This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Rory O'Malley: You're listening to episode number 69 of Living the Dream with Rory O'Malley.

[0:04] Rory O'Malley: Audition, side job, swimming upstream. Believe it or not, you're living the dream.

[0:11] Rory O'Malley: Hey dreamers, Rory O'Malley here. Welcome to Living the Dream. Thank you so much for downloading and listening.

[0:17] Rory O'Malley: If you like the podcast, please write a review, rate it, tell everyone you know about it. We love having these conversations with artists and actors in Broadway and in TV and film about the realities of the business and how they get by day to day.

[0:37] Rory O'Malley: And the only way you can do that is if you guys are spreading the word and supporting it. So thank you so much for all of you who have done that and continue to support the podcast.

[0:49] Rory O'Malley: Um I had a crazy amazing week this week. I was in New York City and we launched hashtag belt the vote. You can go to beltthevote.org, because on Broadway we don't just rock the vote, we belt the vote, and we are registering theater fans, theater lovers, people in the theater community who need to register to vote so they can vote on November 6th.

[1:14] Rory O'Malley: The election, the midterm election, is November 6th. So I hope that all of my listeners, everyone listening to this right now, who can vote, who is over 18 on November 6th, has been registered.

[1:27] Rory O'Malley: And if you have to check your registration, you can still go to BeltThevote.org and our partners at When We All Vote. They will help guide you through the process of making sure you're registered. So do that right now. You can totally pause this podcast and take care of that.

[1:43] Rory O'Malley: And I was lucky enough to have Jessica Rush and Eric Anderson be my guests this week. You know them both from a ton of Broadway shows. So many all combined. But Jessica Rush was in Gypsy, JERSEY BOYS. She's currently in Summer on Broadway, the Donna Summer musical.

[2:03] Rory O'Malley: And you have Eric Anderson, who I couldn't even list all of the musicals that he's been in, but currently he's in PRETTY WOMAN. He was in KINKY BOOTS, Waitress, um God, South Pacific. Yes, South Pacific is I think one of his first ones.

[2:23] Rory O'Malley: I've known Eric Anderson for probably 12 years. He is from Los Angeles, and when I moved out here and started doing theater right out of college, we were part of a theater company called the Troubadour Theater Company, and we just had the best time.

[2:38] Rory O'Malley: And we talk about it in this conversation that it really is where our training ground was for comedy on stage. They have a beautiful daughter, so wonderful, so sweet. She's the star of my Instagram feed.

[2:53] Rory O'Malley: And they are both on Broadway shows, doing eight shows a week, and that is really tricky. It's a wonderful blessing, obviously. They're very excited that they're both working actors, but that's an incredibly difficult schedule to also have a child that you're raising and have in school.

[3:10] Rory O'Malley: So we talk a lot about that. There's also Jessica Rush has her group, the Broadway Baby Mamas, that are moms on Broadway or people pursuing life in theater. And they are mothers who support each other. And it couldn't be more on message for what we talk about here on Living the Dream.

[3:30] Rory O'Malley: So she talks about that. And I just, I really look up to these two. They are, you know, they are the title of this podcast. They are Living the Dream. And that doesn't mean that things are easy. They work very, very hard.

[3:47] Rory O'Malley: And it was nice to be able to come to their beautiful home in New York City and get a glimpse into how they make it look so easy. It certainly looks like just a party on Instagram. But they are so good at making sure that they can have that balance between their career and family.

[4:09] Rory O'Malley: And I was honored to get to talk with them. So here's my conversation with Eric Anderson and Jessica Rush.

[4:14] Rory O'Malley: Uh we're it's happening. This has started. We're on you're on Living the Dream right now, just so you know.

[4:19] Eric Anderson: Good.

[4:20] Rory O'Malley: Okay. You're living the dream.

[4:22] Jessica Rush: About time.

[4:23] Rory O'Malley: That's right. Um I've been waiting for this moment.

[4:25] Jessica Rush: So you don't talk very much.

[4:28] Eric Anderson: I don't think I think of you as someone who I I would never say that, but I guess you're right. You are kind of quiet.

[4:35] Eric Anderson: I just don't say as much.

[4:37] Jessica Rush: Right.

[4:38] Eric Anderson: I like to surround myself with talkers.

[4:40] Jessica Rush: Huh.

[4:41] Eric Anderson: That way it feels like I'm very aloof.

[4:48] Jessica Rush: That way it feels but you so you are you do have kind of like that quiet, calm aspect of it.

[4:55] Eric Anderson: Sedated.

[4:56] Jessica Rush: Sejaded.

[4:59] Eric Anderson: Yeah, but that's what makes you so cool.

[5:01] Jessica Rush: Do you want to be for you?

[5:03] Eric Anderson: Yes, thank you. This is my backup just in case she falls apart here.

[5:08] Jessica Rush: Garage band has been known.

[5:10] Eric Anderson: Yes.

[5:10] Jessica Rush: Oh, yeah, garage band. You know, heard that in a while.

[5:14] Eric Anderson: Not since tour.

[5:15] Jessica Rush: Oh, you used to do a lot of garage band stuff?

[5:17] Eric Anderson: Yeah, I played Merlin and Cam a lot, so I was just in the first scene, then I had to wait three hours to bath.

[5:22] Jessica Rush: Oh yeah.

[5:24] Eric Anderson: So I did learn Garage Band and iMovie and all that.

[5:28] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[5:29] Eric Anderson: Yeah. And you had so it's one of those things where you like teach yourself.

[5:32] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[5:33] Eric Anderson: Um, okay, so I want to talk. Let's start for where we are right now.

[5:38] Jessica Rush: What one, we're in your beautiful apartment in New York City.

[5:42] Eric Anderson: Well, thank you. It is so nice. You guys have made a home, which is really tricky to do in New York.

[5:48] Jessica Rush: I would agree.

[5:49] Eric Anderson: Yeah, for sure. I mean, we've been here for two and a half years up in Inwood, and we were in Astoria before that for eight years.

[5:56] Jessica Rush: But um, we've been really lucky to have comfortable spaces. We've only this is only the second place we've lived since we've been.

[6:03] Eric Anderson: Really?

[6:03] Jessica Rush: Mm-hmm.

[6:04] Eric Anderson: We moved here 10 years ago, 10 and a half years ago.

[6:06] Jessica Rush: No.

[6:06] Eric Anderson: And it's been 10 years.

[6:07] Jessica Rush: I know can you believe it?

[6:09] Eric Anderson: I can't. I can't believe that.

[6:12] Jessica Rush: It's nuts.

[6:12] Eric Anderson: 2008.

[6:13] Jessica Rush: And you and you were in Los Angeles as well.

[6:15] Eric Anderson: I was. I um was on the road for a while with a couple different shows for like four years. And when I got off tour, I moved to LA and was there, and that's where we met.

[6:26] Jessica Rush: And then um, and then he decided he went on tour, and while he was on tour, I thought, well, you know, I've I've auditioned for shows in New York. I've flown, I was flying out and auditioning for Broadway shows and spending all the money and um and not booking.

[6:42] Jessica Rush: Like I would get called back, but then I wouldn't book, and some people would say, You just need to be there. Like you have to give it some time and be there.

[6:48] Eric Anderson: So I said, I actually want a game show.

[6:52] Jessica Rush: You won a game show?

[6:53] Eric Anderson: I won a game show.

[6:54] Jessica Rush: It was called the Rich List, and actually my episodes never even aired, but I but they still have to pay you.

[7:00] Eric Anderson: Oh.

[7:01] Jessica Rush: So I I won three episodes, my partner and I.

[7:04] Eric Anderson: What?

[7:04] Jessica Rush: Yeah, and so I had this money, and I thought I'm gonna go to New York and just try for a minute.

[7:09] Eric Anderson: And so I came for six weeks in the winter of 2007.

[7:12] Jessica Rush: Okay, and when I was here, I booked Gypsy at City Center for the summer.

[7:17] Eric Anderson: That's right.

[7:17] Jessica Rush: And I booked the out of town of Tale of Two Cities.

[7:21] Eric Anderson: And so then he was still on the road. So I came here in the summer and I did City Center.

[7:26] Jessica Rush: And then I went to Florida to do Tale of Two Cities. And while I was there, I found out that Gypsy was moving to Broadway.

[7:32] Eric Anderson: And I had always said I didn't want to move here without a job.

[7:37] Jessica Rush: And it's scary. It's hard and it's scary. And I was like, I'd rather struggle in the sunshine in Los Angeles than struggle in New York City.

[7:46] Eric Anderson: That's just what I what it was. And so once I heard it was coming in, I told him, I said going to Broadway, so I'm moving.

[7:53] Jessica Rush: And he's like, well, I'll come with you.

[7:56] Eric Anderson: So he got off the road. Basically. I mean, he has his own journey to getting to that.

[8:01] Jessica Rush: Well, I was on tour with Cam a lot, and I came out to see her gypsy run of gypsy at City Center.

[8:01] Eric Anderson: At City Center.

[8:08] Jessica Rush: And that was my first real introduction to New York theater. The only other time it had been when I was a freshman in high school, and you come out for the week and you see as many shows as you can.

[8:19] Eric Anderson: And so it was I was seeing New York with fresh eyes, and I was also seeing the community out here and how how it was the same as Los Angeles's community, but it was much more vast and and much more supported.

[8:36] Jessica Rush: I mean, of course, this is you know a theater town, and growing up in California my whole life, I just um was able to get by on my on my beach like ways.

[8:50] Eric Anderson: Well, that's where I met you. I moved to Los Angeles, which was a uh I don't even know how that happened being a kid from Ohio, but I think I was just like, this is exciting, I'm gonna move to LA.

[9:00] Jessica Rush: And I started doing theater, and one of the first shows that I did in Los Angeles was with the Troubadour Theater Company.

[9:07] Eric Anderson: And we did Santa Claus's coming to Motown, right?

[9:10] Jessica Rush: Absolutely, yes, and and and actually, you know, I'd seen the Trubies before their production of Romeo Hall and Juliet Oates, right? And it blew my mind.

[9:20] Eric Anderson: I thought they were the funniest troop, and I was like, anything I need to do to get in with this bunch. So Matt Walker, the clown prince of the Troopies, um called me the day of your first I think your opening night, yeah, and said, Hey, we we need a reindeer.

[9:38] Jessica Rush: Yeah, or a skunk, right?

[9:40] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a play the skunk that was also a reindeer that was also uh what can brown do for you.

[9:46] Jessica Rush: Yes, and and and that started our relationship.

[9:50] Eric Anderson: Yes, and and so we were in that theater company, and I that's that's why I stayed in LA, is because I found a theater company, a home.

[9:58] Jessica Rush: Absolutely, and you were doing so much theater in Los Angeles. I remember seeing you in Wild Party at the Hudson, yeah, I think, uh, on Santa Monica Boulevard, and honestly, Eric, that was one of the best performances ever.

[10:14] Eric Anderson: I really and and it was it was it sometimes like it's great to see great performances on Broadway, but when you're in a 99 seat theater in Los Angeles and you're seeing a human being give the kind of performance that you gave, it's uh it's transcendent.

[10:30] Eric Anderson: Yeah, it well, I mean it was it was dangerous.

[10:32] Jessica Rush: It was a it's true.

[10:33] Eric Anderson: I've heard about it.

[10:34] Jessica Rush: It did not happen yes.

[10:35] Eric Anderson: It was a dangerous show, too.

[10:38] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[10:38] Eric Anderson: Yeah, it was and it was a and it came at a time in my life when I had a lot of demons to expel, and uh, it's funny the shows that come come to you and the experiences uh, you know, especially as an artist that that we're uh privy to when we do have demons to unleash or or when we do need to be able to uh uh f find the right therapy in our craft.

[11:02] Jessica Rush: Right.

[11:02] Eric Anderson: So um so yeah, that was uh I had plenty of great experiences uh growing up in California and and I certainly um you know, everything from the boys and girls club to my elementary schools were were doing musicals, you know, so um I I was very fortunate to to grow up and do theater in California, even though I barely scraped by, you know, I I did not make money doing it and uh and uh and I learned a lot from that.

[11:34] Jessica Rush: But uh yeah, so so I saw her gypsy run of gypsy and uh and was overcome with just how embrace the community was out here and my agency uh just happened to be bi coastal, so I met with them out here and said uh and and you also saw Spring Awakening that trip.

[11:54] Eric Anderson: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[11:55] Jessica Rush: Right.

[11:55] Eric Anderson: That was the other he saw Spring Awakening too.

[11:57] Jessica Rush: Yeah, yeah.

[11:58] Eric Anderson: So it was like a original cast, yeah, when it was like really fresh and hot and I was just like, oh boy, there's a lot going on.

[12:04] Jessica Rush: And uh I met with my agents and halfway through my meeting I said, All right, well when I move here, dot dot dot and I heard myself say that and I was like, Oh wow. All right, this is gonna this is gonna happen.

[12:16] Eric Anderson: So I went out to the lobby, told Jessica what I said, and and uh I left the tour early and we packed up all our stuff uh and drove it across country to set up shop and wow she she did gypsy and then uh at the end of the year I booked South Pacific.

[12:34] Jessica Rush: And we've been going ever since.

[12:35] Eric Anderson: Never look at it.

[12:36] Jessica Rush: We really have. Like it's been it's it's amazing how from that point on you guys have both just been going from show to show to show.

[12:47] Rory O'Malley: You've been really blessed in a lot of ways.

[12:49] Jessica Rush: I mean, it's easy to still get frustrated, and there are things you want to accomplish and that you haven't yet, but ultimately, yeah.

[12:55] Eric Anderson: I mean, between the two of us, there has not been a moment, knock wood, where one of us wasn't on a production conference.

[13:03] Jessica Rush: Knock it really.

[13:04] Eric Anderson: Yeah, knock it.

[13:05] Jessica Rush: They want to hear that. That is since since we got here.

[13:08] Rory O'Malley: That's incredible.

[13:09] Jessica Rush: It's amazing.

[13:10] Eric Anderson: That's not there had you always one of you has been doing a show.

[13:14] Jessica Rush: Yeah, you know, whether it was me, I mean, I sat in JERSEY BOYS for the better part of six years.

[13:18] Eric Anderson: So I mean, that that was helpful as he moved from like show to show.

[13:22] Jessica Rush: Because Eric's done a lot of original companies.

[13:24] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[13:26] Jessica Rush: I did revivals, and then I was a replacement.

[13:28] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[13:29] Jessica Rush: And then that time, Eric, you know, he did South Pacific, was a replacement, but then ever since then, he's only been original companies.

[13:36] Rory O'Malley: Huh.

[13:37] Eric Anderson: Must be.

[13:38] Jessica Rush: Very nice.

[13:39] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah.

[13:40] Jessica Rush: No, I mean, it's it's it it it's a it it's a different challenge though.

[13:46] Eric Anderson: Being in a show for six years, which you were so fantastic in JERSEY BOYS.

[13:51] Jessica Rush: Yes, so so good.

[13:53] Rory O'Malley: That how did you maintain the eight show a week grind, which is you something you can't learn before you do it, you just learn it on the job.

[14:03] Jessica Rush: Um it's hard. I mean, I'm not gonna, you know, we always are like, it's amazing, I get to go to Broadway every day, and it's great.

[14:10] Eric Anderson: And it's great, it is great for the first, you know, several hundred years.

[14:15] Jessica Rush: Now I don't know.

[14:18] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah.

[14:19] Jessica Rush: No, it's um I think for me, a lot of it was trying to always do other things too.

[14:24] Eric Anderson: Yeah, you know, just to sort of so that I did do the show, and and it is helpful.

[14:29] Jessica Rush: That the the thing that we say about how every audience is different, that's true.

[14:32] Eric Anderson: I mean it's a cliche, but it's also true, and every night you want to try to remember that there are those people who are seeing their very first Broadway show, and or the kid, you know.

[14:41] Jessica Rush: I saw my first show when I was 11, my first trip to New York, and was fan of the opera.

[14:46] Eric Anderson: Which was also my first show, I think.

[14:47] Jessica Rush: Which is crazy.

[14:50] Eric Anderson: Back in 88.

[14:50] Jessica Rush: Yeah, mine was 92.

[14:51] Eric Anderson: But so it's like, you know, you you think about that.

[14:55] Jessica Rush: Yeah, well, somewhere out there in that audience, someone's seeing a show for the first time on Broadway, and you try to remember what that was like, you know, when you're in the grind.

[15:04] Eric Anderson: And you know, there were people. The thing about JERSEY BOYS, we had a really awesome company.

[15:08] Jessica Rush: We had a great family.

[15:09] Eric Anderson: People didn't really leave very much at all.

[15:12] Jessica Rush: I mean, true, I mean, obviously, there I was, but um, we uh we had a really you know, Frankie Valley says family is everything, and it's true, like our family was really strong there, and it was pretty functional, and so there wasn't a lot of high drama.

[15:28] Eric Anderson: It was just we come in, we do our shows, and then what's I think what's great is the show is happening, yes, and you have to keep that fresh, and but at the same time, backstage when you are with people six days a week, 50 weeks a year, so more than your significant others, yeah.

