Musicians

Quarter Century Caroler

Gregory Hirte (above) reflects on the twenty-five years (!) he’s been in the Goodman Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol, and how both he and the show have changed in that time. Hirte reveals the benefits of being both an actor and a musician; the challenge of going where the work is; how he got started with Chicago’s famed Piven Theatre Workshop; tales of onstage mishaps; his vote for, not the best, but the fastest Scrooge; and finally, how the beauty of the story keeps bringing back actors – and audiences – year after year. (Length 18:35) (PICTURED, above: Gregory Hirte in the 2023 Goodman Theatre production of A Christmas Carol, directed by Jessica Thebus. Photo by Liz Lauren.)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:35 — 21.4MB)

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By austin, ago

Phony Winning Musical

Laura Hall (from TV’s “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?”) discusses Phony Award Winning, the improvised musical comedy inspired by classic musicals that she co-created and which performs Sunday nights at the IO Theater in Chicago. Laura, who got her start at Chicago’s Second City and Annoyance theaters, reveals how her early training and connections led to this exciting new improvisational form. Laura shares which other musicals they’re considering for future performances (and why none of them will be Hamilton); how the cast is flexible enough to swap roles every performance; the extent to which doing televised improv differs from doing it onstage; how to make audiences completely relaxed right at the top of the show; the exciting motivation to see the show more than once; and how improvising in the language, style, and tropes of different musicals offers fun and specific new challenges. (Length 21:15)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:15 — 24.4MB)

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By austin, ago

Beethoven’s Killer B’s

Jeff Yang, a classically-trained crossover musician and artistic director of In the Realm of Senses, discusses his production of Beethoven and the Killer B’s, which due to popular demand is having several encore performances at Chicago’s Epiphany Center for the Arts. Jeff, joined by board member Cassandra Rose, shares the difficulty of articulating the nature of this extraordinary multi-media project, which is part concert, part tribute to John Belushi, part spoken-word biography, and part art installation featuring projections and scent sculptures. Revelations include the challenge of finding the right tonal balance; the desire to find a better description than “Smell-O-Rama!”; the journey towards executing one man’s sensory vision; and the difficulty of talking about integrative art that’s never been done before! (Length 23:44)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 23:44 — 27.3MB)

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By austin, ago

Mike And Mandy

The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s own Michael Faulkner and his wife, actor Amanda Pajer, have created new musical identities as Mike & Mandy, writing and producing new music that’s being heard and buzzed about all over the world. For this special Valentine’s Day episode, they discuss working together as a couple and the process of collaboration; how they survived the pandemic by turning it into an opportunity; the danger of doing Twitter all wrong; how their eclectic and diverse musical tastes make it difficult to define their “brand”; the fun of upgrading both your equipment and your skillset; and the amazing moment when you discover you already know everything you need to know. (Length 21:52)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:58 — 0.0KB)

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By austin, ago

Brian Stack’s Music

Second City alumnus Brian Stack (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert; Late Night and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien) has a knowledge of popular music that’s both broad and deep, and this week he shares with us the kind of music that gets him through tough times (like, say, a pandemic); how music intersects with comedy in surprising and hysterical ways; how Van Morrison is perfect for any occasion; his outstanding Neal Young and Michael Macdonald impressions; some comedic inspiration from Men Without Hats; and the importance of sharing your music (while not, of course, sharing your germs). (Length 23:08) 

Podcast: Download (Duration: 23:08 — 26.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Shakespeare Rocks Tonight

Shakespeare rocks every night, of course, but especially on Lou Carlozo’s new album By Me & William Shakespeare, a collection of songs in a variety of styles set to the words of the immortal dramatist poet. Lou discusses how his love of music and relationship to Shakespeare inspires this project, and reveals the dangers of over-reverence; talks about poetic goldmines and high-culture milestones; shares shout-outs to favorite inspirational teachers; and glories in the possibilities of constant reinvention. Rock on! (Length 24:39)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 24:39 — 28.6MB)

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By austin, ago

Doug The Time-Traveler

Meet Doug Harvey (center, above), the newest member of the RSC and also the author and star of the one-man show The Time Traveler’s Guide to the Present, which earlier this summer won the Paul Koslo Memorial / MET Theatre Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Doug reveals his RSC origin story and shares some live musical spaghettification; his feelings about the need for adventure and more shows about science; how a one-man show became a sci-fi romance; day gigs at LA’s Griffith Observatory; references to the darkest timelines; a couple of harmonizing triads; the Michael Faulkner conduit; growing up with Bay Area theatre like California Shakespeare Company and American Conservatory Theatre; tales of successful auditions; the importance of serious clowning; and the answer to the ultimate question: What’s the closest we have to a time machine? Not a Delorean, not Bill and Ted’s phone booth, but…a theatre. (Length 21:29) (Pictured: Austin Tichenor as the King, Doug Harvey as Hamlet, and Chad Yarish as Yorick in the Reduced Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet’s Big Adventure! (a prequel).)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:29 — 24.9MB)

