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.

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.

“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.

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.

It’s another crowded week in our virtual studio as once again we welcome three guests at once — and we can handle them!

It’s always interesting to check in with a play months into its run, and after a transfer to Broadway: How has the show evolved? What’s happening with the staging and the cast? Playwright David Adjmi dropped by Marks & Vincentelli in January to talk about the genesis of Stereophonic; now he’s come back with director Daniel Aukin and actor Will Brill to tell us how the show is going — especially as it’s earned the most Tony nominations ever for a play, with a whopping 13.

Peter called Stereophonic “the best play of the year” in 2023. As a brief reminder, it’s set in a 1970s recording studio as an unnnamed band is struggling to lay down the tracks for a new album, and it features terrific original songs by Will Butler (Elisabeth wrote about the background last year). Brill plays the bassist, Reg, and is one of five cast members to earn Tony nominations.

Backstage stories hold a special appeal in theater, but they’re usually about theater itself, not a rock band. Join us as we return to the world of Stereophonic, which is rich enough to sustain more heady conversation.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

We were psyched to talk to one of our favorite artists, Judy Kuhn, about her performance in the Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein musical “Unknown Soldier” at Arena Stage, and about some of her earlier turns — you probably remember her as the mother in “Fun Home,” Fosca in the 2013 revival of “Passion,” Cosette then Fantine in different productions of “Les Misérables,” Florence in “Chess.” The list is long and impressive. Next up is the Encores! production of “Titanic” on June 11-23.

Judy is one of the finest, most sensitive musical-theater actors you could dream of seeing on a stage, and it was a total treat to chat with her.

Some links:

“Unknown Soldier” at Arena Stage

Judy’s online home

Peter’s saw some “Succession” stars on stage.

Elisabeth reviewed the new musicals “Hell’s Kitchen” and “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” and wrote about four current screen-star turns on Broadway.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

In this new episode, we go where we have not gone before: three guests at once!

We are in agreement on this one: “Dead Outlaw” is one of the best new musicals of the year. The production is running only until April 14, at the Minetta Lane Theater, but it will live forever as a recording by Audible, which is producing it. To talk about this strange — but true! — tale of an outlaw manqué whose mummified body ended up being exhibited in an amusement park, we welcomed David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, who wrote the score, and Itamas Moses, who wrote the book. Astute readers will have noticed that Yazbek and Moses had already collaborated on “The Band’s Visit,” and that musical’s director, David Cromer, also steered “Dead Outlaw.” Be warned, however, that the rambunctious new show has little in common with its Tony-winning predecessor, other than being of the highest quality.

Trust us: any time spent with these three men is time well spent. And as a bonus, the episode includes practical tips about what not to do if you ever find yourself auditioning for a David Yazbek musical.

Some links:

“Dead Outlaw”

That time when “Three on the Aisle” (this podcast’s predecessor) talked to David Yazbek.

Peter’s interview with Ralph Fiennes, who’s bringing his “Macbeth” to Shakespeare Theater Company (though the show will be at a performance space converted from the former Black Entertainment Television studios in Northeast Washington) in April.

Elisabeth’s reviews of “Water for Elephants” and “The Who’s Tommy.”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

The stars of Broadway’s “Days of Wine and Roses” are our guests for a conversation about their collaboration on this new musical about the wrenching paradox of love in midst of addiction, with a score by Adam Guettel and book by Craig Lucas.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Our guest today is a powerbroker. No, really. As a casting director, Bernard (Bernie to most people) Telsey wields considerable power — and he tries to use it for good, not evil. Telsey’s breakthrough came when he helped put together the original cast of “Rent,” back in the mid-1990s. Since then he’s worked on a gazillion shows on Broadway, Off and around the country, as well as on movies and TV — Telsey is probably the main reason every nook and cranny of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” is filled with Broadway people. As if this weren’t enough, he was one of the co-founders of the MCC company in 1986.

Yes, we talked about “Rent” and “The Gilded Age,” but we also discussed the concept of miscasting, counterintuitive decisions, the disappearance of terms like “non-traditional” and “color-blind” casting, and why musical-theater performers are just the best. Annaleigh Ashford might have been mentioned a few times.

Listen on!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

In this episode we discussed pretty somber stuff with Betsy Aidem, who plays the central role of Marcelle in Josh Harmon’s “Prayer for the French Republic” on Broadway. She was also in the 2022 Off Broadway run at Manhattan Theater Club, and in between those runs Aidem appeared in Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt.” If you think you discern a thread between these two shows, you’re right.

In this episode, Aidem discussed how she researches her roles (short answer: thoroughly) and what they have meant to her as a Jewish American.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

It’s been a minute and we apologize but all good things, right?

As you may have heard, there has been a big change in Peter’s life — as in, he took a buyout and is now longer with the Washington Post. Watch out for Free Agent Peter Marks!

The good news is that we are sticking with this podcast. Now that we are back on track, here is, at last, our interview with David Adjmi. We’ve long admired his work but we both were taken aback by how good his latest play, “Stereophonic,” was. The premiere production at Playwrights Horizons opened to critical applause in October and then turned into the hit of the fall. It felt like a reboot for Adjmi, who had not had a production in New York since “Marie Antoinette” in 2013. And now it looks like it’s going to transfer to Broadway.

You can read Elisabeth’s preview feature on the show; in his review of “Stereophonic,” Peter called it “the best play of the year. And not just the year’s best, but one of the best works of narrative art about the day-to-day grind and emotional toll of artistic creation.”

“Stereophonic” takes place in 1976-77 and is set in two recording studios, where a rock quintet is grinding away on the follow-up to a hit album. The play is peppered with songs and bits of songs, which were written for the show by the former Arcade Fire member Will Butler and please, can we get an album?! 

Adjmi talked to us about what led him to this particular play, the stumbling blocks along the way and his interest in writing about music (as opposed to writing a musical).

If you want more from him, definitely pick up his memoir, “Lot Six,” which came out in 2020. Elisabeth talked to him about it back then, an interview you can read here.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

As listeners of this podcast (and anybody with half a brain) know, comedy is hard, which makes the success of Selina Fillinger’s play “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great D*****s Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” even more notable. Recounting a particularly bad day in the administration of a philandering President, the play centers on the women activating behind the scenes to prop him up. “POTUS” premiered on Broadway last year and Peter says the current production at Arena Stage is even better. (Elisabeth hasn’t seen it but she wants it known that she has long been a big fan of Megan Hill, who takes on the role of the office assistant that was played by Rachel Dratch in New York.)

“POTUS” was Selina’s second play in New York, after the much different “Something Clean” at the Roundabout Underground in 2019. According to American Theater Magazine, it is the third most produced play in the U.S. for the 2023-24 season. She is also the fifth most produced playwright. Not too shabby!

We talked to Selina about how she fell into theater (hint: somewhat of a parallel trajectory as our previous guest, Jocelyn Bioh) and who/what influenced her. But what really caught our attention was when she got down in the weeds as to what makes a line or a scene funny. She gave specific examples, too, so consider this podcast our version of a master class or a TEDTalk.

Bonus: The Three Stooges make a guest appearance in the conversation!

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.

Another great get for the podcast: the playwright and actress Jocelyn Bioh. She talked to us about her breakthrough as a writer, “School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play” (2017), and how it has become one of the most produced plays in the United States during the 2019-20 season, and of course she also discussed her Broadway debut, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” which is currently in previews in a Manhattan Theater Club productions. Her other plays include “Nollywood Dreams” and “Merry Wives,” an adaptation of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” that Peter described as “a garden of earthly delights.”

Jocelyn talked us through her upbringing in New York City, her West African heritage, how and why she has combined writing and acting — the latter providing a key connection when she appeared in the Soho Rep production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s “An Octoroon,” in 2014. She also talks about using comedy as a genre and what expectations are placed on her as a Black woman in the theater. Considering those topics, Elisabeth brought up one of her favorite movies about theater, Radha Blank’s “The 40-Year-Old Version.”

We were lucky that Jocelyn found the time to drop by our virtual studio in between working on “Jaja” previews. Enjoy!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

There’s a lot of alarmist talk about theater making the rounds and we’re not cockeyed optimists, we get it: Things are really rough out. Peter wrote a big article about it, and it’s titled “Theater Is in Freefall, and the Pandemic Isn’t the Only Thing to Blame.”

But there are also lots of initiatives that give us hope. After Colorado’s Creede Rep on our previous episode, we head over to the Badger State to talk about World Premiere Wisconsin, a project that wrapped up at the end of June. Our guests were the festival producer Michael Cotey and Jen Uphoff Gray, who came up with the idea for WPW and is the artistic director of Forward Theater Company in Madison.

An ambitious project like this one was not a given in Wisconsin, which ranks last among the 50 states in public arts funding. But maybe that’s what spurred a few brave souls to jump into action, and World Premiere Wisconsin brought together institutions across the state for a full slate of premieres and events. It even hired a theater writer, Mike Fischer, to cover it all — Michael and Jen talk about what Mike did, and frankly, we were blown away. Of course there is a lot more to the festival but as journalists covering theater, well, we were excited.

We’re convinced other states could learn from the Wisconsin experience. Let us know if you hear of other interesting initiatives!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

There are just about 400 people living year-round in Creede, Colo., and yet that town has been sustaining a theater company since 1966. How the heck did that happen, and how does it keep going?

Elisabeth first went to Creede in 2021, and wrote about Creede Repertory Theater for The New York Times. She loved the experience so much that she went back to Creede on vacation the following year (and wrote a follow-up piece). Then she went skiing at nearby Wolf Creek, but that’s another story.

On today’s podcast we welcome Creede Rep’s producing artistic director John DiAntonio and marketing director Kate Berry. They talked to us about the joys and challenges of producing true rep, how they build a season, who attends their shows, the importance of negotiation and compromise when running a company in a place like Creede — which sits at close to 9,000 feet in the San Juan mountains, about five hours from Denver.

We hear a lot of horror stories about theater these days, and it’s true that things are rough out there, but Creede Rep is a tale of perseverance, and how theater can save a town.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

This week we are proud to have David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori as our guests. Their show Kimberly Akimbo has just won five Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Score (Jeanine wrote the music, David the lyrics), Best Book (by David, based on his own play from 2000), Leading Actress in a Musical (Victoria Clark) and Featured Actress in a Musical (Bonnie Milligan).

This isn’t this dynamic duo’s first collaboration — they did Shrek the Musical together, and yes, they tell us how that went down — and of course they have sterling résumés separately. David is a remarkable playwright (and yet, in Elisabeth’s opinion, still oddly underrated) whose Rabbit Hole won a Pulitzer and a Tony; you may also have seen Good People (which gave Frances McDormand a plum role), Fuddy Meers and Ripcord. As for Jeanine, what is left to say? Since Violet, she has built one of the most impressive track records of any 21st-century musical-theater composers, with shows like Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline, or Change, Fun Home and Soft Power.

We loved chatting with this pair about their work process, songwriting teams and casting Kimberly Akimbo.

Some links…

Kimberly Akimbo is still playing at the Booth Theater so get tickets!

Peter reviewed Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway and talked to leads Victoria Clark and Justin Cooley.

Elisabeth talked to Lorna Courtney from & Juliet, previewed the musical Good Vibrations at Irish Arts Center, and cannot recommend the new Catherine Cohen show enough.

Exciting times on Marks & Vincentelli!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

He’s a “Succession” regular on HBO and now, on Broadway, he’s newly Tony-nominated, for his performance opposite Jessica Chastain in the hit revival of “A Doll’s House.” Arian Moayed is the guest on the latest Marks & Vincentelli. While Elisabeth was away on assignment, Peter went solo with Arian for an illuminating conversation about Arian’s modern approach to Ibsen’s portrait of an 18th Century husband unaware of how suffocating he makes life for Jessica’s Nora.

