CHATS & CONVERSATIONS
JONAH LISA DYER
Screenwriter
Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer are a writing team. Their films include Hysteria starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Felcity Jones, Jonathan Pryce and Rupert Everett and the Hallmark Hall of Fame film, Away and Back starring Jason Lee and Minka Kelly. In the future, their novel, The Season is anticipated to be adapted into a film to be produced by Warner Brothers and Temple Hill Entertainment.
DEIDRE GOODWIN
Actress, Dancer, Choreographer, Director, Educator
March 31, 2017
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At the time of this interview in 2017, Deidre Goodwin had appeared in eight Broadway productions including Chicago, the revival of A Chorus Line, Nine (with Antonio Banderas), The Boys from Syracuse, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life and Never Gonna Dance. Her television credits include 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU, Rescue Me, Life on Mars, Dancing with the Stars, three Tony Awards appearances and others. On the silver screen she has appeared in the Oscar-winning film, Chicago as “Murderess June”, Every Little Step (a documentary chronicling the history of A Chorus Line and the casting of the revival) as well as Half Nelson, Across the Universe, It’s Complicated, Fair Game, Rabbit Hole and The Bourne Legacy. Deidre is also on the faculty at the New York Film Academy. Of course, her career and her impact on young people continues to grow.
JANICE GOLDBERG
Director, Playwright, Coach, Workshop Leader and More!
Janice Goldberg has directed plays from Alaska to New York, University to Off-Broadway. She is the recipient of The Kennedy Center Gold Medallion Award for her work with new plays. Janice is the co-author of 12 plays with Susan Bigelow, most notably Rose Colored Glass published by Samuel French, which premiered Off-Broadway and has had productions across the U.S. and Europe. She serves as Producing Artistic Co-Director of AND Theatre Company in NYC and has overseen the production and development of over 100 new plays and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Dramatists Guild a paragraph.
DAVE (DAVID) MALDONADO
Actor
July 1, 2017
As of early 2024 Dave Maldonado’s career includes nearly 100 television and film credits in addition to numerous commercials and theatrical productions. Credits include the role of the Transocean drill ship Captain in Deepwater Horizon and other feature films such as the The Tomorrow War, National Champions, Greyhound, Free State of Jones, The 5th Wave, Trumbo and Trespass. Independent films include Make it Rain, 27, Hot Air and the lead role in Jack’s Apocalypse. TV credits include Will Trent, Your Honor, Tulsa King, Queen Sugar, NCIS: New Orleans, Queen of the South, American Crime, Sleepy Hollow, Revolution, Treme and True Detective. He is the national spokesperson for the Olshan Foundation Company alongside Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan and is a graduate of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette
JOEL WAGGONER, Composer, Musician, Vocal Coach,
Musical Director and Actor
NYC – MARCH 24, 2017
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Joel Waggoner received his undergraduate degree from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) and his MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. He is a composer, performer, vocal coach, musical director and violinist. On Broadway he has appeared in the musicals School of Rock and Be More Chill. Joel was a 2012 Dramatist Guild Fellow and his work has been performed in New York at Lincoln Center, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, and Merkin Recital Hall. He was featured as an actor and orchestrator at the Public Theatre in Southern Comfort and composed the music for the musical, Presto Change-O at the Barrington Theater Company which premiered in May of 2016.
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I'd like to recommend the following song to anyone that has a concern about important issues in our country. Joel has written a song, "Unlikely Warrior" that I hope an artist with heart and a concern for people may record in the future. It's needs to be heard on a large scale.
STEPHEN LANG
Actor
This interview goes way back to 2014, but when important things are said, they're not meant to be left on a hard drive and not shared.
A veteran of theatre, television and film, Stephen Lang has had an impressive several decades career. With over one-hundred and forty film and television credits and an impressive list of theatrical films such as Avatar and Death of a Salesman, Stephen Lang has also graced the Broadway stage in A Few Good Men, Hamlet, The Speed of Darkness and more. His career is inspirational. He is one of America’s more formidable actors on stage or the silver screen. He received Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations for his Outstanding Solo Performance of Beyond Glory.
