The Backdrop
So the show’s a smash. But why? And why now? THE BACKDROP puts theater's biggest hits and most compelling productions in context - a deeply researched dive into the reasons why this particular production is relevant at this particular moment.
All Episodes
Episode 9: Barrington Stage Company's HARRY CLARKE
Barrington Stage Company’s recent production of Harry Clarke isn’t just a play. It’s a test-case — the first Actors’ Equity Association-approved production since theater went dark.
Episode 8: Quick drop with an update
A quick drop with an update about the next two episodes, featuring the backdrop on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and the musical Come From Away — two acclaimed productions now on hold because of the coronavirus.
Episode 7: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, PART II
The Play That Goes Wrong is a great play about bad theater. Kevin says it’s also one of the best plays, comedy or drama, to hit Broadway in the past decade.
Episode 6: WILL ARBERY
"The war is coming, dude.” So says a central character in one of the most talked about plays of the year. Is she right? Could be, who knows. But if a civil war returns, Will Arbery is undoubtedly the right playwright to spin our basest impulses into high art.
Episode 5: SAMUEL D. HUNTER
Samuel D. Hunter is the MacArthur genius award-winning playwright who may have started small — as a teenager growing up in Idaho — but has since assembled a deep roster of plays set there. And that’s the point: small towns, all the better to explore big ideas.
Episode 4: HARRY TOWNSEND'S LAST STAND
Harry Townsend’s Last Stand is a comedy about what could be tragedy — the decline of a man beyond his prime, and the struggle of a son to connect with his fading father.
Episode 3: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
The Play That Goes Wrong is a comedy about a mystery. It was also a huge hit — during its run, it became the longest-running play on Broadway. Kevin has a mystery he needs solved: the mystery of why he has seen it seven times.
Episode 2: Waterwell's THE COURTROOM
Waterwell Theater Company’s latest play, The Courtroom, has no playwright. Or even a theater. But as Waterwell founder (from HBO’s “Succession” and Tony nominee) Arian Moayed and Artistic Director Lee Sunday Evans tell Kevin, that’s the point.
Episode 1: August Wilson's JITNEY
The big open, on all things August Wilson. In a deep dive on August Wilson’s JITNEY, Kevin drills down with Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson and actor Francois Battiste, and visits with Constanza Romero Wilson about her legendary husband's life, legacy, and the future of the Pulitzer Prize-winner's “Century Cycle.” Plus, a cameo by Tony Kushner.
Podcast Trailer
So the show’s a smash. But why? And why now? THE BACKDROP puts theater's biggest hits and most compelling productions in context — featuring interviews with the creators and cast, punctuated by a punchy, deeply researched dive into the reasons why this particular production is relevant at this particular moment.
© Broadway Podcast Network, All Rights Reserved