The Yay - A Bay Area Theatre Podcast

Raisa Donato is a fight coordinator and a weapons expert, who recently did the fight coordination for the wonderful production of Man of God. We’ve had a lot of Bindlestiff’ers but none with the resume of Raisa. She talk about her experiences in theatre, her upbringing and where she sees herself in the future. Jeannie (formerly in Episodes 18, 32 and 221) also comes back on the Yay for the fourth...

We welcome back Dan Wilson, who was last on The Yay in Episode 42 (Nov 11, 2017). He brings the lovely Diana Brown, his partner in crime, and they created Bingewatch, an improv show they’ve been performing all across the United States. Bingewatch will at the Exit on October 21st. We learn more about Bingewatch, Diana’s background (growing up in Arizona and her coming to the bay in the late ‘90s) a...

Norman and I have been dying to get this talented actress in our seat for a while now and we finally have her! Acquenetta Summers-Wong is now in the Masquers’ play Compared to What – I had the pleasure of working with her when we did Before The Dream (directed by Norman) back in 2008. Acquenetta talks about her theatre experience, balancing theatre with being a mother and where she sees herself in...

Institutional Racism. Christian Nationalism. And how theatre brings up these subjects in a constructive manner to expose our biases and focuses on solutions. All of this and more are things we touch on as we introduce our next guest - Tony Daniel, a local actor who is in the play Compared To What (a play focusing on the black Pullman Porters of the 1920s). We learn about Tony’s upbringing, Tony’s...

Our next guest is Jen & Matt Coogan, a musician couple who has been working with the Musical Café and, through Musical Café, created Song Salon, a zoom meeting place where budding songwriters come together and share ideas, songs and inspire each other. We learn about Jen and Matt’s upbringing, their affiliation with the café and where they see themselves in the future. You can reach the Coogans an...

Our guest today is Virginia Blanco, (who had her birthday on Saturday) the founder of La Lengua Teatro en Espanol, a new theatre that focuses solely on the Latin experience – their new play, Las Azurduy opened on August 19 and she is in the show. Las Azurduy tells the amazing story of revolutionary hero and a true female progressive Juana Azurduy de Padilla, who led revolutions for the freedom of...

We’ve had 25 Filipino guests on The Yay, the vast majority of them from Bindlestiff. Our special guest today is one of the founders of Bindlestiff, Allan Manalo, and without him, many of those Filipino artists would have never been introduced to theatre or have an outlet to their creativity. Our guest host is Mike Dorado (previously on Episode 68) and we discuss the origins of Bindlestiff, Allan’s...

Our next guest is Ronnie Anderson, a person I’ve had the pleasure to share the stage with in Altarena’s production of It’s Only A Play – as the play says, we’re like Romulus and Remus. Our guest host is playwright, novelist and teacher Bridgette Dutta-Portman (previously on Episode 75). Ronnie shares with us his upbringing, how he got into the theatre, his forays in film and how bay area theatre i...

Hyunji Kim is our next guest on the Yay, hosted by me and my guest host Jake Fong (from Episode 228). Kim was our stage manager when Bindlestiff produced Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon, and was a student to Aureen Almario, the artistic director of Bindlestiff. It’s been a while since we brought in a person to give us a perspective of theatre from the backstage and Kim talks about what she enjo...

The cool thing about working in theatre is meeting fascinating people and the characters they created on stage. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jake Gleason, who will be playing Sir Frank Finger in It’s Only A Play (at the Alterena Playhouse). Jake is a great character actor, and we’ve been having lots of fun in rehearsal and I had to have him on as a guest. Jake talks about his upbringing,...

Our special guest host is the amazing Alan Coyne (previously on Episode 29) who just finished doing Antigone at the Town Hall Theatre. Our guest is Oliver Saria, the playwright and managing director of Bindlestiff Studio – his play, Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon, closed two weeks ago and Oliver shares combining comedy with using theatre as a public service announcement, promoting healthy eati...

Happy Fourth everyone and we're back! Giancarlo Cariola is our next guest on the Yay and yes, it’s been a long time! Norman has been busy with the SF Mime Troupe and I’ve been busy, having finished up Bindlestiff’s Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon and I’m in rehearsals for It’s Only A Play. Speaking of Inay Dalisay, Giancarlo was one of the main stars, having played the ever present Senior Cheep...

To make up for lost time, we have our first TWO HOUR YAY!! Steve Ortiz is our next guest on a long delayed Yay – Steve is currently in rehearsals for Dreaming in Cuban (Central Works). Steve last worked with both Norman and I on The Baldwin Project, where he did wonderful work. Steve talks about his growing up in the bay, being a latino actor, his time in England and where he sees himself in bay a...

