The Yay - A Bay Area Theatre Podcast

Andrea Gordon is our next guest on the Yay (and Norman is back!). Andrea is an artistic associate with 3Girls Theatre and also has ties with the Magic Theatre – she’s an actress, a director and a writer. We’ll talk about her upbringing, her time studying and working in New York in the ‘70s, her views on directing and the state of bay area theatre today. SHOWS: Tasha (3 Girls Theatre) Feb 24 – Marc...

We are extremely delighted to have Rachel Deatherage as our next guest on The Yay – I thought we’d never get the opportunity, when she relocated to Berlin, Germany several years ago – but she’s back in the states, performing in Vallejo at Verismo Opera, performing as Valentin in Gournod’s Faust on March 5th and 11th. I was last on stage with Rachel when we were in Candide, with our musical directo...

Tanika Baptiste is our next guest on The Yay – she is the Executive Artistic Director and founder of Speculation Theatre, who is directing The Piano Lesson at Gallo Center for the Arts. We talk about the state of theatre, how she got her start and where she sees herself in the future. Tanika can be contacted directly via Instagram here: @tanikabaptiste SHOWS: Tasha (3 Girls Theatre) Feb 24 – March...

Our next guest is Eric Johnson, who I last worked with when we did The Marriage of Bette & Boo (he was Boo) back in 2001. Eric has been busy doing the Twilight Zone live stage shows, formerly done at the Exit. We talk with Eric about theatre in the Aughts, theatre now, and what’s in store for him in the future. SHOWS: Raymond’s Run & Blues Ain’t No Mockin’ Bird (Z Space) January 23 (one day only)...

We bring back Kimberly Ridgeway (this time live) – she was last on Episode 155, back in June 2020. As always, Kim is busy – acting in the staged reading of Siren, at Shotgun Players (Jan 9 & 10) and then she will be acting in Slow Food at the Altarena (Jan 20-Feb 19). On her IMDB page, she's listed in films like Hopes Identity, The Confession and Robin's Hood. We talk about what’s going on with he...

For the first Yay episode of 2023, I’m excited to interview Lauren DePass – she last graced the stage at Sixth Street Playhouse in their production of The River Bride, along with Terrance Smith (Episode 102). Norman Gee is celebrating the new year in Tahoe with his beautiful wife Mara, so my guest host is Katherine Park (Episode 246), who will be participating in the L12 Loft Space Songwriting Fes...

We couldn't let 2022 go away without doing one more Yay! Norman is back in the chair after finishing up Meet John Doe, and we also have our wonderful consulting producer Mallory Somera. We talk about what the year has been for us - dealing with the closures of the Exit, Dragon Theatre and the Flight Deck; we get into a very deep conversation about our mental health; more talk about the Altarena; a...

We had April Deustchle on two years ago (Episode 175), where we talked about her life, her travels and what brought her to the bay area. An article came out in the SF Chronicle on October 28th that dealt with actors being mistreated at the Altarena. She comes back on to tell her side of the story and to engage in a bigger conversation about how the dialogue between actors and directors should be,...

I first met our next guest, Max Chang, when he was our stage manager for my show, Four Men in Paris. Since then, he has graced the stage at the Chanticleers, even getting a write up in the paper about his role as Picasso. He’s also a stand up comic and his next show will be Christmas at the Biltmore. Max has truly grown as an actor and overall performer since I met him in 2018 and he shares his jo...

Gifted bay area actress and singer/songwriter Katherine Park is my next guest on The Yay. She’s in a film called Up in the Clouds, which you can see on Amazon Prime, and her beautiful song, We’ll Glow in the Dark Forever, is on Apple iTunes (https://itun.es/us/6eGOlb) and the video can be viewed on Youtube. She was last on stage as Eleanor of Aqutaine for the play The Anarchy Quartet at the Exit....

Our next guest, Lauren Jiang, is one I had the pleasure of working with when we did Pear Slices earlier this year at the Pear Theatre in Mountain View. She and her boyfriend, James M. Jones, are both young actors in the bay area and they share how they got involved in theatre, what they’re doing now and what they’ll be doing in the future. Both Lauren and James can be found on Facebook. SHOWS: Mur...

I had the pleasure of being on stage with our next guest, Louis Schilling, when we did It’s Only A Play. Louis is now in Murder on the Nile (Coastal Rep Theatre). Louis shares his journey in theatre, his upbringing and where he sees himself in the future. Louis can be reached directly at loudrea@comcast.net SHOWS: Murder On The Nile (Coastal Rep) Sept 30 – Oct 23 (no shows Oct 14-16) Louis Schilli...

