Leah Nanako Winkler’s new play, God Said This, is just beginning performances at Primary Stages. We speak with her about her growth as a writer, what it was like to revisit the world of Kentucky for God Said This, and more.
In the new musical The Prom, Tony winner Beth Leavel plays the character of a Tony winning Broadway actress. This is not the first time that Beth has portrayed a satirical theatre diva; her twelve Broadway credits include a career-defining performance originating the title character in The Drowsy Chaperone. We speak with Beth about the experience of playing her own narcissistic “evil twin” in The Prom, how she approaches comedy, her thoughts on celebrity activism, and more.
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Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me is an extraordinary, singular work of genius. It’s electrified the New York theatre, and speaks to the past, present, and future all at once. Heidi Schreck is The Interval’s first-ever Person of the Year. We speak with her, for the second time, about writing and performing What the Constitution Means to Me.
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The new play Gloria: A Life depicts Gloria Steinem looking back on her remarkable life and all of the women who shaped it. The show is written by Emily Mann, directed by Diane Paulus, and produced by Daryl Roth. Along with Christine Lahti as Gloria, there is an all-female cast—and creative, design, and management teams. We speak with Christine, Emily, Diane, and Daryl about bringing the life of Gloria Steinem to the stage, where their own lives parallel the story, being women in the public eye, hiring women, and more.
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In playwright Hansol Jung’s world of glorious magical realism, the Internet is portrayed by people singing in binary code and fathers turning into penguins who have lost their wings. Those are only two of the many-layered metaphorical components that make up her new show, Wild Goose Dreams, currently playing at The Public Theater. We speak with Hansol about the thematic importance of communication, the inherent musicality of her plays, metaphors on stage, and more.
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Usual Girls by Ming Peiffer and directed by Tyne Rafaeli centers around Kyeoung, a young Asian-American woman coming of age in the ‘90s and early 2000s, and the messy, sometimes dangerous, sometimes exhilarating ways that sex and friendship and personhood meld and to form the moments that define us. It’s the first show in Roundabout Underground history to sell out both its initial run and extension before it had even opened. We speak with Ming and Tyne about developing the play, the experiences that are carried into adulthood, putting female sexuality on stage, and more.
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Lauren Gunderson is one of the most produced playwrights in America, but her plays have almost entirely been produced outside of NYC. Presented this fall at The Women’s Project, in a production directed by May Adrales, Natural Shocks stars Tony Award nominee Pascale Armand. We speak with Lauren, May, and Pascale about the challenges of working on a one-woman show, how comedy can foster empathy, the community-building aspect of theatre, and more.
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In the new musical, The Prom, Caitlin Kinnunen plays a teenager who just wants to take her girlfriend to the high school prom. It’s Caitlin’s first lead role in a Broadway musical. She’s been with The Prom from its early workshops, to the out-of-town production, and now Broadway. We speak with her about working on a timely musical, the responsibility of playing Emma, the pressure of Broadway, and more.
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Playwright Miranda Rose Hall and director Margot Bordelon to discuss their latest work, “Plot Points in Our Sexual Development” at LCT3. The show, which is described by LCT as “a contemporary queer love story” explores the intricate rapport between a Cecily, a cisgender lesbian and Theo, who is genderqueer. They discuss what it was like to write and stage a play that addresses very personal, vulnerable subject matter, and more.
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The Thanksgiving Play, currently in previews at Playwrights Horizons, marks the New York debut of Larissa FastHorse and is believed to be the first time a play by a Native American has been produced at a major Off-Broadway theatre. We speak with Larissa about the inspiration for the play, satire in the American theatre dealing with race, the pressure of her New York debut, and more.
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The new musical, Renascence, is about Edna St. Vincent Millay and is the first musical by Carmel Dean. We speak to Carmel about her love of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry, what it was like to adapt the poems into songs, why the poet was a hundred years ahead of her time, and more.
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In Charise Castro Smith’s new play El Huracán, hurricanes both literal and figurative bear down on four generations of women as they confront their history, what they’ve lost, and what they’ve found. We speak with director Laurie Woolery and actors Irene Sofia Lucio, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Jennifer Paredes, and Adriana Sevahn Nichols about creating a different way of working, making room for inherited memory and instinct, performing a show about women in our current cultural climate, and more.
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Jenny Koons is not interested in playing by the rules of traditional theatre. Her productions are rooted in activism and community, like her A Midsummer Night’s Dream for The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, in which the classic Shakespeare play is reimagined within the world of a New York City block party. We speak to Jenny about what it’s like to direct for the Mobile Unit, the reason that Midsummer is a perfect New York play, why she is interested in work that asks questions, and more.
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A life in the theatre has unique challenges for people dealing with mental health conditions including instability, rejection, lack of financial resources, intense emotion, and more. We gathered Halley Feiffer, Lora Lee Gayer, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Alexandra Socha, and Lauren Villegas to have a conversation about the intersection of mental health and theatre.
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For the last few years, there has been increasing interest around director Lila Neugebauer, with many theatre-watchers wondering when she’d make her Broadway debut. Well, now she is, with The Waverly Gallery. We speak with her about directing a naturalistic, contemporary but not contemporary-contemporary play; becoming one of the youngest women to direct on Broadway; her career path; and more.
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The Constitution—which is very in or very out right now depending on how you look at it—is the subject of What the Constitution Means to Me a new play written and starring Heidi Schreck. More specifically, the show examines the Fourteenth Amendment (arguably the most important amendment) and its effect on generations of women in Heidi’s family—and on herself. We speak with Heidi about developing the piece, her thoughts on theatrical autofiction, the challenges of writing about violence against women and abortion, and more.
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Geraldine Inoa and Gracie Gardner have a lot in common. Both are young writers who are relatively self-trained (neither chose to pursue an MFA) and who go back and forth between the worlds of theatre and television. Both women are also the recipients of very prestigious awards, The Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission and The Relentless Award, associated with Shonda Rhimes and Phillip Seymour Hoffman respectively. Additionally, both have plays being produced in New York this month. We speak with Geraldine and Gracie about their experiences working in theatre and TV, from the realities of balancing writing with day jobs to the unspoken gendered rules on how writers are expected to present themselves.
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In Head over Heels, Bonnie Milligan does not portray a typical princess. Her character, Princess Pamela, is hilarious, strong-willed to the point of throwing a tantrum onstage, and unabashedly confident in who she is—at least on the outside. We speak with Bonnie to discuss her Broadway debut in Head Over Heels, her thoughts on playing Pamela, and more.
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Straight White Men, which marks Young Jean Lee’s Broadway debut, as well as the first time a play by an Asian woman has been produced on Broadway. Young Jean has been a staple of the downtown theatre community for years, with her own theatre company where she writes and directs. She has also, for whatever reason, been a slightly enigmatic figure. We speak with Young Jean about her process for writing Straight White Men, how she views the audience, ambition, and more.
Ten years ago, Heidi Blickenstaff was part of the beloved musical [title of show]. Now, Heidi now finds herself in another rare position: after doing the stage musical of Disney’s Freaky Friday, she was hired to reprise her role in the made-for-TV movie. We speak with Heidi about her journey with the film, being brave on camera, aging, and more.
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Charlotte Moore, co-founder of Irish Repertory Theatre, and Melissa Errico discuss their production of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and their experiences working together as “two strong women” in the theatre, sharing tales of triumph as well as some of the darker experiences that have informed their takes on the characters in the show and in the theatre industry at large.
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One of the New York City Ballet’s most lauded principal dancers, Tiler Peck might be the woman to help change the classical dance– and theatre– world. She’s stepping into new leadership roles and there’s a documentary, BalletNOW, about it. We speak with her about her goals for BalletNOW, the ballet world having so many men in leadership roles, her future as a choreographer, and more.
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The past nine months have been full of firsts for choreographer Camille A. Brown. She made her Broadway debut as the choreographer for Once On This Island and then, a few months later, she made her television debut as the choreographer for Jesus Christ Superstar. Her choreography can currently be seen in Atlantic Theatre Company’s production of This Ain’t No Disco. We speak with Camille about her process, reframing dance from the ‘70s, her goal of becoming a director/choreographer, and more.
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Between Broadway seasons in New York City, the theatre world is not nearly as quiet as you might imagine. The summer months have become increasingly packed with theatre festivals. We talked to six artists participating in four such festivals about their work.
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The House That Will Not Stand provides a glimpse into a brief moment in 19th century American history, when wealthy women of color had land and power of their own. We speak with director Lileana Blain-Cruz, assistant director Machel Ross, actors Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Juliana Canfield, Harriett D. Foy, Lynda Gravatt, Nedra McClyde, Marie Thomas, and Michelle Wilson about their rehearsal process, what it means to be a “powerful woman,” and more.
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