Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Latest Episodes:

Episode 142 - Mandy Gonzalez Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

Mandy Gonzalez possesses one of the most powerful and versatile contemporary voices of our time. She is currently starring in the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton”. She is best known for her emotional portrayal of Nina Rosario in the Tony Award winning, Lin-Manuel Miranda Broadway musical “In the Heights”, a role she originally created Off Broadway at 37 Arts and which received a Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble. She starred as Elphaba in the Broadway production of “Wicked”, blowing the roof off of New York’s Gershwin Theatre each night as she belted out signature song “Defying Gravity” and for which she was rewarded with a Broadway.com Award for Best Replacement. Other Broadway roles include Princess Amneris in the Elton John and Tim Rice musical “Aida” and the Broadway show “Lennon” where she portrayed multiple roles including that of Beatles’ icon John Lennon. Mandy made her Broadway debut in Jim Steinman’s “Dance of the Vampires” starring opposite Michael Crawford.Mandy received an OBIE Award and overwhelming critical praise for her performance in the Off-Broadway production of “Eli’s Comin’”, directed by Diane Paulus and based on the music and lyrics of renowned singer-songwriter Laura Nyro.Equally at home on the big and small screen, she has appeared in “Across the Universe” directed by Julie Taymor, “After” starring opposite Pablo Schreiber and “Man on a Ledge” with Sam Worthington. Most recently, Mandy had a recurring role on the ABC drama thriller “Quantico”. On Sunday evenings, television viewers can find her working at The White House on the CBS breakout hit “Madam Secretary”.Mandy can be heard as the voice of Mei in Disney’s “Mulan 2” and on recordings of the original Broadway cast album of “In the Heights”, “Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live” and “The Man Who Would Be King”.

Mandy has released her first solo album- Fearless.

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Episode 141 - Marc Kudisch Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

Marc Kudisch – Three-time Tony Award Nominee, Drama Desk Award winner and two-time Outer Critics Circle Award Nominee.

Film and Television: LATE NIGHT (Billy Kastner), THE TICK (Commander Ty Rathbone, Amazon), BILLIONS (Dr Gus, Showtime), MINDHUNTER (Roger Wade, Netflix), LIMITLESS, HOUSE OF CARDS (Senator Henry Mitchell, Netflix), UNFORGETTABLE, PERSON OF INTEREST, 27 EAST (Pilot); GOSSIP GIRL , BLUE BLOODS, SMASH, SEX AND THE CITY, BYE BYE BIRDIE (Conrad) for ABC TV, BREAK IN (Val) for Lifetime, ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC).

Broadway: FINDING NEVERLAND (Charles Froman/Hook), HAND TO GOD (Pastor Greg), 9 TO 5 (Franklin Hart), CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (Baron Bomburst), THE APPLE TREE (Roundabout Theatre), ASSASSINS (The Proprietor, Roundabout Theatre), THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (Trevor Graydon), BELLS ARE RINGING (Jeff Moss), LaChiusa’s THE WILD PARTY (Jackie – Public Theater), THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (Chauvelin), HIGH SOCIETY (George Kittredge), DISNEY’S BEAUTY & THE BEAST (Gaston) and JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (Reuben).

Recent Off-Broadway: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at the Public Theatre, HEY LOOK ME OVER. At Encores/City Center, FUCKING A and THE WAYSIDE MOTOR INN at the Signature Theatre, HAND TO GOD at MCC, THE HOLIDAY GUYS (co-creator) at The York Theatre, THE BLUE FLOWER at Second Stage, A MINISTER’S WIFE and THE GLORIOUS ONES at Lincoln Center. Recent Regional credits include UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN at MUNY, HAMLET at Yale Rep; TARTUFFE at Westport Playhouse; Terrence McNally's GOLDEN AGE at the Kennedy Center (Helen Hayes award nom.); Ricky Ian Gordon's SYCAMORE TREES (Helen Hayes award), Michael John Lachusia's THE HIGHEST YELLOW (Helen Hayes nom.) and THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (Helen Hayes award) all for the Signature Theatre DC. Opera: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and PIRATES OF PENZANCE for NYC Opera, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, ANATOMY THEATRE and WONDERFUL TOWN at LA Opera, Henry Kissinger in THE NEW PRINCE for The Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.

