Jane Shaw – Sound Designer/Composer

Jane Shaw - Theater Sound Designer & ComposerJoin us in celebrating the beginning of a new year with our special guest, Sound Designer and Composer Jane Shaw. We delve into her journey into the world of sound design for theater, and explore her impressive list of credits. Our conversation is full of fun anecdotes about her career, as well as her hobbies outside of work. As one of the founding members of TSDCA (Theatrical Sound Design Composer Association), she has a wealth of knowledge about the history and current state of sound design in the theater world. So, if you’re interested in learning more about this field, this episode is a must-listen!

“I love supporting story and emotion thru sound and music. I am endlessly inspired by my directors, fellow designers, actors, singers, musicians, as well as the messy, wonderful, dirty, haunting, and tormented manmade and natural world that surrounds us.”

Listen to her episode here

Jane Shaw—Sound Designer & Composer

Recent: 

Little Women (Seattle Rep, Milwaukee Rep), A Christmas Carol (Guthrie, composer), The Art of Burning (Huntington, Hartford Stage), The Wanderers (Roundabout, The Old Globe), The Railway Children (Northern Stage, music & lyrics with Mark Hartman), and The Engagement Party (The Geffen, Hartford Stage). New York: Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New AudienceNational Black TheatreRattlestick, The Women’s ProjectRepertorio Español, New York Theatre Workshopand over thirty productions with the Mint.

Regional:

The Alley, Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), ACT (San Francisco), American Repertory Theater, Cleveland Play House, The Old GlobeMark Taper ForumTwo River TheaterCincinnati Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Arena Stage, Asolo Rep, Dorset Theatre Festival, Denver Center, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Recognition: Drama Desk, Connecticut Critics Circle, Henry Award, Bessie Award, Premios ACE 2012, NEA/TCG Career Development Grant, Meet the Composer Grant, and several Lortel nominations.

Member: USA 829, TSDCA (Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association).

Ms. Shaw is a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale School of Drama, and hails from Lawrence, Kansas. https://www.janeshaw.com/

 

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2024Happy New Year to all! As the 2023 came to an end, I wanted to wish everyone an amazing New Year filled with love, joy, prosperity, and most importantly, good health. We often take our health for granted, but it truly is the foundation for enjoying life’s many blessings.

Overheard at Chica’s Café launched in July of 2022 as a way to bring some lightheartedness back into our lives after three years of pandemic struggles. In the upcoming year, we plan on adding more interviews at the suggestion of one of our listeners. These interviews will feature individuals from all areas of the entertainment industry, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at their journeys. We’ve also discussed important topics such as the writers’ and actors’ strike in several episodes this year. Sadly, our sister podcast, Chica and the Man, came to an end in September due to our busy schedules. It was a bittersweet goodbye since my co-host Alex is a dear friend of mine.

Overheard at Chica’s Café is all about my friends, and I can’t wait to introduce you to more of them. And not just my friends – I’ll also be featuring associates I have worked with in the past. This will not only be entertaining but also educational as you’ll get insight into what it takes to be in these positions in the entertainment industry. So, stay tuned for more episodes where friends meet at Chica’s Café.

2023 Guests

This year we had amazing friends visit the café and I want to thank the following guests. Check out the episodes here or at the links per guest below.

Che Rae Adams – Let’s Talk Theater – Artistic Director of PlayPen in Philadelphia Che’Rae has been a longtime friend.

Kelly Keefe – Multi-Disciplinary Artist – Author, Musician and founder of Heartspace.co a mindfulness platform.

Steve Walker – Theatrical Agent – Connor Ankrum & Assoc. in Los Angeles

Marabina Jaimes – Actor, Voiceover Artist & Producer and I got signed to my voiceover agents DDO LA. because she helped me with my demo tape. I’m very grateful.

Jane Witzenburg – Musician and Music teacher

Doreen Calderon – Actor, Fatal Attraction

Kristi Schultz – Theatre Maker, Director & Educator

Norma Maldonado – Actor

Denise Sanchez – Actor, Bosch Legacy – I play her mom on the Bosch Legacy TV Series.

Thank you and many blessings and Happy New Year.

Che’Rae Adams Artistic Director

Che'Rae Adams Artistic Director of Playpen in Philadelphia In November 2023 on Overheard at Chica’s Café, we welcomed Che’Rae Adams. Che’Rae is the Artistic Director of PlayPen in Philadelphia and the founding director of LA Writer’s Center. We discuss the current state of theater after the pandemic and what’s to come for this creative community. Che’Rae gives us an insight into her journey as a full-time artist; from an actor, to director, dramaturge, and now Artistic Director. Listen in to hear her words of wisdom about the future of theater.

Che’Rae has been the Producing Artistic Director of the LA Writers Center since 2006 where she develops new work with local writers. She was the Director of Operations and Programming for the Moss Theater in Santa Monica for seven years and has been the Development Executive for Playhouse Pictures Studios, Co-Artistic Director of the Road Theatre Company, and Managing Producer for the LA Women’s Theatre Festival.

She began her career as the Assistant to the Staff Producer at The Mark Taper Forum where she worked on the writing workshop of the Pulitzer Prize winning Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika. As you can imagine, this was like a master class in new play development for her. Bitten by the new play bug, she went on to do other projects for the Taper that supported playwrights such as coordinating the Taper Lab Series and Mentor Playwright’s Series. There she worked with writers such as Luis Alfaro, Anthony Clarvoe, Han Ong, Oliver Mayer, Ellen McLaughlin, Alice Tuan and Mac Wellman.

She has a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music (CCM) and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University, Northridge. For almost two decades, she has produced the Directors Lab West which takes place at the Pasadena Playhouse annually.

Che’Rae has developed and directed the West Coast premiere productions of several new plays including plays by Lee Blessing, Ken Hanes, Tim Toyoma, Patricia Cardosa, John DiFusco, Jon Bastian, and Abi Morgan. She has also provided direction and/or dramaturgy for productions with Cincinnati Opera Outreach, Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, Highways Performance Space, and Troupe Vertigo at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. She has worked with prominent performers such as Tonya Pinkins, Lynn Redgrave, Kim Fields, and Carlos Alazraqui; as well as award winning directors and choreographers such as Vincent Paterson, Tom Hulce, Jane Jones, Bonnie Story, Kitty McNamee, and Tina Kronis; and distinguished designers such as Sara Clement, Cricket S. Myers, and Ming Cho Lee.

As the Director of Programming for The Moss Theater she worked with numerous musical organizations including Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), Duo Del Sol, Jazz Bakery, Musical Theatre Guild, and Musicians At Play Foundation (including Seth McFarlane’s Jazz Band). As part of the Moss Theater’s Live Talks LA and Writers Bloc series, she has hosted celebrities such as John Irving, Jason Segel, Shepard Fairey, Moby, Kevin Costner, Linda Ronstadt, Diane Keaton, Maria Bello, Camyrn Manheim, Eric Bogosian, Herb Alpert, Deborah Voigt, Ann Rice, Nicholas Kristof, Amy Tan, Russell Brand, Mitch Albom, Malcolm Gladwell, and Kristoffer Kristofferson.

As a producer for Directors Lab West she has curated close to two decades of programming (workshops, panels, and master classes) at the Pasadena Playhouse. This annual event hosts fifty international midcareer directors free of charge. Highlights include Vincent Paterson, Moises Kaufman, Jason Alexander, Martin Benson, Marc Masterson, Todd London, Sheldon Epps, George Furth, Anne Cattaneo, Des McAnuff, Jessica Kubzansky, Chay Yew, Jack O’Brien and Bill Rausch.

Che’Rae is also an experienced public speaker and educator, having taught acting and writing workshops at various institutions around the country such as The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Catholic University, Miami Dade University, California State University Fullerton, UCLA Extension, Azusa Pacific University and Hussian College. She has also served on panels for Hollins University, USC, The New Playwrights Festival at the College of the Desert, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Che’Rae is an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She spent the last two years of the pandemic producing diverse online programming with HowlRound TV in response to the social inequity taking place in our society. Recently, she curated Breathe: A BIPOC Reading Series in response to George Floyd’s murder; Home: Asian Voices Reading Series to amplify Asian-American stories; and The Voices of Afghanistan project where monologues were constructed from interviews with Afghan artists in hiding.

Che’Rae has had 22 articles published online at NOHOARTSDISTRICT.COM, and self-published a workbook for writers called Writing is Hard… She is the recipient of a SDC Foundation Observership award where she shadowed James Burrows on the TV show Will and Grace. She has been nominated for a Cincinnati Enquirer Entertainment Award and Backstage West Garland Critics Citations Award. Fun fact: In 2009, Che’Rae played Gladys Presley in Cirque du Soleil’s Viva Elvis which opened the Aria Casino in Las Vegas.

Check out her previous interview on the podcast.

Check out the November 2023 podcast here.

LA Writers Center

PlayPen in Philadelphia, PA

Info video on PlayPen on YouTube