This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Lea DeLaria: Hey everybody, I'm Lea DeLaria, and you're listening to Behind the Awards.

[0:05] Eila Mell: Oh, God.

[0:08] Bruce Gotlieb: This is, uh, it's tragic how much I'm enjoying getting this.

[0:19] Lea DeLaria: Really, um, virtually uncool to, you're not really, you're supposed to think that awards are invidious and things like that, but I think they're heaven, and this is right up my alley.

[0:37] Eila Mell: Um, welcome to Behind the Awards.

[0:50] Bruce Gotlieb: I'm Bruce, and I'm here with Eila.

[0:53] Eila Mell: Hello, Bruce.

[0:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, how are you today?

[0:57] Eila Mell: Doing well.

[0:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Not quite as well as Hugh Grant.

[0:59] Eila Mell: But, uh, yeah, so this is his Golden Globe win for Four Weddings and a Funeral when he burst onto the scene.

[1:07] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right. 1995 that was.

[1:10] Eila Mell: Right. He was so lovable.

[1:12] Bruce Gotlieb: And, uh, he was the hottest thing, and then he had that mishap with what was her name?

[1:18] Eila Mell: Divine Brown.

[1:19] Bruce Gotlieb: I believe so, yeah. The sexual, he seems to have rebounded from that since.

[1:24] Eila Mell: I don't think anybody really cared that much. It was like a momentary little blip, but even back then, people didn't care.

[1:30] Bruce Gotlieb: And why should they, to be honest?

[1:32] Eila Mell: Right. Exactly.

[1:33] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[1:34] Eila Mell: All right, well, let's get right to this review, because we're both just in love with Death Becomes Her.

[1:41] Bruce Gotlieb: We both went to see it separately.

[1:44] Eila Mell: Yes, I saw it last night.

[1:45] Bruce Gotlieb: I saw it a week ago.

[1:47] Eila Mell: And so we have much to say. So Bruce, why don't you start?

[1:51] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I will say when you walk in the theater, you're immersed in the vibe of the show. You know, that lavender lighting, the really rich royal purple curtains, the magenta sign hanging, you know, so you're automatically in the moment. You know where you are. You know, there's an opulent feeling about the theater. So it really sets the tone. And it just feels like fun when you walk in. You know you're in for a good time.

[2:22] Eila Mell: Absolutely. And so I had seen the movie, but you had not. So did you feel at any point that you didn't get anything that people were reacting to?

[2:33] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, I don't think so. I mean, I guess there could be things that maybe I didn't get, but you know, not having seen the source material, I didn't feel I was at a disadvantage.

[2:42] Eila Mell: Yeah, I mean, I can't looking at it, I don't think there's anything that they don't set up properly so that you wouldn't have had, you know, you would have had to see the movie to appreciate it. I feel like it was, it certainly delivered everything you want from Death Becomes Her if you're a fan of the movie, but you don't need to be.

[3:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Um, and then the play, it's, you know, it's different because it's a musical. It's not exactly the same. Some of the characters are a little bit different. So it's a lot of fun and it's so worth seeing, don't you think?

[3:16] Eila Mell: I think so. I think it's funny, it's a little campy, it's a little, a little, can't say a little bit.

[3:22] Bruce Gotlieb: That may be an understatement.

[3:23] Eila Mell: That's what makes it so much fun to me. The high camp factor.

[3:28] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, it starts off the show, you know, Megan Hilty has the opening number.

[3:34] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[3:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, actually, not really. Michelle Williams.

[3:37] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[3:38] Bruce Gotlieb: Have the first song.

[3:39] Eila Mell: Oh my God. How good does she look, by the way?

[3:42] Bruce Gotlieb: She looks stunning.

[3:43] Eila Mell: She looks like Cher to me in this show.

[3:46] Bruce Gotlieb: Because she has very long hair, for sure. Um, but the first what I'll call quote unquote number, like big, uh, big number, musical number value, uh, you're getting from Megan Hilty and the ensemble.

[3:58] Eila Mell: Oh my God, it's so funny. Uh, we don't want to give anything away. But I mean, Megan Hilty has a few costume changes in this number.

[4:07] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right. It's hilarious. And the costumes are by Paul Taswell, who has a little movie out right now called Wicked.

[4:15] Eila Mell: Yeah, it's just a tiny little film.

[4:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, he's actually, which I think I read, I think I read this morning was like, like the weekend totals, I think were like 160 something million.

[4:24] Eila Mell: I'm not surprised.

[4:25] Bruce Gotlieb: And I would be, I'd be shocked if Paul didn't at least get nominated for an Oscar, if not win. It seems like this could be a very good opportunity for him to get an Oscar.

[4:36] Eila Mell: It could be a very good award season for him in total. I mean, Death Becomes Her could certainly get some nominations as well.

[4:43] Bruce Gotlieb: So let's talk about the cast.

[4:44] Eila Mell: Yeah, so you had Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard were your two leading ladies. So Megan Hilty is playing the role that Meryl Streep played in the movie, Jennifer Samard Goldie Hawn.

[4:53] Bruce Gotlieb: Correct. So what were your thoughts now, having seen the movie, having seen the original two, did you feel like they got the vibe of each woman that they were portraying?

[5:04] Eila Mell: I think that they did different takes on these women, and they were equally good and maybe more fun even the way they were portrayed on stage.

[5:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Did you wind up leaving the show with a favorite?

[5:17] Eila Mell: Not really, but maybe just a tiny little bit, Jennifer Simard.

[5:22] Bruce Gotlieb: I know you're Megan Hilty.

[5:24] Eila Mell: Uh, uh, yeah, I left. Jennifer Simard was wonderful. She was great, but I got what I normally get from Jennifer Simard, which again is wonderful and outstanding.

[5:34] Bruce Gotlieb: But yeah.

[5:34] Eila Mell: But I felt like I just, Megan Hilty knocked it out of the park a little bit more than Jennifer Simard.

[5:42] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay. I, I, I, you could certainly make that argument, and I, people would definitely be swayed because they're both amazing.

[5:50] Eila Mell: So funny and so funny together, which is great.

[5:53] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, they have great chemistry.

[5:55] Eila Mell: Um, and then speaking of chemistry, you also then have their male counterpart, uh, you have, you know, Christopher Siebert.

[6:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[6:02] Eila Mell: Who is just, he's charming, he's funny, he's the butt of the joke when he needs to be.

[6:09] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[6:10] Eila Mell: Yeah, and he gets to do a lot in this. I mean, he has a pretty wide range of stuff he gets to do, which is great.

[6:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, it's a lot, you know. Everybody who's on that stage, with I would say the exception of Michelle Williams, there's a high level of physical comedy expected from them.

[6:28] Eila Mell: Michelle Williams gets to be a little pageantry because she's not expected to fall all over herself.

[6:33] Bruce Gotlieb: I know. Well, I think that she has enough to do just wearing the shoes she's wearing and the dresses and walking. It's not easy.

[6:40] Eila Mell: So, no. You're very aware that people are making sure she stays, you know, safe because she's asked to do a lot of really scary stuff. She's riding on top of a sign at one point, like on the top of the stage, and she's flying in on a swing, and I mean she's doing a lot of cool stuff. So good for her.

[6:58] Bruce Gotlieb: And I'll tell you, they must have had, they must have extra room in the pit because there's entrances and exits that happen into the pit. And it's a bit much fun.

[7:09] Eila Mell: Oh my gosh. You know, this show, it's just you laugh from the moment you get in there. It doesn't stop.

[7:16] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, it's level upon level. It just keeps leveling itself up.

[7:19] Eila Mell: Oh my gosh. Now I don't know if you had this, but towards the end of Act One, both ladies have a big song, and both of those stopped the show that the night I was there.

[7:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[7:33] Eila Mell: And, and also at the end of the opening number at Megan's opening number, um, you had, you know, quite a lengthy applause factor going on.

[7:43] Bruce Gotlieb: You're so relieved as an audience member to go in and just love something right away so much. It's so much fun.

[7:49] Eila Mell: So it sets a great tone. I can't imagine how it must feel for Megan and the rest of the ensemble that's on stage at the end of that number, just that ovation that's coming.

[8:00] Bruce Gotlieb: It's gotta be a rush. And, and honestly, I think if she came out and did that one number and they said, okay, that's at the end of the show, I think people would still leave happy.

[8:08] Eila Mell: I was saying though, really, and you get your money's worth at that one moment. Because first of all, it's a long song, so you get a lot packed into that. It's so much fun.

[8:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Was there anything you didn't like about it?

[8:20] Eila Mell: I wouldn't say it is anything I didn't like. The one thing I thought that, uh, maybe, and again, it's like a nitpicky thing. The there's a use of a couple of, uh, body doubles. Um, and I felt like they could have been a little bit truer to the body that they were portraying, but it didn't take away from it. I didn't feel like it ruined the show for me. It didn't take me out of it.

[8:42] Bruce Gotlieb: I agree with you.

[8:45] Eila Mell: Yeah. It made me laugh. Like, really? That's, that's what we, that's all we had? Okay.

[8:49] Bruce Gotlieb: So, you know, I did some digging into this, and I found out that it was done on purpose to be silly, to be funny. Um, you know, for me, it didn't work as much because I started thinking about it and I wasn't thinking about the plot of the show. So I would have liked it if the doubles looked more like the actresses. It was really just at one key moment towards the end of the show.

[9:10] Eila Mell: Right. But you know, but it doesn't take away from the show. It's just, you know, a decision that I would have done differently, but you know, people probably love it. It is funny. It's just, you know, it wasn't my favorite moment.

[9:23] Bruce Gotlieb: But what I have to say was incredible are the stunts that you expect that are in the movie. They recreate them on stage. And you know, this is stuff that you need for the movie, you needed special effects for. And they're doing it live in front of you. So you're gonna see, you know, Jennifer Simard with a big hole in the middle of her body, and you know, Megan Hilty's body is gonna change a bit during the course of the show. And there's something great that happens on a staircase that's in the movie.

[9:53] Eila Mell: So, and how gorgeous is that staircase in the whole set?

[9:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, the whole set, I mean, Derek McLean did a wonderful job. Um, you know, the set really, really stands out, and it's funny because earlier that afternoon I saw Sunset Boulevard.

[10:07] Eila Mell: So you went from minimalist no set to the most opulent set you can find.

[10:14] Bruce Gotlieb: So it was nice to get out. We had, I had both ends of the extreme.

[10:18] Eila Mell: What a day for you, my gosh. Two huge shows.

[10:21] Bruce Gotlieb: Go big or go home, right?

[10:23] Eila Mell: Really. All right. So this is definitely a thumbs up, a five stars, a positive all good review for Death Becomes Her from us.

[10:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely. I mean, and the critics raved about it too.

[10:32] Eila Mell: So, yeah, that's great. You know, it's around, so I would say go or go early and go often.

[10:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, I mean, you could definitely go again. I, I'm ready to see it again, I think. Because it's something, it's really like we could all use a good time right now, and that's what the show provides.

[10:51] Eila Mell: Absolutely. And so I will tell you also, fun fact that at least when I was there last night, the line for the men's room during intermission was all the way up the stairs, down and wrapped down the aisle of the orchestra.

[11:06] Bruce Gotlieb: That's how gay you can tell the show is by how long the line is for the men's room.

[11:10] Eila Mell: Well, and you know, the opening number that we're talking about is, you know, for the gays.

[11:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[11:16] Eila Mell: But spelled G-A-Z-E.

[11:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Uh-huh.

[11:19] Eila Mell: You know, like gazing upon.

[11:20] Bruce Gotlieb: However, I love a double entendre.

[11:22] Eila Mell: Well, they certainly make, uh, you know, make good use of that pun.

[11:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely. And speaking of all things gay, yes.

[11:30] Eila Mell: Our guest today.

[11:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, brunch is gay.

[11:34] Eila Mell: Right.

[11:34] Bruce Gotlieb: So we're, according to Lea DeLaria.

[11:36] Eila Mell: Exactly. So Lea, well, you know, we'll let her tell you, but she's doing a series of brunches at the iconic 54 Below.

[11:45] Bruce Gotlieb: So let's bring her out and we will discuss all things brunch.

[11:49] Eila Mell: Absolutely. And some things gay.

[11:51] Bruce Gotlieb: Some things gay, but brunch is very important.

[11:53] Eila Mell: Yeah, it's very important.

[11:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Let's get Lea.

[11:58] Eila Mell: Well, Bruce, we're so excited. We have such a great guest today, Lea DeLaria. How are you?

[12:04] Lea DeLaria: I'm good.

[12:06] Eila Mell: Thank you so much for joining us.

[12:07] Lea DeLaria: Oh, my pleasure.

[12:09] Eila Mell: We're really excited because we love brunch.

[12:12] Lea DeLaria: And now brunch is gay.

[12:13] Eila Mell: As well it should be.

[12:15] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. Yeah.

[12:16] Eila Mell: That's not brunch.

[12:17] Lea DeLaria: Brunch is not just gay.

[12:18] Eila Mell: Brunch is a gay high holiday.

[12:22] Lea DeLaria: Very true. Very true.

[12:24] Eila Mell: Yeah. So what's going on at 54 Below? Something big is brewing. Tell us.

[12:30] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. So I'm doing a residency there that started last May called Brunch is Gay. And every month I do a different show. And every month I have a different guest. And every month there is a different theme. Um, and part of what makes Brunch is Gay so much fun is that me and my guests, whoever they might be, uh, are generally doing songs that we've never really done before. Some, but sometimes yes.

[13:00] Lea DeLaria: I mean, I have different songs that are in my repertoire that will fit anything fine. But usually, especially on the duets, things we've just never done before, and we're just having a ball doing it. The lyrics are on the stand. We fuck up, people laugh, we laugh, we make more jokes, uh, we patter. I mean, it's just all of that. Like, for example, um, Sunday, last Sunday was, uh, my brunch with, and I had Isaac Mizrahi. So as a duet, we did the Barbara Streisand, Judy Garland happy days, uh, happy duet.

[13:34] Eila Mell: Amazing.

[13:35] Lea DeLaria: Um, then to close the show, we did Bosom Buddies, and he had never, Isaac had never done Bosom Buddies before, and it was just a fucking hilarious treat. He was so funny, and you know, I know the song so well that the two of us were just like on it. You know what I mean? It was really fun. And the happy happy duet just brought the house down.

[13:57] Eila Mell: Wow, it brought the house down.

[13:58] Lea DeLaria: I mean, people I think really needed to heal.

[14:01] Eila Mell: Yes, and that was something that as soon as we started it, they started applauding.

[14:06] Lea DeLaria: So it was kind of it that was kind of great. Same with Bosom Bunnies, yeah. As soon as the vamps started, they know this is a Broadway audience. Yeah, that's right. Exactly what it was. So two things about Isaac Mizrahi. First, I can't watch the movie Fame without being astounded every single time when I see him in that. I love that. And two, I mean, what a great personality. Must be so much fun. Is he a longtime friend? Uh we've been friends for quite a minute. And that's why I love uh there was a late cancellation for this last Front show. And I had told Isaac I was gonna ask him to do it with me in February. And I got this late cancellation. I went, Isaac instead of February, can you can you do November?

Because let's he fucking owed me. I'd done like several of his shows. I was like, I know this is short notice, honey. Can you do it? And then you can also publicize your throws at the Carlisle. You know, why not? Sure. And he was like, sure, absolutely. And our theme was happy days are here again because we in our wildest dreams didn't think what what happened would happen again. Yeah. Um, yeah. And so I called him, I had to get to reach out to him the next day. And Isaac and I were we were just kind of basically on the same page. He goes, he's the way he thought there's less a thing of succession, uh secession, you know. And I went, yeah, I do know. And he goes, We and we're we're on it. New York, California, we paid for all those red bitches.

Yeah. You know, so that kind of became our theme. So we went from that kind of happy days to having a lot of anger and ire in the show. And uh Isaac did a song about Quaaludes, which was fucking hilarious. Quaaludes seemed to have disappeared. They were so big growing up. Yeah, not it wasn't Quaaludes way. It was um, but Quaaludes were mentioned. So it was like, yeah. So it was all of the all of those things about take, you know, let's not let's take these for the next four years. It just greats, just great stuff like that. So as things happen, the bridges change as well. You know what I mean? And we incorporate, we incorporate, I incorporate everything into that brunch. Is it like a 50-50 planned uh versus improv or is it the music is always this is the music we're going to do.

Okay. Um, I mean, if you want to get technical, I can get technical with you, and so that people could see it's insane how well these brushes go given what we're doing. But yeah, so I put the set list together, the guest does a solo, the guest and I talk and agree on what the two duets will be. Then I put a set list together. We reach out to my guy, Jeremy Siskin, who lives out in California. I say, we want we're gonna do this song. For example, I did that cat is high in this last one, and I sent him a track of that cat is high to the Manhattan Transfer, and I said, D do this, this, this, this, this. So he charted out that chart for me. Sometimes he's charting out five charts. Wow. Because we're doing 10 tunes, right?

So if the theme is crazy, like when I did the thing called 52 Girls with Lily Cooper, so it was all songs with women's names in it. Oh, cool. You know what I mean? And and about women, and we did a whole bunch of new stuff. So he he charted like five charts for that one. But for that cat is high, I said, you know, this is the key that I'm gonna send you. Key thing's a little over me. So here's the arrangement I want. Then can you also spit it out a half tone higher and a full tone higher? I like stuff like that. So then at 10 a.m. on Sunday, the band loads in. At 10:30, the the guest and I go up and rehearse the three songs, like the guest solo first, R2ettes, and then the guest buggers off.

And if I have, and then I would we rehearse my new songs. If we run out of time, there's a piano up in the green room. Just in case we work on set of the piano at 11:30, the doors open. So we have one hour to hers, the doors open, the food comes out, and at one o'clock we walk out on stage and just do a brand spanking new show that we literally just rehearsed an hour ago. That sounds exciting. Do you like working under pressure like that? I I love it. It's not pressure because there is there's no pressure. This is the friendliest audience in the world. They know that it's loose. Yeah, they're expecting loose, and they love the loose. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's more like for uh, you know, for example, like Isaac, it's a no-brainer.

He's been, he's d does this all the time. You know what I mean? It was simple. Next month I have Stacy Sargent, who is immensely talented, and I love her, and what a fucking voice. And Stacy and I did Midsummer Night Stream Together in 2004. That's how long we know each other. And Stacy is is probably not as used to the looseness. Do you know what I mean? Like I experienced that. Who else was not used to the oh Gabe Ebert, God bless him? I love me like Gaby. We did Prometheus Bound together in 2010. That's how long we know each other. He was like, So we're just gonna rehearse that day. It's it's okay, Gabe. It's gonna be fine. Don't worry about it. You know all this stuff. We're doing Cole Porter game.

Come on. Come on. Right. So it was like, yeah. So there's some people like Jackie Hoffman. She get no fucks to give Jackie Hoffman when we get our Halloween show. She's like, We're gonna do, we're gonna do spooky and battle black magic. And she was like, sure, fine, half an hour, great. That's like time we have, sure, let's do it. And then whatever comes out of our mouths comes out of our mouths. So some people are more used to it, but once they start, once the show starts, every that ever all of you just need a click. Oh, okay, I can do this. You know. And for you, it must also bring back like a little bit of that feeling like when you're doing stand-up, you have to be ready to pivot at any minute.

So you get that a little bit of that probably depending on what the audience is giving you. Right. I do that at every show. So when it's even if it's just me or if what if I'm with a guest, if you're coming to see We Delaria, he's going to pivot. I'm always going to pivot. I don't write material, I just talk, you know. And sometimes you get the best material when you just talk. Yeah. Well, because you're so in the moment, right? You're just reacting. Exactly. Exactly. That's a little that's a little muscle that a lot of people don't realize informs literally everything I do. Being present and listening. You can't act if you're not present. You can't create music if you're not present. You can't really live if you're not present.

Yeah. Well that's facts. Since last week, it's just more important than ever that we have, you know, gay brunches and we have representation of everyone. So it's it's so good that you're doing this. Yeah. And I still have my Kamala Harris Blanco. Good. There you go. And it will remain up until my fuck Trump flag that I ordered shows. Once that goes, it's gonna replace Kamala. Uh it's yeah. Hopefully, hopefully, happy days are we'll be here again, but you know, we'll see. You know, who knows? John Hinckley might help us out. You know, you don't often hear people reminisce fondly about Hinckley, but here we go. When I was a very young stand-up comic in San Francisco, I had posters made up to run John Hinckley for president.

And the poster that sprays on the poster was he's had a stout at the man, let's give him a shot at the job. That's hilarious. So I've always been kind of uh that person. We'll be right back. We have to listen to some commercials. One of my favorite shows that you've been in was POTUS. Speaking of a little segue here. Can you tell us about that experience? How did that come to be? I mean, the show itself was phenomenal. I I actually saw it twice, was able to go to the closing show, which the energy was. That was insane. Yes. Our closing night, that was one of I that I will remember that to the day I die. Besides the fact that we were all on fire performance-wise. I mean, we were getting more than our share of the laughs.

Selena's speech, Curtin's speech, was one of the I hope that it was recorded. And actually, what the New York Times needs to do is get that recording recording and run it in the New York Times. They need to transcribe it and let everybody read it, especially now. You know, just really great. So POTUS. I'm like hanging out in my apartment in Bushwick, I don't know, like 2018, I think it is. Like that. I probably smoked a little smoke a little weed, probably drinking, drinking a beer and some tequila, like I usually do. And I get a call from my manager. It's like five in the afternoon or whatever, thinking what I'm gonna watch on TV. I get a call from my manager. So the script came in. It's called POTUS.

And I was like, What a terrible title. What a terrible title. And he goes, Yeah, there's a part that um they've written kind of for you, and it's being done at Princeton, the playwrights workshop. Well, he goes, he goes, I was like, Princeton, the playwright workshop, really? And they do you want me to he goes, I don't you, I'm gonna send you the script, you make your decision. I just think that you would like this script. So I get 10 pages in. My character hasn't even come up yet. Right. As we know, Bernadette is makes her entrance in the penultimate scene of the first act. My character hasn't come 10 pages. I called Jeremy and he was like, You calling me already? And I was like, he goes, You can't have even reached your part yet.

I said, No, I have not, and 10 pages in, and it's a most definite yes. And he goes, You should you know, go to your care at least go to the character. Jeremy Katz, my manager, I always trash him. Um I said, Jeremy Katz, I'm saying yes. Because if this play comes to New York City and I'm not in it, you're fucking fired. Yeah. So then it's weird because Celia wouldn't I just, you know, did my did my thing and um d did the playwright workshop and everything. And the when we started our first rehearsal for what it was we do to Broadway, none of the other women knew that I had been attached to this and involved with it since its inception. And so I said, I was telling them the story, and when I said that I wanted to say yes, Selena was like, We were in such shock that you said yes.

I was like, Funny, when I read a script like this, I'd get my meaty, like my claws into that meaty part, and I'm holding on to like this, and I'm not gonna let it go. So that's how I became involved. And then in 2020, before the pandemic happened, we had an entirely different cast. Oh. Came together with an entirely different uh, you know, creative team, except for Stro. Okay. Costro said, as she told me at that, I want Julie White and Lea DeLaria. That's what she said. Amazing. So Julie was there and I was there. Yeah. Everybody else was different. Wow. I like to say this, and Uzo is so great about it, because Uzo played the part that Susie Nakamura played. So Uzo and I were doing yet another show together, because Susie and I have been in a couple of shows together.