Arian talked about the character’s cluelessness, but also, about how many people, men especially, have come up to him after seeing director Jamie Lloyd’s production. What he often hears are self-examining comments — men wondering how many of their own unconscious acts of micro-aggression are embodied by Torvald. The feedback has helped Arian understand the contemporary relevance of a character first seen on the stage in 1879.

Arian’s Tony nod, for best featured actor in a play, occurs as the much-admired “Succession” moves toward its series finale at the end of May. Peter and Arian spoke of Arian’s experience as Stewy — a cool-headed investor emblematic of the series’ cast of scheming characters. And they talked, too, about Arian’s other pursuits, as an acting teacher for high school students in the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, and as co-founder of Waterwell, a performing arts company with a social conscience.

Listen now — and please subscribe!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

For further reading: here is Peter’s review of “A Doll’s House,” directed by Jamie Lloyd.

And Peter’s profile of Jessica Chastain.

In February, a production of Lorraine Hansberry’s play “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, starring Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan. The same production, directed by Anne Kauffman, is now about to reopen on Broadway, where it’ll run until July 2. We used this opportunity to invite the director of the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust, Joi Gresham, to the podcast.

Joi, as you will hear, is a terrific storyteller, starting with her very close connection to Hansberry — even though they never met. She moves on to talk about the connection between “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Sign,” the evolving perception of Hansberry and her work, what running an estate involves, and what happened in 2004.

It’s always interesting to talk about a playwright’s legacy and how it changes over the years and decades. If you missed it, check out the episode with the Arthur Miller scholar Susan Abbotson in November. We hope to do more of those.

And of course, look up Peter’s preview of the BAM production of “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window.”

In addition, Peter reviewed the production when it was at BAM.

More reading:

Imani Perry: “Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry”

Soyica Diggs Colbert: “Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry”

The documentary “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” is available to rent on Amazon.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

What a way to premiere our new interview series, in which we will pair a director and an actor!

Parker Posey is wonderful in as the theater star Irene in “The Seagull/Woodstock, NY” — Thomas Bradshaw’s adaptation of the Chekhov play, transposed to the Catskills. (In the original, Irene is, of course, Irina Arkadina.) Posey is too rare a presence on New York stages, where her last appearance was almost 20 years ago in “Hurlyburly.” Like this “Seagull,” this was a New Group production directed by Scott Elliott. Clearly, these two have something good going on.

Posey and Elliott were still buzzing from what the previous night’s performance, when the director went on in the role usually played by David Cale (who was out sick). We talked about what that was like for both of them, along with many other things. The show is running until April 9.

Some links:

“The Seagull/Woodstock, NY”

Elisabeth’s chat with Parker Posey and Hari Nef, who plays Sasha (Masha in Chekhov’s original)

Peter’s interview with Parker and his review of the show

Peter’s review of “Hurlyburly” (2005)

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

This week’s guest is Priscilla Gilman, who dropped by the podcast to talk about her new memoir, “The Critic’s Daughter” (Norton) — the critic in question being her father, Richard Gilman. He was a staff theater critic at Newsweek, back when weekly magazines had such a position on payroll, but arguably became even more influential when he began teaching at the Yale School of Drama. Priscilla talked to us about growing up on the Upper West Side with powerhouse parents (her mother is the literary agent Lynn Nesbit), the stars-to-be at Yale and whether or not her dad would be able to be as opinionated nowadays. Trust us — it’s a hoot of an episode.

Bonus: “Marat/Sade” somehow comes up and Elisabeth goes into rapture.

Some links:

Priscilla Gilman’s website

Elisabeth’s review of Agnes Borinsky’s “The Trees” at Playwrights Horizons and Betty Smith’s “Becomes a Woman” at the Mint.

