This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] ♪ Musical number: "My Favorite Things" — performed by Unknown performer ♪

[0:18] Robert W Schneider: Hi, I'm Robert W Schneider.

[0:21] Kevin David Thomas: Hi. I'm Kevin David Thomas.

[0:23] Kevin David Thomas: Sorry, I should put my headphones on.

[0:27] Kevin David Thomas: I'm vamp. So hi everybody. This is Kevin. Um we are uh recording interviews today and tomorrow and yesterday for uh you know the pod eyes, our Monday episodes. And we're just throwing a little uh Thursday fam throwback Thursday right now, but Rob is still we started before we were even together, so I'm just gonna wait for Rob to get here.

[0:47] Robert W Schneider: I'm here.

[0:48] Kevin David Thomas: Okay, okay. Hi Rob.

[0:49] Robert W Schneider: Hold on. I'm here.

[0:49] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, I'm here.

[0:50] Robert W Schneider: Hey everybody, how's your week going? I hope you're having a nice week. Seeing some good theater out there.

[0:55] Kevin David Thomas: I did, yeah.

[0:57] Robert W Schneider: Are you talking to the people or...

[0:58] Kevin David Thomas: I'm kind of talking to um the listeners right now, but I can talk to you as well, I guess.

[1:04] Robert W Schneider: I'm in the room for this is we we've been seeing each other through Skype for most of this stuff.

[1:08] Kevin David Thomas: We have.

[1:09] Robert W Schneider: This has been like the first time we've been together in a while.

[1:11] Kevin David Thomas: Wow, this is I like this. It's much better looking at you in this flesh.

[1:15] Robert W Schneider: Okay, I need an adult.

[1:16] Kevin David Thomas: Oh, okay. I'm uncomfortable for many reasons, but that's okay.

[1:19] Robert W Schneider: Yes, I'm sitting on my lap.

[1:20] Kevin David Thomas: No, okay, I'm scooting back.

[1:22] Kevin David Thomas: Um let the record show I scooted back. Um yeah, no, I saw I saw some stuff. I saw some theater. I saw Smoky Joe's Cafe off Broadway.

[1:27] Robert W Schneider: Smoky Joe's Cafe.

[1:32] Kevin David Thomas: Oh, is that what it sounded like?

[1:34] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, that's the guy that he's the bass. He does it like that.

[1:37] Kevin David Thomas: Smoky Joe's Cafe.

[1:38] Robert W Schneider: Thank you.

[1:39] Kevin David Thomas: Thank you. I didn't book it.

[1:41] Robert W Schneider: I know. We know the whole industry knows at this point. Uh it's funny though. We'll get back to that. But I uh we just interviewed Michael McCormick, uh, who is in Hello Dolly right now, closing this week, and he mentioned Sergio Franchi, and I looked to you immediately thinking that you're going to interrupt the interview in order to do your Sergio Franchi, which we haven't heard in...

[2:02] Kevin David Thomas: I'm gonna say it's been a year or so.

[2:04] Robert W Schneider: Well, dare I say I miss him.

[2:06] Kevin David Thomas: What, Kevin misses an impression?

[2:09] Robert W Schneider: No, I well I couldn't because I know it's not a good idea. I didn't want to like interrupt Michael and be like, eh, this is Sergio.

[2:16] Kevin David Thomas: He's a Frankie's America Coconut Grove Playhouse. He said that he saw him in Do I Hear a Waltz.

[2:20] Robert W Schneider: He did see him in Do I Hear a Waltz.

[2:21] Kevin David Thomas: So I didn't want to, I don't know. Sergio better if you're telling me.

[2:26] Robert W Schneider: How good was I?

[2:28] Kevin David Thomas: Did you have it the Primary?

[2:30] Robert W Schneider: The Primary.

[2:32] Kevin David Thomas: I sang take it a moment. And then Chato opened for me.

[2:39] Robert W Schneider: She's not Italian.

[2:40] Kevin David Thomas: No.

[2:42] Robert W Schneider: She told me she was.

[2:45] Kevin David Thomas: Oh, Sergio. We had Amitball at Sbarro's.

[2:50] Robert W Schneider: I love Sbarro's. There used to be one in Midtown.

[2:52] Kevin David Thomas: There's well, there is. There's one right across the street from here.

[2:55] Robert W Schneider: On 8th.

[2:55] Kevin David Thomas: Why don't we go over sometime?

[2:57] Robert W Schneider: Okay, you don't like Sbarro's. That's fine.

[2:59] Kevin David Thomas: Remember that the office. Do you watch The Office?

[3:01] Robert W Schneider: Oh, yeah.

[3:02] Kevin David Thomas: And Michael Scott goes to New York and he says how he has New York pizza. And he goes to Sbarro.

[3:07] Robert W Schneider: The Office was genius. We're watching it at night now, Saturn and I. We were just in that cycle that you do when you're like, oh yeah. When I don't watch Murder She Wrote, I watch The Office.

[3:16] Robert W Schneider: Have you got to the Sweeney Todd episode where he just went to the show?

[3:18] Kevin David Thomas: I was actually thinking about making that one of my favorite things.

[3:21] Robert W Schneider: Yeah. However, it is so cringe-worthy that episode, because the stuff that the audience members are so bad during it.

[3:28] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah.

[3:28] Robert W Schneider: But I love that episode. I think Andy, when he's like he sings full verses of Sweeney Todd in that episode.

[3:35] Kevin David Thomas: I'm so glad you brought that up, actually, because I've been wanting to talk. Listeners, go watch the Sweeney Todd episode. One of the characters in The Office, he's doing his community theater production of Sweeney Todd. He invites the episode starts with him bursting into the office with his cast being like, Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd, but he's got this like fake British accent. So he's like, Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.

[3:56] Robert W Schneider: But he's this guy, what's his name in real life?

[3:59] Kevin David Thomas: Ed Helms.

[3:59] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, Ed Helms, who clearly loves musical theater and has done it, you know. And clearly his love of it is what fueled the writers to write that episode.

[4:07] Kevin David Thomas: I would hope so, yes. They definitely do full-on clips of Sweeney Todd's the production. They show they had to stage it, they had to have rehearsal for it. It's intense. It's a good episode. You should watch it, everybody. It's a really good one.

[4:19] Robert W Schneider: My favorite moment in that whole episode. It's not giving anything away, but it was just one of those like little touches that the writers put in that are like that's genius. It's when he's doing a real quiet moment and someone's bottle falls on the cement and it's metal.

[4:36] Kevin David Thomas: Cement floor.

[4:37] Robert W Schneider: Yes. That's around. Which I was like, I don't know which writer did that, but I'll take you to dinner because it's a genius moment. I love it.

[4:43] Kevin David Thomas: Um actually, that was something I was thinking about doing at some point. There are a lot of television shows where like there's a musical theater episode, like where they perform a musical for some reason. It's either something like The Office, where it is an actual show like Sweeney Todd, or it's like like the Golden Girls, where they do the turkey lurky show.

[5:03] Robert W Schneider: Of course, or um the there's an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that actually released a cast album of Once More with Feeling. That's the title of the episode. I have that.

[5:12] Kevin David Thomas: That was like a uh Scrubs did a musical episode.

