Interview: BROADWAY AT THE BOURBON ROOM's Tianna Louise Cohen Howling For Their HALLOWEEN BASH

Next up for Broadway At The Bourbon Room, their Halloween Bash October 21, 2022; at, of course, The Bourbon Room. I had the opportunity to chat with Broadway At The Bourbon Room' s newly appointed Associate Producer Tianna Louise Cohen.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Tianna!

You recently became the associate producer for Broadway at the Bourbon Room. What are the duties of your position?

Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know me! Sorry for my delay, we were knee-deep in our Broadway Barbara show this past Wednesday.

You recently became the associate producer for Broadway at the Bourbon Room. What are the duties of your position?

Yes, I did! The duties of this position have a pretty wide variety. I like to say I'm Marisa's right-hand man! Most duties include marketing; I create graphics, copy, and calendars for our social media, and then work with Marisa (producer) to make sure everything is good to go. Creatively, I get to help with casting our shows from the performers, band, dancers, etc. As I grow with the position, I get to be more involved creatively which has been one of the highlights.

What cosmic forces brought you into Marisa's and the Broadway at The Bourbon Room universe?

I started my journey with B@TBR as an audience member! I went to the Sondheim show back in March and was blown away. If you've been to the show, you know Marisa talks about #postingyourish - the idea of putting yourself out there and being brave. Well as I watched her that night, I was so inspired to know her, but I knew I wasn't ready to put myself out there musically. I got home that night, emailed the submissions email, and bluntly told her I would be a great asset to her team if she'd give me a shot - and here we are!

Anyone so far in Broadway at The Bourbon Room unexpectedly blew you away?

Um, everyone! The talent that I've been able to witness is so incredible. On the day of our shows, we are at The Bourbon Room all day and really get to see the growth of each performer from rehearsal to show. It is truly inspiring getting to be in the room with these artists.

With your title, do you get first, or two dibs (after Marisa), on song choices?

As I've been learning the ropes with production, I haven't performed yet myself! We will see if the new season brings out some more confidence for me on the stage but right now, I am very content being a behind-the-scenes player!

What are the themes for our upcoming shows?

We have our final show of the season on Friday, October 21st, and what better than a Halloween Bash - this show will be a HUGE Halloween Party, so wear your costumes! We haven't yet begun to plan out next season so if anyone has theme ideas, send them our way!

Will any of the performers you had in your three seasons of The Forge Sings Series make their way from Lemont, Illinois to The Bourbon Room stage?

Wouldn't that be rad? We've had a lot of great talent grace our stage at our Forge Concert Series, from former Dear Evan Hansen Michael Lee Brown, and Ariana Burks (BEATS, Netflix). I would love to get those performers out to Los Angeles for this show someday!

What lessons that you learned from your stint as co-producer/director for The Forge Sings will you be bringing to Broadway at The Bourbon Room?

Oh, SO many lessons! Obviously, organization and time management has also helped in all aspects of my life! The importance of relationship building. When you are someone who is easy to work with, then people want to work with you. I've learned a lot about myself and the type of leader I want to be through these experiences and if I didn't have that time with the Forge, I think it would have been a harder transition to BATBR. Marisa and I have a great groove of communication that my time with the Forge definitely prepared me for.

Which do you prefer: Inhabiting a scripted character? Or performing as yourself?

I think there is beauty in both, but I definitely find it easier to have the barrier of another character's struggle between myself and an audience - that way they don't think it's me who's nervous but the character!

You graduated from CSUN with a major in Theatre Arts and a minor in Musical Theatre. How old were you when you decided you wanted to go into The Biz?

I've been performing since before I can remember and found a lot of comfort in theatre as so many of us theatre kids do. I think I might still be deciding if I want to go into the Biz, but what I do know, is that there is nothing else I can think of to do that would give me the same amount of purpose, passion, and happiness, as I have found being a part of the industry, on both the stage and production side.

Who was the first person to recognize your vocal talents? Family? Teacher? Friend?

Definitely not my sister. I have a vivid memory of trying to sing out Phantom of the Opera and her banging on my wall to "Please make it stop." When I started taking theatre seriously was when I started the whole voice lesson chapter of life, and I worked really hard to build the instrument I have today. I think the first time someone took notice of my voice as something of value was my vocal teacher Marta Dewey.

What's your secret sauce for keeping your 5000+ Tiktok followers engaged?

Dancing as a nun apparently! When I did Sound of Music at La Mirada earlier this year - a lot of us nuns made TikToks to pass the time and low and behold one of them popped off! But since then, I just try to make content that makes me laugh and hopefully others will do the same!

What's in the near future for Tianna Louise Cohen?

Well, our Halloween Show, and then planning our next season! That's it for now but the best part of this business is one minute you could be completely free, and the next you are booked for three months! So I'll be staying open to all possibilities!

Thank you again, Tianna! I look forward to your next Broadway at The Bourbon Room.

For tickets to Broadway @ The Bourbon Room Halloween bash October 21, 2022; click on the button below:

 

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