Jose, Nicole, and Ben discuss shows and other things from the theater community that have gone online during the pandemic.

Introductions (0:00)

Contagious Closet Dramas, presented by Two Headed Rep on Instagram (1:39)

It’s True, It’s True, It’s True by Breach Theatre (6:13)

The Shows Must Go On, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new YouTube channel (9:08)

The New York Neo Futurists’ Hit Play podcast (12:35)

The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral by The Neo Futurusts (13:25)

The Schaubuehne in Berlin (15:25)

Subway Plays and Ferry Play by This Is Not a Theatre Company (21:26) (We also mention this previous Maxamoo episode featuring an interview with Artistic DirectorErin Mee!)

#PipelineOnline by WP Theater (26:41)

HERE@HOME (32:28)

you have to forgive me… by Brian Lobel (36:04) (We also mention this previous Maxamoo episode featuring an interview with Brian Lobel!)

Outro (47:23)

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Jose and PennyMaria are joined by author Warren Hoffman to discuss the newly published second edition of his book The Great White Way: Race and the Broadway Musical. Their conversation includes a closer look at West Side Story, both historically and through the lens of the revival Ivo Von Hove directed for Broadway this season.

The Great White Way: Race and the Broadway Musical (second edition) is available wherever books are sold, including from Rutgers University Press or your local independent bookstore.

If you’d like to hear the couple of songs cut from West Side Story during its development that we discuss, you can find them in this YouTube video.

This is our first episode recorded with all the participants in different spaces – yay social distancing! – and while it’s pretty good, there are some moments of roughness in the audio. Please bear with us as we adapt to our new circumstances. We’re learning as we go! It was produced by David, so if you have helpful advice, feel free to reach out to him.

Incidentally, if you are a theater artist with creative approaches to making work or caring for other theater artists during this time, and you’d like to chat about it on a future episode, please slide into our DMs or email us at [email protected] (but if you can slide into our DMs, we’ll see that faster).

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All 9 of our regular contributors have gathered: Aurin, Ben, David, Jack, Jose, Liz, Nicole, Patty, and PennyMaria! We’re back together for our year-end spectacular, our annual episode in which we discuss the best and worst theater of the year.

If you have trouble telling any voices apart, we’re seated in a circle and the order we answer questions in is, roughly: Liz, Nicole, Jose, Jack, PennyMaria, Aurin, Ben, David, Patty. (Jack had to leave early, so don’t get freaked out when he disappears half-way through the episode.)

See below for timecodes of the questions we answer:

(0:40) What, to you, was the most impactful theater moment of the decade?

(13:56) The Isaac Butler Honorary Question: What performer/performance this year moved your Kinsey number?

(22:10) What was the worst case of Theater FOMO (fear of missing out) you suffered this year?

(29:21) What show do you wish more audiences had a chance to see?

(37:10) What made you cry at the theater this year?

(46:46) Did anyone leave any shows early? What did you leave?

(53:31) If you were hosting a panel at BroadwayCon (or Off-BroadwayCon, if you’d prefer), what would it be?

(1:02:22) What performer in a small role in 2019 would you like to see as the lead of a smash-hit star vehicle in 2020?

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All 9 of our regular contributors have gathered: Aurin, Ben, David, Jack, Jose, Liz, Nicole, Patty, and PennyMaria! We’re back together for our year-end spectacular, our annual episode in which we discuss the best and worst theater of the year.

If you have trouble telling any voices apart, we’re seated in a circle and the order we answer questions in is, roughly: Liz, Nicole, Jose, Jack, PennyMaria, Aurin, Ben, David, Patty. Each question we rotate who answers first; so Liz is the first person to answer the first question, Nicole is the first to answer the second question, and so on.

See below for timecodes of the questions we answer (and lists of shows we highlight):

(0:00:00) Introductions

(0:01:48) If you had relatives (smart ones who enjoy good theater) coming to town for the holidays, what show currently playing in New York City would you recommend? (0:01:48)

• American Utopia on Broadway

• The Sound Inside on Broadway

• Mac Beth at Hunter Theater Project

• Is This a Room at the Vineyard Theatre (2 recommendations!)

• One In Two produced by the New Group at Signature Theatre

• A Soldier’s Play on Broadway

• The Exponential Festival

• Pip’s Island

• Beetlejuice on Broadway

(0:11:11) What was your favorite moment at the theater this year?

Our moments took place at/during/around:

• Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical at Town Hall

• Into the Woods at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

• Blue Ridge at Atlantic Theater Company

• BLKS at MCC

• Signature Theatre’s lobby

• Playwrights Horizons’s season, in particular: I Was Most Alive With You, The Thin Place, and A Strange Loop

• The Trade Federation: Or, Let’s Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels at IRT Theater

• The Exponential Festival

• God Said This at Primary Stages

• Six at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

• Fefu and her Friends at Theatre for a New Audience

(0:25:23) What was your worst moment at the theater this year?

