Episode 28: Dael Orlandersmith on "Until the Flood"

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with playwright, poet, and actor Dael Orlandersmith, about her brilliant one-woman show Until the Flood, commissioned by The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, running through Nov. 6, 2016.

photo by Peter Wochniak

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 27: Neil LaBute, Playwright, Screenwriter, Director

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with playwright, screenwriter, and director Neil LaBute, about his writing process and about the annual LaBute New Theater Festival at St. Louis Actors' Studio.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 26: Lucy Cashion on ERA and Trash Macbeth

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Lucy Cashion, educator and artistic director of Equally Represented Arts (ERA), a theatre company in St. Louis, about the process of creating their critically acclaimed devised work Trash Macbeth. Lucy is an assistant professor of fine and performing arts at St. Louis University.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 13: Actor Tom Murray, on Theater Factory

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with St. Louis actor and teacher Tom Murray, about Theater Factory, one of St. Louis' most interesting companies for ten years in the 1980s and 90s, about its founder Hope Wurdack, and all the great artists and shows that were part of the adventure.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 7: Mark Bernstein, managing director, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Mark Bernstein, managing director for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. We talk about the duties of a managing director at a major regional theatre, insider details on creating a budget for the season and for each show, working with artistic director Steve Woolf, working with the Rep board, fundraising, forecasting, unions, housing, and the small army of artists that creates the Rep's six mainstage shows, three studio shows, and three children's shows each season.

Here's the Stage Grok interview with Steve Woolf that we mention in this interview. Also, check out Mark's bio on the Rep website.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 4: Steve Woolf, artistic director, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Steve Woolf, artistic director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. We talk in detail about the duties of an artistic director of a nonprofit regional theatre, including programming the season, hiring artistic staff, casting, his role in the community, and so much more.

Check out Steve's official biography and past work on the Rep website. Also, check out the Stage Grok interview with Mark Bernstein, the Rep's managing director.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 3: William Finn, theatre composer and lyricist

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with William Finn, Tony Award winning composer and lyricist of The Marvin Trilogy, Romance in Hard Times, Elegies: A Song Cycle, A New Brain, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Little Miss Sunshine, and other shows. We talk about his work, his writing process, his teaching, his artistic influences, and what he thinks about the state of the American musical theatre today.

Check out Finn's Wikipedia page for more information about his work and career. Also check out my background and analysis eassys about his shows March of the Falsettos and A New Brain, which Finn mentions in the interview.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 2: Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Theatre Critic

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Judith Newmark, theatre critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, about her process of reviewing theatre, all the details, from deciding which shows to review, writing differently in the internet age, writing about a bad show, all the way through getting the review online and in the paper.

Check out Judy's 2007 coffee table book, The Muny: Songs of St. Louis Summers. Also, listen to the STAGE GROK interview with Adam Feldman, theatre critic for Time Out New York and president of the New York Drama Critics' Circle, on many of these same topics.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.

               

Episode 1: Denny Reagan, The Muny

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Denny Reagan, president and CEO of The Muny, the largest and oldest outdoor musical theatre in the country, about his job, his long tenure there, details about long-range planning, managing the huge summer staff, about working with artistic director and executive producer Mike Isaacson, and about the Muny itself and its next hundred years.

Read this article about the Muny's Second Century Plan.

For more about the Muny, check out Judith Newmark's 2007 coffee table book, The Muny: Songs of St. Louis Summers; and also Mary Kimbrough's 1978 book The Muny: St. Louis' Outdoor Theater; and if you want even more Muny, you can also check out Marvin Holderness' 1958 book, Curtain Time in Forest Park: A Narrative of The St. Louis Municipal Opera 1919-1958.

STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.