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Could a show about robots be Broadway's best new love story?

On this episode, we talk with Golden Globe winner Darren Criss (American Crime Story, Glee) who stars in Maybe Happy Ending, one of the buzziest new musicals on Broadway. He chats with Playbill's Alex Birsh about what the show means to him and what it's like bringing it to audiences each week. The episode also features an interview with the theater friend of the week, Diep Tran (Playbill's Editor-In-Chief), who talks about why this show resonated with her so much.

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When Broadway returned from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, it needed a jolt, a bolt of lightning. Happily, we did not just get one. We got SIX.

In this episode, host Alex Birsh talks with Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the creators of SIX: The Musical, to discuss how an idea developed in a university dorm room turned into a smash-hit musical that has played over 1,400 performances on Broadway and around the world. Before the interview, Birsh chats with Meredith Ammons, Playbill's Social Media Coordinator, about why she suggests SIX to her friends and family who ask her, "What Broadway show should I see?"

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This episode highlights one of the most captivating new Broadway shows today: Operation Mincemeat! Winner of London's Olivier Award for Best Musical in 2024, the show tackles the complex but exhilarating story of British intelligence officers in WWII fooling the most dangerous man in the world.

Playbill Podcast host Alex Birsh brings on Natasha Hodson and Jak Malone, two stars of the show. Natasha is also one of the creators, first thinking about this concept thanks to a podcast episode. Before their interview, Alex brings on Bryan Campione of the Playbill staff to chat about why this musical is his favorite of the season.

:28 - A quick summary of Operation Mincemeat

2:21 - Bryan and Alex's thoughts on the show

9:37 - Alex's interview with Natasha and Jak of Operation Mincemeat

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In this episode, we talk to Idina Menzel, one of Broadway's brightest stars, about her musical Redwood. Co-created by Menzel and writer/director Tina Landau, Redwood the Musical is about finding inner peace within the beautiful Redwood Forest. Menzel talks about what it's meant to her to bring Redwood to the Nederlander Theatre, as well as how surreal it is to be back in that specific theatre, in her old dressing room, from her days in RENT. Before the interview with Idina, host Alex Birsh brings on Ethan Treiman, Playbill's videographer and editor, who discusses why Redwood resonated with him.

0:39 - Peek into the show

2:09 - Interview with our theater friend, Ethan Treiman

10:06 - Interview with Idina Menzel

If you want to see Redwood, head to RedwoodMusical.com or visit Playbill.com for more information about every show on Broadway. Redwood is set to close on May 18, 2025.

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What would happen next if Shakespeare's Juliet decided not to take her own life? The story told each night at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre is an answer to that question.

&Juliet came to Broadway in 2023 and has captivated the hearts of theatergoers with its infectious story and pop music hits, all produced by one person: Max Martin, the five-time Grammy Award winner who has worked with the likes of The Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, and more. Each of these artists, plus a host of others, has songs in the show that help tell the story of the continuation of the most famous romance in history.

As we do each episode, host Alex Birsh brings on members of the production: Maya Boyd, who plays Juliet, and Alison Luff, who plays the narrator of the show, Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare's real wife's name....it's true). Before the interview, he brings on a theatre friend who will tell us why the show resonated with him so much, to the tune of seeing the show 11 times(!).

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Few shows on Broadway get to be considered a "breakout hit," but the original play Oh, Mary! at the Lyceum Theatre has officially hit the mainstream, hosting sold-out crowds and major celebrities like few other Broadway shows this season. Most surprising of all: it is a farce, a smash hit comedic play based on the mostly untrue story of Mary Todd Lincoln and her husband, former US President Abraham, during his final weeks. In this episode, host Alex Birsh brings on the creator and star of the show, Cole Escola, and the director, Sam Pinkleton, to discuss how this show came to be and what it's like bringing it to audiences every day.

Before the interview, Alex brings on the theatre friend of the episode, Logan Culwell-Block, to chat about why this show resonates with him so much.