[5:15] Robert W Schneider: Scrubs did one of those. I mean, I'm talking many years ago, but you're right. I enjoy when our little art form makes it into the...

[5:17] Kevin David Thomas: I love that too. There was a really fun television show in the 80s called Head of the Class.

[5:24] Robert W Schneider: Yes, which and they did two. They did their class put on Little Shop of Horrors.

[5:29] Kevin David Thomas: Oh.

[5:30] Robert W Schneider: And then the next season their class put on Hair. And they did like 20, like 20 minutes of each musical on the 30-minute episode. So I love it.

[5:36] Kevin David Thomas: I love it.

[5:37] Robert W Schneider: You're right. It's fun when we see...

[5:39] Kevin David Thomas: I enjoy that.

[5:40] Robert W Schneider: I enjoy that too. I really enjoy that.

[5:41] Kevin David Thomas: I know. What else have you seen? Anything else?

[5:44] Robert W Schneider: Oh, let me think here. I don't think so. I saw Head Over Heels, but we already talked about that.

[5:48] Kevin David Thomas: I haven't seen anything in the last year.

[5:49] Robert W Schneider: You saw Smoky Joe's.

[5:51] Kevin David Thomas: I saw Smoky Joe's Cafe. Very good. I saw uh a Head Over Heels.

[5:55] Robert W Schneider: Right.

[5:55] Kevin David Thomas: I saw getting the band back together. So good. I saw I what I'm kind of have a little personal goal that I'm going to see everything this year.

[6:03] Robert W Schneider: Don't we have that goal every year?

[6:04] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, but this year I'm gonna be like, it's gonna happen. It's gotta happen.

[6:08] Robert W Schneider: No, I'm gonna do better than I did last year, because last year was not I mean the spring I just was a mess, but uh it's this is the year.

[6:13] Kevin David Thomas: You're right. We're gonna do this.

[6:14] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, I mean, I think it's doable. I mean, what's hard is and it what's hard is is like one getting the money and like finding some show. Like some shows it's hard to find cheap tickets to or discounted tickets to or some we don't get press tickets to.

[6:26] Kevin David Thomas: Right.

[6:27] Robert W Schneider: Like for the Boys in the Band, when it's a hit show with a limited run. I find those to be tougher. I have to be more vigilant of getting the tickets um in advance.

[6:35] Kevin David Thomas: Can you hear me okay?

[6:37] Robert W Schneider: I can hear you right now. You just stopped listening and started tweaking stuff.

[6:40] Kevin David Thomas: You tweaked out for a second.

[6:41] Robert W Schneider: Hold on. I'm not tweaking out.

[6:42] Kevin David Thomas: Why do you want you to tweak out?

[6:44] Robert W Schneider: Um but the it's it's the limited run engagements like Boys in the Band that I find are...

[6:44] Kevin David Thomas: What am I tweaking still? What's going on?

[6:50] Robert W Schneider: No, I'm just making sure that you don't step on any wires.

[6:53] Kevin David Thomas: I'm not stepping on any wires.

[6:54] Robert W Schneider: One time, one time well.

[6:56] Kevin David Thomas: One time I stepped on a wire, and now you're like don't move over, Kevin.

[7:01] Robert W Schneider: You're too close to the...

[7:01] Kevin David Thomas: I just never see now. We've just now it's now we're just seen anybody step on a wire before.

[7:08] Robert W Schneider: I'm not, I'm not stepping on any wires.

[7:09] Kevin David Thomas: You've got a uh what's it, uh death wish to be electrocuted.

[7:13] Robert W Schneider: Jeez. My uncle was electrocuted once.

[7:15] Kevin David Thomas: Well why don't you tell me before I made the joke?

[7:17] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, he lost like toes and stuff.

[7:19] Kevin David Thomas: What?

[7:19] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, no, he he he li he was a he's a rock he was an expeditioner. He went to Nepal and did all these things, and then on the off time he was a um um a carpenter and then he was on the site and an electrical thing hit and anyway. This has nothing to do with musical theater, so why am I telling you this?

[7:33] Kevin David Thomas: I had a friend who got hit by lightning once.

[7:35] Robert W Schneider: Really?

[7:36] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah. Yeah, he got he was he was um he lived on this field in a very large house in Pennsylvania that had a really large field. And he went out during um the summer once to tan and he he fell asleep, and a s a uh thunder a lightning storm came in when he fell asleep and he woke up in the middle of this huge field and he started walking back to the house and he got hit by lightning and like he went he propelled himself back like a good five six feet in the the air.

[8:03] Robert W Schneider: That's scary.

[8:04] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah. Martha Stewart was hit three times in prison.

[8:07] Robert W Schneider: I learned that on the Snoop Dogg and uh Martha Stewart show, which is actually very, very good and everyone should watch.

[8:12] Kevin David Thomas: It's a real show?

[8:13] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, they cook they cook a meal together. It's on PH1, or it was and they cook a meal together and then they like you know, shoot the shit and like talk and make jokes and they're they're actually very, very, very good friends in real life.

[8:22] Kevin David Thomas: I'm not sure if you think no, she's a total stoner in real life.

[8:24] Robert W Schneider: Um and she's she and Snoop are he was on her show many, many years ago and they hit it off so well that they're actually very good friends.

[8:31] Kevin David Thomas: Martha, come sit by me.

[8:32] Robert W Schneider: Really? She's a stoner?

[8:33] Kevin David Thomas: Well, she's got the cred, she went to prison, so you know uh street cred. Uh I inter have you read about the um the Oklahoma at Oregon Shakespeare?

[8:42] Robert W Schneider: Yes, isn't that it's a good idea?

[8:44] Kevin David Thomas: This gender I I I I come up with the word gender in and editing, what if you keep something um, you know, a as neutral, uh uh no wait, what am I trying to say? I was gonna say gender stet.

[8:54] Robert W Schneider: That well, anyway, I don't have I am making no point 'cause I I no, what were you gonna say?

[9:00] Kevin David Thomas: I came up with this idea of a new word uh the other night, but then now in the daylight it's not as interesting to me.

[9:07] Robert W Schneider: Is that a word?

[9:08] Kevin David Thomas: And I'm like, it is now.

[9:10] Robert W Schneider: Right. Like you just coined a word.

[9:12] Kevin David Thomas: No, I was thinking of trying to find a word for when you're when you're not saying non-binary roles or or coming up with so listeners, you're probably like, what are you talking about? They are doing Oklahoma, the musical approved by the Rogers and Hammerstein organization, where um Curly and um Lori are two women, and um uh Ado Annie is eight oh Andy. Um and so they've they've just done role reversal, gender reversal, and I just didn't know if there was I was trying to come up with a word so that because I have a feeling this is gonna happen more and more in sure and I love it. And I think it's a beautiful thing, and I think it's a great way to just inflect, you know, just have some fun. The show is still the show, and it's just it's amazing. Um but I'm like, what do we call that?

[9:58] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, uh that I don't know.

[9:59] Kevin David Thomas: I don't know if there's there's a two-year-old. All of the the last two minutes was just me coming to that. I don't know if there's a I'll just call it casting. I think it's great. I don't know what to call it.

[10:06] Robert W Schneider: That's that's well eventually we'll get to a point where we just don't even care.

[10:10] Kevin David Thomas: It's just like so, you know.

[10:13] Robert W Schneider: Well, it's so funny. Like I'll talk to like my students about stuff and we'll and I'll say I'll use the term colorblind casting, and they don't know they don't know what that means, and it's hard to explain. Like, no, there was a time.

[10:22] Kevin David Thomas: Well, that's a good thing.

[10:24] Robert W Schneider: Like, I don't think people remember like when Audra McDonald played Julie Jordan. What a not Julie Jordan, sorry, Carrie Pipper. Yeah, but in 1995 or whatever it was. Yeah, but a thunderbolt that would have been. Yeah, and she won the Tony Award. And people there, I remember people were saying, you know, um, you know, there wouldn't have been an African American woman in in New England and an interracial marriage, and blah blah, blah. I said they also wouldn't have burst into an eight-minute song about clam bakes.

[10:47] Kevin David Thomas: Exactly.

[10:47] Robert W Schneider: Like, like, what is this fucking issue with with uh being such grounded in realism? I I'm not a fan of that. That always really bothers me.

[10:54] Kevin David Thomas: This realism of, whoa, that's not who they would have been. Well, we're still in a replacement that's yeah, we're playing pretends. Actually, the fourth wall is actually an illusion. It's not really a wall actually.

[11:06] Robert W Schneider: No, I I understand what you're saying. You're really really vulgar today. I don't really know.

[11:10] Kevin David Thomas: No, no, no. I'm just feeling the part of my language.

[11:12] Robert W Schneider: I like it. I'm cleaning up my language. Um I like that this Oklahoma has doing that on on a on that scale. Uh, and I like that it's been embraced, and I look forward to seeing new other shows that are gonna be um I don't want to say rediscovered, but finding other, you know, points of view.

[11:29] Kevin David Thomas: And I don't think absolutely. I mean, why we can do that with My Fair Lady. Let's do it with Guys and Dolls. Let's just let's just do it. Let's just do it. Let's fall in love.

[11:37] Robert W Schneider: That's Cole Porter. It is Robbie Rosell has this amazing joke. Have you ever heard this? Uh I want to see if I can do this.

[11:47] Robert W Schneider: Um, Cole Porter was the greatest songwriter and lyricist of this generation. And um, his songs are just absolutely brilliant things from "Let's Do It" to "You Are the Top" to "Lovely." All of them have a special resonance in everyone's heart. This is a song by Jerry Herman. And then you transition and you sing "Before the Parade Passes By." It doesn't make any sense. It does. Uh, Robbie does it better, but the idea is that you're setting up like you're setting up that they're gonna think like it's a Cole Porter song. Because you know, they always give those like really like maudlin speeches, and then at the last second, they're just like, "This is a song by Jerry Herman before the parade." Because you're like, what the fuck?

I don't know. I'm sorry. It makes me laugh. It makes sense. I can't wait to hear Robbie do that joke. It's three seconds long and carries a bigger punch. No, we enjoyed it though. We as the listeners enjoyed it. Do you understand what I'm saying? I think it's fine. Okay, never mind. So maybe I'll just... we lost some great people in the last couple of years.

[12:52] Kevin David Thomas: Oh, I was just going to talk about that. A lot of people, it was one after another after another, and one, it's one of them is my favorite thing for the week. So I should tell you that right now. And one of them was supposed to be a guest.

[13:05] Robert W Schneider: Yeah. So is it, are they your favorite things?

[13:11] Kevin David Thomas: I mean, the first was Vivian Matalon.

[13:13] Robert W Schneider: Yes, Vivian Matalon, director, who was 88, and I didn't even know was still with us. I mean, I knew, I mean, I didn't, but I just didn't realize. I just had not thought about it. I thought, why didn't we even think about him for the podcast?

[13:25] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, he would have been wonderful. A really diverse career doing things as is very interesting.

[13:30] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, like, uh, "Mornings at Seven," which apparently was because Josh Ellis talked about it.

[13:34] Robert W Schneider: Yes, the one that really put it, you know, made it really big that, well, for according to the publicist, it really loved, or the PR person, Josh. There were three "Mornings at Seven." There was the one in the original in the 30s, I believe, then there was this one in the early 80s, and then there was this one in the early... Christopher Lloyd.

[13:51] Kevin David Thomas: Oh my God, can I tell you a story about this, please? It was at the Lyceum Theater. I remember, I remember that's when I came to New York, and I remember the Billboard was the last... yeah, my mother and I saw that show together.

[14:02] Robert W Schneider: That's such a window. We came to our son's show to watch together.

[14:05] Kevin David Thomas: It really was. It was very sweet. This was... this is a horrible story. I can't believe I'm going to tell it.

[14:09] Robert W Schneider: Oh, I'm glad you're prefacing it with that.

[14:11] Kevin David Thomas: It just made... it makes me laugh. It was probably... it just makes me laugh. So the story is that if you remember in "Mornings at Seven," the leads are four strong female actresses. And at this time, the cast in the revival was Elizabeth Franz. It was, um, uh, uh, Francis Stern, not Frances Sternhagen, Elizabeth Franz. I mean, what, uh, uh, was Francis Sternhagen?

[14:33] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, Francis Sternhagen. Um, I want to say Estelle Parsons and Piper Laurie. That was the four, right?

[14:41] Kevin David Thomas: And the dire... but like everyone, and Buck Henry was in it, and Julie Haggarty and Christopher Lloyd, right? And so it was very clear. I think Dan Sullivan directed it, and he told... and it was very clear that he said, "When you enter, you know, you'll have to hold for applause because they were all, you know, legends." So like a character would open up a door and just stand there frozen, like looking at the other character, and everybody would applaud and applaud. Um, and so Francis Stern, everyone gets applause. And then in between, there's two houses on stage, and there's an alley that's supposed to separate the two houses, and from the back of the alley, we hear someone's voice, and Piper Laurie comes out, and she stands and she poses because it's obvious she's waiting for her applause.

[15:21] Kevin David Thomas: You can hear a pin drop. No, not only is there no applause, but some old Yenta, I swear to you, this is a true story, goes, "Piper Laurie got so fat."

[15:32] Robert W Schneider: No, no, and you literally, it's dead silence, dead silence. It's like a Wednesday matinee, dead silence. And you just hear, "Piper Laurie got so fat." And I was like, "What is this? This is the saddest thing I've ever seen. This isn't a family reunion." I was like, "Everyone, calm down. Calm down."

[15:49] Kevin David Thomas: And applaud.

[15:50] Robert W Schneider: And applaud Piper Laurie. That's awkward, though.

[15:52] Kevin David Thomas: Because it's not like you're in a musical where there's a vamp or something to cover the sound.

[15:56] Robert W Schneider: No, just dead silence. Dead silence. And she's just holding her pose in the middle on stage center.

[16:01] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, literally. She had like the last, I think she was the last entrance, and it was center, and she got no applause, plus an insult that she had gained weight.

[16:09] Robert W Schneider: Well, lady, now, who are you?

[16:10] Kevin David Thomas: Who are you?

