This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Eila Mell: Hi there, this is Clayborne Elder and you're listening to Behind the Awards.

[0:13] Eila Mell: Hello and welcome to Behind the Awards. I'm Eila. As always, I'm here with Bruce. Hello there.

[0:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Good morning. How are you doing today?

[0:23] Eila Mell: Well, I am trying now to watch as many of the Oscar-nominated movies as I can. But you know what? I'm surprised that I've seen a lot of them already because so many of them are streaming, which is great.

[0:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, they're turning them around very quickly. I have two initial, I'm going to call them two reactions to the nominations.

[0:44] Eila Mell: All right, let me hear.

[0:45] Bruce Gotlieb: One of them I think can be like branched off into other things, but it's all encompassing one. So my thrill, the thing I'm so excited about, I don't think she's going to win, but Kate Hudson's performance in Song Sung Blue getting nominated made my morning that morning.

[1:04] Eila Mell: I was so happy. It is such a great performance. Unfortunately, I don't know if the Academy will go all the way forward. She seems like the long shot.

[1:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, sometimes when a movie only gets, you know, one nomination, it's hard. Is that the only nomination for that movie?

[1:25] Eila Mell: I think so.

[1:26] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, I think it might be.

[1:29] Eila Mell: And, you know, I'm sure, like they say, it's a thrill to be nominated. She, her mother, everybody's gushing.

[1:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, that's great.

[1:36] Eila Mell: But I just, I was so excited and so happy and I was just like, ooh, I don't think she'll win, but I really want her to.

[1:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Well, she'll look great, whatever she wears. That'll be fun to see what she comes up with.

[1:48] Eila Mell: Absolutely. And on the other side of that coin, I feel that Ariana Grande was snubbed from a nomination. I was surprised that Wicked got zero nominations.

[2:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Do you think it didn't get technical nominations because they kind of consider it part of the first movie and that's why they didn't, it didn't get anything?

[2:12] Eila Mell: I think so, because even, you know, in my head going, well, Paul Taswell, the costumes were amazing, but do they feel like they already rewarded those costumes?

[2:23] Bruce Gotlieb: Some of them are different, but I'm sure some of them are also the same.

[2:28] Eila Mell: Right. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how that works when, because they shoot, they shot them together. So maybe they could be one production. I don't know.

[2:38] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. And some of the, some of the costumes clearly are different.

[2:42] Eila Mell: Right.

[2:43] Bruce Gotlieb: There are other different asks in the second movie, but some of them I'm sure are the same.

[2:50] Eila Mell: Yeah. Well, I don't know if there's different costumes and different, you know, different sets. I think it should be considered its own thing.

[2:58] Bruce Gotlieb: I don't know the rules, but I'm sure if it got shut out, which it did, that's the reason.

[3:05] Eila Mell: So those, those were my couple of takeaways.

[3:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Okay.

[3:09] Eila Mell: How about you? What stood out to you?

[3:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Elle Fanning. I thought that was a surprise. I was happy for her. I saw her post and she was so thrilled. So that's nice, you know, when someone is so excited to get, I think, her first nomination.

[3:24] Eila Mell: You know, Frankenstein I saw, and I didn't love it, but I liked parts of it. You know, I'm interested to see how that works out. I was just more taken with how much I had seen already.

[3:38] Bruce Gotlieb: And I was sort of glad. I really want to see the Rose Byrne movie.

[3:42] Eila Mell: Okay.

[3:44] Bruce Gotlieb: I don't know. Now I'm just going to try to see as much as I can. I think the only thing that I can see streaming now is F1 that I haven't seen.

[3:54] Eila Mell: Yeah. That's on Apple. Yep.

[3:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. So I'll watch that as we are awaiting snow.

[4:00] Eila Mell: Yes. Here in, here in the New York area.

[4:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. As we record, we're just ahead of the snowstorm. When this gets released, we'll be on the other side of it.

[4:08] Eila Mell: That's right. That's right. The one thing about timing of the nominations and all is right now for us, theater wise, things are quiet.

[4:17] Bruce Gotlieb: A little bit. Yeah.

[4:19] Eila Mell: We don't have that next push for the season.

[4:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[4:23] Eila Mell: So you have time to digest all of the Oscar stuff.

[4:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[4:26] Eila Mell: And then when you're done with that, all the other things will start starting to open.

