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Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the

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Speaker 1: Thing from iHeart Radio. If I were to share with

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Speaker 1: you the greatest show business comeback story in history, you

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Speaker 1: might not believe it, but it's all true. My guest

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Speaker 1: today was the very first black woman to be crowned

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Speaker 1: Miss America, only to resign following the release of unauthorized

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Speaker 1: nude photos. In the years after the scandal, she reinvented herself,

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Speaker 1: building an impressive and decorated career. She released chart topping music,

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Speaker 1: performed on Broadway, and starred in television and film. It

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Speaker 1: could only be Vanessa Williams. Her work has earned her

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Speaker 1: three Emmy nominations, eleven Grammy nominations, and a Tony nomination.

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Speaker 1: She's the recipient of a Billboard Music Award and multiple

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Speaker 1: NAACP Image Awards. I wanted to know how her upbringing

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Speaker 1: in New York affected her trajectory and her goals.

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Speaker 2: I was born in Tarrytown. I grew up in one

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Speaker 2: year in the Bronx and then up here in Westchester

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Speaker 2: in Millwood, which is about five miles from where I

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Speaker 2: live right now.

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Speaker 1: And your parents were both taught art. They were art teachers,

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Speaker 1: music teachers music.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, my dad was band teacher in Elmsford and my

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Speaker 2: mom was the choral teacher in Austining at Claremont School.

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Speaker 2: So my dad was forty two years my mom was

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Speaker 2: thirty eight years.

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Speaker 1: There, how many siblings.

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Speaker 2: You have one younger brother who is an actor as well.

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Speaker 2: He's out in LA he's four years younger.

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Speaker 1: Just one you and the brothers.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it.

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Speaker 1: And both of you went into the arts.

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Speaker 2: Yes, my brother he's done like Dodgeball, he's done Larry

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Speaker 2: David's HERBYR Enthusiasm.

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Speaker 1: Historical dramas. He's done historical dramas. Yeah, yes, Dodgeball, that's history.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah for a while.

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Speaker 2: He's been at it for a while. Yes.

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Speaker 1: Now, why the East Coast for you?

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Speaker 2: I did live in the West Coast from eighty five

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Speaker 2: to ninety two because you were working. I was working.

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Speaker 2: I kind of left after having a struggling here in

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Speaker 2: New York, you know, after being Miss America and then

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Speaker 2: the scandal and then trying to you know, make my

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Speaker 2: way on Broadway. And I tell a story in my

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Speaker 2: book which is called You Have No Idea, which basically

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Speaker 2: is a chronicle of my recollection and my Mom's kind

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Speaker 2: of side by side. In the book, I talk about

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Speaker 2: one particular instance where Mike Nichols was directing Tommy Tooon

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Speaker 2: and Twiggy in My One and Only on Broadway, and

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Speaker 2: Mike Nichols reached out to me. He said he wanted

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Speaker 2: me to replace Twiggy because he knew that I was

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Speaker 2: a musical theater gal and met him, had a wonderful meeting.

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Speaker 2: Did the audition, Tommy taught me all the tap did

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Speaker 2: the audition went well, perfectly, left the theater and Mike

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Speaker 2: turned around to Lee Gershwin, who was the head of

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Speaker 2: the estate in Irish Widow, and said it wasn't she terrific?

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Speaker 2: Thumbs up, and then he walked back downstage and the

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Speaker 2: phone was ringing by the time he got to the

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Speaker 2: bottom of the stage, and it was Lee Gershwin who

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Speaker 2: said to Mike Nichols, over my dead body, will that

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Speaker 2: horror be in my show? And that was nineteen eighty.

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Speaker 1: Five, the year after the incident.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, eighty four eighty five. They wanted me to go

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Speaker 2: in right after. So I didn't know exactly what she

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Speaker 2: had said. I knew that I didn't get it, but

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Speaker 2: I knew that I crushed the audition, and Paul Martino

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Speaker 2: was my agent at the time at ICM, so it

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Speaker 2: was kind of a soft not this time. But I

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Speaker 2: could feel like, Okay, this has nothing to do with talent.

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Speaker 2: This is way bigger and it's going to be much

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Speaker 2: harder than I anticipated.

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Speaker 1: Well, now that you've pivoted in that direction, we were

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Speaker 1: going to get there. But no, no, no, no no, you

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Speaker 1: talking about your Bucolic Westchester upbringing and instead we're having

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Speaker 1: Gershwin's relatives.

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Speaker 3: Calling you a whore exactly.

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Speaker 1: Let's stop there, now, hold on, let me catch up.

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Speaker 1: But now that you bring it up, I want to

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Speaker 1: say you are someone who I'm a great admirer of yours,

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Speaker 1: and I want to back it up a little bit,

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Speaker 1: which is when you become Miss America. So it's a

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Speaker 1: national competition. I remember, these are a Miss Universe contestants,

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Speaker 1: where I always felt that the people in the some

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Speaker 1: of these foreign countries, because their countries are so maybe economically,

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Speaker 1: I mean, less advantage than America. You'd see some of

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Speaker 1: these women winning these awards in these international competitions and

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Speaker 1: you think they're going to choke to death how much

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Speaker 1: they're crying, like Oh my god, they can't believe they've won.

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Speaker 1: It's this big deal to them. What was the roots

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Speaker 1: of you becoming Miss America? Was it a goal for you?

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Speaker 1: What did you think it represented? How did that happen?