00:23 - Sneak peek

02:47 - Interview with Logan

12:50 - Interview with Cole and Sam

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In the early 1990s, college students Adam Guettel and Tina Landau embarked on a wild idea: writing a musical based on the strange-but-true story of Floyd Collins, the Kentucky man who got stuck in a cave in 1925 trying to turn the cave into a tourist attraction. The topic was so intriguing because of what happened after he got stuck: the news story became one of the country's first "viral stories," reaching far and wide and creating such pandemonium that thousands would gather atop the entrance to the cave, hoping he would get rescued. After making it to an Off-Broadway theatre in 1996, the musical circled the Broadway industry for decades thanks to the clever concept by Landau and beautiful score by Adam Guettel, now a two-time Tony Award winner (and Landau is now a Tony-nominated director).

The musical has finally made it to Broadway and received six Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Jeremy Jordan, our guest for the episode. We talk about what it's like to be nominated again, his path to the show, and his thoughts on why Floyd represents the best of him. Before the interview, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's C.O.O.) brings on a theatre friend to go into why the show resonated with him so much.

00:23 - Sneak Peek

01:47 - Interview with theatre friend Logan Culwell-Block

11:08 - Interview with Jeremy Jordan

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Hi Playbill Podcast listeners! We make a lot of content here at Playbill: for the Playbill programs, our website, and our social media/YouTube pages. While we’re working on future podcast episodes to be released later this summer, we thought you’d enjoy an audio version of an episode from My Life in the Theatre, our video series where a theatre legend walks us through their career on the stage, one Playbill at a time. 

This episode is our most recent, featuring the star of Just In Time on Broadway, Jonathan Groff. We’ll set the scene: it’s Jonathan Groff at a table with a microphone and a big binder, filled with a lot of Playbills and a lot of memories.

01:41 - In My Life

05:21 - Spring Awakening

09:52 - Hair

13:55 - Prayer for My Enemy

16:07 - The Singing Forest

17:15 - The Bacchae

20:08 - The Submission

20:51 - Red

22:53 - The Pirates of Penzance

25:16 - A New Brain

28:09 - Hamilton

30:41 - Little Shop of Horrors

33:08 - Merrily We Roll Along

35:21 - Just In Time

If you’d like to watch this episode on our YouTube page, visit this link:

https://youtu.be/W5JIgY52ozA?si=9L6PA-8Rh8zCLAmT

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The Tony Awards are on Sunday, June 8, and what better way to prepare for the big night than by talking about what could happen! As a Tony Awards partner, Playbill and host Alex Birsh (Playbill’s C.O.O.) can’t disclose too many opinions…but that’s why we brought on two people who CAN share their thoughts and are Tony Awards voters themselves. 

Adam Feldman (Time Out) and Elysa Gardner (The New York Sun, The New York Times, Broadway Direct) are theatre critics and have plenty of thoughts on who and what they’ll vote for, and who they think will walk away with trophies. And, of course, don’t forget to tune in on June 8 to PlutoTV at 6:40 PM for Tony Awards: Act 1, and CBS for the main broadcast at 8 PM.

If you’d like to jump to specific awards categories, here’s a timecode guide:

05:40 - Best Orchestrations

09:20 - Best Choreography

13:16 - Best Direction of a Musical

17:05 - Best Direction of a Play

20:55 - Best Sound Design of a Musical

23:11 - Best Sound Design of a Play

24:45 - Best Lighting Design of a Musical

26:09 - Best Lighting Design of a Play

27:34 - Best Costume Design of a Musical

29:20 - Best Costume Design of a Play

30:50 - Best Scenic Design of a Musical

31:48 - Best Scenic Design of a Play

33:11 - Best Original Score

34:48 - Best Book of a Musical

37:22 - Best Performance by an Actress in Featured Role in a Musical

39:19 - Best Performance by an Actor in Featured Role in a Musical

41:43 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

44:42 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

47:39 - Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role in a Musical

52:51 - Best Performance by an Actor in Leading Role in a Musical

56:39 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

58:10 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

59:31 - Best Revival of a Musical

1:01:01 - Best Revival of a Play

1:03:01 - Best Play

1:06:04 - Best Musical

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We here at Playbill hope you are having a great summer. It was a whirlwind, wonderful season on Broadway, capped by the Tony Awards in early June. We have slowed down a bit on podcast episode production to take a little break to catch our breath, but fear not -- we will be back with more Broadway show-focused Playbill Podcast episodes later this summer.

This episode is a special one, focused on a 2025 Tony Award winner: the Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, more commonly known as The MUNY, which received the Regional Theatre Tony Award as it celebrates its 107th season. It is the nation’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theater venue, seating a whopping 11,000 at a time, which helps the theater give away 100,000 free seats each season. But even more impressive is just how wild it is to put on a show there, where they need to make a high-quality, larger-than-life version of a Broadway show in only a matter of days.

In this episode, I talk with the creative director of the MUNY, Mike Isaacson, as well as husband and wife actor duo Rob McClure and Maggie Lakis, who are set to play stage married couple Larry and Cynthia Murphy in the MUNY’s Dear Evan Hansen. We talk about the magic of the Muny, what it’s like to put on a show so quickly, and how Dear Evan Hansen is a perfect story for today.

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On this episode of the Playbill Podcast, host Alex Birsh talks with "Roastmaster General" Jeff Ross about his new solo show, Take a Banana for the Ride. On Broadway through the end of September. Ross shines the spotlight on himself and his journey, which includes his upbringing in New Jersey and even his bouts with multiple conditions and illnesses, including alopecia.

Birsh and Ross chatted on the rooftop of the Hard Rock Hotel in Times Square before Jeff's press day got fully underway. They discussed what it means to Jeff to make it to Broadway, what he’s most looking forward to, what he thinks opening night is going to be like, and how he’ll be thinking often of his good friends and family who will be with him in person and spirit, such as his late friends Gilbert Gottfried, Norm Macdonald, and Bob Saget.

For tickets and more information, visit jeffrossbroadway.com

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The musical "Death Becomes Her" has become a Broadway mainstay, thrilling packed houses each night and building an impressive audience. For those of you who haven’t seen it, you may have heard a clip of it before, especially if you have a TikTok, as a sound from the song "Hit Me" has gone viral, heard by millions ("That. Was. Rude....").

Broadway star Jennifer Simard plays Helen Shaw, the friend/rival of Madeline Ashton, the over-the-hill stage and screen actress played by Broadway powerhouse Megan Hilty. They both have eyes for fame, acclaim, and love interest Ernest, played by Christopher Sieber. Both women attempt to stay forever young thanks to the magic provided by Viola Van Horn (Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child). This, of course, has its unintended consequences. 

In this episode, host Alex Birsh talks with a theatre friend who’s seen the show, and they’ll go into why "Death Becomes Her" might be for you if you’re heading to Broadway. Following the interview, Alex brings on stars Jennifer Simard and Christopher Sieber, who go into everything it took to create this show and what it's like to put it on night after night. 

00:23 -- Sneak peek of Death Becomes Her

02:27 -- Interview with theatre friend Diep Tran, Editor-In-Chief of Playbill

11:35 -- Interview with Jennifer Simard and Christopher Sieber

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One of the recurring multimedia series we make at Playbill is called My Life In The Theatre, and you can find it in the Playbill programs on Broadway, on our YouTube page, and on our website. The premise is simple: we hand a theatre legend a binder filled with Playbills of their past stage shows, and they talk to us about their time in each. The first episode we edited for this podcast was with Jonathan Groff, which got a great listener response. We wanted to turn our most recent installment into another podcast episode, especially because it features the absolute legend that is Audra McDonald, the most Tony-awarded actor in Broadway’s history, who had just finished her run in the iconic revival of Gypsy.

We’ll set the scene: it’s Audra McDonald at a table, with a microphone and a big binder filled with a lot of Playbills, and a lot of memories.

For those who want to watch this episode instead, click this link here!

01:39 - The Secret Garden

03:34 - Carousel 

08:17 - Master Class

11:12 - Ragtime

14:25 - Marie Christine

17:51 - Henry IV

20:43 - A Raisin in the Sun

22:40 - 110 in the Shade

25:14 - Porgy and Bess

26:55 - Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill

30:01 - Shuffle Along, Or….

