Carolyn talks to Rob all about her start at WashU in playwriting and continuing into a stellar career of work both on-screen and onstage. She also speaks about her work finding community with other WashU creatives based in the LA area via HollyWU LA. Very excited that Carolyn said 'yes' to being featured in our first PAD pod. Check it out. And check out this Howlround article about one of Carolyn's pieces we mention on the pod called Acting Against Sexual Assault.
On this episode of the PAD podcast, Rob interviews Emily Wells - an award-winning WashU alum with experience in stage managing, directing, and creative producing. Emily is the Artistic Director of the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio after spending a number of years producing at Houston Grand Opera and Portland Center Stage. Emily talks about what the PAD taught her about advocating for her art and multidisciplinary collaboration. Don't miss this inspiring episode!
On this episode of the PAD podcast, Rob has a riveting discussion with PAD and WashU alum Emily Brandwin who joined the pod all the way from her new home in Bangkok, Thailand. After graduation from WashU, Emily's parents told her to get out of the house and get a "real job." So, Emily got the realest job possible: protecting the country in its most secretive organization: the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Following her time in service to her country, Emily has led a vast and very multidisciplinary career across numerous fields including as a podcast host, spokesperson, media commentator/personality, consultant, actor, speaker, and author. She has authored pieces for Time, Marie Claire, The Guardian, Marie Claire Australia, Medium, and has been featured in the Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Yahoo, Newsweek, and St. Louis Magazine.
On this episode of the PAD podcast, Rob chats with actor/director/writer/producer Tijuana Ricks about her fantastic and varied career post-graduation from growing up in Gramercy, Louisiana to attending WashU to graduating from the Yale School of Drama to sharing the stage with the likes of Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman to being a 2023 Women in Film Fellow to co-founding Some Folks Productions that strives to "tell stories that advance the narratives of the unheard." This is a good one folks!
On this new episode of the PAD podcast, Rob chats with accomplished writer, director, screenwriter, and film producer Max Rissman! Max’s first feature film, UPON WAKING, won the Alternative Spirit award at the 2023 Rhode Island Film Festival. His digital series ROOT FOR THE VILLAIN was an official selection of the 2018 Austin Film Festival and Bentonville Film Festival, and his screenplay HIT ME HARDER was featured on the 2020 GLAAD List, an award presented at the Sundance Film Festival by The Black List and GLAAD. Don’t miss this great episode with this talented WashU alum!
A new PAD podcast episode is LIVE and is the debut of our first dancer on the #PADpod with an in-depth interview of acclaimed dancer and choreographer David Dorfman! For nearly 40 years, David has been the artistic director of David Dorfman Dance (DDD) which espouses to create innovative, inclusive, and 'radically humanistic' dance'. David is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including a Barrymore Award for best choreography for the musical Green Violin, a Lucille Lortel for choreographing INDECENT’s off-Broadway run, a Guggenheim Fellowship, four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships, an American Choreographer's Award, and the first Paul Taylor Fellowship from The Yardand. David is a Professor of Dance at Connecticut College where DDD is based. Don't miss this 'radically humanistic', delightful, and thought-provoking episode!
We kick off the 2024-25 academic year of PAD podcasts with an interview of award-winning writer, playwright, lyricist, screenwriter, and poet Steven Sater in a candid interview about his time at WashU, his creative process, and his career. Do NOT miss this opportunity to hear from the two-time Tony, Grammy, and Olivier award-winning author of the 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening and glean some wonderful wisdom on life, lessons, and literature.
A new #PADpodcast episode is live and features multidisciplinary actor and voiceover artist Corey Jones. Corey talks about his upbringing in Chicago and how a teacher prodded him to take on some challenging roles. From there, he attended WashU initially as an Architecture major and shifted to History and Drama followed by an internship with the Black Repertory Theatre. He did his graduate work in acting at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em) and has enjoyed a career touring all over the world with Book of Mormon, playing roles at some of the nation’s top regional theatre companies, and is both a voiceover and motion-capture actor for film (Spider-Man (2018), Trigger (2012) and Spider-Man 2 (2023)) and video games voicing the character of Tombstone. He credits his range and fascination with history fostered by the interdisciplinary education he received at #WashU for his success. Do NOT miss this inspiring episode interview of Corey Jones!
“You have to believe that you are worth your own time.” – Sasha Diamond
For PAD Podcast episode #9, Rob sits down with talented stage, television, and film actor, photographer, and proud PAD alum Sasha Diamond! The discussion begins with some wonderful wisdom from Sasha’s Mom and only grows in sage advice and lessons learned from the industry from that point forward. Among other things, Sasha describes her circuitous journey after graduating from #WashU with a BA in Comparative Arts including her time as a bus tour guide for Sex In The City tours, acting and improv classes, and using her talents in play and improv to advance her career as a photographer as well. We talk about Keala Settle’s rehearsal of ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman and how that attitude towards art and life can encourage us all to ‘lean in’ and pursue our creative dreams. Don’t miss this episode full of heart and inspiration from Sasha Diamond!
Episode number TEN of the #PADPod is already upon us and features talented multidisciplinary actor, musician, illustrator, and animator Manik Choksi. The son of immigrants, Manik, grew up in St. Louis and started a career onstage completely by accident due to a scheduling error by a high school registrar. Manik went on to study Drama at #WashU and Julliard and credits many of his former PAD professors and his involvement in student groups like All-Student Theatre and Mama’s Pot Roast (improv) with inspiring him to pursue a career in the arts. Manik now boasts a robust career that includes television guest and recurring roles for shows like New Amsterdam and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on NBC, CBS, HBO, and Netflix, as well as NYC theatre work both on and off Broadway, including being a member of the original cast in the role of Dolokhov in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Manik is also a talented musician, songwriter, animator, and illustrator! He can do it all. He is also currently a commissioned artist at Ars Nova and creating an epic concert-based adaptation of The Ramayana. Rob samples a song he wrote called ‘The Vow’ from The Ramayana at the end of the podcast so do not miss this episode!
On this episode, Rob welcomes alum Jack Isaac Pryor (they/them). Jack is a writer, theater artist, and performance studies scholar specializing in experimental forms; queer, trans, and feminist theories and methods; and the politics of time. As an Associate Professor of Theater at Penn State-Abington, Dr. Pryor specializes in experimental performance and queer, trans, and feminist theories and methods and teaches courses that combine studio-based practice with the rigorous study of social history and critical theory. Their first book, Time Slips: Queer Temporalities, Contemporary Performance, and the Hole of History (Northwestern University Press), examines the capacity of performance to revise histories of racialized and gendered violence, as well as to reveal queer and transgender futures not determined by past harm. The book also experiments with form, moving between academic prose and creative nonfiction. Dr. Pryor received their BA in Performing Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and MA and PhD in Theater from the University of Texas at Austin (designated emphasis in Performance as Public Practice), earning Doctoral Portfolio Certificates in both Cultural Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Episode 12 of the PAD pod is live and features actor, director, producer, writer, and teacher Sanjit De Silva. Sanjit shares his incredible story about arriving in the U.S. as an immigrant from Sri Lanka and finding his way to WashU where he double majored in biology and drama with a minor in film studies. While still at WashU, his film study started with an internship at Spike Lee's company 40 Acres and a Mule where Sanjit was a PA on films Summer of Sam and Man on the Moon. He went on to receive an MFA from NYU’s prestigious Graduate Acting Program and followed that with roles both on Broadway in War Horse and Off-Broadway with some of the most acclaimed directors in the world of theatre. He wrote, starred and co-directed the short film Time After and directed and produced the short film Tea Time. His film and television credits are extensive and include roles in The Girl is in Trouble (with Spike Lee), The Company Men, and American Desi (film) and Evil, Blindspot, Madam Secretary, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Law & Order, and New Amsterdam (television). He’s also written four plays with wife Deepa Purohit and is the founder of SilvaDollar Films which exists to create and produce stories about the American experience that aren’t seen in the mainstream. Do not miss this insightful interview with the amazing Sanjit De Silva!
Episode 13 of the PAD podcast features director, writer, and educator Pirronne Yousefzadeh, who joins the podcast from Minneapolis, Minnesota in her current role as Associate Artistic Director at the Playwrights' Center. Pirronne has directed and developed work all over the country at places like The Public, New York Theatre Workshop, The Kennedy Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, and Geva Theatre Center, to name a few. She is also a founding member of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations engaging with stories from the Middle East and beyond. Pirronne received her MFA in Directing from Columbia University under the mentorship of Anne Bogart, Robert Woodruff, and Brian Kulick and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Theatre and English Literature from WashU. Do not miss this inspiring and thought-provoking episode with the delightful and talented Pirronne Yousefzadeh.
