one of the stars in the world premiere album of “MacGyver: The Musical”, Brandon talks about his character, doing comedy, and how his process usually adapts to the show his doing. Brandon reflects on his role as Haywood Patterson in “The Scottsboro Boys”, why he considers it his favorite role, and how it ultimately goes back to his advocacy: to change and help people with the power of art.
Brandon Victor Dixon is an actor, singer, advocate, and theatrical producer known for his Tony Award-nominated Broadway performances as Harpo in the 2005 musical "The Color Purple" and Eubie Blake in "Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed". Apart from originating both roles, he also originated the leading role of Berry Gordy Jr. in Broadway's "Motown: The Musical", which earned a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. In 2016, Brandon assumed the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway company of "Hamilton". He also played the role of Hayward Patterson in "The Scottsboro Boys" both Off-Broadway and in London's West End, and was nominated for a 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. As a producer, his credits include Broadway revivals of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch which won the 2014 Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for best revival of a musical, and "Of Mice and Men". In 2018, he played Judas in NBC's live concert version of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice's rock opera, "Jesus Christ Superstar" where he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. His other stage credits include "Chicago", "The Lion King", "The Color Purple", "Rent", and "Shuffle Along" among others. His tv credits include "Power", "She's Gotta Have It", "Modern Love", and "The Best Man: The Final Chapters". Brandon is part of the much-anticipated album of the award-winning "MacGyver: The Musical’" which will be released on January 27th, 2023.

Connect with Brandon:

Instagram: @brandonvdixon

Twitter: @brandonvdixon

Website: www.brandonvictordixon.com


Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


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


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You can take the boy out of Oregon, but you can't take the Oregon out of the boy. Or something like that.
After growing up on the west coast and spending some time in LA, Squigs - Broadway's modern day Al Hirschfeld, found his way to NYC both acting and supplementing his income creating some of the most sought after caricatures of the Broadway community. After growing up watching feeling his dad was an artist by being able to create and fix almost anything, Squigs's natural ability to draw led him down a path he never expected, all the way to designing the upcoming key art for the J.P. Morgan Squash Tournament of Champions (where they setup a squash court inside Grand Central Station!). As co-creator of the Lights of Broadway trading cards, he's certainly busy creating some of the most sought after illustrations of our day. Oh, and if you like Broadway... and cooking... and dad jokes... or any of the three, make sure to check out Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway, a hilarious cookbook co-authored by Gideon Glick and Adam D. Roberts, illustrated by Squigs himself.

Justin "Squigs" Robertson is an acclaimed illustrator and caricaturist specializing in capturing the ephemeral and collaborative art form of theatre. He has been hailed by the New York Times as one of the "Line King's Heirs", carrying on the theatrical caricature traditions exemplified by legendary Times artist Al Hirschfeld. His illustrations have been seen regularly since 2010 as the Broadway Ink feature on Broadway.com. They have also appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Variety, the Playbill Broadway Yearbook, Jennifer Ashley Tepper's Untold Stories of Broadway series, and in promotional campaigns for Actors' Equity Association (including their "Ask If It's Equity" efforts and the cover of their centennial book Performance of the Century), Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, the Theatre World Awards, and theatrical productions in New York, London, and around the world. He was born and raised in Oregon, lived in Los Angeles for many years, and now calls New York City his home.

Connect with Squigs:

Get the cookbook Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: https://amzn.to/3QqPTTC


Check out the Lights of Broadway cards

IG: @squigsrobertson


Facebook: Squigs Knows His Lines


Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/squigs


Web: SquigsOnline.com



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


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


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Eddie Izzard is a Tony Award nominated, Emmy Award winning actress who quickly rose to fame in the 90s as a phenomenal standup comedian - producing two of my all time favorite specials Glorious and Dress to Kill. Among her 41 film credits include The Avengers, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, and Rock Dog. She has around 40 TV credits, is a politician, activist, philanthropist, historian, linguist, has lent her voices to video games and now along with her brother Mark have adapted Great Expectations, the Charles Dickens classic, into a 2 act play now showing at the Greenwich House Theater in NYC where she plays 19 different characters.
This episode covers why Eddie ran for Parliament (yes, THE Parliament), how she finds her comedic seams that glue her standup together, why running marathons became a hobby, and what it means that she is exactly 150 years younger than Charles Dickens (spoiler, it doesn't mean much!). After losing her mom at a very young age, Eddie turned to the theatre in what she believes is the need to feel the love from the audience - a substitution for the missing affection from her mother.