31:58 - Frankie and Johnny in the Clare 

34:12 - Ohio State Murders

36:28 - Gypsy

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Breaking the Binary Theatre is a new work development and community building hub wherein transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ artists come together to reclaim their artistic license and liberty. This year the theatre will celebrate the fourth annual Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival, opening on October 20 with a one-night-only concert of The Drowsy Chaperone at Carnegie Hall featuring a star-studded all-trans and non-binary cast led by Laverne Cox, Alex Newell, Betty Who, Jonathan Van Ness, Dylan Mulvaney, and more. All net proceeds will benefit Trans Lifeline, Black Trans Liberation, and Breaking the Binary Theatre.

In this episode, Playbill Podcast host Alex Birsh passes the mic to Breaking the Binary Theatre founding artist director George Strus who moderates a roundtable with participants of this year's festival: Tony nominee L Morgan Lee, Sis Thee Doll, Samora la Perdida, and Cheeyang Ng. The group discuss their participation in the festival, the importance of representation in the industry (both in front and behind the table), and more!

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Someone must have said his name three times again...since Beetlejuice is back on Broadway for a third time! Playbill went to New York Comic Con earlier this fall and hosted several panels on Broadway, including Beetlejuice's return, Hamilton's lasting impact, the rise of Death Becomes Her, Little Shop of Horrors' impact on entertainment history, and a look into the new spring musical, The Lost Boys. We know everyone who'd want to hear these panels couldn't be there in person, so we're turning them into podcast episodes!

The first one we're bringing to you is our panel on Beetlejuice, and how fans cannot get enough of the ghost with the most. We brought on the current Beetlejuice and Lydia, Justin Collette and Isabella Esler, to talk about what it takes to put this musical on. We also had Warner Bros.' executive Mark Kaufman and marketing agency SPOTCO executive Callie Goff on the panel to explain how the show, and its public image, were created in the first place.

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Playbill went to New York Comic Con in October and hosted several panels on Broadway, including Beetlejuice's return, Hamilton's lasting legacy, the rise of Death Becomes Her, Little Shop of Horrors' impact on entertainment history, and a look into the new spring musical, The Lost Boys. We know everyone who'd want to hear these panels couldn't be there in person, so we're turning them into podcast episodes!

The second one we're bringing to you is our panel on Hamilton, and how this remarkable, history-making show has electrified Broadway for a decade and is performed all over the world. On the panel, we had Jisel Soleil Ayon (Angelica Schuyler), Trey Curtis (Alexander Hamilton), Tamar Greene (George Washington), Cherry Torres (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Morgan Anita Wood (Eliza Hamilton), and Patrick Vassel (Associate Director).

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What do you get when you combine more than 11,000 performances, 124 million attendees, and six Tony Awards? You have arguably the most successful and impactful Broadway show in its history. The Lion King debuted in 1997 and has since helped lift the art form and its patrons up, spreading the joy of its work across the world through its many productions. The show, helmed by multi-time Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor, has helped jumpstart countless careers and sparked general interest in live theatre, a theme in this episode.

Host Alex Birsh brings on his father, Phil Birsh (Playbill's Chairman and CEO), to talk about the indelible mark the show has made on Broadway, and they reminisce about Phil bringing Alex to The Lion King when he was eight years old.

Alex then brings on two cast members, Gavin Lee (Scar) and Lindiwe Dlamini (multiple roles), who discuss what it's like to bring this show to life every day, from the perspective of the newest cast member (Lee) and the one who has been with the production since the very beginning (Dlamini).Yes...since 1997!

00:25 - Sneak peek into The Lion King

02:17 - Alex and Phil interview

18:09 - Gavin Lee and Lindiwe Dlamini interview

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The Lost Boys musical is on its way to Broadway and it is one of the season’s most highly anticipated new shows, with previews starting March 27th at the Palace Theatre. Tickets are available now at lostboysmusical.com. 

