GABBY BEANS is a Tony Award nominated actress. Some of her recent TV credits include Apple's "Presumed Innocent", HBO’s “Succession,” CBS’ “Blue Bloods”, CBS’s “The Good Fight”, Netflix’s “House of Cards”, and Showtime’s “Ray Donovan”. Theater credits include Jonah at Roundabout Theater, The Skin of Our Teeth at Lincoln Center (Tony Award Nomination for Best Lead Actress), I’m Revolting at the Atlantic Theater Company, Anatomy of a Suicide at the Atlantic Theater Company, and Mary Seacole at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater.
EPISODE 389 - HANNAH CRUZ
HANNAH CRUZ stars in The Connector at MCC. Other theater credits include Only Gold (Camille, MCC).,Suffs (Ruza, The Public). Tour: Hamilton (IRNE Best Actress, Eliza), Bullets over Broadway (Ellen). Regional: The Da Vinci Code (American Premiere, Ogunquit Playhouse, Sophie Neveu) and Young Frankenstein (OP, Inga). Insta @thisishannahcruz.
EPISODE 388 - JELANI REMY
JELANI REMY
Broadway: Back To The Future, Ain’t Too Proud, The Lion King.
Other theater credits include: High School Musical, Smokey Joe’s Café, AppleBoys, Oscar Michaeux Suite, Love Around the Block, Cabaret, Mozart: Her Story. Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star and Chita Rivera Award recipient.
BCEFA NextGen Advocate.
@itsjelaniremy
EPISODE 387 - Coral Peña
Coral Peña stars as Aleida Rosales in the critically acclaimed AppleTV+ series "For all Mankind." Coral entered the show for the show’s sophomore season and each year the storyline for her character has gained more significance and Coral’s performance is receiving great praise.
Coral starred in the play- Our Dear Dead Drug Lord-- At Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and can be seen in the indie Thelma opposite Fred Hechinger which will be premiering at Sundance in 2024. She can also be seen in the indie Story Ave opposite Asante Blackk and Luis Guzmán which premiered out of SXSW and had its theatrical release late in 2022. Previously, she appeared alongside Meryl Streep, in Steven Spielberg's The Post and in the Amazon film Chemical Hearts, opposite Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams.
EPISODE 386 - JOE MANTELLO
JOE MANTELLO (Director). Broadway directing credits include: Grey House, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Hillary and Clinton, Three Tall Women, The Boys in the Band, Blackbird, The Humans, Airline Highway, The Last Ship, Casa Valentina, I’ll Eat You Last, The Other Place, Other Desert Cities, Pal Joey, 9 to 5, Laugh Whore, November, The Ritz, Three Days of Rain, The Odd Couple, Glengarry Glen Ross, Wicked, Assassins (Tony Award), Take Me Out (Tony Award), Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Love! Valour! Compassion!
Off-Broadway: Here We Are, Dogfight, The Pride, A Man of No Importance, The Vagina Monologues, bash, Corpus Christi.
As an actor he has appeared in American Horror Story: NYC (FX), Hollywood, The Watcher (Netflix), The Normal Heart (HBO, Emmy Nom.) and upcoming FEUD Season 2: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Broadway: The Glass Menagerie, The Normal Heart (Tony nom.), Angels in America (Tony nom.)
Recipient of Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Clarence Derwent, Obie, Joe A. Callaway and SDCF “Mr. Abbott" awards. Member of the Theatre Hall of Fame.
EPISODE 385 - SHARON BROUS
Sharon Brous is the founding and senior rabbi of IKAR, a trail-blazing Jewish community based in Los Angeles. A leading voice at the intersection of faith and justice in America, she has been named #1 Most Influential Rabbi in the U.S. by Newsweek/The Daily Beast. She blessed both President Obama and President Biden at their National Inaugural Prayer Services, and her TED Talk “Reclaiming Religion” has been viewed 1.5 million times. Brous’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. She lives with her husband, David Light, and their children in California.
