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[0:13] Sarah Goodman: Hi, I'm Sarah. I'm a sound designer and professional lesbian theater geek. I'm a huge fan of all things theater, Broadway, cabaret, and pop culture. I've got tattoos of Bernadette Peters and Liza Minnelli. In my podcast, I'm looking at theater through a queer lens and discussing the intersection between the craft and the LGBTQ community, aka me, my friends, and family. Join me in conversation with theater professionals, actors, creatives, and designers. Hey everybody, we've got a really exciting episode today.

[1:09] Sarah Goodman: Let me tell you more about them. Blair Baker is an actor, director, and writer. Theater credits include Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Play That Goes Wrong, Smart, The Slow Dance, and The Humans, Goldie Max and Milk, Oleanna, and the title role in Hamlet. TV and film credits include The Perfect Couple, Before, Bull, Ghosts of Christmas Always, Billions, Blue Bloods, and Harlem. Check them out at www.blairbaker.info. Blair and I had such a fun time. I laughed my ass off at The Play That Goes Wrong. Please enjoy my interview with fabulous human Blair Baker.

[1:48] Sarah Goodman: Welcome to Good Show, Blair Baker.

[1:50] Blair Baker: Hello.

[1:52] Sarah Goodman: Hi, thanks so much for joining me today.

[1:54] Blair Baker: Thanks for having me.

[1:55] Sarah Goodman: I'm excited.

[1:56] Blair Baker: I'm so excited.

[1:57] Sarah Goodman: There's so many interesting topics to talk to you about today.

[2:00] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[2:01] Sarah Goodman: I have to say first, um, congratulations. I saw you go on for Joe in The Play That Goes Wrong. And what a fun time it was.

[2:11] Blair Baker: I had such a good time. I laughed so hard. The show is so fun and chaotic and silly and ridiculous and hilarious.

[2:20] Sarah Goodman: Oh, had you seen it before?

[2:21] Blair Baker: Congrats on that.

[2:22] Sarah Goodman: I actually haven't, surprisingly.

[2:24] Blair Baker: Oh, wow, that's awesome. It's been running such a long time, but I've only been in New York like four and a half years. And you know, some of the longer running shows I haven't really gotten around to seeing. You know, especially because um I occasionally do press for shows, but it's usually stuff that's newer, things that are opening up.

[2:41] Sarah Goodman: So yeah, yeah. So uh I had such a blast. So congrats on that.

[2:46] Blair Baker: Um yeah.

[2:47] Sarah Goodman: So let's jump right into some questions. I'd love for you to introduce yourself to my listeners and uh talk about how you identify.

[2:54] Blair Baker: Sure. Um, well, I'm Blair Baker, and my pronouns are they/them. And I identify as a queer non-binary person. And I um yeah, that's everything, right?

[3:10] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, however you want to share. That's great. Um I would love for you to tell me a little bit about your journey with The Play That Goes Wrong. Something really cool about Blair is that they are performing many different roles in this show right now that uh are all over the gender spectrum. So talk to me about that.

[3:28] Blair Baker: Yeah. Um, and if I it's funny because I first joined The Play That Goes Wrong in like 2018.

[3:34] Sarah Goodman: Oh, wow, quite a while ago.

[3:36] Blair Baker: Yeah, I was on I was the Annie/Sandra cover on the first national tour. That's how I started. So it's been a part of my life and my like lexicon now for so long. So tell me if I need to like explain something if I just assume that you know.

[3:52] Sarah Goodman: Sure, yeah.

[3:53] Blair Baker: Um yeah, I started and uh just understudied the two female characters and did that for a year, never went on the entire year.

[4:06] Sarah Goodman: Wow, a whole year.

[4:07] Blair Baker: A whole year. Um, but it was still a blast.

[4:11] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[4:11] Blair Baker: And then immediately went to Off-Broadway because they had opened a few months after we set off on tour. And uh yeah, went in for like six months and on and off uh was a vacation swing for and still am. Um, and then the pandemic hit. And that's sort of, you know, we all had a lot of time to be introspective. And uh that's sort of when I discovered that I was non-binary.

[4:44] Blair Baker: And we when we came out of the quarantine, um, I went into The Play That Goes Wrong Chicago. And it was my first time trying she/they pronouns. And I really liked it, and it developed further every time you know someone would use they/them, it just sort of lit me up inside. Yeah, and yeah, and then it was really cool because I'd been dropping, you know, planting seeds forever that I wanted to understudy more roles, yeah.

[5:20] Blair Baker: And yeah, about eight months ago, they asked me to cover Jonathan and Dennis.

[5:27] Sarah Goodman: Cool.

[5:28] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[5:29] Sarah Goodman: So the production approached you about it.

[5:32] Blair Baker: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I had like put myself out there several times. But I I know the play so well. And they saw in the future coming up some uh holes in coverage, and they were like, we need some extra coverage fast. So can you learn these characters in a week?

[5:51] Sarah Goodman: Whoa.

[5:51] Blair Baker: And I was like, yeah, yeah, I could do that.

[5:54] Sarah Goodman: Oh my god, that's incredible.

[5:56] Blair Baker: Yeah. Yeah.

[5:58] Sarah Goodman: Wow. So can you give me like a sort of a rapid fire list of each of the characters that you're covering right now and sort of like what their vibe is?

[6:06] Blair Baker: Yeah, yeah. Um, so starting with Annie and Sandra, Annie is the stage manager, and uh Sandra is sort of the leading lady on genou type. And then I also cover Trevor, who's another backstage person, and uh Jonathan is the uh we call him the dead body because he's the dead body for most of the play, and then Dennis is the butler.

[6:38] Blair Baker: Amazing, yeah, and it was really cool also because they uh they asked the only sort of record I have of this is that on the West End there is a woman who understudies Dennis, and when she goes on, it's Denise.

[6:54] Sarah Goodman: Okay, so they kind of gender bend that role instead of having the actor gender bend themselves.

[7:01] Blair Baker: Yeah, exactly. Totally.

[7:02] Sarah Goodman: That's cool.

[7:03] Blair Baker: And so they asked me what I wanted, if I wanted to be Jonathan, or if I wanted to be Dennis, or if I wanted to be Denise and something, and I I was like, let me think about it. And I came back and I was like, can it be gender neutral? Can I be Joe and Denny? And they were like, yeah.

[7:21] Sarah Goodman: That's so cool.

[7:23] Blair Baker: Yeah. It's been really, really awesome to be seen by this company and this play in a way that like, because it's so important to me, you know. And then to just be completely accepted by them and encouraged. It's it's really awesome.

[7:39] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, that's really amazing that the production is like, yes, ending this whole journey and like leaning into it. And the thing that's really cool about it too is like it really proves that in a piece like this, and probably in a lot of other theatrical pieces, um, it doesn't really change the context of the piece at all. It just kind of brings whatever flavor you're bringing to the performance, right? Like Joe or Jonathan, it's sort of irrelevant, like what is going on there.

[8:07] Blair Baker: It's it's it's the crux of each character is really more of like what their archetypes are in this like murder mystery exact situation, right?

[8:16] Sarah Goodman: Yes, exactly. And I think that that's like super important for you know, queer representation right now is that like it doesn't have to be we can just exist in the world, right? It doesn't have to be about being queer, totally, which I think is like so powerful, actually, even more so than being like this is a queer role, and like it's all about the like identity. It's it's like it doesn't have to be that though, it could just be that we're people who are in this universe who like have stuff to do, or or are dead, like in the case of Joe.

[8:55] Blair Baker: Exactly.

[8:56] Sarah Goodman: Um, talk about what it's like being an understudy and like all you have to put into a role. Like, how do you learn multiple roles in a week? What where do you go for the inform? How do you get that information from the production? Do you get multiple rehearsals? Probably not. What's the situation there?

[9:11] Blair Baker: Oh, it's funny. Um, yeah, I think you really have to have a particular brain for uh for it, especially when you have multiple tracks. Um and this show is a farce. Like for those who haven't seen it, it is non-stop slapstick, people getting slapped, people getting hit with stuff, things are breaking, things are falling off the set constantly. It's it's very crazy. This is my dog, by the way, in case you see this little what's your dog's name?

[9:37] Sarah Goodman: Her name is Kiki.

[9:38] Blair Baker: Okay. Oh, she's adorable. She's just cuddling up over there.

[9:43] Sarah Goodman: She's chilling.

[9:44] Blair Baker: Oh, very cute. Yeah. So sorry for the distraction there. But yeah, uh, tell tell me about what it's what it's like to wrap your mind around all the different roles.

[9:52] Blair Baker: Yeah, it's well, it's yeah, what exactly what you said, it's a very, very physical show. So learning it can be daunting, but once you have it, then it's just like in your body. Um it's very the the female tracks have this sort of big physical fight at the end of the show. And that actually, when I go on for those tracks after a long period of time, is probably the easiest part because it's going to be in my body forever.

[10:24] Blair Baker: I think that's a good thing.

[10:24] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, yeah, it's muscle memory.

[10:26] Blair Baker: Yeah, exactly. Um, but when I learn a role, it's uh it's a lot of work, it's a lot of solo work. And something that is wonderful that I have relied on heavily for this show is that we have archivals.

[10:43] Blair Baker: So cool.

[10:44] Sarah Goodman: So you can watch the show, yeah.

[10:46] Blair Baker: You can watch it at home and just like run scenes over.

[10:50] Sarah Goodman: Oh, that's really helpful.

[10:52] Blair Baker: Yeah, yeah. So that's usually how I learn this show.

[10:57] Sarah Goodman: Okay.

[10:57] Blair Baker: Um for a new show, it's just yeah, a lot of watching, a lot of talking along with the monitor, um, and just drilling it as much as possible. And then yeah, when you have rehearsal, taking full advantage of that rehearsal and like having a checklist of everything that you need out of something that you can't do on your own, you know, like if there's a physical stunt, you're like, hey, I really want to work on that because I can't replicate that at home.

[11:29] Sarah Goodman: Right, right. Especially the things you need to do with another partner as opposed to like, oh, I'm doing this Pratt fall or I'm you know, doing this other thing.

[11:36] Blair Baker: Exactly. Wow, that's crazy.

[11:39] Blair Baker: It's really fun. It's I I've sort of spent a lot of my career being an understudy.

[11:43] Blair Baker: And so now it at this point I'm like, I I think that I need the adrenaline.

[11:51] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, like it keeps it interesting, right?

[11:53] Blair Baker: Yeah, it keeps it exciting.

[11:54] Sarah Goodman: Exactly. The stakes are a little higher than when you're just kind of doing the same thing every day.

[11:58] Blair Baker: Yeah, exactly.

[11:59] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[12:00] Blair Baker: Um, The Play That Goes Wrong is so funny and chaotic. How do you keep from breaking on stage? Especially when you're Joe and you have to be dead for so much of it. Have to just be laying there, except for when you're like kind of moving around, which is hilarious.

[12:13] Blair Baker: Yeah, well, for Joe in particular, um, and for Dennis, I'd say, uh, it's such the given circumstances are so high stakes for these people, and they so don't want these things to go wrong that that can really um keep you from breaking.

[12:33] Blair Baker: But I did break one time as Joe because actually it was my first time doing the trust swing at the end.

[12:39] Sarah Goodman: Oh my god, that was terrifying, by the way.

[12:42] Blair Baker: I was like, holy shit.

[12:43] Sarah Goodman: Oh my god, it's falling.

[12:45] Blair Baker: Yeah, for those who don't know what it is, it's like a trapeze essentially. Um, on this part of the set that this character has to jump off of.

[12:53] Blair Baker: Well, and it like it drops and then you swing on it. It's like a two-step double drop moment.

[12:59] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, exactly.

[13:01] Blair Baker: Uh, it's really fun once you learn it.

[13:03] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[13:03] Blair Baker: Um, but to sort of be able to do that trick, you have to warm up and you warm up by doing squats.

[13:11] Blair Baker: And right before I was about to go on, I was doing my last squat and my pants ripped.

[13:16] Sarah Goodman: Like fully.

[13:19] Blair Baker: And I was like, well, thank god it's The Play That Goes Wrong. It fits with the script.

[13:25] Sarah Goodman: Exactly.

[13:26] Blair Baker: And so I did it, I landed, and the guy playing Max at the time, this fellow Adam turned to me, I think in the clear and was like, "Did your pants just rip?"

[13:39] Blair Baker: And I was like, "Yeah, they did. Let's keep going."

[13:45] Sarah Goodman: Oh, that's so great.

[13:47] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[13:48] Blair Baker: But there are some characters, I'm sure you noticed that you're allowed to break.

[13:51] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, some of them are breaking and being their actor character in conjunction in tandem with the character they're playing in the play.

[13:59] Blair Baker: Because it's a play within a play.

[14:01] Sarah Goodman: Exactly.

[14:02] Blair Baker: And like Annie.

[14:03] Sarah Goodman: When you're on as Annie, you can laugh as much as you want.

