Free Daily Podcast Summary
Stage Door Jonny: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Jonathan Cake
Hosted by actor Jonathan Cake, Stage Door Jonny is a podcast about theatre ... and life ... and life in the theatre. Jonathan has appeared in countless plays around the world - and made a fair few celebrated acquaintances along the way. So it is that he's assembled a formidable cast of actors, directors and writers to share their memories, reflections, discoveries, triumphs and disasters relating to this most alluring and mysterious and visceral of art forms. And because you'll be privy to conversations among great pals with a mutual passion, this is more akin to drinking at the Dress Circle Bar with some of the finest theatre artists of a generation than waiting for their autographs on a chilly rainswept backstreet in the depths of night.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 1 weeks ago46 min
Christopher Abbott (Act I)
This week's episode brings you one of America’s hottest young actors, bubbling under as a major star since Girls and now ready to pop, the man described onstage by Nathan Lane after the final performance of Death of a Salesman as “the best actor i’ve ever worked with onstage”. It's Christopher Abbott. He and Jonny discuss clearing up boxes and making a nest for the baby he was about to have with the great Aubrey Plaza; the German word that Chris has in common with the very first Willy Loman; his psychological setting that has to do with religious roots and losing them; Chris’s interest in phenomenology; his first performance as Hark (the Herald Angel), coming from a working class area in a big town, cinema as church, believing he had a knack from the beginning, how much we perform for the other actor or the audience and what Kenny Lonergan said about Jonny’s performance in Salesman; Chris’s retirements, self-confidence, his own father watching him play a tortured son and his hardscrabble beginnings in the business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 2 weeks ago29 min
Wallace Shawn (Act II)
In part two of Jonny’s chat with the legendary Wallace Shawn, they discuss Wally’s awareness of the audience when he’s acting, writing his first play at 10 (about Socrates and his own death), the puppet shows he kept writing until his early 20’s, the pure ecstasy of his early experiences of Eugene O’Neil and knowing Long Day’s Journey had something to say about the secrets in his own family, the part he still hopes to one day play and the influence of O’Neill on Moth Days; moving from puppet shows in people’s living rooms to doing his scabrous anti-capitalist monologue The Fever in other people’s living rooms; and trying to make theatre that is “one tiny influence on people” whilst knowing theatre has its work cut out to influence anyone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 2 weeks ago45 min
Wallace Shawn (Act I)
This week Jonny’s guest is one of the radical icons of American theatre: writer, essayist and actor Wallace Shawn. Surely one of the most vocally and visually recognisable actors in the world after a screen career ranging from Vizzini in The Princess Bride to Rex the Dinosaur in Toy Story to Dr Sturgis in Young Sheldon, to My Dinner With Andre as himself, Wally has been at the forefront of some of the most boundary-pushing and innovative theatre work of the last forty years. The conversation ranges from the “sexually perverse” show that began his theatregoing career (Peter Pan) to his latest onstage outing understudying a female part in his most recent play, What We Did Before Our Moth Days; the profound experience of a Christmas pageant; the influence of England and English theatre artists on his life and career; the startling controversy of his first London play (it was raided by the Vice Squad and questions were asked in Parliament); his father, legendary New Yorker editor William Shawn’s, resistance to obscenities, the runaway hit that he was deprived of by the British government; voyeurism in the theatre; Andre Gregory, Grotowski and not acting onstage- and who cries the tears: actor or character? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 3 weeks ago51 min
Joe Mantello (Act II)
Part two of Jonny’s chat with actor/director Joe Mantello starts with a discussion of the response to their production of Death of a Salesman, the staging details that bothered some people, the director as dad, the award that was Joe’s professional pinnacle (and the closest he’s come to feeling like a parent), wrangling problem child like Glenda Jackson, his praising policy and how it’s changed over the course of his career, the early success that led to a reckoning with himself , how the production of a Balm in Gilead broke him open artistically, the pure experience of acting in Angels in America, the thrill of a bare stage, collaboration with Sondheim, his virtuosity with new plays and his relative lack of classics, his debt to Terence McNally, missing shows when you’re a little sad and the joys of his bonus round. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 3 weeks ago39 min
Joe Mantello (Act I)
Welcome back-or welcome to- a new season of SDJ. And who tastier to kick it off than the doyen of American theatre directors and Tony-nominated actor, Joe Mantello. Joe has won the Tony for best director three times, his latest coming shortly after this chat with Jonny, for directing Death of a Salesman starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf (and Jonny Cake). Jonny had a front row seat as Joe shaped Salesman into a show that won more Tonys than any revival of the play in its storied 77 year history. Joe is the great American director of new writing (Blackbird, Vagina Monologues, The Humans, Take Me Out, Love! Valor! Compassion!) as well as the cultural behemoth that is Wicked. Joe talks about his dislike of unnecessary noise, the silence during Salesman, the concept of “sonder”, what makes Laurie Metcalf special, details of his staging that made Salesman into the tragedy of whole family, the best-lit strand of snot on Broadway, Joe’s ventriloquist doll, the secret conversation at the back of the stage in Mame and its influence on his artistic taste, his devotion to artistic restraint, shame and the influence of Miss Windsor, sex and a shift in consciousness, who’s his primary watcher and what he doesn’t need people to see after watching one of his shows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Mar 2, 202632 min
Lesley Manville (Act II)
