West of Broadway Podcast

On this episode of West of Broadway Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff talk with Broadway star Laura Bell Bundy about absolutely everything! First, Laura Bell shares how her family are navigating the Covid-19 epidemic and her recent personal bout with the disease. Then they discuss Laura Bell's upcoming album and video series centered around women and the challenges facing them today. From an NYU student to young soap opera ...

On this episode of West of Broadway, Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff connect via ZOOM with Producer and Creator of Rock of Ages Musical to find out how he and the cast are doing and to learn about how this unexpected musical hit found it's way all the way to Broadway and back home to Hollywood. Matt Weaver and a tenacious team of creatives took a terrific idea and made it one of Broadways most successful and longest running hit...

On our very first video version of West of Broadway, Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff catch up with 2 time Emmy Award-winning choreographer Kathryn (Kat) Burns while she is Sheltering in Place during the coronavirus pandemic. Kathryn discusses her career, shares insight for working performers and pays tribute to the recent loss of her friend and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend colleague, Adam Schlesinger. Links: https://www.instagram.com/k...

With the COVID 19 Pandemic bringing shows and businesses to a stand still, there isn't much theater news to report but Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff wanted to share their conversation with Book of Mormon star Liam Tobin from their Los Angeles run at the Ahmanson Theater. Liam talks about his history with this musical juggernaut and what life is like on the road. After that, friend of the pod, Joseph Corella of 567Broadway sha...

On this very special episode of West of Broadway, Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff are discussing the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic and what we might do during this time of widespread shutdowns, work stoppages, and self-isolations. The pair discuss theaters going dark from Broadway all the way west to California and how this is affecting members of the theatrical community. As a working actor and teaching artist, Wendy offers some...

On this episode of West of Broadway Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff speak with Gedde Watanabe and George Xavier, two cast members of East West Players’ Spring 2020 production of the award-winning Broadway musical Assassins. Will and Wendy first speak with Gedde Watanabe – famous from appearing in John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles, and his stage appearances include the original Broadway production of Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures. Gedde d...

Will Armstrong & Wendy Rosoff stopped into the rehearsal of Glass Ceilings, a new musical directed by Jessica Gardner and created by the musical writing team of Laura Watkins and Nicholas David Brandt (Comic-Con the Musical.) Glass Ceilings is a new musical about women throughout history whose stories you don’t know, but should. Jessica and Laura talk about the show and what it takes to mount and produce their own labor of love...

Will Armstrong and Wendy Rosoff met up Downtown LA to see the new musical Found Starring Jonah Platt and Jordan Kai Burnett. This IAMA Theater production is playing at the Los Angeles Theater Center until March 23! Listen in as Will and Wendy talk with cast members and discuss their experience before, during intermission, and after the show. Special thanks to Jonah Platt, Jordan Kai Burnett and Parvesh Cheena for taking the time to...

Will and Wendy officially set their clocks to island time as the L.A. Premiere of Jimmy Buffett’s ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE weighed anchor at the Dolby Theatre for a three week L.A. premiere! You guessed it! Jimmy Buffett himself was present on the red carpet – along with the ENTIRE cast of the show – accompanied by some of our Hollywood friends! Listen in as Will and Wendy hit the carpet and then check in during intermission and af...

It’s curtains up on a very special episode of West of Broadway, a celebration of musical theatre on the West Coast! with theatre veteran Will Armstrong and introducing West of Broadway’s new co-host Broadway Veteran and all around wonderful human Wendy Rosoff. Wendy has been a guest several times on West of Broadway but now, she has officially joined the show and we are so grateful for her energy, insight and expertise and she coul...

It’s curtains up on a special episode of West Broadway! I’m Los Angeles publicist and Broadway veteran Will Armstrong. This episode is a bit of a departure from our normal shows at west of Broadway, but as I think of it, maybe it’s less of a departure and more of an evolution. After all, as I see it, a podcast about musical theater on the West Coast is great. But what is musical theater without… Theater? Yesterday I was asked to at...

It’s curtains up on another episode of West of Broadway. I’m Broadway Veteran Will Armstrong and this is a continuation of our Broadway Con Series. That’s right, the West of Broadway crew went all the way to NYC for the 5th annual Broadway Con. We met celebrities, broadway fanatics and some innovators really changing the way broadway fans connect with their favorite shows and personalities. While walking the Marketplace floor, we r...

On this episode of West of Broadway, Will Armstrong interviews Michael (Mike) Milton at the 2020 Broadway Con where he was debuting his new mentoring App Shadow Star! Mike took time off from his national tour of Jersey Boys to personally reveal his anxiously awaited app to the convention-goers in New York City. Shadow Star is the premier Broadway mentoring mobile app designed to help those in search of a career in the performing ar...

On this special 50th episode of West of Broadway, we head east to the 5th annual Broadway Con in New York City to celebrate musical theater with thousands of super fans! This being our 50th episode, we wanted to do something special, so we caught up with Broadway veteran Laurie Wells to talk careers, our love for musical theater and her partnership with a brand-new mentoring app called Shadow Star! Shadow Star is the premier Broadw...

Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ in Costa Mesa, California continues it's 2019 – 2020 Family Series with The Joshua Show: Episode 2 This family-friendly production plays February 1 and 2 in Samueli Theater. Will caught up with Joshua himself. Joshua holden is an Award-winning puppeteer and Ambassador joy.  He shares how he uses singing, tap dancing and a cast of zany puppets to thrill audiences of all ages in his whimsical produ...

On this episode of West of Broadway, Will talks with Tony Award-winner and five-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti who is bringing her one-woman act to Walnut Creek, California's Lesher Center for the Arts on Friday, January 31st. In her show titled, "Tales from Soprano Isle," Laura will be performing alongside a pianist for a night that will leave you in awe and in stitches. We also discuss her participation in the ...

Welcome to part 2 of our series on Disney's Frozen 1st National Tour. Today we are connecting with Evan Strand one of the actors who plays the impressive and loveable Sven the Reindeer. Listen in as we learn about Evans path from Ballet, to firefighter training, to acting to dawning the intricate mantle of Sven. Frozen is currently playng at the world-famous Hollywood Pantages Theater and is embarking on the first leg of what p...

Thank you for joining us on our first episode of 2020! Listen in as we speak with Mason Reeves, the exceptionally talented young man who has stepped away from his senior year at the University of Michigan to originate the role of Kristoff in Disney's Frozen National Tour. Currently playing at the Hollywood Pantages Theater til Feb. 2nd, tickets are available athttps://www.hollywoodpantages.com/ Additional Links:: https://www.ma...

It's a special day in studio at West of Broadway! We are joined by the amazing Becky Lythgoe to discuss the 10th anniversary of Lythgoe Family Panto! Listen in as we discuss the upcoming presentation of A Snow White Christmas. In England, the holidays just aren’t the holidays without a trip to a classic Panto. Lythgoe Family Panto’s fun spin on Snow White brings all the slapstick fun and audience participation that Pantos are k...