[15:44] Jessica Rush: I mean, I saw them more than I saw my family.

[15:47] Eric Anderson: Always, and um, and so you get to know their families and their stories and their children and house, you know, that connects you on a deeper level, and then I think it's easier to go to work because it doesn't feel like work so much, you know.

[16:01] Jessica Rush: And so combine the magic of having a great company with um doing an awesome show.

[16:07] Eric Anderson: I mean, jersey voices like so good.

[16:10] Jessica Rush: And on Broadway, I mean the audiences never lagged, it was always just they were having a great time, and so that's helpful too, you know.

[16:18] Jessica Rush: But um, I think that was I did take a break at one point.

[16:22] Eric Anderson: I left after the first three years, um, because I wanted to do other things, and they didn't the Dodgers don't tend to grant leaves.

[16:28] Jessica Rush: Right.

[16:29] Eric Anderson: So uh I left and I thought, you know what, I need to go do other things.

[16:33] Jessica Rush: And I went to Tuts to do Elf, and then I went to um Chicago Shakespeare to do Gypsy.

[16:39] Jessica Rush: But she won a trophy.

[16:42] Eric Anderson: I did.

[16:42] Jessica Rush: She won uh what was it, the Jeff Award?

[16:45] Eric Anderson: That's amazing.

[16:46] Jessica Rush: Thanks, yeah.

[16:47] Eric Anderson: Um that's it that's a very important thing though.

[16:49] Jessica Rush: I'm actually surprised that you would that you would have any trouble getting time for leave because the only way that I think people can stay sane to keep doing a show is if they get to go away for three months and do something else in the world.

[17:03] Eric Anderson: I think it's only beneficial to a company if you allow your people to go do other things, yeah.

[17:08] Jessica Rush: Um but that was not the case.

[17:11] Eric Anderson: Okay, okay, all right, it was different.

[17:14] Jessica Rush: So so I so I just left on my own, you know, and sort of thought, well, that's the end of my JERSEY BOYS journey.

[17:20] Eric Anderson: And I went and did those shows, and lo and behold, the people who replaced me didn't stay.

[17:25] Jessica Rush: Like they because I thought, I mean, no one left that show, and people there were only three women, so people were just waiting to you know take that slot.

[17:34] Eric Anderson: And but the people who would replace me wanted to do other things and didn't really want to stay in that grind, and so it all worked out.

[17:41] Jessica Rush: I actually ended up I was pregnant with Elliot when I did Gypsy Chicago Shakespeare.

[17:45] Eric Anderson: So I was five weeks along when we started rehearsals and 16 weeks when we closed.

[17:49] Jessica Rush: And so when I came back, Katie Weber had replaced me in JERSEY BOYS.

[17:53] Eric Anderson: Okay.

[17:53] Jessica Rush: And she she was like, Well, this is cool, but at Rock of Ages, I went on as the lead a lot and got extra money.

[17:59] Eric Anderson: You know what I mean?

[18:00] Jessica Rush: Like and she was like, I'm gonna go back over there.

[18:02] Eric Anderson: And so she left and they came to me and they're like, Can you come back?

[18:05] Jessica Rush: And I was like, I ain't pregnant.

[18:08] Eric Anderson: So that wasn't happening, and I thought, Oh, there it goes.

[18:11] Jessica Rush: But lo and behold, when Elliot was five months old, the other person left.

[18:17] Eric Anderson: Wow.

[18:17] Jessica Rush: They called me up and said, Do you want to come back?

[18:19] Eric Anderson: And I said, Absolutely.

[18:20] Jessica Rush: And that was right when last ship was closed.

[18:22] Eric Anderson: Last ship was closing.

[18:23] Jessica Rush: His closing weekend at last ship was my first week back at JERSEY BOYS.

[18:27] Eric Anderson: That's right.

[18:27] Jessica Rush: Wow.

[18:28] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[18:28] Jessica Rush: We overlap.

[18:29] Eric Anderson: So we literally have our Broadway baton and you just keep passing it.

[18:32] Jessica Rush: And he was across the street for that one.

[18:34] Eric Anderson: They were at the Neil Simon.

[18:37] Jessica Rush: We do the Saturday night shout outs to each other.

[18:39] Eric Anderson: Yeah, Saturday night stream.

[18:40] Jessica Rush: Pretty special.

[18:41] Eric Anderson: Yeah, that was fun.

[18:42] Jessica Rush: So, you know, it's uh JERSEY BOYS was a great gift for sure.

[18:45] Eric Anderson: I mean, but there is something to do, you know, it's like when you do those 2300 shows, you know, ultimately I had about 2300 shows with 18 costume changes a show, which is like 44,000 costume.

[18:58] Jessica Rush: I mean, it's like when you and when you realize you're doing it the same way, like the repetitive motion and the consistency of what you're doing, you know, it breaks your body in ways that you know it it there is an upkeep that you have to be aware of with a long running show.

[19:13] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[19:14] Jessica Rush: It already is a lot, but once you start doing something for that long, the same motions, the same choreography, just I mean, you don't think it when you're changing your clothes, but if you're changing your clothes the same way every time, 18 times a show, over time, you start to realize, like, oh my body is just it's so funny that you bring that up because people always think of the repetition as what you're doing on stage, and I try to explain to them that it's really the backstage stuff that'll make you go cuckoo because you're walking by the same person at the same time, the same dresser, bumps with the crew hand.

[19:52] Eric Anderson: Yes, and and it's it's all like it's great, but you keep doing the same thing over and over again, and you're like, Am I am I real?

[19:59] Jessica Rush: Is this really happening?

[20:00] Eric Anderson: And now I don't know if you guys watch Westworld.

[20:02] Jessica Rush: I used to always say it was Groundhog Day, but we're hosts in Westworld.

[20:07] Eric Anderson: Are we?

[20:07] Jessica Rush: I don't know why he watches this.

[20:09] Eric Anderson: Totally.

[20:09] Jessica Rush: Oh, absolutely.

[20:10] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah, it's nuts.

[20:12] Jessica Rush: I mean, I definitely, and there are moments when you're on stage and you don't even realize that you might sort of tune out for a second.

[20:18] Eric Anderson: Like I can remember coming off stage after doing boyfriends back one day.

[20:21] Jessica Rush: And now I didn't sing lead on that, so I it wasn't as imperative that I was invested.

[20:27] Eric Anderson: But I didn't even know I had sort of zoned out, and then I came off stage, and I remember thinking, Well, I must have been doing it.

[20:34] Jessica Rush: Like, no one's running up to me being like, Where were you? What was happening? What were you doing?

[20:37] Eric Anderson: I said, So I must have been doing the choreography and singing the songs, but I truly don't I don't remember it.

[20:43] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[20:44] Eric Anderson: So I guess if you do something thousands of times, yeah, it happens whether you can realize it or not.

[20:49] Jessica Rush: Whether it's no matter how hard you try to stay present in the moment as an actor, inevitably, I'm sure there, I mean, I know there are there are moments where you just go away.

[20:49] Eric Anderson: Go away.

[21:00] Jessica Rush: I mean so in your body.

[21:02] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[21:02] Jessica Rush: I see it's like you trust in the muse.

[21:04] Eric Anderson: Yes, the muse.

[21:06] Jessica Rush: That's one that's a romantic way to put it.

[21:08] Eric Anderson: The muse.

[21:09] Jessica Rush: I mean, I always say it's like when you drive home, you pull in your driveway, and you think, oh my god, how did I get here?

[21:15] Eric Anderson: I don't remember.

[21:16] Jessica Rush: And it's so scary because you're like, you've got to be safe driving, but you're so used to it that you're already.

[21:24] Eric Anderson: Like without you even realizing it just takes over.

[21:27] Jessica Rush: Ritual can take you to a Zen place, though.

[21:29] Eric Anderson: I mean, that's that's a big part of what it is.

[21:32] Jessica Rush: Huh.

[21:33] Eric Anderson: Like a like a like a spiritual.

[21:35] Jessica Rush: Yeah, I think so.

[21:35] Eric Anderson: Where you don't have to have, you know, you don't have to have your mind necessarily on it because uh the the ritual in it is taking care of it.

[21:43] Jessica Rush: You know, sometimes I'll, you know, like if I've been away for a couple of days and and I'm I'm like, all right, I need to go over my lines in my head before I do this.

[21:51] Eric Anderson: I I second guess myself, and then I have to turn it off and go, you know what, I just need to trust that it's gonna be there because ritual is taking care of it for me.

[21:59] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[22:00] Rory O'Malley: Um let I want to talk about your process a little bit too, because I just had the pleasure of seeing you in PRETTY WOMAN, and you're fantastic.

