In the days that followed March 12, 2020, when I realized I wouldn’t be seeing my fellow TheaterMakers, friends, acquaintances, or really ANYONE except my wife and daughter for a few MONTHS, I started reaching out via FaceTime, Zoom, and Text just to check in and see how everyone was doing.

That’s how The Producer’s Perspective LIVE was born.

A little bit inspired by my Podcast and a lot inspired by my TheaterMakin’ friends, every night we had a superstar TheaterMaker join me for a quick livestream update on how they were doing and what they were up to . . . and also any tips they had for TheaterMakers out there who were struggling to get through that interminable time.  

Today is the 2-year anniversary (!) of launching The Producer’s Perspective LIVE which had me thinking back on those early days of the pandemic. And I figured I’d share some of the most memorable moments from the live show.

In no particular order . . .

1 – The very first episode with Stephen Schwartz.

Technically, the very first episode was me by myself because we wanted to test our Streamyard account, but in our very first OFFICIAL episode with a superstar guest, I sat down with the legend who is Stephen Schwartz. He gives a quote in this interview that inspired me and so many others for the rest of the shutdown.

2 – Andrew Lippa teased music from his new musical The Unofficial Tiger King Musical.

Remember Tiger King? Shoot, that got me through a whole week of the shutdown!  Well, on the livestream Andrew told me he was writing a Parody musical about it and then he even played one of the songs LIVE for us. Go back and watch it here.

3 – Surprising Mat & Savanna Shaw with their Broadway Idol.

Mat and Savanna were featured in our “Something To Make You Smile” segment of the show after one of you sent their first video to us. My Producer invited Mat and Savanna on the show. And when we learned that they’re big fans of Phantom of the Opera and of Sierra Boggess, we secretly invited Sierra to join us for a surprise introduction. Their reaction was just the best (watch it here).  

4 – Freestyle Love Supreme’s co-creator Two-Touch giving me a live beat-box lesson.

If you ever wanted to see a Producer beat-box, you should probably go back and watch this episode. 🙂 WARNING:  Not for the faint of heart.  Because I’m awful.  But, I got a little better after the lesson. 🙂

5 – The Reunion Episodes.

When people ask me what a Producer does, I always say my job is to get people in a room together. And even in the pandemic, we were able to get the cast and creatives from not one, not two, but THREE of my shows, Godspell, Daddy Long Legs, and Altar Boyz. And boy was it fun. I haven’t seen some of these TheaterMakers in YEARS and it just reminded me of how important live theater is. So if you haven’t watched them or if you want to relive those moments, I highly recommend watching those three.

Those live episodes have been saved on my Facebook page and on my Youtube channel so you’re welcome to bookmark those pages and revisit your favorite episodes whenever you want. In fact, I ENCOURAGE it.  Because you’ll find that the generous guests we had on the show will encourage YOU!