Explore every episode of the podcast Marks & Vincentelli: A Theatre Podcast

“Les Miserables” may be a war horse, but dang, that old thoroughbred is spry. The musical by Claude Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretchmer opened in London in 1985 (after being birthed in Paris) and two years later, on Broadway. As new productions are springing up across the country, we turned to Powell, who has staged “Les Mizzes” all over the world, to talk about his history with the show and about its bottomless appeal.

I saw Damien Warren-Smith perform his 80-minute hit show last month at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe — a show that epitomizes the spirit of fringe. Here, we talk about the clown tradition that the British born, Australian-bred Warren-Smith champions, in a show he built around the titles of Penguin Classic books. It’s a conceit that you really have to hear more about to fully appreciate. And Warren-Smith unravels it all here.

Is there a provocative button that our guest Jonathan Spector doesn’t like to push? Mind you, this makes him sound like David Mamet or something, which is very much not his style.

Jonathan’s play “Eureka Day,” which won the Tony Award for best revival last year, was about the debate around vaccines at a Bay Area school in the middle of a mumps outbreak.

Now he’s back with “Birthright,” at MCC Theater through Aug. 23, about six people who met on a birthright trip to Israel (some knew each other before, but the trip was the binding agent for them as a group). The play follows these three women and three men over the course of 18 years, through relationships and jobs, domestic politics and international conflicts — the action ends in 2024 so you can probably guess what figures in the show’s explosive third act.

“Birthright” is very much a play of ideas and there’s something highly satisfying about watching a writer stretch them over a big canvas — Teddy Bergman’s production is three hours and 20 minutes.

We asked Jonathan about the genesis of “Birthright,” tackling a very fraught subject, writing for an ensemble and a lot more.

To wraps things up, Elisabeth brought up the Adult Film company’s “Woyzeck,” which she’d recently seen in Queens (it’s included in this roundup of reviews of Off Off Broadway shows).

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Once again a Washington, DC, institution is in trouble, but unlike with the Kennedy Center, this time the call came from inside the house. We welcomed Nicole Hertvik, editor-in-chief of DC Theater Arts, for her take on what’s unfolded at the storied Arena Stage, which artistic director Hana Sharif left in what appears to be acrimonious circumstances — the New York Times announced the news on June 26.

Nicole’s own reported piece came out on July 5, and there have been more since (including this one by Rebecca Ritzel in NOTUS on July 6 and this one by Trey Graham in Washingtonian on July 8).

We discussed the events with Nicole on the podcast, but we also used the opportunity to take a bird’s eye view of Arena Stage’s history as a historical leader of regional theater in the U.S. and the challenges of running an institution in the current arts environment.

In this episode we welcome the playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, whose new Tony Award-nominated comedy, “The Balusters,” is currently on Broadway with a fab cast that includes today’s other guest, Richard Thomas, alongside Marylouise Burke, Anika Noni Rose, Margaret Colin and Michael Esper.

We’d assumed that the play was named after a family but no, the title refers to the kind of small pillar that supports stairs or a porch, and becomes an object of tension in the story. Not that the characters lack opportunities to bicker, because they’re all members of a neighborhood association’s board and the play takes places over several of their meetings.

David’s plays include the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Rabbit Hole” as well as “Good People” and Ripcord.” He’s also written books for musicals including “Kimberly Akimbo” (based on his play of the same name) and “Shrek.” Don’t miss the part of the episode when David immediately identifies the prominent critic Elisabeth overheard making a callous comment during “Good People”!

As for Richard, he’s a stage staple and his avuncular mien is put to particularly pointed use in “The Balusters,” where he plays the board president, Elliot.

In this episode we talked to the two men who are largely the reason why “The Lost Boys” is the wow-iest wow spectacle of the Broadway season: director Michael Arden and scenic designer Dane Laffrey. They’ve been friends since their days at Interlochen, and “The Lost Boys” — which landed a whopping 12 Tony nominations — is just the latest in a long collaboration that also includes the revivals of “Once on This Island” and “Parade," and last year’s “Maybe Happy Ending.”

Oh, and they did “The Queen of Versailles” this season as well. Yes, we talked about that one, too.

But most of the conversation was about “The Lost Boys,” which is based on the 1987 movie of the same title. And there was a lot to talk about because this show is a lot, from vampires flying up and down several stories’ worth of rafters to characters jumping off a bridge that suddenly appeared on stage.

So sit down, press “play” and listen to Michael and Dane explain how they turned the Palace Theater into a playground for Californian vamps.

A run at London’s Royal Court Theatre, followed by a transfer to the West End, followed by Broadway: not bad for your first play! That is exactly what happened to Mark Rosenblatt, the author of “Giant” and our guest on this episode. Mark spoke to us from London about his play, which explores Roald Dahl’s antisemitism; the action takes place not long after Dahl came under fire for his review of a 1983 book about Israel’s attack on Beirut the previous year. A commanding John Lithgow, often terrifying as Dahl, makes a meal of the role.

Mark talked to us about his years working in theater (usually as a director); what prompted him to turn to playwriting; the inspiration behind “Giant” and how he navigates the perils of writing about antisemitism these days. It’s a bracing conversation, and often funny — as is the play, which makes you laugh one second and shudder the next.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Ann Harada is the only lead from the Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon!” to reprise her role (Florence Menlove, the mayor’s wife) in the Broadway version, and we couldn’t be happier — she’s particularly well tuned to Cinco Paul’s wacky world.

Ann’s been a fan favorite since her breakthrough as Christmas Eve in “Avenue Q” but we’re also longtime fans of her turn as Trina in the National Asian American Theater Company’s revival of William Finn’s “Falsettoland.” And remember her as the harried stage manager in the series “Smash? Few play harried as expertly as she does. She also talked to us about her experience in shows like “M. Butterfly.”

We had to overcome some technical gremlins for this episode but it was well worth it, because Ann was funny and candid as she talked about journey, including the obstacles she faced as an Asian American performer in an industry that for a long time was not hospitable. Happily, she’s proof that there’s more in the repertoire than “The King and I.”

Gift link to Elisabeth’s review of “Schmigadoon!”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

It seems hard to believe that Gina Gionfriddo is just making her Broadway debut now. And she does it with a comedy, “Becky Shaw,” that premiered at Second Stage back in 2009. Not only that, but the show marks this terrific playwright’s return to NYC theater after 10 years writing for TV — the “Law & Order” universe has been good to her, as it’s been for many actors. On the podcast, Gina’s candid about what kept her away for so long: the need for a steady paycheck so she could raise her kid, for one, but also the weight of the crushing reviews that greeted her play “Can You Forgive Her?” in 2017.

Well, we’re glad to have Gina back, and that she found the time to drop by our virtual studio to talk about all that stuff and a lot more — including her upcoming stage adaptation of a novel starring a very, very famous serial killer.

Also: if you’ve seen her plays, which include “Rapture, Blister, Burn” as well, you know that Gionfriddo has a wicked sense of humor. Listen to this episode and you’ll see she’s not saving it for the stage.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

An unlikely thespian is winning over fans in Season 3 of the Lisa Kudrow cult series “The Comeback”: Jack O’Brien, who is playing Tommy, the hair stylist of Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish.

Theater fans certainly are familiar with O’Brien — but as a director. He’s won three Tonys, and for wildly different productions: “Hairspray,” “The Coast of Utopia” and “Henry IV.” Pretty good range, and that’s even before O’Brien stepped in to fill the void left on “The Comeback” by the death of Robert Michael Morris, who adorably played Tommy’s predecessor, Mickey, in the first two seasons. In addition to his many, many credits on Broadway — he landed his first Tony nomination for a revival of “Porgy and Bess” in 1977, and most recently directed the play “The Roommate” and the musical “Shucked!” — he also led San Diego’s Old Globe Theater from 1981 to 2007.

At 86, O’Brien remains indefatigable and found the time to drop by the podcast. He’s as funny and chatty as you might expect. We talked about “The Comeback,” of course, but also about some of his signature shows. Dive in!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

There’s a reason “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” has been a hit since its premiere in 2005: Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn’s musical is incredibly funny and sneakily poignant — and the songs are simply great.

Now the show is back in New York in a fab production — Elisabeth gave it a critic’s pick in the Times — that includes Lilli Cooper and Jason Kravits as Rona Lisa Peretti and Vice Principal Douglas Panch, two adults who steer the contest but also the show: One of their responsibilities is to make the guest spellers who are selected from the audience at every performance stay on track, and leave at the right moment.

Lilli and Jason came on the podcast to talk about their experience in the musical — don’t miss the part about them spotting showboaters and wannabe performers almost instantly, then plotting to get rid of them!

They also talk about some of their other roles: Lilli’s credits include David Yazbek’s “Tootsie” (Tony nom!) and the Encores! “Titanic” with dad Chuck and brother Eddie; and Peter waxed poetic about seeing Jason in many plays in D.C area theaters.

Tune in — this is a particularly funny episode!

One of the great pleasures of Lauren Yee’s new play, “Mother Russia” (at Signature Theater until March 29) is watching expert actors work their comic magic. We’re lucky that two of them, Steven Boyer and Adam Chanler-Berat, took some time to drop by our virtual studio.

Elisabeth wrote a glowing review of “Mother Russia” in the New York Times, praising Steven and Adam’s performances as a pair of mismatched friends in 1992 St. Petersburg, trying to figure out how to make a quick ruble as capitalism takes over Russia. This is their first time working together, which is unexpected because they have been regulars on New York stages for the past 15 years. Adam got his break break in “Next to Normal,” then went on to terrific turns in “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “The Fortress of Solitude.” Steven earned a Tony nomination for his memorable turn as a teenager and his evil hand puppet in “Hand to God,” and you would remember him from playing Victoria Clark’s dad in “Kimberly Akimbo.” Freakishly, they both played John Hinckley in different NYC revivals of “Assassins”!

We talked with them about the new show, including the epic scene in which their characters chomp on their first-ever filet-o-fish, as well as some of their earlier credits — Steven has an amazing anecdote about the little-seen “Trevor” (which Elisabeth remembers vividly) and its surprisingly trajectory.