Connect with Eddie:

Get tickets to Great Expectations

Twitter: @eddieizzard


IG: @eddieizzard


FB: /eddieizzard



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


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


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2022 - the first full year of theatre since Broadway shutdown in 2020. It was full of highs and lows, but one thing's for certain we're glad Broadway is back! Once again, Diana Salameh, Vice President of Brand Integration at Serino Coyne, co-hosts the final episode of the year. Serino Coyne is the nation's longest-running theatrical advertising agency, so Diana's brings some fun insider insight to how this strange business of show actually goes down.
Spoiler alert - I've never seen a single production of Into the Woods, and she's never seen the Back to the Future movies. Um, that's not right.

Connect with Diana:

Instagram: @_dianasalameh


Twitter: @_dianasalameh



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.


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Having been together for over 14 years as real life partners, Michael Urie and Ryan Spahn now get to share the stage together as scene partners in parts specifically written for the two of them. Interestingly enough, this episode contains as much hidden relationship advice as it does theater advice and stories, as we dive into what really makes them successful as a couple after all this time, especially both being in such a tumultuous, competitive profession. They also share how they turned pandemic lemons into pandemic lemonade by experimenting with Zoom multicam, aka two cell phones in two different rooms, to make their at-home performances have a little extra pizzaz -- which them led them through the change opportunity rabbit hole that put them on stage together now.
More about Michael Urie
STC: Hamlet, Will on the Hill (2022). NEW YORK: Broadway: Chicken & Biscuits, Grand Horizons, Torch Song, How To Succeed in Business... Off-Broadway: Performer: Buyer & Cellar, The Government Inspector, Angels in America, The Temperamentals, A Bright Room Called Day, The Cherry Orchard. Director: Bright Colors and Bold Patterns. Producer: Happy Birthday Doug (both written and performed by Drew Droege and both available on BroadwayHD). Co-Founder/Co-Producer: Pride Plays, an LGBTQIA theater festival. TV: Ugly Betty, Younger, Modern Family, Good Wife/Fight, Hot in Cleveland. FILM: Single All The Way, Swan Song, Lavender, Decoy Bride, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, He’s Way More Famous Than You (also directed). UPCOMING: TV: Shrinking, Krapopolis. FILM: Jerseys Boys Live. 
More about Ryan Spahn
STC: Hamlet. NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Good Enemy;Jane Anger;Lessons in Survival;Mr. Toole;How To Load aMusket;Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow; Daniel’s Husband; Summer & Smoke; Still at Risk; Exit Strategy; Gloria. REGIONAL: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodman Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Philadelphia Theatre Company. FILM: September 17th, The Raging Heart of Maggie Acker, Shirley, Abducted, Nora Highland (writer/director), He’s Way More Famous Than You (co-writer), Grantham & Rose (writer), Woven (co-writer). TV: Chicago P.D., Modern Love, The Bite, The Blacklist. PERSONAL: he/him | Ryan’s writing has been published by Rotten Tomatoes, Talkhouse, USA Today, and D.C.’s Metro Weekly. | Training: The Juilliard School.

Connect with Michael and Ryan:

Listen to Michael's original episode #148

IG: @MichaelUrieLikesIt, @RyanSpahn


Twitter: @MichaelUrie, @Ryan_Spahn



Connect with The Theatre Podcast:

Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast


Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast


TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast


Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast

TheTheatrePodcast.com

Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales


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


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