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[0:02] Drew Gasparini: Hey theater nerds, it's me, the mystery flavor Jolly Rancher, Drew Gasparini here with another episode of Now We're Talking, the podcast that's been giving Wendy Williams a run for her money.

[0:13] Drew Gasparini: Today's guest is one of the most prolific writers of our generation. He's an award-winning musical theater writer, a friend of mine, and I've been a fan of his since I first started as a writer myself. And I remained endlessly bewildered by his creativity. You know him for his highly acclaimed musicals such as Jasper in Deadland and WE FOXES, not to mention his kick-ass song cycle, 35mm, which showcases the eye-popping work of his husband, photographer phenom Matthew Murphy. He's currently writing the score for the musical adaptation of Hugo. So everybody shut the heck up and sit down, because now we're talking with Mr. Ryan Scott Oliver.

[0:44] Drew Gasparini: Right in front of me, I have a very handsome, a very talented and gruffer than usual looking Ryan Scott Oliver. I really do appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today. And I really, really, and I can't stress this enough. I really appreciate what your facial hair has decided to do.

[1:08] Ryan Scott Oliver: You know what? I do I do it for you. It's kind of a vague Santa Claus moment.

[1:12] Drew Gasparini: You're young, sexy Santa. Uh Ryan, am I mistaken that you're in the Peloton world right now?

[1:23] Ryan Scott Oliver: I am and you're not mistaken, and I am in it and I love it.

[1:27] Ryan Scott Oliver: Okay, I beast daily. I'm going for 350 calories a day. I'm trying to obliterate them. Can we talk about who our favorite trainers are? Who do you like so much?

[1:38] Ryan Scott Oliver: Of course, of course. I have, you know, uh, my husband, for those of you who don't know who Murphy, Matthew Murphy, very talented photographer, yes. He um is a he got into Peloton for like months before me. And so he had his favorites. And I just gravitated towards this trainer named Sam Yo. I gather from things he's I feel like he's one of the trainers that doesn't talk very much about his personal life. So the only thing I kind of know is that maybe he was a dance, like a ballet dancer at some point.

[2:10] Drew Gasparini: Okay.

[2:11] Ryan Scott Oliver: He when Matt has overheard me in his class, Matt's like, oh, he's not like as fun as the other trainers, but I'm like, I don't, I don't need my trainer to be fun. I need my trainer to be like direct and like give me the minimum amount of information.

[2:27] Drew Gasparini: Okay, see, you and I are polar opposites in this situation because I flock toward, I bet Matt does too. Does he love Cody?

[2:34] Ryan Scott Oliver: I love it. And then I've tried all the other people. Let me talk to you about one girl in particular who I have a real issue with.

[2:40] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, I might have the same issue with this person. Go ahead.

[2:43] Ryan Scott Oliver: Okay. Is it Emma Lovewell? Because I have deep issues with I hope she's listening. I don't know how she'd ever get a hold of this podcast. But first of all, that can't possibly be your real last name. Lovewell is your Peloton name. That's fine, that's great. But here's why it bothers me. Every time I take one of her classes, she goes, here it comes. That beat is about to drop, everybody. So four, three, and then the beat drops way before she's done counting. She goes, do what? Everybody there, we're there. Two one. Here we go. Everybody, we're there. I'm like, you have no rhythm or musicality or anything behind you're trying to get us all into a rhythm and you're blowing it every single time.

[3:23] Drew Gasparini: Yes, I feel like there was one trainer, and it might be her, who it was like, you know, film. I was just getting into Peloton, and it was like, you know, at the movies, you know, climbed to the movies. And I thought we were literally gonna watch like scenes from films while we biked, but it was only like the pop song. I should have known this because I'm stupid. I didn't know.

[3:41] Ryan Scott Oliver: But I also just oh, and then Matt just did a wicked ride, I think, with somebody, and then she talked she told the entire story of Wicked through the biking class. And that's kind of genius.

[3:55] Drew Gasparini: It maybe, but for me, like that sounds like my worst nightmare. That sounds like truly my worst nightmare. These are the 30 minutes or 45 minutes I'm here to get away from like just imagine. Just imagine somebody being like, okay, today's class is Assassins by Steven Sondheim. So here's what happens in this first scene.

[4:14] Ryan Scott Oliver: I love that idea. That's so hysterical to me. Are you only doing biking or are you doing the other stuff too?

[4:21] Drew Gasparini: I can't bring myself to do the like it's all like three pound, five-pound weights, and I just don't feel like I'm doing anything with my arms at that point. So I'm strictly cycling.

[4:31] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah. I beast. I can only qualify it as beasting because I'm grunting and I'm sweating. And I really, I don't, and thank God I'm by myself. This is why I don't do like flywheel or soul cycle or spin whiz, or I just made up spin whiz. But I get stressed out with the idea of people hearing my sounds and seeing my horrifying face. And it's it's not good. And I, you know, you see your reflection sometimes in the screen in front of you. I think I know what I look like while I'm having sex now.

[4:59] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[5:00] Ryan Scott Oliver: I feel really horrible for anybody who's had that experience with me. Because if that's what you're looking at, oh I totally get it. And Matt, Matt, I would also say Matt is a noisemaker in the world of Peloton, and his office is right next to mine. And he literally, I'll be in a class, and you're just hear, uh, uh and I'm like, and I'm like, I don't know if I think that he likes me as a good song for you. I'm like telling some, you know, a 19-year-old girl, and it's just like uh through the wall.

[5:33] Drew Gasparini: People think you're teaching out of a brothel.

[5:35] Ryan Scott Oliver: Like literally. Honestly, if this COVID thing continues, I may have to open one. So hey, some way to get money, that'd be nice. Uh because let me tell you, podcasts don't pay. Um, you're coming at me from your house right now, yes?

[5:49] Ryan Scott Oliver: The house, yes.

[5:51] Drew Gasparini: You just moved to Beacon, right? Is that what you are?

[5:54] Ryan Scott Oliver: We did move to Beacon. We're loving it.

[5:56] Drew Gasparini: You love it. It's gorgeous up there.

[5:58] Ryan Scott Oliver: It is, and I am commuting much more than I thought I was going to commute. Um, I like fucked myself schedule wise with actor therapy this session. By the way, can we swear? Is that okay?

[6:10] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, oh my god, yeah, of course. I swear I even shit talk other composers.

[6:14] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh, amazing. You should shit talk me on this episode.

[6:17] Drew Gasparini: Never.

[6:18] Ryan Scott Oliver: No.

[6:18] Drew Gasparini: Well, sure. You while you're here, why not? Um uh I so I'm literally going in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Tuesday I'm teaching for one hour, and that's an hour and a half commute each way. So I'm literally taking my driving to the train to the subway to a 15-minute walk to go to open jar for one hour. So I'm like, Oh my god. And then Thursday is a longer day and it's fine. Um, but also it's in we're doing some in-person stuff with arts therapy, and it's very safe and distance, and everyone's wearing masks. And that's it's a strange experience to like be with singers again and be in a room with people.

[6:55] Drew Gasparini: Is there, but is there is there a part of it that's like, oh, thank God we're finally back doing this, or is everybody's kind of everybody's a little tightly anist?

[7:02] Ryan Scott Oliver: No one. Oh my god, no, no, no. I mean, everyone is very is very um clear about how how to be safe with one another. Yeah, yeah. And the only time they take their masks off is when they get in the middle of the room away from everybody else and they're singing. And there are there are tears. There have been many, many sets of tears. I'm getting chills just thinking about this because like uh it's what what what has our lives been? Like what have our lives been without this fuel for us and for all these students of yours? And like you and I are both are both dedicated artists, but very also dedicate a lot of what we do to furthering people's careers, education for other artists, this, that, and the other.

So I can't imagine finally seeing a group of students who sign up for this thing that you do with Lindsay Mendez called actors therapy, plug, plug, plug. Uh, but I can't imagine what that must have felt like just first time in the room. And also, I I don't you don't have to say we're being very safe. I would assume, like I hope at this point we're just under the umbrella of let's not be idiots about this, right?

[8:07] Ryan Scott Oliver: Well, it's in it is interesting because you know, you I think we're at that phase of the pandemic where we all have our we've all we all have our calculated risks that we are comfortable with. Some people are like, I haven't eaten indoors since March 2020. Some people are like, occasionally I'll do a little bit of indoor dining here. But you have people who are like, You have been indoors dining.

[8:30] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, yeah.

[8:31] Ryan Scott Oliver: And and so yeah, I mean, it it you know, we we all have the basic things, but yesterday, this is just weird beacon gossip. Um we had we had somebody for the first time come in into our house to do to paint our bedroom walls and put some wallpaper up on an accent wall. And he refused to wear a mask inside the house.

[8:52] Drew Gasparini: And how is that okay?

[8:54] Ryan Scott Oliver: That's not well, and like, you know, it's a it's a it's a well-paying job, and and it literally it got came down like he would rather not wear a mask and just and he left. And we had to like ask him to leave. Um, that was a weird experience. It actually really kind of bummed Matt out for like the whole day, just knowing that, like, and then of course, you know, we immediately Googled his name plus Republican, and of course, it came up immediately.

[9:16] Drew Gasparini: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

[9:17] Ryan Scott Oliver: And then you went immediately to Yelp.com and then wrote the letter of letters.

[9:22] Drew Gasparini: Fuck him, I'll write the Yelp.

[9:25] Ryan Scott Oliver: I love good, good, good, good. I'll send you all the news. This guy, this guy's unsafe. Don't invite him into your house. And also, I'll make up a lie. I'll start a rumor about him. He touches children. He's we'll go deep. I don't care. Uh I have a question for you because we're gonna we're gonna talk a little bit about your career. But basically, the idea of this podcast is anybody could Google your resume and see all the amazing things you've done. I'm gonna mention them all in the intro, like I said, and probably again in the outro. But I I do want to talk about what got you to where you are. And let me continue with this preface. I had Joe Iconis on not too long ago. Uh uh, contemporary of ours, and he's had his his ups and downs in the business.

But the one thing that you and Joe have in common are when I moved to New York, there were just two superheroes to me, and it was Ryan Scott Oliver and Joe Iconis, because from what I heard and what I was seeing in the concert scene and all that kind of stuff, it was just that's not what musical theater was in my upbringing. You guys, in my eyes, were changing the game in the way that I'm sure a lot of people looked at Adam Gettle or Jason Robert Brown changing the game a few years prior. I thought you and Joe were these magnificent new writers. I've been obsessed with you for a long time, from Darling, 35mm, everything you've ever done. Your brain works in such a fascinating way to me. And here's how I'll describe it.

I think I may have told you this at one point, but I was having lunch with Jonathan Reed Gelt a number of years ago, and we were just talking about writing and the business. And he said, you know that Jason Robert Brown said that the problem with Adam Gedell is he already has the idea and a better version of that idea before any of the other composers in this generation have it. And he'll execute it better. And both Jonathan and I were like, that's Ryan Scott Oliver for us. He's the guy that's gonna have the I the better idea or the same idea in a better way. And he's gonna execute it in a way that literally nobody else could. You are so unique to you and your brand of writing and your brand of silliness and darkness. And I think no one writes bleak as well as you do. And I hope you take that as a high compliment.

[11:38] Ryan Scott Oliver: Absolutely. But how did you, how did you become Ryan Scott Oliver? What was your childhood like? And how did you how did you get so creative in this manner?

[11:47] Ryan Scott Oliver: First of all, thank you for all that. There are so many things to unpack there. I have a feeling I'm gonna be unpacking a lot of those things by text later. So you know, one of the things I've been thinking a lot about why people gravitate towards certain genres and themes and things and and and our um threshold for darkness. Some people are like, I can't see blood, right? Some people cry when like the second grandma dies. Like, like the like they the the how we all receive emotions and experiences, I think are very different. And for me, you noted that I, you know, no one does bleak, you know, like I do, and I appreciate that. And and and and I do think that a lot of my early work was super dark.

And I actually find for some people, I think that they write darkness because they've experienced a lot of darkness, but that wasn't true. That wasn't true for me. I can really categorically say that I had such a great life, other than you know, parent problems occasionally, like, you know, my coming out was fine. Lots of friends did well in school, um, had a lot of opportunities, you know, definitely, you know, had so had had privilege that I wasn't even aware that I had at that time. Right, right. And and I think that that there was, you know, in the same way that like Ariel in The Little Mermaid is like, I want to be on land. I think there was a part of me that was like, I want to be, I want to be a part of stories where there's action and something happening and darkness and excitement and thrill.

[13:26] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah. And I think that's why I gravitated so much towards it because I had none of it in my life. And what's interesting is that in my late 20s, you know, when I got fired, and I had lost all, I had all four of my grandparents until I was like 30. And then I lost all four of them within two years.

[13:47] Drew Gasparini: Oh my God.

[13:48] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah. And once I started experiencing loss and grief and pain and starting to experience depression, the desire within me to tell happy endings and hopeful stories and warmth and kindness and focus on stories that were more family-friendly, that's when that sort of started to emerge. It was sort of like this this. I guess what I'm saying is that every part of everything I've made seems to sort of be a contrasting response to sort of how my life was going. So basically, yeah. If you see me write a really happy song, then you should give me a call and be like, are you okay?

[14:33] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, be worried about Ryan if you hear the happy, happy songs.

[14:36] Ryan Scott Oliver: Right. Yeah, it's like I look back, um, I look back on the ballad of Sarah Barry, and like obviously I'm very proud of it. And yet I'm like, I would never have written that song today or within the last like three or four years. Because at that time, it was like fun with murdering high school students was like fun. You know what I mean? Like, you know, as from a writing perspective. Uh, anyway, did that answer your question? I did that definitely wasn't a weird way to answer that question, but I can definitely go on.

[15:05] Drew Gasparini: No, that actually really does answer my question in a way that I relate to. Um because I think a lot of people see me as like a happy-go-lucky guy. And I, and now I'm making it sound like I actually come from a very sad and troubled childhood, but that's not it at all. I think the reason I attempt songs like Circus or Make Me Bad or any of those things that are a little darker is because I so badly want to kind of have a taste of it myself or put myself in those shoes to kind of figure out the empathy for a character in that situation.

[15:38] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yes. I mean, like, wow, like can we talk about 35 for a second?

[15:42] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, I'd love to.

[15:42] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah. Okay. That is one of my favorite pieces of work, period. I mean, not just of yours and your canon, but like it is just one of the coolest things I've ever seen live because it was done at the Rest in Peace, the Galapagos arc space and Dumbo. And it had water, and it was like, it was the coolest fucking venue. It was like had these little ponds, and you guys used Matt's photos as like lily pads in the pond. I just I was obsessed with the whole experience of it all. But when you go back and you listen to that album, and I hope everybody who hasn't already goes and does that. The very first song, Crazy Town.

[16:16] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, there's you just kind of described your approach to writing dark material as this as this way to experience it yourself almost because you had a pretty up childhood, no complaints, you know. But when I hear the lyrics to Crazy Town, I'm hearing parts of idle, the idle boy and the idle hands and the I There's gotta be so much of you in this material.

[16:41] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah. I mean I love so I love so much that you that you brought this up because actually over the last couple of months, I've been working on sort of like this album of commentary, like literally every single song. This is a I'm sure Alex has probably mentioned this to you because I got to interview him for this, and we talked a little bit about Crazy Town. And what's interesting about Crazy Town is the inspiration for this for that whole story, in addition to Matt's photo, is the psychologist published the 20 most frequently mentioned nightmares of college students. And I structured the song actually around the nightmares. Like it's like being naked in public and snakes drowning, being uh you know, sex acts, being chased, all finding money on the ground, like all of that is like that's where all that comes from.

Um then the other thing was like um Stephen King has this uh overlong book series called the Dark Tower series, and I'm totally spoiling it. So if Drew keeps this in and you are a Stephen King fan and you've not read The Dark Tower, like skip 20 seconds from now.

[17:45] Drew Gasparini: Sure.

[17:46] Ryan Scott Oliver: The entire mission of like 5,000 pages is for the main character to get to the Dark Tower. And in the end of the book of books, there's like eight of them. He finds the Dark Tower, and the story starts. When he opens the door to the Dark Tower, the whole story starts over again. Oh my god. Right. So you can imagine people who like dedicated 15 years of their life to like what getting all the books, and they're like, oh my god, this is like the worst ending ever. But that's how Crazy Town ends. That's the exact same way that Crazy Town ends, that he gets the end and it starts all over again.

[18:14] Drew Gasparini: Uh that uh the whole body of work that you have is tremendous because you seem to be wildly prolific just in terms of your output. You put so much work out there and new projects and like rope and we foxes. Is it still called rope, by the way?

[18:29] Ryan Scott Oliver: Is that tethered now?

[18:31] Drew Gasparini: Tethered, oh my god.

[18:33] Ryan Scott Oliver: Multiple syllables. Let's go.

[18:34] Drew Gasparini: Uh, but it's it's never ending for you. And I think what is really interesting about your brain and your approach to all of this. I love that we started on Peloton, and now I'm like really diving into your craft here. Uh I try very badly because of the way I looked up to, you know, and I and still do, I should say, but um, you and I have become friendly over the years. And when I when I first looked at you as like one of the gods that I was just trying to emulate in terms of process and everything, I couldn't handle how wildly prolific you were, and how every story you started was so wildly different from the last thing that you wrote. Does it have to do with how much you read? You seem like a real Alex Brightman even calls you like an auteur.

Like he calls you like the way that you're you you structure lyrics and stuff, it's very like um well. It sounds like you've read a lot of books, Ryan. How do you uh create kind of the process for your craft and like how do you continue to just be like, oh, I got a new one, I'm gonna start this? Because it doesn't seem like you start something and then don't finish it. You always kind of see it through.

[19:46] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah, I appreciate all of that. I feel very seen in a in a you know I feel like yeah, I feel like you're seeing you're seeing the part of myself that I want to be seen. I'm examining very closely, I promise. I love it. Um you know, everything changed for me in 2012 in terms of my process. Um, I had been working for Disney, I was writing Freaky Friday, um, obviously not writing it anymore. And up to that point, I had a lot of success. I'd had a lot of awards. I again, like my career would moved so quickly over three to four years. And I was like patting myself on the back, and I was like, of course I'm working for Disney. This is amazing. But up to that point, I was like, I was told that the way that we musical theater writers would get our work done was by studios and corporations, you know, giving us movie rights, basically.

And of course, you and I are continuing to deal with that. And you and 100%. But the idea, the idea that I could have an idea of my own, an original idea of my own, that I and I could have a process that was my own. I could have a deadline and a schedule that was my own happened as a response to kind of being like, I think I have to stop writing for other people, and I have to stop working solely on the timeline and discretion of other people. And so the first musical I wrote after that was a show called WE FOXES. And that has thank you, and that that musical and everything I've written since then has followed the same process, which is that I first of all I try to write a musical a year, right?

And there have been some years where I go, oh, I'm, you know, I'm running out of time and it's October and I'll write a 23 minute thing, right? Or, you know, sometimes it's small. But what I always do is come June of every year, I will begin a six month research phase on my next show, and then I'll usually start that show in January. And then I'll do six months of drafting it and then do the readings and you know, all the things that we do to sort of get it up. And then hopefully by the fall, um, I and my research phase. I mean, you talked a little bit about, you know, a man who's read a lot of books. I would not say that I'm like a voracious reader in general, but I would say when it comes to research, I do a lot of research.

I mean, it's I spend say six months, 25 hours a week reading, watching, listening, every kind of medium that in any way relates to my project, taking notes on notes on notes on notes, so that when I sit down to write, I have so many ideas and so many influences that are impacting the thing that I'm doing. Um and that and that process has made has felt really good to me. I don't get writer's block a lot, and I I'm always I always feel like I have a piece in the back of my mind ready to be sort of launched, you know.

[22:48] Drew Gasparini: Well, you know what I mean? I want to like your discipline is insane. Like that's that's like it's hard enough, and I'm sure you talked to your actor's therapy students about this as well. Something I always say is like kind of be the CEO of you know, exactly what I say. But it's you but you are you're structuring your business. You have you have a model that has worked for you now, you have a process that is working in terms of what your output is. The shows that you've been writing since then, when WE FOXES and all that was starting to circulate, they've seen some success and it's opened up other doors. I know that you're right. Am I allowed to even say, can I say you're writing?

[23:19] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[23:20] Drew Gasparini: Okay, you're writing Hugo right now, which is like a big fat deal. Um how do you decide? You know, when it comes June and you're like doing the research and you're reading whatever is interesting you. How do you decide that, oh, this is going to be a great musical? Or how do you decide your next project? I always feel like, because I guess the comparison is, for me at least, is why I'm so interested. And sorry, I'm talking over you like crazy right now.

[23:43] Ryan Scott Oliver: I love it. I love it. I could talk about this shit until the end of the day. I really thrive with collaborative efforts in terms of bouncing ideas back and forth until I'm like, that's a great idea. Let's do it. You are so magnificent at being so in charge of your shit and saying, Ryan, you should do this. Good idea, Ryan. Let's do it, Ryan. You know, I'm not saying that I by no means does that mean like he's alone in a mountain, all by himself in a cabin somewhere. Candlelight, and that's it. It's like the end of Walter White's like existence.

[24:15] Drew Gasparini: Yes, oh my god.

[24:16] Ryan Scott Oliver: That's but you really are a solo artist as a writer in in many wonderful respects because you execute it so well. How do you decide what your next project is? And do you ever get scared of this discipline wavering or getting tired or bored of it? You seem to have a rhythm.

[24:34] Ryan Scott Oliver: Ooh, yeah, lots of good questions. I definitely think that while I do think like there was a period of my life um where I was writing a lot of pieces by myself, and I think that was really useful for me to find out more about who I was as an artist. But I do think that like after that period, which ended like two or three years ago, I have gotten really excited about collaborating again. And I missed collaborating. And I actually think I sort of returned to the fold. An infinitely better collaborator than I had. I mean, this is the other thing that's crazy is that when I started out, you know, the dark side of sort of what you're accurately saying is that I do think that when I started in this business, I had this feeling that, you know, I that I was a lone wolf.

And I I do think that I didn't always take the notes. And I think that there was, I still suffered from I think the thing that a lot of young creatives suffer from, which is like if they have the idea and and they feel sure of it, then they believe that their idea is the best idea without acknowledging that even though their brain is saying this is a great idea, that they still could be wrong. And I think when I sort of came back to doing a lot of collaborations, which is uh last several years, I I sort of came into the scene with with an approach of like, yes, absolutely, wonderful idea. That's great, a hundred percent. I and just desiring, and this is Kirsten Gunther, our mutual friend Kirsten Gunther is something that she taught me so much.

Is that I I discovered the joy of being wrong and the joy of creating space for other people. And you, you know, because you collaborate so much and and have for so long, you know, you you know that very well. And I think I think that that is that is the big thing. To the answer to your other question, which is how do I find my next idea? You know, I would say, like right now, I have like three ideas that like when the time is right, I would sort of pluck that idea out, and I would then just execute that thing. I mean, the Shirley Jackson thing I did last year called Future Demons was something that was one of those things in the back of my mind. And I have like a couple of books that I'm like, oh yeah, when I need a new project, I'm gonna do that thing, right?

[26:46] Drew Gasparini: And so I do I do try to keep I do try to keep busy. I mean, yes, prolific is nice, but I also think that like it's about being busy. And I would also say, like, you are also an incredibly prolific writer. I feel like of a lot of our peers, and Joe obviously as well, but I don't when I think of a lot of our peers, I can't think of more than say five titles that they have chosen, selected to work on. And I feel like I can I feel like I could literally name your entire resume, and maybe that's because we're friends, but I also think you are similar in the sense that I feel like you like working on a lot of things, and you like it.

[27:22] Ryan Scott Oliver: I do. The idea of staying busy is an important thing. And uh I don't know for you, it's only so I could tell my friends how busy I am and then I can annoy them to death with that. Ooh, god, I just burped before I started recording. You know what? I'm not even gonna edit it. There it is. I burped, it stinks, what a bummer. I'm stuck in this room with my own burp. It's a drag. Guys, you know how I like to interrupt these episodes. Well, I'm doing it again because I like consistency. Mr. Ryan Scott Oliver, just like the rest of our guests, is an alluring and intriguing and interesting artist. So go support him by following up on the things he has going on. Follow him on his social medias at Ryan Scott Oliver, spelt exactly like all three of those first names are spelt.

Isn't that funny? He has three names and all of them are first names. Ryan Scott Oliver. Anyway, mush those three names together, and you got Ryan Scott Oliver on Twitter, on Instagram, and anywhere else you might find an individual these days. Check out the music he has available on Spotify and stay excited, stay posted, keep up with him because he has a lot coming up, including the highly anticipated adaptation of Hugo. You don't want to miss it. So stay posted on everything Ryan has going on. Anyway. Now back to the conversation with me and Ryan Scott Oliver.

[28:35] Drew Gasparini: Can we talk a little bit about like you're you're you're writing Hugo? Is this true? A studio? Are you working with the movie studio who was a part of this?

[28:43] Ryan Scott Oliver: So yes and no. So the the two producers of the film, uh Graham King and Tim Hedington, uh, who produced Hugo, and they also produced The Departed. Those are their two like massive films.

[28:56] Drew Gasparini: Which is gonna be your next musical, no doubt.

[29:00] Ryan Scott Oliver: I hope so. Oh my god. Um so they've teamed up with um uh a former uh uh producer, music producer at Sony named Teresa Page. And so Tim and Teresa have this company called Leyline. And so they are the they are the producers of Hugo. They are they're also the producers of Anne Juliet, which is this jukebox musical of the Max Martin catalog that was in London and is amazing. It's a really, really, really wonderful piece. Um yeah, I know it's really fun. I feel like Hugo is their like artistic project. And then like Max Martin didn't have to be a good one.

[29:34] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yes, exactly, exactly. So yeah, that's and they've been wonderful. I mean, that it that that part of it, and working with Chris Wheeldon, who's the director and choreographer of the show, um, has been such such a dream. And so and and just Brian Selznick, who is an incredible illustrator and who wrote the book of Hugo. Yeah, getting to work with them has been a really frankly healing experience. Because they're they are so respected and respectful, and and they have created such an incredibly safe environment for all of us to collaborate and approach this.

[30:09] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[30:10] Ryan Scott Oliver: You know, for you know, Chris has a Tony Award and Brian, you know, has you know authored a million books, and yet I'm coming to the table with maybe slightly more musical theater experience. Sure. And I feel like they have, we just have we all respect each other for what we're bringing to the table. And so the Hugo experience thus far, thus far, has been really, really wonderful.

[30:31] Drew Gasparini: I love hearing that because I've you know, I've I've worked with a number of movie studios doing the adaptation game. Um I I remember I I'm so hot on collaboration, and I love it. And I love being in the room where you see, oh my god, I'm the small guy in this whole room because these are legends, they've wrote every fucking movie under the sun, and oh my god, the director, holy shit, the stack of Tonies she has, and blah, and I feel like this small duck, and and I get it so excited to hear their notes. But then the producers come in and they've got their own notes, and some of the notes were my daughter typically dances to all the music you've sent in. She didn't dance to this one. So can you give this demo another try?

And this is exactly what I would do in those circumstances. At first, I'd be like, you know, tail between my legs, like, how what the how the fuck did I go so wrong? His daughter's not dancing. Oh my god, I blew it, you know. But I go back, I listen to the demo, I go, what is he talking about? I wait a week, and then I send the exact same demo to him, and he goes, Great job. Thanks so much for the update.

[31:32] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh, that sucks.

[31:34] Drew Gasparini: So I guess the question I'm getting to is does it scare you that sometimes producers are the least creative people and they are making some of the most creative decisions? As an artist, does that irk you ever so slightly?

[31:49] Ryan Scott Oliver: Um so for for the listeners, you know, there really are basically two different kinds of producers. Well, three to two real kinds of producers. One, producers who are like, I'm the business side of things, I'm getting all the money, you know, I'm making I'm lifting this behemoth up. And then the other kind are creative producers. Producers who are like who could who could be a dramaturg, could be a director. You know, Hal Prince started this way, right? As a creative producer. And it, and I think usually the two parties know what they are, and they know how to not get involved in the areas of production where they will hold things up, but they sometimes think that they have to get involved because they have power, or because you're talking about are the money business people who are moonlighting as creative people.

And that and that is, and that is a problem. And yeah, that fucking sucks. And it it gets in our way. It way gets in our way. If there are producers listening, get out of our way. We we swear we have the same objective of making a good show.

[33:00] Drew Gasparini: Right. Well, and it's also like we're not giving, we're not going to give them notes on like the the budget. You know what I'm saying?

[33:07] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh, but how I wish I could.

[33:10] Drew Gasparini: Oh, how I wish I could. Especially when it comes to marketing. I'm like, I I I see thousands of missed opportunities every Broadway show that comes out. Like, what are we doing? You want to sell some tickets? Talk to your boy right here. I swear to God. I know. You should have put me on the team for Jasper and Deadland. I would have been the greatest street team for you. I'm telling you, what like that that was one of my favorite theatrical experiences ever seeing that show off Broadway. It was in such uh it was the Prospect Theater on 86th, right?

[33:36] Ryan Scott Oliver: That's where it was. Prospect was a theater company, but it was called like the West End, I don't know. It was like a church church. It was so dunk. I mean, like, honestly, right beneath the stage, there was AA meetings happening. You know, it was that kind of thing. But going in there and just like the kind of weird, like scrappy feel of that theater actually kind of lifted the experience for me. That was to this day one of the greatest musicals I have ever heard slash seen. Stroke by stroke is one of my favorite songs in musical theater history. But, and this is where the question is going. Sorry, I had to start with a big fat compliment for you.

[34:10] Ryan Scott Oliver: Thank you.

[34:10] Drew Gasparini: When you hear songs like Stroke by Stroke, and you hear songs like Sarah Berry was another good example of that, you have a really strong pop mentality. Do you ever consider the idea of doing those types of writing sessions where you're writing for an artist? Because are are you with a publishing deal? I'm not sure.

[34:26] Ryan Scott Oliver: I'm not sure. Are you?

[34:27] Drew Gasparini: No, no. Why the hell not? I feel like you are ripe for it. You might be frustrated, actually, now that I'm thinking about it, just sitting in those writers' rooms because they can be hell.

[34:36] Ryan Scott Oliver: Well, I think you know what? I'm glad that I'm talking about this with you because it's interesting because you're actually, I think, a reason why I know that I that I don't want to do that because I'm like, you're so good at it.

[34:51] Drew Gasparini: Oh, no.

[34:52] Ryan Scott Oliver: No. But it's also like I go like you, you know, we both are the Venn diagram of us is that we are both musical theater dramatists. Like, we both want to tell stories with songs. Yes. Do you know what I'm saying? But like, I don't think you want to write a ballet or an opera. Am I correct in saying that?

[35:12] Drew Gasparini: You are correct in saying that.

[35:13] Ryan Scott Oliver: And I do. And I think and I think that that's the other side. That's the you know, it's like I first of all, I consume so much pop music. I don't listen to musical theater. Like I've never for you. I never do. I consume so much pop, folk, hip hop, all of it, right? And and what's also weird is that even though I'm an atheist, my Discover Weekly on Spotify, I like liked one Christian rock song, and now my Discover Weekly is like I'm like a Christian rock fiend, even though I'm an atheist. Anyway, wow, I love that. So I so what I'm saying is I love the art form of pop. And I do try to incorporate, but I don't think I would be successful writing a pop song that was meant to be a pop song. I think what I'm good at is bringing in rock and roll into the musical theater, bringing pop into the musical theater and telling a story with it. I think that's where I excel.

[36:05] Drew Gasparini: You know what you need? Here's what you need. You need like what happened with Owl City and waving through a window. You need someone here, Sarah Barry, and then Katie Perry's like, I'm gonna do that song. You know what I mean? Like that's what would be amazing is someone just doing one of your songs.

[36:19] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh my god, absolutely when Katy Perry is covering our song.

[36:26] Drew Gasparini: Um, you know that right now, again, no one can see us, it's a podcast, but we're both wearing beanies. We both wear hats all the time. Which is not something I I tried to steal from you, but certainly something I've been doing since I was a young lad because much like you, I think we we uh we're thinning. Like, can we say that? We're thinning up there.

[36:43] Ryan Scott Oliver: Well, my hair, my hair did a mass exodus when I was 19. And I remember the day before I moved to New York, I buzzed it off because I was like, 19 years old, all your hair just fell out. I mean, not like an alopecia thing, but like a very advanced kind of hair loss because your head was Manhattan and COVID just struck, and every person jumped ship.

[37:10] Drew Gasparini: Okay.

[37:10] Ryan Scott Oliver: So all right. Yeah, between like I would say like 17 and a half and 19, it just like it started to go. And like I could, I probably could have stuck it out for another couple of years and just been that guy that has the bald spot. But I I did not want to be for me, I didn't want to be, I didn't want people to know me and go like Ryan has hair, and then I shaved it all off, and then they're like, and then I become a new person to them. And I just didn't want to deal with that. I don't want to deal with that.

[37:39] Drew Gasparini: Well, I I gotta say, you're one of the most handsome bald men I've ever seen. And also, you really rock a hat. This is this is boring for everybody else. Real quickly before we hop into a segment of nothing but stupid questions.

[37:51] Ryan Scott Oliver: Great.

[37:51] Drew Gasparini: Um, can you talk about The Apprentice?

[37:54] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh my God. Yeah. I wish I really I'll I'll skip ahead and say that I wish that I had some like really juicy shit. I actually think Alex probably has more juicy shit than I have. I would say the only thing that's what was funny about that was the producers absolutely try to stir shit up and they tell you things to get you to say weird things.

[38:21] Drew Gasparini: And then of course the nature of reality TV, yes.

[38:24] Ryan Scott Oliver: I know, but it's like but what's weird also though is is just like you know that they're editing it in such a they're going to edit in such a weird way, and then when it happens, you're like, oh wow, this is this is how they make the TV.

[38:35] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, yeah.

[38:36] Ryan Scott Oliver: Exactly. Uh I just love that that. That's the most random thing in the entire world is that your musical Darling was featured on The Apprentice, which is famously Donald Trump's long-running reality TV series. And I'm sure you didn't meet the man or he had nothing to do with the episode at all. I want to share with you very quickly my one reality TV experience. I've actually had a few reality TV experiences, but this is one that nobody knows about because it never made it to air. And it was the it wasn't a pilot, it was a test episode to see if they would even make the pilot. And it was for a show that lasted like eight episodes, and it was called Oprah's The Big Give. Do you remember this at all?

[39:18] Ryan Scott Oliver: I do.

[39:19] Drew Gasparini: It was like who it was a competition of who could be the most selfless and generous, basically. It was a very silly concept for a and they asked you to be on it. I was playing a show in Long Beach. I was playing a show, yeah, horrible because they clearly didn't get to know me before they're like this guy. But uh, because I'm a I'm a taker. You know me. I'm a taker. Uh, but I I was playing a show in Long Beach and one of the producers were there, and she's like, Would you like to do this episode, this test episode? It pays a hundred and fifty dollars. I said, shh, sure. Sure. So the test episode was hysterical. They have a camera crew full on. We're in like, I think we're in Pasadena somewhere, which is exactly where you're from, I believe.

[39:59] Ryan Scott Oliver: That's right. Yes, yeah.

[40:00] Drew Gasparini: So I'm in some park in Pasadena, and they go, okay, they explain the rules. We're gonna give you an envelope full of cash. Everything's kind of said mystically. An envelope full of cash, and it is up to you to do the most selfless thing with that money by the end of today, whoever does the most selfless thing without spending a dime on themselves wins this competition.

[40:20] Ryan Scott Oliver: That was the conceit. And it's me who showed up with a guitar on his back because they found me at a gig. I thought this had to do with music, and this other girl whose whole life is reality television. Her whole life and purpose for being alive is to do reality TV. There was smoke and mist, and a host walked through it and said, I'm Chris, whatever his name was. Here's your envelopes. And I look in its $100 in singles to make it look, you know, kind of freshed up and big. She runs off and buys cleaning equipment and starts cleaning bathrooms at the beach. She likes drives out to the beach. That ain't a kid. I go and buy like juju bees for myself and like meander around the streets with a camera crew following me, and I keep asking, what am I supposed to do?

I have no idea what to do. Long story short, I got an email back like weeks later. They said, thanks so much. We're actually gonna refilm the test episode. Oprah said he didn't get it. Oh my god. Oprah Winfrey watched me. And she was like, nope. Nope. That's not even close to what I wanted this to be. I actually think Oprah probably said, like, fuck that guy. She was like, angered.

[41:31] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[41:33] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh my God. She sent dragoons after me. But I also love, I also love that you you fucked up immediately because you bought Juju Bees. Right away. I I like I listened to all the rules and I said, got it. I'm gonna go buy something for myself.

[41:48] Drew Gasparini: Just Dan. How old were you?

[41:50] Ryan Scott Oliver: I was 19 at the time. 19 or 20, perhaps.

[41:54] Drew Gasparini: Oh my god. Wild time. Uh all right. RSO. We've talked a lot about your career. Kids, Google the man. He does so much for the industry and in the industry. But for right now, we're gonna do some dopey questions with Ryan Scott Oliver.

[42:08] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yes.

[42:09] Drew Gasparini: Ryan. Who was the celebrity that gave you a sexual awakening?

[42:17] Ryan Scott Oliver: Mm-hmm. Uh an act and I got this. Um, an actor named uh Hal Sparks. Um Hal Sparks was Hal Sparks was on Queer as Folk, and he I know him. And he was, and then he's a comedian. So he was like, he like has made the rounds, and I just went back to the room.

[42:37] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, he did a lot of like VH1 best week ever kind of things.

[42:40] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yes. A hundred percent. And he uh I worked at Borders Books and Music in Santa Monica, and I got to ring him up, and that was a great I framed the receipt in my bedroom.

[42:50] Drew Gasparini: Oh my god, that's okay. That's the awakening. When when you frame a receipt, I think you're uh you're definitely in the you gave me my sexual awakening phase.

[42:58] Ryan Scott Oliver: Uh same question, but this time not geared toward a celebrity. Cartoon. What cartoon were you uh attracted to?

[43:06] Ryan Scott Oliver: Absolutely so easy. Um, when I was a child, Paula Abdul had a music video for a music for a song called Opposites Attract.

[43:15] Drew Gasparini: Yes, and remember this.

[43:17] Ryan Scott Oliver: There was a cartoon cat. And I, as a very small pre-gay child, like I was like, I don't know, four, I don't know what I would run out of, I would leave the TV on to MTV, and anywhere in the house, if I heard the song playing on my television, I would run and I would see it. And only later did I realize like I wanted to fuck that cat.

[43:37] Drew Gasparini: Wow, you really wanted to fuck that cartoon cat.

[43:40] Ryan Scott Oliver: Well, you heard it here first, folks. Uh, not that anybody's curious or interested or asking, but Patty Manaes from Doug was like, I had such a big crush on her. I don't know what it was. Because looking back, I'm like, what was I thinking? But I really looking back, I make sure I go back and check what my brain was doing back then.

[44:00] Drew Gasparini: Wasn't she like super like cool? Wasn't Patty Manna's just like super cool?

[44:04] Ryan Scott Oliver: She was so she was unflappable. That's how I described it. She was so confident in who she was, and like Doug and Skeeter. They were all boys, and she was this like confident woman in the mix of all these idiots.

[44:15] Drew Gasparini: Uh let's play a small little game called Fuck Mary Kill. We're gonna do this uh Broadway Softies edition.

[44:22] Ryan Scott Oliver: Okay, okay, the Broadway Softies edition.

[44:24] Drew Gasparini: So here are your three choices. Fuck Mary Kill, Horton the elephant, Amos Hart from Chicago.

[44:33] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah.

[44:34] Drew Gasparini: And Floyd Collins.

[44:35] Ryan Scott Oliver: Fuck Mary Kill.

[44:37] Drew Gasparini: Oh.

[44:39] Ryan Scott Oliver: Well, honestly, I would fuck Mary and kill Floyd Collins because he's he's because honestly, he's so sexy. He like has this big revelation at the end, and then he dies. So like I honestly kind of get the whole thing.

[44:54] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[44:55] Ryan Scott Oliver: Um, is that an acceptable answer?

[44:56] Drew Gasparini: That's a completely acceptable answer. Right before you kill him, you could say, I'm doing you a favor. You don't know what's about to happen.

[45:01] Ryan Scott Oliver: But uh, all right, now I want to do the same game, but this time Broadway Composer's edition. Here we go.

[45:06] Drew Gasparini: Fuck Mary Kill.

[45:07] Ryan Scott Oliver: Oh no.

[45:08] Drew Gasparini: Sondheim.

[45:09] Ryan Scott Oliver: Jerry Herman, William Finn.

[45:12] Drew Gasparini: Oh, yeah.

[45:13] Ryan Scott Oliver: Okay. Um, fuck Sondheim for sure. Because like, absolutely. He's a freak, and I think I mean, and I'm I'm genuinely sexually attracted to him and always kind of have been. There's like a recent photo that's going around of him and Bernardette Peters under the woods where his guns are just like exploding.

[45:30] Drew Gasparini: I know exactly I just saw that picture. You're right.

[45:31] Ryan Scott Oliver: He's uh he's a snack. He really's a big one. Objectively handsome. Um I uh would marry Jerry Herman because I think he'd be really fun to be married to, but a little mean, but like just they write him out of mean for a spouse.

[45:45] Drew Gasparini: And then I I think I would have to do to I would have to do the dirty to it.

[45:50] Ryan Scott Oliver: I love yeah, that's fine. I would too. I bye Bill. You're you're going.

[45:54] Drew Gasparini: Bye bye, Bill.

[45:55] Ryan Scott Oliver: And he probably's okay with that.

[45:57] Drew Gasparini: I love the idea. Jerry Herman's the right amount of mean for a spouse.

[46:01] Ryan Scott Oliver: Uh okay, last couple silly things, and then and then I'll thank you for your time and and say ta ta and and uh all that good stuff. But um if you have to choose one, you only get one. Would you rather write a Broadway show that lasted to great acclaim for only three weeks, or would you rather have a TikTok musical that trended for a whole year?

[46:25] Ryan Scott Oliver: Absolutely number one.

[46:27] Drew Gasparini: Great great acclaim.

[46:28] Ryan Scott Oliver: Great acclaim briefly.

[46:30] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, exactly. Because you'll you'll be stamped in the legacy.

[46:32] Ryan Scott Oliver: I'm glad. You, you know, it's like I when like when like insta I'm like very like late on all kinds of technology and all kinds of social media. And when Instagram came, like I I waited a good year to two years before I joined Instagram.

[46:49] Drew Gasparini: Sure.

[46:50] Ryan Scott Oliver: And and I was kind of like, I'm gonna let this one pass. But with TikTok, I I really feel strongly that I have to let this one pass. Like I don't want to get involved with it.

[47:01] Drew Gasparini: And I first of all, I uh deeply admire that you you have elected to put yourself in that place.

[47:06] Ryan Scott Oliver: Uh how's it going? Are you enjoying it?

[47:08] Drew Gasparini: Uh I'm on TikTok and I'm enjoying it mostly. I it's it's a strange bag. And you I don't know. My sister pointed something out to me that was so powerful that I didn't really realize. But I tweeted, I tweeted something about how I miss musicals being on stage, not on TikTok.

[47:28] Ryan Scott Oliver: The people of Twitter and TikTok took such wild offense. And I'm not like, I'm not a scandalous personality. I don't say things that are like mind-blowing. And I don't, I'm not famous enough by a lot for any of this shit to matter. But this tweet really got more attention than most things I tweet by thousands and thousands of likes and retweets and this kind of thing. And people took it, uh, and they were like, How could you fucking say that? What about Ratatouille? What about Bridgerton? What about this? And I kept on like defending myself. How did my language get so twisted in trying to defend me wishing theater was back open that I had I literally have Bridgerton fans like hating me, and I had people messaging me saying, I'm taking your music out of my book. I used to look up to you. It was insane. I had to get I was off the app for the whole day because I was like, did I just ruin my career?

[48:18] Ryan Scott Oliver: It they made it seem like I just like did a hate crime.

[48:21] Drew Gasparini: But wait, wait, wait, but see, uh for for for your reference, I first of all I don't, I don't you you know, you and I, you and I know my history with Twitter. I don't I don't use Twitter, but I whenever I log in, because I want to see if like, you know, I I'm a part of any conversation, your your tweets always come up.

[48:39] Ryan Scott Oliver: Like Twitter thinks that the only thing I care about is you.

[48:43] Drew Gasparini: And I had no idea what I want to say is I had no idea that any of this happened. So it's crazy to me that this was explosive.

[48:50] Ryan Scott Oliver: I quickly deleted everything just because I didn't, I'm sure people took screenshots and because that's how people work these days. But I really was like, I don't, this is not worth any of this.

[48:58] Drew Gasparini: So I think a week ago.

[49:00] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah, this happened like not too long ago at all. And uh my sister Chloe, who is 10 years younger than me, she pointed something out that is so interesting about social media and about the internet. You and I, Ryan, we were born, and then like well into our lives, this started existing.

[49:15] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[49:15] Ryan Scott Oliver: These kids were born with this already at their disposal. It's right there for them. So when you say something that is seen as a diss to social media or the internet, they take it as a personal jab. And I was even called, I'm not kidding, I really was called a boomer by a kid. I'm 34. You know, and they and they called me a boomer because I seemed so out of touch to them in that moment. So I was like angry, but I was also like, maybe I should just really be understanding of how these kids are sensitive to the fact that a lot of people don't understand TikTok, and I looked like one of those people.

[49:50] Drew Gasparini: You know what I mean?

[49:51] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yes, I do. It's very bizarre. Do you remember, really briefly? Because I know we're ending, but um, do you remember about 10 years ago when we went, we won't say her name.

[49:59] Drew Gasparini: No, it must have been like 15 years ago. It was the first moment when I ever felt like I saw someone get canceled.

[50:06] Ryan Scott Oliver: Was this the end of the woods thing?

[50:08] Drew Gasparini: Yes, I remember this.

[50:09] Ryan Scott Oliver: Yeah, some some one of our peers posted a negative review about Into the Woods being performed in the park.

[50:17] Drew Gasparini: Yeah.

[50:17] Ryan Scott Oliver: And I and I remember, and I don't even know if this is true, but someone was like, Oh, I think she packed her bags and like moved to Vietnam for a year or something like that.

[50:26] Drew Gasparini: And I and I don't even think that that's true because she's thriving. She's like living her best life.

[50:30] Ryan Scott Oliver: Um, but that was just such a weird moment in time where I was like, it was the first moment where I was like, we it we can say something that is just our really innocuous opinion about something that is not a big deal, we think.

[50:43] Drew Gasparini: Yes and it it can destroy people's feelings.

[50:47] Ryan Scott Oliver: Absolutely.

[50:48] Drew Gasparini: It's crazy.

[50:49] Ryan Scott Oliver: And then the fear is like the whole day, that day, I was thinking, and I'm sure she was, this person we're referring to, was thinking, did I just ruin my career by accident?

[50:58] Drew Gasparini: Yeah, you're so scared of this fragile thing.

[51:01] Ryan Scott Oliver: Exactly. Oh boy, oh boy. Uh, before we leave RSO, before we head out, just tell us real quickly, what's the weirdest thing you've done this year?

[51:11] Ryan Scott Oliver: Ooh, ooh, ooh, weirdest thing. Where does this thing?

[51:14] Drew Gasparini: Where's the thing?

[51:16] Ryan Scott Oliver: I, my dog's, my dog's toenails are or paw paw nails, what a dog's nails called. There's now um, are so long that we had to lather our faces in peanut butter so that they the dogs could lick the peanut butter off our faces so that we could clip their toenails.

[51:36] Drew Gasparini: That was a weirdly erotic experience.

[51:39] Ryan Scott Oliver: Now you're really missing out on TikTok because that would have you would have gone viral for days if you filmed that.

[51:46] Drew Gasparini: Good lord.

[51:47] Ryan Scott Oliver: I missed the boat.

[51:48] Drew Gasparini: You missed the boat.

[51:50] Ryan Scott Oliver: Uh thank you for answering the weirdest question question. Uh I Ryan, I love you so much. I really get a kick out of any time I get to chat with you. And uh this is the first time we've really really had it out about process and craft and and the writing of it all. So that's an extra joy for me because I've always had these these curiosities and interests.

[52:09] Drew Gasparini: And uh I got nothing else to add except thanks so much for your time and tell Matt that I say hello and I love him too.

[52:15] Ryan Scott Oliver: Absolutely.

[52:16] Drew Gasparini: And uh I can't wait to have a martini with you once the world opens all the way back up.

[52:21] Ryan Scott Oliver: I cannot wait. We could do this for hours and hours and hours again. So hopefully next season.

[52:25] Drew Gasparini: Absolutely, dude. Absolutely. Uh, all right, thank you, Ryan Scott Oliver.

[52:26] Ryan Scott Oliver: Thank you.

[52:30] Drew Gasparini: Oh, another burp. Anyway, thanks for listening.

[52:33] Drew Gasparini: Hey, now we're talking as a proud member of the Broadway podcast network, and you can find out more about me and this podcast at BPN.fm slash now we're talking. Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. You can find me at Drew Gasparini.

[52:48] Drew Gasparini: A special thanks to our guest, Ryan Scott Oliver. I really do admire that man. And I hope you got a kick out of everything we discussed, including his process. Good heavens, the discipline.

[52:56] Drew Gasparini: Hey, make sure to subscribe and rate this podcast wherever you stream your podcast. And I can't stress this enough. Subscribing is free, you bunch of lunatics.

[53:08] Drew Gasparini: You don't have to pay for anything. So stop complaining about it. Subscribe, dammit. Follow my ass. It's not a bad ass to follow.

[53:16] Drew Gasparini: Keep tuning in for more amazing guests. We have a new guest every single Friday, and man, do we have a good time. So continue tuning in. Make sure to rate, make sure to subscribe. Thank you, Ryan Scott Oliver. And thank all of you. Bye bye.