36 Questions


Writer, Director, Composer
(with Ellen Winter)

In a last-ditch attempt to salvage their crumbling marriage, a couple uses the 36 questions—an experiment known for making strangers fall in love—to save their own relationship. Starring Tony-nominated actor Jonathan Groff and Jessie Shelton.

Produced by Two Up Productions.


Photo by Alison Grasso for Two Up

36 Questions
Writer, Director, Composer (with Ellen Winter)

In a last-ditch attempt to salvage their crumbling marriage, a couple uses the 36 questions—an experiment known for making strangers fall in love—to save their own relationship.

Starring Tony-nominated actor Jonathan Groff and Jessie Shelton.

Produced by Two Up Productions.

Fan Art

Fan Art


Fan Art

Fan Art


This is only a small sample of some of the art out available. Search for your own by using the hashtag #36Questions.

This is only a small sample of some of the art out available. Search for your own by using the hashtag #36Questions.

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Judith Ford by Ashley Kai
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Henry the Duck by Tony Vu
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The Record by Carolina Alvarez
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Judith Ford by Angelica Nyneave
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Jase Connolly by Angelica Nyneave
"One Thing" animatic by Eve Cole
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Jase and Judith by @_rainbowllama_
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Jase and The Record by Papertoads
"Our Word" animatic by Angelica Nyneave
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Jase and Judith by @casually.kagamine

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Henry and Judith by @human_trashacant

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Hear Me Out by @mooilky

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"One Thing" by @clockmaker931

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Jase and Judith by @Sissieart

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"Judith Ford" by @tiptoecrow
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"Judith and Jase" by @taraniamhillustration
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The Record by @heyimheroic
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Judith Ford by @Artist11101
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"One Thing" by @OceanBlurrr

Behind the Scenes


Behind the Scenes


Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes

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The "36 Questions" by Author Aron et al.
"The Flippy Flip" - Behind the Scenes by Chris Littler
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Radio Interview '17
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Ellen & Chris at Austin Film Festival '19
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Self portrait at Ripley Greer '16
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Self portrait on Bushwick steps where "Hear Me Out" was written; '19

Two Up's official Making Of Video by Alison Grasso

Behind the Scenes


Explore


Explore

Explore

Lyrics & Sheet Music
Interviews

"36 Questions" and the Future of Musicals

BROWN: How do the two of you work together? Are you generally in the same room, or is more via email? Does one write the melody and the other the lyrics?

WINTER: We’re basically workers of necessity. We work in the same room when we can.

LITTLER: For this show, it was a lot of Ellen at the piano, and me sitting right by the piano. She’d go, [hums] “Hmm hmm hmm” and I’d go,”There it is!”

Read more...

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Radio Drama Revival Interview

Listen here

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Stuart Spencer Interview

SS: What did you do to take of, for instance, the musical theatre audience?

CL: The first five minutes of the show is a good example. The rules of musical theatre are that you start with a song. That way, no one questions that you are in a world of music. We struggled with that. We didn’t have a song for the beginning. We really needed to walk the listener to the moment of the first song. Well, podcast audiences love mysteries, so we set it up as a mystery, but at the same time we scored the section so that the musical theatre people wouldn’t be thinking, “Is this really a musical?”

EW: We were excited by the rhythm that can come from a non-musical scene, and that was how we went about scoring them — and eventually how we orchestrated them as well. Another factor was that we went upstate on a writing retreat. And our band-mate came with us to make sure we ate and didn’t die of hunger, and he is not into musicals.

Read more...

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Musicals with Cheese Interview

In this super bonus episode Jess is joined by the composers of the Podcast Musical “36 Questions,” Ellen Winter & Christopher Littler. He talks about their creative process, the inspirations for the musical, the storytelling methods, and how this show became the incredible piece it is today. It’s a wonderful bonus episode with a ton of insight about creating a musical!

Listen here

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Listen

Listen at 36Questions.com

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Official "Making of" Video
Jessie Shelton Performing "ABV" Live
Reviews

The New York Times

"In '36 Questions,' the composers Chris Littler and Ellen Winter and the sound designer Joel Raabe have created a radically intimate, slightly twee and seriously winning musical... the show is a little like 'The Last Five Years,' if 'The Last Five Years' nixed the dual timelines in favor of some dorky board-game jokes."

Wired

"Littler and Ellen didn’t set out to be pioneers with this piece, but there’s no question they’ve opened a door of possibilities."

Marie Claire

"It's charming, moving, and fresh—and the music is incredible (think Once for 2017)."

The Guardian

"Groff was curious how anyone would be able to give the rather staid audio genre the all-singing, all-swinging trappings of a musical. As it turns out, Littler and Winter knew exactly how. The script cleverly weaves relational difficulty with cutesy pop-cultural relatability."

Vulture

"Frankly, the podcast is a blast: the songs are pretty good, the couple is played by the ever-charming Jonathan Groff and newcomer Jessie Shelton, and the story swerves in and out of interesting places while gesturing towards some profound questions. Just how well, exactly, do we know the ones we love, anyway?" [List: Best Podcasts of 2017]

Entertainment Weekly

"It’s a gorgeously wrought, two-person musical, the best of a new generation of podcasts exploring what the format can be, and its perfectly undone, folksy songs will be stuck in your head for weeks."

Playbill

"Littler and Ellen didn’t set out to be pioneers with this piece, but there’s no question they’ve opened a door of possibilities. “I just keep thinking about all of the young composers out there,” says Groff. “If people were able to express their voices through a medium like this, think of all the great new composers we could have getting to really figure [their] stuff out.”

Analysis