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[0:14] Joe Rosko: Hey, what's going on? Welcome to Built for the Stage Podcast. This is Joe Rosko, founder of Built for the Stage, Broadway's number one fitness platform. If you haven't tried out Built for the Stage, go to builtforthestage.com and we can work one-on-one together on an online fitness app where you will try a seven-day VIP Broadway client training program. In those seven days, we'll chat about your goals and you can see what you think about it. Follow us on the gram at Built for the Stage. Thanks to Broadway Podcast Network. You can check them out at bpn.fm.

[0:49] Joe Rosko: Okay. Get that out of the way. Let's get to our special guest today. Special guest as always. Joining us from the cast of Chicago, where she plays Mona. And not only does she play the character of Mona, but she has her own dog daughter, also named Mona. Please welcome to Built for the Stage Podcast, Arian Keddell. Hi, Arian.

[1:11] Arian Keddell: Hi, how are you?

[1:14] Joe Rosko: I'm doing so well. Thank you for being on the episode. I'm excited to get to know you a bit more. It's Monday, but you're just sharing that Chicago, y'all have shows on Monday. Tell us a little bit about how if that's different for you, or you know, people in your theater circle that are normally off. What would you prefer? Do you like your Wednesday day off? Tell us about it.

[1:38] Arian Keddell: You know, I think it's hard to say. I joined the cast in October of 2019. So it was, I guess it's just normal at this point to a degree, right? I was only in the cast for five months before we shut down. And you just get used to it. But we had a really, I feel like easy start back in terms of the fact that we had a limited schedule from the beginning. So having that Monday off and then Tuesday and Wednesday as well, we were like, ooh, baby, all this time. This is so fantastic. And after a five-show weekend, the Monday is nice, but you almost feel as though you've got a little bit of time because you're not going in until the evening. So you know, it's kind of, yeah, yes. It's in between. You get used to it, yeah.

[2:39] Joe Rosko: Where are you originally from?

[2:41] Arian Keddell: I'm originally from upstate New York. So a little city called Elmira.

[2:46] Joe Rosko: Okay. And growing up, you always were dancing, performing, or like how did you fall into this?

[2:53] Arian Keddell: Yes, so I've always been a very theatrically inclined person. I will say that. I've always had a flair for the theater or dramatics, dare I say my parents would probably say that. And just before, or just around my eighth birthday, I walked into my parents' room and I said, oh, check this out. And I did a split in the middle of their floor. And my mom said, well, do you want to dance? You sing all the time, you're constantly around and about the house. And I said, yeah, sure, why not? No big deal. They threw me on a soccer field. I was back there picking daisies, saying, there's dirt out here, disinterested. So she took me to a local like YMCA or something, right? Like just some little place.

And I was assessed. My feet were pointed, my legs were stretched. And she said, do you want to do ballet? Sure, I'll try this. Absolutely loved it. Just completely fell in love. The discipline, the focus, how the perfection. I'm like completely obsessed with all of it. So it just worked out.

[4:15] Joe Rosko: Nice. Okay, so your mom is an awesome mom and is like, hey, you should do this. And you do it. And then what? You go through high school, you go to school for dance. Tell us about like your journey to becoming a professional.

[4:31] Arian Keddell: Yeah, so my freshman year of college, I went to Point Park University. At the time, the program was just a little more jazz-oriented than it was ballet-focused. So I ended up transferring to Mercyhurst University, and that's where I finished my degree with I might be the first and last person who did a musical theater concentration. And I say that loosely because it really my focus has always been ballet. And I joined my first company right out of college. I went into Ballethinic Dance Company in Atlanta, Georgia. So that's where my career really began. I've done, you know, I had done a couple of things here and there, sort of like a couple cabarets performed all the time, but this was my first major like this is it. I'm a professional dancer, this is what pays my bills. This is, you know, the gig Monday through Saturday, right? Because the ballet company schedule is hard.

[5:37] Joe Rosko: Right. Very hard. Similar to a Broadway schedule, right?

[5:40] Arian Keddell: Yeah, yeah.

[5:41] Joe Rosko: So you're in Atlanta. How long are you with the company there?

[5:45] Arian Keddell: I spent two years with that company, then started doing some freelance work. I was doing some guest artist work with Atlanta Ballet, working with a couple of artist collaboratives. Atlanta really took shape, I feel like, when I was there and really started to become a little bit more of an artist's hub, I would say. You know, you have the Fox Theater there, so it was always kind of a pass-through. But now also that there's, you know, film and television being recorded more frequently there and everything else, that's really when it was starting to take a little bit more shape in terms of, oh, let's check out what Atlanta's doing with their art and theater. And I just so happened to audition for the gospel version of Jesus Christ Superstar while I was there, was the only dancer local hire.

Everyone else was from New York, Philadelphia, and Joey McNeely saw me in the show and said, hey, you want to audition for the International Tour of West Side Story? Sure. I again, me, sometimes I feel as though the theater world story, I kind of stumbled into all of this because I was so primarily focused on ballet, everything else has just kind of been a gift along the way.

[7:21] Arian Keddell: So I flew up to New York. I go and audition for the show, fell in the audition, right? Like literally like out on the ground was doing the like some jump in America while I was learning it. Joey picks me up off the floor. That was like, thank you very much. And I'm thinking, oh, well, you blew that. So, you know, heading back to Atlanta to do whatever comes next. And sure enough, they said costume fitting down the hallway will send you the information. And I was off.

[7:55] Joe Rosko: Wow. I love, yeah, I love this. It's so true what you said from the interviews I've done. There's oh, I was going to school for business, and all of a sudden this opportunity came up, or oh I yeah, it's just on and on. The people that are running through my head right now. It's funny, yeah. It's funny how this happens. Would you say the ballet world or the musical theater world is more competitive? What would you say is that is such a good question.

[8:29] Arian Keddell: Um I would have to say that the ballet world is more competitive, even though companies primarily, right? You primarily see women, particularly in the ensemble, because you have, I mean, ballets like Swan Lake, where you have these huge court of ballets. It's because the funding isn't there, right? Like the money just isn't there. We don't put quite as much money or attention into these ballet programs from collegiate, you know, from the collegiate level to the company level, and you're seeing these smaller companies making a way to a degree, but the focus is on your primary, you know, like ABT, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest, like those are the ones that you're still seeing more of the funding going to because they're more well known instead of some of those smaller companies that have unbelievably incredibly talented dancers, but don't necessarily pull the same attention.

[9:43] Joe Rosko: Got it. Okay, so it's more of a less opportunity type of deal, which then makes it all the more competitive.

[9:51] Arian Keddell: Yes, I would say so.

[9:53] Joe Rosko: All right. So going back, you book West Side Story after falling on the floor, and you're touring the country. Are you at that point loving life and never looking back to ballet again?

[10:06] Arian Keddell: Or what was your journey like throughout that show? Well, the cool thing, well, touring the world, so that's what the cool thing was is I was under the impression. I was under the impression that it was um, because at the time I believe there was also a specifically like a UK tour going on. So I'm thinking, I've never been to the UK. This is great. Like, oh my gosh, how exciting. And then I get the contract and I'm reading through, and it says rehearsals start in Germany. And I said, Well, that's not the UK. So um, I get on the phone with my dad, and I said, Um, Daddy, I am actually going to nine countries over the next year. Like that's what's about to happen. He said, Okay, well, where are we gonna come see you?

I was like, I don't know, Spain. Like, that's I will I'll be there around my birthday, so maybe that's good. And and again, right? Stumbling through this gift. Um, I got to see so many incredible things. And I was thinking, I love ballet. It is my foundation. Um, and when I left the business for a while, I ended up getting really badly injured on the tour. I completely blew out my SI joint um on the right side. That yes, for those who don't know that little joint that connects your sacrum to your hip and makes your legs function or helps with function. Mine was demolished. And I developed a bone spur, and it was just like bad, bad, bad. Um, and I was thinking, well, now you're not gonna have any of it because I went to a doctor and he said, No, we're gonna have to fuse your hip to your sacrum.

You're not dancing again, you're done. And it redirected me, I would say. It was a very illuminating injury because it forced me to look at emotionally how burnt out I was from dance, mentally, how burnt out I was from dance, and and it was, you know, kind of without sounding too esoteric, like the physical manifestation showed up finally. And it was again because I, you know, dance is that gift that I love so much, but also that time away from it. I was um retired, semi-retired, right, after that injury for about seven years out of the business, just teaching. And that became my point of healing and reconnecting with dance in a completely different way and on a totally different level.

[13:07] Arian Keddell: So even thinking about being in the company how or with you know, West Side, how much I loved theater and how much I love dance. And I, you know, did um just a brief stint with there was like a couple of month tour of Guys and Dolls, and still that wasn't it it took me back into that place, but it wasn't going to be the thing that really helped me rekindle my passion. Teaching is what actually helped me rekindle my passion. And this is so after your injury teach this brought on teaching, or you had taught before and it really just emphasized your love for it, or was this the first time you started teaching after the injury? So I've um I started teaching when I was maybe like 14 or so in my studio.

I wanted to take so many classes. Okay. So I was like, what can I do to help kind of like pay for these little like to be a part of this, right? So I started teaching when I was 14, but it wasn't um, you know, you you kind of don't ever really take anything that seriously when you're a teen in terms of those things. You're teaching pre-ballet, you might teach a like a little kid ballet class. You go, oh, this is cute. And then with um my first company, I was teaching again some of the younger um the the school students, and then was doing a couple of different things here and there. I can't I can't remember who it was. Someone told me at one point in time, they're like, really? When you look at it as a dancer, you probably make more money teaching over the long run of your career than you do actually dancing.

So um it was always just a side hustle. Yeah, like I I love doing it. So it was something that um, you know, also offset some of the cost of the bills and everything else. And then it was put in front of me because it was something that I was going to be able to do that would at least keep me connected to dance, but also gave me enough space to be able to start to go, okay, what's my new relationship with this? What does this look like to me? How does this feel to me if it is not solely the thing that is going to provide for me? Can I find that space again where the eight-year-old who did a split who was like, okay, yeah, then stepped up to a ballet bar and was like, oh my God, give me more.

Where is she in all of this? Because you do, you end up getting weighed down by some of the some of the the not so lovely moments behind, you know this business where you learn um where you learn that there are all kinds of reasons for casting, there are all kinds of reasons for why things happen the way that they do, and no matter how mature we are, how evolved we are, you still take it personally, right? All those rejections we take personally. So moving from that space of being on the stage to a space of working with others and saying, I believe you can be here too. This is what I'm going to provide to help guide you in that direction, and then the rest is up to you because you have to want it if this is the direction you're gonna go.

And so frequently I found myself thinking, oh man, that's that's what happened, right? You were given the information, and you just so happened to love it enough to do something with that information, and that became the place of reconciliation for me, I would say, with all of it.

[17:23] Joe Rosko: Okay, so how through your process of your your doctor saying you're never gonna dance again or don't dance again, and you start your teaching. When do you say to the doctor or yourself, no, like this isn't the end for me? How did that transition happen?

[17:44] Arian Keddell: That's a that's a very interesting transition. So I it was it all kind of kicked off with also my spiritual journey. I um started, I went to a Reiki practitioner, and that led me down the road of becoming a Reiki practitioner. Oh, okay. Um and it um, and it introduced me to my spiritual teacher, who I also call my spiritual mother, um, because I just love her so much, who I've learned um body symbology and the chakra system and a little more of a holistic way of being in the world. And it for me, that ended up being the right journey. It took longer, I guess, if you want to put it in terms of time, but it was the right time because I feel like probably like most people, I auditioned for Chicago so many times, right?

Over such a long period of time, like you just keep going back, and that's what they tell you too, right? They're like, don't get discouraged, someone might leave. Not that you ever want somebody to be without a job, but you're like, okay, well, thanks for having me see you again next year. Um, but that was the time it was again, it was the time that I needed. And I tell people all the time, I did not get cast in this show because my technique was any different, because I was a better dancer, like none of that stuff. I truly feel like my confidence was back, my passion was back. Like the thing that makes me me came into the room with me that day, finally. And it had been a long time since I was connected in that way.

But it was a full journey of finding different places and spaces of saying, well, you know, my body doesn't feel super great here. What's the emotional component of this? What what's the mental comp like? Where is my mind right now that is also indicating this other thing?

[20:22] Arian Keddell: Yes, in 2018. Again, time is like a social construct. Um, and then they called me into the Broadway show. Uh, we closed in Japan in August of 2019, and then they um, and then I, you know, got a phone call.

[20:41] Joe Rosko: Yeah. Okay, so since getting that phone call, amazing story. Thank you so much for sharing all this. Uh, super inspiring, especially for people who have been swinging and swinging and swinging and feel like they're coming up empty-handed, or those that also have gone through injury. So I'm really grateful for this episode. Um, since joining Chicago, we kind of I kind of joked about it with the Wednesday day off instead of Monday. And Chicago's been around a long time. Long time on Broadway. And they are known for bringing in these uh celebrities to play principal characters. Have you had any uh fun experiences with any certain ones where you're like, oh, that this one, this person was a blast? You know, something like that from one of the guests that have come your way.

[21:38] Arian Keddell: You know, it's interesting. I think everyone brings their own um their own fun. You know what I mean? I I I couldn't say that I specifically um had one person who really stuck out in my mind um as like the as the most like, oh yes, this is the this is the person who I want to chat with. I will say I as probably I don't know if it sounds like that I'm not really like communicating with my cast, but I feel like I don't always end up really interacting a lot with the Roxys that come in. There's just, you know, just like with every show, there are some characters you just don't see, and you have to like really make an effort. So, you know, you'll stop by the dressing room on the way up the stairs and just say, hey, have a great show, and then you really don't see them again for like the rest of the show. You're like, dang, where have you been? Like, we're here, but where have you been?

[22:41] Joe Rosko: Yeah. So um, there's not one in particular, but what I love more than anything else in the in the experiences that I've had thus far, um, everyone who comes in seems to have this first of all respect for the work. And I think it becomes more clear once they've done part of the rehearsal process, and then they get there and they go, Oh, you do this eight times a week for like an indiscriminate amount of time. You do this eight, and then you go, Yeah, this is this is the gig. Like, this is it.

[23:19] Arian Keddell: Yeah. So um, it's been very sweet because we currently have Pamela Anderson in the show, and there is this just brief moment, and she did mention at one point in time while we were um on the stage, just at the top of the second act, she's like, every night. We're like, yeah, every night. And you know, and it is, it's it it clicks in. And the fact that people then develop a deeper understanding, but also a deeper respect for it. I just absolutely love that. I think it's such a beautiful way to umor the work that we're doing, and then also give respect to the people who are doing it.

[24:04] Joe Rosko: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally, 100%. Well, I'm glad you've had that experience where they come in and take it seriously and respect the work. So amazing. All right, in our after hours part of our episode today, um, who is Arian off the stage, away from the ballet bar? So you have you have your new dog that you got, what, in 2020, or when did you get Mona?

[24:31] Arian Keddell: I've got her in actually about a well, we were able to bring her home in January of 2020, but she was born in November of 2019. My um one of my dearest friends sent me a photo of this litter of puppies that her dog Sophie had, and she said, for some reason, this puppy just reminds me of you. We call her Ari. My friends and family call me Ari. Um, and she was just kind of this, she was sort of like away from the other puppies and would sort of have these moments where she's like disinterested. I don't want to be with the other puppies. How dare you? And she's like, I feel as though there's a little bit of you in this puppy. And I, and of course I fell in love.

[25:21] Arian Keddell: So I sent the picture to my boyfriend, and he said, look at how cute this puppy is. This is just an adorable puppy. But you know, my world was in a tailspin. I was trying to find an apartment, trying to start a Broadway show, like just doing all the things. And then around Christmas time, he's like, Surprise, we have a puppy. I was like, oh, of course.

[25:46] Joe Rosko: Nice.

[25:47] Arian Keddell: Which um turned out to be one of my biggest blessings especially during um the pandemic, because she was my best friend, like with her every single day, all day, which is why you know she's never too far. And when I leave for work, she looks at me like, um, excuse me, that job again? Seriously. I'm like, well, something has to pay for your food.

[26:12] Joe Rosko: Right.

[26:13] Arian Keddell: Um, and you're like, and you're grooming in your full life, and all the toys that I buy her, it's actually really bad. It is. I I spoil her rotten. But um it was it was so sweet because we were trying to figure out a name and everything else. And another one of my friends said, Well, she's your Chicago baby. Why don't you just name her Mona? And it just worked out because there is something about the name Mona that sort of makes you go, you might play well with others and you might not. And that is totally who my girl is, and I'm fully obsessed with it because now we have another puppy, another Havanese, um, Maltese Havanese mix, and her name is Frida.

[27:00] Arian Keddell: Frida is full of joy and happiness and wonder, and Mona's like, ew. I just you can keep this happiness to yourself. I will be happy when I choose, and not because you want me to. So I'm like, cool, girl. That's great. Like, live your life. Do you think Mona's also thinking, okay, when is this visitor leaving? Like, when's this dog going wherever it came from? When is it going away?

[27:26] Arian Keddell: Fully. Fully. She's like, this, you know, this is my mom. I have no intention of sharing her. I don't want to share any of the attention. Um, and you know, Mona and I are together um all the time. So she's with me, and then Frida is with my boyfriend. So, you know, the times that we're together, it's you know, the families together. But Mona is just so not here for it. Absolutely not. Even, you know, even in the night, she'll just be like, this little like growling, like raptor noise. I'm like, what even is that? Are you a dog? What's happening?

[28:03] Joe Rosko: Yeah.

[28:03] Arian Keddell: So then you know that Frida's too close, and then you hear Friday's little bell go ding in the opposite direction of wherever Mona is. So it's good.

[28:12] Joe Rosko: Yeah. Okay. Last question. We're in May of 2022. Uh, we have about six, seven months left of the year. What's one thing you're looking forward to that doesn't have to do with theater or performing a trip or a family thing or a friend thing or a what? Any a project.

[28:36] Arian Keddell: I'm taking my first vacation in June. I'm going to St. Croix to see my friend who um who gave me Mona. And I'm I'm really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to a proper vacation. I haven't taken one in a really long time. Like a really, really long time. So that is my that is, I just keep like cashing off the day. So I'm like, you're so close.

[29:06] Joe Rosko: It's yeah, it's important to have something to look forward to for sure. Um, so I'm glad you're taking that vacation. That's awesome.

[29:13] Arian Keddell: Thank you.

[29:14] Joe Rosko: Ariane, that's uh that's our episode for today. I really appreciate you spending the time with us.

[29:19] Arian Keddell: Oh my goodness, I'm so glad you asked. This is wonderful. And your platform is amazing. I love seeing all the videos, I love seeing all the pictures. I really need a pair of those um Black Star leggings. I'm obsessed with it.

[29:34] Joe Rosko: We'll we'll get your shipping info and they'll be in the mail.

[29:38] Arian Keddell: Oh, you are the best.

[29:39] Joe Rosko: We'll send them out this week. So uh everyone, Arian Keddell from Chicago the Musical. You can check out her Instagram handle uh on the caption of this episode and more information about her. So make sure you follow along with Ari's journey. Thank you again.

[29:56] Arian Keddell: Thank you.

[29:59] Joe Rosko: All right, everyone. This is Joe Rosko from Built for the Stage. Actors are athletes, so train like one. Later.