Writer, producer, and director Priscila García-Jacquier shares her experiences with the dark side, finding her voice as a writer, using her own immigration story to speak out for others, finding your power in the industry, and embracing extreme honesty. Check out her blog here: https://priscilaelenagj.com and her production company here: http://roundroomimage.org (Originally released on November 3, 2017) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Re-release, originally published 11/16/17) Actor Chalia La Tour shares her experiences with the dark side, her activist work for equity within the arts/entertainment industry and education, transitioning to New York City after grad school, and making change in a community with your work. Check out what she's up to here: www.chalialatour.com This is Episode 99 of The Compass Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Producer Sally Cade Holmes (Hadestown, The Inheritance) shares her experiences with the dark side, the importance of mentoring, deciding to strike out on her own as a producer and consultant, staying nimble with your definition of success, and a look at how producers do what they do. Check out her work at http://www.sallycadeholmes.com

Host Leah Walsh and her husband, actor Frankie J. Alvarez, are joined by actors Kathleen McNenny and Boyd Gaines to discuss the ups and downs of parenting in the arts, the necessity of community, keeping things in perspective, making decisions to fuel your creativity as well as support your family, and the importance of patience. http://www.kathleenmcnenny.com http://www.frankiejalvarez.com https://www.playbill.com/person/boyd-gaines-vault-0000107316

Actor, teacher, and creator Lisa Kitchens shares her experiences with the dark side, starting Earth Stories Initiative which connects young children living in cities to the natural world through storytelling, the importance of community, and applying for residencies and grants as a performing artist.  http://www.lisakitchens.com

Actor and writer Inés del Castillo shares her experiences with the dark side, supporting herself as an artist, navigating casting as a bilingual artist, and staying positive. Check out her work at: https://www.inesdelcastillo.com

Dancer Brandon Cournay shares his experiences with the dark side and building a creative life in the New York dance world, from freelancing to becoming a company member, starting a business, and finding community. Check out what he's up to at http://www.brandoncournay.com and https://www.dancedevicelab.com

Dancer and performer Giselle O. Alvarez shares her experiences with the dark side, taking care of yourself and staying inspired during a long running show (she just hit her five year anniversary in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway), how being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis has affected her life as an artist, finding freedom in different styles of dance, and pushing yourself to always keep learning.

Actor, musician, and composter Manik Choksi shares his thoughts on the dark side, making your own work, growing in long-term collaborations, and how becoming a parent influences him as an artist. He also shares a song from his new song cycle based on the story of The Ramayan! This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at BroadwayCon, 2020. (@nickchoksi on Twitter)

Update on The Compass Live from BroadwayCon, Episode 150 with Manik Choksi coming up on January 25, 2020, as well as a few readings from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. "So don't be frightened, dear friend, if a sadness confronts you larger than any you have ever known, casting its shadow over all you do. You must think that something is happening within you, and remember that life has not forgotten you; it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why would you want to exclude from your life any uneasiness, any pain, any depression, since you don't know what work they are accomplishing within you?" ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet "I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet