This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jeff Malone: In this episode, we'll discuss Broadway's "New York, New York," "PRIMA FACIE" starring Jodie Comer, and Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour."

[0:07] Richie Grasso: This is "Half Hour with Jeff and Richie."

[0:13] Jeff Malone: Half hour.

[0:18] Jeff Malone: What's up, everybody? It's Jeff and Richie, your co-hosts, and we're bringing you our weekly conversation on the top theater and pop music topics of the week.

[0:26] Richie Grasso: And as always, this conversation may feature some spoilers, so you have been warned.

[0:32] Jeff Malone: But we're gonna get right in it today because we have a lot of topics to talk about. And we're gonna go right over to Broadway land.

[0:40] Jeff Malone: And the last musical that we saw this season. So it's "New York, New York."

[0:46] Richie Grasso: Yes, at the St. James Theater in New York City. We have "New York, New York," a musical with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, written by David Thompson, co-written by Sharon Washington, additional lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and direction and choreography by Susan Stroman.

[1:00] Jeff Malone: Stack team.

[1:01] Richie Grasso: Yes. And I was gonna say, you know, we'll talk quick about our likes and dislikes with this. If we're gonna end this episode talking about Taylor, and we're gonna spend the middle of this episode talking about Jodie Comer, I'm gonna just start by talking about Anna Uzele, because to me, she was everything for me.

[1:18] Jeff Malone: I remember hearing her sing one of the songs in this and leaning to you and saying there's the Tony nomination. Do you remember that? I said, there's the Tony nomination, and then she didn't get a Tony nomination.

[1:27] Richie Grasso: They get one in the page. It doesn't make any sense to me. I think Colton Ryan is fine. I don't understand how he gets a Tony nomination and not her. There's a lot going on with just—well, there's a lot going on in the show because there's just too much going on, I think.

[1:44] Jeff Malone: I will say another highlight other than Anna's amazing performance is some of Susan Stroman's brilliant direction and choreography. I think there's some really nice moments. The steel pier tap dancing is so Susan Stroman, and she just is so good at what she does that I actually don't think this is the best thing I've ever seen her do.

[2:03] Richie Grasso: I mean, everyone knows "The Producers" is like the biggest thing she ever did, right? Along with many other things. But I just thought this was missing something to me.

[2:12] Jeff Malone: Yeah, what was the show for you?

[2:14] Richie Grasso: It was just chaos and confusion. It's a good thing and multiple subplots in multiple moments. I couldn't attach myself to any characters other than Anna's because I really thought she was it for me.

[2:27] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[2:28] Richie Grasso: And I was like, wait, what happened to that person? Wait, where are we going now? And it just—if that's supposed to highlight the chaos of New York City, but you can't—you gotta give us a little bit of a thorough plot.

[2:38] Jeff Malone: Um, chaos, yeah. It was just—it just didn't hit the mark for me.

[2:41] Richie Grasso: It's confusion, although it's doing really well at ticket sales. It got a bunch of nominations. I think that's a big thing to talk about here. This falls into my one of my categories of checkbook musical, checklist musical.

[2:54] Jeff Malone: Uh, just goes down the list of does it have it and can we put it into the musical? So dancing, singing, forced storylines, if you name it, it was in the show, and it really, really needed a few more edits, I think, before coming to the Broadway stage because there was too long, way too many things going on for you to follow.

[3:17] Richie Grasso: You don't know who you're supposed to feel bad for. Are you supposed to feel bad for anyone? It's just—it was messy, it was messy. And I'm gonna say this, but I think Colton Ryan is probably one of the most overrated people in Broadway right now.

[3:31] Jeff Malone: I don't know how he got the Tony nomination. There was like basic acting happening up on that stage, things that just weren't even working. He's playing the piano, playing in quotes at times, and I'm like, what is he doing? And it was so over the top.

[3:44] Richie Grasso: I've seen him in other things, and I've seen him well in other things. This just didn't seem like a right casting to me.

[3:51] Jeff Malone: Well, the best thing that we did see him do was "Dear Evan Hansen." He was Evan Hansen when we saw it. When we missed Ben Platt doing it, but then I didn't like it in "Girl from the North Country." And now in this, and him being a leading man, definitely he needs some more just focus, I think, in his level all over the place.

[4:09] Richie Grasso: You know, a highlight for me, I did love the scene changes. I thought they were done effortlessly. I thought the 30-second scene changes were better than some of the scenes.

[4:17] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And speaking of scenery, Beowulf Boritt, who we love Beowulf's scenery. This was an incredible set.

[4:23] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And Beowulf always knows what he's doing with scenery. I think it's just wonderful. And I 100% agree with you that Anna Uzele was totally snubbed of this nomination because her doing "New York, New York" was just beautiful.

[4:36] Jeff Malone: And it was great. And she wasn't imitating Liza from the movie, she was doing her own thing.

[4:41] Richie Grasso: Um, and Emily Skinner, oddly miscast, I think, but I love any moment I can see Emily Skinner singing live on stage. I think she's an underrated Broadway talent.

[4:51] Jeff Malone: But if you told me she was in the show, I wouldn't have remembered that.

[4:54] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And it's like, what are you doing in this world? I don't know. Just—it seems very messy to do. It's a huge tourist trap. It's gonna do well. It's doing it.

[5:04] Jeff Malone: You know, it's "New York, New York." People want to go, they're coming to New York, they want to hear someone sing "New York, New York." It is what it is.

[5:10] Richie Grasso: And it's Kander and Ebb, and I don't—I certainly don't think it's Kander's best score. I think "Chicago" and "Cabaret" are wildly on top above this, but there were entertaining moments, but it was just a little messy to me, and I don't really know what was going on half the time.

[5:26] Jeff Malone: I really don't. I couldn't tell you if someone said, "Well, what's the plot?" I don't know what I would say. I'm like, well, it's about this family and then this family, and then that guy, and then that girl, and then New York. And I'm like, what? I just seem to—let's make it in New York.

[5:38] Richie Grasso: Yeah. But the ensemble's killing it. They're really working the whole time. There's great moments, there's a lot of things. We're just costumes. I mean, we're on the fence.

[5:44] Jeff Malone: Yeah, I'm just not really into it. So, you know.

[5:48] Richie Grasso: We're on the fence. We're just gonna end there with that because we have other things to talk about. And this was not our most favorite thing we saw this season.

[5:56] Jeff Malone: But kudos to, like I say, I always say, whenever I don't really like something, I always like to say, there are hundreds of people working on this. And they're employed and they're working, and good for them. So just because we didn't like it, doesn't mean you're not gonna like it. So go check it out.

[6:09] Richie Grasso: And then we're gonna go on to the last play we saw this season. And after we saw "PRIMA FACIE," which we're about to talk about, we have now concluded seeing every single musical and play on Broadway in this 2022-2023 season, which is crazy that we saw everything.

[6:24] Jeff Malone: I can't believe we did.

[6:25] Richie Grasso: I can't believe because next week you get a whole episode on Tony nominations and Tony predictions, and we can actually give our full opinions on this. So we know we've seen every show.

[6:36] Jeff Malone: And we're gonna go over now to "PRIMA FACIE" at the Golden Theater. Jodie Comer is starring in this.

[6:42] Richie Grasso: It's a play by Susie Miller, directed by Justin Martin. Huge hit in London, comes to New York, gets extended, is playing till July 2nd, one-woman show.

[6:52] Jeff Malone: Oh gosh, we're gonna shift here now from "New York, New York" over to the—

[6:59] Richie Grasso: Yeah. But we had to get them in because we are running out of weeks and there were so many shows this season. This show is "PRIMA FACIE."

[7:06] Jeff Malone: Yeah, go.

[7:08] Richie Grasso: I walked out of that theater and you started talking to me, and you're like, "Are you gonna say anything about this?" And I told him I literally can't because I was just left so speechless at the end of this show that this is like what actually goes on in the world.

[7:22] Jeff Malone: It's just so sad.

[7:24] Richie Grasso: And what I'm talking about here is sexual assault cases and how they are handled in court, and how they just target that topic alone was just done so well. And I have to applaud Jodie so much for this because she is killing it, and she deserves every little bit of that Tony nomination.

[7:44] Jeff Malone: She is a force, and she is not just on the stage, she is like in the scenery, becoming the stage. She is everything. I've never seen—it's very hard for me to think of when I've seen a performance where a woman is just commanding my attention for a hundred minutes in a way like she is doing, and the fact that she has almost no stage experience in the professional setting like of Broadway, and she's done so much TV, but I'm watching this and I'm like, how are you doing this eight times a week?

