BY Holly Rosen Fink
Quiara Alegría Hudes on the Responsibility of Taking “In the Heights” from Stage to Screen
Writer-producer Quiara Alegría Hudes is a big believer in weaving in parts of her Latino heritage and culture into her storylines for a greater sense of reality. So when she was asked to join...
Caroline Link on Standing Up to Fascism with Her New Film “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit”
When Caroline Link first read the children’s book “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” as a young girl, she was immediately drawn to the story. The semi-autographical novel by Judith...
“Shtisel” Producer Dikla Barkai on the Show’s Worldwide Reception, Season 3, & Shooting During COVID
Even though Israeli producer Dikla Barkai has a lengthy résumé of hit television, she is very selective about the shows she works on. After producing three seasons of the award-winning...
Diane Lane on Exploring Grief, Motherhood, and Marriage in Her New Film “Let Him Go”
Diane Lane has starred in dozens of memorable films, starting with her first first feature, 1979’s “A Little Romance.” She has portrayed a self-reliant teen in Francis Ford...
Rebecca Naomi Jones Talks Hosting Playbill’s “Women in Theatre: A Centennial Celebration”
Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, Playbill is presenting “Women in Theatre: A Centennial Celebration.” Hosted by Drama Desk-nominee Rebecca Naomi Jones and Tony-nominee and Pulitzer Prize-finalist...
Elyse Steinberg on Why “The Fight” Is the Most Important Film She’s Ever Made
Elyse Steinberg directed “The Fight” with Josh Kriegman and Eli B. Despres, her partners at Edgeline Films. The film offers an up-close look at four recent ACLU (American Civil Liberties...
Anya Adams Talks TV Directing and Winning an NAACP Award for “GLOW”
Anya Adams is an award-winning director who most recently took home the 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for “GLOW.” She won the prize for helming the...
Director Nadia Hallgren Talks About “Becoming” a Part of Michelle Obama’s Life
“Becoming” offers a personal and intimate view into the world of Michelle Obama. Nadia Hallgren’s new Netflix documentary takes viewers on an all-access journey alongside the former...
Going Behind the Scenes of “Unorthodox” with Co-Creator and Exec Producer Anna Winger
Anna Winger is a Berlin-based American writer-producer whose new miniseries, “Unorthodox,” recently made its debut on Netflix. The show, in English and Yiddish, sees a young woman bravely leaving...
Eliza Hittman On Why Abortion Drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” Is Both Personal and Political
Writer-director Eliza Hittman’s latest film, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” is an unflinching story about reproductive rights in the United States. Facing an unplanned pregnancy...
Autumn de Wilde Talks Pivoting from Photography to Filmmaking with “Emma.”
Autumn de Wilde, a veteran photographer and music video director, is making her feature debut with an adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma.” On the heels of Greta Gerwig’s recent...
Playwright Bess Wohl on Her Broadway Debut “Grand Horizons”
Playwright Bess Wohl is making her Broadway debut this season with “Grand Horizons,” the story of a couple (Jane Alexander and James Cromwell) who move to a quiet retirement community...
Francesca Faridany on Playing a Woman Ahead of Her Time in “The Half-Life of Marie Curie”
Francesca Faridany is currently playing the titular character in Lauren Gunderson’s “The Half-Life of Marie Curie,” the story of the pioneering scientist’s friendship with...
Joaquina Kalukango Discusses “Slave Play,” Its Refusal to Offer Easy Answers
Joaquina Kalukango’s Kaneisha is perhaps the most complicated character in Broadway’s “Slave Play.” Jeremy O. Harris’ play is drawing rave reviews for its honest and shocking...
Margaret Trudeau Tackles Feminism, Mental Health, and Her Time as Canada’s First Lady in “Certain Woman of an Age”
Margaret Trudeau is bringing her one-woman show “Certain Woman of an Age” to NYC at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Co-written by Trudeau and Alix Sobler and directed by Kimberly Senior, the...
Tavi Gevinson Talks Her Latest Play “Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow”
Since folding “Rookie,” the online magazine she founded, Tavi Gevinson has firmly established herself as an NYC stage actress. She’s currently starring in “Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow...
Winter Miller Discusses the Political Relevance of Her New Play “No One Is Forgotten”
Playwright Winter Miller, best known for her play “In Darfur,” is back this season with “No One Is Forgotten” at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. It’s the story of two...
Lulu Wang Talks “The Farewell,” Representation, and Working with Awkwafina
Writer-director Lulu Wang’s new film, “The Farewell,” began as a 2016 episode of “This American Life.” Wang wrote and narrated the segment “What You Don’t Know,” the story of...
Lynn Shelton on “Sword of Trust,” TV Directing, and Creating Compelling Characters
Lynn Shelton has spent much of her prolific career directing movies — eight in total, including the upcoming “Sword of Trust.” The pic premiered earlier this year at SXSW and sees its...
“Wild Rose” Screenwriter Nicole Taylor on Country Music & Crafting Mother-Daughter Stories
Screenwriter Nicole Taylor hails from Glasgow, where her new film “Wild Rose” takes place. A huge fan of country music, her film, directed by Tom Harper, is about a burgeoning country singer...
New Georges Founder Susan Bernfield Talks Empowering Women in Theater
When Susan Bernfield was starting out as an actress in 1992, she realized there were not a lot of roles being written for her, or for women in general. She couldn’t even find plays by women at the...
Ali Stroker, “Hadestown” Team, and More Make History at the 2019 Tony Awards
Last night’s 73rd Annual Tony Awards marked many firsts for women who are paving the way on Broadway, both onstage and off. The show was indicative that post-#MeToo, the course of history for...
Tony Nominee Lilli Cooper on the Evolution of Her Character in Broadway’s “Tootsie”
Shortly after receiving the script, actress Lilli Cooper fell in love with Broadway’s “Tootsie.” For one thing, as a woman of color, she was auditioning for the role of Julie Nichols, the...
Women Dominate Off-Broadway’s Obie Awards
Last night the American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice celebrated the best of Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway, at the 64th Annual Obie Awards held at Terminal 5 in New York City. The Obies...
“GLOW” Costume Designer Beth Morgan on Expressing Empowerment Through Clothing
If you’re a fan of “GLOW,” you know that the clothing plays a very big role in the series. Based on the 1980s wrestling TV series “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” the...
Set Designer Laura Jellinek on “Oklahoma!” and Her Tony Nomination
If you take a look at Laura Jellinek’s current list of projects, you’ll wonder how she does it all. The Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee recently designed the sets for Broadway’s...
Glenda Jackson on Playing King Lear and Modern Dramatists’ Disinterest in Women’s Stories
Glenda Jackson has worked extensively in film, television, and theater, and served in the British Parliament. She’s nabbed two Oscars (“Women in Love” and “A Touch of Class”), two...
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson on Gina Rodriguez-Starrer “Someone Great” & Telling Women’s Stories
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is best known for creating MTV’s “Sweet/Vicious,” a comedy about two college students who have a secret life as vigilantes targeting sexual assailants on...
Actress Mirirai Sithole Talks About Her New Play & Why She Considers Inclusive Projects the Norm
When it comes to working with women, actress Mirirai Sithole has been very fortunate. From playwrights Jocelyn Bioh and Ngozi Anyanwu to the gals behind “Broad City” and “Russian Doll,”...
Jessie Nelson On Her New Off-Broadway Show “Alice By Heart” and Advice from Nora Ephron
Jessie Nelson’s most recent musical, “Alice By Heart,” has been a work in progress for the past 10 years. After kicking off in her living room, it has been workshopped and refined until it...
Playwright Bekah Brunstetter on “The Cake,” Working on “This Is Us,” and The Kilroys
After three years of working on NBC’s hit series “This Is Us,” writer and producer Bekah Brunstetter is bringing two plays to the NYC stage this year: “The Cake” is now...
Director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre Talks About Her New Film “The Mustang”
To achieve a sense of realism in “The Mustang,” Laure de Clermont-Tonnere spent five years researching the U.S. prison system and animal therapy. Her new film focuses on an inmate, played by...
Jessica Frances Dukes On Portraying a Fictional Starlet in “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”
Jessica Frances Dukes takes on the titular role in the revival “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” an aspiring actress working for a fading star during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Written by...
“Greta” Star Chloë Grace Moretz on Fusing Art and Activism and Subverting Expectations
Chloë Grace Moretz has acted in over 60 projects over the course of her career, and she’s just 22 years old. Her latest pic, “Greta,” teams her up with Isabelle Huppert. Set in New...
Actress Mandi Masden on the Timeliness of Her Latest Play “The Light”
In Loy A. Webb’s debut play, “The Light,” Mandi Masden plays half of a couple on the eve of their engagement. As the night unfolds, the conversation becomes explosive, revealing that sexual...
“Fleabag” Director Vicky Jones Talks Bringing Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Play Back to the Stage
Before “Fleabag” was making audiences laugh, cry, and squirm via the screen, it was doing so on the stage. The BBC Three/Amazon Prime series is based on series creator and star Phoebe...
Chelsea Winstanley on Working with, Producing a Doc About Filmmaker Merata Mita
Ava DuVernay’s distribution collective recently acquired the documentary “Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen,” produced by filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley, during the Sundance Film...
Beth Leavel on Broadway’s “The Prom” and Making LGBTQ History at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Beth Leavel’s career on the Broadway stage spans 30-plus years and includes an impressive roster of musicals such as “42nd Street,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Elf.”...
Cailee Spaeny on Playing RBG’s Daughter in “On the Basis of Sex”
2018 marked a big year for Cailee Spaeny. She had major roles in sci-fi “Pacific Rim Uprising” and thriller “Bad Times at the El Royale.” Two of her films released last...
Lileana Blain-Cruz on Questioning the Status Quo in “Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine”
Director Lileana Blain-Cruz’s latest play, “Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine,” sees her telling the story of Undine, a powerful and wealthy publicist who falls down the...
Christine Lahti Discusses Playing Gloria Steinem in Off-Broadway’s “Gloria: A Life”
When Christine Lahti was offered the role of Gloria Steinem in the Off-Broadway play “Gloria: A Life,” she knew it would resonate on many levels. After all, she has known Steinem for...
Joan Allen on Her Personal Connection to “The Waverly Gallery” and Working with Elaine May
When Joan Allen received the script for Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery,” she was eager to sign on to the project. It had been some time since her last appearance on Broadway in the...
“Downstairs” Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt on Why She Tends to Prefer Working with Women
Talking to theater director Adrienne Campbell-Holt is a breath of fresh air for any avid theater goer or film buff. She’s a big believer in not only working primarily with women on the projects she...
Christiani Pitts on Being the First WOC to Play Ann Darrow in Broadway’s “King Kong”
When Christiani Pitts was hired for “King Kong” on Broadway, she immediately felt the significance of the casting choice. Not only is she the first woman of color to ever take portray Ann Darrow,...
Tyne Daly Chats About Collaborating with Her Brother and Theresa Rebeck on “Downstairs”
Tyne Daly is certainly no stranger to the New York stage. She has appeared in a plethora of work both on and off Broadway and has collaborated with some of the most pivotal creators of our time,...
Costume Designer Alexandra Byrne Talks Creating the Looks of “Mary Queen of Scots”
For Alexandra Byrne, designing the clothes for “Mary Queen of Scots” came somewhat naturally. After all, she created the costumes for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and won an Oscar for her...
Marsha Mason on Being in the “Prime” of Her Career and Life as a Theater Director
Marsha Mason has had an extraordinary career in film, television, and theater over the past five decades — and she feels like she’s just getting started. She’s received four...
Jocelyn Bioh on “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” & Its Exploration of Colorism
If you haven’t heard of Off-Broadway’s “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play,” by Jocelyn Bioh, it is only a matter of time before you do. The play, directed by Tony...
Writer Ngozi Anyanwu and Director Awoye Timpo Talk Reuniting for “Good Grief”
Writer-actor Ngozi Anyanwu and director Awoye Timpo paired up for the current run of Anyanwu’s play “Good Grief” at the Vineyard Theatre. This isn’t the first time the pair has worked...
Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus Chats About Her New Show “India Pale Ale”
Jaclyn Backhaus, a playwright of Punjabi and German descent, is skilled at giving women a voice in her work. Her last play, “Men on Boats,” told the story of the 1869 Powell Expedition...
Martha Conley on “Boy Erased,” Sharing Her Son’s Story, and Being Played by Nicole Kidman
When Martha Conley and her husband found out their son, Garrard, was gay 14 years ago, they consulted members of their Baptist community about what to do and were advised to send him to a conversion...