An Interview with Actor, Teacher, & Director: Maria Dizzia

05/10/20 • 58 min

Upstage Left | Intimate Conversations with New York Theater

A special Mother's Day episode with Tony Award nominated actor, Maria Dizzia.
The celebrated stage & screen actor, director, & teacher chats openly and honestly with Rachel about her career, and the challenges she faced early on. They talk about how she got an 'unsatisfactory' in grad school, her experience playing Eurydice in Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, and how being a mom has changed her work.
In this episode:

On school: "I knew as a person who did well in institutions... I knew I needed to have a little sense of "fuck you"-ness."
On moving to New York: "I was very fortunate, but I was not having a good time."
On her first job: "I was scared the whole time. I was terrified. I was afraid people were going to discover I didn't know what I was doing and fire me."

We're so excited to share this episode that is filled to the brim with anecdotes & wisdom. AND, listen to the end to catch a very special surprise guest!!
Mentioned in the episode:
Actors at Work
The Neighbor's Window
__
Music: David Hilowitz

Support the show

On school: "I knew as a person who did well in institutions... I knew I needed to have a little sense of "fuck you"-ness."
On moving to New York: "I was very fortunate, but I was not having a good time."
On her first job: "I was scared the whole time. I was terrified. I was afraid people were going to discover I didn't know what I was doing and fire me."

Support the show

Previous Episode

An Interview with Actor: Matthew Maher

Rachel chats with one of theater's most sought after actors, Matthew Maher (The Flick, Mr. Burns, Chinglish) who has originated roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off.
Most recently he appeared in Will Eno's Gnit, and is slated to appear in NYTW's upcoming Three Sisters, adapted by Clare Barron directed by Sam Gold. Rachel and Matt chat about his early years in New York - working in the downtown theater scene, and how he came to be someone playwrights write roles for. He talks about an unsuccessful move to LA, and how he resolved to only work with friends after returning to New York. Learn how he approaches text, and what he does to bring new plays to life.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Race of the Ark Tattoo
TFANA Gnit
NYTW Three Sisters
Music:
David Hilowitz

Support the show

Next Episode

An Interview with Associate Artistic Director: Erin Daley

In this episode, Rachel chats with Erin Daley, the associate artistic director of Primary Stages. They recorded this episode on March 25th (two months ago), when New York City was only two weeks into quarantine. While things were much less certain then, it might have also been easier to be more optimistic. With this in mind, listen in, as the two discuss what the realities of the industry might look like on the other side of this pandemic and what organizations are thinking about as they navigate the current state of affairs.
Having met almost a decade ago at the Flea theater, Rachel was excited to chat with Erin about organization structure, and what it takes to run a theater. They talk about her roles and responsibilities as associate artistic director, her experience working with emerging artists, and what she's thinking about when reading new scripts.
Mentioned in this episode:
Dorothy Strelsin New Writers Group
Primary Stages
----
Music by David Hilowitz

Support the show