I Wanna Be Like You with Elbi Cespedes

Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf is cellist with more than 20 Broadway credits. She currently plays in the pit of The Great Gatsby on Broadway! Some of her theater credits include the original Off Broadway production of The Last 5 Years, The Bridges of Madison County, A Little Night Music (2009 revival) and many others. In 2021, she released her debut album Music of Broadway For Cello and Piano which featured new orchestrations of music by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Alan Menken and many more! We discuss all of that, the quote Elaine Stritch gave her for her website, and even get a LIVE CELLO PERFORMANCE IN...

Julia Murney is currently starring in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as Rona at The Cape Playhouse running now to September 19th! She's most well known for having originated the role of Queenie in Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination! Her previous Broadway credits include Wicked (Elphaba) and Lennon the Musical! We get to chatting about all of that and more!

David Lindsay-Abaire is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright, book writer and lyricist whose work has appeared on screen and stage! He won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Rabbit Hole in 2007 (which was adapted into a feature film starring Nicole Kidman) and the Tony Award in 2023 for Best Book of a Musical as well as Best Musical for Kimberly Akimbo (a musical based on his play of the same name) which he wrote with Tony Award winning composer Jeanine Tesori. The show just concluded a national tour and has now begun performances in the UK starring Ma...

Al Tapper is a composer and producer who's composed more than a dozen musicals including his latest show After All These Years which opens at the AMT Theater on September 10th! He's produced the documentaries Broadway: The Golden Age and Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy which featured interviews from Broadway legends such as Stephen Sondheim, Carol Burnett, Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, John Raitt, and many many more! We get to talking all about that, his experiences with Marlon Brando, Neil Simon, and Steven Spielberg and much more!

Howard McGillin is a 2 time Tony Award nominated Broadway actor who also holds the record for most performances as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera. He also originated the role of Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Broadway! He also led the cast of the Stephen Sondheim musical Bounce (as Wilson) which premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC opposite Richard Kind, Michele Pawk and Gavin Creel. His other Broadway credits include the latest revival of Parade, Gigi, She Loves Me, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Secret...

Jody Reynard is a Broadway veteran currently playing Mr. Duvall in Mean Girls at The Cape Playhouse! He booked his Broadway debut as a swing in Fosse after an Ann Reinking led dance call! He also starred in Legally Blonde, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and Taboo on Broadway! Part time, he teaches numerous classes at Broadway Dance Center! We get to talking about the key to Fosse technique, meeting Ben Vereen, and nailing musical comedy! Go see Mean Girls now through August 29th!

Jody Reynard is a Broadway veteran currently playing Mr. Duvall in Mean Girls at The Cape Playhouse! He booked his Broadway debut as a swing in Fosse after an Ann Reinking led dance call! He also starred in Legally Blonde, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and Taboo on Broadway! Part time, he teaches numerous classes at Broadway Dance Center! We get to talking about the key to Fosse technique, meeting Ben Vereen, and nailing musical comedy! Go see Mean Girls now through August 29th!

Angie Schworer is a Broadway veteran with more than 10

Broadway credits! She's most well known for originating the role of Angie in The Prom, a role that was based on her and was played by Nicole Kidman in the Ryan Murphy Netflix film adaptation which we talk about as well! She made her Broadway debut in The Will Rogers Follies directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune. Her other Broadway credits include the original cast of The Producers, Some Like It Hot, Crazy For You and Sunset Boulevard. She's now taking up direction and choreography herself as she'll...

Tony Yazbeck is Broadway veteran who received a Tony Award nomination for the role of Gabie in the 2014 Broadway revival of On The Town! After making his Broadway debut as a child in the 1989 Revival of Gypsy, he’d then be in the 2008 Revival Gypsy this time as Tulsa however the journey getting there contained multiple twists and turns which we got to discussing at length! Other Broadway credits include A Chorus Line, Oklahoma, Prince of Broadway and most recently Flying Over Sunset! He’s currently playing Stone in Ogunquit’s production of City Of Angels! We get to talkin...

Cynthia Meng made history as first woman to ever conduct Ragtime on Broadway which now holds the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and closes August 16th at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Broadway! Her other work on Broadway includes Company (2021 Revival), Dead Outlaw and Hadestown (for which she was a part of from the original Broadway production as a music assistant), and much more! Onscreen, she served as the Associate Vocal Supervisor for the film Spirited (starring Ryan Reynolds & Will Ferrell) as well as the 3rd season of the acclaimed Hulu series Only Murders in the...

Donna Lynne Champlin is currently starring in The Loved Ones as Cheryl-Ann at Irish Rep open now until August 2nd! Her most notable stage work includes playing Pirelli in the 2005 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd (directed by John Doyle featuring Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone as Sweeney and Mrs Lovett respectively), playing Older Helen in Hollywood Arms (a semi-autobiographical role created by Carol Burnett and directed by Hal Prince), and James Joyce's The Dead starring opposite Alice Ripley, Marni Nixon and Christopher Walken! Many may know her as Paula Proctor in the hit CW musical comedy TV series Crazy...

Joomin Hwang is a Broadway performer turned author currently in & Juliet (alongside Joey Fatone & Chrissy Metz!) which he's been in since it originally opened on Broadway in 2022! He made his Broadway debut in The Prom in 2018 after immigrating from South Korea where he was a competitive breakdancer! He's now written a self help book titled The Rule of Five Journal which is OUT NOW helping those struggling to balance negativity in their lives with positivity! 

Joel Blum is a 2 time Tony Award nominated actor with multiple Broadway, Off Broadway and National Tour credits! He received his Tony Award nominations for his performances as Frank in the 1994 Revival of Show Boat (directed by Hal Prince and choreographed by Susan Stroman) and Buddy in Kander & Ebb’s Steel Pier respectively! Some of his earlier credits include being a part of the original ensemble of 42nd Street on Broadway and Debbie Reynolds’ Vegas act! In 2000, he starred as Marcellus in a Broadway revival of The Music Man alongside Craig Bierko, Eric McCormack, and Robert Sean Leonard! We get...

Ken Jennings is a Broadway star best known for originating the role of Tobias in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! His other Broadway credits include the original Broadway casts of Grand Hotel, Side Show, and Urinetown (originating the role of Hot Blades Harry)! Disney Parks fans will know him as a hologram in the short lived EPCOT attraction The Astuter Computer Revue! His one man show The Gospel of John which he performed off Broadway was nominated for the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Solo Performance and he continues to tour the show across the...

Jack O’Brien is a theater legend whose work spans genres and across the globe. He’s directed classic Shakespearean plays (incuding Henry IV, MacBeth starring Ethan Hawke and more on Broadway), original Tom Stoppard epics (The Coast of Utopia, The Invention of Love and more on Broadway) and some of the greatest musical comedies of the contemporary era (Hairspray, Shucked and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)! Having directed more than 50 Broadway productions and 4 Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award he received in 2024), Jack has become one of the most prolific directors to ever work onstage. His work in the regi...

Stephanie Klemons is currently the Associate Choreographer for Hamilton (Broadway, National Tours and UK) as well as Heathers Off Broadway. She also appeared in the original Broadway casts of Hamilton, In The Heights (for which she also served as the Dance Captain) and If/Then! As a choreographer she worked on Rock & Roll Man, In the Heights (Kennedy Center), and numerous commercials and music videos. We get to talking about what it was like being in the room where it happened helping create the movement of Hamilton and In the Heights, working with Andy Blankenbuehler, the extent of an...

Grace Yurchuk is a singer/songwriter and musical theater composer, and a 2024 graduate of NYU Steinhardt (B.M., Classical Vocal Performance). She is best known for Caesar: The Musical, as well as her self-produced theater-pop songs like “30 Seconds” and “Mixed Messages.” Grace built her audience for Caesar by sharing each draft for the show online as it was written, as well as other peeks into her creative process. She funded the show’s studio cast EP through a Kickstarter campaign which was selected as a Kickstarter “Project We Love,” ultimately surpassing its goal and raising over $36,000. In addition to her work as a compos...

Alejo Vietti is our first costume designer on the show! His work is currently represented on Broadway in the Tony Award nominated Titanique which he's been a part of since it's premiere in NYC. Other Broadway credits include SMASH, Holiday Inn, Allegiance and Beautiful: the Carole King Musical! Originally from Argentina, Alejo has worked with some of the most prominent costume designers to ever work in the industry including Ann Roth and Bob Crowley! He also worked as an associate to Jess Goldstein on the original Broadway production of Jersey Boys! We get to talking about what it means...

Jim Borstelmann is a Broadway veteran having been in the original casts of The Producers, The Addams Family and many more. Jim was in the ensemble of the 1996 revival of Chicago starring Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth and Joel Grey which is still on Broadway holding the record for the longest running Broadway revival. A self taught dancer, Jim made his Broadway debut working under the legendary Jerome Robbins having been a swing in Jerome Robbins' Broadway. His most recent Broadway appearance was in 2023 in New York, New York, marking his 4th Broadway collaboration with former guest and Broadway icon...

Kevin Adams is a 4 time Tony Award winning lighting designer who's currently nominated for his 9th Tony Award for his lighting design on the 2025 Broadway revival of Chess! His previous credits include the Off Broadway and Broadway productions of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Spring Awakening (for which he won his first Tony Award for). He's also worked on the original productions of Next to Normal, American Idiot, SpongeBob Squarepants, and The Cher Show! His work transcends musicals having worked on operas, Broadway plays, and one person shows including John Leguizamo's Sexaholix! Upcoming, he's working on a new...

Maulik Pancholy is currently starring as Reverend Howard Layton/The Leprechaun in Schmigadoon on Broadway! Onscreen he's best known as the voice of Baljeet in the Disney Channel sensation Phineas and Ferb and Sanjay in Sanjay and Craig on Nickelodeon. He's also well known as Jack Donaughy's assistant Jonathan on the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock! His former Broadway credits include It's Only A Play and Grand Horizons! Coming up, he'll be starring alongside Paul Giamatti, Julianne Moore, Bernadette Peters and more in Jesse Eisenberg's new untitled movie musical from A24. His new novel Will They, Won't They? will be...

Beowulf Boritt is a 2 time Tony Award winning scenic designer! His charity The 1/52 Project which focuses on amplifying marginalized designers has won the 2026 Tony Award Honor For Excellence In Theatre! Some of his work on Broadway includes Act One, New York, New York, On The Town, A Bronx Tale, Flying Over Sunset, The Scottsboro Boys, Sunday in the Park with George (2017), Prince Of Broadway and many more! His book Transforming Space Over Time released in 2022 and features a detailed look to the scenic design process as well as featuring interviews with legendary theater directors including Hal Prince, Susan Stroman...

FIFTH DREAM GUEST! Susan Stroman is a 5 time Tony Award winning Broadway director and choreographer! Her most iconic work includes directing and choreographing The Producers (working alongside Mel Brooks), Contact (for which she won multiple Tony Awards including Best Musical), the 2000 Broadway revival of The Music Man, Bullets Over Broadway (alongside Woody Allen), New York, New York and many more! As a choreographer, she's responsible for the original choreography of the smash hit Crazy For You, the 1994 revival of Show Boat, Oklahoma starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Trevor Nunn, Liza at Radio City Music Hall, and Steel Pier...

Two-time Grammy Award nominee Lisa Lampanelli was known for more than 30 years as “Comedy’s Lovable Queen of Mean.” A constant on the comedy scene, with countless tours, 13 NBC “Tonight Show” appearances, and sold-out performances at Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall under her belt, she became well-known for her roasting skills, publicly lambasting everyone from David Hasselhoff to Flavor Flav to Pamela Anderson on Comedy Central. In 2016, Lisa decided to do something a little different. She wrote “Stuffed,” a four-person play about food and body-image issues, which enjoyed two off-Broadway runs! Her charitable efforts -- she raised $130,000 for the Gay Me...

