Little Known Facts With Ilana Levine

Reed Birney & Jayne Houdyshell both won Tony Awards for their performances in the Pulitzer Prize winning play, The Humans. This year at BroadwayCon2017, Ilana had the opportunity to interview these two Broadway stars and hear their first hand accounts of creating unforgettable roles in an astonishing masterpiece of a play. Hear how they learned of their Tony nominations, how they prepared for these intense roles eight shows a week and how they learned to say good-bye to what may be the greatest roles of their careers. Listen as these two talents share deep truths about the highs and lows of a long life in the theater on this special episode of Little Known Facts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lucas Hedges, the Oscar nominated and award winning actor, opens up about the  joys and fears of a career that  takes off at such a young age. As a child, Lucas Hedges made his feature film debut as an extra in his father's film Dan in Real Life. He went on to play major roles in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, Jason Reitman's Labor Day, Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem, Michael Cuesta's Kill the Messenger, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. His received critical acclaim for his role in the play, Yen. He was nominated for over 20 awards for his role in Manchester By The Sea and won multiple awards for his gorgeous work in the film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Rannells, Television and Broadway star, takes listeners behind the scenes of Girls on HBO, Hamilton on Broadway, and how he got from Omaha to New York City. Andrew Rannells plays Elijah on the hit HBO series, Girls. He is also known for his work as Elder Price in the 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, which earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. As a featured soloist on the musical's Original Broadway Cast Recording, he won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. His other Broadway credits include Jersey Boys, Hairspray, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Falsettos. He portrayed King George III in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton on Broadway.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrities share intimate truths about their lives and careers in this special episode of "Little Known Facts." Guests include Griffin Dunne, Dominic Fumusa, Molly RIngwald, Laura Linney, Anthony Rapp, Matthew Broderick, Kristin Chenoweth, Cynthia Nixon, and Kathryn Erbe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Bucatinsky, Emmy Award winner, stars in the new Fox series 24 : Legacy.  Listen as Dan takes Ilana behind the scenes of his hit television show and talks about his friendship with Shonda Rhimes, gay parenting, and how he and pal Lisa Kudrow took reality television to new comedy levels. Dan Bucatinsky is an actor, writer, producer best known for his Emmy-winning role as "James Novak" on Scandal. Most recently, he joined the cast of the Fox reboot, 24: Legacy, and appears in the return of Gilmore Girls for Netflix. With business partner Lisa Kudrow, Dan co-starred and executive produced the Emmy-nominated docuseries, Who Do You Think You Are? – and with Dan Savage the inspirational digital series, IT GOT BETTER for LStudio, which premieres its third season on May 24th. He's the author of the book, "Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight?" about his journey into parenthood with his husband, filmmaker Don Roos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

BroadwayCon is the biggest convention worldwide for Broadway fans. It is a one of a kind event where Broadway fans and Broadway's biggest stars come together and celebrate all things Broadway. Ilana and her guests Matt Rodin (host of The Red Carpet Challenge) and Robbie Rozelle (Broadway Records graphic designer & Musical Director for Tony award winning singers) break it all down on this special episode of Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back by popular demand! Ben Platt, the award winning star of Dear Evan Hansen, returns to the podcast to chat with Ilana about life as the star of this moving musical that is taking the theater world by storm and quickly turning into the run away hit of the Broadway season. Dear Evan Hansen is written by the Oscar winning team from La La Land and directed by the Tony Award winning director, Michael Greif. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Griffin Dunne, Actor, Director, Producer, takes us through the story his life from growing up as part of the Hollywood elite to making his own way as a scrappy young actor in New York City. Griffin's stories include everyone from Martin Scorcese to President Kennedy during this hilarious and candid interview. The conversation covers fame, family, women, ambition, process and more.  Dunne's recent feature film credits include "Dallas Buyers Club" starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, "Last Night", starring Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley and Allen Hughes' "Broken City" starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. This Fall he can be seen in Daryl Wein's "Consumed", which recently premiered at the LA Film Festival.  Dunne's feature film directorial debut was 1997's "Addicted to Love," starring Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick, which he followed one year later with "Practical Magic" starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Most recently Mr. Dunne directed a short film with Emma Stone for Peter Farrelly's

