And the Award Goes To... Hosted by Ilana Levine

Andrea Martin is an actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series SCTV and Great News. She has appeared in films such as Black Christmas (1974), Wag the Dog (1997), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), and Little Italy (2018). She has also lent her voice to the animated films Anastasia (1997), The Rugrats Movie (1998), and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001). Andrea has been equally prolific in the world of theater, winning Tony Awards for both My Favorite Year and the 2013 revival of Pippin. Martin also appeared on Broadway in Candide, Oklahoma!, Fiddler on the Roof, Young Frankenstein, Exit the King, and Act One. She has received five nominations for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, more than any other actress in the award's history. She received her first nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the 2016 revival of Noises Off. This episode dives deep into how director Diane Paulus and Andrea breathed new life into this classic show. It's the idea of circus, and how to bring that to life. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julie Taymor made history being the first female director to win a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical. One of the most iconic directors of our generation, Julie is also a writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best Director and Costume Designer. Her film Frida, about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Original Song nomination for Taymor's composition "Burn It Blue".  Julie has a strong passion for mask work, puppetry work, and why many people who watch The Lion King may not understand the extreme levels of talent required to be a great performer with a mask on. Julie also discusses what the show means to her, why it's so important to the world, and what really drives her. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim wrote three shows together - Sunday In The Park with George , Into The Woods and Passion. In this episode of And The Award Goes To, Lapine shared what made  working with Sondheim so incredible. He admits that when he first met Sondheim he was relatively new to the theater and he describes Sondheim as the person who schooled him in musical theater . "Working with Steve was fun. He is smart, fun, droll and keeps you on your toes but.. he is the most loyal friend you could have.” The original workshop of Passion was just 60 audience members in a small theater and the intensity and daringness of the workshop was really embraced. Then Sondheim and Lapine got to work on bringing it to Broadway and at the first dress rehearsal they found that the audience was laughing at Fosca which was not their intention. They began to work on creating the show they wanted without dumbing it down and found a way to make Fosca a sympathetic character rather than a comedic one.  Clearly they succeeded because the show won  the Tony award for best musical, best book of a musical , best original score  and Donna Murphy won the Tony for best actress.  This episode explores the relationship between the great James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim who together made American musical theater history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I consider myself the luckiest person in the world because my avocation is my occupation” is how Charlotte St. Martin describes what it means to be President of The Broadway League. When Charlotte St. Martin was in high school she went to see her boyfriend in the King and I and that was the beginning of her lifelong love of theater. Even in her previous job in the hospitality business in Dallas she was known as “Broadway Charlotte.” The combination of her having chaired three major trade associations and her love of Broadway made her the perfect candidate for the role that puts her front and center in all that is the business of Broadway. Along with The Tony Awards and The Jimmy Awards , Charlotte is also tremendously proud of the Broadway Bridges program which will allow for over 70,000 kids a year to see a Broadway show for free. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony Award winner Cady Huffman had just driven across the country to come back east after performing with Dame Edna. She has no agent and wasn’t sure what was next and then she got a phone call from a casting director asking her to do a reading for producers of a musical adaptation of the Mel Brooks film , “The Producers.” They rehearsed for just a few days and then did the reading with the glorious Ann Bancroft sitting in the front row. After they did a second reading Mel Brooks told Cady “ Kid when this thing goes- you are in!” In this episode Cady describes what it was like to watch Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane find their way to the iconic pairing of Bialystock and Bloom and what happens on Tony night when you lose track of your Harry Winston jewels and your body guard ! Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Everyone needs a good mole joke” is how five time nominee and two time Tony Award winner Donna Murphy made the audience howl with laughter during her acceptance speech for her stunning portrayal of Fosca in the Sondheim/Lapine musical, Passion. According to Mr. Sondheim when he heard Donna sing at her audition he felt she could have performed in front of an audience immediately - that is how deeply connected and breathtaking she was in the role. In this episode Ms. Murphy takes listeners behind the scenes detailing how she created the role, how Lapine and Sondheim worked seamlessly as a team and how all the designers helped her find what was to become the iconic performance that remains legendary in Broadway history. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the night John Lloyd Young won his Tony the stars who announced his category were Harry Belafonte and Glenn Close! During his emotional speech where he disclosed that his mother had died when he was only two years old, Mr. Young went on to dedicate his award to his father and spoke of the struggles they had gone through together. As a Commander in the United States military John's father was not encouraging of his son pursuing a life in the arts but after graduating from Brown University John made his way to New York City where he struggled on his own for ten years before he landed the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys. His story is at times heartbreaking and completely fascinating but ultimately it is the story of an artist who could not be deterred from following his dreams.  Welcome John Lloyd Young to the podcast. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first Tony Awards ceremony took place on Easter Sunday in 1947. It was a small affair where awards were handed out to notable artists of the day. Some of the winners that evening included actress, Patricia Neal and playwright, Arthur Miller. The ceremony was not televised and took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The first awards handed out were a money clip for the men and a make up compact for the women. It took many years until it took the form of an actual award and the only award that spins! Since 2011 Heather Hitchens has been the President and CEO of The American Theater Wing. She herself is an accomplished drummer who started out at a local radio station and then later went into arts management. She counts many women mentors in her life who gave her the confidence to take on leadership roles in the world of arts organizations which is how her career in the arts began at the age of 24. “The arts is the only sector that I know of that lifts up every sector that it touches.” Heather Hitchens. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonya Pinkins had a very complicated journey with the musical Jelly's Last Jam. From the very beginning she felt she was up against a cast that was not happy that she was replacing the original Anita in the show, she was away from home with her nine month old baby and in rehearsal she found herself holding back. But at night she would dream of what the role could be. She wanted to bring the power and vulnerability she remembered so well about her grandmother to the role but it wasn't until the final run thru that she was able to bring all her ideas and show the cast and creative team what she could really do. Tonya shares that she was almost fired multiple times- even when she was in rehearsal for the Broadway production- but somehow she persevered and she won a Tony Award for her portrayal of this raw, powerful and vulnerable woman. Welcome Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins to the podcast. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie J. Block was no stranger to playing real people on Broadway having portrayed Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz so when director Jason Moore asked her to take on the role of Cher in the Broadway musical The Cher Show, she was quite trepidatious. A long meal with Jason and an unexpected nudge from her Priest changed her mind. Once rehearsals began Stephanie found herself connecting deeply and easily with the role and Cher’s life but the real test came when Cher arrived at the workshop presentation. Stephanie hid in a bathroom not wanting to meet the real Cher until after the performance but she was summoned and that was her first introduction to the woman/icon who would become a lifelong friend. In this episode Stephanie shares  details of her early conversations  with Cher and what tricks she used to  learn to channel and sing like Cher and then what happens when you sing WITH Cher.  Welcome Tony Award winner Stephanie J. Block to the podcast. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruben Santiago-Hudson had dreamed of being in an August Wilson from the first time he was in the audience of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He found himself crying during the play and realized he was not just deeply moved by the play and the actors in it but the tears were connected to this feeling that for the first time in his life he was seeing people on stage who were so familiar to him and he wanted to be a part of that kind of storytelling. It took a few tries but finally he was cast in Wilson’s Seven Guitars and that began a brotherhood and an artistic marriage between Ruben and the great playwright that lasted until the death of August Wilson. It was Wilson who encouraged Ruben not just to act in his work but to be one of the few artists he trusted to direct his work. Since then Ruben has directed his plays on Broadway and adapted Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for the screen. This is an artistic relationship that will be a part of theater history. Welcome Tony Award winner  Ruben Santiago Hudson  to the podcast. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Chenoweth first auditioned for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, having no idea which character she was reading for. It wasn’t until she got to the first day of rehearsal and she looked at the place card by her seat and it read “Kristin Chenoweth as Sally Brown.” That was the beginning of a journey that took Kristin from working actress to global star. The reaction by audiences and press alike was unprecedented. Her uniquely operatic voice, her comedic timing, her ability to portray a child even though she was an adult- were all the ingredients for a perfect marriage of actress and part but the true game changing moment happened when composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party, I Am Harvey Milk) showed up one day with a new song for Kristin called “My New Philosophy “ history was made.  Welcome Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth to the podcast. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Benanti dreamed of one thing and one thing only- performing on Broadway so winning a Tony Award for her role in Gypsy was the most amazing dream come true and one of the happiest moments of her life. What people may not know is that early on in the rehearsal process she walked out feeling unsupported by the process and it wasn't until she had a deeply honest conversation with it's director, Arthur Laurents, that she returned and from that moment on it was the most joyous professional experience of her life. Find out how the two worked it out and why co- starring with Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines was such an extraordinary experience on this episode of And The Award Goes To...  Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When BD Wong asked his parents to lend him money to fly to New York for an audition for M. Butterfly he told them he was certain he would not get the job but he could not pass up the opportunity to meet the creative team. Well we know how that story went! Having no Broadway credits he was the first actor cast in the play and was actually involved in the casting process for his co star. All these years later the now very famous actor shares intimate truths about the difficulties he had in the production but also the glorious on stage relationship that developed with the great John Lithgow. Welcome Tony Award winner BD Wong! Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Ilana, host of AND THE AWARD GOES TO.. had the privilege of talking to John Benjamin Hickey - the winner of The Tony Award for The Normal Heart- it was the day after Larry Kramer had died so it was so timely and beautiful to have this conversation while John was still processing this news.  John first came to the role of Felix Turner in a  reading  for charity directed by Joel Grey.  The reading was so successful that very quickly a production was mounted this time directed by George C. Wolfe. His friend Joe Mantello encouraged John  to take on the role for the original reading with neither of them ever imagining that as best friends they would go on to be such glorious and devastating scene partners in the play when it  went to Broadway. With only ten days of rehearsal the play was mounted for a full Broadway production with the original idea that different actors would play the roles with a rotating cast perhaps even with scripts in hand but then a few of the actors started to learn the lines very quickly and it evolved into a more traditional production with Ellen Barkin, Jim Parsons and an all star cast. Plus … some incredible words of wisdom shared by the great  director, Mike Nichols. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A self described “theater junkie” Cynthia Nixon has been in love with  the theater for her entire life, She was cast in her first Broadway role at the age of 14- the play was The Philadelphia Story.  Her ability to inhabit a role and bring us into the world of the characters she plays with such humanity and integrity makes her one of the most celebrated actresses of her generation. In this episode of And The Award Goes To.. Cynthia takes us through what it was to take on the role of a grieving mother in the Pulitzer Prize play Rabbit Hole and she finally explains how it all happened that she was famously cast in both The Real Thing and Hurlyburly at 17 ( and we learn  how Whoopi Goldberg was inadvertently part of why that came to be!) that and the time Joseph Papp threw her a graduation party on the set of Romeo and Juliet and so much more on this episode with Tony Award winner, Cynthia Nixon. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in the midwest the seventh of eleven children- Norbert Leo Butz was surprisingly unaware of The Tony Awards. If he had practiced any speech in his bathroom mirror it most likely would have been for the Academy Awards or Grammy Awards yet here he is - a two time Tony Award winner. The win for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was such a joyous win and joyous night for Mr. Butz. It was while Norbert were starring in The Last Five Years that David Yazbek came to him and said he was writing the musical version of Dirty Rotten Schedules and wanted him to be in it. In this episode Norbert is so honest and vulnerable as he describes how often he felt like he didn’t know what he was doing with the role- wasn’t sure he was funny enough ( of course he was !!!) and then we talk about the night Bruce Springsteen came to see the show and how that made him weep for hours after because of the enormous emotional reaction he had to meeting his idol. That and so much more as we deep dive into the life of two time Tony Award winner- Norbert Leo Butz. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Nikki M. James was in kindergarten her teacher invited her to sing in a school performance. It was obvious to everyone that she was exceptionally talented but what became clear to Nikki, even at this young age, was that she found her passion. That love of performing a song became her obsession and then she found Broadway! She dreamed of being a professional actress and of one day winning a Tony Award. Sure- lots of people practice their speech in the bathroom mirror but Nikki is one of those extraordinary talents who actually made it happen. Losing her father at a young age made her all the more focused and devoted to her craft and then a play reading when she was still in high school was the beginning of something that would change her life forever even though she didn’t know it at the time. Her performance in that reading stayed with one audience member- Bobby Lopez ( one of the creators of The Book Of Mormon) and many years later when they were casting for the workshop of the show he thought Nikki would be a great fit. He was right! And what luck for all of us who got to see Nikki be brilliant  in her Tony Award winning role and her performance on the Broadway Cast Album is one of the greatest ever. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2019 Judith Light, one of the most beloved members of the Broadway community, was awarded the Isabelle Stevenson special Tony Award for her fierce advocacy on behalf of those affected by HIV AIDS and the LGBTQ+ community. Her passion for the causes she believes in , her fierce loyalty to the community she loves and her incredible passion for the arts has made her an inspiration for so many. Her ability to portray roles with her singular talent has made her an actress that every director is honored to work with. She is also one of a very few actors to win back to back Tonys - she won for The Assembled Parties and Other Desert Series. After decades in Los Angeles she came back to New York uncertain of her place in the theater community- I think we know how that turned out! Welcome Judith Light to AND THE AWARD GOES TO... Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“This is a story about love” is how Arthur Laurents- writer and director of West Side Story- described the show to Karen Olivo who was cast as Anita. He went on to say “You fight because you love. The hate you feel is because you fear the thing you love will go.” On this episode of “ And The Tony Goes To…” Karen shares details about her complex and close relationship with director Arthur Laurents, with whom she connected deeply and Karen shares how she felt overwhelmed by the expectations of playing Anita- a triple threat role where one is meant to be a great dancer, singer and actress and she describes in detail how Arthur made sure that Karen felt supported in all those areas. To this day when she speaks of Arthur she gets emotional remembering what it was to work with him and how much he meant to her and of course- we talk about how her friend Lin Manuel Miranda was instrumental in her getting the role. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Monroe Iglehart grew up obsessed with Disney and Robin Williams ( the Genie in the film Aladdin) was his childhood hero. At 17 his graduation gift from his mother was going to see Aladdin so clearly the role of the Genie was his destiny but there were many hurdles along the way. In this episode James describes how he fought for the role that made him a household name and a Tony Award winner plus he shares with Ilana the most amazing story of performing at The White House for Barack and Michelle Obama- dreams do come true! Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2008 Patti LuPone won her second Tony Award.  She has been nominated a total of seven times.   Join host Ilana Levine and Patti  as they listen to  Patti’s 2008 acceptance speech and Patti takes  listeners on a trip down memory lane, recounting that evening and all that led up to her second Tony win --  28 years after her first!   As an actress Patti has devoted most of her career to Broadway and with Ilana she is astonishingly candid in conversation.   In this premiere episode of “ And The Tony Goes To..” Patti  describes her very fraught and emotionally devastating past with Gypsy scribe, Arthur Laurents, and shares what Scott Rudin told her to do if she wanted  to bring Gypsy back to Broadway.   She also explains why she never really wanted to play the role and why she changed her mind.  All this and more with the extraordinary actress, Patti LuPone. Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices