Episode number TEN of the #PADPod is already upon us and features talented multidisciplinary actor, musician, illustrator, and animator Manik Choksi. The son of immigrants, Manik grew up in St. Louis and started a career onstage completely by accident via a scheduling error by a high school registrar. Manik went on to study Drama at #WashU and Julliard and credits many of his former PAD professors and his involvement in student groups like All-Student Theatre and Mama’s Pot Roast (improv) with inspiring him to pursue a career in the arts. Manik now boasts a robust career that includes television guest and recurring roles for shows like New Amsterdam and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on NBC, CBS, HBO, and Netflix as well as NYC theatre work both on and off Broadway including being a member of the original cast in the role of Dolokhov in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Manik is also a talented musician, songwriter, animator, and illustrator! He can do it all. He is also currently a commissioned artist at Ars Nova and creating on an epic concert-based adaptation of The Ramayan. Rob samples a song he wrote called ‘The Vow’ from The Ramayan at the end of the podcast so do not miss this episode!

“You have to believe that you are worth your own time.” – Sasha Diamond

For PAD podcast episode #9, Rob sits down with talented stage, television & film actor, photographer, and proud PAD alum Sasha Diamond! The discussion begins with some wonderful wisdom from Sasha’s Mom and only grows in sage advice and lessons learned from the industry from that point forward. Among other things, Sasha describes her circuitous journey after graduating from #WashU with a BA in Comparative Arts including her time as a bus tour guide for Sex In The City tours, acting and improv classes, and using her talents in play and improv to advance her career as a photographer as well. We talk about Keala Settle’s rehearsal of ‘This Is Me’ from Greatest Showman and how that attitude towards art and life can encourage us all to ‘lean in’ and pursue our creative dreams. Don’t miss this episode full of heart and inspiration from Sasha Diamond!

A new #PADpodcast episode is live and features multidisciplinary actor and voiceover artist Corey Jones. Corey talks about his upbringing in Chicago and how a teacher prodded him to take on some challenging roles. From there, he attended WashU initially as an Architecture major and shifted to History and Drama followed by an internship with the Black Repertory Theatre. He did his graduate work in acting at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em) and has enjoyed a career touring all over the world with Book of Mormon, playing roles at some of the nation’s top regional theatre companies, and is both a voiceover and motion-capture actor for film (Spider-Man (2018), Trigger (2012) and Spider-Man 2 (2023)) and video games voicing the character of Tombstone. He credits his range and fascination with history fostered by the interdisciplinary education he received at #WashU for his success. Do NOT miss this inspiring episode interview of Corey Jones!