One of the things we enjoy doing on this podcast is talking to people fighting the good fight around the country. Now, you might have heard that there’s some turmoil in the Washington, D.C. arts scene — understatement of the year! It started with the sabotage of the Kennedy Center by the Trump administration, and now another institution is crumbling: the Washington Post recently decided it didn’t need critics or an arts editorial staff, and slashed that desk. Those who were swept away included theater critic Naveen Kumar and theater editor Zachary Pincus-Roth.

So what happens when the local legacy newspaper stops covering the local theater? In this episode we talk to Nicole Hertvik and Eric Colchamiro, who are editor in chief and board chair, respectively, of DC Theater Arts — which now finds itself propelled to the forefront of theater coverage in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area.

Tune in as we discuss where local companies stand, the challenges and rewards of covering D.C. in the Trump era, and of course that Lesbian “Othello” everybody — OK, just Richard Grenell of the Kennedy Center — is talking about.

Some reading:

Nicole Hertvik’s live report from the Kennedy Center Honors.

Her reaction to the Kennedy Center closing and the WaPo layoffs.

And you can connect with their socials here:

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This episode’s guest is Susannah Flood, from the play “Liberation” — one of the best-reviewed Broadway shows of 2025 (you can read Elisabeth’s glowing take for The New York Times here).

The show mostly takes place during meetings of a feminist consciousness-raising group in 1970s Ohio. Susannah takes on two roles: Lizzie, who founded the group, and Lizzie’s daughter, who’s narrating the story. She talked to us about getting into theater, working with the playwright Bess Wohl and the director Whitney White (check her out on the pod here!), and what doing this specific play has meant to her.

Of course we also talked about other shows on Susannah’s C.V., like Anne Washburn’s now-iconic “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play.”

But wait, there’s more: Susannah plays the lead character’s mother in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” and talked about that project as well. Don’t say we don’t spoil you!

With Broadway recovering from its holidays binge and rehearsing for its next batch of shows, January on New York City stages means one thing: festivals!

These days the dominant one is Under the Radar, which has overcome many odds to celebrate its 21st season with its biggest slate yet. We’re delighted to welcome founder Mark Russell, now the fest’s director (with co-creative directors Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal).

Russell leads us through UTR’s ups and downs, its challenges and triumphs, the fest’s embarrassing inaugural name, and how the NYC avant and experimental scene has changed over the decades. It’s a story of survival in a tough environment that keeps getting tougher: less money, changing venues, logistical issues (often having to do with visas).

And lest you think this is just a boon for NYC audiences: UTR overlaps with the annual conference by the Association of Presenting Arts Professionals (APAP) and a lot of programmers use the opportunity to check out shows that may eventually appear at stages around the country.

Check it out: Elisabeth picked a few shows from this year’s selection for the NY Times (gift link).

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Just the two of us, we can make it if we try…and so we did! Peter and Elisabeth rocked this episode on their own and managed to cover quite a bit of ground. They started off with Peter’s report from his recent trip to the Divine Comedy festival in Krakow, Poland.

Then they remained behind the Iron Curtain for a chat about the recently departed Tom Stoppard (who was born in the former Czechoslovakia, as this podcast’s listeners may know).

Finally, they went over some of their favorite shows of the year, with a focus on Off Broadway productions that may have garnered less press — though Elisabeth’s favorite, “Weer,” was one of the fall’s hits, and here’s a gift link to her profile of its creator, Natalie Palamides.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

The musical “Revolution(s),” which recently concluded its premiere run at the Goodman Theater, in Chicago, comes with an impressive and à propos pedigree. The score was pulled from the songbook of Tom Morello, best known as the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave and many other projects. The book is by Zayd Ayers Dohrn, a playwright who carries quite the legacy: His parents, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, were leaders of the far-left Weather Underground in the early 1970s. It is not a coincidence that the musical is about two generations of radical activists: a couple we see in 1989 and their two sons, whom we meet in 2016.

In this episode, Dohrn, who is the director of the MFA program in Writing for Screen and Stage at Northwestern University, talks about the inspiration for the show, what it was like to do this particular story in Chicago when the city was facing militarized federal forces, and how he approaches political theater.

Some sources:

Elisabeth’s interview with Tom Morello (gift link).

Zayd’s award-winning podcast series about his family, the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers: “Mother Country Radicals” — Elisabeth says it's basically an audio thriller.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

The hit de scandale of the fall in New York is Andrew Fox and Joel Sinensky’s “Slam Frank,” an Off Broadway show that purports to be a staging of a musical about Anne Frank — except that it’s a terminally enlightened production in which she is now Anita Franco, “an ambitious LatinX teenager” surrounded by family and friends who have gone through a similar recasting process. “Slam Frank” doesn’t aim its barbs at Anne herself, though, but at the pieties of the terminally online, including pronoun use and the weaponization of identity.

