This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Steven Ferezy: Take one.

[0:06] Dana Craig: Steven and Dana and we're in the room.

[0:23] Steven Ferezy: Hi Dana.

[0:24] Dana Craig: Hey Steven.

[0:26] Steven Ferezy: We're together.

[0:27] Dana Craig: We are.

[0:28] Steven Ferezy: We haven't been together doing the show.

[0:29] Dana Craig: I can smell you.

[0:31] Steven Ferezy: You can smell me.

[0:32] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[0:33] Steven Ferezy: I can see what your legs are doing.

[0:35] Dana Craig: They're always shaking.

[0:37] Steven Ferezy: Always.

[0:37] Dana Craig: Sorry.

[0:38] Steven Ferezy: But you do you kept your shoes on, which I appreciate.

[0:40] Dana Craig: You're welcome.

[0:42] Steven Ferezy: I'm in heels, and there's no reason.

[0:45] Dana Craig: Literally nobody's in your office.

[0:46] Steven Ferezy: Absolutely no reason.

[0:48] Dana Craig: I could have been.

[0:48] Steven Ferezy: I'm by myself.

[0:49] Dana Craig: I am kind of.

[0:50] Steven Ferezy: I'm wearing a little bit of a schmata today.

[0:52] Dana Craig: Yeah, the little Sally Balls silky.

[0:55] Steven Ferezy: Come on.

[0:55] Dana Craig: My Halston wrap.

[0:58] Steven Ferezy: Oh.

[0:58] Dana Craig: Was that delicious?

[1:00] Steven Ferezy: Yes.

[1:01] Dana Craig: Oh my gosh, it was $3.99.

[1:02] Steven Ferezy: Really?

[1:03] Dana Craig: $3.99?

[1:04] Steven Ferezy: What ever happened to the PAX foods?

[1:06] Dana Craig: Oh.

[1:07] Steven Ferezy: I didn't get a memo that they were ever going to go away, and lo and behold, they're gone.

[1:12] Dana Craig: Bye-bye.

[1:13] Steven Ferezy: Bye-bye.

[1:13] Dana Craig: That's what you get for charging that much for a bagel.

[1:15] Steven Ferezy: Bye-bye now.

[1:17] Dana Craig: No more catering things for you.

[1:20] Steven Ferezy: Bye.

[1:20] Dana Craig: No more bagel plates.

[1:22] Steven Ferezy: None.

[1:22] Dana Craig: No more fruit platters.

[1:24] Steven Ferezy: No more chocolate covered fill-in-the-blanks platters.

[1:28] Dana Craig: Platters.

[1:29] Steven Ferezy: Platters.

[1:29] Dana Craig: I was an executive assistant for a very long time, listeners, and we used Pax Food a lot.

[1:36] Steven Ferezy: I'm sorry, that part of your life has come to an end.

[1:39] Dana Craig: I didn't know I'd be mourning Pax Foods today, but that's where we are.

[1:44] Steven Ferezy: Okay, go ahead.

[1:46] Dana Craig: Steven has the cock shell again.

[1:49] Steven Ferezy: Oh.

[1:52] Dana Craig: What's that?

[1:53] Steven Ferezy: Please.

[1:54] Dana Craig: Proceed.

[1:55] Steven Ferezy: Hi, listeners. I'm bringing you another one of my work friends this week. And is also because it's Mother's Day, so we want to do like a mama's month honor thy mother moment.

[2:07] Dana Craig: Um Love a Mother.

[2:09] Steven Ferezy: Love a Mother.

[2:10] Dana Craig: Love a mother.

[2:11] Steven Ferezy: Soup's totes my demographic.

[2:13] Dana Craig: So we um but you're also getting a double because this is also a BPN crossover episode.

[2:22] Steven Ferezy: Her muggers.

[2:24] Dana Craig: We are bringing you from Broadway’s's Jersey Boys.

[2:28] Steven Ferezy: From Broadway’s's Tina.

[2:31] Dana Craig: From Broadway’s's Gypsy.

[2:34] Steven Ferezy: Broadway's Jessica Rush.

[2:37] Jessica Rush: Yay!

[2:39] Dana Craig: Hi.

[2:39] Jessica Rush: Hi, honey.

[2:40] Steven Ferezy: And what is the BPN crossover? Did you mention the podcast?

[2:43] Jessica Rush: Well, obviously, from the podcast, Mama's Talkin' Loud with Jessica Rush and Kara Cooper.

[2:47] Dana Craig: Obviously.

[2:48] Jessica Rush: Hi.

[2:49] Dana Craig: Hi guys. I have to say, whenever anyone wants to say Broadway’s's Jessica Rush, I'm here for it.

[2:54] Jessica Rush: I'm not mad.

[2:54] Dana Craig: So thank you.

[2:55] Jessica Rush: You're so welcome. You've earned it.

[2:57] Dana Craig: And also the Jefferson Awards, Jessica Rush.

[3:00] Jessica Rush: Yes.

[3:01] Dana Craig: Jefferson Award winner.

[3:02] Jessica Rush: I am a Jefferson Award winner.

[3:04] Dana Craig: That is that is true. It's an asterisk on my resume.

[3:07] Jessica Rush: You and Nick Offerman.

[3:09] Dana Craig: Really?

[3:10] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[3:13] Dana Craig: Great.

[3:13] Jessica Rush: I like him.

[3:15] Dana Craig: Yes.

[3:15] Jessica Rush: Yes.

[3:16] Dana Craig: Um, hi, we miss you.

[3:19] Jessica Rush: Hi, I'm Miss the Tina fam.

[3:21] Dana Craig: It's been a month now.

[3:23] Jessica Rush: A whole month.

[3:24] Dana Craig: I realized that the other day. Like time's really kind of flying.

[3:27] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[3:28] Dana Craig: It's weird though, with like Instagram and social media, and even more so than Dawn of Summer, there was still like social media dub, but like there's a lot more happening on it these days and stories being done.

[3:40] Jessica Rush: Like people are getting into that. And so I see y'all constantly. And and I still see like Carla giving us the truth, you know, from Ms. Ruth. And you know, like I see all these things and I can imagine what it's like there. And so I feel like I'm I'm not really gone.

[3:56] Dana Craig: It's kind of social media at its best, right? When you can keep your finger on the pulse while still moving on and doing your own stuff.

[4:04] Jessica Rush: Totes, I mean.

[4:06] Dana Craig: Exactly.

[4:06] Jessica Rush: Exactly.

[4:07] Dana Craig: We had that at your when Jersey Boys Close, we have a text thread that still to this day occasionally will be will come alive. And it's like Andy Carl, Skags, Quinn, myself, Kara, Sarah, like Peter Gregus sometimes, like it's all the people, and occasionally it'll come on. But I miss that. I love that. I love that I can see into what y'all are up to.

