LarryJean Powell — Infinite Artist. Cultural Architect. South Central Griot.

LarryJean Powell (theirs) is a true infini-hyphenate: actor, writer, director, and creator. Born and raised in South Central LA. They’ve premiered new work in powerhouse plays like The Christians, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Father Comes Home From the Wars, and While I Yet Live, carving out a lane where art, activism, and legacy meet.

On screen, you’ve seen them as Rick James in MGM+’s Hotel Cocaine, in White Men Can’t Jump, and on BET+’s The Ms. Pat Show. Their digital series The Gaze earned two Daytime Emmy nominations, and their debut feature Mother’s Milk: A Film Quilt took home a Special Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival.

An award-winning creator across stage and screen, LarryJean keeps the roots deep and the vision wide, shaping the next wave as a lecturer at USC, a writer on The Ms. Pat Show, and a director for works like Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau.

Catch their work at larryjean.com

Follow the vibe: @thepowelloflove

@OutsideInThtr and @the_frogs_podcast_

Credits:

A production of Outside In Theatre in Highland Park, Los Angeles

Created by Alex Ubokudom & Tobie Windham

Edited by Brianna Seamster

Recorded & Mixed by Arlo Sanders

Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

Produced by Brianna Seamster & Jessica Hanna

Executive Produced by The Frogs & Outside In Theatre

Recorded at Outside In Theatre

Jerrie Johnson: Art, Audacity, Heart, and HARLEM

Jerrie Johnson (she/they) is the kind of artist who doesn’t just take up space, they reshape it. You probably know them as Tye from Amazon Prime’s Harlem, where their bold, magnetic energy became an instant standout. Jerrie also pulled up in Survival of the Thickest on Netflix, Good Trouble on Hulu, and the indie film Mother’s Milk. A Penn State alum with a BA in Performance Studies and an MFA from the American Conservatory Theater, Jerrie brings both fire and finesse to every room they enter.

Off screen, they’re just as powerful. Poet, performer, and wellness advocate. Their solo show in San Francisco with SFBATCO got all the flowers, and during quarantine, they became a published poet. But beyond the work, Jerrie is building something bigger. A vision rooted in access, healing, and community. They’re currently manifesting a retreat farm where artists can reset, create, and be cared for. It’s giving purpose, it’s giving legacy, and it’s giving joy.

Follow Jerrie on IG: @theejerriejohnson

@the_frogs_podcast_ | @OutsideInThtr

Credits

A production of Outside In Theatre in Highland Park, Los Angeles

Created by Alex Ubokudom and Tobie Windham

Edited by Brianna Seamster

Recorded and Mixed by Arlo Sanders

Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

Produced by Brianna Seamster and Jessica Hanna

Executive Produced by The Frogs and Outside In Theatre

Recorded at Outside In Theatre

Sophina Brown: Creating Space and the New Black Theatre Movement

Sophina Brown is a force on stage, on screen, and in the community. After graduating from the University of Michigan’s BFA Theatre program and making her Broadway debut in The Lion King, she moved to LA to break into TV but never stopped fighting for the theater. Inspired by August Wilson’s The Ground on Which I Stand, Sophina began producing Black theatre in Los Angeles, determined to create space, equity, and opportunity for Black artists and audiences. In 2020, she founded Support Black Theatre, a nonprofit that has secured over $1.3 million for Black theaters, partnered with nearly 200 Black businesses, served more than 20,000 community members, and earned a prestigious Lilly Award for its impact.

In this episode, we chop it up about building legacy, creating access, and staying rooted in purpose. From national tours to network TV (Shark, Numb3rs, Twenties, Kindred), to starring in Bosch: Legacy (dropping March 2025), Sophina’s career is proof that the hustle doesn’t stop but the mission always leads.

Whether she’s acting, producing, or organizing, Sophina is showing what it means to lead with love and strategy and to make sure Black theatre not only survives but thrives.

