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The Drama Book Show!: Daily Summaries Delivered
by The Drama Book Show! & Broadway Podcast Network
Welcome to The Drama Book Show! This podcast is your gateway to the world of theater. Join hosts David Rigano and Mark-Eugene Garcia, both seasoned playwrights and close friends, as they engage in dynamic interviews with a diverse array of guests spanning from Broadway to Off-Broadway and beyond. Recording before a live audience at the Drama Book Shop, each week features a theater expert delving into realms both on and off the stage.Follow @dramabookshowpodcast on instagram, check Eventbrite for events, and join our lively audience at the book shop, where drama unfolds!Music by Paul Rigano
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- 2 days ago1h 9m
Broadway Poster Art 1945-1969
In this episode, we celebrate Broadway Poster Art: 1945–1969 by Nicholas van Hoogstraten, a visually stunning tribute to Broadway’s iconic posters—from My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof to rare designs for legendary flops. The book offers an insider’s look at the artists behind the posters, featuring Al Hirschfeld, David Klein, Fay Gage, and more, along with alternate concepts, rejected designs, and fascinating stories about how these visuals shaped Broadway’s identity. Nicholas van Hoogstraten is the author of Lost Broadway Theatres, the award-winning musical Johnny Guitar, and other theatrical works. He created television programs including KTLA Morning News and Private Sessions for A&E, and helped launch the original FX network. He lectures on theater history and owns Triton Gallery, New York City’s largest source for vintage and current Broadway posters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 3 days ago1h 2m
Over the Shoulder- A Discussion with Mark Solomon
In this episode, we explore Over the Shoulder: A Freelancer’s Guide to Telling Stories and Editing Films by Mark Solomon. Drawing on 30+ years in Hollywood, Solomon shares insider insights from editing iconic films like Shrek, Chicken Run, Space Jam, and the Eddie award-nominated Frankenweenie. His book offers a practical roadmap for crafting unforgettable stories, with lessons on suspense, contrast, cause and effect, and cross-cultural storytelling techniques, alongside real-world anecdotes from a career at the cutting edge of cinema. Mark Solomon is an award-nominated film editor, producer, writer, and teacher who has consulted internationally and taught in the U.S. and U.K., helping aspiring filmmakers master the craft of visual storytelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 4 days ago1h 7m
Black Entertainment History with Smokey Stevens
In This Episode In this episode, we talk with Ronald “Smokey” Stevens, an award-winning performer, director, choreographer, producer, and founder of Capital City Readers Theatre. A veteran of Broadway productions including Bubbling Brown Sugar, Dreamgirls, and his own Rollin’ on the T.O.B.A., Stevens has dedicated much of his career to preserving and celebrating Black theatrical history. His book, The First 60 Years: The History of Afro American Musical Theater & Entertainment, 1865–1930, chronicles the groundbreaking contributions of Black performers, producers, entrepreneurs, and theater owners following emancipation. From the birth of Black vaudeville and the Blues to the rise of Black theatrical entrepreneurship, Stevens shines a light on the artists who forged a path for American entertainment despite the racism and barriers of their time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 5 days ago1h 1m
Working Together in Theatre- With Joel Veenstra
In this episode, we explore Working Together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership with Joel Veenstra, Chair of the Drama Department at UC Irvine and a specialist in stage management, improvisation, and collaborative production. Building on the work of acclaimed theatre educator and director Robert Cohen, this new edition examines what it takes to create great theatre together. From playwrights and directors to actors, designers, stage managers, dramaturgs, and crews, we look at how collaboration and leadership can transform an idea into a production—and how artists can harness the power of collective creativity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 6 days ago1h 0m
Sex, Drugs, and Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director
In this episode, acclaimed casting director Joel Thurm shares stories from his remarkable career in Hollywood, chronicled in Sex, Drugs, and Pilot Season. From discovering John Travolta and the Phoenix family to shaping iconic TV shows like Cheers, Taxi, The Love Boat, and The Golden Girls, Thurm offers a witty and irreverent insider’s view of the entertainment industry. He also recounts his work on classic films including Grease, Airplane!, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, giving listeners a backstage pass to the boardrooms and executive suites where show-business history was made. Moderator Lou Liberatore, Tony- and Drama Desk-nominated actor known for Broadway, off-Broadway, and television work, guides the conversation and highlights the stories behind Thurm’s unforgettable career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 1 weeks ago48 min
A Conversation With Julie Gilbert about Giant Love
In this episode, we talk with Julie Gilbert about her new book Giant Love, which explores the life and legacy of trailblazing novelist and playwright Edna Ferber. Ferber, a Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote Giant in 1952—a controversial bestseller that sparked outrage in Texas but went on to inspire George Stevens’ Academy Award-winning epic starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. Gilbert takes us inside the making of both the novel and the film, from Ferber’s battles with Stevens to the casting of Hollywood legends and the behind-the-scenes drama that made Giant an American classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Aug 9, 202642 min
My Excellency — With Jonathan Cohen & Gy Mirano
In this episode, we explore My Excellency with presenter and reader Jonathan Cohen, an award-winning poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of inter-American literature, whose work has focused extensively on bringing Spanish-language literature to English-speaking audiences. Cohen is the editor of My Excellency, his edition of William Carlos Williams’s translation of the Puerto Rican play, published by Swan Isle Press in 2025. Joining him is actress, voice-over artist, producer, and arts advocate Gy Mirano, whose work spans theater, film, television, and cultural institutions throughout New York. We also look at the remarkable connection between Puerto Rican dramatist Luis Rechani Agrait and American modernist poet William Carlos Williams. Rechani Agrait was one of Puerto Rico’s major dramatists of the twentieth century, and My Excellency was first produced in 1940 by the Sociedad Dramática Areyto, an experimental theater company dedicated to developing a distinctly Puerto Rican national theater. Set in an “imaginary country” resembling Puerto Rico during the Great Depression, My Excellency is a political farce about Buenaventura Padilla, an idealistic but naive man who rises to power through a corrupt election. His pompous language, malapropisms, and hilarious mistakes turn the political satire into a comedy about corruption, materialism, and the corrupting power of success. Williams’s translation preserves the play’s distinctive mixture of popular idiom, nonsense, and verbal invention, bringing Rechani Agrait’s political comedy to a new English-speaking audience. Together, Cohen and Mirano discuss the play, its Puerto Rican theatrical history, and Williams’s fascinating role as translator—connecting two major literary voices across language, culture, and time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Aug 8, 202654 min
Acting Professionally: The Essential Guide for the Actor
Join us for a live podcast recording, talkback, and signing with renowned casting director James Calleri, as he discusses the 9th edition of Acting Professionally: The Essential Guide for the Actor. This updated edition reflects the changing landscape of the acting world, including the impacts of BLM, #MeToo, and the Covid-19 pandemic, while providing practical advice for navigating auditions, representation, and opportunities across stage, screen, and digital platforms. With decades of experience launching the careers of actors like Elisabeth Moss, Adam Driver, Jessica Chastain, and Sterling K. Brown, Calleri shares insider knowledge, career-building strategies, and essential guidance for actors at any stage of their journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
About The Drama Book Show!
Welcome to The Drama Book Show! This podcast is your gateway to the world of theater. Join hosts David Rigano and Mark-Eugene Garcia, both seasoned playwrights and close friends, as they engage in dynamic interviews with a diverse array of guests spanning from Broadway to Off-Broadway and beyond. Recording before a live audience at the Drama Book Shop, each week features a theater expert delving into realms both on and off the stage.Follow @dramabookshowpodcast on instagram, check Eventbrite for events, and join our lively audience at the book shop, where drama unfolds!Music by Paul Rigano
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