[8:22] Richie Grasso: And we were sitting pretty far back, and I still felt so captivated. And we saw some other one-person shows this year. And it's hard when you see some that are just comedy and some that are drama, and right, some that are storytelling, and some that are scripted, and some that are not.

[8:41] Jeff Malone: The premise of the plot is astonishing to me. How she starts this play and how she ends this play, and in the middle, what happens to her and how she deals with it as a victim. I am just—I don't know.

[8:54] Richie Grasso: Yeah, so speechless. I feel like I still am speechless. Like, I'm thinking back to this performance now. And first of all, the writing of this show was just done so well. How you could take someone who has to defend victims sometimes in court or the opposing side, and you know, the whole pro you're innocent until proven guilty, and how hard it is to prove someone guilty in a sexual assault case.

[9:26] Jeff Malone: It—she just explains, like, oh, you can find a fault in anyone's story to twist it, and how in the beginning of the show she's on top of everything where she's like, I'm gonna win for my client, I'm gonna do this, and you slowly watch her start realizing things until she is assaulted.

[9:46] Richie Grasso: And once that happens, she starts going through the motions in her head that she's never going to win her own case, even though that she's been assaulted because she knows the system so well, and you watch this woman just go up, up she's on top of the world, she's on top of the world, and then deflate.

[10:05] Jeff Malone: And you're like, whoa, which is kind of the whole—like until it happens to you, what do you do?

[10:13] Richie Grasso: And I'm just watching this, and I'm like, I feel so bad. And you know, and the way that they were just twisting her words, even when she's sitting in court, you're like, how often does this happen? And I wanted to bring something back to this because last week we talked about Kesha, and this is the same thing that Kesha has gone through that she had to go to court with this case against Dr. Luke and lose almost fighting this battle over and over again. That's why she's putting those words into her music. So it's interesting to see that, you know, in multiple areas of life, this is still happening to people over and over again. It's astonishing, it's eye-opening, and it's it's and then the piece is done theatrical.

The scenery, we're gonna give spoilers, you know. If you haven't seen the scenery rising, the books that she pulls out and how they all lit up at the end to show these multiple cases surrounding her. Yeah, the rain. I'm always a fan of Rain on stage. I think it's the coolest effect. I mean, no matter if it's the most joyous singing in the rain or the most tragic prima facing, rain can just, and she is soaking wet, and it's just ruining her in that moment. Just the way this she's all over that stage telling this story. I'm captivated by her. And the direction in this was just out of this. Incredible. Incredible. It's haunting. At some times, you feel like it could be done with 10 people playing all these people.

And at times I'm like, nope, it works just like this. I it it's also going to be played made into a film we heard recently with Cynthia Erivo. And I wonder, did Jodie give up her rights of first refusal on this? Was she asked to do this? Because I I'm shocked that Jodie's not doing this. Maybe she said, Oh no, put give someone like Cynthia this role. I don't know. You don't really know. But I remember the lights coming up at the end of this. And it's interesting how when we leave, we leave so many shows, right? And if it's a comedy, we're like, oh my god, that was great. Or when it's a drama, we're like, oh my gosh. But this was something different for me. I remember getting up from my seat and okay, let me just like stand up.

We're gonna go grab our jacket, we're gonna go. And I look around, and all these women are hugging each other. Yeah. And it it maybe they were hugging people they came with, maybe they were hugging the stranger next to them, but just women hugging women being like, I sat next to you for 100 minutes and listened to this, and I just want to give you a hug. And I'm sitting there like, wow, I'm watching this, and I'm like, this is something that is so difficult. Um there is a pamphlet in the program that discusses some interesting statistics about sexual assault in the United States is an epidemic, is what it says. It says every 98 seconds, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. And there's many, many stats here.

One that really stands out to me, too, actually. It is estimated only 19% of all rapes are reported. It's like a staggering low number. Only about 5% of rapes reported to the police leading an arrest, like an extremely staggeringly low number. Um it's insanely astonishing when you read these stats. And theater, what I always say, theater is meant for any story, for anybody to be up there telling. And what a better person to tell this, I think, than Jodie Comer. I remember walking in being like, oh, this will be interesting. What's the Tony best leading actress in a play gonna go to? And I said, I left there saying, Oh, it's it's obviously her, it's very obvious. You know, this story too, just had so much thought out moments where she is playing multiple roles going back and forth, which was interesting because we saw another play do that multiple times where people had to play other characters.

And the way they just did this, it really worked. Sometimes it's like having her move around the stage, you know, she wasn't just sitting at a table the whole time and retelling a story. You just felt every moment. And even the moment of her getting sexually assaulted. And when she's on the floor, yes. And she couldn't believe it's doing this multiple times a week. I don't know how she does it. How does she do it? I was talking to someone else who had seen it, and they were like, How do you think she does it? She must sleep all day. She must really have to, for her own sake, just like mentally check out for the night. I mean, it's gotta be difficult what she's doing every day, and twice sometimes some one day. Um it it just hit it it it just hit right. It was it was a story that needed to be told that was told well, that was important, and everyone needs to go see this.

[14:53] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and it's just it's just they can. I know I know we got tickets, and it's like almost sold out the whole run for all of June. Um, but wow, what a way to end this season.

[15:04] Richie Grasso: Yeah, and Jodie Comer, like, you're all be back on Broadway, right? Like, maybe no, not definitely. Like, oh my gosh.

[15:11] Jeff Malone: But what a season. And this was wonderful to talk about these shows. And now we're done, everyone, with this season.

[15:16] Richie Grasso: I still can't believe it.

[15:18] Jeff Malone: I can't believe it either. And also, we we starting next week, we go, we got ready to go into the next season. We have Greyhouse, which is the first play of the season, um, opening very soon. We're heading over to that soon. Once Upon One More Time coming up in a few weeks, writing over to that. So we have a new season to start right away. Um, but we before that, of course, have the biggest best best day of the year, the Tony Awards.

[15:37] Richie Grasso: And so we're gonna have some Tony um predictions next week.

[15:41] Jeff Malone: So you're gonna want to listen in because the whole episode is gonna be about predictions. And I will say, Jeff has some thoughts that I don't, and I have some thoughts that Jeff's don't.

[15:49] Richie Grasso: We do differ on some of the categories this year.

[15:51] Jeff Malone: So you're gonna want to tune into that next week as we wrap up.

[15:54] Richie Grasso: Very smart with the Tonys. I always he always wins because he says what he thinks is gonna win, and I put what I want to win.

[16:02] Jeff Malone: It's that's not always the same thing, you know. I gotta get a little smarter with my predictions.

[16:05] Richie Grasso: Yeah, you have to know what the Tony voters are gonna pick.

[16:08] Jeff Malone: It's very obvious a lot of the times.

[16:09] Richie Grasso: So not all the time, but a lot of the time.

[16:11] Jeff Malone: This year, some of the categories are really easy.

[16:13] Richie Grasso: This year there's some really I actually think that this year is going to be harder for me to make my choices because I have seen everything, and some years we haven't seen yes, so I was just guessing.

[16:23] Jeff Malone: Well, yeah.

[16:23] Richie Grasso: And now that I've actually seen the performances, it's harder for me to take a guess because you know I'm gonna probably be a little bit more on the side of like who I really want to win versus like who I know or when anyway.

[16:36] Jeff Malone: So Dumb with theater for today, we're moving over now to Pop Land, and we went.

[16:41] Richie Grasso: I'm gonna another thing.

[16:42] Jeff Malone: I don't even know how I'm gonna start.

[16:43] Richie Grasso: I'm gonna well I'll do the intro on this.

[16:46] Jeff Malone: We went to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

[16:48] Richie Grasso: The fact that I said that sentence just now because so many people were not able to go to this because of the Ticketmaster Fiasco.

[16:54] Jeff Malone: We did get tickets. We went to MetLife in New Jersey on Friday evening, the first night.

[17:00] Richie Grasso: And it's important because every night's a little different. Why would we tell people which night we went to?

[17:04] Jeff Malone: Um, and we won some friends and we had an incredible time. I will say that I had a wonderful time.

[17:10] Richie Grasso: I had a terrible time.

[17:12] Jeff Malone: Oh no, Jeff had the best time. Jeff is a huge Taylor fan. We have seen Taylor Swift live before with their reputation tour. We did have tickets to the Lover tour before it was canceled during the pandemic, and now we're here at the Eras Tour.

[17:25] Richie Grasso: I will let Jeff kind of start this off. What were your thoughts? What did you think?

[17:29] Jeff Malone: Well, if any Taylor Swift fans are listening, they already know that our show is going down in history, probably as one of the best nights. For multiple reasons. Of the Eras Tour. It was announcement after announcement. It was surprise after surprise. And she had a little Easter egg early on in the night about oh, there's a lot of surprises coming. And I was like, as soon as she said that, I'm like, I don't even know what to expect for the rest of the night. First of all, I'm gonna just say the show was incredible. It's probably one of the greatest concerts that I've ever been to. And that's coming from me who sat in the last row of Met Life Stadium. We were way way up. Literally the last row of the upstairs. I didn't even know it was the last row, but you know what? When I was able to get the tickets, I just grabbed them. I needed to.

[17:55] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[18:13] Jeff Malone: We only paid like $140.

[18:13] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[18:15] Jeff Malone: So it wasn't bad. Compared to what some people compared to what other people are paying. Sorry, don't be mad. Um just the things that happened were great. So I've already seen a lot of the show and spoilers before that ahead of time on like TikTok and Instagram and whatnot. But we knew that the karma featuring Ice Spice was coming out that night. And then she also released Snow on the Beach with Lana Del Rey, which is a funny thing that she put on the album. And she also released a single on Friday that was on one of the international versions called Hits Different. So everyone was really happy about those songs. But while we were there, everyone was like, Where is this music video? And at this point, she starts saying, I'm gonna premiere the music video for you now with Ice Spice.

So we got to see the music video first, which was fun. And then she bring she brought uh Phoebe Bridgers out for one of the songs that Phoebe's on with her from Red, and later during the surprise songs.

[19:16] Jeff Malone: Now, now this is where it gets crazy.

[19:19] Richie Grasso: Crazy.

[19:20] Jeff Malone: He thinks I'm a crazy person. He really does. I'm waiting to get my thoughts. Everyone's waiting to know what I think too, you know, but I can't wait to I'm just recapping what happened in the night. Everyone knows what happened in the night. It's fine. We get that Jack Antonoff's coming out, one of my idols. I was already on the floor at this point that Jack was performing at this. And she goes, We're gonna sing a song that we wrote together. And I started probably hyperventilating a little bit because Getaway Car is a song that most people want, and that's the song that they did. And oh that alone I was happy with. She could have played any other song for the surprise song, but she does that one. And then she walks over to the piano and she starts playing Maroon. Maroon isn't the the song that every single show wants at their so as one of their surprise songs. And because we got it, we won. Okay. Not that it's a competition, but it is.

[20:15] Richie Grasso: So between Jack Antonoff coming out, Phoebe Bridgers coming out again, um, the video premiering, the music video with Ice Spice, and then the very end, Ice Spice herself.

[20:24] Jeff Malone: And then to top it at that, she has Ice Spice come out at the end.

[20:29] Richie Grasso: Just was an incredible, incredible show.

[20:32] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it was great.

[20:35] Richie Grasso: I had a really nice time. I don't personally understand the like screaming obsessive fan thing that she has.

[20:41] Jeff Malone: I know everyone has fans.

[20:43] Richie Grasso: I'm not sure.

[20:44] Jeff Malone: He's talking about me.

[20:45] Richie Grasso: No, no, I'm not talking about like the many other people there, too. It I like her, I like her a lot. I love her music. I love the theatricality of this, the lighting, the floor being lit the way it was.

[20:57] Jeff Malone: I had leaned over to you one boy and was like, what is the wardrobe department doing downstairs?

[21:01] Richie Grasso: Because there are so many costume users for this ensemble of dancers, like ball gowns and tuxedos, and then like everything. I was just like, wow, there's a lot of props, there's a lot of scenery, props, costumes. It's very theatrical, and I loved that.

[21:15] Jeff Malone: She just I don't know really who compares to her right now.

[21:19] Richie Grasso: Yeah, because what she's doing, she is a singer-songwriter. Okay, she comes from that as a whole, but she is a performer.

[21:28] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[21:29] Richie Grasso: And she is putting on a show because you sometimes you just get entertainers. I think she's more than an entertainer because of all of her songwriting skills alone.

