Thesis on Joan
Thesis on Joan is a podcast dedicated to amplifying voices from the LGBTQ+ community in the New York performing arts scene and examining the industry from a queer perspective! Join fanqueers and theatre professionals Harrow (they/them) and Meghan (she/her) as they sit down with groundbreaking theatre folx, from Brooklyn cabaret performers to people backstage and on Broadway. For many queers, theatre has been an escape, this podcast looks to have open conversations on where we’ve come from and where we’re headed as a community, while queering the canon along the way. Part of the Broadway Podcast Network.
Episodes
June 28, 2023 • 47 mins
Hosts Harrow and Meghan share Tony reactions, queer recommendations and Summer plans. We talk Ruthie Ann Miles’ spit takes, the Tony as a marketing tool, our love of Ariana Debose (host everything!), the Tony’s response to the writer’s strike, the Tonys continuing to sideline the creative awards, disappointments and celebrations of the big night, the Jimmy to City Center pipeline, the shows we wish got more attention (KPOP, Ain’t N...
Mark as Played
May 31, 2023 • 52 mins
Hosts Harrow and Meghan discuss Some Like It Hot and White Girl in Danger. Hear the response from Meghan on the representation(s) of her namesake (but not her spelling) and thoughts on how queerness, gender, race, and identity are represented in these two very different productions. It’s also time for Pride and there are many queer festivals, shows, and actions to take in June to support and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community!
Show Di...
Mark as Played
May 17, 2023 • 56 mins
Daniel K. Isaac, star of stage and (TV) screen joins hosts Harrow & Meghan for an in-depth discussion of his theatrical work, particularly his play Once Upon a (Korean) Time and his role in Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick. We fanqueer over Ryan Haddad’s Dark Disabled Stories and learn about the inspiration and research behind Daniel’s work (including his Mom). We discuss the importance of overcoming design hurdles and demanding big p...
Mark as Played
May 3, 2023 • 54 mins
Hosts Meghan and Harrow have a spoiler-full discussion of Fat Ham by James Ijames, directed by Saheem Ali and Dark Disabled Stories by Ryan J. Haddad, directed by Jordan Fein. Hear how their New Year’s resolutions and intentions are going, their queer theatre character fanfic dreams, what queer-ish shows they hope to see next, how to support the NYCLU in disbanding the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, and what Meghan is finally wat...
Mark as Played
April 19, 2023 • 52 mins
Justin David Sullivan, currently starring as May in & Juliet on Broadway, brings a burst of queer joy to the podcast. Hosts Harrow and Meghan talk with Justin about the representation that has inspired her, crayons and our type A personalities, what drives them to continue to advocate for inclusivity and representation on stage and how they landed their dream role in & Juliet! We also discuss the unique position of stepping into a ...
Mark as Played
April 5, 2023 • 62 mins
Season four kicks off with artist, activist, cultural worker, and Pisces, Sara Porkalob (she/they)! Sara and hosts Harrow (they/them) and Meghan (she/her) get pumped for Dragon Cycle, Sara’s trilogy of musical plays about her family (and the queer upbringing of our dreams), manifesting the next role in their villain arc, queerness as performance, mentoring as resource sharing, and intersectional performance critique. She also share...
Mark as Played
December 21, 2022 • 53 mins
Harrow and Meghan wrap up the season with a show catch-up, a reflection on the last year, and theatrical resolutions for 2023. Hosts discuss the millennial bait of & Juliet and how it measures up to other jukebox musicals, our love of Betsy Wolfe, and what worked and didn’t work for us in this star-crossed lovers tale with new queer characters. Hosts also discuss the recent run of the Roundabout Theatre Company production of You Wi...
Mark as Played
November 16, 2022 • 90 mins
Hosts Meghan and Harrow discuss a new round of queer theatre including the Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival readings of TRANS WORLD by Ty Defoe, Hide and Hide by Roger Q. Mason, and Overheard directed by L Morgan Lee, as well as Where the Mountain Meets the Sea by Jeff Augustin and I Wanna F*ck Like Romeo and Juliet by Andrew Rincón. Special guest and Harrow’s partner, Luci DeVoy joins in a deep dive into Roundabout Theatre’s r...
Mark as Played
November 2, 2022 • 63 mins
Artist, Activist, and Self-Proclaimed Sister to thee people Sis joins us from the road as she wrapped up playing Ado Annie in the National tour of Oklahoma! We talk about how Ado Annie has been with her for years, execution and expectations when it comes to revivals, and theatre as a mirror to realize the world that we’ve created. We find out why now is the time for Sis to be Elle Woods, discuss the challenges of creating your own ...
Mark as Played
October 19, 2022 • 71 mins
Hosts Meghan and Harrow discuss all the queer shows they’ve seen recently (and not so recently)! Hear shout outs to Songs From Bark of Millions by Taylor Mac and Matt Ray, Gumiho by Nina Ki, The Nosebleed written and directed by Aya Ogawa, As You Like It adapted by Shaina Taub & Laurie Woolery, and Lavender Men by Roger Q. Mason. They go into deeper dives on Once Upon a (Korean) Time by Daniel K. Isaac and american (tele)visions by...
Mark as Played
October 5, 2022 • 51 mins
Victor I. Cazares, a non-binary Poz Queer Indigenous Mexican Artist, sits down with Harrow and Meghan to talk about the premiere of their show american (tele)visions, opening the New York Theatre Workshop season. We discuss the villains of capitalism and the art and politics that inspired the play, the incredible team that has brought the multi-media world of American (Tele)Visions to the stage, queers and the multi-verse, and a de...
Mark as Played
September 21, 2022 • 57 mins
The Founding Artistic Director of the Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival (BTB), George Strus, joins us as we kick off the second half of Season 3! Hear from George about BTB, a communal, new play development hub for trans, nonbinary, two-spirit plus actors, directors, writers, dramaturgs, and stage managers, created by members of that community. Geroge discusses how BTB was inspired and created within a year, the incredible artis...
Mark as Played
July 6, 2022 • 48 mins
The incomparable Qween Jean, costume designer and activist, sits down with Harrow and Meghan to talk activism, theatre design, and hopes for the future of queer liberation. We discuss designing for revivals versus new work, what makes a good collaborative relationship, not living with the rules, and creating freedom for the stories of BIPOC artists to be told without relying on adjacency to whiteness. In a relevant and prophetic co...
Mark as Played
June 22, 2022 • 50 mins
Welcome to a Tony Award reaction episode with hosts Meghan and Harrow! Hear about the highlights and shocks of the evening, their love of Ariana DeBose and Ruthie Ann Miles, the queer kiss you might have missed, the stress and joy for A Strange Loop, and lots of ideas for a new recurring section of the ceremony. They also discuss how it’s actively becoming impossible to watch the Tonys, what was overdone, the show they really want ...
Mark as Played
June 8, 2022 • 72 mins
Happy Pride! Join Harrow and Meghan for a super queer round-up of everything we’ve seen recently and are excited to see this month. Beware - spoilers abound! We talk about the genius of Paula Vogel and the revival of How I Learned to Drive. We attempt to manifest a queer dating conversation between Ryan Haddad and Michael R. Jackson and share our love of fat protagonists as we talk about A Strange Loop. Harrow has thoughts on The M...
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May 18, 2022 • 44 mins
Hosts chat with two-time Tony nominated playwright, composer, and lyricist, Michael R. Jackson, creator of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical A Strange Loop which is up for 11 Tony awards! They discuss how A Strange Loop developed into an all Black queer and trans cast that manifested themselves to Broadway, how choreographer Raja Feather Kelly turns up the volume on people, queering religiosity, and the ongoing beef with the cast ...
Mark as Played
May 5, 2022 • 64 mins
We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Paula Vogel as our first guest on Season Three! We talk about the revival of How I Learned to Drive currently making its Broadway debut at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Friedman Theatre as well as other highlights from Paula’s incredible career. We talk gender collision, theater-viewing as obligation, the inspiring next generation of playwrights and theatermakers, subverting dangerous myths about...
Mark as Played
April 20, 2022 • 56 mins
Hosts Meghan and Harrow kick off season three of Thesis on Joan and share how they’re queering up the format this year! They discuss shows they saw during the hiatus, including Wolf Play by Hansol Jung at Soho Rep, Company on Broadway, and a deep dive on Suffs by Shaina Taub at The Public. Also, get a sneak peek of all the shows they have booked and want to see so you can join in on the conversation.
A full transcription of this ...
Mark as Played
December 1, 2021 • 71 mins
Legendary advocate, organizer and storyteller Cecilia Gentili joins us for the final episode of Season Two! We talk about her autobiographical show The Knife Cuts Both Ways and finding beauty in your story when the world wants to “reduce you to a ball of trauma.” She shares the joy of being a part of Pose (her first ever audition!) and some behind the scene stories from late night filming with Janet Mock. We talk more about her wor...
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November 17, 2021 • 85 mins
This week’s guests, ayla xuân chi sullivan, Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko, and Roger Q. Mason come from the inaugural New Vision Fellowship for Black trans and gender non-conforming playwrights, a partnership with the National Queer Theatre and Dramatist Guild! As the Fellowship co-founder/lead mentor, Roger shares the genesis of the program, the need for work, mentorship, time, space, and the opportunity to just be. Fellows Nick and ayla d...
Mark as Played
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