The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network

Taylor Trensch has been a familiar face on Broadway since 2012, when he made his Broadway debut in Wicked as Boq. He originated roles in the Broadway debut productions of Matilda The Musical, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time. Some of his more recent roles include Barnaby Tucker in the revival of Hello Dolly!, the title role in Dear Evan Hansen, and starring next to Ed Harris as Dill Harris in To Kill A Mockingbird. Taylor can currently be heard as Sweet William in Bleeding Love, a brand new original musical podcast radio play on The Broadway Podcast Network.
Taylor has been spending his time in quarantine in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, but was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. He shares that he grew up in the same house his dad grew up in - had the same childhood bedroom, as well as the same seat at the family dinner table. When Taylor was 5 years old he performed in his first community theater show - The Wizard of Oz. He loved the movie as a child and begged his parents to take him to the audition. He says he peed his pants opening night, and “from then on I couldn’t be stopped.” Growing up, Taylor had severe allergies and asthma, which deterred him from spending a lot of time outside. When he discovered theater, the immediacy of a group of people being in a room together, getting laughs and applause, he was hooked. He shares that by the time he was in middle school, he knew he was gay. And by doing community theater, he started to become aware of the gay and queer adults who were also there, and began to see himself in them. 
Playing Sweet William in Bleeding Love is a bit of a throwback for him, as Taylor took part in the original demo recordings that took place in 2016. But the main difference, due to the current coronavirus pandemic, is that no one in the cast can actually be together. Taylor records his songs, and one off lines from the bathroom in his apartment. He describes what a unique challenge it is, calling it “bizarre to try to make a specific, honest choice” as an actor, with sort of no context or ability to play off his fellow actors. There is inherent energy between cast members when they are performing together, they fuel one another. Taylor shares that part of this experience is creating that energy for yourself. Bleeding Love is a show about being in quarantine, but it was written years prior to our current pandemic. And it seems it was rediscovered at precisely the right time. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

His failed attempt to escape NYC during quarantine 

The personal catharsis he experienced while playing the lead in Dear Evan Hansen 

The two versions of self he believes are inside every theater artist

Grounding himself in his life, while having Ben Platt on speed-dial and being buddies with Ed Harris 

Performing with his boyfriend in Dear Evan Hansen 

The end of the recent CATS film 

His idea of what the theater may look like when quarantine is over


Connect with Taylor:

IG @knucklesandwich


Listen to Bleeding Love



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.


A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!
Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David Seales

This episode is released in a time of crisis and mass awakening. Black Lives Matter. Please consider donating to any of the following:

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From Iran to Italy to Canada and finally to London, this performer forged a path uniquely his own, knowing the only failure is not trying. “When someone puts a seed in my head, I'll dive in not knowing how deep it is, but I'll just go for it and just see what happens.”
Ramin Karimloo is an Olivier and Tony Award nominee who made his name in the early 2000’s starring in some of the West End's most enduring productions, notably Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables, after becoming the youngest actor ever to play the Phantom in 2007. Ramin later originated the role of Phantom in the 2010 sequel Love Never Dies, and made his Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables as Valjean (earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical). Throughout his career he has released two EP’s and two albums as an independent recording artist, including his 2019 album From Now On which landed on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Ramin now hosts his own podcast called “The Hang” on the Broadway Podcast Network, and in addition to playing the dreamy Dr. Kian Madani in Holby City on the BBC, he can be heard playing the dreamy Stavros in “As The Curtain Rises”, Broadway’s first original podcast soap opera. 
Shortly after his birth in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, Ramin’s family escaped the country and found themselves in Italy. After several years in Italy, and relocating to a small town in Ontario, it was a 7th grade field trip to see Phantom of the Opera when things changed for Ramin. He left the theater that day thinking, “I want to make people feel like this…”. 
During our conversation, Ramin chronicles his journey from high school, to cruise ships, to London - a journey fueled by his endless pursuit of the goals he set for himself as a teenager. Ramin emphasizes the impact encouragement from others can have on your life, and speaks fondly of the bar owner/father figure who championed his dream of one day playing the Phantom. He also revisits the initial impact of COVID-19 on his creative pursuits, and shares details about his most recent creations - a clothing line, a production company, a podcast, and more. 

