Musicals | A Soothing Sleep Podcast for Overthinkers

Looking for a sleep podcast to fall asleep fast, reduce anxiety, and quiet an overactive mind? This calming episode of The Insomnia Project is designed for insomnia relief, stress reduction, and gentle nighttime unwinding through slow, soothing conversation.
Marco Timpano welcomes back Daniel Krolik for a relaxed discussion about musical theatre, exploring the storytelling, performances, and creative elements that make musicals so memorable. This low-stimulation, easygoing episode offers cozy, engaging content perfect for bedtime listening.
The conversation gently drifts through favourite productions, the craft behind musicals, and the joy of combining music and theatre, all delivered in a soft, meandering style that helps ease racing thoughts and promote relaxation. With unhurried pacing and familiar cultural topics, this calming podcast episode creates a peaceful environment ideal for sleep, stress relief, or quiet background listening.
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Episode 84: The Art of Mundanity | A Gentle Exploration of Theatre with Daniel Krolik
Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen. Rate us on itunes or follow us on Twitter
Marco Timpano: Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen. As we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating. So that you can just relax, drift off, catch some Z's. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep. Rate us on itunes or follow us on Twitter ListenAndSleep. I'm, your host, Marco Timpano. And joining me in the studio is a dear friend, Daniel Krolik. Daniel, welcome.
Daniel Krolik: Hey, Marco.
Marco Timpano: Daniel, I'm excited to have you because when we first started podcasting, you were one of the people I asked for advice. Cause you also do a podcast.
Daniel Krolik: I do, I do.
Marco Timpano: Tell me about your podcast.
Daniel Krolik: it's called bgm, which stands for both bad gay movies and bitchy gay men.
Marco Timpano: Oh, yeah. So tell me about it. What, what goes on on this podcast?
Daniel Krolik: Well, there's three, of us. There's myself, Bill Antonio and Michael Soulard. And every episode, we've been doing this for about nearly four years.
Marco Timpano: Wow, Congratulations.
Daniel Krolik: Thanks.
Marco Timpano: you're one of the co hosts with these other two gentlemen.
Daniel Krolik: Exactly. And every episode we pick a movie from the very extensive gay cinema m oeuvre.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: If you ever type in just gay movies on Netflix, you'll sort of get a really good idea of, what we have to pick from. And we just start at the beginning, and we pick it apart scene by scene, bit by bit. What doesn't work, what is ridiculous, what in no way resembles real life. Okay. And then at the very end of each episode, we give a recommendation.
Marco Timpano: Oh, great.
Daniel Krolik: So we recommend to our listeners whatever has left a recent impression on us. So books, movies, a song, a television show, a restaurant, whatever sort of has left a good impression on us since we recorded last.
Marco Timpano: Fantastic. And you can find those episodes of the podcast on badgamemovies.com Or go to iTunes, type in BGM or Badgay movies or bitchy gay men, and you will find it will come up. There you go.
Daniel: You were one of the first people to suggest I start podcast
Daniel, thank you for being here today.
Daniel Krolik: I'm so happy to be here.
Marco Timpano: I wanted to talk to you because, as I said, you were one of the first people. I said, listen, I'm thinking of doing a podcast, and you gave me some advice, and you recommended I speak to Bill. And hence, this podcast has been on for almost a year now. We're almost at 100 episodes. And I want. This is actually episode 83, Daniel. So thank you for being.
Daniel Krolik: This is exciting.
Of those performers, who would you most like to do a scene opposite
I think 100 used to be, like, the magic number for syndication for TV shows. I think if they hit 100 episodes, the TV show would then go into syndication.
Marco Timpano: So what's your favorite television show?
Daniel Krolik: Oh, goodness.
Marco Timpano: One that's in syndication that's no longer on the air.
Daniel Krolik: Well, I mean, you know, this about me is that my favorite television show growing up was the Facts of Life. Okay.
Marco Timpano: That's right.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah.
Marco Timpano: That's right. And you have yet to work with someone who is a performer on Facts of Life.
Daniel Krolik: I mean, sadly, this is true. but I like to think that I must be only one or two degrees removed from a Charlotte Rae or a Lisa Welchel, for example.
Marco Timpano: Of those performers, who would be the person you would most like to do a scene opposite? M. It's a tough one.
Daniel Krolik: It's a tough one. And as much as I love Mindy Cohn and you know how much I love Natalie Green, it's gonna have to be Charlotte Ray Who's she's approaching 90. If she's not there already. She's still going. She'll still pop up in the odd cameo in something here or there. she recently played Meryl Streep's mother in law. Oh, in. Ah. Do you remember that movie, Ricky and the Flash? I think it was last year.
Marco Timpano: Oh, no, I don't.
Daniel Krolik: Where Meryl Streep was like a. She fronted a rock band that played dive bars.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: And Kevin Kline was her ex.
Marco Timpano: Kevin Klein. That's right.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah. And there was a wedding scene at the end of the movie, and Charlotte Rae popped in as, Kevin Klein's mother.
Marco Timpano: How amazing is that? Ah.
Daniel Krolik: So, yeah, I think it would have to be her.
Marco Timpano: I think you'd be excellent opposite her.
Daniel Krolik: a girl can dream.
Daniel: Let's start with American plays and American playwrights
Marco Timpano: Daniel, I wanted to talk to you about plays because of all my friends, when we talk about plays and playwrights, in particular, American playwrights or things that are going on on Broadway, your. The encyclopedia. You're the one who knows. You're the one I always go to. So that's also to say I don't know much, but I'm always wildly impressed by your knowledge. So I'm gonna share this with our listeners. Let's start with American plays and American playwrights. What makes them different than other playwrights and, what's distinct about them?
Daniel Krolik: I think that plays are. They can be a representation of whatever is going on in that playwright's nation's history. hence, that's why British plays are all about class.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: British plays, especially from the mid 20th century, they're always about class struggles, class distinctions, getting out of the working class. and America in the 20th century has had such a tumultuous history, with economic struggles, racial struggles, class struggles, gender struggles. so I think American plays in particular really appeal to me, because really good American plays are representative of all the terrible and difficult things that the country itself has gone through. Sure.
Marco Timpano: Who is someone that has come out in the last, say, five years that you're like, this is someone to watch, or this is. His or her plays are just impressed you?
Daniel Krolik: There's certainly a few. I'm probably gonna say Stephen Caram, who just won the Tony Award this past year for his play the Humans, which I was fortunate enough to see when it was off Broadway, before it moved to Broadway.
Marco Timpano: Oh, wow.
Daniel Krolik: and it's one of the few plays that I've seen that gave me nightmares because it was so powerful and it was so impactful.
Marco Timpano: So when you saw It Off Broadway? Did you immediately think this is gonna go on Broadway?
Daniel Krolik: Not necessarily, because there weren't any major stars in it.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: There weren't any people that were immediately recognizable from a TV show or from a movie, which is sometimes an indicator. and there's plenty of regional shows, plenty of off Broadway shows that are really well received that can garner an award or two, but that won't make a commercial transfer. So it's not, it's never really an indication. and I had previously seen a play of Karim's off Broadway, maybe 2011, 2012 M that I had absolutely loved, that got amazing reviews, it was nominated, it was shortlisted for the Pulitzer and it didn't move. It was rumored to move and it didn't move.
Marco Timpano: What was that play called?
Daniel Krolik: Sons of the Prophet. Sons of the Prophet, which, is number one on my fantasy list of things that I would love to do here in Toronto.
Marco Timpano: I see.
What is it about Steven's work that speaks to you in today's age
And what is it about Steven's work that really speaks to you or that you think is important in today's age?
Daniel Krolik: His shows are issue based without hammering home an issue.
Marco Timpano: Oh, I see.
Daniel Krolik: So the Humans, for example, it takes place on, Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment of the daughter. The younger daughter of this family has just moved into this duplex in Chinatown in New York that's potentially haunted, that's falling apart, that potentially has some weird history. It's sort of. When I described it, when I describe it to friends, I sort of say it might be a ghost story.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: You don't, you don't even know for sure.
Marco Timpano: Right.
Daniel Krolik: but it's also a show that deals with the new economy and that deals with the family trying to get by in post recession America without. And it's sort of those issues, the economic issues that this family's facing, they're woven into the fabric. So it's not a show about this issue, which is that Americans can't get by, they can't put food on the plate, they can't pay their rent. But it's sort of woven into the fabric of the story without it having to be this red button issue. And he does that also. And Stephen Caram is also a gay playwright and he writes his gay characters. The sister in the Humans, the older sister is gay. and it's.
Marco Timpano: So Wait a second, the play is called the Sister and the Humans?
Daniel Krolik: No, no, no, I'm sorry. The character in the Humans, the older sister, is gay. and it's just sort of so naturally, so subtly woven into the story that. It feels so natural.
Marco Timpano: I see.
Daniel Krolik: So he puts in all of these things that are on the table that people are having these major debates about.
Daniel Krolik: and it makes it feel so natural. And it never feels like a public service announcement. It feels so intrinsic.
Marco Timpano: So interesting. You talk about, Stephen Caram.
Daniel Krolik: Is it Caram? Yep.
Marco Timpano: and now I want to see his plays. And you do that often. You'll talk about a playwright, and after you talk about them in their work, it often makes me want to run out and either buy the play or go see the play. So, Steven, if you're listening, you've got, at the very least, a great publicist sitting in front of me. What about other playwrights? of note that you're like, I like this person's work, or like, you should, like, who? Could you tell our public to go and see you? Like, you won't be disappointed if you see this. Playwrights.
Daniel Krolik: Oh, I mean, there's so many. When I first.
Marco Timpano: I know I asked the impossible question for someone who's a lover.
Daniel Krolik: I can narrow it down, but, I mean, I can talk about the things that I was first attracted to, because when I. When I first started getting interested, my gateway was musicals. So what initially attracted me to the theater were musicals. But when I started branching out from that and when I started seeking, out plays as opposed to musicals, I would read, them. And the first authors that I was. And this is maybe circa early 90s, so 93, 94. Around there, I read a lot of John Guare.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: The. The gentleman who wrote Six Degrees of Separation. Very well known. that actually might have been the first play that I read. The first play that I went to. I remember this very vividly. buying at a bookstore and reading cover to cover. That might have been the first play that I had done that with. And I was just spellbound.
Marco Timpano: What did you think of the film adaptation of it?
Daniel Krolik: I haven't seen it in many years
Marco Timpano: because that was with Will Smith, Stalker
Daniel Krolik: Channing the Great, who was the only one to recreate, her work from the stage.
Marco Timpano: Oh, so she did. She did it on stage.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah, yeah.
Marco Timpano: And Donald, Sutherland, I believe.
Daniel Krolik: Donald Sutherland. Mary, Beth Hurd in a small role.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: Will Smith was phenomenal. Right. Movie. He was so good.
Marco Timpano: I had only seen the film. That's why I asked. And I thought the film was fantastic. So I'm just wondering if the big difference.
Daniel Krolik: And again, I haven't seen the film since it came out. Right.
Marco Timpano: Which was many years ago.
Daniel Krolik: But the big difference, if I recall correctly, was that in the stage version, the main couple, Flann and Weeza, addressed the audience directly. And it was very nicely transitioned in the movie to them talking to all of their friends at the country club, at the brunches, at a dinner party with whatever. And them telling all of their friends in New York society the story of how they encountered, the hustler, who is played by Will Smith.
Daniel: Who are the actors that you love to see on stage
Marco Timpano: You mentioned Stalker Channing.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah.
Marco Timpano: who are the actors, male or female, that you love to see on stage? I would imagine she would be one of them.
Daniel Krolik: I've seen her twice.
Marco Timpano: Okay. And she's.
Daniel Krolik: She's terrific. And she does great. Actors do so, so much by doing so little. You know this. Right. and Stalker Channing is very capable of destroying somebody in a scene, killing an audience, with very little effort.
Marco Timpano: Right.
Daniel Krolik: With. With. With great technique and great thought, but very little effort, which I love to watch.
Marco Timpano: And what did you see her in?
Daniel Krolik: I saw her once in Pal Joey, which was a musical.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: where she played the older woman seduced by a gigolo.
Marco Timpano: I'm just gonna say this now, Daniel. We're already halfway through this podcast, and I'm gonna have to do a second podcast that just deals with musicals with you. Okay. Because I feel like we're gonna just stick to plays and then we're gonna do a musical, because your knowledge is so vast when it comes to the theater. That's. I'm really excited by doing a part two with you. So, Pal Joey. And what was the other thing you saw?
Daniel Krolik: It was, John Robin Bates play called Other Desert Cities. Other Desert Cities, which had a phenomenal cast. It was, Stalker Channing, Judith Light.
Marco Timpano: Oh, you saw Judith Light? I was actually gonna bring her up.
Daniel Krolik: She's my favorite.
Marco Timpano: You know, it's interesting, Daniel, like, and I'm sorry to pause you there, Judith Light, but we'll get back to. It's interesting.
Daniel Krolik: There's not enough time in the world to talk about Judith Light.
Marco Timpano: We should just do a podcast on Judith Light.
Actress played Angela Bauer on a sitcom back in the 90s
But here's someone who most people recognize from a schmaltzy television show back in the 90s, for sure. who's the boss?
Daniel Krolik: She played Angela Bauer.
Marco Timpano: Thank you.
Daniel Krolik: And, businesswoman.
Marco Timpano: she is this force, not only on stage, but I think because of her stage work now in the films and television we see her in, which is much more gritty and much more, I don't know, has teeth to it. I don't know how else to Describe it. But tell me about her and why you. Why you. Why you think she's great.
Daniel Krolik: And again, I find her career fascinating because she had such fame as the lead of this very schmaltzy, very shticky sitcom in the mid-80s. and then a few years later, she just totally reinvented herself as this terrific theater actress. I remember, do you know the play Wit? Ah, about the professor who has terminal cancer and she shaved her head for this role.
Marco Timpano: Yeah.
Daniel Krolik: So she,
Marco Timpano: I only know it because we've discussed this before and you told me about it.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah, well, it was also a movie with Emma Thompson.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: Emma Thompson did the movie version of it. and it's this very serious play. And I think not too long, maybe after who's, the Boss ended, she did a production of Wit. And there was, I wouldn't say a backlash, but there was a lot of snickering going on at the time, being like, oh, why is this sitcom star doing this, Doing this play? and from what I understand, she just killed it. She just destroyed it. And then from there she started. She had this shift in her career, and she was, you know, she was a middle aged woman at the time for sure, but it was this amazing second act of her career where she became this very, very respected performer.
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Linda Lavin had a big success as the mother in Broadway Bound
Marco Timpano: Isn't that also. Can that not also be said about Linda Lavin, who used to do.
Daniel Krolik: I love Linda Lavin.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah.
Marco Timpano: Cause she used to be, once again, in the, I wanna say late 70s, early 80s, a schmaltzy television sitcom called Alice where she played a waitress in Arizona. And then she went on to do. And she was sort of typecast as that or played that. And then we didn't see much of her other than, let's say, the Love Boat or something like that. And then she did some things on Broadway and now we're seeing her in some decent roles in film.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah, well, I think she did the Sister.
Marco Timpano: The Sisters Rosenzweig.
Daniel Krolik: The Sisters Rosenzweig in the, in the 90s where she. God, I know so much. Where she, she replaced Madeline Kahn.
Marco Timpano: Oh, she did. I didn't realize that.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah.
Daniel Krolik: But she, I think she was always the type of actress, who. And I think Alice, which I. Which is just a little bit before my time. I think it ran for something like 10 years or it ran for a long time.
Marco Timpano: It did run for a long time. They had. So, I don't know if you know this actor, her name is Polly Holiday and she played Marco. Sorry. She played Flo. And her catchphrase was Kiss my Grits. And I remember as a small child, you know, when these catchphrases are in the public consciousness and what you're talking about.
Daniel Krolik: Willis.
Marco Timpano: Yeah. Or, sit on it or a. By Fonzie. And as a kid, you just hear them, but you don't know exactly what they mean, but they're just in. So I always remember Kiss My Grits was one of the things that she said. And she was replaced by a couple of actors. because I think Diane Ladd for a season. Was it Diane Lang.
Daniel Krolik: Okay.
Marco Timpano: Another phenomenal actor. But, I don't know why I went on. But anyways, she. Yeah, she had done it for years and they replaced one. One character that continually replaced. And what's, her name from,
Daniel Krolik: Cagney And Lacy is also a fan daily.
Marco Timpano: Yeah, I hear that she's.
Daniel Krolik: I've never seen her on stage. I've never been fortunate. Linda Lavin I saw when I was very young. I'm sure I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. I, remember seeing her in Broadway Bound, the Neil Simon play.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: which was Neil. Ah. Simon wrote a trilogy of plays, Brighton Beach Memoirs, which I'm sure you know, was a very well respected movie. that movie has. It's a good movie, but it has glaring, instance of Blythe Danner, who's a terrific actress playing a Jewish mother.
Marco Timpano: I see.
Daniel Krolik: And there's nothing Jewish about Blythe Danner.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: but, there's. Anyway, it's a trilogy of plays. Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, which
Marco Timpano: was also a movie that,
Daniel Krolik: Matthew Broderick.
Marco Timpano: Thank you.
Daniel Krolik: And then Broadway Bound.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: Which is, Which sort of, Because it's about these two brothers growing up. And it's. It ends with the brothers sort of becoming adults and leaving the house and moving to New York and becoming writers. but she. She had a big. Linda Lavin had a big personal success as the mother in Broadway Bound.
Marco Timpano: I see. And I mean.
When Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away, I felt robbed
Okay, so we've talked about a bunch of female actors. What are some male actors on stage that you've seen or that you just would love to see who you think just tear it up.
Daniel Krolik: I mean, if I could go back in time and see Philip Seymour Hoffman and Death of a Salesman.
Marco Timpano: Okay, that.
Daniel Krolik: That was one of. When. When he died. That was, one of the few times that I cried over a celebrity's death that I really felt robbed of somebody leaving us very soon.
Marco Timpano: I see.
Daniel Krolik: And I know that 2016 was the year of all of these important figures, pop culture figures dying. but when Philip Hoffman. When Philip Seymour Hoffman, ah, passed away, I think it was 2014.
Marco Timpano: Right.
Daniel Krolik: I felt robbed. I felt really, really robbed.
Marco Timpano: Oh, there you go.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah. Because he was one of God. Yeah. So it'd be him I saw.
Marco Timpano: Oh my goodness. Daniel, you're to help me. He, he, is this Irish actor and he's been on Broadway and he did a one person Macbeth and he's on.
Daniel Krolik: Oh, Alan Cummings. He's Scottish.
Marco Timpano: Oh, sorry. He's Scottish.
Daniel Krolik: Sorry.
Marco Timpano: thank you. And he was phenomenal. I'm sure was phenomenal in that. And, you know, it's interesting because you go there and you're gonna see a public figure that people know and you're like, m, let's see what they can do. Right. And then when they actually deliver and you're like, yeah, these people sort of like the theaters in their blood. And you can see them sort of deliver performances that you don't expect.
Daniel Krolik: I remember seeing him as the MC in Cabaret.
Marco Timpano: Oh, you saw that. That was sort of what catapulted him right into the public consciousness, at least in North America. Right.
Daniel Krolik: And his performance in the Good Wife is so remarkable. because he's convincing as an American.
Marco Timpano: Right.
Daniel Krolik: He's convincing as a straight man and he's convincing as a Jew.
Marco Timpano: Oh, wow.
Daniel Krolik: So it's just this trifecta and he's. He just disappears into this role that is nothing like him. That is nothing like his public Persona. It's, it's. I think it's quite remarkable.
Marco Timpano: Oh, I've got to watch. I haven't watched the Good Wife and everyone tells me I would really enjoy it.
Daniel Krolik: It's, it's. It's smart tv.
Marco Timpano: And they're doing a spin off with one of my favorite actors, Christine Baranski. Yeah. who I think she's done a lot in the theater as well.
Daniel Krolik: She did, yeah.
Marco Timpano: yeah.
Daniel Krolik: somebody who I've never seen, but who I would also love to see now.
Marco Timpano: I did a play by David Lindsay.
Daniel Krolik: Abear.
Marco Timpano: And this was a few years back.
Daniel Krolik: I saw that. The Rabbit Hole.
Marco Timpano: The Rabbit Hole. And I can only say this, that. And then I saw Good, People, another play that he wrote.
Daniel Krolik: Oh, where did you see it?
Marco Timpano: I saw it in, Oh, where did I see it? I saw it in Vancouver, I believe. But I had read the play because after I did Rabbit Hole, his words, when you read them on the page and when you actually say them aloud as an actor are just perfect. There's no wasted word. There's no word that's too much. All the words flow off the page, out of your mouth and really help you delve into the character.
Daniel Krolik: And if you're working with a script like that as an actor, you really don't have to do that much. You really just have to, work on understanding and work on delivering. It makes your job as an actor very easy.
Marco Timpano: You know what's interesting, Daniel? You should say that. And the way I noticed it was it, it was easy to memorize. I didn't find it difficult to memorize. It came to me much in the manner that it was written. So I'm a huge fan of his. And it was because of Rabbit Hole that I then sought out good people.
Daniel Krolik: And I have not. I'm not familiar with good people, unfortunately.
Marco Timpano: You would really like it.
Daniel Krolik: I know you would really like it
Marco Timpano: because it takes place in Boston. Boston, Right.
Daniel: I'm not as familiar with Noel Coward as I would like
And, what about, Noel Coward?
Daniel Krolik: I don't. I'm not as familiar with Noel Coward as I would like to be.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: I've seen Private Lives a couple of times.
Marco Timpano: I know nothing other than his name comes up often. What is it about his work that people.
Daniel Krolik: I'm certainly not an expert.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: but from my. Which, which I'm. I'm a little bit embarrassed about, frankly, that I should. I feel like he's somebody that I should, know much better than I do. he was one of the great wits of the 20th century, I think.
Marco Timpano: And people often talk about David Mamet. What are your impressions of his work?
Daniel Krolik: He certainly left an impression on me when I was around the same time when I discovered non musicals, when I discovered plays. I read Glengarry Glen Ross and I read American Buffalo. so he certainly left an impression on me. I quite love one of his lesser known plays that I really do like is called the Old Neighborhood.
Marco Timpano: Okay, just writing that down.
Daniel Krolik: Yeah, for sure.
Marco Timpano: More. Because I want to see. I want to see it. Daniel, oftentimes when you say go see a play, I will go see it.
What are some plays that have Jewish themes that you would recommend people see
Now you mentioned a couple of times about actors playing Jewish roles, and I know that that's a really important aspect of your being Jewish. What are some plays that have Jewish. Jewish themes that you would recommend people who aren't Jewish should go see?
Daniel Krolik: Oh,
Marco Timpano: Because I feel like. I feel like oftentimes there's. There's plays out there that are very important.
