WEBVTT - Un-bee-lievable Special Edition with Kevin McHale 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:04.479 And that's what you really missed With Jenna. 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:09.160 And Kevin an iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:11.639 Welcome to it, and that's what you really missed. Podcasts 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:15.520 a very special edition. We're welcome Kevin mckel back to 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:20.040 LA after his recent run of the twenty annual Putnam 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:24.720 County Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center. We've seen it 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.560 all on Instagram. We've seen all the people visiting and 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.000 seeing the show. I was not one of them, sadly, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.159 but we are here to hear firsthand. 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.120 Kevin, welcome back, Thank you very much. And Jenna, I 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.880 would just like to say, first of all, I met 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.720 a lot of wonderful people at stage door, my first 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:44.599 stage door. 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.080 Oh my good god. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:50.560 But a lot of you, and that's what you really missed. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.760 Podcast listeners showed up and showed out because we said 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:56.840 if we ever see you in public, to tell us 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.600 that you liked the podcast, and they took the instructions. 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:04.319 And so I'm here to report so many first hand 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.560 accounts of meeting people who listen to the podcast, who 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.120 love the podcast. So have lots of thoughts. We're preparing 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:11.080 me for season five. 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:12.520 Oh my god. 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:14.760 Lots of people were asking where you were and I 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:20.480 was like, she's too pregnant to be exactly fomo. Wow, 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.320 thank you a lot of them. And so people are listening, Jenna, 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.920 you know, like we do this from home. It's hard 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.319 to tell sometimes if people are listening. It feels like 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.280 we're in a vacuum. But it's it is really nice 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:34.640 to hear, and it means a lot, and there's this 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:37.759 like sort of level of understanding. We're going through it together, 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.720 we're talking it out together, and hearing from the people 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:47.000 who listen is really really nice nice. So thanks for that, Okay, Kevin, 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:47.920 I've got to know. 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:53.000 Yes, there's a lot of things I want to know about. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.680 I think my first or like the burning question in 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.800 my mind is like, are you ready. 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:08.880 To go do an another musical? Yes? Okay, great. I 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.440 you know, I have a profound and deep respect for 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:18.920 anybody who can do theater, musical, theater, theater in any capacity. Yeah, 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.919 but I did a short run was fair enough. It 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:29.880 was only eleven shows. Still, eleven shows. I don't know 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.040 how anybody. 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:35.360 Does it six like eight times a week for six months. Ye. 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:39.640 So Philippe Royo, who was in the show, he played Chip, 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.840 He's been in Andreliette on Broadway for three years. This 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.080 week is his last week. He's done with the show 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.440 this very week. Damn, he's been doing it for three 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.880 and most of them have right, you know, job security great. 0:02:55.280 --> 0:03:00.000 But at the same time, I don't know how any 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.240 but he does it because the amount of in my head, 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:07.280 I think I sort of felt like romanticized. You have 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.440 your days free and then you can go about your 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.880 business and then you have work at eight pm? Like 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:18.519 how cool is that? M No, tell me what it's 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.960 like then for you for someone who has not been 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:29.120 singing regularly, Yeah, recently. Yeah, The amount of care into 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:33.399 every moment that you speak outside of the show, into 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.560 the sleep you're getting, to what you're eating and drinking, 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.440 and any sort of contact with the outside world. All 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.840 of it for me was how does this take away 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.960 from my ability to do the show later? Yeah? 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.880 That is the life of a Broadway performer. At some 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:56.840 point it does become muscle memory, and that is where 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:01.440 I think you would benefit from learning about a show show. Uh, 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.000 for being in a longer run of a show, because 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.760 at some I was like that for waitress when I started, 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.680 and it's a big responsibility you guys have a really 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.760 small cast, You have a lot of vocals, you have 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:19.560 to be on. No help, no choir there for us, Yeah, exactly, 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:21.119 no understudies. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.800 Real understudies. It's a little scary. 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:28.440 Right At some point your body just clicks in for 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.719 most For most people, I mean, like, look, we're not 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.760 talking about Jesse Mueller doing Waitress, who was carrying a 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.960 show like that, But like I would, I would dare 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.640 to say that if you talk to Jesse or any 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.360 of the people who did your show like twenty fifth 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:48.280 on Broadway, at some point you become more comfortable with 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:52.480 knowing your limits for your days and then being able 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.560 to perform the show at a decent level. 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:57.960 Maybe not one hundred and ten percent, but like, how 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.479 could you get through stand that? Even at the end 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.520 of our short little run the very last day, I 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:06.240 think because we had so many visitors, I was doing 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.520 a lot of talking and stage door for the first time, 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:10.039 and there were lots of people I was trying to 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.720 figure out how to save my voice, and the very 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:15.719 last show, the very last day, I was like, I 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:16.560 don't know. 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:19.480 Stage story is a lot too, because you want to 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.200 talk to everybody and you want to connect with people, 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.360 and then you realize you're straining your voice even more 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:28.640 after two hours of singing. 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.400 Because it wasn't the singing that was straining my voice, 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:36.240 it was all the talking and I could feel it. 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:40.320 But I still going to that last show. I knew 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:44.120 I'd be fine. Yeah, because I knew I knew how 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.400 to like sing it. I was like, it will come out. 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:50.440 Yeah, And then you prove to yourself over time. You're like, oh, 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:52.039 I thought today I wasn't going to make it through, 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:52.839 and I still made. 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.520 It through, right. Yeah. 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:58.120 What was the difference between your expectation going in because 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.320 obviously I know first hand that you were very nervous 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:02.440 for your first musical. 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.080 There was a lot of nerves, like you just didn't 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:05.480 know what. 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.360 To expect, and I totally I mean I go in 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.960 that way and I still am nervous, you know, I 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:17.320 mean done this, Like what was your expectation versus your reality? 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.200 Like what was it like for you going into the 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.400 rehearsal studios for the first week and like all of it? 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.120 Well, I will say that Jenna's a great friend. Did 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.120 I call her forty eight hours before IU supposed to 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.000 leave for New York and have a complete mouthdown on 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:36.080 the phone. Yes I did. It's okay. Did you talk 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.760 me off the ledge completely? Yes, it's okay, and I 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.360 thank you. But I know that feeling everything you've ever 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:45.560 told me, and everything you told me going into this 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.039 experience was true. I said, I don't know how people 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.400 do this. We had twelve days of rehearsal scheduled, right, 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:57.400 and that's what we did. And you were like, you 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.719 will feel crazy, you will feel like you're drowning, and 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.120 you don't know anything at the end of the first week, 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.880 but just trust in the process of it. And I did. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:07.800 I sort of did as much prep work as I 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:10.760 could beforehand because I know this is not my forte. 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.800 I will absolutely learn more slowly than everybody else, which 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.559 is true. It is a different mechanism in your brain 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.600 totally that mine is not developed. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.040 And you also, like have systems where you learn how 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.760 you learn that fast for shows like where to exit, 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.800 how to enter, like your notes, your shorthand everything comes 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:31.120 with time and experience. 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.920 Yes, and so I was. I did a lot of 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:39.760 prep work between you and Austin, thank god. But I 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:41.960 have to say I think because I did do that 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:49.760 prep work, I was fine. And I also think that 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:53.360 the show itself lends to if you're going to have 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.480 to learn a show on twelve days, this is the 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.520 exact right kind of show to learn in twelve days. 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:02.360 There's no set changes, there's no costume changes. You are 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:08.600 just there. Everybody gets their moment. It's small, it's manageable. 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.440 The music is really fun to learn. You're laughing. I've 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:17.400 never what I didn't I planned for bad, right. I 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:23.800 planned for everything for me to be overwhelmed, right. What 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.800 I didn't plan for was the amount of like fun 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.960 I had. I couldn't stop laughing. And I have to say, 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:36.240 Danny Meffert, who is the director and Jeffrey, our producer, 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:43.200 set like this really joyful and easy and collaborative tone 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:47.480 that is really reflective of what the actual musical is about. 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.880 And through that experience, and I was reminded of Glee 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:56.240 almost every single day in ways because it was you know, 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.040 how many times are we on set where people like 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:02.600 this isn't normal? Responsive Glee has gotten the amount of 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.760 joy the cast and crew are getting and making this show, 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:09.679 how we're getting along like this is not normal? And 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.480 I got that every day from I love it. The 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.280 cast being like, it is not normal that everybody is 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:19.200 so cool. Yeah, that's so great. Yeah, and it was 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:23.719 just Danny said, it's only his second time directing, he's 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:30.920 choreographed gigantic shows. Hey, yes, yes, but it was like somebody, 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:32.600 you have twelve days, so it's like you have to 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:34.680 come in there with a plan, you have to know 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.280 how to execute that plan. But also there's still room 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:40.959 for everybody to like play around and have fun either thing, 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.160 and again that's not I wasn't expecting that either. I 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:50.400 was really expecting this is Broadway level musical theater. It's 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.840 going to be very regimented, so interesting. I didn't even 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.599 think about that for you. But it was like, it 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.160 doesn't matter how much experience everybody has coming into this. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:01.679 And it was like the first day, the first moment 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.640 meeting Noah Galvin, he turns and he's like, I'm terrified. Yeah, 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:11.480 And that helped me so much, just being like, oh, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.120 I know that guy can sing his face off and 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:18.120 he's done theater, like he's gonna be if he's nervous. Okay, 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:22.199 we're all in this together, and that sort of community 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.480 and camaraderie really does a number on like your mental health, 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.520 you know, like, Okay, we're fine, We're in this together, 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.760 and like, yeah, everybody's learning at an accelerated pace, much 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.840 faster than I am. But I did work. Yeah, and 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:42.040 like the rehearsal process was. Here's the other thing. I 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:45.040 didn't tell anybody that it was my first time doing theater, 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.520 like during the show at all. I did after we 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:55.480 got through our first weekend of shows. Were people shocked? Yes, yeah, okay. 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.360 I was wondering if you were to tell people or not. 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:01.560 That's so funny. People must have been shock. Yeah, and 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.240 I wasn't. The Only person I told was Philip during rehearsal. 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.760 And I didn't want anybody to have that expect any 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:09.840 sort of like expectation. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:10.680 Yeah. 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.120 And I didn't want to have any expectation of myself, 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.840 so like, can I hang with these people? I'm like, 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.040 let me just do it. Take you till you make it, baby. Yeah. Oh, 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:24.400 I fully I recalled the story of Becca when she 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.000 was first on set. I shit you not, I'm not 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.440 even lying. When we actually got to the Kennedy Center 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.520 to start rehearsals or like to do tech, I've never 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.520 done tech. Yeah, I don't know the processes for how 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.439 you operate backstage, what you do with the laundry bag, 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:43.440 signing in and signing out, what you do with your mic. 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:45.880 All of these things are brand new for me. So 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.640 all I was doing I was quiet. I was watching 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.640 and observing everything, how everybody moved in every department, and 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:58.360 I was like, let me just fake it. After the 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:00.839 first day, I figured it out. 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.560 And you do it again. You do the same thing 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:05.240 every time. 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:06.600 Yeah, this is. 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:08.880 So interesting because the one thing that I had hoped 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.080 for you was like you realized when you got there 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:17.079 that you were going to have fun, especially in production 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.120 that is so fast, the stakes are so high and 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.480 yet so low. You're not opening a new show, you're 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.920 not creating new characters. You are just stepping in and 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.640 bringing your own thing to it. And my hope was 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:34.840 for you having done those having those experiences before, is 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:40.640 like you found friendships and joy and like enjointment in 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.360 it all because it's so stressful on its own. Yes, 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:45.960 So I'm so glad you said that. 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.720 That's also exactly right what you said, how you looked 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.920 at that as exactly what it is. 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.920 I'm also wasn't worried about you because in so many 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.240 ways it is very similar to Glee. You step on 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.240 a set, you learn, and in a day or two 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.920 you move on you learned more. So like in a 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.200 lot of ways, I feel like Glee probably prepared you 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:12.480 the best for situations like this where it's fast paced, 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.360 high stakes and then you you try and laugh in 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:17.520 between when they say. 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:21.520 Got fully, every day felt more and more similar in 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.480 that way where totally Several people are like, I've never 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.160 been a necessarily rehearsal process like this, and I was like, well, 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.720 I guess I haven't exactly either, Like it may look 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:37.840 a little different, but the feeling was very familiar. Totally totally. 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:42.320 I also that reminded me of what Hunter Parish. Hunter 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:46.959 Parish came from screen and film and TV and came 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.679 and did Spring Awakening, and it was the same thing. 