[4:28] Jessica Rush: And I have a question. Why have you been gone for a month? Tell the listeners, like what what's the well, you would hope and think that it's something super exciting. But really, and and there is something that I'm working on that I'm not um I'm not talking about yet, but it's a project I'm super excited about. It's not in my wheelhouse. I'm actually taking I'm going to school for a hot minute to learn more about how to do this thing. It's in the film category. Um, and that's my that's a labor of love that there will be more to later on. But um, but I left the show because I was on a principal contract, Hala, and I had the choice of renewing or not. And it was one of those things where I, you know, for one, as a principal, I don't know if your listeners how much they know, but like you can't do other things, right?

Like you are stuck at your show for the six months of the year that you've signed it, and so I say stuck. You're you're you're blessed to be a part of a you know production contract. You're committed, there's no like going to do a TV episode.

[5:30] Jessica Rush: Yes, yes, the golden handcuffs, right? Like you're there and it's fabulous. And um, and then when your contract comes up, but you can't go anywhere. So then since I couldn't go anywhere, I thought, okay, well, it's getting to be spring and summer, my favorite time of year with my kiddo, Elliot, who's seven and a half. And um, yes, she's awesome. And she is awesome. And you know, my husband's in Moulin Rouge. Um, so with us both being gone in the summer, that just fucking sucks. Sorry, can I cuss on your on your podcast? Okay. Because I love an F B. I mean, I'm a I'm a sailor, my husband says, but um, it just really sucks. And so I didn't want to have to be at the beach and be like, Elliot, we gotta go, honey.

Mom has half hour, like we gotta, you know, cut the day short. I really wanted to enjoy it because that was something the pandemic showed me was that it was the first time I we really had time with her more than you know, a day off on Mondays, and um, and so I thought, well, I am privileged and extremely grateful to be in the position that my spouse is working and able to hold down that end of the fort for us, um, so that I could a spend time with Elliot and be more present and just you know, I'm limited on the amount of summers I think she's gonna want to hang out with me anymore. Y'all know what I mean? Like, she's gonna be in third grade next year, like she still thinks I'm pretty cool, so I'm taking advantage. I mean, there's gonna be a gap between like maybe 16 and or 17, and then it'll come back around when they're like 35.

[7:04] Dana Craig: Well, well, I'm worried it might start even earlier data because I I vividly remember when I was nine, my father was doing a course line, and there's the lyric of you know, she sings, and though I was eight or nine, I hated her. And at the ballet, she sings that. And I remember being nine, and I didn't hate my mother, but I was like, I feel that way. Like I and I by far I did not hate my mother, but I just remember having those feelings and recognizing that. And but then I came back around when I was about maybe about you're right. It was it was after high school, but you know.

[7:38] Jessica Rush: I'm exaggerating on both accounts on all accounts. My mom listens, so yeah.

[7:44] Dana Craig: Happy mother's day.

[7:46] Jessica Rush: Hi, happy mother's day. I love you, mother.

[7:48] Dana Craig: But but mothers and daughters, that's that's a whole thing.

[7:52] Jessica Rush: Oh, for real. I mean, mothers and sons, that's a whole thing too, but it's different.

[7:56] Dana Craig: Yeah, very, yeah, very different.

[7:58] Jessica Rush: And then gay sons and mothers is a whole different thing.

[8:01] Dana Craig: What a kerfuff.

[8:02] Jessica Rush: What a kerf.

[8:04] Dana Craig: Kerfuff, kerfuff.

[8:05] Jessica Rush: I'm gonna adopt that kerfuff. I like that.

[8:07] Dana Craig: Yeah, yeah.

[8:09] Jessica Rush: I'm gonna take it.

[8:10] Dana Craig: Everyone gets it.

[8:11] Jessica Rush: Yes, for sure.

[8:12] Dana Craig: For sure.

[8:13] Jessica Rush: So anyway, yes. So that's why I left Tina. I was like, you know what? Do I want to come here eight times a week when I because here's the deal, y'all. Here's the truth. I always get frustrated, not frustrated, but I always in the summer when I'm walking past people brunching or day drinking or sitting down, and it's like seven o'clock and it's still beautiful out, and they're having moulet frites and drinks, and I'm schlep into the theater. There's always a little bit of that, like so.

[8:43] Jessica Rush: Yeah. So I made the call. I just thought, you know what? I'm gonna put my family first in this moment and also make myself available for anything else. Y'all hear that? Rawway community. I did not quit the business. I am still available for all projects. Please don't. Still Broadway’s's Jessica Rush.

[9:02] Jessica Rush: Yes. My mother-in-law thought I was quitting the business for a minute. I had to clarify, and then I panicked, you know. And then I was like, does everyone think I'm quitting? Oh good.

[9:09] Dana Craig: Still Broadway’s's Jessica Rush.

[9:10] Jessica Rush: I'm not. I'm not.

[9:12] Dana Craig: Thank God. I that's really funny, actually.

[9:15] Jessica Rush: But she assumed you were quitting the whole business.

[9:17] Dana Craig: Mm-hmm.

[9:18] Jessica Rush: Mm-hmm.

[9:19] Dana Craig: Um you kind of have a fun story about your part in Tina, though. Your your how you found Rhonda Graham. Um that I loved when you told me and would love if you don't mind sharing with our listeners.

[9:31] Jessica Rush: Yeah, I would love that. I haven't ever talked about it anywhere. So thanks you guys. Breaking news.

[9:37] Jessica Rush: Breaking news. No, so I I'm a very intuitive person, like all the woo-woo and the crazy, but I am a super intuitive person and I manifest the shit out of things. Like I, my friend Katie O'Toole, who is a Jersey boys with me, she's like, I remember you standing in the dressing room in the summer of 2013 and saying, something's gotta give. I either have to book a principal or I have to have a baby. And what would be great is if I could like leave this show and do two regional gigs and then get pregnant during them so that then I have health insurance and blah blah blah, because the things we have to think about, right? And then lo and behold, I did Elf at Tuts, got pregnant during that, and then did Gypsy at Chicago Shakespeare, which is where I won the Jeff Award. So and then, and then Elliot was born.

