“Live at The Lortel” Announces Upcoming April Guest Slate
The Lucille Lortel Theatre today announced its upcoming guest lineup for its popular “Live at The Lortel” podcast series. In April, the interview series features actors Ryan Haddad (April 5), Douglas Lyons (April 12), André De Shields (April 19), and Sydney Harcourt (April 26).
Hosted by Eric Ostrow, along with co-hosts Joy DeMichelle and John-Andrew Morrison, season two of “Live at The Lortel” is dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and artists who stand in solidarity with the continued fight against institutional racism and racial injustice. Theater makers will delve into their thoughts on the future of theater during this period of radical change. They will also discuss their craft, as well as their professional and personal projects that help to make theatre and the world more equitable.
Following each live interview, podcast episodes of “Live at The Lortel” will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud as follows:
RYAN HADDAD
Monday, April 5 - live
Podcast release: April 9
Ryan J. Haddad is an actor, playwright, and autobiographical performer based in New York. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was presented in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and continues to tour the country. Other New York credits include My Straighties (Ars Nova/ANT Fest), Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts (Theater Breaking Through Barriers), and the cabaret, Falling for Make Believe (Joe’s Pub/Under the Radar). Regional theatre: The Maids, Lucy Thurber’s Orpheus in the Berkshires (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Hi, Are You Single? (Guthrie Theater, Cleveland PlayHouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival). He has a recurring role on the Netflix series The Politician. Haddad is a recipient of IAMA Theatre Company’s Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission and Rising Phoenix Repertory’s Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award.
DOUGLAS LYONS
Monday, April 12 - live
Podcast release: April 16
Douglas Lyons is an actor, writer, director, composer, and playwright. He has written for television’s Fraggle Rock, and for theater: Polkadots (Atlantic Theater Company), Chicken and Biscuits (Queens Theatre), Sunshine (Long Wharf Theatre), Pete(Her)Pan (Pace New Musicals), Five Points (Theater Latte Da), now directed by Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler, Fatigue with Jodi Piccoult, We The People (Theatreworks USA), The Hamlet Remix and Sunflower (Flint Repertory). He has performed on Broadway: Beautiful (Original Cast) and The Book of Mormon. Touring productions include: Rent, Dreamgirls and The Book of Mormon 1st National. Douglas is also the founder of The Next Wave Initiative, a scholarship program dedicated to supporting the future of Black Theater artists.
ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS
Monday, April 19 - live
Podcast release: April 23
André De Shields is the triple-crown winner of the 2019 awards season, having won the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Awards for best featured actor in a musical for his critically acclaimed performance as Hermes in Hadestown. In 2020, De Shields received the 2020 Grammy Award for Musical Theater Album for Hadestown, the 2020 AUDELCO for Lifetime Achievement , and an honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. In 2019, he received the 2019 Project1Voice Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 SAGE Joyce Warshow Lifetime Achievement Award, The York Theatre Company's 2019 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Prior to his Tony Award win, Mr. De Shields was best known for his show-stopping performances in four legendary Broadway productions: The Wiz, Ain't Misbehavin' (Emmy Award), Play On! (Tony Nomination), and The Full Monty (Tony Nomination). In a career spanning fifty-one years, he has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, and educator, receiving in 2018 the 8th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Legend Award, and the 33rd Annual Bob Harrington Life Achievement Bistro Award. He can next be seen as Gavin Plimsoll in Charles Busch's new film, The Sixth Reel.
SYDNEY HARCOURT
Monday, April 26 - live
Podcast release: April 30
A sought-after New York vocalist and Grammy winner, Sydney Harcourt has performed on some of the world’s finest concert stages including Radio City Music Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open Finals. He has appeared on and off-Broadway starring in productions like the cultural phenomenon Hamilton (original Broadway company), Disney's The Lion King, Green Day's American Idiot, and the U.S. Premier of Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country where he originated the role of Joe Scott, receiving critical raves and nominations for the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Audelco Awards. No stranger to television, Sydney has appeared in Tell Me A Story, Blue Bloods, FBI, NCIS: New Orleans, Elementary, Younger, The Good Wife, Law and Order and also on film in Hamilton, and Disney's Enchanted .
The live interviews will take place Mondays at 7:00 PM EST, offering theater fans the opportunity to view interviews and participate in a Q&A with artists. To join the audience, please visit www.liveatthelortel.com.
HOSTS Eric Ostrow is proud to be the host and co-creator of the Live at The Lortel podcast series. Eric is a lover of stories and how theater artists in New York tell their tales. Starting off with the live interviews at the Lucille Lortel Theater to its current form, Eric is thrilled to curate and document these artists journeys and share them with students, audiences and other artists. Eric recognized a niche with the incredible theater artists in New York and became passionate about creating a space for these artists' stories to live on and be celebrated. Eric Ostrow trained in NYC and earned an MFA in acting/performance at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He has worked Off-Broadway, regionally, in film, and voice-overs. Eric has taught and coached actors for film, television, and Broadway. Eric created and headed The Dramatics Department at NYC's Xavier High School and was on faculty at The Maggie Flanigan Studio. Eric recently hosted The Drama League Director Fest interviewing artists about their career for their students and alumni. Eric hopes these interviews inspire listeners to celebrate their own journeys.
Joy DeMichelle is an actress, storyteller, and self-healing practitioner. On stage her work has been seen across the country at South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Denver Center Theatre, Crossroads Theatre, Fountain Theatre, American Place Theatre, and various others. Joy’s screen appearances include but are not limited to: Snowfall, “For the People” (with Anna Deavere Smith), “Criminal Minds,” “Parenthood,” “Lie to Me” (with Tim Roth), American Gun (with Forest Whitaker), Taking Back Our Town (with the late Rudy Dee) to name a few. She received her MFA from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts where she received the prestigious Bettenbender Award for Outstanding Performance and her BFA from North Carolina A & T State University. Joy’s is the founder of Heal & Create, a creative collective of Rutgers University - Mason Gross School of the Arts alumni, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Joy’s deep calling to explore human behavior and the power of healing arts led her to create Bolster Your Joy™, for women + creative professionals to manage the stresses of life, re-write their stories and build a life of joy.
John-Andrew Morrison is a Lucille Lortel Award winning actor for his performance in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical A Strange Loop. In addition, John-Andrew along with the entire cast and creative team, won an OBIE Award for that production. In the same Off-Broadway season John-Andrew won an Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in the Off-Broadway Premiere of Blues for an Alabama Sky with KEEN Company. John-Andrew’s work has been seen at theaters and cabaret venues around New York City including La Mama, Classical Theater of Harlem, Classic Stage Company, Joe’s Pub, 54 Below and more. Regionally his work has been seen at theaters including Hartford Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and more. John-Andrew holds a BA in Theater Arts from Brandeis University and an MFA in Acting from UCSD. John-Andrew hails from Kingston, Jamaica and is a lecturer in musical theater at The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.
