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[0:00] Teresa Attridge: Welcome back to Backstage Pass. This week we continue our conversation with the writers of A Hanukkah Carol, or GELT TRIP! The Musical.

[0:10] Pauls Macs: A Hanukkah Carol, or GELT TRIP! The Musical features music by Aaron Kenny, lyrics by Rob Berliner, a book by Harrison Bryan and Rob Berliner, and an original concept by Harrison Bryan. You'll also hear performances of the songs A Light in the Dark and The Girl I Used to Know.

[0:24] Teresa Attridge: I just got to say, it's kind of funny because after reading the script, this is the wackiest script I've read. But also I think what makes it work so well is precisely how grounded it is simultaneously. And what's so amazing about talking with you all is how much genuine care is in the piece, like how seriously you take it. I was kind of expecting like a, whoa, this is gonna be a crazy interview. And don't get me wrong, it is absolutely hilarious. But also it's so clear to me how much deep thought and deep care went into making this piece. That's what allows it to be truly accessible to people like me, people who have never seen a Christmas Carol before. So hats off.

[1:10] Pauls Macs: I really want to give the audience a taste of the music now at this point. I bet they're really hungry for it.

[1:15] Teresa Attridge: As they should be. I think now might be a good time to introduce our first demo. So the song you'll hear, A Light in the Dark, in the context of the show, it's performed by the young versions of our main character, Chava Kniption, and her best friend, Barb Cratchit. They are about eight or nine years old at this point. It's in the Hanukkah past sequence. We wanted to take an opportunity to show the strong bond of their friendship as a basis for the kind of estrangement and redemption of that friendship throughout the show. And so actually it was one of the first songs that we wrote for this. We were experimenting with a lot of different ways to have the girls put on some sort of a presentation for their families at Hanukkah as young kids.

[2:05] Rob Berliner: One of the things that I thought would be cool as the lyricist would be to find an opportunity to try to relay this story of Hanukkah for those in the audience who have no idea what actually the event that inspired the holiday was. Just to stick it in there somewhere. So we just say we did it, even though it's not a Hanukkah lesson. It's a Hanukkah Carol. Was there a fun way to kind of incorporate the story of Hanukkah while also making sure we're still in a comedy, while also taking advantage of the fact that we're in the past? So could we do something musically that was of a specific time? Certainly to our Millennial Hearts boy band and sort of turn of the century pop. Is everything bubblegum pop?

As you listen to this song, which I think we're going to probably play the very pop version that we made during lockdown with some of the best singers in New York. Best Jewish singers, I should say. You can listen for both. This is meant to be a love song that in the context of the show is performed by two young women, young girls singing to each other. So it's a love song, but it has to be about friendship. It also has to tell the story of Hanukkah. And then it also has to reaffirm the themes of the show, which are to lead with kindness, with light, with open hearts and to be, if you will, a light in the dark. Hopefully you can get some or all of that from a listen. And if not, you should see the show and get all of it.

[3:40] ♪ Musical number: "A Light in the Dark" — performed by Ben Fankhauser, Zachary Noah Piser, Benjamin Velez, Nate Richardson, and Daniel Mertzlufft ♪

[7:15] Pauls Macs: Right, so it speaks to us on so many levels. What's also really fun, and they are watching this, and the Maka Babi is like loving this song, because for 2000 years, all she's had is, I have a little dreidel, and now she's hearing this Maka Bap. That's a really fun physical life inside the show, is how Hava's reacting to this song, how the spirits are reacting to the song, how her parents are also singing along and dancing, and all the props and the latke costumes, I mean there's just a lot. If anybody at home is confused, Maka Bubi and Maka Bop are not pre-existing words. Copyright, baby!

[8:14] Rob Berliner: So the Maka Bs, of course, were the rebels who fought for Jewish freedom against the Seleucids of ancient Greece.

[8:21] Harrison Bryan: I wasn't going to correct you.

[8:23] Rob Berliner: Well, neither are they, because they're not around anymore. Hey, can't do anything when you're dead. And then of course, right after the title page, there are two quotes, and one is this like deeply profound quote from a rabbi, and the second one is, a Maka baby's gotta do what a Maka baby's gotta do, by Tommy Pickles and the Rugrats. Also appealing to my millennial soul.

[8:43] Pauls Macs: There we go, the original television cashew, you know? A cashew Jewish person, a cashew.

