Little Known Facts With Ilana Levine

Paul Rudnick is a novelist, playwright, essayist and screenwriter, whom the New York Times has called, “one of our pre-eminent humorists.” His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world, and include I HATE HAMLET, JEFFREY, THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD, VALHALLA, REGRETS ONLY, and THE NEW CENTURY. He has won an Obie Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and the John Gassner Playwrighting Award, and two of his short plays have been included in STANDING ON CEREMONY: THE GAY MARRIAGE PLAYS. His novels include SOCIAL DISEASE and I’LL TAKE IT, both from Knopf and PLAYING THE PALACE from Berkley. He’s a regular contributor to The New Yorker and his articles and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Vogue and Vanity Fair. HarperCollins has published both Mr. Rudnick’s Collected Plays and a group of essays entitled I SHUDDER. His essays have also been included in the New Yorker anthologies FIERCE PAJAMAS and DISQUIET, PLEASE.Mr. Rudnick is rumored to be quite close

Liana Hunt is a New York City based actor, singer and dancer who has appeared on Broadway, National Tours, regionally, on television and in films.  Originally from Vermont, Liana received her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with honors a semester early to star as Sophie on the National Tour of Mamma Mia!. After touring the country with the show, Liana was brought to Broadway, making her Broadway debut as Sophie in Mamma Mia! at the age of 23. Liana also starred on Broadway as Katherine Plumber in Disney’s Newsies. She has returned to Broadway this summer in Back to the Future Musical that is adapted for the stage by the movie’s creators Bob Gale (Back to the Future trilogy) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and is directed by the Tony Award-winning John Rando. She stars in the production as ‘Lorraine McFly’. Liana has performed on stages all across the country. Some of her favorite National Tour credits include the role of Nessarose in Wicked and Margo in Steve Martin an

Max Chernin Broadway: Parade, Bright Star, Sunday In The Park with George. NYC: Brooklynite (Vineyard), Golden Apple (Encores!) Regional: Passing Through (Goodspeed), Daddy Long Legs (Theatre Raleigh), Elf (Pioneer). Television: “Dickinson,” “Blacklist.” CCM Alum. @maxcherns. Alfred Uhry (Book) is distinguished as the only American playwrights to have won a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, and two Tony Awards. A 1958 graduate of Brown University, he began his professional career as a lyric writer under contract to the late Frank Loesser. He made his Broadway debut in 1968 with Here’s Where I Belong, which ran for one night. He had better luck with The Robber Bridegroom in 1976, which won him his first Tony nomination. He followed that with five recreated musicals at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut. His first play was Driving Miss Daisy, which began life at the 74-seat upstairs theatre at Playwrights Horizons in 1987 and went on to run for three years and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.

Mahira Kakkar: Off-Broadway: 7 Minutes, Waterwell; Here We Are, Theater for One; Addressless, Rattlestick; Opus, Primary Stages; Harper Regan, Atlantic; Romeo and Juliet, Public Theater; The Winter’s Tale, TFANA; When January Feels Like Summer, EST; Henry VI, NAATCO; Arturo Ui, Classic Stage Company; Ms. Witherspoon, Playwrights Horizons; Clive, The New Group. Regional: Life of Pi, A.R.T.; Skylight, McCarter Theatre; Rafta Rafta, Old Globe; Our Town, OSF; Monsoon Wedding, Berkeley Rep; Bedroom Farce, Huntington Theater Company; Inana, Denver Center; The Crucible, Cleveland Playhouse; Five Mile Lake, McCarter Theatre; Comedy of Errors, Hartford Stage, Jesus in India, Magic Theater. Film/TV: “A Suitable Boy” (series lead), “Manifest” (recurring), “New Amsterdam,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Blacklist,” “Louie,” “Odd Mom Out,” “Sweet Refuge,” “Bite Me,” Hank and Asha (Napa Valley Film Festival Best Actress, Wild Rose Festival Best Actress, Slamdance Audience winner, Bronze Lens winner), “Law & Order,” “Orange Is the New