Don’t worry, we are not falling prey to cheap “anti-woke” vapors! In this episode we welcome Andrew Fox, who wrote the “Slam Frank” score and currently even appears in the show. He talks about his initial inspiration (a tweet from three years ago that accused Anne Frank of white privilege) and a lot more. Fox is very informed about musical-theater history and tropes, and his score is packed with numbers that nod in the direction of “Hamilton” and “Suffs,” among current references.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

If you saw “The Band’s Visit” in New York, you remember Ari’el Stachel, who played Haled, the musician obsessed with Chet Baker — a big highlight was his jazzy “Song About Love,” one of David Yazbek’s loveliest numbers.

Stachel is back with his own show, the autobiographical solo play “Other,” and he dropped by our (remote) studio to talk about it. We’re happy to report that he didn’t sweat, a reference you’ll understand when you listen to the episode.

We also gave some recommendations — and they’re not all in New York!

Peter was very excited by the return of Heather Christian’s “Oratorio for Living Things,” which is at the Signature Theater on W. 42nd St until Nov. 6.

Elisabeth came back from a quick trip to Chicago, where she reported on “Paranormal Activity,” a horror play by Felix Barrett and Levi Holloway (at Chicago Shakes until Nov. 2), and “Revolution(s),” a musical featuring music by the Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello (at the Goodman until Nov. 16). Did you ever think you’d see a mention of Morello here? Neither did we.

Oh, she also loved David Cale’s new show, “Blue Cowboy” (at the Bushwick Starr until Nov. 8).

There’s much talk these days about the dire financial health of musicals on Broadway, where costs have skyrocketed — and so have ticket prices. Yet, very few of the big shows manages to turn a profit. How can this go on? Tom Kirdahy submits to some questioning about this issue, and his own work on Broadway and in the movies.

Whitney White is a busy director, and we couldn’t be happier about it — we’ve been following her career for several years now, and it’s always exciting to see what she’ll come up with next.

You can see her production of the new musical “Saturday Church” (which Elisabeth wrote about for The New York Times) at New York Theater Workshop until Oct. 24. And on Oct. 8, she’s starting previews for the Broadway run of the Bess Wohl play “Liberation” (which was at the Laura Pels Theater a few months ago).

Whitney talked to us about both of those shows, but also went back to growing up in Chicago with a mom who made sure her daughter had a broad, inquisitive mind — turns out that studying political science is not a bad way to start a career in theater — and her days working as an actress (oh, the shows she’s been in!).

We also touched on some key productions in her career, like Aleshea Harris’s “What to Send Up When It Goes Down” and Jocelyn Bioh’s “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” as well as her own “Macbeth in Stride,” which is part of a larger Shakespeare-themed project.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Our guest this week is none other than Jinkx Monsoon, who’s killing it as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway. Just ask Elisabeth: She’s seen the show five times with three different leading ladies.

Jinkx basically gave us a TED Talk on the art of comedy, and frankly she’s well placed to talk about that stuff — there’s even a Madeline Kahn reference, so you know we’re in good hands. Of course we talked about her recent turn in “Pirates! The Penzance Musical” and Peter gushed about Jinkx’s take on “Somewhere That’s Green” (which she performed when she played Audrey in the Off Broadway revival of “Little Shop of Horrors,” of course).

It’s impossible to avoid, so we also got into a discussion of the current climate in the U.S., and Jinkx talked about how it has weighed on some of her touring decisions — maybe not in the way you’d expect. Which reminds us: Now’s the time to buy your tickets for “The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show,” which has become a bona fide new tradition

Need some background on our guest? Here’s the profile Elisabeth wrote for the New York Times back in April.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

RADA is a world-famous institution that has trained the likes of Vivien Leigh, Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Hopkins, Glenda Jackson, Alan Rickman and Roger Moore.

Now you can add Peter Marks to the list.

In August, Peter — as you may recall, a former theater critic — embarked on a daunting adventure: He enrolled in RADA’s five-week Shakespeare intensive program! He tells us about living out his acting dreams in London. His fellow Swan (listen to the episode for the explanation) Caitlin Wilson joined us for the occasion as well.

Memorizing lines, getting used to iambic pentameter, inhabiting Shylock, King Lear and Bottom — Peter jumped through many hoops during what he called a life-changing experience.

You won’t be able to see that but trust us: Elisabeth’s mouth was agape in disbelief the entire time.

Both Peter and Elisabeth tore through Jeff Hiller’s new memoir, “Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty Year Trail to Overnight Success.” And they both experienced episodes that involved laughing so hard that you feel nauseous (Peter) and laughing so hard on the subway that you start drawing stares (Elisabeth).

Yes, the book is that funny. So of course we had to get Jeff on the show. Also because we’ve been fans of his acting for years.

Thanks to the HBO series “Somebody Somewhere,” where he played Bridget Everett’s friend Joel for three seasons, more people than ever have become aware of Jeff’s talent. For many New Yorkers, he’s also a beloved stage regular who’s brightened shows like “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” “Silence! The Musical” (a brilliant parody of “The Silence of the Lambs”), “Bright Colors and Bold Patterns” and “Hercules.”

