This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:10] Elliott Mattox: This is Hungover, a new mini-series where we follow some of our favorite theater artists on their way back to the stage. We're gonna be checking in with these artists before rehearsal, during rehearsal scene the process, and then afterwards during performances. So you'll get a unique perspective on their journeys to getting back to normal. So grab your hair of the dog, because this is Hungover. Cheers!

[0:38] Caleb Dicke: Welcome to this week's episode of Hung Over, an Equity One mini-series where we follow some of your favorite theater artists on their way back to the stage. I'm Elliott.

[0:46] Caleb Dicke: And I'm Caleb. Welcome. And we are sitting here with Britney Coleman.

[0:50] Britney Coleman: Huh?

[0:54] Caleb Dicke: A busy, busy woman about town.

[0:58] Britney Coleman: So busy.

[0:58] Caleb Dicke: She has so much. We are I'm we are going to get into it, but we are so glad to finally be sitting down with you again. We've missed you.

[1:06] Britney Coleman: It's been forever since we last talked.

[1:08] Caleb Dicke: It's been a long time.

[1:09] Britney Coleman: It's good to be back.

[1:10] Caleb Dicke: Yes. Lovely to have you. Well, we are drinking some lovely wine from Intermission Cellars.

[1:17] Elliott Mattox: We're drinking front row.

[1:19] Caleb Dicke: Front row, baby. Um, and here to tell you a little bit more about it are Kristen and David.

[1:28] Kristen and David: To some, the front row is the best seat in the house, reserved for the ones who want to be up close on the edge of their seat as the curtain rises. The front row of a vineyard catches the opening light as the sun rises, filling the grapes with enthusiasm. This white Rhone-style blend showcases that exact sentiment. It's dynamic, floral, complex, and refreshingly crisp. The Roussan varietal acts as our lead character, building texture within the layers of pineapple, honey, and apricot notes. Pair this wine poolside with a pre-show buttery dish or popcorn at Intermission. This performance is dedicated to Chuck and Kathy. The front row blend is made up of 68% Roussan, 10% Grenache Blanc, 8% Marson, 8% Viognier, and 6% Picpoul Blanc. To order front row or any of the other Intermission Sellers wines, you can go to www.intermissionsellers.com. Sellers with a C. And you can find us on Instagram at Intermission Sellers.

[2:28] Caleb Dicke: Refreshing. Love it.

[2:29] Britney Coleman: This makes me feel like it's summer when it is decidedly not summer.

[2:34] Elliott Mattox: No, um, that wind chill has brought us down into the 20s today.

[2:37] Caleb Dicke: Woohoo! My partner just got back from Arizona and he was like really missing cold weather, and then he was like, Okay, it is cold.

[2:49] Britney Coleman: Yeah.

[2:50] Caleb Dicke: Um, two things about the cold, and then we can move on. Um I have noticed that I love jackets. I have more jackets than I need, and I love rotating through them.

[2:58] Britney Coleman: How many jackets do you have?

[2:59] Caleb Dicke: I just bought a new one last week.

[3:02] Britney Coleman: Tell us about her.

[3:03] Caleb Dicke: I got it from Nordstrom's. It's actually part of my opening night outfit. Yeah, like monochrome, like an ivory collar. Like a new puffy, puffy, almost um like like furry, but it's not real fur, I swear to God. Um, but it's like very puffy and very warm.

[3:21] Britney Coleman: Oh my gosh.

[3:22] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, a winter opening.

[3:23] Britney Coleman: Yes. We love it.

[3:24] Caleb Dicke: We love that. Oh my gosh, we'll check it out on the gram.

[3:27] Britney Coleman: It'll be up. Did you style yourself?

[3:29] Caleb Dicke: Like I did.

[3:31] Britney Coleman: I did. You know.

[3:33] Caleb Dicke: If you have style, you don't need someone else to do it. You know, I try.

[3:37] Britney Coleman: Says the person who just got styled either.

[3:39] Caleb Dicke: Well, like for their opening/slash, oh my god, listeners, engagement. I was like, I was busy. I didn't have time to style myself. I was like, you know, when you open a show at the Met, I feel like you should have someone style you.

