This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Frankie Errington: Would you be interested in playing Marcy again, for example?

[0:06] Frankie Errington: I would. I had never played a role like that. Like, I remember carrying myself differently.

[0:14] Frankie Errington: Suddenly I was like, oh, my chest is up and I'm like, strutting through the room versus, you know, kind of on the tips of my toes being very like light and flitty through an area because suddenly I had to take up more space. And I was not asking permission for it. I'm taking it. And it was meaty. It was good.

[0:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Welcome everybody to A Musical Theatre Podcast where we discuss the cultural and emotional impact of some of our favorite musicals in theatre history. My name is Jeffrey Scott Parsons. You can call me Jeff. Today we are discussing the musical DOGFIGHT, which was a listener request from Rachel. Thank you for writing in, Rachel. Here to discuss it with me is someone who was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical by the San Diego Critics Circle for playing the role of Marcy et al. Because the Marcy track has a few other little stand-ups. They are one of my favorite people to be around on stage or off. Always original, always grounded, and a fantastic tapper to boot. Everyone, please welcome the wonderful Frankie Errington! Yay!

[1:36] Frankie Errington: Thank you, Jeff. Can I call you Jeff?

[1:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Of course you can. Frankie, I'm so excited you're here because you are such an empathic person. I remember when we were in a show together, and it was during, oh, that show has so many memories, but it was during the gay marriage debates of the early 2010s.

[2:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And that was not an easy time for me. And there was talk in the dressing room. And I think what I said was something like, I just don't know what to think of it all. I didn't really have an opinion. And in that moment, I just needed to get comfortable with not knowing. Yeah? A very difficult thing to do.

[2:23] Frankie Errington: Yes.

[2:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And a few days later, here comes a card from you saying something like, I really respect that you can say you don't know. And I thought that was so caring, and it has stayed with me. Because A, it meant that you were listening. And B, that you took time to let me know that you were listening. Anyway, I don't know if I've ever thanked you for that, really. But it has stayed with me. I was such a fangirl. I'm not going to lie.

[2:56] Frankie Errington: But also, Dogfight, to me, is such a show about empathy.

[3:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And so anyway, I think you're the perfect guest. And I'm so grateful you're here.

[3:05] Frankie Errington: I'm very happy to be here and to talk about this show. Because I was saying this a little bit before, but it was probably, I think it was 2015 when I did the show. So it was nine years ago.

[3:21] Frankie Errington: And I have such a visceral response, remembering the show, and like my experience with it, that I kind of forget the whole spectrum of what this show entails and represents culturally. And I'm saying that even from like, it being in this little indie movie, and kind of into, I would call it an indie musical, which is my favorite sort of thing.

[3:47] Frankie Errington: But there's so much within the story that also lends itself to a, I don't know. There's no right answer, wrong answer, or even an answer at all for our two kind of main storylines as they pass each other. There's not a definitive thing there, which is kind of beautiful to dig into as an actor.

[4:11] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, the ambiguity of all that. I completely agree. Can you tell me about your relationship to it? Because to be honest, I heard of it, but it came and went so quickly off Broadway, that either you knew it or you didn't. And then it was a little game of telephone, whether or not it came across your palate. So did you know about it before this San Diego production that you did?

[4:36] Frankie Errington: No, I did not, actually. It was on my radar, because I had done a show a long time ago, longer time ago now, with Derek Klenna. And so I knew of the show, just because that, yeah, it passed through that little piece of our Southern California community.

[4:56] Frankie Errington: Yes. I knew. And then I was, it only flew on my radar. And I'm going to say this with such delicacy. But I had a friend go, Oh, my gosh, you would be perfect for the show. They're holding auditions. But you'd be perfect for the role of Marcy. And I was like, Oh, don't know that. I don't know the show. Tell me more. And he said, Well, she's a toothless hooker. And I said, Thank you. Come again. Thank you for thinking of me.

[5:22] Frankie Errington: And then I, I know. And then I looked into the show further. And I saw it was Annalie Ashford, which is still very new. I only knew her from Legally Blonde at that point in time. And I was like, that's fascinating. More like the millennial musical theater talent in this show was next level.

[5:47] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[5:48] Frankie Errington: And so it is interesting that it kind of just whooshed through its little off Broadway run and kind of became its own. I don't know. It has its own life. I'd love to see it. I'd actually love to direct it, if I'm being very honest.

[5:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I think you'd be a terrific director.

[6:01] Frankie Errington: You are. I didn't even put that in your bio. You are a newly minted director.

[6:07] Frankie Errington: We are trying the thing. We are trying the thing. And I'm having a blast. But yeah, so I had not heard of the show before my friend Tom said such things to me.

[6:18] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Told you, by the way, toothless hooker, you got this.

[6:21] Frankie Errington: Yeah, funnier story too is, I think this was one of the first times that I, I'm gonna say was like cast on the spot. And yeah, and it was so bizarre because I had a horrible night the night before my ex had broken her foot. We were in urgent care or the ER trying to adjust that. And then I had my audition the next morning. And I was like, this is just gonna go poorly. Like I had resigned to it, did not know where my voice was. Couldn't tell you what I sang. But I was like, guys, thank you. Please be understanding. Goodbye.

[6:57] Frankie Errington: And on the way home, I got a phone call. And the casting director was like, Hey, we want you for Marcy. And I was like, how? I know it was so it was so interesting. I've never felt that or experienced that again. So that's really cool, though. What a great memory.

[7:15] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So for those who don't know Dogfight, musical and early musical written by Pasek and Paul of Dear Evan Hansen fame. We covered the early parts of their career when we did an episode on A Christmas Story. And we did it with their longtime musical director. And it was a really fun conversation. But one of the things I think we left out of that conversation was that Dogfight and A Christmas Story almost happened at the same time, like within the same Broadway year.

[7:47] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And I wonder, I mean, we can maybe get more into this. But I wonder if that's one of the reasons why Dogfight kind of fell away a little quicker is because A Christmas Story was the bigger juggernaut in terms of making it to Broadway in terms of having a national tour.

[8:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But just to recap, Pasek and Paul meet in college. They start writing, basically because they were both the worst in their ballet class. And they're like, we can't do this anymore. We need to create something. And so they write this musical, this song cycle called Edges, which is very popular, I think, specifically for a generation.

[8:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That gives way to a lot of other ideas. The problem is they don't have any money to produce their work, right? And so their thought was, okay, we're gonna write the next high school musical. It's going to be about like a marching band in Texas. It's going to have terrible songs, but it's going to be a huge hit. But they need somebody to help write the book because they're doing the score. They didn't want to do the book.

[8:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Paul remembers that a high school classmate of his by the name of Peter Dukin, I think I asked Google and that's how they told me to pronounce his name. I couldn't help you. So that sounds crazy. So Peter Dukin went to high school with Justin Paul and then went on to study screenwriting. So they're like, cool, let's ask him if he wants to work on a musical with us. He says yes, but he also says, you got to drop the high school musical idea. This isn't going to fly. And they're like, oh, really? Okay, so let's work on a different project.

[9:37] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And they start trying to decide what they want to collaborate on. Peter Dukin brings over to their house a DVD of this indie film from 1991 called Dogfight that most people haven't seen. It's not like an indie film that then went to the Oscars. It is a true independent feature. However, kind of like the original off-Broadway production of musical Dogfight, this indie film has a lot of incredible actors at the beginnings of their career. River Phoenix, who unfortunately, of course, passed away. Lily Taylor is playing Rose. You have Brendan Fraser, like pre-everything, as one of the sailors that they get in the fight with. The cast is pretty stacked.

[10:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And the premise, just so we can get this right out of the way, Dogfight refers to this actual tradition that would happen in the Marines where all of the guys would put like $50 or $75 in a pot. And they'd use that money to buy out a bar, make sure there's lots of food and drinks, and then whatever money was left over was prize money for whichever Marine could bring the ugliest girl to the party. And there would be scoring, and whatever Marine had, quote unquote, the dog, would take home this money.

[11:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Now, the premise of this story sounds like the biggest piece of misogyny that you would ever put on film. And yet, this original independent film directed by a woman.

[11:20] Frankie Errington: This, so when I did it, it was in San Diego, which huge military attack.

[11:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh my gosh, I didn't even think about that.

[11:28] Frankie Errington: Yeah, when we did our talkbacks, it was really, really interesting. And something that blew my mind, we were having some talkback, and a veteran, ex-Marine, he was telling us that they still, this is still a practice, this is still something that they do.

[11:43] Frankie Errington: And he, I hesitate to say argued for it. But he did.

[11:56] Frankie Errington: He was sympathetic. Well, he brought forward that this was an initiation sort of thing, which you could guess by just what you just stated.

[12:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Fair enough.

[12:09] Frankie Errington: But it was, it was a means to start practicing dehumanizing people.

[12:16] Frankie Errington: So that you could kill them.

[12:18] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Correct. Correct. And this was like, a first step towards that before they were actually on the ground. And that-

[12:28] Frankie Errington: My heart just got real heavy.

[12:31] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, because we could talk a little more about exactly the gender roles and what that meant then, what that means now, how that happened within our own show culture, our little cast culture. But that absolutely exploded my heart, because I think being raised female and living in this world right now, obviously the show impacted me.

[12:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Welcome to A Musical Theatre Podcast. Today, we're diving into the musical DOGFIGHT with the talented Frankie Errington.

[13:26] Frankie Errington: Thanks for having me, Jeff! I'm really excited to talk about this show.

[13:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: DOGFIGHT has such an interesting premise. Can you share a bit about what drew you to this musical?

[14:06] Frankie Errington: Absolutely! The story is set in 1963 and revolves around a group of Marines on the eve of their deployment to Vietnam. It explores themes of love, loss, and the impact of war, which I find incredibly poignant.

[14:16] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It’s definitely a unique setting for a musical. How do you think the creators, Pasek and Paul, approached the storytelling in DOGFIGHT?

[14:24] Frankie Errington: They really focused on the emotional depth of the characters. The music and lyrics are beautifully crafted to reflect their inner struggles and the societal pressures they face.

[14:34] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I agree! The score has some standout moments. Do you have a favorite song from the show?

[14:44] Frankie Errington: I love "Some Kinda Time." It captures the excitement and uncertainty of young love in such a relatable way.

[15:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That song really resonates with audiences. What do you think is the overall message of DOGFIGHT?

[15:14] Frankie Errington: I think it challenges the audience to reflect on their own values and the consequences of their actions, especially in the context of relationships and war.

[15:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s a powerful takeaway. How do you feel the show has been received since its premiere?

[15:44] Frankie Errington: Initially, it had mixed reviews due to its premise, but over time, it has gained a dedicated following. People appreciate its honesty and the way it tackles difficult subjects.

[15:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It’s great to see that kind of growth. What do you think makes DOGFIGHT stand out among other musicals?

[16:04] Frankie Errington: Its rawness and authenticity. It doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths, which I think is important in theatre.

[16:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Absolutely! It’s refreshing to see a musical that takes risks. Can you tell us about your experience performing in DOGFIGHT?

[16:34] Frankie Errington: It was an incredible journey. The cast was so talented, and we all connected deeply with the material. It was challenging but rewarding.

[16:44] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That sounds amazing! What was the most challenging aspect for you?

[17:04] Frankie Errington: I think portraying the emotional weight of the characters was the toughest part. It required a lot of vulnerability, but it was also very fulfilling.

[17:14] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I can imagine! It’s a testament to your talent that you were able to bring those emotions to life.

[17:24] Frankie Errington: Thank you! It was a team effort, and I’m grateful for the support from my fellow cast members.

[17:34] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Community is so important in theatre. How do you think DOGFIGHT resonates with today’s audiences?

[17:44] Frankie Errington: I think the themes of love, loss, and the impact of societal expectations are timeless. Audiences can relate to the characters' struggles, no matter the era.

[17:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s a great point. It’s fascinating how musicals can transcend time and still feel relevant.

[18:04] Frankie Errington: Exactly! And I believe that’s what keeps the art form alive and thriving.

[18:14] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well said! Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share about DOGFIGHT or your journey in musical theatre?

[18:24] Frankie Errington: Just that I hope more people discover this show. It has so much to offer, and I think it can spark important conversations.

[18:34] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I couldn’t agree more. Thank you so much for joining me today, Frankie!

[18:44] Frankie Errington: Thank you for having me, Jeff! It’s been a pleasure.

