Now that the Tony noms are out and about, we can get back to our regularly scheduled podcast (which normally gets released on Monday) . . .

Sit in a room with Leigh Silverman for a few minutes seconds, and you can’t help but think, “Damn, this is a smart woman.”  In fact, I thought that so many times during this podcast, I forgot what question I was supposed to ask next!

Not only was I taken by Leigh’s passion for the theater and her methodology for shaping plays and musicals (from Well to Chinglish to Violet), I was so impressed by how she has shaped her own career.  Instead of majoring in directing in college?  She majored in writing . . . knowing full well she wanted to direct.  She understood that knowing the ins and outs of the structure of a play and how it was built from the ground up would serve her more than just studying directing.  It’s like an architect choosing to work construction for a few years to understand what keeps a building in place.  #Genius.

We talked all about that choice and so much more including:

• Why she’s glad someone told her she was a terrible Actor when she was just 15.
• How she decides if a new play is “viable.”
• Why she makes her Designers act.
• The difference between working on a play and a musical . . . and what her two new musical projects are.
• Why television is the reason the new American play is thriving.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the podcast of Leigh Silverman!  (And go ahead, just try not to think “Damn, she’s smart!”  I dare you.)

Listen to it on iTunes here.  (And give me a rating, while you’re there!)

Download it here.