(0:42:15) What was your favorite non-traditional (immersive, experimental, outdoors, on a boat) piece of theater you saw this year?

• The Jazz Singer at Abrons Arts Center

• Much Ado about Nothing at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park

• The Bushwick Starr

• The Brick Theater

• Block Association Project produced by The Playwrights Realm

• Pip’s Island

• Midsummer: A Banquet produced by Food of Love and Third Rail Productions

• The Shubert Archive

• Caveat

• Wild Bore at the NYU Skirball Center

• The B Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons” by the Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse

(0:55:59) What was your favorite non-theater performance (cabaret, comedy, music, etc)?

• globalFEST

• Tank and the Bangas at the Apollo Theater

• Bad Faith at the Daryl Roth Theater

• Douglas at the Daryl Roth Theater

• Ten Days Next to a Cheesecake Factory at the People’s Improv Theater

• PB at Sundays on Broadway and Judson Church

• Molly Pope, a Gay Man, and a Piano at The Duplex

• Project Broadway: Lady Lyricists at Symphony Space

• Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater

• Twohander at 54 Below

• Madonna

• The Bengsons at Ars Nova

(1:11:00) What was the best musical you saw this year?

• In a rare if unsurprising move, we unanimously agreed upon A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson’s tour de force at Playwrights Horizons

Some other ones we also liked:

• Dog Man: The Musical at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

• Hadestown on Broadway

(1:12:52) What was the best play you saw this year?

• A Play Titled After the Collective Noun for Female-Identifying 20-Somethings Living in NYC in the 2010s by Haleh Roshan at the Corkscrew Festival

• Is This a Room by Tina Satter and Half Straddle at the Kitchen and the Vineyard Theatre (picked by 2 of us!)

• Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery at Playwrights Horizons (picked by 3 of us!)

• Much Ado about Nothing at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park

• Fefu and her Friends by María Irene Fornés at Theatre for a New Audience

• What if they went to Moscow? by Christiane Jatahy at BAM

• One In Two by Donja R. Love produced by the New Group at Signature Theatre

• Ain’t No Mo by Jordan E. Cooper at the Public Theater

• You Never Touched the Dirt by Zhu Yi produced by Clubbed Thumb at the Wild Project

(1:14:19) What was your personal ambition for theater in 2019? Did you achieve it?

(1:19:14) What is your personal ambition for theater in 2020?

(1:27:35) What is your hope for the theater community in 2020?

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Aurin, Nicole, and PennyMaria discuss 2 shows shows on Broadway and 2 shows Off-Broadway.

Introductions (0:00)

The Inheritance on Broadway (1:10)

for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf at the Public Theater (16:10)

Fires in the Mirror at Signature Theatre (37:41)

Tina on Broadway (51:59)

Things we’re excited for (1:05:18)
• Keep at St. Ann’s Warehouse
• Greater Clements at Lincoln Center Theater
• Measure for Measure at the Public Theater
• One in Two produced by The New Group at Signature Center
• The Thin Place at Playwrights Horizons
• The Minutes on Broadway
• We’re Gonna Die on Broadway
• Ryan J. Haddad: Falling for Make Believe at Joe’s Pub
• Triple Threat in Under the Radar

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Liz, David, and Jack talk about what they’re excited to see in December and January! We talk about:

Virgo Star by Pioneers Go East Collective at La Mama (1:13)

Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés at Theatre for a New Audience (2:49)

The Thin Place by Lucas Hnath at Playwrights Horizon (9:37)

Conway by Rory McGregor at Theaterlab (16:16)

Greater Clements by Samuel D. Hunter at Lincoln Center Theater (19:29)

One in Two by Donja R. Love at The New Group (22:48)

King Lear Project by William Shakespeare, adapted by Bryan Doerries at Theater of War (26:09)

Sing Street – Book by Enda Walsh, Music & Lyrics by John Carney & Gary Clark at New York Theatre Workshop (31:07)

Endlings by Celine Song at New York Theatre Workshop (34:37)

The Conversationalists by James & Jerome at The Bushwick Starr (37:57)

The María Irene Fornés documentary Jack mentions is The Rest I Make Up.

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Jose talks to musical theatre composer Jaime Lozano about his career, and how he went from disliking Jesus Christ Superstar when he was growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, to becoming one of the most prolific composers living in the United States. Lozano shares insights about his process and shares exclusive tracks from his upcoming album A Never-Ending Line.

If you’re in NYC don’t miss Jaime Lozano at The Green Room 42 on November 24, where he will present Songs by an Immigrant, featuring special guests like Mauricio Martínez.

All songs in this episode are property of Jaime Lozano and have been included with his permission.

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David is joined by Rachel Godfrey of Ludus NYC to discuss our first Official Maxamoo Book Club Selection:

Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-Up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts – For Actors, Performers, Writers and Artists of Every Kind by Anna Deavere Smith.

Visit the book’s official website for more information.

We hope you enjoy the discussion. Share you thoughts about the book – or about other books you’d like us to discuss on future book club episodes – with us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Nicole, Ben, and newcomer Linda talk about 2 immersive shows and 2 shows Off-Broadway.

Introductions (0:00)

Theatre In The Dark at TheatreLab (2:21)

Our Dear Dead Drug Lord at WP Theater (17:13)

Heroes of the Fourth Turning at Playwrights Horizons (31:22)

Found at the cell (45:59)

Things we’re excited for (59:34)

• Little Shop Of Horrors at the Westside Theatre Upstairs

• Soft Power at the Public Theater

• Scotland, PA at Roundabout Theatre Company

• Hamnet at BAM

• The Rose Tattoo at Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway

• The Sound Inside at Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway

• Is This A Room at the Vineyard Theatre

• The 2019 New Masculinities Festival at New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center

• My Brother, My Brother and Me: Become the Monster Tour at the the Kings Theatre

And don’t forget: our next episode, on October 24th, is our first Maxamoo Book Club! So pick up a copy of Anna Deavere Smith’s Letters to a Young Artist wherever books or audiobooks are sold. If you have anything you’d like us to talk about on that episode, tweet it at us or email it to us by October 20th!

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Aurin, David, and Ben come together to talk about shows that’re coming up in the next few months.

Introductions (0:00)

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven at Atlantic Theater Company (1:24)

Fires in the Mirror at Signature Theatre (9:41)

Is This A Room at the Vineyard Theatre (15:01)

Quick mention of Looking at You at HERE Arts Center (20:40)

Soft Power at the Public Theater (21:23)

Scotland, PA at Roundabout Theatre Company (28:11)

Georgia Mertching Is Dead at Ensemble Studio Theatre (36:52)

The Underlying Chris at 2nd Stage (39:09)

Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation at the Triad Theatre (44:02)

The 2019 New Masculinities Festival at New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (49:24)

Things we’re excited for (52:07)

• The Lightning Thief on Broadway

• The Trade Federation: Or, Let’s Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels at IRT Theater

• Everybody Rise: A Resistance Cabaret at Birdland Theater

And don’t forget: our October 24th episode is our first Maxamoo Book Club! So pick up a copy of Anna Deavere Smith’s Letters to a Young Artist wherever books or audiobooks are sold. If you have anything you’d like us to talk about on that episode, tweet it at us or email it to us by October 20th!

Subscribe to Maxamoo’s Theater and Performance Podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Stitcher.

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David speaks with Omar Sangare, artistic director of United Solo, and three of the performers appearing in the festival this year: Richarda Abrams, Lillian Colón, and Noah Diamond.

First (0:26–11:46), Omar Sangare talks about how he developed United Solo into the world’s largest solo theater festival and why solo performance is worth celebrating.

Next, Ricahrda Abrams (11:47–20:03) tells us about her show, First by Faith: The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune, the true story of a remarkable woman whose grounding in her faith enabled her to become a leader in education, civil rights, and politics.

Then, (20:04–26:47) Lillian Colón recounts how she set out to write her memoir and ended up with a solo show about Lilly, an orphan girl from the Bronx who never found her Daddy Warbucks but did grow up to become the first Latina Rockette.

Next up (26:48–32:32) Noah Diamond gives us a peek at his show, 400 Years in Manhattan, a tour-guide’s look at the ever-changing history of New York City.

We conclude (32:33–56:52) with a round-table discussion with all our guests about how to get the most out of the festival as an audience member, a theater-maker, or someone who might be inspired to switch from one to the other.

Join Maxamoo on Twitter (@Maxamoo) in discussing today’s show. Follow our guests there too: @UnitedSolo, @OmarSangare, @dramasmith (Richarda Abrams), @NoahDiamond and his show @400Manhattan. And our host is @itsdlevy.

And if you haven’t already started reading Anna Deavere Smith’s Letters to a Young Artist, you still have lots of time before we discuss it on the Maxamoo Book Club, right here on this podcast feed on October 24th. Share with us your thoughts and questions inspired by the book on Twitter or by email to [email protected] – anything you send us before October 20th may become a part of our on-air discussion.

Thanks for listening!

Read a transcript of this episode.

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