Peter’s piece about “Agony” in “Into the Woods” and his review of “A Doll’s House” with Jessica Chastain and Arian Moayed.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Fasten your seatbelts: There’s never a dull moment when Stephen Adly Guirgis is behind the mic!

We both loved Stephen’s latest play, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Between Riverside and Crazy.” The show is running at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway until Feb. 19. It’s also available as a simulcast until Feb. 12, which is fantastic news for our listeners around the country.

He was remarkably candid and we covered a lot ground in our chat: growing up in New York, what happened when he saw “Burn This,” working with the LAByrinth Theater Company, his enduring collaboration with Philip Seymour Hoffman. We also spent quality time discussing the play “Halfway B*****s Go Straight to Heaven,” which Elisabeth particularly loves.

Some links:

Follow Stephen on Twitter.

Elisabeth reviewed a couple of retro-oriented shows: Anthony Rapp’s “Without You” and Eduardo Machado’s “Not About Me.” Spoiler alert: She liked the puppet show “The Immortal Jellyfish Girl” a lot more.

Peter wrote about a version of “The Tempest” directed by Teller and Aaron Posner that features a Caliban played simultaneously — and Pilobolus-choreographed — by two actors.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

We always love when Dr. Blythe Adamson, of Infectious Economics, drops by the show: She’s basically been holding (virtually, of course) us by the hand since theater came back in New York. As seems to be the case every winter now — remember the lines around the block last December when everybody was trying to get tested for Omicron? — we are reading about a new variant. (This one has been nicknamed Kraken, which annoys Elisabeth because she feels it’s spoiled her long-running habit of yelling “Release the Kraken!” whenever she’s about to play tennis, or maybe to clean her house.)

Anyway, Dr. Adamson was full of great information, as usual. But where she really took us by surprise is when she talked about the cost of having understudies vs. cancelling a show. Even more surprising was when she brought up recent developments relating to attendance — not from the audience, mind you, but from cast members and technicians. Listen up, it’s a wild ride.

Here are a couple of Peter’s recent stories:

Broadway’s “The Piano Lesson” sends its piano to the Smithsonian

How a play about a pope’s last days reveals the stark realities of dying

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

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!

It’s like clockwork: Every January, some Broadway shows close. This year is no different as we say goodbye to “A Strange Loop,” “The Music Man,” “Ohio State Murders,” “The Piano Lesson,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Beetlejuice.”

But what got a lot of attention were a couple of shows, “Ain’t No Mo’ ” and “KPOP,” that closed in December after very short runs. For whatever reasons, they didn’t find an audience.

In this episode, Peter and Elisabeth look at what’s going on with the Broadway cycle of life (reminder: it also involves death). They also talk about recent shows they like and what they’re looking forward to. The action never stops on “Marks & Vincentelli”!

Here are a few of Peter’s recent articles:

How does a 63 year old play a teen? In Victoria Clark’s case, superbly

Broadway loses more superb work as “Ohio State Murders” abruptly exits

What are we clapping for? America’s sad compulsion to applaud

In the past decade, Danielle Brooks has emerged as one of our favorite actors. Whether it’s in Shakespeare (“Much Ado About Nothing” at the Delacorte), a popular musical (“The Color Purple”) or an August Wilson drama (she’s currently starring in the Broadway revival of “The Piano Lesson” alongside Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington), Danielle always stands out. And of course there was her run on “Orange Is the New Black,” in which she played Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson. A more versatile performer is hard to find

Unsurprisingly, we had a blast talking with Danielle and we covered a lot of ground, from her upbringing in South Carolina to studying at Juilliard. She is a member of Juilliard’s Group 40, one of three members of that cohort currently on Broadway: the others are Corey Hawkins (in “Topdog/Underdog”) and Joaquina Kalukango (who takes over as the Witch in “Into the Woods” on Dec. 16). Fun fact: Danielle, Corey and Joaquina played Ruth, Walter and Beneatha, respectively, in a Juilliard production of “A Raisin in the Sun” back in 2010.

