This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Nick Scandalios: You know, the theater in its entirety is built on relationships, right? There are very few industries where even your staunchest competitors you partner with on much of what you do, right? So I argue it's unique that way, right? The same three to five hundred people, you keep coming back into each other's aura and you work on projects. Some of them work. Sometimes when a project doesn't work, you bond even more in failure. And so he really believed in the long haul of all the relationships that you put together over the course of your career in the theater.

[0:45] Hal Luftig: Hi everyone. This is Hal Luftig with my Broadway Podcast Network show, Broadway Biz, where every episode I will chat with my friends, some of the top theater professionals in the business about the business of Broadway. You'll learn to raise cash, you open your smash. You'll be all the rage from the patient stage. In no time you'll know the business of show, the greatest job there is. So join our squad as we unplug our Broadway. Let's get busy with the Broadway Biz.

[1:37] Hal Luftig: Nick Scandalios is the executive vice president of the Nederlander Organization, which is one of the largest theater owners and producing organizations in the world. I've had the pleasure of working with Nick over the years, and I am honored to call him a colleague and more importantly, a friend. I'm so grateful Nick is joining me today on Broadway Biz.

[2:01] Nick Scandalios: Hey, Hal. How are you doing? How is everybody?

[2:05] Hal Luftig: I'm good. Everybody's good. Me good, kids good, everybody good.

[2:10] Nick Scandalios: You guys?

[2:11] Hal Luftig: Uh, we're good too. We're good too. We uh, you know, we're just trying to lounge through the summer, and it's, you know, New York City in the summer. What could I tell you, right? You know, Nick, I was trying for the life of me. Maybe you could jog my memory, because you know, I am old. Do you remember the first time you and I became like aware of each other, like we entered each other's orbit? Because I remember lots of things like the time we went upstate with Jimmy Sr. And you and I were drinking singing Dream Girls in the backseat, and he said, you two should do a show. Um, I remember funny stuff like that, but I can't remember like did we officially meet? Do you have a recollection of that?

[2:57] Nick Scandalios: I don't. So you've just kind of maybe you've been with me since birth, and I just didn't know it. You know, if I had to pick a vague recollection, it was when you were working with Barry Weisler early on. I remember Jimmy Sr., and I just love telling this story. When we were doing my first stab at lead producing was Thoroughly Modern Millie, and we were out at the La Jolla Playhouse doing, you know, our tryout. And it was, I don't know, I guess 2000, which was a real problematic thing. Not because the show was because it just was technically, I think, more complicated than they realized. So, like turntables kept stopping, and you know, chandeliers kept falling, and it wasn't Phantom of the Opera.

And I remember Jimmy Sr. and Junior, and maybe you flew out to La Jolla, and it was one of those performances, like I said, that wasn't great. And we got back to New York trepidatiously. I made an appointment to see you guys. And I'll never forget Jimmy Nederlander said, you know, you're, you know, that girl's a real star, and you're a real good producer. And I'm gonna give you a theater to open on Broadway. And like I almost wept right there. Annie, get your gun closed at the marquee, Annie closed. He kept that theater. He promised to keep that theater available for me. And he kept his word. He said, you know, when you're ready, in the spring, you have a theater. And he was a man of his word.

And I uh that is the single most, and maybe that's where I really got to know you well, because then you and I had to, you know, roll up our sleeves and dig into the trenches and figure out how to make that happen.

[4:29] Nick Scandalios: Yeah, well, that's where we really got to know each other, was on Thoroughly Modern Millie. And especially when the deluge curtain went down, we really got to know each other. I had a few deluge curtains in my day.

[5:43] Hal Luftig: Yes, I know. I know. And two of them were with my shows when it happened in Evita, and you came running, you were the best. You came running down to that theater, and we all had hair dryers trying to dry out. It was our first preview, and we were trying to dry out the new orchestrations hadn't been copied yet, because it was still in previews, right? Who does that? So we had on the seats all the different orchestrations, and we all had hair dryers, and you were helping dry. And you know, when paper dries, it gets very brittle. So that was fun too. And I just slipped it sadly I knew to get the hairdryers because I had had that happen before at Sunset Boulevard in the mid-90s.

[5:41] Nick Scandalios: Oh good I thought it was just me. It was not my first time with a hairdryer and an orchestration at the rodeo.

[5:50] Hal Luftig: I know, I know. And I just looked at you and I remember saying Nick, I love you dearly but what's up with this theater so I'm going to start off just asking if you could tell some of our listeners who may or may know what is you know what is the Nederlander Organization.

[6:07] Nick Scandalios: The Nederlander Organization or Nederlander as it's commonly referred to as a family business that was started in 1912 basically operates owns and operates Broadway type theaters and produces Broadway type shows and tours and we have theaters around the country and we have nine on Broadway three in London one one which of which we own with Andrew Lloyd Weber. And it's always been operated by family Nederlander as people know it today while it was founded by D.T. Nederlander Jimmy Sr. God rest the soul's father it was really built by Jimmy Nederlander Sr. So what people understand as Nederlander today was something that he either you know masterminded as he would say 50% with skill and 50% with luck. It now is one of the largest owners of theaters in the country or world, and one of its largest producers.

[7:12] Hal Luftig: Well, I just have to tell our listeners, Jimmy Sr. and Jimmy Jr. blush. But one of the things I love about the Nederlanders and you, Nick, is that you, the family is when they become your friend, they are your friend for life. Everything that I've ever done since Thoroughly Modern Millie has, I've always gone to the Nederlanders for sage advice, guidance. Jimmy Sr. was the best at that. And he used to do it with such panache and such humor. He was that old-fashioned producer that just took people under his wing, you know, and once you were there, and you're very much like that too, Nick. Once you're there, you're there. You know, he believed in relationships, right? And the truth is that, you know, of all the valuable lessons I've learned, and there are they are countless from him, because I was blessed to have fallen into his light, you know, the theater in its entirety is built on relationships, right?

There are very few industries where even your staunchest competitors you partner with on much of what you do, right? So yeah, I argue it's unique that way, right? The same three to five hundred people, you keep coming back into each other's aura and you work on projects. Some of them work. Sometimes when a project doesn't work, you bond even more in failure. And so he really believed in the long haul of all the relationships that you put together over the course of your career in the theater.

[8:58] Nick Scandalios: I remember once when a show didn't work out, and I went to see him the next day to sort of say, Jimmy, I'm so sorry. You know, you all worked so hard. And he said, you know, to me, you know, forget about it. If you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend. And you know, those are words I live by every single day of my life. I quote him every day. Do you remember that? You were there.

[9:27] Hal Luftig: Nick, now let's get to you. Can you tell our listeners, you know, what a typical day for you is? Because I've seen you, you're answering four phones, doing, you know, having three meetings, signing 15. What is a typical day like for you?

[9:43] Nick Scandalios: You know, the thing I love most about my job is that it's never the same. Each and every day is different, right? So because there's a lot of real estate holdings, some days can be about real estate, some days can be about show development, some days can be about meetings about booking and distribution systems, you know, how the touring work. You know, what I get most energized and most inspired by is that often all of those things collide and it makes the day always interesting and unique because I like all the parts of it, right? So I'm not gonna say my favorite part is dealing with real estate finance, but I'm gonna say I like it because it's part of what breaks up my day. And you know, so I can meet with you about something, and we can talk about creative teams in one minute, and the next minute I'm dealing with a bunch of bankers, and I don't want to say that in a negative way, it's just you know, it's sort of like, okay, how are we gonna do this?

And when are we gonna plan this restoration of this building, and how much time is there between the show and that show so that and do we have enough time? And can we can we get the carpet? What are the current zoning regulations, right? Which are always changing.

[11:01] Hal Luftig: Then you're always thinking three steps ahead, correct?

[11:04] Nick Scandalios: Yeah, it tends to be a little bit of a puzzle, like in I think in many parts of the theater, like even with directors, right? They're putting together the puzzle of you know how something's gonna look and feel in ARC is the same with the writer, it's sort of where things come in the story, right? So, my version of that is how do you keep the theaters um looking as good as they can look, uh, with hits in them, hopefully, uh, and as little dark time as possible because that same ethos keeps the most people working most of the time because when a theater is dark, nobody's working.

[11:43] Hal Luftig: There's cost without revenue, yeah, yeah. A lot of I know a lot of people don't realize that that even if a theater is dark, if there's nothing in it, there is still cost to the person who owns that theater. You know, everything from insurance, right, to electricity to utilities to some staff, you know, the theater can't just sit totally empty.

[12:06] Nick Scandalios: Well, you know, it's one of the reasons I created this podcast called Broadway Biz because I wanted the listeners to understand um how the artistic side of theater, and it is a big artistic side, you know, with the financial side. That's why I was so pleased when you agreed, because I'd like to just talk about that a little bit. You're in a unique position, Nick. You're both a theater owner and a producer. I come to you with a script and you know, and several bribes like chocolates and share. I mean, I'm sorry, could I say I'm kidding, listeners? But you know, you you know, you're in that unique position. Can you share with our listeners what considerations you make when evaluating a show for both as a producer and then as the theater owner, and are there similar, are there different considerations you make when you're wearing each uh when you're in each chat?

[13:05] Nick Scandalios: You know, if we if we, meaning Nederlander are going to be the producer, it's either because of Jimmy or the organization's relationship with a particular artist, or there's a story that he and the organization have become passionate about telling, right? We don't produce for the sake of producing. We invest with other producers as part of a strategic plan, but we don't lead produce for the sake of it, right? So just like the way any producer would pick a project, you're picking it because of your relationships and what you're passionate about, you know, as I'm sure you've talked about tongues. If you have to be a little bit crazy to decide to produce, because you have to fall in love with something enough that you make enormous sacrifices to raise the money. There's a little bit of blind passion because when you begin a project, you know it's not gonna be the same when you end it, right? And you don't know what that journey is gonna be.

[14:12] Nick Scandalios: So there's blind passion attached to that. And that type of risk-taking is a very special type of risk-taking, and not a lot of people can do it in addition to raising the money, just the idea of constantly diving off a cliff. So that's the producing side. And then on the theater operating and on the booking side, it has very much to do with relationships with people like you. And you know, each theater operator has a set of main relationships, although we all work together, right? And so, you know, there are a half dozen producers. I always know what you're doing for the next three to five years, right? What you're passionate about, and kind of where those things might be coming, and if they can fit into one thing, one of our theaters or rule, will we be involved with you in someone else's theater?

We do care about what we put in our theater, so we do look at the stories. It doesn't mean we know what will work, because as Jimmy Sr., one of his other famous quotes is no one can pick a hit from a flop, and that is a truism, right? There's a big component of our business that you know it's right place, right time, right show, and right set of alignments, right? And you can have a brilliant show in the wrong season and it doesn't work for some reason.

[15:37] Hal Luftig: Isn't that the truth?

[15:39] Nick Scandalios: That is so, or you have just the opposite, right? There are shows that we've all sat around in previews or out of towns and go, oh my God, you know, what aren't these people seeing? I mean, this is and then it opens and it's huge. That's the magic. That's the secret sauce of what everybody's contribution when you get to the opening night, no matter where you are in the chain of the theater, you know, in terms of the production, does it all align? Sometimes you can have a terrible preview period, and then suddenly in the last three days something comes together, and you I didn't think that was gonna happen, but kaboom. I'd rather have it that way than the other way, right? I'm convinced this is gonna work, and then you find yourself cascading into I don't know why I did that.

[16:28] Hal Luftig: Yeah, that's right. What was I thinking? But then there's also the ones, as you said, that you are just you know, you are sure it's going to because the audience is loving it, and the investors are throwing money at you, and all those signs, right, that we have is like tent poles, and all that is working, you know, terrifically. And then it just opens, and suddenly it's like crickets, no one cares. It just didn't open the way you thought, it didn't capture the attention of the audience and or the critics like you thought. And you just you're right. Have you ever had that where you stand in the back of the theater and you go, what happened? This was like doing buff, you know, what happened? And yeah, that's the thing that if you ever come up with the answer to that, Nick, you'll have a million-dollar idea.

[17:22] Nick Scandalios: That could be a billion-dollar idea if I can solve that problem. As a theater owner, as opposed to a producer. When I come to you, let's just use me, and I come to you with a play that I'm passionate about, and you know, you can sense my passion. Maybe you don't, you know, feel it as much as I do, but you can feel it coming from me. And we have a relationship. What is it that, and not just me, this is now a general, but what is it that you as a theater owner look at to help you try and make that decision?

[18:00] Nick Scandalios: Well, I think, you know, listen, and I think it's the conversation, right? So it's the size of the show, it's the content, it's the when do you want to do it? Because in the last 25 years, really since the mid-90s, you know, it's coming on 30 years, the theater situation is relatively tight, right? So sometimes schedule has an impact. You can't be too precious about the particular building anymore. I don't mean you, I just mean one in general. As theaters come up, if it is suitable, it may not be perfect, but if it is suitable, but you know, I'm not gonna say to you to put, you know, long day's journey in tonight into the Gershwin, right? So when I'm having the conversations, I try and be super respectful with the producer so that we're looking at what's really available, right?

So if you have a particular type of show and I say, well, what I see coming up in our chain in the next 12 to 18 months is X, Y, and Z theater, we will together look at it and go, hmm, well, maybe it's this theater, but it can't be those two, because they're just wrong artistically. Without being, it's not the difference of 100 seats or 100 more or less seats here or there. It's just a matter of the size and the scope of the art and does it fit? It doesn't mean we don't do mismatches and it does because sometimes you have to just make things happen. You know, like we're in a period of time right now where you know someone says to me, I'd like the Richard Rogers, and I'll say, you know, I won't be here when the Richard Rogers is next available. That's nice. You could you call the producer of Hamilton and tell them they have to move, right? So it makes total sense.

[20:00] Hal Luftig: And I have to say to our listeners, I so respect that because you've actually had those conversations with me. Do you in that conversation? Because we've never had this, do you ever think about offering or talking to the producer about perhaps London first or because I know you own some theaters over there?

[20:19] Nick Scandalios: Yeah, I mean, that conversation used to happen more, but the theater situation in London is just as tight as Broadway. So I would say to in today's marketplace, that happens a little bit less. But as you know, because we've done together out-of-town tryouts, you know, there are multiple ways for development, and one of them is a commercial out-of-town tryout, which is right for some shows and not right for others. And so Chicago, where we operate, and now Washington, DC, where we operate, both can are excellent. If you want to do a commercial out-of-town engagement as part of your run into Broadway, they both can provide that. So I will have that conversation. For a number of shows, it's just a series of readings in a lab.

You know, it really depends on the individual show. And even when you and I are having that conversation, Hal, often I will say, even if we don't have a theater available, we still, because of our relationship, want to support you as a producer. So we might sign on, you know, as a co-producer investor for you, you know, at the same time.

[21:28] Hal Luftig: Which I always appreciate. If for nothing else, not only for the financial help, but you know, I think the Nederlander name attached to something is just, it is like a theatrical, you know, stamp, like a good housekeeping stamp, you know, and I've always felt that way because you know, you guys just don't jump on every bandwagon. And I believe because we, and this is why this is great, all listeners know this, because of the conversations that you have with the producer and not just say, hey, sure, let me just take this book, you know. It is, it is it's meaningful. I think that's a thing that distinguishes the Nederlander organization as well. Moving on from that, when you decide to jump on board with a show, either as a theater owner or the theater owner and investor, things like that, do you ever consider or does the consideration about how this will travel around the country, around the world, does that ever enter into your consciousness about how that will look?

[22:36] Nick Scandalios: Um, I think it's I think it's ever present. But I don't I don't know that it's the determiner, right? Like I don't I've never found myself saying, well, we'll do this on Broadway, but it's not gonna really work, but it'll be great on tour. But I think every producer you know is mindful that if you're successful on Broadway or in the West End, that enhances your potential for a distribution system, right? So just because of the way the producers' contracts work with the authors, right? And subsidiary rights, right? So it's at the very least subsidiary rights, but it could be the continuation of the producer's license, you know, especially if you have a head musical and you have a turns into a mega musical because the public decides it's in the zeitgeist and and they take it on as their own, and you end up with five or ten companies around the country and the world, right?

You know, then you become your own industry if you end up that you're you know, a little cottage industry within the industry, right? Which is extraordinary and we all hope for that. But I don't ever think this is just a New York show and it won't have any further potential, and that's the decision, or this is a show really for touring and it doesn't have New York potential, and that's the decision. But it's kind of all in the soup.

[24:03] Hal Luftig: Yeah. And I'm assuming, Nick, that you must at some point, because you know this probably better than most people at this moment, you know what it takes to tour a show. Things like, okay, how many trucks does it take? How many hours does the load intake? How many, you know, how quickly can we get from city to city? And can something be a multi-week sit down, or does it have to be a one week? So all of that must be factored in in your depth of knowledge of this.

[24:43] Nick Scandalios: True. I mean, yeah, and I think the I think I think if I were to say anything about that, I think I would say that where we periodically as an industry slip up. When something becomes the Lion King or Wicked or Hamilton, you can build it as identical to New York as you want. And because you know it's gonna sit in Chicago for three years, it's not gonna sit in there in Chicago for two weeks or three weeks, right? And then I think when you need you know you need to do something inexpensively, I think we all can kind of figure that out. And I think sometimes when we're in the middle, we build things that are too big, right? And then we have to make course corrections. So it's just kind of interesting that no matter what your experience is, everyone can find themselves in that spot.

And I'm like, gosh, I did that again. I should have thought about this more in advance. And you know, the more you can do in advance to get the economics, particularly the weekly operating economics, both in New York and on tour, as low as possible, that is that is going to serve all shows in the longer haul better. You know, and I think and I think we all lose sight of that a little bit when we're in the middle of making the soup.

[26:14] Hal Luftig: Well, it is a question that I always ask, you know, most of my guests, you know, there does come a point where an artistic member of your team, usually the director, but it could be a set designer or a costume designer or light, you know, they will ask for something because they have to have it, you know, like if I don't have the dancing waters or the three elephants on the stage or whatever, it's just not gonna work. And, you know, sometimes it's the producer, but sometimes it's actually the theater owner that just says, you know, we can't do that because you know, it needs then we need to have exit ramps or we need to have certain facilities, you know. If you have to have animals, you know, you have to have a place to put the animals.

I remember we did Legally Blonde, and I looked at you and I said, Nick, we need a dressing room just for the dogs. And I'll never forget that look. Like, uh, are you pulling by it was like a few seconds where you looked at me like, are you pulling my leg? There's things like that. Does it ever, does it ever is there ever, and I'm not asking for specifics, but has that ever come up in your experience where you've just had to say no to an artistic person, a producer person, you know, mostly like the like I said, an artistic person. I'm sorry, we just can't do that.

[27:33] Nick Scandalios: Yeah, I think it comes up, I think it comes up mostly because so many of the theaters are near hundred-year-old landmarks. The only time you really want to say no is if something would safety always comes first for the audience and the employees, and for the building structure. And these buildings are built very soundly, you know, they're built nearly a hundred years ago, many of them, and they are very secure structures. But where we will say no is if anything seems to alter or even temporarily alter the structural integrity of the building, that'll kind of be an automatic no. I've never really had anybody push back on me about that, right?

[28:24] Nick Scandalios: Because artistically, there's always another solution. There just always is, right? If you have enough time and you put enough thinking behind something, you can do that. And you know how the theater agreements work. You can make adjustments to the theater as long as you restore it when the production is finished. Certainly. When Cats went into the Winter Garden originally, you know, the entire theater was painted and blacked out. And that's certainly a landmarked building. And also I would say the restoration work that's been done in the classic buildings in the last 25 to 30 years has been very high-end restoration. I think all the theater operators have been really, it's been amazing. The beautiful, beautiful design and restorative work.

So I would say I'm more reticent. Like I won't let anybody just paint blackout paint the proscenium arch anymore. What they do is they clad the proscenium arch so that the arch is protected and the show gets the visual of something framed, but without damaging the paint. And now, you know, sets move on and off and up and down and sideways, and you know, many theaters have limited wing space, right? And they ask, how did shows play there? And I have to explain that, you know, 40, 50 years ago, sets were painted drops. Yeah, they were in the air, they weren't on the ground. Another thing I wanted us to touch on before we have to go is could you talk a little bit about how what you feel is the price difference between producing and running something in London since you have London theaters and in New York? I know I'm asked that all the time, and I would love to hear from your perspective as a theater owner, what you think that that answer might be.

[30:46] Nick Scandalios: When you work, you think it costs less money. Um, and it does. There are elements that are more flexible in the West End, and from a production standpoint, there's a percentage of savings, right? There was a period of time when there was a lot more theater availability across both Broadway and the West End, where people would really potentially make that choice. I'm gonna start in London because it's less expensive. I think that was also true because there was a period of time, you know, from let's say 1979 to 1993, 94, where you know, from Evita through Miss Saigon, their original productions, where Andrew and Cameron and Bugle and Leland Schoenberg, right? Those mega musicals were all emanating out of the West End.

And so it became a model that people felt was a useful one. But when the theater situation tightened up, then people started working and looking again in the West End and on Broadway for Broadway, right? I can't parse down those specific things. You know, they spend less on advertising on a weekly basis than is required in New York. For a very long time, television was not an active part of their campaigns, whereas in New York it's a required part of your campaign. There are different differences like that. Labor and its structure is different in the West End than it is here. And I also want to remind people too that for the longest time, less so now in the UK, because it's just the state of the world, but for the longest time in the UK, there was a lot more governmental funding for the arts, you know, separate councils, cities, you know, counties, things like that, places like the national and you know, these what we would call regional theaters, there was a lot of support that we, you know, over the years has unfortunately whittled down a little bit on Broadway.

You know, the NEA doesn't have as big of a grant, you know, and corporate donors, you know, remember when they used to have Texaco presents and ATT presents, and you know, those kinds of things have gotten, you know, less and less as I believe there are more and more places for these corporations to advertise.

[33:38] Nick Scandalios: The beauty of the theater is that it manages to always reinvent itself. So what you are referring to is what we came into and what is changing now. But each time there's an adversity, people figure out the next way to develop their materials. So, you know, we're not using the same system that Rogers and Hammerstein used in the 40s, right? But what worked for them wouldn't work for us, and what worked for us 20 years ago for the generation that follows us, something else is going to work for. And that's what I love about the theater, right? It is both universal and historic. And whatever ancient culture you want, wherever you want to attribute storytelling, right? There are different versions and they made them different ways, right? But they made stories and they made theater, right? Why do you think that is, Nick? Why do you think theater will always endure? Or don't, or do you?

[34:39] Nick Scandalios: Well, no, I of course do. As you know, I'm of Greek descent, and so one of the philosophers, and I'm not even going to say which one because I will get it wrong and then someone will correct me, whether it was Plato or Socrates, right? Said that, you know, the thing about the theater is the theater is important to your soul, right? It is part of what makes up your inner being and how you feel and how you interact and how you reflect on the world. And while it sounds heavy initially, it's actually primal in so many ways, right? And so I think what makes it endure is no matter what live entertainment and the interaction of someone telling a story and you absorbing that story with people around you, not necessarily people you're talking to, right?

That you share a communal experience that everybody gets touched, and part of how you emotionally react is based on the reaction of the people around you. Are they laughing? Are they crying? What are you taking away from it? Did you feel anxious, right? All of those things are what creates the human experience that you then take out into your life and your own interactions with people, right? So that's why the stories and what stories are being told become important, because there are moments, Angels in America, where the play leads the culture to a place it was not comfortable going to yet, but needed the play to help them. People needed to be able to see that so that they could begin their period of understanding.