Stephen Kramer Glickman is most well known for the beloved role Gustavo Rocque on the hit Nickelodeon series which created the boy band of the same name, Big Time Rush, a band and TV show Elbi was absolutely obsessed with growing up! His theater history is also vast having originated the role of Shrek in the pre Broadway developmental workshops of the musical rendition for YEARS as well as helping develop the role of Frankenstein's Monster along with Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman for Young Frankenstein! His voice can be heard as Pigeon Toady alongside Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Aniston...

Jeffrey Seller has impacted the theater industry forever. Best known as the lead producer of Hamilton, Rent, In The Heights, and Avenue Q (all of which won him the Tony Award for Best Musical), Jeffrey is the only person to have produced two Pulitzer Prize winning musicals. On top of this, Jeffrey alongside his former producing partner Kevin McCollum created the rush and lottery discount ticket options 30 years ago with Rent! He's now written a memoir titled Theatre Kid which is available on paperback beginning May 6th! In this very special episode, we get to talking about the state...

Carey Renee Sharpe is currently starring in the Off Broadway show which she also co-wrote, Blood/Love at Theater 555! A former nurse from Wisconsin, Carey decided to pivot her career after renovating a venue in her hometown. Alongside her writing partner Dru Decaro (Grammy nominated producer for Snoop Dogg, John Legend, Sabrina Carpenter and many more) the two have spent the last 6 years developing and writing the world premiere vampire pop opera Blood/Love which is open now to May 10th!

Claybourne Elder is a Broadway star whose work spans decades on stage and screen. His new album If The Stars Were Mine is streaming everywhere now and you could also look out for his solo shows where he performs songs from the album, sharing their relation to his journey to Broadway, his childhood, current fatherhood and beyond! He originated the role of Hollis in one of Stephen Sondheim's final musicals, Road Show. Aside from Road Show, his work on Sondheim projects includes the most recent Broadway revival of Company (Andy), Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, Sondheim on...

Mark Evans is an actor whose stage work spans multiple continents having starred in multiple West End AND Broadway shows! His Broadway debut was The Play That Goes Wrong which he's now the Associate Director of Off Broadway at New World Stages. Some of his other Broadway credits, include Waitress, Mrs Doubtfire, and Tammy Faye! His West End credits include originating Troy Bolton in High School Musical, Sam in Ghost, Fiyero in Wicked, and swing in the Original London Cast of Spamalot amongst many more! He currently runs his own acting studio, Mark Evans Studio which holds weekly classes...

Simon Leary is a New Zealand based actor who's making in his NYC debut off Broadway in a new play titled Heartbreak Hotel at the DR2 Theatre running now until April 19th! Originally from Timaru, NZ, Simon has since moved to Wellington where he's performed in numerous productions at the Circa Theatre including The Glass Menagerie, A Servant to Two Masters and more! On top of all this, he's written and starred in many pantos which are family friendly productions based on fairytales that are especially prominent in the UK as well as New Zealand. We get to talking...

Michael Sommers is a drama critic currently working for New York Stage Review. He served as the president of the New York Drama Critics Circle for two terms as well as freelanced for the The New York Times and Backstage to name a few. Michael was a longtime chief of The Star Ledger as well as the Newhouse News Service! We get to talking about the history of drama critics, whether or not being a critic still holds much weight in a time where influencers' opinions dominate, and what he's looking forward to this season.

Currently nominated for an Olivier Award for his work on Shucked in the West End, Robert Horn is a Tony Award winning Book Writer for his work on Tootsie alongside David Yazbek! Prior to working in theater, Robert had a successful career in TV/Film writing on Designing Women, Living Single and High Society to name a few. He’s penned some successful television movies for Disney Channel including the High School Musical spinoff Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, The Suite Life Movie and Teen Beach Movie! Robert began his career writing musicals by working alongside Jason Robert Brown on the...

