This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:06] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to the Break a Bat Podcast, where baseball meets Broadway, an attempt to show that my two favorite mediums don't have to live in such separate worlds and maybe even break some stigmas.

[0:18] Al Malafronte: We're happy to have you with us. Now let's play ball.

[0:23] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to Break a Bat. I'm your host, Al Malafronte, coming at you from one of my favorite stadiums, the Broadway Podcast Network Studios.

[0:33] Al Malafronte: You know, a question that I was asked recently was who on Broadway right now reminds you most of some of your favorite Yankees as far as going about their craft. Uh, I want to bring up a specific example here.

[0:45] Al Malafronte: Someone who was not only one of my favorite players as a kid, but remains so to this day. Uh, and mainly because it's something that you don't see that much anymore. I think even the most fair weather baseball fan in the theater community remembers Paul O'Neill.

[1:00] Al Malafronte: Uh, and not just because he was on Seinfeld. Paul O'Neill always played with an undeniable heart and intensity that spanned 17 Major League seasons, nine of which were spent on the stage over at Yankee Stadium.

[1:12] Al Malafronte: Every bat seemed like it was the most important one of his life. There was an intense physicality that was second to none when he played right field, and he would do anything to make the big play in any given moment.

[1:23] Al Malafronte: He took the losses personally, he always gave it his all, stayed true to the performer he was, and it served him pretty well as he went on to play in four All-Star games as a member of the Yankees, win a batting title, and most importantly, he was a key piece on four world championship Yankee teams.

[1:38] Al Malafronte: It was a spectacle to see not only that type of energy in the cast, but also the talent and hard work that made him such an all-star, which my guest today can definitely speak to, which is why I'm pretty pumped to interview her.

[1:49] Al Malafronte: A Broadway veteran of nearly a decade and a half. She's one of the best triple threats in the game and super fun to watch. Whether it's Grease, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Chicago, or of course, a little show called Moulin Rouge playing over at the Al Hirschfeld Theater.

[2:05] Al Malafronte: I'd bat her third in any lineup. If that's a really good position to hit, by the way. If you'll please turn your attention to home plate just beyond the marquee. Now batting, Robyn Hurder.

[2:20] Robyn Hurder: I want to clap for that introduction. I my face hurts. I have never had an introduction quite like that. Thank you.

[2:30] Al Malafronte: You're very welcome. Yeah, there's a level of base um theatrics in baseball that apply to Broadway. So I think that this is like the perfect middle ground. That's why you have like those drama masks behind the baseball back there.

[2:41] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, I wow, gosh. I'm so flattered. Thank you.

[2:45] Al Malafronte: Oh, you're very welcome. So that's like you like the Paul O'Neill parallel?

[2:46] Robyn Hurder: Yes. Yes, I do. Did you know him from that scene with Kramer at least?

[2:53] Al Malafronte: Uh, I I have to say I I don't think so. I watched a lot of Seinfeld, but not like religiously, like a lot of people do.

[2:59] Robyn Hurder: Kramer basically promised a sick kid in the hospital that Paul O'Neill would hit uh two home runs for him in an episode.

[3:07] Al Malafronte: And so you can imagine what happens with that.

[3:09] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, and they actually got Paul O'Neill to Oh my gosh. Now just I I if you don't know Paul O'Neill, I just want to like just give you an idea. Like you've watched baseball before.

[3:17] Al Malafronte: Of course. Yes. Yes, I have. I I love a live baseball game. They're my favorite.

[3:22] Robyn Hurder: So just picture this ninth inning of a World Series game. This was 1996. The Yankees are playing the Braves. Yanks hadn't won a World Series since 1978.

[3:31] Robyn Hurder: And so that's like an 18 year draw. That's pretty long for the Yankees. I know you're a Red Sox fan, so I shouldn't talk. You had 86 years to wait.

[3:40] Al Malafronte: That's right. I actually watched that game.

[3:42] Robyn Hurder: Oh, the when they won. The against the Cardinals.

[3:44] Al Malafronte: Yeah. Yeah, I was at Brother Jimmy's. Anyway, keep going.

[3:47] Robyn Hurder: I kept TV off that entire week. Um, anyway. O'Neal, it's like he's playing basically on one leg. He's got a strained left hand. He was such a physical player.

[3:56] Robyn Hurder: So it's like injuries were inevitable. But like one of the most impressive things about him, until like the end of his career, he never really went on the DL, which was the disabled list.

[4:06] Robyn Hurder: Like if you get hurt, he's out there playing on one leg. Uh Yankees need to win this game. It's the series is tied, two games apiece, best of seven series.

[4:14] Robyn Hurder: Uh, like a 10 pitch at bat from Luis Polonia, who's on the Atlanta Braves, hits this line drive shot that is like it looks like it's a home run off the bat.

[4:24] Robyn Hurder: Paul O'Neill does this give up your body, no holds barred play, lifts his arm up by the warning track, knows he's gonna run into the wall.

[4:36] Robyn Hurder: The one of the most dramatic and physical performances I've ever seen on a single play, especially in that moment during the World Series, he makes a play, pounds his fists into the wall.

[4:48] Robyn Hurder: Uh really it just defined all the emotion about Paul O'Neill. That's Paul O'Neill in a nutshell for you. He was like the heart and soul of the Yankees, and I feel like uh that's something that when you know we see you perform, you really give off that energy that you care.

[5:05] Al Malafronte: It's almost like when we're watching you out there, it's someone who's seen you for the first time. I think I how the hell do you do it?

[5:12] Robyn Hurder: Um, well, I I love it. I have a a deep, deep passion that I thought for a moment, um, right before I got uh pregnant, I thought that I I had to check myself and I didn't know if I still wanted to do this.

[5:31] Robyn Hurder: And it's funny how much stronger it's gotten in the past few years, especially being a part of something like Moulin Rouge, which is such a such a marathon.

[5:39] Robyn Hurder: It really is the most athletic show I've ever done. Um it's so difficult and so straining, but it makes me want to work harder and just the the ask everything about the show is so large and so big and it's such a spectacle, and it like feeds me even more every night to work harder and just to try to like punch it out, hit it and quit it, and then go back the next day and do it again.

[6:07] Al Malafronte: So it pumps you up.

[6:09] Robyn Hurder: It does. Um, I mean, it's it's so loud and so big and bright and everything that it really does give me the fuel to like keep going.

[6:17] Robyn Hurder: And the audience. I mean, we we see you out there. I mean, it's it's especially with this show, it's so bright that you can see the audience's faces and I can see them looking at me and they're happy.

[6:29] Robyn Hurder: And that's also like a drug to me is like I'm I'm it's not that I'm changing their life, but I'm I'm I'm helping with the escape from whatever their day has been.

[6:41] Robyn Hurder: You get to go into this theater for two hours and 40 minutes and just escape and enjoy. I mean, it's it's theater, it's art. It's it's such a gift.

[6:49] Robyn Hurder: And the fact that I get to be a part of that and give someone something, a moment, an experience, something that's not tangible, but something that still makes you feel something, that's pretty extraordinary. And not everybody gets to do that with their jobs, I guess.

[7:04] Al Malafronte: You know what I mean?

[7:05] Robyn Hurder: Yeah. I d do you feel like you're kind of like doing a rock concert up there?

[7:09] Robyn Hurder: Except it's like an extremely physical version of a rock concert.

[7:14] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[7:15] Robyn Hurder: Yeah. Especially because I've never, um it's it's all pop music that we're singing, and I'm singing the top, the top harmonies.

[7:23] Robyn Hurder: So I'm I've and it's like rocky, soulful, like high pitched, like belting. Um, and I get to put a growl on it.

[7:32] Robyn Hurder: So at the end of this show, I really am screaming like I'm in a rock concert. And I still can't believe I have a voice. Usually the audience is screaming and and singing along or clapping with us, and I'm just yelling.

[7:45] Al Malafronte: It is awesome.

[7:46] Robyn Hurder: Yeah. Well, you know, Paul O'Neill's nickname was the warrior because of like that intensity.

[7:51] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[7:51] Robyn Hurder: So like that's what I call myself.

[7:53] Al Malafronte: Are you serious?

[7:54] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, a warrior beast.

[7:56] Al Malafronte: I l I so I didn't know that, and I just came up with the perfect parallel, apparently.

[8:00] Robyn Hurder: So that's that's a first around here. I Milan Rouge, I said it, I think in an Instagram post the other day. It's like um, it's like a cage match.

[8:09] Robyn Hurder: You know what I mean? And it's like I'm like this this beast behind a gate. And the sh the way my show is designed is the gates fly open and you are just this warrior beast that just gallops out.

[8:22] Robyn Hurder: You do your show at like a hundred miles an hour, and then the gates close, and I have like a 40 minute break, and then the beginning of act two gates open and it's like ra quite literally, rah-rah, rah-

[8:22] Al Malafronte: Oh, that's right. Your signature song.

[8:36] Robyn Hurder: Yes, that that little number. It's uh it it really is an art. Now, let me ask you, like when you were growing up, first of all, I mentioned earlier, you're a triple threat.

[8:46] Robyn Hurder: You can sing, you can dance, you can act. Actresses and actors are athletes in their own in their own special way, which is one thing I've always really admired. Um, did did you do sports growing up too?

[8:58] Robyn Hurder: I no, I didn't. I I saw Cats at in Portland, Maine, um, where I'm from, and I said to my mom, I I want to do this. This is what I want to do. I was done, so she put me in dance class.

[9:14] Robyn Hurder: And I was there ever since. I never changed my mind.

[9:18] Al Malafronte: It's interesting that Cats is the one that made you realize that you wanted to do this. I feel like how old are you when you went to see it?

[9:25] Robyn Hurder: I was six.

[9:26] Al Malafronte: I would have been terrified, to be quite frank with you of that show.

[9:30] Robyn Hurder: Well, I I was, I was a little terrified because they were like coming down the aisles, and I was like three, three rows in, and I was a little scared about that.

[9:40] Robyn Hurder: But I was just, it was my first experience of seeing a live musical, and I was, I was enamored. I the dancing, the every every aspect about it, all the theatrics, all the the mo mainly the dancing, but it just like the the tire that rises and the big moon and the singing, the art of singing and dancing.

[10:00] Robyn Hurder: It just I I got the bug then and there, and I started dance class.

[10:05] Al Malafronte: So where you grew up, uh you grew up in Maine, correct? Take me through the Hurder household. Was it very R-centric all the time? Or you kind of like instilled that onto your parents once they realized how passionate you were about to be.

[10:16] Robyn Hurder: Well, my my brothers were very book smart. They were, you know, more into they didn't, you know, my oldest brother ran track. Um, my other brother Derek was very like, you know, he's very, very smart.

[10:29] Robyn Hurder: Um, and I just was this spaz that would just run around and dance all over the house. That was another reason why my mom put me in dance class because she was like, she just, she just has all this energy and she won't stop dancing.

[10:42] Robyn Hurder: Just like do something with her to make it organized. Like I just organize the movement. And I started excelling like really, really fast. And I really, really loved it.

[10:50] Robyn Hurder: And then there was this moment where I wanted to quit. I was like, I want to go play sports with my friends because my girlfriends were either playing soccer or they were playing an instrument or they were, you know, doing something else after school.

[11:05] Robyn Hurder: And I was the only one that went to dance class. And my mom said, nah, finish the year. You're not gonna quit. Just finish the year. And that last half of the year I was introduced to jazz.

[11:14] Robyn Hurder: And that was very sassy, and I really, really liked it. I found my calling.

[11:20] Al Malafronte: How old were you when you made your first trip to Broadway?

[11:23] Robyn Hurder: Uh, I was 11 years old. When I when I you mean when I just visited New York and saw a Broadway show, I was 11. And that's when I was like, I saw Damn Yankees and I saw Bebe Neuwirth play Lola.

[11:34] Robyn Hurder: And I said to my mom, that's what I want to do when I grow up.

[11:37] Al Malafronte: Now, the fact that you're from Maine, which is fairly not not far from Fenway Park in the grand scheme of things. Did that have anything to do with uh your selection of the show titled Damn Yankees? Like because you're a Red Sox fan.

[11:51] Robyn Hurder: No, I no, I had nothing to do. I just, I I had listened to the soundtrack, I loved it. And we happened to be staying at the Marriott Marquee, and I that's where the show was playing.

[12:01] Robyn Hurder: So we just went downstairs and saw the show, and I fell, I fell in love with it. You can put that soundtrack on right now, and I will know every word.

[12:10] Al Malafronte: Why haven't they done a revival?

[12:12] Robyn Hurder: Exactly. Why don't they do a revival and cast me as Lola? I I keep, I just keep saying that in every interview.

[12:18] Robyn Hurder: I'm like, yeah, so do a revival of Damn Yankees and I'll uh I'll play Lola and make my dream come true.

[12:24] Al Malafronte: So we yeah, Bebe Neuwirth was like one of the early uh people that you saw perform that really inspired you to like take it a step further.

