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[0:22] Teresa Attridge: Ever wonder what it takes to make a new musical sing? Our mission is to give you an inclusive look behind the scenes. We are interviewing the creatives who are changing musical theater one 11 o'clock number at a time. This is your Backstage Pass.

[0:42] Teresa Attridge: Hello Barnacles! Welcome back to yet another episode of Backstage Pass with Teresa and Pauls. Incredible. And we have another incredible episode for you today. Let me tell you, I feel like I am just overflowing with excitement, like my cup overflow or like a geyser or dare I say a fountain, because we have the team from Fountain of You here with us to say hello. Say hello, my friends.

[1:06] Faye Chiao: Hello.

[1:07] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Hi, Teresa. Hi, Pauls. I'm Faye.

[1:10] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And I am Tasha Gordon-Solmon.

[1:12] Faye Chiao: And we're so excited to be here with you today.

[1:15] Teresa Attridge: Tasha, Faye, we're so excited to have you here. We loved reviewing your piece. I saw it at NAMMT, and I have not forgotten it. And so really excited to share this piece with the listeners today. So we're very grateful to have you.

[1:29] Faye Chiao: We're excited to be here. Thanks for having us.

[1:31] Teresa Attridge: Faye and Tasha, should we go ahead and do a little book report bio? Should we let the people know?

[1:36] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Absolutely.

[1:38] Teresa Attridge: All right, Tasha, we're going to do you first. Tasha Gordon-Solmon wrote the book and lyrics for Fountain of You. She's had her plays and musicals developed and produced at the O'Neill National Musical Theater Conference, the NAMMT Festival of New Musicals, the Humana Festival of New American Plays, American Music Theater Project, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Club Thumb, Northern Stage, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Playwrights Realm, and Colorado New Play Festival. She has won the Dramatists Guild Fellowship, Playwrights Realm Fellowship, a Puffin Foundation grant, and an AFO Solo Collective Residency. She has been awarded residencies at Malay Arts, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Bethany Arts Community, and Barrington Stage.

She is a member of the Recording Academy, Theater Now New York's Musical Writers Lab, and the BMI Advanced Musical Theater Workshop. She's an alumna of the Club Thumb Early Career Writers Group, Project Y Playwrights Group, New Georgia's Jam, and Ars Nova Play Group. Welcome, Tasha. We're so pleased to have you here. Also, Tasha and I have like Zoomed before, give me some pro parenting tips, so especially pleased to have you here and to share your show with the listeners, with the Barnacles, I should say. Our fans are Barnacles, just so you know, because they stick with us.

[2:38] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: I'm very excited to be here. I will say hearing my bio read aloud, it's a little dry.

[2:42] Faye Chiao: Oh my gosh, that is not.

[2:44] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: But it's like a list of places. I was like, why don't we have more like exciting things? There's nothing more exciting than all the places you have gone, all the places you will go. I'm just celebrating all over the world.

[2:58] Faye Chiao: This is crazy. Groups, Tasha was in groups.

[3:01] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Absolutely.

[3:02] Teresa Attridge: Oh my gosh, that's so good. All right, Faye, we're gonna do you next. Faye Chiao wrote the music for Fountain of You, and is a composer of musical theater, opera, and concert music. Chiao has received awards from the Presser Foundation and Opera America. Chiao's works have been commissioned, produced, and developed by Houston Grand Opera, Syracuse Stage, the Duffy Institute for New Opera, Boston Chamber Symphony, O'Neill National Music Theater Conference, the NOW Festival of New Musicals, American Music Theater Project, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Manhattan School of Music, Prospect Theater, Playwrights Realm, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and the New Victory Theater Lab Works Program. Chiao is a member of Theater Now New York's Musical Writers Lab and the BMI Lehman Angle Advanced Workshop. She holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University and is currently on faculty at Berkeley NYC.

[3:50] Teresa Attridge: Oh, we've got faculty in the house. That's always fun for us. We love a teachable moment. Amazing. Also, I can say this, Faye won't brag, Faye's a doctor.

[3:56] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: She's a doctor of music.

[3:58] Teresa Attridge: Oh my god. We have a doctor. We have a doctor in the house. A doctor. If you have a musical ailment, she is the person to ask. I'm going to go back and re-edit the podcast to say Dr. Faye Chiao.

[4:07] Faye Chiao: Yeah, women should not make themselves small. You are a doctor.

[4:14] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: That's true. I won't say it's a degree called a DMA, which is Doctor of Musical Arts, otherwise known as a don't mean a thing.

[4:24] Teresa Attridge: The hits stop coming and they don't stop coming. I already love these guests.

[4:28] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: While we're bragging, Faye is on faculty at NYU as well. Two teachers.

[4:33] Teresa Attridge: So you've got two teachers in the house. I noticed that was not in your bio.

[4:38] Faye Chiao: Oh my god. I was wondering, am I allowed to mention it? Am I not allowed to mention it? By the way, we are required to ask for a grade at the end of this podcast.

[4:44] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Yes, but if you want to do a preschool style, I will take a sticker.

[4:48] Teresa Attridge: I mean, the secret... So I have an MFA, which I don't have a funny acronym, but it's just much less than a DFA, Master of Fine Arts, which is not a doctor.

[4:57] Faye Chiao: A MFA. Oh, I've never heard that. I've got a MFA too.

[5:01] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: The secret of being in playwriting class is that participation is a big deal, right? You don't show up to workshop. I mean, I could give a real reason, but also like if you show up, you'll do fine. Amazing.

[5:09] Teresa Attridge: Oh my gosh. You have no idea how happy that makes me. Incredible. Well, I mean, a fun question just to get the ball rolling. How did you two meet? Did you meet at NYU? Where did this begin?

[5:21] Faye Chiao: Tasha tells it better. So I'm happy to start, but Tasha will tell the better version of the story.

[5:25] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: We met at the BMI Musical Theater workshop.

[5:30] Faye Chiao: I will tell it first. I won't tell it better, but yes, go ahead.

[5:33] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: We met our first day at the BMI Musical Theater workshop. We rode the elevator up together. We sat together. We have different memories of what exactly happened that day, but...

[5:45] Faye Chiao: Ooh, unreliable narrators. I love that.

[5:47] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Exactly. So that's the short version. The good version is...

[5:51] Faye Chiao: I don't know that I actually have a good version. I think the unreliable narrator is like whether we rode the elevator or not. It's like very anticlimactic. But I do remember Faye had come from work and she was wearing hard pants. She was wearing like black pants. And I was like, ooh, this person is trying, but she was just coming from work. But we did sit beside each other the first day and like became fast friends. I think because we'd both been to our esteemed, expensive graduate schools. And I think like BMI people come from a whole range of like really early in career or like much more established. And we were both kind of in a similar place. We've just done grad school. We're starting out, but we also like have a bit of an idea of like our voices and what we want to do.

And so I think pretty quickly, we just like bonded over, you know, the things we were excited about and things we were not excited about. I think, you know, Fountain of You in particular comes from like, we realized there were things that irked us about the world that we had in common and that we were both excited about like comedy, women's stories. And I think like taking those wonderful golden age musical craft book musical tools that we learned there, and then also taking them and being like, and we're going to use those to try to push the form and try to write stories that hopefully push some boundaries. You know what I mean? So I think that was a thing we had in common.

[7:04] Faye Chiao: Immersion through subversion. We'd love to see it.

[7:11] Teresa Attridge: Okay, so we meet, there's an elevator that's already drama. That's storytelling, right? Because we're coming in, we're together, we're being raised up with and by one another. Beautiful. No better way it could have gone. So we enjoyed this company. We had like similar perspectives, similar ambitions of like, we want to do the form and we really like making each other laugh. And we can talk about more, but like fast forward, we're like, let's go to as many like cabins alone in the woods that we can and make each other laugh for like weeks on end, sort of.

[7:41] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: That's always a question I like to ask, which is who approached you first? And who was the one who said, at least you were like at BMI together. So there's that context of like, asking someone else to write a musical with you is not a wild, crazy question. That's happened outside of that context on this podcast. But how did that come about? Like who was the first person? And specifically, how did you decide on Fountain of You? Like the subject matter for the piece?