In the second half of Jonny’s chat with Lesley Manville, Jonny recalls seeing her onstage for the first time in The Cherry Orchard with Judi Dench, what she learned from Judi, the story about working with her that she won’t repeat (but you should hear it, so here it is), why some great performers need to be on the verge of laughter, Tony Sher flashing in Tamburlaine the Great, her 13 projects with Mike Leigh, the man who influenced Lesley’s stage work maybe more than any other, playing a hamster at the Royal Court for a 10 year old, the pressure on young actors now, telling Caryl Churchill how she could improve Serious Money, breaking down the method behind Max Stafford-Clark’s rehearsal process, her response to men who take up too much space in the rehearsal room, where her confidence comes from and the magic- and pitfalls- of last shows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Feb 27, 202628 min
Lesley Manville (Act I)
This weeks guest is a gem: Oscar nominee and two time Olivier-award winner, the magnificent Lesley Manville. In her plushly upholstered dressing room at Studio 54, Lesley and Jonny discuss him hunting her like a fox, her upcoming appearance in Marianne Eliott’s Les Liasons Dangereuses, how theatre is a time machine, ending her triumphant run as Jocasta opposite Mark Strong in Robert Icke’s Oedipus on Broadway, her fabled 15 minute monologue, getting ill and wondering whether her lifelong feeling that she didn’t take her characters home with her was really true, wondering if great actors must be private people, Sam Mendes‘s advice about lying and it’s relationship to acting and the all-conquering past that Jonny and Lesley have in common. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Feb 16, 202644 min
Tom Morris (No Interval)
(CONTAINS VERY STRONG LANGUAGE) In the this week’s episode Jonny talks to celebrated theatrical disruptor Tom Morris. They talk about Tom’s most embarrassing moment in the theatre (it’s very embarrassing). His artistic directorship of Battersea Arts Centre and putting on shows without a script; how his work in alternative theatre was incorporated by Nick Hytner at the National; making Jerry Springer: The Opera; making Hytner experience Gay Shame; the genesis of the theatrical mega-hit War Horse; the two types of directors according to Simmo (spoiler: its blockers and wankers); when the floor opens up in front of a director, the paranoia sin-bin and what to do about it; why a puppet and a mirror gave Tom two of his most thrilling experiences at the theatre; why uncertainty in the theatre can provoke the perfect audience state; the creativity of an audience, setting Romeo and Juliet in a care home; what nags at him about the shows he’s done and getting older and less prophetic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Get Stage Door Jonny summaries in your inbox
Free AI-powered daily recaps. Key takeaways, quotes, and mentions — in a 5-minute read.
Get Free Summaries →Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
You Might Also Like
Listeners also like.
The Broadway Show: Uncut
Extended interviews with top stage and screen stars, offering behind-the-scenes access to Broadway’s biggest shows and personalities.
Dead Pilots Society
Unproduced TV pilot scripts are performed by知名 actors in live table reads hosted by industry insiders.
Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster
Comed游戏副本ers invite guests to design their dream meal in a fictional magical restaurant.
Call Jonathan Pie
A political journalist hosts a radio phone-in show as his personal and professional struggles amplify his anger at societal issues.
Lovett or Leave It
Jon Lovett breaks down the week's political news with humor and high-profile guests.
Backstage With Gentry Thomas
Music legends, athletes, and Hollywood figures share personal stories and life lessons in candid behind-the-scenes interviews.
Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
Dana Carvey and David Spade talk comedy, impressions, and pop culture with guests and friends.
Let's Talk About Sets!
A playful podcast exploring the science and craft of stand-up comedy, created by comedians in New York City.
Off The Shelf with Morgann Book
A weekly conversation with authors, actors, and creatives about how stories are developed and adapted from books to screen.
ill-advised by Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy offers dry, humorous advice for the socially awkward, answering listener questions with wit and whimsy.
KILL TONY
Comedians perform one-minute sets in front of a live audience and celebrity guests on this weekly improv and stand-up showcase.
Atonement: The John Paulk Story
A man who spent 15 years promoting conversion therapy reveals he was still gay and lived a lie as a public face of the movement.
About Stage Door Jonny
Hosted by actor Jonathan Cake, Stage Door Jonny is a podcast about theatre ... and life ... and life in the theatre. Jonathan has appeared in countless plays around the world - and made a fair few celebrated acquaintances along the way. So it is that he's assembled a formidable cast of actors, directors and writers to share their memories, reflections, discoveries, triumphs and disasters relating to this most alluring and mysterious and visceral of art forms. And because you'll be privy to conversations among great pals with a mutual passion, this is more akin to drinking at the Dress Circle Bar with some of the finest theatre artists of a generation than waiting for their autographs on a chilly rainswept backstreet in the depths of night.
Customized Recaps
AI-powered recaps with compact key takeaways, quotes, and insights.
Straight to Your Inbox
Get key takeaways from Stage Door Jonny in a 5-minute read.
Save Hours Every Week
Stay current on your favorite podcasts without falling behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Podzilla's Stage Door Jonny daily summary?
It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of Stage Door Jonny as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
How does the Stage Door Jonny podcast summary work?
When a new episode drops, our AI transcribes and analyzes it, then generates a personalized summary tailored to your interests and profession. It's delivered to your inbox every morning.
Is this an official Stage Door Jonny product?
No. Podzilla is an independent service that summarizes publicly available podcast content. We're not affiliated with or endorsed by Jonathan Cake.
Can I get summaries of other podcasts too?
Absolutely! The free plan covers up to 3 podcasts, any in the catalog. Basic raises that to 15, Pro to 40 and Max to 100. Browse our full catalog at /podcasts.
How often does Stage Door Jonny release new episodes?
Stage Door Jonny publishes 2x weekly. Our AI generates a summary within hours of each new episode.
What topics does Stage Door Jonny cover?
Stage Door Jonny covers topics including Arts, Film, TV & Film, Performing Arts, After Shows. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
Start getting Stage Door Jonny summaries tomorrow morning.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.