[22:09] Eric Anderson: Thanks, Rory.

[22:10] Rory O'Malley: Um you uh play the part by that is uh played by Hector Elizondo, who is a very good friend of our buddy Gary Marshall, and was in all of his movies.

[22:20] Eric Anderson: So it was a really special role, and and since we worked at Gary Marshall's theater and we knew him, it was yeah, that's where the trubies were.

[22:29] Rory O'Malley: Um it was just so sweet getting to see you do that role and know how much that would mean to Gary.

[22:34] Eric Anderson: Yeah, to our buddy.

[22:35] Eric Anderson: It's it's pretty uh it's pretty serendipitous how it all worked out, and it's also uh bittersweet because um Gary never knew that I was a part of this.

[22:44] Jessica Rush: Yeah, you know, he uh he passed away right before I joined it.

[22:48] Eric Anderson: Yeah, and uh I d uh I'm I'm grateful to have the the family okay.

[22:54] Jessica Rush: Yes.

[22:55] Eric Anderson: You know, and and to know that they're they're Oh, you've got the Gary approve.

[22:59] Jessica Rush: I mean I I think I I remember when I remember when I was doing Happy Days, and this there's always a part of this at podcast where I go, I remember when I was doing happy days.

[23:08] Eric Anderson: Um but he wanted me to do it at a theater here in in on the East Coast and he was like, I need my one of my people, you know, like I was part of that group from his theater.

[23:21] Jessica Rush: You're that person.

[23:23] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[23:23] Jessica Rush: You are that person in this show.

[23:25] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[23:26] Jessica Rush: You know, even e you know, Andy of course was the Fonz for for for a while, so he knows Andy too, but you know, like you were the guy playing the skunk.

[23:34] Eric Anderson: Right, right.

[23:35] Jessica Rush: No, I'm I I I'd been on the Falcon stage quite a bit.

[23:39] Eric Anderson: You're your family.

[23:40] Jessica Rush: And so getting to sit uh next to Barbara Marshall, his his um wife and and get to watch you perform was just it was stellar.

[23:50] Eric Anderson: It was r it was really great.

[23:52] Jessica Rush: And so you are playing an every man in this.

[23:56] Eric Anderson: I am.

[23:56] Jessica Rush: I'm kind of the fairy godfather.

[23:58] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[23:59] Jessica Rush: So it's it's so it's so great.

[24:01] Eric Anderson: I love sometimes idea.

[24:02] Jessica Rush: It was a good idea to have that kind of thing where the happy man turns into Mr. Thompson and then Jerry, of course, you know, fleshed it out, made it fabulous and said, Where where else put him?

[24:11] Eric Anderson: Put him in the make him the conductor.

[24:13] Jessica Rush: Let's do that.

[24:15] Eric Anderson: I mean, c you come up out of the pit at one point conducting for the opera, right?

[24:20] Jessica Rush: Right.

[24:20] Eric Anderson: And the audience goes crazy, you know, they love it.

[24:23] Jessica Rush: Um but I feel like you need an actor who's able to play.

[24:29] Eric Anderson: And you have always been that kind of an actor, an actor who can play.

[24:33] Jessica Rush: Where does that come from and why is that important to you?

[24:35] Eric Anderson: Uh I mean, I think a big part of that came from the Trubies.

[24:39] Eric Anderson: You know, I think I think that a lot of my training just in being able to collaborate came from from Matt Walker and from the collective's willingness to like play with each other.

[24:50] Jessica Rush: Same.

[24:51] Eric Anderson: And and uh and so you know, coming into PRETTY WOMAN, uh, Jerry had a very similar vibe.

[24:58] Eric Anderson: I mean, he was he was very open to ideas and and uh and you know we we therefore were able to meld a bunch of funny things together and try a lot of different things and and um and I think it's important.

[25:13] Eric Anderson: I think that's also, you know, why it's such a pleasure to be able to originate things is because you really do have a hand in the blueprint of it, and you can see what works and tailor it to your strengths, right?

[25:29] Jessica Rush: Um, I talked about this with Andy a little bit in terms of the ecstasy and agony of pouring all of yourself into a show, and I know how you work; you pour all of yourself into your roles.

[25:46] Eric Anderson: When we did Hamlet, the artist formerly known as Prince of Denmark, and you played Ophelia, you became Ophelia. He was very method, starved himself, and was absolutely brilliant, of course. I've seen what you'll do for a show that's paying you peanuts, and so I know what you put into a role that's on Broadway.

[26:18] Jessica Rush: Um, and then you have shows like Waitress that are still running and that you have to decide to leave, and then you have a show like Last Ship that closes too soon, which I also saw and loved and thought you were fantastic in that as well. So you have both of those experiences. What does it feel like to go through both of them?

[26:40] Eric Anderson: It's um, I mean, you had alluded to the whole family thing. I mean, we as actors have to develop our family so quickly and on the fly that with that you have to invest in the family deeply, which is also what we're putting on the stage. Um, so it's always exhilarating and heavy and challenging and exhausting, but moreover, it's gratifying and pretty mind-blowing to imagine that we are being able to represent and tell these stories and be such integral players. Um, I don't know. Each show has its own set of emotions too. I mean, certain shows were more fun, right? Certain shows were more heartbreaking; certain shows were just more, "I can't believe I'm still alive."

[27:51] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[27:51] Eric Anderson: And, you know, like, grateful for all the opportunities.

[27:55] Jessica Rush: Yes, because they certainly help us become better storytellers, right?

[27:59] Eric Anderson: They absolutely do further away down the road. Well, let's talk about one of those that might have been a little more challenging in Soul Doctor, which you were phenomenal in.

[28:09] Jessica Rush: It was amazing. So, so good. If you missed that, which most people did.

[28:14] Eric Anderson: Yes.

[28:14] Jessica Rush: You missed out.

[28:15] Eric Anderson: Thank you.

[28:16] Jessica Rush: Yes. Well, a lot of I don't just say that 'cause I'm your wife. We invest deeply in whatever we're doing.

[28:22] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[28:23] Jessica Rush: And it was an amazing opportunity that I had, and I was in KINKY BOOTS at the time when it was announced I was gonna be coming to Broadway, and Jerry Mitchell and Daryl Roth gave me the blessing to leave the cast of KINKY BOOTS the week after we won the Tony.

[28:41] Eric Anderson: Wow, to go be Shlomo.

[28:44] Jessica Rush: That's pretty amazing. You know, when you have, sometimes it's family.

[28:48] Eric Anderson: That's family.

[28:49] Jessica Rush: Yeah, and Jerry pulled me aside and said, you know, I want only the best for you here. He said, you know, if we will leave whoever comes and takes over for you in KINKY BOOTS, we'll put on a six-month rider or six-week or something like that.

[29:07] Eric Anderson: Six months.

[29:08] Jessica Rush: Yeah, six months, and just, if you want to come back, the door is always open.

[29:12] Eric Anderson: It's amazing.

[29:13] Jessica Rush: Yeah, very special.

[29:16] Eric Anderson: Yeah, very special. And then, you know, fast forward to 2018 where Jerry called me, well, last year when we were doing the workshop, and he just called and said, "Hey, I've got a role for you. Will you come do this?"

[29:32] Jessica Rush: Yeah, because he hadn't worked with them since KINKY BOOTS.

[29:35] Eric Anderson: Like after KINKY BOOTS and Soul Doctor, and then was Rocky and then like he was just like 30 other Robin shows.

[29:42] Jessica Rush: Yes.

[29:42] Eric Anderson: Yes. So he hadn't worked with Jerry really since. I mean, on some labs or readings and things. I mean, just a testament to what a good guy he is.

[29:51] Jessica Rush: Yeah, yeah. Well, I think that you attract good people to work with because you're a good guy.

[29:59] Eric Anderson: And good people see the value in that.

[30:04] Jessica Rush: You know what I mean? I think that's what Gary always taught me, at least. Gary Marshall always attracted the best people, not just the biggest talent, like good people, because that's what's gonna, you know, harvest that family atmosphere.

[30:17] Eric Anderson: Exactly.

[30:18] Jessica Rush: That family is everything.

[30:20] Eric Anderson: It is. Speaking of family, you guys, your parents.

[30:25] Jessica Rush: We are your Broadway actors and your parents. I remember when I graduated college and started working at the Wood Ranch in the Grove as a host, and I thought, oh no, I'll never be able to afford to have a family. I'll never be able to do all these other things. I was kind of like, yeah, I see a way forward as a performer, but I also really want to raise a child. How the hell am I ever gonna do that? You guys clearly were having success on Broadway, but it's still incredibly scary. When you found out you were going to have a baby, which I know you guys were super excited, but how do you start making the planning for that when you're both doing eight shows a week?

