Broadway’s Triple-Threat family

The dinner table conversation at the Carlyon/Whitman household irrevocably revolves around theater. Matriarch Barbara Whitman said, “It’s not only because we all work in the field. It’s also because it’s something we all love.”

As a producer for 10 years, Whitman’s credits include “If/Then, “Of Mice and Men” and “Fun Home,” a musical coming this spring to Circle in the Square.

Her two sons, Daniel, 25, and Will, 23, inherited her passion and are already building their careers on Broadway. Currently, you can find Will as a Kit Kat Boy in “Cabaret,” a role he won right upon graduating college. Daniel, who is based in Chicago but returns to New York for some projects, just completed his work as a sound design intern on “Disgraced.”

We sat down with the family (Daniel on Skype) in Barbara’s office in Midtown for a discussion on all things theater.

Barbara, as a producer, you invest your own money, but also raise funds for shows. How do you do that?

Through individuals, usually people who are interested in theater I have a group of people I know who are interested in being a part of it.

What’s the best and worst part of your job?

The best part is that I get to do what I love. I spend all day every day doing, creating, going to and talking about theater. Everyone I’m around is involved in theater. I’ve loved theater my entire life; I grew up in the city. The worst is probably waiting to see what the reaction to a show is. I can believe in a show I’m doing but I have to get the critics to like it and the audience to buy tickets. So it’s not all in my control if a show is successful.

You studied at NYU and Columbia. How do you think your education prepared you?

My Columbia program was a master’s in producing so it 100 percent prepared me for the job. I had been a performer many years ago, and then I stayed out of the business when I had the kids and stayed home with them. And then I worked in finance. I wanted to go back into theater, so got a master’s which was a way to use my finance and theater backgrounds. I started producing while I was still a student there.

Will, “Cabaret” is your first job out of college. What was that experience like?

It was beyond what I could have imagined happening so soon after graduating from school. I had my first audition for it last year in late September or early October and has six call backs and was cast on November 1.

I read that you are a quadruple threat because you play an instrument. Explain.

Since so many shows include actors that play instruments as well, the term quadruple threat started filtering in. So theoretically, I sing, act, dance and play instruments. But really, I act and sing as my job, but I also play cello particularly well because I studied through high school. I got the job primarily because of my cello playing. And I dance a little bit, but not as well as some of the other people in the cast.

How long are you playing the cello in “Cabaret?”

I play the entire score through the whole show.

What’s the atmosphere like backstage?

It’s lots of fun. Lots of debauchery and hijinks happening.

Daniel, explain what a sound designer does.

There are two halves to what the job entails. The first half is how the sound actually reaches people’s ears, through the microphones and speakers. It’s the reinforcement of what the actors and musicians are doing. That’s the half I’m learning when I do shows like “Disgraced.” The other half is finding and creating sound effects and finding and composing music for the show. That’s the stuff that I learned in school. Working on “Disgraced” is really nice because it gives me the opportunity to learn a side of theater that I don’t get to experience out in Chicago.

So you’ve completed your work on “Disgraced.”

I was the sound design intern so was working with the sound team. I was only there as long as the designer was. After opening night, my job ended. The sound operator is there running the show, but all the rest of us left. I’m mostly in Chicago. But have been coming back to New York once or twice a year since I graduated college to work on a show.

Do any of you go to the Tonys?

Barbara: I go if I have a show that’s nominated or if I’m nominated for a show. Last year was very cool, because he was on the Tonys.

Will: I got to perform with my cast, which was a very surreal experience.

Who are your favorite people you’ve met through your work?

Will: Alan Cumming is a remarkable man and he’s been so incredible throughout the entire experience. He’s definitely up there for me. Michelle Williams and Emma Stone as well are very, very cool.

Daniel: I feel like Alan Cumming for me, too. I meet plenty of cool people. That’s one of the best things about theater, being able to meet a bunch of new, cool people on every show you do.

Barbara: Chris O’Dowd and James Franco. Jude Law was a lovely guy. Some of the bigger movie stars are a little less accessible, but plenty of them are totally approachable. Especially because I meet them in informal settings. When we met Sean Combs, he was fantastic. He was such a nice guy. That was my first show ever. [“A Raisin in the Sun”]

What are some of your favorite shows?

Will: I have a special place in my heart for “Sunday in the Park with George” by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. I think it’s a beautiful musical. And “Hamlet.” You gotta love Shakespeare.

Daniel: In college, I worked on “Copenhagen” by Michael Frayn and that blew me away. It’s a beautifully written play about history and physics and the history of physics- all subjects that you would not expect to be very compelling.

Will: “Next to Normal”

Barbara: Yes, “Next to Normal.” For me, it’s two of my shows, “Next to Normal” and “Fun Home,” the one I’m bringing to Circle in the Square in the spring. It is a small, heartfelt musical about a family and I absolutely love it.

You all have a Shakespeare connection as well.

Will: We were both involved in a Shakespeare company in high school.

Daniel: I did it all four years.

Will: And I did it my first two years there. And later, in college, I studied abroad in London and studied Shakespeare more thoroughly.

Barbara: And I produced that Shakespeare company. It was one of the first things I did when I was in grad school.

Daniel: Before you did “Raisin in the Sun,” you were working on Shakespeare.

Barbara: It sort of combined my PTA experience and my producing experience. [Laughs]