[16:11] Robert W Schneider: Yes.

[16:11] Kevin David Thomas: The stage adds 10 pounds anyway.

[16:13] Robert W Schneider: Please. Piper Laurie looks fabulous. I love her. Um, Vivian Matalon, who directed the original "Mornings at Seven," passed. Um, but a very career that, you know, "Tap Dance Kid." He went back, "Brigadoon," uh, Arthur. He went back and forth a lot, which is great. So he unfortunately, he's no longer with us. We also lost, um, Brian Murray.

[16:32] Kevin David Thomas: Brian Murray, the great South African actor Brian Murray, who was the original director in "Noises Off," the Lloyd Dallas role, which is so great, and a really funny, funny actor. Um, and uh did a lot of great work with, um, he did the play "Da," which won the best play in the 70s. He was in that, a really great television work left behind as well. Very diverse and a director, he directed a lot as well. Um, so we lost him, and then these last two, one of them is my favorite thing, so I'll keep her towards the end.

[17:03] Robert W Schneider: Okay, and then we... yeah, so this is sad. We were really unexpected too. We were really stunned by this. A couple of weeks ago, we got an email from, uh, NBC Universal. Um, and it was, uh, an email saying that, uh, Neil Marin and Craig Zadan, um, who have revolutionized the industry of... perfect word for it, right?

[17:27] Kevin David Thomas: Well, they did. I mean, they really, in the last 30 plus years, 40 years. I mean, they brought musicals back to the public consciousness. Uh, they produced "Chicago." They produced the movie "Chicago." They produced, um, the TV movie of "Gypsy" back in the 90s. They've done a bunch of television movies. A lot of those NBC lives, "Jesus Christ Superstar" was them. We've admired these guys.

[17:51] Robert W Schneider: And Craig Zadan wrote an amazing book on Stephen Sondheim, right? They... their roots were in, I mean, in theater. I mean, we interviewed Bruce Vilanch yesterday, and Bruce Vilanch did lyrics for a very little-known show that Craig and Neil were a part of that directed and assistant directed. And this is 1980 or something like that. So they've had a long career, Craig especially, both of them, but in supporting and loving this business that we do.

[18:08] Kevin David Thomas: Absolutely, and uplifting it.

[18:20] Robert W Schneider: And uplifting it, and because of their contributions, we always wanted to get them on this podcast. And one of the things that Kevin and I, we put them on the list, but I think it always was, well, you know, they're probably not... they're going to be too busy, they're doing this, they're not gonna... like, and we kept trying to figure out who may... who has coast people? They're LA people a little bit, so we thought, well, we got this email from NBC Universal, and it was like, Neil and Craig would like to come on the show. We didn't even send an invitation, and we were like, they know about us.

[18:44] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, and it was, um, to help talk a little bit about what they had done in, uh, you know, like "Jesus Christ Superstar" and stuff, and we kept delaying... not delaying the day, but we could never all find a time to meet up, and we were supposed to reach out next week, and he went in for, I believe, shoulder surgery and passed away from complications from that, and young, at 69, I believe.

[19:05] Robert W Schneider: Oh, young. So we are absolutely devastated that we've lost him, uh, because the contributions, I think, are... well, I don't think people realize the full magnitude of what those two gentlemen did for musical theater. The art form is where it is today because of them.

[19:24] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah. I think, hands down. I mean, you could trace it to "Chicago" and what that did as far as musicals, and people forget, but "Chicago," when we were growing up, musicals were not on TV all the time. There were no movies of it other than Disney films like "Beauty and the Beast" and like "Little Mermaid." But to see, you know, uh, a "Chicago" with, at the time, like Catherine Zeta was like the big, big, big star of like... and Renee Zellweger and all these people until like... and to have that, the balls to do that.

[19:52] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[19:52] Kevin David Thomas: And do it well.

[19:54] Robert W Schneider: Do it really well. And take a risk on Rob Marshall and have him direct it. And you know, they just... and they always... I... I'm sorry to interrupt you, but no, I just feel like they always, because they started out in New York in the business as interns and the way that you start out in the business and you get it handed down to you, I feel I get the sense... I didn't know them, but I get the sense that they still always honored it in that way. That no matter what they did on television and all that, they still wanted to try to capture the spirit of what Broadway is.

[20:20] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, and I think their desire to bring that to people who would not... who do not have the economic means to get to a Broadway show, I think is really special. So I'm devastated, and I hope maybe at some point we can still get, you know, Neil on to talk about it because, uh, the... you know, it's just... it's a sad... it's a sad day that they've left us.

[20:40] Robert W Schneider: And my favorite thing for the week, if I may, um, she was gonna be my favorite thing for a while, and, uh, but she just passed away, um, at age 83, and it's also young.

[20:52] Kevin David Thomas: Also, I know people who think we're, uh, people are living so much longer now, and people are so vital and so active that when you hear someone passing away like an 83 or in their 70s, you go, "Oh, that's... that's... that is young." You know, uh, to me, a hundred, I'm like, "Oh, I get it."

[21:05] Robert W Schneider: Yes.

[21:08] Kevin David Thomas: A hundred on, I get it. But, um, this, of course, is the wonderful actress Barbara Harris, who, um, won a Tony Award for, uh, "The Apple Tree," at one of the most brilliant performances on a Tony.

[21:23] Robert W Schneider: Which was a favorite thing.

[21:24] Kevin David Thomas: That was a favorite thing at some point. Because you talked about it, right?

[21:27] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, it's her crazy. I mean, it's insane. Her acting is so specific and brilliant, but no one can do that song as the way that she does.

[21:35] Kevin David Thomas: No, any of those songs from "The Apple Tree."

[21:37] Robert W Schneider: No, not at all. Um, she is... uh, she was an absolute genius, and even though her voice was not the greatest, if you listen to the cast recording of "The Apple Tree" and you listen to the cast recording of "On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever," uh, you cannot get her acting beats out of your mind, I think.

[21:56] Kevin David Thomas: An acting singer. I mean, this is a time when, yes, "My Fair Lady" had happened, so we got used to the Rex Harrison effect. But like, but it... you have... listeners must remember, um, that a lot of times you were a musical theater actor, or you were an actor, you were, you know, and this was, uh, someone who would sacrifice the singing for the acting and whether or not she could even sing the notes, but yet you listen to it and you hear the storytelling and the way she sings it. She's really incredible.

[22:20] Robert W Schneider: She was an incredible person, and I think had she not had so many personal issues, hopefully she would have continued on with doing musical theater after "On a Clear Day."

[22:20] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, um, right?

[22:20] Robert W Schneider: "On a Clear Day." "On a Clear Day," and that's the... that's pretty much it.

[22:33] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[22:35] Robert W Schneider: Um, there was also a Broadway edition of like the Second City stuff that she got. I think she got a nomination for that because they considered that to be a musical.

[22:42] Kevin David Thomas: Uh, so maybe technically we can say three.

[22:44] Robert W Schneider: So she was born, um, in Chicago in, uh, Illinois, and she was one of the first members of the Second City improv troupe.

[22:51] Kevin David Thomas: And I think you can see that in the city.

[22:52] Robert W Schneider: I did not know that.

[22:53] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, in her performances.

[22:54] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, um, you definitely could see that in the performances for sure. And then she came to New York to do a little bit of, uh, she came to New York to do that show, and then she was gonna leave, and randomly, um, she got a call from Richard Rodgers and Alan J. Lerner, who were like, "We want to write a musical for you." And they... and like, she apparently said, she goes, "I hated musicals." She goes, "I saw South Pacific in Chicago and I walked out."

[23:21] Kevin David Thomas: Yes, that's right.

[23:22] Robert W Schneider: Yes, that's right. I remember that.

[23:23] Kevin David Thomas: She was like, "But it was Richard Rodgers." So, like, how can I say no to that? Uh, which makes total sense.

[23:29] Robert W Schneider: She was like, "Ah, she does... I don't know if I like musicals." You know, on it, she did the... I'm sorry, so it was "On a Clear Day" first.

[23:35] Kevin David Thomas: I apologize. She did On a Clear Day first, and then she went off and she did The Apple Tree. Um, and you know, you can watch that Tony Awards clip. People said who saw her in the theater that it was absolutely brilliant. It was a brilliant performance because we know The Apple Tree. She plays three different roles. Right. Um, three different stories. Three different stories. And the one that's preserved on the Tony Awards is the Pasinella one. That's right, where she sings gorgeous, literally has one of the funniest performances, then the music ends, and she literally becomes stone-faced and just like walks it. Like the character just totally disappears. Yep. She was saying, one of her quotes that I really like is that she was saying that she goes, I only got into acting because I love the process.

She goes, I love the process. I love being in the rehearsal room. And she goes, and I get really angry when I have to perform for an audience. She said, because that means the process is stopped and everything is frozen at this point. That's wild. So she didn't like that. That's a real artist. A real artist. Um, so she won the Tony Award. We've talked about the weird speech that she gives where like some random guy goes up and kisses her, and nobody knew who that guy was. Um, she had a little bit of a collapse, I'll say a mental collapse. Yeah, it's I don't think that's a secret. No, during The Apple Tree, and off she went. The one thing that I'm so happy about with her is it's so much of her brilliant acting is preserved on film.

So I'm gonna give you a couple of recommendations of her work just because I think it's a really great way of honoring her this year, besides watching that Tony Award Apple Tree clip. I mean, take a look at her in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite. She's hysterical in that. A Thousand Clowns, which is based on Herb Gardner's play. Um, if you're an Alfred Hitchcock fan, one of his last films is a movie called Family Plot, which she starred in, and she's incredibly charming and incredibly quirky. And I think that movie really shows off her acting ability. And the last one I'll throw at you, um, because I think it's really, really interesting, is there's a movie called The Seduction of Joe Tynan. And you might be like, what the fuck is that?

No, I never heard of it. Um, you could also look at Nashville or Freaky Friday, but The Seduction of Joe Tynan is a movie that starred her Apple Tree co-star, Alan Alda. Alan Alda. It was written by Alan Alda, and Alan Alda plays a senator who's having an affair with a new actress to the screen at that time, Meryl Streep. So it's one of Meryl Streep's first roles. The movie's very like 70s. Uh, but watch Barbara Harris's performance as the wife finding out that her husband is having an affair. It's really wonderful. She was a great actress. I wish that she had more to do, but then in the round the late 90s, she gave up acting, moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, and just taught acting classes. Not just taught acting classes, but didn't want to do it anymore.

Have you ever met anybody that worked with her or knew her as a teacher? I don't think I have, but I was just curious if anyone's here in Arizona or something like that. I have not, I don't even think it was at a, I and somebody might out there might be able to correct me. I don't even think it was at a university. I think it was. Oh, she wasn't even at a university. I think it was like a community college or like a bunch of parking. No, so she uh really, really, really incredible actress who left us. And I mean, she was also in like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the movie and Gross Point Blank. So you can look at Peggy Sue Got Married. You can look at those, but go watch Nashville, go watch Plaza Suite, go watch any of those that shows off her real quirkiness.

And thank the musical theater gods for the two musicals that she did give us. She was really, really special. She was really and one of the pioneers of improv comedy. Yeah. You know, so anytime we look at you know, people like Tina Fey or Catherine O'Hara, you know, Barbara Harris is the seed. It's even in that Tony clip, you can see it in her work. The dedication that she gives to her, you can see that it was rooted in improv, but her sniveling and all of her like being I mean, that's you'll know it when you see it, but she's so committed that I've never seen any actress really dig into it the way she did. She just went all in, doesn't mind looking stupid or silly or whatever. If a soprano has to sing the high note at the end of the song while she opens her mouth to pretend like she's singing it.

She doesn't care. She does. Who cares? She's a funny bit. Sound like she was a fun lady, but we wish those four people a happy transition and hopefully we'll see them all on the other side, creating their own theatrical productions. Um so that so Barbara Harris is my favorite thing. Um so what is yours, Kevin?

[27:58] Robert W Schneider: Mine, this is the first, I think. So mine is neither book nor film, nor musical, nor mammal nor man. It's a new song. Nor a YouTube clip. Uh this is actually a fabric. It's Velcro. It's a podcast episode. It's just one episode that I want to talk about from a podcast. The podcast is not a musical theater podcast, which is why I think it's all the more interesting that there's an episode about a musical theater part of the business. Okay. You're gonna like this. I think you're gonna really like this. I almost forwarded this to you, and then I didn't want to give it away, and I was gonna wait until I do it. So I just want to give a shout out to my friend Lucia Spina, who Lucci and I did Les Mis about 10 years ago, and Lucia just out of nowhere, I didn't talk to her in a while, and I just get this just a text.

And it was just the podcast episode, and she's like, I think you'll like this. All right, so what's the podcast? It's uh an A W NYC puts out a bunch of different podcasts that are really, really wonderful. And there's a series out right now called Here's the Things that Alec Baldwin hosts. And then this he covers all different kinds of things in the arts and uh all aspects. He interviews people that are involved with something that he finds interesting. Um and I'm not, to be honest, I've not listened to other episodes of his. Um he's fine and he's a pretty good, you know, interviewer. Um he talks a little bit, but uh, but it's it's good. It he's pretty good for someone who's dealing with people that maybe he doesn't know a lot about what they do.

Um so the episode I would like you to check out uh on Here's the Things podcast is titled The Hidden Trove of Musicals by Broadway's Greatest Talents. Again, that's The Hidden Trove of Musicals by Broadway's Greatest Talents. This came out about I want to say two weeks ago. So it's a recent episode. And this is a rare opportunity. Uh I say rare that a musical theater topic makes it into the mainstream world. We were cool for a second. And it's all the crazier because this episode is not about Hamilton or about Wicked or about some musical that everybody knows about. No, no, no. It is about industrials. Yes, Rob.

[30:13] Kevin David Thomas: So and the man that he had on is Steve Young. Steve Young, which has not been a favorite thing, and it quite easily could be. He wrote with another writer a book about industrial musicals. It's a big, thick, beautiful coffee table book. I have it, I love it. My friend Mark Graham got it for me. It's it's a really great book, and it chronicles. Listeners, I know you've if you've listened to our interviews with people, you know that we in the 60s and 70s, we love talking about this era in the early 80s when big corporations would have meetings and big, big, big conventions, and they would hire the top Broadway people to produce shows. Um they would have you know Sheldon Harnick rewrite the lyrics or write lyrics to a new song.

