This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Eila Mell: Hello and welcome to Behind the Awards. I'm Eila. I am here with Bruce.

[0:14] Bruce Gotlieb: Hello there, Eila. How are you? I'm good. What's new today?

[0:18] Eila Mell: Well, I figured we'd chat about something super current, really only for today.

[0:25] Bruce Gotlieb: So at the time of recording, today is Pi Day. And I do know that one of your favorite musicals surrounds Pi, Sweeney Todd.

[0:35] Eila Mell: Oh, yes.

[0:36] Bruce Gotlieb: And one of mine also does, Waitress. Those are, I would say, I think the only two Pi-related musicals.

[0:45] Eila Mell: For now.

[0:47] Bruce Gotlieb: For now. I mean, listen, a baked good is always, you know...

[0:51] Eila Mell: Nothing wrong with that.

[0:53] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, this season you have Two Strangers Carry a Cake. I wonder if today if they change it, you know, Two Strangers Carry a Pie.

[1:00] Eila Mell: A wedding pie.

[1:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Why not?

[1:03] Eila Mell: You know, there's been stranger things.

[1:05] Bruce Gotlieb: There have been, which is also on Broadway if you need to, you know, take a peek.

[1:10] Eila Mell: So Pi Day, is that the mathematical Pi?

[1:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Correct. But most places turn it into, you know, if you're a bakery, of course, why wouldn't you use it to your advantage?

[1:22] Eila Mell: Absolutely. Or just a citizen.

[1:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, that's true, too.

[1:25] Eila Mell: Why not have a slice of pie today?

[1:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, that was one of my favorite things is when you went to Waitress, they pumped in the smell, of course, which is great.

[1:34] Eila Mell: But they also sold little pies.

[1:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[1:37] Eila Mell: So you could buy a little pie in a jar, intermission, before the show.

[1:42] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[1:43] Eila Mell: I mean, brilliant marketing, if you ask me.

[1:46] Bruce Gotlieb: Are you listening, Two Strangers? People might want cake.

[1:49] Eila Mell: They want that cake.

[1:52] Bruce Gotlieb: They could, you know, team up with a local bakery who could deliver it every day.

[1:56] Eila Mell: That's right. That's right.

[1:57] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, I guess it's good that Sweeney Todd didn't.

[2:00] Eila Mell: I mean, you could do a savory pie, but.

[2:02] Bruce Gotlieb: You could, but, you know, I'm not sure you want to eat what they're eating in Sweeney Todd.

[2:07] Eila Mell: Correct. Correct.

[2:10] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, Eila, who is our guest today?

[2:12] Eila Mell: Well, today we have with us Harrison Bryan, who is currently understudying Ethan Slater in Marcel on the Train.

[2:21] Bruce Gotlieb: And we had a great time chatting with him about, you know, his perspective as an understudy and, you know, kind of what goes into crafting not only the role, but his experience in getting ready to perform.

[2:35] Eila Mell: Luckily, he knew that there were certain dates he was going to go on for.

[2:39] Bruce Gotlieb: That's the best.

[2:40] Eila Mell: Because as an understudy, you just got to be ready to go at any moment.

[2:44] Bruce Gotlieb: But it's nice to know.

[2:46] Eila Mell: You're like, OK, I'm going on this day.

[2:49] Bruce Gotlieb: I know. Well, let's get into it, because there's things that people are going to be very surprised to find out.

[2:53] Eila Mell: Absolutely. And grab a slice of pie while you listen.

[2:58] Bruce Gotlieb: We are so happy to welcome back Harrison Bryan to our show.

[3:02] Harrison Bryan: Hey there.

[3:03] Eila Mell: Hi, Harrison.

[3:06] Bruce Gotlieb: We are thrilled to have you.

[3:08] Eila Mell: So for our listeners who don't know, Harrison was on our David Rothenberg episode doing an intro for his show at the time, Balls, the musical, which was a Pokémon.

[3:21] Harrison Bryan: But we can't say the word Pokémon, but a Pokémon musical.

[3:25] Eila Mell: Plenty of parody satire. All the laws protect us.

[3:28] Harrison Bryan: May the Lord protect us.

[3:30] Eila Mell: But now you're on because you are in the most beautiful play, Marcel on the Train.

[3:37] Harrison Bryan: Thank you. Yeah, it is. Absolutely.

[3:39] Harrison Bryan: It might be my favorite play that I've ever been in, honestly.

[3:43] Harrison Bryan: And it's such a gorgeous piece of theater and art and history.

[3:48] Harrison Bryan: And I just feel like it's the honor of my life to be part of it.

[3:51] Eila Mell: How did this come to you?