[8:03] Faye Chiao: Well, it's interesting. So I, you know, I know you all have had BMI folks on your show before, and they've talked about the first year where you sort of get assignments and get paired with different people, sort of like a songwriting speed dating. And actually, that first year, Tasha and I never wrote anything together. We never got paired together. But we just sort of became best friends and talked about some possibilities for what we might want to do, hypothetically, if we work together on year two. And I think it's fair to say Tasha had a number of quote unquote, artistic suitors. And as did Faye. We were lucky enough to sort of just really be in like conversation with each other and land on a project that we really love that we're still working on today called The Lonely Doll. How did we start Fountain of You? We went actually, we went on residency, our first residency together, maybe was it?

[8:47] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: We like decided to like commit to each other for the second year of BMI. We had like a whole promposal.

[8:52] Faye Chiao: I wish.

[8:56] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: I'm so sorry.

[8:58] Faye Chiao: Okay, so the residents can't see us.

[9:00] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Yeah, pals and I, like-

[9:01] Faye Chiao: Our faces lit up, so Tasha's perceived that way.

[9:03] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: They lit up, they lit up.

[9:04] Faye Chiao: It's not, we're not-

[9:05] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: We have to hear this.

[9:06] Faye Chiao: I have the emails. We did say like, let's try writing a song together. And we like rented a room at, I don't know if it's even still there, like the Shetler or the Ripley Brewer on 72nd Street. And we like had so much fun and wrote this song, which is called I Owe It All To You, which is an acceptance speech. And it's a great song. It's going to go into one musical one day when we can fit it in. But we like have just like a lot of fun. We wrote this like very funny and ridiculous song and like it felt really exciting and fun. So we were like, yes. We were working on something else for our second year project. You sort of have like a hypothetical project second year BMI, you're working on some songs.

And as we were doing that, we kept like, just like talking about being a woman in the world and all sorts of like frustrations and inequities. And we started joking. I don't know how it even started. And we called it like our shadow musical. And we were like, oh my God, what if this happened? And then what if this happened? And it was like entirely a joke of these like ridiculous ideas. And then at some point we were like, maybe we should write that. And then we went away to a residency. We got our first residency together at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts for like three weeks. And maybe it was March, but it was so cold. And you're like in a cabin together in the woods. And so we just really, we were both able to like take time off and like figure out how to do with work and stuff.

And we were working the other thing a little bit, but then we just got like really excited. I don't remember exactly how, but we were like, let's just work on this thing. And we wrote 10 songs in like two and a half weeks. And I think a number of them are still in the show. Some in new forms, but a number of them. But we just like, because we'd been like joking about this for like a year or two years. And then we were like, what if we actually just wrote it and saw what happened? And I think we just like, we're making each other laugh and having fun and being like, what can't, I think also coming to that BMI thing of like, you know, there's like wonderful structure and it's very much about form.

And I think because you get so much feedback in BMI, even if you don't intend it, you're always, I was always like thinking about the feedback a little bit. It's great to do as a writer, but you're like, oh, this will get torn down, this will get torn down. So being like so isolated and just be like, we're just going to make each other laugh and like not worry about what's smart or good and just like have fun. And I think that is reflected in the show of like, it just came from a place of really like, let's just like make something edgy that would drive people crazy and make people laugh and like say the things we want to say. And from pretty early on, the idea was like, what if we took things that were like upsetting to us or like, you know, questions about like equity and how women are treated and like some like big topics and like found a way to make it really fun to follow that story and a story that ultimately like asked questions and like challenged an audience to think about how we treat people in the larger systems we're a part of.

But that was inclusive and not, I think both of us appreciate shows that are out there to like teach you a lesson and they have a place. But for us, we're like, what if we just explore the problems and in a way that feels accessible to people of all genders to see and be like, this is crazy and we're sort of all part of this system and you can kind of go on this wild ride and ultimately leave the theater really thinking. Because I think we both believe like comedy is the most transgressive form. Like laughter is a way to have people sort of think and question their place in the world and what they're doing. So that's one thing that I think from really early on, as the ideas shifted and things changed in the writing of the musical, I think that kind of goal was always there.

