The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

Gavin Creel is an actor, singer and songwriter who received a Tony Award for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly!, starring Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. He made his Broadway debut originating the role of Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which he received his first Tony Award nomination, and has additional Broadway credits that include La Cage aux Folles, She Loves...

Cassie Beck is a star of stage and screen whose previous credits include the Broadway revival of The Rose Tattoo and the original cast of The Humans on Broadway. Other stage credits include The Norman Conquests (Broadway), The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Happy Hour, and Oohrah! (off-Broadway). Her TV credits include Pose, Elementary, Connecting, and Chicago Med. Cassie is the former Artis...

The smash hit Broadway play Is This A Room opened at the Lyceum Theater on Oct 10th, 2021. Guest podcast host Beatriz Westby takes us down to the red carpet to talk to Tina Satter, Amanda Villalobos, Andy Grotelueschen, Blyth Adamson, Chris Giarmo, Deirdre O'Connell, Frankie Grande, Judy Kuhn, Lee Kinney, and Steven Sater. Get tickets and info to Is This A Room and Dana H via thelyceumplays.com/ F...

Tarik Davis is an actor and writer based in New York City with a 20 year history of acting, performing improv and writing comedy. Past experience includes performing for The Upright Citizens Brigade in NY, Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, and The Second City in Chicago. He is a member of the longest running improv team at The PIT, The Baldwins, and also performs with Baby Wants Candy and Shamilton at UC...

“If you can do something that makes you happy and that you really feel passionate about, it's not going to feel like work, it's going to feel joyous.” Two-time Tony Award winning theatrical producer Jill Furman is part of the driving force bringing Freestyle Love Supreme back to Broadway this month, after having originally brought it to Broadway in 2019. She is also currently producing six product...

To celebrate it’s reopening on Broadway next month, the acclaimed director of Freestyle Love Supreme joins one if it’s first company members to talk about all things past, present and future for their show, and for FLS Academy. Tommy Kail is a director and producer known for his amazing work on Hamilton, In the Heights, Grease Live!, and Fosse/Verdon. James Monroe Iglehart just reprised his role a...

Jenny Steingart is a powerhouse producer for theater, film, and television. She has worked alongside some of the greatest names in the industry, including Tina Fey, Joel Grey, Sir Patrick Stewart, Josh Groban, and Lin Manuel Miranda. Recent productions include Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway, a limited engagement of Sir Patrick Stewart's A Christmas Carol, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Mean G...

He began his career working as a cinematographer alongside the Coen Brothers, made a name for himself as a director, and now reflects on much of the journey which brought him to Schmigadoon, and a new memoir: Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains talk of child sexual abuse and molestation. Barry Sonnenfeld is a filmmaker and writer who broke into the film indus...

“I feel like, as an artist, and doing my art, that is how I am seen... and I want to do that for others by creating a safe space for them”.  Ciara Renée made her Broadway debut in 2013 as The Witch in Big Fish, before joining the Broadway revival of Pippin as the Leading Player. She also starred as Esmerelda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame at Papermill Playhouse and La Jolla Playhouse. Ciara can be...

Opening up about her first live performance since the COVID pandemic began, this performer shares her joy in welcoming enthusiastic audiences back to the theatre, and says if people didn’t know it pre pandemic, they certainly know it now - “life without the arts is not living." Susan Kelechi Watson may be best known for her role as Beth Pearson in This Is Us, but she made her Broadway debut in 200...

After realizing he “didn't just want to get up there and do a kick ball change, and sing a high C”, but also wanted his art to make change in the world, this Broadway veteran decided social justice would become a theme in his career.  Jay Armstrong Johnson is no stranger to the stage, or screen for that matter, having six Broadway productions on his resume, as well as a recurring role on the ABC s...

From the Broadway stage to the television screen, this performer opens up about her undying love for live theater, as well as the new bug she caught for doing TV while filming her new series. Alison Luff is a Broadway veteran, maybe best known for her roles as Jenna in Waitress, and Elphaba in the First National Tour of Wicked. Her other Broadway credits include Matilda (Miss Honey), Les Mis (Fant...

“Music is so beautiful, because it is the tapestry of our lives. There is a song or a lyric for absolutely every emotion - good, bad, high, low - it doesn't matter…” Toneisha Harris is a singer and songwriter who may be best known for receiving a four chair turn and becoming the runner up on the most recent season of The Voice. Coming up this November she will join the North American tour of Hairs...

Antonio Cipriano starred in the World Premiere of Jagged Little Pill at the American Repertory Theater as ‘Phoenix’, and reprised this role for his Broadway debut in the fall of 2019. He previously won the 2017 Sutton Foster Ovation Award for Best High School Theater Actor and was a finalist in the 2017 NHSMTA - Jimmy Awards. His regional theatre credits include La Jolla Playhouse, York Theatre Co...

A household name in Mexico, and now an Emmy award winning actor and Broadway performer, this bi-cultural artist commits himself to a life of learning and advocacy, and opens up his mental health journey through cancer and COVID-19. This summer, he hosts the Bryant Park Picnic Performance series here in NYC. Mauricio Martinez is an international star of both stage and screen, most recently seen in...

With two Broadway shows and a record deal already to her name, this 13 year old actress and singer has something to teach us all about following your dreams whenever they find you.  Madison Lagares is a highly accomplished Broadway veteran, and she’s only 13. She was previously hand selected by Gloria Estefan for On Your Feet!, helped bring School of Rock to life with Alex Brightman, and has recen...

A witch, a squirrel, and soon a mom, this actress opens up about climbing the ranks since she was a teenager, and shares the joys and challenges that have accompanied some of her most notable roles.  Lilli Cooper is an actress and singer who made her Broadway debut at age 16 in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening, originating the role of Martha Bessell, and recently earned a Tony Award...

Since making a name for herself in the comedy world after starring in 30 Rock, this actress has shifted her focus to explore other genres, sharing she “always likes a challenge”, and happily found exactly that while working on her new film. Katrina Bowden is an actress you may remember best as Cerie, Liz Lemon’s clueless assistant on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, or as Flo Fulton on over 217 episodes (s...

JoAnn M. Hunter is a performer and choreographer with 20 Broadway credits and five US National tours on her resume, including Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (her Broadway debut), Miss Saigon, Guys and Dolls, Damn Yankees, Chicago, Spring Awakening, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, School of Rock, Kiss Me Kate, Curtains, She Loves Me, and most recently Disaster!. She is now across the pond...

From a comedian in LA to a Broadway veteran in NYC, Jenn Colella is driven by connection and joy, and shares how she is moving through the shifts in her career as they come, including her latest podcast appearance on The Flame: An Original Podcast Musical. Jenn Colella is a comedian, actress and singer perhaps best known for her Tony Award nominated performance as Captain Beverley Bass in Broadway...

In a special LIVE podcast panel discussion, Alan Seales hosts cast & creatives of THE PROM on Broadway to celebrate Pride Month. After premiering on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre in October 2018, The Prom was the first musical of the 2018–2019 Broadway season to be named a New York Times Critics Pick. To celebrate a Pride like no other, after a year like no other, The Prom creatives join to spe...

This performer’s life changed after being cast in a summer stock production starring Rita Moreno, and she’s been gracing stages ever since.  Kate Reinders is a multi-talented performer who originated the role of Portia in the Broadway musical Something Rotten!, as well as the role of Caroline in the Broadway jukebox musical Good Vibrations. Other Broadway credits include June in the 2003 revival o...

A Broadway veteran, who finished a Tony and Grammy nominated run in Ain’t Too Proud just before COVID-19 shut the industry down, reflects on the inner work and reflection last summer's protests and pandemic prompted in both himself and the country, and shares hopes for audiences to watch Ain’t Too Proud and similar shows with new eyes. No stranger to originating Broadway roles, actor and singer De...

From iconic stage roles, to cabaret and rock band performances, this performer is building a successful artistic career while also navigating an autoimmune disorder with grace. - “I would so much rather have tried and failed, or tried and not gotten to where I want to be, than to have never have tried.” An actress, singer, and songwriter, Lauren Marcus made her Broadway debut as Brooke in Be More...

He didn't smash watermelons, he smashed cups of yogurt. After memorizing entire Gallagher comedy routines as a kid in West Virginia, Trevor Dion Nicholas and his family always loved musical theater. His parents encouraged him to follow his passion and put him into improv and theater classes. Being a "big black kid in West Virginia", the expectations put upon him were that he'd focus on sports. Abl...