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[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. 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 the Broadway Podcast Network Studios with a real exciting first year player on the Great White Way. In addition to making her Broadway debut, in many ways I think she draws a real parallel to a very important facet of baseball. You look back on a lot of the championship Yankee teams. Obviously, you have your Jeters, you have your Bernie's, you have your Paul O'Neills, Tino. Uh but then of course, you know, there was that strong battalion of understudies and ensemble members on the bench who all had their share of big moments when their number was called and they got called into action. Luis Soho, uh Bellinger, Shane Spencer.

Every one of those guys had a really specific skill set that was important to you know when their number was called upon on, and they remain fan favorites to this day. And you know, a lot like those dynasty Yankee casts, Jagged Little Pill has a ton of buzz on Broadway right now. And my guest today is establishing herself as a key member of that ensemble. While it's her first go-around on a Broadway team, she's long been a staple of the New York City music scene. We're happy to have her stepping up to the plate today. Now batting Jane Bruce. What's up, Jane?

[1:30] Jane Bruce: Hey, thank you. So many good like baseball Broadway puns. I'm so impressed.

[1:34] Al Malafronte: You know what? If when you saw the drama masks on top of the baseball bat, like when you walked in, you knew you were in for something like kind of different. I take it.

[1:43] Jane Bruce: Oh yeah.

[1:44] Al Malafronte: Oh yeah. I'm into it.

[1:46] Jane Bruce: That's the only way I can really fathom baseball, probably is if there's drama masks and costumes and theater speak involved.

[1:53] Al Malafronte: I was gonna say, you're like a you're a music chick. You're familiar with like a walk-up song, like when you come up to bat and whatnot.

[1:59] Jane Bruce: A little bit. They play it and you're like doo-doo doo.

[2:01] Al Malafronte: Yeah, what's like what would pump you up like to go up to hit?

[2:06] Jane Bruce: Oh man. I'm like one of those weird indie kids who like I get really fueled by like Elliot Smith or like Joni Mitchell. I'm like, yes, it fuels my soul.

[2:15] Al Malafronte: Like classic rock stuff.

[2:17] Jane Bruce: Yeah, or just the more singer-songwriter, like, you know, in your feelings kind of songs get me jazzed, opposed to like Yeah, so a little less like egotistical than this is why I'm hot, which is what A-rod used for like yeah, a little different from that.

[2:17] Al Malafronte: A little different from that. Now, you from Utah, tell me like what do you do as you know, someone who's trying to consume baseball there? Because there's no team.

[2:39] Jane Bruce: Uh, what do you do?

[2:41] Jane Bruce: Yeah, well, when I was growing up, we had I grew up in Ogden, Utah, and there were the Ogden Raptors, and they had their little tiny stadium, you know, a few blocks away from where I lived, and we'd go every once in a while and watch. And I have fond memories. Mostly of like hot dogs and pretzels and you know.

[3:01] Al Malafronte: You weren't old enough to drink at that point because you left out beer.

[3:03] Jane Bruce: That's also kind of I know. Well, you know, it's hard to drink in Utah. They don't make it easy. And I got out before I really had to deal with it.

[3:10] Al Malafronte: What'd you do after you left Utah? Where'd you go?

[3:12] Jane Bruce: I went to University of Michigan.

[3:14] Al Malafronte: Okay.

[3:14] Jane Bruce: And majored in musical theater. Uh, I watched like maybe one and a half football games in total, if you spread them out by quarters that I watched, you know.

[3:25] Al Malafronte: You did the four-year program, correct?

[3:27] Jane Bruce: Yeah, yeah.

[3:28] Al Malafronte: Listen, I got in there to those to those games when I could, but mostly it was, I think about the before the game sort of activities.

[3:36] Jane Bruce: Oh, okay.

[3:38] Al Malafronte: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have they serve hot dogs at those, so I know I know what you're getting at.

[3:41] Jane Bruce: They do.

[3:42] Jane Bruce: Yeah. And uh yeah, I went to school for musical theater, and then I moved here uh to the city six and a half years ago or so.

[3:50] Al Malafronte: Were you a musician first, or you consider yourself an actress first? Like what was it like growing up in the in the Bruce household?

[3:56] Jane Bruce: Oh man, I I the first show I did was in fifth grade, our our elementary school wrote an opera with our choir teacher, and we took this like Russian folk tale storybook and worked with our choir teacher to quote unquote write songs, which I'm sure she mostly wrote, and we just gave ideas out, and I desperately wanted to be the lead, and the lead was a boy character, and I was told that we had to let the boys play the boy roles, and so I played like the river princess, and I loved it. But afterwards I called every you know community theater in the area, which was like three, and I said, Hi, are you are you having any auditions coming up for any shows? And also, do you cast according to gender?

Because I was I was like, Well, I feel like the best person should get the lead, and I should have gotten the lead. So um I had a lot of Hutzma uh that age for sure, and um yeah, started doing all the shows and was kind of like the probably way too enthusiastic theater kid in my in my hometown and went to a really awesome summer camp and and uh where I learned about the different college programs that were good and auditioned for Michigan, and I'm still amazed to this day that I got to go there and had an amazing experience.

[5:11] Al Malafronte: Your parents were big on the arts, they were very supportive, yeah.

[5:14] Jane Bruce: Yeah, they they grew up in uh Iowa, Nebraska, and just kind of ended up in Utah. And and Utah is beautiful, don't get me wrong. I I really loved growing up there, but they've been so supportive and always on board for my sister and I kind of following our dreams and passions and and regardless of where they take us, you know.

[5:32] Al Malafronte: And what did you come to New York straight from you, Mish?

[5:35] Jane Bruce: I did. I did.

[5:37] Al Malafronte: And what what was the original intention there? Just to get right onto Broadway. Because obviously you've taken kind of an unconventional path there. And it's obviously, you know, probably a little bit different than you envisioned, but what's it been like? Like what tell me about those early days.

[5:48] Jane Bruce: Um, well, I I also started playing guitar and writing music when I was in high school. And when I was in college, that was something that I kept cultivating. And um coming to the city, I, you know, I was so I feel like one of my best qualities is my optimism, and and sometimes it's serves me, and sometimes it doesn't, you know. And I I was so naive and so, you know, hopefully and I was like, oh, but I I love the work and I I'm a good person, I have integrity, you know, I have talent. Every everyone my whole life told me that I was talented, so I'm gonna be great. It's gonna be so easy. And I think when I moved to the city, I you know, I things don't always pan out the exactly the way that you think they're going to.

And I think that was absolutely a lesson that I had to learn as a human being and as an artist, and trusting that every experience that I had gave me something creatively for me to learn from and grow from, and not base my worth off of you know the credits I had or or how many Broadway Broadway shows I done or fancy auditions I'd had. You know, you you wouldn't when life takes a turn in that way, you're forced to reflect on okay, well, I have integrity and I'm kind to my friends and I have a great relationship with my family, and I love what I do, and I write songs about how I'm feeling that touch people, and you know, I'm I'm glad that I hung in there.

[7:10] Al Malafronte: I could tell that you're wired as a very positive person. And I feel like when you deal with adversity like that at such a young age for the first time, I think it's almost becomes essential to survive it. I mean, think about the disadvantage someone has, you know, who isn't wired that way, who maybe is too competitive, someone who puts too much pressure on themselves.

[7:28] Jane Bruce: Sure.

[7:29] Jane Bruce: I'm sure that really helped you.

[7:30] Jane Bruce: I mean, I think that was something I learned in college too. You know, I was I was definitely the big fish in the small pond in Utah. And going to Michigan, even it was like I felt so relieved to be among all these people that wanted it the same way I did, and that I had access to the training I did. And I'm so grateful that for me, school was something that I really loved. I loved being a school. I loved doing the work. I loved like getting in there, I loved getting notes, I loved being worked with, you know. It wasn't about like, oh, I got into this amazing program, so my life is made, you know what I mean? I and I I'm grateful that I think those lessons have carried through. And it's not easy to be positive. And and also I'm still, even though it hasn't been, it's not been a quick shot to Broadway, but even then, you know, I'm still incredibly privileged and very, very lucky and try to remember all of that at all times.

[8:21] Al Malafronte: How'd you immerse yourself into the New York City music scene the way you did?

[8:25] Jane Bruce: I got really lucky uh when I was at Michigan, Nick Blemeyer, who is a Michigan graduate and also is an actor slash composer, slash, you know, indie folks singer, songwriter, came and did uh little workshop and worked with a handful of us that were uh writing music. And when I moved to the city, he uh offered to share a bill with me at Rockwood. And so we split a set and I invited my friends, and then I got in with the people at Rockwood. And so then, you know, when I had some new material, I'd reach out and play a show at stage one, you know, where the windows face um the street, and you see all the people walking by. And um, yeah, I just kind of kept saying yes to gigs when they'd come up. And I met um this amazing collaborator who's now also my boyfriend, Elliot Heifetz, uh, a couple years ago playing music.

We we went to like a writer's group together, which was another amazing thing that I kind of happened upon my first summer in the city. I ran into a guy I went to theater camp with, and he was like, Oh, I I work for Andrew Lippa for this writing group, you know, you write music, right? You should come. And so I went to that. I met all these amazing composers, but also singer-songwriters, and that was a great networking opportunity. And and I met Elia there, and he reached out and was like, I'm starting to kind of build my folk career, and I know you're building yours. Do you want to kind of team up and play shows together? And I also write musicals, we can kind of work on that together. Do you want to just, you know, combine forces?

Uh, and I'm so glad. And and after about a year of doing that, I I sang on his album that he recorded last fall, and then he produced my album that I recorded last fall, and then we decided that maybe we were also in love, and so that's been great, and that's I'm so grateful to him. And he's deeply immersed in the music scene and has taught me so much. And so, yeah, just the music, the music career part of my life is still blossoming and growing, and I'm still trying to, you know, with theater, you get such a kind of rule book in college of this is how auditions work and this is what your resume looks like. I think the music scene is a little bit more ambiguous, so I'm still trying to figure it out, find my place.

[10:33] Al Malafronte: You mentioned that you have your 29th birthday coming up. You and I are around the same age. When we were growing up, you didn't have all these different mediums that you did, especially with like the social media and whatnot, and yeah, YouTube and everything like that. You could really put yourself out there a lot more, which it it sounds like you certainly did, especially, you know, kind of making yourself part of the fabric of you know the New York City music scene. Now, one thing that I was gonna ask you is why you're doing all of this, were you still focused in the back of your mind? Hey, I still want to make it on Broadway, I'm still gonna audition.

[11:01] Jane Bruce: Oh, definitely. Uh, it's funny, actually, I I run into a lot of friends from college who were like, Oh, so you're doing theater again. And I'm like, I was always doing theater, actually. I just didn't maybe land a super huge job, but I was still going to all the auditions I could get into, and you know, very grateful for my agent at the time. And you know, it's it's hard. I think everything works out how it's meant to, and and I'm grateful now that I'm in a show that's so badass and rock and roll that that is my identity that people are like, oh Jane, who's such a singer songwriter in the Alanis Morissette show? That makes a lot of sense. I'm like, cool, that's that's cool. I'll take it.

[11:39] Al Malafronte: Did they come to you about auditioning, or did you get discovered on stage while you were doing your music?

[11:44] Jane Bruce: Um, I I actually was in a voice lesson. Um, my voice teacher uh is a really awesome guy that I started going to a couple years ago and was kind of I had gone in for the Bright Star musical, which is all like folk music for the tour, and I was like, oh my god, this feels like it's my job. And I just narrowly didn't get it and you know got the great feedback and the we loved you, but I was like, man, I just it's so hard. I feel like there's not a ton right now that I feel like I'm 100% right for, and I'm not quite getting in the room, and I don't know why. And and uh he really came through and and he kind of put in a good word for me, and uh that's how I got in the room for Jagged Little Pill, and I'm so grateful.

[12:25] Jane Bruce: Broadway didn't happen as soon as you thought. Uh, however, you did some work with The Other Josh Cohen.

[12:30] Al Malafronte: Tell us a little bit about how that came about.

[12:32] Jane Bruce: I did. I mean, one of the things that I've really cherished about my time in the city is, um, I early on upon moving, I, I, uh, started being an audition reader for Jeff Jocelsen, who's a wonderful casting director. And, and, uh, I was do I was an audition reader for a project that he was casting, I guess, uh, a little over a year ago. And it was this crazy Christmas carol musical, like turned on its head, set in Ohio, very funny. And as the audition reader, I had to play tons of different people. Um, and it was very funny and very quick. And, uh, the writers of that were also one of the writers, Steve Rosing was working on another musical called The Other Josh Cohen that shortly after was looking for a replacement.