[8:49] Teresa Attridge: Okay, I think it's time for our second demo. The Girl I Used to Know, we're now in the present, and Hava is sort of seeing the ripples of her influence in the present day. One of them, while she's previously in the show, she's sort of thawed and made up with Barb, but is dismissive of Barb. But then ultimately, we have this ticking time bomb of Barb and what will happen with her bad use of social media, essentially. We are getting to see Barb joined by her brother, and it's a reflective moment because the brother points out, you know, why do you still stick up for her? You know, I'm sure the audience is also curious as well too, because we've got a little bit of an insight into it, but we want to get to know her deeper, and know deeper about their history together, both Barb and Hava, and their bonds of friendship, in this very earnest way.

That's what we get to hear in Girl I Used to Know. I think it's also just worth setting the stage, this is Hanukkah Present. So, we're in Hanukkah Present, and the spirit of Hanukkah Present brings Hava to the outside of a Dunkin' Donuts, where her childhood best friend and her brother, Harry, are huddled under a little umbrella, trying to light their family menorah, and her brother asks, like, why do you deal with Hava? Like, why do you still make excuses for her? She sings this song, but at the same time, all the way in Long Island, we'll see Hava's parents, who have an empty chair at the table, while they're also lighting the first-night menorah. And so Hava has to watch all the people in her life who love her sing about her while she's not there.

[10:33] ♪ Musical number: "The Girl I Used to Know" — performed by Fernanda Douglas, Katie Luke, and Paul Libman ♪

[12:03] ♪ Musical number: "The Girl I Used to Know" — performed by Fernanda Douglas, Katie Luke, and Paul Libman ♪

[13:47] Teresa Attridge: That was beautiful. Work. So we have our game for today, my sweet little barnacles. So our game today.

[13:54] Pauls Macs: We're three barnacles.

[13:56] Teresa Attridge: It's called You've Got Spirit. As we know, both Scrooge and Hava are visited by three spirits of past, present, and yet to come. And they guide her through her life. Now, my question is, what musical theater characters would you want to be your own past, present, and yet to come if you had to revisit all of your life?

[14:20] Rob Berliner: I love this. I love this so much. I feel like we all need to think. I feel like my past would either be the entire ensemble of Sweeney Todd, because just that whole, like, there was a girl named Teresa Joy. They just take me back. Or I would have, I would have Glinda the Good Witch from Wicked, also a la prologue, you know, and every time I had a bad day, she'd be like, it couldn't have been easy. Basically, I want everyone to acknowledge that I've had some hardship, but in a musical way for my past. Does anyone else have one for their past? Or get chaotic, throw your future in there. I'm not your dad.

[15:03] Harrison Bryan: Okay, well, I need to speak to the listeners very seriously about something, which is we have said on this podcast how we always talk about Legally Blonde, right? And I was like, I'm not going to do Elle Woods. I'm not going to do Elle Woods. But Elle Woods would be so great because she's so positive. It would help me get through this really difficult moment. So I was like, I'm going to push myself and I'm going to do something different. So I chose the Man in Cher from Josie Chaperone, specifically the Bob Martin version. And I was thinking Hanukkah present. But then Teresa was like, No, no, no, pals, you need three, right? You need the past, the present and the future. So I am going to like backdoor and put Elle Woods in the past.

Let's put Bob Martin's The Man in Cher in the present. And I was thinking for the future. I know the future is usually like a very stark and mean or even like silent person that just points. I want to go the opposite direction. I want to do Maria von Trapp from The Sound of Music because I need reassurance and I've got confidence.

[15:55] Pauls Macs: You need confidence and sunshine.

[15:57] Harrison Bryan: I still put in Elle Woods, but I put two new musicals this time. We've got Josie Chaperone and The Sound of Music.

[16:02] Rob Berliner: Incredible. Hilarious. Beloved guests. I think I've got a few. Some of these, you can switch the order around. But if we're just talking about our favorite musical theater characters and who would be on This Is Your Life, I guess basically the guests, if they were fictional Broadway stars. I think it would be fun to have the past narrated by Mufasa. Remember who you are.

[16:22] Harrison Bryan: Yes, that voice.

[16:23] Rob Berliner: Oh my gosh. He lives in you.

[16:25] Harrison Bryan: Thank you. You know, I feel like there's such that wisdom and gravitas that will really root me to the ancestors.

[16:31] Pauls Macs: Rob, these are butt shadows.

[16:33] Rob Berliner: The heck is a butt shadow?