Micaela Diamond starred as Lucille Frank in the Tony Award winning revival of Parade in 2023. She made her Broadway debut as ‘Babe’ – the youngest Cher – in The Cher Show. She recently appeared in both The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical and Leanord Bernstein’s opera Mass at the Kennedy Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Row, and Ethan Coen’s A Play Is A Poem in Los Angeles. Television and film: NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live,” Peggy in Tick, Tick… Boom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ANDREW BURNAP - won the 2021 Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play for his performance in Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance, directed by Stephen Daldry, after a successful run at the Young Vic in London and a transfer to the West End. Additional theater credits include the titular role in the West Coast premiere of Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride (Geffen Playhouse, director Mike Donahue), Nicky Silver’s This Day Forward (Vineyard Theatre, director Mark Brokaw) and Troilus in Troilus and Cressida (The Public, director Daniel Sullivan). TV and Film credits include the upcoming The Front Room (A24) and Disney’s live-action Snow White; as well as “Under the Banner of Heaven” (Hulu); “WeCrashed” (AppleTV+); The Chaperone (director Michael Engler); and Spare Room. Andrew graduated from the Yale School of Drama. DAKIN MATTHEWS - LCT: Henry IV (Drama Desk Award). Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Iceman Cometh, Waitress, The Audience, Rocky, The Best Man, A Man for All Seasons. New York: Shakespeare

Katey Sagal has entertained audiences in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles throughout her notable career. Her television credits include “Sons of Anarchy” (Golden Globe Award), “Superior Donuts,” “8 Simple Rules,” and “Married…With Children.” She has also appeared in feature films including “Bleed for This,” “Pitch Perfect 2” and “The Good Mother.” An accomplished singer, Katey has released the CDs “Well” and “Room” and performs with her band The Reluctant Apostles. Her first book, “Grace Notes: My Recollections,” was published in 2017 by Simon and Schuster. Katey can currently be seen on “The Conners” on ABC and starred in the title role of the ABC series “Rebel.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gavin Creel received a Tony Award® for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in HELLO, DOLLY! starring Bette Midler. After making his Broadway debut originating the role of Jimmy Smith in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, for which he received his first Tony Award® nomination, Creel went on to star in the Broadway productions of HAIR (Tony Award® nomination), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, SHE LOVES ME, THE BOOK OF MORMON, and WAITRESS. Creel was among the star-studded cast of New York City Center Encores! critically acclaimed production of INTO THE WOODS starring as Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince. The celebrated production transferred to Broadway where Creel reprised his role as Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince opposite Sara Bareilles, Brian d’Arcy James, Joshua Henry, Julia Lester and Patina Miller.  Gavin received an Olivier Award for his portrayal of Elder Price in the London Production of THE BOOK OF MORMON and also appeared on the West End in MARY POPPINS, HAIR, and WAITRESS. This fall, Gavin brings WALK ON THROUGH: Confessions of a Museu

ALFRED UHRY is a graduate of Brown University. He is the only American playwright to have won a Pulitzer Prize (Driving Miss Daisy), an Academy Award (Driving Miss Daisy) and two Tony Awards (The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Parade). In 2014 he was inducted into both the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame and the Theater Hall of Fame. He is the proud father of four daughters and the proud grandfather of six granddaughters and two grandsons. He lives in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Javier Muñoz is an actor and activist whose impressive body of work spans theater, film and television. He is best known for starring and co-creating the role of "Alexander Hamilton'' in the hit musical HAMILTON on Broadway for two years after Lin-Manuel Miranda departed the show (and was his alternate prior to that). He got his break starring as “Usnavi” in IN THE HEIGHTS on Broadway, also created by Miranda. Javier starred in the dark comedy indie feature, MONUMENTS, opposite David Sullivan & Marguerite Moreau, the indie feature LOVE RECONSIDERED and stars in THREE MONTHS, opposite Troy Sivan and Judy Greer, on Paramount+. He voices a lead character in the Disney Jr. animated series, Eureka! Other TV credits include recurring role on Shadowhunters, Blindspot and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. Javier is also an outspoken activist for LGBTQ+ rights, a Global Ambassador for (RED), which fights to end HIV/AIDS, and supporter of GMHC. Jessie Mueller is a Tony and Grammy Award-winning actress and singer. She was