[31:14] Jessica Rush: Yes.

[31:15] Eric Anderson: Um, it's ongoing.

[31:18] Jessica Rush: Yeah, it's still happening, and it's still scary, and there's still parts of it. She's four now.

[31:23] Eric Anderson: She just started pre-K, Elliot is her name.

[31:27] Jessica Rush: And it's actually interesting because we're at a new phase now, the pre-K, which I'll get to. But in the beginning, it's really awesome because what we do for a living, we were blessed. Like Eric, well, here's not so funny story, but it all worked out in the end.

[31:41] Eric Anderson: Oh, it's our clock turn. One o'clock.

[31:43] Jessica Rush: It's one PM. Do you know where your child is?

[31:49] Eric Anderson: Um, so when we, so I got pregnant, we knew we wanted to have, we wanted to try to have a child.

[31:55] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[31:55] Eric Anderson: But we also were of the mindset that if it didn't happen, then we would be okay with that. Just because we do know how hard it would be. And while we had friends who had children and continued to be in this business, then we didn't have that many. And you know, there was a time not that long ago where you just didn't have a kid and try to continue to be an act. Like the father did, inevitably. But if you were a woman in this business, the mindset was you either have children or you're an actor. Like sort of can't have both, particularly in theater.

[32:27] Jessica Rush: And um, and so we knew we wanted to try, but if we didn't, we would have a full life without her, and then it would be okay, and we move on. But then we were pregnant, and that was exciting and terrifying.

[32:41] Eric Anderson: Yeah, and um, when I got back to New York after I did Gypsy at Chicago Shakespeare, I was 16 weeks along, and then I didn't work really until after she was born, and Eric luckily was in Last Ship.

[32:55] Jessica Rush: Well, he was in Rocky when we—

[32:55] Eric Anderson: No, you weren't in Last Ship.

[32:58] Jessica Rush: No, we were in Rocky when we knew that you were pregnant.

[33:01] Eric Anderson: When I was pregnant, and he was doing Rocky, okay, and then Rocky got their notice. I'll never forget. We gone to Cape May for a getaway towards, and I had like four weeks left in my pregnancy. I remember that. This was in July. And we thought for sure, like, oh, it's Rocky.

[33:15] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[33:16] Jessica Rush: Please at least get us to the holidays, maybe January.

[33:19] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[33:19] Jessica Rush: That day when everyone closes. Right.

[33:21] Eric Anderson: Uh, and we were sitting down for lunch, and he's like, "Oh, okay, call it scum manager." And I was like, that's my—it was a Tuesday. That's not good.

[33:29] Eric Anderson: That's not good.

[33:30] Jessica Rush: And um, and he called her back, he's like, "Hey," and I knew right away, and they got their notice. And they were closing mid-August, and Elliot was due September 3rd, and I was at it. You know, this was the moment. I was like, oh my god, we're both unemployed. We're not gonna have health. Like, what are we doing? We have no money, how are we gonna pay our bills? Unemployment, blah blah blah. And um, and so Rocky closed, and then we had a week and a half where we were just sort of nesting and getting ready, and luckily in the time between Rocky getting the notice and Elliot being born, Last Ship called.

[34:10] Eric Anderson: And I had done a reading of Last Ship, but then when it went out of town, I was doing Rocky, so I couldn't go out of town.

[34:16] Jessica Rush: Right.

[34:16] Eric Anderson: And it just so happened they had a slot, the spot opened up.

[34:20] Jessica Rush: It was a different slot than the one.

[34:22] Eric Anderson: Yeah, thank you, Blessings. Um, it was a different one than he'd done in the reading. But I was ready to do anything. I was just so grateful. It changes everything when you have a child; you'll be like, you know, you may have said to yourself, I remember being in JERSEY BOYS and being like, I'm not—I don't want to cover anymore. I don't want to focus on it. I don't want to be a swing, and you know what? The minute you have a person to care for, grateful, grateful for any work that we have been given.

[34:46] Jessica Rush: Yeah, and so we had a week and a half, and then she was born, and then a week and a half later he started rehearsals for Last Ship. So then it was just like three weeks where—I mean, it was also ended up being great because we had time together right before she came in right at the beginning, which was magical. Like that first week was awesome.

[35:02] Eric Anderson: And um, so then I wasn't working, and he was in rehearsals, and you know, that was helpful. But as an actor, we don't have to go right back to work. That is something that's a luxury.

[35:11] Jessica Rush: But if you're in a normal job, some women go back to work the week after they have a baby. I mean, some don't have a choice, and so we were extremely lucky that I could just take my time and audition, and I did a reading, and I would, you know. I mean, I remember my agents called me when she was a week old, and they said, "Are you ready to sing again?" And I was like, uh, yeah, sure.

[35:35] Eric Anderson: And it was for Sideshow.

[35:37] Jessica Rush: And Sideshow was a dream of mine. I mean, as a belter, it's just like I love it. And I remember that moment where my initial thought was, yes, yes. And then I thought, and they said, "Well, rehearsals would start this date," and I thought, oh my gosh, she'll only be three and a half weeks old. Like, yeah, I can't do that. And it was the first moment where it really brings home just how much your life changes and how much your priorities change as an actor and as a person.

[36:07] Eric Anderson: Sorry.

[36:08] Jessica Rush: And it's just um, and I said, I can't do that, like, I'll never have this time with her again. So I passed, and then luckily I had, you know, the months until JERSEY BOYS called. They called actually when she was three months old and said, "Can you come back in two months?" And so it was great. So I knew, and then we passed the baton. He Last Ship closed, I went back to JERSEY BOYS, and then he got to stay home with her for five months until Waitress called.

[36:30] Eric Anderson: And then he went to ART when she was 10 months old; he left town for 14 weeks, still paying for it, maybe for 14 weeks, and I was at JERSEY BOYS, and luckily, like we have very supportive family, so people would come in, they would stay with us. I had friends that would come stay just to be able to watch her at night when I would go to the theater, and we would pass her off and take her into town and schlep her to auditions or whatever I needed to do.

[36:55] Jessica Rush: But we made all that work. But being a parent in this business is really difficult. It's awesome when they're little because the bulk of your daytime is free.

[37:03] Eric Anderson: Yeah, you know, like we're lucky that since we are in shows that are running and we have a set schedule, with the exception of mounting something and you have rehearsals and tech and everything, you know, we've been home with her every day until we have to go to the theater.

[37:18] Jessica Rush: And so that brings me to now, which is—

[37:18] Eric Anderson: Yeah, you're both in shows.

[37:22] Jessica Rush: We're both in shows and she's in school now, Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 30.

[37:28] Eric Anderson: Oh god.

[37:28] Jessica Rush: It's like when my husband's not in the business, he was always at work, and I was at the show as two ships in the night.

[37:33] Jessica Rush: Right, exactly. So now that's what's happening with her, you know, and ultimately, as we know, careers ebb and flow and work comes and goes, and so there will be time that we're not working, and I'm sure, and then we'll have more time. But it has been really, you know, we were spoiled for the first four years. But for the most part, we could do whatever, you know, if it was Monday or Tuesday, let's go on a road trip, or let's take her. Oh, she needs to go to the doctor on Thursday afternoon. Like, you know, none of this, and so now this damn school thing is ruining everything because she's out on the weekends and we have shows, yeah. So it's um it's an adjustment. It just started, but it's gonna be a just, and this is what our life is gonna be now in the next 12 years.

[38:16] Eric Anderson: Yeah, and also that also means getting up and out of the house by eight o'clock in the morning.

[38:21] Jessica Rush: I was just gonna say, like, really, this is the nightmare is how do you guys get up with a child when you're doing the eight-show week schedule?

[38:29] Eric Anderson: Yeah, well, we have a we just are getting into the groove, but we've decided we have a deal that Eric is a deal Mondays and Tuesdays. Because Sunday and Monday nights you can go to bed at a decent hour. Eric tends to be a night owl; he has a hard time shutting down after a show.

[38:43] Jessica Rush: I know that about him.

[38:44] Eric Anderson: So yeah. Uh-huh. So Sundays and Mondays though, there are no shows. So he can go to bed. And if he doesn't, that's his fault. But he can go to bed and get up with her and take her, and we'll say, I'll get up and say good morning or whatever, and then he can take her to school.

[39:00] Jessica Rush: Yeah. But Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I'm taking her because my show, particularly the show, it's an hour and fifty minutes, no intermission.

[39:11] Eric Anderson: Oh wow.

[39:12] Jessica Rush: So I'm home by 9:30. So great. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

[39:15] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[39:16] Jessica Rush: So I can go to bed at a decent hour. It means I won't probably see my husband, but I can see him during the day now, so, you know. Um, but I can go to bed and then I'll get up and take her. So it is helpful right now that I in theory I can be in bed by eleven, and that's great. If I was still in Gypsy, it was a three-hour show. You know what I mean? Like we got out at ten fifty-eight, so that would have been a whole other thing.

[39:36] Eric Anderson: I remember when I was doing Spelling Bee, we would go to movies in between shows.

[39:40] Jessica Rush: I was like, remember that? Then you're in Hamilton and you're like, I haven't left the theater in days.

[39:46] Eric Anderson: It's easier to sleep in my dressing room.

[39:48] Jessica Rush: Exactly. So I mean that right now we've got that's helpful as we adjust to this new normal. But um the struggle is real. You know, what's really been and this is I do you sorry, is there something you want to say before I...

[40:02] Eric Anderson: No.

[40:03] Jessica Rush: I think we know who has the say, who's making the schedule.

[40:05] Eric Anderson: And you better wake up.

[40:07] Jessica Rush: You know if I disagree with everything.

[40:08] Eric Anderson: Oh yeah.

[40:09] Jessica Rush: Who's making the schedule?

[40:10] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah.

[40:11] Jessica Rush: I think we see. Who's the boss?

[40:13] Eric Anderson: Yeah, yeah. I think I think it's all becoming clear.

[40:16] Jessica Rush: Oh, but you you have a group.

[40:19] Eric Anderson: Well, that's what I was about to say.

[40:20] Jessica Rush: Yeah, it's that's partly why. Um, um so when Kara Cooper and I, shout out to Kara, we rent JERSEY BOYS together, and you know her husband Graham.

[40:27] Eric Anderson: Yes.

[40:28] Jessica Rush: We read a Book of Mormon together, Graham Owen. Um, we were at JERSEY BOYS, and Kara's daughter Elon was one and a half, and Elliot was like six or seven months old. And we would sit there and we would commiserate about the struggles and you know, scheduling out auditions and what do you do with the baby? And is someone gonna hold your baby at your audition? Because it's a commercial audition, it's gonna take 10 seconds, so we don't want to pay a sitter, you know, two hours to get vote everything. So we would talk about this, and I would say, I really wish there was a place we could get advice, talk to other moms, or whatever. I was like, we can't be the only people in this business now because I know a lot of women who are continuing to be actors with children.

I was like, there's gotta be more of us who are struggling. And so we started a private Facebook group called the Broadway Baby Mamas, and initially it only had a handful of people, and it's for women who are actively pursuing a career in the theater, be they actors, dancers, singers, stage managers, composers, dressers, crew people.

[41:26] Eric Anderson: I mean, we have all everyone, yeah.

[41:29] Jessica Rush: Uh orchestra, anybody. If they have to be actively pursuing a career in the theater and live in the tri-state area because our goal was to keep it small-ish so that we would, you know, in theory, you know each other because you see each other around town or around campus, you know, like we have town campus, you know, we see each other. So in theory, you know each other and you would see each other in auditions or whatever, but also it's a very specific struggle that we have here, juggling all of it.

[41:55] Eric Anderson: Yeah, and so we wanted it to be very localized and very focused.

[41:59] Jessica Rush: And now we're up over 300 members.

[42:02] Eric Anderson: Wow.

[42:02] Jessica Rush: And we've got like you know, we've got girls who are pregnant who are about to, you know, so still don't have the babies, or all the way up to people whose children are now teenagers. Initially, we were gonna have it for people who had kids under five, like true baby mamas, and then I was like, you know what? The struggles don't stop.

[42:18] Eric Anderson: They don't stop, they just get more difficult as you add on extracurricular activities and life and just all of it.

[42:25] Jessica Rush: So we started this group, and um, we've got all the mamas in it, you know, like everyone dressers, composers, ensemble players, and I think that's something Kristen Beth Williams, who uh has a one-year-old now.

[42:40] Eric Anderson: Oh, she does.

[42:41] Jessica Rush: Yeah, Jake is his name. Um, she is now on the parenting committee at Equity.

[42:47] Eric Anderson: She's a counselor now in the parenting committee.

[42:49] Jessica Rush: And she was saying something at a forum we had the other day about how it was helpful to her to see Kelly O'Hara said something at a baby show or at a wedding shower, um, some advice that was like, if you want to have a family, you can, you know, and it and for the longest time, the people who we sort of saw having these families and careers were Kelly O'Hara, sure, Audra McDonald. People who are very well established, right? And and you think, oh, of course they can do it because they can have nannies or they can have or whatever, they can ask for what they want in contracts, and they're in our group, you know.

[43:19] Eric Anderson: I mean, but they also have we also have ensemble players, and that's something Kristen said.

[43:24] Jessica Rush: She said, I saw friends like Jessica, who is and on Eric's gonna there was a fly that came for Jessica, and Eric pounced, like he was ready to protect her. I loved that.

[43:38] Eric Anderson: It's crazy.

[43:40] Jessica Rush: No, but we um she said it was helpful to see late women like myself and like Kara, who are not the leads of the show, you know. You know, we're ensemble players, and we have kids, and we're making it happen, and we don't have to quit the business. And I think that's really important to see, and everyone has a different journey. But I I think it has been helpful, and I know it's been helpful to me to just have a place that I can go to and say, Oh my gosh, you I mean, we have everything from what nipple cream do you use after you know for awful breastfeeding nipples, and what do you you know, or my kid won't go to sleep? What have you tried? Have you done the tried out method? Or I got an offer for a tour.

How can I do this with my kid? Like, can I make this happen? And the response is, or just oh my god, I'm overwhelmed. This is so hard. You know, the response is unreal. People come, they're there, there's like 85 comments. The ladies are given the advice, they're given the support. Even if it's nothing else than just I see you and I know the struggle is happening, and we've got your back, and you are a great mom, and you're gonna get through this moment because there wasn't a safe place for us to talk about it. And if you don't have a lot of people around you that have kids and are taking the same journey, it can be really isolating.

[44:57] Eric Anderson: Yeah, because if you're not if you're not in a steady show, then what are you doing? You're auditioning and you're waiting for that next call for the audition, and otherwise you're at your home with this new baby and struggling to figure out like who am I now? How does this change things? How am I ever gonna make this happen? And I think it's important to say, like you said when you were a young actor, it's like you thought, Oh, I'll never be able to have a family. And I think it's so important to say to everyone, men and women alike, that you can you can have a family. It's hard. There is a struggle, and it costs a lot of money.

[45:30] Jessica Rush: It does, you know. I mean, for sure. If you if you are paying for child care, we're very lucky that my parents currently live with us, but there was a point where they did it, and we were paying child care, and essentially, a whole paycheck goes to child care.

[45:42] Eric Anderson: Yeah, your whole paycheck, and that is awful, you know.

[45:47] Jessica Rush: Um, but the trade-off, you have to decide is it worth it for me to continue to feed my soul as an artist and as a human being, and show my child I'm pursuing my dreams, you know, and I think um I think it's important, it's worth I mean it's worth it.

[46:04] Eric Anderson: Oh my god.

[46:05] Jessica Rush: It also informs, I think. When you go to an audition room now, the stakes are like whatever. If you don't like me, I got this awesome kid at home who thinks I am the bee's niece, so yeah, you're lost, you know what I mean. I mean, there is a while there is an element of pressure because you want to work and you want to have income to support your family. There's also the other side that's like I have so many more important things to do right now, like, and it is all you can do to get to that audition. When you see another mom there, you're like, I see you. I know that you were up at 6 a.m. with your kid, trying to get ready before the babysitter came, looking at your sides, you have no time to yourself.

Like, I truly I have not been as prepared as I'd like to be for an audition since she was born. That's just what it is. Because it's hard, it's hard to prepare because they need your attention and to find the time because also adding a kid adds all these other things in your household that you don't even think of, that you're like juggling all of it, yeah.

[47:00] Eric Anderson: So it's um, but it is doable, and you know, I think it's important to know that.

[47:00] Jessica Rush: I think it's important to, and I feel the community is becoming more accepting.

[47:10] Eric Anderson: Yeah, there's still a very long way to go.

[47:13] Jessica Rush: It would be helpful if we found out our schedules for rehearsals, you know, not at 9:30 at night.

[47:19] Eric Anderson: Right.

[47:19] Jessica Rush: You know, and then you know, they tell us, you know, well, 10 to 6, you can be called. Well, that's great, but the difference in me being called 10 to 6 is like $150 dollars, yeah. Versus, so at 9:30 at night, I get a schedule and I'm only called from one to three or whatever. You know, I'll call after lunch from three to six. It's like you couldn't have. It's not about not going, it's about being able to plan.

[47:40] Eric Anderson: Plan.

[47:41] Jessica Rush: I mean, the planning is like, and it doesn't have to be that hard. You know what I mean? And and um, that's something that I think with my group, Kara and I are um, the group is getting larger. We had a concert at 54 Below last year to support our fellow um our baby mama Ruth Ian Miles with her awful tragedy that she experienced. And um, and we're gonna have another concert coming up in March. But I think that we are uh Kara and I both have talked about taking on a more activist role and really speaking up and saying we are here, we are contributing, and you only it's only better for you if you support a parent artist.

[48:19] Eric Anderson: Yeah, we only bring more more to the conversation, you know, and more life experience and um going to our union to say, how can you support us? Because we are your union members who are trying to make a living, and we could use a little help with just an acknowledgement of whether it's donating a room for child care when you have auditions, or you know, just helping us with negotiations to go out of town. We want to go work out of town, and it's not it shouldn't be too much to ask that, or if a mom is pumping, you know, it shouldn't be too much to ask that you have to take some time to go pump for your child to feed your child, and so you might come back from your 10-minute break a little late.

[49:01] Jessica Rush: When can I vote for you?

[49:05] Eric Anderson: Right?

[49:06] Jessica Rush: It's true. You're a very lucky man, uh Eric Anderson.

[49:11] Eric Anderson: You don't need to tell me that.

[49:12] Jessica Rush: Um Thank you. This is something I'm smart to. This is it's incredible. And and and the thing is that a lot of times in these situations, we think that there's somebody else who's going to do the work to make those things happen.

[49:29] Eric Anderson: And there isn't.

[49:31] Jessica Rush: It really is up to the people who feel the need to make this happen. And that's you. And I want you to know just on a personal note, I support what you're doing, what you and Kara are doing, and I will do whatever I can to make that a reality. Because the stronger the foundation of actors is and their families at home, the stronger Broadway is.

[49:56] Eric Anderson: The stronger we all are as a community.

[49:59] Jessica Rush: And I I think that it's it uh if this is a an issue not just for women or for moms, it's an issue for all of us, and we should all be very concerned about.

[50:09] Eric Anderson: I mean, for gay couples, for men who adopt babies and become fathers and have their family that way. It's like it's for any parent, any parent in our business. It is important. And but even for those who aren't parents, because this is really about taking care of each other, you know, and the needs of what of what my co-workers, it's it's so important. And and you know, Broadway is an amazing thing, Miss, you know, it's like what we were saying, is that everyone we all feel like we're part of a family. It's a community, maybe. So you need to support all the parts of that community, yes family. Yeah, and that's what's lacking in a lot of ways right now, and there and to be honest, like I I mean I am finding my voice more so right now with regards to that, and it's awesome, but at the same time, there's a part of me that's still hesitant, and I worry about speaking out because of any kind of maybe blowback that happens from producers or people who don't want to hear you, you know.

I mean, because I do have people say to me, Well, I ch I didn't choose to have a kid, so why should I why should I, you know, deal with humanity? I know you didn't you didn't choose that babies happen, but they do right, and that's how we keep going now as a society.

[51:24] Jessica Rush: Yeah, theater goers, and that's what I think is important too. It's like in introducing children to art and to theater and to music and to dance, yeah, is only better for humanity as a whole and for our community because people there is a generation that are ticket buyers who are dying off. Yes, and they talk about wanting to bring in this younger generation. Well, what better way to bring in a younger generation than to have it accessible to them, right? For them to be in the community of it. I grew up going to doing community theater with my parents, and some of my best memories are laying on a pallet in the back of the theater in the dark, hearing them rehearse. You know, I was small, I wasn't doing anything, but that was where I grew up.

[52:03] Eric Anderson: Yeah, and I have all these aunts and uncles and people who cared about me and supported me, and I think that had a lot to do with the journey I took on in life, not just what I do for a living, but who I am as a person, right? And our kids get in that same experience, right?

[52:17] Jessica Rush: Yeah, that's what's really special. We bring her to the theater, and um, she's got a lot of adoptive uh uncles and aunts who just embrace her upon impact, yeah. And um, yeah, it's no, I mean you she's the star of my Instagram account, and you see her too, you know, just just with the the amount of joy and experience that she's getting. I think that you know, I've I've said this to um a lot of parents on on this podcast, that I know it's hard to to go to work and to not have that time with your child, especially, you know, like my mom was a single mom and she had to go to her job as an accountant so that we could eat. And you know, I didn't like that I I wanted more time with my mom for sure, but I literally know that all the drive and ambition and and work ethic that's inside of me comes from the fact that I saw the person that I love strive every day to support me and to feed me.

[53:18] Eric Anderson: And that has made me who I am. And so I I it's a gift that you're giving, and it is a sacrifice not being able to have that time, but especially getting to do something that you guys are so passionate about and share that love of life and art with your child. It's phenomenal. I don't want to get too emotional right now, but I'm I might I'm gonna go push a little further. I think that you both have inherited your love of theater from your family.

[53:47] Jessica Rush: Your your parents did they both run uh a the your dad is a teacher, right?

[53:53] Eric Anderson: I was a high school theater teacher for 39 years. They met in the theater department in college.

[53:57] Jessica Rush: I see. Um and then my mom became a special ed teacher. But um growing up we did community theater together, and my brother runs a he started a theater school in Wellesley, Massachusetts called the Wellesley Theater Project.

[54:08] Eric Anderson: And he runs that now. He works there.

[54:09] Jessica Rush: But it's a family affair.

[54:12] Eric Anderson: I mean, it is for Yeah, my folks were both entertainers. They were in a band together uh before I was born, and uh my dad uh acted and I got to do plays with him and uh tag along with him to his shows, and um and so yeah, uh there was nothing else that I was going to even attempt to do but be a performer.

[54:36] Jessica Rush: Yeah, well, I think that you you both are such a wonderful example of what it means to incorporate being a theater artist into your family life, and the way that you share that with everyone is so extraordinary. Um I I I think that it's also tricky with like social media and stuff and letting people in and out.

[55:02] Eric Anderson: Um I I was talking to Andy yesterday and Orfe came in um to just to check on him, so all of a sudden she was in the interview too, which was which was great.

[55:11] Jessica Rush: Bonus.

[55:12] Eric Anderson: It was bonus, but one of the one of the things that we we talked about was how do you keep the boundaries around your relationship when you are in the public eye in a small community, which you know Broadway fandom is.

[55:27] Jessica Rush: So everyone's very accessible and we we love those fans, but you also want to put boundaries around your personal life. How do you do that?

[55:39] Eric Anderson: We have boundaries.

[55:43] Jessica Rush: Um I mean, to some degree, I think, well, one thing Eric and I, from the very beginning, with regardless of Elliot, even just on social media in general, Eric was like only positivity.

[55:54] Eric Anderson: Like we only we consciously, and occasionally I can get political online and I can post something, but now's the time, you know these days.

[56:03] Jessica Rush: But we tend to try to only post positive things.

[56:07] Eric Anderson: Yeah.

[56:08] Jessica Rush: That will only bring joy to people's days or light. Um, because why do you want to add any negativity to the world?

[56:15] Eric Anderson: First off.

[56:15] Jessica Rush: And and and I mean, and there's enough of it out there right now. We we acknowledge what's what's happening in the world right now.

[56:23] Eric Anderson: We also acknowledge what what other people are posting.

[56:27] Jessica Rush: Um I don't I'm I'm not as I mean I do Instagram pretty religiously, but other than that, I'm not as uh present on Facebook.

[56:36] Eric Anderson: Present on on the social medias I I just I don't have the patience for it.

[56:41] Jessica Rush: Yeah, um but it's overwhelming.

[56:42] Eric Anderson: Yeah, it is overwhelming, and and you I get lost in it.

[56:45] Jessica Rush: I I don't know who's messaging me on on which social media and who can see that I just read something, and so that freaks me out.

[56:54] Eric Anderson: I remember when I found out that Instagram had direct messages and I was like, you sons of bitches.

[57:00] Jessica Rush: Really?

[57:00] Eric Anderson: How dare you turn this into another email inbox?

[57:03] Jessica Rush: I know, right?

[57:04] Eric Anderson: I'm I'm I'm I'm scared to open up my phone sometimes, so I I usually don't unless I have something, a picture to post, which is you know, it's basically my my own little um uh cyber scrapbook, you know.

[57:16] Jessica Rush: Uh and and uh I think that for us it's not something we consciously thought about with Elliot until recently, you know what I mean?

[57:22] Eric Anderson: And also we're not now my parents live here, but we have so many friends and family that live all over the country and all over the world that for us it was like well we want them to be able to see our child and to see you know our life and share that with them, and um and it wasn't until recently Elliot there was a video I posted of Elliot um singing Let It Go in her bedroom that we had caught on our like Nest camp.

[57:43] Jessica Rush: Yes, I did see that one, and it went viral.

[57:46] Eric Anderson: Like People magazine posted it on their Instagram. They reached out to me.

[57:49] Jessica Rush: I mean, they reached out and asked, and we said, sure, not really thinking much of it.

[57:54] Eric Anderson: We're like, oh yeah, they'll put it on their Instagram, and then I remember seeing like 200,000 views, 400,000 views, 800,000.

[58:00] Jessica Rush: And I was like, Wow.

[58:02] Eric Anderson: You know, just that moment of like, oh my god, all these people. And then I was obsessively looking to see like, can they tell where we live? Can they tell who she like I was like, oh my god.

[58:09] Jessica Rush: And then that moment we sort of had a conversation of just sort of like being conscious.

[58:13] Eric Anderson: Being conscious of what you're putting out there.

[58:15] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[58:15] Eric Anderson: And also if the day comes when she's like, don't post about me, Mom, then we won't.

[58:19] Jessica Rush: You know what I mean? Like, we'll respect that.

[58:21] Eric Anderson: And because some people do say, like, how you don't you know, she doesn't have an opinion right now. But anything that we do post of her, you know, is in the best light.

[58:28] Jessica Rush: We're we're never gonna post anything that would be embarrassing to her in the future.

[58:33] Eric Anderson: Yeah, no, we don't, yeah, we know.

[58:34] Jessica Rush: No, she's a superstar.

[58:35] Eric Anderson: You know, I mean, like, I'm like, she's my favorite.

[58:38] Jessica Rush: It has become really interesting to say, you know, I was stopped in Schubert Alley the other day as I was like running to the train after the show.

[58:44] Eric Anderson: I hear, um, Jessica, and I turn around, and it's that moment, I was like, I don't know.

[58:48] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[58:49] Eric Anderson: And she's like, hi, she's like, I you don't know me, but I follow you on Eric on Instagram, and just Elliot's so cute, blah, blah, blah.

[58:54] Jessica Rush: And and I was like, oh hi, you know, what's your name?

[58:56] Eric Anderson: And she introduced herself, and she was so sweet, and she was a teenager, and I'm so thankful that there is this platform.

[59:02] Jessica Rush: Like, I rem I mean, I think of social media in there when I was in high school.

[59:06] Eric Anderson: I know, can you imagine?

[59:07] Jessica Rush: I mean, I remember following George Hearn out of the state store.

[59:10] Eric Anderson: That is so specific and amazing.

[59:13] Jessica Rush: I know, I know. We had seen I went to see uh the diary van Frank on a school trip, and he left and nobody said anything.

[59:19] Eric Anderson: He just walked down the street.

[59:21] Jessica Rush: Yeah, and I was like, that is George Hearn.

[59:22] Eric Anderson: That is George Hearn, and I respect people.

[59:25] Jessica Rush: Excuse me, Mr. Hearn, you know, I just wanted to say I I so you know, I've listened to Lakage and blah blah blah, like all the things, sweet talk, blah blah blah.

[59:32] Eric Anderson: All of it, oh my god.

[59:34] Jessica Rush: And um, is it happening?

[59:36] Eric Anderson: Is it happening?

[59:36] Jessica Rush: Is it happening?

[59:37] Eric Anderson: Is it happening?

[59:38] Jessica Rush: Are you gonna get it?

[59:38] Eric Anderson: Ah he did.

[59:40] Jessica Rush: No.

[59:41] Eric Anderson: Did you get it?

[59:41] Jessica Rush: He did.

[59:42] Eric Anderson: You have a fly in your hand right now.

[59:44] Jessica Rush: He does.

[59:46] Eric Anderson: I cannot believe that.

[59:47] Jessica Rush: That's what I'm saying.

[59:48] Eric Anderson: He's a very cool.

[59:49] Jessica Rush: He is.

[59:50] Eric Anderson: That fly just sat there and waited for him to come get it.

[59:52] Jessica Rush: He's a cat.

[59:53] Eric Anderson: That's what he is.

[59:54] Jessica Rush: I used to call him that.

[59:54] Eric Anderson: I was like, you're just a cool cat.

[59:56] Jessica Rush: You are too cool for school.

[59:57] Eric Anderson: We first met.

[59:58] Jessica Rush: You just caught a fly in your hand.

[1:00:00] Eric Anderson: Anyway, I think about it.

[1:00:02] Jessica Rush: George Hearn.

[1:00:03] Eric Anderson: Yeah, no, but and I have like a photo with him on a real like from a real camera printed out at Walgreens.

[1:00:08] Jessica Rush: You know what I mean?

[1:00:09] Eric Anderson: Like, and it's that thing of if they had been around when I was a kid, I would my my head would have exploded.

[1:00:14] Jessica Rush: It's just crazy to think how accessible we are now.

[1:00:17] Eric Anderson: And that's amazing.

[1:00:18] Jessica Rush: That's amazing in so many ways.

[1:00:20] Eric Anderson: But is it a little crazy sometimes when people stop and like, oh, I saw Elliot Dubba, and you're like, right?

[1:00:26] Jessica Rush: Or Eric at the stage door.

[1:00:28] Eric Anderson: People will say, Oh, I saw you know Jessica doing this, or Elliot started school, and that looks like so much but we're gonna be able to do it.

[1:00:34] Jessica Rush: Yeah, but I mean that's stuff that we share and that we're cool sharing, and and and we appreciate the support.

[1:00:39] Eric Anderson: We do.

[1:00:39] Jessica Rush: It's just it's still a little creamy.

[1:00:41] Eric Anderson: It's crazy.

[1:00:42] Jessica Rush: It's all good, but it's just that moment where you're like pretty strange to anybody in the world.

[1:00:46] Eric Anderson: I mean, it's just a it's a funny day and age that we're living in.

[1:00:49] Jessica Rush: Yes.

[1:00:49] Eric Anderson: Yeah, but yeah, we're very conscious of what we're putting out there, and and uh like Jessica said, it's all in a positive light, so that you know our life can be an open book, uh, and positively so.

[1:01:02] Jessica Rush: Yeah.

[1:01:03] Rory O'Malley: Well, I think you guys are extremely positive.

[1:01:05] Eric Anderson: Press the positive, press the positive.

[1:01:06] Jessica Rush: Yeah, today's the day to do it.

[1:01:07] Rory O'Malley: That's right.

[1:01:09] Eric Anderson: Oh, you didn't get it.

[1:01:10] Jessica Rush: Um another man.

[1:01:12] Eric Anderson: It's all good.

[1:01:12] Jessica Rush: Another little buddy coffee.

[1:01:14] Rory O'Malley: Um, well, uh that's pretty much it.

[1:01:17] Eric Anderson: I mean, we could just keep talking for a while.

[1:01:19] Rory O'Malley: Oh, I know.

[1:01:19] Eric Anderson: I got things to say now.

[1:01:20] Rory O'Malley: I'm all in the city.

[1:01:23] Eric Anderson: Uh, we'll turn off the mic and I'll get some real dirt.

[1:01:26] Rory O'Malley: That works.

[1:01:26] Eric Anderson: Um, I'm just full of dirt.

[1:01:28] Rory O'Malley: I I have to say, like that, that kid who was so scared about having a family when I when I started in this business, like how am I gonna do it? Getting to see you guys do it and do it so well has been absolutely inspiring to me.

[1:01:44] Rory O'Malley: And so the reason I started this podcast is not hey, how do you book a job? It's how do you live while you're pursuing your dream. And you guys are doing such a great job at that.

[1:01:56] Eric Anderson: And I'm just very proud of you both.

[1:01:58] Rory O'Malley: I think so highly of you both. I wish I was in your life on a daily basis.

[1:02:02] Jessica Rush: Oh, we wish that too, Lori.

[1:02:03] Rory O'Malley: And um, you know, I I am so grateful for all that you've shared because there's a lot of people who listen to this who have you know want to be doing it all, and you guys are doing it all and doing it so well.

[1:02:14] Eric Anderson: Um, so thank you.

[1:02:15] Jessica Rush: Thank you.

[1:02:16] Eric Anderson: Thank you.

[1:02:18] Rory O'Malley: Audition side job swimming upstream.

[1:02:21] Eric Anderson: Believe it or not, you'll live in the dream.