BRENT SEXTON
Actor
Brent Sexton is an L.A. based actor with over 90 television and films credits. He has been a series regular on such shows as The Killing, Ironside, Life, Bosch, Complications, Deadwood and a guest star on many well-known shows including CSI Cyber, Designated Survivor, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Becker and many others. Films include The Belko Experiment, Radio, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Flight Plan and more.
JESSICA RYAN
Producer, Director, Choreographer, Actress, Voice-over Artist, Writer
Jessica Ryan is a bi-coastal actor/writer/director/producer. A member of SAG and Equity, she's voiced radio, TV and industrial spots for clients like Starbucks, Old Navy, Samsung, MIT, GE and, perhaps most hilariously, Annabelle's Adult Superstore. In addition, she's appeared on stage at Goodspeed, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Cleveland Summer Stages, Joe's Pub and more.
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Jessica is also the founder of Broadway Unlocked (BU), a company that connects live theatre communities in the digital space. By bringing together theatre influencers, creators, fans and technology-based partners like Google Fiber, BU solves problems of scale for the arts and mobilizes communities around the world. For Broadway Unlocked, 'Tech Theatre' has a new meaning.
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More recently, she's become a pioneer of live, interactive broadcasts on Broadway including, Between Riverside and Crazy, Clyde's and Maestra's Amplify concert and more.
JEAN MARIE DONNELLY
Educator
I was introduced to Jean Marie Donnelly by producer, Meredith Lucio. Too often we've heard about working in education as a backup when an actors professional ambitions haven't worked out. However, do university theatre programs ever introduce students that want to be teachers to teaching opportunities in the entertainment industry, whether it be professional theatre, television or film? In this interview you'll discover a bit about Ms. Donnelly's journey of working on Broadway as an educator.
JIM EPSTEIN
Actor, Producer and More!
Jim Epstein is the Founder/Convener of EMPATHeatre, a non-partisan platform employing the arts as a catalyst for conversation and change. He has been involved in the D.C. theatre community since the '80's as an actor and producer and has been seen in productions with Arena Stage, Folger Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Studio Theatre, WSC/Avant Bard, Keegan Theater, Metro Stage among others. TV and commercial credits include HBO's Game Change, VEEP, America's Most Wanted, Netflix's House of Cards and national commercials for GEICO and Consumer Cellular.
The Diary of Anne Frank - Okoboji Summer Theatre
SHERRY GRECZMIEL
Dancer, Choreographer, Director, Producer
Sherry's diverse career includes working across the United States and overseas as an actress, singer, dancer and choreographer. As her career progressed she gained expertise in a variety of areas including stage and production management and designing costumes, scenery and more. When we chatted she had been a producer at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California for a number of years and has been named Executive Director as the Falcon Theatre transitions into The Garry Marshall Theatre in honor of the late, great Garry Marshall.
TODD POTTER
Scenic Designer
Todd Potter has worked as an Associate or Assistant Scenic Designer on sixteen Broadway productions to date, including: Avenue Q, In the Heights, Catch Me If You Can, Dames at Seas, High Fidelity, Golda’s Balcony, A Free Man of Color, the revival of Fiddler on the Roof and others. His designs have also been seen at: Kansas City Rep, The Dallas Theater Center, Florida Repertory Theatre and elsewhere. He is a graduate of Drury University (A. B.), the University of Central Missouri (M.A.) and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.F.A.) where he studied with John Ezell.
IVAN ZIZEK
Actor
Ivan Zizek has performed in such theatres as the Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Centre, The Globe Theatre (London), The Orange Tree Theatre, the Flashpoint, and the Source Theatre as well as a number of festivals such as the Maryland Shakespeare Festival, Capital Fringe, Edinburg Fringe (Scotland) and more. As fellow guest actors of the Okoboji Summer Theatre (Ivan was portraying Otto Frank in The Dairy of Anne Frank), we sat on the porch of his cabin on a beautiful day to briefly discuss his career.
JIM GOSS
Writer, Producer
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I attended a reunion of Missouri State Theatre & Dance graduates in Burbank, California on April 11, 2017. I had never been to an off-campus alumni reunion before. I highly recommend it. I met fellow graduates and MSU faculty and staff which led to a couple of informal chats. One chat was with veteran producer and promotions writer, Jim Goss. We spoke that evening and a couple of days later at a Starbucks in Burbank. This conversation is an amalgam of our chats.
