Stagecraft with Gordon Cox

The stars of the new Broadway musical adaptation of "Death Becomes Her" talk comic timing, macabre special effects, and why Hilty always knew "Death Becomes Her" would make a great musical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, the stars of the new Broadway musical "Maybe Happy Ending," on cross-cultural storytelling, navigating their show's technologically complex set, and why robots are uniquely suited to telling a very human story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this supersized episode of Stagecraft, we bring you three conversations from Variety's Business of Broadway breakfast, featuring the stars, creators and producers behind some of the biggest shows on Broadway this fall.   In our first conversation, Erik Piecuch of City National Bank moderates a discussion with the producers Hunter Arnold ("Maybe Happy Ending," "Othello"), Caroline Kaplan ("Redwood"), Mara Isaacs ("Gypsy," "Hadestown"), and Sammy Lopez ("How to Dance in Ohio," "JOB").   In our second talk, Variety's Rebecca Rubin talks with four of the stars of the new Broadway revival of "Our Town": Zoey Deutch, Jim Parsons, Ephraim Sykes and Michelle Wilson.   And in our final interview, Variety's Brent Lang talks to two of the creative forces behind the buzzy new revival of "Sunset Boulevard," star Nicole Scherzinger and director Jamie Lloyd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tony-winning playwright and Oscar and Tony-winning director talk memory, loss and making “The Hills of California,” their latest Broadway play. Plus: the joys and pitfalls of franchise moviemaking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-0" actor takes listeners behind the scenes of his return to Broadway, portraying a flawed, fictionalized version of the playwright David Henry Hwang in Hwang's comedy of mistaken racial identities, "Yellow Face." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeanine Tesori, the Tony winning composer of “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Fun Home,” talks about her upcoming Metropolitan Opera debut, “Grounded,” and what it’s like when a musical theater composer finds herself working with an 80-piece orchestra and 60-voice ensemble. Also discussed: the launch of the “Kimberly Akimbo” national tour, the revisions she and David Lindsay-Abaire made to “Shrek,” and why “Soft Power,” the musical she wrote with David Henry Hwang, is like the Renaissance Faire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a new tarot deck that brings Broadway to the tarot through the work of legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld — and I got a taste of the deck in action with a reading from its creator, Emily McGill, in a conversation about the spirituality of theater, the "casting" of theatrical icons as specific tarot cards, and how theater fans might use the deck for insight and self-reflection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talking with Tony-winning Broadway star, who says she’s playing “an unhinged version of myself” in the new Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Behind the scenes with three of the creators of "Cats: The Jellicle Ball," the colorful, queer reimagining of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that's become a breakout hit of the summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, the directing-producing duo behind the Tony Awards telecast, talk wowing the audience, innovating the staging, and why the Tonys always have the best acceptance speeches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tony-nominated star of "Appropriate," Sarah Paulson, and its nominated playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins share some real talk about Tony season, reveal how the extended run of "Appropriate" has changed things both for the actors on onstage and for the audiences in the house, and banter about why Paulson should maybe play Prince in "Purple Rain." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tony-nominated stars of "Cabaret" take listeners backstage for a peek at the "synchronized chaos" behind the scenes, and talk rowdy crowds, critics, and Redmayne's fourth go-round in the role of the Emcee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oscar, Emmy and Tony winning actress Lange, now on Broadway in a Tony-nominated performance in "Mother Play," discusses premiering a new play on Broadway, explains why she could do without Wednesday matinees, and reveals why her recent work has her feeling "wild and liberated." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a conversation recorded before the announcement of the Tony nominations, actors Espinosa and Iman talk criticism discourse, the irresistible allure of Lempicka, and the Broadway community that’s rallied around their show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now starring on Broadway in the critically acclaimed "Water for Elephants," Gustin shares what's most challenging — and most rewarding — about his first return to musical theater after nine years as the star of the long-running CW series "The Flash." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded live on the Broadway Cruise, musical theater icon Peters recalls the moment she fell in love with Sondheim's work, shares the biggest lessons she's learned in her career, and reveals the one Sondheim role she'd still love to play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soon to make her Broadway debut in the buzzy play “Stereophonic,” Canfield talks learning all those overlapping lines, telling an accidental lie on the way to winning her part in the show, the “Succession” diaspora on stage, and that one time the “Stereophonic” cast became a real band in Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the creators of the new Broadway musical adaptation of "The Notebook," Ingrid Michaelson and Bekah Brunstetter, aim to both satisfy and surprise—and why the show's theatricality makes the popular story even more universal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two theater influencers, Kristin Hopkins and Ashley Hufford, reveal the secrets of becoming a theater influencer. The first thing to know: There's not much money in it, but there's a lot of free theater. "If I wanted this to be my day job, I should have done beauty influencing," Hufford jokes.  Kristin Hopkins: @kristin_bria on Instagram, @kristinbhopkins on TikTok Ashely Hufford: @ashley_hufford on Instagram, @ashleyhufford on TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director-choreographer Justin Peck and Pulitzer winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury talk about making a nontraditional dance musical based on Sufjan Stevens’ “genre-defying” album “Illinoise.” The show is now having its world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and will run at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan in March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices