Advertise on podcast: I Wanna Be Like You with Elbi Cespedes

Jim Weaver is currently the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota Florida. Prior to this, he was part of the original Broadway cast of Michael John LaChuisa's Marie Christine (alongside Audra McDonald) and the ensemble of the 2009 Broadway revival of Ragtime. His voice can be heard on the original cast recording of Stephen Schwartz's Children of Eden as he was in the national premiere of the production at Paper Mill Playhouse. He can now be seen as The Raconteur in Sophisticated Ladies at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe alongside your host Elbi Cespedes running now through November 22nd!

Currently making his Broadway debut as Doc in the Tony Award winning Best Musical Schmigadoon, Juan Pablo Di Pace is an Argentine-born actor, dancer, musician and film director who has worked across stages in Europe and the U.S. His TV credits include Fernando on Netflix’s “Fuller House,” Jesus in NBC’s “A.D.: The Bible Continues” (Movieguide Award, Best Actor), Ricardo Somocurcio in Mario Vargas Llosa’s “The Bad Girl,” Nicolas Treviño in “Dallas,” “Angie Tribeca” and “The Catherine Tate Show.” Pace’s film credits include Mamma Mia!; Dashing in December; The Mattachine Family; Survival Island; and Holiday Unplugged (Hallmark, upcoming). His theatre credits include Chicago (London), Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (Madrid), Juan in Más de 100 Mentiras (Madrid) and fronted The Music of George Michael with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He wrote and co-directed the upcoming feature Before We Forget, executive produced by Norman Lear (17 awards, including Newfest Audience Award), and wrote and starred in Act One (Madrid, New York).

Rachel Potter is a recording artist and Broadway actress who you may have seen on screen on The X Factor US and The Search for Elle Woods and on Broadway in The Addams Family (Wednesday) and Evita (2012, Mistress)! She's now returning to The Addams Family at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville where she'll be leading The Addams Family Live in Concert on October 30th and 31st! Next she'll be playing Elsa in Nashville Rep's upcoming production of Frozen! We get to talking about all of that, her time in reality TV, dealing with the struggles of social media hate in its infancy and much more!

Elena Shaddow is a Broadway veteran who on October 29th will be taking on the challenge of revisiting and singing the entire score of Nine at 54 Below in her new show Elena Shaddow Sings Nine...All of It! Her previous Broadway credits include Nine (2003 revival), La Cage Aux Folles, The Bridges of Madison County, Sweet Smell of Success, Les Miserables and The Woman in White and The Visit! We go through each one of those shows, discuss the biggest lessons she's learned from working with Chita Rivera and John Lithgow and the challenges of being an understudy! Go see Elena Shaddow Sings Nine...All Of It at 54 Below on 10/29!

Steven Skybell has become most well known as Tevye in the Yiddish version of Fiddler on the Roof which has done multiple NYC runs since 2019. Next up he'll be starring Off Broadway in the new play Aftermath by David Zax which starts performances at A.R.T./NY’s Mezzanine Theatre with performances beginning October 19th! Most recently he was seen on Broadway alongide Bebe Neuwirth in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club as Herr Schultz! His other Broadway credits include The Full Monty, Wicked, Pal Joey and many more! He'll reprising the role of Tevye in the Yiddish version in 2027 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles!

Chad Beguelin is a Tony Award nominated lyricist whose work has been seen on stage and screen! Most notably him and writing partner composer Matthew Sklar wrote The Prom (which was adapted into a Ryan Murphy helmed Netflix film starring Meryl Streep), Elf the Musical and The Wedding Singer! He also wrote additional lyrics alongside Alan Menken for the Broadway adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin (still running on Broadway having recently celebrated 11 years) finishing the work of an inspiration of his, Howard Ashman! Most recently, he penned his first novel Showmance which was released in 2024! We get to discussing his entire career, the new musical he’s working on with the creative team of The Prom and more!

Larry Fuller is a Tony Award nominated choreographer who’s career in the theater spans decades on and offstage. His work as a choreographer includes the original Broadway productions of Evita, Sweeney Todd, and Merrily We Roll Along! As a performer himself, he was a swing in the original Broadway cast of West Side Story, the original production of The Music Man and Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand! We get to discussing it all as well as his new book to be released in the spring of 2027!

Timothy Hughes is gearing up to star in the upcoming Broadway musical Wanted! Some previous Broadway credits include the original Broadway casts of Frozen and Hadestown, the latter earned him an article in The New York Times regarding his height (6'7"). Most recently on screen he was featured alongside Lisa Kudrow in the final season of HBO's The Comeback. Another major screen credit is The Greatest Showman, where he played Strong Man. You may have also heard his voice on Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis' concept album Warriors singing We Got You alongside Joshua Henry! Other Broadway credits include Chaplin, Sweeney Todd (2023) and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

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 STUDIO!

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 Maria Friedman! His latest work The Balusters just wrapped up a successful Broadway run having won the Drama Desk Award for Best Play! Some of his other stage work includes his first collaboration with Tesori: Shrek the Musical as well as the plays Good People, Ripcord, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World and many more! His work on screen includes the films Robots, Poltergeist (2015), The Family Fang and more! He currently serves as the Co-Director of Julliard's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrighting Program. We get to talking about all of his stage work as well as his new musical that he's writing with Tesori and much more!

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 Garden (as Archibald), Sunday in the Park with George, and Anything Goes (as Billy, opposite Patti LuPone)! We get to talking all about that, his time working on iconic Sunday scene from tick, tick...boom, and much more!

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 be working on the upcoming Ogunquit Playhouse production of The Producers as well as directing an upcoming regional production of Annie at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head Island, SC!