[12:08] Teresa Attridge: I totally hear what you're saying. And I really appreciate it. Because like our very first guest was Greg Kotis, who was the co-writer of You're in Town, the very first musical I ever directed. And I think about environmentalism in a different way because of that show. I think about water conservation in a different way. That's my way of being taught those lessons like immediately. I seem to just grasp those ideas like, oh, I get it through humor somehow. It just hits me viscerally. I appreciate your approach to asking those questions. So speaking of the piece, let's read a synopsis so the listeners, the barnacles can know what it's about. When a 30-something actress is suddenly aged out of the industry, she undergoes a wildly unconventional spa procedure to get her old life back, but sets her on a whole new path to pursue true power and equality at a cost. Fountain of You is a gleefully dark comedy that takes on our preoccupation with youth and beauty and the patriarchal system underlying it all with a pop infused score and lots of blood.

[13:05] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: We love blood on this podcast.

[13:07] Faye Chiao: We love blood.

[13:09] Teresa Attridge: We love shows that ask why our culture is preoccupied with youth and beauty and a humorous context. We love a little violence like as a treat, you know? Just a little.

[13:19] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: I mean, our other very silly pitch of the show is they're like, what's the show like? And we're like, it's like Legally Blonde meets Sweeney Todd, you know?

[13:23] Faye Chiao: Oh, and those are our two-

[13:29] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Legally Todd. That's our whole thing.

[13:31] Teresa Attridge: No, we always seem to, at least for the first 20 episodes, everyone should go back and listen to all of them. Go back to season one. But our answers to the game are always Elle Woods, and it's always-

[13:40] Faye Chiao: Yeah, every time we play a game on this podcast, it's like, it's just one of two powerful women who took very different paths.

[13:47] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: So well said. It's like the law-

[13:49] Faye Chiao: Well, what it is, it's-

[13:53] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Spoiler, spoiler. You know, official law versus like street justice, you know what I mean?

[14:00] Faye Chiao: It's law versus vigilante law. Let's talk about her.

[14:05] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Yeah, that's really smart. And I mean, speaking of vigilantes, in reading this script, something that I found very fun and very interesting is that through comedy, we really do get a glimpse, I think, into why so many women are into the horror genre, or into like true crime, and this idea of like, when something is so extreme for you all the time, only the extreme in the other way will do. And I think that your show balances that out really beautifully. The pendulum swings that your show takes in terms of being a comedy, but also being like, hey, there's some very stark, horrific realities in here for women every day. It's really beautifully done. And I feel like the first number of the show, Simple Steps, is like such a clever way to sort of get us to start realizing there's something a little darker underneath. You know, what feels like a-

[14:51] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Tasha, Faye, would you please set up the song?

[15:17] Faye Chiao: So "Simple Steps" is the opening number of the show. In some ways, it sort of serves as like a prologue. It features the esthetes, which are three characters in the show that serve as sort of a Greek chorus as we go through the show. Tasha, anything else to add to that?

[15:35] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: "Simple Steps" is sung by the lovely Lexi Rabade, the wonderful Bettina Bresnan, and Faye Chiao.

[15:44] Faye Chiao: Dr. Faye Chiao.

[15:46] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Fantastic. All right. Well, here are "Simple Steps" performed by Lexi Rabade, Bettina Bresnan, and Dr. Faye Chiao.

[16:00] ♪ Musical number: "Simple Steps" — performed by Lexi Rabade, Bettina Bresnan, and Faye Chiao ♪

[18:55] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: I think this song is really catchy. It's a very intriguing intro into your piece, and Teresa was saying many great things about it before, but that kind of unsettling feeling, you know, it sets the tone for the show very well. Opening numbers are hard, but I think this does it. My favorite part of the song is how the lyrics are structured with a way that starts with three simple steps, and three simple steps become six simple steps, and six simple steps become 18 simple steps. And that is so true, because in our society, we're just trying to sell more and more and more beauty products. And so it's just you buy more, buy more, buy more.

[19:29] Faye Chiao: Nothing has made me want to anxiously wash my face more than this song. Just like drag a cold or warm stone across my face and be like, I'm on step 19. And soon I will be gorgeous. Because it's also I feel like one of the first beauty things you learn when you're raised in sort of like a female or femme perspective is skincare. It's like the first big thing you get into because puberty hits and then you have acne and it's like, oh, right, my face can be this flawed thing I have to fix, right? And it's the thing that you look at in the mirror every day is your own face. And the obsession with tinkering with your face starts at a really, really early age. So a lot of people's first introduction into womanhood, I find, is through that skincare routine that you start and then never seem to stop.

[20:23] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: That's a really I never quite thought about it that way, Teresa, but you're absolutely right. That's such like an astute observation. We did our research with this one and Tasha did just a beautiful, amazing job of sliding these actual procedures into like a very fun lyric that you like. It's actually kind of amazing how she did that. I think one of our favorite stories about the song, if it's OK, Tasha, can I tell the story about that? We did the song, performed the song, the two of us at a gala. At the end, there were like these two lovely folks that were just sort of standing. Everybody else was laughing, but these two were sort of really, really serious. And I thought they hate it. They clearly hate it.

But they came up to us afterwards and they were like, both of us work in the beauty industry. And how did you know? This is how we sell to people. They come and we clock them as a three stepper. And we're like, we need to get them to a five stepper. So it was definitely I feel like we've had that experience so much in the show, which is like we wrote things that we were based on problems that we saw or hilarious things that we thought and like dramatic extensions of them only to find out that actually they're not as dramatic as we thought. And I think that obviously about like all the beauty expectations for women and also it's like society tells women, right, that like their worth is entirely, you know, connected to their age and beauty.

Right. And then also doesn't take them seriously, makes fun of them for also being like, oh, they're so superficial or women are so into their makeup. You know what I mean? It's like it feels like that thing where you're like, and also like you created this world. So I think that's something we were also like, you know what I mean? Thinking about like sort of pointing out and then maybe speaking to like the bigger idea in the show of just in general, how many like pressures there are in women. Right. And all the sort of like messages and stories were told. And it's like crazy. And you can like sit back and be like, this is crazy. But we're sort of like all a part of it, too.

[22:12] Faye Chiao: I will say I do no steps during the pandemic ordered a snail mucus mask, but then I never used it. That's okay. I'm not trying to promote the health, like unhealthy makeup and skincare complex. But like the snail masks are really nice. They feel really good. I should have I just like got a little skin. No. And I like again, like there isn't about like you doing what feels good for you and taking care of you. Like it's so it's just so complicated. Right. And I think the idea of like, whatever women do is wrong, right? You like don't look a certain way. You don't quote I'm doing air quotes, take care of yourself, right? We judge that you do take care of yourself or you do this kind of skin thing. And it's too much, right? Like we're so quick to judge everyone for what they do their faces and their bodies or if they don't do faces their bodies. It's like whatever women do. So like yeah, go for this. Now maybe I will try it not against a nice mask.

[23:00] Pauls Macs: Well, the thing that's really resonating with me and I should just say like, this might happen a few times this podcast as a male identifying person. I don't mean to hijack the conversation. But the thing that's resonating with me is I recently saw I was just an Instagram post that a friend of mine shared where I was talking about one of those, you know, Gen Z or millennials are killing the tourism industry. This one was about Las Vegas. I guess Las Vegas is really suffering that there's not as much tourism going on. And I forget my point is was shout out to being on the podcast, but they basically made a statement about this is what they're doing. They will keep cutting our wages to the point that it's not keeping up with the cost of living.

And then they will then shame us for not participating in tourism activities that we can't afford to participate in millennials or Gen Z is killing the housing industry because we can't afford to buy homes because our wages are not keeping up. They're both going to take it away and then shame us at the same time.

[24:03] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Oh, no, but that's but that's how you relate. Do you know what I mean, pals? Is you're like, oh, that's how it feels. Yeah, that's how I relate. Now imagine pals, like with how you feel about this, if you also had to prioritize being hot while you complained about it. And if people were like, you don't sound very cute and fun and nice when you say that to me. Yeah, I'm very aggressive. Yeah, no, it's that's so that's a really sweet thought. You know, I've been thinking a lot. Actually, I was reading an article about Las Vegas and how we're being punished for tourism. And then someone just repeats what you said that it's so crazy. You know what I mean? But the fact that like, you're making that connection in a way that resonates with you is like, I think part of the reason the piece works, you know what I mean? It's because you're like, I'm familiar with this feeling of discomfort, and I can contextualize it.

