This week our fave theatre podcasts got down to business, whether that meant talking the nuts and bolts of managing money and acquiring real estate, or getting emotional about theatre’s visceral liveness. We welcome a few new voices this week from either side of the country: Anthony Byrnes’s pithy “Opening the Curtain” from L.A., and Erin Teachman’s longform interview show “Exit the Stage Door” from D.C.
Off and On
Bernardo Cubria’s podcast talks dollars and sense with actress and writer Stefanie O’Conell, who specializes in helping theatre folks steer clear of financial ruin. Bonus round: Stefanie helps Bernardo make a budget.
Born Ready
The boys get real this week for an alternately searching and rollicking discourse about gentrification and the arts with fellow Tenderloin company CounterPulse, a dance and performance space. Shamsher Virk and Julie Phelps, CounterPulse’s communications/engagement director and artistic director, respectively, give some reasons why the Tenderloin may not go the way of the Mission (and Rob recommends this article on same), and go into depth about a promising collaboration called CAST (Community Arts Stabilization Trust), designed to keep arts organizations in the city by buying them buildings and setting up a lease-to-own deal. After some memorable rants from Rob and Ray, a saucy new game is introduced: “Dance Move or Sex Position?”
Maxamoo This New York City-based review show turns in another strong effort. Amid Lindsay Barenz and Nicole Serratore’s reviews of The Real Thing and Lippy and Jacuzzi and brownsville song, listen for Barenz’s moving account of seeing Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced and hearing a nearby audience member respond to its provocations with a shocking slur.
Opening the Curtain
L.A.-based director and teacher Anthony Byrnes does this short review/opinion show for KCRW; this week he wades into the roiling controversy over L.A.’s 99-seat plan and the efforts of a group called “Re-Imagine L.A. Theatre” to make changes to it. (To get an inkling of the heat around the issue, go no further than this rebuttal and its comment section.) We can’t embed the episode but you can listen (and read the transcript) here.
Exit the Stage Door
This newish podcast from Erin Teachman, a programmer and theatre geek from the nation’s capitol, interviews a local theatre figure each week or so. This week: playwright Gwydion Suliebhan, who talks with Teachman about his efforts to foster new-play production via the Welders and the New Play Exchange. As with the previous podcast, we can’t embed the episode; you’ll have to click here.
