The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

Jeff Thacker a 5 time Emmy nominee for his work on So You Think You Can Dance. He is the show’s executive producer, and has been with it since day one when it first aired back in 2005. Now 252 episodes later, the show is still as strong as ever. Helping with the casting of contestants, judges, and choreographers, he’s partially responsible for making the careers of some of the biggest names on Broadway today.We speak about how the divide between Broadway and TV has shrunk because of programs like SYTYCD and how choreographers are now known just not for what they do but ‘who they are’. So many choreographers have become household names because of Jeff's work on SYTYCD, and he has helped feed the Broadway community by raising the visibility of both choreographers and aspiring dancers -- some of which have made it through to star on the Great White Way.Jeff and I were originally supposed to conduct the interview in person here in New York City as he traveled here to conduct auditions for this fall's season of SYTYCD, but #socialdistancing has forced him and the team to re-think their audition process. Not deterred by the fact that we cannot be together in person, and using the internet to his aid, they continue to "hold auditions" and are still hopeful that we will have live shows in front of live studio audiences come this fall.Connect with Jeff:IG: @jeffthacker Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Osnes is a two-time Tony Award nominee for her roles as Bonnie in Bonnie & Clyde, and Cinderella in Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. After winning NBC’s 2006 reality TV show You’re The One That I Want, she made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the 2007 revival of Grease. Other Broadway credits include starring roles in South Pacific, Anything Goes, and most recently Bandstand. You can also see her on TV as Shirley McClaine in Fosse/Verdon, and the Hallmark movie In the Key of Love. As a child growing up in Egan, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, Laura always gravitated towards music and theatrics. She listened to musical soundtracks and acted them out in her living room, danced competitively for 13 years, and started working professionally in Minneapolis when she was in middle school. After attending the University of Wisconsin for a year studying theater, she got offered a job as a performing apprentice at a theater in Minneapolis, and said “yes” to the opportunity. Instead of going back to school, Laura then found herself in Los Angeles competing on a reality TV show for a starring role in Grease, and shortly after, arrived in New York City for her Broadway debut. Laura shares with us her thoughts on the culture shock she experienced upon moving to LA from Minnesota. As a self-declared introvert, she admits she most enjoys becoming a character onstage - transforming into someone else, and working with a cast of people. Laura says performing is the one thing she always wanted to do - the thing she knew she was always meant to do. To watch the video version of this event, click here.In this episode, we talk about: How she is spending her time during quarantine Why she Googles herself sometimes  What the experience of filming her first Hallmark movie taught her  Why she turned down the National Tour of Grease  A day in the life of being a Tony nominee  How she approaches creating her roles  How she is keeping busy by teaching online classes Connect with Laura: IG: @lauraosnes Twitter: @lauraosnes Laura teaches online master classes via A Class Act (@ AClassActNY) - Register here: https://aclassactny.com/virtual-classes/ And Broadway Artists Alliance (@BAAofNYC) - Register here: https://www.broadwayartistsalliance.org Follow the Broadway Princess Party on IG at @bwayprincesspty and keep up to date with concert dates and new merch items here: www.broadwayprincessparty.com #RHGoesLive: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s #RHGoesPop initiative comes live to your living room via YouTube live stream performances with Bway stars, hosted by Laura Osnes! Subscribe to the R&H YouTube channel so you don’t miss an episode! https://youtu.be/AnkBNI1lMlM Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley Loren is currently the standby for Satine in Moulin Rouge! The Musical! She has worked with artists such as Kathleen Marshall, Bono of U2, and Yoko Ono; and has sung backup for artists like Carly Rae Jensen, Melissa Etheridge and Iggy Azalea. She made her Broadway debut in the revival of Jekyll and Hyde, and followed it up with the national tour. You may have seen her on American Idol season 8, or season two of NBC’s This is Us. She currently has a film in post production called Be The Light. Ashley was born and raised in Central Jersey, where she started her journey in musical theater at the age of 6, at summer camps, and in community and regional theater. She signed her first production contract as a solo artist in middle school, sang at open mics in NYC throughout high school, and deferred her acceptance to Berklee College of Music to sign with Universal and record music. Ashley went on to work and tour with Carly Rae Jepsen, calling it “one of the most transformative” things she’s done. Ashley opens up about her chronic Lyme Disease diagnosis as a child, and the neurological complications she dealt with as a result. She stresses the need for more common knowledge about this tricky, complicated, and multi-faceted illness. But she also says her struggle led her to a life in the arts, as theater and music became her outlets.Connect with Ashley: IG @ashleyoren Twitter @msashleyloren Ashleyloren.com Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Rokicki is an actor, music director, composer, and lyricist whose shows have been nominated for Drama Desk, Lortel, and Off-Broadway Alliance awards. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Actor's Equity, and an alum of the Tony Award-winning BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Writing workshop. He wrote the music and lyrics for the critically acclaimed Broadway musical THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL, which recently finished up its limited Broadway run.Growing up in the Colorado plains, he listened almost exclusively to classical music. The acquisition of a boombox exposed him to rock music for the first time, which morphed into a love for the rock musical genre. In addition, this episode covers: His natural affinity towards monsters (maybe since he was born on Halloween?) His theory that "real life" is just high school with more money -- adults are still living scared and trying to win their parents' affection Working with Joe Tracz on The Lightning Thief long before Be More Chill ever surfaced The story of how The Lightning Thief went from a non-equity, hour-long touring production to a full-fledged Broadway production Monster Songs: Rob's graphic novel you also listen to (stories told from different monsters' point of views) Connect with Rob: http://www.lightningthiefmusical.com https://robertrokicki.com/ Twitter/IG: @rrokicks Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To watch the video version of this episode, click here.Kathryn Gallagher is an amazing singer/songwriter who made her Broadway debut in 2015 in the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening. She