Rachel Bloom and Esperanza Spaulding

Episode 168

21st June 2016

Rachel Bloom on her passion for musical theater and her version of life in Southern California in her show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; Esperanza Spalding on the song that introduced her to a new world of music and Jesse talks about a stupid, goofy movie that he loves.

Episode notes

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Rachel Bloom on her love of musical theater and gaining confidence in Hollywood.

Rachel Bloom is a comedian whose humor often involves her bursting into song. She embraces the classic tropes of the Hollywood musical comedy adding her own contemporary twist on her CW show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The show has already earned her a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award.

A veteran of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Bloom has also worked on television shows Allen Gregory and Robot Chicken. But it was her absurdist and hilarious musical videos that first brought her to the industry’s attention. The video for her song, Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury went viral and earned Bloom a Hugo Award nomination. She has released two albums including Please Love Me and Suck It, Christmas!!! (A Chanukah Album).

Rachel Bloom sat down with Jesse to talk about her love for musical theater, gaining self-confidence in Hollywood and the logistics involved in being lifted in the air in a giant pretzel.

Episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend can seen on Hulu and at CWTV.com.


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Esperanza Spalding on The Song That Changed My Life: “Petrouchka” by Igor Stravinsky

Singer, songwriter, bassist and cellist Esperanza Spalding explains how Petrouchka by Igor Stravinsky introduced her to a world of sound that she hadn’t known existed.

The Grammy Award winning artist’s latest album is Emily’s D+Evolution.

Find Esperanza Spalding online at EsperanzaSpalding.com.

The Outshot: Popstar

Jesse explains why he loves a movie that aspires to be nothing more than silly, goofy and funny.

Popstar is in theaters now.

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Guests

  • Rachel Bloom
  • Esperanza Spalding

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

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