Alex Brightman is a two-time Tony-nominated actor for his performances in Beetlejuice the Musical and School of Rock. Other Broadway credits include Matilda, Big Fish, & Glory Days. Most recently, Alex was seen on stage in Lewberger's The Wizard of Friendship as Ketih's Dad. You can also hear him on the upcoming cast recording of The Wizard of Friendship as Flim Flam the Sausage Man. Alex can be seen on the current (and final) season of The Blacklist on NBC as forensic analyst Herbie Hambright. Other TV credits include Law & Order: SVU, Documentary Now!, The Good Fight, Blue Bloods, and Important Things w/ Demetri Martin. Alex is the voice of Pugsley/Temeluchus on the acclaimed Netflix animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park. Other cartoon credits include Helluva Boss, Teen Titans Go!, and the upcoming Scooby Doo and the Haunted High Rise. As a writer, Alex has developed series with NBC, Universal Studios, 20th Century, and Warner Brothers. He is currently developing Cleaners, an animated musical comedy, wi

In the fall and winter of 2021/2022 Laura Cahill taught screenwriting to 8 young acting students from Kyiv on Zoom in English. Their last class was February 6th, 2022. The war started 18 days later. Most of the students fled their homes. Laura reunited with her students and started teaching them playwriting. On May 1st, she started teaching a second playwriting class that had been advertised on a a Telegram channel for art programs for Ukrainian Youth. It was supposed to last four weeks. Most of those students were still in Ukraine, but some had fled. The May class went so well, they decided to keep going, so on June 1st, the two classes came together and formed Young Playwrights Ukraine. On July 24th, six months after the war started, they had a reading of 18 short works with professional actors on Zoom for an audience. The cast included noted actors David Morse, Cara Buono, Ann Dowd, Kevin Corrigan, Misha Brooks, Bridgette Lundy-Paine, Ivanna Sakhno, Stefanie Lavie Owens, Oona Laurence and others. The play

Steven Soderbergh (Producer) is a writer, director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. He most recently directed this year’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance, as well as the forthcoming HBO Max limited series “Full Circle.” He earned the Academy Award in 2000 for directing Traffic, the same year he was nominated for Erin Brockovich; and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for his 2013 HBO film “Behind the Candelabra.” Soderbergh earlier received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for sex, lies, and videotape, his feature film directorial debut. That film also won the Palme d’Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Soderbergh has also worked as a theatrical director, creating and directing the play Tot Mom at the Sydney Theatre Company in December 2009; as well as directing the world premiere of Scott Z. Burns’ play The Library at New York’s Public Theater in April 2014. Emma Sheanshang (Playwright) is a playwright and screenwriter from New York City. Her first play, Every Girl Gets Her Man,

Miriam Silverman’s Broadway credits include The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window and Junk. Other theater credits include - A Delicate Ship at The Playwrights Realm, Everything You Touch at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, You Got Older at Page 73, The Hour of All Things and Finks at Ensemble Studio Theatre (Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress), Septimus and Clarissa at Ripe Time, The Witch of Edmonton at Red Bull Theater, Hamlet at The Public Theater/NYSF and Bone Portraits at Walkerspace at Soho Repertory Theatre. Regional credits include The Moors at Yale Repertory Theatre; The Dog in The Manger (Helen Hayes Award nomination), Measure for Measure, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It and the world premiere of David Ives’s The Liar at Shakespeare Theatre Company, where she is an affiliated artist; Extremities and Moonchildren at the Berkshire Theatre Festival; Peer Gynt at the Guthrie Theater; Awake and Sing! at Arena Stage, As You Like it at the Folger Theat

The talented Julian Lerner is quickly becoming a star to watch on not only on the stage, but the big screen. Lerner will next be seen starring as ‘The Artful Dodger’ in New York City Center’s production of Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” The show also stars Lilli Cooper, Raúl Esparza, Tam Mutu, Benjamin Pajak, and Mary Testa.Lerner can currently be seen in ABC’s hit reboot “The Wonder Years.” Lerner plays ‘Brad Hitman,’ lead character Dean’s (Elisha Williams) best friend, a smart, good-natured kid with a sense of humor. He’s described by Adult Dean as “the Pee Wee Reese to my Jackie Robinson. That is, if Pee Wee Reese were Jewish and Jackie Robinson couldn’t catch a fly ball.” Set in the same era as the original, the series is a family comedy-drama that looks at how the Williamses, a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, AL, in the turbulent late 1960s made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too. The second season is set to premiere on June 14, 2023. In 2022, Lerner completed production on “Boys of Summer,” a f