stars as Annika Atwater in the show YOU on Netflix, and is currently starring as Bella in Jagged Little Pill on Broadway!This interview was filmed entirely on the floors of our respective houses during the #socialdistancing COVID-19 outbreak. In her own words, she’s been “preparing for quarantine her whole life.” Aside from discussing the obvious, we go deep into her own psyche, how playing Bella has helped her work through her own past trauma, and how Spring Awakening also fell in her lap, thus changing her life. At a young age, Kathryn was always performing -- she put on "shows" for her invisible audience while brushing her teeth as a child (and maybe even last week!).In this episode, we talk about: How the #metoo movement and sexual assault awareness began while they were workshopping JLP, thus changing the core character breakdown  How her photo shoot with Tyler Shields helped her regain a decade of lost body image confidence The incredible story of [almost not] booking her Broadway debut in Spring Awakening (2015) Her love/hate relationship with social media Why she puts mushrooms in her coffee The catharsis that is her experience working through her own past trauma in Jagged Little Pill Connect with Kathryn: IG: @kathryngallagher Twitter: @kathryng Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Cariou is a three-time Tony Award nominee and Tony Award winner for title role in Sweeney Todd. Working steadily his entire career in theatre, film, and tv, he was on the popular television mystery series, Murder, She Wrote opposite his good friend and former Sweeney Todd co-star Angela Lansbury. With 85 additional TV/film credits including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and 80 stage credits, he is currently starring on Blue Bloods on CBS opposite Tom Selleck, Donny Wahlberg, and Bridget Moynahan. He was most recently seen on the off-Broadway stage opposite David Lansbury in the new play Harry Townsend’s Last Stand at City Center Stage II.Len is a member of the Order of Canada (similar to being knighted in the UK) and in 2004 was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.In this episode we talk about: Breaking the news of him being cast in the upcoming film adaptation of Tick, Tick... Boom! Being well-known as a child in his neighborhood for walking home and singing every night The honor it is to become a member of the Order of Canada and how it feels to be inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame Working on the film Secret Window opposite Johnny Depp, and then watching Johnny go on to portray Sweeney Todd on film His career working with such icons as Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, and more Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an unprecedented move to help contain the spread of COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, Broadway has just gone dark for weeks. Julia Hobsbawm, a social health expert, entrepreneur, and author of a new book called The Simplicity Principle: Six Steps Towards Clarity in a Complex World, I felt the need to discuss the effect of this mandatory social distancing.For people both on and off stage, Broadway and theatre in general feeds our social health, but without that outlet now, what can we do? How do we adapt? How do we use technology without getting sucked into it? As it relates to Broadway, the shutdown, and the Coronavirus, Julia and I tackle all of these questions and more... when at the end of the day, we find out that this simplicity and isolation may actually be a good thing.Connect with Julia: Get her book: The Simplicity Principle IG: @itsjuliahobsbawm Twitter: @juliahobsbawm www.juliahobsbawm.com Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samuel H. Levine is making his Broadway debut currently starring in the production of The Inheritance. He was last seen performing in The Inheritance’s West End production - which won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. He’s just wrapped a currently untitled feature film opposite Jennifer Lawrence, and can even be seen on TV in the CBS productions of Instinct, Bull, and Elementary.Samuel was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, not far from Broadway. But it wasn’t until he found his way to the drama department at his public middle school that something about performing “just felt right.” He went on to graduate from LaGuardia High School, and then headed west to attend California Institute of the Arts. He was only there two years, when upon landing his first professional job in NYC, he dropped out.Reflecting on the two and a half year journey that The Inheritance has taken him on, Samuel talks about the family it has given him, the importance of teaching and learning queer history, and the challenges and rewards of playing two different characters in the same play. He also shares his thoughts on how he is preparing to let go of the characters who have very much become a part of himself.Connect with Sam:IG: @samhlevine Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Natalie Weiss gained an international following from her performance videos and popular YouTube web series, "Breaking Down The Riffs," which have collectively reached over 4 million views. She’s an actress, singer, private vocal coach, master class teacher, and is one of the most sought-after voices among new musical theatre writers. She is currently starring as Construction Worker emoji in Emojiland the Musical.Connect with Natalie: IG: @thenatalieweiss Twitter: @thenatalieweiss Facebook YouTube Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Burstein is a six-time Tony Award nominee who made his Broadway debut in 1992 and now has 18 Broadway credits including Company, Titanic, The Drowsy Chaperone, South Pacific, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Follies, Fiddler on the Roof, and most recently My Fair Lady opposite Laura Benanti. He can be seen all over the small and big screens, currently as D.A. Lewis Cormier on the CBS TV series Evil, and can even be heard lending his voice to video games such as Grand Theft Auto and more. He is now on stage as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge the musical.After deciding at a young age that performing was for him, he attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York, Queens College, and then University of California, San Diego to take an MFA in Acting. Throughout his highly acclaimed career, he almost said no to the offer of what then came The Drowsy Chaperone. While performing 8 times a week, he also makes the time (often at the expense of sleep) to also maintain an active TV, film, and voice over career.On a more serious note, we discuss Rebecca Luker's (his wife) recent diagnosis of ALS, more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He is candid and emotional about the toll it has taken on both of them in addition to the incredible drive and strength Rebecca has to stay well. Please visit http://prosetin2020.org/ to donate to further research and test an ALS drug candidate that Rebecca will be trying.Connect with Danny:IG: @dannybur Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com.A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible!Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Paul Seales, David SealesIf you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices