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Art by Jason Simon

Token Theatre Friends: Betsy Wolfe Is Not Interested in Playing a Victim

The prolific Broadway performer talks about singing pop music versus singing show tunes, plus the Friends review the new Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater musical.

Twice a month on the Token Theatre Friends video series and podcasts, theatre critics (and theatre besties) Jose Solís and Diep Tran bring a POC perspective to the performing arts.

This week they talk to actor Betsy Wolfe (Waitress and Falsettos on Broadwayabout touring her cabaret around the country (including at Feinstein’s/54 Below). Wolfe (one of Jose’s favorite people to interview) discusses her approach to selecting music for her cabaret, the stories she wants to tell onstage, and navigating Broadway and pop sounds with ease. The Friends also pitch her a few ideas for new musicals!

The audio of the interview is also available on the podcast, where the Friends review three shows currently playing in New York City:

Alice By Heart by Jessie Nelson, Steven Sater, and Duncan Sheik at MCC  Theater through April 7 ($25 – $127). Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice in Wonderland gets the WWII treatment in a new musical set during the Blitz which asks: How can literature help us overcome adversity?

Hurricane Diane by Madeleine George at New York Theatre Workshop through March 24 ($69 – $89). The god Dionysus takes human form (as the hilarious Becca Blackwell) and wreaks delicious havoc in the lives of four New Jersey housewives.

Spaceman by Leegrid Stevens produced by Loading Dock Theatre through March 9 ($21 – $30). In space, no one can hear you talk to your plant or try to find your missing husband—just ask Molly (Erin Treadway), the protagonist of this inventive one-woman show set in a spaceship en route to Mars.

Plus, they discuss the To Kill a Mockingbird controversy!

Download the episode here.

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