This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:08] 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.

[0:20] Al Malafronte: We're happy to have you with us. Now let's play ball.

[0:24] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to Break a Bat. I'm your host, Al Malafronte, coming at you for the Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:32] Al Malafronte: Uh today we're joined by an exciting player here on Broadway who, in the span of just six years, has already played for five different teams. Uh, those shows include Bullets Over Broadway, Honeymoon in Vegas, Cats, Holiday Inn, and of course, one other show that is certainly very popular among our fan base.

[0:49] Al Malafronte: Uh, she's proven that throughout her career, she could play a number of different positions for her team. And most recently, uh, she was in the cast of that fan favorite Mean Girls on Broadway, in which she not only originated the role of Taylor Wheedle in the ensemble, but she also pulled triple duty as the understudy for Regina George, Katie Heron, and of course Karen Smith, who she then went on to play in the first national touring production of the show.

[1:13] Al Malafronte: Uh so without further ado, if you'll please turn your attention to home plate. Just beyond the marquee. Now batting. Jonalyn Saxer.

[1:24] Jonalyn Saxer: Hi, thanks for having me.

[1:24] Al Malafronte: It is such a pleasure. And uh let's just cut to the chase here. Does it surprise you at all that all the baseball fans in our audience have taken such a liking to Mean Girls?

[1:35] Jonalyn Saxer: I guess a little bit. Yeah. I mean, I guess we have docks in our show, but it is just about like it's about girls.

[1:49] Al Malafronte: You know what? I think it's the diva aspect because you know, in baseball we have a lot of divas, and uh, you know, none more prominent than Aroldis Chapman's, who's the Yankees all-star closer, and a lot of people have likened him to the Queen B diva of Mean Girls Regina George.

[2:04] Jonalyn Saxer: Oh, I hope he maybe sees that as a compliment.

[2:11] Jonalyn Saxer: I always love it when people are like, I'm the Regina George of my friend group. And I'm like, do you think that's a good thing?

[2:17] Al Malafronte: Well, he's the apex predator of the bullpen.

[2:20] Jonalyn Saxer: True, true, true. You know what it is? It's like he can be cold. He has a real sense of control of his pitches, and he likes to make a grand entrance when he comes in. And you know, he's also been known to wear a pretty mean pink suit.

[2:31] Al Malafronte: There we go. There we go. Yeah, you know, uh he needs one more plastic to follow him around, though. He has a translator named Marlin that seems to be the only guy he really talks to on the team. So I think if we might need one more guy to complete the plastics.

[2:45] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, probably his Karen.

[2:47] Al Malafronte: Oh, yeah, I know. Who would be a Karen? I'm trying to think of someone that funny on the Yankees.

[2:52] Jonalyn Saxer: That would be interesting.

[2:55] Jonalyn Saxer: Or about maybe not funny, but maybe just not always present.

[2:59] Al Malafronte: Yeah, okay. We have a lot of guys like that. We have a lot of guys that come in that aren't always present and like to blow games. So that's uh I think we could probably find someone like that.

[3:10] Al Malafronte: Uh anyway, how you been?

[3:13] Jonalyn Saxer: I've been good, you know, surviving the day to day as much as possible right now.

[3:18] Al Malafronte: Now you're back home in California?

[3:21] Jonalyn Saxer: I am.

[3:21] Jonalyn Saxer: I'm back with my parents.

[3:23] Al Malafronte: Uh me and you both. We're in the same array.

[3:29] Al Malafronte: My apartment is not as nice as you know, the scenic thing that you see behind you right now. What a background.

[3:35] Jonalyn Saxer: I know. I need to like I need to get some uh I need to get some like playbills behind me or something like that.

[3:40] Jonalyn Saxer: Unfortunately, you're almost seeing some.

[3:42] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, mine's a little, mine is a kind of this room is a little bit of a shrine to me. I've got like a dance trophy back there and like um, you know, posters framed and everything.

[3:53] Al Malafronte: So yeah, I see, and I think I see your initials right behind you too. I see your channel.

[3:58] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay, and then like that is a little, it's our opening night gift from Lauren. Uh it's like a paperweight with an opening night ticket in it. And so, and it says like Mean Girls on it and stuff. It's all the stuff that like you get for opening that I'm like, I've I live in a New York apartment and there's nowhere for me to put this. So I send it home to my parents.

[4:17] Al Malafronte: Oh, what a nice souvenir. That's amazing.

[4:20] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah. So like you're like paling around with Lorne Michaels, like, you know, during the course of your time on Broadway, is what it's all me.

[4:27] Jonalyn Saxer: I know. Well, not paling around, but he is our producer, and especially with the original production, he stopped by and he's very caring. Uh, he knows everybody, like, you know, he knows my name, which is like such a small thing, but it really is a big thing.

[4:42] Jonalyn Saxer: Um, and his assistants are super friendly and just so on it. I mean, we always get like a rose for Valentine's Day, all the ladies do from Lorne, which is really sweet.

[4:53] Al Malafronte: Wow, that's amazing. And you know, I mentioned the three characters you covered. And uh, you know, I know you were in the ensemble as well back when you had Sardamine Girls, but you know, in the baseball world, when you can get called into action at so many different types of positions, you know what we call that?

[5:07] Jonalyn Saxer: No, what?

[5:08] Al Malafronte: It's called the utility player.

[5:10] Jonalyn Saxer: Yes, okay, that makes sense. That's a good word for it.

[5:13] Al Malafronte: Yeah. And you know, a lot of the time you have guys that who specialize in just one particular area of the field. You know, some guys will stick to the outfield and uh some middle infield, they'll play second or short only. And you know, some catch and you can stick them at first in a pinch. Uh let's say Katie is center field, Karen's a shortstop, and Regina's the closer. Some very different positions and skill sets.

[5:35] Jonalyn Saxer: Uh, you know, that are Karen's more of like an outfielder, like way out in right field, yeah. She like has to do a thing every once in a while, but most of the time it's just smiling over there.

[5:48] Al Malafronte: Yeah, that's true. What's your favorite one that you got to play?

[5:52] Jonalyn Saxer: I love Karen. I love Karen. Again, I say Karen is the least amount of work with the most reward.

[5:59] Al Malafronte: And why is that?

[6:00] Jonalyn Saxer: Because uh, because Tina's just written it so well. You like Karen really doesn't have to carry the plot line like Katie. Regina has to deal with so many character things and and um being mean but not being too mean, being likable, and all these hard songs. And Karen, like you're there, you say your one line, which is the funniest line of the show, and then you sit back and you know the audience loves you.

[6:25] Jonalyn Saxer: I think Kate Rockwell told me, I think Karen's all of like 15 lines total for the entire show, but it's like the show stopping moments and then all the songs.

[6:33] Al Malafronte: Exactly. And as an understudy, I loved her song because she just stands on center stage and she doesn't move. And you know, Regina has all these lifts, and Katie's like constantly walking around and like Karen, you just have to stand in one place and say the words.

[6:50] Al Malafronte: What was like the one line in sexy that made you laugh the most, or where you had to try to stop yourself from laughing while you were singing it?

[6:57] Jonalyn Saxer: Um I don't I it's it's that's hard because sexy it it I don't know. I never usually have a hard time not laughing at myself as Karen, like in the moment because you're so serious about what you're saying. Um so I've never thought about it that way.

[7:15] Jonalyn Saxer: Every once in a while, um I don't know. I I mean like sexy Rosa Parks is such a nail it nailer. Um it's so good. And one time, like uh our Rosa Parks on tour, her shoe came off during the number, and she all of a sudden wasn't there. And so just middle of the stage, me, I was like, I just decided that the choice that would make the most sense would just be to scream it. And I was just like, sexy Rosa Parks! And I was like, this is that I laughed at myself then.

[7:50] Al Malafronte: Now, obviously, you were in the Broadway uh production of it, and you saw like the cult following that the show developed. Did that carry out onto the road as well?

[7:58] Jonalyn Saxer: Oh, for sure. Um, it's actually really cool to be on tour because fans who have loved the show from the very beginning sometimes have never had the opportunity or the financial opportunity to be able to go to New York to see it. And so then to bring the show to those fans who sometimes are the the most intense fans who've done all of the fan work, uh fan artwork, and they send you letters on Broadway, but they've never been able to see it, and then we get to bring it to them. And I think it means so much more.

[8:30] Al Malafronte: What was the coolest city that you got to uh perform in?

[8:34] Jonalyn Saxer: That's a hard question, because any city I don't say, they're gonna be mad at me.

[8:41] Jonalyn Saxer: It's like when people ask me like the favorite episode of this podcast. I know exactly how you feel.

[8:46] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah. Um, because some it's interesting because some cities were really boring as a city, but the audiences were awesome, and like the dressers were awesome. And like some cities were really exciting cities to be in, but the audiences weren't very great, or the dressers weren't very great, you know, those kinds of different things. Um, but I really loved Boston and Philadelphia.

[9:12] Al Malafronte: Now, when you're out on tour, do you get to go out and explore a lot? Is that like you're usually only there for a short time?

[9:18] Jonalyn Saxer: So I've always kind of wondered what's you know gone on. Let's say if you go to, let's say if you go to a Boston, for example, are you like doing the touristy stuff? Are you catching a Red Sox game? What's going on?

[9:27] Jonalyn Saxer: Well, yeah, some people were able to catch sports games, but you like that phrase sports games. Because is that a good phrase to use? Is that yeah, heck yeah, go with it, go with it.

[9:40] Jonalyn Saxer: Um, but those often happen on weekends. We have to find the Monday night games, and those don't always happen. Um, some people were able to do that. I guess I always say if we're there for a week, I try to have one to two things that I try to do, and that can include both a restaurant and a museum or a zoo. Um, you know, it's there's just the country is filled with incredible museums and incredible history, uh, and very specific to that city as well. Uh, it's really cool to go see that kind of stuff.

[10:11] Jonalyn Saxer: And we went to this place called Bodeborg in Boston, which is the coolest place I've ever been to in my entire life.

[10:17] Al Malafronte: Now, wait, what's Bodeborg?

[10:19] Jonalyn Saxer: It's like a whole building full of like escape rooms, but some of them are like trivia, and some of them are literally like boot camp, like you're crawling, you're like hanging from um monkey bars and trying to press buttons and figure out riddles. It's it's so cool.

[10:40] Al Malafronte: Wow, yeah, you gotta be on your game for something like that.

[10:43] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah.

[10:46] Al Malafronte: Now, over the winter, as you know, I had a fellow Mean Girls alumni come visit me and Catsman in the studio, Kate Rockwell, and she helped pioneer what we call the uh seventh inning stretch here at Break a Bat. And uh first off, you know, are you familiar with the seventh inning stretch at a baseball game?

[11:01] Jonalyn Saxer: Yes.

[11:02] Al Malafronte: And um, I mean, do you feel like singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game tonight, or would you rather play a trivia game?

[11:08] Jonalyn Saxer: Um I can sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

[11:12] Jonalyn Saxer: You know what I can do is I can sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game One Note Off.

[11:16] Al Malafronte: I thought you were gonna say I could sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game backwards, and then I really would have been impressed, but no.