[18:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And thank you to our listeners for tuning in. Be sure to check out DOGFIGHT and follow Frankie on Instagram for more inspiration!

[25:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But this one, I was re-listening because I did do this so long ago that I had to go back and be like, wait, what were all the songs? And Marcy, she was only, sings the titular song, Dogfight, and then kind of peaces out and sings backups. I can't wait to talk about that, by the way. We'll get to it. But wonderful tracking. Yes. But the songs, these guys sing just song after song after song that I was struggling to name the genre. And it because it kind of goes between this like folk 1960s, they like mentioned Leslie Gore. And there's quite a bit of just the way that the like overlapping vocals happen. That's in this very pure, like what pop was at that time, but it's all like stringed acoustic.

And I do think it's entertaining, but yeah, plenty of bops. I also think that the lyric writing is really terrific. And sometimes it's poetry. And sometimes it's colloquial. And sometimes it's bum bum bums, you know, and yet it's all kind of dramatically serving the piece. Anyway, they're great. And to think that they churned out this and then like an old fashioned Christmas story in the same year is pretty fantastic. Okay, I want to talk through the show because like, there's such good stuff here. So the show begins on a bus. And it's all it's all given to us as a memory piece. So we see this guy known by his last name, Birdlace, first name, Eddie, but Birdlace is how we know him. And he is back from Vietnam.

He is, I mean, a ghost, a shell of a person. Just haunted by everything that he's experienced. He's on a bus on the way back to San Francisco, which was we find out where he spent his last night before he went to serve in Vietnam. We see because of somebody who's sitting next to him that he has tattoos on his arm, there are three B's. And each B represents him and his two buddies who also had names that began with B. It's not basic training, but it's the thing after basic training, where you are then grouped by alphabetically. So they were always standing in line next to each other. And that's how they like became best buddies. Birdlaces. I mean, how would you describe this guy? Pre PTSD? I'm already a wandering soul. From what I'm remembering.

[29:01] Frankie Errington: Yeah. Like he's he he joined the Marines to find himself to have a purpose was escaping. That's got to be the truth for so many guys.

[29:10] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: For so many people to this day. And in many ways, that is where the military can be a pro. Provide direction.

[29:16] Frankie Errington: Yeah. 100 percent. And so he's definitely one of those people definitely trying to escape, I think, whatever perhaps bad childhood family experience that he has, because we very quickly learn that he doesn't go home. So that's that's my understanding of him versus the other two seem to have a little bit more stability and whatnot. So he has found family in these two.

[29:39] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: In these two guys. That's a great point. Boland is one of the other B's. He's probably the biggest guy. He's the alpha.

[29:46] Frankie Errington: Yeah, for sure. 100 percent. And then Bernstein Bernstein. Is that right? I can't remember. But yes, how to say it is what I mean. But yeah, sweet Jewish guy, total virgin. Right. And they're always kind of trying to get him laid. If you want to think of it in that in those terms. These are the three B's. And as we go into Eddie's memory of that last night in San Francisco, you know, they're having they're trying to make this last night the time of their lives. It's a song called Some Kind of Time, which is a line literally taken out of the film.

[30:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Here's a little tangent that I want to get on and I want to get your your take on it, please. Straight boys. I'm fascinated by them.

[30:34] Frankie Errington: Same.

[30:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And I'm not always sure we know how to write for modern. I mean, I say modern, but like 20th century straight boys within the musical theater genre without making them musical theater straight boys. Does that make sense?

[30:43] Frankie Errington: It does make sense.

[30:44] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It does make sense. For example, I'm I'm amazed that Some Kind of Time almost sounds like something from Glory Days because Bernstein was played by Nick Blamire, who wrote Glory Days. It's so insane. But but there is this kind of sound that I think composers try to tap into. And yet like straight boys are so much more complicated than that because they don't always communicate. I was up I was at breakfast the other day and next to my table were these like three guys who got up early on a Saturday to go have breakfast together and they didn't say a word. They just sat there and ate. And you're like they planned this social time together. And yet just like being there just to be in the presence of your of your bros of your dudes was fine.

And so like it's such a I'm really interested. I'd love to talk to composers about like how do we crack this nut about how straight guys talk to each other or don't talk to each other in a musical. It's really complex. Anyway, that's a little tangent.

[32:07] Frankie Errington: Yeah. Well, and to that point, I think because this is in the context of the Marines, the the dialogue is very specific. And so, I mean, first of all, anytime emotion is brought up, it's like, don't do that. And Boland is always the one to like, cut any of those sorts of. And if we're going to talk about anything, it's going to be talking about girls. It's going to be talking about girls in this way, or we're going to go overseas and kill these people. It's all very specific dialogue and conversation. And to your point about the guy being like, OK, well, this is our opportunity to start dehumanizing people. The filthy language in the show is, I think, really true to the Marines. Right. I mean, there's there are jokes about how dirty a sailor's or a Marine's mouth is.

I mean, I had to warn my parents because they came to see me in the show. I actually kind of I try to convince them not to, not because the show is great. I believe the show is good. But the first words out of my mouth in said song.

[33:22] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So some little prick, I don't know if you can, you know, you're fine. You're fine. Some little prick with a knob for a dick is going to get you down. That's first lyrics. That's from that's from the girl that we like.

[33:33] Frankie Errington: As I say, that's from from the one that like gives Rose a little is actually looking out for the girl.

[33:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right. Right. And then provides some version of another female on stage. We can talk about that, too. But it's so filthy, like just the way that they talk about each other and what's going on is. Yeah, we're just supposed to say whatever we want, drop all the F-bombs. And because it doesn't even hurt my ears, like that's how detached I am from any of this. Right. It just none of it matters. But what does matter are those bees, you know, and I think that that's even what Boland, who has is the alpha and towards the end, he's like, yeah, we're surrounded by bullshit. But, you know, what isn't our connection here together as brothers?

[34:30] Frankie Errington: Yeah. But then how do you so how do you pull that into a musical number? Not easy, but they do it. I think they do. We we see the plan. The plan comes out about what the dogfight is and what the requirements are for each of these dudes to to bring somebody in. And so the hunt begins. The they start looking for their date. Now, Boland, who wants to win at all costs, is going to break one of the rules of the dogfight in order to win. And that is he is going to hire a nasty prostitute to come in and he's going to tell her exactly what it is so that she can perform and make sure that she wins. Now, in the script, Marcy is described as a near toothless prostitute. So talk to me about how you're getting into this, because I know Frankie and I mean, you are a kind, if not sweet person.

