May 30, 2019
We have a Tony winner in our midst this week! The wildly talented star of stage and screen, Tonya Pinkins invites Damian and Anne over for tea and showbiz chit-chat. You Might Know Her From Caroline or Change, Jelly’s Last Jam, Above the Rim, Beat Street, All My Children, Random Acts of Flyness, Fear of the Walking Dead, and Gotham. Tonya talks about being the most well-adjusted character on a soap opera, working alongside Eartha Kitt, the challenges and rewards of playing Caroline, and her controversial departure from Mother Courage. ‘Tis our final weekly episode before the summer, get into it.
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Discussed this
week:
Tonya’s IMDB ||
IBDB
Emily Valentine had a gay aesthetic (Christine Elise)
Our suggestions for
Masked singer contestants: John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Rita WIlson, Jon Lovitz, Lisa Rinna, Becky Ann Baker, Vicki Lewis, Daphne Rubin Vega,
Masked Singer costumes: banana, the ‘Noid, earthworm
Glowworm toy
Above the Rim: Tupac, Leon, Duane Martin, Marlon Wayans,
Rae Dawn Chong was famous for Quest for Fire
Tonya’s soap history (All My Children & As the World Tunrs)
As the World Turns: (other actors who got their start on AtWT include Julianne Moore, Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei, Stephen Weber)
Caroline or Change (Tesori/Kushner) on Broadway
Tonya performs “Lot’s Wife” at the Tonys
Tonya worked with Voice and Speech therapist Annemette Verspeak
Playwright/director, George C Wolfe
Sweetwater’s (nightclub on 68th & Amsterdam Ave in NYC)
Patty Holley in Jelly’s Last Jam
Tonya wins Tony for Jelly’s Last Jam
Jelly’s Last Jam (doc on YouTube)
Jelly’s Last Jam at The Tonys
Publicist: Leonard Fink
2015 Mother Courage controversy with Classic Stage Company
Tonya getting aged to death on Gotham (by Fish Mooney’s henchman)
Clip of Eartha Kitt & Tonya in The Wild Party
Controversy at The Wild Party (Patinkin spits at Collette, Collette shoves Patinkin)
Tonya Pinkins diss track
Tonya singing “Somewhere That’s Green” at the piano with Alan Menken (arrangement by Brian Nash)
Tonya’s Dentist: Jeffrey Wright Tonya’s Seymour: Erik Lieberman
Trip to Paris with Ellen Greene, Howard Ashman, puppeteer
Patrik-Ian Polk: Noah’s Ark + Jumping the Broom