[4:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. And I like to stay home a little bit more in the winter, hibernate a little bit.

[4:34] Eila Mell: That's right.

[4:35] Bruce Gotlieb: So, you know, I can watch some more movies. I told you I'm rewatching Handmaid's Tale.

[4:41] Eila Mell: Yes.

[4:42] Bruce Gotlieb: And finishing it because I gave up at some point, but I didn't remember where I gave up. So I just decided to watch from the beginning.

[4:48] Eila Mell: Okay.

[4:49] Bruce Gotlieb: I see why I gave up on it because there was a stretch where it got pretty boring.

[4:53] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[4:54] Bruce Gotlieb: But I powered through and now it's good again.

[4:56] Eila Mell: Good. Good.

[4:57] Bruce Gotlieb: And there's some great acting in that.

[4:59] Eila Mell: And, you know, Samara Wiley is coming to Broadway this season, which is exciting.

[5:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. That is exciting.

[5:05] Eila Mell: I love when we have those little, like, you know, glimpses of, you know, our theater folk.

[5:11] Bruce Gotlieb: I know. I know.

[5:12] Eila Mell: And all of those Orange is the New Black ladies are so talented.

[5:16] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Yeah.

[5:17] Eila Mell: So it's fun when they're in other stuff.

[5:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[5:20] Eila Mell: Absolutely. And, you know, it's, you feel almost, even though we have nothing to do with it, you feel almost an ownership of discovery, right?

[5:27] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right. That's right. Because we've known them since Orange is the New Black.

[5:30] Eila Mell: Since they got their big break.

[5:32] Bruce Gotlieb: So I remember when the show was new, I would always see all of them at Fashion Week all the time.

[5:39] Eila Mell: Oh, wow.

[5:40] Bruce Gotlieb: They were like, you know, they were the it girls then.

[5:42] Eila Mell: Sure. Sure.

[5:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, speaking of up-and-comers.

[5:46] Eila Mell: Yes.

[5:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Today we, well, let's rewind a little bit. We had the privilege of being invited to a 29-hour reading of a new musical that is still kind of working and being developed.

[6:00] Eila Mell: Yes.

[6:01] Bruce Gotlieb: I don't know if we're allowed to say its name, so we'll just leave it at that.

[6:04] Eila Mell: Okay. Well, no one has heard of it yet because it's not out there yet.

[6:08] Bruce Gotlieb: But it's a new musical and we have the star of it, Jonathan Mousset.

[6:12] Eila Mell: That's true.

[6:13] Bruce Gotlieb: And he was great. So we figured let's invite him on the show.

[6:16] Eila Mell: Yeah, you know, it's when you're sitting there and watching something new and something developed. You don't know what's kind of happening. And every now and then there's something that just like really shouts out at you. And he was, you know, so charismatic and he just has it. You know, there's just something there that glint, that sparkle.

[6:38] Bruce Gotlieb: So we invited him on and he did us the honor to come on and chat about his career thus far.

[6:44] Eila Mell: Well, let's bring him in.

[6:45] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[6:49] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, Eila, we went to see not a performance, yes, a performance, but not.

[6:56] Eila Mell: It was a reading, right? An industry reading.

[6:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. Of a new play musical called Soundwall.

[7:02] Eila Mell: And we never do this.

[7:04] Bruce Gotlieb: We saw this actor in the show who we thought was great.

[7:07] Eila Mell: Absolutely.

[7:08] Bruce Gotlieb: And we said, well, we just want to have him on our show.

[7:10] Eila Mell: And we invited him.

[7:12] Bruce Gotlieb: Usually someone's attached to, you know, something else. But we just we just liked him so much.

[7:16] Eila Mell: So welcome, Jonathan Mousset.

[7:18] Jonathan Mousset: Thank you so much, y'all. Such a pleasure.

[7:20] Eila Mell: Oh my gosh.

[7:21] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah.

[7:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Lovely surprise.

[7:24] Eila Mell: Well, you were wonderful. You were the central character in this reading called Soundwall.

[7:29] Bruce Gotlieb: And yeah, we were completely won over by you.

[7:33] Eila Mell: So when you do a reading like that, do you audition? Is it because you know someone? How does that come about?

[7:39] Jonathan Mousset: Well, this was a really funny situation. I'm really good friends with Clayton Howe, who was the producer on the piece. And I had invited him the week before to see a production of Mexodus. Because I had an extra ticket. And I knew he's been wanting to see the show. And he said, yes, I want it. Let's go. And then three hours later, he says, hey, can you jump on a phone call? And I said, yeah, sure. He's like, what are you doing this week? What are you doing between Wednesday and Monday of this next week? I was like, I mean, I have a life, but I can obviously be free for you. So I cleared up my schedule. I moved some things around. And before you knew it, I was the lead of this reading.

[8:23] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[8:24] Jonathan Mousset: That was being performed at Boulevard Carol Studios of all places.

[8:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Did you come into it late? Because I was looking at old promotional stuff. And your name wasn't on it yet.

[8:33] Jonathan Mousset: That's right. Yeah. I came in last minute and he needed someone that he knew he could rely on to pick up all the material. Because as you could see, it was a heavy load. So much singing. We learned it all in three or four days.

[8:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[8:49] Jonathan Mousset: And then performed with the band for maybe like two or three hours. And then that's what you saw.

[8:54] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. It was a presentation.

[8:56] Jonathan Mousset: That's pretty impressive.

[8:57] Bruce Gotlieb: I was going to say, your memory is really good. Because yes, you guys all had scripts in front of you. There are times you go to something like this and people are reliant on those scripts. You had it there just as like a quick glance down to see like, okay, am I where I need to be?

[9:14] Jonathan Mousset: Right. Right. Right. Like second nature. I would have thought you were involved in this for months.

[9:20] Jonathan Mousset: Well, something like that. I appreciate you saying that something like that. I really dig in and I spend all my time and I'm like living, breathing it for five days.

[9:29] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[9:30] Jonathan Mousset: And it's, it's the kind of thing where I've been doing this long enough that I know what my process is. And so I know how well I need to know the material and I know the process that it takes to, to get there. So I know that it's, you know, the, what is it? The, the Pomodoro technique of, of 20 minutes on and 10 minutes off. And you just do just doing that and not burning out because you can, you can easily get frustrated if things aren't sticking, but just trusting yourself and knowing that it's retaining, even though it feels like it's not being retained. And knowing that sometimes all you need is to sleep it off.

[10:06] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[10:07] Jonathan Mousset: And then, and then wake up and come back to it and you're like, Oh wait, yeah, I did know this a lot better than I thought I did.

[10:12] Bruce Gotlieb: It's amazing. I mean, it really was a heavy lift. Your character was on almost every page of that script.

[10:18] Jonathan Mousset: It was a good time though. Nick Artelino, he wrote the music. He's a, he's a genius, man. It's like all the music was, was so reminiscent of, of all the classic rock that I grew up listening to.

[10:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[10:31] Jonathan Mousset: So I was like, I know exactly who inspired this. I know exactly the kind of vocal quality that you want. And he was, and he just trusted me and we just, we just went for it.

[10:38] Eila Mell: How fun to get to create a character too.

[10:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Sorry, Bruce.

[10:41] Jonathan Mousset: No, I was going to say the music, definitely. You can, it drove the piece and you know, all those backbeats and all that, that you, like you said, reminiscent. So sometimes when you go to see a show that has, maybe it's a jukebox musical. So it has that nostalgia feel. This obviously is all original music, but it feels like something you listened to.

[11:03] Jonathan Mousset: Oh yeah. It ties that nostalgia is a very big, like X factor when it comes to seeing a musical. So this kind of helps you guys tell the story that way.

[11:14] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh yeah.

[11:15] Jonathan Mousset: Oh yeah. And I kept saying, you know, wow, this is like Ronnie James Dio. I was like, oh, this is like, you know, Steve Perry. And he's like, yes, yes. And so those are the buzzwords that, that I caught on to. And, and from there we just, we just took off.

[11:31] Bruce Gotlieb: So are you just listening to the demo of these songs over and over and over to get to know them?

[11:35] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah. And not just the demo. It's also just like listening to the, the music.

[12:10] Eila Mell: You can hear from Eila Mell & Bruce Gotlieb on our podcast at broadwaypodcastnetwork.com.

[12:33] Bruce Gotlieb: To hear from Eila Mell & Bruce Gotlieb.

[13:29] Eila Mell: Welcome back to Behind the Awards. I'm Eila Mell.

[13:45] Bruce Gotlieb: And I'm Bruce Gotlieb. Today, we have a fantastic guest joining us.

[14:15] Eila Mell: Yes, we do! Actor Jonathan Mousset is here with us today.

[14:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Jonathan has an incredible career and has been involved in some amazing projects.

[14:55] Eila Mell: He'll be sharing his experiences with us, including his journey through the 29-hour reading process for new works.

[15:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Plus, we'll dive into his thoughts on auditioning and the importance of vocal health.

[15:35] Eila Mell: And we can't forget to touch on the recent Oscar nominations and some of the surprises this year.

[15:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely! So, without further ado, let's welcome Jonathan Mousset to the show.

[16:15] Jonathan Mousset: Thank you so much for having me! I'm excited to be here.

[16:35] Eila Mell: We're thrilled to have you, Jonathan. Let's start with your journey in the theater.

[16:55] Jonathan Mousset: Sure! I grew up in a family of Venezuelan immigrants, and I started singing and performing at a very young age.

[17:15] Bruce Gotlieb: That's amazing! What was your first experience on stage like?

[17:35] Jonathan Mousset: My first experience was when I was six years old, and I just fell in love with performing.

[17:55] Eila Mell: That's such a beautiful story. How did you transition into more professional work?

[18:15] Jonathan Mousset: I went to Florida State University, where I earned my degree in Music Theatre, and from there, I started auditioning for various roles.

[18:35] Bruce Gotlieb: And you've had some incredible roles since then!

[18:55] Jonathan Mousset: Thank you! Yes, I've been fortunate to work on projects like "Jersey Boys" and "In the Heights."

[19:15] Eila Mell: Those are fantastic shows! What was it like to be part of "Jersey Boys"?

[19:35] Jonathan Mousset: It was an incredible experience. Playing Frankie Valli was both challenging and rewarding.

[19:55] Bruce Gotlieb: I can only imagine! And what about your experience with the 29-hour reading process?

[20:15] Jonathan Mousset: The 29-hour reading process is such a unique opportunity to develop new works and collaborate with other artists.

[20:35] Eila Mell: That sounds fascinating! What are some key takeaways from that experience?

[20:55] Jonathan Mousset: It's all about exploration and finding the heart of the story.

[21:15] Bruce Gotlieb: That's a great perspective. Now, let's talk about the recent Oscar nominations.

[21:35] Jonathan Mousset: Yes! There were some surprising nominations this year, like Kate Hudson for "Song Sung Blue."

[21:55] Eila Mell: And what about the snubs?

[22:15] Jonathan Mousset: Definitely! I was surprised to see "Wicked" and Ariana Grande not getting nominated.

[22:35] Bruce Gotlieb: It's always interesting to see how these nominations unfold.

[22:55] Jonathan Mousset: Absolutely! It keeps the conversation going in the industry.

[23:18] Jonathan Mousset: Shows left and right, lots of after school activities, thank goodness. And it's something I always knew I wanted to do. Went to college, went to Florida State for theater. I got my Bachelor of Music at Florida State and moved to the city almost immediately. Worked some cruise contracts so I could see the world, so I could save some money, so I could come back and have that knowledge too and have that financial stability. Yeah, it's something I've always known I wanted to do. It's been a lifelong journey and a lifelong pursuit. Did you grow up in Florida? In Tampa, Florida? Yeah, I was born in upstate New York. My parents are Venezuelan immigrants and first generation American. Moved to Tampa when I was about 10 years old. Went to middle school, high school there and then moved to Tallahassee for college and then New York City.

[24:11] Eila Mell: You just did the industry reading that they had for a new musical with Julia Naitel, who also was a guest of ours. The new show, 40 Elephants. So kind of with Soundwall, when you're doing something like this, we've had guests on the show that love being part of this reading process, right? Getting to take this clay and kind of mold it and shape it. Is every experience like Soundwall and then now this one seems like you're maybe involved a little bit earlier on than Soundwall. Does it take a different approach because now you're kind of building it from scratch?

[24:48] Jonathan Mousset: Big time. At the beginning of each of these processes, I always try to over communicate and say and ask, what is the goal of this? Is this something that we're flexible? Are things flexible and changing? Are we just trying to make what is already written work or are we trying to actively change the beats to further it along? You have to be really careful because art is precious and art is precious to the people who created it. So we have to be very conscious of over communicating, not stepping on anyone's toes and not overstepping, not making anyone feel like you think you know more than they do. In Soundwall, it was a very early process so we had a lot of flexibility and this line feels a little weird for me to say.