Um of course the chemistry is great. But when Uzo came to see the show, she was like, Oh, Lea, it thank God Susie got it so. I was like, So are thank God I wasn't available to do this part because Susie Nakamura is so much funnier than I well, that's pretty generous. Well, Susie Nakamura is a comedic legend. If people who aren't in the world of comedy don't know that she's second city. Yeah. There are only like 10 real second city people. A lot of comes go, oh, I'm second city. No, you're not. Um but Susie and Rachel, both second city. So they know each other. Yeah. Um, and uh Julie White and Susie did a television show. They know each other, like every it was just one of those things. So that incarnation, the pandemic stopped that.

Boom, the pandemic happens. I go out to do head over heels at the Pasadena Playhouse. And while I'm at the Pasadena Playhouse, I get the call from Jeremy Katz. Well, POTUS is back. I'm like, what? POTUS is back. Saying fucking test you. So I got done doing head over heels, and two months later went ready to rehearsals for POTUS. Amazing. There's two things about this show I have to say, uh, besides the fact that it just having that much estrogen around was so much fun. Yeah. And yeah, everybody's just having a great time, everything being as loose. You know, having Rachel try to make Julie and I laugh on stage, which is gonna happen. Well, she's hilarious. We are not stoned, Julie and I. We we point and last on stage.

We don't care. Which hate or Mrs. Strowman hates breaking stage. We all tried we all tried our hardest not to. Yeah. Because Joe really fucking hates it. But the friendships that evolved from it and the the politics of that show and have us all like we have a group chat still, a POTUS group chat, um, that we utilize all the time. And it's called We're having a country morning. Uh-huh. And uh, you know, take it from the script. And you know, like I just rate just texted Rachel, she just had to be back. We're both members of the players' club, we're gonna meet at the players for dinner and drinks on Friday. You know, it's just that the gift that POTUS gave me, besides this fantastic script is all these incredible women. Yeah. They're now major part of my life. Who in their wildest dreams would think that I would have so much in common with Vanessa Williams.

[28:07] Lea DeLaria: Exactly. Catholic school, all that shit. We had so much in common. That's so funny. And the oh, the first day we moved to the Schubert, we had our long lunch break. And he goes, I said, What are you gonna do for lunch? And she goes, you know, I think I'm gonna go to juniors because I feel like I really, really want a grilled cheese sandwich, french fries, and a beer. And I was Vanessa, we are gonna be such good friends. But oh boom. We went over to juniors and had grilled cheese sandwiches, French fries, and drank some beers.

[28:33] Bruce Gotlieb: That's amazing.

[28:34] Lea DeLaria: So but I remember years ago when you were doing On the Town, there was such buzz about it because it was like Lad's Laurie's doing theater.

[28:42] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[28:42] Lea DeLaria: It's changed my life On the Town. Were you a theater kid or was that new for you?

[28:46] Lea DeLaria: Oh god, yes. I was uh I was in the drama club. I went to college on a theater scholarship.

[28:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[28:53] Lea DeLaria: Um, and left. Hated college.

[28:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[28:55] Lea DeLaria: Just hated it. And immediately joined an improv comedy troupe. So I went, you know, I quit the college and started joined the improv comedy troupe. I started writing plays. I formed my own theater company in San Francisco, and that's what led me to stand-up comedy because I was writing these plays and directing them myself. They were all funny plays. So it would just was a no-brainer to try stand-up, so I tried it.

[29:20] Lea DeLaria: And that was I love to say this, April 20th, 420.

[29:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[29:25] Lea DeLaria: Perfect. Which wasn't even 420 then. That's how long ago this was.

[29:29] Bruce Gotlieb: Right, right.

[29:30] Lea DeLaria: In 1982, and by September of that year, I had quit my day job and was supporting myself as a stand-up.

[29:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, that's amazing.

[29:36] Lea DeLaria: It's a young age. Wow.

[29:38] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[29:39] Lea DeLaria: So I was, yeah, I was I was 24. Wow. I was very young. And then uh 93 was when I got Arsenio.

[29:47] Lea DeLaria: So it was the first openly gay comic on television in America. So when they were doing On the Town in the Park, this is a lovely story. I don't know how much time we have.

[29:55] Bruce Gotlieb: We have as much time as you have.

[29:58] Lea DeLaria: Great. The first person cast in the show was Jesse Tyler Ferguson. I don't know if people know this. He literally graduated from Amda in May and then got this part.

[30:09] Lea DeLaria: Like he graduated like a week before and got a baby Jesse. Zygo Jesse.

[30:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[30:14] Lea DeLaria: I can show you pictures. Just a baby.

[30:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[30:18] Lea DeLaria: So he was the first one. They cast everyone. And they had not cast Hildy. I was the last one cast. George could not find his Hildy.

[30:25] Lea DeLaria: George Wolf couldn't find Hildy. He had a very specific idea in mind, as George always will. And he couldn't, he just couldn't find Hildy. And he saw all the usual suspects here in New York. He went out to LA, saw all the usual suspects out in LA. He went to London. Usual suspects again. You know, not finding it. He came back to New York. He literally started seeing men. He saw Billy Porter. He saw Charles Bush, you know, like that.

[30:55] Lea DeLaria: And then one day they were all sitting around, they couldn't find their Hildy, and uh they were trying to figure out why. What is it? What is it? And George, this is just has been told to me by both casting directors at the public theater, so I'm certain it's a fact.

[31:10] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[31:10] Lea DeLaria: But George says, What makes Hildy funny? In 1997, if somebody said we need a lesbian, I was the only one. None of none of the others were out.

[31:17] Bruce Gotlieb: That's crazy to think.

[31:20] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. And yeah. And luckily Heidi and Jordan, the casting directors at the public theater knew me very well. And they, because they were huge fans. And they went, Oh, have we got a lesbian for you?

[31:35] Lea DeLaria: And they knew that you're a great singer already.

[31:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[31:38] Lea DeLaria: They were huge fans. So I was singing. I've always sung on stage when I'm doing my stand-up. I always have a live band on me and I'm singing. And I went, I went in uh first for just first for just George. Um just George casting director, and then they came, Heidi came out and went, Well, you just fucking killed that.

[31:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh you know, that's the best.

[31:58] Lea DeLaria: May I need to see you again tomorrow. Learn this song.

[32:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[32:02] Lea DeLaria: Um, it was I Can Cook Too, which I already kind of knew, you know, because I can cook too is such a great song. So that was it. And yeah, the next day, that there's a very long story. I'm not gonna do that long story, but I had to go to Boston to perform.

[32:18] Lea DeLaria: So I went to Boston to perform. I flew back for to the next day for this callback. And on my way to the airport to fly home to Los Angeles, I got uh Lea DeLaria pick up the white courtesy phone. Which used to happen is three cell phones, yeah, right.

[32:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[32:36] Lea DeLaria: So in the airport, I picked up the white courtesy phone, and it was my agent and said, Well, your life is really about to change. You just got this part.

[32:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh my gosh.

[32:45] Lea DeLaria: So yeah, I was in like the ski botch of LaGuardia, and I sat down or I just sat down on the floor and went, wow.

[32:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[32:53] Lea DeLaria: That must have been so exciting.

[32:55] Lea DeLaria: It was incredibly exciting. And then I met Jesse, and that made it even more exciting. And then we became, I don't know if you guys are old enough to remember that they would call us the gay lunts because every time you turned around, Jessie and I heard it up.

[33:06] Bruce Gotlieb: That's so funny.

[33:08] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. So it was Bud. And yeah, and just having that now lifetime friendship with him from the time he was a zygo to now he's just a grown man with a beard and a little belly, a little pot belly, and two children.

[33:22] Bruce Gotlieb: And so much success.

[33:23] Lea DeLaria: And married.

[33:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[33:24] Lea DeLaria: And married, yep.

[33:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[33:26] Lea DeLaria: To a lovely man, Justin.

[33:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[33:28] Lea DeLaria: Who also produces and acts and does everything too.

[33:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, Justin produces.

[33:33] Lea DeLaria: Justin doesn't really act. Justin just he produces.

[33:36] Bruce Gotlieb: I'm gonna tell him you said that though.

[33:38] Lea DeLaria: Okay. But yeah, and both he and Jesse have gone now into something that I'm also doing, executive producing um shorts or important films.