And culture and theater then feed back and forth on each other. And I don't see that ever going away. It didn't go away in ancient Greece or but it is important that we always work on how we remain relevant, right? Because and that goes to the stories we tell. And over time, the stories we tell do change, right? And we can each pick our own pieces of theater that we feel advanced the culture, right? Versus others. Something that was challenging, and sometimes when we look at revivals of either plays or musicals, I often think that was a really challenging piece in 1954 or 1946. Right. It feels a little rudimentary now because the culture has advanced so much, right? So now how do we go back and we look at it versus what it was originally and what it contributed culturally originally versus now what the culture can benefit from it in reflection.

[37:34] Hal Luftig: Very well said. And if it's done right, I think you can take something from a different era and turn a mirror on it so it can now look at it through the lens, you know, of the 21st century, where we are 20, 21, 22. And I think that's what's incredible about the art form. There's always a different way to tell that story, just like any good art. You know, there's always a different way to look at it and see it. And periodically you see something and you say that doesn't need to be done anymore.

[38:12] Nick Scandalios: Yes, I guess, yes. Or sometimes you look at something and say, it shouldn't have been done in the first place.

[38:19] Hal Luftig: Yeah. Yes, that's right, because hopefully, hopefully over time the culture advances in a way that certain things don't need to be done anymore.

[38:29] Nick Scandalios: That's perfectly said. Nick Scandalios, this has been, I could stay on the phone and talk to you for hours, and you know what? We have.

[38:39] Hal Luftig: This will be so real. We have, we have. Although I think this may be our shortest conversation ever.

[38:46] Nick Scandalios: Well, that's because there were no cocktails involved, Hal.

[38:49] Hal Luftig: Oh, we're gonna have to fix that. You're right. That's what's missing. Next time we do this, I want a cocktail.

[38:56] Nick Scandalios: On me. But Nick, not so easy because before you leave, before we say goodbye, and all good things have to come to an end, including this program, but I have three what I call rapid fire questions for you. And all I ask is you, you know, I ask them. They're not tricky questions, they're just your personal taste. And don't overthink it, okay? First thing, just say it.

[39:21] Nick Scandalios: All righty. So here's the first one. What is your favorite musical?

[39:26] Nick Scandalios: Evita changed my life. It's the reason I'm in the theater.

[39:29] Hal Luftig: Well, you just warmed my heart. The second question is what was the wackiest moment that ever happened to you in the theater? And by wacky, I don't mean bad. It could be silly, it could be funny, it could be, I can't believe I just saw that kind of thing. But what would you say is that wacky moment?

[39:50] Nick Scandalios: I will say the first time I got a phone call that the deluge curtain went off, and my relationship with four or five or six people on Sunset Boulevard, sitting there well into the night with the hairdryers drying the scores and then going and drinking a lot of red wine into the night is one of the craziest things that ever happened. And then to have had it happen two more times after that, you know, was crazy. And drying off a 36,000-pound house. I forgot about that. It was one of the all-time wacky moments.

[40:42] Hal Luftig: Now, weren't you glad with me and Millie? It was just drying the elevator.

[40:44] Nick Scandalios: That's right, exactly. I mean, seriously.

[40:49] Hal Luftig: I mean, seriously. Okay, so the third question is so the lesson you learned from that wacky moment was always be better prepared, right?

[41:02] Nick Scandalios: And you have to be prepared for the unexpected, right? And how you get through unexpected things and difficult moments in the theater or in anything in life. Stay calm, use your best judgment, and don't panic. And have a big bucket and a mop.

[41:27] Hal Luftig: And always carry a hairdryer.

[41:32] Nick Scandalios: Nick Scandalios, I love you. I thank you so much for taking the time to join with us today. My love to your entire family, and I know you and I will talk soon.

[41:51] Hal Luftig: Thank you for listening to today's episode. Broadway Biz is part of the Broadway Podcast Network, is produced by Dylan Marie Parent and Kevin Connor, and is edited by Derek Gunther. Our theme music is by Nell Benjamin and Larry O'Keefe. Be sure to subscribe to Broadway Biz and follow us on Instagram at Broadway Biz Podcast.