Episode 14 of the PAD podcast is live and features producer, writer, marketing director, and author Eric Schnall! Eric has worked on and off Broadway for more than twenty-five years which included winning a Tony Award for the Broadway revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and a Lucille Lortel Award for Fleabag. He has also written about techno and electronic music for Billboard and Revolution, profiling DJs and musicians from around the world. Eric lives in New York City with his partner and his dog. His first novel I Make Envy On Your Disco was the winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in Fiction and has been promoted on programs like Watch What Happens Live. Eric speaks about his journey before, during and after his time at WashU and imparts some beautiful wisdom for all the listeners. Don’t miss this one!
Episode 15 of the PAD podcast is a special one featuring our first in-person podcast interview with recent PAD alum and director of the WashU production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Brenna Jones! Literally on the Spelling Bee set, Rob talks with Brenna about all things Spelling Bee comprised of an all-student cast, designers, and crew but also discusses her many outside projects that she managed even while a busy WashU student! In 2018, Brenna was approached by the Showboat Theatre Board in her hometown of Hermann, MO and asked to start a program for the local students to experience theatre. Along with her business partner, Brenna created the Half Act Theatre Company, which has grown to a troupe of over 100 students ages 4-18 that continues to bring summer camp theatre to Hermann and change young lives in the process. She has also helped to kickstart the Riverside Theatre Project, which is a cross-community collaboration between St. Louis and Hermann designed to open up dialogue between rural and urban artists. Don’t miss this inspiring episode interview of one of St. Louis (and Hermann’s) rising theatre stars: Brenna Jones!
After a summer hiatus, the PAD Podcast is back with a brand-new episode featuring PAD alumnus Jayson Johnson. Jayson is currently the Head of Strategic Partnerships and Chief of Staff at Genentech based in San Francisco. Rob and Jayson begin by talking about his journey at WashU studying and practicing Dance in the PAD followed by his post-graduation journey from Washington Ballet to the San Francisco Ballet where he worked his way up to his current position on the Board of Directors for the world famous institution. Jayson served for two years as a Commissioner for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and receives rave reviews from co-workers: “I gave him some of the most ambiguous problems to solve and he consistently delivered something better than I could have imagined”. Don’t miss this delightful interview where we learn about all the things Jayson learned at WashU that prepared him for the multiple roles he has had in life and how he continues to choreograph his future.
Episode 17 of the PAD podcast features our first guest in the design and technical area of the PAD in Adriane Heflin! Adriane is the amazingly talented and creative Technical Director for the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she has held the role for 17 years. Before that she was at the Guthrie Theatre with summer stock stints at such respected companies as Williamstown Theatre Festival, Stages St. Louis, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Adriane talks about her time in the PAD, the moment she realized that the theatre would be her artistic and career home, and the accolades she received performing in an open mic night at WashU called “INPO” (In No Particular Order). Don’t miss this infectious and inspiring episode featuring the incomparable Adriane Heflin!
Episode 18 of the PAD Podcast features our first Master’s graduate from the WashU Performing Arts Department in Dr. Jenny Kokai. Dr. Kokai is an award-winning educator, playwright, scholar, and administrator. She is currently the Director of the School of Theatre and Dance and Professor of Theatre at the University of South Florida (USF). As a scholar, she is recognized internationally for her work on tourism and performance, with a focus on themed and immersive entertainments. In 2017, she published the well-reviewed monograph Swim Pretty: Aquatic Spectacles and the Performance of Race, Gender, and Nature and in 2019 co-edited the anthology, Performance and the Disney Theme Park Experience: The Tourist as Actor. She also continues to publish as a playwright and her most recent work in that arena just came out in the form or two plays for young audiences: Zombie Thoughts and Ballet for Aliens co-written with her son, Oliver Kokai-Means. Ballet for Aliens toured and was presented to over 10,000 elementary school students throughout Utah in 2022-23 with Plan-B Theatre and Zombie Thoughts was turned into an app game by Riverside in Australia. Don’t miss this enlightening conversation with multidisciplinary artist and administrator Dr. Jenny Kokai!