[3:51] Britney Coleman: Yeah. Time and place. Why not?

[3:53] Caleb Dicke: Why not? Yeah. Um, I need some gloves. So message me about where I can get some nice black gloves. I'm thinking like leather, fake leather. I don't know. But make sure, make sure that you um take phone usage into account because you want to get the fingertip things.

[4:14] Britney Coleman: I feel like most gloves do that now.

[4:16] Caleb Dicke: I think they do. Yeah, and I do think they make nice leather gloves with that.

[4:19] Britney Coleman: Okay.

[4:20] Caleb Dicke: Yeah. That was my second thing for um winter, and we can move onward now. Thank you for your time.

[4:25] Britney Coleman: You're so welcome.

[4:26] Caleb Dicke: We're so welcome. Brittany.

[4:30] Britney Coleman: Hi.

[4:31] Caleb Dicke: So the last time we talked, you were about to start rehearsals.

[4:35] Britney Coleman: Yes.

[4:35] Caleb Dicke: And now we are sitting, we are sitting here, and we'll we'll just give you a peek into our process. It is opening night of Company.

[4:43] Britney Coleman: Jump forward.

[4:44] Caleb Dicke: And you are sitting here with us, which is insane. Thank you again.

[4:47] Britney Coleman: Oh, please.

[4:50] Caleb Dicke: But when we were scheduling, you were like, well, it'll I won't have rehearsal opening night, probably. So that's a safe day.

[4:58] Britney Coleman: Safe day to schedule.

[4:59] Caleb Dicke: Oh, the schedule's been so crazy.

[5:01] Britney Coleman: I know. Well, you have a lot to do.

[5:03] Caleb Dicke: Yes. So why don't you um talk a little bit about the process when you started rehearsals before you got um onto the stage and started previews.

[5:14] Britney Coleman: Oh gosh. Well, let's see. We started off with two days of equity, diversity, and inclusion workshops with um Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Which was fantastic. It was so great to have the whole cast, the whole creative team. We had um some of the crew there as well who will be with us uh at the theater every night. It was really lovely to just kind of get to know each other on that really like ground level.

[5:42] Caleb Dicke: Uh-huh. Oh, so important.

[5:44] Britney Coleman: Um, and then we started right off into rehearsals. I don't even think we sat down and had a music rehearsal. I think we just went right into it. You ready? Because there's this there's this um thing that I think a lot of people are gonna be experiencing if you're going into a rehearsal room of something that was already happening or in rehearsals is there's like maybe an expectation that you can kind of jump in a little quicker than before. And you had said that you had had like check-ins with um with things in the throughout the pandemic.

[6:15] Britney Coleman: Yeah, we had a couple of Zoom meetings here and there. You know, some birthday stuff. And yeah, it was nice. It was nice to see, you know, folks throughout the process and see where they were at the time. A lot of folks left, people had kids.

[6:29] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[6:29] Britney Coleman: Oh gosh. A lot of parents. Uh we have a lot of parents in our show, so they were doing um school from home, which was a lot for them.

[6:36] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[6:37] Britney Coleman: They are so happy to be back.

[6:38] Caleb Dicke: I was about to say, I bet they're thrilled to be back.

[6:42] Britney Coleman: Yeah. What was um were there any like marked differences, market differences in the process from when you were rehearsing before and then now coming back after?

[6:53] Britney Coleman: Totally, totally. Um, well, for me, as an understudy, the first time around, we weren't brought into the process until I think the fourth week of principals doing their rehearsals and everything.

[7:05] Caleb Dicke: Sure.

[7:05] Britney Coleman: And then we were two weeks in the studio and then we started previews. Like we were, you know, into tech and then previews. And so this time around, they had the understudies there from day one.

[7:14] Caleb Dicke: Good.

[7:15] Britney Coleman: Yeah. Learning everything as other folks were learning it. So it'd be in our bodies as far as like the choreography goes. You know, as long as it had been in everybody else's body. So that's been such a huge plus, like right from the get-go, to be able to be present for some of the table work, which is my favorite part.