They'd have Bach write, you know, a new song, new music. There was a whole network of people that got paid very well to do these big mammoth industrials. Including until what? Including Sir. Including Sergio Franchi. That's right. What would Sergio have sung? Well, people don't know. Can I help you? Yes. Oh, well, look who it is. It's Sergio Franchi. Hello. Hello. Rob just looked over my shoulder, and you guys, I just fell for it. I thought someone came in the door, and I was like, what? What's this Sergio. Is Jerry here? I'm sorry to interrupt the cavern. Sergio, it's so good to see you. I almost didn't recognize you with the balding. I'll be more than happy to sing you in my industrial song.

Oh god. Oh god, you guys. Hey, what? E2. One, two, three, four. Animas, animas. Herschel's animas are the best animals. You sing anime? Yes. I was paid 400 meat the ball for singing the song about the animals. Have to go now. Have to go back up to the sky where me and Imogina Coca are going to do Make A Wish. At the Dunes Hotel and Casino. Grazie. Grazzi. Grazie. Oh my gosh. Grazie. Oh, and he left. He just decided to. Oh, wow. Back to the club. That's all the English he knows. So that was that was it. That's all he learned for this website. Anima Anima. That would have been a perfect example of what they would have sung about, though. Here's a here. No, here's the title of one of the shows that they because they so in this interview with Steve Young.

So Steve Young, um, he he was a writer for the David Letterman show for about 25 years. He started out in improv. He's a really funny writer. He became obsessed with industrials, much the way that we are fascinated with it. He became so obsessed that he collects all of the recordings of them. He would go on eBay and just collect over the years all of these rare, you know, demo recordings of Sheldon Harnick or insert all the writers that would make money by doing this in all the famous. I mean, Tommy Tune, all these people would do all these industrials. So he wrote a big book, great coffee table book about it. That's not what this episode's about. But he was on Alec Baldwin's uh interview because there's a documentary that was just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival about Steve Young's obsession with industrial musicals.

Is this that bathtub something about Bathtubs over Broadway? Yeah. Very good, yeah. I haven't seen it. I really want to see that. But even just listening to Steve, I think anytime someone is passionate about something, maybe sort of akin to us in this art form that we are passionate about. I think that if someone's passionate about something, at least for me, I like listening to them talk about it because their passion is contagious to me. Even if it's about something that I really don't know much about. But I'll I will listen because I think, wow, the way they love it, I'm learning something. This is interesting. And I have an interest in industrial musical theater, but the way this Steve Young knows about it is a just a very contagious, fascinating thing.

That I'm not shocked that somebody wanted to make a documentary about him and his journey, finding all of these shows and collecting them. But um going on your Sergio Franchi riff. So one of the clips that they played is from one of the industrials about um uh uh fuel called Diesel Dazzle. Diesel Dazzle? Diesel Dazzle. The tractor convention had the world of winners. Oh, not as not as good play on words, but you know, I thought and they played, they played some of the clips from these shows that they that they wrote, and they're really fun. And he and Steve talks about how he's that I like listening to it because I feel like I'm a part of that world, and for a minute, I feel like I'm an employee of that company.

Because you can imagine the excitement. You go to you're in Milwaukee and you're at some convention, all these Broadway people come on to stage and give you almost a full Broadway show, except they're all singing about your company and your job and what you do for a living. So it in a way, industrials really brought the worker into a musical almost. And made a musical out of their life. And so it almost and not almost, it inspired workers for more productivity and to be better and to and and you would look forward to when you got to have your big convention and you would have your big the songs that were written for. I mean, on a small scale, I've experienced that when I my corporate gig I used to do years ago called The Water Coolers, we would do that.

[35:23] Robert W Schneider: We were a five-person show that they would write specialized material. Nowadays they would just do it on pop songs and write parody type things. But I can tell you, you go in a conference room and everyone freaks out because they think, oh my goodness, they're singing about my stuff. I can't imagine it with Broadway performers and all of that. I think that's really cool. So I encourage you all, it's a 40-minute interview. Here's the thing, Alec Baldwin, look up the hidden trove of musicals by Broadway's Greatest Talents for this great interview with Steve Young about his documentary, Bathtubs Over Broadway. Let's take a look for that. Hopefully that will have a wider release, and you and I at least can check that out because I'm really, really fascinated.

I think that it's fun. And I think you learn a little bit about this world of industrials that we don't have today. So we don't really know what material they have. But I'm thankful that there is someone in the world that has that passion that can share it with us and make it, you know, we don't lose that history.

[36:21] Kevin David Thomas: Absolutely. I'm looking here, Bathtubs Over Broadway. I'm trying to see. Does it say if it's released or if there's a wider release? Because I know it was at Tribeca Film Festival this year.

[36:30] Robert W Schneider: Oh, yeah, I think it did pretty well. I mean, why else would Alec Baldwin be interviewing a guy that only wants to talk about industrial musicals?

[36:38] Kevin David Thomas: No, absolutely. Here, I mean, I'm looking it up on iTunes, right? It's shocking that that made it into mainstream. And then he talks, you know, he talks about Young's history with, you know, writing for David Letterman and all of that. But for me, I just love his passion for industrial musical theater. Who knew that was a subset of our already subset genre art form?

[37:00] Robert W Schneider: I'm surprised that nobody's done an album of like their stars.

[37:06] Kevin David Thomas: Isn't that interesting?

[37:07] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, it's not coming up here.

[37:08] Kevin David Thomas: Oh shit, sorry, it's not coming up here on iTunes.

[37:11] Robert W Schneider: So maybe it's not available on iTunes?

[37:14] Kevin David Thomas: I don't, I bet not yet. I don't think it's probably been released on that sort of platform yet.

[37:18] Robert W Schneider: How dare they, though? How dare they? Because I really want to see this. Um, yep, nothing, nothing on iTunes.

[37:23] Kevin David Thomas: Okay, sorry about that. I looked up. And Bathtubs Over Broadway, incidentally, I believe is one of the titles for one of the industrial shows that happened. Because you're gonna, you know, you're selling bathtubs. So what are you gonna title your show? Bathtubs Over Broadway. It's perfect.

[37:38] Robert W Schneider: Speaking of movies, really quickly, if I may, may I recommend a film I just saw?

[37:41] Kevin David Thomas: Ooh.

[37:42] Robert W Schneider: Um, that sort of is in the same entertainment field as this. I'm so sorry, are you done? I apologize. I hope I didn't cut you off.

[37:46] Kevin David Thomas: I'm so sorry.

[37:48] Robert W Schneider: No, it's fine. No, did I cut you off? I'm really sorry.

[37:50] Kevin David Thomas: I'm so sorry. I thought we had wrapped up.