[35:35] Frankie Errington: That's thank you. I appreciate it. As I have another friend being like, you'd be perfect. It was interesting because that no, I can say it was a struggle. But in a very good way, as an actor of looking at this person going, whoa, this person says, yeah, if I'm going to enter into this world, I'm not just going to sit down and take it. I'm I'm going to bite back, which was an interesting journey to go on for myself. I feel like I'm still going on that journey of figuring out how to how to fight for myself. But, you know, taking this larger than life character, I mean, the stuff that she's doing, the stuff that she says is pretty outrageous and entertaining, entertaining, so funny, which also then packs a punch where you're like laughing at this person who is quite literally down and out.

And she knows it like she has won many a dog fight. She knows what those are. She knows what she needs to do. And it means that she gets paid without necessarily having to sleep with somebody like this sounds like a great deal. She's a businesswoman.

[36:42] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: She's like, here's my cut.

[36:43] Frankie Errington: That's exactly what I was going to say. I think Marcy is the capitalist in this story.

[36:48] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. Yeah. She's the one who knows how to like run a business, to be honest, right? No, that's what she's like. Hey, if I'm going to be a part of this and I know men are bad, I can't be the one to change the world. I'm just going to accept what is going on. I know what's happened. I know I can get something out of this. So that's Marcy. Now, Birdlace like keeps striking out in terms of finding somebody. He tries this girl. He tries that girl. It's not working. And then he like ducks into a cafe where he sees a girl. I mean, I don't think Rose is ugly, but maybe that's just because I love her so much. But but she's not like toothless prostitute. She's honestly described as just kind of simple, like there's nothing to even her personality.

There's nothing descriptive about her, like there's nothing of note. And she's sitting in a corner singing to herself with a guitar, you know, practicing some music. And this is his last chance. He thinks, OK, good enough. I'll make this happen. And he strikes up a conversation, lies through his teeth about pretending to know music just to try and charm her. But Rose isn't stupid.

[38:05] Frankie Errington: No, I don't. I don't think she's stupid at all. But this is the first time later on. She says this of like, there's got to be something good that came out of this evening. This is during Pretty Funny, which we'll talk about. We'll talk about that later. But she says, like, one of the good things that I can take from this evening is I did finally get to dance with a guy. And so I think there was just a clouded judgment of I really want those things. She's been taking care of this. All of her time is being spent taking care of the diner with her mom. Her mom is very present in any of those scenes, just being like, Rose, get back in here. Has no real life of her own. So definitely not.

[38:50] Frankie Errington: Not stupid. Like, she does know what's going on. I get the feeling that she always knew Eddie was up to something. But at the very least, okay, if he just wants to get laid, I can handle myself with that. She didn't think that it was going to be this kind of deception. And like you said, if she can get something out of it, maybe her own way, I guess that's where she and Marcy have something in common, is that she doesn't get asked out by boys. And here is somebody who might be up to something, but at least he wants to go out with her. And she has the sweetest song. And I'm obsessed that her lyric is, Oh, my gosh. It's this sweet little song where she's trying to figure out what to wear. She just keeps saying, Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh.

It just shows how pure she is in a way. And it's not like, Oh, someday my prince will come. It's finally something exciting is happening to me. And I am going to step up and say, Yes, universe, I will take that and be brave enough to go. She is very much an optimist. Well, in that song, it's Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh. Nothing short of wonderful. And it's truly not even necessarily about him as the experience of being able to go out and wear the dress. And like, honestly, I feel like we've all had that experience just trying to go out with friends. I'm like, Okay, wait, what do I wear? I know that I'm going to show up in the world. Exactly, exactly. What space am I going to take up?

And if you haven't done that before? Oh, my gosh. So it's such a precious, precious number. And at that point, the audience has already been introduced to what the dogfight is. You know, what Berlinda has just done. And yeah, so you're already feeling lots of feels for Rose. I remember one time I went to a party at a gay club. And there was someone sitting all by themselves in the club. And they, I mean, I'm going to totally guess what was going on in their lives, but seemed to be a trans girl dressing up for the very first time and going to a bar. And you could tell by, you know, the makeup and what she found to wear. And you could see how much she had had to, like, build up her confidence, have her own Oh, my gosh moment to just get to the club.

But then once you get to the club, it's a whole host of other problems. And that's what that's what happens here is like, yes, Rose accepts the challenge, and is going to face it with optimism and love, because that's who she is. But then you can't prepare for what's going to come next. Right, right. Without a fortune teller. Who would ever guess that somebody's asking you out because you're ugly, and then go and make fun of you with other ugly dates? Like that's just an inhuman thing to do. But in contrast to that, you're you're set up with this whole awful deal. Birdlace goes, I don't know if I should do this. He keeps questioning it. And even once they're at the date, he is trying to not because they do like a promenade sort of sort of deal, especially in how it's staged as this whole circle. So you're like trying to show the judges your date. And he's trying the whole time to not let her get on the dance floor. And she's like, why? Why won't you dance with me?

[42:18] Frankie Errington: Which she interprets as I guess you're embarrassed of me, right? Yeah, well, he even says the Semper Fi do or die. And she's like, what does that mean? And he's like, well, we'll use it whenever we have to do something difficult. And she's like, am I difficult to dance with? And that's when he's like, oh, no. And then he proceeds to dance with her. And it's just that's where it's so complicated. These are not just like, do I like you? Do I not? Am I being a bad guy? Am I not? Meanwhile, we've got over here, this girl who just wants to be just wants to go and dance like I wouldn't even say be loved like she has that. It's just I want to go out.

[42:56] Frankie Errington: One thing I love about the book scenes in this show is that they're rarely people are rarely just sitting and talking. It's almost always walking. Rose and Birdlace are always walking and talking. I mean, it makes it feel more real in a way. But also it allows them to get to know each other in really interesting ways. You know, as she talks about music, she is an artist. So she is inspired by folk music of the time that's going to eventually lead us into a hippie movement, right? She loves the Joan Baez and these folk artists who are talking about peace and love. And then she's on a date with Birdlace who's making fun of we shall overcome because it has the word come in it. You know, like, right, right.