[33:46] Bruce Gotlieb: So yeah.

[33:47] Lea DeLaria: Cool.

[33:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Very cool.

[33:48] Lea DeLaria: And doesn't Justin have a Tony for Dana H?

[33:50] Bruce Gotlieb: Justin has a Tony for Oklahoma.

[33:53] Lea DeLaria: I think that was the first one. Justin has, I think, two Tonys.

[33:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, yeah.

[33:57] Lea DeLaria: And now Jess and Jesse has one.

[33:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[33:59] Lea DeLaria: Yes.

[34:00] Lea DeLaria: And I have a you know, notorious Tony Snub.

[34:02] Bruce Gotlieb: So that's right.

[34:04] Lea DeLaria: We just got to get you back on stage so we can get you in in the group.

[34:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[34:09] Lea DeLaria: Exactly. Well, Jesse and I have a we have a beautiful friendship relationship that is based on just being so mean to each other and laughing our heads off.

[34:19] Bruce Gotlieb: That's so like for example, when we were at the first Emmy awards that we did, we were at together.

[34:26] Lea DeLaria: We used to what it was so fun to be on red carpets with your best friend.

[34:29] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[34:30] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. So we were always at the same Emmys, always at the same SAG awards, always, you know, we would often walk together, uh, just because you know, it's my best friends.

[34:39] Lea DeLaria: So he was nominated for an Emmy and he didn't win, so I immediately texted Loser to him.

[34:45] Bruce Gotlieb: And they were modern family nominated against Orange is the New Black for Best Comedy.

[34:53] Lea DeLaria: Funny, right?

[34:54] Bruce Gotlieb: And they won.

[34:55] Lea DeLaria: So they won it. And I can see him as he's walking up to the stage on his phone, going, look, and then I get the glass of my phone. Loser.

[35:03] Bruce Gotlieb: That's a relationship.

[35:05] Lea DeLaria: So when he won the Tony, I'd you know, text him immediately, and he goes, and of course, his response was, I have a Tony and you don't.

[35:12] Lea DeLaria: Last year I won an Emmy for a thing that I produced. So I got to go, I have an Emmy, you don't.

[35:17] Bruce Gotlieb: So every now and then he'll take a picture of his Tony, and I'll take a picture of my Emmy like that.

[35:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Now do you both have SAG awards?

[35:24] Lea DeLaria: He has one more than me.

[35:26] Bruce Gotlieb: That's the bane of my existence.

[35:27] Lea DeLaria: I mean I've got three, and he's got four. I need, you know, I need the Tony, and I need another SAG award so that we can so that I will actually be in front because I have the Emmy.

[35:38] Bruce Gotlieb: All right.

[35:38] Lea DeLaria: We're gonna have to do that.

[35:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[35:41] Lea DeLaria: So I got to interview Jesse for a couple of books that I've written. And um, you know, you do a zoom.

[35:46] Bruce Gotlieb: And yeah.

[35:46] Lea DeLaria: So one interview we did, he was like pushing a shopping cart. It looked like he was a target or something.

[35:53] Bruce Gotlieb: It was so funny.

[35:54] Lea DeLaria: Oh my god. He's crazy.

[35:57] Bruce Gotlieb: He's crazy.

[35:58] Lea DeLaria: Yeah.

[35:59] Bruce Gotlieb: He's a lot of fun on a carpet.

[36:01] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. Just sure. The two of us will walk together sometimes and just it's just he's just crazy. He doesn't care. Why should he? It's amazing.

[36:09] Bruce Gotlieb: Let's take a minute to hear a word from our sponsors.

[36:16] Lea DeLaria: We've had some of your Orange is the New Black co-stars on our show. We had Uzo, we've had Lorraine Toussant, we had Adrian C. Moore.

[36:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, of course.

[36:26] Lea DeLaria: Um, how much fun was it to do? Orange is the New Black. It's almost the same thing as POTUS. There was so much estrogen and so many women in um major in film, it's really hard.

[36:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[36:37] Lea DeLaria: In theater and film, it's really hard. But in film, it's so fucking hard. Female first ADs. We had female camera operators. We had female directors. We'd it was just there'd be times where you'd look around and go, I can count the men that in this room on one hand.

[36:55] Bruce Gotlieb: So it was just ridiculous fun.

[36:57] Lea DeLaria: I mean, there's a thing that a lot of guys don't get when they probably get it in terms of when there's a bunch of men around and there's no women. When there's a bunch of women around and there's so many it's fucking hilarious.

[37:09] Bruce Gotlieb: It's a great time.

[37:10] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. You know? So for me, that's that was it was the dike bar. That's it was a dike bar without a pool table.

[37:17] Bruce Gotlieb: All I needed was a pool table and somebody DJ playing We Are Family.

[37:22] Lea DeLaria: That's you know what I mean? Or any Indigo Girls song.

[37:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[37:26] Lea DeLaria: It's just it was just like that. And Uzo and I had known each other because we did Prometheus Bound together at ART um in 2010.

[37:35] Lea DeLaria: So this started filming in 2012, right?

[37:39] Bruce Gotlieb: So we got our parts in 2012.

[37:41] Lea DeLaria: And Uzo, bless her heart, she was gonna quit. And there was a group of us, me included, saying, Don't Uzo, don't do it.

[37:48] Bruce Gotlieb: She packed her bags.

[37:50] Lea DeLaria: She was going back to school. And then she got the part, right?

[37:54] Lea DeLaria: And uh that's that is actually not an unusual story around Orange. I had a very same similar thing with Orange that they asked me to audition. They asked me to audition three times.

[38:07] Lea DeLaria: I came in for different characters three times, and the last audition was so good. And the casting director never they never say this. Jen Houston went, You're exactly what we're looking for, Leah.

[38:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[38:19] Lea DeLaria: Yeah, we really need you on this show. And I went directly to my manager's office to say to Jeremy Katz's office to say, Jeremy, we're gonna get this call.

[38:27] Bruce Gotlieb: And I walked in and he was on the phone with her already, and it was not a good call.

[38:32] Lea DeLaria: You could tell it wasn't a good call.

[38:33] Bruce Gotlieb: So what happened?

[38:35] Lea DeLaria: I could tell by his face, and I just stood there. Oh, I can't, you know, you hear no so much in this business. And um, so he hung up the phone and he went, Well, they love you.

[38:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Kiss of fucking death.

[38:48] Lea DeLaria: Just by their that is the kiss of death. Because the but big ass butt is coming.

[38:54] Bruce Gotlieb: But they don't feel they really have a part for you in this show that they say they're gonna write you one.

[39:00] Lea DeLaria: Okay, now I'm still waiting for that part on law and order that they were gonna write for me, and it's been off the air for what, 15 years now?

[39:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[39:08] Lea DeLaria: So I've had that said to me my entire life. And I got really upset. I was really pissed about it. And I just stood up.

[39:16] Lea DeLaria: I lived at that time in both London and New York. So I just I just said I looked at him and I went, Are you fucking kidding me? They tell they are writing show. They're doing a show that takes place in a women's prison.

[39:33] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[39:34] Lea DeLaria: And there isn't a part for me. I then I fucking quit. I quit show business.

[39:41] Bruce Gotlieb: And I did.

[39:42] Lea DeLaria: I packed my stuff in New York and moved to my house in London and was going to just go with my singing career because that's that's where it was, you know. Just gonna go with my singing career and do little pieces of theater and independent film and television when it happens to come up.

[39:56] Lea DeLaria: But I'm not gonna actively pursue it anymore in New York City. And by the time I got off my plane, there was like a thousand messages on my voice, on my my voice machine, and they were all from Jeremy going, Well, you've had your hissy fit.

[40:08] Lea DeLaria: They did write a part for you. Wow. You better get your ass back to New York. You start filming in September.

[40:13] Bruce Gotlieb: So wow.

[40:14] Lea DeLaria: I had to move a bunch of shit, bad kitty art.

[40:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, that's a good reason to move though.

[40:20] Lea DeLaria: Yeah.

[40:21] Bruce Gotlieb: And what a show.

