The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast

On today’s episode we’re joined by company members from HGBIC Productions’ upcoming World Premiere: The Greatest Night in Show Business; A new musical play about Judy Garland and the night of her Carnegie Hall concert. Producer/writer and director of the piece, Mikey Duran, was Born and raised in Chicago. Studied acting At The Academy Of Art University of San Francisco, attended Illinois Media Sch...

We are extremely honored to introduce our guest on today’s episode. For two decades, our next guest has been the chief theatre critic for the Chicago Tribune and as such, is the influential voice for one of the most vibrant theatre scenes in the world. He’s seen it all, reviews about 200 shows a year in Chicago alone, and covers every major Broadway opening, establishing himself as one of the nati...

Hi everyone! John Michael Coppola with The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast, here to give you a quick end of the year wrap up message before we take a much needed holiday break. First, we want to thank all of our listeners, supporters and fans for giving us such an overwhelmingly positive response during our first season. From a huge variety of guests, to our live-stream from this year’s Jeff Awards...

Today's guest is the theater director at Niles North High School in Skokie. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University in theater, comparative literature, and psychology, and then attended Harvard's Arts and Education Master's program. Her first three years of teaching were in music appreciation and theater at Holy Trinity High School, where she directed their first two productions...

On today’s episode we’re joined by company members from Lifeline Theatre production of Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol . Playwright Tom Mula recently retired as an Associate Professor in Columbia College Chicago’s Theatre Department but has been a Chicago actor, director, and playwright for more than 45 years. After seven seasons (that’s over 400 performances) playing the role of Scrooge in Goodman...

Today’s guests are both starring in Theo's currently running production of Urinetown .  Ryan Stajmiger, who plays “Officer Lockstock” has been seen all over the Chicagoland area for the last 13 years. Some of his more memorable roles were Olaf in Paramount Theater’s Frozen , Anthony in Kokandy Production’s Sweeney Todd , and many others, including the Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre,...

As we officially kick off the holiday season, we have a very special holiday concert that we’re chatting about today: Chicago's annual NF Hope fundraiser concert. “NF” stands for Neurofibromatosis - One of the most common genetic disorders of the nervous system in the United States. NF causes tumors to form on the nerves anywhere in the body at any time. This progressive disorder affects all races...

Today’s guests are from the currently running production of “Miracle at Century High School ”; A new Christmas musical comedy being produced for the second year in a row at the Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre. Writer and lyricist, Anthony Cusumano has been writing, performing, directing and producing comedy shows since 2017 and is a former member of Chicago’s famed second city. While he remains strict...

Today’s guest is a multiple Jeff Award nominee and 3 time winner who has been working in Chicago and throughout the United States for more than 3 decades. Some of his more notable roles include Fiddler on the Roof , Beauty & the Beast and Crazy for You at Drury Lane Theatre, No Man’s Land and Noises Off at Steppenwolf, Titanic , Oliver! and Anything Goes at Marriott Theatre, and most recently...

Today’s guests both appear in the New Theater Project’s site specific production of “Blackbird“ running now through November 23rd at Servi-Sure: A working titanium parts factory in Chicago’s Bomanville Neighborhood.  Todd Wojcik who plays Ray, is an ensemble member of The Artistic Home where he earned a Jeff award nomination for his role in their production of “The Pavilion”. Olivia Lindsay who pl...

Today’s guest is an actor, singer, and musician based in the city of Chicago. An alumni of Columbia College Chicago, he is a multifaceted performer who thrives on collaboration and ensemble work throughout the city's vast surplus of storefront and suburban theater. Some of his wide range of credits includes the Hollywood film, Grand Torino directed by Clint Eastwood, guest star appearances on Chic...

Today's guest shares their name with a famous recently departed Hollywood icon and also a renowned female jazz vocalist. The relations of which we actually were unaware of until the time of this interview. With a career spanning decades in opera, straight plays and musicals all over the world, some of his performance credits include Titanic, Ragtime, She Loves Me, The Full Monty, and Catch Me If Y...

Today’s guest is a playwright, performer and theater commentator whose work explores themes of resilience connection and self discovery. As "Broadway Bob" on TikTok, he shares news, insights and sparks conversation across the Broadway and regional theater communities. He has also written about Chicago’s rich cultural landscape for outlets including Huffington Post, NBC 5 Chicago and the City of Ch...