In this episode, we talk about:

His family’s journey from Iran, to Italy, to Canada 

Being inspired by Colm Wilkinson  

Shadowing Phantom Peter Karie in Toronto when he was 16 

Life lessons from Mike Nelson, bar owner/dean of the school of life 

The serendipity of meeting his first agent in London 

His passion projects, and their challenges


Connect with Ramin:

Twitter: @raminkarimloo


IG: @raminkarimloo & 8xCommunity


https://www.raminkarimloo.com/


YouTube @ARoamingIranian


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.
A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!
Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David Seales
If you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Osnes is a two-time Tony Award nominee for her roles as Bonnie in Bonnie & Clyde, and Cinderella in Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. After winning NBC’s 2006 reality TV show You’re The One That I Want, she made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the 2007 revival of Grease. Other Broadway credits include starring roles in South Pacific, Anything Goes, and most recently Bandstand. You can also see her on TV as Shirley McClaine in Fosse/Verdon, and the Hallmark movie In the Key of Love. 
As a child growing up in Egan, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, Laura always gravitated towards music and theatrics. She listened to musical soundtracks and acted them out in her living room, danced competitively for 13 years, and started working professionally in Minneapolis when she was in middle school. After attending the University of Wisconsin for a year studying theater, she got offered a job as a performing apprentice at a theater in Minneapolis, and said “yes” to the opportunity. Instead of going back to school, Laura then found herself in Los Angeles competing on a reality TV show for a starring role in Grease, and shortly after, arrived in New York City for her Broadway debut. 
Laura shares with us her thoughts on the culture shock she experienced upon moving to LA from Minnesota. As a self-declared introvert, she admits she most enjoys becoming a character onstage - transforming into someone else, and working with a cast of people. Laura says performing is the one thing she always wanted to do - the thing she knew she was always meant to do. 
To watch the video version of this event, click here.

In this episode, we talk about:

How she is spending her time during quarantine

Why she Googles herself sometimes 

What the experience of filming her first Hallmark movie taught her 

Why she turned down the National Tour of Grease 

A day in the life of being a Tony nominee 

How she approaches creating her roles 

How she is keeping busy by teaching online classes


Connect with Laura:

IG: @lauraosnes


Twitter: @lauraosnes


Laura teaches online master classes via A Class Act (@ AClassActNY) - Register here: https://aclassactny.com/virtual-classes/


And Broadway Artists Alliance (@BAAofNYC) - Register here: https://www.broadwayartistsalliance.org


Follow the Broadway Princess Party on IG at @bwayprincesspty and keep up to date with concert dates and new merch items here: www.broadwayprincessparty.com


#RHGoesLive: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s #RHGoesPop initiative comes live to your living room via YouTube live stream performances with Bway stars, hosted by Laura Osnes! Subscribe to the R&H YouTube channel so you don’t miss an episode! https://youtu.be/AnkBNI1lMlM



