Episode 19 of the PAD Podcast is a very special onefeaturing longtime beloved PAD faculty member Annamaria Pileggi. After 35 years in the department, Anna will be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 academic year leaving behind a legacy of dedicated teaching, collaborative theatre (and people) making, and a ‘butterfly effect’ of alumni who were inspired by Anna’s teaching and bring that energy to their lives and work all over the world. On the episode, Anna reflects on her training before arriving at WashU, her influences and mentors who helped her along the way, andher favorite productions and collaborations that made her career at WashU, as she says, a “joy”.

If you feel a heartwarming shot of exuberance, wisdom, inspiration, and that distinctive Annamaria Pileggi laugh that has echoed in the PAD hallways for 35 wonderful years is what you need in life right now, then this episode is for you!

Episode 18 of the PAD Podcast features our first Master’s graduate from the WashU Performing Arts Department in Dr. Jenny Kokai. Dr. Kokai is an award-winning educator, playwright, scholar, and administrator. She is currently the Director of the School of Theatre and Dance and Professor of Theatre at the University of South Florida (USF). As a scholar, she is recognized internationally for her work on tourism and performance, with a focus on themed and immersive entertainments. In 2017, she published the well-reviewed monograph Swim Pretty: Aquatic Spectacles and the Performance of Race, Gender, and Nature and in 2019 co-edited the anthology, Performance and the Disney Theme Park Experience: The Tourist as Actor. She also continues topublish as a playwright and her most recent work in that arena just came out in the form or two plays for young audiences: Zombie Thoughts and Ballet for Aliens co-written with her son, Oliver Kokai-Means. Ballet for Aliens toured and was presented to over 10,000 elementary school students throughout Utah in 2022-23 with Plan-B Theatre and Zombie Thoughts was turned into an app game by Riverside in Australia. Don’t miss this enlightening conversation with multidisciplinary artist and administrator Dr. Jenny Kokai!

Episode 17 of the PAD podcast features our first guest in the design and technical area of the PAD in Adriane Heflin! Adriane is the amazingly talented and creative Technical Director for the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she has held the role for 17 years. Before that she was at the Guthrie Theatre with summer stock stints at such respected companies as Williamstown Theatre Festival, Stages St. Louis, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Adriane talks about her time in the PAD, the moment she realized that the theatre would be her artistic and career home, and the accolades she received performing in an open mic night at WashU called “INPO” (In No Particular Order). Don’t miss this infectious and inspiring episode featuringthe incomparable Adriane Heflin!

After a summer hiatus, the PAD Podcast is back with abrand-new episode featuring PAD alumnus Jayson Johnson. Jayson is currently the Head of Strategic Partnerships and Chief of Staff at Genentech based in San Francisco. Rob and Jayson begin by talking about his journey at WashU studying and practicing Dance in the PAD followed by his post graduation journey from Washington Ballet to the San Francisco Ballet where he worked his way up to his current position on the Board of Directors for that world famous institution. Jayson served for two years as a Commissioner for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and receives rave reviews from co-workers: “I gave him some of the most ambiguous problems to solve and he consistently deliveredsomething better than I could have imagined”. Don’t miss this delightful interview where we learn about all the things Jayson learned at WashU that prepared him for all the multiple roles he has had in life and how he continues to choreograph his future.

Episode 15 of the PAD podcast is a special one featuring our first in-person podcast interview with recent PAD alum and director of the #WashU production of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ Brenna Jones! Literally on the Spelling Bee set, Rob talks with Brenna about all things Spelling Bee comprised of an all-student cast, designers, and crew but also discusses her many outside projects that she managed even while a busy WashU student! In 2018, Brenna was approached by the Showboat Theatre Board in her hometown of Hermann, MO and asked to start a program for the local students to experience theatre. Along with her business partner, Brenna created the Half Act TheatreCompany, which has grown to a troupe of over 100 students ages 4-18 that continues to bring summer camp theatre to Hermann and change young lives in the process. She has also helped to kickstart the Riverside Theatre Project, which is a cross-community collaboration between St. Louis and Hermann designed to open up dialogue between rural and urban artists. Don’t miss this inspiring episode interview with one of Missouri's rising theatre stars: Brenna Jones!

Episode 14 of the PAD podcast is live and features producer, writer, marketing director and author Eric Schnall! Eric has worked on and off Broadway for more than twenty-five years which included winning a Tony Award for the Broadway revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and a Lucille Lortel Award for Fleabag. He has also written about techno and electronic music for Billboard and Revolution, profiling DJs and musicians from around the world. Eric lives in New York City with his partner and his dog. His first novel I Make Envy On Your Disco was the winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in Fiction and has been promoted on programs like Watch What Happens Live. Eric speaks about his journey before, during and after his time at WashU and imparts some beautiful wisdom for all the listeners. Don’t miss this one!

Episode 13 of the PAD podcast features director, writer, educator Pirronne Yousefzadeh who joins the podcast from Minneapolis, Minnesota in her current role as Associate Artistic Director at the Playwrights' Center. Pirronne has directed and developed work all over the country at places like The Public, New York Theatre Workshop, The Kennedy Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, and Geva Theatre Center to just name a few. She is also a founding member of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations engaging with stories from the Middle East and beyond. Pirronne received her MFA in Directing from Columbia University under the mentorship of Anne Bogart, Robert Woodruff, and Brian Kulick and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Theatre and English Literature from WashU. Do not miss this inspiring and thought-provoking episodewith the delightful and talented Pirronne Yousefzadeh.

Episode Twelve of the PAD pod features actor, director, producer, writer, and teacher Sanjit De Silva. Sanjit shares his incredible story about arriving in the U.S. as an immigrant from Sri Lanka and finding his way to WashU where he double majored in Biology and Drama with a minor in Film Studies. While still at WashU, his film study started with an internship at Spike Lee's company 40 Acres and a Mule where Sanjit was a PA on films Summer of Sam and Man on the Moon. He went on to receive an MFA from NYU’s prestigious Graduate Acting Program and followed that with roles both on Broadway in War Horse and Off-Broadway with some of the most acclaimed directors in the world of theatre. He wrote, starred and co-directed the short film Time After and directed and produced the short film Tea Time. His film and television credits are extensive and include roles in The Girl is in Trouble (with Spike Lee), The Company Men, and American Desi (film) and Evil, Blindspot, Madam Secretary, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Law & Order, and New Amsterdam (television). He’s also written four plays with wife Deepa Purohit and is the founder of SilvaDollar Films which exists "to create and produce stories about the American experience that aren’t seen in the mainstream". Do not miss this insightful interview with the amazing Sanjit De Silva!