And because I'd been an audition reader, I got an appointment for that and had the pleasure of playing 20 characters, uh, mostly Jewish, which is very funny because I am very not Jewish. I am the definition of a shiksa, I think. Uh, I got to be in that show for, uh, about three months, and it was extraordinary, super fun.

[13:39] Al Malafronte: Alan's a big fan of that show.

[13:40] Jane Bruce: Oh, absolutely. I saw it, I saw it a couple times.

[13:43] Al Malafronte: Oh yeah.

[13:43] Jane Bruce: Neil Diamond man. Well, it was interesting to me because the characters you played were all so completely different. It showed a huge range.

[13:51] Jane Bruce: It was really fun. I think, I mean, it's so interesting being an actor. I think, well, really anything you do, you know, people see you as one thing, and they're like, oh, okay, that's what you are, and they put you in a little box. And, um, that was such an extraordinary experience because I got to really just be a comedian, you know, for three months, and that was it. My own, you know, it was a blast, a complete blast.

[14:15] Al Malafronte: And did it help you build confidence along the way?

[14:17] Jane Bruce: Definitely, definitely. I mean, I think when you're doing a comedy, uh, you know, as long as people are laughing and you're having a good time, and your coworkers, your fellow actors are enjoying what you're doing, and you have this rapport of, you know, passing the ball, right?

[14:36] Al Malafronte: That's more basketball, but yeah.

[14:38] Jane Bruce: Sportsy though.

[14:40] Al Malafronte: Here in the ballpark.

[14:41] Jane Bruce: The ballpark. I love it. Um, yeah, it's so satisfying, and it's definitely rejuvenating creatively, I think, to be in something lighthearted and comedic and feel the energy of that. I think I said TV. Did I say TV show before, by the way?

[14:58] Al Malafronte: Okay, I didn't say okay. I've panicked myself. I'm like, oh yeah, but you also did the date. I'm like, okay, I'm sorry. I did have two lines on SVU last fall. That was a big deal.

[15:06] Jane Bruce: That was, and I was like naked and screaming. My boyfriend's parents watched it and loved it. We're good.

[15:14] Al Malafronte: That's when you know you've made it.

[15:20] Jane Bruce: Is that it for the first impression, huh? I think, yeah, that might have been before they'd met me and they watched my two lines and like naked sex scene on Law and Order SVU. And they still like me.

[15:32] Al Malafronte: I dated a girl once whose boyfriend was in, I think it the story goes that the boyfriend was in a two-man play, and the other like he had to sit downstage center in a chair, and this other guy came up and just like stuck his hand down his pants and like was, you know, pleasuring him in front of, you know, and my girlfriend, you know, she went with her parents to see her boyfriend at the time, and that was lots of awkwardly fun.

[16:01] Jane Bruce: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it's a weird thing. Being an actor, you gotta do some funny things.

[16:05] Al Malafronte: I was gonna say, have you ever been asked to do something on stage or screen that like made you uncomfortable?

[16:14] Jane Bruce: Um, you know, I did a show a few years ago, um, that was a show that was very close to my heart, and, and it was there was a scene where it was like a Western sort of saloon thing, and I was wearing this big skirt, and you know, there was a moment where an actor was supposed to sort of tussle my skirt and it over time became he got he was a little bit method, you know, and he was playing kind of an asshole character and the skirt toss became a little bit of a butt grab, became a little bit of a, you know, a more intense thing. And, and it that was a really painful experience. And that was before the Me Too movement and before a lot of those things came out, before Harvey Weinstein and, um, it taught me a lot.

And, and so actually when we started Jagged Little Pill, I, uh, offered to be the equity deputy, which means that if anyone in the company in the ensemble feels that something is happening that is um unethical in terms of the equity guidelines, they can come to me and I can go to equity directly or go to the creative team or stage management. And I felt I felt very strongly about um offering to be in that position so that I could support anyone that would go through anything remotely similar to what I did.

[17:21] Jane Bruce: Um, and I'm happy to say that in Jagged Little Pill, uh, we're the first musical to have an intimacy director who came and worked with us. Um, it's this amazing woman, Claire. It is, it is. And she worked on Slave Play. Which her work in that is extraordinary. And having been in a room with her rehearsing, uh, you know, Jagged Little Pill certainly has some very sensitive, delicate moments. And I, um, one of the scenes that I'm involved in involves a fair amount of kind of groping and touching in a protest setting. Um, and she is extraordinary the way that she works with everyone in the room, that you all agree upon what the boundaries are and what you're comfortable with, and you tap in before you do it, and you tap out when you're done, so that you're able to leave the work at work and that it's not connected to any, you know, that nothing that you're doing is going to bring up trauma for you in a way that you can't put away or that you can't do eight times a week. And, um, so yeah, I'm very I'm it's kind of an obtuse answer to your question, but um, I've never been asked to do anything I was uncomfortable with.

[18:29] Jane Bruce: And I'm grateful that in Jagged Little Pill, all of those delicate moments are handled with extreme care.

[18:35] Al Malafronte: Yeah, you know, you're taking on that leadership, that leadership role. Uh, that's important to any team. Everyone followed the rules, I hope. Like no one's gonna mess with Jane Bruce, right?

[18:45] Jane Bruce: Oh, I don't know. I think that I'm I'm not so much like a intimidating enforcer so much as like a, uh, I, I, I like being a mediator. I, I the Utah in me comes out whenever there's conflict. I'm like, no, no, it's fine. We can all be fine. Like it's okay, it's okay.

[19:03] Al Malafronte: Yeah, much different than the New York mentality. We're a little more like gruff and tough and oh yeah, get pissed off and yell. Like, I just always assume that it's my fault.

[19:12] Jane Bruce: So somehow. We're gonna talk more about Jagged Little Pill right after our break, but before that, it's time for the seventh inning stretch. Stay tuned.

[19:29] Al Malafronte: All right, now, Jane, I feel compelled to tell you like, Jane, I feel like you know, you came all the way here to do this interview. I wanted to give you the opportunity to win a prize.

[19:40] Jane Bruce: I love a prize.

[19:42] Al Malafronte: But you have to earn it, and it's not gonna be easy. There's there's no rules in the seventh inning stretch.

[19:44] Jane Bruce: No rules.

[19:48] Al Malafronte: There's no rules. Basically, you know what? Think of it like this. The game is tied at this point, okay?

[19:54] Jane Bruce: Okay.

[19:54] Al Malafronte: Um, God bless America is out there playing on the field. Uh, you're going into the cage, get a little loose. You want to make sure that you have like a great last at bat.

[20:02] Jane Bruce: Oh, yeah, that cage. Love the cage.

[20:04] Al Malafronte: Yeah. You're like, I gets me all amped up, that cage. Do you bat righty or lefty, by the way?

[20:09] Jane Bruce: Probably you know, who knows? Probably right.

[20:14] Al Malafronte: Wait, have you ever held a baseball bat?

[20:16] Jane Bruce: Well, I'm right-handed.

[20:18] Al Malafronte: Okay, so you probably hit righty.

[20:19] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[20:19] Al Malafronte: Okay, so you're at a disadvantage already because I'm a, I'm a so just so you know, in baseball, if you're a righty facing a righty, you're like at a disadvantage. If you're a lefty facing a lefty, you're at a disadvantage.

[20:28] Jane Bruce: Gotcha.

[20:31] Al Malafronte: Something with the arm angles. This is good to know from we start, you know, Broadway baseball in the spring. That's why I thought maybe you would know what side of the plate you hit from.

[20:40] Jane Bruce: We gotta like last time I played baseball was like T-ball in kindergarten.

[20:45] Al Malafronte: All right, so this will be like a good like spring training for you before, uh, before the Broadway Show League.

[20:51] Jane Bruce: Excellent. I'll take notes.

[20:52] Al Malafronte: All right, so I got four questions for you. Half are baseball, half for Broadway related to Jagged Little Pill. And my producer Alan Seales has offered to be your lifeline for any baseball-related question. Isn't that right, Alan?

[21:04] Alan Seales: Yeah, I sort of get involved in told, but yeah.

[21:07] Al Malafronte: This is excellent. That's great news. It's gonna be good. All right. So you've got one hand in your pocket. Name three different things that the other one is doing.

[21:20] Jane Bruce: Ficking a cigarette.

[21:22] Jane Bruce: That's one. Giving a high five.

[21:25] Al Malafronte: Correct.

[21:25] Jane Bruce: Playing the piano.

[21:29] Al Malafronte: There's two more. If you want to keep going, I like I'm enjoying this right now.

[21:32] Jane Bruce: Um, you know, I'm kind of frantically changing clothes for a lot of that number. So I think that's all I got.

[21:37] Al Malafronte: You got three. All right. You're one for one.

[21:40] Jane Bruce: Excellent.

[21:40] Al Malafronte: You're batting a thousand.

[21:42] Jane Bruce: That sounds good.

[21:43] Al Malafronte: Batting a thousand. That sounds that's high. It's kind of perfect, and it doesn't really happen for much more than like two at batches.

[21:49] Jane Bruce: Stop. Perfect.

[21:49] Al Malafronte: We've just met.

[21:54] Jane Bruce: Also, that's another Jagged Little Pill song.

[21:56] Al Malafronte: But I'm shh.

[21:57] Jane Bruce: Oh, okay. I'm going to see the show in a few weeks, so I guess I'll have to find out for myself.

[22:02] Al Malafronte: Which of these all-stars is not currently a member of the New York Yankees? Araldus Chapman, Pete Alonzo, Gleiber Torres, or DJ LeMayu.

[22:16] Jane Bruce: What fun names, first of all. Which one?

[22:18] Jane Bruce: Chapman.

[22:19] Al Malafronte: Do you have to have a cool fancy name to be in baseball?

[22:21] Jane Bruce: I mean, not really. Oh, you know, there's a Jay Bruce in baseball, by the way. Have you heard about this?

[22:25] Jane Bruce: I have heard about that. There's also a woman who's a famous glass blowing artist in Canada named Jane Bruce. And so you're going to get a different website name because she had it. You like loosely heard of it. It's not like a common joke, like, oh, Jay Bruce, Jane Bruce.

[22:40] Al Malafronte: I mean, because you he played for the Mets for a little while, by the way.

[22:42] Jane Bruce: Like that wasn't like a thing that came up a lot in New York.

[22:45] Al Malafronte: Not so much. Until you came here.

[22:49] Jane Bruce: It is. I showed the roster of guests like for our upcoming shows to the Castman brothers, and they're like, like, how the hell did you get Jay Bruce? He's on Seattle now. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Jane Bruce.

[22:56] Al Malafronte: That's so funny.

[22:59] Jane Bruce: I'm honored.

[23:00] Al Malafronte: Yeah, that's me, Jane Bruce.

[23:02] Jane Bruce: They suppose great. I love it. As much as I love your spirit, I'm not going to give you the point unless you try to guess the answer to that question.

[23:10] Jane Bruce: Can I use my lifeline?

[23:11] Al Malafronte: Absolutely.

[23:13] Jane Bruce: What were the what were the question?

[23:16] Al Malafronte: We got a little off base. Which of these all stars is not currently a member of the New York Yankees? Araldus Chapman? Pete Alonzo.

[23:27] Jane Bruce: That one.

[23:28] Al Malafronte: Good call. Wow. Did you know he won the home run derby first met since Daryl Strawberry to win it this summer?

[23:35] Jane Bruce: Sounds great. Yeah.

[23:36] Al Malafronte: He's well, he's not a Yankee. And he's on the Mets.

[23:41] Jane Bruce: The Mets, right? I should have actually given you the option of like whether or not you wanted to use that answer that the Lifeline provided because I wanted to see if you would have taken it, but I could tell you just kind of you don't you don't know.

[23:53] Jane Bruce: Not at all.

[23:56] Al Malafronte: Finish that lyric. Throw it down.

[23:59] Jane Bruce: Uh oh my gosh. Alan, you can only help with the baseball questions.

[24:07] Al Malafronte: Okay.

[24:09] Jane Bruce: Oh my gosh, this is from You Learn. I can hear Catherine Gallagher.

[24:11] Al Malafronte: Singing it.

[24:16] Jane Bruce: And then the this next part is sung by Derek Clennam.

[24:19] Al Malafronte: Oh yeah.

[24:25] Jane Bruce: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, who am I?

[24:34] Al Malafronte: Are you in the show?

[24:35] Jane Bruce: I'm kidding. I want to keep I want to say what a jagged Little Pill, but that's not it. That's swallow it down.

[24:40] Al Malafronte: Wow. All right. I kind of want to give you the prize. So I'm going to give you another option for the for that same song, okay?

[24:48] Jane Bruce: I knew we were fast friends.