[16:38] Harrison Bryan: I think it's sort of a cheat because he could also do the past, but I think Tevye would be a great spirit of the present. Just to have like kind of that narrator, like just this is how things are. This is what we're doing.

[16:48] Pauls Macs: And then again, Powell's, as you acknowledge, the future is usually silent. But if we're going for dark and dystopian, I got to go with Audrey too.

[16:57] Rob Berliner: Ooh.

[16:58] Harrison Bryan: Great choice. Also great voices.

[17:01] Pauls Macs: Yeah.

[17:02] Rob Berliner: Let me just say really quick about the present. I just have to say this. I'm sorry, but I never realized how weird the whole touch my robe thing was until.

[17:09] Harrison Bryan: That's an original Christmas carol, I believe.

[17:12] Rob Berliner: That's my robe.

[17:13] Harrison Bryan: That is so weird.

[17:14] Rob Berliner: And I never realized it was weird until you pointed it out. So thank you for changing my life. Also from my little nerdy heart, thank you for including ignorance and want. They are always left out of almost every Christmas carol adaptation. And I was so stoked. And then they were also weird little dreidel children. And that was very funny. We can get back to the prompt, but it had to be said.

[17:35] Teresa Attridge: Thank you. Thank you, Teresa. All right. Who's next? Aaron Harrison.

[17:38] Aaron Kenny: Okay. I think for the spirit of my Hanukkah pass, I also went Lion King, Rob. I want Timon and Duva.

[17:46] Pauls Macs: That's okay.

[17:47] Aaron Kenny: I want Timon and Pumba. And I'll tell you why. Because Lion King one and a half is an underrated movie, and it's all about them looking through the past. And if my past was Lion King one and a half, I'd have a great time, you know, just have a great time looking at my past. And I went as sad as possible. Well, I'll tell you this. This will cheer you up, Teresa. I want my Hanukkah present to be Christmas Eve from Avenue Q. As played by Teresa Attrid, a thousand percent. And I want my Hanukkah future to be the most mystical, magical creature I know. And that is magical Mr. Moustopheles.

[18:28] Pauls Macs: I knew a Cats reference was coming from you.

[18:31] Aaron Kenny: I mean, Cats had to appear somewhere, right? Based on this show. Because in the future, he's the only character who's going to make me feel really safe.

[18:39] Teresa Attridge: All right. Aaron and Rob, be honest. Was Harrison the one who was like, can we do another Cat joke?

[18:43] Rob Berliner: Both of them.

[18:44] Aaron Kenny: I'm a dog person and they're cats.

[18:47] Pauls Macs: Yeah. Share with the fans. Share with the barnacles, Harrison. What are your Cats names?

[18:51] Harrison Bryan: Oh, we've got Leo and Max, named after the two greatest producers in the history of Broadway.

[18:56] Rob Berliner: Bloom and Bialystock, I guess, respectively.

[18:58] Aaron Kenny: Those who aren't familiar with the definitive Jewish musical of the 21st century.

[19:05] Rob Berliner: Oh man, Max Bialystock doing the past. Also a great choice. I had put down also other options were Pseudolus, as performed by Nathan Lane. We had that in common as well with the Nathan Lane Timon thing, Harry, and the Lion King. I feel the synergy amongst this writing team. But now I'm very curious, Aaron, who are your two favorites?

[19:23] Aaron Kenny: Yeah, it's a toss up in terms of the past for me, because I'm just like, do I want someone to be humorous and like Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast or something like that? Or Sebastian. But my dramatic self is like the Phantom. I'm just like this sort of totally dramatic, like, this is your past.

[19:39] Rob Berliner: I love the drama, Aaron.

[19:47] Aaron Kenny: I'm jealous.

[19:48] Pauls Macs: Very dramatic.

[19:50] Aaron Kenny: My present, I went to both the same as you, a toss up between Elle Woods and Maria Von Trapp. Because they're just very, very like, living in the moment, keeping things light.

[20:02] Rob Berliner: Keep it positive.

[20:04] Aaron Kenny: Exactly, exactly. Work. And then I think for the future, I am not going to go dark. I think Tracy Turnblad, because she was progressive in Hairspray. And I think she's always looking for the positive future in the world. And I love that.

[20:23] Rob Berliner: I have to give my other two. I only gave my beginning. Teresa, finish it off.

[20:25] Teresa Attridge: I couldn't resist Elle Woods. I couldn't. I thought I couldn't. I couldn't. Elle Woods herself. I want Emmett to narrate my future. I want Chip on my shoulder, but he's telling me everything I need to do to succeed. And then for the present, I want Joanne from Company, because that bitch is going to be real with me. She's going to hold a martini. She's going to tell me, you know what's wrong with you? I'll be like, oh my God, tell me. And she'll be like, you want to have sex with my husband? And I'll be like, whoa, I don't know. And then we'll get brunch later and we'll laugh about it.

[21:00] Pauls Macs: Teresa, I'll drink to that.

[21:01] Teresa Attridge: I'll drink to that. L'chaim.

[21:03] Pauls Macs: L'chaim.

[21:05] Teresa Attridge: Also, everyone should know that Teresa and I finally met in real life as people and we had ramen. It was delicious, but we talked about Company for like an hour.

[21:12] Rob Berliner: I can rant about Company all day, every day. It's one of those scripts I can really chew on for a while.

[21:17] Harrison Bryan: It was basically conceived in order to be a bonding show for young people 50 years later.

[21:22] Teresa Attridge: And honestly, I'm sorry and grateful for that.

[21:24] Pauls Macs: Always.

[21:25] Teresa Attridge: Always sorry. Always grateful. Thank you, everyone, for being here. It was such a pleasure talking to you about A Hanukkah Carol today. You all are clearly talented, have so much synergy between each other. I just want to say thanks for writing this great piece. It's got so much heart. It made me laugh more than any script I've read in a long, long time. And I learned a lot. Incredible. Before we go, will you all please tell us where audiences can go see Hanukkah Carol?

[21:48] Rob Berliner: So we are really excited to announce that the world premiere of A Hanukkah Carol or Geltrup the Musical will be at Roundhouse Theatre in November, December of 2024. That's next holiday season. The DC community is very excited for it. It's a quick little bus ride from New York City. So if you want to celebrate Hanukkah with us, we'll be there all the way from the end of November almost to New Year's. For six weeks, we're running at Roundhouse Theatre. So check out our website, A Hanukkah Carol dot com. Check us out on Instagram at A Hanukkah Carol. Come celebrate with us. We're really excited to share the show with the world.

[22:23] Aaron Kenny: If the word Hanukkah proves challenging to spell, as it does for everyone, including us, AHC Musical dot com will also link you to A Hanukkah Carol dot com. So that's easier to spell, I find, because we spell it A-H-C.

[22:35] Rob Berliner: Also, I spelled Hanukkah differently than how it's spelled in this show. When I sent an email inviting them onto the show, I was like, hey, come talk to us about A Hanukkah Carol. And I then quickly realized, oh, wait, but they were so gracious. These writers were so gracious. And they said, you know, there's 16 ways to spell it, which is a joke in the show.

[22:51] Harrison Bryan: It is.

[22:52] Rob Berliner: If you knew the laundry list of variations on the actual title that we've gotten up to this point, we were grateful that you were in the ballpark.

[22:59] Pauls Macs: So a very Hanukkah Christmas, I've heard before.

[23:03] Rob Berliner: Just to name one that jumps to mind.

[23:05] Pauls Macs: Amazing.

[23:06] Rob Berliner: Not the title of the show.

[23:07] Pauls Macs: So thank you, pals.

[23:08] Rob Berliner: Of course. Incredible. Aaron and Rob, as always, a delight to see you. My beautiful bespectacled men. The show is incredible. And Harrison, you know.

[23:17] Harrison Bryan: You know.

[23:19] Pauls Macs: I can't wait to hang.

[23:20] Harrison Bryan: I know.

[23:21] Pauls Macs: We gotta hang. As Teresa likes to say, old friends and new friends, we've been on a journey together. Thank you all so much for being here. It was truly a pleasure having you.

[23:30] Rob Berliner: Thank you, pals.

[23:31] Harrison Bryan: Thank you, Teresa.

[23:32] Aaron Kenny: Thank you.

[23:33] All: Happy Hanukkah.

[23:34] Pauls Macs: Happy Hanukkah.

[23:35] All: Happy Hanukkah.

[23:37] Pauls Macs: Thanks for joining us on New York Theatre Barn's Backstage Pass, hosted by Teresa Attridge and Pauls Macs. If you like what you hear, you can like, subscribe, and share. See you next time. Get your backstage pass.

[23:50] Pauls Macs: Get your backstage pass.