Geffen Playhouse Unscripted Podcast Renewed for Season Three with PodcastOne

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE UNSCRIPTED PODCAST RENEWED FOR SEASON THREE WITH PODCASTONE

TONY-NOMINATED RORY O’MALLEY JOINS AS NEW FULL-TIME HOST

LOS ANGELES (February 6, 2019) – The Geffen Playhouse Unscripted podcast has been renewed for a third season with PodcastOne, the nation’s largest advertiser-supported podcast network, it was announced today. In addition, Tony-nominated Rory O’Malley (Hamilton, The Book of Mormon) has joined the podcast series as its new full-time host.

Geffen Playhouse Unscripted provides listeners around the world with exclusive, behind-the-scenes audio tours of Geffen's widely acclaimed productions, as well as conversations with some of today's most compelling creative voices. Host Rory O’Malley will explore the art and craft of live storytelling, the creative process, professional milestones, personal challenges, timely topics, the importance of art in social change and more. O’Malley’s featured guests have so far included Julia Sweeney and Megan Hilty, with Dulé Hill slated for February 13. Previous Geffen Playhouse Unscripted guests have included writer/director/producer Greg Berlanti, director Steven Robman, Amanda Peet, Judith Light, Jenifer Lewis, Charlize Theron, Lin-Manuel Miranda and others.

“We have always considered Rory part of the Geffen family, and we are excited to have him officially join as the new host for our third podcast season,” said Geffen Playhouse Executive Director Gil Cates, Jr. “Rory is an exceptional talent with the experience, insight and firsthand knowledge to genuinely connect with his guests in the creative community.”

“I’m absolutely honored to be taking over hosting duties for Geffen Playhouse Unscripted. I’m not only a fan of the podcast, but a regular audience member at the Geffen,” added O’Malley. “For many years, I’ve been impressed by the theater they create and the incredible artists who walk through their doors. Now I’ll get to sit down and talk with them! After years of hosting my own theater podcast, I’m so excited to collaborate with Geffen Playhouse and PodcastOne to continue talking to theater professionals about what drives them, what scares them and how they cope with the ups and downs of our crazy industry. This is a tremendous opportunity and I’m truly grateful.”

Geffen Playhouse Unscripted is available the last Wednesday of each month at GeffenPlayhouse.org, PodcastOne.com, the PodcastOne app and iTunes. To listen, visit https://www.podcastone.com/geffen-playhouse-unscripted or http://apple.co/2nFtje9.

O’Malley was most recently seen reigning as King George III in the smash hit Hamilton on tour after ruling the Kingdom on Broadway. He is best known for starring in the original company of The Book of Mormon on Broadway for which he received both Tony and Drama Desk nominations. His other theater credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Off-Broadway productions of Nobody Loves You (Drama Desk nomination), Little Miss Sunshine and a singing Richie Cunningham in Garry Marshall’s Happy Days The Musical. Rory performed “Cadillac Car” as lead singer of ‘Dave and the Sweethearts’ in the Paramount Pictures film Dreamgirls and was seen starring alongside Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence in FX's Partners. He can also be seen on the small screen in episodes of Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife, Law and Order: SVU, 1600 Penn and stars in Jenji Kohan’s widely anticipated upcoming series, American Princess, for Lifetime. O’Malley has performed his autobiographical shows Pub Crawl and Out of the Basement to sold out crowds at Joe's Pub & 54 Below in New York City and the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles. He is Co-Founder of Broadway Impact, an organization that mobilizes the theater community to take action on fighting for marriage equality. Currently Broadway Impact is producing the play 8, conceived by Rory and edited by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black.

About PodcastOne
PodcastOne, (www.PodcastOne.com) the nation’s leading advertiser-supported podcast network, was founded by Norman Pattiz, founder of radio-giant Westwood One. The network currently hosts more than 200 of today’s most popular podcasts, including Adam Carolla, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Austin, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Dan Patrick, A&E’s Cold Case, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Scheana Shay, Heather and Terry Dubrow, Jim Harbaugh, Ladygang, Dr. Drew, Chael Sonnen, Penn Jillette, Rich Eisen, Barbara Boxer, Laura Ingraham and hundreds more.

About Geffen Playhouse
Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Matt Shakman and Board Chair Howard Tenenbaum. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts.

Connect with Geffen Playhouse
Website: www.geffenplayhouse.org
Media Center: www.geffenplayhouse.org/media-center
Facebook: www.facebook.com/geffenplayhouse
Twitter: www.twitter.com/geffenplayhouse
Instagram: www.instagram.com/geffenplayhouse
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/GeffenPlayhouseMedia

Connect with Rory O’Malley
Website: http://roryomalley.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roryomalleyofficial/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoryOMalley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrroryomalley/

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Zenon Dmytryk
Geffen Playhouse
310 966 2405


Amanda Deutchman
PodcastOne
310 858 0888


Lauren Auslander
LUNA, for Rory O’Malley
310 730 8003