Ben Lapidus & Amanda Centeno of “Pop Punk High”

Listen in as Ben Lapidus, composer/lyricist/”Derek,” and Amanda Centeno, “Tib,” of Pop Punk High, discuss bonding over Sum 41, giving the audience permission to sing along if they’d like to, New Jersey basements, highly-reactive uncles, the overlapping Venn diagrams of “pop-punk people” and “theatre people,” and how you can travel back in time to join them in 2003.

“…it brings in people that aren’t ‘theatre people,’ and I wish theatre communities did that more, and sought to bring in people who are not as familiar with theatre […] that’s what makes the show alive, and different…”

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Danielle Trzcinski, writer of “Non-Equity The Musical!”

Non-Equity The Musical, book and lyrics by Danielle Trzcinski, music by Paul D. MillsIf you are, or have ever been an actor, how many times have you heard someone say something to the effect of, “oh, acting! that must be so much fun!”—and had to fight a visceral reaction to respond along the lines of, “yeah, but you have NO idea what we go through…”

Because while it is fun, of course, and those of us lucky enough to work in the theatre feel our jobs are indeed the best in the world, the fun part of acting comes after a lot of trials, heartache, early mornings, degrading calls, blood, sweat, and tears.

It comes…after the casting process.

Playwright Danielle Trzcinski and composer Paul D. Mills have taken the unique experience of being at a casting call and put it onstage, with music, like you do. Their show Non-Equity The Musical!, after a sold-out run at the NY Fringe in 2012, has recorded a cast album, and GSAS! recently sat down with Danielle to talk about the show.

Listen in as she discusses the virtues and values of making your own work, playing to and fighting against type (and typing yourself out of your own musical), and following your dream even through the mess that is our business.

“I think it’s pretty awesome, like your podcast, that all these people are out there…it is so much work to do all these things, but there’s only so long we can wait around for an opportunity to be given to us…”
“…or so many 5 a.m. calls…”
“Exactly! Honestly, doing this show…that opened up so many more doors for me than when I was getting up and busting my ass at 5 in the morning…”

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The Cast & Director of “Once We Lived Here”

Australian Made Entertainment presents "Once We Lived Here"When last we saw Australian Made Entertainment, Artistic Directors Matthew and Kathleen Foster were onstage in the drama Speaking in Tongues.

This time around, Matthew is in the director’s chair, and Kathleen is showcasing her beautiful singing voice with the company’s new show, a musical imported from Melbourne. Set on a rural sheep station, Once We Lived Here is about a family is fighting for the future—of the family farm, of their personal lives, and of their shared history.

Listen in as Matt and Kathleen, along with actors Morgan Cowling, Adam Rennie, Sean Cleary, and Renee Claire Bergeron discuss family drama as universal story, singing in your own accent (and learning someone else’s), selling up, and the cultural conversation made possible by producing an Australian musical in New York City.

“Home is where you are.”

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Robert Honeywell, playwright, and Leah Bonvissuto, director, of “Mass”

"Mass" by Robert Honeywell, photos by Joe KolbowVan Gogh. Gauguin. Duchamp.

Add to that list Pablo. Not Picasso. Just Pablo.

If that makes no sense to you, then you need to travel from New York to Vancouver to Shanghai along with Robert Honeywell‘s new musical Mass, as it follows the story of the troubled young artist Mary, her girlfriend Françoise (who becomes the aforementioned Pablo, an internationally-celebrated artist), and Mary’s art-dealer sister Kate, exploring the limits of art, commerce, love, and family.

Listen in as Robert and director Leah Bonvissuto discuss breaking the boundaries of art, the arc of study needed to write a musical about the art-world, and the struggle between different visions of what art can be — including the art of theatre.

“Art, love, & blood.”

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“Into the Woods,” a fundraiser for The Sylvia Center

Into the WoodsThis episode of Go See a Show! may not be about a technically “off-off-Broadway” show, but the impulse behind this production is very much in the vein of my favorite kinds of OOB shows — a bunch of people getting together, on their own terms, for the sake of making something beautiful.

And it’s for a good cause, which makes this all the more awesome.

Director Kevin Horne and actor Joshua David Bishop (“Jack”) are two of the folks behind a special charity performance of Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Along with their fellow employees at catering company Great Performances, Kevin and Joshua are putting on this classic musical for two performances as a fundraiser for The Sylvia Center, a not-for-profit that teaches young people about food and nutrition from the farm to the kitchen. Good stuff.

Take a listen to the interview, then go help these cats out with a buck or twenty at their Kickstarter page; and follow their progress on Facebook.


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Into the Woods actors

The Cast & Creators of “3 Ghosts” from Pipe Dream Theatre

Pipe Dream Theatre's "3 Ghosts"In this episode, Go See a Show! talks with the (very large) cast of a production of a perennial classic, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, re-imagined steampunk style as 3 Ghosts by Pipe Dream Theatre‘s Liz Muller & Collin Simon.

This was one of the most fun interviews yet for the podcast — congrats to all involved with the show!

3 Ghosts is up at Theatre Row’s Beckett Theatre until December 23; tickets are available through TeleCharge.


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…and I wasn’t kidding; this cast is huge. Here’s a photo of the actors I was onstage with for the interview; this is a little under half the full cast, I think.

Cast Members from Pipe Dream Theatre's "3 Ghosts"