[21:37] Jeff Malone: And she's the greatest vocalist.

[21:39] Richie Grasso: You know, she gets by. But she sings fine. I think she sings better now than she did five years ago.

[21:44] Jeff Malone: I think she's getting some vocal training, I think.

[21:46] Richie Grasso: But she also sings what she can sing, yeah.

[21:48] Jeff Malone: You know, yeah.

[21:49] Richie Grasso: Well, she writes her own music in her own keys that she works for her.

[21:52] Jeff Malone: Exactly.

[21:52] Richie Grasso: So she like in last night's show, she redid "Clean."

[21:56] Jeff Malone: So "Clean" was done on one of the other shows, and now she did it again.

[21:59] Richie Grasso: But she changed the key because she wanted to hear how it was in another key.

[22:04] Jeff Malone: So that's also interesting because we were talking about this, and I'm like, why is she not repeating songs?

[22:12] Richie Grasso: Is she doing a documentary on this whole thing? Is she gonna do a special release on these surprise songs? There's so many options here.

[22:19] Jeff Malone: She is really talented, she knows what she's doing, she's making a lot of money, she's making the sales.

[22:24] Richie Grasso: She's also put a ton of music out in the last five years, three years, and there's a part of me that's like, do this, finish this tour with a bang, have a great time, and then like shh are we being you a little on a Taylor Swift overload.

[22:40] Jeff Malone: I'm just saying it's okay to go like one year, yeah, without releasing music, without like it's okay.

[22:47] Richie Grasso: Give us a rest for a little bit, just because I think that's more impactful. When someone goes away for a little bit and then comes back, I'm not saying go away for five years, I'm saying just go just take a deep breath.

[22:58] Jeff Malone: She is really at an all-time high, though.

[23:00] Richie Grasso: Yeah, and it's like to me. I worry that the burnout's gonna come if she doesn't just take a second.

[23:05] Jeff Malone: Well, we already know that "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" is coming in July.

[23:09] Richie Grasso: She still has three more Taylor versions, "1989," "Reputation," and those out, and that's fine, and they'll come out, and then I think just like it's gonna be okay.

[23:18] Jeff Malone: But she is really talented and she knows what she's doing.

[23:21] Richie Grasso: I did have a great time. The thing that's interesting though is she released "Midnights" in the fall, yeah, and now she still has these other albums coming out.

[23:30] Jeff Malone: And by the time the end of the tour happens, does she take a break, or is she already on to the next album because of how far "Midnights" will be um how far the release date from "Midnights" was?

[23:42] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I just think like when big I think of other like big stars, and I think of like I mean, I guess like use Lady Gaga for example, right?

[23:49] Jeff Malone: Like, where what is she doing right now?

[23:50] Richie Grasso: I have no idea.

[23:52] Jeff Malone: We haven't really seen her filming "Joker," right?

[23:55] Richie Grasso: So she's like just like kind of off the grid for a little bit. She's putting out makeup, but when she comes back on the scene, she'll be ready to go.

[24:01] Jeff Malone: Like, it's okay to just dip out for a little bit, and I feel like the Taylor fans demand so much that I worry that this woman is just gonna like burn out.

[24:09] Richie Grasso: I'm like, Taylor, you're so amazing. Just take just take a minute because there's just so much going on right now for her.

[24:16] Jeff Malone: But I and listen, there's nothing wrong with that. But her demand is so high, but she's one person, you know what I'm saying?

[24:18] Richie Grasso: She's one person.

[24:24] Jeff Malone: She is someone that is easily keeping up with the demand.

[24:27] Richie Grasso: Yeah, yeah.

[24:28] Jeff Malone: She spaced out the tour the way she needed to. She's only doing weekends. She's traveling when she needs. She's doing it right.

[24:35] Richie Grasso: Yeah, no, no, no, no. I know. She's doing it right.

[24:36] Jeff Malone: She's clearly doing it right.

[24:39] Richie Grasso: She's doing it right. She's setting uh record records, breaking records, and making a lot of money.

[24:45] Jeff Malone: She's gotta be tired.

[24:46] Richie Grasso: And also, we had a bird's eye view of what happens when she goes underneath that.

[24:51] Jeff Malone: Oh, yeah, when she goes undersea because we were so high up.