[12:31] Robyn Hurder: It was everything, yeah. Especially just her whole I I love jazz, I love the big brassiness of it, and um I just love singing and dancing and being sassy.

[12:41] Robyn Hurder: And she came up in a Shay's lounge with you know lingerie on and this gorgeous jazz music, and I was like, Yep, that's what I want to do.

[12:47] Al Malafronte: And I was 11 starting young.

[12:51] Robyn Hurder: Bold take at age 11.

[12:52] Al Malafronte: So really I yeah. Now once once you realize if that's your I wanna do this moment, uh, how'd you put the wheels into motion as far as making it happen?

[13:02] Robyn Hurder: Um, so I at that moment I knew I was a good dancer, but I wanted to be, I knew I needed more training, um, ballet-wise, because ballet is the root of all dance. It's your it that's that's where you have to start. And if you don't have the proper technique from ballet training, then you notice a difference, and you're just not in my mind, you're not gonna be as good. So I moved to dance schools, started training really hard in ballet, um, and still kept tapping jazz and all that stuff. Then I realized I needed to, you know, sing. I could kind of sing, but I needed to really sing. So I started taking voice lessons when I was 16. And that's when I started like tiptoeing into musical theater. And I did my first show at Main St. Music Theater called Grease.

I was an ensemble member, and uh yeah, it was my first musical that I was in. And um that's that's when I started, and I just kept going, kept going, and eventually like ballet kind of faded out, and I just started doing shows and went to college for a hot second at University of New Hampshire. And uh I because I just knew I wasn't ready to just move to New York, had no money, I was still a kid. Um, but my second year, my sophomore year, I I just knew it in my stomach I made a mistake. And I said, Mom, can I just go to New York for a week just to audition? I just want to try it. She goes, Yeah, go ahead. So I just skipped school for a week, went to New York, auditioned, and I ended up getting a lot of job offers. Like I think it's like classic beginner's luck. And I said, Mom, I uh there's all these job offers. Can I take one? She goes, Yeah, go. This is what you want. And I did. I did, I just went for it.

[14:06] Al Malafronte: Did you move to New York straight uh in? I guess you were still a teenager tech. You were what? It's like in your college, you would have been 19.

[14:48] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, I was I was 19. Um, and when I I left, I I went to do a cruise ship that toured Europe. So I got to see, you know, the Mediterranean. We went up through um the Baltic, and it was it was so good at that point in my life because I just I got to travel, I didn't have anything tying me down. When I came back from the cruise ship, that's when I moved to New York. I was about 20. And then I got a tour right after that called Starlight Express. Talk about being an athlete, put roller skates on your feet, and then sing and dance. It's like it was the craziest show. We actually trained um for three months. There was no choreography, nothing. We trained in Biloxi, Mississippi at a really, really, really old school roller rink, and we trained like nine to seven for three months. That's intense stuff.

[15:38] Robyn Hurder: It was so intense. That's why they make you go through this training camp, and then you do two months of rehearsal where you still train in the morning for roller skating, like learning. Like I can roller skate. Like I can spin, I can go down bowls. I mean, not anymore, and I won't because I'm too scared of my body. But like it's intense. I mean, we were at we were literally being trained as athletes, and then they incorporated all the singing and the dancing and you know, the scene work and stuff like that. It was crazy.

[16:04] Al Malafronte: The thing that I found really interesting about your story uh is that in the grand scheme of things, I kind of like to compare it to a minor league journey. You didn't spend that much time in the minor leagues. You you found success really quickly, especially since you got cast in your first Broadway show when you were all of what like 22 years old.

[16:24] Robyn Hurder: I was 22. It was right after that Starlight Express tour. I went to New York for about three weeks, and uh I got Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[16:32] Al Malafronte: You get immediate work as soon as the tour ends.

[16:34] Robyn Hurder: I mean, I do I know, and it doesn't always happen, but I it's all about your like your energy and your state of mind. And I, you know, we use this term hungry. Um I I was hungry in the best most um honest way, like out of love and passion for Broadway. I was just like, wow, I'm actually doing it. And it was a classic, like I had like three callbacks, I had to read for this featured role. Um and the singing and the dancing was it was just a dream. And then getting that call was just it was insane. Cause I'm like, I did it. I did it. I moved to New York and I did it. It's nuts.

[17:13] Al Malafronte: Yeah, it doesn't happen that way for most people. Do you realize how lucky you are? Like at that, even in that moment. Are you still like kind of green and you know, wide-eyed?

[17:19] Robyn Hurder: I was, but um I also know that I I worked really, really hard. Like I I I I kept taking class, I kept putting myself out there, going to all these auditions and never giving up. Because this, you know, this business is hard. There's a lot of rejection, and it can really, really beat you down. And that's something that I always say to a lot of younger aspiring actresses or dancers. They're like, Do you have any advice? And I'm like, you get that thick skin ready. You know what I mean? It's just like you you have to keep believing in yourself. And it sounds so cheesy and cliche, but it really is. If you lose sight of who you are and what you know that you can bring to this art form, then if you lose sight of that, then you're not gonna succeed.

[18:05] Al Malafronte: What do you remember about your Broadway debut?

[18:08] Robyn Hurder: Um, God, now that I'm I'm getting older and I'm I don't want to say not much, but I'm like, gosh, it was four 14 years ago. Um it was it's kind of interesting because your your Broadway debut, interestingly enough, is your first preview. So it's not like you just like it's your opening night. It's like we'd already been in the theater for gosh, five over like I guess six weeks. You know, you do two weeks of tech and then you have a month of previews. So it was pretty surreal being on a Broadway stage. I do remember doing the number two suite where we're like in this candy factory, and there was an audience there, and I there was a moment in the lights, looking at a dark theater that I was like, I did it. Like, I can't believe I'm actually here. And working with amazing people, like working with Raul Sparza and Aaron Dilly, Mark Kutish, Jen Maxwell, like that's that all-star cast.

[19:05] Al Malafronte: I mean we have all stars in baseball too.

[19:08] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, that's like exactly. That lifts everyone else's game up around them. I love that.

[19:13] Al Malafronte: It's major league.

[19:14] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, right. How did you take to living in the city, you know, at such a young age, and did you really embrace the lifestyle right from the get-go?

[19:22] Robyn Hurder: Oh, yeah, I loved it. I loved it so much. I and I immediately I met my, well, at that time, his name's Clyde Alves. He's now my husband, but he was my boyfriend back then. We immediately, once we started dating, we immediately moved in with each other.

[19:37] Al Malafronte: How when you say immediate, how soon is immediate?

[19:40] Robyn Hurder: Like we started dating during summer stock for three weeks. And then I was like, uh, I don't have any money, and you don't really have any money. So to save money, you just want to move in together. So literally after four weeks of dating, we just jumped in. We lived together. I mean, in our 20s, we tore this town up. Like we owned it. We were those, we were those idiots that because my husband was in Wicked. He was the dance captain at Wicked for a long time. And so we would do our Broadway shows, we'd meet up, we'd go out for pizza and a drink, take a cab home. Like it was just there, no cares. Like it was incredible. And we would hit every Monday night on our day off. We'd always go to a different section in the village and try out a new restaurant and take long, long walks all through the night, go to a late night jazz club at like three in the morning.

We just tore it up. And then we had a baby, and I was like, get me out of here. I it's like instantly, like Maine came back. I was like, I can't do this. I can't do this. Get me out. I cannot have my baby in the city. It's just it's so weird. And now I'm like, um, good. At the end of the night, I'm like, bye, bye, New York.

[20:48] Al Malafronte: Now you did take on a lead role when you played Marty in the Grease revival. And if you're anything like me with a father who had a big Olivia Newton John crush, you were probably watching that a lot as a kid.

[21:00] Robyn Hurder: Yes. Yes, I watched that movie quite a few times.

[21:03] Al Malafronte: At that point, are you kind of like rounding the bases, feeling good about all this hard work that you've put into this? You know, sort of like your first career Grand Slam, which for many players is like the I made it moment in baseball. Take me through the emotions, you know, going through your head at that time. Not just being on Broadway, but you know, being a full-time starter.

[21:19] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, well, I mean, that landing Marty in Greece was a was a huge huge moment. That one is burned in my mind. When I got the call in my apartment, I I remember the lighting, the way it looked in my apartment. I was in the bedroom. I screamed so loud, like bloody murder, that Clyde like ran out of the shower, like because he thought I was hurt. Like so he's just like standing there. He's like, What? What? What soaking wet? And I was like, I got Marty, I got Marty in Greece. Like I'm going to be a principal on Broadway. Like I'm gonna sing my own song by myself on Broadway, which is it's I've I've wanted to do this character for so long. Um, that really really hit me. And that was such a special time because there were I think in that show there were like 14 Broadway debuts. So we were all I I mean, this was my I think my third show, but it was just this very young, vibrant, crazy energy. And I still have best friends from that show to this day.

[22:20] Al Malafronte: That crazy energy suits your personality well.

[22:22] Robyn Hurder: And that and that's it in in a good a good way.

[22:24] Al Malafronte: So yeah, well, we got in trouble a lot because we were just insane and kind of fooling around all the time.

[22:31] Robyn Hurder: But we're I mean, come on, we're playing high school kids.

[22:33] Al Malafronte: Yeah, we should be.

[22:34] Robyn Hurder: Absolutely. Yeah, but it was pretty special. And that put me, that changed my state of mind. I was like, this is this is where I'm playing now. Like I'm not gonna go back to the ensemble. Like, I want this. This is my. And I've always been one to like climb. I don't want to, I don't, I've never seen myself being like, I want to do this and I want to be at the top. Like it's just not my style. Like I'm a Capricorn, I'm a goat. Climb up that mountain, you know. It's like that hard work thing that I mentioned earlier.

[23:05] Al Malafronte: I see that when we watch you perform, and that's you know, everyone has their own unique style and whatnot. And I think it it all goes back to your mindset. So that's that's really, really cool.

[23:14] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, and it um it's it it was it was motivating. It was also there was pressure because I'm like, okay, well, now I'm a principal on Broadway. I have to keep, I have to keep going, keep rising, keep trying to get the next thing, you know.

[23:27] Al Malafronte: Now we're gonna take a short break. When we come back, it's time for the seventh inning stretch. Stay tuned.

[23:40] Al Malafronte: Now, Robin, before we graduate from Ride L High, I thought we could hit the batting cage for a few moments.

[23:45] Robyn Hurder: Let's do it.

[23:46] Al Malafronte: All right, I have some trivia questions for you.

[23:49] Robyn Hurder: And six, I'm already nervous now.

[23:51] Al Malafronte: There's six questions.

[23:53] Robyn Hurder: Six questions.

[23:54] Al Malafronte: Half Broadway, all shows you've been in.

[23:56] Robyn Hurder: Okay.

[23:56] Al Malafronte: And half are gonna be baseball, just to make you feel like you've really earned the prize that's at stake here.

[24:01] Robyn Hurder: Okay.

[24:01] Al Malafronte: It's a big prize. And if you get four right, it's all yours. How does that sound?

[24:05] Robyn Hurder: It sounds it sounds great. I just got very nervous though.

[24:11] Al Malafronte: Like unusually nervous. Am I gonna embarrass myself?

[24:16] Robyn Hurder: If you do, we could just cut it out. We're not live.

[24:18] Al Malafronte: Okay, here we go.

[24:19] Al Malafronte: All right. Again, all shows you've been in. Ezekiel Young was from Salt Lake City and was served an arsenic drink, as told to us in the cell block tango. Uh, how many wives did he have?

[24:32] Robyn Hurder: Six.

[24:33] Al Malafronte: One for one. What was the nickname for Alex Rodriguez?

[24:41] Robyn Hurder: He is engaged to J-Lo. I know. Oh, is this like A-Rod?

[24:46] Al Malafronte: Two for two.

[24:48] Robyn Hurder: I might have to like go to my really fun questions now because you're at a pretty good pace here.

[24:52] Al Malafronte: Let's go.

[24:53] Robyn Hurder: Getting getting amped.

[24:55] Al Malafronte: All right. That's not just because of the coffee that you're doing.

[24:58] Robyn Hurder: No, I'm getting really jazzed that I actually got two right.

[25:00] Al Malafronte: What's popping? What's dropping? And what's fair to the point that you have to be there?

[25:08] Robyn Hurder: Hold on, say the question again.

[25:09] Al Malafronte: Okay. So what's popping? What's dropping? And what's fair?

[25:16] Robyn Hurder: To the point that you have to be there.

[25:19] Al Malafronte: Is this a lyric of a show that I did?

[25:22] Robyn Hurder: That you you were you sang the song in the show.

[25:28] Al Malafronte: Is this a Broadway show?

[25:29] Robyn Hurder: Yes, it is.

[25:31] Al Malafronte: Nice work if you could.

[25:33] Robyn Hurder: Nice work if you can get it.

