#170 - Sam Pinkleton, Director of Oh, Mary! and The Rocky Horror Show
The Witch Wave
Pam Grossman
4.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 May 2026
⏱️ 87 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sam Pinkleton is the Tony Award-winning director of Oh, Mary! and the 9-time Tony Award-nominated revival of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway at Studio 54. His work as a director also includes Josh Sharp's TA-DA!, Morgan Bassichis’ Can I Be Frank?, Noah Diaz’ You Will Get Sick, The Wizard of Oz, Elizabeth Swados’ Runaways, Head Over Heels (with Jenny Koons), La Cage Aux Folles, and UNTITLED DANCESHOWPARTYTHING (with Ani Taj). Highlights of his work as a choreographer include Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are, Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s Soft Power, and eight shows on Broadway including Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Tony Nomination), Macbeth, and Machinal. His film/TV work includes Dying for Sex and the musical The End, starring Tilda Swinton. His upcoming projects include the participatory Scottish dance musical Ceilidh and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
On this episode, Sam discusses the deliciously Dionysian alchemy of Rocky Horror, his blending of stagecraft and witchcraft, and why theatre is collective magic in action.
Pam also talks about excavating both personal and historical roots of theatrical magic, and answers a listener question about conjuring supernatural support for a canine familiar.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Witch Wave is brought to you by Wheel of Fate in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
| 0:07.3 | At Wheel of Fate Witch Shop, you can learn to make your own besom broom, bind a spellbook, or spin wool into yarn. |
| 0:17.9 | There you can find local art, inspired by heritage crafts, the natural world, |
| 0:24.1 | and regional myths and folklore. At Wheel of Fate, they believe that there is magic in the |
| 0:31.7 | creative arts, and they want to share that magic with you. Visit wheeloffate.co.uk to book a workshop or to learn more about |
| 0:43.9 | their new location. Hey there. So people are always asking me how they can get more witch wave, how they can |
| 0:52.8 | work with me, how they can find magical community. And my answer is |
| 0:59.7 | join the Witch Wave Patreon. There is where you'll get biweekly bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, |
| 1:09.9 | as well as add free Witchwave episodes and detailed show notes |
| 1:15.3 | for all. The Witchwave Patreon is also where I lead a monthly online magical ritual which you can |
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| 1:32.4 | And then rewards for some other tiers also include magical merch and contests where you can |
| 1:39.9 | win witchley prizes, as well as getting early heads up about my workshops before they sell out, |
| 1:46.4 | and opportunities to get magical one-on-one guidance from me. And all backers get access to our |
| 1:54.9 | exclusive digital coven, where you can connect to a community of other wonderful witchwave witches around the world. |
| 2:04.2 | So head on over to patreon.com slash witchwave and sign up. |
| 2:09.4 | It's a marvelous way to get more magic in your life and to support the show. |
| 2:15.4 | Thank you so much. |
| 2:27.0 | The world is filled with bewitching people, and you might be one too. Welcome to the podcast where art is magic, magic is real, and reality is stranger than dreams. I'm Pam Grossman, and this is the witch wave. |
| 2:37.2 | Oh, inside you and I be a bride. |
| 2:44.8 | Oh, oh, the sunning shakes in the night. Oh, mountain's life. Hello and welcome to me, you can't |
... |
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