[11:22] Jonalyn Saxer: Have you ever heard that before? Take me out to the ball game, like one one note off.

[11:26] Al Malafronte: No, but let me hear it.

[11:28] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay, okay. Now I said I have to do it well. I used to practice this all the time.

[11:33] Al Malafronte: Okay.

[11:34] Jonalyn Saxer: Me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd. Bye. Me, some peanut nuts and cracker, jacks I don't care if I never come back forwards, root root. Root for the home team. If we don't win, it's a shame for it's one, two, three, strike zero out at the old ball game.

[11:52] Al Malafronte: Take. Wait, do they teach you this at Syracuse?

[11:55] Jonalyn Saxer: This is They taught me that at improv camp.

[11:59] Al Malafronte: Damn, that's incredible. I've never heard that before. And I'm as big a baseball and theater fan as they come. I didn't know that that was like a training exercise.

[12:09] Al Malafronte: It's one of those special skills. It's like kind of weird, but also I think like I the other day, like the other week, I was thinking about it, and I realized I haven't actually sung Take Me Out to the Ball Game normally in I don't know how long, because I was so obsessed with singing it that way.

[12:30] Jonalyn Saxer: Wow.

[12:31] Al Malafronte: Oh yeah, you're scarred for life now. There's no going back. Well, I almost feel like canceling the trivia segment here, but nonetheless, I would love for you, you know, to have the opportunity to join the winner's circle. So I should ask you, have you listened to any prior episodes of Break a Bat?

[12:45] Jonalyn Saxer: I haven't.

[12:47] Al Malafronte: Wow, you really came in blind, didn't you?

[12:50] Jonalyn Saxer: I did. I don't know why I did that.

[12:52] Al Malafronte: What is it? You saw our guest roster and you're just like, damn, yeah, if they did it, I I can hold my own. Is that kind of like that?

[12:58] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, I don't think it's like I just like love podcasts. And like, I just think any type, any kind is awesome and interesting.

[13:08] Al Malafronte: Okay. Well, that works for us. Basically, what the winner circle is, it's a uh pretty exclusive group here on Break of Bat. It's for folks who uh do an outstanding job of answering trivia questions pertaining to both baseball and Broadway. You know, Kate Rockwell's an honorary member, uh, Johnny Damon of the Yankees, Abby Mueller, a few others. And uh, in this part of the show, what I was gonna do is I'd ask you a few trivia questions, half baseball, half Broadway. And if you get enough of them right, you uh walk away with a little prize of sorts and you get to call yourself a winner. How does that sound?

[13:39] Jonalyn Saxer: That sounds great. I hope I win.

[13:44] Al Malafronte: Well, you know what? Just to keep it fair, I figure all the Broadway ones, you know, kind of center around the mean girls universe in some way. I think that kind of seems appropriate.

[13:52] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay, yeah.

[13:54] Al Malafronte: All right. Well, batter up. Let's see what we can do here. Um, all right, how about this one? Let's lead you off with a mean girls question. Uh, folks on the show know I'm a big Rachel McAdams guy, and she portrayed Regina George in the Mean Girls film. And she has also appeared in a number of films with some Broadway alum. Uh, which of the following Broadway alums has she yet to appear in a film with? Is it A, Bradley Cooper? B, Anna Camp. C, Sarah Jessica Parker, or D, Mark Ruffalo.

[14:30] Jonalyn Saxer: You just like saw my face just get like more and more helpless.

[14:36] Al Malafronte: You're a bright girl. I know you got that Syracuse degree.

[14:46] Jonalyn Saxer: I'm gonna say Bradley Cooper.

[14:54] Al Malafronte: No. No, no, that is not the correct answer. She did appear with Bradley Cooper in Wedding Crashers. Come on, you talk about like our generation here. I mean, like 04, 05, Mean Girls, Wedding Crashers.

[15:06] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, but I watched Mean Girls, and then I also just watched Tony performances on YouTube and not movies.

[15:12] Al Malafronte: I thought, uh Jonathan, you have such a great sense of humor. I'm surprised you haven't seen Wedding Crashers.

[15:18] Jonalyn Saxer: I know, I'm terrible. I also I just watched Disney Channel for far too long in my life until I was far too old.

[15:25] Al Malafronte: Oh, well, the answer was Anna Camp, but uh That was my second choice. If it makes you feel any better, I just got a Disney Plus subscription, and that was not just to watch Hamilton. So we're kind of are you right there with me?

[15:39] Jonalyn Saxer: Did you subscribe as well?

[15:41] Al Malafronte: No, I've been a subscriber for Disney Plus for a while now.

[15:47] Jonalyn Saxer: Oh my goodness. All right. Let's let's see who you do in the baseball. And I I bet you could get this one because I know you're a California girl. She'll be right up your alley, all right. Now, uh, the unofficial mascot of this show of Raldo Chapman, closed out the 2016 National League Championship Series against a well-known California baseball team and route to the Chicago Cubs' first world championship in 108 years. Was that well-known California baseball team A, the San Diego Padres, B, the Oakland A's, C, the Los Angeles Dodgers, or D, the San Francisco Giants.

[16:25] Jonalyn Saxer: The Dodgers.

[16:27] Al Malafronte: Ding ding ding. You got it. Wow. All right, you're on the board. The Dodgers is the correct answer. Solid. Yeah, Chapman was pretty heroic in that series.

[16:39] Al Malafronte: All right. Let's uh let's go back to Mean Girls for a moment. Um who is Principal Duvall's nephew that gets mad when Principal Duvall calls him Anthony?

[16:50] Jonalyn Saxer: Anthony.

[16:51] Al Malafronte: Wow, you're two for three. That's a 667 batting average. You're getting very close to the uh to the winner's circle here. Very good. If this was wait, wait, don't tell me, I'd be in the winner's circle.

[17:04] Jonalyn Saxer: All right there, Bradley Cooper. I've never seen wedding crashers.

[17:11] Al Malafronte: All right, let's uh let's go back to baseball. And just to give you a clue, we may have discussed this earlier. Who is the Yankees closer who has already made a remarkable six all-star games in just 10 major league seasons? And also close up at you know 2016 National League Championship Series for the Cubs.

[17:31] Jonalyn Saxer: I think his name started with an A.

[17:34] Al Malafronte: Well, that is his first name. We'll accept uh we'll accept either his first name, his last name, both. You know, he's kind of like the unofficial mascot of this show.

[17:43] Jonalyn Saxer: So he said like it's like Alfonso.

[17:46] Al Malafronte: No. Keep going. Just keep brainstorm there.

[17:50] Jonalyn Saxer: Um it started with an A.

[17:54] Al Malafronte: It did start with an A, yes.

[17:59] Jonalyn Saxer: It's not Anthony.

[18:00] Al Malafronte: It was something funkier than that. Something funkier than that. Again, you know. We're like so hopeful for this trivia. I'm really I'm like really bad at trivia. Like I have seen Parks and Rec like three, four or five times totally all recently failed at Parks and Wreck trivia. So I can't.

[18:23] Jonalyn Saxer: Um Alfonso? Did I say that already?

[18:25] Al Malafronte: Yeah, it's not Alfonso.

[18:31] Jonalyn Saxer: He is uh he's Cuban. Um he throws 105 miles an hour. Are these talking at all now?

[18:40] Al Malafronte: Okay. I was like, okay, Cuban batting, no.

[18:47] Jonalyn Saxer: He's a pitcher, yes. Okay. I'll give you one last guess and then I'll, you know, I'll tell you who it is. And you know, again, I'd like to obviously our show is not that big because I thought that he made a big impact on the mean girls community, but apparently I'm dead wrong.

[19:05] Al Malafronte: What is Kate tell? K has a husband. I have a dog. I have no one calling things at all. Kate is actually from Cincinnati where he used to pitch. Not that that is gonna help you as a clue at all, but no.

[19:19] Jonalyn Saxer: Um uh it's not Alfonso. I'm really stuck on that one. Um is that close at all? Is that an F in it?

[19:32] Al Malafronte: I mean the letter A is his first uh is you know, the first letter of his first name.

[19:37] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, I didn't Alfred No, not Alfredo.

[19:46] Al Malafronte: No, it's not Alfredo. I thought you were gonna get that to me.

[19:52] Jonalyn Saxer: I really I do have to say I'm so bad at trivia.

[19:57] Al Malafronte: Oh saying take me out to the ball game. Well, I I you did a great job at singing that that song. Um you know what you're two for four right now. You did not, it's not Alfonso or Alfredo. The answer is Aroldis Chapman's.

[20:13] Jonalyn Saxer: Mm-hmm.

[20:14] Al Malafronte: It's pretty important. I've never gotten that. Never, even though I mentioned him probably like multiple times throughout the show.

[20:20] Jonalyn Saxer: Yes, Aroldis Chapman's, also known as the Apex Predator.

[20:23] Al Malafronte: Well, could you say it really fast?

[20:26] Jonalyn Saxer: Want me to say it really slow?

[20:27] Al Malafronte: Aroldis Chapman's.

[20:29] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, that I would have remembered.

[20:32] Al Malafronte: Well, good note to Al emphasize uh saying Aroldis Chapman's more than just spurring it out. Okay. I was told I did not have to do any baseball preparation before this. I was really banking on that.

[20:46] Jonalyn Saxer: All right, all right. You know what? I'll give you one other baseball question. And uh if you get this right, and I'm just gonna give you a heads up. I wore this jersey tonight, and as you can see here, there's a little patch uh for the Yankees 100th anniversary in 2003. Uh so I dug this one up from you know the stash just because I knew you were coming on. So uh let's see if you could get this last trivia question. How do you pronounce this name?

[21:17] Jonalyn Saxer: Jeter.

[21:18] Al Malafronte: That is correct. Ding ding ding. Welcome to the winner's circle. I understand. I, you know, I had given I had been told, you know, prior to this interview that you know you had some uh you had some history of not you know knowing how to say that name, you know, referring to Derek Jeter, the Yankee captain.

[21:36] Jonalyn Saxer: So uh the worst is like I really don't I'm not good with names in general, like in life, celebrities, movies, anything, obviously baseball. And we were in an acting class and there was a scene, and they said Derek Jeter in it, and my friend goes up and she does the scene and she says Derek Jeter, and I'm reading the scene, and my friend goes up and she does the scene and she says Derek Jeter, and I'm reading, I'm like, I don't think that's how you pronounce that. And so even though she had pronounced it correctly, and nobody had said anything, I then got off got up after her and was like, I'm gonna show that I know how to pronounce this name. Like she read it wrong. And I said Derek Jeder, and like you could feel everyone be like, oh.

[22:28] Al Malafronte: What's this acting class in New York? Because I'm surprised they weren't throwing tomatoes at you.

[22:32] Jonalyn Saxer: Yes, yes.

[22:35] Al Malafronte: Oh my goodness. Well, listen, Jonalyn, uh, it wasn't an easy road to get there, but welcome to the winner's circle. I am going to give you this uh Chapman on Broadway long sleeve t shirt here, okay. And it has the uh break of that logo.

[22:50] Jonalyn Saxer: That's so cool. This is like this is a real trophy.