[25:35] Al Malafronte: Oh my God.

[25:35] Robyn Hurder: Oh, uh, is that sweet and low down?

[25:37] Al Malafronte: Uh is I I had to be there in Wow.

[25:40] Al Malafronte: What if I give you the answer and see how you feel after I give you the answer?

[25:45] Robyn Hurder: Answer.

[25:46] Al Malafronte: Bottles are popping, dignity's dropping, and the women are fair.

[25:50] Robyn Hurder: Yes, I would have known that.

[25:51] Al Malafronte: Okay, you would have known that?

[25:52] Robyn Hurder: Yeah.

[25:52] Al Malafronte: Wait, that but that's when, but what did oh, yes. If she's like, I was asking like what specifically was popping that.

[26:00] Robyn Hurder: Oh man, I would have been like, oh, that's I've gotta be there, I've gotta be there, I've gotta be there.

[26:04] Robyn Hurder: I wasn't exactly like performing it, you know, in the tone of the song. Popping and dignity's dropping it. Wow, I haven't actually sang that in you know eight years. We might have to give you bonus points after that performance, but let's see how you do with the rest of these.

[26:19] Al Malafronte: Okay.

[26:20] Robyn Hurder: Oh, okay.

[26:21] Al Malafronte: Which of the following baseball players did not play for the New York Yankees? Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Araldus Chapman, or David Wright.

[26:33] Robyn Hurder: Who did not play for the Yankees?

[26:37] Al Malafronte: I'm gonna guess.

[26:37] Robyn Hurder: Well, I know that Babe Ruth, he's in. Mickey Mantle's in. Did David Wright?

[26:44] Al Malafronte: David Wright.

[26:48] Robyn Hurder: David Wright is right. All right. It was a guess, but it was like my gut instinct.

[26:52] Al Malafronte: Yes. How late did Sandy stay out till during summer nights with Danny Zuko?

[26:59] Robyn Hurder: 10 o'clock.

[27:00] Al Malafronte: That's correct. You win.

[27:01] Robyn Hurder: Congratulations.

[27:03] Al Malafronte: What do I get? Sound the alarms.

[27:04] Robyn Hurder: All right. Now, I figured as much that you might not be a Yankee fan, you know, having grown up, you know, up north. I figured that you have sometimes the rest of it.

[27:16] Al Malafronte: All of Maine would come after me right now.

[27:18] Robyn Hurder: They would come to Broadway directly and try to you know ride at Moulin Rouge right now?

[27:22] Al Malafronte: Yes.

[27:23] Robyn Hurder: Yeah. Yes, with their pitchforks and their torches.

[27:27] Al Malafronte: You're making Maine sound like the setting of like Beauty and the Beast or something.

[27:31] Robyn Hurder: Have you seen their fans? Like the Red Sox fans are nuts.

[27:34] Al Malafronte: They are pretty nuts.

[27:35] Robyn Hurder: They're nuts at New England.

[27:37] Al Malafronte: All right. Well, that's why I didn't get you a Johnny Damon shirt. But this is the official baseball meets Broadway crossover shirt.

[27:45] Robyn Hurder: We could discuss sizes later, and I have two options for you. But this is uh, yeah, this is our very own special branded Break A Bat shirt. It's just baseball. And then we have a Raldus Chapman uh on number on front. He plays for the Yankees, but he's kind of like our mascot. You've probably seen that guy who we from all our Instagram posts with the translator.

[28:05] Al Malafronte: Yeah, that's him.

[28:05] Robyn Hurder: So oh my god, thank you.

[28:07] Al Malafronte: You are welcome.

[28:08] Robyn Hurder: I love that it's brought the acting faces are breaking the bat. I don't know if Moulin Rouge is gonna do like a like uh Broadway show league team, but like if you wear that, I bet you're gonna hit a home run every time up.

[28:20] Al Malafronte: Our show is so crazy. I bet our producers were like absolutely not be playing softball on Thursday.

[28:27] Robyn Hurder: Oh, we can't.

[28:28] Al Malafronte: We can't play because it's uh they're on Thursdays.

[28:30] Robyn Hurder: Oh wow. You being the only show. That's probably why they did it. They're like, put that matinee on the Thursday so they can't play softball. We gotta keep our actors in.

[28:38] Al Malafronte: They want to avoid the temptation that God forbid you were to go to be like a ringer at like Beetlejuice or Mean Girls or something.

[28:43] Robyn Hurder: You don't want to play for their team.

[28:44] Al Malafronte: No, no, I also God, I'm I'm terrible at baseball.

[28:49] Robyn Hurder: Have you have you tried?

[28:50] Al Malafronte: I really have tried. I've tried at the batting cages. I tried to play on Nice Work, the bat the softball league. Because my husband, he you know, he's very um ad he's good at sports. Like he grew up doing sports uh all kinds rugby, soccer, he knows how to hit a he didn't really play baseball, but he knows how to hit a ball.

[29:10] Robyn Hurder: I do not I know how to kick a ball. I mean, I can really I have strong legs and I can kick, but man, I something about that that hand-eye coordination with that ball coming at me. There's a lot of strikes, a lot of fouls.

[29:23] Al Malafronte: Well, I think that this could change your luck, you know.

[29:26] Robyn Hurder: This shirt, I hope it does.

[29:28] Al Malafronte: I hope so. Either way, you're not playing this season anyway.

[29:31] Robyn Hurder: So you know what? Keep it in the, you know, you could I actually kind of hope you wear the shirt.

[29:35] Al Malafronte: So that's what I was gonna say, keep it in the dresser for when you do play with it.

[29:38] Robyn Hurder: I I we have lift call like four times a week, which is basically because there's so many lifts in Moulin Rouge. We um have to practice them just to make sure everything's still, you know, because we're being tossed around and lifted up in the air. And I always um, you know, wear a long sleeve shirt because it's uh freezing in the theater, and this is gonna be I'm gonna wear it today because I have live call today.

[29:58] Al Malafronte: Let's go, Robin.

[29:59] Robyn Hurder: All right. I'm gonna slept out on Instagram.

[30:01] Al Malafronte: I can't ask for a better endorsement than Robyn Hurder, seriously.

[30:06] Robyn Hurder: This is awesome. Yeah, wait for it.

[30:08] Al Malafronte: I can't wait. What are you thinking about my insta story?