Jeff is incredibly funny onstage, and of course he was incredibly funny on the podcast. He talked about the new book, his career, acting and of course Elisabeth used the opportunity to ask about a reading she once saw that paired Jeff and Cole Escola — long before they became Tony-winning Cole Escola.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

In this episode, multi-hyphenate theater man Jeremy McCarter talked to us about his new project: a six-part audio adaptation of “Hamlet” he wrote and directed for his own Make-Believe Association (you’ll find links to listen on your favorite platform on the company’s site).

McCarter’s adaptation streamlines Shakespeare’s play and places the listener inside the Prince of Denmark’s head — which is why you really want to listen on headphones, thanks to the superb sound design from Mikhail Fiksel, who won a Tony Award for his work on “Dana H.” in 2022. The cast is a stellar mix of New York and Chicago actors, including Daniel Kyri as Hamlet, Jacob Ming-Trent as Polonius, Sharon Washington as Gertrude and John Douglas Thompson as Claudius/Ghost.

But wait: yes, you have heard of Jeremy McCarter — he wrote the best-selling book “Hamilton: The Revolution” with Lin-Manuel Miranda! And before founding Make-Believe Association, he worked at the Public Theater, where he created and ran the Public Forum series. (Readers of New York magazine may also remember him as the critic who replaced John Simon in 2005.)

This is an enlightening episode about the art of adaptation, most particularly in an aural medium. Don’t take our word for it, though: check it out!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

On this episode we welcome Joe Iconis and Christopher Ashley, whose show “The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical” is at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., until July 13.

Joe wrote the music and lyrics, and co-wrote the book with Gregory S. Moss. Christopher directed, as he did at the La Jolla Playhouse premiere a couple of years ago. They’re going to talk about the show’s loooooong gestation, why it’s unauthorized, and of course why the king of gonzo journalism is a great subject for a musical.

Both Joe and Christopher are likely to be familiar to our listeners. Joe wrote the scores for “Be More Chill” (which is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a big bash at Two River Theater this summer!) “Broadway Bounty Hunter” and “Love in Hate Nation.” Christopher has directed Broadway hits like “Come From Away,” “Memphis” and Elisabeth’s beloved “Xanadu.” He is about to leave his job as La Jolla artistic director to take on similar duties at the Roundabout Theater Company in New York.

Joe almost lost it when he discussed what happened in this video shot at Thompson’s house in Colorado. Check it out!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

On this episode, Jonathan Groff talks to us about his new Broadway show, “Just in Time,” in which he guides the audience through his own love for Bobby Darin and, of course, Darin’s life. It’s an explosive performance from an actor we thought we knew — after all, Groff is no stranger to the stage, from “Spring Awakening” to “Hamilton” to his Tony-winning turn as Franklin Shepard in the revival of “Merrily We Roll Along.” (Peter and Elisabeth are also fans of Groff’s miniseries “Mindhunter” so of course they begged for a new season.)

It’s a rollicking episode with tons of great stories about growing up in a Mennonite community in Pennsylvania and falling into YouTube rabbit holes. As Elisabeth likes to say: Who among us…?

One of the most annoying canards out there is that critics relish writing pans.

Wrong!

A pan is a pain for everybody, and it certainly is not fun to write. Elisabeth recently had to do it for Caitlin Saylor Stephens’s new play “Five Models in Ruin, 1981,” which is playing through June 1 at Lincoln Center Theater, as part of the LCT3 incubator.

So Peter decided to interview his own co-host to see how she tackled the show for The New York Times. We do read excerpts of the review on the podcast but here’s a gift link so you can follow along as we engage in some text analysis.

For this episode we had the pleasure of talking to Kimberly Belflower, a young playwright who’s making quite a splash with her Broadway debut, “John Proctor Is the Villain” — yes, that John Proctor, from “The Crucible.” It just got seven Tony nominations, including for best play and for best leading actress in a play (for Sadie Sink — yes, that Sadie Sink, from the Netflix series “Stranger Things”).

Despite what the title may suggest, the new show isn’t a spoof of Arthur Miller’s play, which is usually interpreted as an allegory about the McCarthy era. Belflower’s story is set in a Georgia high school where students read the text through the prism of what’s been happening, darkly, to some of them. Their charismatic English teacher, played by Gabriel Ebert, has a key role.

We had a bracing conversation with Belflower about the early years of the MeToo movement, how she developed the play and worked with director Danya Taymor — and her surprising connection to our last guest, Jeffrey Seller!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Jeffrey Seller has produced quite a few of musicals, including two mega-hits that were both hugely influential and hugely successful at the box office: “Rent” and “Hamilton.”

Naturally, we had to ask him: What makes a good producer?

Seller dropped by the podcast to talk about his new memoir, “Theater Kid,” in which he takes us from his childhood near Detroit to his early years in New York, when he worked in the office of the producers Barry and Fran Weissler, and on to his fateful meetings with Jonathan Larson and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

He had quite a few thoughts about the state of Broadway, and in particular what’s happening with musicals. Even if you haven’t seen his shows — but if you listen to his podcast, chances are that you have — Seller will make you ponder where the industry’s at these days.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

“Maybe Happy Ending’ is the Broadway hit that nobody really saw coming. On this episode we welcome its stars, Helen J Shen and Darren Criss, who was just nominated for a Tony Award in this role.

