Women & Theatre Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with musical theatre writing team abs wilson and Veronica Mansour about the recent success of their show LIGHTHOUSE, the joy of collaborating with women to tell nuanced women-forward stories, the importance of practicing gratitude, and more. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Guest: abs wilson and Veronica Mansour
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

National Theater Institute (NTI)

NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program

LIGHTHOUSE at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) Festival of New Musicals

Guest Bios:

abs wilson (she/her) is a playwright & lyricist originally from Minnesota and now based in NYC. She’s a recipient of the 2024 Richard Rodgers Award, selected writer for the National Musical Theatre Alliances's New Musical Festival (2024), Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference winner (2024), selected writer for the musical theater Rhinebeck Writer's Retreat (2024), selected writer for the Syracuse New Works New Voices program (2024), Write Out Loud Contest winner for her and Veronica Mansour's song “Runaway Girl" (2023), National Musical Theater Conference Finalist (2023), NAMT finalist (2023), recipient of the Vanguard Theater New Works Festival Commission (2023), THE SEVEN New Works winner (2023), finalist for the Olney Theater Center Vanguard Arts Fund (2023), featured on the NAMT playlist, semi-finalist for SheNYC (2022), and finalist for the David Einhorn Prize (2022). She’s had work done with Theatre Barn at Playwright’s Horizons, Paper Kraine, the Tank, the Brick, Fusion Theater, Syracuse University, and St. Olaf College, with songs performed at 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, the Composers Concordance Marathon, and a play published in Some Scripts Literary Magazine. She got her MFA from NYU Tisch’s Musical Theater Writing Program and her passion for theater at the National Theater Institute’s 2020 Summer Intensive theatermaking program. abs is a member of the Dramatists Guild & ASCAP.

Veronica Mansour (she/her) is a composer/lyricist/artist. She is a 2024 Richard Rodgers Award Winner and Jonathan Larson Grant winner, was recently nominated for a Marvin Hamlisch International Music Award (Musical Theatre Composition), selected as one of four writers for DreamWorks Theatricals, MTI & NBCUniversal Emerging Writers Program (currently commissioned to write How To Train Your Dragon Jr.), and one of three 2023 Write Out Loud Contest Winners for her song “Runaway Girl” (performed by Jessica Vosk, written with abs wilson). Current works: LIGHTHOUSE (NAMT Winner 2024, Eugene O'Neill NMTC Winner 2024 & Finalist 2023, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat 2024, Syracuse NWNV 2024, Olney Theatre Center Vanguard Arts Fund Finalist 2023, New York Theatre Barn New Works Series 2023, Vanguard Theater New Works Festival Commission 2023, St. Olaf College World Premiere 2024, NAMT Finalist/Playlist) and The Dark Lady (Eugene O'Neill NMTC Winner 2023, Syracuse NWNV Finalist, 2024 Musical Theatre West New Works Festival, 2024 Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals, 2024 South Carolina New Play Festival).

Find abs and Veronica Online:

LIGHTHOUSE Website

LIGHTHOUSE on Instagram

abs Website

Veronica Website

Follow abs on Instagram

Follow Veronica on Instagram

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy spill the tea on what’s new this fall with Women & Theatre: A shiny new vision and mission statement, virtual and in-person community events, bonus podcast content, and lots of ways for you to get involved! Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

Community Events

Get Involved

RISE Theatre

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with music assistant and score coordinator Stephanie Leah Evans about her Broadway debut, the importance of music notation for opening up creativity, representation and power dynamics in music departments, setting boundaries to establish trust, and more. Click here for a ⁠transcript⁠ of the episode!

Episode Notes

Guest: Stephanie Leah Evans
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

Sweeney Todd - Broadway Revival

Maestra Music

Meg Zervoulis

Emily Grishman

VIVO

Tick, Tick…Boom!

Guest Bio:

Stephanie Leah Evans, a.k.a. "SLE" (she/her) is a Score Coordinator/Music Assistant specializing in Piano/Vocal score upkeep and formatting, copy-editing, transcription, and team organization. Her versatility with numerous music programs, from Finale to Sibelius and from Logic Pro X to ProTools, readies her to assist and liaise for any Music Team! Previous credits include stage productions Sweeney Todd 2023 Revival (Broadway), Kiss My Aztec (Hartford Stage), The Visitor (The Public Theater), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (The New Group), and The Wrong Man (MCC Theater). Stephanie also serves as an assistant to Alex Lacamoire, for whom she did Music Preparation and Score Coordination on the films In the Heights, VIVO, and Tick, Tick…Boom! Additionally, Stephanie is a singer with an extensive background in opera, musical theater, choir, and a cappella. Throughout her education, she played roles such as Susanna in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief, Hope Cladwell in Urinetown, and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. All the while, she performed choral pieces from Bach to Esenvalds, recorded albums of Jewish music, and studied the psychological implications of chromatic harmony in film scores. Summary is: Stephanie has always been a music nerd. Currently, she's working on her own writing — exploring her passions of social justice, mental health, Jewish identity, and romance through musical storytelling.