[24:49] Al Malafronte: Right?

[24:50] Jane Bruce: Absolutely.

[24:51] Al Malafronte: Hold it up. To the base.

[24:53] Jane Bruce: You wait and see when the small whoa clears.

[25:01] Jane Bruce: I was hoping you would do that.

[25:02] Al Malafronte: That's like one of my favorite lines in the song.

[25:04] Jane Bruce: Oh, yeah.

[25:04] Al Malafronte: Just gotta get this last one right.

[25:06] Jane Bruce: Okay.

[25:06] Al Malafronte: And it's not that hard.

[25:08] Jane Bruce: But it's a baseball thing.

[25:09] Al Malafronte: It is a baseball thing.

[25:10] Jane Bruce: It's gonna be fine.

[25:12] Al Malafronte: Fine, fine, fine. What do you call a performance in a baseball game when a pitcher allows no hits?

[25:21] Jane Bruce: A no hitter.

[25:23] Al Malafronte: That is correct.

[25:24] Jane Bruce: Are you serious?

[25:25] Al Malafronte: That is the correct answer.

[25:26] Jane Bruce: Wow.

[25:26] Al Malafronte: University of Michigan, man. That's called an education.

[25:31] Jane Bruce: You went to like one football game in like four years.

[25:35] Al Malafronte: No, but it was a good school, you know?

[25:37] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[25:37] Al Malafronte: The Harvard of the Midwest, they say.

[25:39] Jane Bruce: It is one of the best musical films.

[25:41] Al Malafronte: My deductive reasoning.

[25:42] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[25:42] Al Malafronte: Got there.

[25:43] Jane Bruce: You did it.

[25:44] Al Malafronte: Well, I'm gonna give you this prize. And this is gonna immerse you into the baseball and Broadway fan base.

[25:50] Jane Bruce: I love the prizes.

[25:51] Al Malafronte: It is the first Break A Bat long sleeve t-shirt. You got the logo on the back.

[25:53] Jane Bruce: Yes.

[25:55] Al Malafronte: And then you have Aroldis Chapman's number on the front. He's kind of like our mascot.

[26:00] Jane Bruce: Aroldis.

[26:01] Al Malafronte: They call him the Cuban Missile.

[26:03] Jane Bruce: Oh.

[26:03] Al Malafronte: He throws like 105 miles an hour.

[26:05] Jane Bruce: That sounds cool.

[26:07] Al Malafronte: Yeah, and he's a big theater fan. I mean, he's kind of involuntarily our mascot.

[26:11] Jane Bruce: I love it.

[26:12] Al Malafronte: Well, thank you. I love a long sleeve tee.

[26:14] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[26:15] Al Malafronte: I love to represent my friends.

[26:17] Jane Bruce: It's a prize, you know. And I love a prize.

[26:19] Al Malafronte: You don't walk out of here empty-handed.

[26:21] Jane Bruce: Oh.

[26:21] Al Malafronte: Wow. So tell us a little bit about what's going on over at Jagged Little Pill. Take me through the whole experience. What's it been like?

[26:27] Jane Bruce: It's been extraordinary. I feel unbelievably grateful to be making my debut in a show that is so topical and important and it asks such bold, emotional, vulnerable questions of anyone who sees it. And I think it's so special because, you know, there are so many artists who you could take their canon of music and say, oh, this could be a musical. But Alanis Morissette's music is so deeply emotional. And there are so many stories in the songs that she's written. And I think that Diablo Cody has, you know, very different from a lot of jukebox musicals, you know, this is an original story created from what was already in Alanis's music. And I think that that's extraordinary. And when you see the show, it feels like every song was written for these characters and written for the moments in the show, and that's so cool.

And the thing Alanis wrote in the liner notes for the album when it comes out that kind of the musical is about, and this moved me profoundly, all about the space between vulnerability and power and exploring that. And that's what the show is all about is, you know, looking in the mirror at yourself and really accepting that no one is perfect and that that's okay, and that the journey to being, you know, a full human being and being able to love yourself and those around you involves hard work. And I think the show has taught me so many lessons. Everyone in the company has challenged me and made me a better person and a better activist and a better artist. And Diane Paulus is completely brilliant.

Tom Kitt's arrangements are extraordinary. Elizabeth Stanley is, I refer to her as my queen of all things. She's like unbelievably graceful. And all I can hope in my career is to be able to do the kind of work that she's doing in the show. And it's a true gift. Very grateful.

[28:32] Al Malafronte: What was it like going on stage at the Broadhurst Theater for the first time?

[28:37] Jane Bruce: Man, wild bananas. We had a lot of fans out of town, and that was also a new experience to be in something where, you know, at the end of the show, there's a line of people who want your autograph and want your picture, and that's also so humbling, you know. And tech is hard. You know, it was my first Broadway tech experience, and we had seven days straight of 12 to 12 rehearsals and a lot of very delicate aspects that had to be worked out and fine-tuned, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into that week. And so that first night, having an audience and hearing them as soon as the lights even came up and the orchestra started, they were just screaming. And that was an incredible feeling to know that all of the hard work we've put in.

And I think everyone in the company, top to bottom, has given so much of themselves and their own stories and their own experiences, their own hearts and souls to the piece that it's extremely gratifying to see how much it means to people.

[29:41] Al Malafronte: Now you were cast to be on the ensemble, but you're also understudying two major roles. I want to just draw a little baseball parallel here for you.

[29:50] Jane Bruce: Please do.

[29:50] Al Malafronte: And I hopefully it'll draw some inspiration for what you know that time when your number's called.

[29:54] Jane Bruce: Oh, yeah.

[29:55] Al Malafronte: All right, 98 World Series. Yankees have one of the best regular seasons of all time. They win 114 games, which was an American League record at the time. All this pressure in the world on them to win the World Series. And you know, they had a super team. I shouldn't even say that. They had a really well-rounded cast. There weren't that many huge names at the time. Derek Jeter obviously ended up becoming huge. Mariano Rivera, he was the closer. Um, but you familiar with Daryl Strawberry by any chance?

[30:25] Jane Bruce: Strawberry? I love strawberries.

[30:28] Al Malafronte: Alan, you know Daryl Strawberry.

[30:29] Jane Bruce: I know that.

[30:30] Al Malafronte: Yeah, for your video game.

[30:31] Jane Bruce: Yes, actually. I had his card when I was like in high school.

[30:36] Al Malafronte: Is that the right time? Like 20 years ago?

[30:39] Jane Bruce: Probably, you know what? Yeah, he was, well, his last season was 1999. So that makes sense.

[30:43] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[30:44] Jane Bruce: It's exactly 20 years ago now.

[30:45] Al Malafronte: There you go. Wow. So Daryl Strawberry was the left fielder for the Yankees. And he got diagnosed with colon cancer, like right before the World Series started. So the Yankees called on Ricky Ledee. And Ricky Ledee was, if he was a rookie, he was making his debut in the major leagues. Um, and I'll never forget, I, and again, I was all of eight years old, but Joe Buck, who was broadcasting the game, you know, kind of said Ricky Ledee, of all people being the one to start game one of the 98 World Series for a team that won 114 games. Um, you know, he was as, what's the expression? Uh, green, well, it's like that expression, like green as a, like when you're like very green, like when you're wrong.

[31:30] Jane Bruce: Green as green is not a pickle.

[31:33] Al Malafronte: Green as a gourd.

[31:34] Jane Bruce: Green is a go. It's something like when you're very, it's green as a gourd, right? Is that it?

[31:37] Al Malafronte: Like, you know, when you're like kind of like a deer in the headlights.

[31:40] Jane Bruce: Let's just use that.

[31:41] Al Malafronte: Yeah, let me get off that color scheme thing. It's fine.

[31:44] Jane Bruce: Green's a great color.

[31:45] Al Malafronte: It is a great color. And it'll do fine. You got the reference?

[31:49] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[31:50] Al Malafronte: You do? And do I Kermit being green?

[31:53] Jane Bruce: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you. I'm with you.

[31:54] Al Malafronte: I'm with you. So anyway, Ricky Ledee. What happens with Ricky Ledee? First World Series at bat. He doubles in two runs to give the Yankees a two-nothing lead. He ends up batting 600 in the World Series, which at the time was the third highest batting average for any Yankee in the World Series behind Babe Ruth.

[32:14] Jane Bruce: Oh yeah.

[32:14] Al Malafronte: You saw the Sandlot, so I hope you're...

[32:14] Jane Bruce: Oh yeah. I know Babe Ruth.

[32:18] Al Malafronte: You know Babe Ruth, so you know he's like the best.

[32:21] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[32:21] Al Malafronte: That is a good one. That means you've really made it, probably, if you get a candy bar named after yourself.

[32:25] Jane Bruce: Yeah, one could only dream.

[32:27] Al Malafronte: They don't do that that much actually in baseball. So you have to be like cream of the crop. But anyway, Ledee was trailing only Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the highest World Series batting average. And you know, a lot of what he talked about as far as his success goes for visualizing himself in that moment. What do you do to visualize yourself in the moment, you know, when your number's called to, you know, take on, you know, not only MJ, but you're also taking on Bella as well. What do you do?

[32:55] Jane Bruce: Um, I think, I mean, I know all of, I have the advantage of having also understudied Bella in the out of town tryout. So I didn't ever go on for Catherine, but I was familiar with the role and already sort of immersed in it, which I'm really grateful for going into this run. And of course, also taking on MJ is a huge undertaking and very daunting. She really carries the show, and her arc is really emotional and devastating in a lot of ways, and also funny, you know, it's not just about being emotional, it's also about really being able to land the comedic moments that Diablo has written into the script. And I think part of it's being prepared, you know. They say that to be a master of anything, it's what, 10,000 hours?

Um, I think a lot of it is trusting that I've put in the work and that I'm ready and also knowing that I can't recreate what Elizabeth or Catherine does. They're both extraordinary artists and women and actors and musicians in their own right, and I have the opportunity and the gift of being able to do my own rendition in those moments, and allowing that and not feeling, not putting the pressure on myself to try and recreate someone else's performance or, you know, I mean, so much of the show everyone is bringing themselves to it in such a deep way that I think in those moments it's trusting the work and trusting bringing my own heart to it.

[34:32] Al Malafronte: Do you take batting practice, putting your own spin on it? Do you, uh, are you sitting in the clubhouse, you know, reading lines? Is, you know, this is the Jane Bruce spin that I want to put on this right now?

[34:44] Jane Bruce: Yeah, and I think it's a balance, right? Because you also can't be so different from, you know, you can't change the rhythm of the show in the sense that it's going to affect any of the actors around you or the pacing of the show. And, um, but yeah, I think it's a delicate balance, but a good one. And it's an exciting one. It feels, you know, I like a challenge, and it certainly is that.

[35:06] Al Malafronte: And this is your, you know, is it everything that you hoped Broadway would be?

[35:10] Jane Bruce: Yeah, I mean, I think any dream that you have, I mean, I have been wanting to be, I mean, that little elementary school musical that we did was my, when I was in fifth grade. So it's been over 20 years that I've been, you know, desperately wanting this. And it's both everything I wanted and also different in a lot of ways. You know, I'm dancing, and which is not necessarily a thing that I would have said was top of my skill set.

[35:35] Al Malafronte: Um, getting better though?

[35:37] Jane Bruce: Yeah. Well, I'm grateful that now I've been doing these particular dance moves now for a couple years, so now I got it. But it's certainly very physically taxing and the ensemble, we're more of a Greek chorus. We're sort of on stage supporting all the leads as they're working through their own issues. Um, and we kind of come on stage and support them in those moments. Uh, so we're in a lot of the show, and I have some really fun features. I play a lot of awful white ladies who don't know any better about what they're saying and how they're behaving, which is funny. And, um, yeah, I mean, it's challenging, which I expected it to be, and it's fulfilling, which I hoped it would be, and I'm so excited.

I'm so grateful. I'm really grateful that, you know, I'm having the experience now, being someone who I feel like I know who I am and I'm a little more grown up, and I think I can recognize things in myself and in the world around me more clearly than you're able to when you moved to the city at 22, and you think you know everything, but actually you really don't. And I'm really exceptionally grateful that I'm having this experience now and excited to see what doors it opens for me in the future.

[36:52] Al Malafronte: Have mom and dad got their tickets yet?

[36:55] Jane Bruce: Oh yeah.

[36:56] Al Malafronte: Oh yeah. Kate and Steve Bruce are gonna be there.

[36:59] Jane Bruce: Can't wait. They're my mom's coming to opening night. And, um, I joke that my boyfriend's probably the only person who might be as enthusiastic as she is about excitement for me in this moment.

[37:14] Jane Bruce: So after the first preview, uh, my boyfriend Elia came and in the morning I woke up to him already awake looking at me, saying, like, my girlfriend is so amazing. She's on Broadway. She's so beautiful and talented. That's like a very behind-the-scenes story, by the way.

[37:32] Jane Bruce: It is very funny.

[37:32] Jane Bruce: Well, and I woke up and I was like, hey, honey, he's like, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. You're just amazing. And I'm like, thank you, but I needed a few more hours of sleep. Then we'll talk again. But thank you. I love you. Now you're on that eight shows a week schedule, a little different, right?

[37:45] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[37:46] Jane Bruce: It's wild. It's definitely an adjustment. You know, I think the only other time I've truly done eight shows a week for a long stretch was at ART for the out-of-town tryout. And no matter how much you tell yourself for years and years that, like, yeah, I can do it. I'm ready. I'm gonna love it. It's hard. It's really hard. I mean, Josh Cohen was also eight shows a week in the city. Um, and that was certainly challenging in its own right as well. That was, you know, 95 minutes of non-stop costume changes, character switching, instrument playing, you know. So I'm I'm so grateful I had that experience to sort of prime me for what this was gonna be.

[38:19] Al Malafronte: It probably makes it even more fun, especially with your musical background. You know, you're singing a masterpiece. It's like one of the signature albums of the 90s.

[38:27] Jane Bruce: Oh yeah. I mean, when we were out of town, I I wrote a whole album, really, in my time in Cambridge and recorded it um last fall, and I'm still kind of working on mixing it and and getting it ready to release very soon. Um, and really being immersed in Alanis' music has had a huge impact on my own writing. And I went to the Johnny Mercer Um Songwriters Project this last summer, which is an amazing week-long program run by Andrew Lippa and Craig Carnelia, and um some other really extraordinary uh teachers, and it was all about diving into your lyrics even more and dying diving into musical structure, and uh I think it challenged me as a songwriter even more, and I I don't think I would have even been like ready for that experience had I not been exposed to all the things that Alanis taught me by being in her show and surrounded by her music every day.

[39:25] Al Malafronte: Tell us what you have coming up on the music front.

[39:28] Jane Bruce: So uh the album I recorded last year, uh, I think those songs are gonna be coming out in the very, very near future. Um I'm also being commissioned by South Coast Repertory to write a musical this year, which is really exciting. And um it's still in flux of exactly what that's gonna be, but um, I think it's gonna be a lot about my own kind of experience as a woman dealing with the really sometimes nasty thoughts you have about your own body, even though you're inside of it, and and kind of trying to dissect where that comes from. Is that come is it nature versus is it nature, nurture, society, you know, uh, and how that relates to you know, sexual trauma and relationships and mother-daughter dynamics and um are you writing from a place of experience?

[40:24] Al Malafronte: Yeah, yeah.

[40:25] Jane Bruce: I I when I was approached by David Ivers, who's the artistic director, who I also met from being an audition reader, actually, so grateful for my audition reading experiences. And he called me up and he was like, Do you want to write a musical? And I said, Well, that's the scariest thing that I can think of. So yeah, sure. Let's go. Love a challenge.

[40:45] Al Malafronte: Oh, yeah.

[40:46] Jane Bruce: Oh, yeah. So, you know, it's still a little up in the air whether or not it'll be maybe like a one-woman show or a song cycle. Um, my main hope is that it can be something that I can also the whatever music I write for it, I would like to be able to record and release as kind of a concept folk album as well. Something that can really live in the singer-songwriter folk indie sphere on its own. You know, that's something that I'm I feel quite strongly about with my music is is not being, you know, a Broadway chick who writes songs but sounds a little bit like a, you know, not quite in like the Disney pop realm, but like can truly, truly live in the indie songwriting sphere as well.

[41:29] Al Malafronte: That's like setting a record in baseball, like, you know, kind of being the the first one to re you know, I can't really think of too many examples in the industry of someone who's really done that.

[41:37] Jane Bruce: So that's I mean, I'm super inspired by Hades Town and what Aeneas Mitchell has done. I think that that's really, really cool. Um and Alanis, too, you know. I mean, she wrote a canon of music that even though the songs were not plot related or storytelling from A to B, they had so much richness and truth in them that musicalizing them uh with scenes in between made a lot of sense.

[42:00] Al Malafronte: Awesome. Well, we look forward to it. And you know, before we wrap our time together, uh, I know you've accomplished a lot on stage over at the Broadhurst Theater and you know, in the studio in your writing endeavors, but now it's about to get really tough because this is fastball derby. If you thought the seventh inning stretch was tough, now it gets real.

[42:15] Jane Bruce: Okay.

[42:20] Al Malafronte: Visualize yourself. Ninth inning, two outs. Now you're down by a run. Basically, we're gonna ask you questions. You gotta say the first thing that comes to your head. You gotta think fast, all right?

[42:28] Jane Bruce: Oh yeah.

[42:29] Al Malafronte: You ready?

[42:29] Jane Bruce: Okay.

[42:30] Al Malafronte: Favorite New York City meal.

[42:34] Jane Bruce: Oh, you know, I I think I spend almost all my money at Blossom Dujour now on 9th Avenue. It's like a vegan spot. They have a great blow with tofu scramble and a chipotle.

[42:45] Al Malafronte: I'm not vegan, but it kind of sounds delicious.

[42:47] Jane Bruce: It is, truly is.

[42:48] Al Malafronte: If you were a baseball player, which position would you be in? Why?

[42:51] Jane Bruce: The person who gives orange slices to the people on the case.

[42:56] Al Malafronte: There's an office episode about that. Did you ever see that episode?

[42:59] Jane Bruce: Yes.

[43:00] Al Malafronte: Of Michael Scott.

[43:02] Jane Bruce: Yeah, I'm that. I'm him.

[43:04] Al Malafronte: You're oh, you're him. That's your role in the game. Great.

[43:06] Jane Bruce: Yes, please. That's like one of the few things that I would like make a mockery of like that question for. It's Michael Scott. I I'm happy to do it there. Great.

[43:15] Al Malafronte: Favorite film?

[43:16] Jane Bruce: Uh you know, I when I was in when I was young, I remember watching I Am Sam. Uh, and just being blown away by like Sean's Sean Penn's performance and the like reimagining of the Beatles music. And I don't know, there's something about that movie when I was young and it felt like the first like artsy movie that I got really like wow, like the power of storytelling and acting and cinematography, music. Wow.