Darren and Helen portray a pair of HelperBots who have been cast out by their owners and end up living in a robot retirement community. What happens to them is, well, the stuff of the classic story of boybot meets girlbot.

The show premiered in Seoul, South Korea, in 2016. Its unlikely premise was brought to fruition by Will Aronson (music, lyrics and book) and Hue Park (lyrics and book). The Broadway version has been mounted at the Belasco Theatre by director Michael Arden, with a cast that also includes Marcus Choi and Dez Duron.

Criss you probably know: He made his name in “Glee” and went on to credits in very different Broadway shows, replacing Daniel Radcliffe in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and appearing in a revival of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” alongside Sam Rockwell. He won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.”

As for Shen: she is making her Broadway debut, but eagle-eyed Elisabeth had spotted her in the Off Broadway musicals “Teeth” and “The Lonely Few.”

Both were the kind of guests we can only dream of, so tune in!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Kate Valk joined the Wooster Group in 1979 and never looked back. We think she’s one of America’s greatest actresses, but because she’s spent her entire career with the experimental New York company, even hardcore theatergoers may not have seen her work on stage or onscreen. Fellow Woosters like Willem Dafoe (former) or Scott Shepherd (current) are easy to find because they work pretty much everywhere but Valk’s IMDB page is practically nonexistent and she’s never been on Broadway — when Elisabeth checked IBDB, the answer was“Did you mean Kate Hall? Nate Sack? Grace Falk?”

Kate joined us for a free-spirited conversation in which she talked, among other things, about the Wooster Group’s idiosyncratic approach, why she’s never strayed from the company, turning to directing and her delight in educational projects. Of course she also talked about the company’s latest show, “Nayatt School Redux” (check out Ben Brantley’s terrific piece about it in the New York Times).

Oh, and in August you can check out a Wooster show in a New York venue other than the company’s own Performing Garage when Eric Berryman performs “Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me” (which Valk directed) at Joe’s Pub.

If you saw the Broadway productions of “She Loves Me” (for which he won a Tony), "Hairspray," "Legally Blonde," "Lucky Guy" or "Kinky Boots," you saw sets by this episode’s guest, David Rockwell.

Rockwell is back on Broadway with designs for two shows this spring: “Pirates! The Penzance Musical” and “Boop!” We spoke with him to discuss at what stage he engages a project, the challenges he might encounter, and what he considers important in theatrical set design.

We also talked about another big source of activity for his company, Rockwell Group (which he founded in 1984): restaurants, hotels and performing venues — including the new revamp of the Laurie Beechman Theater, underneath the West Bank Café.

Rockwell is just our second set-designing guest, the first being Beowulf Boritt back in Oct. 2022. Make it a twofer listen!

Since taking over the role of the Emcee in Rebecca Frecknall’s Broadway revival of “Cabaret” in September, Adam Lambert has made his mark on one of musical theater’s most iconic roles. We were impressed when we revisited the show recently, because it has finally found its footing. Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho as Sally Bowles follow through on choices tha…

On this episode, Elisabeth and Peter interview Brian Doerries, founding artistic director of Theater of War Productions. The group is made up of dozens of well-known actors, including the likes of Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright and Elizabeth Marvel — and Peter has been known to join it, too. Theater of War travels the country and the globe with readings of plays that inspire and provoke audiences, including “Antigone in Ferguson,” “Oedipus the King,” and a recent “An Enemy of the People” on Times Square. The company’s latest project is a collaboration with WNYC that has it reading long-form pieces of journalism, starting with “How Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty in a Subway Killing That Divided New York” (originally published in The New Yorker) read by Chad Coleman, Amy Ryan and David Strathairn.As Doerries explains in a wide-ranging conversation, it’s the audience’s contributions that are the key to Theater of War’s success. But where will you stand, dear listeners, in the debate that came up between him and Elisabeth?

Peter and Elisabeth have been doing podcasts together for years now, but this was the first time a guest turned the tables and asked them what their three favorite musicals are!

But don’t listen to this episode just for that. Listen to it because the guest is Stephanie Styles, a young musical-theater performer who’s going places — although right now she’s parked in the Encores! production of “Urinetown” at New York City Center, which you can see until Feb. 16 (Elisabeth reviewed it very favorably in the New York Times).

Stephanie talked to us about growing up a musical-theater fan in Houston, Tex.; touring with “The Sound of Music” and “Newsies”; the Broadway shows that almost made it, like a revival of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” with James Corden; and the Broadway shows that did make it, like the 2019 revival of “Kiss Me, Kate” with Kelli O’Hara and Corbin Bleu.

We were delighted to hear that Stephanie identifies as a comic soprano, and she certainly belongs in a lineage that also includes Madeline Kahn, Kristin Chenoweth and Annaleigh Ashford. Take it away, Stephanie!

