EPISODE 40 - TONY SHALHOUB

Tony Shalhoub is currently appearing in the Roundabout Theater production of THE PRICE. He recently completed a successful run in the Atlantic Theater Company production of THE BAND'S VISIT. He was seen in the Lincoln Center productions of ACT ONE and GOLDEN BOY for which he received Tony nominations. Most well known as the OCD detective Monk for which he earned three Emmy Awards, a SAG and a Golden Globe Award. Other television credits include NURSE JACKIE, TOO BIG TO FAIL, and BRAIN DEAD. He also appears in the Amazon pilot THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL. Some feature film credits include BIG NIGHT, THE SIEGE, and Galaxy Quest. He voiced Luigi in both CARS and CARS II. He will be seen in THE ASSIGNMENT to be released later this month.

Little Known Fact: He doesn't read reviews. Good or bad they don't deepen the work.

EPISODE 39 - JUDITH LIGHT

Two-time Tony Award and Two-time Emmy Award-winning actress, Judith Light has captivated audiences worldwide since her portrayal as Angela Bower on the popular 80s sitcom Who's the Boss?.  

Currently you can see Judith Light starring with Al Pacino in "God Looked Away" at the Pasadena Play House through the middle of March, 2017.

She is also currently playing Shelly Pfefferman in Amazon Prime's Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award winning series, “Transparent” (created by Jill Soloway).  For this role, she was nominated for an Emmy Award and three consecutive Critics Choice Awards.  You may also have seen Judith as Claire Meade on “Ugly Betty” and Judge Liz Donnelly on “Law & Order: SVU” as well as appearances on the TV Land comedy series “The Exes” and TNT's “Dallas”.

In 2016, Judith was honored with the Made in New York Award.

In Fall 2015, Judith played the roll of Madame Raquin, in Broadways "Therese Raquin" staring with Keira Knightly.  

In 2014, Judith Light was named the National Ambassador for the 19th KIDS NIGHT OUT ON BROADWAY by the Broadway League.  She was also honored with the Women Who Care Award at the 13th Annual UPC of NYC Women Who Care Luncheon.

Judith's work doesn't stop there, in addition to acting, she works as a humanitarian and social activist for the LGBT community and the fight against AIDS.

She starred as Marie Lombardi on Broadway in "Lombardi". Her performance earned her a 2011 Tony Nomination. She then won back to back Tony Awards for "Other Desert Cities in 2012 and "The Assembled Parties" in 2013.  

Little Known Fact: In 1997 she auditioned to be an understudy on the soap opera, "One Life To Live." That audition turned into two Daytime Emmys. 

EPISODE 38 - JAYNE HOUDYSHELL & REED BIRNEY

Jayne Houdyshell won a Tony award for her work in the Pulitzer Prize winning play, The Humans. She earned her first Tony nomination for her leading role in Lisa Kron’s play Well, and her second for delivering the Sondheim showstopper “Broadway Baby” in Follies. Other Broadway credits include Wicked, Bye Bye Birdie and The Importance of Being Earnest. Houdyshell has appeared off-Broadway in The Language Archive, Coraline, The Receptionist, The New Century, The Pain and the Itch and Much Ado About Nothing.

Reed Birney won the Tony Award for his role as Erik in Stephen Karam's play, THE HUMANS, at The Helen Hayes Theater in New York. Last season, Reed Birney appeared in New York Halley Feiffer's I'M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD (Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk Award nominations) at The Atlantic Theater and Clare Barron's YOU GOT OLDER (Drama Desk Award nomination) at Here Arts Center. He won a Drama Desk award and was nominated for a Tony for his performance as Charlotte in Harvey Fierstein's CASA VALENTINA. He was Hubert Humphrey the A.R.T. production of ALL THE WAY with Bryan Cranston. His Broadway debut was in 1977 in Albert Innauratoʼs GEMINI. In 2012 he returned to Broadway in the Roundabout revival of PICNIC. In 2011, he received a Special Drama Desk Award honoring his career as an actor. Recent productions: CORE VALUES at Ars Nova, HAPGOOD at Williamstown Theater Festival, Annie Baker's translation of UNCLE VANYA (Soho Rep-Drama Desk Nomination), Kim Rosenstockʼs TIGERS BE STILL and David West Readʼs THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY (Drama League, Outer Critics Circle nominations), both at The Roundabout Underground, and Adam Bockʼs A SMALL FIRE at Playwrights Horizons. He was Ian in the New York premiere of Sarah Kaneʼs BLASTED in 2008 at Soho Rep (Drama Desk Award nomination.) He received an OBIE and Drama Desk Award for his performance in Annie Bakerʼs CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION also at Playwrights Horizons. He was Tony Blair in the acclaimed Public Theater production of STUFF HAPPENS. Other notable performances include the world premiere of Tony Kushnerʼs revised HOMEBODY/KABUL at Steppenwolf, The Mark Taper Forum and BAM; Tracy Letts' BUG (OBIE award) at The Barrow Street Theater; THE COMMON PURSUIT at the Promenade Theater; Gaev in THE CHERRY ORCHARD at Williamstown Theater Festival. He made his film debut in Arthur Penn and Steve Tesichʼs FOUR FRIENDS, and has appeared in Clint Eastwoodʼs CHANGELING, MORNING GLORY and Jeff Lipskyʼs TWELVE THIRTY, MOLLYʼS THEORY OF RELATIVITY, and MAD WOMEN, and with Kristen Wiig in THE GIRL MOST LIKELY. He is Rep. Donald Blythe on the Netflix series, "House of Cards" and can be seen as Patti LuPone's husband in HBO's "Girls." Other recent TV appearances include "Blue Bloods,” as Tom Connolly on "The Blacklist" and NBCʼs “American Odyssey.” On the web, he is in the series “Whatʼs Your Emergency?” He won a 2006 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Performance and in 2011 Actors' Equity awarded him the Richard Seff Award. He has taught acting at Columbia University and The Scott Freeman Studio. He is married to actress Constance Shulman and they have two children, Ephraim and Gus, who are both actors.