[37:53] Robert W Schneider: So there was a book a few years ago, and I'm kind of want your opinion on it, because the and our listeners' opinion on it as well. So um, there was a book a couple of years ago called Full Service, um, written by a gentleman named Scotty Bowers, who owned or worked at a gas station in the 1940s and 50s in Hollywood, California, that was at the crossroads of where like the major studios were. So if you were a major star, you passed this gas station on a daily basis, or you went in for gas on a daily basis. And for lack of a better word, he was a pimp.

[38:27] Kevin David Thomas: So what happened is, is even though he worked as the gas station employee, if um a celebrity came in and if it was a guy and he's like, Hey, I'm looking for a girl, he would set the celebrity up with a girl, or if the guy came in and it was and if he was gay and was like, Hey, I'm looking for a guy, he would do that as well.

[38:44] Robert W Schneider: So he wrote a book called Full Service, where he names names.

[38:48] Kevin David Thomas: I do remember this.

[38:49] Robert W Schneider: Okay, yes. So the documentary just came out, um, and it's called Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood. And I just saw it, and it's a really one I think the film is really incredible. Um, he outs a lot of people who were closeted.

[39:04] Kevin David Thomas: So my question for you is this, um, because it's a lot of the controversy and is in the movie as well, which is you know, he's outing people like Catherine Hepburn. And he's outing people like Spencer Tracy.

[39:12] Robert W Schneider: Is he though?

[39:19] Kevin David Thomas: So the question though is the people go up to him and go, How can you do that? That's a violation of privacy. His retort is um wasn't so private when they came up to me at the gas station and said, Hey, can you get me a uh, you know, yeah, no, absolutely like a sensible Robert W Schneider type.

[39:35] Robert W Schneider: And I'm not talking the actor.

[39:37] Kevin David Thomas: Who?

[39:37] Robert W Schneider: You're talking the actor.

[39:38] Kevin David Thomas: No, no, no, I'm talking the uh Rob W. Schneider.

[39:41] Robert W Schneider: Who would nobody would have to do it?

[39:42] Kevin David Thomas: I said a sensible Rob W. Schneider type.

[39:44] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[39:44] Kevin David Thomas: But you're right.

[39:45] Robert W Schneider: No, I hear what you're saying. Is that unethical? Is it unethical?

[39:48] Kevin David Thomas: Yes, probably. Is it illegal?

[39:50] Robert W Schneider: No.

[39:50] Kevin David Thomas: Well, prostitution technically is unethical.

[39:53] Robert W Schneider: Well, were they paying for them?

[39:54] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah, oh yeah, it was it was would he get a cut of it?

[39:57] Robert W Schneider: So apparently now, if you get money for it and he's revealing the secrets, I mean, I guess we have that going on in politics right now.

[40:06] Kevin David Thomas: Oh geez.

[40:07] Robert W Schneider: No, he so this is kind of weird. He would get like I think if I understand it correctly, he would get like $10, and then the uh the person that he set them up with would keep all the money.

[40:18] Kevin David Thomas: Like a finder's fee.

[40:19] Robert W Schneider: He got like a finding. I think he got a he either got a finder's fee or he was a prostitute, a sex worker.

[40:24] Kevin David Thomas: We're supposed to say sex worker now.

[40:26] Robert W Schneider: Okay. He was a sex worker himself.

[40:28] Kevin David Thomas: So I don't know if he was collecting money.

[40:30] Robert W Schneider: So anyway, so the issue though is, is you know, is that okay? Is that ethically okay to out somebody after they've passed? Or to tell something about somebody after they passed?

[40:42] Kevin David Thomas: I don't know if I can oh go ahead, sorry.

[40:46] Robert W Schneider: No, I just I don't know.

[40:47] Kevin David Thomas: Well when Billy Goldenberg was talking about Michael Bennett, for instance, right?

[40:51] Robert W Schneider: Okay.

[40:52] Kevin David Thomas: You know, that was a darker side of the history. Was it a reality for Billy? Yes, that was a reality. That was his experience of his life until there. So there was no non-disclosure agreements, I assume that were signed by gas station pimp man.

[41:06] Robert W Schneider: So I, you know, if he wants to, you want to call him by his name, I'll call him by his other name. But like, you know, I'm kidding. But um, I don't know, it's a tough one because I'm sure that the deceased don't want those things to be, but it was a different time period then.

[41:19] Kevin David Thomas: Today people tend to people are like, yeah, Spencer Who, all right, shrug.

[41:23] Robert W Schneider: I don't know. I the younger generation, I mean the older generation probably already knew. I mean, I don't know.

[41:27] Kevin David Thomas: It's one of the arguments in the precious the film is it's like, yeah, okay, so like Spencer Tracy is dead, but he has children and grandchildren who are still alive.

[41:35] Robert W Schneider: Like proud.

[41:36] Kevin David Thomas: Is that yeah, so I mean that's that's we're still living in the illusion that being homosexual is is a negative thing.

[41:42] Robert W Schneider: That's what he says about.

[41:43] Kevin David Thomas: That we have to that they have to hide that, that we have to not be what uh I think that's bullshit.

[41:48] Robert W Schneider: I think we're evolving past that, I hope. Because we've I mean we've had a lot of guests on here who you will start to tell a story, then stop and then go, you know what, I'll tell it anyway, because they're past.

[41:58] Kevin David Thomas: So I'm wondering if if somebody the Stephen Sondheim effect. Remember when he wrote his books?

[42:01] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[42:02] Kevin David Thomas: And he said, I'm only gonna talk about people that are dead, I'm not gonna talk about the living yet.

[42:05] Robert W Schneider: Uh when he as far as dishing.

[42:07] Kevin David Thomas: Yes, no, of course.

[42:08] Robert W Schneider: Of course, of course, of course. I get that.

[42:09] Kevin David Thomas: Um so I'm just wondering, though, if does someone's passing give like carte blanche to then talk about, but I think it makes it easier.

[42:16] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[42:17] Kevin David Thomas: No, no libel. And that's the other complaint that people have in the movie, which is none of these people can retort the claims.

[42:23] Robert W Schneider: But then, like you're saying.

[42:24] Kevin David Thomas: That's show biz.

[42:25] Robert W Schneider: People have been doing that since the beginning of time.

[42:27] Kevin David Thomas: Yeah.

[42:27] Robert W Schneider: Are you can that's how history books are written.

[42:29] Kevin David Thomas: You know what I mean? Like the you think the history books really are what happened?

[42:32] Robert W Schneider: Yeah, mostly, but are they what the people that won't point of view?

[42:35] Kevin David Thomas: Yes.

[42:36] Robert W Schneider: Oh, yeah, history is written by the winners.

[42:38] Kevin David Thomas: You know, I mean, I think it's the same thing with this kind of stuff.

[42:40] Robert W Schneider: So uh, you know what I read? Have you ever read the book Lies That My Teacher Told Me?

[42:44] Kevin David Thomas: No.

[42:44] Robert W Schneider: That's a great book.

[42:45] Kevin David Thomas: That's a really great book.

[42:46] Robert W Schneider: That's a book that shows how textbooks in American history classes, and they like they compare 13 textbooks, alter and change history, so America always looks marvelous and fabulous.

[42:57] Kevin David Thomas: It's a And it probably depends on what region of the country you're in as well.

[43:00] Robert W Schneider: Oh, that's a whole other story. Because aren't those those biology books in the South that don't even mention um evolution, it's all creationism in the book, which is not saying it's a good thing.