[3:53] Harrison Bryan: Yeah. So I had seen a Playbill article about this play.

[4:00] Harrison Bryan: They did a workshop in Williamstown about two years ago.

[4:03] Harrison Bryan: And I saw what the story was about.

[4:06] Harrison Bryan: I had known of Marcel Marceau through my movement classes in college and in theater programs and physical theater programs that I've trained at.

[4:16] Harrison Bryan: And then I saw Ethan Slater was playing Marcel Marceau, had co-written it.

[4:22] Harrison Bryan: And I reached out to my agents two years ago saying, if this show ever moves to New York and Ethan needs an understudy, please try and find a way to get me into the space, because I think it would be an awesome fit.

[4:34] Harrison Bryan: And two plus years later, they were looking for this understudy.

[4:38] Harrison Bryan: I had flagged it and they were doing auditions.

[4:42] Harrison Bryan: I was able to get in and put a tape together against this very blue wall.

[4:46] Harrison Bryan: I think I was even wearing this jacket.

[4:48] Eila Mell: Oh, wow.

[4:49] Harrison Bryan: And so and I just sort of gave it my all and I gave it my all.

[4:53] Harrison Bryan: I had known of Marshall Palett, who co-directed it, sorry, directed it and co-wrote it with Ethan.

[5:01] Harrison Bryan: I had actually asked him, this is a full circle fun theater moment.

[5:05] Harrison Bryan: I had asked him about four and a half years earlier in an email thread if he wanted to be a co-composer on Balls.

[5:12] Eila Mell: Oh, how funny.

[5:13] Harrison Bryan: I had followed his career and I know he's a lover of parody and a brilliant composer in his own right.

[5:19] Harrison Bryan: And so we were looking to collaborate with him.

[5:22] Harrison Bryan: I had listened to it at the time. It was around the same time that Ethan had pitched the idea of Marcel on the Train to him.

[5:28] Harrison Bryan: So he picked the right project.

[5:31] Eila Mell: And so but I had then saw the audition notice, saw his name attached to it, went back to that email thread.

[5:38] Harrison Bryan: And I was like, hey, I don't know if you remember me. Balls is very much happening.

[5:41] Harrison Bryan: I would love for you to see it. But also I'm auditioning for this play that I think is really special.

[5:47] Harrison Bryan: I'd love, you know, I can't wait to be in the room and audition with you.

[5:50] Harrison Bryan: And he responded back so generously, excited to see your tape, excited to see your audition.

[5:55] Harrison Bryan: So it was just one of those moments as a multi-hyphenate theater artist where you're like, where along this journey in these paths have I planted seeds to get to this moment?

[6:05] Harrison Bryan: Where did your preparation meet readiness? And this was one of those moments.

[6:09] Eila Mell: But also what I think is in your favor is that you're not an actor who just waits for auditions.

[6:15] Eila Mell: You make things happen. You created Balls. You know, you're always doing something to further your career.

[6:22] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, I think it's really important.

[6:24] Harrison Bryan: And I think Marcel Marceau would agree that like we as humanitarians, as creatives, as artists are always searching for how we are feeding the artistry, how we're feeding our own sense of creation and what we're putting out into the world.

[6:32] Harrison Bryan: And sometimes, especially in this field where it feels like there's so much noise everywhere all the time, what am I doing to keep the practice alive and what am I doing to create my own opportunities?

[6:56] Harrison Bryan: So this specific moment was a great example of my proactiveness as a theater artist and meeting the opportunity at the right time, right place and filling a very specific need that this casting team had to find someone who can support and step in for Ethan when the time comes.

[7:18] Bruce Gotlieb: When you're doing a show, typically, you know, most people know on a Broadway show, you have a put in rehearsal for Understudies and and you're not necessarily with the full creative team at that point.

[7:32] Harrison Bryan: They're associates and they're certainly people that have their pulse on what the expectation is.

[7:37] Bruce Gotlieb: But in this piece, you're understudying a co-writer and, you know, the director also is a co-writer.

[7:46] Harrison Bryan: So it seems like an interesting scenario that maybe most people don't get to have that kind of pulse with that creative team.

[7:54] Bruce Gotlieb: Did it help inform who you were, how you were going to play the character, you know, your version versus Ethan's version?

[8:02] Harrison Bryan: But Ethan's fingerprint is still going to be on it because he's a co-writer.

[8:07] Harrison Bryan: So, yeah, I found this to be a tremendous journey in self-trust, truly, and trust in the material as well.

[8:19] Harrison Bryan: And I think you're right that I was aided and supported by the fact that both of these creative forces, Ethan and Marshall, were not only the director and the actor, but they were the co-creators and the co-writers of the piece.

[8:33] Harrison Bryan: So they had such love and like foundational ideas inside this material that they were very generous in sharing with me.

[8:44] Harrison Bryan: But I think the self-trust part of it came into play the week of getting the opportunity to go on stage for the first time.

[8:52] Harrison Bryan: And what an opportunity for Ethan and Marshall to also experience their play with another voice and another body.

[9:00] Harrison Bryan: Because Ethan has been the only one to ever put voice to these words.

[9:07] Harrison Bryan: And Marshall sometimes said he would sometimes read it out loud when it was just the two of them working on drafts.

[9:13] Harrison Bryan: They had never experienced their play as an audience, as a team of an audience together.

[9:19] Harrison Bryan: And on Sunday, when I went on, that was the first time in the history of this piece that that experience was gifted to them.

[9:29] Harrison Bryan: And it really meant a lot because as a writer myself, I know how cherishing of a moment it is to experience the thing that you've been thinking about in your head for years.

[9:38] Harrison Bryan: And then getting to see it fully realized outside of yourself.

[9:41] Bruce Gotlieb: So I think they were really excited about that.

[9:43] Harrison Bryan: And I can only speak from my experience as an understudy.

[9:46] Harrison Bryan: I don't think that happens a lot from what I hear.

[9:50] Harrison Bryan: I hear like it can be sometimes pretty lonely.

[9:53] Harrison Bryan: And then you go on and none of the creatives actually get to see it because it's so far down in the run or they're not there, which is why you are.

[10:01] Harrison Bryan: And so to have that sharing moment with them, it was like this really profound experience for the theater and for the role.

[10:12] Harrison Bryan: And to trust and they have gifted me with permission to trust myself and my instincts and my artistry and not live in the comparing game.

[10:22] Harrison Bryan: And I think we all got to experience the payoff of that together when the show happened.

[10:27] Harrison Bryan: And it was its own beautiful thing in a way that is both honoring what Ethan and Marshall envisioned, but also honoring my own sense of self where my truth and my clown lives.

[10:39] Harrison Bryan: So it was thrilling. It was really thrilling.

[10:42] Harrison Bryan: And I feel very blessed to have worked with both of them.

[10:44] Eila Mell: And I consider them both my friends.

[10:47] Bruce Gotlieb: As an audience member, it was thrilling just to be there.

[10:50] Bruce Gotlieb: Obviously, I came to see you, to support you.

[10:53] Bruce Gotlieb: And I feel like I was one of the entire audience.

[10:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Everyone seemed to be there for you.

[10:58] Harrison Bryan: And it was just the most beautiful thing.

[11:00] Bruce Gotlieb: It was really fun.

[11:02] Bruce Gotlieb: My wife and I joked that it felt like our second wedding.

[11:08] Bruce Gotlieb: My mom had a seating chart arranged and certain people were sitting next to certain people and certain people were not.

[11:15] Bruce Gotlieb: But the theater is this three-quarter thrust.

[11:18] Bruce Gotlieb: It's like a deep thrust and I could feel.

[11:20] Harrison Bryan: All walks of my life converged in the same moment and that love and support on top of the fact that I knew Marcel and Ethan were there too seeing their play for the first time. It was an overwhelming experience of joy and I will never forget it. It was magnified by a billion on top of the fact that I love the play and I really believe in the piece. So all of these things sort of came together beautifully, way better than I could have ever imagined. Ethan was in the seat right behind me. Oh goodness. But I didn't know until after and your mom said something. I had no idea. Well then all of those laughs must have felt very earnest. They were. It must have been exciting for them too. Oh yeah. So I think that most people would be shocked to learn how many rehearsals you get as an understudy.

Can you please tell them? I'd love to talk about the process. Who tuned into my Instagram takeover that day at Classic Stage Company also got a sneak peek into it. But it's amazing. So I was very fortunate to sit in rehearsal from day one and there were very few selective moments where I actually got to like stand up in the rehearsal space and work with the other actors. What I was guaranteed was a put-in rehearsal where I finally got to work with the onstage company. That happened the day before we opened. So that was Friday and I went on on Tuesday. Yeah. For that put-in rehearsal, I had one four-hour rehearsal with the other two understudies where we each played both of our parts inside the show and did like a three-person production of this six-actor cast.

Yeah. And so, and then honestly that was it. Again, talk about the self-trust situation. It was what am I doing to prepare on my own. I would run the play every day in the morning in my living room. I would turn my dining room table into the train. All the chairs that I have it would be the benches and my cats were sometimes seen partners when they were and other times they were very not interested. So they were very honest audience with me. My wife was very helpful too in supporting me and being other people when I needed. But we had yeah just those two rehearsals, you know, for a total of less than 10 hours I would say before a live audience, a paying audience were in their seats. I did have an incredible hour with Marshall and Ethan after my put-in where it was the first time it was just us three on the stage and we just spoke about very specific physical beats and how to make them even more specific.

