Podcast appearances and mentions of Lisa Kron

In this episode, podcaster, actor, and playwright/screenwriter Matt Koplik discusses Jeanine Tesori musicals. We also talk about the song "Changing My Major" from the 2015 Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron musical Fun Home. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you'd like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on X/Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald. Music played in this episode: "Our Disease" from Kimberly Akimbo "Skater Planet" from Kimberly Akimbo "Make a Wish" from Kimberly Akimbo "Hello, Darling" from Kimberly Akimbo "Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie "Dotty and Caroline" from Caroline, or Change "16 Feet Beneath the Sea" from Caroline, or Change "Come to the Fun Home" from Fun Home "I Think I Got You Beat" from Shrek "On My Way" from Violet "Changing My Major" from Fun Home

We're “Changing our Major” to Beth Malone! In this latest episode of the QUEER SERIES, showbiz siblings, Kristen and Sarah Goodman, discuss Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's groundbreaking musical, FUN HOME, and chat with their new friend, Beth Malone, the Tony-nominated performer who originated the role of Alison Bechdel. She talks about her time in the show, her experience as a queer person growing up in rural Colorado, and the exciting new musical she is co-writing with Mary Ann Stratton and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls! GOOD SHOW! Instagram @goodshowpodcast  GOOD SHOW! TikTok @goodshowpodcast    Beth Malone Instagram @thebethmalone broadwaycares.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, performer and producer Andrea Prestinario discusses Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's 2015 musical Fun Home. We also talk about the song "He Plays the Violin" from Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone's 1969 musical 1776.  You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you'd like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on X/Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald. Music played in this episode: "Days and Days" from Fun Home "Telephone Wire" from Fun Home "Maps" from Fun Home "Edges of the World" from Fun Home "Ring of Keys" from Fun Home "He Plays the Violin" from 1776

SARAH MOORHEAD chats to Paul Burke about her new speculative crime thriller   THE TREATMENT, Witness X, Liverpool, teaching, good & evil, Debut 20s and the godfather of the northern crime writing scene, young people today and Wizard of Oz meets Frankenstein. THE TREATMENT: The future of law enforcement has arrived, courtesy of private health contractor Janus Justice. Their ground-breaking ‘Offender Treatment Programme' has been hailed as the most effective way of tackling crime yet.As offenders move through the four-tiered system, their needs are dealt with, each tier more drastic in its methods:Tier One: Low-risk crimes. Physical therapy encouragedTier Two: Trauma and addiction. Emotional and psychological reasons for offending are examinedTier Three: Aversion therapy & moral punishmentTier Four: Siberia, where all hope is lostBut Grace Gunnarsson, one of Janus' most highly regarded rehabilitation psychiatrists, has uncovered a terrible flaw in the system, one that is allowing people to get away with murder...SARAH MOORHEAD - Born in Liverpool, Sarah Moorhead has told stories since childhood and uses writing as bubblegum for her over-active brain – to keep it out of trouble. Fascinated by meaning, motivation and mystery, she studied Theology at university.Over the last twenty seven years, apart from teaching in secondary school, Sarah has attained a black belt in kickboxing, worked as a chaplain, established a Justice and Peace youth group, and written articles for newspapers and magazines about her work in education and religion. She still lives in her beloved hometown.RECOMMENDATIONSSusan Greenfield, John York, Will Storr, Lisa Kron, Stuart Turton, Anthony BurgessFiona Cumming - Into the Dark , All of Us are BrokenPaul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.Produced by Junkyard DogMusic courtesy of Southgate and LeighCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023CrimeFest 2023&CWA Daggers 2023

In this episode, nine guests from the past five seasons return to talk about Scene to Song episodes we have loved and if the discussions have changed our thoughts on musical theater in any way. We also talk about the late lyricist Sheldon Harnick and the song “Telephone Wire” from Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's Fun Home. This discussion was held live on Scene to Song's Facebook page on June 25, 2023, and was recorded for this podcast almost in its entirety. Scene to Song is now going back on summer hiatus and will return in early fall. In the meantime, you can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you'd like to be a podcast guest. Follow us on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. And contribute to the new Patreon. The theme music you are hearing is by Julia Meinwald. Music played in this episode: "Telephone Wire" from Fun Home Guests: Victoria Gordon (Episode 37: Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's Evening Primrose Deborah Blumenthal (Episode 57: Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company Tammy Tuckey (Episode 75: Marvin Hamlisch, David Zippel, and Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl) Jessica Fleitman (Episode 15: The Musical My Fair Lady Victoria Myers (Episode 67: The Musical Roles of Bernadette Peters) Orian Israelsohn (Episode 81: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe's The Phantom of the Opera, Episode 28: The Bock and Harnick Musicals Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds) Seth Christenfeld (Episode 5: Adaptations in Musical Theater BethAnn Cohen (Episode 66: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine‘s Into the Woods, Episode 43: TV Musical Episodes, Episode 22: Representations of Judaism in Musical Theater Robert Lee (Episode 65: Artist Characters in Musical Theater)  

FUN HOME  Music by Jeanine Tesori | Lyrics by Lisa Kron | Book by Lisa Kron | Based on the Graphic Novel Fun Home by Alison Bechdel | Works Consulted & Reference :Fun Home (Original Libretto) by Lisa Kron & Jeanine TesoriFun Home by Alison BechdelMusic Credits:"Overture" from Dear World (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Jerry Herman | Performed by Dear World Orchestra & Donald Pippin"The Speed Test" from Thoroughly Modern Millie  (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by Dick Scanlan | Performed by Marc Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Anne L. Nathan & Ensemble"Why God Why" from Miss Saigon: The Definitive Live Recording  (Original Cast Recording  / Deluxe)  | Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr.  | Performed by Alistair Brammer"Back to Before" from Ragtime: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens | Performed by Marin Mazzie"Chromolume #7 / Putting It Together" from Sunday in the Park with George (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim | Performed by Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Judith Moore, Cris Groenendaal, Charles Kimbrough, William Parry, Nancy Opel, Robert Westenberg, Dana Ivey, Kurt Knudson, Barbara Bryne"What's Inside" from Waitress (Original Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Sara Bareilles | Performed by Jessie Mueller & Ensemble"Days and Days” from  Fun Home (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by Jeanine Tesori | Lyrics by Lisa Kron |  Performed by Judy Kuhn"Maria" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording)  | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Evadne Baker, Anna Lee, Portia Nelson, Marni Nixon"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording) | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Julie Andrews"Corner of the Sky" from Pippin (New Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz | Performed by Matthew James Thomas“What Comes Next?” from Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Performed by Jonathan Groff