Photo Credit- Kim Silverman
EPISODE 384- BARBARA BARRIE
BARBARA BARRIE has had a distinguished career in film, television and theatre. On Broadway, she has appeared in Company (Tony Award nomination), The Selling of the President, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, California Suite, Torch Song Trilogy, and, most recently, in the Broadway transfer of Significant Other, for which she received the Actors' Equity Association Award for the Best Performance in a Supporting Role by a Veteran Actor. Her notable off-Broadway credits include I Remember Mama (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), The Vagina Monologues, Current Events, After-Play, The Crucible, The Beaux' Stratagem, Love Letters, Isn't It Romantic? and The Killdeer (Obie Award and Drama Desk Award). Her best known television series appearances include "Law & Order" (Emmy Award nomination), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Emmy Award nomination), "Breaking Away" (Emmy Award nomination), "Suddenly Susan," "Enlightened," "Nurse Jackie," "Once and Again," "Barney Miller," "Thirtysomething" and "Family Ties." Her mini-series and television movie credits include "Scarlett," "Roots: The Next Generation," "A Chance of Snow," "My Left Breast," "The Odd Couple: Together Again," "Tell Me My Name," "To Race the Wind," "American Love Affair," and "Barefoot in the Park." Film credits include ""Somewhere Only We Know," One Potato, Two Potato" (Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival), "Breaking Away" (Academy Award nomination), "Judy Berlin" (Independent Spirit Award nomination), "Frame of Mind," "Second Best," "Hercules," "Private Benjamin," "The Bell Jar" and "Thirty Days."
EPISODE 383 - ZACH SCHONFELD
Zach Schonfeld is a freelance writer, journalist, and critic based in New York. He writes about culture for Pitchfork, Vulture, Spin Magazine, and many other publications. He was formerly a senior writer for Newsweek, where he was on staff for five years. His first book, Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth, was published in 2020 as part of the 33 1/3 series. How Coppola Became Cage is his second book.
EPISODE 382- DAVID SCHWAB
David Schwab, is a screenwriter based in New York City. Since 2014, Mr. Schwab has been an adjunct professor of screen writing at the Graduate Film school at Columbia University. He has also taught at the French National Film School, La Femis, and also at Sundance Colabs. Mr. Schwab received his MFA in Film from the Columbia University School of the Art where his thesis script, MR. VERNER'S PYGMY, was purchased by Scott Rudin. Since then Mr. Schwab has written for, among others, Warner Brothers, Animal Logic, Hollywood Pictures, Propaganda, HD Net Films, and Paramount Pictures. Mr. Schwab was the 2014 Sundance/Sloan Commissioning Grantee for his script, FRANCIS TURNBULL – which was also selected for the 2013 Hampton Film Festival writer’s lab. FRANCIS TURNBULL is being produced by Oren Moverman (THE MESSENGER, LOVE AND MERCY, TIME OUT OF MIND) and Wren Arthur (PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION). Jennifer Fox (THE TALE, BEIRUT: THE LAST HOME MOVIE) will direct. Mr. Schwab recently completed KACZYNSKI, a TV pilot about the Unabomber for SightUnseen pictures. Oren Moveman will direct.
EPISODE 380- MIKE DOYLE
Mike Doyle is a veteran actor, with years of experience in film and television, working with greats like Clint Eastwood (Jersey Boys), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation), Richard LaGravenese (You're Not You), Nancy Savoca (Union Square), & Martin Campbell (Green Lantern) to name a few. He was last seen on NBC's NEW AMSTERDAM and Showtime's CITY ON A HILL. Mike holds a BS in economics from Georgetown, and he trained as an actor at The Juilliard School.
Mike's second feature film, PASSING THROUGH, which he wrote and directed premiered in Torino Italy, later screening in festivals in Europe and more recently, here in NY at Soho International Film Festival, where it picked up nominations for Best Film, Best Actor, and the Audience Award. Mike's feature film debut, SELL BY, which he also wrote and directed, premiered in Toronto in 2019 at Inside Out, then traveled the festival circuit garnering awards including best feature, best screenplay and best director. It was acquired by Netflix under the title ALMOST LOVE, and stars Kate Walsh, Scott Evans, Augustus Prew, Michelle Buteau, and Patricia Clarkson. Mike's first film, SHINER, a short starring Amy Ryan, premiered at Tribeca and launched his directing career. Mike most recently directed THE CHASE, a short film written by Nick Jandl. With Nick, Mike is executive producing and writing the series TODO POR AMOR with Stampede Entertainment and CBS Viacom. Mike became WGA when he was hired by Judd Apatow and Universal to pen the comedy, UNTITLED GAY MARRIAGE.
EPISODE 379- DENIS O'HARE
DENIS O'HARE has been nominated 3 times for Emmy Awards for his work in THIS IS US and AMERICAN HORROR STORY. Other television appearances include THE NEVERS, TRYING, TRUE BLOOD, AMERICAN GODS, THE GOOD WIFE, and BIG LITTLE LIES. He won the Tony Award for Richard Greenberg's TAKE ME OUT (Obie Award, Drama Desk Award) and an OBIE for his performance in AN ILIAD of which he is also the co-writer. Other stage credits include ASSASSINS (Tony nomination), SWEET CHARITY (Drama Desk Award), CABARET, INHERIT THE WIND, MAJOR BARBARA, ELLING, RACING DEMON, HAUPTMANN, INTO THE WOODS, TEN UNKNOWNS, and TARTUFFE at London's National Theatre. Film credits include INFINITE STORM, SWALLOW, LATE NIGHT, THE GOLDFINCH, NOVITIATE, THE NORMAL HEART, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, THE PROPOSAL, DUPLICITY, MILK , CHANGELING, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, MICHAEL CLAYTON, A MIGHTY HEART, HALF NELSON, GARDEN STATE, 21 GRAMS, THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY, PRIVATE LIFE, and THE PARTING GLASS of which he is the screenwriter.
EPISODE 378- THERESA REBECK
Theresa Rebeck is a prolific and widely produced playwright, whose work has been staged across the globe. Her work on Broadway includes Bernhardt/Hamlet, Dead Accounts, Seminar, Mauritius and the upcoming play I Need That (starring Danny DeVito, premiering Fall 2023). Other notable plays include the New York Times Critics Pick Dig (which she also directs), currently playing at Primary Stages/59E59 Theaters; Mad House, which played a critically acclaimed world premiere on London’s West End starring David Harbour and Bill Pullman; Seared (MCC), Downstairs (Primary Stages), The Scene, The Water’s Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels (Second Stage), Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection and Our House (Playwrights Horizons), The Understudy (Roundabout), View of the Dome (NYTW), What We’re Up Against (Women’s Project), Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer Prize finalist). As a director, her work has been seen at The Alley Theatre (Houston), the REP Company (Delaware), Dorset Theatre Festival, the Orchard Project and the Folger Theatre. Major film and television projects include Trouble, with Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman and David Morse (writer and director), “NYPD Blue,” the NBC series “Smash” (creator), the female spy thriller 355 (for Jessica Chastain’s production company), and her most recent film Glimpse, available for streaming now. As a novelist, Rebeck’s books include Three Girls and Their Brother and I'm Glad About You. Rebeck is the recipient of the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award, and a Lilly Award.
Photo Credit- Cleo Lynn
EPISODE 377 - QUI NGUYEN
QUI NGUYEN is a playwright, screenwriter, and co-founder of the pioneering geek theatre company, Vampire Cowboys. His plays include Vietgone, Poor Yella Rednecks, Bike Wreck, and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys shows Revenge Song, She Kills Monsters, Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and Living Dead in Denmark. For TV/film, he’s written for Marvel Studios, Netflix, AMC, SYFY, and PBS. He most recently wrote Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon (nominated for a 2022 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature) and is currently co-directing and writing Disney’s. Strange World.
EPISODE 376- MARK ARMSTRONG and WARREN LEIGHT
Mark Armstrong (he/him) is a Brooklyn-based theater director and the Artistic Director of The 24 Hour Plays. His production of Eric Bogosian’s Drinking in Americafeaturing Andre Royo (NYT Critic’s Pick) enjoyed an extended run at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre and a live audio capture was released as an Audible audio play. Highlights with The 24 Hour Plays include annual productions of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The 24 Hour Musicals, The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues (which engaged millions of viewers worldwide beginning March 2020) + partner productions across the US. As a director, his collaborators include Emily Mann (Execution of Justice, Playhouse Creatures + NYU Tisch mainstage), Christopher Shinn (Falling Away, Ensemble Studio Theatre; The Coming World; Williamstown), Dan O’Brien (From Kandahar to Canada, EST; The Angel in the Trees, Production Company) and many others. As Director of New Work for Keen Company, he created the Keen Playwrights Lab for mid-career playwrights and directed Old Folks by Max Posner and 30 Million by Jason Kim and Max Vernon. Recently, he developed and directed The Accidentwith drummer Kid Millions at Roulette. Assistant professor (part-time), The New School for Drama; proud member SDC and UAW 7902; alum Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and Williamstown Theater Festival Directing Corp.
WARREN LEIGHT is the Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony-winning author of Side Man, as well as No Foreigners Beyond This Point (Drama Desk nomination), Home Front, Fame Takes a Holiday, Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine (ATCA nomination) and The Loop. He also wrote the book of the musical Mayor (Drama Desk nomination) and co-wrote the book of Leap of Faith (Drama Desk nomination). Warren was showrunner and Executive Producer of the NBC drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” from 2011 – 2016 and 2019-2022 (Imagen, NAACP and PRISM Awards). Previously, he was showrunner and Executive Producer of HBO's Peabody Award-winning “In Treatment,” the FX drama “Lights Out,” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”
EPISODE 375 - KATIE ROSE CLARKE
Katie was born and raised in Houston, TX. Best known for her role as Glinda the Good in the Broadway production of Wicked, she was also Glinda in the first national touring company of Wicked. Her Broadway debut was as Clara Johnson in The Lincoln Center Theatre’s production of The Light in the Piazza directed by Bartlett Sher. Also, as Clara, she appeared in the first national touring production of The Light in the Piazza. Her Broadway credits also include Hannah Campbell in Allegiance and Ellen in Miss Saigon. She will be seen in the fall of 2023 as Beth in Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway following a run earlier this year at NYTW.
On camera, she can be seen in roles on CBS’ The Good Wife and NCIS: New Orleans, as well as the independent film Maybe There’s A Tree. She also performed as Clara in the PBS national broadcast of Live from Lincoln Center: The Light in The Piazza.
In regional theatre she is recognized for her role as Cathy Hiatt in The Last Five Years at the Long Wharf Theatre. For this role she was awarded the Connecticut Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in 2014. She was also seen in the East Coast debut of Craig Lucas’ play Prayer For My Enemy as Marianne Noone at the Long Wharf Theatre Company directed by Bartlett Sher. Clarke appeared in the staged concert of Parade as Mrs. Phagan conducted by Jason Robert Brown at Lincoln Center.
She lives in New York with her husband and family.
Photo Credit- Matthew Priestely
Hello, World!
EPISODE 374 - JOHN RUBINSTEIN
JOHN RUBINSTEIN originated the title role in the Broadway musical Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, and won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his performance in Children of a Lesser God. Other Broadway appearances include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ragtime, Hurlyburly, M. Butterfly, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Drama Desk nomination), Getting Away with Murder, Fools, Love Letters, and the 2013 Pippin revival. He appeared off-Broadway in Counsellor-at-Law (2005 Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics' Circle and Drama League nominations), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Urban Blight, Cabaret Verboten, and Morning's at Seven. Regionally: Wicked in LA, and the international tour of the Pippin revival. He starred in the TV series, “Family” (Emmy nomination), and “Crazy Like A Fox”, and over 300 episodes. Films include “Being the Ricardo’s”, “Hello, I Must Be Going”, “21 Grams”, “Red Dragon”, “The Boys from Brazil”, “Someone to Watch Over Me”, “Daniel, Zachariah,” and “Getting Straight”. He directed the world premiere of A. R. Gurney's The Old Boy, and Counsellor-at-Law, Company, Brigadoon, Macbeth, The Three Sisters, Phantasie, Nightingale, The Rivals, A Little Night Music, Guys and Dolls, Into The Woods, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and The Rover. He composes film and TV music (“Jeremiah Johnson”, “The Candidate”, “The Dollmaker”, "China Beach", among others), hosted two classical music radio programs, played keyboards in a rock band, and has recorded over 200 audiobooks, most numerously Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series of Los Angeles crime novels. He is married to Bonnie Burgess, and their son Max is the youngest of his five children, joining Jessica, Michael, Peter, and Jacob.
