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[0:00] Jack Plotnick: Hey there, this is Jack Plotnick, and you are listening to Behind the Awards.

[0:06] Jack Plotnick: Awards. Awards. Awards.

[0:08] Jack Plotnick: First wives go to the Oscars.

[0:11] Jack Plotnick: I am.

[0:12] Jack Plotnick: Tonight, in our usual take-no-prisoner style, we are going to recap the nominees for Best Original Song, all of which you heard rendered tonight in full-throated, ferociously committed performances.

[0:24] Jack Plotnick: And now, Miss Keaton, who is herself a nominee tonight.

[0:27] Jack Plotnick: I know.

[0:27] Jack Plotnick: I voted for you, darling.

[0:28] Jack Plotnick: You did?

[0:31] Jack Plotnick: But you do already have one, so it won't be the end of the world if you don't get one.

[0:35] Jack Plotnick: No. Okay. All right.

[0:36] Jack Plotnick: So the Oscar goes to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, for You Must Love Me from Evita.

[0:52] Eila Mell: Hello, and welcome to Behind the Awards. I'm Eila. I am here with my co-host, Bruce.

[0:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Hello, Bruce.

[0:58] Eila Mell: How are you?

[1:00] Bruce Gotlieb: I'm good.

[1:01] Eila Mell: So I do love First Wives Club. How about you?

[1:04] Bruce Gotlieb: So fun. So much fun.

[1:05] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[1:06] Eila Mell: Bette Midler, obviously, being the ringleader there, which I get.

[1:10] Eila Mell: And it's funny, because she, you know, mentioned, you know, the late Diane Keaton, that she was nominated that year as well.

[1:16] Eila Mell: But it's funny watching them interact, even when they're not in character, that they kind of take on that friendship.

[1:24] Eila Mell: So it makes you kind of love the movie even more, because they clearly embodied that.

[1:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[1:32] Eila Mell: So. All right. So, I mean, I have to jump in, because it's such a hot ticket. It's such a buzzed about show. We both got to see Chess.

[1:39] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[1:40] Eila Mell: So I went in only knowing some of the music from the Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, that concert that kind of recording's been around. And also some of the previous recordings. So I only went in knowing the music, never having any real tangible understanding of the story, the book or anything.

[2:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[2:03] Bruce Gotlieb: You, on the other hand, went in fully versed.

[2:06] Eila Mell: Not fully, but I fully versed in the music, because I love that cast recording, the original.

[2:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[2:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Judy Keirn was so great.

[2:15] Eila Mell: Such a great score, isn't it?

[2:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Such a great. It's so, yeah, the score is really exciting. Just to be in the room and hear it live is something else.

[2:24] Eila Mell: But so, yeah. So I knew all the music, but I didn't know the book. I had never seen a production of it.

[2:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[2:32] Eila Mell: So, you know, you imagine how certain things play out, because you're so familiar with the music. And then, of course, it's never going to be the same as what you picture. So that was a lot of fun.

[2:43] Eila Mell: And of course, they've updated the book.

[2:45] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[2:45] Eila Mell: So there are some lines that speak to today's political climate, even though it didn't necessarily have to, but you would have had an understanding either way. There are political threads through it, because it takes place during the Cold War.

[3:01] Bruce Gotlieb: So that's going to...

[3:04] Bruce Gotlieb: And it very much is about politics, in a way.

[3:07] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[3:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, for sure.

[3:09] Eila Mell: And of course, you know, you have the threesome leading the way, Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, and Nicholas Christopher. And then you have our upcoming guest, Hannah Cruz.

[3:22] Bruce Gotlieb: And she's really a fourth. I mean, it's the four of them, really.

[3:26] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[3:27] Eila Mell: Even though she comes in, in act two only.

[3:30] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right.

[3:31] Bruce Gotlieb: You have an ensemble, which is working like nobody's business up there on stage. And a really strong dance component to the show, which people should know, because I think that's thrilling. I love to watch great dancers.

[3:44] Eila Mell: We have our friend and former guest, Sean Alan Krill.

[3:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[3:48] Bruce Gotlieb: You have Bryce Pinkham as the Arbiter, who's also taking on a role of narrator.

[3:53] Eila Mell: He also reminds me of Danny Strong, you know, the actor and writer who wrote this version of the book.

[3:59] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[4:00] Bruce Gotlieb: You know, I see him as a surrogate, Danny Strong.

[4:03] Eila Mell: I can get that.

[4:04] Bruce Gotlieb: I can get that.

[4:05] Eila Mell: So what I thought was really interesting is that, you know it's going to be political from the very first moment of the show, because the characters, they're all wearing suits, but some of them have red pocket squares and some of them have blue.

[4:21] Bruce Gotlieb: So right away, we know.

[4:22] Eila Mell: Picking sides.

[4:24] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right. And it's not American politics of today, but they do talk a little bit about American politics of today. There are nods.

[4:33] Eila Mell: And I think, did that work for you or did that not work for you, making it topical?

[4:38] Bruce Gotlieb: Not really. I didn't love the insertion of the really specific now politics, just because I think it shortchanges the longevity of the show, or maybe not longevity isn't the right word, but I like it to be just a little bit more broad based, kind of that you could fill in the blank, you know. It's exciting when you hear, or maybe funny when you hear a line in the show that is just political of its time, that might not have a timestamp on it, and it relates to something that's going on now, and it gives you that kind of that humor. So I appreciate that more than I do the specific inference.

[5:28] Eila Mell: Well, I think they had to address that Aaron Tveit's character's name is Freddie Trumper, especially the Trump part of the name, but also Trump's father was Fred Trump.

[5:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, okay.

[5:42] Eila Mell: So I think you really kind of need to say this was a show written when it was written. The name has nothing to do with anything going on. So that's great. So I think that otherwise it might be confusing to people who don't realize.

[5:56] Bruce Gotlieb: But also, you know, I agree with you that certain things could date the show, but I also think the way it's written, you could easily take those references out to the current politics. Like if you're doing the show in 15 years, you can just take those lines out and it won't affect the story or the trajectory of the show. So I think, you know, I think it's written smartly so that you can do that.

[6:20] Eila Mell: Okay. If that makes sense to you.

[6:23] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[6:24] Bruce Gotlieb: But gosh, I thought the show was great. I really, it was so exciting to be in the room with other people who are so excited to hear this music and to see the show. Did you feel that when you went also?

[6:35] Eila Mell: Yeah, there definitely was an energy to it. And, you know, I was excited to hear them sing these songs. And honestly, they're singing it like nobody's business. I mean, Lea Michele's Nobody's Side is just brilliant.

[6:54] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, we knew going in that she was going to knock it out of the park because that voice, but it's not just her. Nicholas Christopher, every time I go to a Broadway show, I hope to hear a voice like that.

[7:07] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[7:07] Bruce Gotlieb: And, you know, you don't always get that. He is so incredible. And he's really, I mean, he plays the Russian as a real, almost robot.

[7:18] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[7:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Chaz, I mean, he's so, I think his performance is really, really just spectacular in this show. I really enjoyed him. I think it's going to be interesting to see what happens come, you know, award season, you know, because revivals are really hot right now.

[7:36] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[7:38] Bruce Gotlieb: I think it's going to be an interesting dynamic when it comes to the races, and especially with the acting categories, too, so.

[7:47] Eila Mell: I also thought a lot of it was visually interesting. The use of color, you know, is very black and white and gray, the palette, what people were wearing. And then on the set, there was just a little bit of red.

[8:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[8:03] Eila Mell: To remind you. But then also at one point, you know, we talk about this with Hannah Cruz, but at one point, a frame comes down and it looks like they're in a chess board.

[8:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[8:13] Eila Mell: People are sitting along the sides where the chess pieces are at the beginning of a chess game. And that was so cool to see. And also, Lea Michele's costumes, you know. I mean, she was sewn into those. Dresses are, like, made pristinely for her body. I mean, she looks incredible.

[8:31] Bruce Gotlieb: She does.

[8:31] Eila Mell: And that second act wig, I thought was sensational.

[8:35] Bruce Gotlieb: That's great.

[8:35] Eila Mell: I like the first act one, too, with the really long hair. But I just wanted to make the point that her costumes tell the story of her character's growth.

[8:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Sure.

[8:44] Eila Mell: You can see it. You know, first she starts off in this black jumpsuit, very low cut, very business-y, though, at the same time. And she looks amazing. But then, you know, in act two, she's in a white dress now, and it's softer. It's the same. The top is very much the same construction as the black, but the skirt, the color's softer. Now she's in a skirt. She's softer. And, you know, just these little details mean a lot to me.

[9:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Sure.

[9:15] Eila Mell: As an audience member. You know, it's like, you can tell a story through so many different ways, right?

[9:21] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[9:22] Bruce Gotlieb: I love that.

[9:23] Eila Mell: So visually, it was really great. And also, you know, the projections were interesting to watch.

[9:31] Bruce Gotlieb: I will be honest, from my seat where I was, the projections were not effective.

[9:37] Eila Mell: Oh, really?

[9:37] Bruce Gotlieb: You were able to slightly make them out not quite as well as you would have from a different seat.

[9:44] Eila Mell: Why? Was there an overhang blocking that?

[9:46] Bruce Gotlieb: No overhang at all. Just the way the set piece and the construction of the scaffolding is, you don't have a clear vision of the, you don't get a clear vision from a higher vantage point of the projection.

[9:57] Eila Mell: Oh, that's too bad.

[9:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Some of them weren't quite clear. You can make out what they were going to be. But I think if you were sitting from the orchestra, probably, as opposed to the machine, you might have had a different experience.

[10:13] Eila Mell: Yeah, well, I did. I was downstairs and I was on house left side. And it was a very clear.

[10:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, I was upstairs.

[10:25] Eila Mell: Center to left.

[10:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Really pretty much center, though.

[10:30] Eila Mell: All right.

[10:31] Bruce Gotlieb: All right.

[10:32] Eila Mell: Well, I'm sorry.

[10:33] Bruce Gotlieb: No, it was, you know, I didn't leave, you know, in a rage.

[10:38] Eila Mell: Right, right, right.

[10:40] Bruce Gotlieb: No, I get it. But the performances are great. The music, I mean, the orchestra sounded incredible. The overture, sometimes I get, you know, I don't want an overture, but this was great because it was like, you get a little preview of all the songs that I can't wait to hear.

[10:57] Eila Mell: Right.

[10:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, the songs that you know.

[11:01] Eila Mell: Well, know and love.

[11:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Know and love would be Grease. But we have, you know, Jack Plotnick on who is doing Vape, which is a parody. So you're taking the songs that you know and love and just adding a little humor and flipping them around a little bit.

[11:16] Jack Plotnick: Oh, not a little humor. A whole lot of humor. And nobody does it like Jack does it.

[11:22] Bruce Gotlieb: No, Jack Plotnick is going to be funny. Like, he just can't help it. He just brings a funny quality. I'm sure he can do anything dramatic that he wants and he would be very good. But he's just someone who is naturally.

[11:35] Eila Mell: So, let's get Jack out. Let's talk all things vape and grease. Absolutely.

[11:42] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, Bruce, what was the most fun you've had in the theater in the past year? Because easily, I can tell you, and I think it's the same. We got to go see the newest parody sensation, Vape! The Musical. That was so much fun. Me? Yes, you, with our guest. Welcome, Jack Plotnick.

[12:02] Jack Plotnick: Oh, I'm honored to be here. It's great to be here. Thank you. You guys, oh my gosh, I didn't know you were talking about us. Oh, yes. When we heard that you guys were doing this one night only, we ran. So, I mean, listen, for me, Grease was huge growing up.

[12:22] Eila Mell: Oh, yeah, me too.

[12:23] Jack Plotnick: So, now I'm a purist because I'm a Broadway Grease person. I grew up seeing those commercials, longest running Broadway show. And so, you know, I saw the Broadway play, and then the movie was everything.

[12:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, my God. Well, I couldn't imagine having seen the play. I was a Midwestern boy. I didn't even know there was a thing called Broadway. And yeah, I mean, I was obsessed with the movie, obsessed. We must talk about this. But I've never seen it on stage. I saw the '90, there was one in '93 or '94. Yes, I did see that.

[13:03] Jack Plotnick: Okay, that was, see, that was a bit of a reinvention. So, it's funny, I don't think of that as the classical Grease. It's not, because they made changes based on the movie.

[13:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Right, that's it. Yes, yes, that was the director was, is his name Jeff?

[13:18] Jack Plotnick: Jeff Calhoun, maybe? Yeah, he directed it. Yes. And my dear friend, Seth Rudetsky, was playing for it. So, I saw it many times. I auditioned for it. And it got down to me and Paul Castry. And I'm so happy he got it. I love Paul Castry. He was amazing. What a cast that was.

[13:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, it really was. Anyway, point is, the vehicle Grease is astounding. But the movie, the movie, because Randall Kleiss, the director of that movie, he's just a genius. He made it all look so easy. But there's just magic in every frame, not to mention the casting.

[13:54] Jack Plotnick: Yes. Two of the most magical people in the history.

[13:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, yeah. Yes.

[13:57] Jack Plotnick: Gervald in The Living Newton John, and the perfect roles, perfect moment. Absolutely. Wow, wow, wow. I used to, when I was doing community theater at the time, and I would entertain the adults in the shows I was in at the cast parties, by lip syncing to Summer Nights, playing both roles. So, I guess I've always been doing some sort of drag.

[14:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, right. I had a John Travolta pillow growing up. I love, this is very important. Do you know where that pillow is?

[14:29] Jack Plotnick: Oh, you know, I probably did very terrible things to it as a young kid. We had everything. We had the album, and there was a thing called, what's it called? Photo novels.

[14:41] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, yeah.

[14:42] Jack Plotnick: They would take a frame from every scene and put little cartoon bubbles so you could read the movie you were obsessed with. And then, if you were a theater kid like you were, and I was, you could act it out because it was, in essence, the script.

[14:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. Very interesting.

[14:59] Jack Plotnick: Right. You had that accompany the album, which you could then lip sync to.

[15:04] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, yeah. Speaking of singing to the album, when I would mow the lawn in my suburban home, I had this fantasy that I would get cast as Dan. I'm like in sixth grade right now, and my fantasy was I would be cast as Danny in Grease, and somehow I would become that cool, and so I would sing the whole album full out. I built this album as mowing, and no one could hear me because the lawnmower is over it.

[15:28] Jack Plotnick: Right.

[15:29] Bruce Gotlieb: But no one waited until I was in my 20s to tell me, oh, no, no, everyone could hear you singing. Because you're now singing over the lawnmower, so you can do it yourself. I have a very loud voice. When you're standing right next to a lawnmower, you don't know sound carry. The point is, it's all physics. I'm not a math person. I'm an artist. Anyway, so that was embarrassing. But, yeah, so this movie is very, very dear to my heart. When they sent me the script, and I saw how funny it was, and what an amazing opportunity it was for people, because people love Grease, but do you want to see the show again? See the musical Grease? I love that this show, Vape, which we have all the music from Grease, but with new lyrics setting it in modern day.

I love that it gives you an opportunity to love on the movie Grease, but getting to see it in a new way. But as you're watching our show, which is poking fun at the movie, the actors in the movie, at the way they presented the film, but also bringing it into modern day, it's like you're watching the movie in your mind as you're watching our show. So you kind of get to re-experience the movie in a fun new way that allows you to love it again.

[16:41] Eila Mell: Did you have much involvement in the creative process? Did you get to put your own stamp in?

[16:48] Jack Plotnick: Absolutely, yeah. Because we did one reading, and then we did the show you saw at Town Hall. And throughout that, we were adjusting script, making cuts, and changing things. So absolutely. But you know, these writers are incredible. And so there wasn't much for me to do except just laugh. Because I think that they saw that because I had written and directed Disaster with my pal Seth Radetzky, I think that they saw that we were called simpatico. You know, it's just, it's very the same kind of humor that I love. And they saw a like-minded individual in me. So it really, I mean, it's the greatest gift to be like, here's a finished script. And you don't have to do much of anything except just come and laugh and direct. And I love working with actors and what a cast. So yeah, it's been it's been an absolute miracle in my life. It just, it's just only fun.

[17:49] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, well, the best part of it for me is that it makes fun of all the things that we made fun of growing up watching it all the time. You know, like how it makes everyone feel insecure, because as a teenager, you look 10, and they were 30. You know, right? All those things.

[18:01] Jack Plotnick: Right.

[18:05] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, there's a great running gag where Rizzo is just, just so much older than everyone else.

[18:11] Jack Plotnick: Oh, my gosh.

[18:12] Bruce Gotlieb: So mean. But also, it's all it's all that you can tell that they love this film, the writers. And so it's never, it never crosses that line. But yeah, there's so much that you go, Oh, my God, I've always thought that, but I didn't know anyone else noticed.

[18:26] Jack Plotnick: Right, exactly.

[18:28] Bruce Gotlieb: There's a lot. Now someone's giving you permission to think, think that out loud now, because it's happening in front of you.

[18:34] Jack Plotnick: Yes. And our choreographer, Ashley, who is kind of like staging the numbers as we speak, is just having all these very funny nods to like, if you recall, and you're the one that I want, when they go into the funhouse.

[18:46] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, yeah.

[18:46] Jack Plotnick: These close ups where they spin around, and they have to do that, but they never get it right. At the same time, it's weird that they like the sun was setting, and they had one take, and they were like, cut, print, moving on. And Olivia's like, but oh, I don't know if we, yeah, so every every member of this from the music to the actors to it's all paying homage to every wonderful thing about the movie. And then also the neatest thing is people who didn't know the movie still can laugh a lot because it's, if you know, you know, first off, who doesn't know this incredible music?

[19:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Right? Yeah.

[19:22] Jack Plotnick: But just in case, it's still so much fun.

[19:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, yeah. I appreciate you saying that. Thank you. That was what a night. It was really magic.

[19:30] Jack Plotnick: Oh my god.

[19:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Having fun with people and you're making each other laugh. And when you know, you send your baby that was the first time it had been done in front of like a real big audience. And wow, it was it was really great to see that young people were laughing and older people were laughing. And this is a show where like, remember when you were young, and you saw the movie Grease, and he's gonna, he's gonna make out with Rizzo in the car. And she says, did you bring protection? And he goes, here's my insurance policy. We didn't get that as kids. Yeah, that's our show is it's naughty. But the naughty jokes, I think will go over the head of young people like that. We never cross a line into something that is like, oh, this is this is feeling NC 17.

[20:14] Jack Plotnick: Well, I'm going to tell you something that you should wear as a badge of honor. We did see at the theater, parents taking out their young child to leave because it was too naughty for that.

[20:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, don't bring a toddler.

[20:30] Jack Plotnick: Exactly. We thought that was hilarious. And our section where we were sitting was just everybody became fast friends and chatting and just laughing. It was like, you know, the best night.

[20:42] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, I love that. Thank you. Yeah, I just you know, Seth Rudetsky really inspired me. He said, Jack, you've got to make this happen because the world needs to laugh right now. And and that's just been my touchstone through this whole process is that I want people I want people to laugh and to and to remember that that we love things as a community, that we all have those same things that bond us and connect us. And two of those things are John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

[21:08] Eila Mell: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

[21:18] Jack Plotnick: Hi, this is Beth Leavel and behind the awards, we'll be right back. Don't go anywhere. Don't do it.

[21:22] Eila Mell: So listen, let's get down to some serious questions, because when Bruce and I found out that this was going to have a run now, we were so excited. But also we saw the cast and so we have some questions.

[21:34] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, yes. So it seems like now because the average age of the cast that we saw was probably 40 to 50, which was great. But now it seems like you cast it with more appropriate aged actors.

[21:47] Jack Plotnick: Well, I mean, you know, no one's no one's in high school. I'll tell you that. But yeah, that's true. But these are people in their 20s like our our bullseye was sort of a 28 year old. And so I kind of said, you know, let's try to find people who are either older than 28, but look, 28 or younger. So it is a younger cast.

[22:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. OK.

[22:03] Jack Plotnick: Yeah. Because, you know, you got to do three shows in one day.

[22:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, that's true. Yeah, that's true. You need some young stamina. We still have to pack all our shows on the days people want to see theater. And that's that's what it is to put up a new show and on the budget that you can scrap together for an unproven thing. So but we're proving it. Oh, boy, are we the cast we found. Seth came to our first run through two days ago. And just afterwards, he said, I can't believe this, this cast you found. It is they are incredible. And they're all going to be stolen from us the moment this 10 week run is over. They're going to be snatched away because we really discovered some very special people. You're going to fall in love with this cast.

[22:50] Jack Plotnick: That's so exciting. That's exciting to have new people that some people might not hear of. And they're going out, obviously, just to have a night of theater and laugh or day. And now all of a sudden, the next thing they know, they're seeing this person who is knocking their socks off.

[23:09] Jack Plotnick: So many different ways. Each person has their own strengths. Some people are just so lovable, and other people are sort of comedic chaos agents. And other people are just doing the most incredible impression of that person that you can't even remember what they look like. My friend watched the run-through and was like, I couldn't remember what John Travolta looked like because he looked so much like him. He just became Danny for me. It's a terrific cast, and that is the biggest hurdle, I believe, as a director is getting a cast that you want to watch and who, when I leave after opening night, will take this comedy and just grow and have more and more fun. And that's really where the cast is.

We're all on just the idea of, look, people, they just want you playing on stage and having a good time. And if you're having a good time, they will. One of the funniest parts of the night we saw, again, going back to that, was the brilliant Jackie Hoffman was Rizzo. And, you know, obviously, she's not going to be getting pregnant anytime soon. Yes, knocked up at 51 is one of the lyrics. Obviously, so you have to make changes to accommodate the actors you have now. Are you finding new ways to be hilarious in those changes?

[24:29] Jack Plotnick: Oh, my gosh. We had no time to do the presentation you saw. And so that was a one week rehearsal. So having three weeks to really dig in and explore. And of course, now we're staging. I mean, the numbers are fully staged now. And Ashley Marinelli, our choreographer, is hysteric. Her mind, like, she is adding so much comedy. But yes, so, you know, Jackie Hoffman only has to step on stage and say the word. So, yeah, I mean, like, we are definitely inventing a lot of really fun shtick. And we found an incredible actress who is able to bring to life, not only that I'm a haggy one year old Rizzo who's wondering why she's hanging out with teenagers, but she also is able to like bring the parts of stalker Channing that we also enjoyed that, you know, that the smart and sassy stalker.

And so I kind of when we talk about the scenes, I'll be like, okay, this is this is hag Rizzo, but now you're stalker Rizzo. And so, you know, it's every different comedic actor brings something new to any role. And so yeah, we're definitely finding lots of fun new stuff. And it's so nice to have them away from, you know, the reading thing. They all had their scripts and they had they were standing at stands. And now we're fully enacting the scene. So and it's when you see these dance numbers, I mean, the you know, you're hearing your favorite songs with hysterical lyrics and all of these comic shtick moments throughout that remind you of the movie, but are bringing it to modern day. Anyway, I'm just giddy. Because I just saw the film, we just ran through it two days ago for the first time. And it's just all the work we've done in the last two weeks just popped together was great.

[26:18] Jack Plotnick: How do you as a director and somebody who loves this? I feel like it almost has to be hard to stop wanting to play, right? Because you have all these people that do comedy, the scripts funny, it leans into what you're so good at. So how do you pull back or restrain yourself from wanting to just keep going and keep playing with it?

[26:39] Jack Plotnick: I don't I can't. Danny Salas, who helped write the lyrics and has done incredible work on this. He's sort of my assistant director, and we have just the same mind. And he'll be working on one thing, I'm on another. And he'll say to me, Jack, make sure that you run the scene one more time when you're done playing to, what does he say, I think, like to cement it or whatever. And I'm like, Oh, God, but I'm having too much fun to cement. I don't want to cement. But I know I have to because, you know, in a week and a day, I think we start previews. And so the actors are, yeah, they're gonna want me to say, let's do this. But I always say, and then we'll see what happens through the run, because this this show should stay alive, feels like a group of friends having fun, cracking each other up on stage. And yeah, so it's hard to stop playing. But you know, maybe the whole show can just be one big playground.

[27:43] Jack Plotnick: You know, it's obviously you're rehearsing it and you're setting things and you know, it's it's very professionally done. But also, there's that element of it's like Rocky Horror, where you're playing along with the movie.

[27:57] Jack Plotnick: Yes, yeah, it's just so much fun. And the audience, you know, they love that kind of experience because they're part of it.

[28:01] Jack Plotnick: Oh, yeah. Well, you feel a bit of an ownership with Grease because it's so close to your heart. And, you know, those every image from that film is just seared on my mind. And so you to see people who are just also love the show and are playing in that world, it's such a joy. And we even have in the final song. Oh, my God, the lyrics are hysterical because it brings up we we go together. It's now we vibe together. And really, the lyrics are hysterical. Billy Reese and Danny wrote these lyrics that are basically everything that kids say nowadays. And it's such a tongue twister. And there's actually the lyrics are on the screen behind them with a little bouncing ball.

[28:41] Jack Plotnick: Oh, that's great.

[28:42] Jack Plotnick: Oh, I love that. If you can wrap your mouth around.

[28:44] Jack Plotnick: You know, I was such a Grease fan and just it just was wanted to see every cast member in anything they did. And I remember discovering at home one day on a TV movie, Stockard Channing in The Girl Most Likely To. Do you know this movie?

[29:01] Jack Plotnick: But I didn't see it.

[29:02] Jack Plotnick: Oh, my God. She was this ugly duckling that had an accident, a car accident. And so she had to have plastic surgery to become beautiful. And then she took revenge and all the people who were awful to her. It is. It's almost camp. And it's so good.

[29:16] Unknown speaker: Almost.

[29:18] Unknown speaker: How grizzly.

[29:19] Unknown speaker: Movie movie? A TV movie?

[29:21] Jack Plotnick: Wow.

[29:22] Jack Plotnick: I think it was a TV movie.

[29:23] Jack Plotnick: A crazy time.

[29:24] Unknown speaker: I know.

[29:27] Unknown speaker: My favorite Grease, which I know Isla and I have talked about is that the original Broadway Sandy was Carol from Magic Garden. When I found that out blew my mind.

[29:36] Jack Plotnick: Yeah.

[29:37] Unknown speaker: The Magic Garden. Was that a kids show?

[29:39] Jack Plotnick: Yes.

[29:39] Jack Plotnick: Yeah.

[29:40] Unknown speaker: Was it with was it with real life puppets as well?

[29:43] Jack Plotnick: Yes, they had. And it was the two hosts. They look like hippies with ponytail.

[29:48] Unknown speaker: That's right.

[29:49] Jack Plotnick: I tell you, everyone was.

[29:51] Unknown speaker: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[29:52] Jack Plotnick: Every kids show back then was just where they sent the writers who liked to do it.

[29:56] Unknown speaker: I know they were trippy. They had like the chuckle patch where they would get jokes from.