And one thing Marshall kept saying and he kept encouraging me was how can every single movement by Marcel in this play be fueled with a clear intention. Like the storytelling is always first and even if you start investigating in the research of Marcel Marceau as a mime, as a physical theater artist, he was always prioritizing intention and clarity of storytelling and I think Marshall and Ethan work in a very same path. And so the task of okay I want to be really clear with all of my intentions physically, emotionally, mentally but I don't have a lot of time to practice that. You're going off impulse, you're going off of the other actors on the stage who are all thank goodness incredible. And then the Tuesday after my first performance I had I've had three overall where Ethan had to step away and the morning after my Tuesday performance Marshall and I had a half-hour phone call where he gave me like a full note session on what he saw in the previous show and remember the show had only opened two days earlier.

So yeah we're still learning about this new play and he offered these observations of what he loved about the discoveries I was making and offered me the permission to trust those discoveries and roll with it and really invest in those moments. And that really opened me up for Wednesday and Sunday because I felt like we were discovering the play together with this new voice and this new body and that I can trust it and that I can trust my scene partners on stage too. And oh it's so exciting it felt like we were listening so presently together. So I'm very grateful for even the small slivers of moments. I would also work I want to just give a quick shout out to our stage management team because they gave me so much permission to play on the stage during breaks during dinner breaks before the actors arrived.

I was there sometimes after the actors left I would stay a little longer and anytime I got to like play on the actual stage practice those pratfalls I was like begging for the chance to as well as our costume department team Sherry who is backstage who you know sometimes did my laundry when she didn't need to. Oh thank goodness it's it's everyone really in terms of what I learned about being an understudy it's it's everyone really does want to support this person and everyone wants them to be set up for success and I felt that tremendously by this company. Yeah an understudy's job is not for the faint of heart at all. So much respect for it it's true.

[17:04] Eila Mell: Yeah it never occurred to me before you know obviously we know each other but it never occurred to me how similar you actually are to Ethan Slater.

[17:09] Harrison Bryan: Yeah I mean I think we have a similar we certainly have similar hair and certainly yeah a similar shape or the same height a similar timbre of tone and vocal quality it's kind of like seeing a brother from another mother you know it's yeah and we have a lot of qualities I just found out the other day that we both played Leopold Bloom in our high school productions of The Producers.

[17:33] Eila Mell: Oh how funny but yours was the first. As you well know as I paved the path for other producers.

[17:41] Harrison Bryan: So yeah there's a lot of similarities and then there's really unique and beautiful differences and what I've really enjoyed in my understudying of him is getting to watch his brilliance at play he's such a playful spirit the flexibility and access to his body as a physical comedian is tremendous and I learned so much and I learned why I love many things that he loves you know it's a reinforcement of finding people with similar tastes and similar love of the craft and so I've really enjoyed experiencing those similarities as we played together.

[18:25] Eila Mell: It's Andrew Keenan-Bolger behind the awards we'll be right back.

[18:31] Eila Mell: Do you find that the show because it requires so much physicality not to be full of a pun but it's a moving train once you're on the train there's you know no stopping it sort of thing do you find that this type of show because of those is better suited without the intermission and is better for you as an actor because you don't have to stop and start again?

[18:52] Harrison Bryan: I think the play is very successful as a suspense thriller I think that's one of the many genres that this play taps into and so by relieving the audience of that suspense I think you would lose some of that energy you know this is not a show that necessarily wants to like sell merchandise at intermission I think this show really invested in its story and its characters that we love and the messaging that it shares every night and yeah I think that the physicality of it the theatricality of it as one whole meal is really exciting as an audience.

[19:36] Eila Mell: Obviously you're playing Marcel Marceau and I went in knowing what everybody knows about him that he was a mime that's pretty much it I didn't know anything else right I didn't know he was Jewish I didn't know I certainly didn't know that he had anything to do with the kindred transport I didn't know any of this did you know any of it going in?

[19:56] Harrison Bryan: No and I think that's it's so special to experience a person that I've idolized their artistry and then find out the depth of their humanity is really exciting. I think it's one of the strengths of the piece and yeah I mean he didn't talk about this experience I mean this was not disclosed to the public until you know he was in his 70s in his 80s you know I mean and we have many of these stories because of his cousin who was in the play who lived to be over like 110 years old this man was related and helped him help these children and so I think legacy became a part of his mindset as he approached the later years of his life and I think whether he wanted this story to be as widely known or not it was important that people knew and and so it was exciting to do this research and find out all these truisms inside this fictional theatricalized retelling of it and and yeah I didn't I didn't know and and I also didn't know that as much like he was prolific in his artistry I met a mime the other day a retired mime who had worked with him and said that he had seen over 80 Marcel Marceau sketches and there's only like a handful actually online on YouTube and there's a lot like and I encourage everyone to watch these these sketches these these bip character moments and Marcel utilizing his body in this way many of these sketches have a relationship to death and have a relationship to innocence and children and you start you start viewing his art through the lens of his lost childhood of growing up during the holocaust of helping these kids in the french resistance and it only deepens the art because now you see the influences you see his relationship to life and death and hope and despair um and and so I think my my own artistry has grown because of learning about these stories and especially this one and I want to point out to people it's not a show about mime so if you're not interested in mime you're still gonna love this show because it's not about that at all yeah no it's funny the show starts in a pantomime and some friends are like oh no we're gonna sit through 90 minutes of of no talking and just imagined objects in the space and no I think we activate the imagination in the way that Marcel Marceau does we pay honor to the legacy and to his art form and the way that Marshall and Ethan have constructed the play to

[23:11] Harrison Bryan: And it's really edge of your seat. It's really, really a nail-biter.

[23:41] Harrison Bryan: Every part of our body. And it's very cool, especially at CSC, which is such an intimate theater. It feels like the audience has actually a lot of impact on the experience of the play. There's 199 seats and it feels like we can see, hear and feel all of them. And so depending on how boisterous the audience is, what generation the audience lands in, they're having a different experience and that's changing ours within it. So it's a very special moment of the play. It's very precious and we actually don't talk about it a lot. We want it to feel alive and different every night.

[24:12] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, absolutely. You can't give that away. But it's really intense. Yeah, it's an intense play at times. And then, you know, I have to say, I just need to give a shout out to Maddie Korman, who is so good in the show. She doesn't say a word, but she has a scene towards the end of the play and it ends. And I just wanted so much more. I wanted a reunion in that moment so much. It's so heartbreaking.

[24:47] Harrison Bryan: No. Yeah. Maddie's work in the show is glorious. She plays a character who, for one reason or another, has no access to words. And so how she articulates and how she communicates without access to that has been just a beautiful thing to watch. You could just watch Maddie and have your own play if you come back and see the play multiple times. And you could say that's true for all the actors who play children in this. Alex Wise, who is incredible as Henri, which is the other role that I understudy, his character's journey and growth. And Teddy Tedra is like so dynamic as Bertha and really is like the heart and soul sometimes of this play. And, you know, Max's Adolf is so funny. And also, I love watching how they develop both in the present experiences and watching them grow throughout and like seeing their adult versions and their child versions. There's like some excellent character crafting in this show.

[25:45] Harrison Bryan: And that's what I told Ethan and Marshall in the first week of rehearsal when I was just like absorbing as much as I can. I was like, as an actor, I think any actor seeing this play is going to have a field day because the scene work is tremendous. The language. And I think as a theater practitioner, as an actor, I'm getting so much. This is the kind of show that I want to be a part of because there's so many different ways to say every line. There's so many relationships unfolding in real time on stage. And every role is so meaty. Every character has something really big to do.

[26:21] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Yeah. It's so true. I mean, it's called Marcel on the Train, but they're all on this train, baby. And all of them are doing such incredibly specific work.

[26:28] Harrison Bryan: I've learned a lot. Like, again, I've never had the experience of understudying. So all of my experiences inside of a play have been from the actor on stage rehearsing, and then we get a run and then we learn with the audience. But in this experience, I really get to watch people work. I got to really observe and listen. And everyone's different. And everyone brings their own sense when it's really working. Everyone's bringing their own sense of truth to it. And I really love that. I really, really love that.

[27:01] Harrison Bryan: I don't know if you might not have the answer to this question. And you all could be happy coincidence. But in preparing for our conversation, you guys run through March 22nd, which also happens to be Marcel Marceau's birthday. And Marcel Marceau Day was made, I guess declared was March 18th in 1999, and will be celebrated on his birthday this year. So is it all just the stars aligning? Or was it like,

[27:32] Bruce Gotlieb: I did not know that. That is so cool. That is so cool. And sometimes the universe tells you you are right where you are meant to be. And yeah, those moments, I'm sure we will be feeling the miming spirit of Marcel Marceau.

[27:49] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, the energy is gonna have to be like crazy that day.

[27:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, cool. And I hope, I hope that this play not only brings Marcel Marceau's artistry into more audiences lives, but also bring some hope in the power of art in comedy and how far just like tiny moments of selflessness can go like how it can save lives how a simple gesture of humor could mean a lot for many people in many different ways. So yeah, I'm hoping that Marcel Marceau, I mean, Marcel Marceau Day for me is going to be more special than it's ever been.

[28:42] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, does what he wanted, which was propel his art form to the mainstream. Because, you know, I mean, the sad reality is that like, mime as an artistry is not really around anymore.

[28:50] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. In fact, when I was talking to this mime the other day, who studied with Marcel Marceau, he talked about how in our contemporary lens, mimes are often the butt of a joke.

[29:01] Harrison Bryan: Right? Correct. Yes. You know, and, of course, my improv friends are like, well, nothing's worse than the people who do improv. And I was like, I was like, no, like you see in media, there's always like a weird mime. He's always doing something funny. And then people always make fun of him. And I isn't there a mime in airplane?

[29:20] Bruce Gotlieb: That's not exactly.

[29:21] Harrison Bryan: And so I think I hope I certainly don't think that we're like on the precipice of the renaissance of mime. But I hope that by honoring Marcel Marceau in this way, that we are shining light onto what is a lost art form and we can start seeing its influence in physical comedy, in the clowning pieces that exist today and even in dance and modern dance and interpretive dance. How we use our body as an instrument for communication, I think is very relevant in a lot of theater. And hopefully we're giving Marcel Marceau the props that he deserves for bringing it to the forefront.

[30:01] Bruce Gotlieb: You know, there are some technical things that you have to do, a lot of use of shadow. Is that something that was hard without a lot of rehearsal?

[30:13] Harrison Bryan: Yes, I think all of the technical things are the hardest parts of the show. There's obviously like the emotional depth of the play and trying to inhabit that as fully and truthfully as possible. I owe a lot of that to the scene partners and the strength of the material. I can kind of trust that that's going to be there. The technical stuff is the stuff that one wants as much practice as possible. There's moments where Marcel jumps from bench to bench and there's falling, there's tumbling, there's the shadow puppetry where you have to be at very specific angles in order to get the most impact from the light. A lot of that is me trying to find clear cues on the stage, almost like film work, trying to hit your mark.

[30:59] Harrison Bryan: And so once I know the mark, I can try and recreate it. But in my put in rehearsal, I asked for like 20 minutes before to just play with that light. And you can be sure that I spent every second that they gave me practicing with that light until we found something that felt repeatable. That felt like work. Finding your light also, the lighting design in the show is gorgeous.

[31:24] Bruce Gotlieb: It really is. It creates that train so beautifully.

[31:27] Harrison Bryan: It's incredible. And so there's a lot of very specific lights where I'm trying to hit the mark and making sure that I'm halfway lit or full way lit or supporting someone else who's supposed to be fully lit. So, yeah, I mean, that's the kind of stuff where you just kind of go on stage and you hope you get it and you hope it leaves an impact. And if you miss it, don't think about it. Move on. There's so much play still to get through and to the audience. But plenty of times, especially the first time I went on, there was so much adrenaline and there were so many moments where I was like, oh, that could have been a little tighter. Oh, that could have been a little stronger. Fully in my light and just like being a goldfish about it, like just like, OK, it happened. I got to keep moving. I got to say it for my scene partners.

[32:10] Bruce Gotlieb: So you knew you had those performances when you signed on.

[32:16] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, correct.

[32:21] Bruce Gotlieb: Do you know if there are any other performances you have in the run?

[32:28] Harrison Bryan: No. Now we're in the beautiful unknown. We're in that space that most understudies have to live in from opening to closing, where I am just I have my phone nearby at all times looking for stage management to call if they do. And I show up at the theater during a half hour call and I'm there to support the onstage cast, whatever they need. I don't know how I'm navigating it yet. I'm just sort of staying present with it and staying ready. I still run the play every morning in my living room just in case to keep it fresh. Right. And I also understudy Alex Wise, who plays Henri. And so I'm also trying to just keep that material alive and fresh in me so that if I need if I'm needed, I will be ready.

[33:01] Bruce Gotlieb: So do you then kind of also because we know there's differentiations like swing, understudy, alternate, you know, all these different titles stand by. So essentially, yes, you're an understudy. But if you don't get the call and you go to the theater, then I guess you kind of go into like a standby role.

[33:12] Harrison Bryan: That's true, I guess. Yeah, something just in case it happened.

[33:21] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right. We are all you and you're already there.

