Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Ilana was the host of a benefit concert for Stronger Than Hate - A benefit concert for the  Tree Of Life Synagogue. The Jewish community and Broadway friends perform for a night of unification benefitting the Pittsburgh congregation and victims' families of the tragic October shooting. The evening features cast members from the National Yiddish Theatre's Fiddler on the Roof, a speaker from the Anti-Defamation League, and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Proceeds  go to Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Hosted by Ilana the evening  cast members donating their talents include: Jodi Bluestein (Disney On Classic), Julie Gold ("From A Distance"), Jillian Gottlieb (The Golden Bride), Nathan Klau(Jersey Boys), Danny Harris Kornfeld (Renascence), Samantha G. Harris (Tree of Life congregant), Rebecca Kuznick (Company), Gary John LaRosa (Fiddler on the Roof), Stephanie Lynne Mason (Fiddler on the Roof), Jesse Manocherian (Marry Harry), Rosie Jo Neddy (Fiddler on the Roof), Bill Nolte (Waitress), Collin O'Connor (A Christmas Carol), Samantha Joy Pearlman (Chasing Rainbows), Scruffy Pearls featuring RJ Gatsby, Renee Hikari, Carly Pearlstein, and Billy Pearson, Hannah Richter (Far From Canterbury), Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld(Pokémon), Gavriel Savit (Amazing Grace), Jason Sirois (Anti-Defamation League), Eileen Tepper (LES MISERABLES), Marc Winski(Grease), and Rachel Zatcoff (The Phantom Of The Opera). The evening is Directed and Produced by Mara Jill Herman with Music Direction by Danny Lepek. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeremy Jordan is a Tony and Grammy-nominated actor and singer. He starred for the past three years on the CBS and CW hit, Supergirl. He can be heard as the voice of ‘Varian' in Disney Channel’s animated series, Tangled, based on the 2010 hit movie. Earlier, he was a series regular on NBC’s musical drama, Smash, and he starred opposite Anna Kendrick in the film adaptation of Jason Robert Brown’s beloved musical, The Last 5 Years. He was honored with the Rising Star award at the Napa Film Festival for his work on that film. Jeremy also starred opposite Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in Todd Graff's Warner Bros. picture, Joyful Noise. On Broadway, he originated the role of 'Jack Kelly' in Disney's hit musical, Newsies, earning Tony, Grammy and Drama Desk nominations. He reprised the role in 2016 in Disney’s nationwide release of Newsies, taped live onstage at LA’s Pantages Theatre. Jeremy originated the role of 'Clyde Barrow' in Broadway's Bonnie & Clyde, for which he won the Theatre World Award. He got his Broadway start in Rock of Ages, and he then starred as 'Tony' in the most recent Broadway revival of West Side Story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike Birbiglia is a writer, comedian, actor, and director. A contributor to “This American Life” and “The Moth,” he is the author of the New York Times best-selling book “Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories,” which was a finalist for the Thurber Prize For American Humor. He has appeared on the television shows “Orange Is the New Black,” “Broad City” and “Inside Amy Schumer.” He wrote, directed, and starred in the films “Sleepwalk with Me” and “Don’t Think Twice.” His recent solo plays include “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend,” “Thank God for Jokes,” and “The New One,” which is currently in a 12 week run on Broadway at the Cort Theatre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laura Dreyfuss sat down for a live interview with Ilana at the W Hotel in Times Square on a rainy Sunday night and they talked about everything from life after Dear Evan Hansen, their friendship with Tony Award winner Ben Platt and their mutual love of dogs! Dreyfuss just wrapped season one of the highly anticipated Netflix series THE POLITICIAN, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. In it, she stars opposite Ben Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange. Before that, Dreyfuss starred in and originated the lead female role of “Zoe” in the Broadway musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Dreyfuss played the role since the musical made its world premiere in 2015 at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. She was nominated for a 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Best Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical on behalf of that performance. Dreyfuss then performed in the role off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater before its highly anticipated transfer to Broadway’s Music Box Theatre in December 2016. Since its Broadway debut, “Dear Evan Hansen” and the individual performances have been acclaimed by fans and critics alike. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called Dreyfuss’ performance “sensitive” and “altogether lovely.” The musical won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Dreyfuss received a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, and a Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program. Previous stage credits for Dreyfuss include the 2010 U.S. National Tour and 2011 Broadway revival of “Hair” understudying the roles of Sheila Franklin and Crissy. She also appeared in the original Broadway production of “Once”, eventually playing the lead female role, Girl, opposite Steve Kazee. “Once” was awarded the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2012. On the small screen, Dreyfuss is best known for portraying Madison McCarthy in the sixth season of the FOX television series, “Glee.” She appeared in 11 episodes and can be heard on the series’ covers of “Chandelier” by Sia, “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and “Come Sail Away” by Styx. She can currently be seen in a recurring role on the second season of the Emmy winning Amazon series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Dreyfuss holds a BFA in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ilana Levine hosted her Little Known Facts podcast on stage at The Atlantic Theater Company with special guests Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen has appeared in over 60 films. She is known for her work in the films Melvin And Howard, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Step Brothers, and television shows “Justified,” “Orange is the New Black” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. Mary most recently starred alongside Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda and Candice Bergen in Paramount Pictures’ Book Club. For 4 years, Mary starred alongside Will Forte in FOX’s critically-acclaimed comedy series, “The Last Man on Earth”. Additional television credits include “30 Rock”, “Bored to Death”, and “Blunt Talk”. Additional film credits include Goin’ South, Time After Time, Ragtime, Philadelphia, Back To The Future 3, Cross Creek, Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, Miss Firecracker, The Proposal, Elf, Dirty Girl, Four Christmases, The Help, and Last Vegas. Partial theater credits include Holiday, Candida, Marvin’s Room, The Beginning of August, The Exonerated. Mary is also a songwriter and wrote the end credit song for the upcoming feature film Wild Rose. Ted Danson is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor known for an array of exceptional performances, most memorably for his portrayal of Boston bartender Sam Malone on NBC’s multi-award-winning and iconic comedy “Cheers,” which ran for 11 seasons and won three Emmys as Best Comedy Series. Danson currently plays Michael on the hit comedy “The Good Place” opposite Kristen Bell. The show premiered as a critic favorite and ratings hit for NBC. In addition to acting and producing, Danson is an environmental activist, co-founding the American Oceans Campaign (AOC) in 1987 to alert Americans to the life-threatening hazards created by oil spills, off-shore development, toxic wastes, sewage pollution and other ocean abuses. The AOC merged with Oceana in 2001. Oceana works to show citizens how they can participate in protecting and restoring marine resources, and to show Congress that Americans are concerned with these issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

LILLI COOPER - Broadway: Tootsie (Julie Nichols), SpongeBob SquarePants (Sandy Cheeks),Wicked (Elphaba), Spring Awakening (Original Broadway Cast). Theater favorites: Sundown, Yellow Moon (WP Theater), Tick, Tick...Boom! (Keen Company), Natasha...Great Comet of 1812 (A.R.T.), The Wildness (Ars Nova), Noir (NYSF & NAMT), The Threepenny Opera (Atlantic Theater). TV: Instinct, The Good Fight, Bull, & Elementary(CBS). Film: Spielberg's “The Post”, Creator and star of the web-series: “It’s Not Okay, Cupid” (Glamour.com). Cooper is a native New Yorker, LaGuardia Arts and Vassar alum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Iconis joins Ilana Levine for a live podcast taping at the W Hotel in Times Square, New York.  Joe Iconis is a writer and performer. He is a creature of Manhattan and can frequently be spotted banging away on a dirty old piano. As a composer - lyricist - book writer, he has authored the musicals Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter, Bloodsong of Love, The Black Suits, ReWrite, Theaterworks USA’s The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks and We The People, and the currently in development Hunter S. Thompson Musical and Love In Hate Nation. The original cast recording of his musical phenomenon Be More Chill has over 80 million streams, and his song “Broadway, Here I Come!” was hailed by the New York Times as a new entry in the Great American Songbook. Albums: Be More Chill (Original Cast Recording), Things To Ruin (Original Cast Recording) and The Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree all available on Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records. Joe’s songs appeared on Season 2 of NBC’s “Smash” and his writing has been featured in The New York Times and The Dramatist. His concert act, Joe Iconis and Family, frequently plays The Beechman Theater, 54 Below, and Joe’s Pub. The original cast recording of Joe’s theatrical rock concert Things To Ruin, is out on Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight records. He has been nominated for two Drama Desk Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award, and is the recipient of an Ed Kleban Award, a Jonathan Larson Award, an ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award, a Doris Duke Grant, and a MAC John Wallowitch Songwriting