A circus parade is traveling down Main Street in a small town. At the back is an old man whose job it is to shovel the manure from all the circus animals into a big bag slung over his shoulder. A passer-by asks him how long he's been doing the job and how much he gets paid, to which he replies 50 years and $250 a week.  "Well why on earth don't you stop doing it and find a better job instead?" asks the passer-by. The old man replies, "What, and give up show business?" The great Gordon Hunt, a wonderful acting teacher and casting director, encouraged his students to think of every audition as a chance to act on a Tuesday. There are times when I am able to do that and times when it feels like an exercise in futility but his words have always stayed with me. And even though more often than not  the audition doesn't turn into the job, when I looked at the alternative of another career - perhaps one with more emotional and financial stability -  my answer would be, "What, and give up show business?!" So how do we

Happy Holidays from Little Known Facts  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Molly Ringwald,  international movie star, gets candid with Ilana about how she has handled a  lifetime of fame, growing up with a blind parent ,why she won't let her kids act and more. Molly began her film career at the age of 13 in Paul Mazursky’s Tempest, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She went on to star in numerous films, including The Pick-Up Artist, For Keeps, Fresh Horses, Betsy’s Wedding, Cindy Sherman’s directorial debut Office Killer, Billy Bob Thornton’s short film Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, and the iconic movies Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink.  In 1992, Ms. Ringwald moved to Paris and acted in such foreign films as Tous Les Jours Dimanches, Enfants de Salaud, and Jean-Luc Goddard’s King Lear. Her television credits include the critically-acclaimed comedy series Townies, Stephen King’s The Stand, the Emmy-nominated Allison Gertz Story, and the movie Molly: An American Girl, based on the American Girl series.  In 1997, Ms. Ringwald moved to New Yor

In honor of Thanksgiving and in honor of 30 episodes shared, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to my friend, the actor John Slattery. John was the first actor to join us in the podcast booth and sit down for an interview when this was just a kernel of an idea. His enthusiasm and his confidence in me was a huge part of what became the "Little Known Facts" podcast. When we finished he told me he thought I was like a female Howard Stern. He meant it as a compliment, I think. So as a thank you to John, here's the first ever episode of "Little Known Facts."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seth Rudetsky is the afternoon Broadway host  of Seth Speaks and Seth's Big Fat Radio Show on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. He has played piano for over 15 Broadway shows, was Grammy-nominated for his concert CD of Hair and Emmy-nominated for being a comedy writer on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." He has written two novels, "Broadway Nights" and "My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan," which are also available at Audible.com. He has  launched SethTV.com, where you can contact him and view all of his videos and his sassy new reality show. He stars in  and co-wrote the Broadway Musical, Disaster!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tony-award winning actor Dan Fogler landed a starring role in the much-anticipated Warner Bros. film FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM. This next adventure into J.K. Rowling¹s magical world of witches and wizards will be released Thanksgiving 2016 and also stars Eddie Redmayne. Dan's performance in the Broadway production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, earned him a Tony award in 2005. Directed by James Lapine, Danwas also honored with the Outer Critics Circle, The Lortel, Drama Desk for Best Ensemble, Theatre World Awards, and the New York Magazine Culture Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.  On the big screen, Dan has starred opposite Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart in LOVE HAPPENS for Universal Pictures and Ang Lee's TAKING WOODSTOCK with Liev Shreiber and Emile Hirsch. He was the lead in Relativity's TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT opposite Topher Grace and Anna Faris & Chris Pratt, and BALLS OF FURY with Christopher Walken for Focus Features. Dan received great notices for his starring ro