[40:22] Lea DeLaria: I mean, really, just yeah, and everybody was like that. I always called it the island of misfit toys.

[40:27] Lea DeLaria: You know, there was Natasha Lyonne trying to make her comeback and look what look what happened to her. You know what I mean?

[40:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[40:32] Lea DeLaria: And Laura Prepon returning to the airways. You know, that we had people, people like that.

[40:38] Bruce Gotlieb: And you know, Kate Mulgrew, who we hadn't seen in quite quite a minute.

[40:42] Lea DeLaria: Yes.

[40:42] Bruce Gotlieb: And and you know, all us old Broadway hags that were all there from Annie, Annie Golden today on, they're all there.

[40:51] Lea DeLaria: Yeah.

[40:51] Bruce Gotlieb: We all know each other.

[40:52] Lea DeLaria: And then all these young girls who just graduated from Juilliard and us old hags saying to them, this is not what happens every time.

[41:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Exactly.

[41:04] Lea DeLaria: This is your first show.

[41:06] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[41:06] Lea DeLaria: It happens for Danny Brooks, apparently.

[41:09] Bruce Gotlieb: And Samira Wiley.

[41:11] Lea DeLaria: But this does not happen for everyone all the time.

[41:14] Bruce Gotlieb: So be careful with your money.

[41:16] Lea DeLaria: Be careful with your career. Don't act like you're gonna be on a hit television show every five seconds.

[41:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Doesn't work.

[41:23] Lea DeLaria: And also it was a cast that it looked like people that I see every day in New York. I really appreciate that.

[41:28] Bruce Gotlieb: It's not just all one.

[41:31] Lea DeLaria: No, that was kind of that was part of the deal. We were all regular women.

[41:35] Lea DeLaria: I mean, when we auditioned, they said do not wear makeup.

[41:39] Bruce Gotlieb: We were told not to wear makeup.

[41:40] Lea DeLaria: Yeah. Fine with age.

[41:41] Bruce Gotlieb: Same thing about, you know, on the set.

[41:44] Lea DeLaria: The girls would start saying, Can I have a little bit more? Could I have a little bit more? And I'd be like, Can I have a little bit less?

[41:50] Bruce Gotlieb: You know what I mean?

[41:51] Lea DeLaria: They're like, you have a little red on your face. Don't fucking touch it. We want this to look real.

[41:55] Bruce Gotlieb: You know?

[42:01] Lea DeLaria: And I mean, don't get me wrong. They they helped us in a lot of ways. Uh, me, for example, I have eyes that just really pop on camera.

[42:10] Lea DeLaria: So they had little special tricks to make my eyes really pop on camera.

[42:13] Lea DeLaria: Uh, so everybody had those little things, but that we look like real women, and it was so heaven sent for so many women to turn on a television show and see themselves.

[42:26] Bruce Gotlieb: You never see yourself, right?

[42:27] Lea DeLaria: Exactly.

[42:28] Lea DeLaria: I never saw myself on TV.

[42:30] Lea DeLaria: And if I did, if I saw Butch, he was always an asshole, uh, not smart, uh, beater girlfriend.

[42:38] Lea DeLaria: I mean, just you know, truck driver, right?

[42:41] Lea DeLaria: Uh, you know, does doesn't know decent grammar, any of it.

[42:44] Lea DeLaria: So Big Boo was not just smart, she was the smartest person in that prison.

[42:50] Lea DeLaria: And if you ask any other of the characters, they'll say the same thing.

[42:53] Lea DeLaria: Boo was the one that had the smart ideas, knew how to handle a situation, could handle a situation, um, and cared about the other, you know.

[43:03] Lea DeLaria: Boo did some things, but we all you all have to do things to survive in prison.

[43:07] Lea DeLaria: But mostly she really loved her family and her friends that were around her in that prison and would never be violent, wouldn't her fly, you know, couldn't even hurt the rapist.

[43:18] Lea DeLaria: So, you know, this is uh that with Leah Larry, trust me, I'd have shoved that broom stick up his ass so far.

[43:24] Lea DeLaria: It he it would have been coming out of his mouth.

[43:27] Lea DeLaria: But Big Boo couldn't do it.

[43:29] Lea DeLaria: But it's it was also such a great representation of lesbian stories because you had a wide range, you know, so much in media, you only see one kind of lesbian story, yeah.

[43:41] Lea DeLaria: And trans women.

[43:42] Lea DeLaria: I mean, I just there was so there was so much there for us, you know.

[43:46] Lea DeLaria: There would be a dyke storyline, and it had been written by a lesbian, and then Jody Foster directed it.

[43:55] Lea DeLaria: And I have to tell you, I'd never seen that before, and that was the first time I'd ever seen a story that was written by a lesbian and then acted by a lesbian and directed by a lesbian about a lesbian.

[44:08] Lea DeLaria: I had never seen that before.

[44:09] Lea DeLaria: So they really went out of their way to um get female, like women directors to k to do the right, to do the right storyline, et cetera.

[44:21] Bruce Gotlieb: It was kind of great.

[44:22] Lea DeLaria: So then you wind up, you're seeing it through the most authentic lens possible that way.

[44:26] Bruce Gotlieb: Exactly.

[44:27] Bruce Gotlieb: And too often it's the completely other way around.

[44:30] Lea DeLaria: When it's written for men, it's awful.

[44:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[44:33] Lea DeLaria: When I they did the big boot backstory, I got to say things about it, mostly because, you know, you hire consultants for you have a military consultant.

[44:42] Lea DeLaria: We have Brescian consultants and military consultants, and all this, well, I'm the Butch Consultant.

[44:47] Lea DeLaria: If there was a job called Butch Consultant, I would be the first person called on every set.

[44:52] Lea DeLaria: So when I said Sir, I was like, they wanted her to wear this vest, and I was like, you know, you know me, I'll try to make it work as best I can, but there's no way in 1997 in Cleveland that that vest was a part of Dyke's attire in a dike bar.

[45:07] Lea DeLaria: Because at the time you didn't want to dress up, uh-huh.

[45:10] Bruce Gotlieb: We'll be right back.

[45:13] Bruce Gotlieb: We have to listen to some commercials.

[45:18] Lea DeLaria: Just to kind of sidestep a little about your music and how that was really big.

[45:22] Bruce Gotlieb: I know that you were saying in the brunch you you sing, and obviously that's been a really big part of your career.

[45:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Do you also write your own songs?

[45:29] Lea DeLaria: I know you mentioned being a playwright, but are you doing original music when you do stuff like that?

[45:33] Lea DeLaria: Or on my Christmas record, I wrote a Christmas song.

[45:36] Lea DeLaria: Anyone who's ever uh who's listened to the live smoke sessions when I do the devil in the deep blue sea, there's a like a this tag code or finish at the end of it.

[45:44] Lea DeLaria: I wrote that.

[45:45] Lea DeLaria: I write like I'll do improv funny songs on stage just because I can and I have considered and am considering writing a musical.

[45:55] Lea DeLaria: So it's just you know, it's I like to keep I I like to keep busy.

[46:00] Lea DeLaria: I'm a Gemini.

[46:01] Lea DeLaria: I'm a general, I gotta be doing things.

[46:03] Lea DeLaria: I gotta be going.

[46:04] Lea DeLaria: I'm not happy unless I have 10 projects going at once.

[46:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Exactly.

[46:08] Lea DeLaria: But mostly I work on working on a couple of television shows.

[46:12] Lea DeLaria: Nobody's buying anything right now, so it's a little, it's it's just you gotta know when the time is right to do certain things.

[46:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Just gives you more time to make it better.

[46:21] Bruce Gotlieb: All right, so we need our audience to go to 54 Below.

[46:25] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, that's a pretty prestigious venue.

[46:28] Lea DeLaria: Congratulations on that.

[46:30] Lea DeLaria: Thank you.

[46:31] Lea DeLaria: It's a perfect brunch venue, and um, you know, it's it's it's fabulous because my audience is so filled with gay men.

[46:38] Lea DeLaria: There are so many gay men that go to the show.