Kudisch is married to choreographer Shannon Lewis and lives in New York City

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Episode 140 - Isabelle Huppert and Trip Cullman Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

ISABELLE HUPPERT is a multi-award winning screen and stage actress. Throughout her career Isabelle Huppert has worked with many French and international directors including Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Haneke, Maurice Pialat, Patrice Chéreau, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, the Taviani brothers, David O’Russell, Marco Ferreri, Michael Cimino, Harl Hartley, Neil Jordan, Hong Sang Soo and more. Awards won include: a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Feature Films for her work in The Lacemaker, two Venice Film Festival Best Actress Awards for Claude Chabrol’s Story of Women and The Ceremony, Venice Film Festival’s Special Jury Lion d’Or for her performance in Patrice Chéreau’s Gabrielle and for her entire body of work; two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards for Claude Chabrol’s Violette and for Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher; in France she received the César (Best Actress Award) for Claude Chabrol’s The Ceremony and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle – a film for which she also received a Gotham Award, a Golden Globe and a Spirit Award in addition to being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She received a Molière Award for her career (honoring achievements in French theater; equivalent to the Tony Awards); and the prestigious “XVI Prix Europe pour le Théâtre” in Rome. Isabelle Huppert has also pursued her theatrical career in France and internationally, including BAM (4:48 Psychosis, Quartet, and Phaedra). She has acted under the direction of Bob Wilson (Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, Heiner Müller’s Quartet), Peter Zadek (Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure), Claude Régy (Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis), and Howard Davies (Friedrich von Schiller’s Mary Stuart).

TRIP CULLMAN (Director). Broadway: Choir Boy, Lobby Hero, Six Degrees of Separation, Significant Other. Select off Broadway: I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic); Days of Rage, The Layover, Lonely I’m Not, The Substance of Fire, Some Men, Bachelorette, Swimming in the Shallows (Second Stage); Punk Rock (Obie Award), Yen, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Of New York City (MCC); Significant Other (Roundabout); Choir Boy, Murder Ballad (MTC); A Small Fire (Drama Desk nom.), Assistance, The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons); The Hallway Trilogy: Nursing, The Last Sunday in June (Rattlestick); Dog Sees God (Century Center); Roulette (EST); US Drag(stageFARM); and several productions with The Play Company. London: The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, PA (Tricycle). Select regional: Geffen, Alliance, Old Globe, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Bay Street, Williamstown Theater Festival.

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Episode 139 - Sophie von Haselberg and Ariana Venturi Apr 07, 2019

Show notes

Ilana sat down with the hosts of the podcast "Having A Night" - actresses Sophie von Haselberg and Ariana Venturi.Having A Night is a podcast dedicated to reviving the lost art of the dinner party. Sophie and Ari are obsessed with the art of throwing the "remember-it-forever-dinner party" and Ilana is terrified of having dinner parties so this was a perfect opportunity for Ilana to sit down with these two wonderful actresses who also are food lovers and expert entertainers and together they are going to help Ilana get over her fear of things not being "perfect" and to lean in to the real point of a dinner party which is to be with people you love!

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Episode 138 - Caitlin Kinnunen Mar 25, 2019

Show notes

Caitlin Kinnunen is currently starring on Broadway in The Prom. Born and raised in Washington State, she moved to New York when she was 16 to make her Broadway debut in Spring Awakening. She later appeared on Broadway in The Bridges of Madison County, on the first national tour of Next to Normal, and in numerous film and television projects including The Intern, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Sweet Little Lies, Younger, American Vandal, The Knick, and Law & Order: SVU.

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How To Be More Chill Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

How To Be More Chill explores how the extraordinary musical “Be More Chill” arrived on Broadway in Spring 2019 with unprecedented momentum. Hosted by Ilana Levine of Little Known Facts and Sam Maher YesBroadway, the podcast centers around deep-dive interviews with the show’s creators and cast members as they give you the behind-the-scenes scoop on how the show entered the international pop culture zeitgeist on such a massive scale and how the impact of the show’s fandom brought the show to Broadway. Good luck being chill about this podcast - Sam and Ilana definitely weren’t!

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Episode 137 - Mario Cantone Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

Mario Cantone, the celebrated New York stage actor and stand-up comedian gained critical acclaim with his Tony-nominated one-man show Laugh Whore, from its appearance at the Cort Theatre on Broadway to the Showtime Network special. He also starred on Broadway as SAM BYCK in the Tony-winning Assassins,by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, BUZZ in Terrence McNally's Tony award-winning dramatic comedy, Love! Valor! Compassion! All three of these hit shows were directed by four-time Tony-winner Joe Mantello. His other Broadway credits include GIDGER, in The Violet Hour(original Broadway cast), and STEPHANO (opposite Patrick Stewart), in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Off-Broadway Cantone also originated the roles of TERRY in The Crumple Zone,directed by Jason Moore, and MATT inSteve, for the New Group, directed by Cynthia Nixon. He is currently starring in A Room Of My Own(opposite Ralph Macchio), at the Abingdon Theatre.

The feature film from work, from Cantone, include “Quiz Show”, directed by Robert Redford, Sony's animated film, “Surf's Up”, “In Stereo”, “The Aristocrats”, and as Anthony Marentino, in “Sex and the City 1” and “Sex and the City 2”. He can still be seen, HBO’s series “Sex and the City”, in syndication on many television stations. He was a recurring character on ABC’s “Men In Trees”, and has a guest star on VH1’s “Hindsight”.

On Comedy Central Cantone's performances have been featured on “The USO Comedy Tour”, “Comics Come Home”, “Chappelle Show”, “Denis Leary Roast”, and “Joan Rivers Roast”. The network was also home to his first solo stand-up special “Comedy Central Presents Mario Cantone.”

Cantone got his start hosting the local New York children's show “Steampipe Alley”, where the comic slipped in sly pop culture innuendo that adults could enjoy. His other television credits include appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman”, “Jimmy Fallon”, “Oprah”, “Conan” “Martha Stewart”, “Meredith Viera”, “The Today Show”, and through out it’s 18 year run, multiple appearances, as guest and co-host, on “ABC’s The View”.

Cantone has appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Atlantic City’s Borgata, The Golden Nugget, Cearsar’s Palace (Las Vegas), and performing arts centers of Santa Rosa, Peekskill, Scottsdale, Fort Lauderdale, and St. Louis, where he performed his comedy and music show, Mario Cantone Live!

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Episode 136 - Daryl Roth Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

In this episode Ilana sat down with her friend and the producer of the first play Ilana ever did in New York, Tony Award winner - Daryl Roth. Roth is an award-winning theatre producer and President of Daryl Roth Productions. She is honored to hold the singular distinction of producing seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: Anna in the Tropics; August: Osage County (2008 Tony Award); Clybourne Park (2012 Tony Award); How I Learned to Drive; Proof (2001 Tony Award); Edward Albee’sThree Tall Women; and Wit. The proud recipient of ten Tony Awards and London’s Olivier Award, highlights of her over 100 award winning productions both on and off Broadway include: The Tony and Olivier Award winning musical Kinky Boots (Broadway, U.S. Tour, London, Toronto, Australia, Korea, Japan); Bea Arthur on Broadway; Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, or Change; Closer Than Ever; Curtains; Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2002 Tony Award); The Humans (2016 Tony Award); Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart (2011 Tony Award); A Raisin in the Sun (2014 Tony Award); Shuffle Along; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; A View from the Bridge (2016 Tony); War Horse (2011 Tony Award); Wiesenthal; The Year of Magical Thinking; and De La Guarda, which ran for 7 years as the inaugural production at the Daryl Roth Theatre, a landmark building in Manhattan’s Union Square. Upcoming Broadway productions include Paula Vogel’s Indecent; Groundhog Day; Hello, Dolly starring Bette Midler; Present Laughter starring Kevin Kline; and Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close. Film credits include My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story a documentary exploring the relationships of well-known New Yorkers and their dogs.

Ms. Roth is a newly appointed member of the New York City Police Foundation Board of Trustees, a member of the Mayor’s Theater Subdistrict Council, an Honorary Trustee for Lincoln Center Theatre, and was twice included in Crain’s “100 MostInfluential Women in Business.” Recent honors include: The Order of the Golden Sphinx award from The Harvard Hasty Pudding Institute; New York Living Landmarks award; Humanitarian Award from the Women's Division and Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Broadway Association Visionary Leader Award; Family Equality Council Family Award; Live Out Loud Humanitarian Award; and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. She enjoys supporting a diverse group of charitable and cultural institutions, and is active in LGBTQ rights causes, animal rights, and support for the arts.

Ms. Roth is married to real estate developer Steven Roth.

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Episode 135 - Celebrating Women and Broadway Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

This weeks episode was recorded live at BroadwayCon 2019. In honor of Women's History Month, Ilana is joined by some other members of BroadwayMakers - all women- to share stories of how they took their passion for Broadway and turned it into a successful business.

Alisa Hurwitz, PsyD - a/k/a Dr. Drama is in private practice at The Counseling Center of Nashua where she has been a clinical psychologist for the past 7 years, specializing in working with individuals on the autism spectrum, providing structural family therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and therapy for LGBT individuals.

Jennifer Kahn is the founder and CEO of Scenery Bags, which uses retired show backdrops to make fashionable clutches. Part of the proceeds go to the Theater Development Fund to take kids to the theater.

Gillian Pensavalle - Gillian is the creator and host of The Hamilcast: A Hamilton Podcast, the first Hamilton podcast to hit the airwaves in January of 2016, which has since earned the title of "The Official Hamilton Podcast" among cast members. Andrea Koehler is the founder of The Coloring Project and Coloring Broadway, she opens the backdoor to self-discovery using coloring as a tool for mindfulness, helping people quiet their inner critic so that they can access their inner “artist”, and sharing show tunes as a way express our emotions when words fail.

Amber Kempter - Amber makes custom Funko Pop vinyl figures and pins from popular Broadway musicals, mostly Hamilton characters. Amber runs the Facebook group “Broadway Goes Pop!”

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Episode 134 - Amy Ryan Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

Amy was last seen onstage in Mike Bartlett’s play LOVE LOVE LOVE at the Roundabout theatre directed by Michael Mayer, for which she earned an Obie award. She made her Broadway debut in Wendy Wasserstein’s THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG. Amy was nominated for two TONY awards as best featured actress for her performances in UNCLE VANYA and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Other theatre credits include DETROIT by Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit, at Playwrights Horizons, Amy is perhaps best known for her acclaimed performance in Ben Affleck’s GONE BABY GONE, for which she was earned an Academy Award nomination.

She can be seen in the upcoming films, STRANGE BUT TRUE and LOST GIRLS.

Other film credits include: BEAUTIFUL BOY,BIRDMAN, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, BRIDGE OF SPIES, GOOSEBUMPS, ABUNDANT ACREAGE AVAILABLE, LOUDER THAN BOMBS, DON VERDEAN, BREATHE IN, CLEAR HISTORY, DEVIL’S KNOT ,WIN WIN, GREEN ZONE, JACK GOES BOATING, CHANGELING; BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, CAPOTE, DAN IN REAL LIFE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, and KEANE.

Amy’s television work includes “The Office” “In Treatment” and “The Wire.”

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