Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Broadway: Waitress, Disaster, Les Miserables, Hair (Tony Award Nomination), 110 in the Shade, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Brooklyn: The Musical, Lestat. Off-Broadway, tours and concerts: Assassins, Rock of Ages, Camelot (NY Philharmonic), The Slugbearers of Kayrol Island, Adrift In Macao, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Miss Saigon, We Will Rock You, Fame. Will's first feature film as a writer and di...

ELERI WARD is an New York City-based actor, singer, and musician whose original pop music has been called “soaring” (Nexus Music Blog), “astonishing” (Rising Artists), and “dreamy” (Neon Music). Her most recent EP, Friction, was released in 2021. She has been singing and acting since she was eight years old, and has always strived to carve out her own space with the uniqueness she brings to the th...

Steven Sater is the author and lyricist of Spring Awakening, winner of eight Tony Awards on Broadway and produced in 25 countries around the world. He has also collaborated with Duncan Sheik on Umbrage (HERE); Nero (Magic Theatre, New York Stage and Film); The Nightingale (La Jolla Playhouse and American Conservatory Theater); and the critically acclaimed album Phantom Moon (Nonesuch). Other plays...

Jamie Bernstein is a writer, narrator, broadcaster and filmmaker who has transformed a lifetime of loving music into a career of sharing her knowledge and excitement with others.  Inspired by her father Leonard Bernstein’s lifelong impulse to share and teach, Jamie has devised multiple ways of communicating her own excitement about orchestral music. Beginning 15 years ago with “The Bernstein Beat,...

For more than two decades, the GRAMMY and Academy Award-nominated rock band Counting Crows have enchanted listeners worldwide with their intensely soulful and intricate take on timeless rock & roll. Exploding onto the music scene in 1993 with their multi-platinum breakout album, August and Everything After, the band has gone on to release seven studio albums, selling more than 20 million records w...

Lorin Latarro is the choreographer for Broadway’s MRS. DOUBTFIRE, ALMOST FAMOUS, The Public’s THE VISITOR, and Broadway bound THE OUTSIDERS and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE.  Lorin choreographed Broadway and London’s WAITRESS and LA TRAVIATA at The Met Opera. Lorin is directing Candace Bushnell’s one woman show, IS THERE STILL SEX IN THE CITY. Additional Broadway choreography includes Les Liaisons Dan...

Carla Stickler is a woman of many talents. She is currently a Software Engineer at G2 in Chicago. She is an advocate for artists looking to make a career change into tech and a member of Artists Who Code. She loves chatting with folks interested in shifting gears from the arts to programming and especially hopes to get more women into the field! She spent over 10 years performing in Broadway music...

Emma Laird is quickly establishing herself as one to watch with her powerful performances as an actress on the rise. She was most recently recognized by Variety as one of the “Ten Brits To Watch” in 2021. Laird can currently be seen as a lead in the Paramount + series Mayor of Kingstown opposite Jeremy Renner and Dianne Wiest. The series, co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Antonie Fuqua, follows th...

Bess Kalb is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer and the bestselling author of “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me,” a New York Times Editor’s Choice. She wrote for eight years on Jimmy Kimmel Live. She also writes for The New Yorker's "Daily Shouts." She received a WGA Award in 2016. She has written for the Emmy Awards, the Oscars, and the 2020 DNC. She is the head writer and EP of Yearly Departed on A...

Arian Moayed is an Iranian-born award-winning actor and the co-founder of Waterwell, a civic-minded and socially conscious non-profit art and education company. With Waterwell, recent productions include The Flores Exhibits, a series of videos in which artists, lawyers, advocates, and immigrants read the sworn testimonies of children held in detention facilities at the U.S./Mexico border (flores e...

TODD ALMOND is known for his singular songwriting in addition to his work as an accomplished performer. He recently toured the U.S. in his original musical Kansas City Choir Boy starring alongside rock icon Courtney Love, and starred in three of his original musicals at the famed Delacorte Theater in Central Park (The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and The Odyssey). His musical Girlfriend – based on...

ANDRÉA BURNS received an Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for her portrayal of Gloria Fajardo in Broadway’s On Your Feet! She is a winner of a Drama Desk Award for her creation of the role of Daniela, the saucy hairdresser in the Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights.  Ms. Burns began her career touring the opera houses of Europe as Maria in West Side Story when she was 18 years old. She...

Darby Stanchfield stars as ‘Nina Locke’ in the Netflix hit show  Locke and Key. Stanchfield is well-known for her role as ‘Abby Whelan,” the spunky and outspoken investigator on all seven seasons of the Shonda Rhimes hit ABC show “Scandal” alongside ‘Olivia Pope’ (Kerry Washington). She also r stars in  the Disney+’s film “Stargirl” which was adapted from the best-selling novel. Prior to “Scandal,...

Emma Nelson’s powerful performances have established her as a young actress on the rise. Nelson can be seen in the Netflix drama film The Unforgiveable alongside Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Viola Davis. The film follows a woman who attempts to rebuild her life after serving time in prison for committing a violent crime.  Nelson made her big screen debut in the film adaptation of the best-sell...

Caissie Levy most recently seventh Broadway show, as Rose Stopnick Gellman in Roundabout’s revival of Caroline, Or Change, after originating the role of Elsa in Disney's blockbuster hit, Frozen. She recreated the iconic role of Fantine in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables on Broadway, and is known to New York and London audiences for originating the roles of Molly in Ghost, and Sheila in the Tony...

Marc J. Franklin is a New York City-based photographer specializing in portrait and editorial photography, currently working as the Photo Editor and Principal Photographer for Playbill. His photos have been featured in The New York Times, The LA Times, Vogue, Elle, The Paris Review, Out Magazine, The Boston Globe, Mashable, People Magazine, and more. Highlight subjects include Hilary Clinton, Andr...

JAMES CALLERI along with his partners Paul Davis and Erica Jensen own Calleri Jensen Davis, a creative casting partnership. They have been awarded 16 Artios Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. James proudly served on the Board of the Casting Society of America for many years. He is an Associate Professor of Theater at Columbia University School of the Arts where he co-heads the Graduate...

Kimber Elayne Sprawl originated the role of Marianne in Girl From The North Country at The Public Theater and on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include A Bronx Tale, and Beautiful:The Carole King Musical. She performed in the National tour of The Lion King and regionally she appeared in The Niceties at the Milwaukee Rep and Memphis at the Walnut Street Theater. She is a graduate of CCM. Learn mo...

Bonnie McKee made a name for herself as a pop songwriter, writing 10 #1 hit songs for the chart topping stars of the past decade, and for her own career as an indie pop artist. After years of packing big emotional stories into tidy 3 1/2 minute songs and creating her own colorful music videos, she is finally expanding into a new realm of story telling. April Kills The Vibe is Bonnie’s screenwritin...

Dori Berninstein is a four-time Tony-winning Broadway producer, an Emmy-award-winning director, producer and writer of film and television, a Golden Globe Nominee and the founder and CEO of The Broadway Podcast Network. Dori joined Ryan Murphy as Producer on the Netflix movie adaptation The Prom (Golden Globe Nominee), based on Dori’s Broadway musical The Prom (Best Musical – Drama Desk Award). Do...

Jane Kaczmarek is best known for her role as Lois on Malcolm in the Middle, for which she received 7 consecutive Emmy nominations, 2 Televisions Critics Awards (the only woman to receive such recognition), and nominations for the Golden Globe and SAG Award .Her television career began with The Paper Chase, St. Elsewhere, and Hill Street Blues after graduating from The University of Wisconsin and t...

Mary McCormack is one of today’s boldest and most versatile actresses, continually challenging herself with roles that often defy Hollywood standards and bring to light the complex lives of ordinary women. The LA Times says, “McCormack has a kind of 20th century sass, a lively impertinence you find in classic Hollywood comedians like Barbara Stanwyck, Irene Dunne and Rosalind Russell.” She has sho...

Born in Hunan, China, and raised by two moms outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan, I grew up as one of the only Asian kids in school. And, one of the only queer kids. I stood out from my peers, and for a while, I struggled to really embrace it. I came out as trans when I was 12 and started my social transition in middle school. With the support of a local group for queer and trans youth, I found a way t...

Kristolyn Lloyd is an award winning Broadway Actress and Singer who is located in New York. She most recently was Jo March in an Off-Broadway Production of Little Women and Princess Faye in Bliss the Musical in Seattle. She is most known for originating the role of Alana Beck in the Tony Award Winning musical Dear Evan Hansen as well as more noticeable roles such as Heather Duke in Heather the Mus...

Ethan Slater is an actor, writer and musician (mostly) based in New York. He was nominated for a Tony Award, and won the Drama Desk Award for playing SpongeBob in The SpongeBob Musical, which also happened to be his Broadway debut! As a writer, some upcoming projects include the films Intervenors and Silent Mode, both of which he co-wrote and co-stars in. He’s released two EPs of original music, a...