[7:31] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[7:31] Britney Coleman: Talking about these characters and why they do. The why, yeah, yeah. Exactly. You know, I don't want to be what we like to call um a meat puppet. That's from Santino Fontana. Um, but you know, just like walking around and like saying the words and going where I need to go. I want to be, you know, a fully fledged human being on stage. That's just been so lovely this time around.

[7:51] Caleb Dicke: And you get a you get a little bit of that, like for anyone who hasn't like had that process before. When you're learning uh an understudied track, you'll you're working with, you know, a resident director of the show or and the stage manager and the dance captain. And so I feel like you kind of get like maybe a Spark notes version of like what you know, what the director thinks you should know about this.

[8:13] Britney Coleman: Yeah.

[8:13] Caleb Dicke: But a lot of times in those processes, you want to like you it's not just A to B, right? You you figure things out as you go, and so having all of that is really helpful.

[8:24] Britney Coleman: I'm sure.

[8:25] Britney Coleman: Yeah. And we've got a great group. We added two new understudies, and then one of our principals is new this time around. So getting into rehearsals, I mean, it was kind of like ripping off the band-aid for the most part, and um uh a lot of the choreography was still in a lot of people's bodies. Holera practicing, like I have to so it was kind of uh an easy transition to get back into things. Uh they simplified a lot of things from the first time around. Like all that side by side choreography. It's like slightly shorter. There's less traffic in some areas. It's quite nice. You know, stepping away from it, you're like, well, maybe it doesn't have to be so hard.

[9:04] Caleb Dicke: Like exactly.

[9:05] Britney Coleman: Yeah. I think about, you know, if we had opened with version 1.0, I mean, we would have passed away by the time. I was really impressed by the dancing and the choreography.

[9:17] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[9:17] Britney Coleman: I was not ex- you know, you don't go to Company like expecting movement really.

[9:22] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[9:22] Britney Coleman: And these aren't like dancer dancers either. We've got like actors, which is great.

[9:25] Caleb Dicke: Whoo!

[9:28] Britney Coleman: But they're dancing.

[9:29] Caleb Dicke: Uh-huh. You're dancing quite.

[9:30] Britney Coleman: Well, Patty's up there. She's dancing.

[9:31] Caleb Dicke: Oh yeah.

[9:32] Britney Coleman: Yeah. Moving some set pieces. She's not just ringing the triangle this time.

[9:36] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[9:37] Britney Coleman: Props, galore. Like she's doing the whole thing, and it's amazing. She's amazing.

[9:40] Caleb Dicke: In case you didn't know.

[9:44] Britney Coleman: You've heard it here first. Patti Lupone is very good.

[9:47] Caleb Dicke: Patti Lupone is amazing.

[9:49] Britney Coleman: Surprise.

[9:51] Caleb Dicke: Oh my god. Miss Ada herself.

[9:54] Britney Coleman: Oh my gosh. Um what now, and you're you're on stage throughout the show in the ensemble. And then you're and then you're also responsible for having those other tracks going on in your what's the what's the process like now that you're also in performances but then also rehearsing?

[10:13] Britney Coleman: So now that we've got the show running at night, um, we're rehearsing in the theater during the day two or three times a week. I think it's gonna be about two now. Um and we're just doing a round robin of roles. There are fun. And so yeah, it's like, okay, do you want to play Sarah for this?

[10:39] Britney Coleman: Okay, all right. Well, I'll be Susan then, I guess. We're at that point now, which is great. We've all moved up lines. Everyone's an individual, so you get to like really step into the story when you do it. Yes, and we're all making jokes because our understudy group is about a foot taller than a lot of the principals. Oh my god, funny. Yeah. So our bodies are just so different. So doing some of that choreography that's built by our choreographer is particularly small. He's short, yeah. He's a petite man. And we love him. Um Liam, right? Yeah, Liam built for a petite person. And we've got people who are well over six feet in our understudy group. That's so funny. So we're all trying to be conscious of okay.

Well, if these two people are paired up, we have to adjust this way, or even different lighting cues sometimes. That lighting is step back. Yes. So the luxury of being in the theater for rehearsals that we get to check the lighting. Oh, totally. Yeah, so we know where to go. Oh, wow. So you're rehearsing with lights? Yeah. That's special. Yeah. Wow. Oh, that is it's huge. Such a lot rate. Huge. Because that's not the norm. Not at all. You get those folders. Oh my yeah, it's a ghost light and a prayer, usually. That is really huge. But that makes sense because I mean, if you haven't seen the production yet, there are a lot of moving parts. I mean, it is really that would be hard to throw someone in like that with no kind of not with not a lot of work with the actual set of lights moving parts.

Yeah, and there's some things we can't do without the entire cast. So we started learning another hundred people yesterday, which requires a lot of um hands on these moving letters that are all like eight feet tall and quite heavy. That's so cool. Yeah. So we had to split it up like chunk by chunk. Okay, for this move, you know, these two people move this letter diagonally, and you have to imagine you're going through the Y coming at you from stage right while the O is somewhere behind you. So don't step backwards with your left foot, otherwise you're gonna get run over. Like that's what our rehearsals are like at the moment. Until we get a full put in situation with the rest of the principal casts that we have all moving pieces, which who knows when that will happen.

When and if when and if, yeah. It might be like a day of situation has to go on. But yeah. We're trying to be prepared as we can be. I love the learning process of working with one partner, then another partner, and then the actual principal when you actually go on. So how have you adjusted one scene when you've worked with multiple people? How does that affect you?

[13:11] Britney Coleman: Oh yeah, it's totally different. Um, and I think that's a testament to our uh we have two associate directors, Gina and T. Hey girls. Um they're so wonderful and they're allowing us to be ourselves throughout every character. They you know, they're like, you can speak like you actually talk in real life. Like that was one of the notes that we got yesterday, which I thought was really interesting, and it just gives us permission to react naturally. So yeah, whatever energy I get sent between different actors, I can uh play off of it. Yeah. Yeah, it's really fun. And everybody's just so different and wonderful. We've got such a good group. I'm we're like the it's an embarrassment of riches. We are so spoiled. Everybody's so lovely. And down to play. Oh, that's the best part of it.

[14:01] Caleb Dicke: Well, and really you have you have to be, especially like in your case when you're really covering a lot of different kinds of roles. So, you know, like watching the show kind of I mean, I've seen the show, everyone's sorry. I haven't seen it yet, so like but like seeing it and like you know, you go from Bobby who is kind of acting as the street woman in a lot of these scenes, and is kind of in is so ground is so grounded in a different way than these big characters. Like, so what is it like for you kind of going between them? And are you like does that does that um play into help with one either one of the characters knowing the scene from both perspectives? Or is that hard?

[14:50] Britney Coleman: Absolutely, absolutely. Now that we're doing like this round robin of rehearsals, um, you just learn so much more about you know the why. Why are people acting the way that they're acting? Yeah. What drives them? And I think that fuels the reactions too, especially going from because I did Bobby first, and now um I'm working on Jenny, which is like slightly similar. She's a bit more of the grounded um like wife in her couple, like David is the uh this is the the couple that smokes weed. That scene. Um, and Jenny is not the one having a yeah, personal crisis. Um so she's pretty chill. So that's not too much of a departure from Bobby, but I also cover Jen Simard playing Sarah. And that's uh quite a different experience.

Yeah. She's so funny. It's amazing. I remember and watching the show again, sorry, but real I mean, literally, it is like some of my like comedy icons, like just thrown in a room together. I mean, Chris Sieber, Chris Fitzgerald, like everyone, Jen Smart, everyone is so funny and so good.

[16:07] Caleb Dicke: Yep.

[16:07] Britney Coleman: Um and they play off each other too.

[16:09] Caleb Dicke: Oh, I'm sure.

[16:10] Britney Coleman: It's just like a who like so funny. Perfection. And everything is, and it's really you know, a testament to you all in cast. It's it's a fabulous, fabulous show. How are you? How are you um getting back into like being in a show schedule? Being here, like what's that been like?

[16:29] Britney Coleman: I have reluctantly turned into an evening person or dependent mega became a morning person. It was so nice to have the sun in the morning. I got so much stuff done. And now I'm just like aggressively pushing snooze for hours in the morning.

[16:45] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[16:45] Britney Coleman: I feel a particular way about that. I don't know why, but that's what we all do. That's what we're used to. We are people of the night.

[16:51] Caleb Dicke: Yes.

[16:52] Britney Coleman: Um, yeah, so that's been my biggest adjustment as of late. But it's good. It's good. Maybe you'll maybe you'll get back to it once rehearsals calm down a little bit.

[17:01] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, maybe. It's also like winter though, because you're like, like, oh yeah, it's night at 4 30, and it's like, oh no, like I wanna I want to get up. It's just like heart.

[17:10] Britney Coleman: It's the yeah, the tension, the polling.

[17:14] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[17:15] Britney Coleman: Um, I'm intrigued. I've never seen company on stage. And I didn't know there was an ensemble. Is this like just for this production? Or tell like tell me a little bit about your track. I know you say it's simple and you blink an eye and you'll miss you, but like, what is your track like?

[17:29] Britney Coleman: Yeah, so they call it um the New Yorker track, quote unquote, because we have people on stage for big group numbers throughout the show. There are two big ones, uh, and they just need more bodies to fill the space because the principal cast isn't that big. So even though they're also changing costumes into these kind of um grayscale New Yorker figures, they can only run back and forth on stage so much to make it look like a busy street scene. Uh yeah, yeah. So there are, let's see, one, two, three, four, six of us. Six of us on stage who are basically kind of background. Uh-huh. Or background for the most part. Some folks are also moving those letters. I am not. Some of us um, let's see. I think everybody from that group that I just mentioned are also in the nightclub.

[18:17] Caleb Dicke: Very fun.

[18:18] Britney Coleman: Uh yeah, that's it's quite fun. We all get to be on stage for ladies who lunch, which is the best gift anyone could ask for the show. I wish you could also be on stage for the applause that happens afterwards. You're like, I'll suck this up too. It is wild. It goes on for so long. It's amazing. Um, but yeah, so that is kind of our our makeshift ensemble. Traditionally, there is not an ensemble in the show. I think the original production had some offstage singers, perhaps to fill it out, but yeah, it's it's a principal-driven cast.

[18:52] Caleb Dicke: I think it's so um anyone who's interested in moving in a career performing, going to see a show, and you're like, oh, like I see there's an ensemble, but then you learn that everyone understudies, so it's like, oh, like I can do both. It's like the introduction to like what everyone's job is for the puzzle.

[19:06] Britney Coleman: And actually, we're all on principal contracts.

[19:08] Caleb Dicke: Oh, amazing!

[19:10] Britney Coleman: Because uh there's some union thing with that about us being on stage, but none of us are mic'd. We can't sing or say anything at the moment. I had to get a concession because I also uh cover what's called the Bobby Double for the TikTok ballet.

[19:26] Caleb Dicke: Yes, yeah, which is also a principal track.

[19:28] Britney Coleman: So there's a union thing about if you're on stage covering principles, you can only cover three, and that additional Bobby Double is a fourth. So we had to get like that whole negotiated. It's yeah, it's a whole thing.

[19:41] Caleb Dicke: Oh my gosh.

[19:41] Britney Coleman: The more you like keep mentioning things, the more things I like remember happen in the show.

[19:46] Caleb Dicke: So good.

[19:47] Britney Coleman: Caleb, you have to go see it.

[19:48] Caleb Dicke: I have to go see it.

[19:49] Britney Coleman: Well, we'll the reviews will come out and I won't be able to get a ticket. So like I should run to the I should run to the box office.

[19:55] Caleb Dicke: Rush life, honey, rush life.

[19:58] Britney Coleman: We do have rush tickets though, which is great.

[20:00] Caleb Dicke: You gotta do it.

[20:00] Britney Coleman: You gotta do the rush, everyone. I was rushing shows like the week before Thanksgiving. I rushed like three shows, and it was like the best week I've had in a long time. It's just good to see things, and like just feels good to like get back in the theater.

[20:14] Caleb Dicke: And I mean, how has that been? I mean, the the audience look, the audiences are going wild over a company.

[20:22] Britney Coleman: That's so great. I'm so happy. Yeah. It's really a special show. Are you ever like enough with the ovations people? I got a train to catch.

[20:28] Caleb Dicke: Oh my gosh.

[20:31] Britney Coleman: I mean, how do the people that live in Jersey feel about the ovations?

[20:35] Caleb Dicke: I mean, we have people taking 1140 trains at night. Like that's the the earliest they can get after we get out is at 1140. It's a good half hour, 45 minutes to get where they're going. I don't know how they do it.

[20:49] Britney Coleman: You're like, I'm going uptown.

[20:51] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, exactly. No kids here. Want to sleep on my couch?

[20:55] Britney Coleman: Okay. I'll be hitting snooze, so like I won't wake you up. But yeah, these preview audiences have been so wonderful and wild. Uh that first preview performance, what did the social media account count? Six six standing ovations throughout the show. It's crazy. It was crazy. That's the night I was there.

[21:18] Britney Coleman: Kelly was leading all the same ovations.

[21:20] Caleb Dicke: Did Steve stand up during those?

[21:22] Britney Coleman: No. He, no, he was sitting.

[21:24] Caleb Dicke: Okay, good.

[21:25] Britney Coleman: Um, I don't like he might have stood for Patty.

[21:28] Caleb Dicke: Aww.

[21:29] Britney Coleman: Um, but there were a lot of ovations, many. Um, but yeah, and you know, of course, rest in peace. Um, and I mean, how has that affected? Have you seen that affect the audiences? How they're loving it, or is everyone feeling how, and I mean, how is that affecting the show backstage?

[21:52] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[21:53] Britney Coleman: Um, well, I don't think the audiences have changed in particular. Everyone's been just as wild as they have been. Um, you know, when they set the bar so high at the beginning, yeah, like there's nowhere else to go down. So it's just stayed up, which has been great. Um, but yeah, we, it was on a two-show day, and we were all called down to the stage right at the end of the matinee, and Marianne Elliott was there and some of our producing team and we all like huddled on the stage after the drop came in and she told us and she also said she asked the Times to refrain from breaking the story before she told us, which I think was so lovely.

[22:36] Caleb Dicke: That is really nice.

[22:38] Britney Coleman: Um, yeah, it was really sad. It was r like I openly wept and I didn't think I would.

[22:44] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[22:45] Britney Coleman: Um, and I think part of that was just kind of realizing I owe so much of my career to that time in high school with Into the Woods.

[22:52] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[22:53] Britney Coleman: Had I not had the time of my life doing that, I would not have pursued this career. So, you know, it was just kind of the world imploded on us a little bit, but um then to be able to do the evening show that night, uh, starting off with kind of what we did for our first preview. Yeah, we did the first preview too, was that we were able to see the audience and Marianne made a nice little speech that night as well, and we could just um take a moment to dedicate that evening to Mr. Sondheim, which was so lovely, and it was um a really special show. Everybody kept it together. I thought Patty might lose it. I thought Katrina might have a moment during "Being Alive," but it was really such a solid show, and it was such a nice dedication to him. So yeah, I think we've really taken that to heart to be able to carry on the piece um that he was so, you know, effervescent about. Um, yeah, it's just meant so much.

[23:56] Caleb Dicke: So I'm glad you're doing it. I'm glad you all have this moment, like to really, you know, pay tribute to him in a huge way every single night. Um, and I'm also glad that we have it so that we get to enjoy and um yeah, the gratitude of it all as simple as it is.

[24:13] Britney Coleman: Yeah, thankful.

[24:14] Caleb Dicke: Yes. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back.

[24:18] Britney Coleman: Great.

[24:18] Caleb Dicke: We are back with some quick cues.

[24:22] Britney Coleman: Okay.

[24:23] Caleb Dicke: So let's go. Three things you need at your station backstage.

[24:27] Britney Coleman: Oh my gosh. Um, three things I need. I have these little pots of um, uh like chapstick by Vaseline, but they also come in like all these different flavors. So I have one that's like champagne, one that's um cocoa butter, and one that's aloe-based.

[24:44] Caleb Dicke: Okay options.

[24:45] Britney Coleman: Okay. Those are the three. Those are the only things you can see.

[24:50] Caleb Dicke: All I need.