[30:02] Jack Plotnick: Chopping squirrel.

[30:03] Jack Plotnick: I loved it as a kid.

[30:04] Unknown speaker: Same.

[30:06] Jack Plotnick: Yeah, no, I Randall Kleiss at that movie, they when I look at that cast, my gosh, every every person is phenomenal. I was just going through IMDb to see what each person did. I was like, Frenchie is incredible in that movie.

[30:18] Unknown speaker: Didi Connett, like performance. And I was like, but she never worked again.

[30:22] Jack Plotnick: No, Jack, she worked nonstop afterwards. I just didn't watch the thing she was in.

[30:27] Unknown speaker: Right.

[30:27] Jack Plotnick: I was glad because I do love Didi. Yeah.

[30:30] Unknown speaker: Oh, my God.

[30:31] Jack Plotnick: She's great. And then to bring in like the old time movie stars to be the adults was so brilliant.

[30:37] Unknown speaker: Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I was saying in the 70s was so trippy, like because we all watch like shows like The Love Boat, where you would like watch some like 80 year old star from the silent era falling in love. Like back then, we thought people wanted to watch Carol Channing and Ethel Merman meet a man on a boat.

[30:57] Jack Plotnick: I did.

[30:58] Unknown speaker: Wait, you mean you did?

[30:59] Jack Plotnick: Oh, yeah, I was all in.

[31:03] Jack Plotnick: I think Robert Reed, the dad in Brady Bunch was on The Love Boat like three times. Like they just kept having you back and they would just pretend they hadn't met you.

[31:11] Unknown speaker: Right.

[31:11] Jack Plotnick: It's a strange show.

[31:12] Unknown speaker: Yeah, they didn't care.

[31:14] Jack Plotnick: That was the 70s.

[31:15] Unknown speaker: That's right.

[31:15] Jack Plotnick: Right, that's right.

[31:17] Jack Plotnick: Child labor. They had Vicky working on the boat.

[31:22] Unknown speaker: Exactly. Yeah, I was so excited when Xanadu came out because, of course, I fell in love with Olivia Newton-John and I think I just didn't get the movie. Of course, now I'm obsessed with it.

[31:31] Jack Plotnick: I will, yeah.

[31:32] Jack Plotnick: We have a funny nod to Xanadu on our show.

[31:36] Jack Plotnick: It's fun to like, you know, give little winks to these actors and what became of them.

[31:41] Unknown speaker: Yeah.

[31:41] Jack Plotnick: Oh, I love that. And of course, you know, when you did the one night, Carrie Butler, who starred in Xanadu, was Zandy. And her original co-star, James Carpinello, was Danny. Who played the lead in Saturday Night Fever. So it's all, you know, full circle.

[31:59] Unknown speaker: The universe exploded that night.

[32:01] Jack Plotnick: That was magic. He was great.

[32:03] Unknown speaker: I loved him as Danny.

[32:05] Jack Plotnick: Oh, absolutely. I've always been a huge fan of his. I loved him in Rock of Ages. And his new show is going to win every award. I got to see the final reading of The Lost Boys.

[32:15] Unknown speaker: Oh, did you?

[32:16] Jack Plotnick: I think I sobbed like four or five times. Like, just my shirt was soaking wet. It is not only an amazing adaptation of the movie and gives terrific fan service if you love the movie, but they truly turned it into a Broadway show with tremendous amounts of depth and heart. And it's really about something very important and special and very universal what it's about. And yet it's a thrill ride. Anyway, you'll see.

[32:45] Unknown speaker: Can't wait.

[32:46] Jack Plotnick: We had Benjamin Pajak, who's, you know, one of the leads on our show. And, you know, he's so talented. So we can't wait to see it. And plus Michael Arden. Anything he does.

[32:55] Unknown speaker: Of course.

[32:57] Jack Plotnick: The magic touch. I'm obsessed with Michael.

[32:59] Unknown speaker: Yes.

[33:00] Jack Plotnick: Yeah.

[33:02] Jack Plotnick: And, you know, like you, he's also an actor. So at any point, are you tempted to be in Vape?

[33:11] Jack Plotnick: I actually thought this a couple of days ago. I was like, pardon me. I was like, I want to be up there. What role could I? And I was like, you can't play Rizzo. I think you're a little too old.

[33:21] Unknown speaker: You'd be brilliant.

[33:24] Jack Plotnick: Well, it is my sense of humor. And I guess that's why Danny Salas reached out to me. And it's been it's been only fun. Besides Grease. What other movies were your favorites growing up?

[33:35] Jack Plotnick: Oh, wow. Growing up. Gosh, I mean, Animal House made me feel so adult. Like I just was like, oh, I'm I'm seeing something I shouldn't. And I get it. And I love it. I also loved the TV show Soap. My third grade teacher was like, you know, Jack comes in in the mornings. And we talk about soap. It was a little shocking to him because it was a very adult show. And Charlie's Angels. I just like like a living Newton. John Fairfax was also just a very special and magical person in terms of her screen presence and her her her energy. And they're they're they're sort of like to me, like twin magical sisters.

[34:11] Unknown speaker: Yes.

[34:12] Jack Plotnick: Oh my gosh. There's never been anyone like that. So, yes, all of those. I like the John Waters movies as a teenager.

[34:19] Unknown speaker: Oh, wow.

[34:19] Jack Plotnick: You found him early.

[34:21] Unknown speaker: I did.

[34:22] Jack Plotnick: Me either.

[34:22] Unknown speaker: Yeah.

