“I identify as a clown,” he says, understating his range as a performer, having portrayed George on Broadway in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf and Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street in Elmo’s World. And yet even a career as luminous as his has its disappointments: “I once asked John Cleese to play Pozzo in Waiting for Godot. Wouldn’t it have … Continue reading »

She has produced more than 90 plays on and off Broadway, from The Normal Heart to Kinky Boots. Producers open shows and close shows. She enjoys the rare distinction of having unclosed a show. “I went to the theater one night,  just quietly by myself, before half-hour, and I walked over to the board where the closing notice was posted, … Continue reading »

This celebrated Broadway actor–-The Secret Garden, The Music Man, Mary Poppins–-much admired for her glorious voice, sees parallels between cooking and theater. Both are ephemeral. A recipe is akin to a script: neither is the thing itself; each provides instructions for creating the thing. None of this contradicts audience etiquette: no eating during the performance, … Continue reading »

She is the author of The Detroit Project, a three-play cycle, and the Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud–The Life and Times of the Temptations, another kind of Detroit story. Even at its most ferocious, her work is suffused with love. “Love is not approval or agreement or acquiescence. Love is challenge, love is provocation, agitation, and pushing us toward … Continue reading »

She directed and designed costumes for the stage version of The Lion King, seen by 90 million people in 100 cities, attributing its success, in part, to its use of puppets. “I actually think people are often more touched by a puppet’s gesture than a human’s.” Make up your own Trump/Putin joke. Continue reading »

This fine performer — Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Wiz, Hadestown — notes that Shakespeare has much to say about our times, including “Macbeth is seen as a great killing machine,” alluding to the virus, the police, or the president. We find the metaphors we need. Our first episode made with Broadway on Demand, the video version can be seen – seen! … Continue reading »

She is an admired actor (West Wing), but it’s her playwriting (Fires in the Mirror), drawing on the techniques of documentary film, that first caught my attention. Just starting as a writer, she met a woman at a party. “And she said I’m going to give you three questions you can ask  people. Well, they changed … Continue reading »

She is a fine actor and an honorable person with a weakness for that racist claptrap Gone With the Wind. “That’s the dichotomy in my heart and soul,” she tells the English Speaking Union. She’s not alone. It is the second most beloved book in America, behind only the Bible. When good people love bad … Continue reading »