[24:53] Richie Grasso: The second she gets down there, she runs. I'm like, oh my gosh, you have to. I hope she has like she's like taking care of her mental health and her physical health, and she's really just taking care of herself because she's busy up three and a half hours.

[25:05] Jeff Malone: I've never seen a performer other than with costume change breaks perform for three and a half hours straight like that.

[25:10] Richie Grasso: I've never seen a lance like that. So really impressive.

[25:14] Jeff Malone: Yeah, we had a great time. Loved it.

[25:16] Richie Grasso: Amazing. And what I mean, for me, top five concert I've ever been to.

[25:21] Jeff Malone: Oh, it's the top.

[25:23] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[25:23] Jeff Malone: I don't know how she'll top it.

[25:25] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[25:26] Jeff Malone: I said that after "Reputation."

[25:27] Richie Grasso: So yeah, "Reputation" was great too.

[25:29] Jeff Malone: Um, all right. We're moving on in these last few minutes here onto our pop music drop where Jeff chooses the six top pop songs of the week.

[25:36] Richie Grasso: And I let you know my thoughts on them. So we're gonna go right away with the top six here. Jeff, let's hear it.

[25:41] Jeff Malone: Top six. Are they the bop or the flop?

[25:44] Richie Grasso: Anyway, speaking of Taylor Swift, we're gonna start with Taylor Swift and the remix of "Karma" with Ice Spice.

[25:50] Jeff Malone: Love it, bop.

[25:51] Richie Grasso: I love seeing it live. I love hearing it. It's great, and I love the song, and I love the music video.

[25:58] Jeff Malone: Shout out to that Wizard of Oz throw, but throw in there with the also.

[26:01] Richie Grasso: There's so many Easter eggs in that music video. We won't get into them, but yeah, there's a lot of Ice Spice is gonna take over the world, it seems like she's really getting pushed to the forefront by Taylor.

[26:11] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what she does after this because she's really been given a wonderful platform.

[26:14] Richie Grasso: So yeah, yeah, and from New York, yeah, and she's great.

[26:19] Jeff Malone: Michael Madrano and Funk LeBlanc.

[26:21] Richie Grasso: Uh, "LSD Part Two."

[26:23] Jeff Malone: Bop, love it.

[26:25] Richie Grasso: Love the vibe. He's great. Love him.

[26:26] Jeff Malone: That discount at disco.

[26:29] Richie Grasso: Arlo Park's "Devotion."

[26:31] Jeff Malone: I put vibe bop because I liked this vibe.

[26:34] Richie Grasso: Vibe bop.

[26:34] Jeff Malone: Really vibe.

[26:35] Richie Grasso: Which Arlo Parks also released her album on Friday, so everyone should go check that out. It's very good.

[26:40] Jeff Malone: It is a vibe.

[26:41] Richie Grasso: Um, a name to definitely be on the lookout for.

[26:45] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[26:46] Richie Grasso: Uh, now we have a new girl group, "Need a Name Bro."

[26:50] Jeff Malone: And the song is "Not a Lot Left to Say."

[26:53] Richie Grasso: I'm putting kind of floppish for this. I'm not really feeling it.

[26:55] Jeff Malone: I'm sorry.

[26:57] Richie Grasso: I think it's great to support the new artists, and I want to get into it more. I just am not feeling the song, unfortunately.

[27:03] Jeff Malone: No, it just a vibe.

[27:06] Richie Grasso: It's a bop.

[27:07] Jeff Malone: Oh, I'm sorry.

[27:08] Richie Grasso: I know it's like it's like okay. Is it groundbreaking?

[27:12] Jeff Malone: No.

[27:13] Richie Grasso: No, I just couldn't get into it. And something's holding me back. I don't know. But it was fine.

[27:18] Jeff Malone: Uh, Jake Shears, "Last Man Dancing."

[27:20] Richie Grasso: Okay, I put bop and I wrote ABBA bop.

[27:23] Jeff Malone: ABBA bop.

[27:23] Richie Grasso: It's so ABBA. You know, anytime something.

[27:25] Jeff Malone: I don't know what is going on right now in the music industry, but everything is becoming 70s ABBA.

[27:30] Richie Grasso: 54 Below, "Dance the Night Away" on the Dance Floor vibes.

[27:34] Jeff Malone: I don't know if this is just a resurgence of that sound more than ever.

