Little Known Facts With Ilana Levine

Jesse Tyler Ferguson joined the Little Known Facts host Ilana Levine for a live podcast recording at the W Hotel in Times Square as part of their “Broadway at the W” series. Proceeds went to benefit TieTheKnot.org. Jesse is the star of the ABC award winning series Modern Family now going into its 10th season and is currently starring in Log Cabin at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Abigail Pogrebin starred in the original production of the Stephen Sondheim- Hal Prince musical,  "Merrily We Roll Along." Abby was also part of the original "Free To Be You and Me" concept album and television special. Ms. Pogrebin is the author of three books, including “Stars of David,” which was adapted for the Off-Broadway stage, “Showstopper” — an Amazon Kindle Single bestseller that chronicled her teenage adventures in the Broadway flop, “Merrily We Roll Along,” and the most recent deep-dive into the Jewish calendar, called: “My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew,” which received a glowing review in The New York Times and was featured on the Today Show. A former Emmy-nominated producer for Ed Bradley and Mike Wallace at “60 Minutes” and for Bill Moyers at PBS, she has written for numerous publications, has her own live interview series in New York for which she’s interviewed Malcolm Gladwell, Nora Ephron and Charles Blow, and she’s been a guest on CNN, Good Morning America and Face the Nation.

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

Roma Torre, a recipient of an Emmy® and more than 30 other awards, is celebrating her 25th anniversary at NY1, New York’s popular cable news channel, where she is an anchor and theater critic. Torre began her television career at CBS’ flagship station, New York’s Channel 2, becoming a news writer and producer. Then, with Cablevision’s formation of the country's first 24-hour local news station, News12 Long Island, Torre was among the first reporters hired. At the station, she reported, anchored and hosted a weekly news program. Torre was also its film and theater critic and her reviews were published in the television magazine, Total TV. After five years at News12, Torre returned to New York City in 1992 to join NY1, where she now anchors its "News All Day" and is its theater critic. She previously anchored the station’s award-winning "Inside City Hall," a hard-hitting political and public affairs program described by one critic as "the ‘60 Minutes’ of local television." She followed in the tradition of her m

Katie Finneran is featured in the third season of Netflix's critically acclaimed drama, Bloodline. Shot in the Florida Keys, Bloodline follows the story of a black sheep son from a respected family who threatens to expose dark secrets from their past. Sibling loyalties are put to the test in this dark, edgy show. Finneran last appeared on Broadway in 2015 It's Only a Play at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre starring Martin Short, Maulik Pancholy, F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, and Micah Stock. In 2012, Katie co-starred on NBC's "The MIchael J. Fox Show" and was called "this season's funniest breakout star" by The Daily Beast. In the fall of 2012, she starred on Broadway as Miss Hannigan in the Tony Nominated revival of "Annie." In 2010, she won a Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in the Broadway revival of "Promises, Promises." She also was awarded the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award in 2002 for her performance in the Broadway revival

Michael Ian Black is a multi-media talent who’s starred in numerous films and TV series, written and/or directed two films, is a prolific author and commentator, and regularly tours the country performing his ribald brand of jokes and observations. He most recently starred in TVLand's “The Jim Gaffigan Show” and Comedy Central’s “Another Period.” He also reprised one of his iconic film roles in Netflix’s “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later,” and previously in "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp." His third standup comedy special, “Noted Expert,” was released on Epix. Black’s authored 11 books, including the recently released best seller, “A Chilad’s First Book of Trump.” He’s written two well-received memoirs: “Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom’s, which I know sounds weird)”, and “You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death and Other Humiliations.” In 2012, he collaborated with conservative Meghan McCain on “America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Fr

Tony Award-winner LAURA BENANTI can now be seen in the Samantha Bee and Jason Jones TBS comedy, The Detour. Additional TV credits include Supergirl, Nashville, guest-starring as songbird Sadie Stone; The Good Wife; and Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. Most recently, Laura co-starred along side Amy Schumer and Keegan Michael Key in Steve Martin’s hit Broadway play, Meteor Shower. In 2016, Laura completed her Tony nominated role (and 5th nomination) as Amalia Balash in the hit Broadway Musical, She Loves Me. Laura also received Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Drama Desk Award nominations for this role. In addition to television work and her critically acclaimed performance as Elsa Schrader in NBC’s The Sound of Music LIVE, Ms. Benanti is a highly celebrated, stage actress who took Broadway by storm at the age of 18. She received a Drama Desk award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award Nomination for her starring role in the Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Lincoln Cente

Jennifer Ashley Tepper is the Creative and Programming Director at Feinstein’s/54 Below, where she has curated orproduced 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 [title of show], 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 & Fa

Kevin McCollum has received the Tony Award for Best Musical for "In the Heights" (2008), "Avenue Q" (2004), and "Rent" (1996), which also won the Pulitzer Prize. He is currently represented on Broadway with the Olivier Award-winning "The Play That Goes Wrong." He produced "Something Rotten!" (Broadway, National Tour), "Hand to God" ( Broadway, West End), "Motown: The Musical" (Broadway, West End, and National Tour), "The Drowsy Chaperone" in 2006, which won five Tony Awards, Baz Luhrmann’s production of "Puccini’s La Boheme" in 2002, [title of show] in 2008, the touring and Broadway productions of Irving Berlin’s "White Christmas," the off Broadway hit "De La Guarda," the recent hit revival of "West Side Story," and "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo." In 1995 Mr. McCollum co-founded the Producing Office, and has since created Alchemation, a theatrical and media producing company committed to new work. Mr. McCollum was trained at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and earned his Master’

Rory is currently reigning as King George III in the touring production of the smash hit "Hamilton." It's a role he first played on Broadway for a year where he was the first actor to replace an original cast member in the production. He is best known for starring in the original company of "The Book Of Mormon" on Broadway. He received both Tony and Drama Desk nominations for playing openly closeted Mormon Elder McKinley and performing the show stopper "Turn It Off". Most recently he was seen on stage in back to back Off-Broadway productions at Second Stage's "Nobody Loves You" (Drama Desk nomination) and "Little Miss Sunshine." His broadway debut was in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and regionally, he created the role of Richie Cunningham in Garry Marshall’s "Happy Days The Musical" for Goodspeed Opera House and Paper Mill Playhouse. Rory expanded his repertoire of pasty white dudes by butchering the song “Cadillac Car” as lead singer of ‘Dave and the Sweethearts’ in the Paramount Pictures fil

I am back with Part 2 of my interview with actress Cara Buono. Cara Buono currently stars in the hit Netflix show Stranger Things as Karen Wheeler. She was recently in a heavily recurring role as assassin Martine on CBS’s Person of Interest.  Cara was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2011 for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Dr. Faye Miller, the smart, Kim Novak-esque psychologist and love interest of Don Draper (Jon Hamm) on AMC’s Mad Men. She played Michael Imperioli’s wife, Kelli Moltisanti, on the final two seasons of The Sopranos (HBO).  She is the only actor to have appeared in both critically acclaimed shows. She was a series regular on Third Watch (NBC) playing paramedic Grace Foster (Helen Mirren portrayed her mother). Her notable television appearances include Brothers & Sisters, two critically acclaimed episodes of Law and Order (as well Criminal Intent & SVU), Deep in My Hearta CBS/Hallmark movie in which she played Young Gerry with Anne Bancroft who played Gerry, and was the final fatality on

Cara Buono currently stars in the hit Netflix show Stranger Things as Karen Wheeler. She was recently in a heavily recurring role as assassin Martine on CBS’s Person of Interest.  Cara was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2011 for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Dr. Faye Miller, the smart, Kim Novak-esque psychologist and love interest of Don Draper (Jon Hamm) on AMC’s Mad Men. She played Michael Imperioli’s wife, Kelli Moltisanti, on the final two seasons of The Sopranos (HBO).  She is the only actor to have appeared in both critically acclaimed shows. She was a series regular on Third Watch (NBC) playing paramedic Grace Foster (Helen Mirren portrayed her mother). Her notable television appearances include Brothers & Sisters, two critically acclaimed episodes of Law and Order (as well Criminal Intent & SVU), Deep in My Hearta CBS/Hallmark movie in which she played Young Gerry with Anne Bancroft who played Gerry, and was the final fatality on ER. Cara was recently seen in All Saints for Sony. She was feat

