Dear Multi-hyphenate

“You know – when you have multiple mini successes in a row, just how affirming that can be. And how for me, personally, it spills into the rest of my day, the rest of the week – there’s a part of me that wishes that career successes didn’t affect my mood that much, but it’s absolutely true that it does – and then I feel like it begets more success in just every other aspect of my life.”

In this episode we discuss…

Soda. Especia...

“You have to say yes to everything. You have to put yourself in every room you can. It's not learning from one person, it’s going to learn from as many people as possible. Noone is going to hand it to you on a silver platter.”

In this episode we discuss…

Making his Broadway debut at 10 years old.

Becoming Rob Ashford's assistant.

A mortifying debut and successful second chance on So You Think You Can Dance.

Stepping up and problem ...

“The advice that I would give myself now is not that different than what I believed was true 30 or 40 years ago, which is the thing that makes you different… the thing that makes you unique, idiosyncratic, weird… that is your superpower as a writer. Maybe as a human being, but particularly as an artist or a writer.” – Tony Winner David Henry Hwang

In David Henry Hwang’s play Yellow Face, he explores the Chinese concept of face, an ...

Where does a playwright start from? Would a playwright identify as a multi-hyphenate if they span genre, style, and medium of writing? How does a playwright break into both Broadway and the West End? Lindsey Ferrentino is one of our contemporary prolific voices in playwriting and she’s full of inspiring nuggets that will get anyone to put their ideas on paper. 

In this episode we also discuss her upcoming play THE FEAR OF 13. Based...

Many people go to college for theatre so one can become an educated actor. Through technique and tools, this will help the actor sustain a healthy and rich career. But what are students getting in terms of theatre business? My NYU student, Natalie Rebenkoff, graduated and took off with flying colors by digging into her multi-hyphenate potential and producing her first piece of work, The Nursery, an unpublished Clifford Odets one-ac...

Hannah Solow is probably one of the funniest people on the planet. She creates hysterical characters on social media, is a stand up comic, and musical theatre performer. In this very funny episode, we dive into specific social media practices, grabbing control of your career, how getting cast in Broadway’s hit OH, MARY! came to be, and brilliant gems of stories from being in the industry – including what it was like to tour the cou...

Welcome back to Dear Multi-Hyphenate! It is Season Two and let’s kick it off with superstar multi-hyphenate Lea Delaria. In this episode we discuss all about how and when to identify as a certain type of artist, unheard stories of working with Lea’s idols, hysterical and inspiring stories about projects like POTUS and Orange is the New Black, and of course Lea’s new brunch show at 54 Below… Brunch is Gay, currently running one Sund...

“I love self tapes in the post pandemic world.”

Why? Why does Adam love self tapes when so many other actors don’t? How can we embrace them? In fact, how can we embrace and adapt post-pandemic practices into our lives? Let’s face it – the industry looks different. So, we have to shift. And Adam DeCarlo has done a great job at doing just that. 

Adam DeCarlo is an award-winning actor and filmmaker based in NYC. Adam was born and rais...

“What ever jobs you have on your path to where you're trying to get to to your vision all matter. And the fact that we call these things a side hustle or we talk about ‘the unwanted jobs' and all of those types of descriptions… it's not empowering people.” -- Jodi Carter

When it comes to being an artist, what is the first thing we have to know about money? 

According to Jodi Carter, it’s a new language. A wow, do we discover a ne...

“If I were king of the mountain and I got to say how all arts education was – I would actually say the idea of being curiously creative is key; testing out all the ideas and options.” – Scott Barnhardt

This is a wildly fun and informative podcast for artists of all ages – especially those looking into studying theatre in college. Here’s what you’ll find in this episode:

The college audition mindset

The falsehoods of being a “star...

“Collaboration is the most crucial thing you can do. Even if you are writing a solo show for yourself, for your family’s story, show it to somebody – share it with somebody.” - Rob Madge

Rob Madge is about to open their solo play on Broadway – so how did it go from home videos to fringe to West End to Broadway? Listen to this amazing episode and learn all about the new play My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?). This is the sec...

“The greatest success for actors comes … when they sort of let go of the idea that there's something that they need to be and they relax into the idea that who they are is the gift and they just need to bring that to the work.” - Busy Philipps

Happy 100th episode of Dear Multi-Hyphenate! We are celebrating with two parts of a big 100th episode celebration. Let’s start with the amazing Busy Philipps as we discuss…

An artist’s supe...

“If I had just focused on this one thing, I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to experience the life that I’ve had, which has been pretty sick.” -- Jordan Kai Burnett

In this episode we discuss…

Agism in the industry

Is there a French Woods and Stage Door competition?

Humping dogs!

Are we ever too young to do a show in youth theatre?

Allowing yourself to be a theatre nerd!

What happens to your personal life when you open yours...

“I don’t give you a trophy for showing up. I don’t applaud a bird for flying or a fish for swimming. You chose to be here and so you got to eat a little sand from the sandbox because it builds up your immunity.”

In this episode we discuss…

What do you do when you start to become a leader?

What happens after you’re told no?

What is good teaching?

Hope Boykin, a two-time "Bessie Award" winner, is an acclaimed dancer, choreographer an...

“It’s really, really important for them to see cabaret, go and see other people… go and see who’s good, go and see who’s bad, go and see what they want to portray because what I have noticed in the past, a lot of young people do a cabaret and you say, “What have you seen, what inspired you?” And a lot of them say, “Well, I haven’t been.” - Tony Winner Frances Ruffelle

Frankie and Beausy are an adorable couple… and they work with...

“Trail blazers very rarely get to reap the benefits of the very trail they helped blaze.” 

This conversation with Jai Rodriguez is a perfect conversation when it comes to being a multi-hyphenate. What happens if we get pigeon holed into one thing? Jai had a tough time breaking out of what people thought they knew about him or what he could do after Queer Eye. So how did he lean into the full rounded multi-hyphenate he is now? In th...

“It’s fascinating how other people, because they don’t feel comfortable with the changes you’re making, feel more comfortable if you are just one thing.” - Sarah Looper, Episode 95 of Dear Multi-Hyphenate

If Sarah Looper is anything – she’s herself… but it took a second to get there. After questioning if she was too much because other people told her she was, she finally let that go and became the best artist she can be. She is f...

“At its core, fundamentally being a multi-hyphenate is, to me, about exploration and not limiting yourself to one particular thing just because your natural strengths lie in that one particular thing.” -- Shivani Desai

In this episode, we discuss…

The importance of keeping hobbies separate from our hyphens.

Starting a new small business. 

How multi-hyphenating helped get Michael out of a depressive episode.

The importance of work...