Little Known Facts With Ilana Levine

Elaine Del Valle is a Brownsville, Brooklyn bred Puerto Rican multi-hyphenate filmmaker. She is the winner of the HBO Latinx short film award, and was featured in the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Director showcase. Her films have been supported by WarnerMedia 150, Knight Foundation, Fractured Atlas and the Sundance Institute. As a WRITER/DIRECTOR her short films, Me 3.769 and Princess Cut, went on to air on HBOmax. Her most recent project, Brownsville Bred recently won the Audience Award at the 2022 SXSW Festival in the “Episodic Pilot Competition” category Showrunner/Director/Screenwriter: Elaine Del Valle, Producers: Adrienne Lovette, Elaine Del Valle, Leslie Cohen, Debbie Esko-Gold, Eddie Frente Elaine is a Lynn Shelton award finalist and two-time Imagen Impact award nominee. Redefine Magazine and Miami New Times named her a Filmmaker to Watch. Ad Age called her short documentary, Tagged (filmed entirely on a mobile phone) “compelling.” While Elaine loves expressing emotion

Broadway: Waitress, Disaster, Les Miserables, Hair (Tony Award Nomination), 110 in the Shade, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Brooklyn: The Musical, Lestat. Off-Broadway, tours and concerts: Assassins, Rock of Ages, Camelot (NY Philharmonic), The Slugbearers of Kayrol Island, Adrift In Macao, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Miss Saigon, We Will Rock You, Fame. Will's first feature film as a writer and director was Sons of Provo, which won several film festivals, and was released in 2005. He is married to actress Audra McDonald. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ELERI WARD is an New York City-based actor, singer, and musician whose original pop music has been called “soaring” (Nexus Music Blog), “astonishing” (Rising Artists), and “dreamy” (Neon Music). Her most recent EP, Friction, was released in 2021. She has been singing and acting since she was eight years old, and has always strived to carve out her own space with the uniqueness she brings to the theater. Eleri studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music before transferring and graduating from The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theater and an emphasis in Songwriting, which shows itself clearly in the way she has taken on the Sondheim canon. www.eleriward.com @eleriward Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steven Sater is the author and lyricist of Spring Awakening, winner of eight Tony Awards on Broadway and produced in 25 countries around the world. He has also collaborated with Duncan Sheik on Umbrage (HERE); Nero (Magic Theatre, New York Stage and Film); The Nightingale (La Jolla Playhouse and American Conservatory Theater); and the critically acclaimed album Phantom Moon (Nonesuch). Other plays include the long-running Carbondale Dreams; Perfect For You, Doll (Rosenthal Prize); Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize); A Footnote to the Iliad (New York Stage and Film); Asylum (Naked Angels); and a reconceived musical version of Shakespeare’s Tempest (Lyric Hammersmith). He is currently at work with Burt Bacharach on a new musical as well. Additionally, Sater works as a pop/rock lyricist and screenwriter (the forthcoming Chitty Chitty Bang Bang remake for Sony Pictures). Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, the Drama Desk and Outer Critics’ Circle awards for Best Lyrics, the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musi

Jamie Bernstein is a writer, narrator, broadcaster and filmmaker who has transformed a lifetime of loving music into a career of sharing her knowledge and excitement with others.  Inspired by her father Leonard Bernstein’s lifelong impulse to share and teach, Jamie has devised multiple ways of communicating her own excitement about orchestral music. Beginning 15 years ago with “The Bernstein Beat,” a family concert about her father’s music modeled after his own groundbreaking Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Jamie has gone on to design, write and narrate concerts for worldwide audiences of all ages about the music of Mozart, Copland, Stravinsky, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For more than two decades, the GRAMMY and Academy Award-nominated rock band Counting Crows have enchanted listeners worldwide with their intensely soulful and intricate take on timeless rock & roll. Exploding onto the music scene in 1993 with their multi-platinum breakout album, August and Everything After, the band has gone on to release seven studio albums, selling more than 20 million records worldwide, and is revered as one of the world’s most pre-eminent live touring rock bands.  In October 1996, the band's double-platinum sophomore studio album, Recovering the Satellites, debuted at number one and further solidified their growing reputation as one of the leading American alternative rock bands in the world. A follow up to their early success; Counting Crows went on to release This Desert Life (1999), Hard Candy (2002), Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (2008), Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation) (2012), Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow (2013),and Somewhere Under Wonderland (2014.)  

Lorin Latarro is the choreographer for Broadway’s MRS. DOUBTFIRE, ALMOST FAMOUS, The Public’s THE VISITOR, and Broadway bound THE OUTSIDERS and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE.  Lorin choreographed Broadway and London’s WAITRESS and LA TRAVIATA at The Met Opera. Lorin is directing Candace Bushnell’s one woman show, IS THERE STILL SEX IN THE CITY. Additional Broadway choreography includes Les Liaisons Dangereuse with Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber, and Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Lorin is the Associate Choreographer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and American Idiot. Rigoletto at The Met Opera (assoc), Huey Lewis’s Heart of Rock And Roll (Old Globe), Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout), Chess (The Kennedy Center), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 21 Chump Street for “This American Life” (Brooklyn Academy of Music), The Public Theater’s Twelfth Night and The Odyssey (Delacorte Theater), Queen of the Night which garnered a Drama Desk Award (Diamond Horseshoe), Assassins, Fanny, and

Carla Stickler is a woman of many talents. She is currently a Software Engineer at G2 in Chicago. She is an advocate for artists looking to make a career change into tech and a member of Artists Who Code. She loves chatting with folks interested in shifting gears from the arts to programming and especially hopes to get more women into the field!She spent over 10 years performing in Broadway musicals, most notably, Wicked.  She is a world traveler having performed the role of Liesl in The Sound of Music-Asia Tour and the role of Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia! on the National Tour throughout Canada and the US. Carla has headlined as a Guest Entertainer onboard Norwegian Cruise Lines and Disney Cruise Lines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emma Laird is quickly establishing herself as one to watch with her powerful performances as an actress on the rise. She was most recently recognized by Variety as one of the “Ten Brits To Watch” in 2021. Laird can currently be seen as a lead in the Paramount + series Mayor of Kingstown opposite Jeremy Renner and Dianne Wiest. The series, co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Antonie Fuqua, follows the McLusky family – power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. She plays Iris, a dancer who uses her charms to her benefit, until those charms are used against her. The series will drop on the streaming platform November 14th, 2021.  Emma began her acting career starring in various short films, including Florence Kosky’s In Conversation With A Goddess which was a an official selection at Shorts On Tap X Time Out London in 2019.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bess Kalb is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer and the bestselling author of “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me,” a New York Times Editor’s Choice. She wrote for eight years on Jimmy Kimmel Live. She also writes for The New Yorker's "Daily Shouts." She received a WGA Award in 2016. She has written for the Emmy Awards, the Oscars, and the 2020 DNC. She is the head writer and EP of Yearly Departed on Amazon Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arian Moayed is an Iranian-born award-winning actor and the co-founder of Waterwell, a civic-minded and socially conscious non-profit art and education company. With Waterwell, recent productions include The Flores Exhibits, a series of videos in which artists, lawyers, advocates, and immigrants read the sworn testimonies of children held in detention facilities at the U.S./Mexico border (flores exhibits.org), The Courtroom: a re-enactment of one woman’s deportation proceedings, named "Best Theater of 2019" by The New York Times, and a dual-language Hamlet (Arian played the title role). Waterwell also created Fleet Week Follies, an annual festival of music, food, and kid-friendly activities, free to military service members and their families. At the Waterwell Education Program, over 250 students per year receive world-class arts training and education in advocacy at the Professional Performing Arts School, all free of charge. He has been a faculty member for nearly 15 years, currently teaching the Artist as

TODD ALMOND is known for his singular songwriting in addition to his work as an accomplished performer. He recently toured the U.S. in his original musical Kansas City Choir Boy starring alongside rock icon Courtney Love, and starred in three of his original musicals at the famed Delacorte Theater in Central Park (The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and The Odyssey). His musical Girlfriend – based on the Matthew Sweet album of the same title – is a perennial favorite for theater companies around the country, and he is currently collaborating with producer David Foster on a new, original musical. He has previously collaborated with Sarah Ruhl (Melancholy Play: A Chamber Musical), Jenny Schwartz (Iowa), Laura Benanti (In Constant Search for the Right Kind of Attention), Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz (“Twohander”), Kelli O’Hara (“Live at Carnegie Hall”), and Andrew Rannells (“Live from Lincoln Center”). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ANDRÉA BURNS received an Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for her portrayal of Gloria Fajardo in Broadway’s On Your Feet! She is a winner of a Drama Desk Award for her creation of the role of Daniela, the saucy hairdresser in the Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights.  Ms. Burns began her career touring the opera houses of Europe as Maria in West Side Story when she was 18 years old. She has appeared on Broadway as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as Vicki Nichols in The Full Monty, as Googie Gomez in The Ritz and has sung concerts at Carnegie Hall. She starred opposite Nathan Lane on Broadway in the Lincoln Center production of The Nance which subsequently broadcast on PBS' "Great Performances". Ms. Burns was in the original company of Jason Robert Brown’s critically acclaimed Songs for a New World and has since become one of the foremost interpreters of his work. Burns portrayed Lucille Frank in the national tour of Jason Robert Brown's Parade, directed by Harold Prince, for which she receiv

Darby Stanchfield stars as ‘Nina Locke’ in the Netflix hit show  Locke and Key. Stanchfield is well-known for her role as ‘Abby Whelan,” the spunky and outspoken investigator on all seven seasons of the Shonda Rhimes hit ABC show “Scandal” alongside ‘Olivia Pope’ (Kerry Washington). She also r stars in  the Disney+’s film “Stargirl” which was adapted from the best-selling novel. Prior to “Scandal,” Darby was featured in season two of AMC’s Emmy ® Award winning drama “Mad Men.” In the hit series, Darby played the role of Helen Bishop, a liberal single mother who relishes in stirring up controversy with Betty Draper, the wife of an iconic advertising guru. Other television credits include starring opposite Nathan Fillion in ABC’s crime thriller “Castle,” a recurring role as Shannon Gibbs on CBS’s military drama “NCIS,” and a spot on CBS’s action packed series Jericho where she played “April Green.” In addition, Darby has appeared in roles across a host of successful television series including “Burn Notice,” “C

Emma Nelson’s powerful performances have established her as a young actress on the rise. Nelson can be seen in the Netflix drama film The Unforgiveable alongside Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Viola Davis. The film follows a woman who attempts to rebuild her life after serving time in prison for committing a violent crime.  Nelson made her big screen debut in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel Where’d You Go Bernadette, helmed by Academy Award nominee Richard Linklater. Emma played the character of Bee, the daughter of the eponymous Bernadette, portrayed by Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and also starred Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne and Kristen Wiig. A native of the Chicago area, Emma has participated in many local theater productions including a lead role in the pre-Broadway production of Trevor! The Musical, which was produced and directed by the renowned Marc Bruni. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caissie Levy most recently seventh Broadway show, as Rose Stopnick Gellman in Roundabout’s revival of Caroline, Or Change, after originating the role of Elsa in Disney's blockbuster hit, Frozen. She recreated the iconic role of Fantine in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables on Broadway, and is known to New York and London audiences for originating the roles of Molly in Ghost, and Sheila in the Tony Award winning revival of Hair. Her other Broadway credits include Elphaba in the Broadway and Los Angeles productions of Wicked, Penny in the Broadway, 1st National Tour and Toronto companies of Hairspray and Maureen in the national tour of Rent. Off-Broadway, she played Patti Davis and Julie Nixon in the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's First Daughter Suite at The Public Theater, and Sara in the Off-Broadway production of Murder Ballad. She has starred in the short films Options and Ms. Bula Banerjee, and guest starred opposite Sean Pertwee on Fox's Gotham. In concert, she headlined Carnegie Hall with the

Marc J. Franklin is a New York City-based photographer specializing in portrait and editorial photography, currently working as the Photo Editor and Principal Photographer for Playbill. His photos have been featured in The New York Times, The LA Times, Vogue, Elle, The Paris Review, Out Magazine, The Boston Globe, Mashable, People Magazine, and more. Highlight subjects include Hilary Clinton, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Tina Fey, Jeremy Pope, Darren Criss, Lauren Ridloff, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

JAMES CALLERI along with his partners Paul Davis and Erica Jensen own Calleri Jensen Davis, a creative casting partnership. They have been awarded 16 Artios Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. James proudly served on the Board of the Casting Society of America for many years. He is an Associate Professor of Theater at Columbia University School of the Arts where he co-heads the Graduate MFA Acting Program. He is the co-author with Robert Cohen of ACTING PROFESSIONALLY: RAW FACTS ABOUT CAREERS IN ACTING published by Palgrave MacMillan, in it’s eighth edition it is one of the leading books in the country for young actors. He also runs his studio www.calleristudio.com where he coaches and explores the craft with professional actors. He resides in New York City and Saugerties, New York. Broadway Theater: Broadway credits include the current running Thoughts of a Colored Man and his office will cast the upcoming revival of For Colored Girls…this Spring. Other credits include Burn This starring Adam Driv

Kimber Elayne Sprawl originated the role of Marianne in Girl From The North Country at The Public Theater and on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include A Bronx Tale, and Beautiful:The Carole King Musical. She performed in the National tour of The Lion King and regionally she appeared in The Niceties at the Milwaukee Rep and Memphis at the Walnut Street Theater. She is a graduate of CCM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bonnie McKee made a name for herself as a pop songwriter, writing 10 #1 hit songs for the chart topping stars of the past decade, and for her own career as an indie pop artist. After years of packing big emotional stories into tidy 3 1/2 minute songs and creating her own colorful music videos, she is finally expanding into a new realm of story telling. April Kills The Vibe is Bonnie’s screenwriting and directing debut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices