This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Bryan Plopski: Top of the episode to you. There it is.

[0:02] Kevin Jaeger: There you go. No, you are wearing green.

[0:04] Kimberly Cooper: So I give you that. And we have limes on the table.

[0:07] Bryan Plopski: We do. I'm wearing them on my head.

[0:09] Kevin Jaeger: The biggest Irish export. Yes.

[0:12] Bryan Plopski: But we're here to remind you and for some of you tell you that we are doing a live show in New York City.

[0:15] Kimberly Cooper: Live in New York. It's Broadwaysted!

[0:19] Bryan Plopski: At Green Room 42. Oh, that's perfect. Green Room.

[0:22] Kevin Jaeger: It's Green Room 42 for artists.

[0:25] Bryan Plopski: St. Patrick's Day Spectacular slash my 30th birthday.

[0:30] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, we're going all out for Kimberly's birthday.

[0:32] Bryan Plopski: We're going to have special guests, some really great games, some fun live Broadwaysted antics and some things that you won't even expect yet because it's going to be amazing.

[0:41] Kevin Jaeger: For the biggest holiday of the year, St. Patrick's Day.

[0:44] Bryan Plopski: Oh, yeah. So don't tell me anything different.

[0:47] Kimberly Cooper: Come drink with us or just enjoy our company.

[0:51] Bryan Plopski: March 17th at 9:30 at Green Room 42.

[0:57] Kevin Jaeger: Don't go to any of the other green rooms.

[0:59] Bryan Plopski: Go to the 42nd one. It's Green Room 42.

[1:02] Kimberly Cooper: On the fourth floor inside of the hotel.

[1:04] Bryan Plopski: And wear your green or we're going to pinch you.

[1:06] Kevin Jaeger: Yeah. You can find tickets on our Twitter, on our Instagram, on our...

[1:12] Bryan Plopski: What do you do, Kevin? Facebook.

[1:14] Kevin Jaeger: That's right. Yep.

[1:15] Bryan Plopski: But you can also... Or on Green Room 42's website.

[1:17] Kimberly Cooper: Exactly. That's probably easiest.

[1:18] Bryan Plopski: Or you can get a golden ticket in a Willy Wonka chocolate bar.

[1:22] Kevin Jaeger: No, no, no. Go to the website.

[1:24] Kimberly Cooper: And an Irish potato. Right.

[1:27] Bryan Plopski: And now for your regularly scheduled Broad Wasted.

[1:30] Kevin Jaeger: Hey, that's us.

[1:36] Kimberly Cooper: Did you bring wine?

[1:37] Bryan Plopski: I got the glasses.

[1:38] Kevin Jaeger: You guys, I made a quiz.

[1:39] Bryan Plopski: I didn't bring anything right here to have fun.

[1:52] Bryan Plopski: Hello and welcome to the official Broad Wasted podcast, where we're drunk on theater. I'm your host, Bryan Plopski, and today is a beautiful day, so we're going to seize it.

[1:56] Kevin Jaeger: One fine seize the day.

[1:58] Bryan Plopski: Well, we're carrying the banner up on the roof because Brooklyn's here on Broadway and walking something to believe in the rain. I feel the bottom line move because happy days are watch what happens here again. We're going to get out of this place once and for all, the locomotion's uptown to say the world, we will know who put the bop in chains. Don't come a knocking be bop a lula.

[2:30] Kimberly Cooper: Joining us today.

[2:31] Kevin Jaeger: Be bop a luba?

[2:32] Kimberly Cooper: Be bop a lula.

[2:33] Kevin Jaeger: A lula.

[2:34] Kimberly Cooper: A lula.

[2:35] Kevin Jaeger: Yeah.

[2:36] Bryan Plopski: Got it. Joining us today, the usual one fine day.

[2:38] Kevin Jaeger: Oh no, I messed that up.

[2:39] Bryan Plopski: Joining us today are the usual one fine dayers, including Kevin, the Carole King of New York.

[2:46] Kevin Jaeger: Yeah.

[2:50] Bryan Plopski: I will take that. I am beautiful.

[2:53] Kimberly Cooper: Kimberly, our what a game master and unofficial babysitter for the hour.

[2:57] Kevin Jaeger: As you record, my parents are seeing ragtime at a community theater.

[3:00] Kimberly Cooper: That's amazing. I just wanted to say that since my quote is from ragtime.

[3:02] Bryan Plopski: Absolutely. It rings true today.

[3:04] Kimberly Cooper: And with us today is another newsie because we're collecting them all.

[3:10] Bryan Plopski: Got to catch them all. Aside from originating the role of Davey in Disney's Newsies, he toured nationally with Spring Awakening and Beautiful. There's also no break in his riptastic voice. Let's give a big Broadway welcome to Friend of the Show, Ben Fankhauser.

[3:23] Ben Fankhauser: You're ready for this.

[3:32] Bryan Plopski: Wow, thank you so much for that.

[3:34] Ben Fankhauser: You got a Jock Jams intro.

[3:36] Bryan Plopski: First of all, Jock Jams is one of my top three favorite.

[3:38] Ben Fankhauser: Would you say Jock is your jam?

[3:41] Bryan Plopski: Jock is my jam and my jelly, dare I say.

[3:46] Ben Fankhauser: We can follow him at PLZNthankyou, so please and thank you.

[3:53] Bryan Plopski: Brilliant. I love it.

[3:54] Ben Fankhauser: I do love that. Wait, did you and Chris do that together?

[3:57] Ben Fankhauser: It was like Christmas Carol.

[4:00] Ben Fankhauser: That was like 2009 when Twitter was ripe.

[4:04] Ben Fankhauser: And you had to have a clever thing that wasn't just your name.

[4:06] Bryan Plopski: Yeah, yeah. Before all this showbiz and social media marketing, it was like Ben Fankhauser official. Like before all that.

[4:12] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, exactly. This is my best attempt.

[4:14] Bryan Plopski: But you're consistent over platforms, which is like very nice.

[4:18] Ben Fankhauser: I guess I got in early.

[4:19] Bryan Plopski: Yeah, I don't know of anyone else who would have, please and thank you.

[4:24] Ben Fankhauser: It's old because I have to explain it every time.

[4:27] Bryan Plopski: You have to explain it?

[4:28] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, people are like, what's your handle? I'm like, it's PLZN, capital N, good. And then F-A-N-K. It's a whole.

[4:37] Bryan Plopski: You should just say, I'll text it to you.

[4:39] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know what, what's yours? I'll follow you.

[4:41] Bryan Plopski: Or just say, you don't follow me yet? You get really mad.

[4:44] Ben Fankhauser: Also just search your name and it'll show up.

[4:47] Bryan Plopski: You don't need to search by handles anymore, kids.

[4:49] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah. I'm hip with the youngs.

[4:54] Bryan Plopski: Well, let's just start with, what are you drinking?

[4:56] Ben Fankhauser: What are you drinking?

[4:58] Bryan Plopski: What are we drinking?

[4:59] Ben Fankhauser: I'm drinking a little Reika vodka.

[5:03] Kimberly Cooper: Yes, from Iceland.

[5:05] Ben Fankhauser: From Iceland, straight from Iceland. Handcrafted, in fact.

[5:08] Bryan Plopski: On a scale of one to ten, 10 being the smoothest, how smooth is it?

[5:11] Ben Fankhauser: It's quite smooth.

[5:13] Bryan Plopski: Okay, so we're thinking like nine, 10?

[5:14] Ben Fankhauser: I'm going to give it an eight. It's pretty good for vodka, yeah.

[5:18] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's still vodka.

[5:19] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, it's vodka.

[5:20] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, it's vodka.

[5:21] Ben Fankhauser: It's really good vodka. But this key lime soda is delectable.

[5:27] Kimberly Cooper: Tastes like fresh limes.

[5:28] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, yes. Right off the tree.

[5:31] Bryan Plopski: You drink the same thing, Kimberly?

[5:33] Kimberly Cooper: I have Reika too, with my all-time favorite seltzer, Hal's Watermelon. And honestly, it just tastes like I'm drinking seltzer at this moment.

[5:41] Ben Fankhauser: Nice.

[5:42] Kevin Jaeger: Get ready. Kevin and I are drinking Kona beer.

[5:45] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, so good.

[5:45] Kevin Jaeger: I love Kona.

[5:46] Ben Fankhauser: So good. Cheers.

[5:47] Bryan Plopski: Cheers.

[5:47] Kimberly Cooper: Cheers, everybody.

[5:48] Ben Fankhauser: Cheers.

[5:51] Bryan Plopski: Here, here. What's your show cup?

[5:52] Ben Fankhauser: Ice, ice.

[5:53] Bryan Plopski: Oh, I am drinking out of the Great Comet of 1812.

[5:57] Ben Fankhauser: I mean, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.

[5:58] Bryan Plopski: Right, please, the show cup. Just the Comet show cup, it's not the other one.

[6:03] Kimberly Cooper: That's right. And what do you got, Kimberly?

[6:04] Kimberly Cooper: I obviously have Ruben and Clay's first annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show.

[6:11] Ben Fankhauser: Of course.

[6:12] Kimberly Cooper: Of course. It's a Broadway hit.

[6:14] Ben Fankhauser: Um, I poured my beer.

[6:16] Kimberly Cooper: You missed out on that one, Ben.

[6:18] Ben Fankhauser: I poured my beer into the Phantom of the Opera cup because my beer needed a mask.

[6:23] Kimberly Cooper: And I'm drinking my beer out of If Then, a new musicale.

[6:27] Bryan Plopski: Whoa. Guys, have you finished the new Kimmy Schmidt season?

[6:30] Ben Fankhauser: I just started it.

[6:31] Kimberly Cooper: There's just running jokes about sliding doors the whole time.

[6:34] Ben Fankhauser: Really?

[6:35] Kimberly Cooper: Oh, and isn't friend of the show James Monroe Iglehart did it?

[6:39] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, yes. Did you finish it?

[6:40] Kimberly Cooper: Yes, I did, obviously.

[6:42] Ben Fankhauser: Also, the whole time, she's writing a book.

[6:44] Kimberly Cooper: But that's your life, so you knew the ending already.

[6:46] Ben Fankhauser: I know. So she's writing a book, and her author name is K.C. Schmidt. And every time it's on there, I'm just like, hey, it's me.

[6:53] Kimberly Cooper: Hey, it's me. And Jay kept forgetting because he forgets that my middle name is now my maiden name.

[6:58] Ben Fankhauser: Right.

[6:58] Kimberly Cooper: And her name is Cougar, right?

[7:01] Ben Fankhauser: Yes, her middle name is Cougar.

[7:02] Kimberly Cooper: My maiden name is Cooper. So she's Kimberly Cooper Schmidt. And on the show, she's Kimberly Cougar Schmidt. So we think I have a stock there.

[7:10] Ben Fankhauser: Well, when she said, I was cut.

[7:12] Kimberly Cooper: And it's Tina Fey?

[7:15] Ben Fankhauser: Listen, girl has high standards.

[7:18] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do. Open invitation to Tina to solve this controversy here on Broadway.

[7:24] Ben Fankhauser: I got so many texts when she said her middle name.

[7:27] Kimberly Cooper: I cut my finger. I was cutting garlic. And I was cutting garlic while watching it, and I heard the name. I looked, and I cut into my finger.

[7:36] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, God.

[7:36] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah.

[7:37] Ben Fankhauser: With the garlic into it? Because that would hurt.

[7:39] Kimberly Cooper: No, no, no. I just missed the garlic. I was like, oh, this looks garlicky.

[7:45] Ben Fankhauser: I think you do.

[7:45] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah, of course. But let's also go into what have you seen this week?

[7:50] Ben Fankhauser: What have you seen this week?

[7:51] Kimberly Cooper: More recently.

[7:52] Bryan Plopski: What have you seen this week is actually brought to you by Goldstar. You can get cheap tickets on Goldstar. Great customer service. Go to goldstar.com backslash broadwaysted.

[7:59] Kevin Jaeger: Hey, that's us.

[8:00] Bryan Plopski: Have you seen anything, Ben?

[8:02] Ben Fankhauser: I saw King Kong last week.

[8:04] Kimberly Cooper: Oh, how was that?

[8:05] Ben Fankhauser: Wonderful. I loved that freaking monkey, man.

[8:10] Kevin Jaeger: It's so cool, right?

[8:11] Ben Fankhauser: It's so fun. Amazing.

[8:14] Kevin Jaeger: Yeah, it's something else. It's spectacular.

[8:16] Ben Fankhauser: I mean, just dollar signs. Ryan and I, when we saw that first moment when she's up in the air and the puppet's first entering, it's legit exciting.

[8:25] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah.

[8:25] Ben Fankhauser: That was very scary. I was really into it.

[8:29] Kevin Jaeger: I agree. Totally.

[8:30] Ben Fankhauser: Because you could feel the bass rumbling literally in your seat any time that the-

[8:34] Kimberly Cooper: Great sound package.

[8:35] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, absolutely. That's also a show where the ensemble is working it from the beginning to the end.

[8:42] Kevin Jaeger: And now we're doing the different dance style and you're just going to dance your face off and then cross the stage and dance your face off again.

[8:49] Ben Fankhauser: Oh my God. I was so impressed with the dancing. So you think you can dance just all the way to the next level.

[8:53] Kevin Jaeger: Yeah.

[8:54] Bryan Plopski: Brian and I got to see a show.

[8:56] Ben Fankhauser: Yes, we did.

[8:57] Kevin Jaeger: We saw Fake East.

[8:59] Bryan Plopski: Just kidding. We saw True West.

[9:02] Ben Fankhauser: I hate you.

[9:02] Kevin Jaeger: I'll leave now.

[9:03] Bryan Plopski: Yeah, we got to see True West, the revival of the Sam Shepard play.

[9:07] Ben Fankhauser: And you had never experienced it before.

[9:08] Bryan Plopski: Correct. I had never heard of it. I called my brother and told my brother I was seeing a new Sam Shepard play. And he goes, that's impossible because he's dead. And I was like, oh, right, great.

[9:20] Ben Fankhauser: So I didn't know much about it.

[9:23] Bryan Plopski: Clearly.

[9:23] Ben Fankhauser: Neither did I. I didn't see it, so I don't know.

[9:26] Bryan Plopski: And I have to be honest, I went into it thinking, oh look, movie stars in a play. Let's see how this goes. Ethan Hawke blew my mind. Not only was he living in reality in the text in the moment, but I found myself breathing when he was breathing, audibly gasping when he was affected. It was just his performance gets into your skin.

[9:50] Ben Fankhauser: And it was so amazing to watch.

[9:52] Bryan Plopski: And the play is so effective even now. And the themes, they're not hitting you over the head with the themes that the play has woven into it. So when you walk out and you have a conversation about it, everything kind of settles and you're just like, oh, wow.

[10:05] Ben Fankhauser: And when you see a Sam Shepard play, you're expecting to see like two dudes sit and talk for two hours. And so like that definitely comes into play a lot. But it's just like, if you really let yourself follow where that conversation leads and like really think about the ramifications of what not only is happening to those characters, but like the commentary they're saying about society and how men act and how they carry themselves in public and out of public, in private, I think it's just so good. It was just really a lovely production. And I really enjoyed it.

[10:34] Kevin Jaeger: Yeah, it's a studio.

[10:37] Ben Fankhauser: No, it's at American Airlines Theater.

[10:39] Bryan Plopski: It's roundabout. So it's a limited production. So definitely worth your time if you're around. Check it out.

[10:43] Ben Fankhauser: Might I say the bar at the American Airlines is one of my favorite theatrical bars.

[10:48] Kimberly Cooper: Why?

[10:49] Ben Fankhauser: It's just like it's up a little bit.

[10:50] Kevin Jaeger: Sure.

[10:50] Ben Fankhauser: And it just feels more like a real bar than most theater bars are stuck in the back because it's been renovated. And there are chairs and stuff up there.

[10:58] Bryan Plopski: We should go for the show, stay for the bar.

[11:02] Kevin Jaeger: We should do a ranking of the bars at some point.

[11:04] Bryan Plopski: Oh, we should.

[11:05] Kevin Jaeger: Oh yeah. The August Wilson obviously comes into play.

[11:07] Bryan Plopski: Yes, definitely.

[11:07] Kevin Jaeger: Has a huge bar.

[11:08] Ben Fankhauser: Tremendous.

[11:10] Kevin Jaeger: The Hudson Bar is gorgeous.

[11:11] Ben Fankhauser: You can bring glassware.

[11:12] Kevin Jaeger: Yes, very exciting.

[11:13] Ben Fankhauser: And the Frozen Rosé, picked specifically by Patti Murin over at the St. James.

[11:18] Kimberly Cooper: Yes.

[11:19] Bryan Plopski: Oh, yes. And again, this segment was brought to you by Gold Star.

[11:22] Ben Fankhauser: Thank you so much. You can get cheap tickets on Gold Star. Go to goldstar.com backslash broadwaysted.

[11:27] Kevin Jaeger: Hey, that's us.

[11:28] Bryan Plopski: Can we ask you some questions?

[11:29] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah.

[11:29] Bryan Plopski: Okay, sure. What's your favorite musical?

[11:33] Ben Fankhauser: Um, oh, boy. Oh, you shuddered.

[11:35] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, that was a hard hitter in the beginning. Because it's such a hard question. It gives me agita to try and think about my favorite musicals.

[11:39] Bryan Plopski: It means that you hate all the other ones when you say your favorite.

[11:41] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[11:42] Bryan Plopski: What's your favorite today?

[11:43] Ben Fankhauser: Um, today? Oh, that's a great way to do that. Um, I've been, uh, an old standard of mine is, um, Into the Woods.

[11:51] Bryan Plopski: Sure. Love it.

[11:52] Ben Fankhauser: Also Sunday in the Park with George. They're like on par for me. I just think they're they like make me weep. And they're amazing. And also Floyd Collins.

[12:02] Kimberly Cooper: Yes.

[12:02] Ben Fankhauser: So good. Don't sleep on Floyd Collins.

[12:05] Kimberly Cooper: I was listening to it a couple days ago.

[12:06] Ben Fankhauser: My God.

[12:07] Kimberly Cooper: Yeah. I've never listened all the way through it. And it's Jay's favorite.

[12:10] Ben Fankhauser: I have the album.

[12:10] Kimberly Cooper: Do you guys have the album?

[12:11] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, I do.

[12:12] Kimberly Cooper: I'm sure we do.

[12:14] Ben Fankhauser: And so I think at one point Jay's gonna like sit me down with a bottle of wine and just listen through Floyd Collins with me. And I was like, okay, we'll cry.

[12:20] Kimberly Cooper: Have you covered how Glory goes at like some event or something?

[12:23] Ben Fankhauser: Publicly.

[12:24] Kimberly Cooper: Okay. Just in my own shower.

[12:27] Ben Fankhauser: Did you see it at Ithaca College?

[12:28] Ben Fankhauser: I did see it at Ithaca College.

[12:30] Kimberly Cooper: And it wrecked me.

[12:32] Ben Fankhauser: It was fantastic.

[12:33] Bryan Plopski: What were you in Ithaca?

[12:38] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, boy. Let's see. I was in Chicago. The musical for Roxy.

[12:43] Bryan Plopski: I was rocking.

[12:46] Ben Fankhauser: You really got to kick my face there.

[12:47] Bryan Plopski: No, I played. Okay. I played the emcee. And they send you to get your haircuts like right before tech starts.

[12:53] Ben Fankhauser: And they usually give you a...

[12:55] Bryan Plopski: They send you to get haircuts?

[12:58] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, they're like, if you need a haircut, and if they're like wigging you.

[13:02] Bryan Plopski: Yeah, for like, for time period.

[13:03] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, yeah, right. Exactly. So they sent me with like a reference picture of like some soldier from the 30s or something like that.

[14:16] Ben Fankhauser: And like I have to ask them for a hat, maybe they're gonna have to, you know, the designer's gonna have to come up with something. It was the first time you wore a Newsies cap. And then the rest is history. No, exactly. So yeah, all that to say, I did Chicago, I did Metamorphoses, Mary Zinman's Metamorphoses. Was there a pool on stage? There was a freaking pool on stage. Yes! You can't do that show without a pool. I mean, you can't. Right. You can. It is not a good production. No, no, no. It was crazy. There was a leak in the basement because of the pool on stage. Yeah, obviously. And I did my freshman year, I did Midsummer Night's Dream and I did A New Brain. Oh yeah, for sure. I love A New Brain.

Such a good show. My favorites. Good choices. Yeah, thank you so much. Well done. But my favorite production was Floyd Collins because it was just so heartbreaking and I guess we're not gonna see the production again, but they did this thing when he, spoiler alert, dies. He sings this song about dying and he's got all these questions. Is it warm? Is my mother gonna be there? All this really heartbreaking stuff. And he gets up from where he's been sitting the whole show. He's trapped in a cave the whole show. And he gets up from where he's been sitting and all of a sudden, the floor is these wooden slats and all of a sudden there's this glorious light come beaming through the wooden slats as he walks into the abyss.

And I like lost it. It was... Yes, lighting designers! Yeah, right. Ryan, was that while you were there or was that after you left? That was after I left. But you guys went back to see it? I didn't. Jay did. Maybe. We need to put Floyd Collins back into the musical theater zeitgeist. I agree. Yeah. We do. Also just like get on more Adam Gettl stuff. That's for sure. A thousand percent. Yeah, right? We need something. Let's Gettl it out there. Oh my god, a Piazza revival. A Piazza revival, a Floyd Collins revival, just a concert of Mitz and him somewhere. Oh yeah. In between. Oh my god, it's so good. You can see one of the shows in the matinee. You go to a... Go to 54th Street. Wait, it's all at Roundabout. So you do... Off-Broadway, you do Floyd Collins. No, no, no. You do Floyd Collins at the American Airlines. You go up to the bar for a cabaret.

[16:36] Ben Fankhauser: Do they change the stage and then you go back in and watch? Yeah, I love it. It's in rep. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Daily rep. And then it's like Gettl. This sounds financially feasible. It's a stripped down production. Mitz and him, full budget. Do you have a favorite experience seeing a show?

[16:56] Ben Fankhauser: Oh god, this is so lame, I think. Well, no, it's not. But I saw that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and I had a really wonderful experience because I'm a Harry Potter fan and because I just thought it was astounding what was happening in front of me on the stage. Not only the magical world, but I just thought the themes in that show were so stage worthy. What it's like, what it is to have friends or to lose friends or to lose loved ones or to gain loved ones, et cetera, et cetera. So that's in recent memory, I guess. And the Floyd Collins, of course.

[17:32] Bryan: My obvious follow-up question is what house are you?

[17:36] Ben Fankhauser: I mean, I don't want to say. I mean, maybe I'm a Gryffindor. I don't know. I don't want to brag or anything. No, I don't know. I haven't thought too much about it. Have you taken the quiz?

[17:48] Ben Fankhauser: I haven't. The Pottermore quiz? Yeah, I think it's wrong, but.

[17:51] Kevin: What are you?

[17:54] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, because I took the Pottermore quiz and they didn't agree.

[17:56] Kimberly: No, I'm a Slytherin. She's a Slytherin.

[17:57] Ben Fankhauser: Slytherin. Yeah, she's bad.

[17:57] Kimberly: What would the Sorting Hat put you in at like 11 years old? Not necessarily what you are now.

[18:01] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, at 11. Right.

[18:02] Kimberly: Because that's when you'd be going to Sweet Sweet Hoggy.

[18:05] Ben Fankhauser: What is it like the difference between?

[18:10] Kimberly: Gross. Gross. So like Gryffindor is like.

[18:12] Ben Fankhauser: You're saying Hogwarts is less gross?

[18:12] Kimberly: Yes.

[18:16] Ben Fankhauser: Sweet Sweet Hoggy.

[18:19] Kimberly: Yeah, that's what it was. It was the double sweet that just made me grossed out.

[18:19] Ben Fankhauser: So Gryffindor basically means you're like a popular cool kid who's smart and brave. Ravenclaw kids are like the smart nerd kids. The Hufflepuffs are just like the kid that will give you a hug and likes plants and shit. And then like the Slytherin kids are ones who will like trip you and be mean, but like they might not be bad, but they probably are.

[18:39] Ben Fankhauser: Right. They just have a lot of ambition. And you know, sometimes you make difficult decisions getting to what you want when you're 11.

[18:51] Kimberly: Killing people happens when you're 11.

[18:52] Ben Fankhauser: Look, man, that's a tough one. From when I was 11, I was probably a nerd. So I was probably a Ravenclaw.

[19:01] Kimberly: All right. Okay.

[19:02] Ben Fankhauser: Ravenclaw Hufflepuff mix.

[19:04] Kimberly: Yeah, like a Ravenclaw Hufflepuff rising.

[19:06] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, right. Exactly. Yes.

[19:09] Kimberly: Do you remember your first Broadway show?

[19:12] Ben Fankhauser: It was Annie Get Your Gun starring Reba McIntyre.

[19:16] Kimberly: Yeah.

[19:18] Ben Fankhauser: Not even, I miss Bernadette by this much.

[19:20] Kimberly: Oh, but you got Reba.

[19:22] Ben Fankhauser: But I got Reba and it was miraculous. And I remember there's like a bunch of kids in Annie Get Your Gun. And I remember, I was, I was, I was like, must've been 12 or something. And I remember thinking like.

[19:31] Ben Fankhauser: Put me in coach.

[19:32] Kimberly: Yeah, exactly. Just leaping out of the mezzanine.

[19:36] Ben Fankhauser: I'm like, yeah, yeah.

[19:37] Kimberly: That's really cool.

[19:38] Ben Fankhauser: I can do anything better than that kid.

[19:40] Kimberly: Yeah, exactly. You're not real. You're in the stage door.

[19:42] Ben Fankhauser: You just like knock a kid over. Everyone's waiting for autographs. I'm sitting there, arms crossed.

[19:48] Kimberly: No, you can't.

[19:49] Ben Fankhauser: Ready to show girls your way into the show.

[19:52] Kimberly: Exactly.

[19:53] Ben Fankhauser: Again, I implore you to watch the latest episodes of Kimmy Schmidt.

[19:57] Kimberly: Okay.

[19:57] Ben Fankhauser: Same thing happens.

[19:58] Kimberly: Do they refer to showgirls?

[19:59] Ben Fankhauser: No, but there is an impulse to jump on stage during a Broadway show.

[20:02] Kimberly: Great.

[20:03] Ben Fankhauser: Everyone should refer to showgirls.

[20:05] Kimberly: Yeah, I agree. I agree.

[20:06] Bryan: Before we talk newsies and beautiful, let's, uh, let's play a game.

[20:10] Ben Fankhauser: Let's do it.

[20:11] Bryan: Great. Um, let's play the normal one first.

[20:15] Ben Fankhauser: Okay.

[20:16] Bryan: Well, we'll get there to the brainy one.

[20:19] Ben Fankhauser: Okay.

[20:20] Bryan: It'll be more fun.

[20:21] Ben Fankhauser: What a game master.

[20:22] Bryan: Am I right?

[20:23] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, thanks.

[20:23] Bryan: That's a callback.

[20:25] Ben Fankhauser: To every episode?

[20:27] Bryan: Yeah.

[20:29] Ben Fankhauser: So I have a game of plot points in my hand.

[20:31] Bryan: Awesome.

[20:31] Ben Fankhauser: Plot points is when you take the plot of something and you sing it to the tune of something else, and then we have to guess what song you're singing and what plot you're giving us.

[20:41] Bryan: Okay.

[20:42] Ben Fankhauser: So today I have some typical tenor musical theater songs that you may have heard a million times.

[20:48] Bryan: Great.

[20:49] Ben Fankhauser: And I have, um, 90s kids shows.

[20:52] Bryan: Love it.

[20:53] Ben Fankhauser: Great.

[20:55] Bryan: Uh, Kevin, wanna go first?

[20:56] Kevin: Sure.

[20:58] Ben Fankhauser: So I was, I mean, I wasn't really alive in the 90s, so like...

[21:01] Bryan: Oh, you're so young.

[21:02] Kevin: I'm so young and hot.

[21:02] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, bells, yes.

[21:04] Bryan: Ring in if you know.

[21:05] Ben Fankhauser: Okay.

[21:06] Kevin: We are school kids and we all have a break where we go outside and play together.

[21:16] Ben Fankhauser: Okay, it's Recess and One Song Glory.

[21:19] Kevin: Yeah.

[21:22] Ben Fankhauser: Oh my god.

[21:23] Kevin: All right, I'll go.

[21:25] Ben Fankhauser: I almost did my Roger impression, but I thought it would make it really hard.

[21:27] Kevin: Oh, I would.

[21:28] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, yeah.

[21:29] Kevin: Go do it now.

[21:30] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, he's, what song?

[21:32] Kevin: One Song Glory as Mandy Patinkin.

[21:37] Ben Fankhauser: Oh my word.

[21:38] Kevin: One song, glory, one song before I go, glory.

[21:46] Ben Fankhauser: All right.

[21:48] Kevin: It's so good.

[21:48] Ben Fankhauser: It's just you do your falsetto, but you add an extra like shake of the head.

[21:51] Kevin: Yes, you do.

[21:55] Ben Fankhauser: Ready?

[21:56] Kevin: I'm ready.

[21:57] Ben Fankhauser: Because I'm young in the Philadelphia suburbs.

[22:01] Kevin: Yes, I'm young in the Philly suburbs.

[22:05] Ben Fankhauser: It's Lost in the Wilderness.

[22:07] Kevin: Yes.

[22:08] Ben Fankhauser: Lost in the Wilderness.

[22:09] Kevin: And Prince of Bel...

[22:11] Ben Fankhauser: No, no.

[22:12] Kevin: No, you can say, yeah, you say whatever you want.

[22:13] Ben Fankhauser: But that's wrong.

[22:14] Kevin: That's wrong.

[22:16] Ben Fankhauser: Philly suburbs.

[22:18] Kevin: Yeah.

[22:19] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah.

[22:19] Kevin: And my...

[22:20] Ben Fankhauser: I don't think a lot of people know that that takes place in Philly.

[22:22] Kevin: Oh, maybe, yeah, sure.

[22:23] Ben Fankhauser: But I know what it is, but I wrote it down, so I won't guess.

[22:24] Kevin: Fair, fair.

[22:25] Ben Fankhauser: Because I'm young and my next door neighbor is my teacher who I love so much.

[22:30] Kevin: Oh my God.

[22:31] Ben Fankhauser: Boy Meets World?

[22:31] Kevin: Yes, there it is.

[22:32] Ben Fankhauser: Feeney!

[22:34] Kevin: Mr. Feeney.

[22:35] Ben Fankhauser: I'll never forget when Mr. Feeney walked out on them in the classroom.

[22:39] Kevin: That was like the most epic episode ever.

[22:40] Ben Fankhauser: He's like, no, this time I'm walking out on you.

[22:43] Kevin: Yeah.

[22:43] Ben Fankhauser: And I was like, oh, God, he hates him.

[22:45] Kevin: Feeney!

[22:46] Ben Fankhauser: I still have nightmares about the Halloween episode where Feeney got stabbed in the back with scissors.

[22:50] Kevin: Yes.

[22:51] Ben Fankhauser: Those big kind of creepy scissors, I can't touch.

[22:53] Kevin: Totally.

[22:54] Ben Fankhauser: That's some sheer madness stuff right there.

[22:56] Kevin: Eric's so hot.

[22:57] Ben Fankhauser: OK, moving on.

[22:58] Kevin: I mean, you're right.

[22:59] Ben Fankhauser: He was really attractive.

[23:00] Kevin: My Date with the President's Daughter?

[23:01] Ben Fankhauser: Come on.

[23:02] Kevin: Yes, please.

[23:02] Ben Fankhauser: With Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

[23:04] Kevin: The Adventures in Wonderland.

[23:05] Ben Fankhauser: Let's see.

[23:06] Kevin: OK.

[23:07] Ben Fankhauser: Got my sister and my best friend, Beans, and I'm causing a muck with my silly pranks.

[23:17] Kevin: So it's All I Need is the Girl.

[23:19] Ben Fankhauser: Oh my God.

[23:20] Kevin: It's, um, it's...

[23:21] Ben Fankhauser: Bells!

[23:21] Kevin: Oh, All I Need is the Girl.

[23:23] Ben Fankhauser: Damn it.

[23:24] Kevin: And the show is, uh, Evan Stevens?

[23:25] Ben Fankhauser: That's right.

[23:26] Kevin: Yes!

[23:26] Ben Fankhauser: It was Beans.

[23:28] Kevin: It was Beans.

[23:28] Ben Fankhauser: I would not have remembered his name.

[23:31] Kevin: That was an Evan Stevens deep cut.

[23:33] Ben Fankhauser: Do you remember when he was sweet and innocent and we all still liked him?

[23:36] Kevin: I still like him.

[23:37] Ben Fankhauser: Did you see a video of him, like, trying to psych you up?

[23:39] Kevin: Yes.

[23:40] Ben Fankhauser: And being like, just do it!

[23:41] Kevin: Do you remember when he did a live stream of him watching his entire filmography?

[23:45] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[23:45] Kevin: I watched it multiple times for long periods of time.

[23:48] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[23:49] Kevin: No.

[23:49] Ben Fankhauser: And he had a schedule.

[23:50] Kevin: Like, if you tune in at this time, he'll be watching Transformers 2 or whatever.

[23:53] Ben Fankhauser: What about Charlie's Angels 3?

[23:55] Kevin: No, he did all of them.

[23:56] Ben Fankhauser: Charlie's Angels Full Throttle?

[23:58] Kevin: That's the second one.

[23:58] Ben Fankhauser: Wasn't he in that one?

[23:59] Kevin: Oh, okay.

[23:59] Ben Fankhauser: Sorry.

[23:59] Kevin: Oh, that's why I get confused.

[24:03] Ben Fankhauser: Weren't there three?

[24:04] Kevin: Oh, they're making another one right now.

[24:05] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, okay.

[24:07] Kevin: He's probably still in it.

[24:08] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah.

[24:08] Kevin: Cool.

[24:09] Ben Fankhauser: Probably not.

[24:11] Kevin: Holes.

[24:12] Ben Fankhauser: I just wanted to say holes.

[24:13] Kevin: Yes, I love that.

[24:14] Ben Fankhauser: A real girl and her cartoon go to middle school with their friends.

[24:22] Kevin: In the movie, they go to Italy.

[24:25] Ben Fankhauser: She's mistaken for a pop star and...

[24:27] Kevin: I know the show, but I don't know the song.

[24:29] Ben Fankhauser: I don't either.

[24:31] Kevin: Lizzie McGuire.

[24:32] Ben Fankhauser: Yes!

[24:32] Kevin: Da, da, da, da!

[24:34] Ben Fankhauser: The Y Guide!

[24:35] Kevin: Yes!

[24:39] Ben Fankhauser: Yes!

[24:40] Kevin: So good.

[24:42] Ben Fankhauser: That's the same song I had before.

[24:43] Kevin: You picked your same one.

[24:44] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, right.

[24:48] Kevin: Everyone here is animals.

[24:50] Ben Fankhauser: Most of them all are ducks.

[24:53] Kevin: We fly in planes and that's the thing we like to do.

[24:57] Ben Fankhauser: It's...

[24:57] Kevin: Oh, wait, no, they don't fly in planes.

[24:59] Ben Fankhauser: That's the wrong show.

[25:00] Kevin: Right?

[25:01] Ben Fankhauser: I know the song.

[25:02] Kevin: It's Corner of the Sky.

[25:04] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[25:06] Kevin: But, like, Tailspin?

[25:07] Ben Fankhauser: DuckTales?

[25:08] Kevin: That's what I thought.

[25:08] Ben Fankhauser: I think I described Tailspin, but it was actually DuckTales.

[25:13] Kevin: You were like, they're ducks and they fly!

[25:15] Ben Fankhauser: Because at first I was like, he's a superhero.

[25:17] Kevin: And then I was like, no, that's...

[25:18] Ben Fankhauser: What was the superhero duck?

[25:20] Kevin: Darkwing.

[25:21] Ben Fankhauser: Darkwing Duck.

[25:22] Kevin: I have a poster from Comic-Con in my room.

[25:26] Ben Fankhauser: It's the Obama Hope poster.

[25:28] Kevin: But it's Darkwing Duck and it says dangerous in the bottom.

[25:32] Ben Fankhauser: You're a nerd.

[25:34] Kevin: Yeah.

[25:34] Ben Fankhauser: Do you know all the DuckTales lyrics?

[25:37] Kevin: I don't know.

[25:37] Ben Fankhauser: I just know Jade knows them all.

[25:39] Kevin: And I have a secret.

[25:39] Ben Fankhauser: I've never seen DuckTales.

[25:41] Kevin: What?

[25:45] Ben Fankhauser: Great.

[25:45] Kevin: We're in this together already.

[25:46] Ben Fankhauser: You've never seen DuckTales?

[25:47] Kevin: I haven't.

[25:48] Ben Fankhauser: Really?

[25:48] Kevin: I missed that one.

[25:48] Ben Fankhauser: The new one's actually very good.

[25:50] Kevin: I think we're just young enough.

[25:50] Ben Fankhauser: Because we're the same age, right?

[25:51] Kevin: Life is like a hurricane.

[25:52] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, wait, did you have a Disney channel as a kid? Because that could affect it.

[25:54] Kevin: Yeah, me too.

[25:55] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, wait, is he your...

[25:56] Kevin: Race cars, lasers, airplanes.

[25:58] Ben Fankhauser: You're a little young.

[25:58] Kevin: I missed it, maybe, but I just...

[25:59] Ben Fankhauser: You're a little young.

[26:00] Kevin: Cool.

[26:01] Ben Fankhauser: Thank you for saying that.

[26:02] Kevin: You're welcome.

[26:03] Ben Fankhauser: That was in the background.

[26:04] Kevin: That was just like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[26:06] Ben Fankhauser: And that was Plot Points?

[26:07] Kevin: That was Plot Points.

[26:08] Ben Fankhauser: That was good.

[26:11] Bryan: So let's talk to us about some newsies, if you don't mind.

[26:13] Ben Fankhauser: Please.

[26:14] Bryan: So you originated the role of Davey.

[26:16] Ben Fankhauser: I did.

[26:16] Bryan: Which is like crazy.

[26:17] Ben Fankhauser: Crazy.

[26:18] Bryan: Crazy Davey.

[26:19] Ben Fankhauser: That's what everyone called him.

[26:22] Bryan: So looking back on it now, you did the show. Were you in the full run?

[26:25] Ben Fankhauser: The full run.

[26:26] Bryan: Start to finish.

[26:28] Ben Fankhauser: So you did the...

[26:32] Ben Fankhauser: That's right. Um, talk about like after all of that and the madness and the whirlwind of the experience it probably was. Do you remember the audition process and like leading up to it?

[26:45] Bryan: Yeah. Because that was your Broadway debut.

[26:48] Ben Fankhauser: My Broadway debut. Well, first of all, I was auditioning for a production in Paper Mill, like a regional production that wasn't going to Broadway that they were developing, developing it for licensing. So they were just trying to put together a production that would be viable to send out to all the schools because there was this untapped market because, you know, people were doing illegal productions of it. Yeah. And kids want anything. It's musicals about unions.

[27:14] Bryan: Yeah, exactly. No people.

[27:20] Ben Fankhauser: Um, yeah, exactly. No. Okay. I'll tell you about my audition process because it was ridiculous. I was the last person cast I found out after my audition. I had two auditions, which is like that never happens. Usually you have to go through a barbaric, two total. Wait. Yeah. Two total. It's usually like our barbaric number, like six or like over months and years. Um, Spring Awakening, I didn't, I auditioned for like three years before I got cast in that show, like off and on, but that one. So I had just graduated. I, um, I was able to get an audition because I had an audition, I think for, um, the Adams Family national tour, which I wasn't, it was cast by the same casting director. I wasn't right for that.

And that's why I got in to go for Newsies. I wasn't able to get in any other way. Um, I had one audition. They asked me to come back a couple hours later and dance. I was in a small group of like actor dancers, like movers, which was really lucky for me. I would have not survived. You got to do the Newsies leap. My God. Can you imagine those boys were saying a different story and join them. Yeah, I did. And then I hurt myself. I did. I like didn't do any dancing in the Paper Mill and between Paper Mill and Broadway, I went to Chris Catelli, like in rehearsals for Broadway. And I was like, I've been working on this eight count. Please let me join this eight count in the dance break of Seize the Day.

And he put me like in the back left corner, but you did it, but I did it. God bless it. Yeah. Um, so then, yeah, I had one audition and then I danced and then they called me like at, I remember it being like bizarrely late, like eight o'clock or nine o'clock being like, can you come back tomorrow morning at 10 probably like first thing. Sure. And I was like, yeah. So then I did it. And Jeremy was in the room reading with me and Jeremy Jordan. Tony losing actor. And I, uh, I remember thinking like, oh, Jeremy works at Telsey as a reader. This is brilliant. I've got to get myself a side job as a reader. Like, oh my God. And I just didn't put together or even like think that he was Jack Kelly and we were doing a chemistry read.

I was just like, oh, they just, they need readers are really good actors. And so, um, I, you know what I mean? I, so I have my audition. I think there were like two or two guys, two other guys there for it. Um, I had my audition that like the room, you know, there was Harvey Fierstein and Alan Menken and Tom Schumacher and everyone. You can imagine like a big, scary room. Yeah. And Jeremy, the reader, Jeremy, the reader, and then, um, I remember it was at the old Telsey, uh, office. So they were having an audition when they were doing Rent off Broadway next door. So I did my audition. I went out of the, um, studio. I did like a step pivot and signed myself up for the Rent EPA. Cause I was like, we're trying to get jobs here.

So I waited in line for like an extra hour and then saying 16 bars for the Rent thing. And then, um, and then I got a call a couple hours later that I got it. Right. Yeah. 11th hour poll. Like that casting director was just like, we found it. Yeah, exactly. That's awesome. Yeah. It made all my other auditionings after that's just terrible. Like you're like another audition, five auditions. Exactly. So you go through all of that and it's an incredible run and then you get the call to do the Netflix special. What was filming that?

[31:01] Ben Fankhauser: Um, really crazy, really crazy because we, we shot the whole thing in a week and we hadn't done it in years. I hadn't done it in years and maybe like a year, maybe years. Okay. And, um, I, it was so funny cause it just kept, it came back to me like riding a bike, you know, at first I was looking at the script cause I was doing Beautiful at the time. So I'm playing like this adult man, you know, and like looking at my dad's, you know, injured or whatever his lines are. And then I'm looking at the script going like, okay, I sort of remember this, but with total fresh eyes going, you know what? Maybe I'm not going to do this this time. Maybe I'll do something else. And then, um, I get there and the show, the tour is doing eight shows a week at night and they're rehearsing me in like by myself in a studio during the day.

So I'm like rehearsing, rehearsing with the dance captain, like maybe another guy. And it's definitely, I remember the first day Jeremy flew in and you were like, Oh, he's reading for me again. He's that good of a reader. They fly him, fly him everywhere. No business like show business. And uh, yeah, you know, we just, we started rehearsing it and I remember we were doing one of the scenes with our scripts in our hands and there was like a moment when we just started getting into it and this, we didn't have to look at our scripts anymore and it just kind of like blossomed back to life. And then it was really cool. The shooting of it was really hard because we would shoot this like, you know, like a 10 minute musical segment complete with like costume changes and set changes and people just like dancing their faces off and singing their butts off.

And then we would like cut and reset and do that like eight times in a row. So it really looks like they just shot a single performance. So well, we did it to the editor. Yes. Yes. We did do, in all fairness, we did do a single performance and a lot of that footage is from the single performance. However, we didn't have a run through before the one single performance. You know what I mean? We were like rehearsing and putting things together. Like for example, there were some shots where like the cameras on stage. So like we didn't do that in the run through because we had to like rebuild, fully reblock and move furniture and stuff like that for that, for those closeups, which I'm really glad because those closeups, I think like make the storytelling like a whole new thing.

It's so cool. Uh, but for the live show, yeah, we didn't do a run through or anything. We just, it was like a wing and a prayer. You know what I mean? And the audience was so great and supportive and higher energy. Was your eight count still in it? Did you get to dance your eight count?

[33:22] Ben Fankhauser: I decided to take a moment away from that. Here's the real question on the national tour. Did Davey do the eight count? I don't. Or did he sit it out? I don't think so. So sorry to anyone who played Davey if you did do the eight count, but I don't think I remember saying, yeah, there was like, you know, there's like once you did it, they were like, we just can't have another Davey do this. Yeah. They're like, you left his mark on it. Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah. No, but there's, you see the moment where like Davey and Jack are like front and center leading the strike and then they quickly run off to either side of the stage and then the real dancers come forward. It was so good. This is my favorite thing to watch in like old musicals and I was just like, oh, it's like a dancing course and a singing course. And when you watch the Netflix thing, you're like, oh, look, Jeremy clicked his heels. Oh, wait, that kid clicked his heels 12 times. Exactly. Exactly.

[34:20] Bryan: So moving on from that, we'll talk for Beautiful for a second, because then we're actually going to take you somewhere. Yeah. But you went on tour with Beautiful. How long were you on tour?

[34:31] Ben Fankhauser: I was on tour for two years.

[34:36] Bryan: What is that like?

[34:36] Ben Fankhauser: Two years. I saw you in Philadelphia. When was that?

[34:42] Bryan: That's right. That was in the, probably like the middle of the first year.

[34:46] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, okay. So you're great.

[34:46] Bryan: Thank you so much. There was a very loud phone ringing next to me the whole time.

[34:51] Ben Fankhauser: Not surprised. I was going to say there was a very loud grandmother singing next to me. Both. Which tends to happen at Beautiful. Yeah, they were behind a gentleman next to me. His phone kept ringing and then his wife finally went, just leave. Just leave. Get out.

[34:58] Bryan: I love that. What was that like for two whole years, bringing that to city to city to city and just not having a home base?

[35:05] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah. Obviously the biggest challenge was what you just said. But I love touring because of what you just said. I love bringing Broadway to middle America. I loved my time in Beautiful because people really love Carole King. It is amazing. She's amazing. And especially like the baby boomers, they would like take me by the face or the shoulders after the show and be like, you don't understand. This is my music. And I would hear that from just hundreds of people. Like this is my music. And so that was really special to feel like I was part of a show that was connecting people so deeply while still being a musical comedy and not like this, you know, like heavy show. Yeah. And singing great music.

But yeah, two years is a really long time and we were doing great. So we didn't have layoffs or, you know, I'd had, you know, a week of vacation every six months. Oh, cool. So it was pretty brutal in that sense. However, the first year we did, we got to sit down in Chicago for three months. Oh, LA for six weeks. You know, Philly, we were probably there for two or three weeks. So yeah. So it didn't feel like that sort of hustle, you know, like every other night you're in a different city. So you could still like sign up for a Rent EPA if you needed to. Boy, did I. And they can fly you into Reed for anybody. I did a lot of that while I was on the road just to earn extra money. Yeah. And no, but yeah, I love being on the road. I love traveling and getting the zeitgeist of a different city. And I loved it. But it was, you know, it was bizarre to be away for so long.

[36:42] Bryan: Did you get to play in Cleveland?

[36:46] Ben Fankhauser: I did for three weeks. That's probably really awesome.

[36:50] Bryan: It was awesome. And Cleveland's home for you, right?

[36:50] Ben Fankhauser: Yep. I'm from Cleveland. And my choir teacher came. I was going to say teachers and stuff. Oh, my God. It was and I lived at the Woodworks. Right. Yeah. Oh yeah. And I took my whole cast on a day off. I rented out this school bus that had been gutted and made into like a limousine kind of. And I took everyone who was I was staying at home in the suburbs. Everyone was staying at a hotel downtown. And I took everyone on the bus to the suburbs, catered in barbecue and had like showed them like a little piece of Cleveland. It was that's awesome. It was a highlight. Sure. Yeah. Well, you got on that. You got put your co stars on that bus to go to the suburbs. We're going to take you somewhere else. We are. Oh, boy. Yeah. You ready?

[37:29] Kevin: Yeah. Tuesday's in the corner with Kevin's corner. Welcome to Kevin's corner, Ben, where I have three highly researched questions that start out with the research I did about you on the website, famous birthdays dot com. So we'll we'll see what what we come up with and what you have to say about these things.

[37:51] Ben Fankhauser: So according to the website, famous birthdays dot com, one of your first roles as an actor was in the makeshift production of Newsies as Crutchie when you were a child in a theater daycare.

[38:01] Kevin: I love makeshift. That's what it said. It said makeshift. And then the website actually says that you're connected to Andrew Campbell because you played the same role.

[38:12] Ben Fankhauser: We are connected. Yeah. No other way. No Broadway show together. Yeah. Because you shared the role of friends went to. Yeah, none of that. But just that. Yeah. So you did it in a theater daycare. Was that in Cleveland?

[38:24] Ben Fankhauser: That was in Cleveland at Stagecrafters day camp. I was in fifth grade or something. Maybe I had again a buzz cut. Buzz cuts come back to haunt.

[38:34] Kevin: And it was like a it was what's it called when you take dictation? You know, it was like dictated straight from the movie. And there were like there was like Jack Kelly and his like six best friends who like sort of like spoke all his dialogue with him. Right. You can give every kid a group. Yep. Like I was Crutchie and maybe had like two friends, you know, do other like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love the device of using like third person, like if you have like Ariel and I can get a makeshift production and her two friends.

Yep. One of them is like up where she walks up where she runs. And then I was like up where I stay. I love that device. I want to do that to every solo ever ever created for three. Right. Right. We used to do it in Newsies for Jack Kelly's bow. It'd be like da da da, which is Santa Fe. And we'd all under our breath go Santa Fe, his old friend. And his whole life dream. Oh, so many newsies. So Cape Cope, Camp Cope.

[39:49] Bryan: So my question is, what is your favorite, your current favorite music to bop to on the subway during your NYC commutes?

[39:52] Ben Fankhauser: Um, let me think here. To travel across the field? Yes. I have been enjoying the new Ariana Grande.

[40:01] Bryan: Oh yeah.

[40:02] Ben Fankhauser: From Thank U, Next to The Seven Rings. She's real good.

[40:07] Kevin: Yeah.

[40:08] Ben Fankhauser: Um, I also enjoy, uh, my fair share of gospel music, bizarrely.

[40:12] Bryan: I was going to say My Fair Lady. Love My Fair Lady. One of my favorite bops.

[40:16] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah. Get me to the church on time.

[40:18] Kevin: And, um, yeah. So that's kind of what I listen to on the subway.

[40:22] Bryan: Nice. Not really religious. Is that where you learned, like, your riffing style?

[40:26] Ben Fankhauser: I do think. I do think. From, like, gospel music and stuff like that?

[40:30] Bryan: Yeah. Just soulful. It's, you know, it's got a lot, it's got some similarities with musical theater, you know, like the belting to the high heavens.

[40:36] Ben Fankhauser: There's, like, beautiful vocal texture, like a nice vibrato in it.

[40:39] Kevin: Yeah. Beautiful harmonies, exciting arrangements.

[40:42] Ben Fankhauser: Totally. A lot of similarities there. All about it.

[40:45] Bryan: What was all that math business?

[40:46] Ben Fankhauser: I don't know. We just got lost in a weird Wikipedia hole for a bit. I was like, I don't know what that means, but I'm going to write it down. So here's question two.

[40:52] Bryan: According to the website, famousbirthdays.com, you are the number 14 on the list of popular celebrities born in Switzerland since you were originally born in Zurich. Can you imagine?

[40:58] Ben Fankhauser: Number 14.

[40:59] Bryan: You are currently behind number one, Kat Graham from Vampire Diaries.

[41:02] Ben Fankhauser: Uh-huh.

[41:03] Bryan: Number two, tennis star Roger Federer.

[41:05] Ben Fankhauser: Uh-huh.

[41:06] Bryan: A long list of YouTube and then, yeah.

[41:08] Ben Fankhauser: That's crazy.

[41:09] Bryan: And then a long list of YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok stars.

[41:12] Ben Fankhauser: Sure. Okay, I have so many, keep going, I have so many followers.

[41:16] Kevin: Right. TikTok Bitches is the first episode of the seventh season of the Freeform mystery drama television series Pretty Little Liars, in which the liars and company find themselves caught by a trap set by A, who kidnapped Hannah and held her captive, while Mary begins to settle into Rosewood, and Elliot continues to attempt to keep Allison trapped inside the psychiatric hospital.

[41:30] Ben Fankhauser: Of course.

[41:31] Kevin: Yeah, it's a lot.

[41:32] Ben Fankhauser: Sure, yeah. What a season.

[41:34] Bryan: ER was crazy, right?

[41:35] Kevin: ER was a medical television drama set in a hospital that had lots of actors on the show. Actors sometimes, if they're great and lucky, win Academy Awards.

[41:41] Ben Fankhauser: So my question is, which Broadway stars would you cast in these Academy Award winning roles if the movies were being adapted into Broadway musicals?

[41:46] Kevin: Okay. I love ER. The first one is Abraham Lincoln from Lincoln, who was originally Daniel Day Lewis, who won in 2012.

[41:52] Ben Fankhauser: Ooh. So who would you cast as Lincoln?

[41:54] Kevin: Maybe like a Norbert Leo Butz?

[41:56] Ben Fankhauser: Is that one?

[41:57] Kevin: Okay. Short Lincoln, I'm down with that.

[41:59] Ben Fankhauser: Isn't he short? Isn't he like famously short?

[42:01] Kevin: Famously tall.

[42:02] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, famously tall. But we're making a choice.

[42:04] Kevin: I don't know. Everyone is taller than Lincoln.

[42:06] Ben Fankhauser: Or you just use Norbert Leo Butz as a benchmark, and then you just cast a lot of short people with him.

[42:10] Kevin: Sure. I'm down with that.

[42:11] Ben Fankhauser: Sure. The next one is Joy Newsome from Room, who is Brie Larson.

[42:15] Kevin: Did you say movie Room?

[42:16] Ben Fankhauser: So good.

[42:17] Kevin: Who's a badass woman?

[42:18] Ben Fankhauser: A badass woman. But younger.

[42:20] Kevin: Yes. Yes.

[42:21] Ben Fankhauser: Oh. Like your contemporary.

[42:23] Kevin: It's about a woman who's kidnapped and locked in a room and then gets out.

[42:26] Ben Fankhauser: Sure. Bottom line.

[42:27] Kevin: Sure. I know a lot of badass bitches. Maybe like a Jen Colella. She's like kind of badass.

[42:32] Ben Fankhauser: I would see Jen Colella in Room.

[42:34] Kevin: I'll still do anything.

[42:35] Ben Fankhauser: I mean, yeah, definitely. Maximus Decimus Meridius. The Gladiator. Russell Crowe.

[42:40] Kevin: Maybe Jeremy Jordan.

[42:41] Ben Fankhauser: Right? Jeremy the Reader Jordan.

[42:43] Kevin: Yeah, I can see that. I'm down.

[42:45] Ben Fankhauser: I gotta have it come in and read first.

[42:47] Kevin: And the last one is Nina Sayers from Black Swan, the Natalie Portman part.

[42:51] Ben Fankhauser: That would be a really good show on Broadway.

[42:53] Kevin: That could be dark as hell. I'd love it.

[42:55] Ben Fankhauser: And get like some like, like center stage style, like ballet dance. I'd be all over it.

[42:59] Kevin: Maybe like one of the girls from Mean Girls, maybe like an Ashley Park or something as like a...

[43:04] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, I'm all about that. I love that.

[43:06] Kevin: And that brings us to question three.

[43:08] Ben Fankhauser: Okay. According to FamousBirthdays.com, you are best known for your Broadway debut as Davian Newsies. But you are also—and they capitalize also—very popular by starring as Ernst in the first national tour of Spring Awakening.

[43:17] Kevin: Spring Awakening.

[43:18] Ben Fankhauser: Awakening the Zodiac is a 2017 Canadian mystery drama film starring Shane West, known to Brian as Dr. Ray Barnett in the NBC medical drama ER, and known to me and Kimberly as the reformed bad boy Landon Carter in A Walk to Remember.

[43:30] Bryan: Sorry, I can't read today.

[43:31] Ben Fankhauser: Remember Everything is a song by American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch that lead vocalist Ivan Moody wrote to talk about how he and his parents never agreed on anything, and how his mother still disapproves of his career in music.

[43:44] Kevin: The music of the Lord of the Rings films was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore.

[43:48] Ben Fankhauser: So my question is, when you're on the shore on a beach in a warm, amazing weather, what do you imagine as the perfect day at the beach?

[43:54] Kevin: Great question, because I love the beach, which is the best and I love perfect days, right?

[43:58] Ben Fankhauser: Um, I imagine you are shoreside, just a few feet from the water, in a cabana, in a rustic cabana, with a few friends, maybe one or two.

[44:06] Kevin: It's a quiet day.

[44:07] Ben Fankhauser: And a host of staff and entertainers that are playing beach games with us, me and my one friend.

[44:12] Kevin: We're playing War of the Deck of Cards.

[44:14] Ben Fankhauser: So you're like Daddy Warbucks and Annie, got it.

[44:16] Kevin: Yeah, and he's also up to shave his head.

[44:18] Ben Fankhauser: Right, it's perfect.

[44:19] Kevin: Oh, and just tears.

[44:21] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, I think just hanging by on the shore all day, and then mid-afternoon dip into the icy waters.

[44:27] Kevin: Soon to be made better by the warm sunshine.

[44:29] Ben Fankhauser: Totally. That sounds like a good day.

[44:31] Kevin: Now, would you be at the actual ocean, or would you be at Lake Erie?

[44:34] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, no, Lake Erie.

[44:35] Kevin: Yeah, when you said on the shoreside, I was like, so Lake Erie.

[44:38] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, Lake Erie, just rocks, just pebbles.

[44:41] Kevin: It's like, this is so fun! Ow, ow, ow, ow!

[44:44] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, exactly.

[44:46] Kevin: And that has been Kevin's Corner.

[44:48] Ben Fankhauser: Yay!

[44:49] Kevin: Congratulations. And now you're going to go home and look up famousbirthdays.com and see what they said about you.

[44:54] Ben Fankhauser: Oh my god, that is crazy.

[44:55] Kevin: That's the thing, you're on that thing.

[44:57] Ben Fankhauser: That's crazy.

[44:58] Kevin: You don't...

[44:59] Ben Fankhauser: I'll take it honestly.

[45:01] Kevin: If it makes you feel better, your picture's not included.

[45:03] Ben Fankhauser: That does make me feel better.

[45:04] Kevin: Just your name and random information about you, including your birthday, and that you have a brother.

[45:08] Ben Fankhauser: That was like, one of the facts about you is that you have a brother.

[45:11] Kevin: Interesting.

[45:12] Ben Fankhauser: I couldn't figure out how to work it.

[45:14] Kevin: I can neither confirm nor deny.

[45:16] Ben Fankhauser: Right.

[45:17] Kevin: So you're known, at least on YouTube and to many people, for your voice and your riffing.

[45:21] Ben Fankhauser: Do you have any advice for riffing?

[45:23] Kevin: I mean, you said earlier that you think it maybe subconsciously or consciously comes from listening to all that gospel music.

[45:27] Ben Fankhauser: I guess my advice would be to listen to that music.

[45:30] Kevin: All kinds of music.

[45:31] Ben Fankhauser: Motown, soul, R&B, gospel.

[45:34] Kevin: All music that is soulful in its nature.

[45:36] Ben Fankhauser: And also, I will say, I'm Jewish.

[45:39] Kevin: I grew up going to temple, and a lot of the prayers they sing in temple are kind of like, melismatic.

[45:43] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, yeah.

[45:44] Kevin: In a way.

[45:45] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah.

[45:46] Kevin: And so I wonder if there's like, a little bit of that in there.

[45:49] Ben Fankhauser: Because there's a lot of weird, like, shifts.

[45:51] Kevin: Yeah.

[45:52] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, so like, maybe.

[45:53] Kevin: I don't know. Halftones or like, quarter tones.

[45:55] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah.

[45:56] Kevin: Brian, do you have that too?

[45:58] Bryan: Yeah.

[45:59] Kevin: Do you all remember your bar mitzvah?

[46:01] Bryan: Like, it was yesterday.

[46:02] Kevin: Yeah.

[46:03] Bryan: No, I don't remember the actual.

[46:04] Kevin: No, not the Torah.

[46:05] Bryan: Oh, you have to memorize it?

[46:06] Kevin: No, you have to memorize it.

[46:07] Bryan: But just like, with any kind of quick cramming.

[46:09] Kevin: Yeah, it's in and out.

[46:10] Ben Fankhauser: So what I heard was, if you weren't in theater, you'd be a cantor.

[46:13] Kevin: That's correct.

[46:14] Ben Fankhauser: Yes, great.

[46:15] Kevin: If you could pick the next artist that they do like, a Broadway sings of, that you would like, love to dive into, who would it be?

[46:19] Ben Fankhauser: Ooh.

[46:20] Kevin: Um.

[46:21] Ben Fankhauser: Because we all heard you, Demi Lovato.

[46:23] Kevin: Oh my god.

[46:24] Ben Fankhauser: Your skyscraper.

[46:25] Kevin: That's so funny.

[46:26] Ben Fankhauser: Um.

[46:27] Kevin: Did they do an Ariana Grande?

[46:29] Ben Fankhauser: I don't think they have.

[46:30] Kevin: Maybe she's just been in my ears lately.

[46:32] Ben Fankhauser: But I bet that would be pretty good, because she's getting to have like, a catalog now.

[46:36] Kevin: Yeah.

[46:37] Ben Fankhauser: Plus you could run in some 13 musicals.

[46:39] Kevin: You could do 13!

[46:40] Ben Fankhauser: Right!

[46:41] Kevin: Oh my gosh.

[46:42] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, I'll say, I'll stick with Ariana Grande.

[46:44] Kevin: Cool.

[46:45] Ben Fankhauser: For now.

[46:46] Kevin: For now.

[46:47] Bryan: We'll get it.

[46:48] Kevin: Okay, all right, sorry.

[46:49] Bryan: Well, let's play a game.

[46:50] Kevin: Yeah.

[46:51] Bryan: Welcome to Historical Fiction the Musical.

[46:53] Ben Fankhauser: Okay.

[46:54] Kevin: Oh no.

[46:55] Ben Fankhauser: I love this already.

[46:56] Kevin: I'm scared.

[46:57] Ben Fankhauser: So in one pile, you'll pick a, um, probably a lesser known historical event.

[46:59] Kevin: Okay.

[47:00] Ben Fankhauser: So what I want you to do is to pick one of those.

[47:02] Kevin: We'll go one at a time.

[47:03] Ben Fankhauser: Okay.

[47:04] Kevin: And you'll pick one of those, and that's something that you're going to need to musicalize.

[47:06] Ben Fankhauser: Of course.

[47:07] Kevin: Um.

[47:08] Ben Fankhauser: Sure.

[47:09] Kevin: If you don't know what it is, I do have the little fun facts on my phone, so I'll read you just a synopsis of this.

[47:13] Ben Fankhauser: Great.

[47:14] Kevin: Then, these are going to be televised musicals.

[47:16] Ben Fankhauser: Original TV musicals.

[47:17] Kevin: Great.

[47:18] Ben Fankhauser: A la the Newsies.

[47:19] Kevin: Sure.

[47:20] Ben Fankhauser: Um, but you're going to need to pick what network it will be airing on from my other pile.

[47:23] Kevin: Beautiful.

[47:24] Ben Fankhauser: Once you have, so I'll read to you what your event is.

[47:26] Kevin: If you don't know, then you'll pick your network.

[47:28] Ben Fankhauser: And then just give me, you know, a basic creative team, how you might present the story to the world, and a lead or two.

[47:32] Kevin: Love it.

[47:33] Ben Fankhauser: Okay.

[47:34] Kevin: Cool.

[47:35] Bryan: Brian, since you love it, do you want to go first?

[47:37] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[47:38] Bryan: Okay.

[47:39] Ben Fankhauser: I, so I obviously am really excited to tell the world about the story of Nellie Bly's trip around it.

[47:43] Kevin: So Nellie Bly's trip around the world.

[47:45] Ben Fankhauser: I would love to learn a little bit about Nellie, yeah.

[47:47] Bryan: Absolutely.

[47:48] Ben Fankhauser: So in 1873, a French author named Jules Verne published Around the World in 80 Days, and the journey was thought to be slightly, not thought to be impossible, but no one had ever tried it before.

[47:56] Kevin: So Nellie Bly was an investigative reporter, and she decided to give it a whirl.

[48:00] Ben Fankhauser: The New York World was her newspaper.

[48:02] Kevin: Okay.

[48:03] Ben Fankhauser: And she set off at 9:40 AM on November 14th, 1889.

[48:07] Kevin: Contrary to her editor's beliefs, she packed light.

[48:10] Ben Fankhauser: Extremely light, in fact, bringing along one pack the size of a modern-day carry-on.

[48:14] Kevin: That's all she brought for 80 Days.

[48:16] Ben Fankhauser: Wow.

[48:17] Kevin: Good job.

[48:18] Ben Fankhauser: So she traveled New York to London, and therefore around the world.

[48:22] Kevin: But someone from Cosmopolitan magazine, bet you didn't know they were around back then.

[48:26] Ben Fankhauser: I didn't.

[48:27] Kevin: This is news to me.

[48:28] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[48:29] Kevin: Sent a reporter to race her in the opposite direction.

[48:32] Ben Fankhauser: While writing sex tips.

[48:34] Kevin: I know.

[48:35] Ben Fankhauser: Right, right.

[48:36] Kevin: A hundred things to please your man.

[48:39] Ben Fankhauser: And when she was in Japan about halfway through, she met this guy at a bar that was like, oh, you're the one racing Nellie Bly.

[48:45] Kevin: And she was like, I am Nellie Bly.

[48:47] Ben Fankhauser: He was like, oh, well, that other girl's going to beat you.

[48:50] Kevin: She left three days ago, and she had no idea that another reporter was trying to do it.

[48:54] Ben Fankhauser: And so the other reporter got held up.

[48:56] Kevin: Her plane got delayed, or boat got delayed, or something.

[48:59] Ben Fankhauser: Her stagecoach, or whatever it was.

[49:01] Kevin: Yeah, something got delayed on the Atlantic Ocean, and Nellie Bly won.

[49:05] Ben Fankhauser: Probably not a stagecoach if it was on the Atlantic Ocean.

[49:08] Kevin: So this is obviously being done on the CW.

[49:10] Ben Fankhauser: Yes, it is.

[49:11] Kevin: It is.

[53:06] Bryan: So, both Nelly and Cosmo Lady are played very young.

[53:24] Kevin: Can we call her Cosmonaut?

[53:25] Bryan: Yeah, she's a Cosmonaut.

[53:26] Kimberly: Okay, perfect.

[53:27] Kevin: And I think that this would be super fun with Matt Sklar and Chad Beglin doing the music and lyrics.

[53:34] Bryan: I think of that high-energy prom or wedding singer type of feel.

[53:40] Kimberly: But maybe you get Bob Martin to help make it a little bit more old-timey.

[53:44] Kevin: Okay.

[53:45] Bryan: Oh, yeah.

[53:46] Kimberly: So, the prom, but to a different plot.

[53:49] Kevin: Yeah, but, yeah.

[53:50] Bryan: The prom in an 1880s world.

[53:52] Kimberly: Yeah, it's fine.

[53:53] Kevin: And then I guess to make it more theatrical or do choreography and things like that, I think you hire Aaron J. Albano in his debut.

[54:02] Bryan: Yeah!

[54:04] Kimberly: Yes.

[54:05] Kevin: His director and choreographer.

[54:07] Bryan: That period of dance.

[54:08] Kimberly: Because when I think of Aaron, I think of balloon trips around the world.

[54:11] Kevin: Yep.

[54:12] Bryan: Turn of the century.

[54:14] Kimberly: He might have known Nelly Bly.

[54:16] Kevin: Yeah, it's true.

[54:17] Bryan: Oh, that's cold.

[54:19] Kimberly: Guys, be nice to him.

[54:20] Kevin: So, Nelly Bly's trip around the world.

[54:22] Bryan: Hi, Grandpa.

[54:23] Kimberly: Starring the girls of Pretty Little Liars on the CW.

[54:28] Kevin: I love it.

[54:29] Bryan: Great.

[54:30] Kimberly: Amazing.

[54:31] Kevin: Wow.

[54:32] Bryan: So, do I pick one?

[54:33] Kimberly: Pick one, yeah.

[54:34] Kevin: I got New York World's Fair.

[54:36] Bryan: Early World's Fairs focused extensively on industrialization, and they showed the importance of scientific advances and technology.

[54:44] Kimberly: This, however, changed when the World's Fair was hosted in New York City from 1939 to 1940, where the theme was Dawn of a New Day.

[54:53] Kevin: Countries from around the world participated in it, and the fair attracted about 44 million people.

[55:00] Bryan: Unlike earlier World's Fairs, the 1939 to 1940 World's Fair focused on the culture and society rather than the technology.

[55:07] Kimberly: One exhibit was a time capsule that included a Mickey Mouse watch, cigarettes, and writings by Einstein.

[55:12] Kevin: Wow.

[55:13] Bryan: Ooh, how exciting.

[55:14] Kimberly: Okay.

[55:15] Kevin: So, definitely, like, an exciting time for change in the technological realm and the cultural realm.

[55:24] Bryan: So, I'm going to hire Lin-Manuel Miranda. He's going to do music, lyrics, and book because he's looking to venture into writing book scenes.

[55:39] Kimberly: Right.

[55:40] Bryan: And so he's going to do the story for us, and it's going to be very contemporary, a lot of rapping about the World's Fair.

[55:48] Kevin: Of course.

[55:49] Kimberly: Of course.

[55:50] Bryan: And some great music, very tuneful.

[55:55] Kimberly: And, oh, perfect.

[55:57] Bryan: Okay, it's going to be on HBO.

[55:58] Kevin: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[55:59] Bryan: It's just chock full of nudity.

[56:01] Kimberly: It is going to be so butt-sparking.

[56:04] Kevin: It's Westworld.

[56:06] Bryan: Exactly.

[56:07] Kimberly: Yeah.

[56:08] Kevin: Oh, my God, that is so good.

[56:10] Bryan: Lin-Manuel's Westworld with butts everywhere.

[56:12] Kimberly: I love it.

[56:13] Kevin: Yeah, exactly.

[56:14] Bryan: This is great.

[56:15] Kimberly: This is a great book.

[56:16] Kevin: Yeah, I agree.

[56:17] Bryan: I have The Lost Colony of Roanoke.

[56:19] Kimberly: Ooh, that's a good one.

[56:20] Kevin: Now, for those of you who don't know.

[56:22] Bryan: Watch American Horror Story.

[56:24] Kimberly: Oh, wait, I've never.

[56:25] Kevin: Did they do Roanoke?

[56:26] Bryan: Season five?

[56:28] Kimberly: Oh, okay.

[56:29] Kevin: Six?

[56:30] Bryan: Maybe six.

[56:31] Kimberly: Yeah.

[56:32] Kevin: So the Roanoke Colony was founded in 1585, and it was one of the very first English settlements in the New World.

[56:40] Bryan: And John White was their governor, and he fathered the very first baby to be born in North America.

[56:48] Kimberly: Well, the first English baby to be born in North America.

[56:51] Kevin: Sure, sure.

[56:52] Bryan: Named Virginia Dare.

[56:54] Kimberly: And this is now in Dare County, Virginia, is where Roanoke is.

[56:57] Kevin: So good job, girl.

[56:59] Bryan: Croak-a-toa.

[57:01] Kimberly: But as their years ran on, they ran out of stuff.

[57:05] Kevin: And so John went back to England to go get some more.

[57:08] Bryan: And when he got there, there was a war, and he had to spend three years in the Navy before they would give him his ship back to go back to Roanoke.

[57:15] Kimberly: Whoa.

[57:16] Kevin: That's cold.

[57:17] Bryan: And when he got back, the colony was missing.

[57:19] Kimberly: They were just gone.

[57:20] Kevin: Not a single person remained at the colony, though there was no sign of any struggle to indicate that they had been raided.

[57:26] Bryan: In fact, all the houses had been taken apart, signaling that there had been no rush to leave.

[57:32] Kimberly: Before he left, he gave them instructions that if there was an issue and, like, they had to flee for any reason, that they should carve a Maltese cross on a tree or a fence post.

[57:42] Kevin: All that was left behind was the word Croatoan, which was carved into the post of a fence that had been built around the village.

[57:48] Bryan: And C-R-O were also found on a nearby tree.

[57:51] Kimberly: They literally have no idea what happened.

[57:53] Kevin: Yeah.

[57:54] Bryan: A lot of people think that, like, they just assimilated into the tribes and just, like, became Native Americans because they had no food.

[58:02] Kimberly: So they just assimilated into the Native world.

[58:05] Kevin: Wow.

[58:06] Bryan: Ooh, I want to see this show.

[58:07] Kimberly: Yeah.

[58:08] Bryan: OK.

[58:09] Kevin: I can't wait to find out who wrote it.

[58:10] Bryan: It's going to be on Lifetime.

[58:14] Kimberly: Sure.

[58:17] Kevin: It's got high drama.

[58:18] Bryan: I see it.

[58:19] Kimberly: Very high drama.

[58:20] Bryan: So obviously the Lifetime version will center around John and his wife, who bear Virginia Dare.

[58:25] Kimberly: Of course.

[58:26] Bryan: And how she comes into this world and their love story.

[58:31] Kimberly: There will be a lot of letter writing while he's at war.

[58:34] Bryan: Oh, yeah.

[58:35] Kimberly: And then slowly the letters fade and she fades and fades and fades.

[58:39] Bryan: Perhaps at the end there's, like, a glance behind as he hears a rustle in the trees.

[58:45] Kimberly: Oh.

[58:46] Bryan: And she's, like, glancing over, but you can't quite tell what's happened to her, but you see a figure in the distance.

[58:52] Kimberly: Yeah.

[58:53] Kevin: And you hear a baby cry and that's the end.

[58:56] Bryan: Oh, credits.

[58:58] Kimberly: Exactly.

[59:01] Kevin: This will be written by Adam Gettle.

[59:03] Bryan: Yes.

[59:04] Kimberly: Oh, definitely.

[59:05] Kevin: Obviously.

[59:07] Bryan: It will star Harry Hayden Patton from My Fair Lady.

[59:10] Kimberly: And I think he was on Downton Abbey or one of those shows.

[59:11] Kevin: Yeah.

[59:12] Bryan: Obviously, as the gentleman that needs to go back into the war.

[59:15] Kimberly: His wife will be played by Kelly O'Hara.

[59:17] Kevin: Great.

[59:18] Bryan: Love it.

[59:19] Kimberly: Obviously.

[59:20] Kevin: Yeah.

[59:21] Bryan: The baby's cries will be voiced by Josh Lehman.

[59:23] Kimberly: Oh, my God.

[59:25] Kevin: Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[59:28] Bryan: And it will be directed for television by Tommy Kail because he should direct every television musical.

[59:34] Kimberly: Great.

[59:35] Kevin: Great.

[59:36] Bryan: I love it.

[59:37] Kimberly: So I have The Vanishing of Mary Celeste.

[59:39] Kevin: Ooh.

[59:40] Bryan: Yes, of the Mary Celeste, which is a boat.

[59:42] Kimberly: The Mary Celeste.

[59:43] Kevin: Yes.

[59:44] Bryan: I love disappearing boats.

[59:45] Kimberly: So on November 7, 1872, with Captain Benjamin Briggs in command, the Mary Celeste set off from New York for Genoa, Italy.

[59:55] Kevin: On board were a crew of seven alongside Briggs' wife and their two-year-old daughter, all of whom were ready to deliver 1,700 barrels of commercial alcohol needed to fortify Italian wines.

[1:00:05] Bryan: Unfortunately, the Mary Celeste never docked in Italy. Instead, the ship was discovered adrift in the Atlantic near the Azores Islands on December 5th with no signs of struggle, a lifeboat missing, the captain's log and alcohol intact, but without a single living person on board.

[1:00:23] Kimberly: Theories of what happened range all the way from alien abduction to mutiny to cargo fumes that forced abandonment, but no conclusive proof exists as to what actually happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste.

[1:00:34] Kevin: Whoa.

[1:00:35] Bryan: Wow.

[1:00:36] Kimberly: I'm so happy because I got exactly what it was.

[1:00:37] Kevin: Okay, so The Vanishing of the Mary Celeste is going to be a musical movie that happens on the Disney Channel.

[1:00:44] Bryan: Oh my god.

[1:00:45] Kimberly: A D-com.

[1:00:46] Kevin: And so, obviously, since it's a Disney Channel, it's going to start out with, like, three young kids in modern time who are, like, going...

[1:00:55] Bryan: Open a book.

[1:00:56] Kimberly: Yes! Exactly, who are, like, going to, like, open a book till, like, they're, like, mad they have to do a homework assignment and so they're going to, like, do it, like, at night before, like, they're, like, sleeping in a tree house.

[1:01:05] Kevin: Yeah, duh.

[1:01:06] Bryan: So, like, they're going to wake up and, like, they're, like, doing it and then they open, like, the curtains of the tree house and they're, like, on the water and so they're, like, right next to the Mary Celeste.

[1:01:14] Kimberly: Yeah.

[1:01:15] Kevin: And they basically find out that all the people, like, met Ariel and she, like, brought them down to, like, their place to, like...

[1:01:20] Bryan: Oh, sure.

[1:01:21] Kimberly: It was, like, the reverse of Ariel.

[1:01:22] Kevin: Wow.

[1:01:23] Bryan: So, like, they, like, got fins instead of legs.

[1:01:25] Kimberly: Right.

[1:01:26] Kevin: And...

[1:01:27] Bryan: I want to be where the mermaids are.

[1:01:28] Kimberly: Right.

[1:01:29] Kevin: Yeah, yeah.

[1:01:30] Bryan: Absolutely.

[1:01:31] Kimberly: So, it's...

[1:01:33] Kevin: Because we were talking about him, Shia LaBeouf.

[1:01:36] Bryan: Shia LaBeouf, but, like, as an adult playing a kid.

[1:01:37] Kimberly: Not only as a kid for me.

[1:01:38] Kevin: Okay.

[1:01:39] Bryan: The other two were actually going to be kids, but he's going to be an adult playing a kid, like, for some really awkward reason.

[1:01:44] Kimberly: Makes sense.

[1:01:45] Kevin: And then I think that Jason Robert Brown is going to write the score.

[1:01:49] Bryan: Ooh, into it.

[1:01:50] Kimberly: Okay.

[1:01:51] Kevin: Love it.

[1:01:52] Bryan: And it's just, like, Jason Robert Brown with, like, hints of, like, obvious Disney-isms.

[1:01:57] Kimberly: Yeah, sure.

[1:01:58] Kevin: Like, that, like, deceptive cadence at the end of every song that leads right into, like, the perfect money note at the end.

[1:02:03] Bryan: Uh-huh.

[1:02:04] Kimberly: And at the end, they, like, try, like, the kids, like, want to save the people on the boat, but, like, they can't bring them back to the real world, and then they end up back at home, and they give this great report at school.

[1:02:16] Kevin: I love it.

[1:02:17] Bryan: I love this.

[1:02:18] Kimberly: This is so good.

[1:02:19] Kevin: Great happy ending.

[1:02:20] Bryan: That's a really good one.

[1:02:21] Kimberly: That's been a historical fiction in the musical.

[1:02:22] Kevin: I feel like this has Kenny Ortega written all of it.

[1:02:23] Bryan: Oh my God, Kenny Ortega has to do it, or I'm not involved.

[1:02:26] Kimberly: Kenny Ortega.

[1:02:27] Kevin: Oh my God.

[1:02:28] Bryan: Wait, what was that game? What was that called?

[1:02:29] Kimberly: What was that called?

[1:02:30] Kevin: Yeah.

[1:02:32] Bryan: It was a musical.

[1:02:33] Kimberly: I love that.

[1:02:34] Kevin: That was really good.

[1:02:35] Bryan: Really good.

[1:02:36] Kimberly: Well done.

[1:02:37] Bryan: Thank you.

[1:02:38] Kimberly: Well, that brings us to the end of our episode.

[1:02:39] Kevin: Holy Moses.

[1:02:40] Bryan: Thank you so much for joining us.

[1:02:41] Ben Fankhauser: Thanks for having me.

[1:02:42] Bryan: That was so fun.

[1:02:43] Kevin: That was really fun.

[1:02:44] Kimberly: Yeah.

[1:02:45] Bryan: Again, you can follow him at PleaseAndThankYou on all social media platforms.

[1:02:48] Kevin: All of them.

[1:02:50] Kimberly: LinkedIn.

[1:02:52] Kevin: All of them.

[1:02:53] Bryan: Find him.

[1:02:54] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, hit me up on LinkedIn, guys.

[1:02:55] Kimberly: TikTok, Musical.ly.

[1:02:56] Kevin: Yeah, TikTok, if you guys are on it.

[1:02:57] Bryan: What is TikTok?

[1:02:58] Kevin: No, it's like a YouTube sort of, but it's in China.

[1:03:01] Bryan: Oh, okay.

[1:03:02] Kevin: YouTube for China.

[1:03:03] Bryan: It's like a short form video platform.

[1:03:05] Kimberly: It's like Vine and Musical.ly had a baby and became TikTok.

[1:03:09] Bryan: That makes sense.

[1:03:10] Kevin: Cool.

[1:03:11] Kimberly: Cool.

[1:03:12] Bryan: And it's T-I-K-T-O-K. There's no Cs.

[1:03:14] Kevin: Okay.

[1:03:15] Bryan: That makes sense.

[1:03:16] Kimberly: Yeah.

[1:03:17] Bryan: Well, thank you again for joining us.

[1:03:18] Ben Fankhauser: Absolutely.

[1:03:19] Bryan: This was so fun.

[1:03:20] Kimberly: Yeah.

[1:03:21] Bryan: Don't forget, you can follow us at Broadwasted.

[1:03:23] Kevin: Follow us on Twitter, Instagram.

[1:03:25] Kimberly: We have a Facebook group that Kevin runs.

[1:03:28] Kevin: Yeah, and this week, for fun, go to the Facebook group and post your favorite Ben Fankhauser riffing video.

[1:03:34] Bryan: Yes.

[1:03:36] Kimberly: Oh, baby.

[1:03:37] Kevin: Let's see what we can come up with.

[1:03:39] Bryan: You too, Ben. What's your favorite one?

[1:03:41] Ben Fankhauser: Oh, that's hard to say. I don't know. Maybe there's a couple out there that—

[1:03:46] Kevin: We'll see if someone finds it.

[1:03:47] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah.

[1:03:48] Bryan: That's my task for all of you listeners out there.

[1:03:50] Kimberly: Yeah.

[1:03:51] Bryan: But again, you can also join our Patreon.

[1:03:54] Kimberly: You can join our Patreon for as little as $5 a month. You can get a bonus podcast every month produced by yours truly with all of us featuring things that we cut from shows previously, special things that no one has ever heard before, special interviews with us with questions from you guys, and there are all sorts of perks going up the tiers that you can look at when you go on patreon.com slash broadwasted.

[1:04:20] Kevin: Also, you get to know about any live events coming before anybody else does.

[1:04:25] Kimberly: Yes.

[1:04:26] Kevin: The patrons already know this, but we have a show on St. Patrick's Day at Green Room 42 that is currently on sale.

[1:04:32] Kimberly: Yes.

[1:04:33] Kevin: Yes, it is.

[1:04:34] Bryan: Come celebrate my 30th birthday with me and get broadwasted.

[1:04:36] Kimberly: Yeah.

[1:04:37] Kevin: Totally.

[1:04:38] Bryan: And thank you so much to Gold Star. You can get discounted tickets there.

[1:04:41] Kimberly: That's goldstar.com backslash broadwasted.

[1:04:43] Kevin: Hey, that's us.

[1:04:44] Bryan: Check it out and get some really great show tickets and concerts, comedy, dance, national tours, all that fun stuff.

[1:04:51] Kimberly: Live your best life with Gold Star.

[1:04:53] Bryan: And then you can also find us on iTunes. You can find us on Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. Rate and review us.

[1:04:58] Kimberly: Five stars, please.

[1:05:00] Bryan: Hey, thank you.

[1:05:01] Kevin: Please and thank you.

[1:05:07] Kimberly: So you have to come every week just for that moment.

[1:05:09] Bryan: Yeah, sure.

[1:05:10] Kevin: We tag you in the end of every episode.

[1:05:15] Kimberly: We end every episode with a quote.

[1:05:17] Bryan: We do?

[1:05:18] Kimberly: We do.

[1:05:19] Kevin: I hate both of you so much.

[1:05:20] Bryan: I remember now.

[1:05:21] Kimberly: I know.

[1:05:22] Kevin: I do, too.

[1:05:23] Bryan: I just like doing that.

[1:05:24] Kimberly: I know.

[1:05:25] Bryan: Only heaven knows how glory goes, what each of us was meant to be.

[1:05:28] Kimberly: How did you know?

[1:05:29] Kevin: In the starlight, that is where we are, I can see so far.

[1:05:32] Bryan: Boom!

[1:05:33] Kimberly: Cheers.

[1:05:34] Kevin: How did you know?

[1:05:35] Bryan: I don't know.

[1:05:36] Kimberly: I'm also proud of you that you knew that was from Floyd Collins.

[1:05:38] Bryan: I'm bringing it back into the zeitgeist, baby!

[1:05:41] Kimberly: Bring back Floyd!

[1:05:42] Kevin: I'm very upset with J. Armstrong Johnson's rendition of that on the YouTubes from, like, what, 2007?

[1:05:46] Bryan: Couldn't stop.

[1:05:48] Kevin: Bring back Floyd.

[1:05:49] Kimberly: Bring back Floyd.

[1:05:51] Kevin: Bring back Floyd!

[1:05:52] Kimberly: Bring back Floyd!

[1:05:54] Bryan: But again, thanks so much for joining us. We're going to bring back Floyd with you.

[1:05:58] Kimberly: Yes.

[1:05:59] Bryan: But as we end every episode, we raise our glasses and we sing Zootoowop!

[1:06:03] All: Boom! Cheers!

[1:06:06] All: Cheers!

[1:06:07] All: Yay!

[1:06:21] All: Boom.