ATC 'Hang & Focus' Podcast Features Chats With Jaime Dempsey and More

Arizona Theatre Company's new podcast series, Hang & Focus, will feature interviews with key arts leaders and the award-winning Broadway composer and lyricist of Bat Boy: The Musical, Legally Blond: The Musical and Heathers: The Musical.

Hosted by ATC Artistic Director Sean Daniels, Jaime Dempsey, Executive Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and Mitch Menchaca, Executive Director of the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, will appear on Hang & Focus on Friday, May 22 to talk about the state of the arts in Arizona.

On Friday, May 29, Daniels will chat with Ralph Remington, Artistic Director at the Tempe Center for the Arts, and Larry O'Keefe, who won the Lucille Lortel Outstanding Musical Composer Award for Bat Boy: The Musical. The play received eight Drama Desk Award nominations and won two Richard Rodgers Awards and the Outer Critics' Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical.

Hang & Focus is available on the Arizona Theatre Company website as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

"I think it's important to hear from arts and civic leaders in Phoenix about exactly what we all hope the Phoenix arts scene will look like after COVID. I'm inspired by the work both of them do and can't wait to hear more,"Daniels said.

New episodes are released every Friday and Sunday.

Daniels also announced that ATC will be creating a video for The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues: Director's Cut!, which brings together creative communities to produce and premiere plays and musicals that are written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours.

ATC artistic team members will produce a new work that will be revealed to them Tuesday morning, the same day it will be published. The purpose-written monologues debut from 3-9 p.m. (Arizona time) with a new piece published every 15 minutes on IGTV @24hourplays and https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/.

"We have been driven to bring new works to our audiences in Arizona and now, through online platforms, to everyone around the world," Daniels said. "Being part of The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues adds another dimension to what we're able to offer. What's so exciting about this opportunity is that we won't know the name of the play until the day it's broadcast which will really showcase the incredible creative talent and ability of our team."

Among playwrights who have contributed original monologues are ATC Artistic Associate christopher oscar peña, David Lindsay-Abaire, Hilary Bettis, Jesse Eisenberg, Simon Rich, Kathleen Hale and Lily Houghton.

For more information about ArizonaTheatre Company, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.