[24:52] Britney Coleman: Well, this truck is so lovely because like I don't really have to do much. Like I have that, I have my um my tart uh BB cream for my face and mascara. Honestly, I'm good.

[25:04] Caleb Dicke: That's good.

[25:04] Britney Coleman: I don't even need to drink water during your show. Let's go. Also, we do have a French press in our dressing room.

[25:10] Caleb Dicke: Oh, love a French press.

[25:11] Britney Coleman: You gotta have lifesaver. You gotta have a coffee. I'm obsessed.

[25:14] Caleb Dicke: Do you put anything in your coffee? Are you just like straight like right off the French press?

[25:19] Britney Coleman: Oat milk. We'll do a little oat milk, maybe some honey.

[25:22] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[25:22] Britney Coleman: Oh, honey, okay.

[25:25] Caleb Dicke: It's not like the sugar, it's not like no sweetener, yeah.

[25:28] Britney Coleman: Yeah, it's a little mild.

[25:29] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, yeah.

[25:29] Britney Coleman: Yeah, don't do that.

[25:32] Caleb Dicke: Some listeners might like it.

[25:33] Britney Coleman: Okay.

[25:36] Caleb Dicke: Um, so you don't get to, sorry.

[25:40] Britney Coleman: Um, you don't get to see a lot of shows now that you're in a show, but what is your favorite seat in the theater to watch?

[25:46] Britney Coleman: Ooh, um, front of the mess.

[25:50] Caleb Dicke: Love the front of the mess.

[25:51] Britney Coleman: You get that whole view.

[25:52] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, you get the full picture.

[25:54] Britney Coleman: Yeah, you get the full picture. The sound is usually pretty good too. Like, sound is a thing for me, you know, in these houses. I'm like, oh, don't put me on the side where like it's just no like nothing coming at me.

[26:03] Caleb Dicke: Right by the curtain, yeah.

[26:05] Britney Coleman: Yeah.

[26:06] Caleb Dicke: Um, memorable stage door experience, either um on either side for you.

[26:13] Britney Coleman: Oh. Oh, oh no. Um, your first time stage dooring.

[26:19] Britney Coleman: I had a fun little surprise at a stage door once. I was doing "Into the Woods" at Tuts in Houston, and we had a whole ensemble of children in the show with us. And in Texas, all the performing children also belong to dance studios.

[26:38] Caleb Dicke: Oh, I'm sure.

[26:39] Britney Coleman: I remember we left the stage door once after a matinee, and it was just a sea of dance competition girls there to see, you know, all of their friends in the show. But it was I've never seen so many and like, you know, like little girl screams amplified by like a hundred.

[26:56] Caleb Dicke: Yes.

[26:57] Britney Coleman: And they were all there for the children there.

[26:59] Caleb Dicke: Exactly.

[26:59] Britney Coleman: It's like, oh, did you enjoy the show?

[27:01] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, they're like, where's Cassandra?

[27:03] Britney Coleman: Hilarious.

[27:05] Caleb Dicke: So that was fun.

[27:06] Britney Coleman: Yeah, that's a good one. Cassandra notably taking forever.

[27:10] Caleb Dicke: She had to get her bones just right in her hair.

[27:12] Britney Coleman: She's like, that's the age. I remember those days.

[27:19] Caleb Dicke: Okay. Uh, New York at Christmas must see.

[27:23] Britney Coleman: Oh gosh, I love New York at Christmas. What I like to do is do um the Fifth Avenue walk. Yes. And, you know, end up at the tree or whatever, like have that be the middle stop between the like top of um like Central Park South and going down to Macy's. But at like 10:30, 11 o'clock at night.

[27:42] Caleb Dicke: Ooh.

[27:43] Britney Coleman: Empty.

[27:43] Caleb Dicke: And yeah, like I don't want the tourists that have the kids and the strollers and the stuff. I did that with my family.

[27:48] Britney Coleman: Avoid seven o'clock because it is just a little bit more than a little bit.

[27:51] Caleb Dicke: Oh no, worse time to go.

[27:53] Britney Coleman: No.

[27:53] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, late at night, all the lights are still on. Super cute. Crisp, quiet.