[10:18] Jessica Rush: So I tend to be quite the manifester. But I um I went to visit my bestie Michael James Scott in London. He was being the genie over there in Aladdin, and I saw Adrian and Tina was blown away. I mean, in you know, sufficiently. Um, but but that here's the deal. So I'm watching this show, and at the time I was playing Joyce Bogart in Summer, the Donna Summer musical, which for those who don't know, Joyce Bogart was Donna Summer' manager and like bestie. Okay. So then research, exactly. So then I go to London and I'm watching Tina, and there's Rhonda Graham, and she's an act one, and I'm like, uh-huh, okay, interesting. And she comes out, and it was in the scene in the dressing room when she sings open arms, where all of a sudden I was like, That's my gig. That's my gig. I just had this knowing where I was like, that's my job.

[11:14] Jessica Rush: I just felt it. And Michael even talks about how I met him at the bar afterwards. He goes, and you walked in. Literally, the first thing you said was, I just saw my next job. I just saw it.

[11:26] Jessica Rush: Wow. Yeah. And it was my next job. At the time, I didn't, they wouldn't see me. This is the part, maybe I don't know. Did I tell you this part, Steve? So they wouldn't see me for months. For months, they were having these auditions. And my agent would say, Jess wants to come in. And Pat would be like, No, she's just not right. We want someone who's more this, more that, whatever. And it kept going. And I said, Y'all, this is my gig. I'm telling you, it's my gig. I saw the show in September in London. This is my I have managerial experience. Great. It's another white manager of a fierce black songstress. You know what I mean? Like, this is this is my niche market. Come on now. In a jumpsuit, also, PS in lots of jumpsuits.

[12:07] Jessica Rush: So finally, cut to January of 2019, they have been seeing people for literally three months. They're like, We haven't found anybody. We're this is the end. And my agent, Chris Freer was like, okay, if you're not gonna see anyone else, please then let Jessica come in for this job. And he's like, okay, but tell her to wear a ponytail and don't put a lot of makeup on and just be like just stripped down. And I was like, okay, fine. So I go in, and then who got the fucking job? Jessica Rushton. Jessica Rush. Me. Me, bitches. I did.

[12:43] Jessica Rush: Sure enough. And what was I mean, it was when he called and he was like, Well, we got an offer for Tina. Funny story. I also got the Derevan Hansen offer that day too on the same phone call. That's a fun story.

[12:54] Jessica Rush: But I know. It was crazy. But um, I got the call and I was like, I told y'all it was my job. I told y'all this four months ago. So sneaky wheel gets the beast. I just knew it. I just knew it was my gig. I was like, this is I felt it in my gut. I get these feelings, you know, and it's like that is mine. It will be mine, you know.

[13:15] Jessica Rush: And um, yeah, and so there it was. And I did, and I got to originate my first principal role. It was amazing. And then fast forward, so you book it and then you start rehearsals, and you've had a sneak peek at this show that maybe everyone else in the room, save for Adrian, has not had. You know, Phil that I came over and put it on you guys, and so you're working with the same director, and I'm wondering if she talked a lot about changes they made from London and why they were making them, or changes that the Broadway’s company kind of made uh intentionally or otherwise that translated back over to London.

[13:57] Jessica Rush: To be honest, Philida was very much like she still was again when we came back, and then when they bring understudies in or new people, she's very open to discussion and to people putting their own spin on things.

[14:12] Jessica Rush: And the thing was is like Adrian, we started like it was brand new. So Adrian, there were even times where Adrian was like, I don't even know what this what I do here. She's like, Oh, is that what I did? Like someone would tell her. Do you know what I mean? But we sat down with the script and we actioned everything and we went line by line and did all that kind of table work.

[14:33] Cool.

[14:34] Jessica Rush: Yeah. You know who had to learn what that was? Me. Broadway's Jessica Rush. I had never actioned, I didn't go to college. I didn't, I started working right away. And that was something I've never done in any of my processes with a director. At least to that degree. Like you sit down and you discuss things, but to literally take it sentence by sentence, what to strike, to wound, to flirt, to you know, it was like, what are we doing? And all the people that went to college were like, Dudes, what do you mean? I was like, there's a whole thesaurus for actioning work. Like, what are we doing?

[15:04] Wow.

[15:14] Jessica Rush: So what'd you learn? I learned something new. I really liked it. It actually was super helpful. So that then later on when we were working things with understudies or when Keki came in or things like that, you could say, like, this is what I'm in this moment, this is what I'm doing. Do you know what I mean? And it would help them to sort of understand it a little more. And also just so that to be honest, in those moments when you're tired or you're not quite as present as you should be, you know what the motivation is for each line. And so it helps you to be a little more truthful, I think, and forces you to be more present in those moments. Like, can I convey this intention to the back of the house?

[15:52] Right.

[15:52] Jessica Rush: Let's a film. You gotta be big and annoying. Oh you know what? Philida even made us go on stage. Not not all of us. There were a group of people, she was like, You're not speaking loud enough. You're not projecting, there's not enough energy behind your words. This happened pre-pandemic and post-pandemic. Philida said, This may be Broadway’s, but I need y'all to learn how to project. So she then the rest of us went up to the very, very last row of the balcony. Literally. And people had to come out and say their lines, and we had to say if we could understand them or hear them or not.

[16:26] Yeah, it was good.

[16:29] Jessica Rush: I was like, good deal. All right. Yeah. No, I adored, you know, it's been, and this is something that like it was very interesting coming back from the pandemic. And um hard to sort of reconcile because I discovered that the experience I had was very different from that of my black friends and peers in our company.

[16:53] And that is something that we discovered within all of our work um coming back with Broadway’s Advocacy Coalition. I would say, oh my God, the process was amazing. It was great. Like I had a fantastic time. I felt uh acknowledged by the company. It was, you know, it was the it was the type of thing with for instance, my best friend got married literally the day after opening. I was gonna need to fly. And I thought there's no way they're gonna give me these days off the next three days after opening off. And they did, and they were like, you know, life matters. And I remember thinking that with like meeting Anthony and Philida and Tolly and saying, Thank you so much for seeing me and like making me feel as though, oh, they want me specifically to be Rhonda, and they're willing to give me these days for my life as well. That was pre-pandemic.

[17:42] And um, and that is what set me off on the journey with these people. So I was coming in thinking, oh my gosh, I feel so good and it's awesome, and the room is great. And Adrian is such a leader, and she was such a leader and a warrior and a alien. I don't know how she did what she did. Um, but uh, so then to come back and we're doing these sort of zooms and we're doing this, you know, equity inclusion work and um this work of BAC, we did that for the first three or four days of rehearsal. It was that alone, and um, and to discover that my experience was so different from that of my peers was heartbreaking, you know, and and and I and those of us, and a part of that, what we realized is for a lot of our process pre-pandemic, we were separated.