Episode 19 of the PAD Podcast is a very special one featuring longtime beloved PAD faculty member Annamaria Pileggi. After 35 years in the department, Annamaria will be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 academic year leaving behind a legacy of dedicated teaching, collaborative theatre (and people) making, and a ‘butterfly effect’ of alumni who were inspired by Annamaria’s teaching and bring that energy to their lives and work all over the world. On the episode, Annamaria reflects on her training before arriving at WashU, her influences and mentors who helped her along the way, and her favorite productions and collaborations that made her career at WashU, as she says, a “joy”. If you feel a heartwarming shot of exuberance, wisdom, inspiration, and that distinctive Annamaria Pileggi laugh that has echoed in the PAD hallways for 35 wonderful years is what you need in life right now, then this episode is for you!
PAD podcast episode #20 is another very special one featuring beloved teacher, longtime PAD faculty member, and Professor of Practice Jeffery Matthews! Jeffery will be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 academic year after an astounding THIRTY-EIGHT years of teaching at #WashU. Jeffery has been on the PAD faculty since 1988 teaching courses in Acting, Directing, Voice and Speech and Theatre for Young Audiences. Jeffery was on the artistic staff of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis for twenty years as Artistic Supervisor of The Imaginary Theatre Company, the Rep’s touring children’s company. He is a professional director, actor, and dialect specialist. In the interview, Jeffery reflects on all flavors of shows, classes, and colleagues and even finishes the episode with a list of 70 students who come to mind as having made an impact on him over that period of time. In this holiday time of lists both ‘naughty and nice’, there’s only one way to know if you’re on Jeffery’s list and that is to LISTen to this episode!
Episode 21 of the PAD podcast picks up where we left interviewing amazingly talented alumni of the WashU Performing Arts Department (PAD) and this episode’s guest is no exception! On this episode, Rob interviews the multi-talented and multi-disciplinary artist Pun Bandhu. Pun is a graduate of both WashU and Yale School of Drama and has built a career as an award-winning actor in films Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading, Frozen River, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? as well as a noteworthy role as Lee in the movie Relay opposite Riz Ahmed. He has done guest appearances on television (Madame Secretary, Gotham, Blue Bloods, etc.) and has recurring roles as Victor Landis in Elsbeth and Judge Yun in Law and Order: SVU. Pun has performed opposite Cynthia Nixon in the Tony-nominated Wit on Broadway and has been seen at some of the best theatres Off-Broadway and regionally across the country. As you’ll also hear on the episode, Pun is a passionate advocate and the recipient of an Obie Award and Tony Honor as a co-founder of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) in recognition of the group’s impact in increasing diversity within the industry. Do not miss this delightful – and insightful – interview with proud WashU alum Pun Bandhu.
PAD Podcast episode 22 features an interview with multitalented and multidisciplinary theatre artist and educator Miriam White (with a guest visit from her dog Rio). Miriam talks about her time at WashU including a prescient planning session over pancakes (say that three times fast) where she and WashU classmates devised what would eventually become Nice People Theatre Company for which Miriam was Co-Artistic Director for 5 years. Miriam has since worked as a professional actor on stage at places like PlayPenn and Arden Theatre as well as a dedicated academic advisor for students from primary and secondary education at The Philadelphia School to undergraduates in higher ed at places like University of the Arts and University of Pennsylvania. Don’t miss this episode or you’ll miss out on some valuable Miriam White wisdom!
Episode 23 of the PAD Podcast features WashU alum Ben Winters. Ben is an accomplished novelist, television writer/producer, comic book writer, multiple New York Times bestseller, and creator of original audio content. Ben’s best-selling, award-winning books include Big Time, Golden State, The Quiet Boy, and Underground Airlines; the award-winning Last Policeman Trilogy, two novels for young readers (The Secret Life of Ms. Finkelman and The Mystery of the Missing Everything); two parody “mash-up” novels (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Android Karenina) and the cult horror novel The Bonus Room (previously titled Bedbugs). Ben’s work for television includes work on the FX show Legion and the historical thriller Manhunt on AppleTV. Ben is the creator of the smash-hit CBS network drama Tracker, which premiered after the Super Bowl in 2024. He has also written several Audible Originals for Audible.com, including Inside Jobs, Q&A, Self Help, Stranger, and Hitchhikers.
Of late, Ben is one of several comic-book writers involved in the ongoing anthology series Cruel Universe, part of the revival of EC Comics from Oni Press. Ben’s first solo comic book, a three-part series called Benjamin was published last summer.
Don’t miss this interview with master storyteller Ben Winters as he reflects on his time at WashU (including time in Mama’s Pot Roast) and beyond.