Support Black Theatre

Website: supportblacktheatre.org

IG: @SupportBlackTheatre

@the_frogs_podcast_ | @OutsideInThtr

Credits

📍 A production of Outside In Theatre in Highland Park, Los Angeles

🎭 Created by Alex Ubokudom and Tobie Windham

🎧 Edited by Brianna Seamster

🎚 Recorded and Mixed by Arlo Sanders

🎵 Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

🎬 Produced by Brianna Seamster and Jessica Hanna

🎙 Executive Produced by The Frogs and Outside In Theatre

Daisuke Tsuji: The Art of Being a Clown

Daisuke Tsuji is more than an actor, he’s a beautiful spirit, a dedicated artist, and a true practitioner of craft. He’s a clown, not the red-nose, ha-ha kind, though we learn he knows a bit about that as well, but the kind that sees the world for what it is and meets it with curiosity, vulnerability, and play. Whether on stage, in motion capture, or in the rehearsal room, he is an explorer of life, always searching for truth in the work.

Right now, he’s stepping into one of the most complex roles of his career: Duch in Cambodian Rock Band at East West Players. The play is a collision of history, music, and memory, demanding its performers to move between humor and horror, joy and devastation, often in the same breath.

You may know him as Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima or from his years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but this conversation is about something deeper. It’s about what it means to hold history in your body, to wrestle with the weight of storytelling, and to find lightness even in the heaviest of roles.

Daisuke shares how Cambodian Rock Band has shaped him, the philosophy that guides his work, and how being a clown, an artist fully present in the moment, has helped him navigate a career that spans Shakespeare, Cirque du Soleil, video games, and beyond.

This one’s special. Tap in.

🎭 Follow Outside In Theatre: @OutsideInThtr

🎙️ Follow The Frogs Podcast: @the_frogs_podcast_

🔹 Follow Daisuke: @daisuketsuji

⸻

Credits:

📍 A production of Outside In Theatre in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles

🎭 Created by Alex Ubokudom & Tobie Windham

🎧 Edited by Brianna Seamster

🎚 Recorded & Mixed by Arlo Sanders

🎵 Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

🎬 Produced by Brianna Seamster & Jessica Hanna

🎙 Executive Produced by The Frogs & Outside In Theatre

🎤 Recorded at Outside In Theatre

Hamish Linklater: The Ghosts of Theatre, Batman, Nickel Boys & the Lakers

Hamish Linklater is a powerhouse: actor, writer, director, producer, and a master of storytelling across every medium. Right now, he’s commanding the stage in Ghosts at Lincoln Center, voicing Batman in the new animated Batman series, and starring in Nickel Boys, which just snagged an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

You’ve seen him in The Big Short, Midnight Mass, Fargo, The Newsroom, and Manhunt, but Hamish isn’t just about delivering iconic performances, he’s a playwright, too. His works Paris, Actors!, The Whirligig, and The Vandal prove his pen is just as sharp as his performances. And let’s not forget Downtown Owl, his directorial debut alongside Lily Rabe, which premiered at Tribeca in 2023.

On stage, Hamish has left his mark with standout performances in Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night for Shakespeare in the Park, earning Drama Desk, Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle nominations, as well as an Obie Award.

In this episode, we chop it up with Hamish about the Ghosts of theater, the weight of legacy, and what it’s like stepping into the Dark Knight’s boots. Tap in for a fly conversation.

🎭 Follow Outside In Theatre: @OutsideInThtr

🎙️ Follow The Frogs Podcast: @the_frogs_podcast_

🔹 Follow Hamish: @therealhamishlinklater

Credits:

A production of Outside In Theatre in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles

Created by Alex Ubokudom & Tobie Windham

Edited by Brianna Seamster

Recorded & Mixed by Arlo Sanders

Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

Produced by Brianna Seamster & Jessica Hanna

Executive Produced by The Frogs & Outside In Theatre

Recorded at Outside In Theatre

Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour – The Magical, Unrestrained, Comedic mind of Stacy Amma

Stacy Osei-Kuffour is a powerhouse TV writer and playwright redefining modern storytelling. With credits like Hulu’s THE BEAR (which just earned her a WGA for Best Comedy), Apple’s THE MORNING SHOW, HBO’s RUN (from Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Amazon’s THE POWER, HBO’s WATCHMEN (earning her another WGA for Best Drama), and Jordan Peele’s HUNTERS starring Al Pacino, she’s consistently pushing creative boundaries. She also penned an Emmy-nominated episode of PEN15 for Hulu.

Hailing from Chicago, Stacy honed her craft with a BFA in Acting from NYU and an MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College. Her critically acclaimed play Hang Man premiered at Chicago’s Gift Theatre in 2018, solidifying her status as one of today’s boldest voices.

We’re stoked to have Stacy’s unique blend of grit, wit, and soul on The Frogs Podcast, where high-level art meets real, unfiltered storytelling.

Follow Us:

🎭 @OutsideInThtr

🎙️ @the_frogs_podcast_

Credits:

A production of Outside In Theatre in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles
Created by Alex Ubokudom and Tobie Windham
Edited by Brianna Seamster
Recorded & Mixed by Arlo Sanders
Theme Song by Arlo Sanders
Produced by Brianna Seamster, Jiahui Ji and Jessica Hanna
Executive Produced by The Frogs and Outside In Theatre
Recorded at Outside In Theatre

Baltimore-born, NYC-based, and always in conversation with the past, Eric Berryman is an artist whose work is guided by a simple but profound question: Would Grandma dig this?

Eric grew up steeped in the stories and wisdom of his grandparents, and that influence echoes through every role he takes on. Whether he’s resurrecting the oral traditions of Black storytelling, reimagining history on stage, or bringing complex characters to life on screen, his work carries a deep sense of reverence and rhythm.

Theater Credits Include:

• Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me (Wooster Group) – A love letter to the lost art of “toasts,” the rhyming oral traditions that helped shape hip-hop. The NY Times calls it “a joy and a provocation.
• The Ford/Hill Project (The Public Theatre)
• Memnon (Getty Villa/Classical Theatre of Harlem)
• Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre)
• The B-Side: Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons (Wooster Group/St. Ann’s Warehouse – Drama Desk Nomination)

Film & TV Credits Include:

• The Penguin (HBO MAX)
• Atlanta (FX)
• Marriage Story (Netflix)
• Evil (Paramount+)
• Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

A graduate of The Baltimore School for the Arts and Carnegie Mellon University, Eric isn’t just performing, he’s preserving, remixing, and pushing forward the stories that shape us.

Eric Berryman. The past in his bones, the future in his hands.

Oh, and he has no social media, because some things are better left offline.

Follow Us:

🎭 @OutsideInThtr

🎙️ @the_frogs_podcast_

Credit info:

A production of Outside In Theatre in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles

Created by Alex Ubokudom and Tobie Windham

Edited by Brianna Seamster

Recorded & Mixed by Arlo Sanders

Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

Produced by Brianna Seamster, Jiahui Ji and Jessica Hanna

Executive Produced by The Frogs and Outside In Theatre

Recorded at Outside In Theatre

Will Power: The Man, The Myth, The Theater Legend

Let’s talk about the powerhouse that is Will Power, an internationally acclaimed playwright, performer, lyricist, and educator. This man’s work has graced stages from Lincoln Center to the Sydney Opera House, and everywhere in between, including venues in Asia, Africa, Europe, and all across North America. You name it, he’s been there!

But here’s the thing: Will isn’t just about the prestige of the global stage. He’s a Professor of Theater at Occidental College right here in Los Angeles, shaping the next generation of storytellers.

Now, about his play…

In September 2024, Will’s incredible play MEMNON took center stage at the Getty Villa in a co-production with the Classical Theatre of Harlem. Think epic ancient warrior tales infused with that unmistakable Will Power magic. You can check out more about this groundbreaking production here:

Getty Villa Event

Classical Theatre of Harlem

Jump on it: If you haven’t tapped into Will Power’s brilliance, fix that. Check out his site for the full rundown on his iconic career.

This is the level of talent we’re talking about on The Frogs. Culture. Theater. Vibes. 🐸🔥

Follow Us:

🎭 @OutsideInThtr

🎙️ @the_frogs_prodcast_

Los Angeles County Wildfire Resources:

LA County Arts Resource Page

https://www.lacountyarts.org/experiences/arts-and-culture-digital-resource-center/2025-la-county-wildfire-recovery-resources

WalkGoodLA

https://www.walkgoodla.org/

California Community Foundation

https://www.calfund.org/

Pasadena Humane Society

https://pasadenahumane.org/

LA County Recovers:

https://recovery.lacounty.gov/

Credit info:

A production of Outside In Theatre in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles

Created by Alex Ubokudom and Tobie Windham

Edited by Brianna Seamster

Recorded & Mixed by Arlo Sanders

Theme Song by Arlo Sanders

Produced by Brianna Seamster, Jiahui Ji and Jessica Hanna

Executive Produced by The Frogs and Outside In Theatre

Recorded at Outside In Theatre