This next episode features long time Ensemble Studio Theatre members: Janet Zarish and Cassandra Medley. In this episode we travel all the way back to 1970's New York City when Cassandra and Janet had just arrived, both transplants from the Midwest. The two talk about their artistic educations, finding EST in the '80s, and the lessons they've imparted to their students (past and present). This episode is for students of all ages and anyone interested in artistic education both inside and outside of institutions. Thanks for re:member-ing with EST Re:Members!

Cassandra Medley: was honored with the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award in 2023. Her plays have been widely produced across the United States, in Toronto and in Johannesburg. In 2022, Medley wrote the libretto for the "Fannie Lou Hamer
Opera," which was produced by The Trilogy Opera Company of New Jersey. Medley's play "Relativity" not only won the 2006 Audelco "August
Wilson Playwriting" Award but was also featured on Science Friday on National Public Radio and published by Broadway Play Publishing. Medley has been the recipient of numerous accolades throughout her career, including the "Going to the River Writers" Life Achievement Award in 2004, the Ensemble Studio Theatre 25th Anniversary Award for Theatre Excellence in 2002, and the Theatrefest Regional Playwriting Award for Best Play in 2001. She also received the New Professional Theatre Award and the Marilyn Simpson Award in 1995, was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award in Playwriting in 1989, and won the National Endowment for the Arts Playwright Award in 1990.

Janet Zarish: As an actress, she has starring in such New York productions as The
Bookstore at 59E59th, Love Therapy at the DR2 theatre, Other People’s Money at the Minetta Lane Theater, The Square at The Public Theatre and Miss Julie and An Enemy of the People at The Roundabout Theatre. She has originated roles in new plays, working with such writers as Shel Silverstein, Wendy Wasserstein, David Mamet and Terrance McNally. She was an original member of John Houseman’s The Acting Company under Mr. Houseman’s direction. Film credits include Brooklyn To Manhattan, The Next Big Thing, Object of My Affection, Malcolm X, Danny, Mystic Pizza, Without a Trace, and The Zoo. She has directed at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, The Juilliard School, Ensemble Studio Theater, The Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York Theater Workshop, The Sundance Institute and more. She directed the Off-Broadway production of Measure for Measure at the Duke theater. She is co-head of acting at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program and an active member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Producer & host: Rachel Lin

Sound Engineer: Rebecca Seidel

Cover Art: Kiera Wolfe

Music: Wendy Mancini

We're baaaack! Welcome to Season 3. We're returning to your pod queue with in-demand actors Bobby Moreno and Steven Boyer. You've seen them on stage and screen, most recently in The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire by Anne Washburn (Bobby) and Mother Russia by Lauren Yee (Steve). Over the years, they've become usual suspects of the EST stage -- from Youngblood Brunches to mainstage productions like Hand to God and Year of the Rooster. In our conversation, we talk about what makes them "go-to" actors for new play development, how they handle the ups and downs of the biz, and what keeps them going. Thanks for re:member-ing with EST Re:Members!

BIOS

BOBBY MORENO has been making theatre in NY for over 20 years. Some of his favorite world premieres include Year of the Rooster and Hand to God at Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Comeuppance, Fulfillment Center, Lazarus, Alligator, and 72 Miles to Go. His solo hip-hop musical, Over A Loop, was recently a part of EST's Solo Festival. A prolific emcee, his solo album, Between You and Me, is available to stream under his nom de plume, Ol' Bob. Also available is the debut album of Off-Broadway's greatest rock band, The US Open, featuring EST members Jeff Biehl, Steve Boyer, Will Harper, Bobby Moreno, Shawn Randall and the late, great Diana Oh.

STEVEN BOYER received a Tony nomination for the Broadway run of Hand to God, and earned an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for Hand to God at Ensemble Studio Theatre and MCC. Broadway: Kimberly Akimbo, Time & the Conways, I’m Not Rappaport. Recent Off-Broadway: Are You Now… (City Center), Mother Russia (Signature), Kimberly Akimbo (Atlantic), Moscow x6 (MCC), Assassins (Encores), King Lear (The Public), The Explorers Club (MTC), Trevor (Lesser America), Modern Terrorism (Second Stage). TV: “The Gilded Age,” “Stumble”, Truman Capote on “Godfather of Harlem”, “The Equalizer”, “WeCrashed”, “Love Life S2”, “Trial & Error”, “Chicago Fire”, "Prodigal Son", “FBI”, "The Blacklist", “The Good Wife”, “Orange is the New Black”, “Mom”, “The Crazy Ones”, “Louie”, “High Maintenance”, “The Share”, “Person of Interest”, “Law & Order”, “Ed.” Film: Borderlands, Hustlers, Bridge of Spies, The Wolf of Wall Street, Listen Up Philip. Boyer also plays lead guitar in the rock band The US Open. Member of The Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Host & Producer: Rachel Lin

Sound Engineer: Rebecca Seidel

Cover Art: Kiera Wolfe

Music: Wendy Marcini

Welcome to the 3rd and final episode of the season, and we are going out with a bang! Founding EST member and four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, and 2024 Tony Award winner and two-time consecutive Tony Award nominee Danya Taymor, join our host Rachel Lin to discuss their rocket-fueled trajectories, their rehearsal room must-haves, and how they cope with disappointment. If you're a theater lover, you won't want to miss this conversation between two of Broadway's leading stage directors. Download or share this episode with a friend to keep the conversation going! Until next season...we'll see you at the theater!

DANYA TAYMOR is a Tony and Obie Award-winning New York-based director. Recent direction includes the Broadway productions of the Tony Award-winning musical The Outsiders, Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain (Tony Nomination, Dama Desk, OCC Awards), Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s Pass Over (now streaming on Amazon Prime). Off-Broadway and International: Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons, Callaway Award for Direction, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Lortel Outstanding Play) + Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (New Group), Emmanuel Mattana’s Trophy Boys (MCC), Rachel Bonds’ Jonah (Roundabout), Samuel Beckett’s Endgame (Gate Theater, Dublin), Jeremy O. Harris’ Daddy (Almeida, London + New Group/Vineyard), Nassim Soleimanpour’s Mr. K and the Flowers (Audible), Korde Arrington Tuttle’s Graveyard Shift (Goodman Theatre), Pass Over (Lincoln Center + Steppenwolf, Lortel Outstanding Play), Danai Gurira’s Familiar (Steppenwolf), Martyna Majok’s Queens (Lincoln Center Theater), among many others. Translations include Alejandro Ricaño’s We Are Getting Better at Saying Goodbye, Luis Enrique Guitierrez Ortiz Monasterio’s I Hate Fucking Mexicans, and Ettore Scola’s Working on a Special Day. Awards and fellowships include the Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity from Lincoln Center, Time Warner Directing Fellowship at Women’s Project, 2050 fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop, Van Lier Directing Fellowship, Gates Foundation Grant, Rough Draft Residency at the Drama League and the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. BA: Duke University.

JERRY ZAKS most recently directed his 26th Broadway show, The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. He has received four Tony Awards and been nominated eight times. He began his career directing the extraordinary plays of Christopher Durang and John Guare. He directed the award-winning film Marvin’s Room, starring Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton. Mr. Zaks is a founding member of the Ensemble Studio Theater. He received the SDC’s George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1967, received an MFA from Smith College in 1969, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth in 1999. He is a 2013 inductee to the Theatre Hall of Fame.

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Host & Producer: Rachel Lin

Sound Engineer & Designer: Rebecca Seidel

Artwork by: Harrison Densmore

Music By: Wendy Marcini

Brought to you by: Ensemble Studio Theatre