[46:40] Lea DeLaria: And dice are coming for me, and they're actually starting to do what I'm excited about because this is what I was hoping would happen.

[46:48] Lea DeLaria: You know, New York City is a gay destination city, so now they're planning their gay destination trip around the second Sunday of every month so that they can come to my brunch show as a part of their gay destination, which is lovely.

[46:59] Bruce Gotlieb: That's great.

[47:00] Lea DeLaria: And you know, this show's over at at two-ish, starts at one.

[47:05] Lea DeLaria: Usually I get off stage by like 2:15, 2:30.

[47:09] Lea DeLaria: I sell a lot of merchandise.

[47:10] Lea DeLaria: So by three o'clock, everybody's out of there.

[47:13] Lea DeLaria: So they they're only two blocks away from flaming saddles, you know that further gone.

[47:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[47:18] Lea DeLaria: So and me too, frankly.

[47:20] Bruce Gotlieb: You mentioned in the beginning that Isaac originally was supposed to do your February date.

[47:23] Bruce Gotlieb: So does that mean he's gonna come back, or you're gonna get somebody else?

[47:27] Lea DeLaria: No, I they switched.

[47:28] Lea DeLaria: So what happened was Betty, the band Betty was supposed to be doing my my November, they're gonna do February.

[47:35] Lea DeLaria: And yeah.

[47:36] Lea DeLaria: I've done Deb.

[47:37] Lea DeLaria: We mentioned the shows and the guests that we've gotten.

[47:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, let's talk about that.

[47:41] Bruce Gotlieb: Tell us yeah, I haven't done told you who's coming.

[47:48] Lea DeLaria: Oh, okay.

[47:49] Lea DeLaria: That's and that's the Christmas show.

[47:51] Lea DeLaria: Uh in January, it's uh Tony Winter, Lena Hall.

[47:54] Lea DeLaria: Wow.

[47:54] Lea DeLaria: And we're doing a David Bowie show.

[47:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh my god.

[47:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Are you doing Life on Mars?

[47:58] Lea DeLaria: That's my favorite David Bowie song.

[47:59] Lea DeLaria: I will do Life on Mars just for you.

[48:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I will be there then.

[48:02] Lea DeLaria: Yeah, absolutely.

[48:04] Lea DeLaria: So February will be Betty, and that'll be the fuck love show.

[48:08] Lea DeLaria: It'll be all love got wrong songs because it's Valentine's Day.

[48:12] Bruce Gotlieb: Right, great.

[48:13] Lea DeLaria: March, who's very excited about March.

[48:16] Lea DeLaria: March, we are doing it's International Women's Month.

[48:20] Lea DeLaria: So we are doing gals and dolls, the gender queer version.

[48:25] Lea DeLaria: So it's going to be trans women.

[48:27] Lea DeLaria: Amazing.

[48:27] Lea DeLaria: And Butch Dykes.

[48:30] Lea DeLaria: Um, and you know, doing this the music of Thai and Dolls.

[48:34] Bruce Gotlieb: So, how many guests will you have in March, or you don't know yet?

[48:37] Lea DeLaria: I've got four.

[48:39] Lea DeLaria: Wow.

[48:40] Lea DeLaria: Well, I don't want to say who they are until I'm quite certain it's all happening.

[48:44] Lea DeLaria: And I'm quite certain it's gonna happen.

[48:46] Lea DeLaria: But I got four grid guests.

[48:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, that's amazing.

[48:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Is it possible that someone from Orange is the New Black might be a guest at some point?

[48:53] Lea DeLaria: Oh, hell yes.

[48:55] Lea DeLaria: Hell yes.

[48:56] Lea DeLaria: It's just the problem with the a lot of the the oranges, a lot of them have moved.

[49:01] Lea DeLaria: I mean, Danny's out in California, and who's around in California.

[49:05] Lea DeLaria: Camiko's out in California.

[49:06] Lea DeLaria: The ones who say, you know, but uh 100% I'm gonna get Annie Golden.

[49:12] Lea DeLaria: I can't imagine.

[49:13] Lea DeLaria: She's such a legend.

[49:14] Lea DeLaria: Jenny and I were on the town together.

[49:15] Lea DeLaria: That's how long we know each other.

[49:17] Lea DeLaria: And getting Annie would be, I think, yeah.

[49:19] Lea DeLaria: Remember that episode of Orange is the New Black when she sang how incredible that was.

[49:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh fantastic.

[49:26] Lea DeLaria: So fantastic.

[49:27] Lea DeLaria: Wow.

[49:28] Lea DeLaria: It was the cosmic joke that Annie got the part, the character that didn't talk.

[49:32] Lea DeLaria: Annie never shuts up.

[49:35] Lea DeLaria: I mean that with uh in the most loving way, in the same way I say it about Elaine Street.

[49:40] Lea DeLaria: She just I was always like with Annie.

[49:44] Lea DeLaria: She'll start on Stevie GB and you know Milo's warman.

[49:49] Lea DeLaria: Just I'm like, really.

[49:50] Lea DeLaria: So listening to her is like when you go to like YouTube and you start looking up something, right?

[49:56] Lea DeLaria: Like a very specific and mixing in your learning how to like talk giraffe.

[50:01] Lea DeLaria: Yeah, rabbit hole.

[50:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[50:02] Lea DeLaria: Rabbit hole.

[50:03] Lea DeLaria: Yeah.

[50:03] Lea DeLaria: So it always made us all just burst, just laugh that Annie just couldn't talk.

[50:10] Bruce Gotlieb: I was such a theater nerd kid, so I of course knew Annie Golden, and just you know, seeing her in that was incredible.

[50:17] Lea DeLaria: But also Dale Souls, Broadway veteran.

[50:20] Lea DeLaria: It was all that.

[50:21] Lea DeLaria: Yeah.

[50:22] Lea DeLaria: Do you know what I mean?

[50:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[50:23] Lea DeLaria: Like people were like, God, we've just discovered no.

[50:27] Lea DeLaria: Right.

[50:27] Lea DeLaria: All of these were made.

[50:29] Lea DeLaria: Yeah, they've been working a long time.

[50:30] Lea DeLaria: They've been working quite subtly in your city for a long time.

[50:33] Bruce Gotlieb: Why do you think they're here?

[50:35] Lea DeLaria: Because Jenny Houston knows the theater actors, you know, and brought and brought them all in.

[50:41] Lea DeLaria: Just so that was kind of funny to me.

[50:43] Lea DeLaria: Where did they find Dale Souls?

[50:45] Bruce Gotlieb: I went on Broadway.

[50:47] Lea DeLaria: I know.

[50:47] Lea DeLaria: She's been around, but she's so good.

[50:50] Lea DeLaria: Oh.

[50:50] Lea DeLaria: Been around.

[50:51] Lea DeLaria: She was a stage manager for the original Hair.

[50:54] Bruce Gotlieb: That's crazy.

[50:56] Lea DeLaria: Yes.

[50:56] Lea DeLaria: And then ended up in Hair.

[50:59] Bruce Gotlieb: Such history.

[51:00] Lea DeLaria: Still sold.

[51:01] Lea DeLaria: Accidentally, I can't wait to tell you this.

[51:04] Lea DeLaria: Accidentally found herself in the Stonewall riot.

[51:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Accidentally.

[51:08] Lea DeLaria: Accidentally.

[51:09] Lea DeLaria: Okay.

[51:09] Lea DeLaria: How did that work?

[51:10] Lea DeLaria: She was on her way.

[51:11] Lea DeLaria: I forget what the errand was.

[51:12] Lea DeLaria: She was on her way to do.

[51:14] Lea DeLaria: And one of the one of the drag queens grabbed her and said, We need a real girl.

[51:19] Lea DeLaria: And grabbed her.

[51:21] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[51:21] Lea DeLaria: She stumbled into history.

[51:23] Bruce Gotlieb: Stop amazing.

[51:25] Lea DeLaria: She tells the great story.

[51:27] Lea DeLaria: I shouldn't have done that.

[51:28] Bruce Gotlieb: You should have Dale.