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Speaker 2: Well, you talk about Bucolic roots, and the Miss America

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Speaker 2: pageant itself was a bathing suit pageant on the board

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Speaker 2: walk in Atlantic City back in the day, and it

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Speaker 2: was still run by volunteers in Atlantic City yearly, So

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Speaker 2: it wasn't this huge, huge corporation and corporate thing. And

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Speaker 2: I only learned that once I ended up winning. The

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Speaker 2: roots of it was. I was a Syracuse musical theater major.

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Speaker 2: Aaron Sorkin was one of my classmates, by the way,

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Speaker 2: and my freshman year's your core year. You can't do anything.

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Speaker 2: So sophomore year I started performing. So I was in

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Speaker 2: the Golden Apple, I did Frank Lesser's was Swinging on

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Speaker 2: a Star. I was down at Syracuse Stage was a

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Speaker 2: repertory theater and they were doing a production of a

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Speaker 2: syro De Bergerac which I auditioned for and I got

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Speaker 2: the part of the Orange Girl, which was a tiny

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Speaker 2: little part, but it would have gotten me equity points.

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Speaker 2: So I was supposed to do that after doing all

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Speaker 2: these productions my sophomore year, and the local Miss Syracuse

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Speaker 2: pageant kind of scouts their talent at the university. So

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Speaker 2: a couple of board members had seen me in shows

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Speaker 2: and one of my friends a board member, would you

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Speaker 2: be interested in being in the Syracuse pageant? I said, no,

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Speaker 2: absolutely not. I doam do it Syrah No got canceled.

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Speaker 2: I had April free. I called my mom and said, listen,

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Speaker 2: do you think I should do this Syracuse pageant? Thing?

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Speaker 2: Is their money? I said yes because I'd gotten scholarships

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Speaker 2: the previous two years, and she said I would go

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Speaker 2: for it. So my parents didn't even come to the pageant.

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Speaker 2: I bought a bathing suit down at Sibley's department store

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Speaker 2: in downtown Syracuse.

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Speaker 1: My cousin worked at Sibleys.

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Speaker 3: You're kidding.

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Speaker 2: My mom is from Syracuse, Okay, so that's where I

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Speaker 2: got my stuff, and I sang a song from my

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Speaker 2: performance class. My friend Tim Thayer played piano for me.

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Speaker 2: I did being Good Isn't Good Enough from Hallelujah Baby

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Speaker 2: that I'd performed in class, and I ended up winning

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Speaker 2: Swimsuit Talent and I won Miss Greater Syracuse. So that

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Speaker 2: was April of my sophomore year. Then I was on

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Speaker 2: the way to States in July three months later, and

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Speaker 2: you know, I'm twenty years old and I sing the

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Speaker 2: same song where the same close and win that same

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Speaker 2: Tim's playing for me, the same deal and I win that.

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Speaker 2: So within three months, I'm already headed to Atlantic City

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Speaker 2: and the local pageant gal wants to change my song

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Speaker 2: to something more familiar, so I sang happy Days are

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Speaker 2: here again, the Barbi Streuis end version, got an upgrade

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Speaker 2: on my gown and swimsuit, and I ended up winning

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Speaker 2: all within six months. So I literally had no intention

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Speaker 2: of ever being Miss America, being in the pageant, and

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Speaker 2: here I was getting ready for my junior year abroad

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Speaker 2: in London, already put my dad deposit, my girlfriend was,

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Speaker 2: my roommate was already waiting for me, and I ended

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Speaker 2: up winning. So my first question when I won was

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Speaker 2: now what do I do? And ah, now can go

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Speaker 2: to London.

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Speaker 1: So if you're a super bright and talented woman and

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Speaker 1: you end up in that universe, not that there's anything

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Speaker 1: wrong with it, Like you said, what do I do now?

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Speaker 1: How soon after you were crowned did the scandal.

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Speaker 2: Come, Well, it didn't come until I had been missing

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Speaker 2: America for ten months. I had literally two weeks vacation

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Speaker 2: and a month left. So but I think the biggest,

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Speaker 2: biggest jolt for me being a New Yorker at twenty

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Speaker 2: years old, living in Westchester, growing up in Westchester, you know,

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Speaker 2: being surrounded by different cultures and my parents living through

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Speaker 2: the civil rights movement making a better life. For me,

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Speaker 2: that was the first time I really experienced racism on

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Speaker 2: a national level. And I guess, you know, being.

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Speaker 1: In this I wanted because of the scandal or.

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Speaker 2: Both because I won. Because I won, This is no

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Speaker 2: scandal at all. This is just me being black at

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Speaker 2: twenty years old. September of nineteen eighty three, death threats.

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Speaker 2: When I had my welcome home parade here, they had

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Speaker 2: to have sharpshooters on the roofs of buildings because of

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Speaker 2: their threats like that. And again I was so, I

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Speaker 2: guess naive because I assumed that nineteen eighty three were

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Speaker 2: past all that stuff, and we lived in a world

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Speaker 2: this moment assume. So that was a big slap in

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Speaker 2: the face and a big maturity kick in the pants

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Speaker 2: for me.

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Speaker 1: Where was any moment. I mean, maybe I'm naive, but

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Speaker 1: where was any moment of someone coming up to you

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Speaker 1: and saying, here's the negatives, here's the pictures you can have.

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Speaker 1: Just give me tickets to every show you're in for

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Speaker 1: the rest of your life. You know what I mean?

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Speaker 1: That type of thing.

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Speaker 2: Never one gesture, not even one gesture. It was all

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Speaker 2: a betrayal. I mean I never pretended that I was perfect.

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Speaker 2: I certainly I was a first Miss America that was

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Speaker 2: pro era, pro choice, so I was ruffling feathers from

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Speaker 2: the get go.

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Speaker 1: You mean you weren't a virgin when you were Miss

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Speaker 1: America exact Good God, I wasn't.

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Speaker 2: So I think the betrayal is what hurt me the

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Speaker 2: most because again, growing up in this small little town

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Speaker 2: and a quick brief history of how these pictures ever became.

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Speaker 2: I used to have the Pennysaber magazine, which we would

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Speaker 2: look for summer jobs in the summer, and one summer

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Speaker 2: there was a modeling registry in town, and not an

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Speaker 2: agency that should have been the first clue, but a registry.

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Speaker 2: And I said, well, let me go in and see

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Speaker 2: whether I can be a model of the summer. And

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Speaker 2: he said, well, it's going to cost this amount of

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Speaker 2: money for the picture's portfolio. But I need a makeup artist,

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Speaker 2: So if you want to be a receptionist and a

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Speaker 2: makeup artist for the shoots. So that's what my summer

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Speaker 2: job was, and ended up getting convinced later on later

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Speaker 2: in the summer, you know what, I've got an idea.

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Speaker 2: I'd love to shoot you. Nobody will see them, They'll

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Speaker 2: be in silhouette, blah blah blah blah, all that horseshit.

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Speaker 2: Then after I win, apparently he started shopping and I

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Speaker 2: never saw a release for any of these photos. So

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Speaker 2: he started shopping them around, apparently tried to reach out

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Speaker 2: to my mother, which she doesn't remember. Then he started

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Speaker 2: shopping them around and he went to Hugh Hefner first,

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Speaker 2: and Hugh said, do you have a release? And he

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Speaker 2: said no, and he said, well, I'm not going to

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Speaker 2: do that to this woman.

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Speaker 1: How decent of you you.

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Speaker 2: And then he goes to Guccioni and Gucci was like, hell, yeah,

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Speaker 2: bring him. So yeah, So that was so the biggest

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Speaker 2: shock was I went to Crown the Miss New York

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Speaker 2: in Watertown, New York, Friday the thirteenth and July and

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Speaker 2: The New York Post called about Geraldine Ferrara and wanted

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Speaker 2: to know what I felt about her being the first

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Speaker 2: woman on the ticket great women power. Yeah yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: And he said, oh, by the way, I heard from

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Speaker 2: a reliable source that you're going to be on the

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Speaker 2: cover of Pentause magazine in September. And I was truly shocked.

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Speaker 2: I said, I have no idea what you're talking about.

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Speaker 2: He said, well, it's a really reliable source. I said,

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Speaker 2: I don't know what you're talking about. He said, okay,

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Speaker 2: then I want print it up with the phone call

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Speaker 2: my parents and I say, I don't know what's going on,

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Speaker 2: but I need some help. And one of our family

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Speaker 2: friends became my lawyer, and then it all all the

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Speaker 2: shit hit the fan, and then I was given like

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Speaker 2: a two week decision whether they were going to take

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Speaker 2: the crown away or whether I wanted to resign. And

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Speaker 2: I had a whole continuency of people that wanted me

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Speaker 2: to fight for the crown. So when I the day

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Speaker 2: of my press conference, there were people saying, fight for it,

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Speaker 2: fight with with I mean, it was it was insane

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Speaker 2: and why didn't you Because I just wanted to get,

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Speaker 2: you know, move on move on.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this really upsets me because we all had

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Speaker 1: our times in the dunk tank here. How long did

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Speaker 1: the downtime last before you start to crawl out of

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Speaker 1: this and the wreckage of this and start to work again.

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Speaker 1: And who's calling you, who's reaching out to who's the

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Speaker 1: first person to say, come make a movie with me

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Speaker 1: or do a show with me.

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Speaker 2: Well, it took me ten years to get on Broadway,

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Speaker 2: so if the scandal hit in eighty four, in nineteen

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Speaker 2: ninety four is when I got a chance to be

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Speaker 2: in Case of the Spider Woman on Broadway, So that

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Speaker 2: was a good ten year with Then that was Cheata

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Speaker 2: Rivera and I stepped in after her one year run

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Speaker 2: and she went on the road and I took over.

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Speaker 2: So that was glorious for me to finally say, Okay,

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Speaker 2: this is what I meant to be and this is

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Speaker 2: where I am. And my parents were just elated to

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Speaker 2: see me, you know, have my dream come true. But

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Speaker 2: prior to that, which is interesting, I'd gotten a lot

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Speaker 2: of a lot of inquiries for like crap or they

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Speaker 2: wanted to meet me just to say they could meet me.

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Speaker 2: So there's a lot of auditions that I went I

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Speaker 2: was like, they're really not going to cast me. They

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Speaker 2: just want to say, oh, guess who we got in

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Speaker 2: the room today. I think the first thing I did

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Speaker 2: was a Partners in Crime which was which was with

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Speaker 2: Lonnie Anderson and Linda Carter and we shot it in

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Speaker 2: San Francisco and I was Roselle Robbins, who is a singer,

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Speaker 2: and I got a chance to record a couple songs

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Speaker 2: and do a number and stuff. So you know, they

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Speaker 2: were there were opportunities to kind of, you know, jump

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Speaker 2: on all the publicity that happened.

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Speaker 1: In eighty four to ninety four. What did you do?

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Speaker 2: I did television. I did One Man Ban was an

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Speaker 2: off Broadway show Willa Shalatte. Jean Shallette's daughter was one

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Speaker 2: of the producers, and she and James Lucine was the

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Speaker 2: One Man Ban and they believed in me and said

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Speaker 2: we'll give you a shot. So that was off Broadway,

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Speaker 2: and from there I went to La because it was

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Speaker 2: just I want to do theater and the doors were closed,

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Speaker 2: so you know, I was on TJ.

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Speaker 3: Hooker.

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Speaker 2: I did the Love Boat.

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Speaker 1: You know, you name it all My bread and butter

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Speaker 1: here exactly what's funny in the brief time we've talked,

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Speaker 1: you remind me of Pacino. When I interviewed Pacino, I

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Speaker 1: interviewed him for school in order to go back to

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Speaker 1: n Why You and graduate, I had to do a

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Speaker 1: term paper about the applicability of method acting training to

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Speaker 1: an actor who still had a real career in film,

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Speaker 1: TV and theater. So I interviewed Al for like eight

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Speaker 1: or nine hours at his house up in Westchester, and

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Speaker 1: every time I would talked about movies, he changed the subject.

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Speaker 1: All he wanted to talk was theater. All you want

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Speaker 1: to talk about? His theater? Interesting? So you shit, you

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Speaker 1: pivot to theater all the time. That's where your heart is.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's where my training was, and that was my goal,

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Speaker 2: you know, growing up. But believe me, my recording has

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Speaker 2: kind of backdoored me into theater. And again being a

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Speaker 2: recording artist, I mean, nobody wanted to sign me, and

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Speaker 2: then when I got signed, you know, they would say, well,

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Speaker 2: the competition is really over here. So my whole career

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Speaker 2: is like, oh I didn't know she could do that.

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Speaker 2: Oh I didn't know she could do that? Right, And

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Speaker 2: my biggest hit, say the Best for a Last, which

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Speaker 2: was number one on the charts for five weeks straight.

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Speaker 2: Was a song that be Middler and barbers Streisen both

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Speaker 2: turned down there people, and I got it, and I said,

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Speaker 2: I'll take it. I don't know what it's not sloppy seconds,

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Speaker 2: I don't know what what thirds are, but I'll take

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Speaker 2: it because I knew that there was something there that

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Speaker 2: I can be Our.

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Speaker 3: Careers are built them.

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Speaker 1: The guy that passed on the I can tell you

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Speaker 1: the names of people that passed on Hunt for Red October.

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Speaker 1: But it's interesting to me. How, by the way, do

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Speaker 1: you teach you ever teach?

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Speaker 2: I teach you NYU, but I teach in their and

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Speaker 2: their vocal performance. Songwriting, yes, perfect, perfect, perfect. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, when I would teach, I'd say to people, do anything,

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Speaker 1: do everything, don't be cute about it, don't be precious

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Speaker 1: about what you do. I was doing a soap opera

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Speaker 1: in New York and I would walk over to this,

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Speaker 1: you know, back in the Pleistocene era when we had

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Speaker 1: no Internet, and I would go over to the NYU

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Speaker 1: Film School to the casting board. It was a corkboard

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Speaker 1: with things pinned up there, and would say, wanted actor

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Speaker 1: twenty to twenty five to play a bartender in this

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Speaker 1: thing we're going to shoot Saturday and Sunday on the weekend.

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Speaker 1: This bar is closed and I was doing this soap opera.

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Speaker 1: I think it was kind of spotty at the beginning

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Speaker 1: of it. So I go on the weekends on my

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Speaker 1: week to go do this movie and it's, you know,

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Speaker 1: this horrible independent film. But my point I say to

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Speaker 1: people is don't turn your nose upon anything when you're

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Speaker 1: first starting.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely it makes you never know what's skill set you'll

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Speaker 2: need to tap into on, you know, when you get

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Speaker 2: a gig, you know, and meeting fascinating people and learning,

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Speaker 2: That's what I tell Never stop asking questions, never stop

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Speaker 2: learning and being curious because that's exciting, but makes you

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Speaker 2: more exciting. It makes you life way more satisfying when

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Speaker 2: you know you haven't you know, you're at a dinner

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Speaker 2: party and you're talking to somebody that you never thought

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Speaker 2: you'd be able to talk to. And that's the great

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Speaker 2: thing about our profession. I've been lucky as Miss America.

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Speaker 2: I've met seven presidents in my lifetime already. And those

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Speaker 2: opportunities of going to the White House and dinner and

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Speaker 2: sitting in the receiving line when it was Reagan. Actually

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Speaker 2: that was the first big deal. When I was crowned,

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Speaker 2: Reagan called me and said it was a great thing

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Speaker 2: for our country. So that was like the first huge

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Speaker 2: moment of my reign as Miss America. But I remember

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Speaker 2: going to the White House dinner October eighteenth, nineteen eighty three,

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Speaker 2: and in the lineup was Ginger Rogers, Halston, Martha Graham

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Speaker 2: and I was like, oh my god, these are legends

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Speaker 2: and they were just you know. I sat next to

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Speaker 2: Sonny Jorgensen, the football player Jurgensen. Yes, yes, he was

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Speaker 2: at my table. My mother's like, get the president's autograph

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Speaker 2: on the menu, like a mom, and I did I have.

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Speaker 1: She's there. That's why your mom's there, to remind you

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Speaker 1: of those things you've forgotten.

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Speaker 4: Exactly, Vanessa Williams.

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Speaker 1: If you enjoy conversations with talented Broadway artists, check out

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Speaker 1: my episode with Aldra McDonald's.

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Speaker 5: No one thought that I could find her voice. What's

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Speaker 5: the soprano trying to be Billie Holiday? The show opens

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Speaker 5: and the first thing I do is sing, and you

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Speaker 5: can tell that the audience is waiting to hear is

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Speaker 5: she going to get it? And I would open my

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Speaker 5: mouth and sing the first all I know is I'm

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Speaker 5: in love with you. Sometimes I'd hear the audience gasp,

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Speaker 5: and that's when I'd be like, okay.

