Listen to a Sneak Peek of Beth Leavel's Fiction Podcast Debut on IN STRANGE WOODS
Leavel won a Tony and Drama Desk Award for her role in The Drowsy Chaperone, and most recently appeared on Broadway as Dee Dee Allen in The Prom.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Dec. 30, 2020
Beth Leavel makes her fiction podcast debut as the focus of next Monday's episode of In Strange Woods. Known primarily for her comedic roles, here Leavel makes a fierce dramatic turn with her tour-de-force performance as Sandra Howland-Pierce, estranged cousin to Howl, played by Tony Award nominee Patrick Page (Hadestown, Spring Awakening, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark). Over the course of the episode, which includes three original songs for Leavel, she walks narrator Brett Ryback (Murder For Two) through her memories of Howl as a young man, revealing insight about the complicated motivations that pushed him to a life of solitude, as well as a damning family secret.
Listen below!
Leavel won a Tony and Drama Desk Award for her role in The Drowsy Chaperone, and most recently appeared on Broadway as Dee Dee Allen in The Prom. The first episode of In Strange Woods by podcasting outfit Atypical Artists premiered December 14th, kicking off a weekly release of its five episodes every Monday through January 11th. The story follows 18-year-old Peregrine Wells played by Lily Mae Harrington (Sing It!, All Rise, The Glee Project) after her brother's death in the Whitetail National Forest, as she seeks out survivalist skills from the enigmatic recluse who found her brother's body. In this fictional documentary musical with an original folk-pop score, listeners follow producer Brett Ryback as he explores themes of grief, adolescence, and our precarious relationship to the wilderness - all set against a sleepy northern Minnesota town reeling from a loss of innocence it will never get back.
Created by Jeff Luppino-Esposito, Brett Ryback and Matt Sav. Leavel joins Page, Donna Lynne Champlin (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Another Period, Submissions Only), Michaela Watkins (SNL, Casual, Trophy Wife), Larry Bates (Big Little Lies, Cherish the Day, Jitney), Briggon Snow (The Bright Sessions, The College Tapes, The Big Loop), Raymond J. Lee (Soft Power, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical), Jonah Platt (Wicked, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar Live) and others, rounding out a cast full of stage, screen and podcast mainstays.
On working opposite Leavel in the upcoming episode, Brett Ryback: "I'm so excited for fans of Beth to get to see her in a new light. It was amazing to watch her bring so much variety and depth to this complicated character."
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