The production is in the middle of the final sprint to the finish that all new shows need to take on to open on Broadway successfully, and while there is rarely time to reflect in those moments, the producing and creative teams for the show are peeling back the curtain with a three-part podcast series called "Time To Kill: Making The Lost Boys Musical." And lucky for you all, we’re releasing those episodes here on the Playbill Podcast. 

The hosts of the series are producers James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson, and each episode will feature a different member or members of the creative process, such as the music, the direction, and the cast. 

In this first installment, the focus is on the band that created the music for the production: The Rescues.

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The Lost Boys musical is on its way to Broadway, and it is one of the season’s most highly anticipated new shows. Previews start March 27th at the Palace Theatre, with tickets available now at lostboysmusical.com. 

The production is in the middle of the final sprint to the finish that all new shows need to take on to open on Broadway successfully, and while there is rarely time to reflect in those moments, the producing and creative teams for the show are peeling back the curtain with a three-part podcast series called "Time To Kill: Making The Lost Boys Musical." And lucky for you all, we’re releasing those episodes here on the Playbill Podcast. 

The hosts of the series are producers James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson, and each episode will feature a different member or members of the creative process, such as the music, the direction, and the cast. 

The first episode of the series focused on the music with special guests The Rescues. In this second installment, the hosts bring on the two-time Tony Award-winning director of the musical, Michael Arden.

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In 1998, composer/lyricists Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and book writer Terrance McNally brought a big, American musical to Broadway based on Ragtime, the acclaimed novel by EL Doctorow. It was a success; the production was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won four of them. The show ran for multiple years, launched many careers, and brought new, beautiful music to the world. 

That world has waited many years for a revival of this beloved musical, which tells the commingling stories of Coalhouse Walker Jr and his wife Sarah, Mother and Father and their family in the upper class in Westchester, and Tateh and his daughter, immigrants embracing a new and complex home in New York at the turn of the 20th century. Lincoln Center and its new artistic director, Lear deBessonet, have brought us the long-awaited revival at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, and it’s made a sizable splash on Broadway, playing to sold-out houses thanks to its beauty and many timely themes that are all too familiar today. 

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's C.O.O. and SVP) talks to a theatre friend who’s seen the show and suggests it to those who ask, "What should I see on Broadway?" Birsh then brings on the three leading players in the show: Joshua Henry (Coalhouse), Caissie Levy (Mother), and Brandon Uranowitz (Tateh).

To get tickets to Ragtime, click here. To see all of what Broadway has to offer, visit Playbill.com.

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The Lost Boys musical is on its way to Broadway, and it is one of the season’s most highly anticipated new shows. Previews start March 27th at the Palace Theatre, with tickets available now at lostboysmusical.com. 

The production is in the middle of the final sprint to the finish that all new shows need to take on to open on Broadway successfully, and while there is rarely time to reflect in those moments, the producing and creative teams for the show are peeling back the curtain with a three-part podcast series called "Time To Kill: Making The Lost Boys Musical." And lucky for you all, we’re releasing those episodes here on the Playbill Podcast. 

The hosts of the series are producers James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson, and each episode has featured a different member or members of the creative process, such as the music, the direction, and the cast. 

The first episode of the series focused on the music with special guests The Rescues. In the second installment, the hosts brought on the two-time Tony Award-winning director of the musical, Michael Arden. In this third and final installment of the series on the Playbill Podcast, the hosts bring on the cast members portraying the Emerson family: Shoshana Bean, LJ Benet, and Benjamin Pajak.

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Have you ever been lucky enough to visit somewhere, or meet someone, and feel almost immediately that your life is about to change? That is what the character Dougal feels about New York and his unofficial tour guide, Robyn, in the Broadway musical Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York.

First developed in England, the musical tells the story of Dougal’s 48-hour visit to New York on a mission to connect with members of his family at an upcoming wedding. But, as you can tell by the title of the show, he and Robyn have a job to do before the big day, and they navigate through the third character of the play, New York City itself. 

In this episode, host Alex Birsh brings on a theater friend who suggests the show when someone asks them, What should I see on Broadway?

And then he brings on his special guests: Sam Tutty, who plays Dougal, Christiani Pitts, who plays Robyn, and director and Choreographer Tim Jackson, and they talk about what it’s like to bring this very creative and special show to Broadway audiences.

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What lengths would you go to for the person you loved, and what lengths would the public love you for it? Those are the central themes of the play Dog Day Afternoon, an adaptation of the 1975 movie, itself a dramatization of real-life events that happened in 1972. Adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, the story centers on two men, Sonny and Sal, and their quest to rob a bank in New York City in the summer of '72. 

Played by real-life friends Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Sonny and Sal hold up the bank, but the cast of characters in and around the bank have enough talent to STEAL in their own right, as in the show, thanks to the excellent performances by Jessica Hecht and John Ortiz.

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's C.O.O. and SVP) talks to a theatre friend who’s seen the show and suggests it when they’re asked, "What show do you recommend seeing on Broadway?"

And then he brings on his special guest, the Emmy Award-winning powerhouse Jon Bernthal. They talk about the joy he is having bringing this piece to Broadway, welcoming all kinds of audiences into the theater, and the love he has for his native Ojai and creating the Ojai Theater Festival last year.

Lock the doors, count your money, and yell ATTICA as we take you to the August Wilson Theatre on 52nd Street for Dog Day Afternoon.

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How does a simple Chess rivalry become more than just one person against another? How about...when both players are involved in a love triangle? And the two players are American and Russian, with their nations locked in a Cold War? This is the backdrop of the musical CHESS, the epic tale by Sir Tim Rice and two members of ABBA, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.

Originally conceived in the early 1980’s as a world-renowned concept album by Rice, Andersson, and Ulvaeus, it had a successful run in London before it was brought to Broadway in the late 80’s. It was changed quite a bit for its American run, and the newer version of the show only made it through 68 performances on Broadway in 1988.

So many fans over the years have clamored for this show to get a proper Broadway revival, and we finally got it thanks to a new book by Danny Strong, direction by Michael Mayer, and a remarkable cast at the helm: Lea Michelle as Florence, Aaron Tveit as Freddie, and Nicolas Christopher as Anatoly. 

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's C.O.O. and SVP) brings on a theater friend who suggests the show when someone asks them, "what should I see on Broadway?"

And then he brings on his special guest, one of the stars of the show, Aaron Tveit, and who talks about the challenges and the joys of bringing this production to fans each night.

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Have you ever wished to find yourself IN a musical? That is the fate of boyfriend and girlfriend Josh and Melissa, who get trapped in the town of Schmigadoon, influenced by the Golden Age of musical theatre (and named after the Broadway classic Brigadoon). First performed at The Kennedy Center in 2025, the stage rendition of the streaming series of the same name (on AppleTV+) has just been nominated for a staggering 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's COO and SVP) brings on a theater friend who suggests the show when someone asks what to see on Broadway.

And then Birsh brings on the two stars of the show, Alex Brightman and Sara Chase, the latter of whom earned her first Tony award nomination for the role. The two of them talk about what it's like to take on characters who are stuck in a musical.

Get ready to cross that bridge and try some corn puddin', as we head to the Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street for Schmigadoon! 

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In this episode, we focus not on a particular show but on a remarkable talent who has helped change the landscape of the theatrical world, literally and figuratively: the renowned architect and Tony Award-winning set designer David Rockwell. 

It is staggering to unpack all the sets he has designed in the last multiple decades, such as the Rocky Horror revival in 2000, Hairspray, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Normal Heart, Kinky Boots, Side Show, On the Twentieth Century, She Loves Me, Falsettos, Kiss Me Kate, the Chess Revival, and he just earned a Tony nomination for his scenic design for the recently-opened play Fallen Angels. It’s his first nomination since he won for Best Scenic Design of a Musical in 2016 for She Loves Me. 

But we did first characterize him as an architect, and that is not only how his working life began, but continues to shine within, as he and his firm have had their hands in a remarkable amount of legendary projects in hospitality, like Nobu, The Corner Store, Din Tai Fung, the W Hotel, The Civilian Hotel, and more.

Host Alex Birsh talks with David about some of those career highlights, how he got into this line of work, and what gets his creativity going when he’s faced with a new project.