EPISODE 372- AJ JACOBS & DANIELLE ANNE TRUSSONI
Danielle Anne Trussoni is a New York Times,USA Today, and Sunday Times Top 10 bestselling novelist. She has been a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction jurist, and wrote the "Dark Matters" column for the New York Times Book Review for five years, from 2018-2023. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where she was a Maytag Fellow. Her novels have been translated into 33 languages.
Her work includes six books: Falling Through the Earth (2006), Angelology (2010), Angelopolis (2012), The Fortress (2016), The Ancestor (2020), and The Puzzle Master (2023). The Puzzle Box is forthcoming in 2024. She is the recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Society of America award, the Dana Award in the novel, and The New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year for her first book. In addition to being published in The New York Times Book Review, she has also been published in The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine, and Tin House. Her writings have been widely anthologized.
A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help.
His latest book is called The Puzzler.
He is also editor at large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine. He is currently helping to build a family tree of the entire world and holding the biggest family reunion ever in 2015.
His first book is called The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (Simon & Schuster, 2004). The memoir spent two months on the New York Times bestseller list.
After trying to improve his mind, he turned to his spirit. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (2007) tells of his attempt to follow the hundreds of rules in the Good Book. It spent three months on the NYT bestseller list, and was praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and others. It appeared on the cover of the evangelical magazine Relevant, but was also featured in Penthouse. (Jacobs is proud to be a uniter, not a divider).
In 2012, Jacobs completed his mind-spirit-body self-improvement trinity with Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection. It is the tale of his quest to be as healthy as humanly possible for which he revamped his diet, exercise regimen, sleep schedule, sex life, posture and more. He wrote the book on a treadmill desk (It took him about 1,200 miles).
He also published a collection of essays called My Life as an Experiment: One Man’s Humble Quest to Improve Himself (2010). The book contains experiments featuring George Washington’s rules of life, marital harmony, marital disharmony, multitasking and nudity – not in that order. It includes the Esquire piece ‘My Outsourced Life,’ which also appeared in Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek.
Jacobs’s new book It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree.” It’s about the extraordinary changes happening in family research and DNA, and how they have an impact on politics, race relations, health and happiness. The book has been praised by Kirkus (“delightful”), Booklist (“a real treat”) and Publisher’s Weekly (“entertaining and lively.”)
In addition to his books, Jacobs written for The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, New York magazine and Dental Economics magazine, one of the top five magazines about the financial side of tooth care.
He has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Dr. Oz Show, Conan and The Colbert Report.
He has given several TED talks, including ones about living biblically, creating a one-world family, and living healthily.
He is a periodic commentator on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, where he dispenses world-shaking historical trivia, including segments on tennis, royalty, and congress behaving badly (the 19th century Vermont lawmaker who spat chewing tobacco in his opponent’s face).
Jacobs grew up in New York City.
EPISODE 371 - HEATHER HACH
HEATHER HACH is an accomplished screenwriter, Broadway librettist, and novelist. Her work includes screenwriting for Freaky Friday and What to Expect When You're Expecting, and she was nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk Award for her work on Legally Blonde: The Musical. She was formerly an improv comedy cast member with ComedySports, an editor at Sports and Fitness Publishing, and a judge on MTV’s reality show “The Search for the Next Elle Woods.” Her upcoming book, The Trouble with Drowning is published by GreenLeaf Book Group.
EPISODE 370 - RANDY RAINBOW
Randy Rainbow is a four-time EMMY® and GRAMMY®- nominated American comedian, producer, actor, singer, writer, satirist, host, and New York Times bestselling author, best known for his popular web series, The Randy Rainbow Show. His musical parodies and political spoofs have garnered him worldwide acclaim and four consecutive EMMY® nominations for Outstanding Short-Form Variety Series. His debut solo album, A Little Brains, A Little Talent (Broadway Records), earned him a 2023 GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Comedy Album”.
Touring the U.S. with his sold-out solo musical comedy concerts, the influencer and Internet sensation's viral comedy videos have received hundreds of millions of views across all social media and digital platforms. His fresh take on politics and current events has led to interviews and profiles by The Washington Post (magazine cover story), CBS Sunday Morning, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, NPR, ABC News, OUT, People, and Entertainment Weekly.
As the Washington Post noted, “Randy Rainbow has found his spotlight through the Internet, emerging as a viral sensation who dispenses musical comedy salve for a divided nation.”