Stage Grok

I talk with author Ken Glazer about his book Searching for Oedipus: How I Found Meaning in an Ancient Masterpiece.

I talk with Broadway producer and BroadwayHD founder and CEO Bonnie Comley, about her career and about the BroadwayHD digital streaming service.

I talk with composer, lyricist, and music director Georgia Stitt, about musical theatre and copyright in this new age of bootlegs, smart phones, YouTube, and other social media platforms. Georgia is the chair of the Copyright Advocacy Committee of the Dramatists Guild. She's also the founder of Maestra Music Inc, a support and advocacy organization for "female-identifying, non-binary, and gender non-conforming composers, music directors, orchestrators, arrangers, copyists, rehearsal pianists and other musicians who are an underrepresented minority in musical theater."

I talk with author Andy Propst about his book They Made Us Happy: Betty Comden & Adolph Green's Musicals & Movies, about the legendary writing team that brought us Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, Wonderful Town, Bells Are Ringing, On the 20th Century, The Will Rogers Follies, and many more shows and films.

I talk with Broadway composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown, about his writing process, his work in musical theatre and on the solo stage, and his composer-lyricist wife Georgia Stitt.

I talk with Charlie Rosen, composer, performer, and orchestrator, about Charlie Rosen's Broadway Big Band, his 8-Bit Big Band, and his work as music supervisor and orchestrator for Be More Chill

I talk again with Jennifer Ashley Tepper, author, historian, and Broadway producer, about Be More Chill, which she's producing -- in addition to her three volume Untold Stories of Broadway, her concert series If It Only Even Runs a Minute, and her series of concerts at 54 Below in New York, where she is director of programming.

I talk with actor Katlyn Carlson, who plays Chloe in the Broadway musical Be More Chill, about the show and the incredible reception it has received around the world.

I talk with composer-lyricist Joe Iconis, about his writing process, and about his musical Be More Chill and the incredible reception it has received

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with lyricist and bookwriter Greg Kotis, about his shows Urinetown and Yeast Nation.

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with actor Thom Sesma, about his career and about stepping into the title role in the new, immersive, off Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. He has appeared in many shows on and off Broadway, as well as several productions at the The Rep here in St. Louis.

I talk with musical theatre composer-lyricist Bobby Cronin, about his projects and the life of a theatre writer. His shows include Mary and Max, Till Death Do Us Part, Welcome to My Life, The Cover, Till Soon, Anne, Alone in the US, Daybreak, and A Christmas Carol.

I talk with Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick about conceiving and writing the Broadway musical Something Rotten, now on tour, coming to the Fox Theatre in St. Louis on Feb. 7, 2017.

I talk with playwright-lyricist Tom Jones (The Fantasticks, 110 in the Shade, I Do! I Do!), about his show Celebration and his 2016 revision, produced by New Line Theatre.

I talk with playwright, poet, and actor Dael Orlandersmith, about her brilliant one-woman show Until the Flood, commissioned by The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with playwright, screenwriter, and director Neil LaBute, about his writing process and about the annual LaBute New Theatre Festival at St. Louis Actors' Studio.

I talk with Lucy Cashion, educator and artistic director of Equally Represented Arts (ERA), a theatre company in St. Louis, about their critically acclaimed devised work Trash Macbeth

I talk with actor Ann Harada about her career (Avenue Q, Seussical, Cinderella, 9 to 5, Les Miz, M. Butterfly, etc.) and about race and the American theatre in 2016.

I talk with lyricist-bookwriter Danny Ginges and composer-lyricist Philip Foxman, about their rock musical Atomic, which debuted in Australia, then moved to off Broadway, and then was produced by two regional theatres, Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Michigan, and then New Line Theatre in St. Louis.

I talk with Broadway actor Jeff McCarthy, about playing Officer Lockstock in the original Urinetown, and about his newest project, the musical Southern Comfort.

I talk with director Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Spring Awakening, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Everyday Rapture, et al.) about the process of transforming Green Day's American Idiot album into a stage musical.

I talk with director Ed Stern, about his production of The Lion in Winter at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, where he has also directed many other Rep shows in the past.

I talk with St. Louis-born actor Alex Prakken, who's currently touring the country in Newsies, about his work here in St. Louis, getting the Newsies gig, and the details of life on the road.

I talk with stage manager Champe Leary, about the job of stage managing and her decades working with the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

I talk with Adam Feldman, theatre critic for Time Out New York, and president of the New York Drama Critics' Circle, about his philosophy and process of reviewing, and his take on the state of the American theatre.

I talk with Broadway lyricist and composer Amanda Green about the musical High Fidelity, its creation, its production, its reception, and its rebirth here in St. Louis at New Line Theatre in 2008, and again in 2012.

I talk with actor Anderson Matthews, who was in the original cast of the 1975 Bluegrass musical The Robber Bridegroom. Andy has been acting on Broadway, in London, and across our country in regional theatre since the 1970s. He has appeared at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in many shows, including Arcadia, Betrayal, The Crucible, Closer, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Other Desert Cities, Twelfth Night, The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, The Pillowman, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Art, Closer, Copenhagen, and so many more.

I talk with architect, scenic designer, and lighting designer Rob Lippert, about designing the new Marcelle Theater in St. Louis' Grand Center arts district, the new home to New Line Theatre.

I talk with Washington University professor Todd Decker about Show Boat, its creation, its impact, its history, its legacy, and the many forms it has taken over the last century. Todd has written three books, Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz, Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical, and Who Should Sing “Ol’ Man River”?

I talk with St. Louis actor and teacher Tom Murray, about Theater Factory, one of St. Louis' most interesting companies for ten years in the 1980s and 90s, about its founder Hope Wurdack, and all the great artists and shows that were part of the adventure.

I talk with actor Lee Wilkof, who originated the roles of Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors and Sam Byck in Assassins. He has also appeared in many other shows in New York and elsewhere. We talk about his experience working on Little Shop.

I talk with Peter Filichia, writer and musical theatre historian, about the musical theatre today and about his books, The Great Parade; Strippers, Showgirls and Sharks; Broadway Musical MVPs; Let's Put on a Musical; and Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit & the Biggest Flop of the Season, 1959 to 2009. Peter also writes four online columns, for Music Theatre International, BroadwaySelect.com, Masterworks Broadway, and Kritzerland Records.

I talk with Todd Schaefer, actor, director, designer, and teacher, about approaching the character of Capt. Macheath in New Line Theatre's production of The Threepenny Opera. We discuss his creative process and what was so different about working on Threepenny. Todd is also artistic director of The Players Project Theater Company in St. Louis, and the drama teacher at Webster Groves High School.

I talk with En Piro, founder and executive director of the St. Lou Fringe. Now in its fourth year, we talk about how a fringe festival operates, what she does, what the artists do, how shows are chosen, and why a fringe festival is important to our city.

I talk with Paula Hanssen, professor in the International Languages and Cultures department at Webster University, who was written a great deal about Bertolt Brecht and his creative partner Elisabeth Hauptmann. She's the author of the book, Elisabeth Hauptmann: Brecht's Silent Collaborator and she's an officer in the International Brecht Society.

I talk with Mark Bernstein, managing director for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. We talk about the duties of a managing director at a major regional theatre, insider details on creating a budget for the season and for each show, working with artistic director Steve Woolf, working with the Rep board, fundraising, forecasting, unions, housing, and the small army of artists that creates the Rep's six mainstage shows, three studio shows, and three children's shows each season.

I talk with Jennifer Ashley Tepper, author, historian, producer, about her two volume Untold Stories of Broadway, her concert series If It Only Even Runs a Minute, and her series of concerts at 54 Below in New York, where she is director of programming.

I talk with Jeffrey Carter, chair of the music department at Webster University, and resident music director at New Line Theatre, about music directing in the theatre, vocal care and training, and the whole process of bringing a musical theatre score to life, from auditions through the run.

I talk with Steve Woolf, artistic director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, about the duties of an artistic director of a nonprofit regional theatre, including programming the season, hiring artistic staff, and so much more.

I talk with William Finn, Tony Award winning composer and lyricist of The Marvin Trilogy, Romance in Hard Times, Elegies: A Song Cycle, A New Brain, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Little Miss Sunshine, and other shows. We talk about his work, his teaching, and his artistic influences.

I talk with Judy Newmark, theatre critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the entire process of reviewing theatre, from deciding which shows to review, to getting the review online and in the paper.

I talk with Denny Reagan, president and CEO of The Muny, the largest and oldest outdoor musical theatre in the country, about his job, his long tenure there, and the Muny itself. For more information about the Muny, visit their website, at http://muny.org/