Women & Theatre Podcast

In this episode, Hayley and Amy chat about the importance of making peace with rejection as part of a creative life, share tips and lessons learned about how to manage rejection, and offer ideas for how to change our collective mindset about success. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: American Psychological Association: The pain of social rejection Women & Theatre Season 2 Episode 4: Scarcity and Abundance Kim Liao: Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year The Freelance Artist’s Manifesto - offered by W&T alum Marlo Hunter this spring at Musical Creators Institute Core values exercise Reshma Saujani: Smith College commencement speech 2023 Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with music assistant and score coordinator Stephanie Leah Evans about her Broadway debut, the importance of music notation for opening up creativity, representation and power dynamics in music departments, setting boundaries to establish trust, and more. Click here for a ⁠transcript⁠ of the episode! Episode Notes Guest: Stephanie Leah EvansHosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Sweeney Todd - Broadway Revival Maestra Music Meg Zervoulis Emily Grishman VIVO Tick, Tick…Boom! Guest Bio: Stephanie Leah Evans, a.k.a. "SLE" (she/her) is a Score Coordinator/Music Assistant specializing in Piano/Vocal score upkeep and formatting, copy-editing, transcription, and team organization. Her versatility with numerous music programs, from Finale to Sibelius and from Logic Pro X to ProTools, readies her to assist and liaise for any Music Team! Previous credits include stage productions Sweeney Todd 2023 Revival (Broadway), Kiss My Aztec (Hartford Stage), The Visitor (The Public Theater), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (The New Group), and The Wrong Man (MCC Theater). Stephanie also serves as an assistant to Alex Lacamoire, for whom she did Music Preparation and Score Coordination on the films In the Heights, VIVO, and Tick, Tick…Boom! Additionally, Stephanie is a singer with an extensive background in opera, musical theater, choir, and a cappella. Throughout her education, she played roles such as Susanna in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief, Hope Cladwell in Urinetown, and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. All the while, she performed choral pieces from Bach to Esenvalds, recorded albums of Jewish music, and studied the psychological implications of chromatic harmony in film scores. Summary is: Stephanie has always been a music nerd. Currently, she's working on her own writing — exploring her passions of social justice, mental health, Jewish identity, and romance through musical storytelling. Find Stephanie Online: Website: stephanieleahevans.com Instagram: @steph.l.evans Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with Kait Kerrigan, a book-writer, lyricist, and playwright. They discuss her fruitful year in 2023, the power of musical theatre to create empathy, long and successful collaborations, and the representation of women writers in high school curriculums. They also explore the creative process and the importance of vulnerability and collaboration in theatre.

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with composer/lyricist/writer Julia Riew about opening up the process of musical theatre creation, increasing Asian representation in theatrical spaces, inspiring the next generation to tell their own stories, and indulging in your passions. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Guest: Julia RiewHosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources Dive - currently in development at the American Repertory Theater Julia’s 54 Below debut concert Asian Student Arts Project (ASAP) The East Side Maestra Fred Ebb Award Guest Bio Julia Riew (she/her) is a Korean-American composer, lyricist, librettist, and writer from St. Louis and currently based in New York City. She is primarily known for her musical Dive (previously known as Shimcheong: A Folktale), which amassed over 100k followers online and over 16 million streams on an animated music video of its titular song in Korea. Julia graduated from Harvard University in May 2022 and is First-Year in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. In her first year out of college, she has been named the 2022 Fred Ebb Award winner, Playbill’s Featured Songwriter of the Month, A Woman to Watch on Broadway, and the recipient of the 2022 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship under the mentorship of composer Laurence O’Keefe (Legally Blonde, Heathers). Julia was the inaugural recipient of the Musicians United for Social Equity (MUSE) Linda Twine Scholarship (2021), a member of the first MUSE One-on-One Mentorship Program (2021-22) (mentor: Jeanine Tesori), and a member of the inaugural Maestra Music Mentorship Program (2020-21) (mentor: Deborah Wicks La Puma). Her past works include Alice’s Wonderland, an original musical co-written by J Quinton Johnson (Hamilton), Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure (The American Repertory Theater’s 2020 Family Musical), and Thumbelina: A Little Musical (The A.R.T. 2019 Family Musical). Find Julia Online: Website: https://juliariew.com Instagram: @juliariew TikTok: @juliariew Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with composer/lyricist Madeline Myers about uplifting the stories of women who have been erased from history, expanding our understanding of women’s relationship with work, finding people who believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself, and being a good person in addition to a good artist. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Guest: Madeline MyersHosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources Double Helix - playing at Bay Street Theater May 30-June 18 Stacey Mindich Guest Bio: Madeline Myers (she/her) is a composer and lyricist for musical theater in New York City. Her musicals include Double Helix (world premiere Bay Street Theater, 2023) Flatbush Avenue (UNC-Greensboro commission, 2021), The Devil’s Apprentice, (world premiere Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018), and Masterpiece (O’Neill Musical Theater Conference 2018 semi-finalist). 

 Named to the 2022 Broadway Women’s Fund “Women to Watch on Broadway” list, Madeline is a 2023 & 2022 Kleban Prize finalist for lyric writing, a winner of the 2021 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award presented by New York Stage & Film and the Ziegfeld Club; a 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant finalist; a 2019 York Theatre Company NEO Writer; a 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 ASCAP Plus Award recipient; and a 2016-2017 Dramatists Guild Fellow. 

 Madeline’s musicals have been developed at Bay Street Theatre, the York Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals (2023 Festival of New Musicals, the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove), the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, the Fingerlakes Musical Theater Festival, Musical Theater Factory, the NMI Disney Imagineering New Voices Project, the New York Theatre Barn, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project.

 When not writing musicals, Madeline enjoys reading, walking in Central Park, and volunteering.  She is an active volunteer with Central Synagogue’s unhoused breakfast program and the founder of a 2020 voter registration/Census count initiative for the New York unhoused community. Through the pandemic, Madeline has worked with NYC Test & Trace Corps to bring mobile vaccine buses and PPE to unhoused New Yorkers. In 2018, Madeline created the Blair School of Music Student Citizen Award given to a female student demonstrating excellence in personal character and contributions to the community.  Madeline sits on the Alumni Board of the Vanderbilt University Ingram Scholarship Program, of which she is a proud alumna. She is an original member of the music department of the Broadway production of Hamilton.

 Madeline is a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. She is represented by Chris Till at Verve Talent & Literary Agency. Find Madeline Online: Madeline website: www.madelinemyers.com Show website: www.doublehelixmusical.com Madeline Instagram: @madelinesmyers Show Instagram: @doublehelixmusical TikTok: @doublehelixmusical Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk about the joys and challenges of networking and how it plays out in the theatre industry, especially for women and other underrepresented groups. We share tips and resources for improving networking skills and celebrate the fact that networking is a skill that continues to be developed over a lifetime. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) Maestra MUSE Ring of Keys Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with Musical Theatre Factory artistic director Brisa Areli Muñoz about creating stories in a way that centers justice and communities, expanding our definition of what musical theatre can be, centering radical care and embodied healing, and reimagining artists’ roles as agents of creative change in their communities. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Guest: Brisa Areli MuñozHosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Musical Theatre Factory 1776 the Musical - Broadway and national tour Mercedes - Oye Group and Musical Theatre Factory Kundalini Activation Process One Nation/One Project Guest Bio: Brisa Areli Muñoz (she/her) is the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, an organization that develops changemaking new musicals in a joyous, collaborative community free from commercial pressures. Brisa was an inaugural Artistic Director of New York City’s first-ever All Inclusive All-City Theater Ensemble, a NYC Department of Education citywide theater company that creates original musicals with teens of all abilities. Brisa has also served as Manager of Community Partnerships for The Public Theater’s Public Works program, a major initiative that invites community members to take classes, attend performances, and join in the creation of ambitious works of participatory theater. Muñoz has directed and facilitated work on Broadway, across the world, and in communities in partnership with the Roundabout Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Repertory Theater, Center Theatre Group, The Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, Carnegie Hall, REDCAT Cal Arts Theater, Arts Emerson, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, BRIC Arts Media, Sojourn Theatre, Oye Group, CUNY Creative Arts Team, Hi-ARTS, CO/LAB, and Actionplay. Find Brisa Online: Instagram: @brisaareli and @mtfmusicals Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with up-and-coming performer Elle Reimer about telling stories that matter, balancing paid work and art, increasing access to arts education, and taking care of ourselves by resisting hustle culture. As a bonus, we celebrate Women’s History Month by spotlighting singer and actress Ethel Waters. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Guest: Elle ReimerHosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Women’s History Month Spotlight: Ethel Waters Dead Broke - Toronto Fringe Eva Tavares - Behind the Mask Guest Bio Originally from British Columbia, Elle Reimer (she/her) moved to Toronto in September 2021 to pursue her career in theatre. She holds a diploma in Musical Theatre from Capilano University. Select theatre credits include Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 (CapU Theatre), Grand Hotel, It’s a Wonderful Life (Arbutus Studio), Dead Broke (Toronto Fringe 2022). Elle is passionate about telling new and impactful stories with strong women at the forefront. Follow along with her journey on Instagram @ellereimer! Find Elle Online: Instagram: @ellereimer Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with theatre writer, director, and choreographer Thalia Ranjbar about using art to challenge cultural conventions, elevating underrepresented perspectives, and building cultural specificity and diversity into the DNA of theatrical works. As a bonus, we celebrate Women’s History Month by spotlighting influential Cuban American playwright, director, and educator María Irene Fornés. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Guest: Thalia Ranjbar Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews Music: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Women’s History Month Spotlight: María Irene Fornés Read more about Thalia’s work Emerging Artists - New Works Series Sanaz Toossi - English and Wish You Were Here Marjan Kamali - The Stationery Shop Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project Guest Bio Thalia Ranjbar (she/her) is a Persian-Salvadoran-Canadian multidisciplinary artist presently based in New York City. With her focus being in theatre and film, Thalia is a screenwriter, librettist, director, and choreographer with a passion for elevating and developing stories that include voices of queer and BIPOC communities. She is a recent graduate of New York University where she earned the distinction of Master of Fine Art from the "Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.” Immediately after, Thalia was 1 of 12 international participants selected for the “Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project,” where she received mentorship from Crag Carnelia, Andrew Lippa, Lindy Robbins, and Autumn Rowe. Thalia’s theatrical writing has been developed and presented by Feinstein’s 54 Below, Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre, Lincoln Centre, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her recent directing/choreography credits include The Talk at New York Theater Festival (nominated for Best Short), Unlikely Friends At Bloor St Station and Inevitable Transitions at the Emerging Artists Festival, and Then She ran at the New Studio on Broadway. Find Thalia Online: Website: http://thaliaranjbar.com Instagram: @tranjbar15 LinkedIn: Thalia Ranjbar Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk about how scarcity and abundance play out in the theatre industry and the hard work of moving from a culture of “This is the way it’s always been done” to a culture that sees the possibilities in using resources efficiently and creatively. As a bonus, we celebrate Women’s History Month by spotlighting pioneer lighting designer Jean Rosenthal. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews Music: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Women’s History Month Spotlight: Jean Rosenthal Kayla Davion - Season 1 interview Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!