[27:59] Britney Coleman: Yes.

[27:59] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[28:00] Britney Coleman: Um.

[28:01] Caleb Dicke: So we've all worked at the Oslo Repertory Theater.

[28:04] Britney Coleman: Yes, we have.

[28:04] Caleb Dicke: Oh my gosh. Tell us your favorite Oslo Rep memory or Sarasota.

[28:09] Britney Coleman: You know, we love uh Sarasota moment. Oh Lord, oh, mmm. Oh, uh well, I guess I have a few now. One pre-pandemic and then one fully in the pandemic pre-vaccinated.

[28:21] Caleb Dicke: Right. Let's have them.

[28:23] Britney Coleman: Oh, the Oslo Rep has fantastic company housing. Yes. I will say that. And there are these picnic tables out there. And uh that was our like home base for the cast um when I was doing "Camelot" during the pandemic. So the rules were so strict, we weren't really even allowed to like go visit each other inside. Like early in the pandemic. Yeah, it was like March of this year. Yeah. So, you know, it was a little scary, especially in Florida where people were like, what? Absolutely not. Um, so that was like our favorite kind of communal time was just post-show at those picnic tables next to the fountain that had like the glorious lighting spectacular.

[29:10] Caleb Dicke: Oh gosh, yeah.

[29:12] Britney Coleman: We had some good moments though too. I don't know, any show with kids is fun. Uh-huh. Um doing "Music Man" there. And I remember it was Halloween. And I was like, okay, let's dress up. We got these kids in the show, like, let's make it for him for the kids. I was the only one that showed up when we really dressed up.

[29:30] Caleb Dicke: And you're like, thanks, y'all.

[29:32] Britney Coleman: Yeah, it was real bad. I came as like a unicorn. I had like rainbow, like eyeshadow on, and like a headband with like a big thing. You know what? That's embarrassing for them.

[29:40] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, exactly.

[29:41] Britney Coleman: The kids are like, cool.

[29:43] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, right.

[29:43] Britney Coleman: Oh, geez. They're missed up.

[29:46] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[29:46] Britney Coleman: Oh, Lord, whatever. Good times.

[29:48] Caleb Dicke: Uh last question. Um, I can't believe this is my job moment that you've ever had in your career.

[29:50] Britney Coleman: Oh. Oh, oh no. Um. I mean, honestly, just showing up to "Company" every day.

[30:03] Caleb Dicke: Uh-huh.

[30:03] Britney Coleman: Yeah, maybe because it's part of the track too, where it's like, you know, I'm most of the job is making sure I'm on top of all of the roles that I cover. But like my actual New Yorker Daily Track, like, I'm in a pair of overalls and a t-shirt. Uh-huh. And like, nobody cares. It's kind of wonderful.

[30:22] Caleb Dicke: I care.

[30:24] Britney Coleman: But it is, it's I don't know. It's just very cool to be on stage for "Ladies Who Lunch." I think that's every night. There's one move that we do where we shift positions, and I am in direct, like almost eye line with Patty for one of the verses. And it's so humbling. And a masterclass every night. I get paid to just sit there and watch her. Like, get out. Come on.

[30:50] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[30:51] Britney Coleman: It's lovely. It's amazing. And we're so happy for you and happy opening. Um, everyone, go see "Company." Obviously, here in the city, you can't miss it. Um, Britney, where can people follow you on social media?

[31:14] Britney Coleman: I'm most active on Instagram. It's just my name, Britney Coleman at Insta or my website, britneycoleman.com. You can find the podcast at Equity One Podcast on Instagram and TikTok. Um, or at equityone_ on Twitter. Send us an email at equityonepodcast@gmail.com and head over to your um podcast app and give us a five-star rating review. It helps other people find our podcasts and lifts us up. It'd be the best Christmas gift.

[31:37] Caleb Dicke: The best.

[31:43] Caleb Dicke: Um, Caleb, where can people find it?

[31:45] Caleb Dicke: Caleb Dicke on everything.

[31:46] Elliott Mattox: How about I'm at Elliott Mattox on everything.

[31:50] Caleb Dicke: And until next time, cheers!