[43:10] Kevin David Thomas: No, no, no, there's some reasons why my sister homeschools her kids. That's all I'm gonna say.

[43:13] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[43:14] Kevin David Thomas: My feeling is you have if you're gonna teach creationism, you should teach evolutionism, and then also I mean, I think you should mention it.

[43:20] Robert W Schneider: I think I mean I don't know.

[43:21] Kevin David Thomas: It's a common thing.

[43:22] Robert W Schneider: So the world's flat at the same time, it's great.

[43:24] Kevin David Thomas: It's not okay.

[43:26] Robert W Schneider: Well, you guys got some favorite things, and you got some of our other favorite things.

[43:30] Kevin David Thomas: Fox News told me it was flat this morning.

[43:33] Robert W Schneider: Well, have fun with that, Rob. You know, I have to tell you, have I told you I've stopped leaving subway stations because okay, so if you leave the subway station on 50th, because I take the one train downtown, right?

[43:43] Kevin David Thomas: Okay.

[43:44] Robert W Schneider: When I get out at 50th, you walk out, and the first thing you see is there's a barber shop in the subway station.

[43:51] Kevin David Thomas: And they're yes, that you come downtown.

[43:53] Robert W Schneider: Yes, I always come when they're uptown. And they're playing Fox News, and it's the first thing you see when you get off the train.

[43:58] Kevin David Thomas: Ugh.

[43:58] Robert W Schneider: So I've stopped exiting off the at the 50th, and I only get off at 59th because I don't see Fox News.

[44:05] Kevin David Thomas: I'm proud of you.

[44:06] Robert W Schneider: I have to walk extra, but I'd rather walk extra than see Fox News.

[44:10] Kevin David Thomas: 100%.

[44:11] Robert W Schneider: And if you listen to our podcast and watch Fox News, I'm not gonna go. What are you doing? What are you doing? But if you also listen to our podcast and watch Fox News, and you're also a Patreon subscriber to us, God bless you.

[44:22] Kevin David Thomas: Send me a red hat.

[44:23] Robert W Schneider: We want all your money.

[44:24] Kevin David Thomas: We want all your money.

[44:25] Robert W Schneider: Just give it all up.

[44:26] Kevin David Thomas: Good for you.

[44:26] Robert W Schneider: Good for you, is what we're gonna say now.

[44:31] Kevin David Thomas: You love Little Abner.

[44:32] Robert W Schneider: Well, I'm on a kick lately. But we'll hear about that on next week's episode where you talk to Peter Felici about Little Abner for a little bit.

[44:38] Kevin David Thomas: Well, thanks for sticking with us this episode, everybody. So once again, this was a fun one. We had a lot of time to kill.

[44:41] Robert W Schneider: Oh, we're at the 45 minute mark.

[44:44] Kevin David Thomas: Okay.

[44:44] Robert W Schneider: Oh, a longer one. This is a long one.

[44:46] Kevin David Thomas: Sorry, guys.

[44:46] Robert W Schneider: Sorry, sorry, sorry.

[44:47] Kevin David Thomas: You're welcome.

[44:48] Robert W Schneider: Hey, you're welcome, America.

[44:49] Kevin David Thomas: You're welcome.

[44:50] Robert W Schneider: You're welcome the world for what we just gave you.

[44:52] Kevin David Thomas: Um and our favorite things once again, take a look at Barbara Harris and uh oh, yes.

[44:58] Robert W Schneider: Um the uh the um the podcast.

[45:01] Kevin David Thomas: Uh next next um, oh shoot.

[45:04] Robert W Schneider: Uh Here's the Things now.

[45:06] Kevin David Thomas: Um The Hidden Trove of Music.

[45:08] Robert W Schneider: The title is so long.

[45:09] Kevin David Thomas: The hidden trove of musicals by Broadway's greatest talents.

[45:11] Robert W Schneider: Just type that in with Here's the Things.

[45:13] Kevin David Thomas: Uh and if you don't know how to find podcasts, well, you found us, so you should be able to find podcasts.

[45:18] Robert W Schneider: Hold on one second.

[45:19] Kevin David Thomas: You would not believe how many people I'm a Saudi.

[45:21] Robert W Schneider: Oh my gosh.

[45:22] Kevin David Thomas: Sergio, Sergio, open up your phone.

[45:25] Robert W Schneider: There's a purple icon.

[45:26] Kevin David Thomas: It says podcast.

[45:27] Robert W Schneider: If you have a smartphone, you have the podcast app.

[45:30] Kevin David Thomas: Meanwhile, we've had this conversation with I cannot tell you how many guests we've had this exact conversation.

[45:34] Robert W Schneider: Not I'm not as an uh like animated towards them, but no, no, but I like that you're angry.

[45:39] Kevin David Thomas: I'm sorry, I forgot that my gallig bread.

[45:42] Robert W Schneider: Sorry.

[45:43] Kevin David Thomas: Sergio.

[45:43] Robert W Schneider: He's gone now.

[45:44] Kevin David Thomas: He's what is it in Westside?

[45:49] Robert W Schneider: Sorry?

[45:49] Kevin David Thomas: Ciao.

[45:49] Robert W Schneider: Te amo?

[45:50] Kevin David Thomas: What did she say?

[45:51] Robert W Schneider: Teador on top that's Spanish, but yes.

[45:53] Kevin David Thomas: So that's good, Rob.

[45:55] Robert W Schneider: That's really good.

[45:56] Kevin David Thomas: So he's Italian.

[45:58] Robert W Schneider: They're from Puerto Rico.

[46:00] Kevin David Thomas: And I've and I've screwed it up.

[46:01] Robert W Schneider: I'm sorry.

[46:02] Kevin David Thomas: Great.

[46:02] Robert W Schneider: I'm really proud of you.

[46:03] Kevin David Thomas: Um I hey You'll never be cast in that production.

[46:05] Robert W Schneider: Can I tell you why I was proud of myself today before we go off the air?

[46:08] Kevin David Thomas: We went to Subway for a sandwich.

[46:10] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[46:10] Kevin David Thomas: And the vending machine, or not the vending machine, the soda machine that has you know how they have like names now on Diet Coke bottles?

[46:15] Robert W Schneider: Yeah.

[46:16] Kevin David Thomas: It was four bottles in a row, all facing out that said Amy.

[46:20] Robert W Schneider: So it's Amy, Amy, Amy, Amy.

[46:22] Kevin David Thomas: And I was like, look, multitudes of Amy's.

[46:25] Robert W Schneider: And I said it to n you weren't even around.

[46:27] Kevin David Thomas: You were not even around.

[46:28] Robert W Schneider: So I literally was talking to myself.

[46:30] Kevin David Thomas: So the guy at Subway laughed.

[46:33] Robert W Schneider: Oh, that's great.

[46:34] Kevin David Thomas: Um all right, till next time.

[46:35] Robert W Schneider: Bye everybody.

[46:37] Kevin David Thomas: Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles, and worn woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings.

[46:50] Robert W Schneider: These are a few of my favorite things.

[46:59] Kevin David Thomas: These are a few of my favorite things.