Remembering Frank Galati

Actor and professor Cindy Gold remembers her friend and colleague Frank Galati, the Academy Award-nominated and multiple Tony Award-winning writer and director who died last January. At a memorial held at Steppenwolf Theatre last Monday, Galati’s friends and artistic colleagues (including Mary Zimmerman, Robert Falls; Lois Smith, and Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty) remembered him as a generous and supportive artist in an event that was an inspiring celebration. Cindy shares her memories of working with Frank on his musical Loving Repeating (for which she won a Joseph Jefferson Award for playing Gertrude Stein); how Frank was a champion of the positive who had the ability to love an actor to a great performance; the joy of experiencing the “full Galati;” her talent to be a muse; and how Frank Galati continues to inspire. (Length 20:04)

Episode 283. Freud’s Last Session

”Actor Mark Dold talks about his surprising journey in the role of C. S. Lewis in the long-running off-Broadway play Freud’s Last Session. Featuring the benefits of always saying yes, the mixed blessings of undergraduate training programs, the unimportance of looking like the guy you’re playing, and the value of hours Read more…

Episode 271. Broadway’s Brad Oscar

”LIVE! from famed Broadway eatery Joe Allen: Brad Oscar, who always wanted to act in Broadway musicals, talks about living the dream as a Tony-nominated actor playing great roles on Broadway and around the country. Brad discusses his training, his breaks, how he “maintains his instrument”, the challenges of understudying Nathan Read more…

Episode 237. San Jose Repertory

”Now in his third year as Artistic Director of San Jose Repertory Theatre, Rick Lombardo reflects on the institution he inherited, his evolution from grad student to free lancer to artistic director, and the cultural differences between New England and Silicon Valley. Featuring the cutoff point for being a wunderkind and Read more…

Episode 217. Keeping Austin Weird

”What keeps Austin weird? (We’re talking about the city in Texas, of course, not the RSC actor.) Our first trip to the Texas state capitol allowed us to sample this great college town and discover it’s not only weird, its bats; make sweeping generalizations and obscure Ghostbuster references; perform spot-on Read more…

Episode 213. Epic Two-Parter

The interview so long it took two years to complete! This week: the conclusion to last week’s conversation with Roy Conli, the producer of Tangled, Disney’s 50th animated feature. Featuring wisdom from the Nine Old Men, the value of seeing the windows to the soul, and the counter-intuitive notion that Read more…

Episode 212. Disney’s ‘Tangled’ Rapunzel

Oh, what a tangled weave…Take a rare peak behind the scenes at the Walt Disney Studios as producer Roy Conli describes the creation of Disney’s 50th animated feature Tangled. Featuring advice on the attributes of a great producer, the use of wine imagery to describe the return of John Lasseter, Read more…

Episode 185. The TCG Conference

”We visit the Theatre Communications Group annual conference in Chicago and chat with Paul Nicholson, Executive Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Cynthia Rider, Managing Director of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Featuring a reduced overview (an underview?) of the weekend, wonderful moments of inspiration, a special appearance by Read more…