[43:45] Al Malafronte: I don't know. What's the next question?

[43:49] Jane Bruce: Thing you miss most about Utah.

[43:51] Jane Bruce: The mountains.

[43:52] Al Malafronte: Your desert island album.

[43:56] Jane Bruce: Oh, blue, Joni Mitchell.

[43:59] Al Malafronte: Biggest pet peeve.

[44:02] Jane Bruce: When people are rude to other people for no reason. It's kind of like a front for a lot of people, I think.

[44:09] Al Malafronte: Yeah, or like, you know, I feel like it's not hard to. I I had an uncle pass away when I was in college, and at his funeral, uh, his son read a letter he'd written for his dad, and he said, The thing I learned most from you is that life is so much easier when you're just nice to people. So I try to live by that. But it makes me sad inside when other people gotta be mean, why gotta be mean.

[44:31] Jane Bruce: Unfortunately, we live in a world now that I don't know, maybe it is possible. Write some music about it. Maybe you could influence people with this.

[44:39] Al Malafronte: Balance in all things, man. Someone in the audience you were most nervous to perform in front of.

[44:45] Jane Bruce: So I did amateur night at the Apollo when I first moved to the city. Holy cow, that's a big undertaking. I didn't know what I was doing. I went into like an open mic somewhere, and there was a lady there, and she was like, I help organize Apollo, you know, the amateur night, you should do it. I was like, okay, cool. And I think it was my first summer in the city, and I played a song that I'd written, and it was really cool. Like the band um that they had, uh, you know, backed me up and took my demo and like learned all these parts, and it's amazing. But I just didn't understand, and they announced before you go on like where you're from, and everyone was like, so and so from Brooklyn, so and so from Queens.

And it was like Jane Bruce from Ogden, Utah. And I think I was even first. And they have a thing there where if the audience, the audience will boo you if they don't like you. And then like a tap dancer of death comes and tap dances you off the stage. And there were these two ladies in the front who were doing this like hand gesture, and it looked like they were really into it. And then I realized that they were saying, like, get off the stage. Oh my gosh. I almost got killed and but I didn't. I survived. But wow, what a memory. That was terrifying. That was the most scary I've ever been for sure.

[45:54] Al Malafronte: As optimistic as you are, that's like quite a big undertaking, like right upon coming here, I gotta say.

[45:59] Jane Bruce: I think it was probably just naive. I just probably didn't know. I didn't know.

[46:05] Al Malafronte: Proudest moment of your career.

[46:08] Jane Bruce: Oh man. I I mean, I think probably the first preview for Jagged Little Pill, you know, my technical Broadway debut, you know. Uh that was a really proud night, and and the amount of love I received from friends and family and fans and people I hadn't heard from in a long time, people I did community theater with back in Utah who reached out to remind me of what a you know bright-eyed kid I was growing up, and that was really special.

[46:38] Al Malafronte: And lastly, best piece of advice anyone ever gave you.

[46:41] Jane Bruce: I think you have to trust that everything is happening the way that it's meant to, and that even if something feels like it's really shitty, that there's a lesson in it to learn. Um, you know, I I think a lot of times as actors and performers, or really anyone in any realm where you know your success is measured by you know, your output in some way. It it can I think that it's really easy to feel a pressure about needing to be perfect or needing to maintain a certain like sheen about how you do everything. Um I think I think that the true, I think that the best quality a person can have is is a desire to always learn and grow. You know, I think the second that you feel like you've that you're nailing it and that you're fierce, and you know, everyone's lucky to have you in the room, then you're not gonna keep growing. You're gonna stop learning, and then you know, that's a bummer. Learning's fun.

[47:44] Al Malafronte: Pretty appropriate that that's the last song of Jagged Little Pill, too. You live. You learn.

[47:49] Jane Bruce: You're gonna have to brush up on these lyrics.

[47:51] Al Malafronte: I'm a little, I mean, after what we saw in the uh.

[47:54] Jane Bruce: Oh my god.

[47:55] Al Malafronte: Oh my god. I know that's always the moment where I'm backstage, like trying to stretch, you know. It's the last number of the show. I'm trying to work out all my knots before I go do one more boogie before we bow.

[48:05] Al Malafronte: Awesome. Well, listen, Jane, continued success. Thank you for coming on today.

[48:08] Jane Bruce: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

[48:11] Al Malafronte: Uh, any time. And you know, this offseason, if you need a little bit of help, you know, getting ready for Broadway Show League.

[48:18] Jane Bruce: Thank you.

[48:18] Al Malafronte: J just ask Alan.

[48:20] Jane Bruce: Great. My lifeline.

[48:22] Al Malafronte: I can I can help you figure out if you bat left-handed or right-handed.

[48:25] Jane Bruce: That would be good.

[48:26] Al Malafronte: That's a good start.

[48:27] Jane Bruce: Yeah.

[48:27] Al Malafronte: And like appropriate shoe wear.

[48:30] Jane Bruce: That sounds fun.

[48:31] Al Malafronte: Swag is a big part of baseball.

[48:33] Jane Bruce: I love swag.

[48:34] Al Malafronte: Yeah. So that's like that. That's a that's very much a thing.

[48:37] Jane Bruce: So all right, that's still. I figured that my my whatever I do on the team will be probably mostly like a character that appears more so than like a valued player.

[48:46] Al Malafronte: The Michael Scott character just taking the orange.

[48:48] Jane Bruce: Exactly.

[48:49] Al Malafronte: All right. Or like I'll make a giant, I'll make like a giant pill mascot uniform like out of a refrigerator box.

[48:54] Jane Bruce: That sounds like what I want to do.

[48:56] Al Malafronte: Oh, okay. The mascot.

[48:57] Jane Bruce: That's probably Corgatory on everybody.

[48:59] Al Malafronte: Yeah, yeah.

[49:00] Jane Bruce: All the time. Or like one of the catchers way in the outfield doing like cartwheels and picking daisies.

[49:05] Al Malafronte: A catcher way.

[49:06] Jane Bruce: All right, the catcher's but by home plate, by the way. But we'll brush up on this.

[49:10] Al Malafronte: We're gonna brush up on this later.

[49:12] Jane Bruce: Oh, good stuff, Jane.

[49:14] Al Malafronte: This is Al Malafronte signing off for the Broadway Podcast Network.

[49:18] Al Malafronte: And break a bat. We'll see you next time.

[49:24] 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 breakabat. 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.