[14:05] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[14:06] Blair Baker: But yeah, just like rooting in the given circumstances really helps not breaking. Like Sandra's just so mad that something is going wrong that that's your primary sort of emotion.

[14:19] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, yeah.

[14:20] Blair Baker: Oh my gosh.

[14:27] Sarah Goodman: Hey, good show friends. Do you want to see some fabulous sapphic cabaret? Guess what? Me, Sarah Goodman, I'm doing another iteration of my solo cabaret show at 54 Below.

[14:40] Sarah Goodman: I had a fabulous premiere of my solo show called Lesbian Thespian this past October at 54 Below, and I'm doing a new edition of the show, Sarah Goodman, Lesbian Thespians Broadway D.Va Collection.

[14:53] Sarah Goodman: April 8th at 9:30 p.m. at 54 Below. I have some incredible Broadway D.Va guests, including Kate Baldwin, Jackie Burns, Natalie Joy Johnson, and Celecia Thomas.

[15:10] Sarah Goodman: Directed by Dana Kelly Craig. Y'all aren't gonna want to miss this one. It's gonna be incredible.

[15:18] Sarah Goodman: Please get tickets today. You can get them at 54Below.org. Go to the calendar, go to April 8th, and there I am right there at the 9:30 slot.

[15:27] Sarah Goodman: Make a night of it. Guess who's opening for me? Marilyn May. Just kidding. She's not really opening for me. She's in the headliner slot at 7 p.m.

[15:34] Sarah Goodman: But if you want to do a night full of cabaret, come see both shows. How fun would that be? But most importantly, purchase your tickets for my show, Sarah Goodman, Lesbian Thespians Broadway Diva Collection, April 8th at 9:30 p.m. at 54 Below.

[15:47] Sarah Goodman: 54Below.org for tickets. See ya there, Diva.

[15:58] Blair Baker: So genderbending's always been a part of theater since truly like Greek theater, ancient theater.

[16:03] Sarah Goodman: Totally.

[16:04] Blair Baker: Um, but somehow it seems like it's still a new concept.

[16:10] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[16:11] Blair Baker: Um, what do you enjoy about exploring characters who are different genders and presentations?

[16:17] Blair Baker: I mean, I love it, and it's so interesting to just be like on this personal journey of discovering my own gender identity.

[16:27] Blair Baker: Um, like I love the Joe costume.

[16:29] Sarah Goodman: The Joe costume is sick.

[16:31] Blair Baker: It's so cool. It's kind of like a Dorian Gray purple jacket, like very like fancy man.

[16:37] Blair Baker: Yes, I feel very handsome in it and it's an awesome feeling.

[16:42] Blair Baker: And then it's funny because I used to, when I was just understanding Annie and Sandra, I hated going on for Sandra.

[16:50] Blair Baker: Because she's ultra femme and she's playing into that a lot of the time, and I just didn't like it.

[16:59] Blair Baker: But now, since I've discovered myself more, I actually really like going on for Sandra now because it feels like drag.

[17:08] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, yeah.

[17:09] Blair Baker: And it's really empowering to be able to just kind of explore all of these facets of myself, really.

[17:17] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, yeah.

[17:19] Blair Baker: Talk about queer representation on stage and what that means to you as an actor and also what it means to you as an audience member.

[17:25] Blair Baker: Like, are there particular shows where you've seen queer representation on stage that meant a lot to you or that inspired you?

[17:34] Blair Baker: Yeah. I mean, it's a big question, right?

[17:36] Sarah Goodman: Like that's a huge question.

[17:37] Blair Baker: Yeah, answer however you like.

[17:38] Blair Baker: No, I know, I know. I love it. I mean, we could talk for uh 12 hours, but I don't give a happy.

[17:43] Sarah Goodman: I want to hear your answer to this question.

[17:44] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[17:45] Blair Baker: Um, but yeah, I mean, it's funny because just like going back in my own journey, I decided I was an actor or wanted to become an actor uh when I saw Cherry Jones do The Heiress when I was 11.

[18:02] Sarah Goodman: Wow.

[18:03] Blair Baker: Yeah. And I was there was just something about her that I immediately was like, there was some connection, you know.

[18:13] Blair Baker: And now later in life, I look back on that and I'm like, of course, because she's a powerful queer woman, yeah, like there was something that I didn't even know yet that connected me to her and inspired me.

[18:27] Blair Baker: So I feel like us just being ourselves inside these characters is queer representation, regardless of the character that you're playing.

[18:37] Blair Baker: Um, my favorite part of The Play That Goes Wrong and getting to play these parts in particular, are you know, queer, queer theater has always been a place for queer kids.

[18:50] Sarah Goodman: For sure, yeah.

[18:51] Blair Baker: And every time I go on, I look out at the end during bows and I see so many queer kids that I'm like, I really hope that I'm that Cherry Jones experience for them, even if they don't go into acting, but like that there's something that they're like, I feel seen by seeing this character and this person.

[19:14] Blair Baker: Um, and I yeah, I don't know how you feel about it, but I just really, really want more queer joy.

[19:22] Sarah Goodman: Me too on the stage.

[19:23] Blair Baker: Yeah, and I'm kinda I'm kind of sick of the trauma and the barrier gays, tropes and like I just want some queer euphoria.

[19:35] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, I fully agree.

[19:37] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[19:37] Sarah Goodman: Fully agree.

[19:38] Blair Baker: Yeah, what do you what are your feelings about it?

[19:40] Sarah Goodman: You know, um, it's interesting because I feel like I grew up loving musical theater.

[19:45] Blair Baker: My parents did musical theater in regional theater near Chicago when I was when I was a kid.

[19:50] Sarah Goodman: Oh, very cool.

[19:51] Blair Baker: So I went I saw a ton of old school musicals all my life.

[19:55] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[19:55] Blair Baker: And so the representation I saw was often like connecting with gay male characters who were kind of the only queer people who were seen in a lot of shows.

[20:08] Sarah Goodman: I grew up in the nineties, so like

[20:10] Blair Baker: Yeah, me too.

[20:10] Sarah Goodman: You know, seeing a bunch of older musicals, especially like mid-century ones.

[20:14] Blair Baker: There's kind of like occasionally that gay side character.

[20:19] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[20:19] Blair Baker: Queer coded.

[20:20] Sarah Goodman: The flamey queer friend or something.

[20:23] Blair Baker: Um, or like I really, really love the musical name.

[20:27] Sarah Goodman: I saw it when I was like six years old.

[20:29] Blair Baker: My mom was in it.

[20:29] Sarah Goodman: She played Vera.

[20:30] Blair Baker: And there's something very queer about that show, even though it's not explicitly queer in any way.

[20:35] Blair Baker: Um, but it's written by Jerry Herman, who's a gay composer, and um, it has like some really interesting women characters who I think were kind of queer in their own way, even though they were not written to be queer characters.

[20:53] Blair Baker: Um, but I would say like as a I identify as a lesbian and there has been very little, very little representation in the musical theater world.

[21:01] Sarah Goodman: Definitely a little bit more in plays.

[21:03] Blair Baker: Um, but again, like you said, a lot of it's sad.

[21:06] Sarah Goodman: A lot of those stories are sad.

[21:09] Blair Baker: Um, tragedy or like our trauma kind of stuff.

[21:13] Sarah Goodman: But yeah, um, I think things are changing a little bit, you know.

[21:19] Blair Baker: Every year I see glimmers of hope that there's some more shows coming.

[21:23] Blair Baker: Um, certainly in the commercial scene, it's a lot harder.

[21:26] Blair Baker: Like a lot of the queer shows just like don't make it.

[21:31] Sarah Goodman: Um, but off-Broadway and off off-Broadway, there's definitely been like more and more things.

[21:37] Blair Baker: Like The Lonely Few, I thought was like so incredible.

[21:40] Sarah Goodman: That was an off-Broadway musical like last season.

[21:43] Blair Baker: Oh yeah.

[21:44] Blair Baker: Um, about like a queer woman sapphic romance, and they were like in a band and it was really cool and it was nobody killed themselves.

[21:53] Sarah Goodman: Oh great.

[21:54] Blair Baker: So it's really great, you know.

[21:55] Sarah Goodman: That's awesome.

[21:56] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[21:57] Blair Baker: So I think um, yeah, I think it's shifting for sure.

[22:03] Blair Baker: And I love to see shows like The Play That Goes Wrong doing something so seemingly very simple, just letting an actor portray a character in a way that like feels great with their identity.

[22:14] Blair Baker: Um, but it is kind of revolutionary, you know.

[22:16] Sarah Goodman: A lot of shows aren't really doing stuff like that.

[22:18] Blair Baker: And so I think it's so cool for representation.

[22:21] Blair Baker: And the night that I came to see the show, there were so many kids in the audience.

[22:24] Sarah Goodman: And I thought, like, wow, this is really cool.

[22:26] Blair Baker: Like, not only is it like bringing kids to theater, because it's probably a lot of those kids' first show they've ever seen.

[22:32] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, you know, depending on the age demographics and where they're from.

[22:35] Blair Baker: Um, but like getting that queerness in there in a way that's more like just sort of like here we are existing, just in a very uh natural yet somehow subversive way.

[22:48] Sarah Goodman: I think it's very great.

[22:49] Blair Baker: Yeah, and it's also awesome because we get a lot of tourists.

[22:53] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[22:53] Blair Baker: Um, and you know, this you that we could go into politics, but we probably shouldn't.

[22:59] Sarah Goodman: Um, but like the country's very divided right now really crazy.

[23:03] Blair Baker: And I walk out of the theater and I see people who are definitely from middle America and they just come up to me and they're like, you were so funny.

[23:13] Sarah Goodman: Don't even like think about it.

[23:15] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[23:15] Blair Baker: You know?

[23:15] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[23:16] Blair Baker: So it's getting in there subliminally for them.

[23:19] Blair Baker: Which is exactly what I want.

[23:21] Sarah Goodman: That's right.

[23:22] Blair Baker: That's perfect.

[23:22] Sarah Goodman: That's the gay agenda right there.

[23:25] Blair Baker: Exactly.

[23:26] Sarah Goodman: Could you could we just be accepted and have everybody be chill?

[23:29] Blair Baker: That'd be so nice.

[23:30] Sarah Goodman: Exactly.

[23:31] Blair Baker: Um, what are some of your favorite roles you've ever played? You have a really interesting resume.

[23:35] Blair Baker: You've done a lot of different types of plays. Uh, talk to me about some of your faves.

[23:39] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[23:40] Blair Baker: Um, I mean I love all of them in their own way.

[23:44] Blair Baker: Uh, but a really big like turning point for me was I got to play Hamlet.

[23:49] Sarah Goodman: That's so cool.

[23:50] Blair Baker: In a it was just like in a downtown festival, but it was really um just empowering and it was a gender nonconforming um interpretation for sure.

[24:04] Blair Baker: And it was the first time that I explored that and then the next thing I did was kind of an ultra ultra femme character and I was like I don't like this anymore so much. And so after that produ that contract was done I chopped off my hair. Yeah because I was like I don't I don't even want this to be an option because people have no imagination. Right. Um yeah exactly and so totally started changing my presentation and it was and then I got booked the play that goes wrong pretty much immediately after that. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. But definitely Hamlet, The Humans was really um powerful to be a part of. Uh and yeah, I just did this um show in Cape Cod, just did it was two years ago. Um that was called Smart by Mary Hamilton, and it was really lovely because it was an example of we I had was uh one half of a queer romance, but it wasn't about being queer. Yeah, it was just part of the part of the landscape. Yeah, and it was really, really lovely.

[25:16] Sarah Goodman: That's cool. Uh were you a theater kid? Did you grow up loving theater? Or did you come to it a little later? What was that journey like for you?

[25:25] Blair Baker: Yeah, um, my parents are in the theater too. Oh, yours too. How cool. Yeah. Um, my mom was a Broadway dancer and stage manager. And yeah, and so and my dad was on the uh producing side, and so I grew up seeing it, but it wasn't until that like Cherry John's that I was like, huh, maybe I could do this too. I was so shy. Eleven's pretty young, so yeah, yeah. That qualifies. Yeah, I was I have no idea. It was I was painfully shy. Um then I was like, I want to be an actor. What? Um yeah, so I I went to an arts high school in Los Angeles. And yeah, so I was a theater kid for sure. I was also a film kid. I was that kid making like short films with their friends at 14 in the backyard. Nice staging lightsaber battles and oh I love that.

[26:15] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, totally. I actually I worked at an arts high school when I lived in Chicago. Oh, really? For like four years. Yeah. It was such a blast. What a cool environment. I was like, damn, I wish I would have gone to school like this when I was a kid.

[26:25] Blair Baker: Yeah, it's very different. It's very different.

[26:28] Sarah Goodman: What did you do?

[26:29] Blair Baker: Um, I'm a sound engineer, so I was like the house sound engineer and sound designer for like every show. We did over a hundred shows a year.

[26:38] Sarah Goodman: Oh, cool.

[26:38] Blair Baker: Yeah, this is a magnet school. A hundred shows. We had five different departments, and each department had like 20 shows a year. Like theater, music, dance, creative writing, and visual art. The visual art shows weren't as heavy of a lift for the tech department because they're mostly gallery shows, and we're like, here's a speaker with some music, or they don't need us at all. Um but all the theater and dance and bands and all that stuff. We were always like doing some kind of show all the time.

[27:05] Sarah Goodman: Very cool. It was a blast though. I loved it. It was so much fun. And those kids are so fun.

[27:10] Blair Baker: Yeah. Yeah. It was really they really want to be there, which is nice.

[27:13] Sarah Goodman: They do, and they uh they're learning so much of what they're learning is about expression, self-expression, and so they're like really learning a lot about themselves. They're really introspective, they're really like emotionally intelligent.

[27:24] Blair Baker: Yeah, it was very fun environment to be in for sure.

[27:27] Sarah Goodman: Very cool. The arts are important, everyone.

[27:29] Blair Baker: Yeah, public publicly funded arts education is important.

[27:32] Sarah Goodman: Very, very important. Um, what are some of your favorite plays and or musicals?

[27:38] Blair Baker: Ooh, it's a very good question. Um I love The Real Thang by Tom Stofford.

[27:46] Sarah Goodman: Oh, I'm not familiar with this one.

[27:47] Blair Baker: I'll put it on my reading list. It's sort of like his I just like relationship play. I mean, all of his plays are relationship plays, but it's just sort of about that and writing. And it's funny. I I re-watched Shakespeare and Love last week.

[28:05] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[28:06] Blair Baker: That movie is so queer.

[28:08] Sarah Goodman: No kidding.

[28:09] Blair Baker: It's so queer. I can't believe that I hadn't really like thought about it in a while, but it's it's great.

[28:16] Sarah Goodman: That's a good one.

[28:16] Blair Baker: It's really good. It holds up for sure.

[28:19] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[28:19] Blair Baker: Um and did you see a play off Broadway a few years ago called Cock?

[28:26] Sarah Goodman: No.

[28:26] Blair Baker: It's great. It's really, really good. And it's a good read too. Um, and very queer. Um what else? Constellations. Um Far Away by Carol Churchill is a really um big favorite of mine.

[28:45] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[28:46] Blair Baker: That's about it.

[28:48] Sarah Goodman: What do you think makes a good show?

[28:53] Blair Baker: It's a really random question, but that's what quote unquote good show, since that's the title of this podcast. Ah, yes. Um I think for me it's like I can always find something good about a show, you know. Like I'm a very optimistic playgoer.

[29:11] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[29:11] Blair Baker: Um, and but I think the things that I walk away from and remember are surprises. I I want an element that just completely takes me somewhere else.

[29:25] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[29:25] Blair Baker: When I'm on a track, just like, oh wow, I had no idea that was coming. Um, not even necessarily like plot, but just an event.

[29:35] Sarah Goodman: Sure.

[29:36] Blair Baker: I love surprises.

[29:37] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, that's such a good point. You know, I don't think I've ever heard anyone articulate it that way before, but I also really love that. I feel like it could be a technical element, it could be a plot reveal, it could be some other kind of like twist.

[29:50] Blair Baker: I think that is what's really exciting about theater is when all of a sudden, you know, you're sitting there staring at some set for an hour and then suddenly it changes in a way that you weren't expecting. You're like, whoa, oh my God, the ceiling just opened up, or like that whole thing flew off and another thing came on. Whoa.

[30:06] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[30:07] Blair Baker: Exactly. Or like, oh my God, that guy's dead.

[30:16] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, exactly.

[30:17] Blair Baker: All of that.

[30:18] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, that's that's a great point. I love that. Surprises. Very important.

[30:21] Blair Baker: Um, what is important about theater today?

[30:25] Sarah Goodman: Today, January 25th, 2026.

[30:28] Blair Baker: Whoa, we've already gone through so much this year.

[30:31] Sarah Goodman: I know.

[30:32] Blair Baker: 25 days. Yikes.

[30:34] Sarah Goodman: Oh, geez.

[30:37] Blair Baker: Um, I mean, I'm I'm probably preaching to the choir, but it's so important right now. Us like I'm just constantly hearing people have conversations about social media and AI and being terrified of all of it. And it's just so important to be in a room together.

[30:58] Sarah Goodman: Yes.

[30:58] Blair Baker: Experiencing something together. Even if you don't, even if you go alone and you don't even talk to the person next to you, you still got your molecules changed that evening by being in the room with people.

[31:13] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[31:13] Blair Baker: And that connection is so important.

[31:16] Sarah Goodman: It really, really is.

[31:17] Blair Baker: It really is very much like people going to church or when people gather on mass to experience things together. Um, just being in each other's presence is like so important for humanity, for community.

[31:31] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[31:32] Blair Baker: And we're just being more and more isolated, and we gotta fight against that.

[31:36] Sarah Goodman: Yeah.

[31:37] Blair Baker: And also, you know, working or empathy is always a good idea. And that's definitely uh theater is the place to do that.

[31:44] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I fully agree.

[31:46] Blair Baker: Going to pop up. Go away.

[31:49] Sarah Goodman: Um, yeah, and you know, like you mentioned AI. I think I think about this all the time, literally multiple times a day now. Uh, how often we have to question like what is real when we're looking at something on our phone, when we're on social media, even when we're watching TV, you know, anything that's mediated, anything that is media on a screen, we now have to question almost almost everything, whether it's real or not, because we just don't know.

[32:19] Blair Baker: And what's wonderful and magical about theater is that what's happening on stage may not be quote unquote real, but it is real in the moment. You're really in that room. You're really seeing those people express those emotions, say those words out loud in the same breath, in the same space, you know, and that's exactly so valuable, so so valuable for humanity.

[32:41] Sarah Goodman: Yes, to not have that other, yeah.

[32:45] Blair Baker: The questioning is a really great way to put it. Just we don't know what's real.

[32:50] Sarah Goodman: And it's so it's so surprising.

[32:52] Blair Baker: Even somebody at the play that goes wrong the other day was like, Oh, I brought pictures to my hairdresser um to get my hair cut. And she was like, All of these are AI. But that's not even hair. Hair doesn't work like that.

[33:06] Sarah Goodman: That's crazy.

[33:07] Blair Baker: Isn't that crazy? That's crazy. That's really, really crazy.

[33:11] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, so this is the world we live in.

[33:13] Blair Baker: So we, you know, gotta adjust, but really, really make an effort to not be isolated.

[33:19] Sarah Goodman: Yeah, and go to the theater and go see the play that goes wrong because everyone could use a laugh, and this play is so funny and fun, and it has a lot of surprises, it's constantly surprising.

[33:31] Blair Baker: Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It's really fun to be a part of. And yeah, in this in these times to be able to make people laugh. It's really really gratifying.

[33:42] Sarah Goodman: It's really important. People need it so much, especially to keep the strength up to deal with all this crazy shit we're dealing with every day.

[33:48] Blair Baker: Yeah.

[33:49] Sarah Goodman: Um, thank you so much for joining me today. Tell my listeners how they can follow you and keep up with you.

[33:55] Blair Baker: Yeah, for sure. Um, I admittedly am not on Instagram as much as I should be. I just deleted TikTok yesterday. I said I can't handle this anymore. Also, apparently they're selling their data to ice.

[34:08] Sarah Goodman: Oh what?

[34:09] Blair Baker: Yeah. Oh okay. Well, yeah. Um, I've actually never been on TikTok, TikTok.

[34:18] Sarah Goodman: That's like oh, that's a blessing.

[34:20] Blair Baker: Yeah, but I've been off Instagram for about six months. But if you want to follow me and I'll when I inevitably, you know, return. Um it's uh Blair C. Baker is my my handle.

[34:32] Sarah Goodman: Amazing.

[34:33] Blair Baker: But also you like you can go on my website and um if you're having any questions or want to know more, you can always email me. I'm I'm very willing to talk.

[34:43] Sarah Goodman: Check out Blair's website, follow them, you know, see what they're up to, go see the play that goes wrong. Hopefully you can catch them in a multitude of different roles at any given moment. How exciting. Any other thoughts before we depart?

[34:55] Blair Baker: No, this was rad. Thank you so much for having me.

[34:57] Sarah Goodman: Thank you so much. This was so much fun.

[35:06] Sarah Goodman: Thank you for listening to my podcast. Good Show. Check out more episodes of Good Show at bpn.fm slash good show or follow me on Instagram at Good Show Pod or my personal account at Sounds Good Sarah G. This show is recorded, edited, and hosted by yours truly, Sarah Goodman. Thanks everybody for listening. Love you a lot. Be gay, do crime, ice out, peace out.