[34:23] Jack Plotnick: Wow.

[34:23] Jack Plotnick: They were called underground movies at that point. There was no indie. You have a very twisted sense of humor.

[34:30] Unknown speaker: I do.

[34:30] Jack Plotnick: I do. And then, you know, Mommy Dearest, all the classic, you know, campy movies. No, that was campy the first time I saw it. And I was just crying at the end. And I was so moved. And then I watched it again when I was a little older. I was like, oh, this is terrible.

[35:14] Jack Plotnick: I love that you say that because I like helping actors, working with them, making them feel like their art is more joyful. And I always say that the thing you're meant to do, you were always doing in some way. And so I sort of pinpointed mine as I've always been a joyful creator. And so that's kind of how I would put it.

[35:34] Eila Mell: I like that. Thank you. So to you, what's the funniest part of your show? The new version of Vape?

[35:42] Jack Plotnick: Oh, you know, right now, I guess if I had to say now, I'd go the numbers, seeing them fully. As I said, Ashley Marinelli is doing incredible work. We are so, you know, I'm doing this a lot in rehearsals. And what I'm doing for those at home is I'm doing that thing where you bow and you praise someone because I'm just blown away. And that is a tough thing for a director, a young director to do, which is to let go of control and to trust the people he's hired. And my gosh, I just she has blown my mind with what she's done with the numbers in terms of entertainment value and comedy value. And so right now, I mean, because the scenes are phenomenal, but I'm just obsessed with the new toy in the room, which is now we have fully staged musical numbers and got a lot.

You know, now we can finally have all the props that we talked about in the script that were just stage directions when you saw it. And now all of those funny prop gags are now happening, which is wonderful.

[36:41] Eila Mell: And now are you still having somebody read like Seth did that night, the stage direction?

[36:46] Jack Plotnick: No, but wouldn't that be more of us? Yes, it was. But you know, I think I really wanted to stay as close to the movie as possible. I didn't want anything on stage that takes your mind away from the experience you had watching the movie as a kid. And my set designer, David Goldstein, has done a great job of doing that with what you visually see, because the script is so smart and funny. And the jokes come so fast and furious that yes, I wanted to like give those jokes a solid base of the movie so that there's no hat on a hat happening where you've got where you're kind of your attention is split between things.

[37:29] Eila Mell: Yeah, it's almost like the movement has to get out of the way of the lines because there's so it's so jammed.

[37:34] Jack Plotnick: I love that. I'm going to steal that.

[37:40] Eila Mell: Okay, great way to say it to your cast.

[37:45] Jack Plotnick: Yes, exactly. No, it's a show where the actors yet you have to know, this is the funny, this is the funny, this is the funny because it's a joy ride. It's not like watching the original musical. It's really elevated in terms of parody. And one of the things that I hope that people continue to do when they come to see the run was the night that we saw it, you had people that came, not necessarily in costume, but definitely stylized themselves to Greece. So hopefully, they'll continue to do that with this run to.

[38:07] Eila Mell: Oh, 100%. I hope so. And I love that we're, we begin our preview the night before Halloween. So I am hoping to see some. It's that kind of show where like disaster, we're like, you just want people to show up in costume, have a drink and sit down and laugh and sing along.

[38:23] Jack Plotnick: And yeah, well, that's gonna happen. I can guarantee that. Be your favorite character come as the as the as the, we call them T bros and and pink, the pink like camera work. Yeah, I was come as the tribe you want to be.

[38:37] Eila Mell: That's right. Yes, absolutely. So your cast is a bit younger. So did they know the movie as well as maybe we do?

[38:43] Jack Plotnick: Yeah, absolutely. It is a universal thing that nobody. Nobody said now it's who huh? Like they all they all knew it. But yeah, they all also went back and when they watched and studied the scenes they're in and but no, I didn't have anyone's not know it.

[39:02] Eila Mell: Yeah, it's great. Because if they know every movement that John Travolta is doing, they don't necessarily have to do that. But they can and you know, so if you want to throw a nod in it works.

[39:14] Jack Plotnick: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's a hard impression to that John Travolta sound that Oh, my God, you know, I just let the guy we got he just came in and did it and you're like, Oh, you don't have to work on it. He just Yeah. And then the our Sandy, Laura Strong, just came in with the perfect funny Australian accent. I'll like Carrie Butler and Xanadu. And then we gave her the role because she's a genius. And then she shows up to rehearsal and she has a British accent or like she had turns out that's why she's pretty close. Yeah. I gotta ask her what that accent is. So no wonder she knew how to do it. Because that's also really hard. I can't do it. When I tried to do Australian, I always my friend said, say, I'm, I'm gonna square up with a war will be and give him a punch in the now. I can't do it.

[40:11] Eila Mell: Pretty good to me.

[40:11] Jack Plotnick: Yeah.

[40:19] Eila Mell: So the original play was pretty gritty. You know, it definitely the movie made it a lot. It's like the pop version of Greece. And your show because it's, you know, it's almost a parody, right?

[40:27] Jack Plotnick: Yeah, called the Greece parody. Right? Okay. Great. So so it puts that grit back into it in a different way, which I love so much.

[40:34] Eila Mell: Well, in a modern way, definitely a modern way.

[40:40] Jack Plotnick: Yes, absolutely. And a more cynical way where that was just gritty, because it was of the time, but now you know, it's now it's, it's now the grid is like, laced with sarcasm.

[40:51] Eila Mell: Right? Exactly. And snark. And yeah, that's the best. That's my favorite thing. And Rizzo asked Kaniki in our version, whether he brought protection to lovers lane, a lawyer pops out of the backseat and has her sign a consent form.