Award. Joe is deliriously inspired by Robert Altman, Dolly Parton, Martin Scorcese, Sardi’s, The Rolling Stones, whiskey, The Muppets, and The Family of artists he frequently surrounds himself with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steven Levenson is the Tony Award-winning book writer of Dear Evan Hansen. His plays include If I Forget, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, Days of Rage, and The Language of Trees. Honors include the Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, and the Helen Hayes Award. He worked for three seasons as a writer and producer on Showtime’s Masters of Sex and is a founding member of Colt Coeur and an alumnus of MCC’s Playwrights Coalition and Ars Nova’s Play Group. His work has been published by Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. A graduate of Brown University, he is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and the WGA. Upcoming projects include the limited series Fosse/Verdon (FX) and the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…boom! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A born and bred New Yorker, Jill Kargman, is the creator, writer, producer and star of the scripted comedy “Odd Mom Out” in which Ms. Kargman played a satirical version of herself navigating the hilarity of raising children on the upper east side in NYC. Ms. Kargman attended The Spence School, The Taft School and Yale University. After graduating, and working for magazines, television and movies, Ms. Kargman began writing novels to give her more flexibility to be home with her three children: Sadie, Ivy, and Fletch. She is a New York Times best-selling author of multiple books, and her most recent book, a comedic essay collection, “Sprinkle Glitter on my Grave”, was published in September 2016 by Random House. She made her Café Carlyle debut in January 2017 with her sold out show Stairway to Cabaret ~ singing heavy metal songs ~ cabaret style. Jill hosts the Jill Kargman show on SiriusXM Stars Channel 109. Jill is also a performer with the Upright Citizens Brigade improvisational and sketch comedy group. Jill recently made an appearance in her first Hollywood studio movie, "A Bad Moms Christmas." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Urie currently stars on Broadway in Torch Song Trilogy. He previously starred in Buyer & Cellar playing multiple characters – including Barbra Streisand – in this one-man tour de force. For that role Urie won the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, LA Theatre Critics and the Clarence Derwent Awards for Most Promising Male Performer. Before Torch Song Trilogy he was probably best known as the delicious Marc St. James on the award-winning Ugly Betty, the series that introduced him to and made him a favorite of TV audiences everywhere. Following that series, he spent most of his time in critically acclaimed stage productions. He played iconic fashion designer Rudi Gernreich in The Temperamentals, a role he originated in New York where he received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. He followed that run with appearances off-Broadway in the Classic Stage Company’s production of The Cherry Orchard, the revival of Angels in America, and opposite Patti LuPone in Lincoln Center Theater’s world premiere of Shows For Days. But his lifelong dream of Broadway came when he took on the role of Bud Frump in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, opposite Nick Jonas and Beau Bridges. Critics raved that not since Charles Nelson Reilly originated the role had Bud Frump delighted audiences as Urie did. The run ended in time for him to star in the short-lived but much-loved CBS series Partners. SincePartners, he’s appeared on the small screen in Modern Family, The Good Wife, Hot in Cleveland,Younger and Workaholics. He can currently be seen curating and hosting movies on Logo’s Cocktails & Classics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bonnie Milligan is currently making her broadway debut to critical acclaim starring in "Head  Over Heels." Previous to HOH, Bonnie was seen playing the original role of Pat in the first national tour of "Kinky Boots" and off broadway in "God Bless You, Mr Rosewater: ( Encores!), "Gigantic" (Vineyard ), "Jasper in Deadland" (Prospect). Television credits include the recurring role of Kathryn on "Search Party" ( TBS), "Happy!" ( Sci Fi) and an upcoming new series from Ben Stiller. Twitter: @beltingbonnie Instagram @beltingbons  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many years ago I was hosting a Broadway event to engage and inspire younger voters to get involved in politics. One person after another told me that I needed to meet their friend Al Styron. They were pretty clear that she was  someone who knew all the players I would need to make this event a success. They were right. Having been raised in a politically active household as the daughter of author William Styron ( Sophie's Choice) and poet/activist Rose Styron ( Amnesty International), Al did in fact know everyone. What I hadn't been warned about was that she was one of the smartest, funniest and kindest people I would ever know and so unbeknownst to me  I was about to meet a lifelong friend and confidante. So here she is. My best friend, best selling author and activist- Alexandra Styron in conversation about her new book "Steal This Country"  where she offers us insights into what we can all do to feel like active, impactful and engaged citizens. ALEXANDRA STYRON is the author of Reading My Father and a novel, All The Finest Girls. A graduate of Barnard College and the MFA program at Columbia University, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She currently teaches memoir writing in the MFA program at Hunter College. She lives with her husband and two children in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a landscape overflowing with podcasts it is a lovely thing when two hosts feel tremendous mutual admiration and want to interview each other about their love of podcasting and why they "podcast" while maintaining acting careers. Rory O'Malley was a guest on Ilana's podcast and then Ilana was a guest on Rory's podcast and here is their conversation that covers showmances, life in the arts, raising kids, activism, jealousy, show tunes, botox, #beltthevote and more. Go to beltthevote.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

n 2012, Little Known Facts host Ilana Levine got a call that her dear friend Susan was in a horrible car accident. Her car had literally been crushed by a Los Angeles city bus that had driven head on into Susan's car. Her 12 year old daughter who had been in the passenger seat walked out of the car unharmed but Susan was trapped inside. Almost every bone in her body was broken including her neck, she had bleeding on her brain and her lungs had collapsed. One of life's biggest clichés became a horrific reality when Douglas Segal, Susan's husband, showed up at the scene. Following the accident, Doug began sending regular email updates to their circle of friends and family—a list that continued to grow as others heard of the event and were moved by the many emotional and spiritual issues it raised. Those emails became the centerpiece of his memoir "Struck" an intimate and honest chronicle built around these email updates, and is a profound example of how people show up for one another in times of crisis and is an uplifting tribute to love, determination, and how the compassion of community holds the power to heal, serving as an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit when faced with pain and adversity. Doug and Susan share the harrowing story of what it took to recover from a near death accident not just physically but emotionally and spiritually and share many of the life lessons learned along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicolette Robinson is an award winning actress and was most recently cast as Jenna , the lead in the Broadway musical, "Waitress."  Born and raised in Los Angeles and married to the Hamilton Tony Award winning actor Leslie Odom Jr. , Nicolette opens up about her struggles and triumphs and takes us on an emotional journey that gives listeners an honest and beautiful account of what is is to live the life of an artist. This fall, Robinson made her Broadway debut stepping into the lead role of “Jenna” in the multiple Tony Award nominated musical, WAITRESS. With a book by Jessie Nelson, music by Sara Bareilles, and direction by Diane Paulus, the show has played to full audiences over almost 1,000 performances. On September 4, 2018, Robinson became the first African-American woman and the first mother to play the lead role. Robinson appeared Off-Broadway in the 2015 production of BROOKLYNITE at the Vineyard Theatre, directed by Michael Mayer from a book he co-wrote with Peter Lerman, which earned a 2015 Off Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best New Musical. She also starred in the new musical, INVISIBLE THREAD, for director Diane Paulus and Second Stage Theatre. Of her performance, Time Out New York wrote that Robinson was “poised and possessed of an ethereal soprano… marvelous.” INVISIBLE THREAD began its life as WITNESS UGANDA – in which Robinson also starred – with book, music, and lyrics by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews. It was based on the true story of Matthews' humanitarian trips to Uganda, and his work to fund his nonprofit, Uganda Project. The musical premiered in February 2014 at Cambridge's American Repertory Theater before transferring to Off-Broadway. Robinson also co-starred in Barrington Stage Company’s A LITTLE MORE ALIVE, with book, music, and lyrics by Nick Blaemire. In this heartfelt and original folk-pop musical, two estranged brothers reunite at their childhood home after their mother’s funeral. An unexpected revelation distorts their memories and uncovers secrets. Robinson starred as ‘Lizzie’, the hospice worker who’d been caring for the mother, and the Berkshire Eagle called her “luminous.” On television, Robinson co-starred with Ruth Wilson and Dominic West as ‘Jane’ on Showtime’s Golden Globe Award-winning drama series, THE AFFAIR. She has also appeared on HART OF DIXIE, UNFORGETTABLE, PERFECT COUPLES, and COLD CASE, among others. Nicolette received the Princess Grade Award for Theater and is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles School of Theater, Film, & Television. She is primarily based in Los Angeles, where she resides with her husband, Leslie Odom Jr., and their baby daughter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices