All stories by Diep Tran on BroadwayStars

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Why Casting Sara Bareilles in Waitress Was a No-Brainer by Diep Tran

As Joe’s Diner prepares for a big staff turnover, Waitress casting director Bernie Telsey talks about finding three new leads—including composer Bareilles—come April.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 9, 2017

So, About Miss Saigon's Real Onstage Helicopter… by Diep Tran

The blockbuster musical returns to Broadway—chopper intact.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Why Audiences Should Expect More From Arthur Miller's Lesser-Known Play by Diep Tran

After years of trying, director Terry Kinney finally gets The Price to Broadway.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 13, 2017

When It Comes to Kinky Boots, the Casting is in the Heel by Diep Tran

How the casting director of Kinky Boots keeps the iconic shoes filled.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]

With Kinky Boots, the Casting Is in the Heel by Diep Tran

How the casting director of Kinky Boots keeps the iconic shoes filled.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 15, 2017

It's Not Stunt Casting, It's Star Casting by Diep Tran

Chicago’s casting directors explain the art of finding big name celebrities to take on the long-running hit.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Making Chekhov Funny by Diep Tran

Director John Crowley finds the humor with Cate Blanchett in The Present.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Meet America's Favorite Satanic Sock Puppet by Diep Tran

Puppet designers and actors talk about the zany challenges of creating and manipulating an ever-more-maniacal puppet onstage in productions of "Hand to God."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:18PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 5, 2016

How Mom and Dad Met, With Ninjas by Diep Tran

Qui Nguyen's new play, a romantic comedy about his Vietnamese parents, sprinkles in the pop culture obsessions that got him hired by Marvel Studios.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:24PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 18, 2016

Truth, Lies and Chinese Art Inspire 'a Puzzle Box of a Play' by Diep Tran

Christopher Chen's "Caught" emerged from the controversy of Mike Daisey's "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:49PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 23, 2016

At Clubbed Thumb, Nurturing a Theater of the Weird by Diep Tran

Now 20 years old, the Off Off Broadway company has kept its focus on shoestring productions that are "funny, strange and provocative."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:44AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 24, 2015

Immersive Theater's Next Stop: A Sexy '70s Fantasy Island by Diep Tran

The team behind the immersive hit "Then She Fell" recreates the era in "The Grand Paradise," a bigger production set at a hedonistic Florida resort.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:01PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 25, 2015

Nottage Receives Steinberg Award by Diep Tran

Lynn Nottage, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for her play "Ruined," has been named the recipient of the 2010 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM[SHARE]

New Web Series Teaches the Business of Acting by Diep Tran

To succeed as an actor, you need to run your career as a business, and a new website, YourActorMBA.com, aims to teach actors how—through an 11-week Web series.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM[SHARE]

The Turn of the Screw by Diep Tran

This two-person adaptation of Henry James' classic ghost story too often tells the audience to be scared rather than quietly allowing fear to take over.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM[SHARE]

For 'Online Musical,' Audience Feedback Is Essential by Diep Tran

"Musical: The Online Musical" is far from your average musical. Now only is it online only, the plot is almost completely driven by audience suggestions.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Knock Me a Kiss by Diep Tran

Charles Smith's romanticized retelling of the marriage between the daughter of civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois and poet Countee Cullen traffics in superficial comedy at the expense of complex characters.SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Getting Stage Flight by Diep Tran

As part of his role as "Billy Elliot" on Broadway, Joseph Harrington swings across the stage suspended by cables in one of the dance numbers. The effect is thrilling for the performer.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 2, 2015

A Brief History of Sex by Diep Tran

Chiara Atik’s Five Times in One Night is the latest atypical offering from EST/Youngblood — Playwright Chiara Atik does not like watching sex. On stage at least. “I always …

SOURCE: TDF at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Thanksgiving is a Sport by Diep Tran

The everyday weirdness of Kate Benson’s new play — They’re just your typical American family, getting together for Thanksgiving dinner. Except there are no tables, chairs, …

SOURCE: TDF at 09:04AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 30, 2014

Tell the Bartender What You Think of the Play by Diep Tran

In Play/Date, 21 plays unfold in a real bar on the Lower East Side — I’m sitting at the bar having a Manhattan. Across from me, the bartender is having an argument with a girl. I…

SOURCE: TDF at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, September 22, 2014

Lea Salonga (Finally) Has Company by Diep Tran

Diep Tran on the new wave of Asian musical theatre divas — When I was a little kid, I wanted to be Lea Salonga. Of course, back in the ’90s, all little Asian girls who loved to s…

SOURCE: TDF at 09:08AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Once, Twice, Three Times Your Savior by Diep Tran

The actors in 3 Christs find truth in insanity — Welcome to Building Character, our ongoing look at performers and how they create their roles It’s not every day you sit down wit…

SOURCE: TDF at 10:49AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 19, 2014

How One Story Became Four Different Plays by Diep Tran

In The Blueprint Project, writers riff on the same idea — Welcome to Borough Play, our exclusive series on theatre in Brooklyn, Queens, and beyond. Have you ever watched a play and tho…

SOURCE: TDF at 11:03AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Gertrude Stein's 'The World is Round' Becomes a Musical by Diep Tran

A songwriter and a theater's artistic director join hands to bring Gertrude Stein's rhymes and repetitions to the stage in "The World is Round."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:12PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 17, 2014

Operas, Pigs, and Potions by Diep Tran

The Pig and Potion fuse theatre and opera in startling ways — You walk into the theatre, expecting to see a play. You take your seat, and sitting next to you is a woman with a tr…

SOURCE: TDF at 02:53PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 10, 2014

Taxicab Confessions (From the Driver's Seat) by Diep Tran

Take Me Home, part of the Other Forces Festival, is a play set in an actual taxi — Modesto “Flako” Jimenez is both an actor and a cab driver, but he never thought he’…

SOURCE: TDF at 12:13PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 9, 2013

The Cloth Dog Seems So Real by Diep Tran

Master puppeteer Jessica Scott guides La Divina Caricatura — If performer Jessica Scott is doing a good job in her current show, then you won’t notice her onstage, even if she…

SOURCE: TDF at 05:20PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Fifty Years: An Oral History by Diep Tran

[Photo: Billy Budd at Trinity Repertory Company.] "Tell me a story." That was what we asked a handful of artistic director across the country. Why? Because the theatres they are in charge…

SOURCE: Theatre Communications Group at 03:12PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Time Out's Guide to A Gentleman's Guide by Diep Tran

Five valuable things you should know about the Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

SOURCE: Time Out at 11:35AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Wonderful Witches of Wicked by Diep Tran

Tme Out New York gets up close and personal with all 15 emerald divas who played Elphaba on Broadway in Wicked.

SOURCE: Time Out at 11:47AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off