Marco Timpano: But they'll bring out a certain demographic where it'd be great if everyone knew this is not only a great play that has a particular theme, whether it be a Jewish theme, whether it be a gay or lesbian theme, whether. Whether it be even a Canadian theme, but it's something that any audience can appreciate.
Daniel Krolik: Well, Jews have a long history of working in the theater, supporting the theater. So the category of Jewish centric theater, it's a big one. I mean, I think I will always think Angels in America is, which I saw one of the greatest works of. Not just of all time, of all time. I think it's, you know, in my mind it's. It's on par with a Shakespeare or anything. Like, it's just. And, Angels in America is about 3 billion important things. It's not just about the AIDS crisis. It's not just about, glassnost and the Russians. It's about 3 billion important things. but it confronts what it means to be Jewish and the challenges of Judaism in such a, combustible way.
Marco Timpano: Right.
Daniel Krolik: That makes it really exciting because.
Marco Timpano: Sorry. So. No, please.
Daniel Krolik: and Lewis, which is. Oh my God, if I could. If I could think about the people that I want to be on stage. Lewis is number one. the, the character is of a lapsed Jew who's constantly struggling with what it means to be Jewish and what it means to be a good Jew.
Marco Timpano: When I saw Angels in America, I found it so relevant because it feels like it transcends times. And what I'm trying to say is that it takes place in a certain time period, but when you watch it, it's so relevant to the time period that you're in. Right. Which, ah, makes it timeless in a way. and I know there's a part one and a part two, and, Yeah. How was the film adaptation of that?
Daniel Krolik: It's wonderful.
Marco Timpano: Oh, is it?
Daniel Krolik: It's great.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: Very faithful. and they even, they even adhere to most of the doubling because, for those of you who might not know, Angels in America, it's written for eight actors, I think, but they play a multitude of roles. So everybody, Men are playing women, young people. I'm sorry, I'm gesturing too much. Men are playing women, young people are playing old people. So sort of the tracks in the show, cross, gender lines, age lines, type lines. and the movie is quite. I have to commend the late Mike Nichols who did the movie because he adheres to a Lot of that. Like, the movie opens with Meryl Streep playing the rabbi in drag. In full. In full. Rabbi, drag. and, ah, Emma Thompson plays a crazy homeless woman. So it has all of these, cool, super theatrical quirks from the stage version.
Marco Timpano: It's great, Daniel. Thank you. And between yourself being Jewish and me being Italian, for our listeners, it's all gesticulation all the time.
Daniel Krolik: It's all gesticulation all the time. And I'm so impressed with both of us for remaining so quiet for so long.
Marco Timpano: Trying to, like, I often tell Daniel, I'm like, you'll see me. Or often. I told you before we started the podcast, I'll drop a pencil, I'll bang a glass. I'll be moving around. Try not to do what I do. But, Daniel, I want to thank you so much, Steve. Tuned for Part two with Daniel Krolek, where we talk about musicals. We've just sort of scratched the surface of, plays and playwrights. I feel like I. I didn't have a good sort of.
Daniel Krolik: I feel like I haven't even talked about anything yet.
Marco Timpano: I feel like we kind of like, you know, I wish I.
Daniel Krolik: You know what? Talking about Jewish playwrights, and you actually brought it up.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: Is, Wendy Wasserstein's the Sisters Rosenzweig.
Marco Timpano: Okay.
Daniel Krolik: which Linda Lavin did. And the. The much missed Madeline Kahn did, which. Which is another really good play about Jewish, identity and people struggling to find, secular Jews struggling to find a Jewish identity.
Marco Timpano: Okay, Daniel, so when that comes to town, promise me that you and I will go see it.
Daniel Krolik: We'll be in the front row.
Marco Timpano: Marco.
Daniel Krolik: Fantastic.
Marco Timpano: Well, thank you, Daniel Krolik, for being a part of this particular show. Thank you, as always. The Insomnia Project is produced by Drumcast Productions, and this episode was recorded in Toronto. Toronto, Canada.