Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Constantine Rousouli is a two-time Tony nominated actor, writer and producer, best known for co-creating, writing, and starring in hit Broadway musical TITANIQUE, which earned four Tony nominations this season, including “Best Musical” and “Best Book of a Musical.” The show is a satirical reimagining of the Oscar-winning feature film Titanic from the point of view of Celine Dion. Connie stars as “Jack Dawson.” TITANIQUE has received rave reviews and critical acclaim including two Lucille Lortel Awards, two Olivier Awards, and Drama League and Drama Desk nominations. The show previously toured off-Broadway in Chicago, Canada, London, Australia, and Paris and kicked off its Broadway run this spring at the St. James Theatre with Connie returning as “Jack” alongside returning castmate & co-creator Marla Mindelle as “Celine Dion” and new cast additions Jim Parsons and Deborah Cox. The production has also extended its Broadway run through the end of September, driven by its continued popularity and positive reception from audiences.

Following the success of TITANIQUE, Connie and his longtime collaborator & partner Marla Mindelle debuted their new off-Broadway musical, BIG GAY JAMBOREE, backed by producer Margot Robbie and LuckyChap. Marla & Connie are also developing TROOP! A BEVERLY HILLSICAL with A24 for The Cherry Lane Theatre.

Connie & Marla are also currently in development with Broadway Video and UTV on an original half-hour comedy series that they are co-writing and would star in together. The idea came together after Lorne Michaels saw (& fell in love with) TITANIQUE and had Connie & Marla test for SNL.

Connie first got his start on Broadway with the revival of Hairspray as “Link Larkin.” He toured with Wicked as “Prince Fiyero”, performed in the Hollywood Bowl run of Hair with Kristen Bell, directed by Adam Shankman, and made waves starring as “Sebastian” in the off-Broadway cult hit Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical Experience. Marla has graced Broadway stages in productions such as South Pacific, Cinderella, and as part of the original cast of Sister Act as “Sister Mary Robert.”

Connie’s TV & film acting credits include THE OTHER TWO (Comedy Central/Max), 9-1-1 (Fox), AJ AND THE QUEEN (Netflix), THE DEUCE (HBO), the CW reboot of CHARMED as a fan-favorite heartthrob villain, and Blumhouse & Universal’s THIS IS THE NIGHT.

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E. Lockhart is the author of the  New York Times bestselling series that includes We Were Liars, Family of Liars, and We Fell Apart.  We Were Liars is also a TV series on Prime Video.  Lockhart invented a superhero for DC Comics: Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero.  Her other books include Again Again, Genuine Fraud and  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.  She has been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the National Book Award, and an honoree for the Printz Award.  She has a Ph.D in English literature from Columbia University. Visit her online at emilylockhart.com. IG and TikTok: elockhartbooks
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Rachel Chavkin received the 2019 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Musical for Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown. She is a director, writer, and dramaturg, as well as the founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based ensemble the TEAM (theteamplays.org), an internationally renowned experimental company whose consensus-driven collaborative process was the subject of the documentary The TEAM Makes a Play (directed by Emmy winner Paulette Douglas). Additional selected: Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway featuring Denée Benton & Josh Groban); Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould’s Lempicka (Williamstown); Caryl Churchill's Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (New York Theatre Workshop), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (Old Globe, Lincoln Center); Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova, Off-Broadway, National Tour); Sarah Gancher’s I’ll Get You Back Again (Round House); and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, including The Lily's Revenge, Act 2 (HERE). In addition to her awards for Hadestown, Chavkin is a recipient of a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical, three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, multiple Lortel Award nominations, two Doris Duke Impact Award nominations, and the 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity along with Dave Malloy. Her first film, Remind Me, was an official selection of the Venice and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. Feature film  - Hadestown and Shrew's Nest (Paramount). Proud NYTW Usual Suspect and Member SDC.
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Julie Rottenberg & Elisa Zuritsky

Julie and Elisa have been collaborating since they were nine years old, when they met at a Saturday morning acting class in Philadelphia. A few years later, they became writer/producers for HBO’s Sex and the City, where they earned three Emmy Award nominations and three Writers Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy. Since then, they’ve gone on to write for Smash, Divorce, and Odd Mom Out, where they were co-showrunners, and were writers/Executive Producers on HBO’s And Just Like That... where Julie also directed. They’re currently writing for Amazon’s Every Year After, based on the best-selling Carley Fortune novel Every Summer After. They’re finally writing a screenplay based on their lifelong friendship and partnership, entitled Ampersand, and Elisa is working on her first novel. They both live in Brooklyn; each has one husband and two children.
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Brian Platzer is the critically acclaimed author of the novels The Optimists (Little, Brown), Bed-Stuy Is Burning and The Body Politic (both Atria/Simon & Schuster), as well as the parenting book Taking the Stress Out of Homework (Avery/Penguin Random House). 

He has written frequently for The New York Times, NewYorker.com, New York Magazine, The New Republic, and many other publications.

As a novelist, Brian has toured the country discussing the craft of writing as well as the issues at the heart of his work, such as education, gentrification, chronic illness, relationships, and American politics.

As a humor writer, Brian has frequently written for The New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.  He recently wrote the viral article “Paw Patrol Is Contemptable Trash”; in New York Magazine, and he has performed comic essays on NPR as a featured guest on Live From Here.

As an educator, Brian currently teaches 8th and 12th grade English at Grace Church School in Manhattan, having previously taught literature and writing at Johns Hopkins. Brian is a CNN contributor on education, and wrote, with Abby Freireich, the weekly “Homeroom”; column in The Atlantic as well as various articles on study skills for the New York Times.

Brian is also the co-founder with Abby of Teachers Who Tutor|NYC, New York City’s only tutoring company where all the tutors are classroom teachers with master’s degrees.

Together, Brian and Abby are among the city’s leaders in education-consulting, tutoring, and executive function coaching.

Brian suffers from chronic dizziness and has written a series of essays for the New York Times chronicling his experiences and those of fellow sufferers. Brian is a graduate of Grace Church School, Dalton, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins University.

He currently lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn with his sons and his brilliant wife, Alex Hardiman.
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