I would probably say it like this and then they were like, great, say it like that. Whereas other people might have their own idea of how that character was and they're like, let's try and say it the way that I wrote it and let's give that a try a couple of times before considering changing.

[26:04] Eila Mell: How cemented is the piece once you guys are getting involved in it?

[26:10] Jonathan Mousset: It's a very delicate balance and with 40 Elephants, it was already a couple of readings into the process so they had a very strong idea and direction of where it was going. I remember with that show in particular, it didn't fully lock in and make sense until I heard it all together because a lot of the rehearsals are fragmented and so you're hearing scenes in isolation. You're hearing, you know, we're working on this scene at the end and then we're going back to the beginning just for working out people's schedules. With that process, I remember it took like up until like even the day before the presentation we'd be like, okay, I really understand what this is now and I understand the voice and the tone.

I love working on new musicals. After working regionally for a couple of years, I told myself I just want to focus on new shows and I've been really fortunate. This past year, I think it was between September and November, I worked on three 29-hour readings in the span of three months and I can't believe I was able to make it all happen. It's also exciting to be involved in giving birth to something that's brand new that doesn't have an IP that anybody knows and doesn't already exist in some format.

[27:29] Eila Mell: Absolutely, absolutely. So growing up in Florida, were you able to see much theater?

[27:36] Jonathan Mousset: Not really. It was really about performing it and really about reading and all the performances that I think that I watched were either on television, on recordings. I would go to the library and I would pick up every live performance, a filmed live performance that was out there.

[27:52] Eila Mell: What were your favorites?

[27:52] Jonathan Mousset: Oh my gosh, Hugh Jackman's Oklahoma. Sure. Even David Hasselhoff's Jack One Hyde. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, those Les Mis concerts too, the Cole Wilkinson Les Mis. Yeah, so many good things. And I mean, we did get a couple national tours that would come through the Strass Center, the Performing Arts Center at the time. I remember seeing Jersey Boys when it came through. I remember seeing Jossie Chaperone when it came through. I remember seeing Wonderland. Remember Wonderland, Frank Wildhorn? Yeah. That came through and I saw that. Janet DeCalle was Alice. Amazing. So cool, yeah. Yes, I saw Spamalot when it came through. So, here and there, it didn't always feel accessible because I was always struggling financially. It always felt like it was beyond, it was bigger than me. But I did whenever I could and I got there with a theater bug pretty early.

[29:02] Eila Mell: Well, it's hard because so many people have careers that they were sort of born into, right? There's a lot of legacy performers whose parents are in the business. And I guess with any job, people tend to go into the family business a lot. But as someone without a big wallet and without connections, I mean, that's the hardest. So, it's amazing that you're doing it, right? You get to live it.

[29:27] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah. I mean, my mom did the best she could. I think she knew.

[29:29] Eila Mell: Of course, yeah.

[29:31] Jonathan Mousset: I think she knew that I had something going for me and she gave me all her support. And even when I made decisions that went against what she wanted, you know?

[29:42] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[29:42] Jonathan Mousset: I remember in high school, she was like, you know, why don't you go to Orlando and just perform at Disney or go to Busch Gardens here in Tampa? Just perform here and be close to home. And I'm like, no, mom, I'm going to go to Tallahassee and then I'm going to go to New York City.

[29:56] Eila Mell: Right. You could see what someone, you know, you get paid for doing what you want to do. So, you could see that's a lot easier. So, you could see why someone might do that. But you probably, it wouldn't be fulfilling after a while.

[30:08] Jonathan Mousset: Right. Well, and she just wanted me home.

[30:11] Eila Mell: Of course. Which, you know, there's nothing wrong with that. I just knew. I knew that I wanted to give New York City a shot and it was something I've always wanted to do. And, you know, it was a lot of like relying on community and relying on people closest to me. I remember I had a friend of the family who let me crash on his couch in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

[30:34] Eila Mell: Yeah. That's so nice.

[30:36] Jonathan Mousset: For two months. And I would pay him like, you know, 200 bucks a month just to be there. And I would audition, go into the city. And that's how I booked my first couple cruise contracts, was just being able to sleep on someone's couch.

[30:48] Eila Mell: Wow. Must have been great to get off the couch.

[30:50] Jonathan Mousset: Oh, yeah.

[30:50] Eila Mell: Have your own cabin.

[30:55] Jonathan Mousset: Oh, yeah. That's right. Now, I know you said you love originating roles, new roles, any dream roles, bucket lists that you're like, if I'm going to take a role that's already existed, that you want to check off your box?

[31:00] Jonathan Mousset: Big time. So many. I mean, the biggest one for me was Hamilton. I've been in and out of auditions for that show for a while and it's just it's never quite happened. But it would be a huge shrink. And I don't think it's closing anytime soon.

[31:24] Eila Mell: Yeah, yeah. We've got plenty of time for that.

[31:24] Jonathan Mousset: That's right. But it's funny, whenever anyone asks that question, that my answer usually is it's the one that hasn't been created yet.

[31:33] Eila Mell: So what's your dream or the one that hasn't been created yet?

[31:33] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah, that's a great answer, too. But, you know, while they're creating, they can throw you into Hamilton.

[31:38] Jonathan Mousset: Big time. Big time. I'd love to. I'd love to.

[31:44] Eila Mell: All right. So we know that there's a bunch of stuff that, you know, is on the horizon that you can't talk about. But is there anything you can talk about that's coming up?

[31:49] Jonathan Mousset: You know, I don't I don't think so, because it's a lot of it's a lot of fingers crossed. You know, there's like even even just this week, there's been some auditions that that have gone very well. And it's just like a.

[32:10] Eila Mell: All right. Well, then you will have to let us know.

[32:14] Jonathan Mousset: That's right. At a later date.

[32:14] Eila Mell: Yeah, I am.

[32:19] Jonathan Mousset: In the meantime, I do have a survival job. If I want to come into the city, I do work at Stardust Diner in Times Square.

[32:25] Eila Mell: Oh, so they can hear you.

[32:25] Jonathan Mousset: Yes. Yes. So I'm there on my days off. And, you know, I'm working there maybe two or three times a week. And yeah, paying the bills.

[32:34] Eila Mell: Well, that's so much fun. And people love to go.

[32:34] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah, the line is typically wrapped around. So.

[32:40] Eila Mell: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So that's great. Well, so you get to, you know, keep your voice in shape no matter what.

[32:44] Jonathan Mousset: Oh, yeah. And, you know, I work a lot of morning shifts. So sometimes I'm there. You know, the diner opens at seven in the morning and sometimes there is a line out the door. Wow. People waiting to come in. I know. And so the opening shift is at six thirty. So, you know, at seven, seven fifteen, you know, I'm singing Strangers in the Night.

[33:06] Eila Mell: But that's great because then you're there for whatever audition is.

[33:11] Jonathan Mousset: Exactly. You're warm by the time you get there.

[33:11] Eila Mell: That's right. That's right. I see a ten thirty a.m. appointment and I'm not intimidated.

[33:18] Jonathan Mousset: No. Well, thank you so much for joining us. This was such a treat for us.

[33:23] Eila Mell: Thank you for the invite. We have our fingers crossed. You know, once you're here, your family. So once things start, once those fires take on, let us know and we'll.

[33:28] Jonathan Mousset: Oh, yeah.

[33:28] Eila Mell: Get some promotion out there for you. So thank you so much.

[33:34] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah. This industry is very much like long term investments. You know, it's like even I like to tell people, like even when you have a successful Broadway show, think about it. The most the most like the most people that can see you are are the amount of tickets that can be sold. Right. In a week. Yeah. So like even if a house, I don't know, let's say a house is twelve hundred people. And, you know, how long does it take for a million people to have seen your work in a long running Broadway show? Yeah. Right. Because if right, because if you're doing eight shows a week, that's not even ten thousand people. Exactly. So it's like I tell people, think long term. Everything is long term, like everything, especially in today's age, everything is, you know, instant. I want it now. Give it to me now. I want this success. I want this video to go viral. I want millions of views in, you know, in two hours. Like it's not.

[34:27] Eila Mell: No, you're right. Broadway is the exact opposite.

[34:27] Jonathan Mousset: Yeah, it's true. And it's you know, it's sort of like a saving grace because we need some things that, you know, it's about putting the work in and, you know, all all of those old kind of, you know, beliefs. But they're really true and it pays off. So.

[34:44] Eila Mell: Absolutely. Well, thank you again.

[34:50] Jonathan Mousset: Thank you. We will see everyone next time on Behind the Awards. Thank you all. Bye bye.