We continue on sharing with you the different live talks from the Sensing Woman 2022: A multisensory event that took place at C24 Gallery in Chelsea, New York City a few weeks ago. Next in this series about the 2022 Midterm Elections (that will end in a few days). Most likely the major factor in how Americans vote are policies, women's autonomy, health care, and inflation.This panel is led by Paten Hughes, along with Sasha Eden, Lisa Kron, and Tzipora Lederman. They talk about their call for activism. their community of changemakers and some of the current challenges that can impact the elections. Your voice matters and Your vote matters #vthevote #novembHER8 #2022midterms In this episode, we cover:A brief overview of how the election system works in the USA.How to use your voice through phone activismThe Swingleft organization and their missionWhat is the Giving Circle by The States Project?The latest United States redistricting cycleScripts and volunteering at phone and text bankingHow do we let the younger generation understand the impacts of the current eventsWhat are the battleground states? Helpful Links:Paten Hughes - Actress and creator, known for the series HEIRLOOM inspired by her journey into organic tomato farming. Check out her instagram @tresapay and Facebook @patenhughesSasha Eden - an actor and producer; known for blending her innovative creativity with activism. Also recognized as a leader in the parity movement, Sasha is a frequent guest speaker on gender equality, media literacy, girls' empowerment and producing your own work. Check out her Facebook and Instagram @sashaedenLisa Kron - Award-winning writer and performer who's been creating theater for four decades. Her best-known plays include WELL, 2.5 MINUTE RIDE, and the musical, FUN HOME. She's part of SOS, a giving circle that's raised money in every election cycle since 2018 to support The States Project's in their game-changing work shifting the balance of power in state legislatures. Follow her on Instagram @elkay100Tzipora Lederman - she has spent the last decade working to elect Democrats and improve elections. She has a B.A. in Politics from Oberlin College. Check out @swingleftThe States Project - A Community of Change MakersChop Wood, Carry Water Newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FUN HOME COMPOSER: Jeanine Tesori LYRICIST: Lisa Kron BOOK: Lisa Kron SOURCE: Alison Bechdel's graphic novel Fun Home (2006) DIRECTOR: Sam Gold CHOREOGRAPHER: Danny Mefford PRINCIPLE CAST: Michael Cerveris (Bruce), Sydney Lucas (Young Alison) Beth Malone (Old Alison) OPENING DATE: Apr 19, 2015 CLOSING DATE: Sep 10, 2016 PERFORMANCES: 583 SYNOPSIS: Alison is a lesbian author and illustrator who looks back not only on her own evolution in discovering her sexuality but her father's tragic journey as a closeted gay man.  Courtney Laine-Self, who directed the regional premiere of Fun Home, examines the difficulties critics and audiences had categorizing this musical from its premiere as a musical based on an autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel while addressing the historical significance of its lesbian protagonist. The musical's address of queer womanhood in a coming of age narrative is widely embraced by queer women who feel the show represents their own experiences authentically. The marketing for the production initially avoided tying ticket sales to the subject matter in the plot, but after establishing the piece as a success, the campaign shifted to appeal to an increasingly vocal LGBTQ+ public. Opening in a time of significant political change for the LGBTQ+ community, the show's significance seems easier to highlight in hindsight. After surveying the response to Fun Home's mainstream lesbian representation, as written by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, this chapter argues that The Color Purple is overlooked as a Broadway musical which centers a female protagonist's queerness. The continued representation of lesbians on Broadway and the future of representation in the theatrical landscape as a whole is explored. Courtney Laine Self is a director and choreographer interested in creating new work in the musical theatre genre that incorporates non-realistic and abstract theatrical techniques as well as developing methods on how to responsibly and with innovation revive Broadway-style musicals. Recent credits: Assistant Director, Proof of Love, Audible Theater/New York Theatre Workshop, co-created dance musicals Making Bkjkt and RPT with 92Y, directed the world premiere of Sheila and Moby for Flying V Theatre Company in DC, and the regional theatre premiere of Fun Home at Millbrook Playhouse. MFA: Directing, Southern Illinois Univ., BFA: Music Theatre, The Hartt School. www.courtneylaineself.com SOURCES Fun Home, Original Broadway Cast Recording. PS Classics (2015) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zoë Yeoman made her professional acting debut at the age of 16 at Kings Hall in Heidelberg, Germany, in a production of Godspell. Since then she's worked in almost every major market across the United States.A working actor and a member of Actor's Equity • SAG|AFTRA and at times Producer and Director, some of Zoë's favorite roles include Lisa Kron in Well with the Arizona Women's Theatre Company, Ruth Steiner in Donald Margulies' Collected Stories, Dr. Vivian Bearing in Wit, and as Haley Walker in Theresa Rebeck's Bad Dates, a role which she recently reprised at The Aux Dog Theatre, directed by Victoria Liberatori in Albuquerque, New Mexico.She originated the role of Margaret in James Riordon's award winning play, Apollo Redux, and played dual roles in the Washington, D.C. premiere of Emma's Child, for Horizons' Theater.On film, Zoë most has appeared in many short and feature films, The Five Cent Curve, by Brendan Hayward and in All About You, directed by auteur Christine Swanson. Starring roles include Vanessa in Carrots and Onions and K.K.Kettering in the short film, Creole Lady Angelle. She recently played a police captain in festival favorite, Raising Buchanan, written and directed by Bruce Dellis. Additionally, she waits for the release of M.E.C.C.A.-The Film.On Television, you've seen Zoë in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims' Unit, David E. Kelley's The Practice; Strong Medicine, The Drew Carey Show and the ABC Sitcom, Rodney. She earned her Equity card with “the best understudy performance in 20 years” at the Kennedy Center/Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, D.C., during a run of The Magic Fire, produced in conjunction with and by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, (directed by Libby Appel). Zoë's producing and directing credits include multiple One-Act plays, short films and theatrical productions for the Arizona Women's Theatre Company's, “Pandora Festival” and for Aux Dog Theatre's “Laughing Dog” 10-minute play festival.Zoë is the athletic type, enjoying every major sport; especially Baseball. She is an avid Golfer and has played courses from the Bay Area to Scottsdale, Arizona to Williamsburg, Virginia. Having learned to Ski in the Austrian Alps, she has skied the Alps of Europe and the Eastern and Western slopes of the United States. She also rides horses and recently gave up her beautiful APHA 16.2h gelding, “Zoë's Situation Comedy” (AKA “Rolling!”), so that he could have the life he deserves by trailering, mountain and streams rides through Flagstaff, AZ. An avid collector of antique furniture and 20th Century Modern Art, Zoë has visited most of the major museums and cathedrals of Europe, adding a few more during a past trip to Greece, Italy and Turkey.Her two Standard Poodles, Pale Ale, and Porter are the lights of her life. Her Shih Tzu, Barley Wine rounds out her beer-named Pups. She drives a 1977 Lincoln Continental Mark V among other things and looks forward to getting her '67 Honda CB-450 back on the road very shortly. A new bike was in the cards for her recent Birthday, but that plan was interrupted by the purchase of a home in Albuquerque, NM where she currently resides with her husband of almost 30 years, Daniel.Ms. Yeoman was on the Board of Directors and was very proudly, the first female Membership Chair of the Friars' Club of California and is a past president of the Arizona Women's Theatre Company. She's a member of the Santa Fe chapter of The Hamptons Table, belongs to the New Mexico Chapter of Women in Film and her on-going search for a theatre company to call home, continues. To reach out, please do so through the Contact page herein, or call her Agents, Katrina or Mina at South West Artist Group in New Mexico/Arizona or Linda Ryan at Cross Beam Talent, Atlanta, GA.

"Employers benefit from the disorganization of freelance musicians.  But when we come together and have conversations about our working conditions, there is a power that arises which brings about change."In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Adam Reifsteck interviews multi-instrumentalist Chris Reza about his work in the Broadway music scene. His performance credits include Fun Home, Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular. Book of Mormon, Matilda, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and many more. Reza is also composer, lyricist, and book writer for the musical Question 1 , a satirical musical dramedy about a closeted politician who becomes the center of Maine’s 2009 same-sex marriage debate.While serving as vice-chair of the Broadway Theatre Committee, the liaison between the Broadway Musicians Community and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, Reza founded the Electronic Music Committee in early 2018 and served as its Facilitator through late 2019. He oversaw the development and rollout of Broadway’s first-ever industry-wide assessment of electronic music practices, the creation of Local 802’s first-ever Guide to Electronic Music, and the establishment of recommendations to help modernize our union’s contractual electronic-music provisions. Topics discussed in this episode include Reza's approach to the music business, his insight into how musicians are coping during the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of becoming an activist, and his involvement with MFM.Visit Chris Reza at chrisrezamusic.com.The following music featured in this episode are:Opening track: "Intermission Song" from the 2019 Off-Broadway Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson. Featuring Chris Reza on flute and tenor saxMiddle track: "Ring of Keys" from the 2015 Broadway musical Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori. Featuring Chris Reza on clarinet and flute.Ending track: "Come to the Fun Home" from Fun Home. Featuring Chris Reza on tenor sax and flute.

Join us for our season finale episode in which we get to talk to the artist who coined the name for our podcast, writer and actor Lisa Kron! We discuss Lisa’s early artist days and the “living culture” of WOW Café as well as the origins and almost European tour of the Five Lesbian Brothers. This leads us to the importance and rarity of queer spaces, queer identity outside of the patriarchy, the incandescent and creative life of the subculture, and the sanctification of a chosen family. In our discussion of Fun Home, we get to hear excerpts from Lisa’s childhood diary and about the autograph line confessions at the Fun Home stage door. Lisa reflects on the intersection of art and activism and her family history in light of today’s political climate and provides some pre-election insight that’s still prescient to our presidential transition time. We leave you this season with the reminder, as Lisa says, of “our power to create the future.” Be powerful and keep it queer. Lisa Kron: Website Queer Culture Rec: AOC Sunrise Speech Gentleman Jack - HBO Great British Bake-Off (specifically Noel Fielding) - Netflix Taskmaster - Amazon, Youtube Queer Gives: Lesbian Herstory Archives Outright International  Georgia Senate Runoff Campaigns to Support: Jon Ossoff Raphael Warnock Thesis on Joan: Follow Thesis on Joan on Instagram & Twitter  Leave us a voicemail at (845) 445-9251‬ Email us at thesisonjoan at gmail dot com You can view a transcript of this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you change hearts and minds within your own family to make them see the awful presidency of Donald Trump? How do you take care of your own hearts and minds when your family has decided to back Donald Trump again and you feel as if you have nothing in common any longer? Clinical Psychologist Dr. Alisa Hurwitz and I break down paths and plans to keep you mentally healthy this election season and maybe even able to change some voters minds.  We then talk to playwright/lyricist Lisa Kron about her extraordinary work and how sometimes putting your own personal family issues onstage is a large form of activism that can allow people to see things from a whole new perspective.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony-award-winning writers Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron join Joe Bunker to discuss their 2013 musical Fun Home, along with two stars of the 2018 London production at the Old Vic: Kaisa Hammarlund and Jenna Russell. Fun Home: Part One features a PBP exclusive performance of ‘Days and Days' by Jenna Russell and the PBP Fun Home quiz! If you enjoy Piece by Piece, please tell us about it on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. You can also now subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts!

Today and always we celebrate PRIDE. Our guests are the creators of the PRIDE PLAYS – Producers Doug Nevin and Michael Urie and Festival Director Nick Mayo. Now in it’s second year, the Pride Plays – in association this year with Playbill and Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre – are once again celebrating spectacular queer-themed works from renoun artists such as Lisa Kron and the Five Lesbian Brothers, Donja R. Love, MJ Kaufman and Marc Crowly…alongside brand new voices with a spectacular line-up of theatrical events, readings and workshops. Once COVID hit, Doug, Michael and Nick scrambled to figure out to present PRIDE PLAYS 2020 entirely online. Join us for this DEEP DIVE celebrating the artists of this year’s PRIDE PLAYS and into the incredible process of creation behind-the-digital-curtain. Let’s dive in!

Happy Pride! This week Jess & Andrew will be covering Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori's biographical musical "Fun Home." Donate to Black Lives Matter here Social Media: Our WEBSITE Musicals with Cheese on Twitter Jess on Twitter Andrew on Twitter Musicals W/ Cheese on Instagram Jess on Instagram Email us at musicaltheatrelives@gmail.com Use our Affiliate Link

In this episode, freelance artists and founders of ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com David Sisco and Laura Josepher discuss contemporary musical theater----what the term means and includes, as well as examples from Broadway, off-Broadway, and their site. We also talk about the song "Changing My Major" from Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori's 2015 Broadway musical Fun Home.

In this episode, I share outtakes from three previous episodes with guests Gregory Jacobs-Roseman, Michael Boyd, and EllaRose Chary. I also talk about the song "Telephone Wire" from Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori's 2015 Broadway musical Fun Home.

No Script is back to full length scripts this week! "Fun Home" is a delightful and poignant musical based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Set at three different points in Alison's life, the play follows her challenging relationship with her father. Book/lyrics by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori.  ------------------------------ Please consider supporting us on Patreon. For as low as $1/month, you can help to ensure the No Script Podcast can continue.  https://www.patreon.com/noscriptpodcast  ----------------------------- We want to keep the conversation going! Have you read this play? Have you seen it? Comment and tell us your favorite themes, characters, plot points, etc. Did we get something wrong? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media at:  Email: noscriptpodcast@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No-Script-The-Podcast-1675491925872541/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noscriptpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscriptpodcast/ ------------------------------ Our theme song is “Upbeat Soda Pop” by Purple Planet Music. Credit as follows: Music: http://www.purple-planet.com ------------------------------ Thanks so much for listening! We’ll see you next week.