Find Stephanie Online:

Website: stephanieleahevans.com

Instagram: @steph.l.evans

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with book-writer/lyricist/playwright Kait Kerrigan about her extraordinarily fruitful year in 2023, the power of musical theatre to create empathy, and the keys to long and successful collaborations. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Guest: Kait Kerrigan
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

Justice: A New Musical at Marin Theatre Company

Indigo at The Human Race Theatre Company

Ernxst - commissioned by Concord Theatricals

The Great Gatsby - opening on Broadway [DATE]

The Time Traveller’s Wife

Guest Bio:

Kait Kerrigan (she/her) is best known for her musical (book and lyrics) with Bree Lowdermilk THE MAD ONES, which includes cult-hit songs “Run Away with Me” and “Go Tonight”. She wrote the book for Broadway-aimed THE GREAT GATSBY, which opened at the Papermill Playhouse in October 2023 and just announced a Broadway opening in 2024. She also wrote additional lyrics for THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE, which opened on the West End in October 2023. Other musicals include INDIGO, JUSTICE, the pop-up immersive house party THE BAD YEARS, and children’s shows - HENRY & MUDGE, EARTHRISE, and ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER & FRIENDS. Her plays include FATHER/DAUGHTER and IMAGINARY LOVE.

Find Kait Online:

New Play Exchange

Instagram: @kaitkerrigan

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with composer/lyricist/writer Julia Riew about opening up the process of musical theatre creation, increasing Asian representation in theatrical spaces, inspiring the next generation to tell their own stories, and indulging in your passions. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Guest: Julia Riew
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources

Dive - currently in development at the American Repertory Theater

Julia’s 54 Below debut concert

Asian Student Arts Project (ASAP)

The East Side

Maestra

Fred Ebb Award

Guest Bio

Julia Riew (she/her) is a Korean-American composer, lyricist, librettist, and writer from St. Louis and currently based in New York City. She is primarily known for her musical Dive (previously known as Shimcheong: A Folktale), which amassed over 100k followers online and over 16 million streams on an animated music video of its titular song in Korea. Julia graduated from Harvard University in May 2022 and is First-Year in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. In her first year out of college, she has been named the 2022 Fred Ebb Award winner, Playbill’s Featured Songwriter of the Month, A Woman to Watch on Broadway, and the recipient of the 2022 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship under the mentorship of composer Laurence O’Keefe (Legally Blonde, Heathers). Julia was the inaugural recipient of the Musicians United for Social Equity (MUSE) Linda Twine Scholarship (2021), a member of the first MUSE One-on-One Mentorship Program (2021-22) (mentor: Jeanine Tesori), and a member of the inaugural Maestra Music Mentorship Program (2020-21) (mentor: Deborah Wicks La Puma). Her past works include Alice’s Wonderland, an original musical co-written by J Quinton Johnson (Hamilton), Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure (The American Repertory Theater’s 2020 Family Musical), and Thumbelina: A Little Musical (The A.R.T. 2019 Family Musical).

Find Julia Online:

Website: https://juliariew.com

Instagram: @juliariew

TikTok: @juliariew

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with composer/lyricist Madeline Myers about uplifting the stories of women who have been erased from history, expanding our understanding of women’s relationship with work, finding people who believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself, and being a good person in addition to a good artist. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Guest: Madeline Myers
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources

Double Helix - playing at Bay Street Theater May 30-June 18

Stacey Mindich

Guest Bio:

Madeline Myers (she/her) is a composer and lyricist for musical theater in New York City. Her musicals include Double Helix (world premiere Bay Street Theater, 2023) Flatbush Avenue (UNC-Greensboro commission, 2021), The Devil’s Apprentice, (world premiere Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018), and Masterpiece (O’Neill Musical Theater Conference 2018 semi-finalist). 



Named to the 2022 Broadway Women’s Fund “Women to Watch on Broadway” list, Madeline is a 2023 & 2022 Kleban Prize finalist for lyric writing, a winner of the 2021 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award presented by New York Stage & Film and the Ziegfeld Club; a 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant finalist; a 2019 York Theatre Company NEO Writer; a 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 ASCAP Plus Award recipient; and a 2016-2017 Dramatists Guild Fellow. 



Madeline’s musicals have been developed at Bay Street Theatre, the York Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals (2023 Festival of New Musicals, the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove), the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, the Fingerlakes Musical Theater Festival, Musical Theater Factory, the NMI Disney Imagineering New Voices Project, the New York Theatre Barn, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project.



When not writing musicals, Madeline enjoys reading, walking in Central Park, and volunteering.  She is an active volunteer with Central Synagogue’s unhoused breakfast program and the founder of a 2020 voter registration/Census count initiative for the New York unhoused community. Through the pandemic, Madeline has worked with NYC Test & Trace Corps to bring mobile vaccine buses and PPE to unhoused New Yorkers. In 2018, Madeline created the Blair School of Music Student Citizen Award given to a female student demonstrating excellence in personal character and contributions to the community.  Madeline sits on the Alumni Board of the Vanderbilt University Ingram Scholarship Program, of which she is a proud alumna. She is an original member of the music department of the Broadway production of Hamilton.



Madeline is a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. She is represented by Chris Till at Verve Talent & Literary Agency.

Find Madeline Online:

Madeline website: www.madelinemyers.com

Show website: www.doublehelixmusical.com

Madeline Instagram: @madelinesmyers

Show Instagram: @doublehelixmusical

TikTok: @doublehelixmusical

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk about the joys and challenges of networking and how it plays out in the theatre industry, especially for women and other underrepresented groups. We share tips and resources for improving networking skills and celebrate the fact that networking is a skill that continues to be developed over a lifetime. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC)

Maestra

MUSE

Ring of Keys

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with Musical Theatre Factory artistic director Brisa Areli Muñoz about creating stories in a way that centers justice and communities, expanding our definition of what musical theatre can be, centering radical care and embodied healing, and reimagining artists’ roles as agents of creative change in their communities. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Guest: Brisa Areli Muñoz
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

Musical Theatre Factory

1776 the Musical - Broadway and national tour

Mercedes - Oye Group and Musical Theatre Factory

Kundalini Activation Process

One Nation/One Project

Guest Bio:

Brisa Areli Muñoz (she/her) is the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, an organization that develops changemaking new musicals in a joyous, collaborative community free from commercial pressures. Brisa was an inaugural Artistic Director of New York City’s first-ever All Inclusive All-City Theater Ensemble, a NYC Department of Education citywide theater company that creates original musicals with teens of all abilities. Brisa has also served as Manager of Community Partnerships for The Public Theater’s Public Works program, a major initiative that invites community members to take classes, attend performances, and join in the creation of ambitious works of participatory theater. Muñoz has directed and facilitated work on Broadway, across the world, and in communities in partnership with the Roundabout Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Repertory Theater, Center Theatre Group, The Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, Carnegie Hall, REDCAT Cal Arts Theater, Arts Emerson, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, BRIC Arts Media, Sojourn Theatre, Oye Group, CUNY Creative Arts Team, Hi-ARTS, CO/LAB, and Actionplay.

Find Brisa Online:

Instagram: @brisaareli and @mtfmusicals

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with up-and-coming performer Elle Reimer about telling stories that matter, balancing paid work and art, increasing access to arts education, and taking care of ourselves by resisting hustle culture. As a bonus, we celebrate Women’s History Month by spotlighting singer and actress Ethel Waters. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Episode Notes

Guest: Elle Reimer
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Episode Resources:

Women’s History Month Spotlight: Ethel Waters

Dead Broke - Toronto Fringe

Eva Tavares - Behind the Mask

Guest Bio

Originally from British Columbia, Elle Reimer (she/her) moved to Toronto in September 2021 to pursue her career in theatre. She holds a diploma in Musical Theatre from Capilano University. Select theatre credits include Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 (CapU Theatre), Grand Hotel, It’s a Wonderful Life (Arbutus Studio), Dead Broke (Toronto Fringe 2022). Elle is passionate about telling new and impactful stories with strong women at the forefront. Follow along with her journey on Instagram @ellereimer!

Find Elle Online:

Instagram: @ellereimer

Thanks for listening!

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with theatre writer, director, and choreographer Thalia Ranjbar about using art to challenge cultural conventions, elevating underrepresented perspectives, and building cultural specificity and diversity into the DNA of theatrical works. As a bonus, we celebrate Women’s History Month by spotlighting influential Cuban American playwright, director, and educator María Irene Fornés. Click here for a transcript of the episode!

Guest: Thalia Ranjbar
Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews
Music: Chloe Geller

Women’s History Month Spotlight: María Irene Fornés

Read more about Thalia’s work

Emerging Artists - New Works Series

Sanaz Toossi - English and Wish You Were Here

Marjan Kamali - The Stationery Shop

Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project

Thalia Ranjbar (she/her) is a Persian-Salvadoran-Canadian multidisciplinary artist presently based in New York City. With her focus being in theatre and film, Thalia is a screenwriter, librettist, director, and choreographer with a passion for elevating and developing stories that include voices of queer and BIPOC communities. She is a recent graduate of New York University where she earned the distinction of Master of Fine Art from the "Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.” Immediately after, Thalia was 1 of 12 international participants selected for the “Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project,” where she received mentorship from Crag Carnelia, Andrew Lippa, Lindy Robbins, and Autumn Rowe. Thalia’s theatrical writing has been developed and presented by Feinstein’s 54 Below, Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre, Lincoln Centre, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her recent directing/choreography credits include The Talk at New York Theater Festival (nominated for Best Short), Unlikely Friends At Bloor St Station and Inevitable Transitions at the Emerging Artists Festival, and Then She ran at the New Studio on Broadway.

Website: http://thaliaranjbar.com

Instagram: @tranjbar15

LinkedIn: Thalia Ranjbar

Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here.

The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!