On this special episode of Little Know Facts, Ilana's kids join us to express the importance of voting. We'll return next week with Dan Fogler.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DAPHNE RUBIN-VEGA is a two-time Tony and Drama Desk nominee (1996/2004) and recipient of the Theater World, Obie (1996) and Blockbuster (1998) awards. She has been a member of the Labyrinth Theater Company since 1992. Ms. Rubin-Vega is perhaps best known for the roles she originated, including Mimi ("RENT") and Conchita ("Anna in the Tropics"), both Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway shows for which she was nominated for the Tony award. She also originated the role of Rahmi ("Gum"), Sofia (Nilo Cruz' "Two Sisters and a Piano"), Canary Mary (Suzan-Lori Parks' "Fucking A") (Lucille Lortel nomination) and Lucy ("Jack Goes Boating") at the Public Theater, as well as starred in the Broadway revivals of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (Magenta) and "Les Miserables" (Fantine). Film credits include detective Gloria Perez in "Wild Things", starring Kevin Bacon and Matt Dillon (Blockbuster Award for Best Supporting Actress), Tia ("Flawless", opposite Robert De Niro), and most recently, reprising the role of Lucy in the fi

Michael Urie is the award-winning star of one of the most unexpected theater success stories in years, the brilliant and hilarious Buyer & Cellar.  Playing multiple characters – including Barbra Streisand – in this one-man tour de force, Urie has won the hearts of everyone smart enough to venture down to the Village for a night of off-Broadway genius that won him the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, LA Theatre Critics and the Clarence Derwent Awards for Most Promising Male Performer. Before Buyer & Cellar, Urie 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 St

A two-time Tony award-winning stage actor and instantly recognizable film presence, Matthew Broderick will next be seen on screen in Rules Don’t Apply opposite Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Lily Collins. He will next star in Look Away alongside Chloe Sevigny and Aidan Turner set for a 2016 release.  On stage, Broderick most recently starred in A. R. Gurney’s comedy Sylvia alongside Annaleigh Ashford. Previously he starred in the smash Broadway hit It’s Only a Play opposite his frequent co-star Nathan Lane, as well as the award-winning Broadway run of Nice Work If You Can Get It. Additionally, he starred in the Broadway production of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple and The Foreigner at the Roundabout Theatre. In 2005, he starred in the feature film version of The Producers, reprising the Tony-nominated performance he gave on Broadway in this smash hit musical.   A New York native, he made his professional stage debut opposite his father, James Broderick, at age 17 in the production of On Valentine’s Day.  His

Talia Balsam has had a fascinating career on stage and in film and television. Some of her TV roles include the new HBO Series - Divorce, Zelda, The Newsroom, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Homeland, Nurse Jackie, Elementary, Treme, K Street, Without A Trace, Larry Sanders Show, Calamity Jane, Consenting Adults and Kent State.  Films include Ira Sachs' Little Men, Don’t Worry Baby, Girl In The Book, No Strings Attached, The Cake Eaters, All The King’s Men, Little Manhattan, Line Of Fire, In The Mood, Mass Appeal and The Wackness. On stage she has starred on Broadway in Jake’s Women (Theater World Award winner) and Originated roles in John Patrick Shanley's Psychopathia Sexualis, Snake Bit , F2M - Good Television, Cedar City Falls, Vicious ( Theater World Award and LA Weekly Award winner) and the Ladies Room.  She is married to actor John Slattery and has a son and a dog.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

JULIE WHITE recently starred opposite Matthew Broderick and Annaleigh Ashford in the Broadway revival of A.R. Gurney’s play “Sylvia” under the direction of Dan Sullivan. White won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in “The Little Dog Laughed.”  White recently starred in the 2015 production of Lisa D’Amour’s new play “Airline Highway” under the direction of Joe Mantello, and for her portrayal of “Tanya” she was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, and Drama League Awards. White has also starred on Broadway in “Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike,” “The Heidi Chronicles” and Off-Broadway in "The Understudy" and "Fiction" for The Roundabout, "Twelfth Night" at The Delacorte for The Public Theatre and "Bad Dates" for Playwrights Horizons, to name some favorites.  She has won The Obie, The Elliot Norton Award, The Ovation and been nominated multiple times for  Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Drama League Awards. On the big screen, Julie appeared in “Lincoln” for Steven Spielbe