The No Proscenium Podcast

Hosted by Noah Nelson/No Proscenium

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578

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Exploring the renaissance in immersive theatre and interactive events. Hosted by Noah Nelson, creator of No Proscenium, a free events listing newsletter in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco. Visit NoProscenium.com to sign up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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June 12, 20261 hr 28 min

Home Again, Home Again

Out of the blue, we're back, with season 2 of the podcast.This summer we're catching up with our favorite folks, hanging out and talking what we've seen, what they've been making, and generally celebrating the fact that immersive is here and not going anywhere.To kick us off in the new era we're joined by: associate producer of the podcast, and an immersive creator in her own right Parker Sela, Executive Editor Emeritus of No Proscenium and co-founder of The Immersive Experience Institute game designer Kathryn Yu, and Artistic Director of After Hours Theatre Company Graham Wetterhahn.The topics du jour are the Without Walls Festival and L.A.'s immersive scene which has been really hopping this year.SHOW NOTESThe Immersive Experience InstituteAfter Hours Theatre CompanyWithout Walls FestivalTea Party at the End of the WorldSuzikAgain AgainThe Apple Avenue Detective AgencyHandle With CareNight WatchL.A. Immersive SceneDatalandDark Library: The Time MachineYou Must Be Here For The ReadingHatch EscapesUndersignedDrowned Out ProductionsConfessionThe Elysian's Spaghetti FestivalBrassroots DistrictHollywood FringeYoko Ono: Music of the MindHospital of EmotionsGhost Town AliveBeyond L.A.The Still PointMasquerade Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January 29, 20261 hr 1 min

The Future of Storytelling w/Charles Melcher

Our guest on this special edition this week is Charles Melcher of the Future of Storytelling who you might know from his own podcast and who is the author of the new book The Future of Storytelling: How Immersive Experiences Are Transforming Our World which is available now.Charlie’s book is really a fantastic snapshot of the world of immersive storytelling as it stands today, containing both an extensive catalog of expeirences AND essays that provide an framework to understand what makes this work… well.. work.Best of all — we’ve got a copy of the book to give away.Plus: an update on Season Two production!SHOW NOTES The Future of Storytelling: How Immersive Experiences Are Transforming Our WorldBook Excerpt: The Future of Storytelling (Plus Giveaway)FoSTSpotlight Series: Yannick Trapman-O'Brien Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

December 20, 202540 min

Hanging Out At The 20-Sided Tavern

This week, a visit to Dungeons & Dragons The 20-Sided Tavern in Los Angeles – where the show is wrapping its current stand this weekend before heading off to Scottsdale, Arizona and Dallas, Texas.We sit down with Alex Stompoly, one of the Tavernkeepers of the Tavern to talk about the unique role he plays in the production which is part MC, part rules lawyer, and carries with it some creative heft of its own.SHOW NOTESDungeons & Dragons The 20-Sided TavernAlex StompolyNo ProsceniumEverything Immersive Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 2, 202557 min

A Visit To The Willows Estate (2025)

We're still on hiatus, but we recently got a chance to visit the new home of The Willows in LA and talk with Justin Fix and Stephanie Turek of JFI Productions as we toured the new home of one of LA's favorite immersive shows. The show has gotten a glow up in this new production, and fair warning that there are a few audio spoilers of new elements. If you're not deterred by that, come along and explore the new space with us, maybe encounter a real ghost, and get a bonus mansion tour thrown in as part of the bargain.SHOW NOTESThe Willows Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 31, 202546 min

Episode 500 Part 9: The Last Word (Coda)

We've reached the end.Of Episode 500 and Season One.Which means one last word from our host.See you in Season Two.(But don't act too surprised when we pop up a few times for some specials between now and then.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 31, 20251 hr 45 min

Episode 500 Part 8: Launch Party (Bonus)

This one is for the diehards.On Friday, August 29th, 2025 we held a Launch Party for Episode 500 in the NoPro Discord. We had no idea who would show up.To our delight Jacob Patterson, who you had a chance to hear in the last part of the marathon, ARGN’s Michael Anderson — who gives us a spoiler-free expectation set on Masquerade, the immersive Phantom currently in previews in New York City, NoPro correspondent Briana Roecks who shares some Spooky Season anticipation for both LA and Las Vegas, and drop-ins from Laura Hall and Cameo Wood as well.It’s a hangout episode and fair warning: the audio quality is sub-par in the extreme! I’m even on my Airpods because I was so exhausted from editing and being on the Yeti for hours on end that I just jammed the Pods in my ears and forgot how bad they would sound. So if you skip this because it sounds mid, I won’t take offense. This one, as they say, is for the sickos.But if you do stick around, well: you’re a real one, and all the copious links in the show notes below are going to make sense.SHOW NOTESTammany Hall is a Petco: Zohran's Summer Scavenger HuntMasqueradeMajestic Rep Las VegasPeople In the Dark: An Immersive Ghost StoryThe WillowsThe Haunted SoireeThe Wild, Citywide Scavenger Hunt That Ate San Francisco (Wired)Santa’s Village Where Dark Things DwellJunior’s at Resorts WorldThe Beast @ Area 15DASH – Different Area, Same Hunt‘The Long Walk’ Turns Screening Into Endurance Test With 3 MPH Treadmill Rule (The Wrap)'What the f--- is this?': What Darren Aronofsky has to do with new payphones in NYC (Gothamist)Why Did the Indie Film Studio A24 Buy an Off Broadway Theater? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 31, 20253 hr 2 min

Episode 500 Part 7: An LA Immersive Joy Ride

We start Part 7 off where the show began, way back in Episode ZERO, which we first released on SOUND CLOUD as a pilot for a potential series, with an interview with Annie Saunders of Wilderness, whose The Day Shall Declare It jump started that renaissance era and got the local performing arts world taking things seriously.Annie and I look back on that, and on the roadblocks that have kept her from making work here at that scale since. And then I talk to some of the other folks who come up in our conversation and those who helped shape the way I thought about and moved through the LA arts scene — like Lauren Ludwig and Monica Miklas of Capital W, and designer Tommy Honton who did so much work on the permitting crisis that hit LA in the wake of tragic events in Northern California in 2016. And, of course, Jacob Patterson, who ran Think Tank Gallery in DTLA and gave countless projects and artists a home… including this podcast for a while.One last jaunt through LA for Season One. Because you know we had to.SHOW NOTESAnnie SaundersWildernessThe Day Shall Declare It14th Factory(NPR)Jacob PattersonMonica Miklas/Aviary Creative WorksCapital W PerformanceTommy HontonLauren Ludwig Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 31, 20251 hr 23 min

Episode 500 Part 6: The Last Review Crew of Season One

And now is the part of the Episode 500 Marathon where we get to some lasts. In this case, the last Review Crew of Season One. For this one, which was the last we recorded, and the last thing we officially recorded for Episode 500, LA Reviews Editor Kevin Gossett and Chicago Curator/Remote Editor Patrick McLean join me for a chat that ranges from haunts, to the Golden Age of LA Immersive (appropriate, given where we're going next), and I ask the fellas the questions I've been asking everyone over the course of the marathon: when you first started down this road, did you think it was going to be such a big deal for you?Plus: Overlook Film Festival's Landon Zakheim takes his turn in this part's Spotlight section.SHOW NOTESYou Can't Scare Me (Meta Quest)Walkabout Mini Golf Passport TokyoBurnerSphere (The New Burning Man VR experience)People In the Dark: An Immersive Ghost Story (The thing from the Limos people)Overlook Film FestOverlook Film Festival Submissions - Including Immersive (For The First Time)The ManikinsPurrgilDu-Par'sDiner Grill Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 30, 20251 hr 41 min

Episode 500 Part 5: An Unstructured Conversation About Immersive Theatre

Welcome to PART FIVE of the Episode 500 marathon "An Unstructured Conversation About Immersive Theatre," which, really, could also be the title of the whole dang podcast but that might just break the very ontological concept of SEO.Come to think of it, that might not be a BAD thing.On this part of the Megasode we touch base with Episode One guests Genevieve Gearhart & Julianne Just of The Speakeasy Society, who are about to launch their new show Family Meal this October, the first new Speakeasy Society show in LA in some time! Plus we're joined by Jay Bushman, who in so many ways, is responsible for us interviewing Gen and Julianne in the first place.SHOW NOTESThe Speakeasy SocietyFamily Meal (Seed & Spark Campaign)Jay Bushman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 30, 20251 hr 39 min

Episode 500 Part 4: Review Crew Morning Zoo

In Part Four of our celebration of TEN YEARS of NoPro, Noah taps into his alternate-dimensional form as a Morning Zoo radio host, unbeknownst to London curator Shelley Snyder, her London cohort Thomas Jancis, or NYC curator Allie Marotta.But before that chaos is unleashed, we check in with The Wild Optimists — Ariel Rubin & Juliana Moreno, whose first appearance on the show was way back on episode 38 — and after the Zoo closes its doors for the day, have a quick hangout with Little Cinema’s Jay Rinsky.SHOW NOTESThe Key of DreamsArborloguesViola's Room @ The ShedLander 23Bridge CommandAlien War DocumentaryUncle BarryThe Wild OptimistsLittle Cinema Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.