Alison Bechdel’s incredible graphic memoir, Fun Home, described what it was like to grow up gay in a family funeral home business. Turned into a musical by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, Fun Home won 5 Tony Awards in  2015, and will open on the BPA stage March 13th. In this podcast, Director Kate Meyers (Carruthers) introduces the three women who play Alison at various stages of her life. Evelyn Cantwell, 13, plays Small Alison, growing up in the 70’s. Emily Jo Bryant plays Medium Alison, coming of age in the 80’s, and Natalie Moe plays present day Alison, reflecting back over her life. Together they discuss the play and what it’s like to be playing the same – real – person at different ages in her life, sharing their thoughts on how their acting choices, mannerisms, voices, and even musical themes echo back and forth between characters. For humor, heart, hope, and some glorious soaring harmonies, you won’t want to miss Fun Home. The play opens Friday, March 13th, 7:30 pm at Bainbridge Performing Arts and runs through March 29th, with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and matinee performances at 3 pm on Sundays. There will also be a pay-what-you-can preview on Thursday, March 12th, $5 teen tickets for the first Saturday, and some special post show talk backs. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit Bainbridgeperformingarts.org. Credits: BCB host and audio editor: Diane Walker; publisher: Chris Walker.

Are you a Beth or a Marmee? Fresh off playing Hannah in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Anne and Damian dig into the March women with theatre stalwart, Jayne Houdyshell. You Might Know Her From: Little Women, Maid in Manhattan, The Bounty Hunter, Garden State, and the Broadway productions of The Humans, Well, King Lear, and A Doll’s House Part 2. Jayne's film career is taking off, but we cover her thirty years in regional theatre before winning a Tony Award at 62! Plus, the joys of Louisa May Alcott, recreating her role in the movie version of The Humans (hi, Amy Schumer and Beanie Feldstein!), the sexual energy of John Stamos and Gina Gershon in Bye Bye Birdie, and why strangers would chase her around Manhattan saying, "Fuck you, Nora." Shit, we loved this Kansan so much. Git into it. Follow us on social media: @damianbellino || @rodemanne  Discussed this week: Jayne’s IMDB || Jayne’s IBDB Anne was trying to think of the nasty nickname for motorcycles but couldn’t get there. Isn’t “ambulance ____” but ER docs apparently call them “donor cycles”  Child’s Play 3 with  Christine Elise aka Emily Valentine in 90210, BH90210christ Anne was thinking of Elise Neal in Scream 2 Damian and Anne in a sidecar Mr. Lee’s rugelach = Lee Lee’s Rugelach By A Brother Jayne’s journey from regional->Broadway Jayne in Music Man with Sutton Foster & Hugh Jackman Jake Gyllenhaal mildly mispronouncing Jayne’s last name on Tony night Jayne is Hannah in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (2019) Other Little Women adaptations: Jayne loves the Katherine Hepburn version (1933); June Allyson (1949); Winona Ryder (1994); PBS’s version with Maya Hawke (2018) NYC’s Zipper Factory (2001-2009) Lisa Kron’s Well directed by Leigh Silverman The Humans (Stephen Karam) on Broadway; The Humans is a movie with Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, and Jayne! actor/director/friend Joe Mantello  Jayne replaced Linda Lavin in the 2011 Follies Broadway revival (suggested by Bernadette Peters) and got to sing “Broadway Baby” Maid in Manhattan from fancy trailer to honeywagon Gloucester opposite Glenda Jackson’s King Lear Jayne loved her in Marat/Sade Bye Bye Birdie revival on Broadway in 2009  Katrina Lenk in Company revival (Indecent, The Band’s Visi) Katrina performing “Omar Sharif’ from The Band’s Visit  Famous Kansans: Lois Smith, Annette Bening, Jack Willis, Shirley Knight,  On growing up in Kansas: “My whole concept of god was the horizon.”  Craft services better on Little Women than on Garden State Lucky Stiff musical Oh well shit. Shit Nora shit or Fuck you, Nora.

Did you know there were musicals based on comics (besides Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark)? Well, we explore them and their impact in this wonderful live show from Flying V Theatre's Awesome-a-Thon Vol. 3, their annual 24-hour fundraiser. Featuring Chris Klimek's point of view and the heavenly voices of Kari Ginsburg, Don Mike Mendoza, and Anna Grace Nowalk with Heather Hurley on piano. Also: Patrick sings and plays guitar and talks and there's a slideshow you can't see because you weren't there but can see but you can follow along with if you go to this LINK! THE ORIGINAL CAST MERCH NOW AVAILABLE AT TEE PUBLIC Songs: 0:00:00 “Holy Musical, B@man!” from Holy Musical, B@man! ·  performed by Patrick, Kari, Don Mike, & Anna · music and lyrics by Nick Gage & Scott Lamps 0:08:40 “Pulled” from The Addams Family · performed by Anna · music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa 0:16:15 “The Boy from...” from The Mad Show · performed by Don Mike · music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim 0:33:30 “Days” from Fun Home · performed by Kari · music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Lisa Kron 0:49:48 “Magneto and Titanium Man” · performed by Patrick with Kari, Don Mike, & Anna · music and lyrics by Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney 0:56:20 “Just One Night” from Doonesbury · performed by Anna & Don Mike · music by Elizabeth Swados, lyrics by Garry Trudeau 1:03:15 “The Doctor is In” from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown · performed by Kari & Patrick · music and lyrics by Clark Gesner Recorded live on April 14, 2019 in Bethesda, Maryland. Join us on PATREON to get our patrons-only podcast The Original Cast at the Movies? This month Heather C. Jackson (She Loves Me) and Amanda Zeitler (Starmites) are here for a movie that is one of Patrick's favorites but not one of their favorites. Oh no. It's Bob Fosse's masterpiece All That Jazz (1979)! Patreon • Twitter • Fcebook • Email

Jennifer Magley I was I was grieving the loss of of this person of this role in my life and really just more of grieving the life that I thought I was going to have and that that was actually which may be not a great sign but that was actually more painful than even just becoming a single mother it was. Oh my gosh this is my life, I’m this scarlet letter   INTRO   Jennifer Magley is a talented entrepreneur and speaker.  She claims the stage in engagements across the nation and coaches executive leaders.  Her role as an executive coach is fitting; Jennifer was a professional tennis player and then a NCAA Division 1 head coach.    You know when Jennifer enters a room.  She is tall and striking, confidently claiming her space.   But, that confidence is not born out of an unbroken string of successes.  This captivating coach and speaker has dealt with her own share of disruption.  A few years ago, betrayal left her reeling; her marriage was over, she had a newborn and suddenly became an under-employed single mom of two small children.    We’ll jump into her story soon, but, as we begin our episode, I want to introduce two sponsors for the podcast.  FullStack PEO offers turn-key HR for emerging companies.  Glad to have them as part of the podcast because, beyond being good at administering benefits, on a personal level, I also really like the men and women behind FullStack.    We are also sponsored by Handle w/ Care HR Solutions, offering empathy coaching and manager training so you can give support when it matters most.   In today’s episode, Jennifer shares her story of disruption.  She talks about the unrelenting days, the economic challenges, and the misperceptions she regularly confronts. Jennifer also offers a particular, important nuance to the conversation.  She is a woman of color, and this means that she faces additional challenges and hurdles along her journey of single parenting.   We had to reschedule our initial recording session because Jennifer’s car came to a grinding halt in the middle of a busy, northside intersection on her way to the studio.  The tow service was taking forever and traffic was whizzing by.  I met her on the corner of Meridian and 96 Street.  I can’t fix cars, but I did bring her a little carrot cake in a mason jar.  This roadside crisis is the context of the start of our interview.   - Liesel Mertes Jennifer I'm so glad to have you in the studio today. Thanks for coming.   - Jennifer Magley Thank you for coming and for saving my life a couple weeks ago bringing me cake on the side of the road when my car broke down. Yes. You were my hero and are my hero.   - Liesel Mertes Well nothing says comfort in the midst of an auto crisis like baked goods.   - Jennifer Magley That's true. That was it disrupted my entire day. So, it's perfect to start the podcast the show with it. Yes.   - Liesel Mertes Well so you didn't…you had this like minor disruptive life event but you're stuck on the side of the road and I think you guys were headed to like a pumpkin patch or did you get to do day's activities with your kids.   - Jennifer Magley Yeah it's kind of the story of life. You get ready to go. And it's actually always a wonderful plotline because you've got your protagonist and then the disruption happens. Right. And you're hoping for the best and you helped me that moment because it turned into a picnic on the side of the road. I just chose to think it out. Think about it as a picnic rather than my car broke down and it's completely totaled. And you know in front of moving traffic. So yeah, I'm grateful for that. But I made it here finally made it here which is good.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah. And you are headed out a little bit later to elementary school.   - Jennifer Magley Yeah.   - Liesel Mertes With your son who is a celebrity.   - Jennifer Magley Today is definitely a celebrity of the day which concludes celebrity of the week. So that's all it is I get to be his plus one his his ultimate groupie his number one fan today at lunch for life. Yeah, yeah, Mom, Mom is the number one fan manager maybe I can be as mom and what they call them now.   - Liesel Mertes Well OK, so that's perhaps a good segue way number one fan. Your parents behind you, you have a backstory that brings you here. Tell us a little bit about your growing up right.   - Jennifer Magley So, I'm the oldest of four children and it's been an honor to be their, their oldest sibling I actually just had a little niece named after me with her middle no middle name is Rose. So, my middle name is Rose and I have another niece who is gonna be named after me too, which is Rose, which I'm beyond honored considering I'm such an intense older sibling. So, as I know they're all this for I know. Okay. Go get it.   - Jennifer Magley It's terrifying. So I'm grateful for that. And so that's kind of I guess a testament to the fact that they still love me after all these years.   - Jennifer Magley But I grew up in a loving home wonderful home. You know, we've got generations of married folks that are still married and it's been something that I've been grateful for. So, my whole life I kind of thought that my life was going to track theirs right. And so, I did everything that I could to prepare myself for this future life including just like what we call staying pure till marriage. That's like the biggest stance that I took and I went to a very will say liberal college fun party school and I stuck with that all through those years because it's my own personal conviction. And the reason why I share this part of my story is because it's kind of like putting in all the ingredients for a chocolate cake and into the oven and you pull out a cactus because I thought by doing all of these what I thought were right things for me my life would turn out the way that I was expecting.   - Jennifer Magley  Which was the way of my parents in the way of my grandparents that I would have this particular life.   - Liesel Mertes And in the midst of, I hear that the sense of, oh this wasn't the way it was supposed to go right and you were also very busy in these years as you were going to college. Yeah. And this was a huge part of your world.   - Jennifer Magley Yes I was. I'm a former professional athlete and division one head coach and so I love to have fun and work hard but really you know DONE is my favorite four letter word d o n e like so accomplishing things that is something that was a big deal to me and in a sense getting married and having a family was this bizarre kind of accomplishment. But it's hard to put that on your list of things to do. Yes. On the top of the list get married like you can't force that or find that. And so when I did meet someone through my family I was so excited about it and we knew each other a short time and then we ended up getting married and I thought this was just I was so excited.   - Jennifer Magley  Everything in my life was lining up all the pieces were coming together and go through a fertility journey and you know lose ,lose one early on and end up having kind of this miracle healing where I get to now be the mother of two small boys. It was just really a unique story.   - Jennifer Magley And I've been everything, you know, I've been the breadwinner in my marriage for when I was married for the majority of the time I've been a stay at home mom. I've been I work from home mom or work from work because we all know it's extra work being home. And then now I will just on one day overnight I basically became a single mom and that was completely unexpected.   - Liesel Mertes It sounds like an emotional journey with so many inflection points   - Jennifer Magley I was in my 20s and I was just had the dream wedding everything was beautiful. My mother planned, dad and, I think the biggest part of any relationship and anyone that has a large wedding is that you're standing in front of every single person that means anything to you and you're making these vows. So then when you know you're told the actual truth about your life which was this person had been having there's no other word but just sex with other people from them since the moment he match you over the entire duration of the relationship.   - Jennifer Magley When he confessed this to me in front of our two small children you know that's just the kind of a first thought that comes to mind is the first off for me was oh gosh I'm not crazy.   - Jennifer Magley And then the second part was, oh wow, you know you kind of really have to work through your own ego of, Geez everyone that I have ever known was there and I'm so embarrassed that I didn't see this and I'm so embarrassed that I didn't. How silly of me not to see this coming, I suppose, so that was really those backstories of you know staying air quote pure until marriage just believing in these, these core truths.   - Jennifer Magley For a lot of people and then having it unravel in one moment was definitely a disruption to the life that I thought I was going to. Then I was in it and ever since that moment it has played a huge part of every part of my every moment of my day because I went from being a stay at home mother; I had quit working and actually I was launching my business from my first business then. And that happened two days before a huge piece in The Indianapolis Star came out with both of our photos on it. And so. I had a choice. Am I going to move forward with my business and with my life and becoming a single slash independent mother or am I just going to fall apart in my world fall apart meant to quit and kind of curl up in a ball in your bed and not not get out?   - Liesel Mertes How did how did that decision or those moments unfold? Because, you're in such crises right? You've got these young kids you have this external thing. What did that look like did you have people or resources that you remember and you're like that was that was a game changer for me?   - Jennifer Magley It definitely I'm, I'm so blessed so fortunate that my mother dropped everything like she got that call same day and I'm so kind of articulate the types of varied reactions that people have and everyone's different but in the moment that you realize you've been in an unhealthy relationship where somebody has been taking advantage of you and that's taking advantage of your trust or fill in the blank. You have basically one of two polarizing options. The first is to stay and realize that I am in symbiosis with this person. So I'm, I'm dependent on them and in order for me to stay in this marriage or stay in this relationship I have to change.   - Jennifer Magley  So I have to go to the therapy if that person is willing to try to understand and navigate their lack. And I've got to, I've got to be the one to change because it's impossible for me to be myself and stay in this situation. And then you have the other option which is to just say, this is enough, put your foot down and pivot because the longer you stay in an unhealthy very unhealthy situation the harder it is to get out. If that makes any sense. So, to that point, when I made that I put my foot down and I pivoted.   - Jennifer Magley  I was fortunate to have the resources of my, my mother who dropped everything and actually came to live with me for a while to help me navigate what became a very challenging gosh for years of being a single mother entrepreneur here in the state of Indiana.   - Liesel Mertes So there's so many levels:  I imagine there's the logistics there is just like that the energy level of caring for your two kids. What did you find were some of the biggest misconceptions that people had as you were going through that journey and were it like what were some things that people said?   - Jennifer Magley Well, at the time I lived in Hamilton County. So, Hamilton County in Indiana has 4.5 children per home. So it's kind of the incubator of the Midwest. So, if you want to get pregnant walk through Target and fishers target and yeah there's nothing but kids there.   - Jennifer Magley And so, I lived on this very ideal like street in Fishers where everyone was married and there was only one single mother and she was a bit of an outlier you know within the neighborhood. And the moment I became a fellow single or independent mother as well say I felt like everything changed. And the biggest kind of misconceptions that I had to face were the ones that I had. So, I found myself having to feel I felt as though I had to explain how I became a single mother to people as though there's some type of hierarchy for example oh well this is what happened to me and this is how I became a single mom.   - Jennifer Magley  I was married as though it makes a difference. And that's when I kind of face my own conviction or maybe faulty perceptions of what it meant what it meant to go on your own. And now I don't feel the need to explain my backstory to people I'm just a single mom. Like, what difference does it make if I was married or not.   - Liesel Mertes It's so interesting and just the that unsaid expectations seem to form behavior in really powerful ways. Did you find that navigating you were your family or your social dynamics suddenly felt different? Were there people that really stepped up to bat and were there and were there people they just faded away?   - Jennifer Magley Yeah I feel that crisis reveals a lot of the backstories of people. So, you know there were a few people that said can you make it work like is that you know I know I know this was happening for nearly eight years and you weren't aware of it.   - Jennifer Magley Can you make it work for the children? And that's really revealing. For me, it was a fundamental trust that was broken an identity that of a person that didn't exist basically the way that I saw it that was created and so yeah. There are a lot of people that really just revealed their, their views through their questions or through their ways of wanting to help.   - Jennifer Magley But overall, I would say that I just had a lot of we support your decision because it's a bit like when you hear about the old lady the old lady who's on TV that, I've been scammed you kind of don't ask them to, was there any way you can kind of forgive that scammer and that took your life savings and you go on a date with them. People don't really ask those ladies to do that and it's interesting that in the case of marriage when there are children people ask you to do kind of unthinkable things because nobody is saying to that 90 year old lady like well what role did you play in this scam.   - Jennifer Magley You know, I did open the yeah you did open that door and, and again there's people that shun women for running in a sports bra. And so, there is that mentality out there but I didn't encounter a ton of it at all with my own family I over how to just loads of support and they essentially became more of a village for my kiddos to raise them.   - Liesel Mertes What were some of it… so your mom dropped everything and came.   - Jennifer Magley She did and then moved into our into my house. My mom and my dad they made that their HQ for a while.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah. What were other things that you look back and you think of people on the way that you go in those immediate stages that was so good, I really appreciated that?   - Jennifer Magley Yeah gosh I would say that it was really my mom. So I've been asked, like OK did you do therapy? Like what did you do to cope? Because what happens and this is a lot of times what happens with grief is the same thing that happens with deception. You your good memories are also painful. So when you look back and it's like oh oh this is what was going on when it was my birthday and I was pregnant. Oh this is where you were actually after the wedding the wedding reception for my family. You were out doing your extracurricular activities so then every single good memory is tainted because of that.   - Jennifer Magley And so my mom really was the one that stepped up and I didn't have therapy but I had like 24 hour intense support and my mother. And it was a lot of extreme moments for me because I think like grief, I was I was grieving the loss of of this person of this role in my life and really just more of grieving the life that I thought I was going to have and that that was actually which may be not a great sign but that was actually more painful than even just becoming a single mother it was.   - Jennifer Magley Oh my gosh this is my life is the scarlet letter. You know within my little suburb community in the Midwest I'm suddenly and actually that phrase hot to trot. You've heard it comes from like the 50s when women started getting more and more divorced, divorced the guys at the barbecues would elbow each other and say oh look at her you know she's Miss Smith now she's hot to trot. So, there is definitely a stigma that comes with being.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah. Did you feel that ever reflected back to you like that sometimes we have fears and then there's that awful moment where you're looking and you're like oh yeah you are perceiving me that way? You are giving off that vibe right?   - Jennifer Magley So as it's really a that's a good question because as a woman of color in a lot of different industries that I've worked and I've just really used to dealing with perceptions that I don't even identify mostly that they're happening. I just think, OK this person doesn't know enough information about me and that's not my default setting because my father is white. My mother is black. So and also the way that I'm being perceived is is highly predicated on this person's point of view. Like where they're coming from what they view me. So that just kind of added another layer to an already set expectation that people have. I think I think.   - Jennifer Magley I've actually heard more comments about the fact that I was married because 80 percent of children of color are born into single mother households. So, there is this perception that I would be and I didn't know that people were perceiving me to be a single mother already. Even when I was married. So I think it was a bit of the reverse awakening of, oh wow I didn't I didn't realize people were seeing me as a single mom even when I was married.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah. Tell me is kind of odd. Tell me a little bit more about that. That the expectations of being single and being a multiethnic background what are what are the different things that you feel like. Oh yeah. People who are like single parenting baseline is hard but if you're a white single mom like you don't actually have to field this sort of stuff.   - Jennifer Magley So, what I can speak to about that is awesome question and very brave question because not everybody wanting to have these kinds of conversations. So, I think in the state of Indiana we are the second worst in regard to the gender pay disparity the wage gap. So, it's something like seventy nine cents on every dollar. That's how much a woman makes in Indiana like we're second worst in the nation. And so what that means is that a woman of color only makes 54 cents. So, the way that plays into my world as a single mother entrepreneur is that I essentially have to work sometimes three or four jobs to make ends meet because I'm statistically not earning that full dollar as opposed to my male counterpart parts or as opposed to people that are of different ethnicities. So the statistics within Indiana make my demo a little bit harder.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah I hear that does it. Do you feel like there is you've built a community of support of like other people that are living this sort of a reality that you're like Oh man I can talk with them about stuff and they just get me in a way?   - Jennifer Magley Yeah I know. So, it's really interesting it's kind of like belonging to a secret society. Right. And I didn't know that this existed until I became it. So I'm sure and certain with your journey you tell them what you've gone through and if they've been through it you immediately have an understanding just it's right in the eyes. You're like OK we're here. So I feel that way with former student athletes women that played sports in college or professionally. And I also feel that way about single mothers. It's, it's an immediate sisterhood. Now that said it's not always a continual sisterhood because of the demands on our time. So I find that I have very quick intimate connections but then sometimes we're always just going we're just going especially when you have multiple children and you have full custody of them as I do right now and so you know you just you're just going so quickly   - Jennifer Magley And it's hard in general to find people who have been to where you're going and finding that like single mom mentor or that person that you call and say oh my gosh how did you make it? I haven't found her yet but I know there's plenty out there   - Liesel Mertes What are the what are some of the hardest daily moments or like in the rhythm of a week can make you think this is just a particular challenge to being a single mom and an entrepreneur? Yes give us a little window.   - Jennifer Magley So looks like I will break it down with within 24 hours. So I think that I actually wrote a piece about this how I'm calling it the equal time fallacy that people tell you Oh you've got to same 24 hours as fill in the blank you know tycoon or talk show host. And the truth is we don't; we don't have the same 24 hours as other people because we don't have a team of people or even a partner that's 24 hours with you that can do things. So because I have that fallacy   - Jennifer Magley I get up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning every day and that's the only time I have where I'm by myself and if I don't get up at that time and do my habits and my rituals. I don't know I just I haven't actually not gotten up at that time during a weekday for years so I get up at four or five get the kids off to school on that bus by 7:40 the other little guy off to his childcare and then I'm just going until the moment I collapse in the bed at 10:00.   - Jennifer Magley  So those challenges are, you know, you've got the stress of being what this male classically male stress of oh well he's gotta provide you know he's, he's stressed out. Let him go off for let him let some steam off. I have that then I have the invisible work that fairplay talks about this new book fair play that's out about the amount of home work life work we have to do at home. I have the invisible work of emotions and having to navigate and go into school and handle everything and raised you know kiddos full time.   - Jennifer Magley So I feel like I have become this hermaphrodite of responsibilities. You know where I've got the demands and responsibility of a man. And but and also supposed to nurture as a woman.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah.   - Jennifer Magley There's so much to juggle in the midst of a given day and starting that day at 5:00 o'clock in the morning with zero guaranteed dollars in my bank account. Right. And that has been something that I'm always transitioning and oscillating between because I mean I say zero guaranteed because when you do your own thing it's not until somebody pays you that it's real. They can sign an agreement. They can say yes come speak in Hong Kong but until you've got that money it's not a real thing until they're all signed on the dotted line.   - Liesel Mertes Right. Yes. You touched on a little bit, but we've talked about ways in which people have been supportive. Mm hmm. The support that you need. How is it changed from those immediate stages of like oh my gosh everything is falling apart right now to a stage right now that's different but I imagine you still need support systems? What does good support look like for you 2019?   - Jennifer Magley So this is not going to be politically correct but when everything first happened there was a woman actually in my neighborhood that had cancer and I thought to myself and then there was another friend of mine who lost her husband and he died and I literally and my self-pity was like, boy they've got it good because in my mind when you had cancer I saw everybody signing up to bring meals and watch the kids and rally for her because she has no strength her hair is falling out and she was receiving some kind of support.   - Jennifer Magley  And then when my other girlfriends husband died. Same thing. They're setting up college funds they're doing go fund me and they're raising all kinds of money for this very sad story of a young mother who lost her husband well when I became a single mom. None of that happened for me and no one rallies in that public way and says, Boy let's set up a fund for these two young children that now have parents that are split up because they, they are thinking well there's some fault here. And I just think that in general sickness and death garner more support initially than anything else so back then the support that meant the most to me was some friends sending me money.   - Jennifer Magley Actually, initially to help me move forward to be able to separate myself and kind of disengage from that unhealthy relationship. And then now what that looks like is just a friendly ear now and then so I can vent and just kind of brainstorm how do I continue to co parent with in this difficult relationship. You know ,for the next, I mean I'd like to say it's only 14 years but we all know that that's not real life. You know you've got. How do you navigate the difficulty of this partnership that's not really a partnership?   - Jennifer Magley So that's challenging. So, it looks different. You know the immediate monetary needs are there. Just as any crisis requires that.   - Liesel Mertes Right. Yeah that's a great point. How some things there, there just seem like more of a universal signal home like, like we should rush in and give care. And there are other things where because of the assumption of blame or because of, oh man that would just be so messy and I don't know who to side with. I'm sure that affects how people show up or how they don't show up.   - Jennifer Magley And to kind of, if I'm looking back and to kind of give a bit more perspective. Yes. In the aftermath of this I have cast myself as the protagonist as we all do. But when I look at it and I say, how did I even end up in this situation where I was married to what I jokingly call my number one hater? It's because I essentially, I think may have been my number one hater. You know someone can't mistreat you unless you think that that's OK.   - Liesel Mertes I'm sure that there is a lot of actual personal work.   - Jennifer Magley Oh my gosh you had that. I think afterwards, I kept dating people and thinking gosh all men are like this. But what was the common factor? Me. So I think that it requires any traumatic event where there's a revelation or separation or death. You kind of think how could I have avoided this?   - Liesel Mertes What is one of the things that you like best about who you are becoming over the last four years?   - Jennifer Magley I'm a completely different person than I used to be and a lot of respects. So, what that tipped off was me actually having a story. So I'm reading a lot and my major was English about what does it mean to create a story and write and essentially nothing happens until your life is disrupted.   - Jennifer Magley The character wakes up in the morning and they don't know that aliens are invading in the afternoon while that doesn't mean anything until you know the backstory of that main character. So, Lisa Kron actually wrote a great book about how to storytelling. So what I realized is that that has this has created my story of my life which requires transformation and the transformation for me has been learning how to represent myself learning more of who I am.   - Jennifer Magley Figuring out how to make magic and, and kind of also figure out how to have leisure and when I say make magic I mean transform. Whether that's consulting or speaking or coaching and how can I fit the need with a service that's being brought to me for that day or for that time and how do I monetize that? How do I maximize every moment that I have? So, it's required me to become a different or better version of myself.   - Jennifer Magley Yeah, I think you know this show is about disruption than about difficult things in life. And it's really not until we encounter that that all of the things that you believe are tested you know for the longest time. Firs,t how this played into me was my even my relationship with faith and my belief in God and, you know I a lot of these relationships and talk and the United States is about you know how much you love God and how you know prayer is about your, your encounter with God you what you are saying to God.   - Jennifer Magley  Well, when you go through something like this and kind of your air your testimony as it's called within the Christian faith is made a mockery. It's a total joke like my life testimony became almost like a joke. What I've had to do is take a step back and say, you know, what if God it's not about how much we love God what about if it's about how much God loves us unconditionally, how God is always faithful to us in whatever way you can find. What if it's about instead of talking to God if it's about listening?   - Jennifer Magley  So, my prayer life has been over the last few years. Just when I'm waking up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning I'm just listening because why do you have to say hey you know this isn't a Santa Claus. And even if you give me what I want look what happened in my life like I got what I wanted and it was a an explosion. So when you don't know what's best for you that's really humbling.   - Liesel Mertes Do you have any words if there's someone listening who is in there really journey with him needing to read script life you know marriage is what they're being confronted with like this was not what I signed up for. What would you offer to someone who's at that place?   - Jennifer Magley Well the first thing I would say is if you are being mistreated. If that is any kind of abuse sexual mental emotional physical and really the first abuse that as women ish we should all be aware of is financial abuse because that's where it starts. Is the money. So, if financial abuse:  know what that looks like. That's anywhere from not having control over your full finances not having your own personal account having to ask for permission to do things. Yeah be aware of that. So, the first thing is if you were in that unhealthy situation get out. The sooner the better get out remove yourself from this situation.   - Jennifer Magley I'm not saying end your relationship or and your marriage but find some space where you can reflect on the events that have been going on in your life. And truly, if there's smoke there's fire. The number one thing is you're going to feel like you are crazy like, I'm crazy to think that or if you're always asking yourself what did I do wrong here. Jeez I keep messing up; I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Well this is the language of someone who doesn't realize they're in an unhealthy relationship because it's not that you are doing necessarily anything wrong.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah and if there's someone listening that they go oh my gosh my my sister or my high school best friend or my uncle they're going through this divorce right. Oh gee it feels so awkward. I don't know what to do. I'm not going to bring it. What are words that you would give to someone who's in that support role?   - Jennifer Magley Yeah just, so I would say text messages. Just want to let you know I love you because the other thing is is, like as a person on the outside. The last thing you want is for them to call and like vomit on you all the time because that is a tendency for somebody who is coping as they just don't know how to have that internal conversation. A lot of times for me I was like, oh gosh I just need someone to listen. And I would say support them really if you're not wanting to hear all the details set a boundary like I would encourage that person to say I really love you, but during the day I'm working. And can I give you a ring. Like next Wednesday. And just set that firm boundary with that person because they're in a lot of pain. And so, it's OK to tell the person who's hurting no, I think that's another thing that is not encouraged because you're like I'll just be there for them and it's OK to say, like oh no this is going to support you and I want to support you in this way. I appreciate that there is a little different problem. Well there's some there's some good wisdom in that because it's, it's something I can be free. I can be for you in these settings and it makes you available in ways that you can be available right. This is a little nuance.   - Liesel Mertes Is there anything that an employer should specifically in our business to say like this is something to be aware of for single moms and why not?   - Jennifer Magley Yeah. You need to hire them. You need to hire single mothers and here's why they are doing more than you can even begin to imagine. And you always want a busy person to complete the task right. They say recruiting whether it's for a board whether it's for a job like hire a busy person to do it. And I would say just because someone is a single parent because a lot of single dads out there sometimes I feel like they get a few more medals then when they're in the car line and you're like oh he's a single dad it's like how is that sexy I'm a single mom. Come on. And you know like but. But anyways I would say hire them hire the single parent and know that that hire might mean even more than you can fathom because they're going it alone. So I would say hire them.   - Liesel Mertes It's a good word. Any other things that you would like to add that you didn't get a chance to say?   - Jennifer Magley I I think that the biggest, the biggest thing with telling my story is the era that we live in which is the digital age and knowing that every time I tell my story it's possible that it's going to outlive me because it's going to be on the internet and trying to have this sensitivity knowing my son's, well, you know may or may not have their avatars listen to as they you know deal with becoming part robot in the future.   - Jennifer Magley But I think, when they do hear this, I always want to try to have like a sensitivity but also speak my truth because the things that we go through in life. This is a cliché, but they're not just meant for us. You know, think everything you went through you now have a platform and you're sharing to inspire and encourage other people.   - Jennifer Magley I just want to tell anyone that's listening:  don't be ashamed of speaking your truth. Go ahead and know that you have the power to, to share what you believe in because of what you've experienced. People cannot argue with your experience. You can be the expert of your own experience and so that's the one thing that's fascinating is you can say what you believe and people will argue with you but if you share what you've been through. People respect it and connect with it.   - Liesel Mertes That's true. We're made to connect with those stories. Absolutely.   MUSICAL TRANSITION   This important conversation was sponsored by FullStack PEO.  With experience in payroll and benefits, they take care of your people so you can take care of business.    We are also sponsored by Handle w/ Care HR Solutions.  We all fall down, but empathy coaching through Handle with Care HR Solutions helps you create a community where people survive, stabilize, and thrive after life knocks them down.   I come away with many, many takeaways from my conversation with Jennifer, but I will close with just three. Jennifer said that she needed friends that were just available to listen, friends that sent text messages and were present with her as she worked her way through pain. Be that friend…but don’t be afraid to communicate your boundaries.  If it is a difficult time for you to talk, communicate your constraint.  “I’m so sorry that you are going through this and I’m glad you reached out.  However, I’m at work right now and can’t talk. Can I give you a call tomorrow night to hear more?”  A statement like this shows care while still communicating your limitation. Unlike a diagnosis or a death, men and women that go through a divorce often don’t receive an outpouring of support.Friends and coworkers can be afraid of taking sides.  But, divorce can still turn your world upside down and leave you reeling.  So, if you are a friend or a coworker, consider sending a card, writing a check, or bringing a meal.  It could mean so very much. ‘ Disruptive life events are universally hard...and they can be even harder if you are part of a minority. Talking with Jennifer widened my perspective in an important way.  As a white woman, there is a lot that I am still learning about what it means to be a part of a minority in America. Jennifer offered us a window into her experience:  the economic hurdles of making less and the social hurdle of people’s assumptions because of her skin color.  I want to keep learning, listening to stories and doing the grinding work of taking a long look at how I make these assumptions and how I help to perpetuate these hurdles in my personal interactions.    OUTRO   If you want to learn more about Jennifer, check out her work here: Jennifer Magley Introductory Video (30 seconds)  Recent WISH TV Segment: The One Word You Should Never Use Again (5 minutes) Quit Saying Sorry All The Time (LinkedIn)  How To Start A Business With No Money (Foundr Magazine) Jennifer Magley Website

David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori join us to discuss all things SOFT POWER: from its unique structure and unexpectedly timely genesis, to what the show means for Asian narratives in musical theater. We'll also flashback to some prescient words about art and activism, courtesy of Lisa Kron, and learn what it means to be a Company Manager at The Public.  Episode music by Michael Friedman Audio engineering by Dani Lencioni and Drew Broussard Hosted by Reynaldi Lindner Lolong and Fernando Masterson Featuring David Henry Hwang, Lisa Kron, Jeanine Tesori, and Liza Witmer

Welker White is an actor with deep roots in theatre, film, and television. Most recently Welker completed shooting her third film with Martin Scorsese, The Irishman, opposite Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. On stage Welker has performed on and off-Broadway as well as regionally, originating roles by playwrights Lisa Kron, John Patrick Shanley, Craig Lucas, Mac Wellman, David Ives, Keith Reddin, and many others. Welker holds an MFA in Directing from Brooklyn College, where she teaches in the MFA Acting program. Damian Young is a career actor with over 100 credited film and television appearances. His work spans the films of Hal Hartley and cult favorite Nickelodeon's Pete and Pete, to roles in films such as Birdman, Catfight, Wonderstruck, and Ocean's 8. His recent work includes a series regular on HBO’s The Comeback, and recurring roles on House of Cards, Ozark, Homeland, and The Good Wife. Damian has worked extensively in theatre, both on and off-Broadway, as well as regionally. Together, through a unique, process-oriented approach to the form, they provide actors with concrete tools to unlock authentic behavior that reads onscreen. To learn more visit their website https://www.themovingframe.com Get access to more performing arts jobs than any other platform by going to www.backstage.com/action to get 30 days free.

Caption: The 2015 Tony Awards! Harvey Weinstein’s hideous, smug face forces us to reflect on how much the world has changed in the last four years. We also talk about the highs and lows of adapting stage-resistant source material with Fun Home, An American in Paris, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; get carried away by On the Town; and work in references to everything from Beloved to “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.” Follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@mylittletonys) for additional content about this season’s shows! Works referenced/cited: Paulson, Michael, and Patrick Healy. Tony Awards: ‘Fun Home’ Wins Best Musical and ‘Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ Best Play The New York Times, 8 June 2015. Theater Talk: "Fun Home" with Lisa Kron, Jeanine Tesori & Alison Bechdel Cast and Creators of the 2015 Best Musical: "Fun Home" Behind the Music of FUN HOME with Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori Paulson, Michael. Fun Home,' the Musical, Takes Alison Bechdel's Life to Broadway. The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017. Pogrebin, Robin. “Bringing 'Fun Home' to the Stage.” The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2018. Brantley, Ben. “Family as a Hall of Mirrors.” The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2013. Brantley, Ben. “Review: 'Fun Home' at the Circle in the Square Theater.” The New York Times, 20 Apr. 2015. Thomas, June. “Fun Home Was the Big Winner at the 2015 Tonys. How Did a Graphic Memoir Become a Musical?” Slate Magazine, 8 June 2015. Paulson, Michael. “'Fun Home' Recoups on Broadway.” The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017. Broadway Passes The Bechdel Test With 'Fun Home' Mattila, Kalle Oskari. “How a 'Lesbian Suicide Musical' Was Branded as a Feel-Good Broadway Hit.” The Atlantic, 10 May 2016. Schulman, Michael. “Watching Sondheim Watch ‘Fun Home.’” The New Yorker, 19 June 2017. Thurman, Judith. “Backstage at ‘Fun Home.’” The New Yorker, 19 June 2017. Als, Hilton. “Outsiders Take Center Stage.” The New Yorker, 19 June 2017. Rimalower, Ben. “From Falsettos to Fun Home: Lesbian Characters Move from Sidelines to Center Stage.” Playbill, 10 Sept. 2016. Grode, Eric. “Lisa Kron Juggles Two Shows at Public Theater.” The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2018. “Alison Bechdel Draws a Fun Home Coda.” Vulture. Acocella, Joan. “A New ‘American in Paris.’” The New Yorker, 19 June 2017. Als, Hilton. “Ta-Da!” The New Yorker, 19 June 2017. Brantley, Ben. “Carried Away by the Sights! Lights! Nights!” The New York Times, 17 Oct. 2014. Brantley, Ben. “In 'On the Town,' Sailors on Leave Look for Love.” The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2018. Brantley, Ben. “Plotting the Grid of Sensory Overload.” The New York Times, 6 Oct. 2014. Carey, Benedict. “An Autistic-Friendly Version of 'The Curious Incident'.” The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017. Clarke, David. “BWW Interview: Christopher Wheeldon Talks AN AMERICAN IN PARIS in Movie Theaters.” BroadwayWorld.com, 20 Sept. 2018. Cohen, Stefanie. “'The Curious Incident of the Dog' Journeys to Broadway.” The Wall Street Journal, 2 Oct. 2014. “'Curious Incident' Director Marianne Elliott Isn't Afraid of Big Risks.” Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2017. Geoghegan, Kev. “National Theatre Adapts Mark Haddon's Curious Incident.” BBC News, 6 Aug. 2012. Gottlieb, Robert. An "On the Town" for Our Time. The New Yorker, 20 June 2017. Green, Adam. “The Making of On the Town: How a Group of Young Upstarts Made Broadway History.” Vanity Fair, 10 Apr. 2015. Heller, Allan Kozinn and Scott. “'Curious Incident,' 'On The Town' Steer Clear of Stars in Casting.” The New York Times, 21 May 2014. Isherwood, Charles. “Review: 'An American in Paris,' a Romance of Song and Step.” The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2015. Mackrell, Judith. “Return to Rive Gauche: How Christopher Wheeldon Adapted An American in Paris.” The Guardian, 8 Dec. 2014. Martinelli, Marissa. “An American in Paris: The Musical Is Not Content to Be Simple Escapism.” Slate Magazine, 21 Sept. 2018. Paulson, Michael. “For the Scene Stealers of 'The Curious Incident,' a Happy Second Act, in Dog Years.” The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017. Pollock, David, et al. “Marianne Elliott, Interview with Theatre Director Who Helmed War Horse.” The Stage, 20 July 2017. Rooney, David. “'An American in Paris': Theater Review.” The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Apr. 2015. Schiff, David. “Misunderstanding Gershwin.” The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 1998. Seibert, Brian. “Christopher Wheeldon's 'An American in Paris' Brings Ballet Values to Broadway.” The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017. Soloski, Alexis. “An American in Paris Review – Wheeldon's Fine, Fanciful Entertainment.” The Guardian, 13 Apr. 2015. Stasio, Marilyn. “Broadway Review: 'On the Town'.” Variety, 17 Oct. 2014. Suskin, Steven. “Stage Alchemy, Brilliant as Stars.” The Huffington Post, 7 Dec. 2017. Zoglin, Richard. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Theater Review Time, 6 Oct. 2014. Theater Talk: “An American in Paris”; remembering Jean-Claude Baker

Timing is how the ever so humble Lisa Kron explains how she revolutionized theater, first with Well, and then with Fun Home. Both of these plays went to Broadway and re-invented how we think about what qualifies as a “Broadway show.” Since Donald Trump was elected, Kron has become involved in activism. She discovered that protests require better chants, and what the right sound can offer. Then, Catie Lazarus speaks with Director Desiree Akhavan about shooting sex scenes in The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which debuted at Sundance last year and won the Grand Jury Prize. Akhavan’s latest television series The Bisexual is available on Hulu, and she is currently working on her first book. This episode of Employee of Month with Catie Lazarus was recorded live at Sundance Film Festival. Thanks to Russ & Daughters for sponsoring this episode.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Timing is how the ever so humble Lisa Kron explains how she revolutionized theater, first with Well, and then with Fun Home. Both of these plays went to Broadway and re-invented how we think about what qualifies as a “Broadway show.” Since Donald Trump was elected, Kron has become involved in activism. She discovered that protests require better chants, and what the right sound can offer. Then, Catie Lazarus speaks with Director Desiree Akhavan about shooting sex scenes in The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which debuted at Sundance last year and won the Grand Jury Prize. Akhavan’s latest television series The Bisexual is available on Hulu, and she is currently working on her first book. This episode of Employee of Month with Catie Lazarus was recorded live at Sundance Film Festival. Thanks to Russ & Daughters for sponsoring this episode.  

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins guest host Rob Sivak with another of her weekly reviews of the region's stage offerings. Today she spotlights the Tony-award winning musical, Fun Home, now getting a new production at Baltimore's Center Stage.Adapted from the best-selling graphic novel of the same name by Alison Bechdel, with music composed by Jeanine Tesori with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, Fun Home introduces us to the Bechdel family through the eyes of daughter Alison—played at ages 9, 19, and then 43, by Molly Lyons, Laura Darrell and Andrea Prestinario, respectively. We experience Alison's shifting memories of her brothers, mother, and her complex and difficult father, played out amidst the family funeral home, and we relive Alison’s emotionally wrenching coming out. The musical got its world premiere in New York City in 2013, made it to Broadway by 2015 where it won the the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical for the composer of Caroline, or Change and the writer of 2.5 Minute Ride, Fun Home is directed at center Stage by Hana S. Sharif.Fun Home continues at Baltimore Center Stage through Sunday, February 24.

Last weekend, Virginia Stage Company opened their production of the musical Fun Home at the Wells Theatre in Downtown Norfolk. Fun Home is based on the best-selling graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, with music by Jeanine Tesori, and a book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. It’s the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist, winning five Tony Awards when it opened on Broadway in 2015, including Best Musical.

Well known for her Tony Award-winning play, Fun Home, Lisa Kron is a remarkable playwright and performer whose work reflects and refracts these complex times. Her storytelling straddles the blurry line between fact and fiction, memory and invention, the political and the deeply personal. Lisa Kron developed her craft at New York City’s WOW Cafe, which began as an international women’s theater festival in 1980. During her time at WOW Café, she honed her creative voice, culminating in her breakthrough one-woman show, 101 Humiliating Stories. Her gift for mining humor and meaning from complex family dynamics yielded her next two rave-reviewed plays: Well and 2.5 Mile Ride, which explored her relationship with her mother and father respectively. Her greatest creative challenge arrived in the form of Fun Home, a musical adaptation of Allison Bechdel’s graphic novel about coming out while coming of age. Fun Home took Lisa seven years to complete and went on to earn her Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize nomination. In this episode, Lisa and ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman discuss the contours of her career in theater, the delicate process of dramatizing personal material and her passion for the collective power of performance. Learn more about Lisa's work:  https://www.lisakron.org http://funhomebroadway.com  http://www.wowcafe.org http://www.wellonbroadway.com https://www.dramaticpublishing.com/2-5-minute-ride  Learn more about this episode of Change Lab at www.artcenter.edu.

PDXISH welcomes to the show Profile Theatre Artistic Director Josh Hecht. In the middle of an amazing season Josh shares the details about Profile's latest show, "The Secretaries," a Five Lesbian Brothers play, as well other tidbits from a season that features the work of Lisa Kron and Anna Deveare Smith. Josh also shares a bit about himself, Profile's upcoming (temporary) new home, and an amazing queer night that's happening on June 22. Please take a listen.

Lisa Kron is an actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book to the musical Fun Home for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Fun Home was also awarded the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015 and the 2014 Obie Award for writing for musical theater. Alison Bechdel's acclaimed graphic novel/memoir Fun Home serves as the basis for the musical. Her major works also include 2.5 Minute Ride, Well, and In the Wake. Performances include roles in her own shows such as Fun Home, and 2.5 Minute Ride, and other shows such as All My Hopes and Dreams, and Brides of the Moon. Lisa and I talked about her entrepreneurial and unexpected journey in the theater including . . . Her #1 rule to success:  if a door opened, and she was scared, she forced herself to step through it. (Words to live by.) Why her early writing horrified her.  And how she got better. How performing stand-up helped hone her stage writing. Being mistaken for a seat-filler at the Tony Awards . . . the year she was nominated! Who young writers should be trying to connect to in order to have a successful career (hint: it’s NOT who you think). Why trying to increase diversity in terms of gender and race is like looking for your keys. (This is such a brilliant analogy – only a Tony Award-winning writer could come up with it, so make sure you listen.) Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we discuss Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home! In this episode we read, listened to, and watched: The original comic, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, 2006. Buy on Amazon or iBooks. Fun Home (A New Broadway Musical), adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, 2013. Soundtrack available on iTunes or Amazon. Some of the stuff we talked about in this episode: The Bechdel Test. Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel. The 2016–2017 Fun Home national touring company. Ring of Keys, performed by Sydney Lucas at the 2015 Tony Awards.

This week, we talk about our trip back to the “Fun Home,” the Tony-winning musical by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, some trans-inclusive headcanon in the world of Harry Potter, and the critical importance of representation – why seeing yourself in the world matters deeply. This new Harry Potter theory is that Snape is trans: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/06/29/this-new-harry-potter-theory-is-that-severus-snape-is-trans/

Hosts Briana Phipps and Jacque Borowski discuss the musical Fun Home. Fun Home is a musical adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori from Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir of the same name. The story concerns Bechdel's discovery of her own sexuality, her relationship with her gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life. It is the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist. The musical was developed through several readings and performances, including at the Ojai Playwrights Conference in 2009 and at the Sundance Theatre Lab and The Public Theater's Public Lab in 2012. It opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in September 2013 to positive reviews. Its run was extended several times, until January 2014. The Public Theater production of Fun Home was nominated for nine Lucille Lortel Awards (winning three, including Outstanding Musical), two Obie Awards and eight Drama Desk Awards, among others. The original

LISA KRON, Tony Award Winning Librettist wins 2017 Kleban Prize award for most promising musical theatre librettist. Some would think that promise has been met, but Ms. Kron has taken many years to be an overnight sensation. She shares a little of her story with me. For more on Lisa Kron: http://www.lisakron.org Keith Price's Curtain Call: http://www.keithpricecurtaincall.com On Instagram: @keithpricecurtaincall On Twitter: @kpcurtaincall ON FB: https://www.facebook.com/Keith-Prices-Curtain-Call-1380539615593807/

Alsion Bechdel (left); Jeanine Tesori (right) Fun Home: Alison Bechdel and Jeanine Tesori, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Alison Bechdel is the author of the graphic novel “Fun Home,” and Jeanine Tesori is the composer of the musical adaptation of “Fun Home”. Originally opening at New York's Public Theatre, “Fun Home” moved to Broadway and won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical. Jeanine Tesori shared the Tony for Best Original Score with lyricist and librettist Lisa Kron. “Fun Home” is based on a graphic memoir detailing how Alison Bechdel came out of the closet to her parents, and discovered her father was gay, and the tragedy that came afterward. Alison Bechdel is also the author of the comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” and the graphic novel “Are You My Mother.” Jeanine Tesori has written the music for four other musicals: “Violet,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, “Shrek: The Musical” and, with Tony Kushner, “Caroline or Change.” She has also written scores for four animated films, including “Shrek The Third,” and is currently working on a new opera with Tony Kushner about the later life of Eugene O'Neill. The touring company of “Fun Home” plays at San Francisco's Curran Theatre through February 19, 2017. For more information: Curran Theater Fun Home Wikipedia page  Alison Bechdel  Jeanine Tesori Recorded in the offices of the Curran Theatre. Special thanks to Jaron Jones. A shorter version of this interview aired on KPFA's Arts-Waves program The post Fun Home: Alison Bechdel and Jeanine Tesori appeared first on KPFA.

In our first segment, Tony Winner Laura Benanti and Broadway Records's Robbie Rozelle share the backstory of recording the She Loves Me cast album. We also discuss Laura's appearance as Melania Trump on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, AND we find out if Laura is having a boy or a girl! In our second segment, Tony winning Fun Home lyricist and book writer Lisa Kron talks about being a 'beginner' and finding her way in to the graphic novel that became the Tony Award winning Best Musical.

Leigh Silverman is a director for the stage, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway. She was nominated for the 2014 Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical for the musical Violet and the 2008 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Director of a Play for the play From Up Here. She directed the Lisa Kron play Well Off-Broadway. On Broadway, she was the Associate Director for the musical Never Gonna Dance in 2003 and directed Chinglish by David Henry Hwang. She directed the world premiere of the Neil Labute play The Way We Get By. Some other Off-Broadway plays she has directed are Blue Door by Tanya Barfield, From Up Here by Liz Flahive, David Greenspan's Go Back to Where You Are, and In the Wake. Not only was I taken by Leigh’s passion for the theater and her methodology for shaping plays and musicals, I was so impressed by how she has shaped her own career.  Instead of majoring in directing in college? She majored in writing . . . knowing full well she wanted to direct. She understood that knowing the ins and outs of the structure of a play and how it was built from the ground up would serve her more than just studying directing.  It’s like an architect choosing to work construction for a few years to understand what keeps a building in place. #Genius. We talked all about that choice and so much more including: Why she’s glad someone told her she was a terrible Actor when she was just 15. How she decides if a new play is “viable.” Why she makes her Designers act. The difference between working on a play and a musical . . . and what her two new musical projects are. Why television is the reason the new American play is thriving. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lisa Kron has been writing and performing award-winning theatre since the mid-1980s. Most recently, Lisa wrote the lyrics and book to the musical "Fun Home," based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Lisa, and composer Jeanine Tesori, were the first writing team of women to win a Tony for Best Original Score. Fun Home also took home Tony awards for Best Book of a Musical, Best Musical, Best Direction and Best Actor. Lisa's other plays include The Ver**zon Play, In The Wake, Well, 2.5 Minute Ride, 101 Humiliating Stories, which have all received recognition and awards nationally and internationally. She is a founding member of the legendary OBIE and Bessie Award-winning collaborative theater company The Five Lesbian Brothers. In this episode, Lisa talks about the role of theatre as an artform, the challenges of adapting a graphic novel into a musical, how to make live performance resonate with audiences, the representation of women--and lesbians--in theatre, and the morals of personal storytelling.

Jeanine Tesori is a composer and musical arranger. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway musicals and five Tony Award nominations. She won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for Nicholas Hytner's production of Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change, and the 2015 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Fun Home (shared with Lisa Kron), making them the first female writing team to win that award. Her major works include Fun Home, Shrek The Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mulan II, and Violet. Listen in to this week’s podcast to hear how she got to write her shows, as well as . . . Why her collaborations could make a helluva bat mitzvah. What googling baby armadillos has to do with how she writes a song. Why story is more important than plot when deciding to write a musical. Why her favorite song was one she didn’t think would last longer than a few previews. Her perspective on being a woman Writer on Broadway and how to encourage more to get in the game. Oh, and during this podcast, you’ll hear some great stories about the preview period of  Thoroughly Modern Millie.  After you’re done listening to Jeanine, make sure you tune in to hear Producer Hal Luftig and Producer Kristin Caskey (who’s also behind Fun Home) tell their versions of the same dramatic tale. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's easy to mistake Lisa Kron for a comedian due to her wry wit, self effacing nature, and comic timing, but Kron is a rarity in the theater word as she doesn't take herself too seriously. An actor and Tony winning playwright, Kron prefers to write and perform characters who can roam emotionally. She grounds comedy in reality and she can depict her own characters and others with equal dexterity and vulnerability. In our interview, Kron talks about writing her first musical Fun Home with composer Jeanine Tesori, that is based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. We also discuss The Ver**zon Play, which premiered 2012 Humana Festival, and surprisingly did not turn her into a Sprint customer. Kron was a downtown darling in New York's theater world, but her show Well put her on the proverbial international map when it was named “Best Play of 2004” by the New York Times, moved to Broadway, and she and her co-star Jayne Houdyshell received Tony nods. Kron wrote and starred in Well, as she did with 2.5...

The Tony nominated composer of "Fun Home" talks her five-year journey with the piece -- how she and book writer Lisa Kron worked tirelessly to turn Alison Bechdel's graphic novel into the groundbreaking Tony-nominated musical. She also shares stories from her tremendous career composing the music for such shows as "Violet," "Caroline, or Change," "Thoroughly Modern Millie," and "Shrek."

The year 2013 saw plenty of headline-making moments in classical music. Protesters came to the opening night of the Met, while a stagehands strike cancelled the opening night at Carnegie Hall. There were heated debates over women conductors and some complicated celebrations for Richard Wagner. It was another tough year for some orchestras but a good one for Benjamin Britten fans. In this edition of Conducting Business, three experts talk about the past year: Anne Midgette, classical music critic of the Washington Post; Justin Davidson, classical music and architecture critic for New York magazine; and Heidi Waleson, a classical music critic for the Wall Street Journal. High Points: Anne: In the year that Van Cliburn died, Anne was particularly excited to hear the 22-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov: “Trifonov is a pianist whom I find totally exciting. I hear a lot of great concerts in the course of a year but I find that Trifonov has something really special and is a really interesting artist and somebody I look forward to hearing again and again.” Justin on Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra's staging of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro at the Mostly Mozart Festival: “One of things I really liked about it was it was one of these really portable productions. It was done in a concert hall with the orchestra on stage, no sets, minimal props, costumes that were taken off a clothes rack that was sitting on the stage…With minimal resources they produced one of the most effervescent and inventive productions I’ve seen of that opera. What it said to me is how much you can do with how little.” [Read more of Justin's picks at NYMag.com] Heidi: George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, given its U.S. premiere at Tanglewood in August: “So often you see these new operas and you think, ‘Why did they bother? Why did you turn this movie or this book into an opera?' This was a completely new piece of writing and it had a tension to it from beginning to end. It has a fantastically colorful and intricate orchestration, which includes a solo moment for the viola da gamba." Listen to Written on Skin on Q2 Music   Low Point: The closing of New York City Opera in October after a last-ditch campaign to raise funds for its 2014 season fell through. Anne: “It is not a sign that New York can’t support two opera companies. It is a sign that, due to poor decisions on behalf of the board and a whole sequence of events, this particular thing happened that really didn’t need to happen.” Justin: "One thing that you can take away from that is it is really the product of a classical music and operatic infrastructure that, over the years, got overextended. While we have learned how to expand, trying to do planned shrinkage and figure out how to contract” is tougher for the classical music business. "If you have union contracts and have a season that establishes a kind of baseline, it’s very, very difficult to say ‘we need this to be smaller.’” Heidi: “It was unable to come up with a convincing audience strategy, opera house strategy or even artistic strategy. They did try a few things that I thought were quite interesting – doing for example A Quiet Place, a Leonard Bernstein opera that had never been done in New York… They were in fact trying to reestablish themselves as something that was alternative to the Met, that was a little more forward-looking, and I think it’s really a shame that they couldn’t.” Trends: Anne: The spotlight in 2013 turned to women – women conductors, women composers. “Classical music has proven to have a particularly thick glass ceiling. People are looking at the situation and saying, ‘It’s been years people, why do we still not have very many female conductors on the podium? And when we do, why is it such a big deal?’ There’s still that funny ambivalence about how far we should look at this as a phenomenon and how far we should pretend we’ve all been equal all along.” Justin: The lack of women on major podiums is “a sign of the difficulty that the whole establishment has in adapting at all. What happens is these institutions are very rigid and brittle and when they come up against an obstacle they know that they’re going to splinter and so they avoid the obstacles. It’s a very inflexible set of relationships… Heidi: “The New York Philharmonic seems to be about 50 percent women these days – so why not on the podium?” Justin on the arrival of alternative opera and non-traditional performance venues, as seen in events like the Prototype Festival: “With the cost of real estate in New York, companies are finding cheaper venues and the technology has matured enough so all that you really need is a pretty small room and a fairly minimal investment in machinery to be able to put on a pretty sophisticated multimedia event." Heidi: “There are other organizations doing similar kinds of things: The Gotham Chamber Opera put on a Cavalli opera [Eliogabalo] in a burlesque club... It attracts a different kind of audience. You can break through some of the formality of going to the opera house and sitting in the velvet seat and watching the gold curtain go up."   Surprises: Justin: Caroline Shaw, a 30-year-old New York composer, violinist and singer (right), became the youngest ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music for her Partita for 8 Voices (heard at the start of this segment). “It has a quality that almost no contemporary music has, which is joy. It’s something that we’ve forgotten is part of the classical music tradition and an important one.”  Anne: “It’s interesting in that [Shaw] doesn’t even self-identify as a composer but as a violinist. The Pulitzer has been very eager to expand its reach and get outside of the norm of what had been deemed Pulitzer-worthy over the years and I think this is a sign that this is happening.” Heidi on Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s musical of “Fun Home” at the Public Theater: "I see a lot of new operas, and so many of them are overblown, trying so hard that they feel stillborn. 'Fun Home,' based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, tells the story of a critical juncture in Alison’s life: she came out as a lesbian in college, and several months later, her father, whom she had just found out was a closeted gay man, killed himself by walking in front of a truck. The piece uses music in the way that you wish these new operas would – to deeply explore feelings in a raw, immediate way." (Note: this "bonus pick" did not make it into the podcast.)   Listen to the full discussion above and tell us: what were your high and low points in classical music in 2013? Photo credits: Shutterstock; Caroline Shaw by Piotr Redliński, 2013

Daniel Jenkins, Lisa Kron and David Pittu - who have appeared both on stage and written works for the stage - talk about how they balance these dual roles; what they learn about being playwrights from their acting; where they get inspiration for their plays; how audiences help them enhance their performance as both actors and writers; whether or not it's more satisfying to act in a play they wrote; and their relationship with directors when they're performing the role of both playwright and actor.

The writers' life is the topic for authors Christopher Durang (Miss Witherspoon), Lisa Kron (Well), Marsha Norman (The Color Purple and a Tony Award for The Secret Garden), John Patrick Shanley (2005 Tony Award for his Best Play Doubt) and Diana Son (Satellites).

The writers' life is the topic for authors Christopher Durang ("Miss Witherspoon"), Lisa Kron ("Well"), Marsha Norman ("The Color Purple"), John Patrick Shanley ("Defiance") and Diana Son ("Satellites").