We also discussed the organization Black Women on Broadway, which Danielle founded with Amber Iman and Jocelyn Bioh.

And now for some fun reading:

Peter’s review of “The Piano Lesson.”

Remember when Peter and Elisabeth went to “& Juliet” together? (Hint: It was the previous episode.) He wrote about the show, too.

Compare and contrast: Peter’s take on “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical” and Elisabeth’s!

Elisabeth’s review of “Ain’t No Mo’.”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

This week our guest is Dr. Susan C. W. Abbotson, who teaches at Rhode Island College and is such an Arthur Miller specialist that she once was president of the Arthur Miller Society. She’s still on that organization’s board and also serves as performance editor of the “Arthur Miller Journal.” Let’s go on a limb and say that she knows a thing or two about this most prominent — and still incredibly popular — playwright. There’s basically a Miller play on Broadway every other season, and of course you can see his work regularly all over the United States and even the world. Currently, New Yorkers can catch a revival of “Death of a Salesman” directed by Miranda Cromwell and starring Wendell Pierce and Sharon D Clarke. Peter loved it (here’s his review); Elisabeth did not.

We had a terrific conversation with Dr. Susan, as Elisabeth persists in calling her, and we’re pretty sure that you’ll find it interesting even if you don’t like Miller’s work — we discussed issues like casting and staging, which of course should be of interest to pretty much anybody interested in theater.

Extra reading material: Peter’s interview with Sharon D Clark.

John Lahr has a new biography of Miller (Yale University Press). Don’t worry, it’s shorter than his Tennessee Williams one.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

The first time Elisabeth saw Stephanie J. Block was in “The Pirate Queen,” back in 2007, and she loved every second of it. (Do fans of this show have a name? Queenies? Whatever, Elisabeth is one of them.) Since then she has seen Stephanie in “9 to 5,” “Anything Goes,” “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” “Falsettos,” “The Cher Show” (twice). That’s a lot of Block goodness but Peter saw this episode’s guest in “Wicked” at the Kennedy Center in 2005 so that’s some serious cred right there.

Now Stephanie is playing the Baker’s Wife in “Into the Woods” on Broadway until Jan. 8, and guess what: it’s her first Sondheim show! We’re very lucky she found the time to drop by our virtual studio for a chat that covered a lot of ground, from being asked to audition to play the wife of her real-life husband, Sebastian Arcelus, on “Madam Secretary” to what it’s like to portray real people, and a ton more fun stuff.

And obviously she and Peter talked about Branson, where Stephanie worked at the start of her career.

* Elisabeth’s feature about “The Cher Show”

* Peter’s feature about Branson and his review of “Into the Woods” (from July, so before Stephanie was in it)

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Sets: Sometimes, they get their own entrance applause — but does it mean they are, you know, good?

This week we talked about what makes a set work with the designer Beowulf Boritt, whose new book is “Transforming Space Over Time: Set Design and Visual Storytelling with Broadway’s Legendary Directors.”

Beowulf has worked at all the biggest regional houses and his first Broadway show was “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” in 2005. He has five Tony nominations and one win, for James Lapine’s “Act One” — yes, we talked about that production.

You may also have seen his work in shows as diverse as “Be More Chill,” “Come From Away” and Saheem Ali’s “Merry Wives” at the Delacorte (that one was captured for PBS). Beowulf just did the set for LaTanya Richardson Jackson’s “The Piano Lesson” on Broadway, to be followed there by “Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool” in November and Kenny Leon’s staging of “Ohio State Murders” in December. He’s a busy guy and we’re glad he stopped by to talk to us about his art.

Fun reading from your pals at the podcast:

Elisabeth wrote a preview of “300 el x 50 el x 30 el” at BAM, and the show delivered way above her expectations: the one to beat this season in sheer theatrical terms.

Peter loved the Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman” starring Wendell Pierce and Sharon D Clarke. He was quite keen on Jeffrey Page and Diane Paulus’s “1776” as well.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Our guest for this episode is Ben Brantley, who retired in October 2020 after 27 years (most of them as chief critic) as a daily theater reviewer at The New York Times. That’s a lot of years and a lot of reviews — more than 2,500 of them.

Ben is an effusive man with a quick wit and a memory like a steel trap. That’s a combination that makes for a great podcast guest. But don’t take our word for it, just listen in as we revisit many theatrical highs and listen to Ben gush about Bernadette Peters’s performance of a single particular line.

Follow Ben on Twitter

Ben’s farewell to The Times

Ben’s exit interview with current chief critic Jesse Green — whose new book with Mary Rodgers, “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” is waiting for Elisabeth to pick it up at the Brooklyn Public Library (excerpt here).

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Once Peter recovered from learning that Kate Shindle’s apartment in Queens has a garage, he was able to fully participate in the conversation with our guest, the president of Actors’ Equity and an actor herself (perhaps you saw her in the “Fun Home” tour company, among other shows).

Founded in 1913, Actors’ Equity represents more than 51,000 theater actors and stage managers. Obviously, this means that this union has played a particularly big and visible role these past two years. We talked about what’s happening with Equity these days.

As you listen, you can read Peter’s review of the touring version of “Fun Home.” Also of interest in view of recent political developments is his essay about art and life.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

One of our most popular guests has been Dr. Blythe Adamson, whose company, Infectious Economics, develops covid-19 safety protocols for Broadway theaters, among other venues, including sports arenas. With masking eliminated in July as a mandate on Broadway, we wanted to have Dr. Adamson back to talk about what the change means for theater artists and theatergoers. Dr. Adamson’s take on the decision might surprise you.

And there is much more to savor in this information-packed episode, which also includes a discussion of another current health threat, monkeypox, and what you should know about it.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

Welcome to the “____ & Vincentelli” edition of “Marks & Vincentelli”! Peter was stuck with deadlines so I, Elisabeth, was alone at the wheel. Warning: I got so drunk on power that my accent was completely out of control.

Luckily I had a great guest to keep me on track: Lauren Halvorsen, who writes the theater newsletter “Nothing for the Group” on this very platform.

Every week “Nothing for the Group” offers a great hand-selected aggregation of show announcements from around the country (both in person and digital), news, reading recommendations and what Lauren calls “the regional Game of Thrones” (appointments, departures).

The newsletter usually ends with the popular section “This is not a living wage,” in which Lauren posts job announcements from various theaters around the country and compares the advertised salary with the living wage in that city. You won’t be surprised to hear that the salaries tend to come up woefully short.

So…how do you make a living in theater? And what does a dramaturg does, anyway? And don’t miss the segment in which Lauren revealed how much she had been offered to work on a 29-hour (yeah, right) job.

All this and more in this very special episode of “Marks & Vincentelli”!

Reading list:

A couple of retrospective-minded articles I recently wrote for The New York Times:

Catching up with Mia Yoo, a decade into her run as artistic director at La MaMa.

Mabou Mines celebrated its 50th anniversary with a three-day retrospective.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

This week we talked with Nataki Garrett, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore. — one of the finest companies in the country. She was appointed artistic director in August 2019 and was scheduled to start in April 2020. As you can imagine, the timing was less than ideal, which is why Nataki’s first full in-person season is only underway now.

We had a fruitful talk that covered a lot of ground: what it was like starting her job at Oregon Shakes during a pandemic, running a repertory company, building a season, improving diversity and access, and more.

Nataki was also candid about how scary things can get (she has received death threats).

No matter where you live or what your relationship with theater is — whether you are an audience member or a theatermaker — this is a bracing conversation.

Further reading: Nataki’s op-ed in “The Oregonian.”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

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…

Since opening at Playwrights Horizons in 2019, the musical “A Strange Loop” has earned largely enthusiastic reviews, the Pulitzer Prize and, in its current Broadway incarnation, 11 Tony nominations. It was a pleasure to welcome the show’s creator, Michael R. Jackson, on the show. As you can well imagine, he is a man of many thoughts and opinions.