[33:27] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, we are we are instructed to stay within the theater for the entirety of the play, because if something should happen, they don't want the audience to not feel the full arc. So I would be subbed in, I would be put into costume and subbed in and there'd be an announcement. So yeah, that does sort of does operate more like a standby. I would say like, in some ways, I'm more of a cover, because I don't have an onstage role in this show, I'm fully onstage understudy. So yeah, it's, it's unlike a musical where you usually maybe have a few ensemble roles, and then I come in for a larger role. This is this is fully.

[34:02] Harrison Bryan: I'm only here if needed, if a play needs me.

[34:05] Eila Mell: Right. And it's not like if you don't get the call at 10 o'clock in the morning, you're like, oh, I'm off today. Let's go to, you know.

[34:12] Harrison Bryan: Right. I think that is a unique, it's a unique thing that I'm learning how to love, right? Like I'm learning how can I be a supportive ensemble member, even when I'm not on stage or even when I'm not, quote unquote, called to be there. Marcel said once in rehearsal that he really sees this as a cast of nine. And our stage management said that the lens of which we are viewing understudies now in our contemporary understanding of theater, it's less of like a hierarchy of casting. And we're more in a linear company. And it's just the audience will see who they see that night. But it's not a representation of hierarchy. It's a representation of a million variables of why someone is going on one night and why someone isn't. And our other two understudies, Rora and Josh, actually also have guaranteed performances later in the run.

[35:06] Eila Mell: Oh, great.

[35:07] Harrison Bryan: Rora's going on for Berta for Tedra's role, I think, on the 19th. And I think Josh is going on for Max's role of adult on the 20th and 21st. So if you're friends of the understudies, please join the standby line and try and get whatever tickets are available. Because many of the tickets, as you saw how beautiful this play is, people are talking, yeah, play, there's not that many tickets left online. It is, I know, it's almost completely sold out, really sold out. I think we're in double digits for how many tickets are actually available online. But the theater has a rush policy. And every night there are people waiting right at the box office an hour before the show. And the theater does a tremendous job house management does an amazing job of trying to get as many people on that list as possible.

And very often, everyone is allowed in. So definitely, definitely, I would encourage if you want an easier path to getting a ticket, show up an hour before whether an understudy is on or not, and see this beautiful play.

[36:07] Eila Mell: Yeah, well, that was the nice thing to see. Because obviously, the world knows Ethan Slater, and people want to come and see him in this show. But when I was there, you were going on and it was still just this fall, which was so nice.

[36:18] Harrison Bryan: It was so nice. And I think I've heard so many horror stories from understudies where they make the announcement that so and so isn't in the play. And people start like yelling at the stage. You hear the groans and all the groans, you hear people leaving and like, and that's really I've heard stories, you know, from understudies who understudy celebrities and, and you and you feel that energy shift. And then you hear the other side of that, which is people who stay. And I had one understudy friend say, when she would hear those groans, she would actually listen more for the people who are excited for the people who stayed for the people who wanted to experience that story that night. And if that they got to get to share it with them.

And, and then that's how you start really feeling the gratitude of the audience. Because the people who stay the people who are interested in that story and how you're bringing that character to life that day, those are the ones who get to experience this incredible moment with you. And so it's investing in the positive noise and not the negative voice noise. And that I think gets people through those tough times. Fortunately, I didn't have that because my parents are the best PR in the world and build that theater up. And I had teacher, I had friends from high school and college and family from all over the states come and support. And fortunately, with enough notice, I was able to fill that theater with so much love. And it really made what could have been a terrifying experience so much more enjoyable.

[37:55] Eila Mell: I hope that you really understand how lucky you are to have your parents so supportive. I mean, they were a ball selling t-shirts or whatever, you know, was being sold, like they're there every step of the way. What a gift they give you.

[38:09] Harrison Bryan: It is, it is and you know, there's no understudy for parents, right? Yeah, maybe they're babysitters. Maybe there's other members who hop in high school drama teachers, there's high school drama teachers on parental figure roles in people's lives. And certainly along the way, I've been blessed with many inspiring forces. But yeah, it all starts with the foundation. I mean, if Ethan and Marshall are the foundation of this play, and it's strong, and it's rooted in brilliance. My parents are the foundation of this career in this life and rooted in its own lovely gift. And so yeah, I do not take any of it for granted. I do not take this opportunity for granted. And even if it is just those three performances last week, it will forever change my life.

Because of what I've learned and who I've met along the way and what I've experienced. And I hope to take what I've learned as an understudy and plant it into the roles and the opportunities where I'm not where I have a guaranteed performance every night. But I'm equally not taking those for granted. You know, right, every night can have the energy of an opening or closing. I think that is a tremendous gift to put into everything I do. And I did not have that before this. So I feel so lucky. And I can't wait to keep learning and growing from this.