[25:47] Faye Chiao: Absolutely, absolutely. If there's one thing that we all relate to, no matter what, like, as people in general, it's aging, right? Like the idea of getting older and what that means. And I think specifically for women, the idea of getting older being something that like, is something you're being condemned to and not something you're celebrating.

[26:07] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Yeah, I'll also add that I you know, that's such a it's like, both of you are just so smart. Oh, my god. Like, I'm trying to A minus, at least we're gonna go for that. Hey, though, we're gonna get that a star. No, but just to sort of say, like, I love what both of you are saying. Because Teresa, as you're saying that I'm thinking of, you know, friends of mine who are on the radio and are women and you know, the kind of like social media comments they get are just ridiculous. But on top of that, just this idea that like, you know, I think something Tasha and I have been thinking about a lot is like, patriarchy affects us all and patriarchy and capitalism and you know, systems of power and control are not separate from each other.

They're all interlinked in a way, it can get incredibly complicated, of course, but just to sort of think like these things don't stand apart from each other. And that's kind of one of the things we were sort of trying to go for this musical, which is to sort of say, like, yes, it's told through a female lens in a way, which is sort of our goal. But really, it's a universal story and talking about a system of power and types of oppression that affect everybody.

[26:57] Pauls Macs: I'd love to know how you created or came up with the main character, Kristen, a soap opera actor. I'd love to know how you found that way into the story. Because I find, especially at the beginning of the show, it says 30 something in the synopsis, but she's turning 35. And the way that like, she immediately turns 35 and everything in her life crashes. Again, what you're doing is you're taking a very real problem, and you're making it hilarious so that we can absorb the problem. But I would just love to know more about Kristen's struggle, how you came up with that character.

[27:37] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Yeah, and I'll say thank you so much for that. I think one thing that we, you know, are doing in the show is obviously it's heightened. And I think that was, you know, intentional, like, and actually, we're talking about single simple steps of like, it's like crazy and heightened and like a little bit familiar, you know, and like, yeah, she's obviously a larger than life character. And it's funny, because there are times when people are like, but maybe she should, is she 40? Is she 45? But people really do this at 35. And we're like, it's like a heightened satirical thing, right? And so like, part of the idea of 35 is like, there is that kind of like 35 weird thing with women, but also, it's like extreme, right?

That you're supposed to be like, you're not, you're not that old, right? That like, it's crazy. I love, for example, the fact that she's at her 35th birthday party. Yeah. With two friends. Yeah. And literally, she turns 35. And they like, walk out, they just walk out of the party. And in fact, you see them later at a different party, and they don't even acknowledge her. It's just that thing. That's what I think is so funny about the show. Yes, the way that women are treated as they're getting older is a huge problem. But the way that you've dealt with it in the show is done in such a funny way that we can recognize the situation and also laugh at it and then think about it and be like, that is a problem.

[28:43] Faye Chiao: Have any of you ever seen the comedy sketch? I think it was like an Amy Schumer sketch called Last Fuckable Day. Google it, it's very funny. But it's all these comedy actresses sitting around and like, they're celebrating because it's Julia Louise Dreyfuss' Last Fuckable Day. And they're like, yep, after tomorrow, no one will remember her and she'll never book anything again. So they have this like fake, like holistic ceremony about it past a certain age, or even if they just look past a certain age that they just disappear. And so I think we're interested in exploring that, but also like, that's also a crazy thing. So we know it's Heightened Way. And I think, I'm trying to remember if it was like a joint idea that we came up together.

Was it your idea, Faye, of like, what if it feels kind of like fairytale-like, of just like, we came up pretty, we were in the room together, we were like, oh my goodness, clock strikes 12, which used to be a stage direction in the script. And then we had one reading where they were like, do you want to hear what a sound effect is for 12 dings of a clock? And we were like, oh, yeah. But it's midnight, the candles go out, and everything has changed, you know, and then there's like the sequence next song where she's like, fire dumped all your things. And again, it's with that Heightened Way, which you've seen like a lot of like romantic comedy, it's like, oh, no, these things happen, but like, this isn't everything.