Julia Mayorga was born in Los Angeles, Ca. She attended the Terry Knickerbocker studio in New York to study acting. During her first year attending the Knickerbocker conservatory she booked a series regular role on the show AMERICAN RUST. She is currently shooting season 2 of the show. Mayorga can also be seen in RARE OBJECTS starring opposite Katie Holmes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NaTasha Yvette Williams Broadway: Tina, The Tina Turner Musical (Zelma), Chicken and Biscuits (Brianna), Waitress (Becky), Chicago (Mama Morton) A Night With Janis Joplin (Aretha, Joplinaire) The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Mariah) The Color Purple (Sofia). Selected TV/Film Credits: “Partner Track” (Nella), “Run the World (Aunt Grace), “Harlem (Rebecca), “FBI ( Mrs. Adamu) “New Amsterdam” (Esther) ,“The Good Fight." Some movies: The Historical Thriller ALICE (Ruth) on Prime video and Disney’s BETTER Nate than Never (Principal), Follow insta @Natashayvettewillliams. Proud Black Theatre United and Actor’s Equity Member. Kevin Del Aguila has been part of the original Broadway companies of Frozen (as Oaken), Peter and the Starcatcher (as Smee), and Rocky (as everybody in Philadelphia). He’s performed in a myriad of off-Broadway shows including Peter and the Starcatcher (NYTW/New World Stages), Love’s Labour’s Lost (The Public/Shakespeare in the Park), Jacques Brel (NYC revival), God Bless You Mr. Rosewater (Encore

Broadway: Shucked, The Who’s Tommy, The Lion King, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Rocky Horror Show, The Wedding Singer. Off Bway: Hedwig and the Angry Inch ( also Boston, San Francisco, Edinburgh Fest ), The Foreigner (Lortel nomination), The Wild Party (MTC), How I Learned To Drive (Second Stage), The Shaggs ( Playwrights Horizons ). TV/ Film: Monarch, Glow, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Nurse Jackie, Modern Family, Good Wife, Six Degrees, NCIS, CSI, Elementary, Franklin and Bash, Odd Mom Out, The Mentalist, Mars Needs Moms, So Cold The River, I Am Michael, Curse Of The Jade Scorpion, One Night, among others. NYU Tisch. @kevincahoon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deirdre Connolly is the Executive Producer of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. In 2009, she helped to launch late-night’s first live, interactive talk show alongside host Andy Cohen. Under Deirdre’s leadership, WWHL has become a late night and pop culture phenomenon, hosting guests such as Hillary Clinton, Oprah, Lady GaGa, Mindy Kaling, Jimmy Fallon, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lawrence. The show has produced over 2400 episodes and was recently renewed through 2023. Deirdre also works in development at Embassy Row producing pilots and series including Bravo’s groundbreaking Fashion Queens.  Prior to her role at Watch What Happens Live and Embassy Row, Deirdre was a producer at MTV’s Total Request Live, which led her to temporarily relocate to London to launch TRL for MTV UK. As a prominent female leader in late-night, Deirdre has been featured in LA Times, The Washington Post, Boston College Magazine, Glamour and as a panelist for both Variety and NYWIFT. Deirdre’s success is a direct reflectio

ZOË WANAMAKER is an actress with a multitude of Film, TV, and Theatre credits to her name. Theatre: Zoë is a 2-time Olivier Award winner, and 9-time nominee, for her work on the West End including: Once in a Lifetime (Olivier Award - Best Actress in a Revival), The Time of Your Life, Twelfth Night, Mother Courage and her Children, Othello, The Crucible, Electra (Olivier Award – Best Actress), Boston Marriage. She has also received 4 Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations for her work on Broadway in Piaf, Loot, Electra, and Awake and Sing! (won a special Drama Desk award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance). Additional West End credits include: The Devil’s Disciple, Ivanov, Wild Oats; or, The Strolling Gentleman, The Taming of the Shrew, Captain Swing, Piaf, Mrs. Klein, Dead Funny, The Glass Menagerie, All My Sons, All On Her Own and Harlequinade, The Birthday Party, Constellations. She has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, as well as other regional productions inc