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[0:06] John Schwab: Hi, John Schwab here from Curtain Call, and welcome to episode 67 of the Curtain Call Theatre Podcast.

[0:12] John Schwab: The podcast that brings you backstage as close as you possibly can be to meet the people that make theater happen.

[0:19] John Schwab: If you are a theater professional or you know of any, just make sure that you or they go to curtaincallonline.com and sign up for a free theater professional profile with the code CC Free when you go to, uh, sign up.

[0:32] John Schwab: So enter that code in, and, uh, just as it says in that code, it is free.

[0:35] John Schwab: So just go to curtaincallonline.com, join today, start connecting to the theater industry on our shiny new website.

[0:43] John Schwab: It's looking great, guys. And now for this week's podcast.

[0:47] John Schwab: A few months ago, we went over to the ENO, London Coliseum, to take in the theater spectacle that is Bat Out of Hell: The Musical.

[0:56] John Schwab: Uh, it was brilliant. It started in Manchester before moving down to London, and last weekend the entire London company, uh, started their run in Toronto, and that's in Canadian, for those of you that don't know.

[1:08] John Schwab: It was, uh, the show was like nothing I'd ever seen or heard. I mean, the sound system in that theater, at least in the ENO, was incredible.

[1:17] John Schwab: Um, from the first note, it just blew me away. And the singing on it was insane, and the amount of people on the stage and backstage was insane.

[1:27] John Schwab: I mean, there were so many people in that production that for the first time I had to have help backstage to make sure that we talked to as many of the company as possible.

[1:34] John Schwab: Uh, Theo Bosanquet, who you have heard on this podcast before, uh, came with me, and we spoke to scores of people that night.

[1:40] John Schwab: Um, and we have to, uh, we hope to have the majority of the content up on our site, uh, at some point in the very near future.

[1:48] John Schwab: Uh, this week I thought, uh, in celebration of their opening in Toronto, that I would bring you the full chat I had with Sharon Sexton, who plays Sloane in the show.

[1:56] John Schwab: I mean, Sharon has got a voice, people. I mean, seriously, the girl belts. She can sing, she can dance, she could move, she's awesome, and she's gorgeous.

[2:08] John Schwab: Um, we talked about everything from being in such a physically demanding show, uh, various states of dress, and how a musical theater actor can keep their voice intact during a long run of a show that's such a big sing, and she has a huge thing in this show.

[2:25] John Schwab: So, um, without further ado, have a listen. Really, this is a, it's an insane show. It's such a huge thing, and we'll get to that in a second.

[2:40] Sharon Sexton: You're phenomenal. So much fun.

[2:42] John Schwab: Thank you.

[2:44] Sharon Sexton: Um, I'm having, I mean, you don't get to smile so much. I laughed. And the funny thing, there was a woman sitting in front of me, and she was doing this dance like the entire time, and it just made me giggle.

[2:54] Sharon Sexton: Uh, and it made my night even better, but just the crowd, I've never heard a crowd like that at the end of the show.

[2:58] Sharon Sexton: But this music means so much to people.

[3:00] John Schwab: Yeah.

[3:01] Sharon Sexton: Like, it's incredible. Like, it's obviously, and because it's been around for so long as well, it's like a soundtrack to people's lives, they feel so passionate about it.

[3:07] Sharon Sexton: So it's a massive risk to do a show like this and get it wrong. It's incredible. So cool.

[3:12] John Schwab: So, um, you guys started out in Manchester.

[3:14] Sharon Sexton: That's right.

[3:14] John Schwab: You come here, and, um, I asked Christine, like, how different was it for you? I mean, uh, there it's always something kind of technical, uh, that happens when you're playing to a new house.

[3:24] Sharon Sexton: But, um, you're on the same set, same.

[3:26] Sharon Sexton: Yeah, we were on the same set, a little bigger, obviously, for make measurements and stuff here. This set was built for here, and you can see that it kind of fits properly.

[3:32] Sharon Sexton: Whereas Manchester, we didn't realize it at the time, but it felt a bit more tighter, I suppose, like new, you know, there wasn't as much space.

[3:39] Sharon Sexton: But from an audience point of view, I think it was amazing to play Manchester because there's soul to the earth people up there, yeah, and they really got behind the show, and there's some real rock and roll lovers in Manchester.

[3:51] Sharon Sexton: So to have that confidence coming into London made us feel really good, and they've been incredibly loyal, like they still all come down and travel to see the show.

[3:58] Sharon Sexton: Um, but you do feel when you get a show like this as well, the kind of mistakenly falls into the category of jukebox musical that a London audience can kind of come, um, especially when it's played somewhere else, and sit on their hands somewhat and go, right, show us what you got.

[4:12] John Schwab: Yeah.

[4:12] Sharon Sexton: So it was great to have twelve weeks of Manchester behind us going, we know we've got something really special, actually.

[4:18] Sharon Sexton: Yeah, you know, it was brilliant, it gave us a confidence.

[4:20] John Schwab: No, it's great. And audiences here have just like lapped it up, it's been incredible.

[4:24] Sharon Sexton: It's great reviews, great people. I mean, that just it is such a feel-good. I mean, I, it's bonkers, it's way out there.

[4:30] Sharon Sexton: It's actually crazy, but it was, but it is so much fun. I came out just laughing, laughing, smiling.

[4:37] John Schwab: Yeah, I know, and it's not like it's a joyous story. There's a lot of pathos in the piece.

[4:41] Sharon Sexton: There's a lot of heavy emotional ballads, yeah.

[4:46] Sharon Sexton: Which are, and Jim Steinman writes emotion. Man, if there's something that he can write, it is, it makes you feel stuff, and like some of the ballads that we get to do, like the new one, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most.

[4:59] Sharon Sexton: It's, it aches when you sing it. So to be able to, I'm really glad to hear that you found moments of light in the shade as well.

[5:06] John Schwab: Oh, yeah, no, listen, there is, listen, Jim Steinman writes a hell of a chart of a phrase, like in and melody to go with it. Like, it is just incredible.

[5:12] Sharon Sexton: There's no one like us, there's nothing like it. Somebody kept saying we were like the show is still evolving here.

[5:19] Sharon Sexton: Obviously, we're editing things since Manchester, and we're changing things again for London, and we're changing things again for Toronto, and, um, you know, people can be a bit resistant to change when something has run for a long time.

[5:30] Sharon Sexton: But if you talk to anybody who's recorded Steinman's work, I know that's something Meat Loaf says about him a lot, like you would think you would be finished a number, and then he would come into the studio the next day with another verse which was a completely different melody, and then a second bridge that was a different melody again, and that's kind of the journey of all of his songs.

[5:51] Sharon Sexton: They're like mini plays, they're like one act shows in each number. So that's kind of, I think that's a really good kind of parallel for the show overall because you just, you don't know where it's going.

[6:01] Sharon Sexton: You don't know what the heck is gonna happen. It's just an emotional roller coaster, like are you looking forward to tomorrow?

[6:07] John Schwab: Yeah, I really am. I'm looking forward to seeing what they make of it because I know like rock and roll is still kind of mainstream on the radios out there quite a lot.

[6:14] Sharon Sexton: Definitely the rock stations.

[6:15] John Schwab: Yeah, exactly.

[6:16] Sharon Sexton: So dedicated rock stations.

[6:17] Sharon Sexton: Yeah, and it's a big theatre town as well, so hopefully I think it'll go down really well.

[6:22] John Schwab: I haven't been.

[6:22] Sharon Sexton: Oh, you'll love it.

[6:23] John Schwab: Yeah, I'm hearing really good things, so I'm quite excited about it.

[6:26] Sharon Sexton: Yeah, it's a good time of year to go, and yeah, you have, you'll have a good time.

[6:26] John Schwab: You'll have a good time. Physical demands of this show.

[6:32] Sharon Sexton: So, like it is, um, there's a lot of running around. You change about 528 times.

[6:38] John Schwab: Yeah.

[6:38] Sharon Sexton: Um, stage and off. Well, you, uh, uh, undress on stage a lot.

[6:45] John Schwab: That was fun.

[6:46] Sharon Sexton: So we went into the rehearsal room. Day one of rehearsals. No, having not met anybody before.

[6:52] Sharon Sexton: First show I've ever done where we haven't gotten a script until the day, so it was a cold read.

[6:57] Sharon Sexton: And I remember we were sitting around just going, and I had heard that I was gonna be singing Paradise by the Dashboard Light, and I went, Alright, and that's in a car, and we'll see how that goes.

[7:07] Sharon Sexton: And then somebody in the stage directions, they went, So then we pull the take the tablecloth off the table and it reveals a convertible Cadillac.

[7:17] Sharon Sexton: Then Sloan pops up in her underwear, and I remember going, Oh, and then we push the car off the stage into the orchestra pit, and I remember going, Oh, and then thinking to myself, going, This is either gonna be the biggest pile of pants or the most incredible thing ever, because there's no, you can't, you can't write down stage like that and half do it.

[7:38] Sharon Sexton: So they've really challenged that song like the reaction of the from the audience again phenomenal.

[7:45] Sharon Sexton: It is, it's incredible. So cool. But there are a lot of, you know, physically eight shows a week's got to be pretty demanding.

[7:52] John Schwab: It is, and it's a, it it's a vocal marathon as well.

[7:55] Sharon Sexton: Oh, that's my second point. It's like, you know, there have been some higher profile people going off with their voice both in West End and Broadway and everything else.

[8:03] Sharon Sexton: You had that you're saying in fact everybody sing on the show is incredibly big.

[8:07] Sharon Sexton: Massive. Um, how do you sustain it over, like what do you do to kind of make sure that you are able to sustain your voice? Because it's a, it is a massive thing.

[8:16] Sharon Sexton: Um, Gin and Tonic. And, uh, that's a half-truth, and, um, no, and I think in the early days, I remember when we did the first sing-through in rehearsals, the first time we sang it through, we all kind of were walking around doing that actor thing where you have your hand over your throat like it's gonna give you some kind of magic power or comfort, and it doesn't.

[8:37] Sharon Sexton: We were all just looking at each other going, How are we gonna do this? Eight shows a week, sometimes twice a day.

[8:43] Sharon Sexton: But it's muscle memory, it builds up, and the first few months we were all very, very well behaved and terrified and living like nuns and being really, really conscious and good.

[8:53] Sharon Sexton: But I think once your muscles get into a rhythm and, uh, it's almost easier, I think, to find the strength in your body and your voice if you're doing it eight times a week.

[9:04] John Schwab: Yeah.

[9:04] Sharon Sexton: I think people who actually do shows and have two or three swung shows off, I think it's more difficult for, like for example, names, for example, yeah, who do shows and they only have to do a certain amount.

[9:16] Sharon Sexton: I think that's more physically demanding because your body has a chance to kind of, you know, goes back into rest. Goes back into resting mode, and then you have to start from scratch again.

[9:24] John Schwab: Whereas they didn't go for any names in this production really.

[9:28] Sharon Sexton: Yeah, well, obviously, but don't tell anyone.

[9:30] Sharon Sexton: Um, but no, but they, you know, they kind of, and we've, so we were only, I was going to talk about this as the director today.

[9:36] Sharon Sexton: We have so many graduates in this show, yeah, like more than I've ever seen before, and that's because obviously the lost are supposed to be frozen at the age of eighteen.

[9:43] Sharon Sexton: So, but they bring this huge energy, the ensemble, and this rawness and this kind of like passion to rock out eight shows a week.

[9:52] Sharon Sexton: So when it's coming from every department, it makes it easier.

[9:57] John Schwab: Yeah, you, you don't, you don't want to go off in the show because it's too much fun.

[10:01] Sharon Sexton: Far too much fun. I love it.

[10:02] John Schwab: Yeah, it's great. Thank you so much.

[10:04] Sharon Sexton: Not at all.

[10:10] John Schwab: Sharon Sexton, uh, the incredibly talented actress and singer, now appearing on stage at the Mirvish Theatre in Toronto in the ultimate rock show, Bat Out of Hell: The Musical.

[10:21] John Schwab: Before we wrap up, just wanted to say, uh, again, if you are a theatre professional and you want to join the network built by theatre professionals for theatre professionals, uh, I have designed it along with Matt Humphrey, who is a, uh, photographer, and talking to a ton of people in the industry as we went backstage to, uh, produce our book, Curtain Call, A You're Backstage in London Theater.

[10:42] John Schwab: Uh, uh, when we started chatting to everybody, we realized that there's a big old gap in the industry, and that is a website that allows us to link everyone to each other.

[10:50] John Schwab: Um, basically like the IMDB plus LinkedIn for theater. That's kind of what it is.

[10:56] John Schwab: Um, so, uh, if you want to join that network, just head on over to curtaincallonline.com, sign up for a free curtain call profile.

[11:03] John Schwab: You can, uh, get your headshot up there, your CV, you have show reels, voice reels. Um, you know, it's a big old resource for you guys if you are a theater professional, and it is free.

[11:15] John Schwab: You can follow us on other socials. That's Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at Curtain Call.

[11:20] John Schwab: We'd love to hear from you if you have any suggestions or feedback for the podcast. Get in touch with us by any of the social media platforms I just mentioned, or write to me at john@curtaincallonline.com.

[11:30] John Schwab: It leaves me to thank Sharon Sexton and the insane amount of people it takes to put on that production, Bat Out of Hell: The Musical.

[11:36] John Schwab: If you'd like to know more about the casting company out of, uh, Bat Out of Hell, just head on over to curtaincallonline.com.

[11:41] John Schwab: Said that a lot this, uh, this episode, but that's because I'm proud of what we built. Uh, head on over there and you can search for the Bat Out of Hell show page on our site where you can find headshots of the actors, see everyone who worked on the show behind the scenes, the producers, the musicians, and then you, uh, can link through to those people that they have worked with.

[11:58] John Schwab: So, uh, just go down the rabbit hole. Come on, it's fun. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Curtain Call Theater Podcast, and I will catch you all next week.

[12:08] John Schwab: Bye.