This week's guests are playwright Chisa Hutchinson (Proof of Love) and actor Aunjanue Ellis (When They See Us, Lovecraft Country). They talk about the film they made together, which is based on one of Hutchinson's plays: The Subject, about a white documentary filmmaker who makes a movie about Black teenagers. It raises questions about whether it's possible to be neutral in the face of oppression, and what it makes to be a witness.

Here are the links to the things discussed in this episode:

• American Utopia by David Byrne on HBO
• The Subject, which is still looking for a distributor and is on the film festival circuit. You can currently watch it on the Twin Cities Film Festival website until Oct. 31 and at the Naples Film Festival site until Oct. 25.
• Two harrowing things that were mentioned but we won't link to: That Kevin Carter photo of the African toddler and the vulture. Darnella Frazier's video of George Floyd's murder.
• When They See Us, a miniseries by Ava DuVernay
• Proof of Love by Chisa Hutchinson
• This week's Patreon shoutout: the International Theatermakers Award, presented by the Playwrights Realm for artists in America on an O-1 visa. To find out if you're eligible for the award, fill out the preliminary eligibility survey here by Sunday, November 1 at 11:59PM EST.

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This week the Friends welcome one of their favorite people: Heidi Schreck. Schreck was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play What the Constitution Means to Me, which ran on Broadway in 2019. Now that play has been filmed and will be released on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 16. Schreck drops by to talk about the current state of our democracy, becoming a new mom (of twins!), and why it's so hard to film theater.

Here are links to the things mentioned in this episode:

• Karen Olivo's reaction to being nominated for a Tony Award.
• What the Constitution Means to Me on Amazon Prime.
• What the Constitution Means to Me script, published by Theatre Communications Group
• This week's Patreon shoutout: Nicole, who recently created a virtual theatre company called The Masked Collective. They have a new play festival next weekend (October 23rd and 24th at 7PM EST). The play festival will be livestreamed on Facebook and will be available for a week after. Says Nicole: "We're not charging for admission but encourage people to donate to our Venmo instead @Masked-Collective, as that's how we'll be paying the artists involved."

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This week’s guests are Eva Noblezada (Hadestown) and Tony winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Once on This Island). Eva is starring in Yellow Rose, a new film about an undocumented teenager whose mother is taken away by ICE. Lea plays her aunt. The two actors talk about their love of video games, how they’re both actually a bit introverted, and how they’re making money during quarantine.

Here are links to the things mentioned in this episode:

• The Lincoln Project's Covita ad; it's terrifying.
• The Boys in the Band on Netflix
• The Goes Wrong Show on Amazon Prime
• Harriett D. Foy told us she's a fan of The Play That Goes Wrong, here's our interview with her.
• Fires in the Mirror, which Michael Benjamin Washington starred in; he's also in Boys in the Band and doesn't get nearly enough to do.
• Get our virtual movie tickets to Yellow Rose here.
• The original song Eva Noblezada sings in Yellow Rose.
• Eva's podcast: The Amarillo Project.
• Lea Salonga's PBS concert on Nov. 27.
• Patreon shoutout: Luisa Lyons, who is building a database of stage musicals that have been legally filmed and publicly shared, plus there's a podcast: www.filmedlivemusicals.com. Welcome fellow theater podcaster!

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This week's guests are playwrights Luis Alfaro (Mojada, Oedipus El Rey) and Alexis Scheer (Our Dear Dead Drug Lord), in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. The two playwrights talk about theater as alchemy and magic, and how to find your voice as a writer, even when that voice is weirder than everyone around you.

Here are links to the things discussed this episode.

• Portaleza by David Israel Reynoso/Optika Moderna, presented by La Jolla Playhouse
• Romantics Anonymous, a new musical from Emma Rice, Christopher Dimond, and Michael Kooman
• This Los Angeles Times piece about Luis Alfaro and Mojada, his riff on Medea.
• This Q&A with Alexis Scheer about the weekly book club she's hosting with SpeakEasy Stage Company.
• This week's Patreon shoutout: Diana Burbano, who's gathering monologues for a Zoom reading series she's producing called Breath of Fire, with Latina Theater Ensemble in collaboration with Protest Play Project. If you're a Latinx writer, you can submit your original monologues here.

The transcript for this episode will be available at a later date.

