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The Roundtable

Ani DiFranco on Broadway, her new album, and the doc about her debuting at Tribeca

By Sarah LaDuke

Published May 31, 2024 at 11:05 AM EDT

Ani DiFranco - "Unprecedented Sh!t" - album cover

On May 17, prolific singer/songwriter and feminist icon Ani DiFranco released a new record “Unprecedented Sh!t” on her label Righteous Babe Records.

A new documentary about DiFranco entitled “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10. The film, by Dana Flore, takes a look at Ani’s life today, as she struggles to balance artistry with the demands of family.

DiFranco is currently starring as ‘Persephone’ in the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical, “Hadestown.” In 2010, she invited Anais Mitchell to release the original studio album of “Hadestown” on Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco sang ‘Persephone’ on the original album and has been playing the role 8 shows a week on Broadway since February. She’ll finish her run at the end of June.

Her memoir “No Walls and the Recurring Dream” was a New York Times Top 10 best seller in 2019, and her debut children’s book “The Knowing” is out now. Her next children’s book “Show Up and Vote” is due in August.

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The Roundtable ani difranco music album broadway Documentary Film kid's book

Sarah LaDuke

Sarah has worked in public radio since 2006. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing. She is on the board of WAM Theatre and lives in Albany, New York with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Doritos.

See stories by Sarah LaDuke

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