[27:38] Richie Grasso: And it between from groups to solo artists, and I'm just loving it.

[27:43] Jeff Malone: Yeah, the disco movement is in back and full force.

[27:46] Richie Grasso: It's so back, so love it. Hopefully we don't get like another disco sucks moment that people are like, ah, I hate it.

[27:53] Jeff Malone: No, because there's so many people and there's so many artists now touring in so many places and so many venues to listen to music.

[27:58] Richie Grasso: There's all I think there's just you know, no, I don't think so.

[28:02] Jeff Malone: And last but not least, we got the first single from the Barbie movie coming out from Dua Lipa, and that's "Dance the Night."

[28:09] Richie Grasso: This is 54 Below bop.

[28:12] Jeff Malone: I am loving it.

[28:14] Richie Grasso: I'm like, oh Leepa realness.

[28:17] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[28:18] Richie Grasso: I really love her. I really, really do.

[28:20] Jeff Malone: And the music video was good too.

[28:21] Richie Grasso: It's a pit. Some people are on the fence with it, though.

[28:23] Jeff Malone: Oh no, I love it.

[28:25] Richie Grasso: Weird, right? Someone commented on our video and it was like that's the most generic song I ever heard.

[28:30] Jeff Malone: No, I love it.

[28:30] Richie Grasso: I do has got a vibe.

[28:32] Jeff Malone: And I and Dua, yeah, we saw her live last year.

[28:35] Richie Grasso: I loved it. I mean, it definitely fits her image.

[28:37] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[28:38] Richie Grasso: So uh that Barbie soundtrack um is stacked.

[28:42] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and the movie looks like it's gonna be like camp realness, I think.

[28:45] Richie Grasso: I think I just can't wait for it.

[28:47] Jeff Malone: It looks like it's gonna be a fun time.

[28:48] Richie Grasso: Fun summer movie. Some of the names on that, Ava Max, Charlie XCX, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, all on the Barbie soundtrack.

[28:55] Jeff Malone: And weirdly, there's two unannounced songs on there that just say like track three and like track seven.

[29:02] Richie Grasso: So we don't know who else is gonna do it.

[29:04] Jeff Malone: I think I have an idea of who one it is.

[29:06] Richie Grasso: It should be obviously someone with the name based off the movie.

[29:09] Jeff Malone: So like Barbie Barbara Streisand.

[29:14] Richie Grasso: Right.

[29:16] Jeff Malone: Like Barbara just comes out with a brand new disco song.

[29:21] Richie Grasso: Barbie Barbara. I mean, come on, it's marketing gold.

[29:24] Jeff Malone: She's who else is a pop star with the same name.

[29:28] Richie Grasso: I'm sorry. I called it here first, y'all. If you see Barbara Streisand, please keep dreaming.

[29:33] Jeff Malone: Not now.

[29:34] Richie Grasso: That's my dream. Keep dreaming.

[29:36] Jeff Malone: Oh, Babs.

[29:37] Richie Grasso: I can't, I just I don't know. But I can't wait for the movie.

[29:40] Jeff Malone: It's gonna be great.

[29:41] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[29:41] Jeff Malone: So my gosh, we're out of time.

[29:46] Richie Grasso: We talked about so much today.

[29:48] Jeff Malone: But uh, yeah, this was really, really cool.

[29:50] Richie Grasso: Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode.

[29:52] Jeff Malone: So leave us a comment on wherever you listen to the podcast and make sure you subscribe on all of our channels.

[29:56] Richie Grasso: Uh, you can find us on Instagram and TikTok at Half Hour Podcast.

[29:59] Jeff Malone: So join on our conversations as we would love to hear from you.

[30:03] Richie Grasso: But that's all we have for today.

[30:05] Jeff Malone: So thanks again for listening.

[30:06] Richie Grasso: Thank you for listening.

[30:07] Jeff Malone: We got the Tony nominations recap thoughts next week.

[30:11] Richie Grasso: It's a whole episode. I can't wait.

[30:12] Jeff Malone: So tune in next week.

[30:14] Richie Grasso: Thanks so much for listening. I'm Richie.

[30:16] Jeff Malone: And I'm Jeff.

[30:17] Richie Grasso: Saying ta-ta.

[30:18] Jeff Malone: Bye.