NOTE: On this podcast, we talk a great deal (from the 15 to the 30 minute mark) on the very serious subject of suicides. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the bay area theatre scene knows our next guest, Dorian Lockett – he has graced so...

Jerome Joseph Gentes is a very special guest. He was the first person to be interviewed on The Yay (Episode 8) way back in May of 2017, when The Yay really needed content and way to share what’s going on in the Bay Area. Five years later, we’re still here, and Jerome was a big part of it. Back then, he was the executive director of Play Café / Musical Café. Now, he is in Palm Springs with his husb...

Jake Fong is our next guest on the Yay – he’s a vibrant young actor who played James Baldwin in The Baldwin Centennial Project. Jake talks about his work in bay area theatre, his training and upbringing and where he sees himself in the future. You can follow Jacob on Facebook and Instagram (@jking510) SHOWS: Sonia Sawkar’s (Episode 204)film Cray wil have its first premier in Los Angeles at XRM Med...

If you remember our conversation back in December of 2018, we had Kieran Beccia on (Episode 88), where they talked about directing Sarafael, a gripping story of a date rape and the complicity of the audience and journalists who report on them. Our guest is the author of the piece, Julius Rea, the artistic director and founder of The Forum Collective and a brilliant playwright. Julius talks about h...

Evan Held, our next guest, is an incredibly talented actor who has been a part of the Baldwin Project, playing David in one scene that explores Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. Evan talks about his work in bay area theatre, his training and upbringing and where he sees himself in the future. SHOWS: Strings Attached (Cinema 3.0) Streaming now on Vimeo and Amazon Radhika Rao (Episode 21 and 131) is in the...

We had Eiko Yamamoto (Episode 120) on back in July of 2019. She was doing Hello Dolly and Eureka Day. Since then, she’s done Working, The Book of Will, Twelfth Night and has worked with a variety of companies, including SF Playhouse, Silicon Valley Shakes, African American Shakes, The Pear Theatre, PianoFight and many, many more. Eiko will be in Steel Magnolias at the Sierra Repertory Theatre. We’...

Peter Abraham is a veteran actor, someone I had the pleasure of working with when we were in Hedda Gabler, way back in 2010. Peter talks about his involvement with the now defunct Off-Broadway West, his theatre background and what he’s doing today. SHOWS: The Baldwin Project (Oakland Public Theatre) February 26 – Bayfront Theatre, Fort Mason in San Francisco – 6pm Reg Clay, Shay Angelo Acevedo (Ep...

Kim Donovan is no stranger to the Yay and no stranger to Bay Area Theatre – she has graced so many stages, has been in Dirty Butterfly, Stage Kiss, All The Way and of course Four Men In Paris. She is now in rehearsals for DOT, the play produced by the New Conservatory Theatre. Kim is now branching out in new venues, creating KSD Casting and is a casting director and a voice over coach. She’s still...

Neil Harkins is our next guest on The Yay. Neil is a budding playwright that will be contributing to the Baldwin Project and, like me, attended the Berkeley Rep playwrighting class, taught by Gary Graves. Neil also been working with the Playwright’s Center for San Francisco and their BIPOC Play Showcase. To find out more about the BIPOC Showcase and to submit your play, click here: http://www.play...

Acclaimed playwright Jeannie Barroga returns to us for the third time! Stanford University has honored her by having her collection of plays in their library; she received a National Endowment for the Arts award for “Walls” and her book, Turn Right At The Water Buffalo is on Regent Press’s Best Seller’s List. Jeannie joins Norman and I on Zoom where she’ll talk about the book, the current state of...

Rebel Maria (Golda Sargento) has been a long friend of mine since 2011, when we both acted in Bindlestiff’s Stories High XII. Rebel is an actress, a rock singer and a mother of two kids who are just as talented as their mom. Rebel will be a featured actress in the staged reading My H8 Letter To The Gr8 American Theatre, at Shotgun Players from Feb 17-20th. We’ll talk about how art drives her and h...

Our next guest, Mikah Kavita, is an actress who worked with Kim Donovan in Dirty Butterfly, an Anton’s Well production. She is also affiliated with the B8 Theatre Company. We talk about how’s she’s coping with COVID-19, her upbringing, how she got into theatre and where she sees herself in the future. You can follow Mikah on Twitter and Instagram: @mikahkavita You can also follow Mikah directly vi...