When Lightning Strikes!

In this episode When Lightning Strikes! goes on location to the theater at Studio 54. Jeryl Brunner talks to Brian d’Arcy James who currently stars in Days of Wine and Roses with Kelli O'Hara. Adapted from the 1962 film and original 1958 teleplay by J.P. Miller, this new musical features a book by Craig Lucas, Adam Guettel's music and lyrics and direction by Michael Greif. In this extensive conversation Brian talks about the epic journey to bring Days of Wine and Roses to the stage and why the show is so important to him.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Broadway and off-Broadway veteran who has starred in dozens of productions, Patrick Page is currently performing in the hit play All the Devils Are Here at the DR2 Theatre. Directed by Simon Godwin, this riveting show explores Shakespeare's most fascinating villains. A Tony nominee for his portrayal of Hades in Hadestown, some of Patrick's other credits include Saint Joan, Casa Valentina, A Time to Kill, Spring Awakening, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, A Man for All Seasons, Julius Caesar, The Lion King and on and on. This Grammy-winning gifted actor has also appeared on TV and film in The Gilded Age, Elementary, Spirited, In the Heights, Estella Scrooge, and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Daniels and Sheryl Kaller are some of the forces behind The White Chip, the hit autobiographical comedy currently playing at MCC Theater. Daniels, who wrote the White Chip, is a prolific theatermaker who leads The Recovery Project for Florida Studio Theatre. The Recovery Project commissions new works that destigmatizes recovery. The White Chip's director, Sheryl Kaller, has directed on and off Broadway. Some of her credits include Next Fall, for which she was nominated for a Tony and Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally. The White Chip's production team includes Jason Biggs, John Larroquett, Hank Azaria, Annaleigh Ashford, recovery activist and author Ryan Hampton and the The Recovery Project. The production stars Joe Tapper, Crystal Dickinson and Jason Tam. This episode was recorded on February 20, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warren Carlyle is a Tony winning and Emmy nominated Director and Choreographer. Most recently he directed and choreographed the musical Harmony, now playing on Broadway. Just a few of his other credits include After Midnight, Chaplin, Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway, Finian’s Rainbow, A Tale of Two Cities, Kiss Me Kate, The Music Man, Hello, Dolly!, She Loves Me, On The 20th Century, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, A Christmas Story, Stephen Sondheim’s Follies and more!  This episode was recorded on December 7, 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marty LaSalle is the CEO of the Big Apple Circus. Their latest show, Journey to the Rainbow, created in collaboration with Circus-Theater Roncalli, is now playing at Lincoln Center through January 1.  This episode was recorded on November 21, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zalmen Mlotek is the Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. He and his son, Avram Mlotek are the forces behind Amid Falling Walls: Unveiling Resilience and Hope During the Holocaust. Arranged by Zalmen with a libretto by Avram Mlotek, this Off-Broadway production presents songs created and performed in ghettos, cabarets, concentration camps, and theaters. The musical is currently playing at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at The Museum of Jewish Heritage. This episode was recorded November 27, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sade Lythcott is a Tony and Emmy-nominated producer and the Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Theatre. Founded in 1968, by her mother Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, National Black Theatre is the nation’s first revenue-generating Black arts complex. National Black Theatre, also called NBT, is one of the longest-running theaters by a woman of color. Most recently, National Black Theatre co-produced Fat Ham and Purlie Victorious on Broadway and (Pray) off-Broadway. All three shows have been New York Times Critic’s picks.  This episode was recorded on November 1, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A prolific director on Broadway and off, some of Leigh Silverman's credits include Violet, Grand Horizons, The Lifespan of a Fact, Chinglish, Well, SUFFS, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Soft Power, Sandra, Hurricane Diane,The Wild Party and Really Rosie. A Tony award nominee, Leigh has directed over 60 world premieres and musicals. Her latest show, Merry Me, is now playing at New York Theatre Workshop. Leigh will soon be reuniting with Billy Crudup directing him in the Berkeley Rep production of Harry Clarke. He performed the show at the Vineyard and Audible theaters.  This episode was recorded on October 26, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresh off of their appearance on RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars Season 8, Alex Michaels, also known as Alexis Michelle, has had a hit cabaret show at Joe’s Pub and appeared at Disney’s Gay Days in Anaheim. An accomplished theater performer, Alex appeared off-Broadway and in tours of Big Apple Circus, Field of Mars, Chapter One, Hair, Little Shop of Horrors and Oklahoma! In addition to their album "Lovefool" on Broadway records, Alex also has a series of music releases including, "If You Want My Apples" and "Lulu's Shoes." Look out for Alex's upcoming Witch Perfect tour with fellow drag stars, Scarlet Envy and Tina Burner.  