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Speaker 1: Aller.

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Speaker 3: Is Jamin Lowe.

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Speaker 1: To hear more of my conversation with Aldra McDonald, go

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Speaker 1: to Here's the Thing dot Org. After the break, Vanessa

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Speaker 1: Williams shares how Stephen Sondheim's work taught her an important

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Speaker 1: lesson about the type of art she wants to make.

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Speaker 1: I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing.

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Speaker 1: With her musical theater training, singing comes second nature to

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Speaker 1: Vanessa Williams. She's released eight albums as a recording artist.

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Speaker 1: Her track Colors of the Wind plays over the closing

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Speaker 1: credits of the Oscar winning soundtrack to Pocahontas, and this

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Speaker 1: is Williams with the number one single Saved the Best

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Speaker 1: for Last from her album The Comfort Zone.

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Speaker 6: But that was sad Faces Floods just went a fom

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Speaker 6: sandcast you the best flat.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to know how she got her start in

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Speaker 1: the recording.

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Speaker 2: Industry, Well, it was at Eckstein, who is Billy Eckstein's son.

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Speaker 2: He got a new deal and a new label. Part

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Speaker 2: of the PolyGram company back in the day, so he

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Speaker 2: was the one that believed in me because a lot

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Speaker 2: of people sounded thought that I sounded too Broadway or

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Speaker 2: just thought that I'd be like a one hit wonder.

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Speaker 2: But he legitimately knew that I could have a singing career,

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Speaker 2: and he was really instrumental in getting you know, back

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Speaker 2: then we had an r artists and repertoire, so you know,

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Speaker 2: great and curating songs, working with hungry young producers that

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Speaker 2: were eager to have their songs written and performed. And

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Speaker 2: so I really have to him and my ex husband,

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Speaker 2: who ended up he was my publicist when I was

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Speaker 2: resigned as Miss America. He then started to manage me

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Speaker 2: because I asked him because he was the only person

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Speaker 2: that I really trust that knew my talent but also

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Speaker 2: knew about me as my character and obviously loved me.

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Speaker 2: So it was the two of them that said, you know,

404
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Speaker 2: let's do this, Let's make her a legitimate recording artist.

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Speaker 2: And I had a great run on PolyGram and then

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Speaker 2: i've been I'm actually about to release It's been fifteen

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Speaker 2: years since my last album, but I'm releasing new music

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Speaker 2: in April. So back in the studio, dancing again, making

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Speaker 2: videos and making me feel young again. And actually the

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Speaker 2: song is called Legs, which is about which was inspired

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Speaker 2: by Diane Carroll wrote her book called The Legs of

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Speaker 2: the Last to Go. And I remember watching our Oprah

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Speaker 2: and she was talking about everything kind of decays and

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Speaker 2: falls and SAgs. But damn it, those legs are strong.

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Speaker 2: They're still holding me up. And there's still I can

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Speaker 2: still show them off in a mini skirt. There's still

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Speaker 2: the last thing that I'm holding onto that's.

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Speaker 1: Had great legs.

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Speaker 2: Yep.

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Speaker 1: Who played my mother on thirty Rock Jesus Christ, look

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Speaker 1: at her.

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Speaker 7: Now.

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Speaker 1: Let me ask you this also, which is that you've

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Speaker 1: been married three times. But when you're someone who can

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Speaker 1: certainly take care of themselves and you're a tough woman,

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Speaker 1: you're smart, you're beautiful, you're talented, and you're tough, and

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Speaker 1: when you get married, why do you get married? Why?

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Speaker 2: Because I'm a romantic, I don't know. I do and

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Speaker 2: I and I think that I see the best and

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Speaker 2: what I can be and what we can be, and

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Speaker 2: then I get disappointed on the future that I thought

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Speaker 2: it was going to be and didn't turn out for it.

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Speaker 1: To be as my friend says, he goes and then

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Speaker 1: we turn the lights on and see everything as it

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Speaker 1: really is. Yes, Yes, it's always like like when we

436
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 1: get married, why did we get married?

437
00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:05,199
Speaker 7: Like?

438
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,920
Speaker 1: Well, I think the marriage question is always for someone

439
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,840
Speaker 1: who is as self sufficient as you, and I would

440
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: imagine me like you know, do I have needs emotionally?

441
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,679
Speaker 1: I always think about it in this business because marriage

442
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: is so tough in this business. What was it like

443
00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:20,920
Speaker 1: for you as a mom?

444
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,360
Speaker 2: Oh, I brought my kids everywhere, so I've got I've

445
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,160
Speaker 2: got four kids. So I had my first three with

446
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,520
Speaker 2: my first husband and then my last one with my

447
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,840
Speaker 2: second husband. But I mean I got married so the scandal.

448
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 2: I was twenty as when I won Miss America twenty

449
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,840
Speaker 2: one when the scandal hit. Ended up getting married at

450
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,879
Speaker 2: twenty three, And partly not only because we were a unit,

451
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 2: my ex and I trying to build our life and

452
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,679
Speaker 2: career together. But I that's what I could control. I

453
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,199
Speaker 2: could control my family. I couldn't control my career. I

454
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,720
Speaker 2: couldn't depend on people something you can rely on exactly.

455
00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:58,159
Speaker 1: So what kind of work did he do?

456
00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 2: He was a public He used to he was worked

457
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,680
Speaker 2: at Rogers and Cowan back in the day.

458
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 1: I remember I was with Rodgers and Cowan.

459
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he was the first black senior

460
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 2: vice president back in the day that he was thirteen

461
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,159
Speaker 2: years older than me. So my kids are very cringey

462
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,920
Speaker 2: now they're like, oh, mom, how could you twenty one?

