The Plaza Podcast: Stories from Manhattan Plaza – Détails, épisodes et analyse

For the season three finale of The Plaza Podcast, we are joined by Luigi "Babe" Scorcia and Kelly Specter! Luigi and Kelly share a conversation with our listeners about how it's never too late to find love and pursue your passions. They talk about their relationship, their love of music, and even play some of their songs for us. It's a season finale that you won't want to miss!

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Luigi Scorcia and Kelly Specter. All Rights Reserved.

For episode nineteen of The Plaza Podcast, we are joined by Annette Joseph. Annette shares a collection of memoirs about the crazy times she had when she was younger.

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Annette Joseph. All Rights Reserved.

In episode ten of The Plaza Podcast, we are joined again by Betty Graham! She shares a piece based on a true story, which will be presented in Betty Graham’s future new podcast show titled Files in the Cabinet.

Betty states, “In my small hometown, most people had faith in only one religion! However, after becoming a parent myself; I can now understand a mother’s heightened emotions and wishes to protect her child from what she considers suspicious characters! But, in this story my mom goes off the edge!”

Betty Graham is a previous member of ‘The National Improvisational Theater Company. She has performed Stand Up Comedy, created and produced her own one woman show,  and has worked as a Teaching Artist for the past 33 years. Now she is interested in exploring the wide world of podcasting. 

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Betty Graham. All Rights Reserved.

In episode nine and the season two premiere of The Plaza Podcast, we are joined by Sharon Hope. Sharon shares her short story about the legendary Grandma Moses. “I look back on my life like a good day’s work. I was done and I feel satisfied with it. I was happy and contented, I knew nothing better and made the best out of what life offered. And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”

Sharon Hope is a New York based actor with credits in TV, Theater and solo performances,  As an actor moonlighting as a Teaching Artist in the NYC Public Schools, and as a volunteer Reader with the SAG Book Pals Project, she came to understand that all teaching does not necessarily take place in the classroom.  As Dr. Adelaide Sanford said, “Everyone has a story and everyone has a life and their stories and their lives should be validated”  It wasn’t until Sharon began using storytelling as a Teaching Artist that she understood Dr. Sandford’s concept. Students can be adults as well as school age children and when we let them hear their stories real education takes place. It’s not always in the classroom. Sharon says, “A lot of people have never heard of Grandma Moses so I put a lesson about her in a story.” 

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Sharon Hope. All Rights Reserved.

For episode 8 and the season finale of The Plaza Podcast, we are joined by Carol Hollenbeck, who will be reading an excerpt from her new novella, "A Moment of Blonde Madness." "A Moment of Blonde Madness" takes place in the 1970s, where a retired, yet still beautiful blonde, news anchor turned author is working on her second novel, and suddenly stricken with fear over the project.

Carol Hollenbeck is a writer who has been nominated three times in the Samuel French One Act Play Contest. She also has a book on Amazon, titled True Blondes.

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Carol Hollenbeck. All Rights Reserved.

In episode seven of The Plaza Podcast, we will hear from Elena Brunn and her piece, "Looking in the Mirror," a collection of poems written from the vantage point of age.

Retired since May 2021 as an adjunct English professor, Elena's been working on a satirical play about academia and a novel about a dance studio in the late '70s. When she was in high school, her beloved teacher had encouraged her to write, but said, "You, Miss Brunn, are not a poet." Since then, she's written over a hundred poems—that she's kept. She dedicates "Looking in the Mirror" to the memory of her teacher.

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Elena Brunn. All Rights Reserved.

For episode six of The Plaza Podcast, we will be hearing "Thought Selfies" by Rosemary Hopkins. In these "Thought Selfies," Rosemary describes some of her earliest memories that led to her pursuing a career in show business. 

Rosemary has had a professional career as an actor, comedian and director. She performed at Elizabeth Taylor's Kick Off Fund Raiser for Aids at the Jacob Javits Center, at Ronald Reagan's Presidential inaugural ball in Washington DC, and directed Tammy Grimes in the radio play "The Cat Wife" at the Paley Museum of Radio and Television. Rosemary was, along with three other women, the founder and producer of The Eccentric Circle Theater in NY which was an Equity showcase theater. 

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Rosemary Hopkins. All Rights Reserved.

For episode five of The Plaza Podcast, we are joined by Allan Stuart, who will be reading a piece he wrote titled, "The Magical Phonebooth." Allan Stuart has been a long-time resident of NYC, living the last forty or so years in Manhattan Plaza. He has been studying the complexity of his life and those around him in an attempt to find the simplicity in it all. His work is a continuation of that process. 

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex in the city that never sleeps. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents. 

© Allan Stuart. All Rights Reserved.

Episode four of The Plaza Podcast features Carl Schmehl and members of the Manhattan Plaza Theatre Project. They will be performing a scene called "Hermione Squared," from a play entitled Dressing Rooms, written by Carl Schmehl.  It is about two, legendary, British actresses named Hermione: Hermione Gingold and Hermione Baddeley. The two women were huge rivals and this is a scene of the last play they did together in London, taking place on closing night in the dressing room. The scene features performances by Kate Weiman and Tracey Rosten

The Manhattan Plaza Theatre Project was originally formed to document the stories of theatre professionals who live in Manhattan Plaza and who are now in the prime of their lives, over 60 years old. When the pandemic came along, the group became much more than that. It became a social net to the group, a way to connect and to share. Over the past two years, the group has been working on creating a play about working in the theatre. All work is inspired by the lives led and the stories told. 

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex in the city that never sleeps. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents. 

© Carl Schmehl. All Rights Reserved.

Betty Graham joins us for episode three of The Podcast Plaza with her solo performance piece, "Salon Talk." This show was inspired with the thought and need to respect all people as equal human beings, because Betty believes life is so valuable. Betty encourages us to listen to the belittling way the main character treats other characters. And, as a former stand up comedian, Betty continued tweaking this piece to see if she could heal from being one of the victims of this malicious character.

Betty Graham is a previous member of ‘The National Improvisational Theater Company. She has performed Stand Up Comedy, created and produced her own one woman show,  and has worked as a Teaching Artist for the past 33 years. Now she is interested in exploring the wide world of podcasting.

Manhattan Plaza is a residential complex located in New York City. 70% of its residents are members of the performing arts, who have worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Each week we bring you creative works and conversations with these very residents.

© Betty Graham. All Rights Reserved.