ACT LIKE A MOTHER

Actor, director, producer and educator Tracy Hill Williams takes us back to the 80s. She talks about what it was like as a pregnant grad student loosening her corset in As You Like It, being uncast from a big production, and finding a way to come out on top despite the sexism and misogyny of the time. From her days as a young mother of three balancing acting jobs and a marriage on the rocks, to he...

Crescent City Stage co-founder Elizabeth Newcomer speaks with Katie and Melanie about building a theatre and a well-rounded life in New Orleans. Through her work as an Enneagram coach, Liz digs deep into what motivates the characters she plays and directs. Hear what her #1 concern was while filming Black Panther with Chadwick Boseman, and how inspired leadership and a family-first approach guide h...

CSI: NY star Anna Belknap speaks with Melanie and Katie about navigating two pregnancies while playing Detective Lindsay Monroe and what it was like to give birth to her TV baby just weeks after delivering her own. She recalls her extreme exhaustion as a working mom, the struggle to find a work-life balance and what led to her decision to mover her family away from LA. Hear what Anna is up to thes...

Note before: in this episode we talk about pregnancy loss which may be a sensitive subject for some. Actor-singer-songwriter Lenne Klingaman speaks to Katie and Melanie about her journey to becoming a mother and how creativity supported and saved her. She shares the grief and pain of multiple miscarriages, how she advocated for herself as a pregnant actor in the workplace, and what her artistic li...

Award-winning actor Francesca Faridany speaks with Melanie and Katie about progesterone shots, pregnancy fatigue and what happens when the dream job comes at the same time as the baby. She shares how she's learned to let go of expectations as a mother and an actor while bringing to her work the fierceness and fire that only a woman over 50 can. For more about Frankie: www.francescafaridany.com @fa...

Critically-acclaimed actor Tessa Auberjonois speaks with Katie and Melanie about the challenges she faced in a two-actor couple with kids, how she learned to give herself permission and redefine success, and how teaching has helped her fall in love with the craft of acting again. Plus a peek into her process as she prepared for her tour-de-force performance in Joan at South Coast Rep. For more inf...

Working actors and mothers Katie MacNichol and Melanie Lora, talk with fellow actor moms about balancing career, creativity and parenting. While no two stories are the same, what these women have in common is an ever-deepening relationship to their craft and a profound commitment to raising their kids in a way that feels true to them.