EPISODE 37 - LUCAS HEDGES

As a child,  Lucas Hedges made his feature film debut as an extra in his father's film, Dan in Real Life. He went on to play major roles in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, Jason Reitman's Labor Day, Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem, Michael Cuesta's Kill the Messenger, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. His received critical acclaim for his role in the play, Yen. He was nominated for over 20 awards for his role in Manchester By The Sea and won multiple awards for his gorgeous work in the film.

Little Known Fact: As a child he was obsessed with memorizing the birth dates of child stars on IMDB.

EPISODE 36 - ANDREW RANNELLS

Andrew Rannells is perhaps best known for his role as “Elijah” on the hit HBO series GIRLS. Andrew also appeared in season two of Steven Soderbergh’s THE KNICK on Cinemax, NBC's THE NEW NORMAL and in Nancy Meyer’s THE INTERN. He originated the role of “Elder Price” in THE BOOK OF MORMON, for which he won a Grammy Award and was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award. Also on Broadway, he played the role of “King George” in the smash hit HAMILTON and starred as “Hedwig” in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. Andrew will appear in Fox’s upcoming film WHY HIM alongside James Franco and Bryan Cranston. He can currently be seen on Broadway in FALSETTOS.

Little Known Fact: By mimicking Christine Ebersole, he realized how high HE could sing.

EPISODE 35 - My Love Letter to BroadwayCon

BroadwayCon is the biggest convention worldwide for Broadway fans. It is a one of a kind event where Broadway fans and Broadway's biggest stars, come together and celebrate all things Broadway. Ilana and her guests Matt Rodin (host  of The Red Carpet Challenge) and Robbie Rozelle (Broadway Records graphic designer & Musical Director for Tony award winning singers) break it all down on this special episode of Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine.

Matt Rodin is an artrepreneur who believes that art is a channel to the truth. He's a content creator, an actor, a host, a son, a brother, and a loyal Jason Mraz fan. He's the creator of "The Red Carpet Challenge" and the co-creator of the viral video series "BRO-way."

Robbie Rozelle does jokes. He has also directed and written or co-written sold-out cabaret shows for Tony Award nominee Melissa Errico (Amour), Tony nominee Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow), Elena Shaddow (The Visit), Nikka Graff Lanzarone (Women on the Verge), Steven Ferezy, Jonathan Demar, Rachel Levy, RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 contestant Mrs. Kasha Davis and frequent collaborator Jessica Vosk (Elephaba on the Wicked tour). 

As a former actor who once played Charlie Brown and Dr. Frank 'n' Furter in the same year, Robbie is the recipient of the NEPTA award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his tongue-twisting turn as Trevor Grayden in Thoroughly Modern Millie. He has also appeared in Sondheimas at 54 Below and several shows at The Duplex. He co-produced the album Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett Sing Scott Alan [Deluxe Edition], executive produced Astoria Boulevard's debut album and was an associate producer of Jonathan Reid Gealt's "Whatever I Want It To Be". Robbie is a Grammy voting member. For three years, Robbie served as the graphic designer and creative director for Playbill, culminating in the design he is most proud of, the branding of #PlaybillPride, a 30-day initiative of the LGBT movement in the theatre that included a redesign of their historic logo for the month of June 2014. Playbill Pride returned for a second year in 2015, where Robbie art directed the magazine. Playbill Pride returned again in 2016, again with Robbie's work. He currently serves as the in-house designer for Grammy nominated Broadway Records, where he designed the iconic "What the World Needs Now is Love" in response to Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. He also runs Ghostlight Design. When not designing, he can usually be found tweeting jokes and random musings at @divarobbie.

EPISODE 34 - BEST REVEALS

In this episode listen to the best reveals shared by Ilana's guests. Actors include Matthew Broderick, Kathryn Erbe, Laura Linney, Dominic Fumusa, Anthony Rapp, Molly Ringwald, Cynthia Nixon, Griffin Dunne and Kristin Chenoweth.
 

EPISODE 33 - GRIFFIN DUNNE

Griffin Dunne is an accomplished actor, director and producer.

Dunne's recent feature film credits include "Dallas Buyers Club" starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, "Last Night", starring Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley and Allen Hughes' "Broken City" starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. This Fall he can be seen in Daryl Wein's "Consumed", which recently premiered at the LA Film Festival. 

Dunne's feature film directorial debut was 1997's "Addicted to Love," starring Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick, which he followed one year laterwith "Practical Magic" starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Most recently Mr. Dunne directed a short film with Emma Stone for Peter Farrelly's comedic anthology  "Movie 43". On television, Dunne has recently recurred on  the Showtime series "House of Lies" playing opposite Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell and the Fox series "Red Band Society" opposite Octavia Spencer. In 2015 he completed a series long arc on the WGN series, MANHATTAN. Currently, he is filming Jill Soloway's new Amazon series I LOVE DICK, starring opposite Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn. 

Little Known Fact - When his acting career was at a standstill, he decided to create his own opportunities by producing. Some of those opportunities included the films, "Baby It's You," "Running On Empty," and with Martin Scorsese, "After Hours."

EPISODE 32 - AMERICAN AUDITION HORROR STORIES

A circus parade is traveling down Main Street in a small town.  At the back is an old man whose job it is to shovel the manure from all the circus animals into a big bag slung over his shoulder.  A passer-by asks him how long he's been doing the job and how much he gets paid, to which he replies 50 years and $250 a week.  

"Well why on earth don't you stop doing it and find a better job instead?" asks the passer-by.

The old man replies, "What, and give up showbusiness?" 

  The great Gordon Hunt,  a wonderful acting teacher and casting director, encouraged his students to think of every audition as a chance to act on a Tuesday.  There are times when I am able to do that and times when it feels like an exercise in futility but his words have always stayed with me.  And even though more often than not  the audition doesn't turn into the job, when I looked at the alternative of another career - perhaps one with more emotional and financial stability -  my answer would be, "What, and give up showbusiness?!"

So how do we actors do it? How do we leave the audition room feeling humiliated and get up the next day and do it again? Listen to famous actors like  Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Bryan Greenberg, Aasif Mandvi, John Slattery,  Roger Bart, Noah Emmerich, Dan Fogler, Constance Shulman, and Mary Stuart Masterson share hilarious and inspiring stories from the audition trenches.

EPISODE 31 - MOLLY RINGWALD

Molly Ringwald began her film career at the age of 13 in Paul Mazursky’s Tempest, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She went on to star in numerous films, including The Pick-Up Artist, For Keeps, Fresh Horses, Betsy’s Wedding, Cindy Sherman’s directorial debut Office Killer, Billy Bob Thornton’s short film Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, and the iconic movies Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink.

In 1992, Ms. Ringwald moved to Paris and acted in such foreign films as Tous Les Jours Dimanches, Enfants de Salaud, and Jean-Luc Goddard’s King Lear. Her television credits include the critically-acclaimed comedy series Townies, Stephen King’s The Stand, the Emmy-nominated Allison Gertz Story, and the movie Molly: An American Girl, based on the American Girl series.

In 1997, Ms. Ringwald moved to New York City, where she starred in Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize winning How I Learned to Drive, a role she reprised at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Subsequent theater credits include playing the legendary “Sally Bowles” in the Broadway production of Cabaret; the Tony-nominated Broadway production of Enchanted April; and the London production of When Harry Met Sally. She created the role of Horton Foote’s Lily Dale in the NY off-Broadway production, performed the role of Salome (with Al Pacino), starred in Jonathan Larson’s musical Tick, Tick…Boom!, the hit comedy Modern Orthodox, and a national theater tour of the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity.

Molly was in the comedy TV show Raising Expectations, created by Tom Saunders (Arrested Development) which premiered on The Canadian Family Channel in May 2016. She starred in The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family, and was in the Blumhouse feature Jem and the Holograms, directed by Jon Chu, and the comic indie Bad Night. Molly can be seen in Justin Kelly’s film King Cobra, which premiered at The 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Molly recently guest starred on Bravo’s Odd Mom Out.

Little Known Fact: To escape the spotlight she moved to France and dyed her hair. It worked. Sort of.