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[0:01] Drew Shade: Yeah, okay. Have you had breakfast?

[0:05] Kim Exum: No.

[0:06] Drew Shade: You haven't?

[0:07] Kim Exum: No, I didn't wake up early. I should have, but I'm just so fucking tired.

[0:14] Ngozi Anyanwu: I'll be feeling like 10 o'clock, I'm so behind already if I'm not like up and...

[0:18] Kim Exum: Yeah, I want to, I mean, yeah, but I'm like, when do I get the opportunity to rest?

[0:25] Drew Shade: True. When do you? You have eight show weeks.

[0:29] Kim Exum: And a baby.

[0:31] Ngozi Anyanwu: And a two show Sunday. Those really make, those are really, those really fuck you up in the game. Not having that Sunday off.

[0:39] Drew Shade: Yeah, two show off.

[0:40] Kim Exum: Yeah, it kind of, it's like, yeah, it sucks.

[0:45] Drew Shade: Well, life sucks.

[0:49] Kim Exum: Damn, I don't think it totally does. We're okay.

[0:54] Ngozi Anyanwu: No, it doesn't. Oh, our hair looks the same and does it?

[0:57] Kim Exum: Our hair does not look the same. My mind is a different kind of chaos.

[1:02] Ngozi Anyanwu: I mean, mine is a little chaotic, but you know, same shit.

[1:08] Kim Exum: Yeah, I'm due for a retwist, but I'm in Ben Salem, it doesn't matter.

[1:12] Drew Shade: Okay, y'all ready to go?

[1:14] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[1:15] Drew Shade: Well, you said you're in Winston-Salem.

[1:18] Kim Exum: Ben Salem.

[1:19] Drew Shade: What's that?

[1:20] Kim Exum: That's where I'm from.

[1:22] Drew Shade: Was that Connecticut?

[1:24] Kim Exum: It's Pennsylvania.

[1:26] Drew Shade: Pennsylvania.

[1:27] Kim Exum: Pennsylvania.

[1:28] Drew Shade: Wow.

[1:30] Kim Exum: I know, doesn't it sound just white?

[1:32] Drew Shade: It sounds so white.

[1:34] Kim Exum: Like the original white people came from here?

[1:36] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh my God, the pilgrims.

[1:38] Kim Exum: Yes, like I was like, it was giving like real like Mayflower.

[1:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, like Salem witch trials.

[1:47] Kim Exum: Yeah, that's in Massachusetts, but similar.

[1:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's similar.

[1:51] Kim Exum: Yeah, like their cousins.

[1:52] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, that's where I'm from.

[1:54] Drew Shade: Wow.

[1:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh my goodness.

[1:57] Kim Exum: Why you like white men?

[1:58] Ngozi Anyanwu: I don't like white men.

[2:00] Kim Exum: Don't do that to me.

[2:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: Don't put that on me.

[2:02] Kim Exum: Don't put that on me.

[2:03] Ngozi Anyanwu: I have dreadlocks now.

[2:04] Kim Exum: I will not be miscategorized.

[2:06] Ngozi Anyanwu: Okay.

[2:07] Kim Exum: I will not.

[2:08] Ngozi Anyanwu: I will not.

[2:09] Kim Exum: I will not take the slander.

[2:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: I will not.

[2:14] Kim Exum: I've been baptized in the blood of blackness sometime ago, and I will not go back and I will not be miscategorized.

[2:20] Ngozi Anyanwu: You could always get somebody by saying they like pink meat.

[2:24] Kim Exum: No.

[2:25] Ngozi Anyanwu: And they'd be like, what?

[2:26] Kim Exum: Oh no.

[2:27] Ngozi Anyanwu: That time was done.

[2:28] Kim Exum: There was a time.

[2:29] Ngozi Anyanwu: There was a time.

[2:30] Kim Exum: My first girlfriend in high school was white.

[2:32] Ngozi Anyanwu: Wow.

[2:33] Kim Exum: Oh, girlfriend and white.

[2:34] Ngozi Anyanwu: Exactly.

[2:35] Kim Exum: It was all wrong.

[2:36] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was all wrong.

[2:37] Kim Exum: It was all wrong.

[2:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: I've never dated a white person.

[2:40] Kim Exum: But I really liked you.

[2:41] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, we know.

[2:42] Kim Exum: We remember your big fro.

[2:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: We know.

[2:44] Kim Exum: You were black and angry.

[2:46] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right.

[2:47] Kim Exum: She liked power fists.

[2:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah.

[2:49] Kim Exum: We know.

[2:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: Never done it.

[2:51] Kim Exum: Her power fist was like just all the way around.

[2:53] Ngozi Anyanwu: Just held up.

[2:54] Kim Exum: It was like just stiff.

[2:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: It just never came down.

[2:57] Kim Exum: No, she had an afro, so they knew better.

[2:59] Ngozi Anyanwu: They knew better.

[3:00] Kim Exum: And I feel like you had like an ankh too.

[3:02] Ngozi Anyanwu: Did you not like an ankh?

[3:05] Kim Exum: Did you have like a pick with it?

[3:06] Ngozi Anyanwu: Did you have the pick with the fist probably?

[3:08] Kim Exum: Right.

[3:09] Ngozi Anyanwu: She probably had the pick with the fist.

[3:11] Kim Exum: Yeah, she's booking a phone call.

[3:12] Ngozi Anyanwu: So she's not taking the phone call.

[3:13] Kim Exum: She's booking a commercial.

[3:14] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right.

[3:15] Kim Exum: She's booking another commercial, a national commercial, and trying to decide whether or not she can do it or not because it conflicts with one of her other commercials.

[3:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, and it's super secret because it's Apple.

[3:33] Kim Exum: Super secret.

[3:34] Ngozi Anyanwu: Or Marvel.

[3:36] Kim Exum: It's a Marvel commercial.

[3:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, it's some kind of Disney product.

[3:40] Kim Exum: That requires her to have white teeth.

[3:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right.

[3:44] Kim Exum: And no nails.

[3:47] Ngozi Anyanwu: She can't have any acrylics.

[3:49] Kim Exum: I missed what y'all was talking about.

[3:52] Ngozi Anyanwu: Because you booked another commercial?

[3:54] Kim Exum: No, my accountant called me. I need to file my taxes because I'm a very rich woman.

[4:00] Ngozi Anyanwu: Come on.

[4:02] Kim Exum: She's a rich bitch.

[4:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: But no, I need to file my fucking taxes.

[4:09] Kim Exum: Oh, my God.

[4:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: I need to take care of my skin. What is happening?

[4:12] Kim Exum: Oh, God.

[4:13] Ngozi Anyanwu: I work too much.

[4:15] Kim Exum: Why are we all just discombobulated?

[4:21] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's spring.

[4:22] Kim Exum: And we're too late, too, because it's spring.

[4:24] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh, my God. We're all discombobulated.

[4:27] Kim Exum: I feel like ever since Kim said double the crack, we have been cracked out.

[4:36] Ngozi Anyanwu: We have all been cracked out with schedules and time and work.

[4:39] Kim Exum: And how we all showed up for Ngozi's thing, I have no idea.

[4:42] Drew Shade: How did you show up?

[4:43] Kim Exum: I have no idea.

[4:44] Drew Shade: I was so proud of you both on a Friday morning. I was like, I'm going to get there.

[4:46] Kim Exum: I got there.

[4:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: I got in the cab.

[4:50] Kim Exum: I had to take a cab.

[4:52] Ngozi Anyanwu: I didn't get in the cab. I took the train.

[4:55] Kim Exum: So you were really on time.

[4:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: I was really on time.

[4:58] Kim Exum: She walked in right when the doors were opening.

[5:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was past 10 o'clock.

[5:03] Kim Exum: It was a little past 10 o'clock.

[5:05] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was 11 o'clock.

[5:06] Kim Exum: I mean, 1101.

[5:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right.

[5:08] Kim Exum: And the doors had just opened.

[5:11] Ngozi Anyanwu: Well, I had a hard time finding the building at first. I forgot where Open Jar was.

[5:15] Kim Exum: Unless you go to Open Jar.

[5:17] Ngozi Anyanwu: Because we used to rehearse there when they first opened.

[5:20] Kim Exum: That's why I knew exactly where it was. It's right around the corner.

[5:22] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's on the side.

[5:24] Kim Exum: The address is on Broadway.

[5:25] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's on the side.

[5:26] Kim Exum: It's so nice.

[5:27] Ngozi Anyanwu: Why?

[5:28] Kim Exum: It's on a street.

[5:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, but it's not on a street that it says it's on.

[5:32] Kim Exum: It's not on Broadway.

[5:33] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's on the side.

[5:35] Kim Exum: It's on 48th.

[5:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's on 48th, yeah.

[5:39] Kim Exum: It's on 48th.

[5:40] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, off Broadway.

[5:41] Kim Exum: Not on Broadway.

[5:43] Drew Shade: I can't.

[5:45] Kim Exum: Okay, let's get started, y'all.

[5:46] Drew Shade: Let's go.

[5:47] Kim Exum: Let's do it.

[5:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: Because Kim has to go, but she doesn't.

[5:51] Kim Exum: Right, but she doesn't.

[5:53] Ngozi Anyanwu: But we also have this interview today.

[5:54] Drew Shade: Okay, so here we go.

[5:55] Ngozi Anyanwu: Let's go.

[5:56] Drew Shade: Okay.

[5:57] Ngozi Anyanwu: There's only one place to learn the latest.

[6:00] Kim Exum: There's only one place to hear the greatest.

[6:03] Drew Shade: There's only one place for your information.

[6:06] Kim Exum: It's the Awkwook Podcast.

[6:09] Drew Shade: What?

[6:10] Kim Exum: Awkwook Podcast.

[6:12] Drew Shade: Okay.

[6:13] Kim Exum: Podcast.

[6:15] Drew Shade: It's the Awkwook Podcast.

[6:22] Kim Exum: No other host like me?

[6:24] Drew Shade: Come check it out.

[6:26] Kim Exum: All right.

[6:30] Drew Shade: It's a brand new episode of Awkwook presented to you by Broadway Black, y'all. We're ready to hit our mark, and we're ready to do it right now. I'm Drew Shade.

[6:36] Ngozi Anyanwu: I'm Ngozi Ayoung.

[6:38] Kim Exum: And I'm Kim Exum.

[6:40] Drew Shade: And we're ready to go Awkwook right now. Ngozi, are you making fun of me?

[6:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: No, I like that. I'm going with your flow.

[6:45] Drew Shade: I'm picking up what you're putting down.

[6:47] Ngozi Anyanwu: Come on.

[6:48] Kim Exum: Pick up what I'm putting down.

[6:49] Drew Shade: What's a send up?

[6:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: When it goes down.

[6:51] Kim Exum: Yeah, I was like, what is that play called? What's a put up when I put it down?

[6:55] Ngozi Anyanwu: What's a send up?

[6:57] Kim Exum: Oh, God.

[6:59] Drew Shade: Oh my God.

[7:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: What's a put up when I put it down?

[7:11] Kim Exum: It's a remix.

[7:12] Ngozi Anyanwu: That's a sequel.

[7:13] Kim Exum: That's a cycle.

[7:14] Ngozi Anyanwu: That's cycle two.

[7:15] Kim Exum: Kim, I think this is the second week that you've named our title.

[7:18] Ngozi Anyanwu: I love it.

[7:21] Kim Exum: What's a put up when I put it down?

[7:24] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh my God. That's funny.

[7:27] Drew Shade: Y'all, it's been a week.

[7:29] Kim Exum: It's been a whole week.

[7:32] Drew Shade: And y'all getting two episodes today because I didn't finish editing last week's episode.

[7:37] Kim Exum: So that's all coming out today.

[7:40] Drew Shade: Along with this one. And that's my main focus today because I literally have been so busy.

[7:48] Kim Exum: I have been so busy.

[7:49] Drew Shade: I have been so busy.

[7:51] Kim Exum: The moment we stopped recording last week.

[7:54] Drew Shade: I have not sat down like for real.

[7:58] Kim Exum: It's been crazy. It's been crazy, crazy, crazy.

[8:00] Drew Shade: But also in a good way. A lot of projects are happening. A lot of meetings are happening.

[8:08] Kim Exum: Things I can't talk about yet, but I'm so excited to discuss them.

[8:12] Drew Shade: This week I went and saw The Life. I went to the dress rehearsal for The Life.

[8:16] Kim Exum: I went to the dress rehearsal. I went to the dress rehearsal.

[8:18] Drew Shade: I went to the dress rehearsal.

[8:19] Kim Exum: Were you at the dress rehearsal?

[8:30] Drew Shade: No, I went to opening.

[8:31] Kim Exum: Oh, you went to open it. Okay.

[8:32] Drew Shade: I went to the dress rehearsal. So we can talk about that.

[8:35] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[8:41] Ngozi Anyanwu: No.

[8:43] Kim Exum: Well, I heard in the New York Times that it wasn't so good.

[8:48] Drew Shade: And Kim was over there. What are you doing, Kim? Are you working?

[8:50] Kim Exum: He's doing tricep dips. Yes.

[8:52] Drew Shade: I'm trying to get my body.

[8:55] Kim Exum: She has a vocal.

[8:59] Drew Shade: Wow.

[9:00] Kim Exum: Doing dips.

[9:02] Ngozi Anyanwu: I really feel like this, this whole next month is going to be like this.

[9:07] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[9:09] Ngozi Anyanwu: There are so many openings in April and like, so.

[9:14] Kim Exum: Like, and it's award season coming in May.

[9:16] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's so much happening, but anyway.

[9:21] Drew Shade: So The Life, The Life directed by Billy Porter, starring a legacy. Alexandria Gray, Antoine Hopper, as well as Ken Robinson.

[9:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah. It was, it was an interesting thing, but you also have to remember that they did this show in eight days.

[9:35] Kim Exum: They rehearse a show eight days.

[9:37] Ngozi Anyanwu: Like all on course.

[9:39] Kim Exum: Yes.

[9:40] Drew Shade: It's true. That's the.

[9:42] Kim Exum: But Kim is like, she's not giving any type of like.

[9:47] Ngozi Anyanwu: In her, in her reasoning or in her.

[9:51] Kim Exum: I didn't see it. I respect the artists that are involved. You know, I, but I just read the review.

[10:00] Drew Shade: And I felt like the reviewer had some valid points.

[10:04] Kim Exum: That I didn't see.

[10:05] Drew Shade: They did have some valid points.

[10:07] Kim Exum: I ended up leaving the dress rehearsal after the first deck because I needed to get to the gym.

[10:12] Ngozi Anyanwu: And also I just felt like I was coming back on that Friday.

[10:14] Kim Exum: So I can, went to see it on Friday as well.

[10:16] Ngozi Anyanwu: And I was like, okay, I'm coming back Friday. Let me give them a little bit more time to, you know, get the stuff together, get the transitions together to maybe, you know, remember their lines.

[10:27] Kim Exum: It was, it was difficult to sit through for that dress rehearsal, but that's also, it was a dress rehearsal. You know, they might've needed to stop at certain points if they wanted, if they needed, I mean, I feel like they should have stopped at certain points, but they pushed through, they pushed through.

[10:40] Drew Shade: And they sang this, they, they, it was some really great music.

[10:44] Ngozi Anyanwu: They sang.

[10:45] Drew Shade: It was some really great music in there. I like some of the, the new arrangements that were happening.

[10:51] Kim Exum: But the, the book.

[10:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: I understood what they were trying to do, but it just didn't land.

[10:59] Kim Exum: It wasn't received.

[11:00] Ngozi Anyanwu: It wasn't well-written.

[11:06] Kim Exum: And I hate to say that because, you know, I love Billy, but it just, I have to be honest. It just wasn't well-written.

[11:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: And Guzzi you're just shaking your head. No.

[11:14] Kim Exum: No, it was not not, no, you're wrong.

[11:16] Ngozi Anyanwu: No, it was not.

[11:17] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[11:18] Ngozi Anyanwu: No, you know, the thing about on course, and it's gotten out of control for it's been, it's been out of control for years.

[11:25] Kim Exum: We should just be.

[11:28] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right. It's supposed to be an encore. It's supposed to be like, you either are bringing back something we haven't seen in a long time.

[11:33] Kim Exum: Right.

[11:34] Ngozi Anyanwu: Or you're revamping it slightly, but it's always been a short period of time. And I, and I was talking, I was asking about it because I was so confused about, because it just felt like it was too much.

[11:45] Kim Exum: And I was like asking about like what, like, what is the rehearsal time? Is this always the same rehearsal time? And then someone was saying to me since Chicago went to Broadway from on course, everybody has been trying to now use this as like a re pitch to try and go Broadway.

[12:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: And so because of that, you have people over choreographing, over revamping, literally trying to do a pitch of like, this would be my idea. Like people are trying to make it their cheap way. It's like their cheap Broadway tryouts.

[12:14] Kim Exum: And so, yeah. And so for years, that's what Encore feels like, as opposed to like the fans of the music, getting to hear that, getting to hear this, like a musical that you haven't heard in a long time, or maybe a musical that's not so popular that they're bringing back.

[12:28] Ngozi Anyanwu: What we're getting is like a Broadway tryout that isn't rehearsed enough, fully funded enough and overblown.

[12:36] Kim Exum: So this was just kind of like another example of that.

[12:39] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was like too much. I'm like, you don't need all these dancers. I don't need these disco orchestrations of the show.

[12:44] Kim Exum: Some of these songs were unrecognizable. I can go on, but I won't.

[12:49] Ngozi Anyanwu: They were unrecognizable. I couldn't tell halfway through the song, what song it was. Like I'm a fan of the show. So I was kind of like, I was really excited to hear the music and especially with the singers that they had. And I was like, the only song that I recognized were, you know, Antoine's and The Oldest Profession that Lettucey did. The rest of it, I was like, it was all so fast and so disco-y. And yeah. Yeah.

[13:14] Kim Exum: And I just didn't understand why the need to redo the entire book.

[13:18] Ngozi Anyanwu: Just because you put a trans character at the forefront. I was like, it actually would have been really special. It actually would have been really special to not actually redo the book. If it wasn't about her transness.

[13:27] Kim Exum: If it was just let her be.

[13:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: And let her just be.

[13:32] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[13:33] Ngozi Anyanwu: Because she's a woman. And also on 42nd street in that time, you're going to tell me that the smartest character Memphis, the villain doesn't like, doesn't know that she's trans. Right.

[13:43] Kim Exum: So like we make that the whole storyline. I was just kind of like dramaturgy. So, you know, they did keep those slurs in there. And they cut the slurs. And I was like, it just actually was like,

[13:53] Ngozi Anyanwu: I get it, but I was, it just didn't serve, it didn't have to serve, it didn't serve the story. I was appalled because the setup.

[14:02] Kim Exum: You're not appalled.

[14:03] Ngozi Anyanwu: Why?

[14:06] Kim Exum: I was appalled though, because—

[14:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: I was appalled.

[14:09] Kim Exum: I mean, I... I was though, because of the way that it came out, like there was no real setup. Like you could tell that they were trying to set it up, early in the first act or throughout the first act, where there were like sort of references to that something was coming.

[14:25] Ngozi Anyanwu: The slurs?

[14:28] Kim Exum: Well, not necessarily the slurs, but like—

[14:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: Not references, they're setting it up so you get prepared to hear the slur.

[14:34] Kim Exum: I mean, the fact that she was trans, I mean, that's what I mean. Like they were trying to set it up, but it wasn't really well done enough for you to like, feel that something was actually, like that was going to be, I don't know how to explain it. Like the—

[14:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: Like a main concept in the story.

[14:49] Kim Exum: Yeah, that's what I'm saying. All of a sudden it was like, the thing that came out. All of a sudden, I was like, huh? But I knew that that was the case, because I, and so I sort of clocked some of the things in the first act that they were trying to sort of hint towards that there was a conflict with her, with this character, that would be dramatic, if you will.

[15:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: But it really came out of nowhere. Like I knew it was coming, but I didn't know it was coming like that.

[15:18] Kim Exum: She's a prostitute, right?

[15:19] Ngozi Anyanwu: In this, I'm not really sure. Everyone is a sex worker or a prostitute. So like, so I'm assuming she's like—

[15:27] Kim Exum: Okay, so I'll say it like this. So she went, so the show's over, so they can't really, you can't see it anymore. But like, so in the first act, they're at the clinic and she's going to the doctor. She's getting her hormone shots. But that was like something that they were, that they were leaning towards to like, show that she was a trans woman.

[15:46] Kim Exum: But it was weird because she's talking to the doctor and she's saying, oh yes, everything seems like it's on course. Like I have, my boobs are getting bigger, this and that, like my hormones or whatever. I don't think she said hormones, but she said all these things that she was dealing with. And he's like, oh, it sounds like everything's on track. And he says, assume the position. And she goes and she turns around and she bends over and he gives her a shot in her ass.

[16:11] Ngozi Anyanwu: The doctor does that.

[16:12] Kim Exum: The doctor does, yes. But it was weird because the dialogue didn't really set us up to know like, what, huh? It just didn't, it didn't feel right. It didn't feel—

[16:23] Ngozi Anyanwu: So she's trans and no one knows it, but she's a prostitute. How the fuck would they not know that?

[16:28] Kim Exum: Well, they also tried to set it up like where she's visiting the mayor. Like she only has like maybe one or two clients and she's—

[16:33] Ngozi Anyanwu: So she's not a very good prostitute.

[16:36] Kim Exum: She only does it when she wants to as a whole thing. And it doesn't make sense because she's the one making—

[16:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: It doesn't make sense because she's a trans woman. She's the one making all the money for her and her—

[16:48] Kim Exum: She's gorgeous, yeah.

[16:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, she's amazingly gorgeous. She's a trans woman in the eighties. She's making all the money for her and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is a coke head and he keeps snorting all the money up his nose. Where are you guys?

[17:01] Kim Exum: Like, how are people—

[17:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: He would be whoring all the time.

[17:03] Kim Exum: Exactly.

[17:04] Ngozi Anyanwu: So it didn't make sense—

[17:05] Kim Exum: And she's gorgeous. She'd be like, oh, let me get this fucking money.

[17:08] Ngozi Anyanwu: Exactly. So it didn't make sense that she was very selective about how she was prostituting. And that, yeah, it just, the book just didn't, it didn't lend itself to that. Now, if you're saying that—

[17:20] Kim Exum: There's also a market for trans prostitutes.

[17:23] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right, so if you're saying that she's visiting the mayor and he's like, you know, basically funding her or her sponsor, that's a different story. But that wasn't what really was written. It was just like, she's visiting the mayor three times this week. And she only has, you know, she only does it when she wants to. And she's not a very good, you know, prostitute. It's pretty much what they were saying. And the pimps are making fun of her boyfriend who is her pimp. And saying that he only has one girl and that he don't know how to, you know, keep her in control because she do what she wanna do. And it sounds like she's running him.

[17:53] Kim Exum: Okay.

[17:53] Ngozi Anyanwu: It just didn't make sense. It just, it just didn't, it didn't make sense.

[17:57] Kim Exum: Yeah, it don't sound like it did.

[18:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: So when it came out at the end and he's like, you know, oh my gosh, discovering that she's, you know, trans and then he's using all of these slurs.

[18:09] Kim Exum: Slurs?

[18:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: So who doesn't know, the Memphis doesn't know?

[18:13] Kim Exum: Memphis is like the sort of like villain of the story.

[18:15] Ngozi Anyanwu: The sort of like meaner, right?

[18:17] Kim Exum: Yeah, he's the meaner pimp of the, like of that. He kind of runs the street. He takes her from his, her boyfriend. And he ain't heard on the streets that she's trans?

[18:27] Ngozi Anyanwu: It would have been—

[18:28] Kim Exum: That's what we're saying, like—

[18:29] Ngozi Anyanwu: In order for her not to be killed. He is the main pimp. Like, he has so many—

[18:34] Kim Exum: I'm assuming she's not post-op because she's like, oh, my breasts are getting bigger and she's getting—

[18:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: And none of the other girls knew either.

[18:41] Kim Exum: Yeah, that, I mean, I could see like, she's not them. This, I don't, can I say, I don't know. I'm not going to say that because I don't know if I can. But yeah, I mean, if she looks, you know, cis enough, I guess maybe like, you know, if she looks cisgendered, then I could see how they wouldn't know. But if you're a prostitute, you're going to make money based off of what you are.

[19:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: What you offer.

[19:09] Kim Exum: Yeah, what you offer. And even if you are, you know, post-op or whatever, it doesn't matter. Men, when people want prostitutes, they be wanting to know.

[19:19] Ngozi Anyanwu: In that particular time period, were the, I guess, like the hormones and things that were offered, were they advanced enough to, I don't know.

[19:27] Kim Exum: So that she wouldn't be clocked.

[19:32] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, like—

[19:33] Kim Exum: Well, it doesn't, if you look at like Paris's burning, you look at like Octavia St. Laurent, like there are some trans women who just literally just never are clockable. It doesn't matter what kind of hormones, they just aren't fucking clockable. They just are not. So that's very possible that she's always just had a more feminine look. But I just don't understand as a prostitute, why one wouldn't just be like, this is what I have because you make more money based off of whatever your niche is.

[20:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: Well, one, it's unsafe. So you really do have to like be very careful with that. But I was just kind of like, for me, the writing wasn't careful. It was like, it was just dramaturgy that you have to do to be like, to make all of this really plausible. And so it just didn't feel, I think in the attempt to be more inclusive, it really actually was not very careful language. It really actually wasn't. And there was like literally a whole berated thing where Memphis just literally just insults her for like a whole month.

[20:38] Kim Exum: And he didn't fucking beat the shit out of her?

[20:40] Ngozi Anyanwu: He's a pimp. Yeah, I mean, there's a song that's essentially a rape scene. Like in the original, anyway, like in the original there's a song where he rapes Queenie as well. Like, so it's like, there's a, but they don't obviously stage this. So like, that's the reason, I guess that that's the reason that, for the rape in this one, for this one, the reason, but at the same time, it's like, I just didn't feel, it didn't feel careful. It just didn't feel, I felt like there was an attempt to be, in its attempt to be inclusive, it just didn't, it didn't work for me. I don't know if it was working, but I'm also not part of the queer community, but it just wasn't, just sense-wise, it wasn't working story-wise for me.

[21:21] Kim Exum: Was the character of Memphis homophobic? Because it's like, if he rapes, if his response is to rape her, you know what I'm saying?

[21:29] Ngozi Anyanwu: Well, this one, it doesn't, yeah, I don't even think that they were trying to explore that particular part of it. Yeah, this one, the women come in and kind of save her, and this one, the women save her. So, but yeah.

[21:39] Kim Exum: Okay, because it's just, that response also is kind of like, you know, I know he's a pimp, but if he's like extremely fucking homophobic, he rapes black men, he would just beat the shit out of her.

[21:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: It felt like this was a stage play called, "'Ain't No Woman Like The One I Got."

[21:53] Kim Exum: What?

[21:58] Ngozi Anyanwu: Like, this was starring Lettucey, on tour, stage play.

[22:04] Kim Exum: Not, ain't no woman like the one I got.

[22:06] Ngozi Anyanwu: The one I got. I mean, that's what I, I mean, I thought that I was going to hear, it just, it was all over the place. It was like splattered paint. So many different elements just splattered all over the place and just blotched down with no real intention or care, or they were drawing so far outside of the lines. And they only had eight days, so it was just kind of like, I was, you know, and I think, and I believe the book is—

[22:30] Kim Exum: Why would you do all of this?

[22:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, and I believe the book isn't that great as well. So I like, I know that the strongest part of that show is the music, but I really wanted to go back into the original book, because I was just like, actually, I don't even, I don't even need the book.

[22:40] Kim Exum: Right. It's a concert.

[22:41] Ngozi Anyanwu: Just give me the music.

[22:42] Kim Exum: Yeah, just give me the music.

[22:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, I was, I was, I wasn't appalled. I was aghast.

[22:48] Kim Exum: Aghast.

[22:49] Ngozi Anyanwu: Appalled and aghast.

[22:51] Kim Exum: And y'all be talking about the New York Times review. But I actually—

[22:54] Ngozi Anyanwu: But I have the power of the New York Times.

[22:57] Kim Exum: Ain't nobody, ain't nobody closing shows because I'm aghast.

[23:00] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right, right. Ain't nobody closing shows because I'm aghast.

[23:06] Kim Exum: And I am appalled.

[23:09] Ngozi Anyanwu: Print it.

[23:10] Kim Exum: Shows already closed.

[23:11] Ngozi Anyanwu: Shows already closed. Ain't nobody, ain't nobody worried about my opinion. I'll tell you that much.

[23:16] Kim Exum: No, it's, I mean, that's the thing about Encores! It doesn't really matter. It's like, it's only running for like this much. People are going to come see it, you know?

[23:22] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, exactly. But the, the review did intrigue me. I was like, I need to see this. Cause I don't, I mean, I can't, but I was like, this actually sounds, even though it sounds crazy, it sounds interesting at least.

[23:34] Kim Exum: But the strongest songs were, the strongest songs were Oldest Profession and My Way or the Highway, which was Antoine and Lettucey. And that, that those were the two songs—

[23:42] Ngozi Anyanwu: And they sounded like the original.

[23:44] Kim Exum: Right.

[23:44] Ngozi Anyanwu: And those were the two songs that garnered Lilius and Chuck their Tonys. They sounded like the original. It's like, those were the two strongest numbers out of the whole show. And they were in the second act. I don't know in what world do we believe that Michael Kilgore is a pimp?

[23:59] Kim Exum: I didn't get that whole young JoJo, old JoJo thing. I didn't get any of that. Like, I was like, what is happening here? And is he gay or is he not? Like, is he—

[24:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was strange. He basically took a story—

[24:10] Kim Exum: Who is he pimping? Did he have any girls?

[24:11] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah.

[24:13] Kim Exum: He didn't have any girls, did he? Or was he like an assistant?

[24:14] Ngozi Anyanwu: Was he like—

[24:15] Kim Exum: An assistant?

[24:16] Ngozi Anyanwu: I think he was like an assistant pimp.

[24:18] Kim Exum: The intern?

[24:19] Ngozi Anyanwu: He was, no, literally like, he was like, what's the assistant to Jafar in Aladdin?

[24:27] Kim Exum: Iago?

[24:28] Ngozi Anyanwu: The parrot?

[24:29] Kim Exum: No, not the parrot. The—

[24:31] Ngozi Anyanwu: Jafar's assistant is the fucking parrot.

[24:33] Kim Exum: Oh, well, maybe I'm thinking about the musical because he's a person in the musical, right?

[24:37] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, but he's a parrot, right? Is his name not still Iago?

[24:41] Kim Exum: I don't remember. I don't know. I've never seen the musical, but anyway, I thought that, okay.

[24:46] Ngozi Anyanwu: Okay.

[24:47] Kim Exum: Or maybe I'm thinking of like, oh, maybe I'm thinking of like the assistant in like Beauty and the Beast to Gaston.

[24:54] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh, okay.

[24:55] Kim Exum: Him.

[24:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: I know who you're talking about.

[24:57] Kim Exum: I don't know—

[24:58] Ngozi Anyanwu: Josh Gad.

[24:59] Kim Exum: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[25:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was like a, like one of those, like a villain assistant position.

[25:05] Kim Exum: Yes.

[25:05] Ngozi Anyanwu: Am I, am I correct?

[25:07] Kim Exum: No, you're correct. And it was strange because I was like, this is a show about two women. And Billy retooled the script to add a flash forward to make this character the center, like another center of the character. It was like Billy put himself in the show somehow.

[25:26] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah.

[25:27] Kim Exum: But it's not about that character. I was like, who's Jojo? Why is this? Why are we worrying about this now?

[25:32] Ngozi Anyanwu: Wait, so this is a character that wasn't in the original production?

[25:35] Kim Exum: I believe Jojo's in the show, but he adds like a flash forward. Like the show starts in like 2020 in like Times Square. And then he, and then, and, and the vehicles to the, basically the, the, the mechanism of the story is to tell it through the eyes of this kind of like—

[25:51] Ngozi Anyanwu: Sidekick.

[25:52] Kim Exum: You know, sidekick character pimp. Like he, you know, and so it's like this. So he adds like a flash forward character that was just, it just didn't, it just didn't work dramaturgically.

[26:00] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right.

[26:01] Kim Exum: And, and yeah. And I'm talking about, that's like, what, where are his girls? Like, if he's supposed to be a pimp, where are his girls? And who is believing that Michael Kilgore is a pimp?

[26:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: Well, I think that, I mean, at the end of the day, anybody could be a pimp, but I think that you have to be smart enough to—

[26:21] Kim Exum: I shouldn't say Michael Kilgore. I should say that this, the character he portrayed, I shouldn't say. I think you have, as a, as a director, as a casting, or whoever, if you're recreating something, you have to be smart enough to play, not say, I shouldn't say smart enough. You have to pay attention to your actor's strengths and who they are and then, and play on those.

[26:40] Ngozi Anyanwu: Huh? The threesome, the threesome thing, I was like, okay, so is he, is this a, I just, I was totally confused, especially when like they had this threesome moment with Ken Robbins, well, with, I should say their names, with Fleet, JoJo, and the girl, Mary. And just the dynamic of how it was presented was like, who is JoJo sleeping with? Like, is it Fleet? Are they, it was boggling my mind.

[27:08] Kim Exum: It was the 80s, the wild time.

[27:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was boggling my mind. And then, you know, he, then it was like the wigs. Think of this one, the 80s, I think.

[27:16] Kim Exum: Yeah, this is like the wigs, the styling of it. Like, it was, it was—

[27:22] Ngozi Anyanwu: Wow, everybody was on coke.

[27:23] Kim Exum: Everybody was fucking everybody. It's fine, free love.

[27:26] Ngozi Anyanwu: I mean, yeah, but like, if that's the intention, then make that the intention. Like that, it wasn't clear. It just wasn't, it just wasn't, it didn't make sense.

[27:36] Kim Exum: It wasn't clear.

[27:36] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, essentially.

[27:37] Kim Exum: Okay, well.

[27:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: You know, they tried.

[27:40] Kim Exum: Cheers to the life.

[27:42] Ngozi Anyanwu: Cheers to the life.

[27:44] Kim Exum: Yeah, but let's be real.

[27:46] Ngozi Anyanwu: The Oldest Profession, she killed it. Absolutely. You got to stand in ovation.

[27:49] Drew Shade: Get your ass off. Antoine killed it as well.

[27:51] Ngozi Anyanwu: Antoine killed it as well. He was the most consistent to me.

[27:54] Kim Exum: Yes. So it was almost like,

[27:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: because he was the most consistent, it felt like he was over the top because nobody was meeting him where he was. It was very odd. I love when people feel like they're in different musicals. That's one of my favorite things, or different shows.

[28:08] Kim Exum: No, he was actually in the show. I'm not saying he wasn't in the show, but when he's in the show, it's like, okay, so this is the show. And then someone else is like, what show was they in? They're in the film version of the show. Or the television series.

[28:22] Ngozi Anyanwu: You know that version in Dreamgirls in the movie? Well, you know that version where they steal the song and they make it a disco number? It's like a song that they ruined. That was this version of The Life. Yeah, it was a disco number.

[28:35] Kim Exum: They steal the song, they stole the show, and made it a disco number.

[28:39] Ngozi Anyanwu: No, not Antoine. I mean, the show was essentially-

[28:42] Kim Exum: The show.

[28:42] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, it was just fast. I was just like, it's fast. I was like, can anyone... I was like, this is my... It was so fast.

[28:50] Kim Exum: It was made for Netflix. It was so quick.

[28:53] Ngozi Anyanwu: Also, I'll be having an issue with these... Out of all the white women that sing, what?

[29:00] Kim Exum: Oh, out of all the white women that sing, how did we get here with this one particular white woman?

[29:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: And this was also the case with... What is the other show that I saw? Oh, Black No More.

[29:19] Kim Exum: I was like, I feel like there's better singing white women in this.

[29:22] Ngozi Anyanwu: There are better presenting for this particular story, white women that could really nail this.

[29:28] Kim Exum: There's so many white women out there. They had other problems besides this.

[29:31] Ngozi Anyanwu: I wasn't worried about the white woman. They just had... Because I just don't know.

[29:35] Kim Exum: The song is actually...

[29:35] Ngozi Anyanwu: I'm saying, why there's white people in it?

[29:38] Kim Exum: The song is a standard psychonin, whatever. I'm curious if they all got surprised with the okey-doke with the disco versions. If they came in thinking they were going to get easy money, the easy way, or they came in with these super fast, quick, I got to squeeze in.

[29:55] Ngozi Anyanwu: I literally don't know how she sang easy money, running down, coming down the hill, throwing up the money. It was...

[30:01] Kim Exum: Was there a hill?

[30:04] Ngozi Anyanwu: She was just running down this walkway, doing disco stuff, running down. Easy money was at this pace, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong. I was like, what in the world? I'm like, is it her? Or was it the orchestrations? I'm really curious. We know Billie just coming off of Pose.

[30:22] Kim Exum: Is that the aesthetic? Is it giving 80s? Is it giving Pose?

[30:26] Ngozi Anyanwu: It's giving Pose. It's giving disco. I don't know what it was giving.

[30:29] Kim Exum: It was giving disco, and it was giving ballroom.

[30:32] Ngozi Anyanwu: Is there a musical about Studio 54? Because that would be fun.

[30:36] Kim Exum: There was.

[30:36] Ngozi Anyanwu: That was this. This was Studio 54 musical.

[30:39] Kim Exum: Get me in that.

[30:41] Ngozi Anyanwu: I feel like this was that. They could have just changed it to Studio 54, Ain't No Woman Like The One I Got.

[30:48] Kim Exum: Ain't no woman like the one I got.

[30:51] Ngozi Anyanwu: That's a 90s song, ain't it?

[30:53] Kim Exum: I think it's a 70s song, but it was revamped. There's a hip hop 90s version.

[30:59] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was a stage play all the way around to me. I enjoy those, but I have to know that I'm going to one. You can't fool me with that. You can't tell me I'm going to an off-Broadway musical, and it's a stage play.

[31:16] Kim Exum: Well, it looks like they had fun at least creating it.

[31:23] Ngozi Anyanwu: I think they did. I think they did.

[31:25] Kim Exum: Lettucey sang. Lettucey has just a gift. Her acting has grown so much.

[31:35] Ngozi Anyanwu: To be fair to her, she's grown tremendously. I also think she just needs more training.

[31:41] Kim Exum: I think she's done these productions where she has to do stuff really quickly because she tours, she does other music, and she does other projects. She does this acting thing in a very short amount of time. I think that it would do her justice to-

[31:54] Ngozi Anyanwu: Take a class?

[31:56] Kim Exum: Yeah, take a class or just dive into it deeper and for longer periods.

[32:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: People be underestimating training and class. People just be thinking they can just go on and say the words. It takes a lot to just say the words.

[32:14] Kim Exum: I'm glad she's done better. The last thing I saw her in was The Preacher's Wife.

[32:19] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, I worked with her on that. That's why we-

[32:21] Kim Exum: Yeah, that's the last time I saw her.

[32:23] Ngozi Anyanwu: But I'm very proud of her. She sings now and tells a story with her voice phenomenally. I'm rooting for her. I'm rooting for everybody a part of that production because they were some solid gifts.

[32:34] Kim Exum: There was talent in it.

[32:37] Ngozi Anyanwu: Absolutely. They just need more time.

[32:40] Kim Exum: Everybody was talented. If you're going to rewrite a book, I think that people also, people just underestimate everything. I'm like, all of these things are difficult.

[32:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: If you're going to rewrite a book, it takes a lot of time. It takes a lot. You're going to revamp music. It takes a lot. All of it is like, it looks easy when it's good because it's good because these people put a lot of time into their craft.

[33:06] Kim Exum: But these things took years and if you think that you could revamp a Tony-nominated musical-

[33:12] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, and make it better in eight days.

[33:15] Kim Exum: And make it better. If you can improve upon a musical that was already made.

[33:21] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, it takes a lot of-

[33:23] Kim Exum: You have to workshop that thing. Y'all should have been workshopping in the pandemic. I should have had Zoom rehearsals before.

[33:27] Ngozi Anyanwu: Not Zoom rehearsals, but encore.

[33:32] Kim Exum: I mean, for real.

[33:32] Ngozi Anyanwu: This is hard. It's hard to do. All of these things are very hard. If you asked me to rewrite a book, I'd be like, I need to take a class first.

[33:43] Kim Exum: I would need to go on a sabbatical for months and really deep dive and just immerse myself in recreating the book.

[33:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: Also, style. There's so many elements to put. And if you want to make it current, it's like, okay, why do we want to make it current? Why do I need this here? How does it serve the plot?

[33:59] Kim Exum: All these questions because the book writer really has to see things from all of the everything, incorporating the music.

[34:09] Ngozi Anyanwu: But I really enjoyed Alexandria Gray. Her voice was something special. I think she needs just a little bit more direction. And this being her first really break into doing theater in this way. And she was very much so like the lead. She had so many songs.

[34:27] Kim Exum: She was the lead of the show, yeah.

[34:29] Ngozi Anyanwu: It was, wow. It was phenomenal to see her carry it like that. Yeah, she was actually really good to me. I think that she just needs, like I said, everybody needed more time, but they all sang beautifully. Michael Kilgore sang, he sings down, so that you can't take that away from him.

[34:46] Kim Exum: You can't take away that Ken Robinson has a baritone.

[34:50] Ngozi Anyanwu: Beautiful voice. I can listen to him sing for days.

[34:54] Kim Exum: Oh, I can listen to him sing anything. I was his understudy in The First Noel, when we did it at the Apollo, he was the father. And so I got to step in for him for a rehearse, but I learned so much from him. It boggles my mind how beautiful his voice is. And yeah, everyone did such, the ensemble, the choreography wasn't giving what I needed it to give, but the ensemble was phenomenal.

[35:29] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah. Well, I'm glad that talent was there.

[35:32] Kim Exum: And I mean, it always is. It's like at this point, it's like-

[35:35] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah. Encores is just kind of like, I don't know.

[35:40] Kim Exum: Yeah. You're just like, okay, they're going to be doing the most with the least, and there's going to be some standout stuff. And it depends on the show, how enjoyable it could be. And that's why I was telling Kim, I don't think you should review shows like this.

[35:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: I think you absolutely should. Review it all.

[35:52] Kim Exum: I don't think you should review the shows like this.

[35:54] Ngozi Anyanwu: What, do you want people to do like a write-up? Like just, this is what it's about, go see it?

[35:59] Kim Exum: Like no, review it, give me your opinion. Just allow it to be, just allow people to experiment.

[36:03] Ngozi Anyanwu: Just allow people to-

[36:05] Kim Exum: No, it's boring that way.

[36:05] Ngozi Anyanwu: Especially if we know Encores is like-

[36:11] Kim Exum: It doesn't matter, review it. It's an eight day thing. Who gives a fuck if it's good or not? People are going to go see it.

[36:14] Ngozi Anyanwu: Well, because this can change people's career trajectory. I would be hard-pressed to see that Billy Porter would get another opportunity to direct a show-

[36:21] Kim Exum: He's going to get another opportunity to direct a show because he's Billy Porter.

[36:25] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yes, but it's going to be, I think, a little bit more difficult to-

[36:28] Kim Exum: I don't think so. You don't think so?

[36:30] Ngozi Anyanwu: No, and Billy also is in a place where if he wants to direct, he can go anywhere and direct.

[36:37] Kim Exum: He can go to, it might not be like starting out on Broadway or off Broadway, but he can go to a really nice regional thing and he can say, hey, I want to direct.

[36:43] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yes, he's done regional stuff before.

[36:49] Kim Exum: Okay, so he can-

[36:49] Ngozi Anyanwu: But I'm thinking like for New York for, yeah, I mean, I don't know.

[36:54] Kim Exum: But also people need to be, it doesn't, people, either way, if the piece is not very good, people are going to see it and register that anyway. So it doesn't matter if-

[37:06] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh, they did. They did register. People were talking that it was not very good.

[37:09] Kim Exum: Exactly. So even if the review says nothing, people have already registered it.

[37:15] Ngozi Anyanwu: But that's the thing about art. We can't be scared of the fucking critique. It's a critique. Who gives a fuck? If he likes-

[37:20] Kim Exum: People get so offended.

[37:22] Ngozi Anyanwu: If he likes the work and if he thinks, if he stands behind, I mean, it's still about the work he put it on there, but it doesn't mean that we're all going to get it or understand it. I think it's an excellent opportunity for people to see where the work falls short. And of course you have to-

[37:37] Kim Exum: And I understood the idea of it. I understood what he was trying to do.

[37:41] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, but what he was trying to do versus what was done is something that is important in art. If you're communicating a piece to the public, it doesn't matter what your intention was, it is what we see. It is what is seen.

[37:47] Kim Exum: And this also wasn't one of the situations where there's a weird cultural divider. They just don't get it or they just didn't like the type of work it was. It was just like, it just simply wasn't up to the standards that people thought it was going to-

[38:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: It wasn't up to what they thought Encores! was going to be. So I doubt that anyone is probably hurt by that review. If he wants to direct, he should 100% keep going. This is not a reflection of who he will be as a director or a book writer or whatever he wants to be. This is an attempt at something that they did in like eight fucking days. And that's it.

[38:36] Kim Exum: I don't know, but I love a review because I don't get to see shit. So I get to read it and then I can ask people who saw it what they actually thought. Sometimes it aligns, sometimes it doesn't, but I don't know.

[38:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: I like critique. It's fucking art. It's meant to be critiques.

[38:53] Kim Exum: Yeah, I feel you. Okay.

[39:03] Ngozi Anyanwu: I know we're going to probably get some people are going to be upset about us talking about this in this way, but I don't know. I just, I feel like, you know-

[39:08] Kim Exum: You're not fabulous all the time.

[39:13] Ngozi Anyanwu: You're not fabulous all the time. You're not, no one is.

[39:17] Kim Exum: Come please review the podcast. We are not fabulous all the time. We fall short. I fell short probably three times in this podcast today. You go see Book of Mormon, some days I ain't it.

[39:23] Ngozi Anyanwu: Some days I'm not it. I ain't it. You know, like in some days I'm it, but like you are not always perfect. You like, I don't understand this massage of ego. Like, are you going to continue to create art? Whether the review was good or bad?

[39:34] Kim Exum: Yeah, probably.

[39:40] Ngozi Anyanwu: Fuck what we think. Just who gives a fuck? Who cares?

[39:49] Kim Exum: Anyway, sorry.

[39:49] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah. Soapbox. Get on there.

[39:56] Kim Exum: Get on my soapbox.

[39:56] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah. Okay. We're going to move right along. That was the beginning of the week. That was the beginning of the week. What else? What else?

[40:05] Kim Exum: Yeah. I went to see Jazmine Sullivan in concert because I needed the break. I needed something different. And that was-

[40:10] Ngozi Anyanwu: I know that was beautiful.

[40:10] Kim Exum: Everything. It was amazing. But also the kids be drunk.

[40:17] Ngozi Anyanwu: People really do be drunk as shit.

[40:20] Kim Exum: Oh my God. Like-

[40:20] Ngozi Anyanwu: If you're not drunk, that's how you'd be realizing you like people are wasted.

[40:24] Kim Exum: Yeah. Like, and then as soon as the lights go off and the concert starts, the blunts come out. I used to be one of those. I used to be one of those that would have the blunts ready rolled and smoking in a concert. But now that I am, I am not smoking anymore. It was like, oh my gosh, this is, this is offensive.

[40:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: Welcome to my world.

[40:43] Kim Exum: Welcome to my world. Thank you. I'd be so offended by how could you please stop smoking?

[40:48] Ngozi Anyanwu: This is really offensive. Like it's so heavy. It's so like, I cannot breathe.

[40:53] Kim Exum: It is so much like I'm, I am now high because do I need to like start my sobriety over because I have inhaled-

[41:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh, you're crackling. You're popping. So just sit back on the gate. Is that what it's called? The gate?

[41:06] Kim Exum: Is that better?

[41:15] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[41:15] Kim Exum: Okay. No, I was like, do I need to start my sobriety over because I've inhaled so much smoke tonight? Like I, am I high now? Do I even remember what it feels like to be high? Because I am just so engulfed with smoke and weed smoke and people are falling on me because they're drunk. Like-

[41:39] Drew Shade: Yes. People at the Book of Mormon be wasted, wasted at a Broadway play. So if they wasted there, then they definitely wasted everywhere else. People be drunk. And it was like kids that like, it was like younger kids that like, I mean, I shouldn't say kids, but adults because they're drinking age, but like this is their first time getting drunk or something. Like they're new to getting drunk. They're in the beginning years of drinking. They just be getting drunk at every event, probably.

[42:07] Kim Exum: Oh my gosh.

[42:08] Drew Shade: Right. Yeah, we used to do it. I mean, I used to be wasted, but I mean, I used to be drunk as fuck. Like back then when I was a young kid on the streets, I'd be drunk as shit and not care. I mean, I guess it's a part of being young and like that's how you're exploring your freedom. And hopefully it doesn't turn into a problem. But like, yeah, people be drunk. People be drunk, people be high, people be three sheets to the fucking wind. And it's so distracting.

[42:42] Kim Exum: It really is. Yeah, it was distracting. And also, I didn't plan on going to this concert. I wanted to get tickets for it. They sold out very quickly. But the day of a friend of mine, a friend of a friend ended up having an extra ticket. My friend couldn't go. And so she ended up offering me the ticket. And the friend of a friend works at a radio station. So me and her became really cool. And we hung out that night. It was really great. I ended up meeting Tiana Major, who was the opening act, her publicist, and coordinating with them. And we were in the pit, like right in the front. That's a really great video. She sounded amazing. It was a good show. It was a good show. I needed that. I needed that break away from the theater to see something that I really enjoyed and an artist that I really love.

And I've loved for many, many years. Before Devin Sullivan even had a debut album, I was on YouTube listening to Around Midnight and her YouTube videos and stuff. That was my thing. I would download the songs off of YouTube and make them mp3s and put them on my iPod, my iPod player, my iPod mini. Break My Little Heart?

[43:54] Drew Shade: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, so good. Sing, Kim. Sing, Kim. Oh, I used to love her.

[44:02] Kim Exum: Anytime you start singing, I think about,

[44:11] Drew Shade: So that was really great. What else happened this week? In Guzzies? Okay. Oh, y'all, it was good. We didn't have to talk about this. Like, oh, it was so good. So imagine me going to see In Guzzies musical on Friday morning and then going back to the life that night. It was, it was, it was, it was something I actually, I actually saw this. I didn't read a review and pass judgment. I actually was there. It was good, y'all. It was really good. Steven Pasquale. Is that how you say his name?

[44:47] Kim Exum: Steven Pasquale. Pasquale. Pasquale.

[44:51] Drew Shade: He was good. I'm going to start, I'm going to just be calling him Pasquale because. He's one of those that like, I, if I was like a casting director, he, he's just like, he's an ease to watch. Like I believe that anything, he's one of those actors. This one, one of those things that I really love about old, he's not old, but like older white men or men, white men who are entering into that little middle age to old, they have this don't give a fuckness quality about their performances where they just be going with it. And if they make a mistake or it doesn't matter, it all feels a part of the thing. And so I love watching.

[45:35] Kim Exum: They're also, I mean, there's a carefree to the privilege behind being like an older, straight white dude. But, but because of that, I love. I, at sometimes like they're just like a joy to watch, like, and, and Terrence man, I mean, he was just beyond. Yeah. I mean, I, I was out of my, I felt it felt like when I was watching MJ and I felt like I wanted to jump out of my fucking skin because I was like, he was so good. The girl, what's her name? Sam, what is her name?

[46:06] Kim Exum: Samantha Williams. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's wonderful. She's great. She was in Carolina change. She played me and Carolina change. She's so cute. And she also played, I want to say Alana back in.

[46:22] Drew Shade: Yeah. Yeah. She's a perfect Alana. Like she's, she's, she, that teenage thing, that angsty. She's so cute. She's got it. Oh, it was so perfect. She's, she's, she's she's a star. She was perfect for this role. Like she was literally spot on. I believed her every moment. She carried the show very nicely. Her and Steven Pasquale together was so balanced and beautiful. And, and it felt natural. It felt like that was her, her dad. Like it was, it was so well written. We got every point we got. Oh my gosh. I mean, no word, no word was like unnecessary. Everything moved the way that it need to. It was, it was compacted in the way that it needs to. It moved beautifully. Oh my gosh. I just, I haven't seen anything. Thank you. The Asian woman or the, or the gender non-conforming young woman.

[47:19] Kim Exum: Oh, the Asian woman. Oh, so the, the one who played the, the father's like love interest. Oh, that's Pearl's son. I like her. She's an ugly name.

[47:32] Drew Shade: Yeah. I don't, I could be wrong, but I don't think she's ever originated anything on Broadway. I've seen her in a bunch of things on Broadway, but she's just like one of my favorite actor people. I really enjoy her. She's also, you had a lot of the cast was full of people who I would love to watch in other things. Like, I mean, I love, they're just great actors. Yeah. It's one of those people where I'm like, I would love to see them on a show, shows, movies, other musicals. It's like, they need, they need these original roles. It's like when you see really talented people that need original work to be able to be seen in that way. People are so used to, you know, replacements and they're used to thinking about the original person of that role.

And they don't really see the talent in that, that regard. And so they need works like this that show them in a light that is, oh my God, like her, she crafted her song so well, like through speak singing. And I'm not normally like a speak singing person that likes, you know, oh, like I'm moved by, you know, you have to sing to me, like, but she crafted her song. Like you could tell that she could sing, but she was acting throughout the entire, like everything was a choice, like a vocal choice and acting choice. And they came together so beautifully. I, I, yeah, I was good. I cried.

[48:52] Kim Exum: Yeah. I didn't cry, but I could see where you could cry. No, it was, it was a Lilius. I, uh, that, that, that, I mean, I felt if I could feel it in my, in my chest, even like the first scene when she, she, the first thing when she sold the tampons, I couldn't even feel it then, like knowing what was happening and then his, you know, reaction toward it. Oh yeah. It was just, it was just really, um, it was, it was heart achingly. And Terrence, man. Oh, he's a, he's a legendary. Give him the Tony, right. Give him the Tony and all of the awards right now. For the reading. No, literally he got a standing ovation in the reading. I mean, he took that mic, went to the, I mean, he, again, that carefree, he don't give a fuck.

But then like, he took the moment and like, he, he milked, he milked the moment. Oh, and like, he's a clown. You call him ham sandwich. He even used my laughter to like take another moment. Like it was, it was brilliant. He was so present. I mean, that's the type of, like when I did that Tempest, those kinds of actors, I think we're in that, like those Red Bull theater type of people, the people who be acting, when I say they, those white men be taking those moments, they, they be like, no matter what happens, like, that's what I, that's why I love older fucking actors. The white women, the women be doing it too. And the black people be doing it too. But I'm just saying like, you know, coming into the room, you know, Lilius and Terrence were just so like, whatever. Yeah. You got, you mind if I do this? I'm not even going to ask. I'm just going to do it. So we were like, that's in the script now. That's in the script now. That was not before.

[51:03] Kim Exum: See, and that's the type of shit that'd be like, if I was going to give a white, if I was going to give a white person an Antonio, here's me for that role right there. For a reading.

[51:11] Drew Shade: Because even in the differences-

[51:14] Kim Exum: Cause it was just so brilliant. It was just so brilliant.

[51:18] Drew Shade: It's just the age, like, it makes me look forward to getting-

[51:21] Kim Exum: It was baffling. I was aghast in the good way.

[51:24] Drew Shade: I mean, to aging with acting, because like, even like when you're watching, like, Samantha, who is a star, you know, she's a young star, but her approach, I mean, to material, I mean, she was approaching the material like a young actor, you know, like a young actor would very much like, you can see she's focused. She's this, it's, she's, you know, taking, still having fun a little bit, but still, but these older actors, man, they are like, if it don't matter, it don't matter. Like I know what I'm doing. I know what the fuck I'm doing. And if y'all don't, y'all gonna like it. Cause I know. Cause I'm a fucking expert and I'm a, I'm a milk this. I'm a come out here. What's that plan? Him coming out there with the mic?

No, I didn't think so. I didn't think so. He did something in rehearsal the day before. And I said, you know what I like about you Terry? And he's like, what did I do? What did I do wrong? What did I do wrong? Go ahead. Tell me what I did wrong. And I said, no, no, no, no. I just want to encourage you to ask for, and this is the playwright that I am, until I pull you back. I'm like, I like how you ask for forgiveness and not permission. And he went, so you know what you've just done? I'm like, I did. I do. I see tomorrow. So he did that. And he definitely.

[51:38] Kim Exum: Yeah. So unafraid and they've been doing it for such a long time. Right. So like Lilius and Terrence, you know, they did Barnum together originally. Right. So they just, they've, they've originated so many workshops, so many readings. They know what to do.

[51:52] Drew Shade: They just know what to do. So their, so their energy really fed everybody else. Cause they're just so un-precious and un-diva like, even though they are clearly divas of the theater, you know what I mean? So I think they just really also-

[52:37] Kim Exum: Yeah. I want him to have his own musical. I was like, right.

[52:40] Drew Shade: There is a, there is a, with that character, there is a spinoff. Like there is.

[52:47] Kim Exum: Called Dave.

[52:48] Drew Shade: Right. No, seriously. There really is. Like, I want to know more about Dave, more about Dave is the name of the musical.

[52:54] Kim Exum: More about Dave.

[52:56] Drew Shade: All right, y'all let's move on. We got Nadia Brown in the building right now.

[52:59] Kim Exum: Nadia will be joining us. I'm popping again?

[53:02] Drew Shade: Yeah.

[53:04] Drew Shade: All right. We got Nadia Brown in the building, y'all. Say hello to Nadia.

[53:08] Nadia Brown: Hi.

[53:09] Drew Shade: Nadia, what's going on?

[53:10] Nadia Brown: Hi. Very nice to see you again, Drew. Very nice to meet you.

[53:13] Drew Shade: Pleasure is mine. Say hello to Ngozi and Kim. These are our co-hosts for Off Book Podcast.

[53:20] Nadia Brown: Hi Ngozi and Kim.

[53:21] Drew Shade: And we're actually moving into the hot topics. Nadia, you're going to join us for hot topics this week.

[53:25] Nadia Brown: Beautiful.

[53:26] Drew Shade: Yeah. Listen, let's get it started. Nadia Brown is a classically educated arts worker, having trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, UK, the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University and graduated summa cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College.

[53:43] Drew Shade: Nadia is currently, she's currently starring as Rose in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway and is the social media ambassador to Arts Workers United and to be an arts hero campaign. You can view some of Nadia's videos on her website, nadiadenisebrown.com. Am I saying that right?

[54:05] Nadia Brown: Yes.

[54:06] Drew Shade: Awesome. Awesome. Nadia, I'm so happy to have you here.

[54:09] Nadia Brown: Thank you so much for having me.

[54:10] Drew Shade: Of course. Of course. Now I see you at the Civilian Hotel. What are you doing over there?

[54:14] Nadia Brown: Okay. You can recognize the background, right?

[54:17] Drew Shade: Mm-hmm.

[54:18] Nadia Brown: Actually, it's my birthday this week and so I threw myself a little birthday party last night, sang at the Civilian, sang in Midtown, so it'll be easy for me to get to work tomorrow and celebrate my birthday.

[54:29] Drew Shade: How awesome. Now you didn't invite us to the party.

[54:32] Nadia Brown: I'm sorry, y'all. I'm sorry. Well, this is really the celebration, the podcast, okay?

[54:37] Drew Shade: Come on. Yes. We love to see it.

[54:39] Nadia Brown: Now you're also the host of a new show called The Green Room. Talk to us a little bit about that.

[54:44] Nadia Brown: Absolutely. We partnered, being Arts Hero, partnered with Ovation, the Ovation Network, to create a series, a six-episode series, just to inspire people to learn about the arts and culture sector. It's by art workers, for art workers, and ultimately, we would love a secretary of arts and culture in the cabinet. We would love a cabinet-level position for our industry, and that includes everyone who works behind the scenes, in front of the camera, on stage, all over, all over the country.

[55:13] Drew Shade: Talk to us a little bit about some of the guests that you have on the show and what some of the topics are that make people want to tune in. You talk about the secretary of arts and culture. One of the episode titles is How Did the Arts Become Partisan? Talk to us a little bit about the education that you're delivering.

[55:32] Nadia Brown: I got to talk to different economists. I got to talk to people who are in the forefront of understanding, researching how much money our industry actually creates. And it's, by the way, $919 billion per year that we generate for this country. And kind of relate that in a fun and interesting and palatable way to an audience who might not know a lot about economic facts and whatnot, but just can hear and listen and take it simply, in simple terms, layman's terms, what we contribute and why it's important. And of course, partisan, when anything comes down to money, which our industry definitely does, this is why it becomes a partisan issue.

[56:31] Kim Exum: Yeah. So how are you feeling over at Harry Potter?

[56:35] Nadia Brown: Oh, I love it. I'm so glad we're back. It was actually really cool because this show, The Green Room with Nadia Brown, was the last thing I did right before I started rehearsals. And so it was just a nice thing to talk about because I had been unemployed for a long time, auditioning and doing the thing, creating my own work and doing the thing that we were all doing. But being unemployed for that amount of time was definitely tough, hard on all of us and hard in so many different ways, whether it was health insurance or whether it was mental health or whatever it may be. And so it was great to work on something that felt helpful and felt like I could use my voice and a platform to speak on this as a black woman, as a woman of color, and as a young person to speak to hopefully younger generations of people who will watch the show.

And then literally it was like a week later I started rehearsals and I was back at Harry Potter. So it was kind of just like a nice jumping off point and also nice to bring the knowledge that I got through filming and shooting that back with me, back to Broadway, back to the stage and kind of have that, all of that, inform my time back, all the time off that I've had where I've become an advocate for others, myself. What was your favorite part of filming The Green Room?

[57:52] Nadia Brown: Oh, honestly, honestly, I don't know. It was so much fun. You know when you go on set and you just make family immediately, you're like, oh, okay, teleprompter guy, you my homie. Like the executive producers, you're amazing. Like it just, it was a small tight knit group. I had a friend do my makeup for the show and she's also a dancer. She has like a million like titles under her what she does, you know? And it felt like we're a family, a small tight knit family making this project. And it was also just fun to let loose. I was just standing in front of a lavender screen. It's called The Green Room, but I stand in front of a lavender screen. It's mostly me, just kind of being silly, dancing, doing funny voices. Like I really got to be my silliest self while also talking about real topics and real issues. So it was, I think I was just happy to be myself. Like really just be unapologetically me in front of hopefully a lot of viewers.

[58:49] Kim Exum: I love it. Yeah. Well, it will be a lot of viewers. People will definitely tune in and will tune in. And also speaking of talking about, you know, all the topics and the current events and stuff, we're going to go into hot topics with you. I don't know if you listen to our show, but we talk about everything that's happening as far as castings to shows and things that we've seen and all sorts of things. So the hot topics this week are a little sizzling. They're a little sizzling. I mean, just a little bit, you know, I'd like to think so. So let's go. Let's hit it.

[59:33] Nadia Brown: All right. Here we go. Hot topics. So number one hot topic really this week was that David Allen Greer, Louis Gossett Jr., Tamela Mann. A lot of people joined. Dionne Cole, Stephen Hill, Felicia Mopsby. Is that how you say her name? I don't know how to say her name, but Felicia M. Posse. What do they do? They joined the cast of the Color Purple film.

[1:00:04] Kim Exum: Oh, okay. I was like, what is this leading?

[1:00:11] Nadia Brown: They joined the cast of the Color Purple film that's slated to hit theaters December 20th of 2023. And so they joined, you know, the previously announced Fantasia and Danielle Brooks. But to see David Allen Greer in there, Louis Gossett Jr., Tamela Mann, like those names were like, whoa. I'm like, what are they doing? I thought they announced all those videos. What are they doing there? So along with Taraji P. Henson's Shook Avery, Greer will play Reverend Avery, a role not featured in the stage musical. And Gossett Jr. will play old mister. So the older mister. And the young Celie is the Felicia that I talked about. And then Tamela Mann is a first lady. I don't know if, I feel like she, will there be church ladies or she's just the only church lady?

Maybe they stay working out the contracts for the other ladies? I don't know. I don't know. But yeah, so she'll be first lady. Dionne Cole is Alfonso and Stephen Hill is Buster. Wait, who is Alfonso? I don't know. It's a movie. They made it. You can't be doubling up in the movie. You got like the stage, you know, so.

[1:01:38] Kim Exum: I don't remember Alfonso though. You got to have a whole screenplay.

[1:01:42] Nadia Brown: I don't recall either. And I saw both productions, the original and the revival.

[1:01:47] Kim Exum: Yeah, but we'll see. We'll see.

[1:01:49] Nadia Brown: Oh my goodness, y'all. Do you know who is directing the film? The director is the same guy that did Black is King for Beyonce.

[1:02:00] Kim Exum: Yes, right? Okay. It's going to be a thing.

[1:02:07] Nadia Brown: Blitz. Yeah, Blitz. Child, I'm so glad you said it. And Guzzi, I was going to say Blast, but I thank you.

[1:02:11] Kim Exum: Oh no, Blitz. He's like one of my favorite musicians. I just remember him. He used to be called, like his group was called Blitz the Ambassador. They were like a hyper version of like The Roots. And then he started directing his own music videos and then he became like a feature director and a novelist. So I'm tracking him. He's fellow African, so yeah. So yeah, that's going to be great. I'm excited for the Color Purple film. They keep revealing stuff that's like, ooh, I can't wait. And they're filming, they actually started filming, I think this past week. And they film all the way through June, but the film doesn't come out until 2023.

[1:02:46] Nadia Brown: Which I feel like, damn, y'all, can we get it earlier than that? Like shit, a whole year and a half?

[1:02:50] Kim Exum: No, they got to get it right. They got to get it.

[1:02:53] Nadia Brown: Yeah, you don't want it to rush. You don't want it to rush.

[1:02:57] Kim Exum: Can't have an eight day, no.

[1:03:04] Nadia Brown: I mean, I hear you, but not, you know what, I can't.

[1:03:06] Kim Exum: Can't do an encore schedule. Encore film. Mama Perry schedule. Mama Perry should do encores.

[1:03:14] Nadia Brown: I mean, he fit right on in. Let's talk about theater etiquette. Patti LuPone went on The View talking about theater etiquette.

[1:03:18] Kim Exum: Of course she did. After she got hit in the head with flowers. I saw that. That was hilarious.

[1:03:24] Nadia Brown: They were throwing flowers and she got hit. They were like probably saving the flowers, the whole show, to throw at Patti LuPone. And they hit her ass in the head with flowers. And it was just like the timing was just like so right because she was standing there and I was like, oh, they're probably like, now is the time. And as soon as they threw it, she started to bow. And so the flowers hit her in the head. It was so funny.

[1:03:46] Kim Exum: It's funny. Have you ever had instances like that, Nadia, where like the theater etiquette or people have done things crazy at your show?

[1:03:49] Nadia Brown: Nothing like that. But, you know, our audiences are actually, they're really great. But most recently, it was so exciting. We had a dog in the second row.

[1:04:02] Kim Exum: Oh, I love a dog.

[1:04:10] Nadia Brown: But it was the cutest, like, it was a Labradoodle. And it was so cute. And truly, truly. So first, it was exciting for this one moment where we're all on stage and we're jumping up and down. It was like jumping out of the seat, jumping into its owner's lap. Like really, it was with us. During a really emotional, like, under scene that like the lead two characters are like going through it, their relationships being tested. I saw the dog watching us. And it was like, so in it. It was going through the emotional journey with us. Honestly, it revived us like we it was a tough I think it was a two show day that day. And we were tired as the second show. Our show was long. So we got a needed much needed boost from that dog in the second row.

[1:05:39] Kim Exum: Didn't you see the show recently, Kim?

[1:05:44] Kim Exum: I did. You took your daughter. You took Izzy.

[1:05:46] Kim Exum: Yeah, I took my daughter. She's like three. She'll be four in April. But I took her. She was there. The whole thing. Like she she enjoyed it. Towards the end. But I mean, I think everyone did because it's long. But, but it was really cool. And she liked it. It was it was good. I mean, I'm a big Harry Potter fan. And I saw the first part before the pandemic. I didn't see the second half. I have, because y'all have, it was like, I saw Wednesday matinee, but then I had to go do my show. And so I was like, man, the second half, but then the pandemic happened. So I never got a chance to do that. But I, you know, thankfully got to see this, but I, you know, enjoyed it. It was, it was good. Coming.

[1:06:44] Nadia Brown: Yeah, I think Yeah, it's, it's, it's stagecraft is incredible. Like the fucking illusions and the magic. It's, it's totally unbiased. Like, it is like nothing. I remember I had the lucky chance of seeing it as well, because I was able to see it while I started rehearsals. And I just I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. So it is unreal. We it's all physical. It's all us. You know, it's really fun. It's really fun.

[1:07:03] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[1:07:04] Nadia Brown: Yeah, that's awesome. I love it. I love it. Patti did have some advice for the people that want to throw flowers at her. She said, first of all, that is a huge compliment when roses are thrown on the stage. So I appreciate it very much. She also says, however, one should throw underhanded and not overhanded, and one should aim for the feet and not the head. Sure. And you would take the thorns out of the roses also. Sure. She said, I wish the person that did it would come forward so I could thank them. And they should get credit for making a lot of publicity for the show because they're probably so embarrassed.

[1:07:44] Kim Exum: Yeah, listen. And she was on she was on the view on St. Patty's Day. So that was a popular meme throughout the days. You know, happy St. Patty's Day because she's in our name is Patty. You know, that shit was so funny. It was so good. It was so good. It was just timed very wrong. I hadn't said.

[1:08:03] Nadia Brown: Yeah. MJ to launch the North American national tour in 2023. The show is so amazing. I wonder who they're going to have go on tour as Michael. I need about three or four, right. Three or four Michaels to do that show because, my God. But also, I know it's time for, you know, Nadia is going to be taking the place of Kim for the rest of the show because Kim has got to go to a voice lesson that she was, you know, working out and doing her warm ups.

[1:08:29] Kim Exum: And I still probably ain't warm. It's fine.

[1:08:31] Nadia Brown: Well, you've got to stop doing this. Why? Why are they holding auditions at 10 a.m.? Did you get some good advice about warming up in the morning so you can sing in the morning?

[1:08:39] Kim Exum: Oh, yes, I did. I mean, I've always like worked out beforehand, but I mostly just ran, I think, a high intensity interval training. A HIIT workout would probably do me good better than just the running because, you know, you're just like sustained. So like that, I think that would probably, so I'm going to do that. Wake up earlier. So I wake up at seven for like a 10 o'clock, wake up at six. Of course, hydration, certain exercises, making sure you don't warm up for the actual song, but warm up for your whole voice in the morning. So your lower, all that, head, chest, mix, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and going to bed early. That was a big one. Brianna actually sent me that tip. And even if it sounds like common fucking sense, but like, you know, the night before you're always like, okay, do I know this? Do I know this? And you're getting to bed. But it's like, I think that going to sleep early is also going to be like a big deal. So tonight I will be laying my head down maybe around like 10.

[1:09:05] Kim Exum: I'll just go to bed with Ezzy at 830.

[1:09:07] Nadia Brown: 830. I'll probably be up at five.

[1:09:10] Kim Exum: Okay. I mean, then you'll be warm. You're right. But I got to go.

[1:09:12] Nadia Brown: Okay. We love you, Kim. I'm going to send you the, I'm going to send you the, I'm going to send you the list of the letters so you can send me a voice note of what your answer will be.

[1:09:21] Kim Exum: Oh, okay. All right. Yeah. Just send me a voice note. I'm sure you want to answer.

[1:09:54] Nadia Brown: Okay. To get up at six. Jesus.

[1:09:25] Nadia Brown: Oh my God, is it me? Is it really about me?

[1:09:55] Nadia Brown: I'm so excited. I got an experience where I had an anxiety attack and had to leave mid-show, which has never happened to me.

[1:10:02] Drew Shade: Really?

[1:10:03] Nadia Brown: It really was that. It was the night before. I was up until 3 AM doing an audition, speaking to a friend on the phone, just not taking care of myself, right? Went to sleep. It was a two-show day the next day and we spit test for COVID, so we need to not eat, drink anything for half an hour before. And I drive to work usually because I live in New Jersey. So what I thought in my brain was, okay, I won't eat anything or drink anything at all. I'll get ready for work, drive to work, do my thing, grab some coffee and smoothie, whatever, an acai bowl, get to work, and then spit, and then start to hydrate and start to eat the nutrients I need and blah, blah, blah. And I only had 20 minutes. We also do a physical warm-up at Harry Potter, which is different from most shows, I think.

We show up an hour and a half before instead of a half hour. So we always put up together for 20 minutes. And then I do my own vocal warm-up and then we have our normal getting ready hair, makeup, whatever. And so my situation was, I spit doing the spit test, and then for 20 minutes I was just pounding my coffee, drinking water for the first time that morning. No, no. Then went to our warm-up to do abs and all of this, and I was totally nauseous from that and my anxiety made it worse. And when I realized from there since then, because that was about two weeks ago now, the most important thing I can do is take care of my body. As a performer, that's absolutely number one. And I needed something like that, a low, low point for me to understand, like, wow, I can't do the show if I think I'm going to vomit, all of act one.

And the anxiety of it made me sicker, it felt like. And it's simply the importance of when I wake up, drink my entire water bottle, or drink a lot, a good chunk of it, like hydrate, as soon as I wake up. Doesn't matter about the spit test, we'll wait the half hour at whatever point. Just doing things that will make sure that my vessel is at its peak, I can perform. I think I forgot that I was a human being for two seconds and needed to take care of this so I could do my job.

[1:12:08] Drew Shade: Oh my goodness. That's wild. A panic attack or anxiety attack in the middle of the show, then you can't bring it back down. It's like it keeps going, it's like, oh my gosh, the show is still happening.

[1:12:21] Nadia Brown: Exactly. Our show, the first act is about an hour and some change, and a lot of my work is that. My character has a lot in the first hour. And my castmates are like, okay, name five things that you see, name four things that you can hear. That's the level where I was getting hot and I was starting to panic and I wasn't sure if it was my hypochondria, if I was actually sick. It was a whole, lots of things were compounding. And it's like, just take care of yourself. Just take a minute. And I'm so glad I left. My understudy, amazing, Stephanie Gomarez, she went in for me mid-show. I've never had that happen where I had to leave. And it's like I made the call intermission, it was like I cannot continue.

[1:13:06] Drew Shade: Wow. Well, it's glad that you recognize that and you're able to make the adjustments you need in order to move forward. Man, that's crazy. But yeah, keep taking care of yourself. That's important. Keep taking care of yourself.

[1:13:17] Kim Exum: Let's go on. Let's keep going on with the hot topics. What else? What else? What else? This coming week is the Oscars. If you haven't checked it out, the Oscars are on the 27th. Is it?

[1:13:32] Drew Shade: It is.

[1:13:33] Kim Exum: So looking forward to seeing if Paul Taswell wins the Oscar for costume design for West Side Story. He's the first Black male to be nominated for an Oscar for costume design. He falls behind. He's the second Black person, or I shouldn't say second Black person, but he's the first Black male. But Ruth E. Brown won. She was the first Black woman to win an Oscar. And also Erin DeBose is going to collect her Oscar. There's not even a doubt about it. She's collected every other award, the BAFTA, the Critics' Choice, the SAG, the Golden Globe. She literally has every award imaginable for this role. And so there's no doubt that she's going to collect the Oscar. So tune into that on Sunday.

[1:14:26] Drew Shade: Hamilton closed at the Hollywood Pantages last night. I don't think I ever would hear of a closing of a Hamilton production. I just did not imagine. But their London show closed pretty early, like pre-COVID, didn't it? I feel like their London show did not. I could be wrong. I don't know. It might be reopen now, but I feel like their show, I feel like their London production did not last as long as people thought it would.

[1:14:46] Kim Exum: Interesting. I could be wrong.

[1:14:48] Drew Shade: Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. Don't get me the line. But that's just odd for me to hear that the show is closing. I mean, because it seems like it's still selling.

[1:14:58] Kim Exum: Yeah. Another show that's still selling is Disney's Aladdin. They celebrated their eighth anniversary on March 20th.

[1:15:03] Drew Shade: Wow.

[1:15:04] Kim Exum: Yeah. Right. Like, come on, eight years on Broadway. Shows that closed also were on Sugarland. But I, you know, I still have a great mind of hearing that Sugarland is going to come back to someplace else. It's just- It was gorgeous. I saw it closing weekend.

[1:15:21] Nadia Brown: Oh, beautiful show. I just, like, wept, like, in waves. It was just, like, just, I was just, it was, the performances were just, wow. Beautiful.

[1:15:35] Kim Exum: Yeah. I saw it Saturday afternoon. I was just weeping on them after that show was over. I was weeping on everybody. I was like, Billie Eugene Jones' work was absolutely gorgeous. Ade was, she was lovely. And it stars Kiki Layne.

[1:15:48] Drew Shade: Yeah. She was also really lovely. The ensemble was wonderful. It was really giving.

[1:15:54] Kim Exum: It was. Yeah. And it's closing too early. It needs to, it needs to go someplace. And I'm hearing that it just might.

[1:16:06] Nadia Brown: Oh, that's wonderful.

[1:16:07] Kim Exum: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nadia, do you get to see a lot of shows since you were in a show? Like, do you, Kim always complains about that. She never gets to see anything because of the schedule.

[1:16:13] Nadia Brown: I, I'm considering, seriously considering, like, planning nights off, strategic nights off, so I can.

[1:16:18] Kim Exum: Yeah, it's, and this new schedule for us is different. I'm having.

[1:16:24] Nadia Brown: Yeah, because they, yeah, they compounded the show, right? So it's not two parts anymore.

[1:16:29] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[1:16:30] Nadia Brown: So I think part of maybe me not taking care of myself is me still trying to adjust to the new schedule. We're at a normal Broadway schedule now because we used to have two days off, which was nice. And I could see Tuesday night, Tuesday evening shows. But now, yeah, we're Tuesday through Sunday.

[1:16:46] Kim Exum: Wow. Now what made them do that? What made them, you know, cut the show down to, to one part instead of the two parts?

[1:16:51] Nadia Brown: I think it was to make it more accessible to just so that more people could see for like, you know, just like it's easier to see one show rather than as, you know, Kim was mentioning, like I had something to do, so I couldn't see the full story all in one go. It's two Broadway tickets, you know, so it's like now it's, it's just easier to see the one show. And it's actually more fun for me. I'm busier, but it also takes more out of me for sure.

[1:17:17] Kim Exum: Understandable. Well, you know, another hot topic is that Daniel Radcliffe said he is not interested in doing a film adaption. It's not something he's really interested in doing right now. And he has no interest in, in really he's moved on, I think from the Harry Potter franchise. I think he wants to do other things. I mean, he's, he is coming to Broadway in another show. If I'm right now, it's off Broadway, but it'll probably be off Broadway.

[1:17:38] Nadia Brown: Yeah. It's a New York theater workshop is he's doing Merrily They Roll Along.

[1:17:45] Kim Exum: Yeah. Yeah. Which of course it probably will go to Broadway. Isn't that how that works?

[1:17:49] Nadia Brown: Yes, probably. That's too much money for them to not have.

[1:17:56] Kim Exum: Yes.

[1:17:59] Nadia Brown: They're like, yeah, we'll try it here. And then yes, I'm with it. I'm like, I have to say I am interested in being in a Cursed Child film adaption. Like, yes, I don't know what character I would play. I know I play a child, which is easier to play. Like on stage, of course. But yes, yes, it's I and it's also still rumored. There's it's all a rumor.

[1:18:23] Kim Exum: Nadia's like, call me. I know you. I know I'm available.

[1:18:28] Nadia Brown: Yeah. Yeah. I represent this. Let me get them on the phone.

[1:18:31] Kim Exum: Yeah.

[1:18:36] Nadia Brown: I love that. Speaking of taking over a role, Jewel Blackman took over Persephone at Hadestown. She's replacing Lana Gordon. I don't know what happened. What happened? Because Lana wasn't on there for very long.

[1:18:47] Kim Exum: I have no idea. Not at all. Maybe like a week or two. Maybe she's going to another show.

[1:18:51] Nadia Brown: OK, I hope so.

[1:18:52] Kim Exum: Yeah. No. Yeah. But I don't know. She was just announced. She just started literally, literally just started.

[1:19:02] Nadia Brown: Yeah. So but but Jewel Blackman will be taking over the role. You know, they've been having a lot of of mix and matching and placements over there at Hadestown, which is great. But I think Jewel Blackman will do wonderfully in the role. So she'll take over for the world full time starting April 3rd. And they also had sore, sore joy, Ross. Sore joy is going to be succeeding Blackman as a fate, performing alongside Jesse Shelton and Kay Trinidad. So that's phenomenal.

[1:19:32] Kim Exum: I love sore joy. I did a show with sore joy. Actually, me and Sarita did a show with sore joy. Sarita over at Harry Potter. That's my girl.

[1:19:38] Nadia Brown: Yeah, she certainly made her Broadway debut maybe a year or two after we did the first Noel at the Apollo. So that's how I know her. And she also recently went on and made history. Talk to us a little about that. What was that like?

[1:19:49] Kim Exum: Yeah, I know that you were really excited for her.

[1:19:51] Nadia Brown: So excited. It was it made me so emotional. There was a lot of history made that week. Actually, we had Rachel Leslie go on as the first woman of color to play Ginny Potter earlier in the week. And then that same day, both Sarita Amani Nash and Kevin Angulo. Kevin played Harry Potter, the first person of color to play Harry Potter. And Sarita Amani Nash was the first woman of color to play Delphi Diggory. The villain, sorry if this is a spoiler. But it's a big role. And I was so happy to see her so proud to see her. I get to share a room with anyone who plays Delphi. So we were in the dressing room like lit when the stage managers called like, Sarita Amani will go on for I was like, hyping her up all the way we were filming it.

And it was just it was so beautiful. She did such a brilliant job. She's such a brilliant performer in all ways and all the roles that she plays at the show. But it just it felt different. Like it felt like, wow, finally, why did it take so long? And you know, like, and she's gorgeously talented. And so it's such a humble spirit, such a kind person. So I'm very proud of her. And I'm also very proud of Sora Joy. Sora Joy was the lead in the first Noel. A lot of the people that we worked with in that show are now, you know, on Broadway doing shows. Ken Robinson, I said earlier in the show that that I was his understudy. He was in that show. Ayanna George, who is is Catherine Jackson in into the musical.

She was in that show as well. Jason Michael Webb wrote that show. A lot of people that were Michael Kilgore was in that show as well. Who else? It was I mean, oh, man. Adam, I can't think of his last name right now. But I can't think of his last name.

[1:21:28] Kim Exum: I just saw him last night because Amber had a Amber and Justin had a birthday party at Glass House. Adam, Adam Hyman. That's his name.

[1:21:41] Nadia Brown: Yeah. They just had a birthday party at Glass House. And so everybody was there at Glass House last night, like all sorts of cast MJ, Tina, everybody you could think of was there last night. It was just so crazy.

[1:21:54] Kim Exum: I've never seen that many black people inside of Glass House since I like our Tony party.

[1:22:06] Nadia Brown: Yeah, so it's phenomenal. So, yeah, congratulations to all those people and sore joy and enjoy black. I can't wait to see you in Hadestown. I'm going to be coming to check you out.

[1:22:14] Kim Exum: Check, check, checking it out.

[1:22:21] Nadia Brown: I think the song I noticed this Dreamgirls, but that was a that's also the life. Check, check, check it out. Check it out.

[1:22:26] Kim Exum: Yeah. OK. Yeah.

[1:22:30] Nadia Brown: Yeah. I did. I did the check, check, checking it out from Dreamgirls. But then it's check, check, check it out.

[1:22:34] Kim Exum: OK.

[1:22:35] Nadia Brown: Yeah.

[1:22:36] Kim Exum: I know I'm not crazy.

[1:22:43] Nadia Brown: No, you're not crazy. Also, what else am I missing? I feel like something else happened that I can't.

[1:22:50] Kim Exum: Oh, Norm Lewis is going on tour with the Soldiers Play.

[1:22:53] Nadia Brown: Yeah. Isn't that crazy? I mean, it's not crazy, but like I was very pleasantly surprised.

[1:22:59] Kim Exum: Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm bringing for you. You said it's short.

[1:23:05] Nadia Brown: It's also a short tour. It's like a 20 week tour.

[1:23:09] Kim Exum: I mean, that ain't that short. It's like five months, right?

[1:23:12] Nadia Brown: Yeah, that's true. That's long enough. That's that's a long time for me. Just that ain't that short, you know, for him to be going to make some money, come right back. I mean, he'll make he's going to make.

[1:23:18] Drew Shade: Yeah. He's going to make a coin with that. Yeah. I think that's good for this week. We covered a lot of things that are happening, but Ngozi, I do want to say again, the musical that you wrote was absolutely phenomenal. I can't even... Baby, it could go... Just put it up right now, straight to Broadway. You don't even need an out-of-town tryout. Just go ahead and start the rehearsal for Broadway. Tell the money people. The money people are there. We'll see. Okay. And so now, I do also have a ball to pick because you said there wasn't a role in there for me. What's the role that you could pick? And I just feel like I can play the teacher. That's a non-gender role. That's going to be a woman. There's this, I love you.

That's going to be... But it could be a man. It could, but that's not the track. We're figuring out the ensemble tracks. I mean, I also could be in the ensemble. The book writer knows what the tracks are going to end up being. And you're the book writer, yes. And I'm the book writer. That's why I'm speaking in third person. I could be a high school basketball player or one of the artists in the cohort. I love you. You're not a high school basketball player in this track, in this version of the show. Yeah. But I see where I could be. I'm racially ambiguous. I could cover multiple roles in there, in the ensemble. I love the pitch. No, seriously. There were some students in there and they were also the artist in the little, the artist cohort or what have you that could really... I could sink my teeth into it.

Also, maybe I could just shadow Steven Pasquale. And maybe Dave doesn't have to be as old either. Maybe I could just... Dave was in NAMM. Okay. Okay. True. It's true. Okay. Right. And it's meant for a star cameo. So it's meant for a... It's a cameo. It's meant as a... So you're saying I'm not a star. Okay. It's meant for a 70-year-old star cameo. So yeah, it's just... But there are... Maybe you might need a couple more ensemble people just to round out the cast. We're still trying to secure the five or six of the producers that... Peter's like, how many do you need for ensemble? It's deep. Trying to make these shows, the first thing that they do is not compliment. It's, so what's the size of the band?

What's the size of the ensemble? How many covers? That's how it is for these commercial shows that you're trying to make. So it being good, and I think what we made is good, is like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, they go to brass tacks first. So it's a really... I'm learning a lot working on this. Considering what we've seen on stage... Commercially bound. Yes. Considering what we've seen on stage, and the storytelling that we've seen, or the lack thereof, this is a no-brainer. This is a no... The music, the story, the way it seamlessly flowed, the cast already, it's a no-brainer, which is why I'm like... They really don't want to spend... People do not want to spend money. So it's an interesting... I feel good.

I feel quite confident that we'll get some sort of offer of some sort. This week, we kind of find out from the lead producers if theaters have offered us... You know what I mean? Or if other producers have added themselves on, because that's kind of what we did. The first reading was to just kind of be like, it was a coming out party for the producer, for Tamar Kleinman, who's really great, who's been the lead producer. And it was a coming out party for her, because this is her first time leading a show as a producer. So this is a coming out party for her, and making sure that the piece was strong enough to be like, all right. And so there were producers who were in that audience, and associates, and theaters.

So now it's waiting to hear if we get a theater, if we get something else, and then what's the next step after that. But it's funny, when you say like, oh, there are tracks, but it's really like, they have to figure out that. We have to revamp some music and look at orchestrations, but it's a whole process. And I'm a playwright, so I'm way more impatient, and I'm used to, I wrote the play, let's do the play. But I got to wait for the composer and the orchestrator to feel really good about it. I got to hear the notes of the producer to see how they want to finagle the story, because it's one step of many steps. And then it's also picking the director, picking the creative team, and being like, because it's not like you can just go into productions.

If we get a production, we have to have a workshop before that production. For a musical. So it's just, it's a whole thing. I'm like, okay, well, I just wrote the book. I hope y'all, bye. Good luck with that, you guys. I mean. Yeah, I know it's not very difficult. Bye, guys. You know, so we'll see. Fingers crossed. I felt good about it, but you know, you never know. Because you're right. You see shows and you're like, this is on? Damn. Right. You know, you know. And then you see readings that are really great, and then you're like, what happened to that musical? It was so good. You know, so we just don't know. Yeah. Oh, man. Well, we're gonna move right along. We have a listener letter for this week.

So it's time for that section of the show. Because, you know, I'd be dragging it. I'd be dragging a show on, Nadia. Because I like talking to my folks. We talk too much, it's true. But that fills you with joy. That fills the soul. What's your sign, Nadia? You're so pleasant. Well, thanks. I'm an Aries. You're an Aries. So you got a temper, though. You got an other side, though. Yeah, I think. You got a secret side. I have Pisces energy. A lot. Yeah. Yeah. We love it. We love it. We love it. We do love it. Do we not love it? No, we do. We do. I just like your vamping while you're, while you're. While I'm looking for the, while I'm looking for the email. Oh my gosh, you know me so well. So yeah, I think we have.

Did we do that? Oh, I don't think we listened. We didn't do a listener letter last week, did we? No, I don't think so, no. So I'm gonna, I might save that one. So this one is. Okay, so here we go. It says, hi, everyone. I love the show. This is a throwaway email. So let me give you a name you can say on air. Hang on, let me make it a good one so Kim doesn't come for me. My name is Xavier. Let me try not to make this a dissertation. Y'all had no letters for a minute, so leave me alone. I've been listening to the show for a long time, and Drew, Amber, and Dania helped me get through some rough times. And I also want to let Drew know how much I appreciate having Kim and Ngozi as the hosts now. Kim is so real and unfiltered, and Ngozi is my hustle role model.

Oh, I love that. I appreciate that. So this question, I would really appreciate Ngozi's perspective, but I love you all for real. So please, any and all advice is appreciated. I am a playwright. After years of grinding and getting rejected from any and everything, I finally got my first professional opportunity. This opportunity has been a launchpad for successful playwrights in the past, and I am wondering what advice you might have for a playwright to stay in the game. It was a long time to get my foot in the door, and while this opportunity is by no means Broadway or anything like that, it can be the start of a career. What advice do you have for pre-professional playwrights, and how do I go from emerging to where Ngozi is? Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you.

[1:30:47] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh, I appreciate that much love. That's beautiful. Yeah, it is beautiful. One, congratulations. Congratulations, first of all. I would also say find strong collaborators and not yes people. You don't hire a director to boss around, right? You hire a smart director and smart actors because they actually tell you more about your play than what you wrote, right? So just make sure you hire smart people who know how to also speak to each other. It's a hard time, so I also think hire smart, kind people. That's it, because I think that that's the only thing that makes what we do worth it. You can do all the success stuff, and if you just really keep writing, when you're working on another play, having another production, whatever this opportunity is, make sure you're working on another play.

Make sure you keep it going. Make sure you're always having, if you have time, have readings with your friends before you even walk into rehearsal, so you're also solid in what it is that you made, right? A lot of people, you've been making this thing in a silo by yourself, so now you're like, I've made this brilliant thing and no one can tell me anything about anything, and that's just not the case, right? You're going to have awesome actors who are also going to have their opinions, and their opinions doesn't mean you have to redo rewrites, but take in what they have to say. Take in what your director has to say, because this is a collaborative art form. At a certain point, the piece runs away from you, and encourage, and let that be okay, right?

The actors, it starts off being your play, and then it's the director and actors play in rehearsal, and then it's the designers play in tech, and then it's the actors again, and then it's the audiences, right? So just like there are just phases, and it's mourning, right? I always think being a playwright is essentially like giving birth, and then giving the baby away to your next-door neighbor, hoping people really like your baby, never getting credit for really being the mother, hoping it doesn't get arrested, hoping people like it, but people kind of forget about you. So it's like a beautiful, fancy, wonderful thing, and enjoy it. Just keep writing, keep enjoying it, have a good time. Writers are the scribes and the timekeepers of this thing, right? So be humble, but also let them put some respect on your name, too. Don't let them not do that, you know what I mean? If you do that shit, you did that shit. Hopefully that's helpful.

[1:33:25] Drew Shade: You did that in Guzzi, you know what to say. That's why I love you. That's why I've been trying to get you on the show long before you were on the show. I was trying to get you on, I said, oh, and Guzzi would be perfect here. Because it's busy. I mean, get her while she's hot. She's booked. Get her while she's hot before she's too tired. Right, and we still need to plan our trip to London, too. It's getting warm, we should go soon, because I'm getting tired. I mean, you got soon money? No, I mean, I have soon, I can go to London.

[1:34:04] Nadia Brown: Okay, so you can give me a loan.

[1:34:06] Drew Shade: I don't have that kind of, I don't have a loan.

[1:34:09] Ngozi Anyanwu: Okay, okay.

[1:34:11] Drew Shade: Have you been to London, Nadia?

[1:34:14] Nadia Brown: I have, I studied there.

[1:34:16] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yes, you just, duh, like you live there.

[1:34:19] Nadia Brown: For two months, best summer of my life.

[1:34:22] Drew Shade: Wow. I did a Shakespeare play in 11 days. I considered doing a, I think they call it BA, their MFA is called a BA, I think, or an MA. I considered training there for school. But ultimately, I'm glad I chose to come back to New York, auditioned for grad schools here. I didn't get anywhere. But a few months later, I booked Harry Potter, and the rest is history.

[1:34:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: Right, hello? What more do you need at this point?

[1:34:43] Drew Shade: I love it. Do you have any advice that you would want to give to people that may be following in your trajectory or in your footsteps and trying to navigate their way in this industry?

[1:34:51] Nadia Brown: Totally. I have to absolutely piggyback and say that collaborate, making sure that you're working with smart people is like, absolutely. Because there's just so many, there's so much to learn from anyone at every point of your career. I still have so much to learn. And I do feel like, especially where I'm at right now, I call Hogwarts my grad school. I feel like I'm still learning. I feel like I'm getting the discipline and the education that I would have wanted from a program in the show. But still, even though I've reached this point, there's so much, I have so much to go, so much to learn. I would just say, audition for as much as you can, put yourself out there as much as you can, learn people, network, trust yourself.

There's so much work on every level, be it, again, taking care of yourself. I have to keep going back to that. Remember you're a human being first, do all the steps that you need to make sure that you're at your best self. And then just remember to never stop learning and never stop taking in and being a sponge in any situation, any space that you're in, because you never know what each moment can teach you and how you can bring that to your next place.

[1:36:05] Drew Shade: We love it. Awesome. Well, we thank you so much for joining us, Nadia. You've been amazing.

[1:36:10] Nadia Brown: Thank you for having me.

[1:36:12] Drew Shade: Tell us a little bit, tell us about where we can find your show, The Green Room, and a little bit more information about that so we won't forget.

[1:36:20] Nadia Brown: Absolutely. It premieres this coming Wednesday, March 23rd, which is also my birthday.

[1:36:26] Ngozi Anyanwu: Oh, my sister's is March 22nd.

[1:36:28] Nadia Brown: Oh, really?

[1:36:29] Ngozi Anyanwu: Yes.

[1:36:30] Nadia Brown: Happy birthday to your sister. It's tomorrow.

[1:36:32] Drew Shade: Oh, is that okay? I'll call her. Okay. Thank you. Okay. I'll call her. I'll send her some money.

[1:36:38] Ngozi Anyanwu: I know. What day is it?

[1:36:39] Drew Shade: Thank you. That was helpful. All right.

[1:36:41] Nadia Brown: March 22nd. Oh my God. That's tomorrow, Ngozi.

[1:36:44] Ngozi Anyanwu: Thank you.

[1:36:46] Nadia Brown: And then the next day, Ovation's The Green Room with Nadia Brown.

[1:36:50] Drew Shade: Yes. Awesome. Thank you so much, Nadia. We appreciate you.

[1:36:55] Nadia Brown: Thank you. You made my morning.

[1:36:57] Drew Shade: Oh, no. You made our day. Thank you. This has been a brand new episode of Off Book, presented to you by Broadway Black. We've hit our mark and we've done it right now. I'm Drew Shade.

[1:37:01] Ngozi Anyanwu: I'm Ngozi Ayahu.

[1:37:03] Nadia Brown: Nadia Brown.

[1:37:05] Drew Shade: And we out, y'all. Till next time, we've gone Off Book. Bye.

[1:37:07] Ngozi Anyanwu: Peace.