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By austin, ago

Man About Town

Kevin Pollack is a Chicago singer-songwriter (and actor) who’s just released the first video from his new collection of songs, called “Man About Town”. Kevin discusses his musical influences and his many side-gigs (including playing “Joliet Jake” in the tribute band The Blooze Brothers), and shares the ups and downs of the music biz, including inspiration from The Temptations and The Four Tops, songwriting as therapy, and such career highlights as performing in Las Vegas and playing rock icons like Joe Cocker, Billy Joel, and…Roger Ebert?! (Length 20:34)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:34 — 23.9MB)

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By austin, ago

Mary Magdalene Revelations

Elizabeth Schrader, a doctoral student at Duke University, is doing some pioneering work clarifying the narrative handed down to us about Mary Magdalene and her role in the story of Jesus. Libbie discusses her discoveries and how they may lead to some new understandings, how her calling shifted from being a singer-songwriter to a scholar, how a few simple questions led to a career shift, the challenges of reading and translating ancient papyrus, the song that started it all, and the fundamental question of whether or not Mary Magdalene is the Yoko of the Gospels. (Length 22:11)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:11 — 25.7MB)

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By austin, ago

The Web Opera

Our friend Michael Roth has composed the music for, and produced the film of, The Web Opera, a form-shattering short film dealing with the unintended consequences of people living life online. Michael talks about his amazing collaborators (librettist Kate Gale; leading performers Reuben Uy, Adam Von Almen, and Stephanie Cecile Yavelow; graphic artists Lisa Glenn Armstrong, Yiyi Shao, and Chris Gaal; all under the amazing direction of Kate Jopson) and discusses the challenge of writing new pieces and the even greater challenge of getting the things produced; the ready availability of the means of production; the wonder of naturalistic, or quotidian, performance; the too-casual and not-aware-enough ways we treat each other; and the danger of how our even benign online behavior can have tragic consequences. (Length 19:30)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:30 — 22.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Weird Old Man

Charlie Christmas’s new album, Weird Old Man, is your perfect summertime jam! A veteran of many bands over the years (from Urge Overkill to The Mobile Homeboys), “Charlie Christmas” is the nom du rock of music journalist Chuck Chrisafulli, who, amongst his many other credits, created some musical cues for our original production of All The Great Books (abridged). Chuck and Charlie discuss how journalism informs the music, where this particular blend of garage rock was actually recorded, important musical debuts, the constant need for good bassists, unfortunate reviews from service pigs, tales of Billy Idol, creating a fair but critical ear, and outstanding inspirations ranging from Pink Floyd and T-Rex to Brian Wilson and Curtis Mayfield (plus some Ramones & Frank Zappa). Buy Weird Old Man here! (Length 20:13)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:13 — 23.5MB)

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By austin, ago

Episode 630. The Sonnet Man

Devon Glover travels around the globe as The Sonnet Man, working with students of all ages and keeping the world safe from dry, boring, vomitless, beat-and-rhythm-less Shakespeare. This week Devon reveals his origin story and how he spreads the gospel of Shakespeare through hip-hop, and shares student revelations and discoveries, valuable niches, the importance of friends and mentors, the differences between Shakespeare taught as performance and as literature, issuing creative challenges, and the incredible value of using the arts to teach non-artistic subjects. (Length 26:00) 

Podcast: Download (Duration: 25:59 — 30.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Episode 606. Composer Michael Roth

Composer and arranger Michael Roth has had a big summer, scoring not only the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles production of Henry IV starring Tom Hanks, and Pamplona, the one-man play about Ernest Hemingway, starring Stacy Keach, currently having its world premiere production at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Michael has worked with such notable theatre artists as directors Robert Falls, Des McAnuff, and Daniel Sullivan, actors Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy, and songwriter Randy Newman, and he joins us to talk about with working with all these artists in a variety of media. Featuring the importance of first rehearsals, making sure Shakespeare’s songs are not perfunctory; small worlds; the challenges of writing a musical; and Shakespeare’s weird ability to be early-modern and post-modern at the same time. (Length 22:21)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:21 — 25.9MB)

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By austin, ago