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.
A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!
Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David Seales
If you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“When you give the artist the opportunity to be free and respected, they will give you the world with their performance.”
Claire Warden is a Drama Desk Award winning intimacy coordinator, fight director, teacher and actress with over 20 years experience in theater, TV and film across America and the UK. She has worked as an intimacy coordinator and consultant on numerous television productions under various studios, including HBO, Hulu, Amazon, and Showtime, as well as major motion picture studios such as Sony and 20th Century Fox. Some of Claire’s credits include work on the series Mrs. Fletcher, Your Honor, Finding Alaska, Hunters, Billions, the feature film of West Side Story, and many more. She recently made history as the first intimacy director on Broadway with Frankie and Johnny, and also worked on the Broadway productions of Slave Play, The Inheritance, Jagged Little Pill, Linda Vista, West Side Story and Company. Claire is part of the collaboration team advising SAG-AFTRA on their effort to standardize, codify and implement guidelines for on-set intimacy coordinators, and in 2019 she was awarded Variety Magazine's '10 Broadway Players to Watch'.
Claire began her career in the UK as an actor, a fight director, and a teacher. As a teacher she specialized in supporting actors with various traumas - emotional, physical, and psychological. She had always felt a calling, a feeling of purpose, so when she just happened to read about intimacy direction for the first time in the NY Times, she realized, “Oh, that’s why I’m here.” 
Claire opens our eyes to the discipline of intimacy direction, which has only been around in its “beginning form” since the end of 2016. She chronicles the team effort to actually codify an approach to sex scenes, intimacy, and nudity for an actor - something that had never been done before. Claire also walks us through her process and approach when starting a new project and working with new actors/directors, the goal always being to empower artists. And she gives us a sneak peek into her work on the Broadway productions of Jagged Little Pill and Slave Play. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

How to become an intimacy director / choreographer yourself via idcprofessionals.com


An intimacy coordinator vs. an intimacy director 

How intimacy direction rides on the waves of social movements 

The lack of understanding about intimacy on stage and screen 

Why she asks her actors if they’re “confident” rather than “comfortable” 

The importance of strong “closure practices” 

Her work on Jagged Little Pill and Slave Play



Connect with Claire:

Twitter: @clairewarden


IG: @clairewarden_


IDCProfessionals.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.
A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!
Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David Seales
If you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people know Andrew Barth Feldman made his Broadway debut in the title role in Dear Evan Hansen and is now starring in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, but what most people don’t know is that while he was in DEH performing his 6 shows a week, he was also attending Yale -- and obtained a master’s degree that has landed him his latest gig being the Science Consultant on the forthcoming Avvatar The Musical.
Find More about Avvatar the Musical:

IG: @AvvatarOnBroadway


Web: http://avvataronbroadway.com/


As The Curtain Rises


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.
A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!
Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David Seales
If you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Disney prince and a family man, this performer opens up about the importance of faith, hard work, and determination, and shares a look behind the curtain of his career both past and present. 
Adam Jacobs is an actor and singer maybe best known for originating the title role in Aladdin on Broadway, a performance which garnered him both Grammy and Drama Desk Award nominations. Adam’s other Broadway credits include The Lion King, and Les Miserables, as well as the national tours of Mamma Mia!, Cinderella, Les Miserables, The Lion King, and Aladdin. Offstage, Adam’s talents and credits range from writing, and directing, to producing, and even visual effects. His latest film project, Adam Jacobs Behind The Curtain, features a live recording of his 2019 cabaret at Feinstein's Upstairs at Vitello's in LA, as well as interviews and a behind the scenes look at Adam’s artistic journey. 
During our conversation, Adam speaks candidly about his mixed-ethnicity and the confusion it led to as a child trying to figure out where he fit in. He recalls it first feeling like an obstacle he had to overcome, but explains how he later discovered his heritage was an advantage, allowing him to play a variety of roles. Adam also talks about the decision to leave NYC and move to the suburbs of Chicago with his family a few years ago, which has offered him more performance opportunities, and a homebase between LA and NYC. And we delve into the evolution of Adam’s latest project Behind The Curtain, from live cabaret to filmed “docu-concert”. 
In this episode, we talk about: 

Overcoming self-doubt and challenging the status quo

The impact of his high school mentor and teacher 

His experience in NYU’s CAP21 program 

Having other interests outside of performing 

How his family influences career decisions

The creation of the Behind The Curtain film 


Connect with Adam:

IG: @AdamJacobsNYC


Twitter: @adamjacobsnyc


Stream on Spotify


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.
A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!
Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David Seales
If you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices