The Breakdown with Robbie

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015. Director: Matt Lenz Aug 31, 2020

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MATT LENZ (Director) is a New York City based, free-lance theatre director. RECENT credits include: The East and West coast premieres of Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, the US national tours of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Venus in Fur. BROADWAY: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, The Velocity of Autumn (Associate Director on original productions), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Original Resident Director). OFF-BROADWAY: Pageant: The Musical (Drama Desk nomination), The Irish Curse, Idaho! The Comedy Musical, The Great Daisy Theory, Fingers and Toes, and Alan Ball’s Tense Guy. NATIONAL TOURS: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Sound of Music, A Christmas Story: The Musical (2014 -’19), Cheers: Live Onstage, Catch Me If You Can, The Who’s Tommy and Hairspray. INTERNATIONAL: Charlie in Australia and productions of Hairspray in South Africa, the UK, Toronto, and Germany. REGIONAL: (Representative plays and musicals); Paper Mill Playhouse (Hairspray), George Street Playhouse ([title of show]), the MUNY (Beauty, Aida Hairspray, Grease, etc), Ogunquit Playhouse (Victor/Victoria, Grumpy Old Men), Cape Playhouse (Art, Sylvia, Earnest), The Alliance Theatre (Elaborate Lives), La Mirada (Grumpy Old Men), North Carolina Theatre (Full Monty, Beauty, South Pacific), Maltz Jupiter Theater (Billy Elliot, The Foreigner), Zach Theatre (Les Miserables, Love! Valor! Compassion!, God of Carnage), Gulfshore Playhouse (Fox in the Fairway), Casa Manana (South Pacific), Gateway Playhouse (Aida), Short North Stage (The Irish Curse), Forestburgh Playhouse (Idaho, Venus in Fur). www.mattlenzdirector.com

014. Playwright: Kyle Bass Aug 10, 2020

Show notes

Kyle Bass is the author of Possessing Harriet, which received its world premiere at Syracuse Stage, was also produced at Franklin Stage Company, and has upcoming productions at East Lynn Theater Company (NJ) and Hartbeat Ensemble (CT). His new play salt/city/blues will premiere at Syracuse Stage in 2021. Kyle is the co-author of the original screenplay for the film Day of Days (Broad Green Pictures, 2017), which stars award-winning veteran actor Tom Skerritt, and is a two-time recipient of the NYFA Fellowship (for fiction in 1998 and playwriting in 2010), a finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Award, and Pushcart Prize nominee. His other full-length plays include Tender Rain, Bleecker Street, and Separated, a piece of documentary theatre about the student military veterans at Syracuse University, which was presented at Syracuse Stage and at the Paley Center in New York. Kyle is the co-author (with Ping Chong) of Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo, which had its world premiere at Syracuse Stage and was subsequently produced at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. Current projects include the libretto for an opera based on the life and music of legendary folk singer and guitarist Libba Cotten, commissioned by the Society for New Music, and the screenplay adaptation of the novel Milk by Darcy Steinke. Kyle is Associate Artistic Director at Syracuse Stage and Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater at Colgate University where he previously served as the Burke Endowed Chair for Regional Studies, and he is the current Susan P. Stroman Visiting Playwright at the University of Delaware. Kyle holds an M.F.A. in playwriting from Goddard College, anda proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Kyle is represented by The Barbara Hogenson Agency.

013. Actor: Mary Kate Morrissey Aug 04, 2020

Show notes

Mary Kate or MK is currently playing Janis in the First National Tour of Mean Girls the musical. Other National Touring credits include Elphaba in Wicked and Sheila in Hair. Additional work include Joan of Arc: Into The Fire at The Public, Elmer Gantry at The Signature, Lizzie the musical at Portland Center Stage, Little Women at Syracuse Stage, and the workshops of Fun Home, Moulin Rouge, and Home Street Home among many others. Mary Kate has a BFA in Musical Theater from Syracuse University.

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012. Director: Alan Souza Jul 13, 2020

Show notes

Alan is highly regarded for his vital, re-imagined versions of classic plays and musicals. His work tends to mine the present-day relevance of a story, challenging people’s memories and expectations, so that they hear and experience the words and ideas anew. His style invites audiences to lean forward and participate rather than just observe, breaking down boundaries between audience and actors, encouraging hearts to flutter and conversation to ensue.

His 10-person Oliver! was solicited by Stage Entertainment and had its inaugural production at the Human Race Theatre Company, with choreography by Spencer Liff. He worked in conjunction with the Lerner Estate on his post-modern and highly celebrated Camelot for the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago, where he also mounted a provocative, madcap, Vegas-themed Joseph…Dreamcoat and a rather progressive and highly stylized take on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Alan has directed plays and musicals for Laguna Playhouse, Olney Theatre, Arkansas Repertory, Walnut Street Theatre, The New Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Virginia Musical Theatre, 3D Theatricals, Texas Shakespeare Festival, and the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, among others.

He has also directed many world-premieres, including The Little Hours (based on the short stories of Dorothy Parker), Exposure Time, and Multiple Family Dwelling for NJ Repertory, Mourning the Living at the Abingdon Theatre in NYC, and Death Valley: A Love Story for the Springfield Contemporary Theatre.

He has been nominated for both the Joseph Jefferson Award and Carbonell Award, has received multiple Edgerton Foundation Grants for New Works, and has had his work recorded for the National Theatre Archive.

Alan has directed original benefit performances on Broadway, for both the Actors Fund of America and the Christopher Reeve Foundation. He is a frequent Guest Artist at University Drama Programs throughout the country and is a Director and Teaching Artist for the Broadway Dreams Foundation.

Based in NYC, Alan is a member of SDC and a Taurus.

011. Artistic Director: Hunter Foster Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

A writer, director and actor, Hunter is currently the Artistic Director for the Redhouse Arts Center in Syracuse, NY where he most recently directed Rent, God of Carnage and A Syracuse Christmas Carol. He has directed over 50 productions of plays and musicals across the country as well as the hit musical The Other Josh Cohen off-Broadway. He was named the 2018 “Director of the year” by the Wall Street Journal for his productions of 42nd Street at the Bucks County Playhouse and The Drowsy Chaperone for the Goodspeed Opera House. He has written the books for 6 musicals including the off-broadway shows, Summer of 42 and Jasper in Deadland; and was nominated for a Tony Award for leading actor in the Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors

010. Actor: Jonathan Burke Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

Jonathan Burke, originally from Baltimore, MD, began his acting training in high school at the Baltimore School for the Arts, and ultimately received a BFA from Ithaca College. He was most recently seen on Broadway as Young Man 5/Toby’s Agent/Charles Wilcox in The Inheritance. He also appeared as the leading role, Pharus Jonathan Young, in the Broadway premiere of Choir Boy and was a member of the Original Broadway Cast of Tuck Everlasting. Jonathan was seen Off-Broadway as Elzie in Toni Stone at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre, as Priest/Judge in Joan of Arc: Into the Fire at the Public Theater, and as Junior Addict in Langston in Harlem at Urban Stages. His tour credits include Mary Poppins, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Joseph..., and Cats, in which he playedMungojerrie. Regionally, he has appeared as Crier in Head of Passes at Berkeley Rep, Tyler in Amazing Grace at Goodspeed, Bert in Mary Poppins at Syracuse Stage, for which he won a SALT Award for Leading Actor in a Musical, Lon Smith in Meet Me In St. Louis at The Muny, David Heard in Choir Boy at the Studio Theatre, Angel in Rent at the Hangar Theatre, Seaweed in Hairspray at the MGR Playhouse, Michael Winans/Howard McCrary in Born For This at the Broad Stage, Granby in I Sing the Rising Sea at the Virginia Stage Company, and Lord High Underling in The Wiz at Baltimore Center Stage. He has also been seen on television in NBC’s medical drama, "New Amsterdam.” Instagram/Twitter: @jondbeee

009. Manager: Christopher Silveri Jun 01, 2020

Show notes

Christopher D. Silveri takes great pride in his career in the entertainment industry that has spanned the last two decades since his graduation from the New York University Theater program. Christopher is the President and CEO of Center Stage Management, LLC, a talent management company with headquarters in New York City.

After a brief stint in acting, Christopher began his entertainment management career casting commercials with Liz Lewis Casting Partners, moved on to head up the Legit Department (Theater, TV, and Film) at Gilla Roos, Ltd. and most recently was Vice President of Talent Management at Prestige Management Group. Christopher started his own talent management company in 2017, serving clients on both coasts and in all mediums of the entertainment business.

Christopher’s clients have recurring roles on FBI, Bull, Blue Bloods, God Friended Me (CBS), Gotham (FCB), Manifest, New Amsterdam, The Blacklist, Blindspot, Law and Order SVU, Chicago PD (NBC), Ozark, Orange Is The New Black, Jessica Jones, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, House of Cards (NETFLIX), Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Mozart In the Jungle (AMAZON), The Undoing, The Deuce (HBO), City on a Hill, Billions, Homeland, HAPPYish (SHOWTIME), Power (STARZ), Outsiders (WGN) - And those are just the recurrings!

His theatrical clients have been in nearly every Broadway show you can think of: Moulin Rouge, Bandstand, Escape to Margaritaville, The Color Purple, The Lion King, Jersey Boys, Book of Mormon, Million Dollar Quartet, Beautiful, Hamilton, Clueless – The Musical, Heathers—The Musical, etc.

And lest we forget the always special film medium: Big Time Adolescence, The King of Staten Island, The Report, The First Purge, The Post, The Wolf of Wall Street, Ocean’s 8, The Only Living Boy in New York, What Happened Last Night, Going in Style, etc.

Many of his clients have national ad campaigns and/or major print advertisements running as well!

Finally, Christopher is an active presenter to those just starting out in the entertainment industry, teaching and participating in workshops in New York (New York University, Pace University) and Washington D.C..

008. Career Coach: Bret Shuford May 25, 2020

Show notes

Shuford’s Broadway credits include Wicked, Cirque Du Soleil’s Paramour, Amazing Grace, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. Other N.Y. credits include Actors Fund Benefit performances of A Wonderful Life, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, On the Twentieth Century, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Shuford’s credits outside of New York City include the National Tour of Lincoln Center’s South Pacific and Dr. Fine/Dr. Madden in Next to Normal at the Adirondack Theatre Festival. He originated the role of Vernon Castle in Castlewalk, a new musical presented as part of the New York Music Theatre Festival. He has sung with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony. Shuford also has been seen on TV and Web series including Law and Order SVU, Alpha House, Submissions Only, and My Dirty Little Secret. His film credits include Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Bedfellows, and Uncle Melvin’s Apartment.

007. Casting Director: Stephanie Yankwitt May 18, 2020

Show notes

Stephanie is a casting director and co-founder of tbd casting co., a New York-based, female owned casting office. Recent New York credits include work with Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience, Page 73 Productions and Atlantic Theater Company. Recent regional work includes La Jolla Playhouse, Indiana Repertory Theatre and Arena Stage. Recent theatrical highlights include the Broadway production of Frankie and Johnny at The Clair De Lune starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon and the Pulitzer Prize winning Fairview. Film credits includes work with Lexicon Films, 4th & 1 Films, and Satyr Entertainment. tbd casting co. Casts regularly with the Independent Film Project, Culture House, Playwrights Center, and Tectonic Theater Project.

006. Director: Marcia Milgrom Dodge May 10, 2020

Show notes

Marcia Milgrom Dodge “MMD” received Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations for the Broadway revival of RAGTIME. National Tours include Theater Works’s Curious George & Seussical, the South Korean musical Cookin’ and, Ragtime for Phoenix Entertainment. Regional directing credits include The Kennedy Center, The Muny, The Repertory Theater of St Louis, TUTS, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The drury Lane Theater, The Cape Playhouse, The Cleveland Playhouse, The Maltz Jupiter Theater, The Denver Center, The Olney Theater, Sacramento Music Circus, Bay Street Theater, Riverside Theater, Pittsburg public Theater, among many others. She appears in two episodes of Encore! on Disney Plus as the director for Annie and Ragtime. MMD is also a wife, mother, teacher, Edgar Award Nominated Playwright and proud member of SDC. www.marciamilgromdodge.com

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