Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Nicole Travolta is the creator and star of the critically acclaimed solo show Nicole Travolta Is Doing Alright, a high-energy blend of stand-up, confessional storytelling, and transformational character work that has toured nationally and internationally. Originally developed in Los Angeles, the show has since played sold-out engagements Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, earning 4- and 5-star reviews and coverage in Vanity Fair Italia, The LA Times, BroadwayWorld, The Daily Beast, Broadway Baby, and Outloud Culture. Travolta trained at The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade, where she developed her signature character-driven style. Onstage, she seamlessly shifts between raw confession and razor-sharp impressions — including Jennifer Coolidge, Carrie Bradshaw, and Drew Barrymore — creating what critics have described as a singular comedic voice. Her television credits include Anger Management, Two and a Half Men, and The Middle. She is currently developing Nicole Travolta Is Doing Alright for screen adaptation.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Geraldine Hughes is a Northern Irish film, television and stage actress. Geraldine Hughes might not be an easily recognizable face for most, but she has quietly accumulated a long list of film, television and theater credits, most notably as the character of Little Marie in 2006’s film Rocky Balboa. Born in West Belfast, she moved to America after receiving a scholarship to attend university, graduating from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

In 2005, she wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed play Belfast Blues, a true story from Hughes’s perspective about coming of age in Belfast in the 1980s. Performed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Belfast and London, the play received the Los Angeles Ovation, Garland and Drama Critics Circle Awards, and Hughes won a Drama League Nomination for Outstanding Performance.

Most recently, she appeared in the Irish Repertory Theatre’s production of Ulster American with Matthew Broderick. The production transferred to Ireland in the summer of 2026.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dane Laffrey is a Tony Award-winning designer, creative and producer based in New York City. He studied at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art and resided in Sydney from 2002 - 2006.

On Broadway he’s designed the set for The Lost Boys (Palace) Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco) which won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Musical and for which Dane won Tony, Drama Desk Awards and Henry Hewes Awards, Parade (Jacobs) which won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; set and costumes for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (Nederlander), which he co-conceived with director Michael Arden and for which he is nominated for Hewes and Tony Awards; the 2018 Tony-winning revival of Lynn Ahren's and Stephen Flaherty's Once On This Island (Circle in the Square) for which he received Henry Hewes, Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations; set and costumes for the acclaimed Deaf West revival of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s Spring Awakening (Brooks Atkinson); set for the Broadway premiere of Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love (Friedman).

In New York, around the US, and internationally Dane has designed world premiere plays and musicals by writers including Todd Almond, Will Aronson and Hue Park, Nell Benjamin, Rachel Bonds, Nilo Cruz, Lindsey Ferrentino, David Greenspan, Noah Haidle, Lucas Hnath, Sam Hunter, Sarah Jones, Tom Kitt, Michael John LaChiusa, Dan LeFranc, Matthew Lopez, Craig Lucas, Charles L. Mee, Alan Menken, Kim Rosenstock, Martin Sherman, Jenny Schwartz, Stephen Schwartz and Jen Silverman.

Dane’s work in New York has been seen at theatres including Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theatre, The Public Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, Atlantic Theatre Company, Transport Group, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, B.A.M. Harvey, Vineyard Theatre, The Joyce, SoHo Rep., Labyrinth, The New Group and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, among others.

His work has been seen at major theaters around the US including Center Theatre Group, The Geffen Playhouse, The Goodman, The Humana Festival, The Hollywood Bowl, The Old Globe, Huntington Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Deaf West / Wallis Annenberg Center, Shakespeare Theatre D.C., Denver Center Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Coast Rep., Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Rep., Woolly Mammoth, Two River Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, The Studio Theatre D.C, Yale Opera, Long Wharf Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, and others.

Internationally, Dane has worked in Hamburg, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Oslo and throughout Australia.

Dane has served on the advisory committee for Lincoln Center Theatre's LCT3 and as a guest artist / guest designer at Yale School of Music, The Juilliard School, NYU, Carnegie-Mellon University,  Interlochen Arts Academy, The University of Western Sydney and NIDA. He has served on the faculty of Purchase College.

Dane won a 2017 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume design and has been nominated for 3 Tony Awards, 3 Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, 9 American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, 5 Ovation Awards (winning 2), and a Sydney Theatre Award, as well as numerous regional accolades. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zhailon Levingston  is a Louisiana-raised storyteller, director, and activist who co-directed CATS: The Jellicle Ball, an immersive reimagining of the classic musical that premiered in 2024 at New York City’s Perelman Arts Center. The production earned him an OBIE Award (co-directing) as well as a Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Musical. 

Zhailon’s first “Broadway” job was selling tickets to Broadway shows in Times Square. In 2017 he sold concessions for multiple Broadway theaters. At 27 years old, he became the youngest Black director in Broadway history, directing the Broadway production of Chicken and Biscuits. His other directing credits include Wonderful Town at New York City Center Encores!; Reconstructing at Brooklyn Academy of Music (co-directed with Rachel Chavkin); Little Miss Perfect (Olney Theater Center); Patience at Second Stage Theater; and Table 17 at MCC Theater (Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Direction) and currently at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse. 

Levingston is a board member of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Artistic Director of Inheritance Theater Project, and co-created a ‘Theater of Change’ course at Columbia University School of Law that is still being taught today. Once a year he returns to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael James Scott plays Nurse Francois on Scrubs.

 His previous television credits include Apple TV’s critically acclaimed animated series CENTRAL PARK, Showtime’s BLACK MONDAY and Hallmark’s A HOLIDAY IN HARLEM.

Michael is no stranger to commanding an audience. He is currently making history as the longest-running Genie in Disney’s Aladdin, a performance that has earned him critical acclaim and a devoted fan base. A powerhouse in the theater world, he was also an original cast member of The Book of Mormon, Something Rotten!, and Hair, cementing his reputation as a versatile, scene-stealing performer.

Beyond the stage, Michael showcased another side of his artistry with his 2020 holiday album A Fierce Christmas, featuring beloved classics like “Christmas Time Is Here,” “This Christmas,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices