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Backstage look at books starring on Broadway.
The Outsiders
Tony Award® Winner for Best Musical
Danya Taymor (Director)
Tony Award® Winner Best Direction of a Musical
Emma Pittman (Cherry Valance)
Hosted by Ilana Levine, Actress and Podcaster, Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine
Danya Taymor is a New York based director. She reopened Broadway with Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's Pass Over, the first play back after 18 months in the darkness on Broadway (New York Times 10 best shows of 2021). Other recent work includes: Samuel Beckett's Endgame (Gate Theater, Dublin), Will Arbery's Pulitzer Prize finalist Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Obie Award, Callaway Award for Outstanding Director), and Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (New Group), Jeremy O. Harris' "Daddy" (Almeida, London + New Group/Vineyard), Korde Arrington Tuttle's Graveyard Shift (Goodman), Martyna Majok's queens (Lincoln Center), Danai Guirira's Familiar (Steppenwolf), and Brian Watkins' My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer and Wyoming (The Flea + Lesser America). Her world-premiere production of Pass Over (Steppenwolf 2017) was filmed in collaboration with Spike Lee, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Recipient of the Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity from Lincoln Center. BA: Duke University
Emma Pittman is a Mississippi native, Wagner College graduate, and winner of "The Search for Roxie". Her Broadway credits include Chicago (Roxie & Annie) and Back to the Future OBC (Ensemble). Regional credits include The Drowsy Chaperone (Janet) and Damn Yankees (Lola). Emma is also a teaching artist, director, and choreographer. Her choreography credits include On The Twentieth Century, Into the Woods, and The Cradle Will Rock. She thanks Ann Reinking, Michele Pawk, John Davenport, her family and Nick for their love and support.
As an actress, Ilana Levine has performed on stage and screen to critical acclaim. On Broadway, Ilana is best known to musical theater fans for her comedic turn as "Lucy Van Pelt" in the Broadway revival of, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. Ilana also starred in the Broadway productions of Jake's Women, Wrong Mountain and The Last Night Of Ballyhoo. She has performed on the Tony Awards. Her ability to portray characters with raw honesty, humor, and pathos, has sustained her career as an actress for over 25 years. She first appeared on the scene in the HBO series Tanner ’88 directed by Robert Altman and quickly was plucked by Vanity Fair journalist James Wolcott as an “up and comer to watch.” Seinfeld fans recognize her from the infamous episode "The Contest." She has appeared in many television shows and films including Divorce, Law and Order, Tanner on Tanner, Damages, The Job, Cashmere Mafia, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Kissing Jessica Stein, Gigantic, Ira and Abby, Failure to Launch, The Nanny Diaries, Friends With Kids and Five Flights Up. As a voice over artist she has done commercials and audio books. For the past three years Ilana has been cited as a “Twitter Influencer To Follow”. She resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, actor Dominic Fumusa, her two children, and their dog, Lola.