This episode was recorded September 15, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrea Syglowski is a riveting actress who has thrived on stage in film and TV. Just a few of Andrea's credits include Pass Over, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, Queens. Lost in Yonkers. Venus in Fur, A Doll’s House and Dear Elizabeth. Andrea currently stars in the hit play Dig by Theresa Rebeck. Presented by Primary Stages, Dig is playing at 59e59 Theaters. This episode was recorded on October 3, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brendan George wrote and starred in A Eulogy for Roman. The riveting immersive show had a successful run at 59 E 59 Theaters. Directed and conceived by Peter Charney, A Eulogy for Roman was also a hit at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Brendan is a New York City-based actor-writer-improviser and singer. This episode was recorded on September 12th, 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marcia Cross stars with Ron Canada and Bryan Batt in Pay the Writer. Written Tawni O’Dell and directed by Karen Carpenter, Pay the Writer is now playing at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Cross, who starred as Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives and was on the series Everwood and Monarch, is a graduate of the Juilliard School. She has performed at Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Hardford Stage Company and the Old Globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Valisia LeKae stars as LaVern Baker in Rock & Roll Man. The hit musical is playing at New World Stages. Valisia was nominated for Tony and Grammy Awards playing Diana Ross in Motown: The Musical. Some of her other Broadway and off-Broadway credits include Three Penny Opera, 110 in the Shade, Ragtime, Book of Mormon, Superhero and Almost Heaven: The John Denver Musical. On TV Valisia has been seen in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FBI: Most Wanted, The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods. On March 15 Valisia will be making her Carnegie Hall debut in the show Hittsville: Celebrating Motown with the New York Pops. This episode was recorded August 10, 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marilee Talkington stars as Morgan Le Fey in the musical Camelot now playing at Lincoln Center Theater. A prolific actress on stage and screen, some of her other theater credits include A Nervous Smile, The Middle Ages, The Last Day and her solo show, Truce. She has acted in film and on TV in The Home, Extrapolations, SEE, FBI: Most Wanted, NCIS, New Amsterdam and Law & Order SVU. Marilee, who is legally blind, founded Access Acting Academy which offers actor training for blind and low vision adults and children.  On July 26 1990 the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law to commemorate that date, July is Disability Pride Month. In the court of Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater Marilee is one of two disabled actors in the company. Anthony Michael Lopez, a congenital above-knee amputee, plays one of the main knights, Sir Dinidan. Both these roles were not written to be played by disabled actors. They are non-disability specific. In this episode Marilee reflects on her struggles and triumphs. This episode was recorded on July 17, 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Edelman is a comedian and writer whose Orthodox Jewish upbringing has informed his critically and commercially acclaimed work for the stage and screen. He is known for both his TV writing and his solo stage shows, all three of which have been award-winning, sell-out hits in London’s West End and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His current solo show, Just For Us, is now playing at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway through August 19, 2023. Visit https://www.justforusshow.com/. This episode was recorded on December 21, 2021.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Thurm is known as one of Hollywood's most accomplished casting directors. He played a key role casting some of the most important shows and films including Cheers, Hill Street Blues, Taxi, Grease, Airplane!, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He has worked with celebrities ranging from Judy Garland, Pearl Bailey, and Ethel Merman to Ted Danson and John Travolta. His new book is Sex, Drugs And Pilot Season: Confessions Of A Casting Director. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arian Moayed was nominated for a Tony Award for his dazzling performance playing Torvald in A Doll's House opposite Jessica Chastain. An Emmy and Tony nominated actor, writer and director, in 2002, he co-founded Waterwell, (www.waterwell.org) a risk-taking and civic-minded non-profit theater company. Some of Arian's other theater credits include The Humans, Guards at the Taj and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. His TV and film credits include playing Stewy in the HBO hit Succession, Love Life, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Inventing Anna, Ms. Marvel and most recently, A24's You Hurt My Feelings. This episode was recorded June 15, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martyna Majok was recently nominated for a Tony award for her riveting, profound and funny play "Cost of Living." The play delves into the lengths we go to care for others and what it means to fight for ourselves. Presented by Manhattan Theatre Club, "Cost of Living" was nominated for five Tony Awards and has already won a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Martyna's work, which also includes the plays "Sanctuary City," "Queens" and "Ironbound," has been performed in theaters around the world. Martyna is currently writing a musical adaptation of "The Great Gatsby," with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NaTasha Yvette Williams was just nominated for a Tony Award originating the role of band leader Sweet Sue in the new Broadway musical Some Like it Hot. She is also featured in the musical's original cast recording. NaTasha's other Broadway credits include Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicken and Biscuits, Waitress, Chicago, A Night with Janis Joplin, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and The Color Purple. You can see NaTasha in the historical thriller Alice, the Disney+ movie Better Nate Than Never and Partner Track on Netflix. NaTasha is also a founding member of Black Theatre United. This episode was recorded on May 23, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A most prolific actor, just a few of Stephen McKinley Henderson's credits include Fences, A Raisin In The Sun, A Doll's House Part 2, Lincoln, Manchester By The Sea, Lady Bird, Dune, Causeway, Beau Is Afraid and the upcoming Dune: Part 2. He was last on Broadway at Second Stages' Helen Hayes Theater in the riveting play Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Directed by Austin Pendleton, Stephen was just nominated for a Tony Award for his riveting performance. Returning to the role that he originated back in 2014, Stephen played Pops, a retired police officer and devoted widowed father, who is doing his best to hold on to his beloved and massive rent-controlled Riverside Drive apartment. This episode was recorded on April 26, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices