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[0:26] Marc Tumminelli: Hello, happy new year. I'm Marc Tumminelli, and this is episode 31 of Little Me: Growing Up Broadway, featuring Broadway superstar Andrew Keenan-Bolger.

[0:36] Marc Tumminelli: Before I get to our interview, I just want to thank you all for joining me on this podcast adventure. When I kicked off the podcast this past March, I wasn't sure anyone would listen, but you are here and you're listening, and that's amazing to me. So thank you for the DMs and the notes and the text messages from people who know me. And I'm gonna get you some really amazing guests for 2021. So stay tuned. And remember to follow us on Instagram at LittleMe Podcast. I'm doing a lot of fun things like scrapbook Saturdays and fun throwback videos of our guests, and we're having a great time over there, so make sure to follow.

[1:07] Marc Tumminelli: Alright, let's get into it. My guest today is an actor, a director, an author, and a filmmaker. He starred as Jesse Tuck in Tuck Everlasting on Broadway. He created the role of Crutchy in the original Broadway cast of Newsies, and the record-breaking Newsies, the Broadway musical film that you can watch on Disney Plus. His other Broadway credits include Mary Poppins, Seussical, Beauty and the Beast, and A Christmas Carol, as well as the national tours of Spelling Bee, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Mary Poppins, and Ragtime. He's the co-creator of the critically acclaimed web series Submissions Only, and of the children's book series Jack and Louisa. He has appeared on numerous film and TV projects, including The Undoing, Looking, Naked Brothers Band, Nurse Jackie, Marcy X, and many others.

[1:48] Marc Tumminelli: We have such a fun conversation, including talking about Nicole Kidman, filming The Undoing and improving full scenes, and some insane Seussical stories, including Andrew's wild voice change that happened during the Broadway run. To be honest, the same thing happened to me when I was 15, but Andrew was starring in a Broadway show, and I was starring in a community theater show underneath a train station on Long Island. So enjoy my episode with Andrew Keenan-Bolger.

[2:16] Marc Tumminelli: I'm so thrilled to have an amazing guest today who's been working in this business for most of his life, having appeared on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, Mary Poppins, A Christmas Carol, Newsies, and Tuck Everlasting. He's the co-creator of the critically acclaimed web series Submissions Only, and the co-author of the children's series Jack and Louisa. He has appeared in numerous film and TV projects, including everyone's 2020 obsession, The Undoing. Please welcome Andrew Keenan-Bolger.

[2:40] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Hi, Marc.

[2:41] Marc Tumminelli: Hey Andrew, how's it going?

[2:43] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: How are you? Thank you so much for joining me for my first guest for the new year. And I can't think of a better way to kick it out with a bang.

[2:50] Marc Tumminelli: Or in with a bang, I guess.

[2:53] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: In, yeah.

[2:54] Marc Tumminelli: Since this is the Little Me podcast, we're gonna focus on the first part of your career, which was pretty dynamic. I mean, you kind of got started off with a bang yourself. Tell me about what you were doing, what like seven and six-year-old Andrew was doing around the house that made his parents be like, we must make this kid a star.

[3:13] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, it was a lot of shows in the basement, lip syncing along to like "Lovely Ladies" from Les Mis with like sheets over my head, just like light drag performances in my basement. And then I was also, I have two older sisters, Maggie and Celia, and right out of the gate, I grew up seeing my, especially my older sister perform because she's a few years older than me. So I would go see Celia perform in like children's theater and in community theater, really from as soon as I could be quiet, sitting on my mom's lap. And yeah, theater had just always been a part of my life. We grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and it was a lot of schlepping the kids around in the carpool, dropping us off at dance lessons and rehearsal, really typical, I would guess Midwestern theater nerd family.

[4:17] Marc Tumminelli: What was like your first time on stage?

[4:20] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: My first time on stage, it was in this was like the early 90s, and it was a musical called Peace Child, which is a very specific, like there are random people who are in this. It was kind of like a social political theater movement. Andrew, it sounds terrible.

[4:39] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, and it was about, it was like right before the end of the Soviet Union, and it was about American kids and Soviet kids becoming friends. So it set off a career of wanting to do political theater, I guess, and finding theater as a tool for social change. But in fact, I did get stage fright before opening night. This when I was five, and refused to go on stage. So a classic diva move from Andrew at five. So that was really it turned out my first. Yeah, technically my first, but I never actually made it onto the stage.

[5:19] Marc Tumminelli: So then how did you start the professional circle? How did that come to you?

[5:22] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: When I was probably about like seven, seven or eight, my mom signed the three of us up and herself for a workshop in Detroit called How to Raise Healthy Kids in Show Business. And I think both my parents were interested in if we're really going to pursue this, we want to make sure that we're not being horrible stage parents and ruining our kids. And it was led by a manager out of New York who was coming in town, and I don't think there was any expectation of like, and now we move to New York. But afterwards, I remember her calling my mom over and being like, Would you ever consider maybe bringing your kids in for an audition in New York if something were to come up? And I think it seemed like such a long shot that at the time my parents were like, Yeah, maybe, I don't know.

[6:22] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And one of the first things that they brought me to, I had an audition for Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. And really at the time, I truly believe my parents never had any intention of like me actually getting the job. It was more an excuse to put the kids in the minivan and have a fun road trip to New York and maybe see like a Broadway show. And when I was in the room auditioning, this has never happened to me again in my entire career. The people behind the table were like, Are your parents in the waiting room? And I'm like, Yeah, my dad's out there. And they brought in my dad, and I think that there were still kids waiting to go, so I don't really know how this happened. They were like, Yeah, so rude.

They were like, Would you consider moving to New York? Because rehearsals start next Friday. And I don't remember what my parents said in the room. I'm sure it's like, We'll have to think about it. They're like, okay, well, we will need to know ASAP. And God bless my parents. I mean, I cannot imagine the kind of sacrifice that they had to make really under the gun. And we sure enough, it started out just me and my dad. We came to New York. I started rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, and then soon after my family one by one kind of followed to New York.

[7:43] Marc Tumminelli: Was that tricky for you to become like a little mini star with your two sisters who've been doing this longer than you because that dynamic's not cute?

[7:50] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, it is sort of hilarious. I was definitely like the youngest sibling, but you know, I feel lucky in that my sisters and I, we've never been competitive against each other. It feels so anathema that that could be something that could be felt among siblings. We've always been super supportive and really each other's biggest cheerleaders and biggest fans. Truly got to be in New York together, so like that was what we all wanted anyway.

[8:22] Marc Tumminelli: Were they auditioning as well when you were auditioning for things?

[8:26] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My older sister Celia, she was actually just about to go off to the University of Michigan to major in musical theater. So she's everything packed out pretty well for her as well.

[8:40] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Everything turned out great.

[8:41] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, yeah, she's doing well. And my sister and I, Maggie and I were both auditioning in all the time in New York. She did like a ton of commercials. She did the Wizard of Oz with Roseanne Barr.

[8:54] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh my god, Madison Square Garden.

[8:57] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[8:58] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Well, I was doing Beauty and the Beast. So it was a lot of juggling our schedules for a while.

[9:05] Marc Tumminelli: Alright. Well, tell me about Beauty and the Beast. When did you join the cast? Who was in it? What was happening over at Beauty and the Beast when you started?

[9:11] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Sure. So I joined January 1996. And it was Jeff McCarthy was the Beast. Right at the beginning, Carrie Butler was coming in to play Belle. She was this like young girl who they discovered from Toronto, and I think she was super young. She was like very early 20s. It was her Broadway debut. It was incredible. I truly every the reason that I am doing this professionally now is because of that Beauty and the Beast family and how kind that they treated me and how much they encouraged me. And I think just getting to be to spend every day with a bunch of really self-actualized adults who were doing this for the love and getting to work for a company like Disney that took such great care of us.

[10:06] Marc Tumminelli: What did it feel like to be like a Broadway kid? You know, there was especially in the 90s, there was this circle of all these kids that were doing Broadway shows that made albums and had to wear their show jackets. Were you part of that culture of Broadway Kid?

[10:20] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, I was not like in the quote unquote Broadway kids, but surely it's funny, like anytime in between shows the moms all end up getting each other's phone numbers and like child care is just easier. Like I remember there was a while where we would go up to the eighth floor of the Marriott Marquis and just like hang out in the lobby, and it'd be the kids from Les Mis, the kids from King and I, the kids from Sound of Music, and they would just let us run wild and expel all this in-between show energy. Meanwhile, sorry to the Marriott Marquis staff for being like, what is this daycare that we are running? But yeah, like I remember Lea Michele.

[11:01] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, yeah, Lea Michele was in Les Mis at that time. I'm trying to think of who else, the other kids who went to like Jenna Oshkov was in King and I then.

[11:13] Marc Tumminelli: Right. Just a group of you all superstars.

[11:17] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So how long did you do Beauty and the Beast? And were you like, get me out of this cart or were you loving it?

[11:23] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, I would have done it forever if I could have. I did it for I think 20 months. And then my parents, they were like, alright, it's time to go home. It wasn't like I outgrew it or anything. I would have kept on doing it, but my parents made big sacrifices too. I had two working parents, and they decided that it was maybe time to go back to Michigan. And so I think I begrudgingly but totally understood why moved back to Detroit.

[11:58] Marc Tumminelli: How hard was that transition back from being like this New York City Broadway kid to back to kind of the burbs or do you live in the city proper?

[12:10] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm from Detroit proper. I think like fifth generation. And my dad works for the city. So there's like a huge, tremendous amount of Detroit pride. And I think the plan was like, well, we got to do that one thing, and that'll be it. And right, I think like right after I started seventh grade, a new musical called Ragtime was coming up. And I had gotten the...

[12:37] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Uh like a CD beforehand, like the concept album of like one concept, and I was just obsessed with it, and I think my parents were too. They were like, This is amazing. And we being from Detroit, we drove up to Toronto where they were doing the out-of-town tryout of it. And I think my parents were like, Okay, this show is amazing. So when it came to Broadway and started a national tour, I had the opportunity to audition for it. And I think my parents were like, this one is a pretty good one. We'll let them audit. Yeah, you did the ragtime the Broadway national tour of ragtime for how long did you do that for?

[13:17] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Uh, I did that uh for kind of a while, like almost two years. It it was actually it was even before the national tour because the producer at the time was trying out all these new models, like it started in LA. Yeah, exactly. I mean yeah, but we went to LA, we went to Vancouver, and then we did a sit-down in Chicago, sort of really as the Broadway production was opening. Um it's not really a model that has ever been replicated. Um, but yeah, it was it was incredible and getting to do that show. I still to this day I'm like, that is the best show I've ever been in. Um just a cast of like 60 and a million costumes and sets, and like that's probably I think I had 13 costumes in that show, which they would never do now, but it was a really cool thing to get. And you did Christmas Carol after that was Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, so you're following in your sister's footsteps, yeah.

[14:14] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I think at that point they they realized, yeah, we're not gonna be able to get them to move back to Detroit. Like there were just too many things that were incredible. And I think my parents really recognized that this passion was more than just a hobby. And so I basically had like free reign for the next three years of just I was auditioning for everything and uh basically non-stop working. Um were you being tutored? What were you doing about school during all that?

[14:41] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, like when I was when I was in ragtime, I I had a tutor while we were on the road. And then once we sat down in Chicago, I actually I went to a public school there. Um and Madison Square Garden, I I think I went to I yeah, I had a tutor for that too.

[14:58] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: You guys did like 90 shows a week.

[15:01] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, you kind of too. It's so true. Like the wildest. So talk to me about Sousical, because obviously this is like a huge next really big thing that comes into your life, unless I'm skipping over something major, but oh no, I think that that that absolutely I I think the auditions probably started when I was doing a Christmas Carol, and I knew Lynn and Steven from ragtime. Um everyone around town. Yes, yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Lynn wrote Christmas Carol. That's right. For easy to forget that. Yeah. Um, and everyone in the like Broadway kids' circuit was like, There's this deactress's musical coming. Everybody get excited. Uh and at this point, I was older. I was, I think I was 14 when I was doing Christmas Carol and auditioning for Sucicola.

