Social justice meets theatre in this podcast from Playbill’s former Executive Editor Ruthie Fierberg. Artists and experts unite for curated panels, using plays and musicals (Broadway, Off-Broadway, and works in development) as a jumping-off point to confront societal issues such as racism, colorism, voting rights, fake news, digital technology addiction, the school-to-prison pipeline, anti-Semitism, raising LGBTQIA+ kids, and more. We help listeners grapple with hard questions inside a play or musical in order to create change in our offstage lives. And don’t worry if you haven’t seen an individual episode’s show or if you’re not a theatre buff. Award-winning writers and directors of pieces like SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY and THE PROM break down the message inside their stories and how they created that story. Then, real-world experts in the corresponding field (like NSA Jake Sullivan or THIS AMERICAN LIFE’s Ira Glass) offer advice and action steps (thought patterns to monitor, petitions to sign, organizations to support, etc.) so we can manifest progress. “Theater” is not only a place or a presentation, it is an action...
https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/why-we-theater/
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 1 day 7 hours 29 minutes
episode 3: WITNESS UGANDA and Ethical Foreign Aid
Powerhouse theatre-writing duo Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews join us to talk about their moving and personal musical, Witness Uganda (previously known as Invisible Thread when it premiered Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre).
episode 2: OSLO meets Raya and the Last Dragon
Disney’s animated movie RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON (starring Awkwafina, Kelly Marie Tran, and more) resonates deeply on the themes we discussed last week in our episode “OSLO and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” inspired by Broadway’s Tony Award-winning Best Play OSLO (now also an HBO film).
episode 1: OSLO and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Tony Award winner J.T. Rogers, experts Aziz Abu Sarah (National Geographic Explorer, TED Fellow, peace-builder) and Libby Lenkinski (New Israel Fund) and host Ruthie Fierberg discuss the approach to peace in the context of Rogers’ play and HBO film Oslo, how things have changed since Oslo (the play and the event it dramatizes that led to the Oslo Peace Accords), possible solutions, and, most importantly, how to ease the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians now.
episode 12: Bringing Theater Back Post-COVID
The audio version of Ruthie’s acclaimed Medium article: “What It Will Take for New York Theater to Come Back as the Industry and Community It Professes to Be.”
episode 11: Bonus EP: "In the Heights" Exclusive Interviews!
Our BPN Podcasters bring you exclusive interviews with cast and creatives from In the Heights, in theaters on June 11 2021
episode 10: Season 1 Finale: Save the Arts and Arts Education
What is the current state of theatre? The theatre industry and the pipeline to it needs change.
episode 9: THE PROM and LGBTQIA+ Rights and the Well-Being of Our Queer Youth
Broadway’s THE PROM takes center stage in this raw discussion about LGBTQIA+ teens and the discrimination they often face.
episode 8: IF I FORGET and American Jews, Anti-Semitism, and Tribalism
Steven Levenson (DEAR EVAN HANSEN Tony winner) talks about his Off-Broadway play IF I FORGET.
episode 7: Usual Girls and Femme Sex and Sexuality, Part Two
Ming Peiffer and our four experts return for more of the unfettered, vulnerable conversation about what it means to be femme and sexual, inspired by the play USUAL GIRLS.
episode 6: Usual Girls and Femme Sex and Sexuality, Part One
The first of a critical two-part discussion, this episode focuses on Ming Peiffer’s USUAL GIRLS. The play premiered in 2018 at Roundabout Underground for an extended, sold-out run.