STEVEN LEVENSON is the Tony Award-winning book writer of Dear Evan Hansen. His plays include If I Forget, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, Days of Rage, and The Language of Trees. Honors include the Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, and the Helen Hayes Award. He worked for three seasons as a writer and producer on Showtime’s Masters of Sex and is a founding member of Colt Coeur and an alumnus of MCC’s Playwrights Coalition and Ars Nova’s Play Group. His work has been published by Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. A graduate of Brown University, he is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and the WGA. Upcoming projects include the limited series Fosse/Verdon (FX) and the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…boom!
EPISODE 118- JILL KARGMAN
A born and bred New Yorker, Jill Kargman is the creator, writer, producer and star of the scripted comedy “Odd Mom Out” in which Ms. Kargman played a satirical version of herself navigating the hilarity of raising children on the upper east side in NYC.
After graduating, and working for magazines, television and movies, Ms. Kargman began writing novels to give her more flexibility to be home with her three children: Sadie, Ivy, and Fletch. She is a New York Times best-selling author of multiple books, and her most recent book, a comedic essay collection, “Sprinkle Glitter on my Grave”, was published in September 2016 by Random House.
She made her Café Carlyle debut in January 2017 with her sold out show Stairway to Cabaret ~ singing heavy metal songs ~ cabaret style.
Jill hosts the Jill Kargman show on SiriusXM Stars Channel 109.
Jill is also a performer with the Upright Citizens Brigade improvisational and sketch comedy group.
Jill recently made an appearance in her first Hollywood studio movie, A Bad Moms Christmas.
EPISODE 116- ALEXANDRA STYRON
Many years ago I was hosting a Broadway event to engage and inspire younger voters to get involved in politics. One person after another told me that I needed to meet their friend, Al Styron. They were emphatic that she was someone who knew all the players I would need to make this event a success. They were right. Having been raised in a politically active household as the daughter of author William Styron (Sophie's Choice) and poet/activist Rose Styron (Amnesty International), Al did, in fact, know everyone. What I hadn't been warned about was that she was one of the smartest, funniest and kindest people I would ever know. I was soon to meet a lifelong friend and confidante. So here she is. My best friend, best selling author and activist, Alexandra Styron, in conversation about her new book Steal This Country. Al offers us insights into what we can all do to feel like active, impactful and engaged citizens.
ALEXANDRA STYRON is the author of Reading My Father and a novel, All The Finest Girls. A graduate of Barnard College and the MFA program at Columbia University, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She currently teaches memoir writing in the MFA program at Hunter College. She lives with her husband and two children in Brooklyn, New York.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT - Alexandra Styron made me a tuna sandwich on our first “friend” date. It was delicious.
EPISODE 114- DOUGLAS & SUSAN SEGAL
One of life's biggest clichés became a horrific reality when Douglas Segal's wife Susan and young daughter were hit head-on by a Los Angeles city bus. Miraculously, his daughter was unharmed, but Susan faced a series of life-threatening injuries, including the same one that famously left Christopher Reeve paralyzed. Following the accident, Doug began sending regular email updates to their circle of friends and family—a list that continued to grow as others heard of the event and were moved by the many emotional and spiritual issues it raised. Struck is an intimate and honest chronicle built around these email updates, and is a profound example of how people show up for one another in times of crisis and is an uplifting tribute to love, determination, and how the compassion of community holds the power to heal, serving as an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit when faced with pain and adversity.
Little Known Fact- Doug and Susan met through a mutual friend at a play. Doug thought the mutual friend was there as Susan’s date. Good news for all- Doug figured it out and that was 30 years ago!
EPISODE 95 - JOE ICONIS AND JENNIFER ASHLEY TEPPER
JOE ICONIS - As a composer - lyricist - book writer, he has authored the musicals Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter, Bloodsong of Love, The Black Suits, ReWrite, Theaterworks USA’s The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks and We The People, and the currently in development Hunter S. Thompson Musical and Love In Hate Nation.
The original cast recording of his musical phenomenon Be More Chill has over 80 million streams, and his song “Broadway, Here I Come!” was hailed by the New York Times as a new entry in the Great American Songbook.
Albums: Be More Chill (Original Cast Recording), Things To Ruin (Original Cast Recording) and The Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree all available on Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records. Joe’s songs appeared on Season 2 of NBC’s “Smash” and his writing has been featured in The New York Times and The Dramatist.
His concert act, Joe Iconis and Family, frequently plays The Beechman Theater, 54 Below, and Joe’s Pub. The original cast recording of Joe’s theatrical rock concert Things To Ruin, is out on Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight records.
He has been nominated for two Drama Desk Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award, and is the recipient of an Ed Kleban Award, a Jonathan Larson Award, an ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award, a Doris Duke Grant, and a MAC John Wallowitch Songwriting Award.
JENNIFER ASHLEY TEPPER - Jennifer is the Creative and Programming Director at Feinstein’s/54 Below, where she has curated or produced over 3000 shows, including musicals in concert, original solo acts, theatrical reunions, songwriter celebrations, and more. Tepper's leadership at the venue has gained praise from publications including The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Playbill, Newsday, the New York Post, and more.
As a writer, Tepper has authored three volumes of The Untold Stories of Broadway series, published by Dress Circle. NBC New York has called the books an "inspiring Must-Read". On Broadway, Tepper has worked on The Performers, Godspell, Macbeth, and this season’s The Parisian Woman. In addition, she’s the co-creator of the Bistro Award-winning concert series, If It Only Even Runs A Minute, now in its 8th year.
As a public speaker and theatre historian, Tepper has delivered celebrated talks, including at TEDxBroadway. She collaborates often with the group known as Joe Iconis & Family. Tepper was named one of the 10 professionals on Backstage Magazine's "1st Annual Broadway Future Power List", which stated: "Proving herself both a zeitgeist predictor and theatrical historian with her eclectic programming, Tepper is leading the conversation on contemporary musical theatre."