Columbus Interviews

Jessica Vosk is a celebrated singer and actress and she has just kicked off her “MY GOLDEN AGE” US tour and will be visiting your area shortly! You may recognize her from Broadway roles like Elphaba in WICKED, or as the Narrator in JOSEPH... at Lincoln Center. I had the opportunity to catch up with ...

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Tommy Betz when the buses for the 20th anniversary tour of HAIRSPRAY pull into Columbus....

After stunning her St. Mark's High School classmates with a blistering re-creation of the violin solo in the Who's 'Baba O'Reilly,' Katie Jacoby was ready for bigger things. Jacoby, then 15, emailed the Who to let them know she was available to perform in their upcoming show at the Wachovia Center i...

When Tyler Belo looks at his final transcripts from Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York, it is always the D+ in general economics that makes him smile. Belo barely passed the class because he opted out on the final to crash an equity-only tryout for HAMILTON....

Willem Butler, winner of BroadwayWorld's first ever season of Next on Stage, is currently shining bright on stages across the country as Dmitry in the National Tour of Anastasia. A recent graduate from Elon University, Anastasia is Butler's touring debut! Read BroadwayWorld's interview with Willem B...

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CATCO's upcoming production of "Hansel and Gretel" is using puppetry to tell the story of the Grimm brothers' classic tale of teamwork....

For Chester Gregory, the opportunity to portray the founder of the Motown record label, Berry Gordy, was the logical next step in his personal musical journey. "A lot of work has led me to this role. So, it is like a full circle moment for me," said Gregory, who plays Gordy in "Motown the Musical," ...

Summer days are rapidly drifting away, but the Columbus Children's Theatre pre-professional company is striving to make the remaining summer nights a blast from the past with its production of "Grease."...

In its production of Neil LaBute's “Reasons To Be Pretty,” Columbus' Shots in the Dark Independent Theatre Company is set to delve into the aspects of close relationships that are often less than beautiful....

A new musical is coming to town--one that explores the themes of love, passion and the suburban American Dream, wittily played out under the golden glow of neighborhood streetlights....

Few artists would relish the position Colin Hay will find himself in this Friday. Hay, the former front man for Men At Work, will be the opening act in a triple bill that also features the Violent Femmes and headliner the Barenaked Ladies on 'Last Summer on Earth' tour....

Every time he takes on a show, director Edward Carignan insists on putting his own spin on the choreography....

In "On the Edge," a collection of short plays exploring the depth and breadth of the theatrical experience, Short North Stage aims to introduce audiences to the works of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett and their complex, thought-provoking themes....

Opera fanatics and newcomers alike will discover the mysterious world behind the stage curtain in CATCO's production of "Master Class." Transported to an intimate voice master class at the Juliard School, audiences will come face-to-face with the larger-than-life persona of Maria Callas, one of the ...

Students' artistic visions are set to come to life on the big screen in the Ohio State Department of Theatre's fourth Digi-EYE: Film and Video Showcase....

The more he plays Luke, the Chinese convert and reformed gambler in the musical ANYTHING GOES, the more Roy Flores discovers how much he and his character have in common....

With lazily leaning palm trees, fluffy beach towels and sunbathing teenagers in 1960s-era bikinis, the frigid stage of Columbus' Garden Theater is transformed into the sun-kissed surf and sand of a Malibu beach town in Charles Busch's "Psycho Beach Party."...

A couple of years after the first phase of his acting career ended, Zachary Sayle feels like he's starting over with the national tour of NEWSIES....

After several projects fell through, lyricist Nathan Tysen and composer Chris Miller were left with a handful of songs they just couldn't give up on....

Featuring three barrier-breaking, never-before-seen contemporary dance pieces, BalletMet's "Innovations" encourages choreographers, dancers and audience members alike to think outside the box--the black box theater, that is....

Tis good to be the queen. Few people know that more than Tryphena Wade, a 1999 Pickerington High School graduate who plays Sarabi in a touring production of Disney's THE LION KING. The production opens in Columbus on Oct. 14 and will stay in the city until Nov. 9 at Ohio Theatre....

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After two and a half years of construction, The Ohio State University's Sullivant Hall is ready to open its doors to the public once again this weekend....

From the classic cars parked in front of a plush red carpet to the blinding camera flashes of the paparazzi, Columbus' Garden Theater will exude all of the glitz and glamor of 1920s Hollywood as the Short North Stage celebrates its inaugural fundraising gala on Friday, Sept. 12....

Social media mingling and improvisational theater combine in "The Facebook Show," an interactive performance presented by 8th Floor Improv, a comedy group made up of students attending The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio....

MURDER BALLAD offers its four actors little room to hide when the show makes its Midwest debut Aug. 7-16 at the Short North Stage's Green Room in downtown Columbus....

Sam Ray's final production with Otterbein University turned out to be like a final exam for the versatile actor....

The 18-member cast of Weathervane Playhouse's CABARET signed up to be in a musical but got a history course in pre-World War II Germany to go along with it....

Chip Danver will be hitting a personal milestone when Imagine Productions' presentation of RENT opens 7:30 p.m. May 7 at the Wall Street Night Club. Opening night will mark the first time Danver, who plays Mark Cohen in the Jonathan Larson musical, has seen the show in person....

One can only imagine the conversation between David Buergler and his parents John and Kim when he found out he landed a major role in Otterbein University's production of THE FULL MONTY....

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Russ Nagy recalls going to the Lakewood Civic Auditorium in Cleveland in 1971 and being blown away by one of the first performances of a new musical called GODSPELL....

Lisa Andres, the director of the Pleasure Guild's SHREK THE MUSICAL, knows the final days before the opening of any show can take the toll of the cast. Her cast had four days to erect a massive set before beginning their show's March 7-9 run at the Palace Theatre....

When he writes a play, Columbus resident Steven C. Anderson usually begins within an idea and finds the right cast to present it. With THE WOLF TALES, which opens on March 7 at the Studio Two Theatre in the Riffe Center, Anderson did things the other way around. He started with a cast and wrote a ch...

Every time he looks at his niece Angela, Ron McNeil remembers John Lennon. McNeil's niece was born Dec. 9, 1980, a day after Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City....

Back as part of a national tour for the first time in 17 years, Linda Balgord finds herself in familiar, but new territory. Balgord plays Madame Giry in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, marking the fifth different character she's played in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical....

Surviving. A rock band and a television show may have named themselves after the concept and Gloria Gaynor may have sung about it. For the last 50 years, Otis Williams and the Temptations have lived it out....

Erica Peck was about five years old when Freddie Mercury died but the flamboyant lead singer for Queen has made a major impact on the Canadian singer's life....

The 3 IN 30: WHITE ELEPHANT showcase, which will be performed 10:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, at the MadLab Theatre, could easily be called the 'leftoverture.' The showcase, which features three 10 minute plays by area playwrights, presents works that just missed the cut of previous 3 in 30 producti...