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Here are links to the things they talked about this week:

• The Bail Project
• Romantics Anonymous by Emma Rice, Christopher Dimond, and Michael Kooman—presented at the Old Vic.
• Josh Groban's newest song: "Your Face."
• A classic Groban song: "You Raise Me Up."
• A very prescient Groban song, written by the late Adam Schlesinger: "End of the Movie."
• Info about Groban's next livestream concerts
• This week's Patreon shoutout: Mike Sablone, whose company the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, S.C., are doing a Zoom piece called Objectivity. It's a Zoom seminar run by a "famous" decluttering expert that doesn't go as planned. It's part seminar, part interactive show, and part musical. It runs Sept. 30-Oct. 17. Break a leg, Mike!

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This week's guest are actor Denis O'Hare (True Blood, American Horror Story) and director Lisa Peterson (The Waves, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire). The two are longtime friends who collaborated on the award-winning An Iliad and The Good Book. They've figured out to still collaborate with an ocean between them and the newest fruits of their partnership is the new virtual experience: What the Hell Is a Republic Anyway? Beginning live on Sept 22, and going until after the election, Peterson and O'Hare will explore the parallels between the fall of Rome and America today.

Here are links to the things mentioned in the episode:

• Murder at River Crossing Book Club from Live In Theatre Company
• Miscast, MCC Theater's annual gala
• Kelli O'Hara's Miscast performance
• Katrina Lenk's Miscast performance
• What the Hell Is a Republic Anyway?
• Lisa Peterson's next project: It Can't Happen Here, a four-part radio play about the spread of Facism in America
• Denis O'Hare's next projects: American Gods on Starz and The Nevers on HBO.
• Shoutout to our Patreon patron Garlia Cornelia, founder and producing artistic director of Blackboard Plays, one the founding producers of the Obie Award winning Harlem9. She's also a line producer at the Public Theater, and has been creating in quarantine. Keep up the great, creative work Garlia!

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Here are links to the things discussed in this episode.

• Critical Thinking
• Latin History for Morons
• Leguizamo recommends that you all read: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
• That NPR interview where Leguizamo talked about being heckled by racist audience members

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Then Shaun Bengson and Abigail Nessen-Bengson, of the musical duo The Bengsons, call in. They're the duo behind the musicals Hundred Days and The Lucky Ones, and they've created a new work about their lives in quarantine called The Keep Going Song. They also appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, like NBD. The Bengsons discussed how they've managed to create not just new songs but a whole visual album for it, and what white artists can contribute to this racially charged time.

Here are links to the things mentioned in this episode:

• Lady Gaga's masked performance at the VMAs.
• Deep Azure, the play written by Chadwick Bosement (someone produce it so we can see it!)
• Chadwick Boseman's last tweet telling us all to vote.
• In the Penal Colony by Miranda Haymon
• The Keep Going Song by the Bengsons, produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville

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This week's guest is actor Daniel K. Isaac, who is a recurring character on the Showtime television show Billions. But did you know that Isaac is a big theater nerd? He has multiple binders and drawers dedicated to all the playbills he's collected over his 11 years in NYC and he shares some of his favorites, plus gives tips on how he could afford to buy theater tickets when he was still a struggling artist.

Here are links to things the Friends talked about this episode:

• What theater stuff Daniel K. Isaac has been up to in quarantine: a 24 Hour plays monologue, Pride Plays, the Homebound Project, and BD Wong's Songs From an Unmade Bed.
• Isaac's [ UNTITLED GAY SEX & CONVERSION THERAPY PLAY ]
• Some of Isaac's favorite theater memories: Our Town directed by David Cromer, Brief Encounter at St Ann’s Warehouse, Circle Mirror Transformations by Annie Baker, Awake and Sing from National Asian American Theater Company, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 when it first premiered at Ars Nova, Scenes From a Marriage directed by Ivo Van Hove.
• The Expecting, a new horror show on Quibi that Isaac is in that will premiere this fall.

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Then, the Friends review a show that is safe, the Zoom tarot readings currently being presented from Strange Bird Immersive, a Houston-based company that specializes in escape rooms. They can't do escape rooms but their actors are doing tarot readings online which are actually quite unnerving and accurate.

This week's guest is actor Harriett D. Foy, who is currently playing the ultra-religious Patrice in P-Valley on Starz, a new show written by playwright Katori Hall based on her play Pussy Valley. Foy talks about reading mean Tweets online and the upcoming virtual play she's doing to celebrate the centennial of women's suffrage: Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer, which will premiere on Aug. 18 and is produced by The New York Times, and is about the unsung women of color who helped win women the right to vote. It will be available after the 18th for you to view whenever.

Here are links to things the Friends talked about this episode:

• Godspell at Berkshire Theatre Group
• Tarot readings from Strange Bird Immersive
• Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer
• The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley (Harriett D. Foy was FIRE in it)
• P-Valley on Starz, about the people who work in and around a Black-owned strip club in the South

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That's because their guest this week is Tony winner BD Wong, who is releasing a visual album of his own (his "gay Lemonade" if you will). Wong and his husband videographer Richert Schnorr have created 18 music videos, set to the theatrical song cycle Songs from an Unmade Bed. It is about the inner musings and romantic life of a gay man living in New York City. The videos will stream at 8 pm EST on Monday, August 10, as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Songs From an Unmade Bed first premiered in 2005 and was created by Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning lyricist and librettist Mark Campbell with 18 composers: Debra Barsha, Mark Bennett, Peter Foley, Jenny Giering, Peter Golub, Jake Heggie, Stephen Hoffman, Lance Horne, Gihieh Lee, Steven Lutvak, Steve Marzullo, Brendan Milburn, Chris Miller, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Kim D. Sherman, Jeffrey Stock and Joseph Thalken.

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This week's guest is playwright Clare Barron, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama for her play Dance Nation. Barron just wrote a new short play called What This Will Be Like When It's Over, for a new theater journal called The Flashpaper. It's about dating during the pandemic. She and the Friends got into a deep discussion about sex and dating, and how Barron is able to get ultra-personal in her plays without feeling self-conscious. Also, she talked about that time she had sex onstage.

There's some very frank talk of sex, with some expletives thrown in, so please if listen on your headphones if these subjects are sensitive to you or anyone around you.

Here are links to things the Friends talked about in this episode.

• Free Shakespeare on the Radio: Richard II
• Julia Pastrana at Amphibian Stage Co. (available through July 30)
• A review of I'll Never Love Again by Clare Barron
• The Flashpaper: a new theater journal featuring writings from theater artists, including Clare Barron
• The script for Dance Nation by Clare Barron

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Then the Friends interview playwright (and FX's The Americans staff writer) Hilary Bettis. Her play, 72 Miles to Go is also about family separation, following a Mexican-American family who is torn apart when the mother, Anita, is deported to Mexico. Bettis talks about how the way we're living now in quarantine is not too different from how families who have been torn apart are living, like communicating via phone calls and not being able to touch each other. She also talks about the new Kilroys List, which annually spotlights under-produced plays by women and non-binary folks. This year, the List is a tribute to all of the shows by marginalized people who were cancelled. 

Here are links to things the Friends talked about in this episode.

• Jose's interview with Karen Zacarías about The Copper Children and how it was partially inspired by her grandfather.
• The Copper Children stream (through July 22)
• The new Kilroys List
• More info about Hilary Bettis' "batshit" play Alligator

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Here are links to things the Friends talked about in this episode.

• This Vox article about why Hamilton is historical fanfiction
• John Leguizamo's Latin History for Morons on Netflix
• Comedian Katherine Ryan's bit about Hamilton's woman problem
• Heath's really smart article about racism in Broadway musicals
• What Kelundra thought of Hamilton when she first saw it in 2018

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George Salazar is the beloved actor behind Be More Chill on Broadway. He also starred in a buzzy revival of Little Shop of Horrors in 2019, opposite MJ Rodriguez. Salazar has been doing a lot during his COVID: he sang in a Pride virtual concert in June and hosted his own weekly talk show (which he's currently revamping and planning on bringing back). He came onto the podcast to talk about the upcoming Night of a Thousand Judys concert and his late-in-life love for Judy Garland. Plus, Salazar also talks about why he criticized the Tony Awards on Twitter.

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

• Night of a Thousand Judys
• Sundays on the Couch with George
• George Salazar's tweet thread about the Tony Awards
• George Salazar and MJ Rodriguez perform "Suddenly Seymour" on the James Corden Show
• Diep's essay about Little Shop of Horrors (that Salazar read and loved)
• Adopt a State with Vote Save America (Salazar has adopted Florida)
• Salazar's Instagram account where he posts a lot of stories

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This week's guest is Taylor Reynolds, who is one of the artistic leaders of the Obie-winning Movement Theatre Company in New York City. She talks about how the company was created (to provide opportunities for young artists of color) and what they're doing now: giving love to designers who are out of work, and don't have Zoom plays to keep them creative. Reynolds is also a director, whose work on Plano by Will Arbury blew both of the Friends' minds when it played Off-Off Broadway last year. She also talks about how she wraps her head around super-weird theater.

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

• To My Distant Love from On Site Opera
• Pipelineby Dominique Morisseau
• Hit Play from the New York Neo-Futurists
• Diana Oh’s My H8 Letter To The Gr8 American Theatre
• Tartuffe from Moliere in the Park
• Sing Street's Facebook concert
• Desire: A Sankofa Dreamby Maria Bauman-Morales
• Token Theatre Friends's interview with Mirirai Sithole
• The Movement Theatre Company's 1Move Program
• Planoby Will Arbury
• What to Send Up When It Goes Downby Aleshea Harris

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Then they hop on a Zoom call with Raúl Esparza, where Jose manages to hide his excitement and act like a professional. The four-time Tony nominee has been doing a lot of virtual theatrical experiences, including hosting the Stephen Sondheim birthday special, Take Me to the World, and doing a monologue from his kitchen. Esparza talks about getting type-casted and how he hopes the theater of the future will be cheaper. This weekend, he will be doing a live reading of the comedy Tartuffe, produced by Molière in the Park.

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

• 2666 at the Goodman Theatre
• The Guardian: "Barcelona opera reopens with performance for more than 2000 potted plants"
• Kotaku: "Pokémon Plush Toys Gather To Watch Korean Baseball"
• Broadway News: "Broadway shows expected to remain closed through early January"
• Tartuffe from Moliere in the Park
• Seared by Theresa Rebeck at MCC Theater.
• Raúl Esparza doing a 24-Hour Play monologue
• Take Me to the World: Stephen Sondheim's 90th Birthday Celebration
• Lindsay Mendez's Tony Awards acceptance speech
• Mixed Blessings at the Coconut Grove Playhouse

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Their guest this episode is actor April Matthis, who was the star of the play Toni Stone by Lydia Diamond, and who's been up for every acting award in New York City for her performance. This Obie-winning star has also been in Gatz by Elevator Repair Service, and she called in to discuss Playing on Air, a theater podcast where she acted in short plays by Dominique Morisseau and Ngozi Anyanwu, and trying to create theater in the time of COVID-19..

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

• The We See You White American Theatre letter.
• Washington Post: "When black people are in pain, white people join book clubs."
• Montana Levi Blanco's Instagram video about racism in the theater.
• Rachel Chavkin's apology to Montana Levi Blanco.
• Diep's article about the American musical's obsession with Asians.
• Playing on Air: website/iTunes
• Night Vision by Dominique Morisseau: website/iTunes
• G.O.A.T. by Ngozu Anyanwu: website/iTunes
• The Skin of Our Teeth at Paper Chairs Theatre Company.
• Ronald Peet doing the 24-Hour Plays.
• April Matthis doing the 24-Hour Plays.
• 2666 by Roberto Bolaño at the Goodman Theatre.

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Their guest this episode is Jasmine Batchelor, whose film The Surrogate is out for virtual release starting June 12. Batchelor discusses how the film opened her eyes to inequality for disabled people and what's it like for your mom to be played on screen by Tony winner Tonya Pinkins. 

Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

• This Tweet about the Nederlanders.
• This Change.org petition to make the Apollo Theatre a Broadway house.
• Karen Olivo's Instagram post where she commits to not performing in a Nederlander theater.
• This profile of Christian Cooper in the New York Times.
• The Dear White American Theater petition.
• Jasmine Batchelor's op-ed for Talkhouse.
• A directory of local bail funds that you can donate to.
• Our friends at Broadway Radio, who made a sizable donation to Token Theatre Friends.

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Here are links to things that Friends talked about in this episode.

• Article: What It Feels Like to Be Shot by a Rubber Bullet
• Tweet: What the Constitution Means to Me
• Statement: The Public Theater
• Statement: Wicked
• A spreadsheet of theaters that have not spoken up (created by Marie Crisco, a former line producer at the Public Theater)
• Article: Rewatching Sex and the City During a Pandemic
• Life on Earth from This is Not a Theatre Company
• The New York Neo-Futurists podcast
• She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen at the University of Maryland
• Amazon Prime film: Pass Over by Antoinett Nwandu

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