Recording live at BroadwayCon 2018 - Donna Murphy, Lesli Margherita, Emily Skeggs and Andrew Keenan Bolger got together with Ilana to share war stories about auditioning. This conversation is equal parts hilarious and inspirational. Each of these Broadway stars has a unique perspective on the challenges and joys of putting yourself out there when faced with auditioning -- even though their careers have garnered them awards, accolades and fame. Their generosity in sharing how they approach the process of auditioning is a gift to all artists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Melissa Anelli is an American author and webmistress. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Harry, A History," which chronicles the Harry Potter phenomenon with exclusive interview material and a foreword written by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. Anelli is also the full-time webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron, a commercial fansite devoted to the Harry Potter franchise for fans. Anelli also is one of three hosts of the Leaky Cauldron's official podcast PotterCast, which talks about various aspects of the Harry Potter books, movies, video games and more. She is the founder of Mischief Management which produces Broadway Con Leaky Con, Geeky Con and Con of Thrones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chazz Palminteri wrote and performed his one-man show A Bronx Tale for the first time in 1989 before moving it off-Broadway. Mr. Palminteri went on to write the screenplay and co-star in the screen adaptation of A Bronx Tale alongside Robert De Niro. Mr. Palminteri has more than 55 movies to his credit as an actor, writer, and director, including The Usual Suspects, Bullets Over Broadway (Academy Award nomination), Analyze This, Hurlyburly, Mullholland Falls, Faithful (also written by Mr. Palminteri), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Yonkers Joe, Jolene and most recently Legend starring Tom Hardy. Mr. Palminteri has had a recurring role on the hit show Modern Family and has starred in Blue Bloods. Mr. Palminteri directed the HBO series “Oz,” Showtime’s “Women vs Men,” and the feature film Noel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Beanie Feldstein currently stars in Greta Gerwig’s LADY BIRD opposite Saoirse Ronan. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, the film takes an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Ronan) is a loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed high-school senior struggling to assert her independence, and Beanie plays the role of “Julie,” the loyal best friend who understands “Lady Bird” like no one else. Since A24 theatrically released LADY BIRD on November 3rd, Beanie has received critical acclaim for her performance, as has the film and its stellar cast including Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Timothee Chalamet and Lucas Hedges. LADY BIRD was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, Independent Spirit Award, Broadcast Film Critics’ Association Award, and named one of the top 10 films of the year by both the National Board of Review and American Film Institute. The film was also recognized by various

At BroadwayCon 2018 Ilana Levine hosted a panel called "Actors and Activism." The speakers included Lisa Kron (Fun Home), Arian Moayed (The Humans), Emily Skeggs (Fun Home), Britton Smith (Shuffle Along), and Anthony Rapp (Rent, If/Then, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer-producer Steven Rogers was born in Seattle but because his father produced regional theatre for a living, grew up all across America wherever his family had a season. Forgoing college, he moved to N.Y.C. at 17 and studied acting with Sandford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre where he first met and befriended I, TONYA’s LaVona, Allison Janney. He toured in Larry Shue’s play The Foreigner winning a critics prize in Los Angeles and moved to Hollywood in order to become famous. He didn’t. Instead, he wrote his first screenplay, KATE AND LEOPOLD, in order to be in it. He wasn’t. In very quick succession he wrote, HOPE FLOATS, Anne Tyler’s EARTHLY POSSESSIONS and STEPMOM. He then decided to focus on writing and just act on the page. Other writing credits includes P.S. I LOVE YOU, LOVE THE COOPERS, which he also executive produced, and his latest, I, TONYA which made the 2016 Blacklist and won the 2016 Hit List. He also produced I, TONYA with Bryan Unkeless, Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerl

Matt Rodin is a creator who believes art is a channel to the core human spirit. He’s working to ignite the creative power in each of us so that our work can expand us into a more empathetic and conscious species. He’s worked with brands like SoulCycle, Dear Evan Hansen and The Smithsonian to produce innovative and engaging content. He’s performed across the country with his original music, in professional productions, and was named one of Broadway’s 40 under 40 for 2017. He is the co-creator and writer of the viral video series ‘BROdway’ and is the creator and host of ‘The Red Carpet Challenge’, which has streamed more than 65 episodes on Playbill and Broadway.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An Olivier Award winner for her West End debut as Inez in ZORRO THE MUSICAL, Lesli made her Broadway debut originating the role of Mrs. Wormwood in MATILDA THE MUSICAL. After over 1000 performances, she bid farewell to the Broadway company of Matilda and crossed the street to The Helen Hayes to star as the diva Mona Kent in the Broadway premiere of Randy Skinner's DAMES AT SEA. In September 2016, Lesli returned to the role she originated to close out the Broadway run of MATILDA. Lesli currently recurs on three television dramas: Homeland (Showtime), Instinct (CBS), and Seven Seconds (Netflix). This past fall she starred opposite Topher Grace, Taye Diggs & JC Chasez in the feature film "Opening Night" which can be seen on Netflix following its theatrical release. Born and raised in California, Lesli trained at UCLA and was soon after chosen to star in MGM's television series "Fame LA" directed by Kenny Ortega. She has gone on to star and recur on numerous television shows and pilots including "Donny!", "The Go