[30:10] Robyn Hurder: Oh, let's go. Now, I think in both baseball and Broadway, one thing that's really paramount to any successful performer is their pride and being true to themselves and being true to their heart. That's really what part of what makes them so successful. Take the folks at home, you know, through your mindset at the time when you know Greece had ended, and you really be started to become selective about the roles you were taking and you know, maybe even starting to question, you know, whether or not you wanted to continue doing this. Tell us tell us a little bit about where your head was at.

[30:48] Robyn Hurder: Well, it it's kind of a long journey. After after Greece, I left Greece to do um Cassie on the national tour of A Chorus Line. Um my husband was on it as well. He had already been out on the tour for six months, and then I joined six months later. Um that was also the big changer where I was just like, oh, well, now I'm I'm playing the lead of the show, not just like a supporting character. This is this is the star of the show, and this is not the typical dumb blonde, you know what I mean? The the the Marty type. And I'm I'm thinking like, okay, this is these are the kinds of roles that I have to do now, the more mature uh roles. And when I got off that tour, I was very confused as to who who I was or what I was going in for for auditions.

Um, and I didn't want to be in the ensemble anymore. I didn't really necessarily want to dance because I was pretty burnt out because Cassie's a huge dance role. And so when I was going in for these auditions, I, you know, there's a thing where they the people behind the table, they can smell your desperation. They can smell it. They they can see your energy. And I went into every audition. I was just getting cut, not a callback, like, you know, thank you very much for coming in. And that was it. And this happened for about two and a half years. I didn't I didn't work at all. And it was because I lost sight. I didn't know what I who I was or what I wanted, or what do I want to be in this business.

And then Nice Work came along. And I do Nice Work and it was really, really great. And it was, but then after a while, I I it was I keep saying the word like burnt out, but I just I just felt like everything was just so not selfish, but just kind of I found myself being a little self-absorbed. And I was like, I was 31, and I'm like, I I think this is what's called my biological clock is ticking. And I think I want to do the most selfless thing I can right now. And I think it's time to have to have a baby. And I thought it was a good age to take a break, not you know, I didn't want to push it so far in, and I always wanted a chance to get back to see if I wanted, but I really needed to test myself to be like, is this really what you want?

Because it doesn't, I wasn't that happy leaving the show. We had a good time, but I just something was switching in me, and I think that was my body calling for you. Like you're meant to be a mother. You've always been maternal, you've always wanted to take care of people, you take care of your friends. And uh I think that's that's what happened. Was it's just it was this way of just being like, take a minute, see if you really, really want to do this. And I had a baby, and I went a little nuts. That's it's way harder than um people think it is. Also, because we have this identity. I'm like, I go out, I party, I I go on stage, I'm the letter, you know, everything's this is what my life is. And then all of a sudden it's ripped away.

And it's not like we can go on a cute three-month maternity leave and then just like go back to work. I mean, I was fat, you know, and when you you do roles like me that, you know, we don't, I don't necessarily wear a lot of clothing with my roles. That seems to be like a thing happening. Um I had you have to look a certain way. And I I just with the hormones and everything, I mean, I didn't go back to work for two years. And then I got the show Kiss Me Kate in DC, and I got to play Lois Lane, which was one of my favorite, favorite roles. And I was like, I I need to do this. This is part, this is part of me. It was my 34th birthday, and I got this this little heart tattoo.

[34:37] Al Malafronte: Oh, wow. Now, what is that uh, what is it that symbolizes?

[34:41] Robyn Hurder: Well, I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't totally sober when I got it. Um, but it was just love because I felt on my birthday, I felt so empowered. I was like, I just had a baby, I lost some weight, and I'm doing my one of my dream roles at an amazing theater, Shakespeare Theater Company, and I'm with my husband, I was playing opposite him. He was playing, I was Lois Lane, he was Bill Calhoun, and I'm like, I did it. Like, I you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, this is this is the the top of of my career. Like, I'm you know what I mean. And I just felt a lot of love on my 34th birthday. I was like, yes, man, hard. Always remember love. Strongest, strongest force.

[35:17] Al Malafronte: That is so badass.

[35:19] Robyn Hurder: Yeah.

[35:19] Al Malafronte: I love it. And you have another one there. Is that from the same birthday?

[35:23] Robyn Hurder: Nope. That's from uh a couple summers ago. Again, not totally sober. I have this habit of just being like, let's go get a tattoo.

[35:34] Al Malafronte: You are the life of the party. Holy crazy.

[35:35] Robyn Hurder: I mean, at 36, I guess I got that. I was like, yep. But this was to remind myself that, you know, your goals are everyone's like, is that for your family? And I'm like, nope, that's for me. To remind myself that don't let anybody dull your sparkle that you are a superstar and you will achieve what you want to achieve. So each of them have their own meaning.

[35:55] Al Malafronte: That's sick. Um, yeah. I mean, I just like threes, but it the meaning is uh literally like I you don't take your eyes off the prize. You want to be a star.

[36:06] Robyn Hurder: And you are a star now in Moulin Rouge.

[36:08] Al Malafronte: Well, I'm I'm trying.

[36:09] Robyn Hurder: Now, did you like that movie a lot?

[36:11] Al Malafronte: Yeah back in the day, was yeah, I was one of the like rabid fans.

[36:15] Robyn Hurder: Rabid rabbit, like foaming at the mouth, sobbing, crying, opening weekend at the theater. I was there.

[36:20] Al Malafronte: Were you showing up there in costume?

[36:22] Robyn Hurder: No, no, no, no. But I mean, it it was one of those things where I watched that movie at least three times a year. Now, it was a long process for that to actually make its way onto Broadway, and you had quite quite the auditioning process process to make it happen.

[36:36] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[36:37] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, it I mean, it's been the 10 years they've been talking about this whole show.

[36:43] Al Malafronte: That's honestly incredible. And you know, once you got the call that it was actually coming to Broadway and you nailed the role of Nini, I think that, you know, you mentioned your 34th birthday earlier, you know, kind of being like that rock star moment. When they take on, you know, an iconic movie in many ways, it's often hit or miss.

[37:00] Robyn Hurder: Absolutely.

[37:00] Al Malafronte: And we've seen we've seen it before. Um, do you feel a responsibility, you know, having been such a fan of that movie, you know, to really to perform well?

[37:08] Robyn Hurder: Yeah. I mean, yes.

[37:11] Al Malafronte: It it's interesting because I don't even compare, I don't even look at them the same way. I think the movie it's is its own thing and the show, it's like apples and oranges to me. Because I think what makes a putting a movie musical as a musical is you can't take the movie, you can't take it from the screen and just slap it on stage. It's not going to work because then you're just doing a blatant comparison. It's like if you play a VHS tape too much, uh, eventually it starts to wear out and it's you can't use it anymore. Yeah, but uh but it's also like those people in the audience are like, okay, you're gonna do exactly what the movie is, the movie was better. Or, you know, so I think that they did an amazing job paying homage to the the moments that everybody wants.

That they'll they give it to you. They give you what you want. They give you the you know, spectacular, spectacular, they give you your come what may, they give you your rock sam, but there's that but they've changed it up enough, so you can't really compare the two, which is good. I think that's why it's successful.

[38:15] Al Malafronte: Now you've been in some hits before. This one's a real powerhouse, however. Uh, have every reason to believe that it very well could win a Tony Award. And I know that as a performer, you're often thinking team first. Um, but from an individual standpoint with individual accolades, a lot of people are talking about you potentially winning a Tony this year. Is that something that crosses your mind right now?

[38:37] Robyn Hurder: I mean, it's yeah, I I'm I'm I'm pretty humble. I I want to do hard work. I think of course we want to root for our show. Um we don't want to just go around and be like, ooh, we we're the hottest ticket in town. Um and the Tonies are very, very far, far away. Um so far away. Personally, I'm not betting on the Michael Jackson show. So yeah, I mean, I it's listen, my ultimate goal, the ultimate, like I talk about climbing a mountain, the summit is the Tony for me, and I want to win it.

[39:13] Robyn Hurder: I'd like to be, I'd like to be nominated, I'd like to win it. Do I think that this is the show that's going to give it to me? Who knows. Am I expecting it? Absolutely not. I still have dreams. When I see that 11:11 on the clock, I will always wish for it. I love that. It's a goal and I can see it and I can feel it, and I can see myself up on stage and what gown I'm wearing, and I see it all, but is it with this one? I don't know. I'm not, I don't do it every night being like, I want to get a Tony nomination. I just want to tell the story properly and give people a good time. That sounds so bad. You know, it's Moulin Rouge and just like give you a good time. What I do, you know? Oh man. Now, I would last thing about Moulin Rouge, you know, you talk about wanting, you know, to earn an award like that.

You do some pretty crazy stuff in the show. What's the most challenging thing that you actually have to do when you're up there performing? Uh well, there's this little number called "Roxanne." Um, that obviously there's a lot of anticipation because that's one of the highlights in the movie. That scene is the best. Um, when I saw it, when I first saw it when I was 19, I was shaking. I was like, I need to be this woman on Broadway. And I'm so proud of myself that I did it. Um, but the way that they've done this "Roxanne," it's very dark. Like the stage is very dark, but there's these huge flashes of white light, and it really adds a lot of elements to the dance. And I just have, I have these four guys, and they are just there's this thing called, we call it matches, where I'm basically doing like a plank and a chest press, and I have the two boys holding my hands, and my toes are on the ground behind me, like I'm in this plank, and they literally, it's like they're plowing a field, but it's my body, and I'm going the opposite way.

So my toes are sliding across, being plowed across the stage, and there's it caused so much, it causes so much friction that it actually gets hot. Like I have to put a cap. I had them to put a cap on my shoe because one day in rehearsal, I was like, feel my toe. Like I had to stop because it was burning. So that's why the move's called matches, and that's probably the most challenging. That whole section where the four guys are literally just flipping me around and I can't really see because it's either pitch black or there's a flash of white light in my eye. So that's the most challenging part of the show. And it comes at the very end of the show for me. So once "Roxanne" is off or done, and I get dragged off by my partner, Ricky Rojas.

Um, I just rip off my choker and I'm like, done. Done. That's like slamming your bat against the rack at the end of the game. It literally is. Just letting it all out. No, it kind of is. It's like that "Roxanne" is like stepping up, stepping up to the plate, and you're just like, just and I always say a prayer. I'm always, I say, keep me safe, make me a star. I always say it. I can't believe it to say that out loud. I never tell anybody that I always say, make me safe, or keep me safe, make me a star. And then it's like the garret flies out, and then the stark light is on my face. And it's kind of like that moment where you're just stepping up to the plate and you're just like, just let me hit a home run.

And then you do when you have a good run at the, you know for one show. And then I'm just like, yes, I did it. You're I just I just ran. What's it called when you run? When you uh round the bases. Around the bases. Yeah. You're a you are a warrior, and as tough as you are. Um, we're gonna take one last short break, and we come back. It is time for fastball derby.

[42:51] Al Malafronte: Oh my stay tuned. So excited. Robyn, you do some incredible things on stage every night. You've had an awesome career, but now it's about to get tough. Okay. It's time for fastball derby. Bottom of the ninth, you're at the plate, trying to bring home the winning run, and Aroldis Chapman's on the mound, throwing 105. I ask you a question, you say the first thing that comes to your head. Do you think you can handle it?

[43:22] Robyn Hurder: I think so. I'm so nervous again. Okay, go.

[43:26] Al Malafronte: All right. Favorite New York City meal.

[43:30] Robyn Hurder: Becco. Sorry. Pasta, the unlimited pastas at Becco restaurant on restaurant row.

[43:37] Al Malafronte: Wow. That took a lot. Are you more of like a red sauce or like a pesto type?

[43:42] Robyn Hurder: I'm an all sauce. I love, I love uh I love a marinara. I love a truffle butter. I love all of it.

[43:51] Al Malafronte: Go-to pre-show ritual.

[43:54] Robyn Hurder: Uh, I put on my pop music and dance around while I brush my teeth.

[43:57] Al Malafronte: By yourself?

[43:58] Robyn Hurder: Yep.

[43:59] Al Malafronte: That'll pump you up.

[44:01] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, I do. Just like blare like pop music and just dance around and brush my teeth.

[44:07] Al Malafronte: Someone who is in the audience that you were most nervous or intimidated to perform in front of.

[44:12] Robyn Hurder: I think I will be most nervous when Caroline O'Connor comes to the show. She hasn't seen it yet.

[44:18] Al Malafronte: Is she scheduled to come soon?

[44:23] Robyn Hurder: No. And I hope people won't tell me that she's in the audience because it will. I don't get starstruck or uh nervous about people because I've been doing the show for so long, but that's the one that I because I have such respect for her that that's the one that's gonna make me nervous. Even though the roles are so different from movie to musical. Um, it's still she's she's the reason, man.

[44:45] Al Malafronte: Biggest pet peeve?

[44:45] Robyn Hurder: Chewing with your mouth open. I yell at my son all the time. Close your mouth. Mouth noises, can't stand them.

[44:55] Al Malafronte: Okay. Most embarrassing on stage moment.

[44:58] Robyn Hurder: Oh gosh. Well, I was in the musical Spamalot as the orange ensemble girl, and there's this moment in Camelot where it's just we have these like stretchy bras, and they have one hook in the center of our chest. And what did I do but cross my arms and I unhooked the bra, and that bra went flying. And I just grabbed it around, crossed my arms, did a Cheney turn, and ran off stage. This I was like, whoa, that 2,000 people just saw that. That was literally, I was like face numb, like that just happened. And then they like bolted me in after that.

[45:44] Al Malafronte: Favorite late night snack.

[45:45] Robyn Hurder: Two show day, you get home, it's after midnight. What's Robyn grabbing before she hits the couch?

[45:49] Oh my gosh, Buffalo chicken wings, and I can put them down.

[45:53] Al Malafronte: So wait, you have access to Buffalo chicken wings at midnight? Do you make them yourself?

[45:55] Robyn Hurder: I make I make them myself. And it's a really good recipe. Like I'm a big cook. Like I love cooking. Um, but I have I'm I'm kind of lying. Like it's not like something that's like on hand usually, but it's like if I want something after the show, it's usually buffalo wings or chicken nachos or hamburger or buffalo chicken tenders. I eat like a piglet.

[46:20] Al Malafronte: I'm glad you didn't say some like vegan.

[46:22] Robyn Hurder: That's like a thing now. One of my best friends did the show, Max Clayton. We had to do this thing, like how well do you know your best friend at a late night show, and they asked each other, what is their pet peeve, and Max wrote down vegans. And I still, I still have the piece of paper that you wrote it on. I just I laughed so hard. It was mouth noises. But um, yeah, I'm definitely I'm just uh I'm a piglet. I love really good bar food.

[46:54] Al Malafronte: Proudest moment of your career.

[46:56] Robyn Hurder: Um I had the opportunity of revisiting Cassie um at uh last year at New York City Center. It was the part of their 75th um anniversary gala chorus line was the show, and they asked me to do Cassie again, and it was the final performance, and I finished the number and the theater stood up. And it still like chokes me up now. Cause I'm like, wow, that's a major, that's like the epitome of a, I don't like to say the word triple threat. A person who can sing, dance, and act and be a female in the business, you can't get above Cassie. She has to do it all. And it's such a challenge to execute it really well in that last performance. And I didn't even realize until afterwards. Tony Asbet came up to me.

He's like, hey, standing oh. And I was like, what? And he goes, I knew that they were clapping. Like I stayed in that position for a really long time. And I just held it because Bayork, you know, who trains me, she said, you stand up when the clapping starts to die down. And I just stayed there. And I didn't realize everybody was standing up. Cause then when you when you get up, you've just danced for 12 minutes and you I can't see anything. I'm literally like just trying, I can't see anything. I'm all blurry, but they were all standing, and that was just such a way to go out, like a role that's like that's the epitome of if you can sing, dance, and act, you can't get higher than that. And I did it in New York City at the right age, and people saw it and they appreciated it. It was pretty amazing.

[48:38] Al Malafronte: That's prime real estate, yeah.

[48:40] Robyn Hurder: It yes, correct. And lastly, best piece of advice anyone ever gave you, and what was it?

[48:47] Robyn Hurder: Uh funny enough, um, it was Kelly O'Hara. I did Nice Work with her. Um, and it's when I was confused and I didn't know I didn't know what to do because I didn't know how I was feeling. And I was talking to her about having a baby, because she was trying for another one. I mean, at when she said this, she was pregnant and she didn't tell anybody. Um, but I was talking to her a lot about it, and she goes, Robyn, there's never gonna be a right time. You're never gonna have enough money, and there's always gonna be a job that you could miss out on. So just do it. And I did it. And it's the best decision I ever made because I have this beautiful baby boy now. And I did it and I came back, and I'm at I'm this is the top. It's not like I've gone backwards in my career. I'm just I I'm gonna get to do Nini and Moulin Rouge on Broadway, and I have this six-year-old child now. It's pretty, it's it's I'm pretty proud of myself, to be honest, because it's hard.

[49:47] Al Malafronte: Yeah. We all know uh, you know, how great of a career you had, and can't thank you enough for coming in to give us more insight about it. It's just been awesome. It's so cool to hear the stories behind the art.

[49:59] Robyn Hurder: Yeah. Thank you for having me. It was awesome.

[50:01] Al Malafronte: Anytime, Robyn. I wish I knew more about baseball.

[50:08] Robyn Hurder: That's all right.

[50:08] Al Malafronte: Yeah, you won fastball derby in like all of five questions. You go four for five like that. That's like you get four hits in a baseball game and within five at bats. That's like you're you're on Sports Center that night.

[50:20] Robyn Hurder: Yeah, all right. I will say that my favorite sport, like I love going to baseball games. Yeah. And whenever we were on tour, that was one thing that we always tried to do. Like go to a baseball game. Go to a baseball game if it was warm. I love like a Broadway takeover on like a Monday night Yankee game next year or something like that. We get like we get, let's do that. Oh my god. Like take over like the whole left field or right field section.

[50:41] Al Malafronte: Oh, that would be so fun.

[50:43] Robyn Hurder: Why don't we put me and you will put that together?

[50:45] Al Malafronte: Yeah, I like it. I think we'll get some pretty good guests if you if you're kind of co-captaining that with me. And I've I think you're gonna I've never seen a Yankees game.

[50:55] Robyn Hurder: No, I know. I know.

[50:59] Al Malafronte: What a note to end on.

[51:01] Robyn Hurder: I'm so sorry.

[51:03] Al Malafronte: That's right. Well, that now you now we have reason to.

[51:06] Robyn Hurder: Now you know that we're breaking stigmas here. We can this is a this can be a moment. We'll we'll just do yeah, we gotta let's we have a few months, but we can we can make storm. Let's do it down.

[51:17] Al Malafronte: Awesome. You've been great, Robyn. Thank you.

[51:18] Robyn Hurder: Thank you so much.

[51:19] Al Malafronte: That'll close out the ball game here on Break A Bat. I'm Al Malafronte signing off from the Broadway Podcast Network Studios. We'll see you next time.

[51:29] Al Malafronte: Thanks for listening to Break a Bat. This is produced by the fine folks at the Broadway Podcast Network. Visit and subscribe at BPN.fm slash break a bat. You can find me online at break underscore a underscore bat underscore podcasts. And you can also find the Broadway Podcast Network on Instagram at Broadway Podcast Network. It's been so great having you here with us today, and we'll see you next time.