The Drama Book Show!

In this episode, we explore My Excellency with presenter and reader Jonathan Cohen, an award-winning poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of inter-American literature, whose work has focused extensively on bringing Spanish-language literature to English-speaking audiences. Cohen is the editor of My Excellency, his edition of William Carlos Williams’s translation of the Puerto Rican play, publis...

Join us for a live podcast recording, talkback, and signing with renowned casting director James Calleri, as he discusses the 9th edition of Acting Professionally: The Essential Guide for the Actor. This updated edition reflects the changing landscape of the acting world, including the impacts of BLM, #MeToo, and the Covid-19 pandemic, while providing practical advice for navigating auditions, rep...

In this episode, Taylor Mac joins us to discuss their latest musical-theatrical work, created with composer Matt Ray and set in ancient Athens on the eve of Socrates’ execution. Sentenced to death for “corrupting the youth,” Socrates spends his final hours debating virtue, singing, dancing, and communing with friends, while Plato attempts to record the events. Blending philosophy, history, and the...

In this episode, we talk with playwright Ellen Abrams, whose work has been produced Off-Broadway at Urban Stages and whose plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Next Stage Press. Her extensive body of work includes Spark of Life, Closing Time, Lizzie Borden Gets Engaged, Hamlet Investigations, Inc., Giving, and many others, spanning comedy, history, and stories inspired by real people and...

Step behind the curtain with Broadway theatre manager Dan Landon in this episode, talkback, as he discusses his memoir From the Back of the House. Spanning four decades and more than 50 shows, Landon shares backstage stories and encounters with Broadway legends, Hollywood icons, and even U.S. Presidents, offering a vivid portrait of an unforgettable era in theatre history. Joining him is Tony Awar...

Join us for a special conversation presented in partnership with the League of Professional Theatre Women, celebrating the work of five acclaimed theatre artists and authors. Featured guests include playwright Jenny Lyn Bader, playwright and educator Michael angel Johnson, Broadway performer, director, and League President Lynnie Godfrey, theatre historian Alexis Greene, and producer and arts lead...

Join us for a live podcast recording, talkback, and signing with acclaimed playwright and actor Tom Dugan, as he discusses Wiesenthal: The Life of a Nazi Hunter. This riveting one-person play chronicles the extraordinary life of Simon Wiesenthal, who survived Hitler’s SS and dedicated his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. Drawing on decades of meticulous research and theatrical exper...

In this episode, we sit down with Richard Hoehler to discuss his book Acting Out: How a Prison Theatre Workshop Broke Free. He shares stories from decades of leading theatre workshops with incarcerated men, mounting full productions, and creating transformative spaces for expression, connection, and growth. The episode also features a live performance by members of the Acting Out company. Richard...

In this episode, we sit down with Eric Simonson to discuss his memoir Between the Lines: Steppenwolf's Seagull and A Reluctant Actor's Journey Back to the Stage. The book chronicles Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s bold return from the Covid-19 shutdown with a $43 million new theater and a fresh adaptation of The Seagull. For Simonson—an acclaimed writer, director, and longtime Steppenwolf ensemble m...

Barry M. Putt, Jr. is a playwright and screenwriter whose work centers on identity, resilience, and human connection. His plays and scripts, produced both nationally and internationally, often amplify marginalized voices and explore urgent social themes. Joining the conversation are director Robert Liebowitz, who has helmed more than 100 productions over the course of his career, and cultural cons...

Emmy- and Artios-nominated casting director Wendy S. Kurtzman joins us to discuss her book, Acting is Your Business: How to Take Charge of Your Creative Career. With over 35 years of experience in film, television, and theater, Wendy shares actionable strategies to help actors take control of their careers, position themselves as CEOs of their own creative businesses, and build lasting professiona...

In this episode, we explore This is Not a Dream, a collection of nine ten-minute plays by emerging Ukrainian playwrights capturing stories of connection, resilience, and hope during war. From a soldier reconnecting with his daughter to a young woman navigating life amid conflict, these plays reveal the human cost and courage of everyday lives. We speak with contributors Karina Syrota, Taya Fedoren...

In this episode, we explore the legacy of Zelda Fichandler through The Long Revolution: Sixty Years on the Frontlines of a New American Theater and To Repair the World: Zelda Fichandler and the Transformation of American Theater by Mary B. Robinson. The conversation delves into Fichandler’s pioneering work founding Arena Stage, her role in the regional theater movement, and her decades-long impact...

