Grammy Award-winning & Tony Award Nominated Actress DANIELLE BROOKS most recently starred on Broadway in The Piano Lesson opposite Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington. The play is directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson. Brooks previously starred on Broadway as “Sofia” in the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple. Later this year, she will star in Warner Brothers’ feature film adaptation of the musical directed by Blitz Bazawule. Brooks stars opposite John Cena on the hit HBO Max series Peacemaker, the spinoff series to James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad movie. Brooks starred as the legendary Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in Mahalia. For her performance, Brooks earned the “Actress Award for Television” from the Critics Choice Association Celebration of Black Cinema & Television. Additionally, Brooks was nominated for a Critics Choice and an NAACP Image Award. Danielle Brooks starred as "Tasha 'Taystee' Jefferson" in Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Orange is the New Black. Danielle is the co-founder of “Black Women on Broadway,” which honors the legacy of Black Women’s contributions to the theatre.

Philanthropic/Activist Causes: Black Women on Broadway

S4E9: Danielle Brooks

Jerry Zaks currently directs his 26th Broadway show, The Music Man. He has received four Tony Awards and been nominated eight times. He's also received four Drama Desks, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and an Obie. His credits include Mrs. Doubtfire, Hello, Dolly!, A Bronx Tale: the musical, Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower, Nantucket Sleigh Ride, Shows For Days, Sister Act, The Addams Family, Guys and Dolls, Six Degrees of Separation, Lend Me a Tenor, House of Blue Leaves, The Front Page, A Funny Thing...Forum, Smokey Joe’s Café, Anything Goes, La Cage aux Folles, Little Shop of Horrors, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Foreigner, A Bronx Tale, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and the original production of Assassins. He began his career directing the extraordinary plays of Christopher Durang including Sister Mary Ignatius..., Beyond Therapy, Baby with the Bath Water, and The Marriage of Bette and Boo. He directed the award-winning film Marvin’s Room, starring Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton; and Who Do You Love, which was featured in the Toronto Film Festival. Mr. Zaks is a founding member, and serves on the board, of the Ensemble Studio Theater. He received the SDC’s George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Philanthropic/Activist Causes: Ensemble Studio Theatre

S4E10: Jerry Zaks

George Salazar is best known for his work on Broadway as “Michael” in the cult sensation Be More Chill, a role for which he won a Lucille Lortel Award, two Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards, and garnered nominations for both Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. His act two number, “Michael in the Bathroom” has been streamed over 50 million times. His theater credits also include “Seymour,” opposite Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, in the critically-acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse production of Little Shop of Horrors, his Drama Desk-nominated performance as “Grover” and “Mr. D” in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, “Michael” in the off-Broadway revival of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick… BOOM!, David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim’s Here Lies Love, The Broadway revival of Godspell, and more. He has appeared on television as “George Conway” in American Crime Story: Impeachment and recurred as “Eric Sosa” on NBC’s Superstore for two seasons. George is also the voice of “Dad Hatter” in Disney Junior’s animated series, Alice’s Wonderland Bakery. 

Philanthropic/Activist Causes: I’m a huge ally and defender of Trans rights. I also care deeply about immigration/deportation, specifically the string of transfers of incarcerated people who finish their sentences for non-violent crimes only to then be transferred to ICE detainment.

S4E11: George Salazar

Live at the Lortel offers audiences an opportunity to hear from favorite stage performers and artists in an intimate setting – the 299-seat Lucille Lortel Theatre. Guided by host, interviewer, and professional theatre- lover Eric Ostrow, these conversations dig deep into the artists’ work and career, including past, current, and future projects.

Live At The Lortel

Popular tracks