Lisa Gajda News

For many working in the entertainment industry, it can often feel like we’re living in a different economy than everyone else - the hours maintained have long been different from the rest of the working world, the day to day tasks, the workplace cultures. This week, different stories about how broader economic trends are showing up in the arts.

Dancer/choreographer/teacher Chet Walker - a Fosse dancer who later co-conceived FOSSE and choreographed the 2013 PIPPIN revival - died on October 21 from a glioblastoma tumor. Here, his legacy is honored by some of Broadway's most influential dancers and choreographers, including Sergio Trujillo, Andy Blankenbuehler and more.

The Green Room 42 has announced their line-up through the holidays and New Year’s Eve. Located inside YOTEL Times Square (570 Tenth Avenue, Fourth Floor), The Green Room 42 is Broadway's newest, most spacious, and funkiest cabaret club.

On Monday, December 6, Situation, in collaboration with The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, invites the next generation of changemakers to peek behind the curtain of Broadway’s vast job market in this special, virtual “open house” for college students, recent grads, and aspiring young professionals.

ANXIETY AND THE ARTIST has announced its special mini-series Access to Care. Therapy is a wonderful tool and can be a great way to facilitate healing. However, we acknowledge that therapy is a privilege, and is not always accessible or affordable to those that need it the most.

On Thursday, October 28, Situation, in collaboration with The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, invites the next generation of changemakers to peek behind the curtain of Broadway’s vast job market in this special, virtual “open house” for college students, recent grads, and aspiring young professionals.

In this Season Three finale episode, Tony Award-nominee turned psychotherapist, Bobby Steggert (Ragtime, Big Fish) sits down with podcast host Allison Sheff (Smokey Joe’s Café) to discuss artists’ changing identities and social anxiety in the rehearsal room.

Caitlin Kinnunen will be this week’s guest on ANXIETY AND THE ARTIST podcast. Kinnunen sits down with podcast host Allison Sheff (Smokey Joe’s Café) to talk about her early experiences with panic attacks on stage, making peace with your anxiety, and the necessary changes we’d like to see in the industry to better support artists' mental health. 

Broadway veteran turned therapist Lisa Gajda (Tuck Everlasting, Fosse) is this week's guest on ANXIETY AND THE ARTIST podcast.

BroadwayWorld was saddened to report that Broadway veteran Merwin Foard recently passed away at 59 years old. Born September 16, 1960 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Foard was last seen on Broadway in Aladdin as a standby for Jafar/Sultan.

On this day in 2011, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Bucks County Playhouse's "The Rocky Horror Show" - on stage through Sunday, October 28. Hunter Foster directs this production after also directing this season's record breaking "Million Dollar Quartet" and "42nd Street". Choreography is by Playhouse Artistic Associate, Lorin Latarro. 

Michael Thomas Holmes and Tim Rogan have joined the cast of 'The Rocky Horror Show' at Bucks County Playhouse. Holmes will play Dr. Scott/The Narrator and Rogan will play Rocky. They replaced previously announced cast members Jennifer Van Dyck and Erik Altemus, respectively.

Continuing a Halloween-season tradition, Bucks County Playhouse will, once again, present its popular production of Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show" beginning Friday, October 12 through Sunday, October 28.

In this episode: Chicago's Charlotte d'Amboise started dancing with Balanchine at 8 years old and hasn't stayed still since. It was a moment in a character class where she felt in her soul 'there I am' that began her path to Broadway. An admitted workhorse, Charlotte most enjoys working with people whose passion is as great as hers and more. She has always had a sense of self and aware the she is her instrument, her instrument is art, and art must change. Along with this self awareness, she is facing the heartbreak that her body can't do what it used to, but this is inspiring her new focus: re-invention.

In this episode: Broadway show shoe designer Phil LaDuca began his career singing and dancing on Broadway with choreographers like Agnus De Mille. Now choreographers like Jerry Mitchell are calling him to design shoes for singers and dancers. Phil LaDuca is a definition of having a second act in life that is just as grand as the first, and the term my 'LaDucas' has become a noun. After a reconstructive knee surgery he took his eye for beauty and experience onstage and created the most sought after shoe on stage and screen. Since dance has changed from the days of 'bring out the chorus girls', Phil thought that shoes should change with it. He brought his idea to the big companies and they said dancers don't have ideas and the rest is history. With accolades like a Drama Desk awards and thanks from dancers who say he's saved their legs and careers, it's the thought of a child getting inspired from a performer in his shoes that keeps him on pointe.

In this episode: My Fair Lady's Cameron Adams grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and devoted her time to basketball and dance. At 16 years old, she was cast in Susan Stroman's The Music Man, and basketball become a spectator sport. A self-proclaimed tomboy, Cameron loves to play Broadway dress up and it's usually in period clothing. Her secret to having worked with all the top Broadway choreographers is that she shows up, works hard and is always authentic. Her favorite part is the rehearsal process because that's where she gets to make things. In Lincoln Center Theatre's My Fair Lady, she was allowed to be seen as an actor within the ensemble and that path she has made.

In this episode: Victoria Bailey, Executive Director of TDF, talks about TKTS celebrating 45 years and parent company TDF celebrating 50 years in 2018. TDF (Theatre Development Fund) is an organization that believes the performing arts should be available to everybody. They sell the idea of going to all theatre, not shows in particular and that Broadway is for everyone. Victoria Bailey has been with the company for 17 years, started at Yale, and was the GM at MTC for 19 years. She believes that theatre creates empathy for lives different than our own, that TDF/TKTS has created theatre goers for generations, and is a prime example of having a successful life in the arts separate from the footlights.

In this episode: Victoria Bailey, Executive Director of TDF, talks about TKTS celebrating 45 years and parent company TDF celebrating 50 years in 2018. TDF (Theatre Development Fund) is an organization that believes the performing arts should be available to everybody. They sell the idea of going to all theatre, not shows in particular and that Broadway is for everyone. Victoria Bailey has been with the company for 17 years, started at Yale, and was the GM at MTC for 19 years. She believes that theatre creates empathy for lives different than our own, that TDF/TKTS has created theatre goers for generations, and is a prime example of having a successful life in the arts separate from the footlights.

In this episode: Broadway's Shannon Lewis grew up in a rural Canadian suburb and at age 19 was hand picked by Susan Stroman to make her Broadway debut, after a 'Crazy for You' casting director saw her in a Toronto theme park show. The essence of this podcast is having integrity, the importance of the respect of your peers, and to have your talent and drive ready, so that when someone opens a door for you, you can walk right in. With an impeccable work ethic that takes every opportunity seriously; whether in the ensemble, as a deputy, or as a principle; as well as having Gwen Verdon as a champion, the real Shannon Lewis is coming out of hiding. @realshanlew