Tag Archives: Musical Theatre

Ma-Anne Dionisio, actor


Ma-Anne Dionisio is best known for originating the role of Kim in the Canadian production of “Miss Saigon” and subsequently performing around the world. She currently plays Diana Goodman in the Musical Stage Company’s production of “Next to Normal” in Toronto.

J. Kelly Nestruck wrote this in the Globe and Mail about Dionisio’s performance: “Dionisio performs with so much intensity and emotion that you often feel as if you’re inside Diana’s restless skin, being crammed with mood-stabilizing medications or zapped with brain-jolting electricity….[Dionisio] brings an aching fragility to the role”

In our podcast Ma-Anne shares how she went from being a 17-year-old nerd to an international musical theatre sensation.

Ma-Anne reminds us that actors who portray mental illness on stage need self-care practices off stage to help them cope with the stress.

She is also very candid about her experience as a single mother working in theatre.

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Writer, actor: Bob Martin

Bob Martin interview, performers podcast

For over three decades, Tony Award-winner Bob Martin has worked as an actor and writer. Early in his career, Martin was directing for Second City in Toronto. He’s also written for TV, with the Chicago Tribune calling “Slings and Arrows” “one of the most loving satires to have ever graced television.” He ‘s best known for writing and starring in the hilarious “The Drowsy Chaperone,” for which Martin won the 2006 Tony Award for “Best Book of a Musical.”

His most recent Broadway show, “The Prom,” received 7 Tony Award nominations.
In this episode we talk about:

  • How the revision process is crucial to a great script.
  • Working with Broadway’s best comic actors on “The Prom.
  • Adapting “The Princess Bride” and “Night at the Museum” for Broadway.
  • The feelings that Martin experiences when he watches a performance of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

SHOW NOTES
Bob Martin’s website
Bob Martin on Twitter
The Prom website
The Prom on Instagram

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Kate Lumpkin: Casting director



We discuss the importance of making a good self-tape for auditions, the growing demand for actors able to meet the demands of experiential theatre and why knowing who you are as a human is the most important thing that informs you as an artist.

Kate has collectively worked on over 40 film/TV productions, and 80 theatrical productions in New York City and across the USA including shows at The Kennedy Center and many others. Kate also works with Celebrity Cruises Productions, casting from live auditions in various cities across North America including Toronto.

She’s also the Head of Education for the Broadway Collective – a training academy for young performers looking to break into the industry.


SHOW NOTES
Follow on Twitter.
Follow on Instagram
Kate’s Self-Tape Starter Kit
The Broadway Collective