This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jayke Workman: Yes, yes, the rumors are true. I did get cowboy Carter tickets.

[0:15] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Oh my god, guys. Take that.

[0:20] Jayke Workman: Hi, Jake and the podcast. Oh my god, that's a good time.

[0:27] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, oh my god, you guys! What's up, everybody? My name is Jayke Workman, and this is Oh My Pod, you guys, a musical theater and pop culture podcast.

[0:40] Jayke Workman: You guys, okay, let me just say, my journey with this podcast has been ebbing and flowing as of late. You may have noticed I didn't have an episode for a couple of weeks.

[0:53] Jayke Workman: Okay, okay. Things get busy. People have things going on, myself included, and I just I have to say thank you to those who have just stuck it out with me for a moment.

[1:07] Jayke Workman: Uh things get crazy, you guys. And I love, love, love doing this podcast, but sometimes it truly does become just so kooky gracy in my life.

[1:20] Jayke Workman: Um, juggling uh theater work and uh non-theater work, aka working at the bar. Um, so yeah, it's been a crazy little uh month, if you will. I've had uh a particularly strange down month.

[1:36] Jayke Workman: And I know that I'm not uh alone in that. The winter is crazy. Things get really weird in uh the drearier, darker months, mental health wise and otherwise.

[1:47] Jayke Workman: So, yeah, but I am back this week with a lovely interview with my darling Diva dear Miss Tia Altinay. Um, and I cannot wait for you to meet her and know and love her because she is amazing.

[2:01] Jayke Workman: Uh, but before that, you guys, we have to dive into this week's Broadway World Recap, brought to you by my amazing pals at Broadwayworld.com. And you guys, let me just say, since my little uh interim, my vacay, if you will, um, shit's going down on Broadway, okay?

[2:25] Jayke Workman: Things are happening. So let us dive right in. First things first, you guys, friend of the pod, Miss Linady Yenow is set to join the Great Gatsby on Broadway in the role of Myrtle.

[2:41] Jayke Workman: And I could not be more excited for her. I know that this was a long time coming, and she found out about this long, long ago. And Broadway World finally was able to share the announcement.

[2:51] Jayke Workman: So congratulations, Miss Linady, on uh getting to join the show. What an amazing accomplishment. I am so excited to see her in this role.

[3:00] Jayke Workman: And in addition to that, it was also announced that Austin Colby is set to take over the role of Tom Buchanan in the show. After he has previously covered the role, he's also covered the role of Jay Gatsby in the show.

[3:13] Jayke Workman: Uh so very excited for you, Mr. Austin Colby. And special little shout out because uh when I saw Austin's wife, Miss Caroline Bowman, in the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway, I took a very little uh sneaky special video of Austin uh during the curtain call because he was front row of the mezzanine, and I was far enough uh down in the orchestra that I was close enough to the stage to be able to sort of turn around and look up and see him up in the mezzanine, and it was the most special, lovely, adorable, amazing uh curtain call to watch and to see his reaction.

[3:53] Jayke Workman: So I took a video and um he posted it, reposted it on his Instagram. Uh and it's just so exciting. I'm just so happy for both of them. So yay, Linady and Austin, congratulations on joining the Great Gatsby on Broadway.

[4:10] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, we got the crazy kooky casting announcement that Titus Burgess is set to join O'Mary for a limited engagement in the role of Mary Todd Lincoln. And honestly, I cannot think of someone better suited to play this absolutely wack-a-doodle role than Titus.

[4:34] Jayke Workman: I mean, it's just perfect casting, and I kind of can't believe that like none of us saw it coming, or like none of us like had this thought because it when you when you think of a show as unhinged as this, it's kind of like yes, this just makes total sense.

[4:52] Jayke Workman: So I am very, very excited for Titus to uh play this role starting in March for a very limited time. So you guys run to get your tickets to see Titus's. I was gonna say Titus Andronicus. Titus, not Andrama, this. What? Just see O'Mary, okay.

[5:13] Jayke Workman: Oh my pod. Okay, also, you guys, I just a little side note. This is a Broadway World uh, you know, sort of update because we got beautiful production photos from the show, but I also had the personal pleasure of getting to see my angel angel, friend of the pod, and friend in my life, Miss Danny Quadrino, in the City Center production of You're in Town.

[5:37] Jayke Workman: You guys, this show is crazy. I had actually never seen a production of You're in Town, and the show was um unfortunately so so timely and relevant. I was like, uh oh, this hits a little too close to home. Um, but also it was phenomenal.

[5:55] Jayke Workman: It was such a stacked cast. Rain Wilson, you guys, as officer. Nope, that he did not play Officer Lockstock, he played Cladwell. Cladwell, he was phenomenal. Uh Greg Hildreth played Lockstock, he was phenomenal.

[6:11] Jayke Workman: Freaking are you kidding me? Jeff Hiller was uh truly the sleeper hit of the entire show. He was absolutely phenomenal in this show. It was just superb. I had never seen a show quite like it, but the performances were amazing.

[6:31] Jayke Workman: Stephanie Stiles, okay, let me just say it right now. She she doesn't need to know this or hear this from me because she has 51,000 followers on Instagram. Stephanie Styles is who who are you? Who is she? Why have we not gotten more of this person in our life?

[6:48] Jayke Workman: She was absolutely phenomenal as Hope Gladwell in this show. I need her as Glinda, I need her as Elle Woods, I need her as everything. She was superb. And then, of course, not to mention this idiot, Danny Quadrino, just hamming it up per usual, looking fabulous.

[7:10] Jayke Workman: I mean, the singing, obviously, the dancing, sure. Ma yes, it's working. It's giving life. He is so funny. The show was just fabulous. So if you have the good fortune of catching one of the final performances of Year in Town at City Center, you better relish in it, bitch.

[7:28] Jayke Workman: And you guys, this has been the Broadway World Recap. Oh my pod, you guys. I am so excited to welcome my next guest to the show. She is uh truly a bona fide Broadway diva.

[7:44] Jayke Workman: And a pal of mine from Chicago the Musical on Broadway. Please welcome Tia Altinay.

[7:51] Tia Altinay: Hey, you guys, Hip Pod guys. Thank you so much for being here. I always I usually start the pod by asking um where you're calling in from, but darling Diva Dear, she is live and in studio today.

[8:03] Tia Altinay: Babes, she's calling in from this beautiful couch. The luxury studio. Yes. Yes, she's here live and in person. I do love that we literally have full studio lighting, and I'm not even recording the video.

[8:14] Tia Altinay: I'm obsessed. It's literally like full like blowout lighting. And my skin looks flawless for just my voice. Should we record the video?

[8:24] Jayke Workman: I mean, I don't know. That's like, should we? Pause. We're pausing the pod. We're live. How do I look? We're on screen. We're on camera.

[8:33] Jayke Workman: Okay, we're back. Oh my god, we're back. What was I saying? Oh, yes. Okay, well, welcome to the pod.

[8:40] Tia Altinay: Thank you so much. I'm so glad you're here. We have much to discuss.

[8:42] Jayke Workman: So happy to be here. I kind of can't believe that we um only met like a few months ago at Chicago.

[8:50] Tia Altinay: I know. I mean, what a testimony to just like energies, you know, connecting and like you know what I mean? Like, but really though, just to being like, oh yeah, I don't need to know you that long to know that I'm like, no, I I I can I yeah, that's good.

[9:04] Tia Altinay: I was gonna say like I was gonna cuss, and then I was like, oh yeah, I need to like I fucked with you. I fucking like it. Like, yeah, like I literally was like, wait, okay, yeah, I fucked with him. I fucked with it. Title of episode.

[9:14] Jayke Workman: Yeah, title of episode I fucked with him. I fuck with Tia.

[9:17] Tia Altinay: Um yes. So what would you tell me? I mean, we're gonna dive into you know all of it, but would you tell me specifically about your um path to Chicago as as like your current job?

[9:29] Tia Altinay: That like I'm not okay, let's see. So Chicago. I auditioned for well, LOL, you might have to edit most of this because this might be just like whoa, she really didn't. So cut to like I'm three years old.

[9:42] Tia Altinay: No, I'm just gonna just like way back. Um I was gonna say the I had someone remind me just recently that I did indeed audition for Chicago when I first first first first first got to the city a million years ago.

[9:57] Tia Altinay: Because and I had totally forgotten, and then they reminded me of the exact specifics, and I was like, oh my god, you're totally right. Because everybody did. It's like it was like the show. Like you didn't like you you wanted to be in it.

[10:08] Tia Altinay: Like, of course you're auditioning for it. And it's like that staple of like it's not going anywhere. It yes. Well, at the time I didn't even know if it was going anywhere. It just was more like it's a piece. You know what I mean?

[10:18] Tia Altinay: Like it's a traditional it is the show, it comes with history. Um at the time the show didn't wasn't, you know, giving you 28 years, but like Fossey, you know what I mean? Like and ranking, like if you can be a part of something like that, like you want to be.

[10:33] Tia Altinay: Absolutely. It has a legacy, if you will. Yes. Um, so anyways, um, someone reminded me of that. But as far as me being in it right now, um, I actually auditioned for it. I just had come off of injury.

[10:45] Tia Altinay: I had like majorly injured myself in my last show. Oh, I didn't even know that. Oh my gosh, so dramatic. Like surgery vibes? Yes.

[10:52] Tia Altinay: Okay, T. Terrible. Which was Some Like It Hot. Okay. Yeah, we can get into that too if we need, if we want. I don't know. Maybe someone will learn something from it. Don't get injured.

[11:00] Tia Altinay: It's terrible. That's the takeaway. The takeaway is don't get injured. Here's my advice. Because it's a buzzkill. T. Um, but yeah, so I had just come off of injury, and I was obviously had like no confidence and was like, I don't even know if I can do this anymore.

[11:16] Tia Altinay: You know, just feeling really shook. And um I oh my gosh, my phone, my like watch is ringing. Amazing. Okay, um, we're back. Um, historical.

[11:29] Tia Altinay: Um, so I got this audition for Chicago, they were looking for a replacement, and I was like, it's still been a dream. You know, I've been in New York like almost 20 years, and I still have never been in Chicago, and it's still a dream.

[11:44] Tia Altinay: And okay, yes, you're just off of injury. Do you think you can do this? You know, all these things are going through my head. Right. And I'm like, okay, Tia, just like go and see what happens.

[11:50] Tia Altinay: So I went, didn't book the track. I was like, wait, but I know. You know you have those auditions where you're like, I killed it. Like, I I I finished the audition and I actually was like, oh my god, I killed it.

[12:00] Tia Altinay: Right. Right. I'm back. Like I'm on Broadway. I'm I'm back. Like I'm gonna be back on Broadway, like like this injury, like I'm back. Yes. And then I didn't book it. And I was like, wait, the disillusionment.

[12:17] Tia Altinay: Literally, wait, I'm sorry, did Broadway hasn't called, I'm confused. So I didn't book it, and I was like, oh, fine. So I was like, maybe I, you know, maybe it's not for me, whatever. And um uh I was working on a marketing job and was just like, you know, it's fine. Broadway marketing. Anyways, um, working in a marketing job. Broadway marketing. Yeah. Is that a little too close to home? I think it might have ended up. I have felt that way in a couple of jobs. Like being an usher and being like, hmm, I think this is just too close to the sun. Yeah. A little too hot. Um, so I was, you know, resigned. I'm I am, if nothing, I'm a hard worker. I am you know all the things. So make money. All of that.

So I was doing that. And then seemingly out of nowhere, like a year later. Whoa. See. Um, I got a phone call. Hey, would you be interested in, you know, we have a maternity leave coming up? And I was like, Yes. Yes. Like, literally, nothing in my body was like, let me think about it. Yeah. No. The answer was like, yes. Um, which is also why I knew that I was probably not in the right space. Like, you know, like my workspace. I was like, okay, clearly I'm not like in love with what I'm doing right now. Drops. Literally, I just like walked out of the office. Yeah. You have your box with your plant and already, like, yeah, like it was like already packed. Didn't even know that I was getting the call.

I'm kidding. Um, but yeah. So, anyways, this is I don't know if this is interesting or not, but like literally, I had not auditioned for quite some time. Yeah. And it just felt like a moment in my life where I was like, okay, I'm not really sure I'm loving what I'm doing right now. I'm also not putting as much energy into auditioning as I should. Um, really looking for a sign here. Yeah. And then there it was. Per plunk, like literally right in my mind. Wow, that's so amazing, though. Yeah. I mean, I feel like we've talked about it so many times on the pod, but like the way that things just ebb and flow, and like it's just not linear for anyone. At all. So it's like, it's so refreshing to hear you specifically because this is what your seventh Broadway show, sixth Broadway show.

Okay, fifth. Yeah. That's wild. It is. Like some people do one Broadway show in their life and then either, you know, it don't book anything else or move on to other things or other careers. But like that is crazy that like even someone who, you know, you're five Broadway shows in and it ebbs and flows. It's not always TR on Broadway. I know. And it should be. No, I'm just kidding. Well, I mean, if I had anything to do with it, it would be. Thank you. But like No, but you're right. It's like for me, it's such a it's two things. It's um it's a testimony to like, you know, the the phrase whenever people say like if it's for you, it won't pass you by. Like it really is a testimony to that, where it's like, I was like so confused when I didn't get the track.

I was like, I'm sorry, I killed that audition. Yeah. I was like nailing the my Fosse choreography. I was giving you nuance. Like when I was singing, I was everything. I was making choices in my sides, like all these things lined up in my head, and then I didn't book it, and I was like, this is just like so confusing. Was it actually for the track you're in now? No, it was for a different track. Okay, love that. And I was like, I was like, this is so confusing. But I mean, it just wasn't for me in that moment. Yeah, it just was not for me. It was for the other person that booked it, and it just wasn't for me. But the show didn't pass me by. Like it really, I was supposed to be in the show. It just was not for me at that time.

Crazy. And I just it's so hard to believe whenever you are in the moment and like you really want something. Yeah. But it just is so true. Like, if it's for you, it's not gonna promise me by. Yep. And as far as like it being my fifth show, and I'm still like, oh god. I unfortunately feel like that is the trick of this industry that you always feel like it's a mistake. Like the imposter syndrome thing is just so real. This is gonna fall apart, crumble out of my like, well, they accidentally hired me, and this is like the only show I'm ever gonna do. Yes. And then you book another one and you're like, well, this was like also like probably a mistake. Like I slipped through the cracks. Like and like on some other level, you're like, of course I booked it, I'm fierce.

You know what I mean? Like there's both, like two things can be true. But like there is that little like horrible, like devilish thing that like always tries to tell you that this is your last one, make it count, girl. Right. But I feel like you can flip that so easily and and make it into the positive of this could be. So I want to do it. I wanna honor the kid who dreamed of this and make it count and not be a miserable, like loser who's like, I hate my life and I'm jaded and all of it. Like you you look forward to going to work every day. It's like I hate to say that sometimes something needs to slap you across the face in order for you to really like clue into like what you just said, but it is so true.

After my injury, I really feel like there's very few things that could like get me super down about going to Broadway, like to go work on Broadway. Right, you know, I have to go and like be on Broadway. Yeah, and it's I get it, like everyone's tired. Everyone's tired, it can become monotonous. Yes. Um, certainly if you're on, you know, year six and something, like that is very hard, and it's its own special craft to be able to make something fresh. You know, and to do a long running show, and I've done both. Like, yeah, you know, long running show is its own special thing, and um it truly is a skill. Yeah. And uh I get it, but um it is so cheesy or whatever, but it's just not it is such a gift what we do.

It really is. And I uh to your point, like when I injured myself, part of what I was thinking was like after the tears and everything, I was like, Oh my god, I've had my last bow on Broadway and I didn't even know you didn't know because I was like physically couldn't, you know, couldn't walk, all the things, and I just was like, oh my god, like I have already had my last bow. Uh-huh. And I didn't know it. And I didn't, I didn't enjoy it, and I didn't, you know, m a lot of times when people walk away from this, you know, they're they're going on to new chapters, right? They are closing it. They're like, okay. On purpose. You know, they do their bow and they're like, okay, you know, goodbye, cruel world.

They're out. But when it gets like swiped from you, oh yeah, it's like so intense. It's so different. Um, so as a result, I really am quite grateful every night to take my bow and to just really like revel in it because um you truly don't know what your next show is gonna be and or what the next um you know phase of life might hand you. Totally. But um the gratitude scale for me is just amazing.

[18:48] Jayke Workman: Which is it it shows, and I I love that about you, and I think it's why I was so drawn to you, or part of why I was so drawn to you just from first meeting, was that it shows you want to be there and you want to put in the work. So I before we even talk about like your other incredible shows, I have we'll of course have to talk about Aladdin. Yeah, um, but I would love to know about like the Venn diagram and overlap between you and very worldly. Wow.

[19:19] Tia Altinay: Of your experience having a partner who works in an industry that is so, uh, well, like simultaneously different and very similar to our industry.

[19:28] Jayke Workman: That part.

[19:29] Tia Altinay: Your wife partner.

[19:33] Jayke Workman: I mean, like it's coming, but like you would see it from like just my voice.

[19:37] Tia Altinay: Yeah.

[19:40] Jayke Workman: She's gonna watch this and be like, what the fuck are you talking about?

[19:42] Tia Altinay: I know. She's gonna be that girl, you tried it.

[19:44] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[19:44] Tia Altinay: So your partner is a coach for the WNBA, which is amazing.

[19:50] Jayke Workman: It's really cool.

[19:50] Tia Altinay: And when I first found out, I was like, what?

[19:52] Jayke Workman: Yes, she's incredible.

[19:54] Tia Altinay: Fucking rad. Like, hello.

[19:55] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[19:56] Tia Altinay: So how did you guys even come to know each other? And also like, what is your experience like exposing her to your world and, you know, her exposing you to hers?

[20:08] Tia Altinay: She has like the better story of how we met. I will just say that we had a very romantic, um, love story on Hinge.

[20:16] Jayke Workman: Trist.

[20:17] Tia Altinay: Oh, she's just better explaining about all the things. I think she's more engaging that way. But, um, uh, not just to say that it's a secret or anything, but we met on Hinge.

[20:27] Jayke Workman: Love.

[20:27] Tia Altinay: Um, and I just feel like that's one of the things that those apps are good for is meeting someone that is completely not anywhere near what you do because I didn't want to meet anybody in the industry. I love my industry, I love my friends in it. I didn't want to date in it, and I have, of course.

[20:44] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[20:44] Tia Altinay: And I just wasn't interested in doing it anymore.

[20:46] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[20:47] Tia Altinay: So I was like, you know, doing the old video game, swipe, swipe, swipe.

[20:51] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[20:51] Tia Altinay: And like really just kind of looking for meeting a friend. Um, I know that sounds so cheesy, but I was like, you know, didn't know that this was gonna turn into like a long-term situation by any means. Um, but it certainly did, and I am very happy about it.

[21:05] Jayke Workman: Yes, and she's good.

[21:08] Tia Altinay: She's stunning.

[21:08] Jayke Workman: She really is stunning.

[21:09] Tia Altinay: Yeah. Um, but yeah, so we met, uh, and yes, she is a basketball coach, and I was like, sports, yeah, yes.

[21:20] Jayke Workman: Um, never have played a sport in my whole life.

[21:23] Tia Altinay: Um, absolutely, I know. Like, I grew up dancing. I remember asking my mom if I could, um, I was just gonna say audition, try out for the soccer team.

[21:33] Tia Altinay: Um, because like all the cool girls were doing soccer, and like they had those little shorts, and I thought it was cute. And my mom was like, you tried it, and I was like, please. And then she asked my ballet teacher, my ballet teacher was like, she's gonna develop the wrong muscles for ballet. Sorry, she's gonna be too strong. It's just the wrong thing because, you know, the ballet muscles are long and sinewy, and the, you know, the sports muscles are chunky and, you know, like they had a whole conversation of whether or not I could try out for the soccer team. The answer became no.

[21:59] Jayke Workman: No.

[21:59] Tia Altinay: So I have never done anything sports-y, wow, um, none of that. Um, so she's, and quite the opposite. As much as I have been ingrained in and like my whole life has been dance and musical theater and all the things, her whole life and family is basketball.

[22:16] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[22:16] Tia Altinay: Basketball specifically, like not just sports. Her, you know, her aunt played, her, she has a twin sister, she also played in the WNBA. Wow. Um, you know, Ron was in the WNBA, now she's a coach, like, uh, she has cousins that are playing overseas, like her brother-in-law played overseas, like everybody is, it is a basketball family, coops down very tall, very tall.

[22:39] Jayke Workman: Love it.

[22:40] Tia Altinay: Um, and they love it, and it's been really cool to even be a part of a, uh, a family or be a witness to the family that like they have such a shared love, and I'm like, that's so cool. Cause like with me and my mom, like we have such a shared love from musical theater, you know, it's like the same thing but different.

[22:57] Jayke Workman: There's so many same sames, but different.

[22:58] Tia Altinay: Yes.

[22:59] Jayke Workman: So did you like have a moment where you were like, yeah, I do this thing?

[23:04] Tia Altinay: Yeah.

[23:05] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[23:05] Tia Altinay: Like, I'm, uh, I was like, do you know anything about Broadway? Like, do you know anything about musical theater? And oddly enough, the only Broadway show, so she had seen one Broadway show, and the only Broadway show that she had seen was Drum Roll Please, MJ the Musical.

[23:20] Jayke Workman: Oh.

[23:20] Tia Altinay: Which I was like, obviously, marketing got you, but also such a good show.

[23:25] Jayke Workman: Oh, incredible.

[23:26] Tia Altinay: Incredible show. Um, but I was like, and then LOL, I was like, that at the time, I was like, I haven't even seen MJ the Musical yet. Like of all the shows I've seen, I haven't even seen that one yet.

[23:35] Tia Altinay: Um, so yeah, so she had seen one Broadway show and totally loved it.

[23:40] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[23:41] Tia Altinay: Uh, but that was just like more of an experiential thing. You know, it's like, it's like when you put something on your bucket list and you're like, and I should probably see a Broadway show like one time in my life.

[23:49] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[23:50] Tia Altinay: Love it. That's how she kind of was like, saw it, and then now she's been to multiple shows.

[23:54] Jayke Workman: I mean, naturally.

[23:55] Tia Altinay: Yeah. Now I'm like, great, so we're doing this.

[23:57] Jayke Workman: And I'm sure she loves getting you on stage.

[24:00] Tia Altinay: Oh, she does, yeah.

[24:02] Jayke Workman: So special.

[24:02] Tia Altinay: How many times?

[24:03] Jayke Workman: I think she's seen Chicago, like, I want to say five times, and I've only been in it since I've got, yeah.

[24:12] Tia Altinay: She's like, uh, I mean, I'll just come again.

[24:14] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[24:14] Tia Altinay: She was like, no, no, I'll come again. I'll come again.

[24:16] Jayke Workman: I'm like, oh my gosh, okay.

[24:18] Tia Altinay: I'm like, babe, you don't have to, like, you've literally like you've checked it off the list. Like, it's okay. You don't like baby come like my last show, like, it's fine.

[24:24] Jayke Workman: And she's like, no, I'm good.

[24:25] Tia Altinay: And I'm like, oh, okay. I love that too. It's really sweet. She is very supportive.

[24:30] Tia Altinay: She's super proud of me. She's very, you know. If anybody asks, like, what I'm, you know, oh, what does your partner do? Oh, she's on Broadway, you know. She's as much of a fan as I am of her, she is of me, as far as that goes.

[24:43] Jayke Workman: As it should be, baby. You know what I mean? Like it's not that, like, we don't want it. Period. Do you know?

[24:49] Tia Altinay: I have to say, I think it's really inspiring because you both just have such specific careers that some would dream of, you know, like being on Broadway or working, not only like playing in the WNBA, but like being a coach. And like, I think there are just so many elements that like all combine to make it like fascinating for me because like I think being a queer woman in the world of theater is so different than being a queer woman in the world of sports, specifically women's sports, and I love that like you have forged this career that you know sort of transcends it, like there are queer women who you look at and immediately are like that's a queer woman. And I would argue that you are not one of those people.

[25:41] Tia Altinay: I have been called, I didn't even know this was a thing in this context, but I have had someone say, Oh, well, you're like you're passing. Passing. And I was like, Oh, I didn't even know. I mean, obviously, I've heard of passing, you know, if we're talking about like trans people or hundred percent, or back in the day, like very light skinned black women were passing, could pass as white, you know. But I understood that I had I guess quote unquote privilege to walk down the street and just walk down the street and not really think much about anything. Sure. In some regards, of course, I'm a woman, I am still black, you know, things like that. But no one's you know, gonna be yelling at me, you know, for being gay.

[26:19] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[26:24] Tia Altinay: Have you found that your queerness informs who you are as an actor, whether it be for like going in for things or how you are perceived?

[26:37] Tia Altinay: I honestly would love the opportunity to play a queer role. And I think because of the way I look, not ever. Never. Wow. Never that's so interesting. I'm not positive and it's like that strange thing, right? Like they can't ask you. Well, of course. And how do you lead with it? Oh, I'm gay. Looking, yeah, like looking, like looking at me, like I can't be like, and in case you're wondering, I have a girlfriend. You know, like so it's like, they say that they look at Instagram, so maybe like people are aware, I'm not sure, but no, I've never had the opportunity. I would like the opportunity.

[27:11] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[27:11] Tia Altinay: I think that sometimes in not always, but like the handful of shows that I'm thinking of, aside from like the L word, which so sadness just wish that it was still going. There was like rumor that it was gonna have like a New York stint, like they were gonna just so sad. But I think that there is I'm almost like hesitant to say this, but when lesbians are portrayed, they're often portrayed as like the only one end of the spectrum of like what they can be. Yes, and often I don't think that like I don't want to even want to say my version because that's like strange. But like, you know, my lived experience is not always portrayed. Um which sometimes you just need to highlight other experiences, and I get that, and I'm you know, no problem with that, but absolutely I wonder if that's like part of why I've never been able to step into that one.

[28:10] Jayke Workman: I think there's also like the difference, well, certainly the difference between portrayals of gay women on TV and in movies versus on stage, but also I have found that there's not a lot of gay women writ or they are writing. There are gay women who are writing, obviously, their works are not being produced on like a commercial level. So, like tapping into those things and being like thinking of it through like a contemporary lens where it's like we have you know roles, not that many, but there are some roles where gay women are playing gay women historically, but there we're not getting a lot of those in the new.

[28:55] Tia Altinay: Yeah, there isn't an opportunity there. I mean, there may be that I'm unaware of, but certainly nothing has come across my desk.

[29:03] Jayke Workman: Right.

[29:03] Tia Altinay: No new musicals about like contemporary gay girls, lots of gay boys, lots of gay boys, lots of drag, and grateful for all of it, of course.

[29:16] Jayke Workman: Of course, but it's very whitewashed and it's very misogynistic.

[29:20] Tia Altinay: Yeah, and it's so interesting. And some of the even if it's less contemporary portrayals are very hypersexual.

[29:30] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[29:31] Tia Altinay: And very aggressive. And that's just also not what it's not the truth. So you heard it here on Oh My Podcast. We need more fucking gay girls in shows. Thank you very much. Thank you. Period.

[29:49] Jayke Workman: Okay, so switching gears.

[29:51] Tia Altinay: Yeah.

[29:51] Jayke Workman: A little. Um, I would love to know, because you have had the opportunity to be plugged into long-running shows, or not even just long running, but replacing people in shows, and you've had the experience of being in original companies. Um, and I'd love to know, you know, that difference for you, but also specifically through the lens of being in the original company of Aladdin, because that was such a sort of turn, I think, in what it means to not only have a Disney show on Broadway, but to have this sort of like smash hit blockbuster, huge, you know, the budget was crazy, and having you know, a company essentially that's like almost all people of color. Um, and you were understudying the lead. You got to understudy Miss Jasmine and went on.

[30:40] Tia Altinay: Oh yeah, many times. Many trillion times. Tell me about that. Like, was that did you know when you were like first started even auditioning for that that like it was gonna be what it is now? I mean, it's 11 years in. Yeah, isn't that crazy? 11 years.

[30:55] Tia Altinay: Yeah. No, I absolutely did not. So I had the great opportunity to be the original, original, original. Meaning like workshops and everything. Workshops. Okay, love that. Like all the things, like workshops before anything was going on, and then first like quasi out of town was in Seattle. Um, and then more workshops after that. We love it. Um, we love a gum wall. Um, and then more workshops, and then official, you know, like this is gonna be the Broadway company, and then out of town in Toronto, and then after Toronto, it was like we're changing everything. Like at the the It was so different. Like the show in Toronto is not what opened in March.

[31:44] Tia Altinay: Okay, yeah, no, not even close. Um in terms of just everything, yeah. Like the characters changed the um like design, uh design-wise, things stayed the same as far as like costumes, uh gorgeous Greg Barnes costumes, gorgeous costumes. Oh my god. The first time I tried on my attendant costume, I cried. Yeah, I actually cried in a fitting because it just was so beautiful, and I couldn't believe my great fortune to be able to wear a garment that was being tailored to me. Yes, that was that stunning. I literally was like, oh my god, so what Dostowski crystals, it was hand painted, like it just was like those wigs, the wigs were insane. Like Josh just like did that, like everything was just so beautiful, and I was just like, oh my god, I'm just look at this opportunity.

Like, I just was I felt so grateful. And of course, when I was younger, I mean Aladdin, I didn't know Aladdin was gonna become 11 years strong, right? But when I auditioned, I was like, I want this show. Of course, it's a you know, everybody wants it, I wanted it. Yeah, and part of the reason I wanted it, like going back to representation in a different way. You know, when I was younger, Princess Jasmine was my princess. It was the only it was brown, she was brown, just from the Middle East somewhere, Agrabah. Agrabah. Um, you know, like she was my princess. I of course, of course I loved Belle. Of course, I loved Cinderella. But when you can see yourself, when I saw Jasmine, yes, I didn't even know what it was that I identified with, so much as I just was like, she's my favorite.

You know, and you're a kid, you don't you're not like it's because she's brown. Like you're not thinking that. You're just thinking she's my favorite. Yes. Well, now that I can verbalize it, it's because she was most reminded me of me. Like I could see myself. Amazing. I identified with even everything that I just gravitate towards on maybe just in my own person too, like the jewel tones and like you know, the like opulence of the castle. Fantasy. I just love that little fucking crop top and the highway thing. I love these pants. I loved it. Everything. Um the pet tiger. Come on. Who doesn't want that? Raja. Um, yeah. So I just very much was like, I want this. Yeah. So getting it was a dream, and then being able to be a part of it was a dream. And original companies are so special.

[34:04] Tia Altinay: Yes. Um, going back to like my fifth Broadway show, which I'm very proud of. I had just had this conversation with someone recently. You can have 13 Broadway shows and never do an original show. Yeah. Like it is probably more commonly than more commonly than not. Yeah. And so the opportunity to be an original show is such a gift. And with it is exhausting and and a lot of focus and a lot of fatigue and a lot of like weight loss. Um involuntary weight loss. Involuntary weight loss because you're so tired. Yes. Um, but it's exciting and it's um, it's it's unique and and you know, speaking on like like uh Jasmine, being able to play Jasmine. Well, initially, you know, Jasmine now sings a song called um Palace Walls.

Yeah. But initially it wasn't Palace Walls. She had three different iterations of a song, and they just couldn't, you know. Alan Minken was like, oh, that this isn't right. And then Casey was like, Well, we want something more like this, and da da. And the exciting thing about being in an original show is sitting down and having like Alan Mankin right here and Casey Nicola right here. And they're like, and Alan is such a I mean genius. Genius, and like as if I need to like give him the stamp of approval. But you know, you know, he's such a genius. It's really what a gift to be able to sit down with him at a piano and he just starts going and he's like, girl, sing this, and try this. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is awesome. Yeah. And that's the part of an original company that I find to be the most exciting.

[35:35] Tia Altinay: Yeah. Is that collaborative piece? Um, when you do get to work with someone that genius that is collaborative and willing to do so, and that like, you know, with Casey's vision, he's like, Oh, we need a song that sounds more or that's more, you know, this is the message we want to convey. And they like they are collaborating at a high level that it's happening, you know, like there's not that tension. And you know that uh uh like on some level, in some capacity, because you were one of the bodies in the room, you inspired all of the changes, all the things. Girl, my DNA is in it. In it, okay. Like that is so amazing. And because then you also know, like you think of it from the outside perspective of like, oh god, if only I could be in that show, and you're like, that was someone's track.

That was someone who made a choice, and then it got written in, it got folded into the uh, you know, all of it, and then it just still is there. Like, even if you have no idea watching it as an audience member, that like that's a choice that someone else made, it's still there for a reason. It's just so crazy. I made a choice in this Seattle company, and it ended up becoming it wasn't my character, but it ended up becoming a whole character in like the final iteration.

[36:44] Tia Altinay: And that's crazy I was like proud of that. I was like, Writing credit, Tia Altinay. I know, and where is my percentage? Yeah, where's my royalty? Chad, please. Um, no, but like really, I just I feel proud of that, actually. I feel like that's fucking awesome. You know, and as an actor, you always, you know, we're always like, tell me I did a good job. And it's like, well, obviously I did because it's still there. It's still there. So have you been back to see it since you've left the show?

[37:08] Jayke Workman: I have a few times, actually. Um, but most recently, the tenure was last year.

[37:12] Tia Altinay: Oh, yes. And we um, so I had seen it right before then, but then we were all invited back, and it was like this amazing extravaganza of like everybody that had ever done the show did "Friend Like Me."

[37:23] Jayke Workman: Oh my god.

[37:24] Tia Altinay: On stage.

[37:25] Jayke Workman: Oh stage, in the wings.

[37:27] Tia Altinay: We came out of the boxes, like it was like a surprise for the audience.

[37:31] Jayke Workman: That's amazing.

[37:32] Tia Altinay: It was incredible. Like, it was awesome.

[37:35] Jayke Workman: Wow. Were you costumed?

[37:36] Tia Altinay: Costumes.

[37:37] Jayke Workman: Oh my god.

[37:38] Tia Altinay: Maybe when Disney does it, they threw it. Budget, honey. Begging.

[37:41] Jayke Workman: Yeah, no, we have the money. We could just Oh, yeah, no, we'll just throw you in.

[37:46] Tia Altinay: Yes, it was incredible. So, in that show, when you weren't in your regular ensemble track and doing like the attendant stuff, uh, and you went on as Jasmine. I have to know. Obviously, we can't talk about the nor would you talk about the secrets.

[38:01] Jayke Workman: No, the magic.

[38:03] Tia Altinay: But I you know, on like just a surface level, I have to know like what is it like to fly on the magic carpet?

[38:11] Jayke Workman: It's amazing. Were you terrified?

[38:13] Tia Altinay: No, not at all, actually. Um, you know, we are you and Aladdin are both.

[38:17] Jayke Workman: Yeah, we're harnessed in like per um equity standard.