[39:32] Eila Mell: It's such a huge moment for you. And also, I have to point out that you got to play a very creepy guy on Law & Order SVU recently.

[39:37] Harrison Bryan: Yes, not only do I have this huge off-Broadway leading role under Ethan and Marshall's genius, but yeah, I'm officially a New York actor and that I premiered on Law & Order last month. And so yeah, these nice little moments, these little stepping blocks, they're revealing themselves to me. And you know, we hear a lot about the hustle, we hear a lot about the hustle, and just like waiting for these breaks. And then when they actually do happen, right, it's like really rewarding. It really is validating. I was happy to get that experience on the precipice of this one and just keep building and just keep putting myself out there. I have these new projects as a writer, too, that are starting to make noise.

And I'm really hoping that as more and more people are exposed to my work and the art that I want to bring into it, they're feeding each other all of these projects, all of these opportunities. And it's happening. And it's happening in New York City, which is the greatest city in the world.

[40:44] Eila Mell: That's right.

[40:44] Harrison Bryan: You can feel it. I mean, that's Sunday, you can just feel that this is a moment. And, you know, I'm so happy for you that it's happening because you've put in so much time and work. But so many people do that. And most people don't get the payoff. So it's just, you know, enjoy every second of it.

[41:02] Harrison Bryan: I am. And if I've learned anything from Marcel on the Train, it's that we have opportunities in our life that are good or bad or happy and sad. And we don't get to choose those moments, but we do get to choose what we remember from those moments. And Marcel is often, in the language of this play, harping on memory and what we pull from those memories to fuel us in life. And it's always going to be for me. And I think it was for Marcel and these kids who he saved about those moments of hope, of laughter, of joy, of individual pockets where we're smiling. And we get to tell people that we were. And hopefully that message is loud and clear in the play. And I hope that it carries on for my life and everyone I'm lucky enough to work with.

[42:10] Eila Mell: Before we let you go, because we know you have a jam-packed day today, anything after this that people can keep their eye out that you have coming up that you may be able to talk about?

[42:17] Harrison Bryan: Sure. Yeah. I encourage everyone to follow at Ha Ha Harrison Bryan for all of my kooky shenanigans. Like I said, I've got a couple of new musicals in development, A Hanukkah Carol or Geltrip the Musical. I'm still hoping to bring into the world sooner than later for some holiday cheer. Balls the Musical, as you know, is taking strides. We're going to be starting to expand our digital footprint soon. And we're even talking about some interactive theater that's outside and out in the public and puppets terrorizing New York City. So stay tuned for that. And I also encourage you to follow Marcel on the Train and the journey that this new play has. We are all hoping that the show reaches as many people as possible.

And so like, yeah, I want more people to know the story. So even after March 22nd, keep talking about it, keep asking about it, because we have a responsibility, I think, to support new works in this city. And in order for that to really happen, we need to continue to make noise about it. And so anything that we're doing to support new plays, especially in New York, because it's so hard to produce new work here, I think we should be doing so more of that. Follow my website HarrisonBryan.com. I've got this. I've got so many things in the works. I'm really loving this embrace of my multi-hyphen self, and allowing the artistry to feed all parts of me. And I hope you'll follow along in this wild journey. And who knows, maybe more episodes of Law and Order. Maybe I'll get to maybe I'll get it. Maybe I'll be a little guilty person someday. That would be fun.

[43:54] Eila Mell: Um, so two things. I hope this show has a life after this run, because I think it deserves to move to a bigger theater so more people can see it. Although it's perfect in the theater it's in because there's not a bad seat.

[44:06] Harrison Bryan: Yeah, it's true. But I hope it continues on. But also just let's end with a quick shout out to our dear friend, your very devoted drama teacher from high school, Rory.

[44:19] Harrison Bryan: Rory. Rory, we know you're listening to this whole episode, Rory.

[44:24] Harrison Bryan: Rory actually came to two performances. We had a beautiful pizza time after. And I even brought him to a student matinee so he could see Ethan perform as well. So we can have a more informed conversation about the play. And I would encourage everyone to have that experience. Like, if you're seeing a play that you love, and an understudy goes on, go support the understudy because what you learn about that play that you love might become tenfold by seeing another perspective and vice versa. If you see the understudy, go back on and see the person who originated it and see how they're talking to each other. I'm going to start doing that in my life in plays that I love. And I hope others do too. And Rory was a perfect example of that. So hug, hug a drama teacher. They are the backbone of theater education. And we're lucky to have them.

[45:12] Eila Mell: Absolutely. Well, thank you, Harrison. This was so great. Yeah. And we will see everyone next time on Behind the Awards. Bye bye. Thank you.