You may have read Elisabeth’s article about the Off Strip theater scene in Las Vegas — and if you haven’t, here is a gift link. To give listeners the lay of the land in Sin City (or rather Sin County, to be exact), we welcomed Daz Weller, artistic director of the Vegas Theater Company, who talked to us about what it’s like to do small plays and musicals in a city best known for pop residencies and Cirque du Soleil extravaganzas. There are many obstacles, but the talent pool is fantastic and locals are getting thirstier for home-grown shows.

Vegas Theater Company is one of the three professional companies Elisabeth mentioned in her feature. The other two are Majestic Repertory Theater and A Public Fit Theater Company. They are both well worth a visit if you find yourself in southern Nevada.

Over the past decade, Marjan Neshat has become a welcome presence on the Off Broadway scene, and it’s rewarding to see her finally make her Broadway debut. And she’s in a mighty fine play, too: “English,” which Peter and Elisabeth loved when they saw it at the Atlantic Theater in 2022.

Sanaz Toossi’s play, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in drama, is about a small group of Iranians of various ages who are learning English near Tehran. Neshat plays their teacher, who repeatedly brings up her time living in Britain. We had a wonderful time chatting with her about her Iranian roots, her working relationship with Toussi (they also did “Wish You Were Here” together), a production of “The Seagull” starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming that turned out to be important for her as an actress, and what it was like being in the Public Theater’s infamous production of “Julius Caesar” at the Delacorte that sparked controversy and protests in 2017.

Elisabeth put her foot in her mouth again: she said that Melissa Errico was “lovely” — as it turns out, that’s an adjective that has often been used to describe our latest guest. But Melissa is lovely, dammit!

For (we think) our first holiday episode, we were delighted to welcome one of New York’s finest songbirds. She talked to us about her new show with Billy Stritch at 54 Below, “’Twas the Night After Christmas” (naturally, it starts Dec. 26 and runs through Dec. 30), and many other things.

Peter and Elisabeth both have a long history with Melissa, having converted to fandom with her revelatory performance in the Encores! production of “One Touch of Venus,” back in 1996. In the intervening years, she has emerged as a top-shelf interpreter of two songwriters we are especially fond of: Stephen Sondheim and Michel Legrand. She talks about her relationship with them, and how they differed from each other, about working on and off Broadway, and her career as a traveling concert performer.

Oh yes, she also talks about meeting her husband, Patrick McEnroe — and singing the National Anthem at the U.S. Open. Why does tennis come up so often in this podcast?!?

The author-director of such works as “The Apple Family Plays,” “The Gabriels” and even the book for the musical adaptation of James Joyce’s “The Dead,” Richard Nelson is one of America’s finest theatermakers.

He is also the modern American playwright whose work travels best, and he has been produced all over the world. No place has been as fraught as Kyiv, however, where Nelson went this past spring to direct a production of his play “Conversations in Tusculum”

He recounts that experience in the new book “A Diary of War & Theatre — Making Theatre in Kyiv, Spring 2024,” published by Wordville. As you might well imagine, working on a show in a country at war is no simple task.

He expanded on that subject and a lot more — like working at the famed Théâtre du Soleil in Paris, and why his style is not “realistic” — on the podcast, making for a pretty great conversation.

For this episode, we landed a real power player in our virtual studio: Lear deBessonet, the incoming artistic director at Lincoln Center Theater — one of the powerhouse nonprofits in New York City, with a budget of $40 million and a staff of 55.

DeBessonet made her mark as one of the defining spirits behind the Public Theater’s Public Works initiative — her emphasis on theater’s communal aspects is a defining element of her approach, and one that could inspire companies around the country.

In 2020 she took over New York City Center’s beloved series Encores!, and under her tenure most of the productions hit the sweet spot of critical and popular approval. Two of them, “Into the Woods” and “Once Upon a Mattress,” even transferred to Broadway.

DeBessonet talked to us about what matters to her as a director but also as an audience member, including one particularly formative experience that sent Elisabeth into a fangirl tizzy.

After hearing that the 50-year-old institution California Shakespeare Theater, aka Cal Shakes, was closing down, we thought we’d ask a specialist in troubled institutions for his take on what the heck is going on in the industry. Enter Michael M. Kaiser, who ran the Kennedy Arts Center from 2001 to 2014 and currently heads the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland. Michael has performed interventions at Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the Royal Ballet and Opera in London. With the DeVos Institute, Michael continues to advise nonprofit companies around the country.

Among the issues we talked about: Is theater doing that badly around the U.S.? Did Covid reveal structural problems that had been invisibly festering for years if not decades? What happened with all that government money that flew to the arts during Covid?

It is our great pleasure to welcome the indomitable Elizabeth Marvel to the podcast. She has been a formidable presence on New York stages since the late 1990s and shows no sign of slowing down. She came on to talk about “The Ford/Hill Project,” which she was instrumental in initiating — Peter wrote about it for The Washington Post back in September (gift link).

Naturally, we talked about a lot of other things, including how she got to Juilliard (definitely not your typical theater-kid journey) and what theater means to her.

Warning: occasional spicy language!

Elisabeth was otherwise engaged for this episode, so Peter talked to Jay Wegman, the executive editor of New York University’s Skirball Performing Arts Center, on his own.