And then I think you mentioned like soap operas, obviously, there's like some really specific gendered roles in that, right? It's sort of also like soap operas, are there still like, I feel like soap operas are also like, there's like one or like two, you know, they're like kind of a thing that's also kind of like aging out from the past.

[29:05] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: The story also mirrors a soap in the way that it just keeps like, yes anding itself to like, higher and higher stakes is very smart.

[29:15] Faye Chiao: It's so funny, as a director, I'm like, oh, there should have been overlapping dialogue as the clock is like striking 12. And that would have fixed that moment.

[29:21] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: I want to make sure is in the clear. Her friends walked out. I mentioned that already. She's also like immediately fired from her job.

[29:28] Faye Chiao: Yeah.

[29:28] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And she's immediately dumped by the person who's also—

[29:32] Faye Chiao: Who also owes her money by stealing her money.

[29:36] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Yeah.

[29:36] Faye Chiao: Not to be a Capricorn, but like, how dare?

[29:40] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And like, it gets crazier from there.

[29:42] Faye Chiao: How dare.

[29:43] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: It's so interesting how we perceive age and beauty in our industry, isn't it?

[30:13] Faye Chiao: Absolutely. I think it's something that really affects everyone, especially women in the arts.

[30:33] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Right, and the pressure to maintain a certain image can be overwhelming.

[31:01] Faye Chiao: Yes, and that's what we wanted to explore in "Fountain of You."

[31:21] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: The idea of going to extreme lengths to regain youth and the consequences that come with it.

[31:49] Faye Chiao: Exactly! It's a dark comedy, but it really shines a light on serious issues.

[31:54] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And the pop-infused score adds a unique layer to the storytelling.

[32:22] Faye Chiao: It does! We wanted the music to reflect the fun and the darker themes simultaneously.

[32:32] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And the characters are so relatable, even in their absurdity.

[33:00] Faye Chiao: Yes, they embody the struggles many face in the pursuit of validation.

[33:29] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: It's a reflection of society's obsession with youth and beauty.

[33:39] Faye Chiao: And how that obsession can lead to a loss of self.

[34:06] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: That's a powerful message.

[34:16] Faye Chiao: We hope audiences will resonate with that.

[34:36] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And the humor helps to balance the heavier themes.

[34:46] Faye Chiao: Definitely! We want people to laugh while also thinking deeply.

[35:06] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: It's a fine line to walk, but I think we’ve managed to do it.

[35:26] Faye Chiao: I agree! The feedback we've received has been encouraging.

[35:46] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: It's exciting to see how audiences connect with the material.

[36:06] Faye Chiao: Yes, and we can't wait for more people to experience it.

[36:26] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: The journey of the main character is particularly compelling.

[36:46] Faye Chiao: Absolutely, her transformation is both humorous and poignant.

[37:06] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And it raises questions about what we truly value in ourselves.

[37:26] Faye Chiao: Exactly! It's about finding power and equality in a world that often undermines those qualities.

[37:46] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And the cost of that journey is something we delve into deeply.

[38:06] Faye Chiao: Yes, it's not just about getting back to where you were, but evolving into something new.

[38:26] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: I think that’s a message that resonates with many people today.

[38:46] Faye Chiao: For sure! We’re all navigating our own paths and challenges.

[39:06] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And "Fountain of You" invites audiences to reflect on their own experiences.

[39:26] Faye Chiao: We hope it sparks conversations about age, beauty, and self-worth.

[39:56] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: It's a conversation worth having, especially in our industry.

[40:16] Faye Chiao: Absolutely! And we’re thrilled to be part of that dialogue.

[40:46] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Thank you for sharing this journey with us.

[41:06] Faye Chiao: Thank you for having us!

[41:34] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: We can't wait for everyone to see the show.

[41:54] Faye Chiao: It's going to be an exciting ride!

[42:24] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: And we hope it leaves a lasting impact.

[42:44] Faye Chiao: Yes, that’s our goal!

[43:04] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Thank you for tuning in to our conversation about "Fountain of You."

[43:24] Faye Chiao: We appreciate your support!

[43:54] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Until next time!

[44:14] Faye Chiao: Bye!

[44:24] Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Bye!