[18:35] Like they would call in and if you've seen our show, act one is mostly not Bush, it's her time with Ike, it's the Iquettes. It's um we joke that like it's first act is the black act and second act is the white act, you know what I mean? Because it is very much that that at the early part of her life, this was the demographic, and then as she moved into knowing um Roger Davies and the 80s and England, that was a different demographic. And in our process, we were separated, and it wasn't something I even clocked because to me, I was like, oh, they're just working those scenes. I'm not in those scenes. Do you know what I mean? But what ended up happening was that we were separated, and they didn't even like I know that Philida wasn't consciously, there.

There's no reason to separate us. It's not, you know, it's because that's how the show is set up, but it did not um it did not, it wasn't a good experience um on both sides, and that was really interesting for all of us to discover.

[19:36] I bet.

[19:37] Dana Craig: Yeah, I bet work through.

[19:38] Jessica Rush: Yeah. Wow. It was like sorry, that's just like a lot, it's a lot to I wasn't there for any of that. I came in as a swing that ended up staying a lot longer. And uh well, I do have to say that you know, we were a we were a very close company pre-pandemic. Um, I always joked if you ever if you followed me on Instagram and like my stories during the pandemic, whenever they would talk about us when we would return, I was like, I can't wait to be hugging stage right because we used to hug, like y'all, and there's hugging still happens, but there used to be massive hugging that happened during Nutbush and that first scene after they come off from the first scene before they go back on for the end of scene one.

[20:19] And they would come off stage, the nutbush, you know, folk would come off stage, the ancestors we now call them. That was a change that happened when we came back post-pandemic when they would come off stage and we're all standing there sweetening the music and singing the vocal lines, and we're all about to go on for the dance number in a couple scenes. And so there'd be all this hugging, and I was like, I can't wait till we're all back hugging. There was so much hugging, y'all, that when the pandemic first started, when we didn't know it was gonna be a pandemic, we didn't know we were gonna shut down. There was just, you know, remember that.

[20:50] Oh my god. We were hearing about the you know, the usher who tested positive and they were cleaning the theater and they were doing all these things. And I remember being in a company meeting and and saying, Maybe we don't hug right now. Like maybe maybe we just like hey guys, like hey, love you. You know what I mean? Like, what's up? How's it going? Pat on the back, or just a wave. Like, perhaps we're not all in each other's space because we didn't know, right?

[21:17] Right.

[21:18] Jessica Rush: We didn't have masks. We didn't have masks. We didn't know anything. And then so when we were separated, all I could think about was getting back and hugging those people. Do you know what I mean? Like, I was like, I want to hug my company. I want to get back. I want to be in that space. Because that company is a very present positive company. It's unlike any company I've ever been in. Ever. And they are we all like each other a lot.

[21:42] Yeah.

[21:43] Jessica Rush: Like there's there can be issues, obviously, but at its core, I don't dislike anyone. You know, there's there's no one that I'd be like, oh, I don't want that person to come, you know.

[21:53] Yeah, certainly.

[21:54] Dana Craig: Certainly, especially you know, I notice across departments, you know, it's not uh clicky, it's not like sound hangs out with sound and doesn't talk to anyone else, and cast hangs out with cast, and that's it. And everybody is so um those lines are so blurred.

[22:10] Jessica Rush: When Ari said she wanted to hang out with you, I was like, What?

[22:13] Yeah, well duh.

[22:15] Jessica Rush: I mean, Ari has fine taste. Ari is awesome. We did summer together in La Jolla, and then she did not do the Brawl production, but I loved having Ari join our company this time around. It was well, she joined, she got like three shows in or something, and then the pandemic hit, but um, having Ari with us.

[22:34] So, what I'm saying is then we came back from the pandemic, and that work that we did with BAC made us even closer. Like, it was raw and emotional and exhausting, and uh and broke us down and open completely, and and yet I was like, I have never felt closer to anybody, any company than I feel right now, and then we carried that through, I think, you know.

[23:00] I think we're all very real with one another for good or bad, you know.

[23:05] Dana Craig: You were in such a a historic uh production of gypsy. You did it with Patty on Broadway’s.

[23:10] Jessica Rush: And I mean, not only did I see it, I saw it front row three times because of that lottery and that student rush. Did you ever see me?

[23:21] I'm sure I did.

[23:22] Jessica Rush: I'm sure I did. I meant to check my playbells.

[23:25] I'll have to check mine too, because I saw it next time. I went on like 30 some odd times.

[23:30] Yeah, that doesn't surprise me.

[23:32] Jessica Rush: Of course you did.

[23:33] Yeah. Of course you did.

[23:35] Dana Craig: Um I I certainly have yet to work with a legend of that stature, right?

[23:44] Uh yeah.

[23:45] Jessica Rush: In a Broadway’s capacity, no less. I I uh you know, I I what?

[23:52] I don't want to be like, tell me Patty LaPone stories, but I want to know as a you know what did that force you to step up to be? What were you conscious of? What were you because you know when I imagine it, my j my thought only thought would be don't get fired and like don't like just stay under the radar.

[24:13] Jessica Rush: Don't I have some good I have some stories. Would you like some stories?

[24:16] Dana Craig: I would.

[24:17] Jessica Rush: I want to know like what is what does that force you to step up to be that um it definitely forces you, it sets an example, and that is something that it was my Broadway’s debut. So I was the waitress in the Chinese restaurant, and I was Renee the maid, but really, I was just there for Laura. I was there to stand by for Laura Benanti, who um was my is is my dear friend and was like the most wonderful to understudy for my first time out. Because I'd been on tour.

[24:43] Quick interjection.

[24:44] Jessica Rush: I went, I saw um All About Eve uptown, and before it, Lynn hosted uh like a QA with Bibi Newark and Laura Benanti, and she totally shouted you out.

[24:54] Dana Craig: She did.

[24:55] Jessica Rush: She totally did because somehow they were talking about. I think Lynn asked BB about when she was an understudying chorus line or something. And then Laura was talking about, you know, the standby she's had and her experience with Rebecca Lucre and how she tries to pay that forward. And she talked about Jessica Rush, who stood by for her in Gypsy, and what a wonderful, like lifelong friend that she has remained friends with her swings and like that culture of um Eve Herring Harringtoning the role was was not her experience as an understudy or with her understudies.

[25:28] Oh I love that.

[25:29] Jessica Rush: And used you as an example of that.

[25:31] Well, thank you for telling me that. That just like made my whole night. No, Laura was fantastic. And um the first time I went on was shortly after opening, and she had walking pneumonia.

[25:42] And um that girl cannot catch a brake.

[25:46] Her immune system is not yes, her immune system is delicate for sure.

[25:51] Um, just as a per as a what she's been given, right?

[25:54] Jessica Rush: Um, but she had walking pneumonia, and we only opened maybe like a week or two before. I did not have costumes of my own. I did not have wigs yet, because a lot of times they don't start building your costumes till the show opens, which in the time of COVID might behoove them to do it sooner, right?

[26:09] Um it's a better idea.

[26:11] Jessica Rush: Um, so I got a call. The first call came in from my agent, actually, and she said, I don't know what I have to do, but I'm gonna be there tonight. She's like, I'm gonna get the ticket, don't worry about it. And I was like, Wait, because no one had called me yet, and it was a Tuesday. And I was like, I'm sorry. She's and she goes, Oh, they just wardrobe from Gypsy called us asking for your number, and you're going on tonight. And I was like, What?

[26:38] So I met Robert Guy, who is our wardrobe supervisor, he's incredible. I met him at Bloomingdales. We tried on gowns because I could wear most of Lara's stuff, but anything that had boning in it, like a corset, was never gonna get on me. She is a very small boned person, and my rib cage is not. Um, so we found some gowns at Bloomingdale's, they cut holes into her wig so that it would fit my head because my head is big and all these things. We did all these things.

[27:06] I had never had a put in. I want to say this again for the kids listening, because there's a lot of that's so not fair or safe. But there's a lot of stuff nowadays where people are like, I haven't had a put in, or I need a put in, or whatever. The bottom line is delicately say what a put in is so a put in is when if someone is an understudy or swing, or and so they need they are given the opportunity to do the show in full costume, full wigs, lights, sets, everything. The the rest of the company is not in costume, usually that's how it goes. And you come in in the afternoon and you do the entire show like it's the real show, so that the person who has to do that role knows what it's like to do the show in their clothes, in the wig, with the sound and the lights and the band and the set and the props, all these things backstory, traffic back, all of it.

[28:02] All of it, so it's a it's really helpful, right? I have actually never had a put in for any role that I understudied. I've always been thrown on before it happened. Right, like so nightmare. For me, whenever I hear kids these days who are like, I can't go, I haven't had a put in.

[28:17] Jessica Rush: I'm like, oh my god, you guys, like your job is still to be ready, whether or not you have a put in. Like, that's our job, right? We're supposed to watch and rehearsal, we're supposed to take notes. That's a you know, our job is to be ready one way or another. Um, and if you feel unsafe, that's a different story. But if it's just a matter of I'm not sure because I'm I just haven't been rehearsing with anything or whatever, then maybe you I think you could probably do it. Do you know what I mean? Like shove with love, it is what it is. So I'd never been on, I'd never had a put in. And if we all know Gypsy, at the end, there's a strip and these changes. Some of them she takes her dress off on stage, others are happening off stage, literally six seconds.

I remember. And Tree Lenon was who is Laura's dresser everywhere. She was the dresser at Gypsy. She saved my life. Your dresser will always save your life, people. Putting me in the right direction, showing me where to go, giving me the water, knowing what I needed. Um, and I went on that night for the very first time. Also, a little tidbit, my husband had brought me a juice from uh Green Symphony. Did not know I was allergic to raw carrots at that point, y'all. I drank the juice, I lost my voice, and it was places that I was like this, because I was having allergic reactions to carrots. Had you not had a raw carrot in your life? I had not, I had not had raw carrot juice. Like, I guess I'd eaten like baby carrots, but but a juice of carrots.

But a juice of just carrot, yes. And luckily, luckily, you know. Well, one must know that no one's allergic to carrots. At the age of 27. I did not know that. Um, and so luckily, you know, the kids don't grow up for a while. So I had a good 25 minutes and I got it back and it was all fine. And so but the Patty bit is, you know, it's the birthday scene when you first see them. She was in this. Totally forgot Patty exists. And so she comes out of the door with the birthday cake. Yeah. Um, and she opens the door and she goes, Happy birthday, darling. And I looked in her eyes, and I remember thinking, Oh my god, oh my god. Patty LaBone is looking in my eyes. I'm off stage with Patty. All this is go in my mind while I'm on stage in this moment, first time on, on a Broadway’s stage.

I only made my debut a couple weeks before. Like I'm just like, oh my fucking God. It's happening so fast. She's acting with me. Um, it was crazy. And she likes to talk about the fact that this can these candles on the cake were electric, obviously. So I had to flip a switch on the back of the cake when I blew them out. And apparently, when I went to this is a visual, so I'm gonna describe it for all you listeners. But my hand, imagine you're reaching to flip a switch and it's like shaking like uncontrollably. I didn't realize key in the door. It looked like you were trying to make a Polaroid picture come to life. That's well how shaky you were. Do you know what? I didn't know I was shaky at the time, but at intermission, Patty turned to me.

We finished act one, and Patty turns to me and she goes, Well, I didn't think you were gonna make it. She was like, When you reached forward to turn off that cake, your hand was just like shaking it. Flat, flat, flat, flat, flap. Yeah. Yeah. Because my adrenaline was just through the roof. Through the roof, through the roof, and I made it through. And then with the changes with the strip, we got through that. I don't know. It was, you know, it's being a shot of a cannon. It's like I blacked out. I don't even remember what it was. And then ultimately I got so many opportunities to go on because Laura was filming or she was ill or she was whatever. Like she had, you know, the I Boyd and Patty and I had this show of our own.

But what all this goes back to is talking about what I learned. And what I learned is what I was what was reinstilled in me, I think, is work ethic. And that is something that I will not get on too much of a soapbox right now about, but work ethic is struggling right now a little bit. And I think that there's been a bit of forgetting about we are a team, right? And everyone's looking out for themselves. And I and I say that with respect to the fact that we're all being more aware now of how shitty the schedule is. And I understand that, like, we don't want to kill our bodies anymore. I understand that. But there is a sense of I'm tired. I'm just not gonna do it. I mean, this is coming from someone who raw-dogged a pudding.

You better listen up. This is Broadway’s's Jessica. Fucking that. I know. Happy Mother's Day. I mean, come on. Wait, speaking of Patty is a mother. I'm from Texas originally. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But you know what? We did that show for a year, and not anyone took a vacation. Because you know why? Patty LaPone didn't take a vacation. She missed, she set an example, right? Like she she's old school style. And and Boyd is old school style. And I don't even think it's old school so much as just respecting what we're doing, right? Like recognizing everyone's stuck and tired. Especially these days. Everyone's fucking exhausted. Okay. And and talk to the mothers. You know what I mean? Like talk to me after I've been up since six, getting my kid ready to do this.

And I've been, or on a two-show day, I've already been to a soccer game and a birthday party, and now I'm coming in for the matinee. And you're like, good morning. And you're like, fucking A. You know what I mean? Like score to 10 30. You're singing open arms. Yes. Rap it up. Yes, yes. But I'm just Oh, and a mega mix? Rab. No, thank God. That was the best. Oh my God, not having to do that mega mix was the best gift ever. But like, I just, and I understand that we're all trying to find the balance, but there is a there is a lack of, I think, awareness for the team aspect of like, oh, if I call out, we're already down people. And if I call out, then what does that mean? And how hard then does my do my coworkers have to work?

Or the how hard did the dressers have to work to switch costumes out between shows on a Wednesday and you do one and not the second. You know what I mean? Like there are these things that it's like they don't teach the base. I don't think that they're being, I don't think the colleges are teaching them the logistical sort of the things you should know, right? The backstage editing. That's probably true. That's really interesting. And and that's true. And if you come in and you're not wanting to hear those things, then that's a struggle too. But Patty LaPone was only out like four times. Once the first time she went out was for a premiere, and then she broke her toe. I don't know if y'all remember this, but she did the show in isotoner slippers for like six weeks.

And not even a cute isotoner, like a pull on isotoner slippers. But I digress. But she she and Boyd and Lara, they all set an example. When they were there, they were in it to win it. And you know, Patty gets this Patty has a reputation, diva, she flies off the handle, this and that. Well, part of it, when you see it in action, at least for me, she's Italian. Like, she's an Italian mother, and she reacts that way, right? Like, she just they react with all this emotion and energy and they lunge for you, and then they bring it back and like, oh, sorry, darling, you know, and you're like, well, because she But are you hungry? Right, right, right. Because she had a couple moments, but like she wants to know like who's on props, who's the sub that's in, who's going out?

She wants to know backstage who is this person that's handing me this prop. Because if I come off stage and I've never seen this person, I that might throw me, but also just to know who they are. It's like my husband told me, Hugh Jackman, like on Greatest Showman, he buys lottery tickets every Friday and goes up and gives them to each crew person and says their name. It says, like, hey Paul, how are the kids? Do you know what I'm saying? It's that kind of example and leadership that you hope will carry through, right? Like that makes it look easy, but it's not. It takes work. It does take work, it does take care. Yeah, to care. And then and then, and then they expect that of the people they're around, and then you want to rise to that, ideally, right?

You must be a company manager's dream. They always tell me I should be a stage manager because I I like rules and I like the things, and I don't like I don't like people, you know, I don't like lying. I mean, my my castmates at Tina know this. They know they always roll their eyes at me. They're like, ah, Jess, here she goes. Like, this is Broadway’s. And I'm like, but it is fucking Broadway’s, you know. You know? So it's um, it's all in love. And it's you love to be there. I love I love my job. It's the highest we can go. It's the top tier, y'all. Like, I dr and that's all is that I want I want us to not forget that, right? Like, I know there's all the rest of the bullshit, but like there the dreams that happen, the dreams that people have.

I remember being like, I will sweep the stage if they will just let be on a pro way. You know what I mean? Justin just said that to me this weekend. I've been running the Ike track while Dan is out. And you know, I've done it a couple of times, but it's not in my bones yet. I don't trust myself. I'm sweating through my clothes because the heat is still on. Oh my god. So it's a swamp. And he just looks at me, he's like, I love how seriously you're taking this. And like, it's it's Broadway’s, right? I know it's a suit jacket and some pants. Like, you know who he's talking to. Hello. I mean, I know. I I am a theater kid who found wardrobe, not a clothes person that found the theater. Oh yeah, I get that.

Like oh, I love that. You know it's Broadway’s. Yeah, no, I get it. I remember there was this. Taylor works here, like I mean, it's people to celebrities talk about how hard it is to be here. Do you know what I mean? Like, this is hard. It's a hard fucking job. So why not make it the best we can do, you know, and respect it as such. It it really ain't rocket science. We're not, you know what I mean? We're saving lives in our own way, but like, y'all, all the at the end of the day, look at what we're being paid to do. Come on. Yeah. You know, it's not it's not all that. I wanna tell you one more story about please um Patty, is that I won't say the person by name. There was an ensemble member who was always late to places, always.

And they were a Hollywood blonde, and so this meant that when they were in Uncle Jocko's, they were a mom. They only had to have a wig prep in and like no makeup. They didn't even have wigs, they just had to put a hat on their head, come on stage. This person was always late. Patty also had to be ready at places, right? Mm-hmm. So and so places has been called. So and so places has been called. The stage manager would give over and over. No. One day Patty LaPone got on the microphone. No, no, no, no, no. Yes. And she called this person by name, and I won't do it. But they she said, Joe, it wasn't Joe. There was no Joe, and it was a woman. Joe, I have a mountain decline. And if I can be ready at places, so can you.

That's pretty democratic. Yeah. She's not wrong. That's my biggest fear, right? Somebody calling you out. I would be horrified. Like that in front of everyone. And knowing that they're right. Yes. And knowing that you deserved it, because oh I can't imagine being that person going down those stairs. Yes. Yes. I will never were they ever late again. Were they ever late again? Nope. I was gonna ask how was that received? Was it like they were horrified? They were horrified. I mean, and and rightly so, and it wasn't like Patty got on the horn the first time and like called them out. This was a a recurring problem, a pattern. And at the end of the day, like Adrian had led us, Patty was leading, and she was done with it.

You know, it's like after stage management isn't getting it done, then sometimes you need the leader to step up and be like, okay, look, not cool. Come on, you know, come on, respect your company, respect the the thing. So anyway, yeah, sometimes the source does matter. Yes, for some people. And so I love my time with Patty, but there I know that everyone has their own stories for us. Sure, but you know, whatever everybody's stories are. It's rarefied air, and everybody knows it, positive or negative. It it is a rare experience to get to experience from uh an inner an inside looking out perspective, right? Yeah, yeah. Um I need to get off the soapbox. Do you have something fun for me to talk about?

I do. I want to know about like the things at the center of your baseball, the performances and the shows that you know, you were a kid in Texas watching the Tonies and said, ooh, I'm gonna do that. These are the musicals that get me going. Well are you so intensely in love with your job? Like, what made you? Thank you. What a great way to ask that question. I mean, for me it's Rosie O'Donnell. So go ahead. No, I am intensely in love with my job. It's like Justin, like you were just saying, Justin said that to you backstage. When I told Justin I was leaving the show, the first thing he said, he goes, but you love Broadway’s. I was like, I know. I was like, but I'm just gonna go do more of it. Like, I'm just I'm gonna take some time.

So yes, I love Broadway’s. Um, my parents love Broadway’s. I will tell y'all that my parents met in a theater department in college. They're community theater actors. My dad was a high school drama teacher for 40 years. No, 39, something like that. Um my parents named me Jessica because they thought Jessica Rush was a good stage name. I'm not even kidding. That it would look good on a marquee. You know what? People often ask if it's my real name. It is my real name, but and my birth announcement said a star is born. So basically I had no, I had no choice, y'all. My mother did God spell when she was seven months pregnant with me. So I've been in it forever. Yeah. I mean, I was 10 weeks old, and my dad was holding me when he was modeled the tailor in Fiddler on the Roof, and I was their baby.

You know what I mean? Like, I grew up, my happiest memories are laying on a palette, like in the back of a theater in the dark and listening to them like rehearsing, teching or whatever, you know, like when I was smaller and not in the show.

[42:26] Jessica Rush: Most of the time they found a place for me to be in the show, and I just went with them all the time. So, um, that was where it was born. I don't have a very clear moment of like, "That's what I want to do." It just was always who I was. It was just a part of who I am. Yeah, it was all of it. I will say my Tony story. Well, I was irate that Ragtime lost the Tony because I adored Ragtime. Les Mis is my dream. Les Mis, Ragtime, you know, those nice big grandes, yes, a big sing, those are my shows. I remember being seven years old and listening to Les Mis and singing "I Dreamed a Dream" and being able to do the shame when she goes up the scale. I remember doing that all in one breath when I was like eight years old, and I thought, "Yes, I did it."

Yes, I did it. It was like the thing. Um, and I remember watching Daisy Egan win the Tony. I've told her the story probably more than once when I've been drinking, but I have told her the story of how I watched her win that Tony, and I kid you not. I said, "No, I'll never be the youngest person to win a Tony." Because we're the same age. So there was that. I mean, I, you know, and I, we moved a lot when I was growing up. I was when I was going into the eighth grade, we moved to Florida to Orlando, and my dad and I actually went on a non-equity tour of A Christmas Carol that he had done years before. We did the bus and truck for a few months together. Um, and then we moved, I went to four high schools.

We moved um, three times when I was in high school. Um, from Orlando, middle of my sophomore year, we moved to San Antonio. Um, my dad was hired to start a new musical theater magnet school, which is still there called Northeast School of the Arts. People know about it, yeah. Um, he was the administrator and they were designing it. So the second half of my sophomore year it wasn't open yet, so I went to a different high school. Um, anyway, so then when the school opened my junior year, I went there for a year, but then my dad hated being administrator and missed working with students. So we moved back to Orlando, but I went to a different high school. So I had a very tumultuous high school career.

Um, but theater was always where I found my people, right? Like I always knew that when I got to a new school, I would go to the theater department and then I could find the people and I knew what I did, and yeah, and I was good to go. But I mean, I grew up singing "Last Night of the World" with my dad in the car, which is totally so appropriate, you guys. Just so stay with me. Just like not even okay. But um, I had no other. That's so sweet. Yeah, there was nothing else. It was always this, it was always this, which is and that the pandemic really made that clear, I have to say. Like that was one thing as I saw people leaving and becoming realtors or doing a desk job or teaching or whatever, and they were they were it was that moment where you think, "Do I stay or do I go?"

And all it did for me was clarify the "I'm not going anywhere." Yeah, the thought of leaving was so no, I couldn't wait to get back. I was like, "No, this is cool. I don't need my weekends." You're like, "I have a disease." Right. Um, this is me, guys. This is it. I love musical theater, you know. And my husband is a closet musical theater nerd. He like he every now and then I was singing um, "I Know Him So Well" or something. No, yes. I was singing one day, like randomly, and I don't sing show tunes often, but sometimes I get it in me, and I was doing it, and all of a sudden from the other part of the house, I hear him singing the other part, the other part, yeah. I'm like, "Wasn't it good?"

And he's like, "Oh, so good." He's singing it, and then and we just kept going. I didn't talk, I didn't stop, I just kept going, and we went all the way to the end of the song. I bet that sounded so good. But he doesn't, you know, he doesn't he plays it cool all the time, but well, sure. We both grew up doing musical theater. We love it. It's like it's what we do. Listeners, go see him in Moulin Rouge if you have not already. Yes, yes. He's just got put on the pillar, y'all. It's really exciting. I want to see that so bad. The new pillar. The pillar outside. Have you seen our new have you walked by the theater at all? Yeah, well, I went and saw Beetlejuice yesterday. Um, and so I was across the street, and so I saw the photos.

Yes, look at all that production photos. Wild. They said, "We're gonna sit here for a minute." I mean, it's always a good thing. These are the things you learn. And they changed our playbill too. They put um, and Keki on it, yeah. Yeah, the key arts on it's like again, still in color. I know. I mean, these are these are the things for the insider knowledge, y'all. Like, you pay attention to these things. If they if they're having a photo call and they're doing photos, then that's a good sign. If the playbill is still in color, when the playbook goes black and white, you want to get a little nervous. But you know.

[47:36] Dana Craig: Jessica, can I derail this conversation? Just the tiniest.

[47:36] Jessica Rush: Please.

[47:40] Dana Craig: I'm talking about. You are you are so beautiful. It's like like hard to look at you. Um, do you do any face things? Like modeling, uh, like just showing up places, photography, nude modeling. Like, what is like what are we being paid?

[48:03] Jessica Rush: Um, are we monitoring the skin? No, I would love it. Does someone want to send me some skincare? Do you know what I for years used fresh products? I do have to say a lot of this is genetics. My grandmother washed her face with ivory soap and water, and when she died at the age of 90, she still looked fabulous. So, like I have to, and my mother has really good skin. I it's funny because I swear to god, I have different skin on my hands versus my face, right? Like, I look at my hands and my feet, and I feel like that's the skin from my dad's side. I'm not even kidding. Oh my god, and then I feel like I have the skin from my mom's side on my face. But I thank you for that. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I um no am I wrong? Like, no, she's stunning. It's hard. Like, and you know what my friend Amber used to say to me on tour, she'd be like, and you don't even always wash your face at night. Like, I don't. I just you know gross. But a lot of times I'll just use a wipe. I said that to Ofra one day in the dressing room. I was like, sometimes I just do a wipe and I go to bed and Ofra was like, "I can't believe this." But I use fresh products a lot, I really like fresh. They're black tea, age delay. They do have good lip balm. Um, but I'm gonna start, and I also have started using some drunk elephant. Oh I like the name. Yeah, yeah, drunk elephant. It's all organic and like, you know, no parabons and it's it's natural and botanicals and um, but that's it.

I'm lamenting my neck lately. I feel like the I mean, like the lines are coming. Yeah, it's happening. I mean, I'm 41 now and I'll say it. There's it looks like someone cut my hand off. Right. This is like people have to look at me like that. Serious? You know what else it is? It's not just the lines, it's like the crepiness right here. And I just can't it's aging, it's what it is, and it's a bitch. Like it's real. Bless everyone, like next and I mean we can use a neck if we want, which we all know what her on that Nora Efron wrote a book called "I Feel Bad About My Neck," and I didn't really get it until now.

[50:12] Dana Craig: Me neither.

[50:13] Jessica Rush: Me neither. And I read it and I'm like, "What is she complaining about?" Oh, you know, cut to five years later. And I'm like, "Scarves, scarves, no scarves." I mean I mean, it is what it is, but I appreciate that. Thank you. I'm holding on to it desperately as hard as I can. You know, and we all have other things. I look at my arms at my forearms, I'm like, "Where did those sunspots come?" You know what I mean? Like it's so we pick our we highlight what we can. Yes. Amen. Yes. Well, it's been very nice looking at you this whole time.

[50:44] Dana Craig: Well, thanks. I will say also, I feel like these have some sort of filter to them because I feel like it's always just a little fuzzy enough or like pleasant.

[50:52] Jessica Rush: Like a Vaseline lens.

[50:54] Dana Craig: Yes. Maybe I do have a lot of it.

[50:56] Jessica Rush: Like a Barbara Walters.

[50:58] Dana Craig: See? Oh, yeah. Just let me a little smudge.

[51:00] Jessica Rush: A little smudge.

[51:02] Dana Craig: Mm-hmm. There you go. I mean, I thought you looked fabulous anyway. So stop.

[51:13] Dana Craig: I have one last question for you in the minutes we have left.

[51:22] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[51:22] Dana Craig: That we have asked every guest on this podcast. There are seven very well-known dwarves in history. If you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?

[51:33] Jessica Rush: Anxiety dwarf.

[51:36] Dana Craig: That's our first anxiety dwarf.

[51:38] Jessica Rush: That is our first anxiety dwarf.

[51:40] Dana Craig: Is it really?

[51:40] Jessica Rush: That's me.

[51:41] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[51:41] Jessica Rush: No, I'm sure.

[51:43] Dana Craig: Anxiety is real.

[51:44] Jessica Rush: No. Okay. Okay, no question.

[51:46] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[51:46] Jessica Rush: Great, crack great. Yeah. We would have been so close in high school because I campaigned for the senior superlative of most stressed.

[52:46] Dana Craig: You're not alone.

[52:49] Jessica Rush: You're Dare Dwarf.

[52:50] Dana Craig: Dare Dwarf. That's more. That's better. That flows better. I'm really excited for Dare Dwarf O'Connell and her Tony nomination.

[52:54] Dana Craig: Did you really?

[52:56] Jessica Rush: Do you know what? I always thought I didn't have anxiety. And then I had a child, and my anxiety went like through the fucking roof. And I thought it was only because of her. But then I'm reading these memes lately, and it's like if you thought if you were too scared to do things when you were a kid because you thought you would die, that's anxiety. I was like, "Oh my God." I fully I always tell people the Dare program came and spoke to us, and they said they said everybody's body is different. Some people could do a drug over and over again and they're fine. And some people could do it one time and it could kill them. And I thought that would be my luck, and I will never do a drug, and I've never done drugs. It worked. Just say no. Dude drugs. A won't have an attitude. R I will respect myself. E. I will educate me now. I've forgotten that song. The musical. My god. That's amazing. So yeah, Anxiety Dwarf. I'll lean into it.

[53:01] Jessica Rush: Dare dwarf Dana H.

[53:04] Dana Craig: You're Freedom. You're free to Kahlo. And this has been in the room with Steven and Dana.

[53:12] Jessica Rush: Wait. You're a monster. Jessica, thank you for spending your Monday with us.

[53:18] Jessica Rush: Thank you. I could keep talking, y'all. So it's a good thing you're toting me off. I like to chat, but happy Mother's Month.

[53:24] Dana Craig: Thank you.

[53:25] Jessica Rush: Thank you. I appreciate it. To all the mamas, Broadway’s and otherwise out there.

[53:29] Dana Craig: Yeah.

[53:30] Jessica Rush: Thanks for the support. We appreciate you. Thank you. Where can we find all of your business?

[53:34] Jessica Rush: Oh my god. I have so many things. Here we go. Is Mama's Talking Loud. We have like 93 episodes, y'all. So come on over. And it started. Oh my gosh, we're so close. Oh really? Yeah. Well, we're about to it's about to be done. But probably. We'll see. But we have been going, we've got everybody. We've got them from Audra to like, you know, Tara Rubin. We've got everybody in between on all sides of the table. So come over there. It is not people worry that it's about moms only. It's much more about life through the lens of motherhood. So you, even if you're not a mother, I have lots of people tell me, even if they're not a mother, they love listening. So there's that. Mama's Talking Loud on the Broadway’s Podcast Network and on Instagram.

My business that I started with Elliot during the pandemic is called Ivy and Clark with an E. That's also on Instagram. And we make bracelets with gemstones. Um, bespoke beaded bracelets. Bespoke beaded, also a tongue twister. Yeah, bespoke beaded bracelets. And then my Instagram is Jess is a Rush. Not Jessica Rush. Jess is a Rush. Noted. Yeah. And you can find my things there. And also Broadway’s Baby Mamas is the I run four Instagrams. It's also our Instagram. And uh and it's for it's we highlight mothers in the Broadway’s business. The Jessica Rush Empire. You know what? I've discovered I'm really passionate about amplifying those voices when I can. So let's do it. Yeah. So thanks. Thank you guys for having me. I'll come back anytime and just keep it just so good to see you again and without a mask.

[55:10] Dana Craig: I know. Look at that. I see your whole face. Dreams.

[55:14] Jessica Rush: I know. These are the days, y'all. These are the days. And on that note.

[55:20] Dana Craig: Which note?

[55:21] All: Bye.

[55:22] All: Bye.

[55:23] All: Bye.

[55:28] Steven Ferezy: In the Room with Steven and Dana is produced by Steven Ferezy and Dana Craig. Special thanks to Joel Wagoner for tinkling the ivories on our theme song. Hit him up at joelwagoner.com. We apologize. And you're welcome. We'd also like to thank Jesse Wiener, W I E N E R, for our jazzy original music sprinkled throughout each episode. You can find him at jessewiener.com. Last but certainly not least, we'd like to thank Kevin Thomas Garcia for taking all of our ridiculous photos. You can find him online at ktgnyc.com. We are all over the internet on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at In the Room Pod. Follow us, like us, share us, pant us out. And don't forget to subscribe to In the Room Podcast. We everywhere so subscribe. And thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much.