[51:31] Lea DeLaria: We should definitely do that.

[51:33] Lea DeLaria: Yeah.

[51:33] Lea DeLaria: So now the brunch is is open-ended.

[51:35] Lea DeLaria: It's open-ended right now.

[51:36] Lea DeLaria: I'm done.

[51:37] Lea DeLaria: I'm hired up until in up until March.

[51:39] Lea DeLaria: Okay.

[51:39] Lea DeLaria: So I d I like to get it all planned out in advance as much as I can in a sure.

[51:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[51:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, Bruce and I will definitely go.

[51:46] Bruce Gotlieb: We must have a chance to go.

[51:48] Lea DeLaria: Oh, come see the one with me and Lena, because that's what that one's just gonna be.

[51:54] Lea DeLaria: All right, March.

[51:55] Lea DeLaria: We'll be there and we'll come say hi to you.

[51:57] Lea DeLaria: Okay.

[51:57] Lea DeLaria: Um, but we could come every month because it's a different show every month.

[52:02] Lea DeLaria: Different show, different guests.

[52:04] Lea DeLaria: So, yes.

[52:05] Lea DeLaria: And it it sounds like always different stand-up because I'm talking about what's going on.

[52:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[52:08] Lea DeLaria: So it must be so much fun.

[52:10] Bruce Gotlieb: So how can people get tickets to go?

[52:12] Lea DeLaria: Uh you go to 54 Below.

[52:13] Lea DeLaria: Okay.

[52:14] Lea DeLaria: I think it's uh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[52:15] Lea DeLaria: Yep.

[52:16] Lea DeLaria: And get the tickets.

[52:16] Lea DeLaria: And they're I they should be on sale up until April, I think.

[52:20] Lea DeLaria: I just I'm not that familiar with the box office.

[52:23] Lea DeLaria: I should be.

[52:23] Bruce Gotlieb: And can you just show up or do you have to get tickets in advance?

[52:27] Lea DeLaria: You can just show it.

[52:29] Lea DeLaria: They will find room for you.

[52:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Perfect.

[52:31] Lea DeLaria: Because people have done that.

[52:33] Lea DeLaria: Okay.

[52:34] Lea DeLaria: Uh, but as I was eight, it sells well.

[52:37] Lea DeLaria: If you want to get a a really decent seat, I would make rescue.

[52:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, well, we want to be right up front, so we'll reserve today.

[52:43] Lea DeLaria: Yeah, you're gonna reserve.

[52:45] Lea DeLaria: That's right.

[52:46] Lea DeLaria: You're family to us now once you've been on our shows.

[52:48] Lea DeLaria: So we hope that you'll come back the next time you have something going on.

[52:53] Bruce Gotlieb: And is there anything else that you're doing that we might not know about?

[52:56] Lea DeLaria: I have a movie currently on Amazon Prime called Holy Irresistible.

[53:01] Lea DeLaria: And it's H-O-L-Y.

[53:02] Lea DeLaria: Okay.

[53:03] Lea DeLaria: Little independent film.

[53:04] Lea DeLaria: It is so much fun.

[53:05] Lea DeLaria: I like, and I don't usually say that about myself.

[53:11] Lea DeLaria: Oh my God.

[53:12] Lea DeLaria: I didn't they did this one thing that was an indigo girls G Fox musical movie, and it is a pile of old poo.

[53:20] Lea DeLaria: But it's like the Emperor has no clothes.

[53:22] Lea DeLaria: The critics are saying it's great.

[53:23] Lea DeLaria: I'm like, what?

[53:24] Lea DeLaria: But um Holy Irresistible is so much fun.

[53:27] Lea DeLaria: It reminds me very much of a John Hughes movie.

[53:29] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, I love that.

[53:30] Lea DeLaria: Um it the writing is incredibly funny.

[53:33] Lea DeLaria: You're the characters are just you really into the characters, and I'm hilarious.

[53:38] Lea DeLaria: I play a woman that's dying of cancer.

[53:40] Lea DeLaria: Oh, that is funny.

[53:41] Lea DeLaria: And I'm hilarious.

[53:42] Lea DeLaria: Wonderful.

[53:43] Lea DeLaria: Who can't doesn't have any insurance, so she just like self-medicates with weed and whiskey and tries to give her nephew she started to raise, you know, try to give him advice on all sorts of things, but she's just insane.

[53:57] Lea DeLaria: I love her.

[53:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh that sounds great.

[53:59] Lea DeLaria: Well, everyone has Amazon because we all want the free shipping, so we can all watch it.

[54:03] Lea DeLaria: Exactly.

[54:03] Lea DeLaria: And I suggest everybody watch that.

[54:06] Lea DeLaria: That's great.

[54:06] Lea DeLaria: And then um I have there's um several movies that I made this year.

[54:12] Lea DeLaria: This is the only one I think I'm allowed to talk about.

[54:14] Lea DeLaria: It's called Toe.

[54:15] Lea DeLaria: It's based on a true story.

[54:17] Lea DeLaria: It is uh stars Rose Byrne, Octavia Spencer, Ariana DeBose, uh, Demi Lovato, and then I guess me.

[54:25] Lea DeLaria: I'm the next one in that list.

[54:27] Bruce Gotlieb: That's a great lineup as uh of careers.

[54:29] Lea DeLaria: So that's another one.

[54:30] Lea DeLaria: I I haven't seen it, uh, a cut of it yet, but the set was it was a great script.

[54:37] Lea DeLaria: And so I have high hopes for that.

[54:39] Lea DeLaria: So look for Toe.

[54:40] Lea DeLaria: In theaters or streaming.

[54:42] Lea DeLaria: I believe that I think they're gonna go to theater.

[54:44] Bruce Gotlieb: All right, I'll have to get my bus to the theater.

[54:46] Lea DeLaria: But look for Toe.

[54:47] Lea DeLaria: It's got it'll make the festival circuit first.

[54:49] Lea DeLaria: So it'll do all the festivals in the spring, and then we'll see where it went.

[54:52] Bruce Gotlieb: So is that Toe as in the truck or the part of the foot?

[54:55] Lea DeLaria: Toe is in the truck very astute, based on the true story of a woman who was homeless, do no, not really at the fault of her own, but was keeping her shit together, and she finally she gets a job which she desperately needs, and uh couple of teenagers steal her car, take it for a joy ride, which is what she was living in.

[55:20] Lea DeLaria: And the city of Seattle told it, and she can't get her car back.

[55:24] Lea DeLaria: And that's basically the premise of the story.

[55:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow.

[55:27] Lea DeLaria: Wow, it's a true story, and it's a really interesting story.

[55:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Wow, that's that's a good premise.

[55:32] Lea DeLaria: It's very original.

[55:33] Lea DeLaria: You know, you almost never get a new idea.

[55:35] Lea DeLaria: And it's real, yeah, exactly.

[55:36] Lea DeLaria: And it takes place over Christmas.

[55:38] Lea DeLaria: So it's Christmas would be.

[55:40] Lea DeLaria: It's got all of that.

[55:41] Bruce Gotlieb: All right.

[55:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, that's the people like Christmas movies.

[55:45] Lea DeLaria: So that's right.

[55:46] Lea DeLaria: Yeah, that helped.

[55:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Thank you so much for being our guest.

[55:49] Lea DeLaria: And oh, we can't wait to have you back.

[55:51] Lea DeLaria: So excited.

[55:53] Lea DeLaria: And so happy.

[55:54] Lea DeLaria: Please come see Brunch is Gay.

[55:56] Lea DeLaria: Yes.

[55:56] Lea DeLaria: Please come see Brunch is Gay.

[55:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Everyone.

[55:58] Bruce Gotlieb: And we'll put a link up with the story so people, one click.

[56:01] Bruce Gotlieb: We make it easy for everybody.

[56:03] Lea DeLaria: Click and buy.

[56:03] Bruce Gotlieb: We love that.

[56:05] Lea DeLaria: We love that.

[56:06] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, we will see you all next time on Behind the Awards.

[56:09] Lea DeLaria: Bye-bye.