A conversation with Valerie Curtis-Newton about the theater's role in a community, Black theater in America today, and more. About the Guest Currently the Head of Directing at the University of Washington School of Drama, I also serve as the Founding Artistic Director for The Hansberry Project, a professional African American theatre lab. I have worked with professional theatre's across the country including: The Guthrie Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle Rep, Playmakers Repertory Company, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, and Southern Repertory Theatre among others. Links: <a href="https://playmakersrep.org/show/blues-for-an-alabama-sky/" rel="noopener">https://playmakersrep.org/show/blues-for-an-alabama-sky/</a> Follow us Website: beltlinetobroadway.org Facebook/Instagram @beltlinetobroadway Twitter @beltlinetobway

A Conversation with Black Stage Everything's Shae Marie

Based inside the beltline in Raleigh, North Carolina, Lauren Van Hemert is an award-winning podcaster who has been covering regional theater for over three years. She has been called a "pioneer" for her community-based approach to cultural arts reporting and candid conversations about diversity and inclusion in the theater industry. Her guests have included Tony Award-winners, Broadway veterans, international recording artists, and television icons, including Eric Woodall, Lauren Kennedy, Robert Hartwell, Karen Ziemba, and Ed Asner. Van Hemert is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, Society for Professional Journalists, and the Broadway Makers Alliance.