Marks & Vincentelli: A Theatre Podcast

An unlikely thespian is winning over fans in Season 3 of the Lisa Kudrow cult series “The Comeback”: Jack O’Brien, who is playing Tommy, the hair stylist of Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish.
Theater fans certainly are familiar with O’Brien — but as a director. He’s won three Tonys, and for wildly different productions: “Hairspray,” “The Coast of Utopia” and “Henry IV.” Pretty good range, and that’s even before O’Brien stepped in to fill the void left on “The Comeback” by the death of Robert Michael Morris, who adorably played Tommy’s predecessor, Mickey, in the first two seasons. In addition to his many, many credits on Broadway — he landed his first Tony nomination for a revival of “Porgy and Bess” in 1977, and most recently directed the play “The Roommate” and the musical “Shucked!” — he also led San Diego’s Old Globe Theater from 1981 to 2007.
At 86, O’Brien remains indefatigable and found the time to drop by the podcast. He’s as funny and chatty as you might expect. We talked about “The Comeback,” of course, but also about some of his signature shows. Dive in!
Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.



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There’s a reason “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” has been a hit since its premiere in 2005: Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn’s musical is incredibly funny and sneakily poignant — and the songs are simply great.
Now the show is back in New York in a fab production — Elisabeth gave it a critic’s pick in the Times — that includes Lilli Cooper and Jason Kravits as Rona Lisa Peretti and Vice Principal Douglas Panch, two adults who steer the contest but also the show: One of their responsibilities is to make the guest spellers who are selected from the audience at every performance stay on track, and leave at the right moment.
Lilli and Jason came on the podcast to talk about their experience in the musical — don’t miss the part about them spotting showboaters and wannabe performers almost instantly, then plotting to get rid of them!
They also talk about some of their other roles: Lilli’s credits include David Yazbek’s “Tootsie” (Tony nom!) and the Encores! “Titanic” with dad Chuck and brother Eddie; and Peter waxed poetic about seeing Jason in many plays in D.C area theaters.
Tune in — this is a particularly funny episode!


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One of the great pleasures of Lauren Yee’s new play, “Mother Russia” (at Signature Theater until March 29) is watching expert actors work their comic magic. We’re lucky that two of them, Steven Boyer and Adam Chanler-Berat, took some time to drop by our virtual studio.
Elisabeth wrote a glowing review of “Mother Russia” in the New York Times, praising Steven and Adam’s performances as a pair of mismatched friends in 1992 St. Petersburg, trying to figure out how to make a quick ruble as capitalism takes over Russia. This is their first time working together, which is unexpected because they have been regulars on New York stages for the past 15 years. Adam got his break break in “Next to Normal,” then went on to terrific turns in “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “The Fortress of Solitude.” Steven earned a Tony nomination for his memorable turn as a teenager and his evil hand puppet in “Hand to God,” and you would remember him from playing Victoria Clark’s dad in “Kimberly Akimbo.” Freakishly, they both played John Hinckley in different NYC revivals of “Assassins”!
We talked with them about the new show, including the epic scene in which their characters chomp on their first-ever filet-o-fish, as well as some of their earlier credits — Steven has an amazing anecdote about the little-seen “Trevor” (which Elisabeth remembers vividly) and its surprisingly trajectory.


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One of the things we enjoy doing on this podcast is talking to people fighting the good fight around the country. Now, you might have heard that there’s some turmoil in the Washington, D.C. arts scene — understatement of the year! It started with the sabotage of the Kennedy Center by the Trump administration, and now another institution is crumbling: the Washington Post recently decided it didn’t need critics or an arts editorial staff, and slashed that desk. Those who were swept away included theater critic Naveen Kumar and theater editor Zachary Pincus-Roth.
So what happens when the local legacy newspaper stops covering the local theater? In this episode we talk to Nicole Hertvik and Eric Colchamiro, who are editor in chief and board chair, respectively, of DC Theater Arts — which now finds itself propelled to the forefront of theater coverage in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area.
Tune in as we discuss where local companies stand, the challenges and rewards of covering D.C. in the Trump era, and of course that Lesbian “Othello” everybody — OK, just Richard Grenell of the Kennedy Center — is talking about.
Some reading:
Nicole Hertvik’s live report from the Kennedy Center Honors.
Her reaction to the Kennedy Center closing and the WaPo layoffs.

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This episode’s guest is Susannah Flood, from the play “Liberation” — one of the best-reviewed Broadway shows of 2025 (you can read Elisabeth’s glowing take for The New York Times here).
The show mostly takes place during meetings of a feminist consciousness-raising group in 1970s Ohio. Susannah takes on two roles: Lizzie, who founded the group, and Lizzie’s daughter, who’s narrating the story. She talked to us about getting into theater, working with the playwright Bess Wohl and the director Whitney White (check her out on the pod here!), and what doing this specific play has meant to her.
Of course we also talked about other shows on Susannah’s C.V., like Anne Washburn’s now-iconic “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play.”
But wait, there’s more: Susannah plays the lead character’s mother in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” and talked about that project as well. Don’t say we don’t spoil you!



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