Beyond the Lights: A Conversation with Theater Professionals
Welcome to Beyond the Lights: A Conversation with Theater Professionals. Theater is a community event and it takes a village to operate. From actors to designers to company managers to teaching artists to data nerds and dramaturgs and everything in between. So join me weekly to learn more about each person's journey and the "hustle" we call theater as we go Beyond the Lights.
Episodes
56 episodes
54. TOM ONTIVEROS - Lighting and Projection Designer
On today's show, I speak with Tom Ontiveros, a lighting and projection designer as well as a professor and chair of the theater department at the University of La Verne. Tom has such an interesting and unexpected from starting college as a biol...
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50:38
53. ANDREA GRODY - Broadway Music Director
Andrea Grody is a music director and music supervisor, primarily working in new musicals. Now, if you've been listening for a while you know that one of my specialties and loves is new plays, so it was such a pleasure to discuss what that looks...
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57:32
52. CATE BROOMHEAD - Broadway Wig Swing
On today's show, I speak with Cate Broomhead, a wig swing on Broadway. With Halloween being yesterday it's only appropriate to release an episode with a person who does a job that we've all benefitted from at some point in our lives. I'd ventur...
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51:57
51. RJ MAGEE - Casting Director
On today's show, I speak with casting director RJ Magee. RJ got his start in professional theater at a very young age, a journey that led him to the famous Interlochen School for the Arts and then eventually onwards to casting for musical theat...
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48:10
50. DARREN LEE - Director, Choreographer, and Performer
On today's show, I speak with Darren Lee, a director, choreographer, and performer. Darren has had quite the career, from winning the first-ever Junior Star Search, to being in the original Broadway cast of Miss Saigon, to reconnecting...
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47:18
49. OR MATIAS - Music Director
On today's show, I speak with music director Or Matias. Or has such an incredible resume that includes Juilliard, NYU, The Great Comet, Octet, Moby Dick, The Wave which premiered in Austria, an upcoming children's album, honestly the list goes ...
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51:05
48. CAROLYN MAZUCA - Costume Designer
On today's show, I speak with costume designer Carolyn Mazuca. We talk about everything from our love of San Antonio and the Southwest, to imposter syndrome, to the differences between working in film and television vs. theater. I absolutely lo...
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47:13
47. *REBROADCAST* ERICA HEMMINGER - Associate Set Designer of MOULIN ROUGE
I'm so excited for you to listen to (or revisit) my conversation with Erica Hemminger, associate set designer of Moulin Rouge. A lot has happened since we recorded this a year ago, but my fascination with the elephant continues. Please...
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51:20
46. *REBROADCAST* JASON LOFFREDO - Music Director of KINKY BOOTS
Hi everyone! I am still on a bit of a break, but I promise, I'll be back with NEW episodes in two weeks. Until then, I am rebroadcasting my episode with Music Director Jason Loffredo. Now, Jason and I recorded this in August of 2020 so any "upc...
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51:26
45. *REBROADCAST* KAT WEST - Stage Manager of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF in Yiddish
This is week in re-broadcasts, I am proud to present the second episode I ever recorded with my friend Kat West stage manager, extraordinaire of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. Enjoy!______________________________________
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58:57
44. *REBROADCAST* TAI VERLEY - Artistic Director of Revolution Shakespeare
Hello friends! I'm coming to you in a bit of a different format today. I will be taking a break for the next weeks and instead of not showing up in your feed every Monday I've decided to re-share some earlier episodes that you may have missed i...
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1:13:50
43. CÁNDIDO TIRADO - Playwright
On today's show, I speak with Cándido Tirado a playwright, teacher, and chess master. Cándido and I discuss his time at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, why there is a rumor that he punched a critic after a bad review (spoiler, he didn't pun...
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49:55
42. DAWN CHIANG - Lighting Designer
On today's episode, I speak with Dawn Chiang. Dawn is a lighting designer that has worked on Broadway, in opera, regional theater, dance, live events, I could keep going, truly. I first met Dawn a few months ago as a part of the Ac...
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51:25
41. CARA REICHEL - Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Prospect Theater Company
Cara Reichel is a co-founder and artistic director of Prospect Theater Company in New York City. If you've been listening to this show from the beginning, you may know of my history with Prospect--but if not, well...you're in for a treat. I wor...
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58:05
40. KRISTI ROSS-CLAUSEN - Theater Maker
On today's show, I speak with Kristi Ross-Clausen, a self-proclaimed eclectic theater practitioner. Kristi has been in the industry for 30+ years and has done everything from working in a large theater in Appleton, WI where she calls home to go...
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45:55
39. DAVID R. MOLINA - Composer and Sound Designer
On today's show, I speak with David R. Molina a musician, composer, and sound designer. I have a not-so-secret love of sound design, and quite frankly I can't believe it's taken me THIRTY-NINE EPISODES to have a sound designer on, but here we a...
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54:40
38. LIZA LUXENBERG - Broadway Production Manager
On today's show, I speak with Liza Luxenberg, the Senior Vice President of Aurora Productions. Aurora is a production management and technical supervision company that specializes in Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring theater productions. Liza...
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46:31
37. ARIANNA GASS - Multimedia Theater-Maker and Scholar
Arianna Gass is a theater-maker who primarily occupies the multimedia theater space. They are a worker-owner of Obvious Agency, an artist cooperative in Philadelphia known for creating interactive live performance. They are also currently pursu...
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39:26
36. ERICA ANDRACCHIO - Executive Director at Left Coast Theater Company
On today’s show, I speak with Erica Andracchio. Erica is the Executive Director at Left Coast Theater in San Francisco. Left Coast is an independent theater that is dedicated to elevating new works by LGBTQ+ artists. We discuss her journey to b...
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48:32
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35. RYAN MCALPINE - Flying Director on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
On today's show, I speak with Ryan McAlpine, a flying director with Flying by Foy. Ryan is a Flying Director on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in New York, San Francisco, and the Australia production which is currently on stage in Melbourne....
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54:27
34. NAVI - Artistic Lead at Flying V
On today's show I speak with navi, an Artistic Lead at Flying V theater in Washington DC. We discuss their background in music and how that lead them to theater through the Capital Fringe Festival, what the DC theater scene is like, the d...
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49:44
33. KEITH JOSEF ADKINS - Artistic Director of The New Black Fest
On this episode, I speak with Keith Josef Adkins, a playwright and artistic director of The New Black Fest. Keith originally went to school for broadcast journalism with the dream of becoming a weatherman, so how exactly did he transition into ...
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48:44
32. JUDITH FRANKLIN - Broadway Actor
On today’s show I speak with Judith Franklin, or as Matthew Neff from episode 17 calls her “Broadway’s Judith Franklin”. Judith and I discuss how she went from the Sunshine Choir at her local church, to performing in Ethiopia, to her journey to...
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1:05:40
31. NGOZI ANYANWU - Actor and Playwright
Ngozi Anyanwu is an actor and award-winning playwright (Good Grief, Homecoming Queen). During this conversation, we discuss her early years in theater, how she went from actor to playwright, her journey to landing an agent, what ...
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1:03:06
30. SARAH ENLOE - Director of Education at the American Shakespeare Center
Sarah Enloe is the Director of Education at the American Shakespeare Center. We discuss the role an education director plays for a theater, the practical research efforts that infuse performances at the ASC, and how scholarship informs all aspe...
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1:01:58