My voice had not yet changed. Um, I'm done. Here we go. Yeah. Famous last words. Um, and yeah, so I was I was cast in Seusical, and that summer we uh went to Boston to do the out-of-town trial before it went to Broadway. And really, as soon as we were starting rehearsals for it, I was like, oh crap, I cannot really sing this part anymore. I like started cracking, and like just my body was like growing. I was just super awkward.

[16:31] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And it was definitely it was written to be a kid, and I was clearly someone about to go through puberty at any second. Uh so it was it was a harrowing experience for a number of reasons too, because that show up until that point, we had done like a couple backers auditions, and they had done a workshop of it, and it really was this incredible piece of theater. It was these insanely beautiful songs and this great story, and up until that point, it had really been people in a brightly colored t-shirt and a ladder on stage, and everyone was so moved by the story and by the music. And then you have the impossible task of trying to interpret Dr. Seuss's world into a physical Broadway production. And I think right off the bat, it just was plagued with a lot of problems, uh, technical problems, trouble with a concept, um, just costumes that seemed great on the page, but once they were in a person, seemed like they were really kind of suffocating the performance.

[17:41] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And as soon as we got to Boston, it was really it was bad news. Like they're making changes left and right. There are all these rumors that people were getting fired. Our director like kind of went awol. It it was just sort of a really toxic. Was no one dealing with the situation of that your voice was changing because there were so many other things to deal with. When did that need to put them into the into play? I assume that was all in play at the same time. They were like, oh my gosh. So we have this kid who has like four songs in the show and can't really sing it. Uh, and then truly, like during previews, they fired our costume designer. So we no longer had costumes, and we were all given, they told us to go to Macy's and go and buy our costumes. So we went and bought like sexy black costumes from Macy's to do like a Chicago Fosse style version of Sucicle.

[18:42] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh my gosh. Yeah. And so all these audience members are coming in to see this Dr. Seuss musical. They're like, lights up on a stage of people dressed all in black. Oh God. And a wave twisting. Um, that's just it's not going well for Sucicle out of town for anyone. But yeah, the show perseveres and moves to Broadway, and you're still with the show, correct?

[19:07] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I am. So when we were in Boston after the show opened, they basically brought me and my parents in for a meeting, and they're like, I feel like you know this is coming, and we just want to let you know that uh it was actually Lynn and Steven who do not want you to leave the show. They want you to become the alternate and they're willing to adjust any keys to make it easier for you. They would hate to see you not be able to make it to Broadway. Um, so you're gonna come with us to Broadway and you'll get to do the show for a month before we definitely need to bring in someone who can sing the role. I mean, Andrew, that is the nicest thing I've ever heard that's ever happened in this whole business because you know that that is not what goes down, especially with kids.

[19:50] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, yeah. How are you feeling after that? Like, can you put yourself back in that? What is a 14-year-old do in a meeting like that? You know, this is not a normal thing that a kid has to deal with at this scale. So I'm just so curious about the mindset.

[20:06] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So by the time we moved to New York, I was fully now like 15 and a half in 10th grade, like had no business being a kid actor on Broadway. Um, but I was also I was going through a lot of teenager stuff. So I was not really my brain was all over the place. I was feeling all of these new feelings for the first time. Uh, and I was beginning to learn the kind of reality of show business that up until this point it had really been a hobby. It had been something that I had just done for fun. And if I wasn't having fun, I could just leave it. Uh, but it suddenly became something that had been my dream to get to open a show on Broadway with like the greatest songwriting duo at that point. Um, kind of feel like it got taken away from me. So yeah, I was, I was not a happy camper.

[21:04] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, but also I think I did understand I was learning these lessons about the business, and that if I were to continue with it, it would not be just fun and games. It would not be getting to go to the theater and play dress up every night. Were there any uh you know situations with the boy who was brought in? Uh, that's Anthony Blair Hall, right? Um was brought in to then take over. How difficult was that dynamic?

[21:32] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Well, I feel so lucky he was honestly a prince because he was uh he was my understudy in Boston, and really, I mean my best friend. And he was such uh I look back at that and I'm like, that if I ever am in the same position, may I handle it with the grace that that 13-year-old showed me? He was really so sweet. It was never, it was never like there's no all about Eve going on there. Um, and I think was really sensitive to what I was going through. Um remained my friend long after uh I went back to Michigan. He like stayed in touch with me. I remember my mom almost also passed away like a year after Sucicle, and he flew out to be like my buddy at her funeral, just like an incredible young man.

[22:30] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, and he's no longer performing. I think he's uh like a brainiac engineer out in San Francisco. It's okay, you're like, yes, we're too here for this world. We need that desperately, so that that's fine. Um, so walking away from that sous school experience and going back to Michigan and figuring out what this next probably at that point you're in 10th grade, so you have to finish high school and then think about college. Was there moments where you're like, I'm not super interested in doing this anymore? Or tell me about how the passion kept getting fed to continue.

[23:02] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, absolutely. I think I moved back to New York or to Michigan. I was like, this is not for me. This was something I love, but it also broke my heart. And for a while I was just a regular teen in high school. And uh, and then I got a an email or a call or something from the community theater that I grew up performing in that I really got my start in. They were doing a production of Peter Pan and they wanted me to audition. And I was like, I don't know, y'all. But I think my my parents were like, you can audition if you want, and if you don't, we'll be supportive of you. Uh and mostly I think I was just bored. So I I went to the audition. I ended up getting cast as Peter Pan, which meanwhile, I'm sure I was terrible. Like, because we were also doing it in Mary Martin's keys, and like my voice had finished dish changing, but I some stuff was like, I was like, Where is that video? We need that video. It is buried in my parents' attic somewhere.

[24:06] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh my gosh. Um, but did that reignite the the spark for you? You know what? It did. And it was it was not even about performing, I think. I think it was getting to be back in a room with theater people. These people who it's different in Michigan, like they're they're not doing it to make money, they're doing it because they love it, because they have an insane passion for it. And I think I had sort of forgotten about that. And it really made me realize that you can be on a Broadway stage in front of 2,000 people, or you could be at your community theater in front of 150, but people take it just as seriously. Um, people are working just as hard, if not harder, because a lot of them had day jobs and are going to school and doing this like just because they love it.

And I think it was being reminded of that passion and that people are making huge sacrifices to do this that I think made me fall in love with theater again. So it it had a really nice little um a cyclical um journey back to the place where I got my start was the place that ended up kind of uh stitching me back together.

[25:20] Marc Tumminelli: It's so awesome. We're gonna take a little tiny break and we're gonna come back and talk about college and Newsies and Tuck and all those fun things. So we'll be right back.

[25:30] Marc Tumminelli: We are back with Andrew Keenan-Bolger. All right, so all you get to do Peter Pan, you decide to go to Michigan, which is the greatest musical theater program that exists, right?

[25:39] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, I mean, I think so. No, I mean, I think it is. All my kids that are there, uh, have really, well, most of my kids are there, have really good experiences, a couple of them not so much, but it's such a great program. It obviously has brought to light so many talented students who've come out of that and become really big Broadway stars, you included. Um, so what was that experience like going to college having had a really successful child career? Did that change how you went through those four years?

[26:08] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I think probably in the first few weeks it did. Like, I was not, what am I doing? Yeah, not even like I'm sure there was a little bit of ego involved. Mostly I was really proud of my accomplishments, but I think right away, I would, I was used to sort of being a little bit of the big fish. I mean, there are other very talented people at my community theater, but I was definitely put on a pedestal. And when I got to Michigan, I still hadn't totally finished going through puberty. My voice hadn't really settled. I also am a very late puberty human.

[26:43] Marc Tumminelli: Oh, I got you. I understand.

[26:44] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah. And I remember there, our first, it's called like a lab. Uh, the first time everyone gets up and performs, um, basically for the whole school, and immediately being like, oh my God, all these people are so much more talented than me, or just so much further along with their craft right now, um, that it was very humbling. And I then just, uh, went into learning mode and trying to learn as much as I could from my faculty and from other students.

[27:21] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And I, yeah, I think there is a little bit of like, it would be weird sometimes in class when we'd be talking about how to like write a resume and we had to bring in copies of our resume, and it was like everyone else had credits from Stage Door Manor. And I'm like, hey, do I put my regional stuff like lower than this? Do I include the fact that I did Peter Pan in my community theater? Oh, like all that kind of stuff is interesting, but immediately the talent was, uh, unlike anything I had ever seen.

[27:51] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So something really interesting. I think that happens with people, adults who associate themselves with younger characters. Like obviously, you look young, you're gonna play younger parts, and then there are people your same age who will look like adults and play adult parts. And there is, there's like a longing to be like, well, I want to be an adult too. Um, but it's weird, and you're all the same age. It's like a very strange dynamic that happens between those kinds of performers. Yeah, I remember like my sophomore year they had callbacks for our musical company. Like I had a callback for a part in Company where I'm like, he doesn't have any kids, that's the point. Um, yeah, this is not gonna happen, it's not gonna be my year.

[28:11] Marc Tumminelli: So was Spelling Bee the first big job you booked out of school?

[28:09] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, well first I did, um, a production of High School Musical, which I was very excited about because that was all the rage my senior year. Um, I read about it and yes, I did it at, uh, North Shore Music Theater. Um, and it was really fun. It was like a whole crop of kids who had just graduated. My Sharpay was Kate Rockwell of Girls Fame. And yeah, that was technically my first thing, but then I, I think I had, uh, booked Spelling Bee right before I went to go do that job.

[29:12] Marc Tumminelli: Now obviously you'd seen your sister be brilliant in Spelling Bee on Broadway where you were like, I want to replace in this show. I want to, like, did you have it in your head?

[29:14] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I guess so. It was, it all sort of happened so fast. I graduated in, I guess May, and it was one of my first auditions right out of school. Um, and it was, I kind of just booked it really quick without like too much time to really freak myself out. But yeah, absolutely. I saw my sister in this and I was obsessed with it. And I was also so obsessed with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who created the role. Um, that I am glad that that is one that a bootleg doesn't exist. Because I think if I went back and watched that, I don't think I was very good in Spelling Bee. I feel like I would be great now, but I think part of the magic of that original cast was they were a little bit older, where they had a distance from those characters where they were able to make those performances so funny.

[30:19] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And honestly, I was 21, which didn't feel that far away from when I was still performing as a kid. And I think I was mostly kind of leaning on those old tricks of like being adorable, when I don't think that that's what that show calls for. So I'm glad that I had an opportunity, but I would like to revisit that one someday.

[30:41] Marc Tumminelli: What did your sister like? Did she give you advice? Like, I'm dying to know about these Broadway siblings. It's like blows my mind. Be like, well, I created the show. And so this is what I'm gonna tell my little brother when he does it. Like, it's just honestly nobody has that story.

[30:55] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I, it is wild. That was one where my sister was, I think, more hands off than anything I'd done in my career, where she did not give me any suggestions, she did not provide me with any advice because it wasn't, whatever worked for her wasn't going to work for me. And I really needed to figure that one out on my own.

[31:13] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And it would have been so easy to be like, yes, but what did, like how did you figure out how to play this part? I think she, she knew that that was my first challenge out of the gate as an adult. And I actually, you know what? I don't even think my sister, I don't think I let her come and see that show. I was like, I don't want you to see it. So wild.

[31:39] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, so the Disney company has been very good to you. Um, you came back to Broadway, was, uh, the first time as an adult, I guess, technically, was Mary Poppins, yes?

[31:50] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, how different did it all feel to be doing that under the lens of now I'm an adult on Broadway, I'm still here, you know, I'm still doing it. I'm only 20, whatever.

[32:01] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, it was wild. I went into my audition for it, uh, for like the final callback, and it was all the producers, and Tom Schumacher, who was the head of Disney Theatricals, I heard him go, oh my gosh, she was a chip. It was a chip. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're like, wait, this is so great. Um, and so it was really nice that my, like return to Broadway was with that company, and there is unlike, I don't think that there is another kind of, uh, like sort of, uh, tribe that exists on Broadway, like the Disney Theatrical Company, where they really do try to boost up the careers of the people who they've discovered.

[32:47] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, just in a way that I don't think there's a mechanism. I guess some producers can work with certain people and some playwrights work with other people, but the Disney, the Disney Corporation, they are really kind if you make a good impression. And, uh, they really do take care of you. And right off the bat, when I was doing Mary Poppins, um, I had been doing all these kind of like backstage blogs when I was on Spelling Bee, and when I did the Mary Poppins tour.

[33:15] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And I think originally everyone just sort of wrote them off as like, yeah, that's like, I'm sure like how we look at kids who are big on TikTok. We were like, I don't know what all that is. Um, but Tom Schumacher from Disney Theatricals, I think immediately was like, this is valuable. Um, what you're doing is actually kind of viral marketing at a time when I don't think anyone else had sort of realized that there was potential on YouTube to widen your audience and use it as a form of marketing.

[33:46] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So they, whenever, uh, Disney would do, they would do sort of these in-house readings of the projects that they were developing, things like Aladdin and Newsies. I got to be in those readings because they didn't want to hold auditions to like tell the world about it. So they would sort of just use people who had been in Disney shows, uh, which I think was why I was able to continue with Disney doing as much stuff with them as I did.

[34:12] Marc Tumminelli: And the vlog stuff, where did that come to you? Were you like, I should document this? Because obviously we know you have a writer brain, which we'll get to in a minute, and a creator and a director. But what was like the spark for you that said I should be sharing this with whoever wants to watch it?

[34:28] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Well, when I was at Michigan, um, I think YouTube, it was like invented my sophomore year. And right away I was like, oh, this is amazing. This is an like opportunity for us to share, because at that time I was directing a lot of concerts and a lot of cabarets. I was like, oh, I can document this and then share it with my friends at other schools, uh, my friends like Carnegie Mellon and CCM who couldn't come and see our production.

[34:56] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So it was truly just a way to be like, this is what we're doing, how cool is this? Send us stuff that you're doing. Um, but, uh, what we hadn't accounted for was that everyone else online at that point were searching musical theater on YouTube, and our channel was like the first thing that came up because it was the only kind of content out there.

[35:16] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So we cultivated like a weird following, um, especially among teenagers who were like looking for schools to go to. Um, so already when I moved to New York I had kind of a bit of a following for my online stuff and I think it just naturally translated as soon as I was doing shows I was like, well I can't film these because that's against equity rules, but why don't I just document like what's going on backstage because that's something if I were a teenager I would be interested in seeing what happens.

[35:16] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, because when I grew up there would be the opportunities for me to see musical theater on television in Michigan. It was like the Tony Awards and like occasionally a performance on the Rosie O'Donnell show and that was really all you got. And so I think I recognized pretty early on that there are folks that want more of this kind of content and are not going to be able to find it on TV.

[36:16] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, so it sort of just happened organically.

[36:18] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Well, it's brilliant and it obviously like put you in a place where people knew who you were and you have a huge fan following which only got crazier during Newsies, which is like the wildest fan reaction. I mean, I've been obviously going to the theater my whole life, I'm 40 years old, um, but I've never seen anything like that.

[36:35] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh no, I don't think I ever will.

[36:40] Marc Tumminelli: And you never, I'm sorry, you're probably not, you won't again, but that, I mean for a Broadway show to have that kind of wild fan base. Um, and it's, you know, it's not the show that, you know, everybody in the season is talking about, it's just like was really felt like a show for the fans, which is I know what Newsies was.

[36:57] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, because that movie has such a cult following. But talk to me about being inside of that and when you knew it was gonna become, it was gonna eclipse, you know, Bradley fandom.

[37:07] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah. Well, the entire time when Disney was developing that property, their assumption was that they just wanted to create a licensed version that they could sell to the community theaters and the, um, basically children's theaters.

[37:22] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, that were already doing illegal productions of it where they would just transcribe the movie. My friend did one, Strike the Musical, and swiftly got a season desist. This was like in 1998 or something. Go ahead.

[37:35] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: So good. Um, so I think Disney kind of had low expectations for it. Um, but when they started doing the readings, I remember like the first day that they were teaching us Carrying the Banner in the like very first reading, and they were like plunking out the parts, and we were all just sort of singing along because all of us already knew it.

[37:59] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And they're like, wait, do you guys already know this song? We're like, yes, we're all boys in musical theater, we're obsessed with Newsies. And they're like, oh, okay, well, fine, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then when we opened at Paper Mill, which still at this point they were saying, this is just a proof of concept. We want to know that this can be done as a show so that we can then license it and sell it to church groups. And I think that they had no idea what that fan base looked like because on our opening night, our first preview, that audience reaction after "Seize the Day," they gave us a standing ovation and they would not stop clapping for like two straight minutes. And all of us on stage were like, whoa, y'all, this just got so real.

Um, and then the fans just took over. And I don't know if there has ever been a show where the reason we made it to Broadway was 100% because of the fans demanding it. And even when it went to Broadway, it was supposed to be a limited run. And the fans bought out all of the tickets. We recouped in like weeks, and then it became an open-ended run. So I think everyone's like, oh, fans are great. But you're like, y'all, fans gave us all our careers. And you got to go back and do the filmed version as well. Um, what was that call like to be like, oh my god, I get to go back and do this fun thing? Um, it was really nice. I got the call actually the day that I was doing Tuck Everlasting, and it was the day that we posted our closing notice.

So I was real bummed out. But then my manager called me and was like, so they're doing like a live taping of Newsies and they want you to be in it. They're like, oh well, that would be nice. That's a good distraction. Um, it's beautifully done, and it's so great that that exists. You know, there's so many kids that only get to see theater like that. If it's on Netflix or now Hamilton, obviously on Disney Plus. But I think these video versions of Broadway shows are gonna change the game for so many kids that would never have access to theater. So it's very special to be part of that history of musicals on tape.

[40:16] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, I hope so. It just makes so much sense. It's really what I was trying to do when I had like 10,000 followers on YouTube was just trying to broaden the audience and know that to get to New York is already expensive to buy a Broadway, a ticket to a Broadway show is expensive, especially if it's a hot ticket. And that doesn't mean that people all over America shouldn't be able to enjoy it. Um, so I'm so thankful for things like Newsies, and it truly has given it another life. Um, I thought that the fans had died down, and then that came out, and I'm like, oh no, they just got younger. Alive and well. Um, let's talk about Tuck Everlasting. I got to see the show out of town, and I saw it on Broadway a couple of times, and your work in that show was great, and you're so charming and fun, and the music in that show was beautiful.

It seemed like we were back in a little bit of a Seussical situation where everyone was trying to figure out how all these pieces fit together, and you're, you know, pretty much the kind of secondary star of the show. What was that experience like to be back in that kind of a hamster wheel of figuring out a new musical?

[41:25] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, I mean, it was fascinating. I did the first reading for Newsies and the first reading for Tuck Everlasting, like back to back one week and then the other week. And it was wild seeing how fast when you have the Disney engine behind you, how fast that went to Broadway, which was like a year from one of the first readings to the time that we were opening. And Tuck Everlasting took six years, which feels insane, but is honestly kind of a normal gestation for a Broadway show. Uh, and it was another one of those things where the first reading, it was so impactful, and we're all this is a gorgeous, gorgeous bit of material. How do you make this be a show? Um, and it went through a ton of changes.

I've never worked on a show that had more cut songs and replaced scenes, uh, basically trying to figure out how to turn it into a Broadway show. Um, and what was also remembering seeing this. Hold up, I totally forgot about this. Yeah, I saw a workshop of this show at Playwrights Horizons on Black Box, and it was fully staged act one and then read act two. That is just like coming to my brain right now. All right, keep going.

[42:39] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, totally. Absolutely. And also, much like Seussical, I was working with a young child actor who I couldn't help but see myself in her. Uh, especially because she sort of started growing up, like in between the time that we were in Atlanta to Broadway, and thankfully she was able to make it to Broadway because she was so incredible. But I remember her, we and I think honestly, I had a really great relationship. This is Sarah Charles Lewis who played Winnie. Um, I just had such a nice relationship with her because I think in part due to all of the adults who really kind of saw me as a collaborator rather than just like the random kid and saw me as a scene partner and just a human being. And like to this day, I mean, she was my best friend in that show. Um, and I feel like I was so lucky to get to help a young Broadway person go to Broadway without some of the unnecessary anxiety that might come with leading a Broadway show.

[43:55] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Well, I asked her, I told her you were doing this today, and she said that you had the best advice for her. And I'm just reading her note. You have the best advice for her on vocal care, on interviews, on stage door stuff, that you always knew what to do. So she just looked at you and followed your lead, and that she felt like you were a big brother and she could come to you with anything, and that you would answer her and help her. And so, uh, because I had a big thought of like this kid who grew up in the business now mentoring this other kid who's about to have this big moment and how scary that could be. Um, and while you're dealing with your own thing, like you also are the star of the show. So there's a lot on your plate, but I'm sure that experience was really interesting for you as a reflection, but also, you know, as an actor.

[44:37] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I also feel so lucky to have gotten to work with her. I mean, she is an incredible actress. And it was also, I think when we really first started, she always had like a dynamite voice. It was just special. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime you hear a kid with a voice that clear and powerful. And she had good instincts, but I really got to watch her become a real little actress and really respond to scenes and see her kind of volley line readings at me. Um, and I feel like I ended up just learning a lot from her, especially because I was playing a character who was a hundred and four, but also very youthful, and I would learn things from her. And then also we just had to really take care of each other.

It was somewhat a dangerous show. The set was super precarious. There was a giant tree on stage that we had to climb, and there were no wires or ropes, and it was really us figuring out what we felt safe with and what we were comfortable with. And admittedly, I am very afraid of heights. Um, and she a lot of times was like a good advocate for me, where I'd be like, uh, I'm not sure. I'm just really worried about Sarah. I don't know if this is totally safe. If we could get another hand grip right here, meanwhile, she's like, yeah, I'm fine with whatever, but oh my god, well, interesting relationship too.

[46:06] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: When you work that hard on something and it doesn't go the way you expected, how difficult is that to keep rolling and remember why you're here?

[46:14] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah. I think I felt really lucky with Tuck in that I was involved with that for six years. We had done, I think like three readings, two workshops, and an out-of-town tryout. So by the time it opened on Broadway, I already felt closure on the project. I had played that role. I had lived in that skin for so long, where it was one of those times where I could really remind myself that like just getting to this point, it was already a success. Um, and of course, you want people to love it as much as you do and for it to find its audience. I think especially coming off of something like Newsies, where I'm like the fan interaction was so incredible, and the fans like really just took the piece and made it their own.

Um, and there certainly were like amazing fans for Tuck Everlasting, but it just, it was opening and a tough season. We were up against Hamilton. Uh, yeah, and it ended up closing really quickly, which was disappointing. But honestly, we have a beautiful cast recording and people are doing it all over the world, and it, you know, I think it will have a big second sort of life. There's also now a one-act version that I think Tim Federley sort of Frankenstein together. So I think it's gonna be happening a lot everywhere.

[47:37] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yeah, that is it is one of the beautiful things that I feel like the audience that it did not discover while it was running for one month on Broadway, it has since found its audience online, and it was like through Tumblr, through Instagram clips of it, and then through a lot of schools doing it. It's a great musical for young people to do. Uh, and I've gotten to go really all around the country and see a bunch of different productions, all of which are beautiful, and um allows a lot of flexibility and kind of the interpretation and the concept of it. I've seen some insanely creative productions of Tuck Everlasting. And anyone who knows like the source material, the theme of the musical is like it doesn't end once it dies.

Like it is a cycle and it's a wheel and um it keeps going on whether or not you're a part of it. And that has truly been like the thesis of the Tuck Everlasting musical that it's now being done in so many places. And you're right, we have this great cast recording that um I still get tagged in Tuck Everlasting fan art, probably like twice a week.

[48:56] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Great take it, soak it up. Love it. Um, we have to talk about the book series and also, you know, you've done so much more than most actors do. I mean, you have not allowed yourself to live in the bubble of I'm a performer. You are, you're a writer, you're a director. Talk to me about writing the book series with Kate Weatherhead and how that came about, if you don't mind.

[49:17] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Sure, yeah. Uh, so the book series that I wrote is uh, it's called Jack and Louisa, uh, and it's about two kids who do musical theater. Um, something I know pretty well. Uh, we were working on uh, I think the third season of our web series, Submissions Only, which is all about theater, when which is also a huge hit. Everything you touch here.

[49:39] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Thank you, gosh, thank you. Um, but we got called in for a meeting with uh Penguin, the publishing group, uh, to see if we might be interested in writing a middle-grade series about musical theater. And it was so not on the path that I had thought I was going to be on, uh, but ended up being such an incredible experience. And immediately we just started talking about, okay, well, what would this series be about? Well, let's talk about stories from when we were young and performing. Uh, and we're like, okay, well, I was getting fired from a Broadway show at this point.

[50:21] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And Kay was like, "Well, I was performing in my community theater," and she's like, "Well, we have to write about that." And I'm like, "I don't want to write about that. That's like, that's not fun. That's will give me so much anxiety." Uh, but we decided that is a great jumping off point. Like, what happens when a kid loses out on his dreams and is forced to kind of move back home, but meets a girl who is incredibly passionate and the biggest musical theater nerd? Um, what does that relationship look like? Like, how are they gonna deal with jealousy? How are they gonna deal with, uh, just the challenges of coming of age? And from there, the first book really wrote itself basically just us kind of cathartically exercising the, um, memories and experiences of our teenage years.

Um, and then we got to go on and write two more, which was really wild. And I think was the perfect kind of closure on my Seussical experience because I feel like I learned so much just about that experience in writing the book, where I'm like, "Oh yeah, that is the lesson I learned." That just took me about like 12 to 15 years to actually figure out why that happened. And I think one of the reasons that I had to live through that was so that I could write this book series and kind of speak to, um, the feelings that so many teenagers feel of not fitting in or not being good enough, or, um, feeling different at school. It's so great, and I'm so glad it exists for those middle schoolers to have that sort of as a story to kind of lock into, and it's great that you have created that.

[52:02] Marc Tumminelli: Uh, you've done so much film and TV stuff. We have to talk about The Undoing before we get into quickfire. I just want to talk about it for me. Um, all right, so we get to do like this fabulous scene with Nicole Kidman. Had you been a fan of hers? Tell me about working with her on, of course.

[52:18] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Yes, I was such a nerd about that whole experience. Um, yeah, I mean, Moulin Rouge was like my favorite movie as a teenager. Um, yeah, I definitely took a beta blocker on set before we ended up filming because I'm like, "I'm gonna be so nervous." Um, but she was like really cool, she talks really quiet. She also basically improvised our entire scene. Like we had the script, and in the rehearsal, we had done all the lines, and then as soon as we started rolling in, she just went completely off script. And I, it did throw me a little bit because I was like, "You can rewrite David E. Kelly's lines, but I don't feel comfortable in my career right now to be like, 'Oh yeah, let me just like vibe with Nicole Kidman.'" Um, but it was very cool.

[53:07] Marc Tumminelli: Were you surprised at all of the fan reaction from that series that, you know, everyone was watching it? And it was, I'm sure you were getting calls from, because there you always kind of like pop up on my TV, but um, you know, was any of that surprising to you?

[53:20] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I do feel like honestly, maybe more than any TV appearance that I've done, many of which I have a much bigger role in than The Undoing, but that was where all of my like friends from Detroit from the past, like everyone was watching that show at the same time. And that I think was really cool.

[53:40] Marc Tumminelli: It's so great. Um, you have such an incredible career. You've done so many unbelievable things, and you continue to create and perform and write and direct. What do you want your next big thing to be?

[53:52] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, well, I, that's a good question. I'm writing a book right now that is for a slightly older audience than the Jack and Louisa series. Uh, and it's the first one that I've written on my own, so that is terrifying in a way that I think is good because as soon as I start feeling comfortable in something, then I'm like, "Uh, this isn't going to teach me anything." Um, so yes, I'm working on a book. Um, Kate Weatherhead, who's my collaborator, we're, uh, working on a movie, also in the theater realm, and we are currently, I think I'm allowed to say this, we are working on a season four of Submissions Only after many...

[54:36] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, people will be very excited to hear that. Let me know if I need to take this out. But it's really cool.

[54:42] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I think we said it somewhere else. So my god, everybody loves hearing it.

[54:45] Marc Tumminelli: All right, I need to do obsessed and quickfire. So, what are you obsessed with right now?

[54:50] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Okay, I am obsessed with an Instagram account. It is called Let's Hear It for the Choice. Um, it is basically a curation of clips from both Broadway and amateur performers of people just making huge choices in musical theater. And it could be an option, it could be a riff, it could be an acting beat, but I am obsessed. It is like the most positive account. It makes me miss live theater so much. It is so hilarious. Even my husband, who he works in journalism for politics, I will catch him like watching clips of girls playing Elle Woods at like the Muni, making like huge choices. It is like the best musical theater nerd dumb account.

[55:38] Marc Tumminelli: So let's hear it choice. I can't wait. Um, my obsession this week is so basic, but it's Bridgerton on Netflix. It's so good. Andrew, have you watched it yet?

[55:48] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I am not. No, I need to. I need to.

[55:51] Marc Tumminelli: Really great. It's like Downton Abbey, but it's also like maybe I'm like, is this porn? But it is so, it is so well done and fun. And, uh, Shonda Rhimes is a genius, and, uh, people are obsessed with it.

[56:02] Marc Tumminelli: Okay, quickfire questions. First audition song.

[56:04] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Gary Indiana from Music Man.

[56:09] Marc Tumminelli: Wonderful. Favorite holiday.

[56:11] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, Thanksgiving.

[56:12] Marc Tumminelli: First Broadway show you ever saw.

[56:14] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Les Misérables.

[56:16] Marc Tumminelli: First, uh, tell me one thing about working with Casey Nicholaw.

[56:20] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh my gosh. He cries at the drop of a hat, and it is the most contagious thing. Like he will cry. He gets so moved, and it's really actually such a beautiful thing.

[56:32] Marc Tumminelli: If you can go back and do one performance of anything in your career, what would it be?

[56:35] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, I feel like I touch on this. I would go back and do Leaf Coney Bear in Spelling Bee again.

[56:41] Marc Tumminelli: What do you want on your bagel?

[56:42] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I don't think you eat bagels, but what do you want on your pickle?

[56:45] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Not true. I eat bagels all the time. An everything bagel with plain cream cheese.

[56:51] Marc Tumminelli: Did you study anyone's limp to play Crutchie?

[56:54] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I actually, um, I watched a lot of documentaries about people with polio. Um, because I sort of decided that that's probably what was going on with Crutchie because the timeline really lined up. Uh, so I tried to base that musculature on, uh, people inflicted with polio.

[57:11] Marc Tumminelli: Do you have a pre-show ritual?

[57:14] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Uh yeah, I usually do a little like 15-minute yoga flow.

[57:19] Marc Tumminelli: All right, yoga flow. Who's your favorite Mary Poppins? You can't say Julie Andrews.

[57:24] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh gosh. Oh, this is hard. Um, Maddie Trumbull, who is my best friend. She played it on the tour. She was incredible.

[57:33] Marc Tumminelli: Strangest fan interaction.

[57:36] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Uh, someone once asked for my signature and then came to the stage door later, and they had turned it into a tattoo.

[57:44] Marc Tumminelli: No. Where was the tattoo?

[57:47] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Where was the tattoo located?

[57:49] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: On her calf.

[57:50] Marc Tumminelli: Oh, male or female?

[57:52] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: There was a girl, and she was so nice and so sweet. I hope she's listening. And I hope you don't regret that too much.

[57:59] Marc Tumminelli: Oh my god, I love it so much. Um, go-to album for a car trip.

[58:03] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, uh Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia.

[58:07] Marc Tumminelli: One show you'll never get over not booking.

[58:10] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh gosh.

[58:10] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Didn't even get a callback.

[58:18] Marc Tumminelli: Have you ever called out mid-show?

[58:21] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Uh, I did when I was in Ragtime because I was puking in the wings.

[58:25] Marc Tumminelli: Uh worst audition you can remember.

[58:28] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh god, there have been too many. Actually, it was for the High School Musical, um, national tour. I arrived at what I thought was a singer's call and it ended up being a dance call, and I arrived late and they had already taught the combination and it was the basketball number. And so I just went in a group and played with a basketball and like put it under my shirt and pretended to be a pregnant woman because I didn't have time to learn the combination.

[58:55] Marc Tumminelli: See, that's bravery. That's what you need.

[58:57] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Who's your number one favorite Broadway leading lady?

[59:00] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I mean, it's gotta be Audra McDonald.

[59:03] Marc Tumminelli: Oh, I want blank movie to be a musical.

[59:07] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, uh, Caroline, or Change.

[59:11] Marc Tumminelli: What Newsie, uh, should Patti LuPone play?

[59:16] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Specs. I want to see her twirl on that newspaper.

[59:20] Marc Tumminelli: Can you name two Real Housewives?

[59:22] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Uh, Countess Luann and Sonia.

[59:25] Marc Tumminelli: Great. Fill in the blank, Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas is...

[59:31] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: It's something that I get a residual check for every single year.

[59:35] Marc Tumminelli: The best decision ever.

[59:37] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Have you ever auditioned for Bach?

[59:39] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I have not, no.

[59:41] Marc Tumminelli: If you could direct any revival of any show, what would it be?

[59:45] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh man. Uh honestly, Tuck Everlasting.

[59:49] Marc Tumminelli: Name a musical you're okay with never seeing again.

[59:53] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oof. Uh oh gosh.

[59:58] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: All the, oh, I don't know. Uh, I like all musicals.

[1:00:03] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, you're right. Tell me later.

[1:00:06] Marc Tumminelli: Um, who makes you starstruck?

[1:00:08] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, um weirdly, and this is someone I've cultivated a recent friendship with, is Donna Murphy, but I still will freaking nerd out every time I am around her, and it's really awkward, and I can't believe she still talks to me.

[1:00:23] Marc Tumminelli: Just like a very big passion fan.

[1:00:25] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I got you.

[1:00:26] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, have you ever seen a ghost?

[1:00:29] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I have not. No, kind of want to though. Maybe today.

[1:00:32] Marc Tumminelli: Today's a day.

[1:00:32] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Okay, we have a couple more. What's your Starbucks order?

[1:00:36] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Oh, uh just like a tall latte, like pretty small.

[1:00:40] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah.

[1:00:41] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Um, do you do any impressions?

[1:00:45] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I used to do a good Daphne Rubin-Vega, but um I'm not gonna destroy my time.

[1:00:54] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: It's like there.

[1:00:55] Marc Tumminelli: Well, I loved she was in the revival of Les Mis with my sister as Fantine, and I secretly was like really into her performance because I was like, "Yeah, that girl's Fantine," but she definitely, she sang it like "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Time."

[1:01:12] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: And I was, Andrew, that's, it's actually very good.

[1:01:15] Marc Tumminelli: All right.

[1:01:16] Marc Tumminelli: Um, have you ever left a show at intermission and you don't have to tell us what it was?

[1:01:19] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I have left a show at intermission.

[1:01:21] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I will not tell you what it was.

[1:01:24] Marc Tumminelli: Okay.

[1:01:24] Marc Tumminelli: Last thing. What do you wish you could tell your younger self about what was ahead of you?

[1:01:30] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: I would say get ready to work on the graceful execution of plan B because plan A is rarely going to go according to plan.

[1:01:40] Marc Tumminelli: I love it. Um, tell the people where they can find you and follow you. I'm sure they already do that, but go ahead.

[1:01:44] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: You can go at Keenan-Bolger on all the apps.

[1:01:50] Marc Tumminelli: Yes, great. Well, we'll do that. Um, Andrew, thank you so much for joining me today. It's such a joy to get to hear your story from you. You are a ray of sunshine. There's no question why everyone wants you in their show and, uh, follows you on all the socials. You're a genius. So thank you for being with me today.

[1:02:06] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Thank you for having me, Marc.

[1:02:08] Marc Tumminelli: And if you're loving the Little Me podcast, go, uh, rate and subscribe and review and tell your friends. Follow us on Instagram at @littlemepodcast and follow me at @MarcTumminelli. Andrew, thank you again, and we'll see you all next week.

[1:02:24] Andrew Keenan-Bolger: Thank you, listeners.

[1:02:25] Marc Tumminelli: This podcast is produced by Alan Seals, Dory Barenstein, and the Broadway Podcast Network and edited by Derek Gunther. For more information on the Little Me podcast, go to bpn.fm/littleme. And follow me on Instagram at @MarcTumminelli or on Twitter at @thatTuminelli. And for more information on workshops, classes, and everything Broadway Workshop, go to BroadwayWorkshop.com. Thank you for listening.