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:51.480 He was like, you guys have to kind of show 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.000 me what to do, because in TV and film it's 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.400 a lot of handholding. And he's like, and here you're 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.679 responsible to show up on time or early, sign yourself in, 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.600 get yourself dressed, hang up your clothes, put them in 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:10.360 the laundry, show up for sat like or on stage 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.680 at the time you're supposed to be there. There is 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:17.600 a different mentality. Then it's a much more independent thing 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.080 than somebody knocking on your traly saying they're ready for 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.840 you and literally holding your hand till you get to set. 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:28.360 You know, I'm still mind blown by that because my 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.200 family was there for almost the entire run of it, 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:34.920 and my dad was like, oh, the show's at eight. 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:36.120 So he's like, so you have to be there like 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:40.120 at five thirties. I'm like, no, I literally have to 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:44.680 be there at seven thirty. Literally, And I couldn't believe 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.680 all those things you just said, that whole checklist. I 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.240 was like, wait, there's no hair and makeup department, there's 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:55.120 no like eighties running around, right, No, they just you. 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.360 You show up. They expect you to be there, and like, yeah, 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:03.400 you do. I just couldn't. Yeah, but like what if 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.400 somebody doesn't show up? Like what is right? 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.000 And everybody shows up unless there's like somebody stuck on 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:11.800 the subway, everybody shows up. 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.080 That was another part of it, to be honest, little 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:18.760 things like that. So like commuting in New York. Two, 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.600 I've never lived in New York. I've never really worked 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.240 in New York outside of Glee. And again that's a 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:25.200 very different experience. 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.040 So you werehursted in New York City and then you 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.000 travel to DC for the production. 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.880 Correct and even figuring out like I'm like, I am 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:37.120 too old to not know anything. I was like figuring 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.040 out the trains. 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:40.960 Figuring out the timing. 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.440 The timing, and then like, yes, some days you are 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:45.840 late and I saw like people be late and they'd rush, 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:47.760 and like all the trains from Brooklyn were slow today, 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:51.320 and it's fine, yeah, yeah, sure, it is what it is. 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:55.160 You need to get your own lunch, get your own lunch. 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.480 Press day, oh god, all of these. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.400 Things stressful for you. So explain to people what press 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:06.000 day is in theater or in your experience, and then 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:07.680 tell me what your press day was like. 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:12.240 So press day is exactly that you have. We were 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.880 in this dance studio basically rehearsing the entire show, putting 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:20.200 the whole show together. Press day. There's a little space 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.600 about three feet between the end of where our fake 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.280 stay just taped off and the wall, and that was 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.400 filled with all kinds of different media from the New 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:34.640 York theater scene. And they come in and we've prepared 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.440 sections because what we all talked about, not we I 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.720 had no idea, no input. I didn't know anything. But 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.320 Danny the director with some of the other more experienced 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:49.120 casts or like, you go in here, you give them 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.160 a full three to five minute number or whatever, and 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:53.720 then I guess what ends up on the internet is 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.920 only clips anyway. Yeah, so the thinking was, let's just 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.400 give them the clips, so smart. So we did no 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.160 full numbers except and we did one full number. We 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.359 did the open number, yep, and then we did Brilliant 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.879 and maybe a third of magic Foot, which was my number, 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:12.840 but we did the part that had everybody involved in 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.280 it great so cute, and then we did another number 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:16.639 of same thing. We took a section of it and 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.160 it was like, this is what you're getting, okay, And 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:19.919 I hope. 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.960 What was your expectation of press day because you texted 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:25.879 me the night before and was like press days tomorrow, 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:27.280 and I was like, oh god, he's freaking out a 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.320 little bit. And then what was your experience of press day? 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:36.000 It was actually all right because again the whole like 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.680 nobody was super psyched to do press day. And also 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.240 when you have twelve days of rehearsal, this is taking 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.960 a full day to prepare for it. Takes away from 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.960 your time. Yeah, and so that was more of the concern. 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.920 But I also we learned the show very quickly. It's 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.840 a very quick show to learn, and so also felt 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.480 pretty confident in what we were doing. Sure, and it 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:06.240 was great. Yeah, it wasn't as scary as I thought 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:07.760 it would be, And I think that helped that we 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.200 just did sections of things. Yeah, yeah, for sure. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.440 If they were like, we're only doing Kevin's number and 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.960 that's press day, you'd be like, oh god, yeah, I 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:17.360 do have. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.760 To say, which is like a weird thing. But when 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:26.920 you and I performed together and we did suddenly see 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:32.399 more m H and I had the Benefit concert and 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.960 I botched it and I completely I entered the white 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:41.160 room totally. I had this fear the entire time from 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.960 that experience that that was going to happen to me, 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:48.560 and every single day I had to fight that. But 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:50.960 now I've proven it didn't happen, and. 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:54.840 Look, at some point you're going to enter the white room. 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:56.560 After one of the shows. One night, I was walking 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.520 back to the hotel with Bonnie Million, Tony Award winner 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:04.440 and she said she almost did that night in the show, 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.240 and I was like, well, let me tell you, I've 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:12.320 anytime somebody confess something that I confess either A how right, 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.320 I've been there, I've never done this before, and too well, 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:18.520 this is also my greatest fear. And she was like, 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.040 oh no, no, no, it's fine, it's gonna happen. I was like, yeah, 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:22.480 but what do you do? She goes, it's a certain 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:24.200 look in your eyes and you look across the stage 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.439 to somebody else. Somebody helps you and they know and 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:27.800 they're just gonna help you get out of it. 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.960 Like, okay, exactly right, No, somebody will help you. I 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:33.600 think when I entered the White Room once, I literally 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:39.400 looked at Rachel Dratch like icon comedian icon, and I said, 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:40.040 help me. 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:43.560 So it happens. 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:47.440 And it happened very darkly, and it there's no there's 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:48.240 no way around it. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.080 And it just happened. It almost happened. One show I did. 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:56.080 I was sitting there on the risers and the song 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.320 moment in the show is called second. The song is 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.679 called second, mm hmm, and I was like, do I 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.040 remember the words? Do I? It was the same thing 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.640 Jenna in my head I'm going through. I'm like, okay, 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.480 I know the first two lines and then what And 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:13.439 at some point I just had to be like, I know, you. 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:15.760 Gotta let it go and let go and trust your 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.280 body that your body will say the words even though 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:19.240 your mind doesn't. Yes. 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:20.479 And then I got up there and I was like, oh, 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:22.040 I do know it. I got past it. 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:27.760 Yeah, I surprisingly get that way when we perform like 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:31.800 you and I have performed at numerous events, operations. 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:32.520 Smile, things like that. 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.879 I surprisingly get more nervous at those events that I'm 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.920 gonna forget the words than I do ever being in 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:44.679 a show. I get that, And I think it's because 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.760 like I've led into the trust that I'm like, I've 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.119 been doing this show for ten days now, it's gonna 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.919 come to me or I'm gonna get past it and 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.920 not get stuck, versus like being in a small, tiny 0:20:56.000 --> 0:21:00.640 stage with one other person when it's dinner. Yeah, exactly. 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.040 I have a couple more questions. This is so fun. 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.840 You're my theater coach. Like literally, this only really could 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:23.640 have happened because Jenna, Between Jenna, Darren and Austin and 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:28.240 like my sister, you've all sort of been massaging me 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:29.719 into doing theater. 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:33.520 Yeah, we were ready for you, but you were you 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:40.359 were ready than you were yourself very much. So I'm 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.280 curious to hear about your experience. I mean, you've performed 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:46.119 for live audiences. We've done the tour obviously. Was it 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.080 similar or was it kind of that same feeling of 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:51.800 like a little bit more fear because it's Theitter Girl. 0:21:53.400 --> 0:22:00.800 The live audience changes everything, huh. We you can compare 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:06.400 it to tour different? Yes and no, Okay, I will 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:09.800 say the structure of this show and for people who 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:11.920 don't know the show, it's a spelling bee and you're 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:15.359 sitting on risers similar to Glee in the classroom, in 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:19.760 the choir room, right, and similar to Glye. People get 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:22.320 up one at a time to do like a solo song, 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:26.959 and there are group numbers, but everybody sort of has 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:28.560 their moment in the sun if you will. 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:31.879 Yeah, we learn about the character in that song, yes, 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:33.080 Or how they've handled. 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:38.800 A b and Glee tour not so dissimilar, right, and 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:41.520 especially the moments where I got to like speak to 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:45.160