André De Shields, Sydney Harcourt, Ryan Haddad, and Douglas Lyons Announced as Guests For Live At The Lortel

The Lucille Lortel Theatre today announces its upcoming guest lineup for its popular "Live at The Lortel" podcast series. In April, the interview series features actors Ryan Haddad (April 5), Douglas Lyons (April 12), André De Shields (April 19), and Sydney Harcourt (April 26).

The live interviews will take place Mondays at 7:00 PM EST, offering theater fans the opportunity to view interviews and participate in a Q&A with artists. To join the audience, please visit www.liveatthelortel.com.

Hosted by Eric Ostrow, along with co-hosts Joy DeMichelle and John-Andrew Morrison, season two of "Live at The Lortel" is dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and artists who stand in solidarity with the continued fight against institutional racism and racial injustice. Theater makers will delve into their thoughts on the future of theater during this period of radical change. They will also discuss their craft, as well as their professional and personal projects that help to make theatre and the world more equitable.

[Editor note: Future guests for 2021 will be announced soon. PHOTOS: click here for artist headshots and series logo.]

Following each live interview, podcast episodes of "Live at The Lortel" will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud as follows:

RYAN HADDAD

Monday, April 5 - live

Podcast release: April 9

Ryan J. Haddad is an actor, playwright, and autobiographical performer based in New York. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was presented in The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival and continues to tour the country. Other New York credits include My Straighties (Ars Nova/ANT Fest), Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts (Theater Breaking Through Barriers), and the cabaret, Falling for Make Believe (Joe's Pub/Under the Radar). Regional theatre: The Maids, Lucy Thurber's Orpheus in the Berkshires (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Hi, Are You Single? (Guthrie Theater, Cleveland PlayHouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival). He has a recurring role on the Netflix series The Politician. Haddad is a recipient of IAMA Theatre Company's Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission and Rising Phoenix Repertory's Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award.

Douglas Lyons

Monday, April 12 - live

Podcast release: April 16

Douglas Lyons is an actor, writer, director, composer, and playwright. He has written for television's Fraggle Rock, and for theater: Polkadots (Atlantic Theater Company), Chicken and Biscuits (Queens Theatre), Sunshine (Long Wharf Theatre), Pete(Her)Pan (Pace New Musicals), Five Points (Theater Latte Da), now directed by Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler, Fatigue with Jodi Piccoult, We The People (Theatreworks USA), The Hamlet Remix and Sunflower (Flint Repertory). He has performed on Broadway: Beautiful (Original Cast) and The Book of Mormon. Touring productions include: Rent, Dreamgirls and The Book of Mormon 1st National. Douglas is also the founder of The Next Wave Initiative, a scholarship program dedicated to supporting the future of Black Theater artists.

Andre De Shields

Monday, April 19 - live

Podcast release: April 23

André De Shields is the triple-crown winner of the 2019 awards season, having won the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Awards for best featured actor in a musical for his critically acclaimed performance as Hermes in Hadestown. In 2020, De Shields received the 2020 Grammy Award for Musical Theater Album for Hadestown, the 2020 AUDELCO for Lifetime Achievement , and an honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. In 2019, he received the 2019 Project1Voice Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 SAGE Joyce Warshow Lifetime Achievement Award, The York Theatre Company's 2019 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Prior to his Tony Award win, Mr. De Shields was best known for his show-stopping performances in four legendary Broadway productions: The Wiz, Ain't Misbehavin' (Emmy Award), Play On! (Tony Nomination), and The Full Monty (Tony Nomination). In a career spanning fifty-one years, he has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, and educator, receiving in 2018 the 8th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Legend Award, and the 33rd Annual Bob Harrington Life Achievement Bistro Award. He can next be seen as Gavin Plimsoll in Charles Busch's new film, The Sixth Reel.

Sydney Harcourt

Monday, April 26 - live

Podcast release: April 30

A sought-after New York vocalist and Grammy winner, Sydney Harcourt has performed on some of the world's finest concert stages including Radio City Music Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open Finals. He has appeared on and off-Broadway starring in productions like the cultural phenomenon Hamilton (original Broadway company), Disney's The Lion King, Green Day's American Idiot, and the U.S. Premier of Bob Dylan's Girl From the North Country where he originated the role of Joe Scott, receiving critical raves and nominations for the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Audelco Awards. No stranger to television, Sydney has appeared in Tell Me A Story, Blue Bloods, FBI, NCIS: New Orleans, Elementary, Younger, The Good Wife, Law and Order and also on film in Hamilton, and Disney's Enchanted .