Wegman took over at Skirball in 2016, after almost 11 years at the Abrons Ars Center. Skirball has emerged as a major presenter of cutting-edge fare from the U.S. and abroad: This season includes works by Milo Rau, the Civilians, Mies Warlop, the Builders Association, and Marlène Saldana and Jonathan Drillet. And there has been a bona fide hit with the Australian import “Counting and Cracking,” a co-production with the Public Theater that Elisabeth raved about in the New York Times.

Tune to hear what Jay has to say about the state of presenting edgy work in New York.

When Kara Young won a Tony for “Purlie Victorious” a few months ago, it wasn’t a surprise to us. We’ve long known she’s one of the best stage actors you can dream of seeing in New York — Elisabeth first noticed Kara in “Syncing Ink” at the Flea Theater back in 2017 and since then she’s kept the actress on her radar, with a profile for the New York Times in 2020.

Now she has three Broadway shows under her belt (“Purlie Victorious,” “Cost of Living” and “Clyde’s”) — and a Tony nomination for each. Not too shabby! The latest entry in a rapidly filling résumé is Douglas Lyons’s rom-com “Table 17” at MCC.

We talked with Kara about growing up in Harlem, where she still lives, the joys of comedy acting, finding a role in her body and much, much more.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Our guest on this podcast is the playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. A few months ago his play “Appropriate” won the Tony for best revival (star Sarah Paulson won for best actress), and it’s only the latest in a growing exemplary body of work that also includes “An Octoroon” and the Pulitzer finalists “Gloria” and “Everybody.”

Woolly Mammoth’s production of “The Comeuppance” is running until Oct. 6 so there’s still time to catch it. Branden’s next project in NYC is his collaboration with Alina Troyano “Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!,” which starts at Soho Rep on Oct. 23.

In this action-packed episode, Branden talks about his formative time in Berlin, the revivals he’d like to see (bring on “The Bald Soprano”!), the adaptation of “An Enemy of the People” that almost was, star casting, the crucial role played by James Houghton at Signature Theater (where “Appropriate” had its NYC premiere in 2014), and so much more.

Welcome to what Peter called “the most salacious podcast” around!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

One of the biggest stage hits of the year in New York City has been “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which reimagines Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical as a ballroom competition. And there are no cats!

In this episode, we talked to the show’s directors, Bill Rauch (who is also the artistic director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which originated the production) and Zhailon Livingston about what “Cats” means to them, how they approached the staging, their hopes for its future life — and what Lord Andrew thought of their take. Even if you think you don’t like “Cats,” you’ll want to listen to this one.

Wait, is it Lord or Sir Andrew? Elisabeth got it wrong, of course. We thought about saving her mistake for a special bloopers episode, but no, here it is.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

We’re longtime fans of Conrad Ricamora, going all the way back to “Here Lies Love” at the Public, and we could not be any more pleased to have him on the podcast. He is currently playing Mary’s husband in Cole Escola’s hit Broadway comedy “Oh, Mary!” And the show truly is a hit: We recorded the episode right before the announcement of an extension through Nov. 10. Not only that, but “Oh, Mary!” recently broke the Lyceum’s all-time box-office record by grossing just over $1 million in a week.

So, about Mary’s husband: since she’s Mary Todd Lincoln, it follows that Conrad is playing Abraham. Just not the Abraham Lincoln you might be familiar with.

It was a pleasure to talk with him about some key moments of his career: “Here Lies Love” at the Public and on Broadway, Bartlett Sher’s “The King and I,” Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s “Soft Power,” the popular revival of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Conrad was candid about the issues of stereotyping that long have hampered Asian American actors. And tennis, of course.

Here’s Elisabeth’s interview with Conrad, from when he went into “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Peter’s recent piece in Arts & Leisure section about five remarkable women who worked together at Off Broadway’s Public Theater a decade ago, and all have gone on to leadership roles at other major institutions. Click here for a gift article!

And look, here’s another gift article: Elisabeth’s piece about the tears threatening to flood Broadway stages.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

In the Broadway musical based on “The Notebook,” three couples play Noah and Allie at various stages. No slight to the other two pairings, but for many audience members the emotional favorites are Dorian Harewood and Maryann Plunkett, Older Noah and Older Allie, as they are credited — and both have been nominated for a Tony Award.

Maryann is a regular presence on stage: She was in every installment of the Richard Nelson cycles “The Apple Family Plays,” “The Gabriels” and “The Michaels” and has appeared in many, many other productions all over town. She made her Broadway debut in “Agnes of God” in the early 1980s and won a Tony for the musical “Me and My Girl” in 1987. She even replaced Bernadette Peters in “Sunday in the Park With George”! 

Dorian made his Broadway debut in the John Guare-Galt McDermot musical “Two Gentlemen of Verona” in 1973, but “The Notebook” is the first time he’s been back on Broadway since “The Mighty Gents” in 1978. His screen career includes “The Jesse Owens Story” and “Roots: The Next Generations.”

Reading material: Elisabeth’s article about the high number of audience members crying at the theater this season includes “The Notebook,” of course.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.