Raisa Donato is a fight coordinator and a weapons expert, who recently did the fight coordination for the wonderful production of Man of God. We’ve had a lot of Bindlestiff’ers but none with the resume of Raisa. She talk about her experiences in theatre, her upbringing and where she sees herself in the future. Jeannie (formerly in Episodes 18, 32 and 221) also comes back on the Yay for the fourth...

We welcome back Dan Wilson, who was last on The Yay in Episode 42 (Nov 11, 2017). He brings the lovely Diana Brown, his partner in crime, and they created Bingewatch, an improv show they’ve been performing all across the United States. Bingewatch will at the Exit on October 21st. We learn more about Bingewatch, Diana’s background (growing up in Arizona and her coming to the bay in the late ‘90s) a...

Norman and I have been dying to get this talented actress in our seat for a while now and we finally have her! Acquenetta Summers-Wong is now in the Masquers’ play Compared to What – I had the pleasure of working with her when we did Before The Dream (directed by Norman) back in 2008. Acquenetta talks about her theatre experience, balancing theatre with being a mother and where she sees herself in...

Institutional Racism. Christian Nationalism. And how theatre brings up these subjects in a constructive manner to expose our biases and focuses on solutions. All of this and more are things we touch on as we introduce our next guest - Tony Daniel, a local actor who is in the play Compared To What (a play focusing on the black Pullman Porters of the 1920s). We learn about Tony’s upbringing, Tony’s...

Our next guest is Jen & Matt Coogan, a musician couple who has been working with the Musical Café and, through Musical Café, created Song Salon, a zoom meeting place where budding songwriters come together and share ideas, songs and inspire each other. We learn about Jen and Matt’s upbringing, their affiliation with the café and where they see themselves in the future. You can reach the Coogans an...

Our guest today is Virginia Blanco, (who had her birthday on Saturday) the founder of La Lengua Teatro en Espanol, a new theatre that focuses solely on the Latin experience – their new play, Las Azurduy opened on August 19 and she is in the show. Las Azurduy tells the amazing story of revolutionary hero and a true female progressive Juana Azurduy de Padilla, who led revolutions for the freedom of...

We’ve had 25 Filipino guests on The Yay, the vast majority of them from Bindlestiff. Our special guest today is one of the founders of Bindlestiff, Allan Manalo, and without him, many of those Filipino artists would have never been introduced to theatre or have an outlet to their creativity. Our guest host is Mike Dorado (previously on Episode 68) and we discuss the origins of Bindlestiff, Allan’s...

Our next guest is Ronnie Anderson, a person I’ve had the pleasure to share the stage with in Altarena’s production of It’s Only A Play – as the play says, we’re like Romulus and Remus. Our guest host is playwright, novelist and teacher Bridgette Dutta-Portman (previously on Episode 75). Ronnie shares with us his upbringing, how he got into the theatre, his forays in film and how bay area theatre i...

Hyunji Kim is our next guest on the Yay, hosted by me and my guest host Jake Fong (from Episode 228). Kim was our stage manager when Bindlestiff produced Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon, and was a student to Aureen Almario, the artistic director of Bindlestiff. It’s been a while since we brought in a person to give us a perspective of theatre from the backstage and Kim talks about what she enjo...

The cool thing about working in theatre is meeting fascinating people and the characters they created on stage. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jake Gleason, who will be playing Sir Frank Finger in It’s Only A Play (at the Alterena Playhouse). Jake is a great character actor, and we’ve been having lots of fun in rehearsal and I had to have him on as a guest. Jake talks about his upbringing,...

Our special guest host is the amazing Alan Coyne (previously on Episode 29) who just finished doing Antigone at the Town Hall Theatre. Our guest is Oliver Saria, the playwright and managing director of Bindlestiff Studio – his play, Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon, closed two weeks ago and Oliver shares combining comedy with using theatre as a public service announcement, promoting healthy eati...

Happy Fourth everyone and we're back! Giancarlo Cariola is our next guest on the Yay and yes, it’s been a long time! Norman has been busy with the SF Mime Troupe and I’ve been busy, having finished up Bindlestiff’s Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon and I’m in rehearsals for It’s Only A Play. Speaking of Inay Dalisay, Giancarlo was one of the main stars, having played the ever present Senior Cheep...

To make up for lost time, we have our first TWO HOUR YAY!! Steve Ortiz is our next guest on a long delayed Yay – Steve is currently in rehearsals for Dreaming in Cuban (Central Works). Steve last worked with both Norman and I on The Baldwin Project, where he did wonderful work. Steve talks about his growing up in the bay, being a latino actor, his time in England and where he sees himself in bay a...