Khalid Y. Long, Associate Dean of Research and Creative Endeavors in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, is a scholar, dramaturg, and author of August Wilson in Context. Aviva Neff, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Denison University, is a director, intimacy coordinator, and scholar whose work explores devised theatre, pedagogy, and equitable rehearsal practices. Th...

Join us for a live podcast recording, talkback, and book signing with playwright and novelist Matthew Greene as he discusses his debut novel, There's No Murder Like Show Murder. Set in the charming Eastbrook Playhouse, the story follows costume shop head Tasha Weaver as she navigates backstage drama, a theater star’s shocking murder, and the challenge of saving her beloved theater from financial r...

For our 100th Episode, award-winning playwright and director David Rigano joins us to discuss his play What We Deserve. Rigano's work includes the award-winning musical You Heard It Here, as well as We Were Wild, Get the Duchess, and Awaken: A Sleeping Beauty Musical, written with his longtime collaborator and brother, Paul Rigano. He also co-created the long-running Ides of March Extravaganza and...

In this episode, legendary playwright Migdalia Cruz discusses her new anthology The Impossible Plays, which features three previously unpublished works alongside reflections from theater luminaries Virginia Grise, Todd London, and David Henry Hwang. The conversation explores Cruz’s provocative, essential plays, her creative process, and her insights for emerging playwrights seeking to build a care...

Join us for a conversation with Julian Novak, author of Men in the Chorus. Inspired by The Boys in the Band, this play blends fantasy and memoir to explore love, mistakes, and self-discovery in the 1970s. Novak reflects on friendship, survival, and the search for belonging through a story that is part confession, part “what if,” and wholly theatrical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Tony Award winner David Lindsay-Abaire, whose acclaimed works include Rabbit Hole, Kimberly Akimbo, Good People, and Shrek the Musical, joins us to discuss his latest play, The Balusters. Recently nominated for five 2026 Tony Awards, including Best Play, The Balusters is a sharp and hilarious satire set within a tightly knit neighborhood association where a se...

Bess Wohl is a Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and filmmaker whose acclaimed works include Liberation, Grand Horizons, Small Mouth Sounds, and Camp Siegfried. Her play Liberation earned Tony nominations, a GLAAD Media Award, and widespread critical acclaim, with productions featured on numerous “Best of the Year” lists. Joining the conversation are celebrated theater artists Jocelyn Bioh and Whi...

In this episode, actress, model, and television personality Patricia Kara joins moderator Cheryl Benton to discuss her new book Dream On…Now Deliver. Drawing from over thirty years in the entertainment industry—including her iconic work on all three versions of Deal or No Deal—Patricia shares hard-earned insights on breaking into show business, building a personal brand, navigating auditions, and...

In this episode, we explore “CRISIS: The Theatre Responds” with Dr. Carol Rocamora, joined by Eleanor Burgess, Antoinette Nwandu, Keith Hamilton Cobb, and Mfoniso Udofia. The book examines how theatre has confronted times of upheaval over the past century—from World War II and apartheid to AIDS, systemic racism, the refugee crisis, and the pandemic—revealing how playwrights and theatres have used...

Jeni Jones is a director, actor, playwright, producer, and performer whose 30-year career spans theatre, film, music, and spoken word. Known for her work as a Beckettian actor and director, she has directed productions of Waiting for Godot, Krapp’s Last Tape, NOT I, and ROCKABY, and has earned recognition including an NAACP Theatre Award. Her work combines classical theatre with contemporary appro...

In this episode, we celebrate To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, a heartfelt tribute to one of musical theatre’s greatest legends, Stephen Sondheim. Emmy winner and Tony and Grammy nominee Liz Callaway is joined by special guest Jim Walton for an evening of stories, music, and reflection on a career deeply intertwined with Sondheim’s work. Recorded live at 54 Below, the Grammy-n...

In this episode, we explore Once in the Countryside: A Collection of Plays by Pulitzer Prize finalist Lloyd Suh, a sweeping anthology that brings over 150 years of Asian and Asian American history to life onstage. Through plays like The Chinese Lady, The Far Country, Bina’s Six Apples, and The Heart Sellers, Suh blends intimacy, humor, and epic storytelling to illuminate voices and histories too o...