[41:08] Eila Mell: Oh, that's hilarious.

[41:12] Jack Plotnick: Great winks to to where our world is today without going to the darker things. But just, you know, what is what is it like to be a kid today?

[41:20] Eila Mell: Right? Yeah, I mean, it's very smart script.

[41:23] Jack Plotnick: Yeah.

[41:25] Eila Mell: So who wrote the script? Let's give them credit.

[41:28] Jack Plotnick: Well, it all began at Sketchworks comedy in Georgia. And, and then just had, it's all been growing and working from there. Katie Hogan wrote the book, Billy Reese, and Danny Salas wrote the lyrics and group effort on all of the growth it's had in the comedy jewels we've found since then. It's really, really beautiful work.

[41:51] Eila Mell: What goes into for people that always have these ideas, right? What goes into, I guess, being able to, to put something like this up, whether it be for this limited, like 10 week run or whatever, even for the one night, I imagine there's so much behind the scenes that you guys have to do to get even a space for one night just to put something up.

[42:06] Jack Plotnick: Yeah, and New York City doesn't make it easy. Yeah. A lot goes into the business side that I have nothing, nothing I know about. For me, it's just about getting talent, artists to commit to, you know, whether it's five, five days of rehearsal or three weeks of rehearsal, and then to the night of doing it. So it all kind of just happens in this, if you just have to set it in motion. And I think that's the hardest part about getting a show on its feet is, or a film, when I directed my movie, it's like, you've got to get that train moving. And then once the train is moving, even if it's slowly, everyone jumps on board and then, and then it happens, but it's getting that train moving. That's the hard part.

And the universe makes you earn it. Like it never just goes here, I'll move your train. Like the universe makes you make a choice to make it happen. And the universe, and I also find that often the universe will throw tremendous boulders in your way to make you think, oh, I don't think it could happen. And you just have to go, no, it's happening. It's happening. The train is going to move. And then all of a sudden it starts moving. If you are, if it's coming from a joyful place and a place where you really believe it's something that's meant to be, and then talented people, business minded people jump on board and, and then it's there. And it's a wonderful, it's a wonderful thing when it happens.

[43:34] Eila Mell: And I love the theater magic just takes over. And then you have a night of, of just the best night of your life.

[43:44] Jack Plotnick: I hope so. Yes. It's been the, it's been the best, easiest, funnest experience in mind. So I'm loving it.

[43:51] Eila Mell: So how can people get tickets and what are the dates?

[43:55] Jack Plotnick: Oh, great question. It runs, it starts previews this Thursday and it runs, it's, it opened, opening night is November 3rd and it runs for 10 weeks. So all through the holidays, you can have fun with, with the vape cast and it closes. Oh shoot. I don't know. But anyway, we have a website probably. Oh dear. Just Google vape the musical. That's all. Just do that. Everyone knows how to do that. It's so easy.

[44:20] Eila Mell: And I'll put, and I'll find it and put a link in the notes. So.

[44:22] Jack Plotnick: Oh, I would so love if you would.

[44:24] Eila Mell: No, no, no fuss for anybody.

[44:26] Jack Plotnick: No. And listen, for those people out there who don't know what to give for a holiday gift, give the gift of vape. Bring someone to see vape. If you're in New York or near New York, it's worth the trip because it's so much fun.

[44:40] Eila Mell: Absolutely. It's right in the heart of the theater district at 42nd and 10th. It's a cheap ticket and it's the, it's the most you'll laugh I think of any show.

[44:48] Jack Plotnick: Oh my gosh.

[44:49] Eila Mell: You can do a meal, go see a tree and vape.

[44:53] Jack Plotnick: Any tree or just.

[44:54] Eila Mell: Any tree.

[44:55] Jack Plotnick: Oh no, any tree.

[44:55] Eila Mell: Just any tree.

[44:59] Jack Plotnick: That's right. That one's overrated.

[45:02] Eila Mell: Less traffic if the one's on the website.

[45:05] Jack Plotnick: Yes, less traffic.

[45:07] Eila Mell: Right.

[45:08] Jack Plotnick: Oh, well, Jack, thank you so much for joining us. Please come back when you do whatever it is that's coming up next for you. We think you're a joy.

[45:16] Jack Plotnick: Oh, thank you. You guys, I just, I love your show. And so truly this has been an honor. I really am. Thank you so much for your kind words about my show. It meant the world to me.

[45:25] Eila Mell: Oh, well, you know.

[45:26] Jack Plotnick: We loved it. We hope people will come and just have a blast with you and your cast and maybe, you know, maybe an extension or something. Any, before we let you go, anything else in the works you have that you can talk about coming up after this?

[45:38] Jack Plotnick: I have an independent film I shot opposite. I starred opposite Rachel Dratch. We shot that in New Orleans. And the title is changing, so I can't tell you what it's called. So that'll come out pretty soon. I'm very excited about that. And then I would just say, my hobby is making really silly, short videos.

[45:56] Eila Mell: They're so good.

[45:57] Jack Plotnick: Thank you. I appreciate that. If you like, if you like to laugh, check out either my YouTube or my Instagram, because everything I make, I throw up there and that's just keeps me happy.

[46:06] Eila Mell: Excellent. Well,

[46:07] Jack Plotnick: We love it.

[46:08] Eila Mell: Thank you again. And we will see everyone next time on Behind the Awards.

[46:12] Jack Plotnick: Bye-bye, everyone. Thank you. Have fun. Take care.