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Throughout his life, the legendary and groundbreaking playwright August Wilson wrote ten plays chronicling the Black experience, decade by decade, throughout the twentieth century; what has been referred to as The Pittsburgh Cycle. Joe Turner’s Come and Gone takes us to the earliest chapter, 1911, just a few decades removed from the end of slavery, in the middle of the Great Migration, when hundreds of thousands of Black Americans were making their way north.

The play unfolds in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by Seth Holly, played by Cedric the Entertainer, who always seems to have a steady stream of wanderers passing through his doors. His wife, Bertha, played by Taraji P. Henson, keeps the household warm, steady, and welcoming. In their world is Bynum Walker, played by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and he’s considered a “conjure man” who speaks in riddles and visions, and of a "shiny man" he once encountered on the road, as this man carries the secret of binding people to their purpose, to “their song” as he says. 

And then there's Herald Loomis, played by Joshua Boone. Seven years before the time of the play, Loomis was captured by Joe Turner, who is based on a real historical figure -- a white man in Tennessee connected to the governor who would capture Black men off the roads and force them into years of illegal servitude on his chain gang. By the time Loomis escapes, he has lost everything, including his sense of self. He arrives at the boarding house with his young daughter Zonia, desperate to find his wife Martha.

That is the setting of the play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and everything that follows is truly must-see theater, thanks to the outrageous cast, the direction from Broadway legend Debbie Allen, Costume Design by Paul Tazewell, and Set design by David Gallo.

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill COO and SVP) brings on Tony nominee Joshua Boone and Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who was nominated for his portrayal of Bynum, to discuss their experience in the play and why this show is so meaningful to them.

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If you’ve ever moved to a new town, you know how much of a pain it is. For the Emerson family in the 1980’s, they feel that in a major way as they move to Santa Carla, California. Their biggest obstacles, it turns out? The vampires who reside there. 

If this sounds familiar to you, then you remember the 1980’s classic Joel Schumacher movie with the same title, The Lost Boys. The stage musical adaptation has taken Broadway by storm, with direction by two-time Tony winner Michael Arden and set design by Tony winner Dane Laffrey. The musical stars Shoshana Bean as Lucy Emerson, and her boys, Michael and Sam, are played by LJ Benet and Benjamin Pajak, respectively. They run into trouble thanks to David, a resident bad boy and vampire, played by Ali Louis Bourzgui, and his band of vampires. 

This show has earned 12 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. If you want to dive deep into the making of it, the lead producers of the project hosted a three-part series right here on the Playbill Podcast called Time To Kill, so head on back to earlier this year to check those out if you’re interested. 

But we wanted to give the show the official Playbill Podcast treatment, so host Alex Birsh (Playbill's COO and SVP) brings on a theatre friend to hear why they believe The Lost Boys is very much worth the price of admission. And then he brings on his special guest: lead producers Patrick Wilson, Marcus Chait, and James Carpinello, and they go into what it’s been like to make so many changes during previews and how much of a thrill it is to see audiences drink up this mega musical of theirs.

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"Was there ever a Cat(s) so clever?" That is what people are saying about Cats: The Jellicle Ball, the outstanding revival based on the award-winning and long-running musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber, itself based on TS Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. 

This reimagining has breathed extravagant new life into the work by setting Cats in an entirely different context: the legendary Ballroom scene, filled with runways, house mothers, and inspired runway choreography.

The production began its life at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in 2024 under the ideation and direction of Artistic Director Bill Rauch and Zhailon Levingston. It was brought to Broadway this season to immediate fanfare, earning a whopping 9 Tony Award nominations and three Tony Award victories, including Best Direction, which went to both Rauch and Levingston.

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's COO and SVP) talks to a theatre friend who’s seen the show and suggests it for those who ask them, "What should they see on Broadway?” And then he brings on his special guests, the Tony Award-winning directors of the show, Bill Rauch and Zhailon Levingston, as well as Junior LaBeija, an icon of the Ballroom scene. Junior was the emcee in the famous Paris is Burning documentary, and currently plays Gus in this production. 

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