Broadway Bound with Douglas Lyons

The Writer's Toolkit

In this episode, I chat to Douglas Lyons - the playwright behind Broadway's newest comedy, Chicken & Biscuits - and notably, one of seven Black writers whose names have just been etched in the history books of American theatre. Douglas is one half of the sensational musical theatre writing partnership, Lyons & Pakchar - creators of Beau: The Musical.

Words of Wisdom

Douglas Lyons on the writer's potential to gift joy to an audience... "On stage during closing, I broke down. I cried openly in front of strangers... because there was a different version of power in the theatre, and I had only felt it [before] as an actor. But there's a power in the pen if we use it with intention".

Conversation Highlights & Links

• [04:58] Getting the words on the page - writing spaces and inspiration
• [09:25] The journey to Broadway for Chicken & Biscuits
• [21:58] Beau: the making of a future-hit musical
• [26:29] Championing the next wave of black voices on American stages
• [30:28] Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical

Connect with Douglas

• Visit Douglas' website
• Connect on Instagram @ChocolateHipster
• Connect on Twitter @Douglassings
• Tickets for Chicken & Biscuits on Broadway

Connect with Paul

• Buy the book, The Writer's Toolkit
• Visit Paul's website
• Connect on Instagram @PaulKalburgi
• Connect on Twitter @PaulKalburgi

Next time...

I talk to playwright, librettist and Artistic Director of Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille, Marjorie Chan. Be sure to follow or subscribe and we'll let you know when the next episode is published.

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