463
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 3: He was in his thirties.

464
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 1: No, my son said the other day, he walks up

465
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,360
Speaker 1: to me. I'm in bed, I'm just barely waking up.

466
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,440
Speaker 1: My son wrote Mao books and he goes, Dad, are

467
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,840
Speaker 1: you going to die? And I go, no, No, I'm

468
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: not going to die. I mean you have to lie

469
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,679
Speaker 1: to them. And I go no, I'm not going to die.

470
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,920
Speaker 1: He goes, but you're going to be like eighty five

471
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,160
Speaker 1: and then you're going to die. I go, no, I'm

472
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 1: not going to die. I don't even think about that.

473
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:39,480
Speaker 1: Then as a pause, he goes, could you give mom

474
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 1: your Apple pass code? Can I give mom my Apple pass?

475
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:45,880
Speaker 1: How old does the arrange your kids?

476
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 7: Now?

477
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:46,640
Speaker 1: They're how old?

478
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,680
Speaker 2: So Melanie is thirty six, Jillian is thirty four, Devin

479
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,400
Speaker 2: my son is thirty, and then Sasha is twenty three.

480
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,200
Speaker 1: And we're the three older ones. Are they in the biz?

481
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,840
Speaker 2: So my oldest works in Westchester in the city's Bodies Instructor.

482
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 2: My middle is a singer and she gave me a

483
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,960
Speaker 2: beautiful grandchild who who's two years old. And so she

484
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,880
Speaker 2: has her own career and her name of her band

485
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,679
Speaker 2: is called Lion Babe. And my son works out in

486
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 2: LA he's in the fashion industry. And then my youngest

487
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 2: is writing music and she's got four singles out on

488
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 2: Apple and Spotify and all that stuff. So two in

489
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,960
Speaker 2: the business and two not. But they're all I'm really

490
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 2: proud of them. And they're doing what they love and

491
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,639
Speaker 2: doing what they're good at and and I love having

492
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,280
Speaker 2: them home. That's the best.

493
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 1: And are you finally after three trips to the plate here?

494
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 1: Are you finally done with this romantic thing of yours?

495
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:43,760
Speaker 1: You are?

496
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 2: I think I am done.

497
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: Boyfriends are good. Boyfriends are good.

498
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,639
Speaker 2: Boyfriends are good, And I'm fine being by myself. I

499
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 2: travel so much, I have so many opportunities. I you know,

500
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 2: I would love is fun and exciting. Sex is great,

501
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,160
Speaker 2: haven't had in years, but waiting for that to happen again.

502
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,720
Speaker 3: But I you know, I.

503
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:10,160
Speaker 2: Don't have people throwing themselves at me, propositioning me. It's

504
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 2: not as it's not as easy as you would think.

505
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, but let me just say this also, which is

506
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,160
Speaker 1: that with someone with your theater background and your great

507
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: success in the theater, have you ever thought about doing

508
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 1: a one woman show?

509
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 2: I have thought about it.

510
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,119
Speaker 1: Take credit for it. It's a great idea.

511
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 2: Are you going to come on as producer?

512
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 1: No kidding? You should. When Springsteen did that show and

513
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,560
Speaker 1: you realize that the music is obviously there and what

514
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 1: people were waiting for what was he going to say

515
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 1: about his life and himself? And people would have died.

516
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 1: I mean, they love that Springsteen show. But for you

517
00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,920
Speaker 1: to be you and to combine those things, you singing

518
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 1: and you performing and then telling stories about all the

519
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 1: stuff you went through and where you want, no, that

520
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 1: would be a hit show.

521
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have to. James Lepine asked me to do

522
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 2: Sonjam and Sonham in twenty ten, and that was the

523
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,160
Speaker 2: format that it was mixed media. It was all interviews

524
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:08,080
Speaker 2: of Sondheim and then you know, with us singing. And

525
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,520
Speaker 2: one of the strongest moments in that show was when

526
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 2: they cut to Sondheim and he's talking about a telegram

527
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,320
Speaker 2: was brought to his home and he opened it and

528
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,280
Speaker 2: it was a letter from his mother saying, I'm about

529
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,439
Speaker 2: to go into surgery for heart, my heart. I just

530
00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:25,639
Speaker 2: want to say, the only regret in my life was

531
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,200
Speaker 2: giving birth to you. And you could hear and then

532
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: and then he said, and then I knew that it

533
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,919
Speaker 2: wasn't about me. She couldn't give me love. It had

534
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:35,480
Speaker 2: nothing to do with me. It had to do with her.

535
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 2: And then the stage tarts to rotate, and we started

536
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,520
Speaker 2: saying care but the things you're saying, children will listen.

537
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 2: And then you hear the sobs of people just sniffling

538
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 2: because you realize those words turned into his art. He

539
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,359
Speaker 2: gave us everything because of that, that relationship that he

540
00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 2: could never crack that nut. So those are the omens

541
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 2: I mean I want. If I'm going to do a

542
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,399
Speaker 2: one woman show, I want that moment. I want to

543
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,440
Speaker 2: be able to have the audience in my hands so

544
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 2: they can see my pain, you know, turned into art.

545
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 2: They can see my triumph turned into art. So it's delicate,

546
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 2: and it really is, you know, a specific task.

547
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,879
Speaker 1: Vanessa Williams. If you're enjoying this conversation, tell a friend

548
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 1: and be sure to follow Here's the thing on the

549
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio apps, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts. When

550
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,600
Speaker 1: we come back, Vanessa Williams shares with us the joy

551
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 1: of working with Sir Elton John. I'm Alec Baldwin and

552
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,800
Speaker 1: you're listening to Here's the thing. Theater and music are

553
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: not Vanessa williams only strengths. The Triple Threat has also

554
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 1: been featured in over one hundred TV and film roles,

555
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 1: highlighting her impressive range. I wanted her to share how

556
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,320
Speaker 1: she approached her different roles on Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.