Here is Peter’s review of the Woolly Mammoth production, which led to the Broadway one.

Elisabeth profiled Michael R. Jackson back in 2019; a few months ago she wrote about the show’s lead, Jaquel Spivey — yes, he’s nominated, too.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

This week we welcomed the wondrous Jennifer Simard to the swanky M&V virtual studio. Jennifer has nabbed a Tony nomination for her performance as the jujitsu fiend Sarah in Marianne Elliott’s revival of “Company.” This is her second nomination after her tour de force as the slot-machine-humping Sister Mary Downy in “Disaster!”

Jennifer describes herself as a character actress, and we were happy to hear her make a proud case for that specific type. What she was too modest to say is that she is also one of the funniest actors currently working the boards. Perhaps you saw her as Ernestina in the Bette Midler revival of “Hello, Dolly,” or as Miss Hannigan in “Annie” at the MUNY in St. Louis.

She had great wisdom to impart during our conversation, and aspiring actors would be well advised to take her tips to heart. She also shared an anecdote about a close encounter of the mucus kind with her “Company” co-star Christopher Sieber. You won’t be able to unhear that story.

To wrap up the episode, we went over some shows we’ve seen recently:

Elisabeth was impressed by the Encores! revival of “Into the Woods,” even though she certainly did not need to see this show again.

Peter saw several world premieres in Washington, including Studio Theatre’s “John Proctor is the Villain” by Kimberly Belflower, who he thought has written one of the best plays since the return of theater. He also spent time with Carol Burnett on the occasion of her receiving the Stephen Sondheim Award from Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

In this episode we welcomed Helen Shaw, the drama critic for New York magazine and Vulture, to chat about the Broadway season’s musicals and discuss the Tony nominations — which you can check out here.

And what a season it was, with tuners as crazily diverse as “Six,” “Diana,” “Paradise Square,” “A Strange Loop,” “MJ,” “Flying Over Sunset” and, of course, everybody’s favorite couple: “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Mr. Saturday Night.”

Oh, and there are also the revivals of “Caroline, or Change, “Funny Girl,” “Company” and “The Music Man” — no wonder Elisabeth got a little overexcited!

Some links: Elisabeth’s feature about Jaquel Spivey, the star of “A Strange Loop,” and her 2019 interview with that show’s creator, Michael R. Jackson.

Peter’s takes on “Mr. Saturday Night,” “Paradise Square,” “Funny Girl” and what I’m going to guess is this podcast’s favorite, “A Strange Loop.”

Plus “The Music Man,” the show that contains Peter’s favorite “cutesy-wootsy production number from the black lagoon” — “Shipoopi.”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.

As the Broadway season started heating up this spring, so did Covid-19 cases, creating delays and headaches for several productions — so many people were out at “Macbeth” at one point that director Sam Gold had to step in and handle a couple of roles.

So where does this leave theater? Is it safe to go to a show? Is it safe to be in a show? To get some answers, we invited infectious-disease epidemiologist Dr. Blythe Adamson, whose company, Infectious Economics, is working with several shows as well as tours.

To wrap up the episode, we discussed a couple of shows that have gotten a lot of attention: Jamie Lloyd’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” starring James McAvoy, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Shaina Taub’s “Suffs” at the Public Theater.

More from us:

Elisabeth reviewed Barry Manilow’s “Harmony” and the hilariously misguided adaptation of “The Little Prince” that’s currently on Broadway. She also talked to Jaquel Spivey, the star of “A Strange Loop,” several times over several months; here is the resulting feature.

Here are Peter’s Broadway reviews of Tracy Letts’s “The Minutes” and critic’s notebook about “How I Learned to Drive,” “Hangmen” and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.” Also, a review of a fascinating “The Cherry Orchard” at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater, directed by Dmitry Krymov.

Here’s a link Helen Shaw’s review of “Cyrano,” which Elisabeth alluded to in the show.

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.