Our guest today is a powerbroker. No, really. As a casting director, Bernard (Bernie to most people) Telsey wields considerable power — and he tries to use it for good, not evil. Telsey’s breakthrough came when he helped put together the original cast of “Rent,” back in the mid-1990s. Since then he’s worked on a gazillion shows on Broadway, Off and around the country, as well as on movies and TV — Telsey is probably the main reason every nook and cranny of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” is filled with Broadway people. As if this weren’t enough, he was one of the co-founders of the MCC company in 1986.
Yes, we talked about “Rent” and “The Gilded Age,” but we also discussed the concept of miscasting, counterintuitive decisions, the disappearance of terms like “non-traditional” and “color-blind” casting, and why musical-theater performers are just the best. Annaleigh Ashford might have been mentioned a few times.
Listen on!
Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.
A chat with casting director Bernard Telsey