DEAR MULTI-HYPHENATE LIVE to Welcome Julie Benko as First Guest
Michael Kushner's live interview series expands from podcast to in-person conversation format.
On September 17th at 7pm, Michael Kushner will pilot a new, live studio audience format for Dear Multi-Hyphenate Live, a show business podcast which features artists who have multiple proficiencies in the tv, film, and theatre industries.
Broadway star Julie Benko (Ragtime, Funny Girl, Harmony) and husband, acclaimed pianist, composer, and educator Jason Yeager will join Kushner for conversation and performance at the Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium, located inside the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan at 334 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 76th Street) in New York.
Kushner created Dear Multi-Hyphenate in 2019 to center artists who produce their own work, establish movements, and find success through the backdoor. Previous guests include Carol Burnett, Rachel Brosnahan, Billy Porter, and many other actors, writers, producers, educators, and artists.
“Recording the podcast through the pandemic was a powerful way to connect with my community,” says Kushner, “but now it’s time to shake things up a bit. I’m ready to welcome my devoted listeners into the space with my guests and include performance into the podcast recording. While this is a live show, the episodes will continue to be published wherever you download and listen to podcasts.”
The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan is one of New York City’s leading Jewish cultural institutions and a vibrant civic home on the Upper West Side. Housed in a dynamic vertical campus at the corner of 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, the JCC brings together arts and culture, film, Jewish learning, wellness, education, community engagement, and social connection under one roof. Serving thousands of New Yorkers of all backgrounds each year, the JCC has become a central gathering place for the city’s cultural and intellectual life—presenting exhibitions, festivals, concerts, conversations, artist residencies, film premieres, and multidisciplinary programs that reflect the diversity, complexity, and creativity of contemporary Jewish and New York life. Deeply rooted in the community while engaged with the wider world, the JCC is both a neighborhood anchor and a nationally recognized cultural platform.
About Julie Benko
Julie Benko became a Broadway sensation as Fanny Brice in the recent revival of Funny Girl, earning the Dorothy Loudon Award for her performance and a New York Times "Breakout Star" nod for her celebrated understudy-to-star journey in the show. She most recently returned to Broadway as EmmaGoldman in the acclaimed revival of Ragtime at Lincoln Center. Other Broadway appearances include Harmony, Fiddler on the Roof, and Les Misérables, as well as the national tour of Spring Awakening. Favorite regional credits include My Fair Lady, Jane Eyre, Once, Guys and Dolls, Our Town, Rags, and more. She recently made her film debut in the award-winning indie feature “Caravan,” and has released four critically acclaimed studio albums with her pianist-husband Jason Yeager (available on all streaming platforms). Her newest record Euphonic Gumbo, which celebrates the music of New Orleans, has just been released on Club44 Records. Julie is also an emerging playwright; her full-length play Down the Line was named as semifinalist at the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Playwright Conference and is currently in development. She holds an MFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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