'Up Here' Takeover

Featuring Andréa Burns

This is the fourth episode of a special 4-part takeover with cast & creatives from Hulu's new musical series UP HERE. Make sure to stream the entire 21 song UP HERE soundtrack everywhere you find your music.Andréa Burns is currently in the original musical comedy series, "Up Here" playing Rosie, a strong and supportive “Latin Jewish” mother. The actress lets us in on how she ended up in the show and talks about her childhood friendship with fellow actress, Katie Finneran. Being raised in movie musicals, she was always amazed at how you could use your singing voice to tell a story and describes musical theatre as one of the ultimate forms of expression. She speaks candidly about playing a homemade collection of Billy Porter's recordings in the delivery room as she was giving birth, the thrills of moving into New York to meet people and create something, and performing for the sake of performing, regardless of how a show is going to turn out. Andréa also talks about her latest role in "Up Here" and how she found familiarity with the character, Rosie. With the surge of musicals on tv and film, she reflects on its positive outcome, including reaching a wider, global audience to tell real human stories and make an emotional connection.Andréa Burns is an actress who’s won a Drama Desk Award for her creation of the role of Daniela in the Tony Award-winning musical "In The Heights". Her other Broadway credits include "On Your Feet", "The Rose Tattoo", "Beauty and the Beast", and "The Full Monty" among others. She was in the original cast of "Songs for a New World" opposite Billy Porter, and was selected by Stephen Sondheim to create the role of Celeste in his musical "Saturday Night". She can be heard on the soundtracks for the film versions of "In The Heights", "Tick, Tick... Boom!", and "Vivo". Andréa's tv and film credits include "The Electric Company", "Jessica Jones", "West Side Story", and "Blue Bloods". Currently, she can be seen as Rosie in the original musical comedy series, "Up Here", streaming on Hulu.Songs used in this episode: Can I Ever Know You Please Like Me Can I Ever Know You (Finale) Connect with Andréa: Website: http://www.andreaburns.com Instagram: @theandreaburns Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.

Featuring Tommy Kail, Sonya Tayeh

This is the third episode of a special 4-part takeover with cast & creatives from Hulu's new musical series UP HERE. Make sure to stream the entire 21 song UP HERE soundtrack everywhere you find your music.Director Tommy Kail and choreographer Sonya Tayeh have teamed up for the first time in Hulu’s new rom-com musical, “Up Here”. Not wanting to stick to just one medium, Sonya talks about being an expansive artist and following wherever her passion takes her. Tommy also shares his deal with Disney, putting a musical on mainstream TV and how Kirsten and Bobby's ability to make musical comedy resonated with him. While Sonya has done numerous projects and won awards already, the choreographer shares open up about dealing with imposter syndrome, calling it "big, old, scary monsters" and why she loves physicalizing them. Working as the director and choreographer for "Up Here", both Tommy and Sonya share how they operate, including collaborating with other creatives and shooting with at least two cameras at all times. Sonya reflects more on her love for collaborating, trying out all the options, starting a conversation and hearing what her collaborators have to say. Tommy, on the other hand, speaks about consciously surrounding himself with talented people that make him a better person. With Sonya and Tommy's love for collaborating, it's no surprise that the two found each other to create something beautiful.Sonya Tayeh is a TONY Award-winning choreographer and director. She has choreographed for renowned artists, including Madonna, Miley Cyrus and Florence and the Machine. She’s been nominated twice for Emmy Awards for her work on So You Think You Can Dance, and won the Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards for “Outstanding Choreography” for her work on David Henry Hwang’s dance-play “Kung Fu”, for which she also received a Drama Desk nomination. She made her Broadway debut as the choreographer for the hit show, “Moulin Rouge the Musical” and worked on the production of “Sing Street”. Sonya has recently joined the creative team for the upcoming production of "Gatsby" and “The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window” and is gearing up for the world premiere of “Is It Thursday Yet?”, a play that she directed, co-choreographed and co-conceived.Tommy Kail is a theatre director known for directing the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musicals “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” for which he won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Direction of Musical. His other credits include “Lombardi”, “Magic/Bird”, “Randy Newman's Faust and The Wiz”, “Broke-ology”, “When I Come to Die”, “Family Furniture”, and “The Tutors” among others. Tommy was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018 and won a Special Tony Award in 2021 for “Freestyle Love Supreme”.Songs used in this episode: Can I Ever Know You Tiger Shark Can I Ever Know You (Finale) Connect with Tommy and Sonya: Website: www.sonyatayeh.com Instagram: @directorkail, @sonyatayeh Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.

Featuring Steven Levenson

This is the second episode of a special 4-part takeover with cast & creatives from Hulu's new musical series UP HERE. Make sure to stream the entire 21 song UP HERE soundtrack everywhere you find your music.Tony-award-winning playwright and screenwriter Steven Levenson is back to let us in on his current project with Hulu, “Up Here”. He recalls how it all started and why it was a terrifying moment for him at the time to turn it into a TV show, why they decided to find an additional executive producer for the show and their deliberate choice to set the show in 1999. Coming from theatre and having written for both movie musicals and TV musicals, Steven discusses the misconceptions and challenging aspects of TV and musicals, and why it is rarely undertaken. He also shares some of his learnings such as finding locations and having a solid plan during production to keep the ground running—a challenging but fun puzzle he likes to solve. While he can’t share the projects he’s currently working on, Steven is excited to get back to stage writing and continue to create something joyful and also have fun while doing so.Steven Levenson is a playwright and screenwriter who won a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for “Dear Evan Hansen”. He has written for “Masters of Sex”, “Fosse/Verdon”, “Dear Evan Hansen”, the movie and the musical, ”Tick, Tick... Boom!”. He has recently adapted Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez’ stage musical “Up Here” for the screen which is currently streaming on Hulu.Songs used in this episode: Can I Ever Know You Please Like Me Can I Ever Know You (Finale) Connect with Steven:Watch UP HERE Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.

Featuring Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez

This is the first episode of a special 4-part takeover with cast & creatives from Hulu's new musical series UP HERE. Make sure to stream the entire 21 song UP HERE soundtrack everywhere you find your music.Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez are living proof that two is better than one. They have now co-created a romantic musical comedy called “UP HERE”, streaming exclusively on Hulu. The talented and award-winning duo talk about their humble beginnings and how they crossed paths, all thanks to the BMI workshop. They share the underlying themes of “Up Here”, which includes reestablishing relationships as we go through changes in life that they deeply relate with as a couple. Having the luxury of working together, they look back on their previous projects such as “Coco” “Finding Nemo” and “Frozen”, and how sometimes their work is a reflection of their experiences and what they’re feeling and going through at the moment. Having never worked in television before, the two talk about what the process is like and why it’s been an eye-opening experience for them. Kirsten and Bobby also recall their time working together for WandaVision and why it’s the most fun they’ve ever had working on anything. Ultimately, the power duo’s success can be attributed to two things: the desire to keep getting better and to connect with people.Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez are two talented individuals who have collaborated and co-created music and lyrics for movies and television shows, including “Frozen 1” and “Frozen 2”, “Coco”, “Finding Nemo the Musical”, “Wonder Pets”, “Winnie the Pooh”, and “WandaVision”. Kristen is an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy award-winning songwriter who helped create Broadway's first a capella musical, “In Transit” while Bobby is the world’s only official double EGOT winner who helped create “Avenue Q”, “Book of Mormon” for Broadway and has written for shows like “Phineas and Ferb”, “Scrubs”, and “The Simpsons”. For their latest project, Kristen and Bobby are co-creating a romantic musical comedy called “UP HEREUp Here”, now streaming on Hulu.Songs used in this episode: Can I Ever Know You Tiger Shark Can I Ever Know You (Finale) Connect with Kristen and Bobby: Twitter: @Lyrikris10 Instagram: @kristenampersandlopez TikTok: @k10lopez Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Email me at feedback@thetheatrepodcast.com. I want to know what you think.