557
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: Well, Ugly Betty was one of those shows where we

558
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 2: were going to be a Friday night kind of for

559
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 2: chicks because they didn't really believe that we had what

560
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 2: it took. And we did the TCAs the Television Critics

561
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 2: Awards panel, and after we finish our panel in Pasadena, Yeah,

562
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 2: in Pasadena, and they said Ugly Betty, they said, you

563
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 2: guys are the hit of the season. You guys are

564
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 2: the best thing that we've seen. So we knew that

565
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 2: the critics liked us. And then when we finally when

566
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 2: we got so much momentum, they turned they changed us

567
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 2: to Thursday night, right before Gray's Anatomy, and that kind

568
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 2: of gave us. Yeah, that blew us up when we

569
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 2: won the Golden Globe that year. But we you know,

570
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 2: it was like doing a feature film every episode because

571
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 2: we had so m much production value and costumes and

572
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 2: runways and all kinds of fantastical stuff. It was long Friturdays,

573
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,120
Speaker 2: Fridays turning into Saturdays. But we loved it, and we

574
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 2: loved each other, and we loved our script readings. As

575
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 2: we never knew, especially I never knew what I was

576
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 2: going to be doing the following week. What I'm pitching

577
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 2: to Naomi Campbell and a softball game. What I'm taking

578
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 2: a baseball bat and smashing you know, Mannekins on the

579
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 2: roof of some here. Oh I'm having Yes, this is ugly, Betty.

580
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:38,160
Speaker 2: So it was amazing. So then going by the time

581
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 2: I got to Desperate Housewives, and the reason I got

582
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,560
Speaker 2: on Desperate Housewives is I was doing Sondhaim' Sondheim and

583
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 2: Mark Cherry is a huge Sondheim fan, so much so

584
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 2: that every episode of Desperate Housewives is a Sondheim song.

585
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 2: That's how big it is. It Yeah, so, uh so

586
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,960
Speaker 2: he saw me and Onheim Sanaim and so Onheim, and

587
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,280
Speaker 2: then I got a call like a week later, would

588
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 2: she like to join our cast? And Nicolette was already gone.

589
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,719
Speaker 1: They needed a cast edition, so you come and you

590
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 1: shoot that. And I worshiped Felicity. I mean, I just

591
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: love Felicity to death.

592
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:15,480
Speaker 2: Love her too.

593
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: I did a movie with Terry Hatcher. She came into

594
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: play Eric Roberts's wife, and you found out she was

595
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,880
Speaker 1: the drug lord in the operation. Played a copp that

596
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,520
Speaker 1: was based on this famous book called Heaven's Prisoners that

597
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 1: Phil Juano directed, and she was the villainous and none

598
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: of us thought that she would really be able to

599
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 1: get there in terms of the extremes of intensity and ugliness.

600
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: And she was good.

601
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:37,640
Speaker 4: She was damn good.

602
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 1: She came in there and she was ready to hit

603
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 1: and be hit and fight, and she was scrappy. And

604
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: we did this movie, Heavens Prisoners, and Terry was damn

605
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,480
Speaker 1: good in that movie, and I wanted to do a

606
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: project with Felicity. How different was that experience?

607
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,160
Speaker 2: You know? I came in and they called me Switzerland

608
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 2: because I had no beef with anybody, so I was

609
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 2: friendly with everybody. I had worked with Terry Hatcher previously

610
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 2: because we used to do these radio shack commercials back

611
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 2: in the day. So it is Terry and Howie Long

612
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,080
Speaker 2: and me and Ving Rains, the black and the White couple,

613
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 2: and we would do, you know, product commercials for the

614
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 2: radio shack together. So that's I knew her from back

615
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 2: in the day. But it was easy and talking about clockwork,

616
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,920
Speaker 2: absolute in and out. Craziest days. Mark would come and

617
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,240
Speaker 2: give us pretty much line readings across the board and

618
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 2: then take off to the writer's room, so we all

619
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,160
Speaker 2: knew what was going on even though their market. Yes,

620
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:38,240
Speaker 2: very very hands on.

621
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 1: You only do that. Are you recurring a couple of

622
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 1: years of recurring on that show?

623
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 4: I was.

624
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 2: I was for regular for two seasons and then they

625
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 2: were killed. I guess no, no, no, I got married, and then.

626
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 3: The show was you got killed, kidnapped, you got married.

627
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:55,040
Speaker 3: I got one of the three.

628
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 1: What are you working on now?

629
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 2: I Am about to go across the pond to do

630
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:03,080
Speaker 2: devilwares Prada on the West End.

631
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: I've read that.

632
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, So Jerry Mitchell is directing and doing the choreography,

633
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 2: and Elton John's writing the music and he wrote two

634
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 2: songs for me already, which is incredible, and it's all

635
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 2: British cast over there and we're at the Dominion Theater.

636
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 2: We open our first player, Rand Priestley. Yes I am yeah.

637
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 2: October twenty fourth we start and I'll be there for

638
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,600
Speaker 2: at least for a year. We're doing our out of

639
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:32,280
Speaker 2: town in Plymouth, which I guess is the southwest portion

640
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 2: of England. So we're out of town end of June

641
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 2: through mid August.

642
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 1: So this is they're workshopping this and working this is new.

643
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're going to create this role? Yes?

