The Ensemblist

Julian DeGuzman has spent the last decade performing in shows that both feature primarily Asian-American casts (Broadway's Miss Saigon) as well as more multi-cultural companies (Newsies, Hello, Dolly! on Tour. He joined me over the phone to talk about how each of those experiences have felt different for him. Here's our conversation...

Hosted by the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Broadway for Black Lives Matter Again is a three-part forum for the Broadway community to heal, listen, and hold itself accountable to its history of white supremacy. Day 2, Day of Listening, was a space to center the experiences of black industry professionals, while challenging white allies to bear witness and reflect on what it means to dismantle implicit bias as it related to institutional and internalized racism...

Hosted by the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Broadway for Black Lives Matter Again is a three-part forum for the Broadway community to heal, listen, and hold itself accountable to its history of white supremacy. Day 3, Day of Accountability, was a space to begin examining accountability with the Broadway industry - rooted in its history of individual and systemic racism...

Like many communities in our country, much of the recent discussions among theatre professionals has been around the subjects of race and equality. Much of the change needed to achieve a greater sense of equality in the theatre industry needs to come “from the top down...

Broadway alum Anthony Wayne has collected a group of Black men in theatre to form a racial equality group to support fellow members of their community and industry. Black Broadway Men is open to all self-identifying Black men who work on stage or behind the scenes in theatre. We spoke to Anthony about the process of creating Black Broadway Men and their plans for the future. Here's our conversation...

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Aisha Jackson has been a constant presence on Broadway stages for the last five years. Starting as a swing on Beautiful and then creating one of the ensemble tracks in Waitress, this month she finishes her run as the Anna standby in Frozen on Broadway. She joined me in the studio to talk about her experiences as an actress of color, particularly in taking on characters created by her cauasian counterparts. Here’s our conversation...

Bradley Gibson made his Broadway debut as a swing on the 2014 musical adaptation of Rocky. Since then, he created the role of Tyrone in A Bronx Tale The Musical and is currently storming the Pridelines as Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King. He joined me in the studio for a candid conversation about how race has played into his career thus far, and where he sees opportunities for better representation on Broadway stages. Here’s our conversation...

e has been no seismic shift in the number of actors of color performing on Broadway. Yes, systematic change often comes with incremental progress. However, the recent crop of Broadway musicals seem to provide few examples of such change. I’ve been curious what that feels like for artists of color, so I asked a few into the studio to share their experiences with racial representation in the theatre industry. Today's conversation is with Ann Sanders...

Aaron Albano joins The Ensemblist as co-host of this new mini-series, where we rewatch and dissect what is still the Broadway community’s favorite tv show: Smash. Yes, we’re talking about the NBC series that aired from 2012-2013. The show gave a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of an imaginary Broadway musical called Bombshell, from the auditions to its workshop to its journey to the Tony Awards...