What started out as an interview of my friend Mara turned into a group chat with three dudes from the new play "King's River". Mara and I met back in Jersey and have since reconnected when she started working at City Winery. She talks about grad school at Rutgers and teaching at Wagner College on Staten Island. Andrew and David were in the BFA program while Mara was getting her MFA, hence how they met, and Dalton is currently seeking his BFA. They talk about creation of this ensemble piece, "King's River" and the 9-month process of workshopping and fundraising. And Dalton's majestic beard. Then somehow we talk about losing my listeners in Iowa and sandy vaginas... Sometimes these things happen.

"King's River" begins previews May 22-23 and performances May 24 at the Medicine Show Theater in NYC. For tickets, go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/242182.

For more info on the show, go to www.kingsriverplay.com, LIKE them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KingsRiverPlay, and follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KingsRiverPlay.

Kyle write about Doctor Who on Nerdist.com, about movies on BattleshipPretension.com, and about random stuff on ModernPrimate.com. He co-hosts a movie podcast with me called WTF Are You Watching?! Podcast. He's a member of the Shaken, Not Stirred Podcast through Prognosis Negative. He's lactose-intolerant. 

That last bit I know from living with him. With "Sherlock" premiering on US TV this week, I sat down to chat with Kyle about Steven Moffat - creator of "Sherlock" and current "Doctor Who" show-runner to talk about his writing style for both shows and to tease the season a bit. We also talked a lot about Doctor Who, so all you Whovians out there better listen up! Kyle began his writing journey in screenwriting but has since shifted to analyitical writing and critiquing, so we delved into that transition and what that's been like for him on his career path.

We also remembered the KLodcast podcast we attempted to start in college but abandoned after four episodes because it A) wasn't interetesting to listen to B) sounded like crap and C) had zero structure. However many years later, we now have two podcasts each and love doing it.

Follow Kyle on Twitter @FunctionalNerd for all his various updates.

Jason and I met up in a bar to record, so it's a little noisy (sorry about that). We talk about him being an Air Force brat and moving around until settling in Colorado Springs and later attending UNC in Greeley (see the connection?). After school, he worked a bit locally before moving to New York and becoming super famous from his role in "American Gangster" opposite Denzel Washington and from doing "The Lion King" National Tour for over a year, and then a 10-week-run on Broadway in the show. He's filming a movie in June with a lot of famous people in it and I'm very jealous.

We also defend Hugh Jackman being Wolverine but not the movie because it was so, so bad. We discuss our love of living in Harlem and reminice about old Greeley Town and UNC.

Find more info on Jason on IMDb and Broadway.com

What can't Gary Ferrar do?

That was a Facebook group dedicated to Gary back at Hofstra University. It couldn't be more true. I once saw him save a baby from a burning building. True story.

He is an actor, director, producer, writer, musican, magician, and that's just the stuff we talked about in this episode. He's a jack of all trades. A very fun and very inspiring conversation, Gary is one of the nicest, most humble and sincere people I've ever met. This episode was a delight.

For more info on his stuff, visit www.ahrealmagic.com and http://HyperAwareTheater.blogspot.com

PS Jess Ayers gave me the idea for the A-Z Challenge and I forgot to mention it, so I'm mention it here. Hi Jess!

David Grapes does more than I can list. He's an actor, director, producer, playwright, photographer, drummer, bowler, professor, and my old boss. He's the Director of the School of Theater Arts and Dance and the Producer of the Little Theater of the Rockies at the University of Northern Colorado and I worked as his assistant in college. He's a really great guy and a wonderful mentor. He spends almost as much time talking me up as I do him in this episode! The recording is a little dated (my one act was first performing that night) but it was a lot of fun to catch up with him and chat about everything he's doing at UNC and abroad.

Find more info on him at www.SummerwindProductions.com or www.UNCO.edu.

And check out the new podcast website http://RidingYourCoattailsPodcast.weebly.com!

Tom Littman created a new Shakespeare company here in New York with one thing in mind, "Keep it simple." They rehearse for seven days and perform the show once for free in the park. That's it. And the results are fantastic.

A fellow UNC grad and Colorado mostly-native, Tom and I met back in college and I knew he was going places. We talk about his early life, college, various intensive programs, and eventually moving to New York. This episode is dated, so we missed "As You Like It", but they have another production in June of "Midsummer Night's Dream" which I can't wait to see (or hopefully be in).

Find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SevenDayShakespeare and don't bother friending Tom. He's terrible at Facebook. And he'll admit that (and did, in fact, in this episode).

Enjoy!

I first met Leanne through my girlfriend while they were working on a show together. She is hilarious and wonder and incredibly talented. She's involved with more groups and projects than most people I know. Coming up every Tuesday in April, her one woman show "Lady Luck is a Whore" will be performing at the People's Improv Theater in NYC. Go to www.LenneisLadyLuck.com for more info and for tickets. While you're at it, go to her website www.LeanneLinsky.com and see how great she is. 

She wanted me to mention that while discussing what her show was about in this episode, she meant to add "it's about relationships and being able to laugh about the choices we make while in them." In other words, it's a comedy. 

You can also follow Leanne on Twitter @YourFavoriteLeanne.

Stay out of the rapey basement!

Jake and Sherry are wonderfully, talented, and determined actresses. The inception of this project came about over many hang-outs over beers (the way all the best things do) and having worked in the city for years. They're also very active in their personal careers, creating work for themselves through their own theater companies (Jake's company Tongue in Cheek Theater Productions) and various independent film projects. 

For more info on these two, check out their websites:

www.JakeLipman.com

www.SherryLocher.com

or find them on Facebook (including TIC Productions) and follow them on Twitter: @jakelipman and @sherrylocher.

Episode Five of Smart Actress goes online Thursday, March 29th here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SmartActressWeb

Matt Denune knows his booze. Like, A LOT. He's studying for his Master in Wine, a 3+ year endeavor that requires him to take classes and read way too many books. He's also attempting to earn his Master Cicerone, which is like the sommelier of beer. If he can earn both, he'll be one of the few in the WORLD to have it. So that's pretty awesome. We also talk about the classes he's teaching at the City Winery, most of which I want to attend right now. 

We then talked about Battlestar Galactica and Mass Effect. Like ya do.

For more info on the classes Matt takes, check out the Facebook page for links. 

For more info on the classes Matt teaches, go to www.citywinery.com.

And for more info on me, keep doing what you're doing. I'm an over-sharer.

Ryan Klink is an Associate Producer for CBS This Morning. He's also an actor and a badass dude.

He starred in my "Hoarders" parody "Kinda Messy People" as Dan and is starring in my Star Wars one act "You Broke Up With Leia?!" which performs March 15th and 23rd. He also needs a nerd-ucation, so tweet him cool nerd things to enjoy @Ryan_Klink.

And we ate pizza and drank beer. Good times.