The Yay - A Bay Area Theatre Podcast

Norman and I just finished recording our first live podcast - at the beautiful Camp Monologa in Castro Valley! We hosted a panel of directors, to talk about "How to Nail Your Next Acting Gig", with guests Wynne Chan, John Maio, Kimberly Ridgeway and Salim Rizawi. Wynne Chan has worked all over the bay area, most recently with The Pear Theatre, directing The Chinese Lady this past spring; John Maio...

Actor. Playwright. Activist. Griot. He is all of these things and Norman and I are happy to have him on as our next guest. He is Biko Eisen-Martin, the bay area playwright of Pac & Biggie Are Dead, currently playing at the BAM House by the Lower Bottom Playaz until June 30. We talk about Biko's writings, the need to create theatre that pushes knowledge and challenges the audience, the enlightenmen...

Norman and I are back and we have a treasured guest, Richard Talavera – talented playwright and veteran actor in the bay area. We had Richard on back in December of 2017 and a lot has changed in the last seven years since. We catch up with him to see what he’s doing, the state of political theatre in the bay area and Richard’s foray into teaching improvisation and the sociology of improv. Richard...

We’ve been delayed with projects, but we’re back and we have two fantastic guests: Spence Stevens and Gyselle Garcia, two great actors who will be in the Lower Bottom Playaz’ new show Pac & Biggie Are Dead – the show opens June 6th. Spence is a bay area beat maker – you can buy his beats here: linktr.ee/bosslifebigspence. Gyselle is a talented actress originally from Maryland. Both of them share t...

It's been a while but Norman and I are back and we have Jake Fong – Jake has been on Episodes 228, 235 and 287 – I always love having Jake on as a guest host. Jake is currently understudying for the Glass Menagerie, now playing at SF Playhouse. Now he comes with his lovely wife and actress Jessica Fong, who just finished doing Sol, the Musical. Jessica shares her origin story, what theatre means t...

Norman is back and we have a dear friend of mine, Linda Huang, on the Yay! Linda is a light board operator and all around tech person – she and I worked many shows for Off-Broadway West – Master Harold & The Boys, Life x 3 and The Birthday Party. She has always been someone I could rely on as a stage manager. Linda tells us what she’s doing these days, what she enjoyed working tech and how she got...

Norman is away this weekend, so Jake Fong has jumped back in the co-host’s chair. We have two special guests – married couple Michaela Hlinkova and Rama Mahesh Hall – both of whom are professional dancers in the bay area. Rama is a member of the Embodiment Project, a company that seeks to bring depth, narrative, beauty and fierce dedication to movement building work. Michaela is a member of See Th...

Norman and I are back to open up year 8 of The Yay and we bring back Torange Yeghiazarian, Fulbright Specialist, playwright and founder of Golden Thread. We had Torange on last in Sept of 2020 (Episode 167) and we welcome her back, as she promotes her latest play, The Tutor, now playing at the New Conservatory Theatre. We talk about the play, where Golden Thread is these days and her views on what...

Zoe Chien is our next guest on The Yay. I had the pleasure of working with Zoe, working on Cat Brooks’ Tasha, the one woman show about the tragic death of Natasha McKenna – it played at Z Below in 2023. Zoe is the Associate Director of 3 Girls Theatre, a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is a Playground Producing Fellow. Today, we talk about Zoe’s upbringing, her delving into both act...

Norman and I welcome back to The Yay an old friend, Scott Munson. Scott was on Episodes 13 and 53. The son of a Hollywood B movie actor, Scott received his education at UCLA. the W.B. Yeats School in Sligo, Ireland, and Harvard University. Scott and I were long time members of Eastenders Repertory Company and our last project was the Brecht Project, taking Brecht’s work and adapting it to the even...

Playwright, actress, politician, activist – Cat Brooks has made a huge impact in the Oakland community and we’re pleased to have her as our next guest. I had the pleasure of stage managing her one woman show Tasha that played last year at Z Below, and now Bottled Spirits, a film written by her, directed by Elizabeth Carter and starring Margo Hall, will be showing at the New Parkway Theatre (474 24...

It's a full house for today’s Yay! Jake Arky, his wife, Sam DiSalvo and Justin Hudnall are part of the So Say We All: Vamp Nonfiction Showcase, which was featured at the SF Sketchfest Thursday night. We’ll learn about So Say We All, what brought the group together, and their future plans. You can learn more about the group So Say We All at their website: https://www.sosayweallonline.com We also wa...

It's always good to have Norman Gee back in his old seat – and our next guest is Brennan Pickman-Thoon, an actor, who is a fellow alumni of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Brennan has worked with ACT, the Berkeley Rep, Marin Theatre, Cal Shakes and Word for Word (where Norman knows him from). We’ll talk about Brennan’s journey into theatre, what’s he’s up to now and where he’ll be going in the fut...

Norman is away, so Jake Fong (from Episodes 228 and 235) will take over the co-host seat. Our guests are playwrights Jonathan Spector and Ipsheeta Furtado (co-creator of NFX Theater, a new theatre company that Mike Tuton – also co-creator of NFX (Episode 271) talked about when he was on our show. They both talk about their start in theatre, what’s next with NFX Theatre and what their future looks...

Our next guest is Ely Sonny Orquiza, who was last on in January 2020 (Episode 139) – since then, he’s become Magic Theatre’s Director of Education, created the Chikahan Company, created the Living Document, placing a spotlight to companies that has issues with diversity in casting and storytelling. To say that Ely has made an impact on Bay Area theatre is an understatement – he’s made a name for h...

Happy 2024 to everyone and thanks for listening once again! This will be year eight of The Yay and our first guest of this year is a gifted young actor, Gary Moore. Gary is a bay area actor and an illustrator that owns his own printing company, Chasing Greatness Prints. Gary worked with Norman and I on the Baldwin Project, where he read as James Baldwin, when we did our presentation at Playground...

This is our end of the year Yay and Norman and I are so grateful for all of the support from our listeners and those who have contributed to our podcast. For our end of the year episode, we have Gary Graves, who was last on in Episode 24 (on the podcast I said it was Ep 23 - my mistake) in July 2017 – he is the artistic director for Central Works and is, of course, our sponsor. We talk about the e...

Reg Wilkins is a veteran actor of the stage, commercials and film, who has been in the bay area for many years, and is a long time collaborator with Lower Bottom Playaz. I had the pleasure of stage managing him when played Old Joe in Radio Golf this summer. Norman and I have Reg as our next guest and Reg shares his upbringing, how he got into acting and where he sees himself in the future. Reg can...

Cris Cassell is our next guest on The Yay – she is a director that has worked with many companies in the bay area. I last worked with her for the Texas Chainsaw Musical, done for the Fringe Festival in 2009. Cris talks about what led her to theater, what’s she’s been doing now and what her future projects will be. Cris can be reached directly via Facebook and via LinkedIn. We also want to thank Ch...

Norman and I welcome a great bay area actor, Adam KuveNiemann, who was last seen in New Conservatory Theatre Center’s Before The Sword, a wonderful show that reminded me a great deal of the Dead Poet’s Society. Adam is now in ACT’s A Christmas Carol and we’re happy he took time to be with us. Adam talks about his upbringing, his connection to theatre, and where he sees himself in the future. We al...

Luchan Baker is our next guest. I had the pleasure of directing this disciplined actor when Lower Bottom Playaz in Radio Golf – Luchan is meticulous, always ready for work, and really breathed life in the character Sterling, the blue collar classmate of the upper class Harmond. Norman and I talk to Luchan, finding about his upbringing, his views on theatre and where he sees himself in the future....

Norman and I next host Cory Bytof, the musical composer of Texas Chainsaw Musical (co-written with Christopher Minori), which has seen many productions: The Blank Canvas Theatre in Cleveland; the Barnstormers Theatre in New Hampshire; and it was featured at the San Francisco Fringe Festival, way back in 2009 (which I stage managed). Cory talks about his upbringing in Wisconsin, his music tastes, w...

Our next guest is Michael Tuton, one of the four fantastic actors in The Engine of Our Disruptions, the play currently playing at Central Works. Mike does an amazing job as X-topher, the CEO and prime mover of the fictional company Bubbles. Mike is also a main fixture at Playground SF, where his plays have been prominently featured. Mike talks about his upbringing, his forays in advertising, how h...

Norman and I had the great pleasure of going to Central Works last night to see an exhilarating play, The Engine of our Disruption, a wicked comedy that focuses on the dangers and the callousness of software technology in our lives. And our guest, Patricia Milton, is the playwright. Ms. Milton is the resident playwright at Central Works, where her past three plays (The Victorian Ladies’ Detective...

The Musical Café has come to the Yay! If you remember, we had Jamie Greenblatt and Richard Jennings on for Episode 173 back in November of 2020. Richard Jennings is back, Greg Beattie (writer of The Very Last One and Only Highly Endangered Mountain Lion in Pennsylvania) and Ray Christensen (writer of Legend of the Werewolf), who are very excited about their featured musicals. The other two musical...