IN HONOR OF OUR 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WE'RE RE-RELEASING EPISODES ALL WEEK! RE-RELEASE FROM JUNE 2025!

Currently starring in Schmigadoon on Broadway, Brad Oscar has received 2 Tony Award nominations for starring in the original companies of The Producers and Something Rotten as Franz Liebkind and Nostradamus respectively.He just wrapped up 8 shows a week in Wicked on Broadway as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! He’s also originated the casts of Jekyll & Hyde and Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway! Most recently, Brad played Mayor Menlove in the stage production (as well as multiple readings) of Schmigadoon! based on the TV sh...

IN HONOR OF OUR 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WE'RE RE-RELEASING EPISODES ALL WEEK! RE-RELEASE FROM NOVEMBER 2025!

Currently starring in Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway alongside Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bacharach, Michael Kostroff is an actor with over 100 TV/Film credits! He’s best known for his role as the defense attorney Maurice Levy on The Wire as well as the executive producer Marshall Pike on Disney Channel’s Sonny with a Chance! Upcoming, he’ll be starring in the new live action Marvel/Sony series Spider-Noir premiering May 27th based on the hit Spider Verse films alongside Nicolas Cage on MGM...

IN HONOR OF OUR 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WE'RE RE-RELEASING EPISODES ALL WEEK! RE-RELEASE FROM MAY 2025!Currently starring as The Dentist in Off Broadway's hit Little Shop of Horrors, Andy Karl is an Olivier Award winning and 3 time Tony Award nominated actor whose career spans widely amongst screen and stage. He's most well known for his Olivier Award winning performance as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day the Musical which he performed on Broadway (Tony Award nomination), London's West End and most recently in Australia. He's originated musicals including Rocky the Musical (where he played the titular role and received a Tony...

Thank you for watching and listening to I Wanna Be Like You with Elbi Cespedes for one whole year! Here's to many more!

Rob Rokicki is best known for composing and writing the lyrics for the cult musical The Lightning Thief based on the hit book series Percy Jackson & The Olympians! The musical has gone on to be performed all over the world and we get to talking all about the new Original London Cast Recording whcih Rob also co-orchestrated and is OUT NOW! What started as just a Theater For Young Audiences production became a full length musical that ran on Broadway, the West End is currently touring the UK! Aside from this, Rob currently works at MTI Theatricals helping develop...

Janine LaManna is a Broadway star who's most well known for originating the role of Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical! Her other Broadway credits include Evelyn Nesbitt in the original production of Ragtime, Kiss Me Kate, The Drowsy Chaperone and more! She also starred in PBS' version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego as Carmen Sandiego! She also performed multiple times at the White House during the Bush administration! She joins us to discuss her career, what Broadway was like post 9/11 and how the role of Gertrude is one she'll cherish forever.

Andrew Keenan-Bolger is a Broadway veteran most well known as the original Crutchie in Newsies on Broadway! He's also an author with his new debut solo YA novel Limelight OUT NOW! He also starred and created the webseries Submissions Only which lasted 3 seasons on YouTube! Some of his other Broadway credits include Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins and Tuck Everlasting! We get to talking about his time originating Jojo in Seussical out of town in Boston, his Newsies journey and co-writing his first couple of novels, the Jack & Louisa series!

Adam Gwon is an award winning composer and lyricist whose work has been performed on 6 continents! His musical Ordinary Days premiered Off Broadway in 2008 and has gone on to become a hit beyond its Off Broadway run in part thanks to its successful cast album! His songs Fine, I'll Be Here and Favorite Places from Ordinary Days have gone on to be performed at concerts and cabarets all over the world! He's here now to discuss the cast album for his latest musical All The World's A Stage which premiered last spring Off Broadway and is OUT NOW and...