The Yay - A Bay Area Theatre Podcast

Sarah Jiang is our next guest on The Yay. I had the pleasure of seeing her perform as Augustias in The House of Bernarda Alba. Jake and I talk to this wonderful actress about her upbringing, her work in the bay and where she sees herself in the future. You can contact Sarah directly via Instagram: @thatsarahjiang If you had ever went to a Douglas Morrison Production, you would have seen amazingly...

Our next guest is Lisa Marie Rollins, a freelance director, writer and new play developer. She has been a writing fellow with Hedgebrok, Djerassi, SF Writers Grotto, CALLALOO London, VONA, Just Theatre Play Lab and Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency. Her last featured work was Kara, directed by Elizabeth Carter, back in 2023. Jake and I talk about Lisa’s upbringing, her playwrighting work and...

Ray Archie is our next guest on this Wednesday Yay – Ray is the Chief Executive Officer of Music Is My First Language (MiMFL) – it’s an international lifestyle brand and musical collaborative dedicated to inspire positive social change through sustainable music education. Ray is also the Principal Sound Alchemist of Brooklyn Sound Lab. Jake and I talk to Ray about his upbringing, more about MiMFL...

We bring in another member of Felonious to the Yay podcast – Tommy Soulati Shepherd is an actor, rapper and teacher at Oakland School for the Arts. Jake and I talk about Tommy’s upbringing, his work with Felonious, and where he sees himself in the future. You can contact Tommy directly via Instagram: @emceesoulati On the Yay, we often talk about mental and spiritual health, especially for us actor...

Tara Blau Smollen is our next guest on this special Wednesday Yay. Ms. Smollen is an actress, director and playwright - her new play The Gull will be featured by Shotgun Players on June 22, 23 and 24 – this is a special, modernized retelling of Anton Chekov’s classic play. We talk about Tara’s upbringing, her playwrighting career and where she sees herself in the future. You can learn more about T...

We continue with our interviews with the rappers from the Tenacious Group. Our next guest is Keith Pinto, who is currently in CenterRep’s Jagged Little Pill, running now until June 28. Jake and I talk about Keith’s background, his work in bay area theatre and where he sees himself in the future. You can reach Keith directly via his Instagram: @kpfcrew On the Yay, we often talk about mental and spi...

We haven’t had him on since 2017 (Episode 16), but he’s back – veteran playwright Conrad Panganiban comes back on the Yay! Conrad comes back on to talk about his book Welga: A Filipino American Playwright’s Journey – a Collection of Filipino American Plays. We also talk about Conrad’s upbringing, his journey as a playwright in the bay area, and what’s up in his future. You can find out more about...

This is a special Friday Yay, and Jake and I welcome back Pete the Cat! Pete Fitzsimmons, veteran actor who has been in two of my plays (Four Men in Paris, Judicial Process) was last on the Yay in 2018 (Episode 65) and he brings Arleigh Prelow on as a special guest. Ms. Prelow is the writer and director of a new documentary, The Psalm of Howard Thurman. We talk about the documentary, what’s been g...

Ada May is our next guest on The Yay – she’s been the stage manager for SF Playhouse for many years, who also works at Look Talent, a talent agency in SF. Jake and I talk to Ada about her upbringing, how they met, her work in stage managing and where she sees herself in the future. You can reach Ada directly via Instagram: @y.i.ada On the Yay, we often talk about mental and spiritual health, espec...

It’s been over a week but we’re back and our next guest is Dan Wolf, actor and artistic director of Sound In The Silence, a company that teaches history through art. Jake and I talk about Dan’s upbringing, his work in the bay area and where he sees himself in the future. You can contact Dan directly via Instagram: @dannydmic You can learn more about Dan via his webpage: https://www.dan-wolf.com On...

Kenny Scott is our next guest on The Yay – Kenny is a veteran actor, who has acted in various theatre companies in the bay area. Jake and I talk about Kenny’s upbringing, his training at Morgan State University and Laney College, his career in the bay area and where he sees himself in the future. You can reach Kenny directly via Instagram: @kenny_scxtt Kehinde Koyejo (Episodes 214 and 262) has bee...

Jake and I welcome Amy Sass as our next guest. Amy is a playwright, director and visual artist – a gifted painter and puppet maker. She was the artistic director of Ragged Wing Ensemble, from 2004 to 2021. We talk about Amy’s upbringing, her work with Ragged Wing, and her future. You can learn more about Ms. Sass via her website: https://www.amysass.com/about Amy talks about her project that uses...

Veteran actor Kevin Clarke is our next guest on The Yay – he’s an actor and director who has worked with Shotgun Players for many years. He’s directing The Goat or Who Is Sylvia at Shotgun. He’s worked with: Aurora Theatre, Central Works, Crowded Fire, Boxcar Theatre and many others. Kevin also has an extensive dance background. Jake and I talk to Kevin about his diverse background, his career and...

Our next guest on the Yay is composer/pianist Erika Oba – she has worked as a Musical Director for Berkeley Playhouse and Shotgun Players. Ms. Oba has been featured at the Oaktown Jazz Workshop and is a teacher at UC Berkeley’s Music Department. She also heads up The Erika Oba Trio, the Rice Kings and the Sl(e)ight Ensemble. We talk about Erika’s upbringing, her career in music and where she sees...

Lisa Burton Guevara is our next guest on The Yay. Lisa is a talented actress who was last seen in Berkeley Shakes’ Julius Caesar. She has also been in Half Moon Bay’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Merry Wives of Winsor and SF Playhouse’s The Glass Menagerie. We talk about Lisa’s upbringing, her career in bay area theatre and where she sees herself in the future. Lisa can be reached directly via I...

I know it’s been a while but we’re back! Jake and I welcome Jomar Tagatac, a gifted actor who has graced the stages of ACT, Playground, Berkeley Rep and the New Conservatory Theatre Center. Jake and I catch up on what’s happened this past month, while Jomar shares with us his upbringing, his journey in theatre and where he sees himself in the future. Jomar can be reached directly via Instagram: @j...

Phil Wong is our next guest on The Yay – The rare triple threat of actor, singer and comedian, I last saw him in SF Playhouse’s Into The Woods. He’s worked with TheatreWorks, CalShakes, A Contemporary Theatre and the Berkeley Rep, among others. He was a guest artist in the Tony Award winning Freestyle Love Supreme. He’s also an amazing cook! Jake and I talk about Phil’s upbringing, his amazing mul...

We are blessed to have Tony Award-winning director Pam MacKinnon, the woman who has been artistic director at ACT since 2018. This will be her last season at ACT. Jake and I will talk about Pam’s amazing legacy, her views on what’s happening with bay area theatre today and where she sees herself in the future. You can learn more about Ms. MacKinnon via her Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/...

Jake and I next welcome Richard Silberg, a voice actor and teacher that specializes in teaching English through storytelling. He has worked in Cambodia, Uzbekistan and Timor-Leste. We’ll talk about his upbringing, his work overseas, the power of storytelling and his future. You can learn more about Richard via his website: https://www.richardsilberg.com Alexis Green (Episode 330) has a wonderful p...

Teri Whipple is our next guest on The Yay – she’s an actress and a life coach. Teri has worked with SF Playhouse, among many other bay area theatre companies. We talk about her upbringing, her work in bay area theatre and where she sees herself in the future. Teri can be contacted directly via Instagram: @teriwhipp and @coachingwithteri Alexis Green (Episode 330) has a wonderful product that will...

It’s 2026 – hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and wishing everyone have a great year. Our first guest for 2026 is Liam Kirk, a stage manager at the New Conservatory Theatre Company – he last stage managed We Are Continuous, back in November. We talk about his upbringing, the ins and outs of stage managing and where he sees himself in the future. Liam can be contacted directly via Instag...

Our last guest for the Yay is Jay Bordon – actor and lawyer. Jay was last seen on stage with Bindlestiff’s Queer as Fuck VI in October. We talk about their upbringing, what theatre means to them and where they see themselves in the future. Jay can be contacted directly via Instagram: @thejaybordon Alexis Green (Episode 330) has a wonderful product that will improve your mental and spiritual health...

Our next guest is Stan Stone, actor and writer – he’s performed with Oui Be Negroes, a black improv/sketch group, and he’s a founding member of Justifiable Dramacide and Out The Box. He currently works with film company Barewitness. Jake and I talk about Stan’s upbringing in Philadelphia, how he came to the bay in 1985, what he’s doing now and where he sees himself in the future. You can learn mor...

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday ;) We have two guests on The Yay: James Carpenter and Luisa Sermol. James and Luisa Sermol are with the Actor’s Reading Collective and they just finished their production of Mary Jane (closed Nov 30). We talk about ARC, James and Luisa’s upbring and their plans for the future. You can learn more about the Actor’s Reading Collective via their we...

Jake and I welcome actress and singer/songwriter Brittney Mignano, artistic director and creator of Goodfellow Theatre company. We talk about Brittney’s upbringing, her career in the bay area and where she sees herself in the future. You can listen to her music on the BuffaloToadMusic Instagram Channel. You can contact Brittney directly via Instagram: @missbrittybritt Kehinde Koyejo (Episodes 214...