644
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 1: What is greater? What is more powerful and more? The

645
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,880
Speaker 1: thing you want in this business, the one thing you

646
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 1: especially if you can sing like you and dance, you

647
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,680
Speaker 1: want to create a role in originate a role. How

648
00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 1: lucky are you?

649
00:33:58,040 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 2: Absolutely?

650
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:00,440
Speaker 1: Did you flip that when they told you that?

651
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 2: Well, I knew that. Jerry kind of gave me a

652
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 2: heads up. They had done a production in Chicago a

653
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,359
Speaker 2: couple of years ago and it did not do well

654
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,600
Speaker 2: at all. Different cast, different director, and Kevin McCollum, the producer,

655
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 2: called in Jerry and said, listen, I needed to see this.

656
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:18,360
Speaker 2: I needed to help me out. What do you think?

657
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,439
Speaker 2: And Jerry said, I will do it, but I want

658
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,799
Speaker 2: complete control whole new team, and I want to make

659
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,880
Speaker 2: sure that Elton will write me some new music. And

660
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,000
Speaker 2: Elton was doing the Yellowpic road tour at the time,

661
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,239
Speaker 2: so he was, you know, really really busy, but he

662
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,760
Speaker 2: promised and he did. So I had demos of Elton,

663
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 2: you know, singing the new stuff, and then I got

664
00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,759
Speaker 2: a chance to hear Jerry's vision. And then when we're

665
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,720
Speaker 2: in the room for two weeks, Elton was so happy.

666
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 2: He said, I wanted to kill myself in Chicago. Now

667
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,279
Speaker 2: I'm really really happy, and just like, you know, just

668
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 2: to give a little smidgeon of what it's going to

669
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 2: look like. So Jerry said, in the other production there

670
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,520
Speaker 2: was no fashion, and it's about the world of fashion.

671
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,160
Speaker 2: So he's got all these built in runway production numbers

672
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 2: happening and act too. When Miranda goes to Paris and

673
00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,080
Speaker 2: they're trying to oust her, there's a song that she

674
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,640
Speaker 2: sings called stay on Top, and we haven't obviously, we

675
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 2: haven't staged it yet, but he told me that what

676
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 2: he's gonna do is he has got a passer l

677
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,680
Speaker 2: in front of the stage and we will be sitting

678
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,760
Speaker 2: as if we're sitting and watching a runway show and

679
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,960
Speaker 2: I'll have my glasses on and he's going to have

680
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,480
Speaker 2: the girls start and then have everybody freeze and have

681
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,080
Speaker 2: me start. You think that I can't see you sitting

682
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,360
Speaker 2: there with Glee Ega for the ending You've been waiting

683
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:43,880
Speaker 2: years to see. Today she's getting ousted. Yes, her final

684
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 2: hour's nigh. Miranda's rain has run its course, that's.

685
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:52,200
Speaker 7: What you think, Oh my, and then it goes into

686
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 7: like a total banger, and it's like this techno, it's

687
00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:57,719
Speaker 7: going to be incredible.

688
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 1: Now I want to say, my god. I mean, here

689
00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,040
Speaker 1: you are. It brings me to tears. Almost here you

690
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: are having to deal with because when all of us

691
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,239
Speaker 1: deal with something painful in your career, when you fall down,

692
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 1: they watch you fall down, but the first words out

693
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:13,759
Speaker 1: of their mouth after them is what's she going to do?

694
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,600
Speaker 1: I mean, I remember Michelle Pfeiffer had that great quote.

695
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 1: She said, the acting's free. You pay me for all

696
00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:21,360
Speaker 1: the other crap I got to put up with, you know,

697
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,200
Speaker 1: and I'm sure other people have said that. But when

698
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 1: they knock you down, then they look at you and

699
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,959
Speaker 1: they're like, what's she going to do? And to think

700
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:33,200
Speaker 1: that you're about to go do this project, this great,

701
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: great project are they're talking it all about when the

702
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,000
Speaker 1: opening would be, what month in the fall.

703
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 2: The opening night is December first, and that's that coincide

704
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:47,040
Speaker 2: with Elton's Big Aide benefit ball. So we're doing a

705
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,319
Speaker 2: command performance for that, but in London, in London at

706
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:53,240
Speaker 2: the Dominion yet but our first shows are October twenty fourth.

707
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 2: We start at the Dominion. Yeah, I'm going to camp it, come.

708
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,319
Speaker 1: Come any I want to say thank you. I am

709
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:04,880
Speaker 1: a huge fan of yours. I'm a huge fan of yours.

710
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:10,080
Speaker 1: You are this incredibly talented. You're such a bright and

711
00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:14,000
Speaker 1: interesting and beyond your physical beauty, you're just such a

712
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:14,880
Speaker 1: great actress.

713
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,759
Speaker 2: And we're fellow board members too. I see you at

714
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:19,920
Speaker 2: the Roundabout board all of our boards.

715
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but you're but I wish you the best

716
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 1: of luck with us. When do you leave your head

717
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 1: over there?

718
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,839
Speaker 2: When mid May we start rehearsals.

719
00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, my great pleasure.

720
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,319
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, Alec, thank you.

721
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:38,280
Speaker 4: My thanks to Vanessa Williams.

722
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,880
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Kathleen Brusso, Zach Macnice, and

723
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:47,240
Speaker 1: Maureen Hobin. Our engineer is Frank Imperial. Our social media

724
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 1: manager is Danielle Gingrich. Here's the Thing is recorded at

725
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,880
Speaker 1: CDM Studios in New York. I'm ALC. Baldwin. Here's the

726
00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:06,400
Speaker 1: Thing is brought to you by iHeart Radio completely