We are fortunate today to have two guests on the show: One the director of, and one a cast member of, 4 Chairs Theatre’s production of Four Places .  Director Lauren Berman founded 4 Chairs Theatre in 2018. Since the company's inception, she has directed several cabarets as well as the musicals Ride the Cyclone, Be More Chill, Spring Awakening , and their current production of the play, Four Place...

Today’s guest is an award-winning freelance designer based in the city of Chicago. Having received his master’s degree in scenic design from Indiana University, Bloomington, he now designs sets, props, and projections for a variety of theaters the Midwest. Some of his favorite designs include Mean Girls with EVSC, The Beauty Queen of Leenane with Three Crows Theatre, and Pro-Am with First Floor Th...

Today’s guest is a Broadway veteran, who has appeared in the original New York casts of Ragtime and Candide , joined the long running A Chorus Line, and toured nationally in Urinetown , Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ and Cabaret (where he understudied the legendary Joel Grey).  in 2011, he inaugurated Paramount Theatre’s Broadway Series as Artistic Director with President and CEO, Tim Rater, with their criti...

Today’s guest holds a Doctorate of Music from Northwestern University and is a very busy Music Director, Composer, Conductor, Pianist and Vocal Coach residing in Chicago who also works in LA, NY, London and New Zealand! Currently the resident music director for Norwegian Cruise Line’s production of Choir of Man (a position he also held for Chicago’s resident production) he was also the music direc...

Today’s guest is a Chicago based actress and teaching artist. As a Company Member of TimeLine Theatre, she has performed  in over 15 of their productions including the role of Maria Callas in Master Class . She has performed with the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Northlight, Drury Lane, Marriott and Writers Theatres, as well as a variety of regional theaters including Woolly...

Today’s guest is a Chicago based actor who has performed all over America and the high seas. Notable performances include Miss Blakk for President at Steppenwolf, Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Signature Theatre in DC, and The Little Mermaid at Drury Lane Theatre. They are a Jeff recipient for best choreography for Heathers The Musical at Kokandy productions, has been previously nominated for Best a...

Today’s guest is a multiple award winning Chicago based performer, currently nominated for her role as John Dickinson in Marriott Theatre’s 1776 . A Northwestern Graduate, she has performed in over 100 productions in Chicagoland and around the country. Some of her most well known roles include Nessa Rose in the Chicago sit down of Wicked , Harper Pitt in Court Theatre’s Angels In America and Dolly...

Today’s guests are both appearing in Point 2 Point Production’s production of “Next To Normal”. Max Trotter, who by day is a digital marketing expert, plays Gabe and Logan VanLerberghe, who is a school teacher by day plays Henry. They both shared with us their love of the show, this current production and also how their daily experiences align with their roles. “Next To Normal”. plays at the Lodge...

Today’s guest was born in the North Shore of Chicago and started her career as a dancer at New Trier High School. Since then she has had a career spending decades as an actress, singer, director, choreographer, acting coach and casting director. Her acclaimed school, The Performers School, was one of the first of its kind in the Chicagoland area, strictly geared towards the training of child theat...

Today’s guest began his professional career as a writer and actor with Chicago’s The Second City. His first full-length play, “Magic Time,” premiered at Brandeis University and was subsequently produced Off-Broadway. His next play, “The God of Isaac” premiered in 1985 at the Tony Award winning Victory Gardens Theater. A founding member of the Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble he premiered a doz...

Kokandy Productions is one of Chicago’s premier storefront theatre companies. Created in 2011, they have been nominated for 101 Non-Equity Jeff Awards, with countless wins including 5 for last season’s "Into the Woods". Under the leadership of Scot Kokandy and Derek Van Barham, they have built a reputation that in every way aligns with the company’s mission: To leverage the heightened reality of m...

Today’s guest is a founding Ensemble Member of The Regional Tony Award Winning Lookingglass Theatre Company, where he has worked as an actor, director, adapter, and  educator. As an actor, he has appeared in nearly 30 productions for Lookingglass, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , Cascabel  (with Rick Bayless); Big Lake, Big City (directed by David Schwimmer); a he received a Joseph Jeffers...