The Alliance Theatre Podcast

S4E11 - The Artist Talk with Rick Elice & Jessica Stone

EPISODE NOTES On this episode, author Rick Elice and director Jessica Stone share a hilariously authentic conversation on collaboration, creativity and how Water for Elephants came to be. Rick Elice (Book) Jersey Boys, Rick’s first Broadway credit, co-authored with Marshall Brickman, won the Tony Award, the Grammy Award and the Olivier Award for Best Musical, and has entered the record books as the twelfth longest-running show in Broadway history. With Marshall Brickman and Andrew Lippa, he wrote The Addams Family, starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. For the past eight years, The Addams Family has topped the list of the most-licensed musicals in North America. Rick’s first play, Peter and the Starcatcher, received nine Tony Award nominations, and won five 2012 Tony Awards. For the past seven years, the play has been among the top ten most-produced plays in North America. Rick also wrote The Cher Show for Broadway, directed by Jason Moore; the world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse of a new musical, My Very Own British Invasion, directed by Jerry Mitchell; the world premiere at The Old Globe.  Jessica Stone (Director) worked as an actress on and off-Broadway, in television and in film for decades before transitioning to directing. Broadway credits included Anything Goes, Butley, The Odd Couple, The Smell of the Kill, Design for Living, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Grease. Her directing career began in earnest with her all-male 2010 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has since been directing all over the country at such theaters as The Old Globe, A.C.T, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Huntington Theatre Company, Two River Theatre Company, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival among others.  Productions include As You Like It, Kate Hamill’s Vanity Fair, Barefoot in the Park, Dancing at Lughnasa, Bad Dates, Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood! (world premiere), Ripcord, Bad Jews, Arms and the Man, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Charlotte’s Web, June Moon, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Absurd Person Singular, Kimberly Akimbo (off-Broadway premiere at the Atlantic). Most recently, Stone directed the original Broadway musical Kimberly Akimbo, which opened in November 2022. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.  Learn more about the Alliance Theatre Podcast [https://www.alliancetheatre.org/content/alliance-theatre-podcast]. Find out more at https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co [https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

S4E7 - Giving Flowers: A Special Black History Month Episode FT. Maya Lawrence & Aierelle Jacob

EPISODE NOTES Alliance Theatre Allyship Training: https://www.alliancetheatre.org/content/allyship-training [https://www.alliancetheatre.org/content/allyship-training] The Hot Wing King: alliancetheatre.org/hotwingking [http://alliancetheatre.org/hotwingking] The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd: https://www.alliancetheatre.org/production/2022-23/the-many-wondrous-realities-of-jasmine-starr-kidd [https://www.alliancetheatre.org/production/2022-23/the-many-wondrous-realities-of-jasmine-starr-kidd] Find out more at https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co [https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

S4E4 - A Conversation with Margarita Kompelmakher and Trent Anderson

EPISODE NOTES Margarita Kompelmakher,  Director of Community Partnerships and Engagement, and Trent Anderson, Director of Development are two members of the Alliance Theatre family most connected to our work as a nonprofit organization centered on community enrichment and development. On this episode of the Alliance Theatre Podcast, we chat about our gratitude for those that make our work possible, the community we are dedicated to and the ways in which our audiences and patrons are crucial to the work we do at the Alliance Theatre.  Find out more at https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co [https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

S4E3 - A Conversation with Lex Liang & Tinashe Kajese-Bolden

EPISODE NOTES In our second Artist Talk of season we are joined by Lex Liang and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. Two parts of the Everybody creative team, Lex and Tinashe share a playful and soulful conversation on maneuvering a post-pandemic theatre world as artist of color and how their own personal experience has enabled them to learn new things about everybody and themselves. Hosted by Margarita Kompelmakher. Lex Liang has designed scenery for Carapace, and costumes for Into the Woods, What I Learned in Paris, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Troubadour, Candide, and others at the Alliance Theatre. Regional: Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, The Asolo, Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center, Geva Theatre, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Playmaker’s Rep, Portland Center Stage, St. Louis Rep, Syracuse Stage, Woolly Mammoth, and many others. NYC/Off-Broadway: 50+ productions—recent work includes Penelope, Or How The Odyssey Was Really Written, and The Bacchae. Upcoming: The Acting Company’s Romeo & Juliet. Lex is the founder and principal of LDC Design Associates, an experiential event design and production company in NYC. Recent projects include Ubuntu Pathways: Fight For Good, Operation Smile’s 35th Anniversary Gala, The Tony Awards Gala, and BCBG’s 30 Year Retrospective, NYFW. www.LexLiang.com [http://www.LexLiang.com] Tinashe Kajese-Bolden is an award-winning director, actor, and producer. She is the BOLD Artistic Director Fellow at the Alliance Theater and driven to create stories that celebrate our differences while building community. Tinashe is a Princess Grace 2019 Award Winner for Directing, and Map Fund Award recipient to develop her devised new work ALL SMILES for Theater for the Very Young, centering the experience of children on the Autism Spectrum. Recent theatre directing productions include School Girls (Or the African Mean Girls Play) at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, Ghost at The Alliance Theater, Native Gardens (Virginia Stage Company), Pipeline(Horizon Theater), Nick’s Flamingo Grill (World Premiere at The Alliance Theatre, Hertz Stage), Eclipsed (Synchronicity Theatre, Best Director Suzi Bass Award). Upcoming projects: Lydia Diamond’s ‘Toni Stone’ at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and The Alliance Theatre, and Candrice Jone’s ‘Flex’ at Theatrical Outfit for their 2021-22 Season. As a director and actor, she has worked On + Off Broadway, including The Imperial Theatre, Primary Stages, 59E59 Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem; and regionally at Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth Theater Co, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Geva Theatre, CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, among others, as well as recurring roles on TV/Film (Suicide Squad, Marvel’s Hawkeye, CW’s Valor, Dynasty, HBO’s Henrietta Lacks and currently filming Season 2 of Ava Duverney’s Cherish the Day.) She proudly serves on the ARTS-ATL Artist Advisory Council “My mission is the pursuit of what connects our different communities and how we create art that serves that.” Margarita Kompelmakher, PhD serves as Director of Community Partnerships and Engagement for the Alliance Theatre. Learn more about the Alliance Theatre Podcast [https://alliancetheatre.org/content/alliance-theatre-podcast]. Find out more at https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co [https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

S4E2 - A Conversation With Corey Smith

EPISODE NOTES As our lead Patron Services and Memberships manager and a Director of the IDEA-LGBTQIA Sub-Committee, Corey Smith is one of our most “audience facing” reps. Not only does that give him insight on what our audiences want, but a clear view on the steps we are taking as an organization to develop inclusivity from the inside out. With a new season upon us, we chat about what our loyal and new audiences can expect our commitment to creating a comfortable and enjoyable experience for our patrons and so much more.  Aniska Tonge is the social media manager and content producer at the Alliance Theatre, where she offers audiences an inside look at the who, how and why of the stories we tell. An artist at heart, her writing and photography highlights her endless love of the arts. And as she continues to fall in love with the culture created by the city of Atlanta she hopes that theatre is a way to highlight the inspiring people behind it. Learn more about the Alliance Theatre Podcast [https://alliancetheatre.org/content/alliance-theatre-podcast]. Find out more at https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co [https://the-alliance-theatre-podcast.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].