[22:54] Al Malafronte: It's a real Broadway memory piece of Broadway memorabilia.

[22:58] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, so yeah. You guys are a very niche Broadway thing, it's very special. Were you surprised not only when you saw that it existed and then you know when we invited you on the show?

[23:11] Jonalyn Saxer: A little bit. I was like, I don't know see how these will connect, but your intro was really cute. I like that. You know, home base, player for teams.

[23:25] Al Malafronte: You know, and you were an athlete yourself. I would have thought that you've seen some parallels into you know the things that you do and the things that they do out in the field.

[23:34] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah. I think I see yeah, I mean, I played soccer a little bit. I mean, my niece is really into softball, and so I feel like I try to see the parallels. Um, I'm really good at cheering for her.

[23:49] Al Malafronte: Okay. If we don't have cheerleaders in baseball, actually, we have that in football and yeah, but I'm in the stands and I'm her aunt, and she's really good. So I cheer. She's cheery captain, and I'm in the K-Swift.

[24:07] Jonalyn Saxer: See, now I should have I should have done the like Taylor Swift trivia. You might have done a little bit of a lot of things.

[24:12] Al Malafronte: I'm really good at that, yeah. Uh now let me ask you this.

[24:15] Jonalyn Saxer: Like, uh, you know, I always tell people that I think that Broadway performers are like the ultimate athletes. You ever have like any crazy like battle wounds like from the stuff that you've had to do on stage?

[24:26] Al Malafronte: Oh, of course.

[24:28] Jonalyn Saxer: I mean, bruises everywhere. I always kind of joke that every show gives you an injury that you can walk away with forever, kind of being an issue. Um, and uh, yeah, there's definitely like there's those moments where you're like, especially as a swing, you're like, why am I bruised here? And then you realize that it's because you're doing that person's track and they've just found a way to not bruise themselves by like hopping up onto a table or something. Um definitely, I mean, I bleed. Oh, one time, here's the good one. You started saying bleed. I didn't know where that was gonna go. I've definitely made myself bleed. I there was one time in Holiday Inn where I went to go like do a little pose and my hand went by my face, and I just like fully cut my lip open.

And I was like, that feels weird. Like, I hope I'm not bleeding. Finish the number. I go off stage, I was like, oh, I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding from this. One time when I was in Honeymoon in Vegas with Tony Danza, I like walked out on stage as this like cocktail waitress, and I'm like, you know, Mr. Corman, your cranberry juice. It's like this little ditzy part, and I look over and Tony Danza is bleeding from his forehead. And I just kind of like looked at him and I was like, okay. And I like said my lines and I went off stage and I immediately went to stage man and I was like, do we know that Tony's bleeding? And they're like, yeah, he like fell and cut his head open, but he just had us like put some super glue on it.

He said that would be fine. Super glue. No wonder his television show got canceled. Um, but yeah, definitely. I mean, we're getting we get injured all the time. If you want to talk about injuries, you know, talk to anybody who's been in Cats.

[26:13] Al Malafronte: Did you see the Cats movie, by the way?

[26:21] Jonalyn Saxer: Unfortunately, yes. Now I know you're a T Swift fan, but give me your honest thoughts.

[26:27] Jonalyn Saxer: This is a complicated question for me because I, in general, do not like the musical Cats. Yeah, you, you know, you starred in it. It's really fun to be in. Do I think that it makes sense? No. Do I often question who is sitting there at the tech tables before its Broadway premiere going, this, yes, this. And maybe how many drugs they were on. Um, Lloyd Webber included. Probably. But I will say it's truly a feat to see, like, especially live. I think what brings a lot of the love of Cats is that live aspect as they come out into the audience. These dancers are on their top of their fields. They're doing crazy stuff on a raked stage. This, you know, it's a great show for kids because you're saying Skimbleshanks over and over again. So they're gonna walk away and they'll be like, I like Skimbleshanks, you know. I don't know why I was like Southern for a second.

[27:39] Al Malafronte: You're good with the accents, Jonalyn.

[27:40] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, I guess. Um, but it's hard because the Cats movie, I think they it's it's hard when dance is filmed, because even with Hamilton on Disney Plus, the excitement of seeing it live, and I think a lot of the excitement of Cats is the drama from it. I think partly comes from how physically hard the actors in that moment are pushing themselves to give you that result of those moves, of those lifts of that story. Um, and it's lost a little when it's on film, and they just changed a lot of stuff, and it was weird, and people were wearing shoes but not pants, and their tails were doing weird. It was just so unfortunate to watch. Did you see the Seth Rogan uh tweet chain from when he was watching it while smoking pot?

[28:30] Al Malafronte: Oh no.

[28:31] Jonalyn Saxer: It was very, very funny and very accurate too. I even I still haven't seen the movie to this day. I saw it when it was on Broadway. I saw I think you were you there in 2016?

[28:42] Al Malafronte: Uh no, I was in it in 2017. I joined in January of 2017.

[28:47] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay, so I didn't get to see it in it then. Well, you know what? Well, I'm glad that you're not like part of my memory, no pun intended. From that experience. I mean, like we you all we all know what Cats is, and it's fun because yeah, well, um, as an actor, it's fun, especially dancers were not given the opportunity to inhabit a singular character for the entirety of the show. Normally we're like random person over here dancing, or then we pop in for this feature, or we do this little thing here. But to be one character for a full show of which you never really leave the stage is an acting exercise that dancers don't normally get to do. And so it's really it was really exciting to do that and to you know conquer that. And also, it's just the hardest show you'll ever do. And something about being able to do that with your body and your voice and be there and get to the end of the show. It it's um very rewarding.

[29:47] Al Malafronte: Yeah. And you know, you did um, you did such a great job of Mean Girls. That actually is the show that I got to see, and I've seen that show twice. And uh I I think you were covered. It was on Broadway, you were covering Cady the second time that I went to go see.

[30:01] Jonalyn Saxer: You saw me as Cady?

[30:03] Al Malafronte: I did. I forget what time of month it I've only been on as Cady once.

[30:08] Jonalyn Saxer: Wow, okay, wow. So I picked up I picked the right time to go then. Yeah, I saw it once in previews, like right before opening March of 2018. So it was sometime after that, March after March of 2018?

[30:20] Al Malafronte: Yes, no, I didn't I went on in February of 2019.

[30:24] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay, yes, I was I was in my new apartment at that point. That's right, because I was in my old apartment in 2019. Okay, perfect. Okay, that is so funny that you say that. I wow, lightning strikes, huh?

[30:36] Al Malafronte: Yeah, that's so funny because it was just like one show, and and uh, you know, being a Karen cover, I I went on for Karen a lot. And so a lot of the times I was not available to be Cady or to be Regina. Um and those only happened if multiple people were out or if somebody took a vacation. So like really all the dice had to fall properly for that to happen.

[30:55] Jonalyn Saxer: And uh it only happened once. You know what's amazing is like especially like in baseball, you could be called into action at any position if you're a utility player. Um, and you it's so hard to like break into the mindset of, you know, going from let's say if you're primarily subbing for left field, and then all of a sudden you're expecting to sub a shortstop. Clay Bellinger for the Yankees is a great example of that for the baseball fans at home. Um, like did you like you don't have like a lot of notice in Broadway? So, like, are you always kind of like juggling all three roles in the back of your mind? Like how does that usually work?

[31:28] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, it honestly it takes a lot of time and homework. Um, I'm a big note taker, uh, and so I have notes, and then it's also just the moments of okay, it's been a second, I'm going to um go over this track in my head, or I'm going to revisit this, or I'm gonna take a look at my notes. And also being an on-stage cover was difficult because like when I was in Cats, uh, and as a swing, I always say, just watch the show at least once a week. Because just to remind yourself, just to watch it, see what people do. Sometimes things adjust or change as the show grows and molds and everything. Um, but on stage, I just kind of would try to find moments in my track where I could watch the Plastics or Cady, or sometimes if I was changing with somebody, I'd tell my dresser, I'd be like, hey, I'm just I need to listen to this to make sure I'm getting this line right and use those moments as a review.

But I always say it's kind of like being an understudy or swing is like always kind of being ready for a pop quiz, but the pop quiz also means your final grade because if you really mess up when you go on, then they're not gonna put you on again, then they lose that trust. And you and every time you go on, you still have to deliver that like again, A plus mentality, but it's always gonna be a pop quiz. You never know when it's gonna happen.

[32:52] Al Malafronte: Did you ever mess up?

[32:55] Jonalyn Saxer: I messed up a lot on Broadway. Not really badly, but you know, sometimes it just happens.

[33:03] Al Malafronte: What was the worst? And like had you overcome it?

[33:07] Jonalyn Saxer: I've had a couple moments in Cats where I'm not great with words. And there's a lot of words in Cats, and one of my mentalities as a swing is to kind of calm yourself, you just have to say, like, it'll come to me. Because you start being like, Well, what does she say here? I don't know what she says, and then all of a sudden you're you've you're lost, you're lost, you're gone, and you're so stressed, you're never gonna find it. So I just say I knew it, I've I've studied it, I've done the preparation, it's there somewhere in that Rolodex of my brain, it'll come to me. Sometimes it doesn't come to you. And I think the worst cover that I did was I forgot some of the words in the Macavity, and uh, it's just two cats on stage, and you're both in spotlights, no one else is singing.

And Jonathan was like, I can't think of the right words here. All I can think of is this other phrase that that other cat just sang, and I know it's and I know how it ends, but now it's not gonna rhyme. And so um, I think it was like, and when you think he's half asleep, he's always or and when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there. And all I could think of was, and when you think he's half asleep, and so I'm in the spotlight, and I just like turned my head to my shoulder and went, and when you think he's and like mumbled it into my shoulder, and then was like, Macavity is not there, and it's like no one else is singing, no one else is speaking or moving. And I was like, maybe if I just turn my head to the side, they won't realize that I don't know what I'm saying.

[34:43] Al Malafronte: Now here's the thing though, like uh do you have like you know the producers and the directors like sitting in the audience at that moment? Are you like kind of able to get away with it?

[34:53] Jonalyn Saxer: I mean, usually when that happens, like no one's reporting you. No, no. If the stage manager will be like, hey, well, because it wasn't my first time on, so they know that I know it. And we're humans, that happens. We go up online. Sometimes they'll be like, What happened there? And you just say, I forgot. And they're like, Don't forget again. You're like, I definitely will not. Um, and and everyone's kind of doing their own show that, like, I'm like, oh my gosh, did you guys hear what I did? And so, and like the girls were like, Oh, something sounded different, but they're not really listening. You know, we just expect everyone to do their job, and every once in a while it doesn't happen.

[35:30] Al Malafronte: Now, let me ask you this. Uh, you know, we there's been a lot of rumors about when Broadway actually will come back. Um, uh, have you in like the Plastics like created your own group text, you know, talking about you know, the anticipation about you know when you're allowed to go back on the road and perform on tour and what would make you feel comfortable as far as uh actually going back out there?

[35:51] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, well, I mean, our tour Plastics, Megan Masako Haley, Mariah Rose Faith, and me, we've always had our own little group chat. Uh we're like best friends, um, just like the female ensemble. Like I have group chats for every female ensemble I've ever been in. Um and me and Girls, we also have a big tour cast group chat uh that everyone's a part of, except for people with androids. Um we send them the messages, the important stuff, you know.

[36:21] Jonalyn Saxer: Um, but and we and we talk a lot. Um, it's hard. It's hard because tour is also different than Broadway. And also, as much as we can say, like, well, if this happens, then this will happen, or if this happens, then this will happen. We are not the people who make those decisions, and that's not up to us. And whatever my opinion is, right now, it doesn't really make a difference when we when they start coming to us saying, Hey, this is our plan. I think if you feel uncomfortable, then you can say you're uncomfortable. But up until, you know, up until then, as actors, um, again, it's a business. That's not, we don't really have control over that. I can't force the show to come back any sooner than it's going to be allowed to come back.

And I can't, our union takes care of that kind of stuff. And if it's anything, it's as union members, we can talk to our union about what we feel comfortable and what we think would should happen. Um, but yeah, I think the frustrating part about being in our position is we know that everything's going to have to be a lot better before we can come back. And so the more that people take those little risks of coming back a little bit and then things getting worse, Marlins. Um, you do know some baseball. Wow. I listen to news and podcasts. Um, the longer we're gonna have to wait. So I'm like, do you really need to go sit inside for dinner right now? Or can you just wait a little bit longer? Because I have to wait so long. Uh, Marlins. Owned by your buddy uh, Derek Jeter.

[38:04] Al Malafronte: Oh well, yeah. I I'm definitely stoked for it to come back and uh, you know, hopefully uh, yeah. I mean, I not that I'm on the road that much, but ideally I would definitely love to see performance, Karen, because I know you've done a uh hell of a job. And I'm sure that a lot of the folks listening in our audience who are not just in New York are uh excited about that as well.

[38:23] Jonalyn Saxer: Thank you. Yeah, I miss her a lot. I miss the show. It brought me a lot of it, doesn't just bring the audience joy, it brings us a lot of joy, and I'm missing that.

[38:32] Al Malafronte: I can imagine. Now, um, Jonalyn, we do one last segment to wrap every show here on Break A Bat. It's uh called Fastball Derby. And I want you to imagine uh what's the name of the Yankee closer again, by the way. Do you remember it by any chance?

[38:45] Jonalyn Saxer: Um or um, I'm really I don't think you're gonna do very well in the segment if you don't know who's like the the equivalent of who the pitcher is.

[39:03] Al Malafronte: Wait, you said he's like Regina George, he's like Regina George as far as his diva aspect.

[39:10] Jonalyn Saxer: He definitely is. Um, and it it starts, it's A, his initials are A C.

[39:16] Al Malafronte: Yes, they are AC. You could call him AC. That's that's just as perfect. His name's Aroldis Chapman's.

[39:20] Jonalyn Saxer: Just call him Bass. I was gonna say Aurora, it's similar.

[39:23] Al Malafronte: Aroldis?

[39:25] Jonalyn Saxer: Aroldis.

[39:28] Al Malafronte: Anyway, well, listen, pretend that Al is AC, as you like to call him, and he's on the mound throwing 105 miles an hour. Um, it's the ninth inning, high pressure situation. You've dealt with some high pressure situations here on Broadway. Uh, I'll ask you a question. You say the first thing that comes to your head. How does that sound?

[39:44] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay, but in the given circumstances of this game. It can't be. Because it's just a high pressure game.

[39:50] Al Malafronte: It's just like a high pressure game.

[39:53] Jonalyn Saxer: And you well, I mean, I could paint a baseball scenario to you, like there's like two men on and like two men. That won't help you.

[40:00] Al Malafronte: Okay, I don't think so. Well, let's see how you do. Favorite New York City meal?

[40:09] Jonalyn Saxer: Pizza.

[40:11] Al Malafronte: Where do you like to get your pizza from?

[40:14] Jonalyn Saxer: Dollar Pizza. They have some good spots by the August Wilson that we could get dollar pizza. You know, there's that one on 42nd Street.

[40:21] Al Malafronte: Two Bros, right? Isn't that the chain?

[40:23] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. That's always I always end up 42nd Street late night with that dollar pizza.

[40:28] Al Malafronte: Jonalyn, you've been on Broadway a long time, but I could probably show you a better place or two than Dollar Pizza.

[40:34] Jonalyn Saxer: I know, but when I get pizza, it's always because it's it's either that or it's or it's you know what I do love? Papa John's barbecue Hawaiian chicken. If you've never tried it, you're really missing out. It's so good. Just trust me.

[40:45] Al Malafronte: He lost me at Hawaiian.

[40:48] Jonalyn Saxer: I know there's pineapple on there, and I'm Italian, so no, no, no, no, no, no.

[40:54] Al Malafronte: All right. Team Jeter or Team A-Rod?

[40:58] Jonalyn Saxer: Jeter.

[40:59] Al Malafronte: All right. Well, yeah, kind of by default. Your one experience with Derek Jeter.

[41:03] Jonalyn Saxer: Okay. Favor quote from Mean Girls.

[41:08] Jonalyn Saxer: She doesn't even go here.

[41:10] Al Malafronte: That's a good one. That is a good one. Beach Boys or Beatles?

[41:16] Jonalyn Saxer: Beatles.

[41:17] Al Malafronte: What's your uh go-to Beatles song?

[41:20] Jonalyn Saxer: What isn't? I love Sgt. Peppers.

[41:24] Al Malafronte: Out of all the songs you've got to sing on Broadway, what's the best example of a Jonalyn Saxer performance?

[41:34] Jonalyn Saxer: Probably Stupid with Love.

[41:38] Al Malafronte: I think I saw you do that.

[41:40] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah. That's it. That's the song I've that I can just be me in. Right? It's not as much of a character as like sexy is.

[41:50] Al Malafronte: I've seen you at your best. That's awesome.

[41:54] Jonalyn Saxer: Your desert island album.

[41:59] Jonalyn Saxer: Taylor Swift Lover.

[42:02] Al Malafronte: Your dream role.

[42:05] Jonalyn Saxer: I don't have a dream role.

[42:08] Al Malafronte: You want to create one?

[42:10] Jonalyn Saxer: I I think I always sit my I have a speech about this when I teach, and Karen was in anybody's dream role five years ago. So I don't like, and and when you have a dream role, you have to have so many other people be doing the right thing for you to get to play that. So I just like doing it. I like creating that. I like being any role I can I can be.

[42:33] Al Malafronte: Most embarrassing on stage moment.

[42:35] Jonalyn Saxer: I know you talked about the Cats experience before. I don't know if that qualifies, you could use that as an answer. Otherwise. Well, my most embarrassing was probably on tour as Karen. I went to go skip off stage, and my heel got caught in my fishnet tight, and I fully fell to the ground. And it and uh, I believe one of our guitarists said that he's never heard an audience react that loudly to someone falling because it wasn't even like oh ha ha. It was like people were worried I was knocked, I was out. I fell so hard and I slid. Um, and then I got up and skipped off stage and finished the show. Yeah, I wasn't that, I didn't fall like because my hands hit the floor, so it was like pa. And it and um, yeah, it's pretty bad. I have a video of it. It's really bad. It's pretty hilarious.

[43:27] Al Malafronte: You're a true pro. Switching back to the positive. What's the proudest moment of your career?

[43:39] Jonalyn Saxer: I I'll say going on as Katie. Because that it's a lot of like I didn't sh I didn't stop the show. I did it. I rehearsed it and I I did it, and it was hard. And I, if you know, if you can do that, you can do anything.

[43:56] Al Malafronte: And lastly, uh, what's the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

[44:07] Jonalyn Saxer: I hate this question. Um, I'll go the first one that came to mind is uh um a teacher. It was about like acting the song, but she just wrote on the board, be a human, be a human, be a human. I think we get swept up in the work and the business and the other things that we forget that we like we're human and we are humans. We're playing human humans, but we are also human.

[44:32] Al Malafronte: I know you hated the question, but do you mean do you want me to cut that answer? I thought it was pretty good.

[44:37] Jonalyn Saxer: Sure. Sure. I just I'm really bad at remembering, like, oh, I remember like I don't have a lot, like I've learned so much from the people around me, but I forget. I can give you like specific pieces of advice for specific things, but like general like advice things, I'm not good at remembering.

[44:56] Al Malafronte: I think that'll I guess I have a bad memory.

[45:01] Jonalyn Saxer: Oh, that's how you didn't remember all the Chapman’s name, but that's just more of like a name issue that you have. That's okay.

[45:06] Al Malafronte: Yeah. But I also I'm like, I can't remember these things, but like I could go on for any of five Cats at any moment. You know what I mean? But also now, like if you asked me to do a dance from Cats, I'd be like, oh my god.

[45:23] Jonalyn Saxer: Oh my goodness. Yeah, I mean, speaking of, you know, one quick thing, you know, during this quarantine, have you been able to stay on top of your game, both you know, dancing wise, singing wise, acting wise, and you're like constantly uh doing exercises, you know, to keep it.

[45:35] Jonalyn Saxer: Yeah, um, I'm trying to take classes. It's hard, like, you know, I was being really good about doing ballet bars at least once a week, but then, you know, I get tired of that. I'm like in my living room, and then I'm like moving a chair from side to side to be my bar. Um, I'm teaching a lot, so I'm still in theater. I'm taking an acting class, uh, all that kind of stuff. Um, I'm I'm keeping up as much as I can, but also we are never really, and I feel like athletes probably feel this way too. We're never really given a moment to relax. We're we always have to be improving ourselves. We always have to be working for the next thing. We always have to keep in shape. I have to be, you know, I can't drink wine when I'm in a show because it messes with my voice.

And so I can drink wine again and eat sugar, you know, like things that we we have to cut out. And so I'm letting myself again be a human, be a little bit of a human right now. And uh, you know, it's gonna be a while before we kick back in. And I know that if I just keep an eye on it, and then as we get close, I'll probably put myself back into boot camp. But we are in boot camp so much, I'm just trying to exist and let my body just exist without all the supplements and all the stuff.

[46:49] Al Malafronte: Now, Jonalyn, uh, are you doing these classes remotely?

[46:52] Jonalyn Saxer: Mm-hmm.

[46:54] Al Malafronte: I am. So if the folks at home want to learn from a pro like yourself, uh, how can they find out some more information about that?

[47:02] Jonalyn Saxer: You can either book me through Broadway Plus, or um you can go to my Instagram and DM me at @jksaxer, which I will tell you to go to my email, which is jonathansaxerbooking@gmail.com.

[47:19] Al Malafronte: Awesome. Well, Jonalyn, this has been a real treat. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

[47:25] Jonalyn Saxer: Thank you for having me. Thanks for putting up with me in my memory.

[47:31] Al Malafronte: And you still walk away with a prize, so there was something in it for you too. So there you go.

[47:35] Jonalyn Saxer: There it is. Uh well, thank you so much uh for all the folks at home who listened to us tonight. Uh, this is Al Malafronte signing off for the Broadway Podcast Network.

[47:44] Al Malafronte: We'll see you next time. 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/breakabat. You can find me online at break_a_bat_podcast. 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. See you next time.