Drama Club with Matty

Aging backward is one thing. Finding a day off in theater? Now that’s a fantasy.Andrew Durand and Kelsee Kimmel join Matty at The Public Theater ahead of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s North American premiere. They get into Cornish accents, sea shanties, and the beautiful chaos of a musical where the actors are also the band.Then the backstage tea starts pouring: Andrew opens up about the exhaustion of back-to-back shows, Kelsee gets candid about life as a swing and standby, and both have thoughts about what needs to change in New York theater. Expect stunt-casting hot takes, a plea to give understudies their due, and a very reasonable request for another day off.Plus, Drag Race devotion, the secret to playing a corpse in Dead Outlaw, and why there’s no Real Housewives track in Benjamin Button.Come join the Drama Club!The Curious Case of Benjamin Button runs October 8–November 22, 2026, at The Public Theater’s Newman Theater in New York City.Tickets and performance informationWatch the full episode on YouTube.Follow the show on Instagram and TikTok: @dramaclubwithmattyFollow Matty: @mattymaggiacomoFollow Andrew: @durandrewFollow Kelsee: @kelseekimmel

Lortel Award winner Nick Rashad Burroughs joins Matty to talk about going from a Birmingham, Alabama house where gospel was the only music allowed to a Broadway career built on total reinvention.Nick gets honest about booking Kinky Boots out of college while still in the closet, what it meant to play a woman on Broadway before he had ever let himself be seen as a gay man, the typecasting that followed, and how Goddess at The Public finally let him be nobody but himself. He also talks about his mom's legendary notes, the night Cats: The Jellicle Ball was invented in his living room, playing David Ruffin at The Muny, and why he thinks Broadway needs to bring the spectacle back.Plus a rapid fire round covering WWE, Beyoncé, Keke Palmer, and one very unexpected athletic credential.Follow Nick at instagram.com/nickrburroughsFollow Matty at instagram.com/mattymaggiacomoFollow the show at instagram.com/dramaclubwithmatty and on TikTok at @dramaclubwithmatty

Fifty years into a career built entirely on instinct, Mary Testa (Oklahoma!, Nightside Songs, Xanadu, Chicago, Wicked) sits down with Matty, and holds nothing back.Mary talks having no career plan ("I'm a pinball"), what it was really like working with Sondheim, and why she thinks Broadway leans too hard on revivals. She also gets into modern audience etiquette, her take on this year's Tony race and Ragtime, growing up Italian-American in a Rhode Island Catholic school, her no-asshole policy, and three Tony nominations without a single win. Plus her album Have Faith, including two songs written by the late Jill Sobule.Watch the full episode on YouTube and follow the show on Instagram and TikTok: @dramaclubwithmattyFollow Matty: @mattymaggiacomo

Eva Noblezada is in the Drama Club and nothing is off limits.The Broadway powerhouse joins Matty for a hilarious and deeply candid conversation about Hadestown, The Great Gatsby, finding her voice, falling in love with Reeve Carney, and the wild journey from teenage Jimmy Awards finalist to Broadway leading lady.Eva opens up about the difficult personal chapter she was navigating during Hadestown, what reuniting with the show meant to her, and why watching the filmed production finally felt like closure. She and Matty also get VERY honest about the realities of working on Broadway: injuries, the eight-show week, performer pay, producer power, social media bullies, bad audience behavior, and why the industry could use a little more grace.Plus: marrying Reeve in New Orleans, tarot cards, ghost tours, future kids, wedding advice, and Eva proudly declaring, “I love bullying bullies.”Come join the Drama Club!Watch the full episode on YouTube and follow the show on Instagram and TikTok: @dramaclubwithmattyFollow Matty:Instagram: @mattymaggiacomoFollow Eva Noblezada:Instagram: @livevamariaX/Twitter: @EvaNoblezada

John Riddle — "the gay guy who plays straight guys on Broadway" (Phantom, Frozen, and now the hit Titanic parody) — joins Matty this week.John gets into what it takes to play straight for a living, why he's unapologetically "old school" about eight shows a week, and Broadway's pricing and PR problem. He also talks the humbling years he spent between Broadway shows, nearly getting scammed on a Facebook Marketplace couch, the one duet he'd ban from Broadway forever, dream-casting Jane Krakowski as Celine Dion, and the backstage antics of a Titanic cast that includes Jim Parsons, Deborah Cox, Melissa Barrera, and Frankie Grande. Plus his new album, Blue Lady.Watch the full episode on YouTube and follow the show on Instagram and TikTok: @dramaclubwithmattyFollow Matty: @mattymaggiacomo

Heathers and Beetlejuice star Elizabeth Teeter joins Matty for this week's episode — and she's the show's first Gen Z guest.Elizabeth talks reuniting with her father, Broadway's Lara Teeter, on stage at The Muny this summer, and makes her case for banning eight shows a week. She also gets into the "sun and moon" of playing Heather McNamara and Lydia Deetz, why Broadway is way less glamorous than fans imagine, getting cast in Beetlejuice right before the pandemic shutdown, a Helen Mirren story she'll never forget, and the parasocial fan edits that make it look like she died ("I'm alive!"). Plus her music, her EP, and finishing her degree between shows.Watch the full episode on YouTube and follow the show on Instagram and TikTok: @dramaclubwithmattyFollow Matty: @mattymaggiacomoFollow Elizabeth: @elizabethteeterofficial

Tony winner Alex Newell (Shucked, Glee, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Once on This Island) joins Matty for the Season 2 premiere — and holds nothing back.Over gin, Alex gets into why Broadway has gotten too soft, why they've never made money on it, and the one thing they'd ban from Broadway stages for the next 25 years. They also talk blacking out through their first Tony performance, where the Tony actually lives, why their job ends at the bow, and the worst things fans have said to them at the stage door. Plus a diva bracket, Met Gala chaos, and their world-famous banana pudding.Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dramaclubwithmatty?si=7a1mxx5mmW3l0VBFFollow the show on Instagram and TikTok: @dramaclubwithmattyFollow Matty: @mattymaggiacomo

Drama Club with Matty is on WINTER BREAK! We cannot thank you all enough for the love and support you've given us this fall and we cannot wait to see you again in early 2026 with more guests, more Broadway, and more surprises!

ORFEH IS ON DRAMA CLUB!Drama Club with Matty is a vibrant, laugh-filled deep dive into the personalities that make Broadway shine—featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, pop culture hot takes, and plenty of nostalgic “drama club” memories. Executive Produced by Matty Maggiacomo and Nathanael McClure, the show promises equal parts heart, humor, and hilarity.Come join the Drama Club!Instagram, Spotify, Apple Podcast, & YouTube: @dramaclubwithmatty + @mattymaggiacomo

Hate bootlegs? Feel like a goddess? Do you hate stupid people? Did you get to play Nina Simon? AMBER IMAN IS HERE!Drama Club with Matty is a vibrant, laugh-filled deep dive into the personalities that make Broadway shine—featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, pop culture hot takes, and plenty of nostalgic “drama club” memories. Executive Produced by Matty Maggiacomo and Nathanael McClure, the show promises equal parts heart, humor, and hilarity.Come join the Drama Club!Instagram, Spotify, Apple Podcast, & YouTube: @dramaclubwithmatty + @mattymaggiacomo