And that paradox or that dichotomy, however you want to look at it, is proving to as much as this is a wake up call for Rose about how mean these boys are. It's a wake up call for Birdlace about, oh, shoot, what am I not getting? Why am I lost? Maybe? And what am I fighting for?

[44:08] Frankie Errington: Yes. Great point. Great point. So after, after said dance, she realizes what's going on. She slaps him.

[44:20] Frankie Errington: Hits him hard. Hits him hard and has, when I read it down because I couldn't, I forgot that it happened, but she says something to the extent of, I hope there's a war and I hope you get killed.

[44:33] Frankie Errington: Yeah, because of-

[44:35] Frankie Errington: Which, hello? Devastating. That is, and coming from the, like, I'm going to say just the heart, right, the light, the heart of pacifist, like she's in, in a space of heading towards pacifist movement. And so to hear her say these words to this guy, it's profound.

[44:53] Frankie Errington: Yeah, because to be clear, like-

[44:57] Frankie Errington: Just clap it like, yes, you say it. But also because technically Vietnam, they don't know why they're going to Vietnam yet. There's not, like the war isn't, it hasn't blown up. That's what, they're on the precipice of this moment and the two of them are just writing the line of which direction they're going to go.

[45:17] Frankie Errington: So she's saying, I hope that during this service that there is a war and in that war you die.

[45:28] Frankie Errington: Yeah. And that's really how the, kind of how the first act ends. I mean, she has a number here at the end, but-

[45:34] Frankie Errington: Right, right. But it sort of ends there. And so that's it. I had to keep looking to be like, wait, which person initiated this next step in the evening? Because again, this also all happens in one, one night.

[45:50] Frankie Errington: One evening, yeah. Realistically so, yeah. And he goes to follow her to apologize and she doesn't take it. She's like, absolutely not.

[45:59] Frankie Errington: No. In fact, that's one of my favorite things about this show is how long it takes for them to find each other in the second act.

[46:10] Frankie Errington: She's hurt and he is lost and doesn't know how to apologize. And they stay in that discomfort for a while.

[46:22] Frankie Errington: Right. Well, and that's what, they do stay in that for a while and she's not a weak character in the slightest. I think she could easily, and this is where I would love to direct it. It was beautifully directed by Sean Murray.

[46:40] Frankie Errington: Great director. But I would be so fascinated to see a feminine perspective on all of this. And we talked about many of these moments because he was very acutely aware of like, would she actually choose that? And if so, why?

[47:02] Frankie Errington: Because there are these moments like this, where it's like, why would she choose to go? Sorry, we should, I should explain what happens next. Birdlace follows her back to the-

[47:07] Frankie Errington: Back to the cafe.

[47:08] Frankie Errington: The diner. Uh-huh. Back to the cafe and kind of apologizes, but it's like-

[47:12] Frankie Errington: It's a sad straight boy.

[47:15] Frankie Errington: Right.

[47:15] Frankie Errington: I'm sorry you were hurt.

[47:17] Frankie Errington: That I got caught. Right.

[47:20] Frankie Errington: And let me take you to dinner. And she was like, why would I trust you? Why would I, in what world? And again, they kind of let that distance happen.

[47:32] Frankie Errington: Their song, after she decides, fine, I will go with you to dinner.

[47:38] Frankie Errington: They have their first date last night, which that was, you know how songs in musical theater kind of take on a life of their own completely outside the context of.

[47:48] Frankie Errington: The line that sticks out to me is, people can surprise you or not. So I'll give you the chance. I'm actually the one in power here. Like, I have nothing to lose.

[48:00] Frankie Errington: You've already completely destroyed any sort of dignity I have. And so that taught me actually how much I'm worth. It's interesting because Birdlace, when he comes back and he has this kind of, you know, wishy-washy apology.

[48:11] Frankie Errington: He's like, I don't know what's the right thing to say, but I want to be here with you. And she doesn't say anything.

[48:21] Frankie Errington: And then he says, if you don't want me around, just tell me not. And just tell me to leave. And I'm gone. Okay. I'm fucking out of here.

[48:27] Frankie Errington: And then she says, you're going to stop swearing.

[48:32] Frankie Errington: And he says, okay.

[48:34] Frankie Errington: Which I think is so cool, right? Because they've been, she's been complaining forever about his filthy language. And he can't form an apology.

[48:43] Frankie Errington: So she, in a very empathic way, is like, all right, I'm going to create the apology for you. Stop swearing. Anyway, it's so human.

[48:54] Frankie Errington: It's so human.

[48:56] Frankie Errington: And so I think Rose is wholesome. If we're going to, I'm like, sure.

[49:00] Frankie Errington: No, that's a great word.

[49:02] Frankie Errington: Perhaps we can't encapsulate her in one word because, you know, people.

[49:06] Frankie Errington: But creating the apology, I love it.

[49:09] Frankie Errington: Creating the apology, I love that frame of what is going on. Because truly, this entire evening, she had been asking him, stop.

[49:18] Frankie Errington: Stop swearing.

[49:19] Frankie Errington: And it's not the last time they argue about it because, you know, this is hard.

[49:24] Frankie Errington: But it at least is the opening to go on this date together.

[49:30] Frankie Errington: And like, and she keeps her distance, you know, she is not all lovey-dovey. She lets the silence speak volumes.

[49:39] Frankie Errington: Which is when, like, this great song with all of the bum bum bums, you know, that's what's doing the conversing, the connection.

[49:49] Frankie Errington: Now, we're going to push pause here so that we can talk a little bit more about Marcy.

[49:53] Frankie Errington: Great.

[49:55] Frankie Errington: Back at the dance, back at the actual dogfight, Rose finds out from Marcy about what the dogfight is.

[50:01] Frankie Errington: And I think it's an incredibly inspired move to give this character the, you know, the toothless prostitute, the title song of the entire piece.

[50:13] Frankie Errington: Yeah.

[50:14] Frankie Errington: But that's not the end of her story.

[50:17] Frankie Errington: Boland and Bernstein, and I think another soldier, right? Take her to also do the sex.

[50:28] Frankie Errington: Yes, they do.

[50:30] Frankie Errington: And in the second act, this is kind of the next part of her arc, is that one of the guys sleeps with her.

[50:37] Frankie Errington: And that's not the, that sounds so romantic. That's not what it is.

[50:40] Frankie Errington: After it's done, Bernstein, who is this, you know, virgin, and who's wanting to not go to war a virgin, is ready for his turn.

[50:53] Frankie Errington: And Marcy says, I'm tired. We're going to call it a night.

[50:57] Frankie Errington: And, of course, Bernstein is, like, upset. And all of the boys are upset because, like, he's got it.

[51:03] Frankie Errington: And she's like, no, this is my body. I get to decide what happens.

[51:07] Frankie Errington: And they say, no, you don't.

[51:10] Frankie Errington: And essentially force her to do another one.

[51:14] Frankie Errington: Right.

[51:15] Frankie Errington: I was like, do they beat me up?

[51:17] Frankie Errington: I mean, it might as well be.

[51:20] Frankie Errington: Yeah, I, it's so...

[51:21] Frankie Errington: Do they beat me up?

[51:23] Frankie Errington: Like a true actor.

[51:25] Frankie Errington: You know, what's so interesting looking back on that show is the women are just, I hate to put it this way, but kind of shat upon.

[51:35] Frankie Errington: I don't think that there's a nicer way to say that.

[51:39] Frankie Errington: And specifically, Marcy.

[51:48] Frankie Errington: The first time you see the actor, she's playing Peggy, who's this like, very put together little like Barbie doll dress. And I'm trying to remember which soldier she's talking to, but it's like getting hit on, cat called. And she's like, just waves them away. And it has this like, I'm a beautiful woman with status. And then from there on out, you see just these men absolutely berate and disrespect any other woman you see. There's also two other. One is a Native American, as well. Indigenous person. And the whole time, the language that they use surrounding the women and then just physically speaking the entitlement of sex. Kind of what we were talking about earlier of like, how, sorry, straight men, but how straight men talk to each other.

A lot of the time, they're sitting at breakfast silently. And in this case, in this story, the only thing they can really talk about are guns and getting exploded and getting laid. And so we see Marcy initially in this position of power until that moment, three against one, especially in that context. She doesn't win. Yeah, she's gonna pick safety. And unfortunately, safety is sexual assault. Just absolutely bonkers.

[53:14] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, unfortunately.

[53:15] Frankie Errington: Yeah, I'm gonna sidebar a little bit, if that's okay.

[53:20] Jeff Parsons: Yes, please, please.

[53:21] Frankie Errington: The very first rehearsal we had, Sean, our director, started talking. He was like, I called, I don't know, some other theater company who had just done it, because I think we were the West Coast Premier or something. Not many people did it. Again, not a commercial show. Uh-huh. And he was kind of asking them, like, what, you know, what were the difficulties? What, what things do you wish you did differently? Yada, yada, yada. What should I look out for? And they said, take care of your women. And he said, tell me more. And he was like, when you get a bunch of, and I've actually experienced this when I did West Side Story as well, but different, different genre. But when you get a bunch of guys around, and you're giving them, putting them in this world, in the context of this situation, they bro out.

And the testosterone, just, you've given them full permission. Now, they're not knowing this, but like, you're just in said locker room with these guys. And in these scenes, they're saying all this stuff. They're doing all these things. But remember that at the end of the day, and we ended up having a conversation in tech like this, because we did have to like, hey, the way that you're talking is not okay. And we sat together as a cast. And it was like, remember, at the end of the day, this was in like a downtown area. At the end of the day, the four of us women have to walk down the street to get to our cars, and hope that there isn't any behavior remotely close to what's happening. Our world is not so far away from what we're experiencing on stage.

And so just remember that at the end of the show, you might and should touch base with your people, and remind them that you're actually a safe person, that what was happening on stage was not real, that it is just acting because if all you're doing is coming and walking on stage, and forcing yourself upon another person and treating their body in this way, I mean, they had me like crawling around on the ground, picking up money, because they threw money at me on the floor. And just different things where you're like, you don't super think about it until you're doing it night after night after night. And you're not talking to these people like you did in rehearsal and joking around about like, you know, what did you offer?

Yeah, and it definitely was, I hadn't fully experienced that sort of show environment before. Because I don't consider myself a like method. I've got to be in this space, and then exit the space. It just was like, oh, wow, I hadn't thought about being so disconnected from my cast members, and how much that would affect my own mental health. And again, like, oh, we're gonna walk each other to our cars. That was that's just the world that we live in. I don't remember how we got to here.

[56:23] Jeff Parsons: No, no, no. That's, I mean, it's kind of exactly what I want to talk about. Because if you don't mind me asking, since then, how has your journey with your own gender, kind of influenced this or brought new perspectives or anything?

[56:34] Frankie Errington: Sure. Um, I, like, I actually have a question that I've always wanted to ask you. And I hope it's not offensive. Depending on what you're going in for in a casting call, like, are you showing up just looking like you? Or are you putting on some sort of drag?

[56:50] Jeff Parsons: You know, what's so interesting? Well, first of all, I'm gonna say, I enjoy these conversations. I know not everybody necessarily is. But for me, I'll put myself right now in a bracket of me saying, no bracket, but gender expansive.

[57:16] Frankie Errington: Okay, sure.

[57:16] Jeff Parsons: Mostly because I think, for me, anyway, I think there's identify with more outside the binary. And that's just an easier way to, you know, there are words that I use to describe myself. But a lot of the times we use these identities to help other people understand who we are. So that's fine. I actually enjoy conversations discussing all of that. Because that means you care and want to understand most of the time. Most of the time. But what's interesting is, it wasn't until 2020. When I was not showing up to audition rooms, or being in these specific spaces where I had to show up in a particular way that would sell myself best, or that I knew how to sell myself. And I was suddenly sitting with my own feelings and my own thoughts and looking at myself in the mirror in a way that was not within the context of anybody else.

It was truly just me. And I was like, wow, I not that I didn't like what I looked like, or how people were treating me or anything like that. It really had more to do with like, oh, wow, I live a lot of my life through the lens of this career. And then through what is expected of me versus how I'm actually feeling. And I recognized how much anxiety and pressure I was placing myself in an audition room to maybe not drag, but definitely like, I know that I play a certain way. I am very kind. I am very sweet. I've had this specific voice type that tends to go with this sort of role. And there's nothing wrong with that. I suddenly then was like, oh, wait, well, if I take the power back a little bit, how do I want to enter into the room?

And that flipped a lot of things for me. That taught me a lot about myself and myself as an artist and the broader, I guess we could use expansive again of like, oh, if I brought in myself up and open myself up and show people truly where I'm at in my own life, I think I'll be perceived as more as well.

[59:33] Jeff Parsons: That's so inspiring because it is so connected to creativity.

[59:38] Frankie Errington: It's brought on quite a few conversations with my agent, which have been very good, but you recognize yourself. And I would say, I know intrinsically what I'm worth to my art form and what I have to offer. And instead of just being like, please, I hope you see the things I'm being like, no, here are the things I can do. Do you see it? That's fine. If you don't, because I'm comfortable enough with what I know about me.

[1:00:07] Jeff Parsons: All right, so let's go back to Birdlace and Rose, because they go on this date, they very intimately connect soul to soul. And that eventually leads them to spending the night together, which would be the point in the story where I'm like, oh, come on, no, like this wouldn't ever happen. And yet, I didn't question it, going at least reading on the page.

[1:00:37] Frankie Errington: So I think it's there on the page, if you want to justify it.

[1:00:42] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, I think you can. And this is where I remember us having a lot of conversations, meaning like, the room. Yeah, we were talking a lot about the decisions Rose was making, because I think at this point in the story, we start to see her hold Birdlace be a little, I don't want to say in control of him, but like, right before this moment, they're on the Golden Gate Bridge, and she plays her song for him. And it's very poetic. It's very Joni Mitchell, singer songwriter sort of stuff. And then we enter into this awkward little sexual encounter for the two of them. That's very sweet. Like it, it holds a different place then. And again, in contrast to Marcy as well. So we're seeing this whole other world, whereas he's, he's taken the time to sit back, be quiet, like he has been, he's shut up listening, he's listening, he's saying, What about you? Tell me more about you. Play this song. That's the best song I've ever heard.

[1:01:53] Frankie Errington: Yeah, yeah.

[1:01:54] Jeff Parsons: And he's saying things genuinely, he has a different air about him. And he starts telling her stories about his own life, which he also wasn't doing before. And so I agree, I think it ends up being justified. I think the way that I would say it is that everything that they've shared with each other up until the sexual encounter is almost more vulnerable than the sexual encounter.

[1:02:18] Frankie Errington: Agreed. It's almost just like, I shared my deepest secrets with you. So yeah, you can see me naked. You've seen me more naked than I've even seen myself. And I don't know, that's, that's beautiful.

[1:02:41] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. And also, like you said, and awkward and innocent in a way.

[1:02:47] Frankie Errington: Yeah, well, no, that's, I think innocent is the word to use in this moment, because the two of them, I also don't think he's as... No, he says that he doesn't have anything to compare this to, which is his way of saying that he's a virgin as well. But probably would never tell his boys that.

[1:03:05] Jeff Parsons: Oh, no, shouldn't actually.

[1:03:06] Frankie Errington: Yeah, yeah. For his own safety. But yeah, it's a wonderful, awkward, sweet little moment for the two of them.

[1:03:12] Jeff Parsons: So the next morning, she gives him a piece of paper with her address and says, please write me. She also tells him that she knows that Marcy was a hired prostitute, and that Bolin broke the rules of the dogfight. So he goes back, and we mentioned this kind of at the beginning, but has this whole conversation of, like, you broke the rules. And Bolin goes, well, I know that you went back to spend the night with your dog, you know. So you're not going to tell about my bullshit. I'm not going to tell about your bullshit. And you know why that is, is because we have these tattoos.

[1:03:47] Frankie Errington: Bro code.

[1:03:48] Jeff Parsons: Bro code. And Birdlace is like, you know what, you're right. This is all that matters. And he tears up the piece of paper with her address on it. He goes to war. This is all kind of done through music.

[1:04:06] Frankie Errington: Yeah.

[1:04:06] Jeff Parsons: And sound effects. I don't want to say quick, but kind of. It is a montage that really moves through, because they go back to the some kind of time. But now it sounds very different. And what ends up happening is the other two boys are killed. Birdlace is wounded. And then that catches us up to now he's back on the bus.

[1:04:27] Frankie Errington: Right.

[1:04:27] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. And he has thought through this whole thing. And now he's finally back in San Francisco. So interesting that he goes back there. You know, yeah. And he steps off the bus. And it is a it is

[1:05:14] Frankie Errington: Parade and being a hometown hero. And that was the first war where that was not a thing. If anything, they were disrespected when they came back home, and they didn't even know why. They were walking into it completely blindsided. Yeah. So the things that were being broadcast, they didn't even know. And that's where, again, the human aspect of it, and living in a military town and hearing people talk about their own experience in this specific war, and it's written into the show, he gets spat on by the hippies. Baby killer. So coming back, he has a whole song, Come Back. When You Come Back. To what? To who? How many different ways could we interpret Come Back? And Faisal and Paul really touch on all of them.

Asking for Bullen and Bernstein to come back. Someone does miss. I miss my home. This is not my home. I want to come back. I'm having all these memories. PTSD is hitting hard. I'm not in my own skin. Yeah. And he winds up at the cafe. He also does it at the top of his range. God bless Derek. Oh, my God. Just the highest. I don't know why these boys write songs so freaking high. But the cortisone, the cortisone alone. But yes, he ends up at the cafe. Now, this is the part that makes me cry, and I'm not going to do it on the mic, I promise. Come on, Derek. But at the beginning, there's this beautiful theme, right? Take me back. And the whole idea is that a word, a smell, a sound can take you back to a place.

And when you are confronted with a soldier with PTSD, you recognize that that is trauma, right? A sound, you know, a helicopter passing over could make one of those guys just relive all of the horrible things they went through. And imagine all the sounds in San Francisco. Absolutely. And then he goes into the diner. I can't even do it. Gosh dang it. Listen, I'm there with you. It's going to be a fun little ending for us. And it's the same musical theme about take me back. And he didn't write to Rose. He totally botched that. And yet, she gives him a hug and says, welcome home. And it's not romantic. It's not like, oh, finally, we're going to get married. Right. No. But it's a piece of empathy.

I like, I even practiced this like twice in the mirror. No. And this time, the touch, the sound, the smell is her. And he's taken back to a place that's safe. Yeah. And, and I had never really thought about it until this musical. Because we talk about being triggered and we talk about trauma a lot these days. Yeah, it's thrown around a bit. But do you know what also can be triggered? Kindness, love and empathy. Stop. No, but it can. And it can, it's such, it can be such a simple thing. Yeah. It can be such a simple thing. It can be a welcome home. Yeah. Yeah. And memory is such an interesting thing in that way, because it really only takes but a sliver of something to take you there. And specifically music, like.

Oh, and they did such a beautiful job of encapsulating that. And musically, oh, it just is so beautiful. Right, right. Well, that's what I mean by the like, that just sweeps in and out of there throughout the entire story. And we get back to that at the very, very end, again, with Rose, at the same exact place, she's in the exact same space. And we talked about that quite a bit too, of even what that come, welcome home. What it means. What it what it means. Do we need to have an answer? We should probably have an answer. Did she have an answer? Because at the end of the day, exactly what you said, I would choose to believe that Rose, whatever journey she went on in the past few years, since he left, be it complete pacifist side of the world, or possibly got married and has kids, for all we know, who's to say we were shown in just those few hours of that one night, who she is.

And that was, you destroyed me, you ruined my first date I've ever been on was a dogfight. And he came back, she gave him grace then, and said, You know what, I'll let you take me on a second try. And not even for the sake of me for the sake of you. And, and so I can't imagine a different answer. At the end, at the end of the show, she had to have said, at least be here for a second, because many of those veterans absolutely did not have a home to come come back to did not have people to come home to. But I know that there were a couple people in our cast that were like, she would never, after all that he did, and he didn't write to her and the things you said, like, I choose differently. I think there's there's no alternate universe for me rose 100% was like, here is a space for you, you will have a space in this, this town, this cafe, as long as I can do that for you.

It's so good. She's such a great character. There's, there's an amazing conversation that they have. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it's something like, she believes that music can bring about change. And he's like, No, if you want change, you need a gun. And who proved their point? By the end of the show? Yeah. I don't think the guns did nearly as much as her grace. Yeah. And I mean, it's a continued argument. But that's why I think art is so important. But like, you know, sure, guns can can force certain certain decisions can force, I'm going to say change for the sake of conversation, but and music can't do it in that way. No, but it doesn't harm. I mean, it does not harm. And so I actually forgot about that little conversation because that's, that's right before her singing before it's over.

And she sings that whole, what's the refrain? I see a world beautiful and strange. But kind of challenging him. She has a lot of question. I love question and answer songs. And she poses a lot of questions to Burt Lace. And that's, that's one that is very like, can you see the same world that I see? Are you even thinking about the world beyond this moment? Because I'm hoping, I'm hoping for a change, you're saying that, but what does that actually look like? And to your point about like, if that if that's how the change has to happen, then what do these guys because traditionally, they've been men? Yeah. How do they prepare to go do that kind of work for us? Which is ultimately dehumanizing, you know?

[1:14:04] Frankie Errington: Right. Right. Well, that's it. And it's complex. Again, it's complex. It's complex. Because, you know, if we want to make arguments to for like, you said, you said at the very beginning, one of the most misogynistic sort of premises, premises. But, you know, it doesn't just cause harm to women, or queer people, or what have you, it causes harm to straight men as well. And this is an example of that, of them being caught in this, I have to be emotional, emotionless, I have to not see a person in order to have status or, or just exist in this world.

[1:14:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Success. Family. Yeah, that's so much of what the guys sing about before leaving are just like, I want to have a wife and kids and a house and live this, quotes, normal American life. And this is how I do it by going and doing this for a couple years. Mm hmm. Yeah. And then they don't come back. Oh, I mean, we could keep talking about this forever.

[1:14:43] Frankie Errington: I know. I know.

[1:14:46] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Frankie, thank you so much for doing this. Like,

[1:14:49] Frankie Errington: Thank you, Ted.

[1:14:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I hope that everybody out there listening has either listened to the show, or has experienced it in some way, because I think it's a really special piece. And, and it does have a little bit of an, you know, like 2010s off Broadway sound. You certainly can't escape that. But I think it's one of the best if not the best of this type of show.

[1:15:10] Frankie Errington: I agree. I'm a sucker for this kind of indie musical. And this is definitely one that you can't help but have a conversation about, which is art at its finest.

[1:15:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So definitely recommend. Please listen. And apparently read for free on

[1:15:35] Frankie Errington: On MTI, baby.

[1:15:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: As always, if you have recommendations for shows you'd like us to cover on a musical theater podcast, you can always email us at a musical podcast at gmail.com. We're on social media, we got great content there on Instagram, X and TikTok. We also have Patreon exclamation point where for $1, $1 a month, you get a bonus episode plus great opportunities to connect as a podcast community. I really love talking to everybody. We just had a great discussion over there. Well, this will show you when I record it about the Tony Awards, which was really fun. And then of course, don't forget about our Tee Public store. The profits we receive from those purchases go to Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS. More than anything, I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful you're in the world. Thank you for listening. Hey, Frankie, how do we follow you?

[1:16:29] Frankie Errington: I'm so excited that I got to chat with you. What's going on? Anything you want to share?

[1:16:35] Frankie Errington: I mean, just thank you for having me, Jeff. I absolutely adore you as a person on and off stage. I can't wait for us to meet again. I'm glad that this happened. But yeah, come give me a follow on Instagram. What's my handle? I think it's Frankie period Arrington. That's E-R-R-I-N-G-T-O-N. Double R-R.

[1:16:54] Frankie Errington: Double R-R. That's me.

[1:16:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Amazing. You are a delight and thoughtful and I'm just so speaking of being grateful, people are in the world. Grateful you're here in the world. Everybody out there, thank you for listening. Frankie just helped me figure out what the tag for the episode is.

[1:17:14] Frankie Errington: Go for it.

[1:17:15] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, I'm happy that it happened. I'm happy that you came. Happy that I'm here.

[1:17:20] Frankie Errington: That's a lyric.

[1:17:21] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Come on now.