[38:20] Tia Altinay: Yes, hazard pay.

[38:21] Jayke Workman: Hazard pay, honey.

[38:23] Tia Altinay: $25.

[38:24] Jayke Workman: Um That's the T.

[38:26] Tia Altinay: That's the T. $25 motherfucking dollars to risk my life. Um, in two ways. Um but um it actually was magical. And again, I hate to keep harping back to like what it used to be, but like um, there obviously was not a full budget. Past iterations were not always exactly. There was not always a budget for like a full out, like, oh my God, it's a flying carpet. So I had been a part of past iterations.

[38:54] Jayke Workman: So you'd seen flying, you know, pillows, fine desk chair.

[38:58] Tia Altinay: You know, we were one of them was what did we call it? Like a carpet on a stick. It was like we were like, oh, so magical. So magical. But but also that's like the cool part of like how great musicals are made. Like there is a vision there, and like once the budget, you know, can support it.

[39:15] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[39:15] Tia Altinay: It can happen. It isn't like we didn't know that it wasn't a carpet on a stick. But it was like that's a good idea. But like it really is one of the most I mean, even like budget aside, it's just so magical. Like you like you can't use another word for it. But like seeing that carpet fly, it's it is unbelievable, truly. And it's like a beautiful moment of again, I keep using the word collaboration, but it's like Natasha Katz, her lighting, like all of a sudden she just like works her Tony award winning magic.

[39:52] Jayke Workman: And there you have it.

[39:53] Tia Altinay: You're in the sky. You're in the sky, and like wild, you know, the the the carpet and just the way it's dressed, like the tassels on the side of the carpet, like it's just all these little things come together to really like create this magic. And they didn't just have it, okay. We're just gonna have it float up and float back down.

[40:08] Jayke Workman: Oh no.

[40:08] Tia Altinay: Like, oh no, we're flying around this. Flying around. And the audience, you can you can see and hear the audience just in awe. That's probably like the best, like, it's such a cool moment. You're on, so you're on it, you know. You know, he he gives you, you know, do you trust me? Do you trust me?

[40:23] Jayke Workman: Oh, and then you're like, get on, you're like, oh, step on the carpet.

[40:29] Tia Altinay: Mindles are hard.

[40:31] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[40:32] Tia Altinay: And you get on the carpet and like the set breaks away.

[40:35] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[40:36] Tia Altinay: And the carpet flies up with us on it. And you can hear the audience go, like, like it's an audible, full audience gas.

[40:44] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[40:44] Tia Altinay: And you're just like, I mean, what's better than that? I mean, you're like, I am a fucking storyteller, and this is what it's all motherfucking up. Yeah, you know. Transported these 1200 people into the sky with us. It's so special. It's so cool. And it's such a special moment too. Like Aladdin as a whole, and possibly that moment is the is the, you know, where we where we get them.

[41:05] Jayke Workman: Um I often say, you know, Disney is such a special company to work for because often it is the gateway for people.

[41:14] Tia Altinay: Oh, you know, people have not seen a musical before, or little kids haven't. But they trust in the brand of Disney. Trust in the other stories. They know they're gonna see something quality for their money.

[41:23] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[41:23] Tia Altinay: They come and they're like, oh my gosh, this is how musicals can be. Better than I they ever expected. Better than they ever expected. And then after that, then they're like, oh, well, mom, next time we're we're in New York, I want to see another musical. You know, so it's like it's such a special opportunity for us to create patrons of the art.

[41:40] Jayke Workman: Yes, actually.

[41:42] Tia Altinay: And still like for yourself, just honor it again, like, you know, thinking back to like when you were a kid, and you're like, I mean, I never well, I guess I was a I was a kid who who did see shows, you know, the touring companies and whatever. Um, but there wasn't even wicked, like, there wasn't something quite as uh technically incredible as Aladdin.

[42:08] Jayke Workman: And the tours, like, it's harder to do the technical stuff, right?

[42:11] Tia Altinay: Because build the show in the build it in the theater.

[42:13] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[42:13] Tia Altinay: So the tours are magical and certainly certainly magical. But um when a show is built for the theater, yeah, you know, when there's trapdoors and you know things that you just can't. Because my so my senior buddy, hey Juan, uh Juan Carlos.

[42:31] Jayke Workman: So watch your senior buddy.

[42:32] Tia Altinay: Yes. Did I know this?

[42:33] Jayke Workman: Juan.

[42:34] Tia Altinay: I knew you knew him.

[42:35] Jayke Workman: I didn't know your senior buddy.

[42:36] Tia Altinay: Oh my gosh. And I love it. And you know, we like sing in similar ways, and so like that was like a big thing.

[42:42] Jayke Workman: What a perfect.

[42:42] Tia Altinay: Did you know that you sang in similar ways when he became your buddy?

[42:44] Jayke Workman: Oh, darling, because we so my mom and I toured the school, the Hart School in Connecticut on like some random, I can't remember what holiday it was, flag day or something. And so, like for some reason nobody was there.

[42:56] Tia Altinay: Like nobody was in the halls.

[42:56] Jayke Workman: Um, and we had somehow bamboozled our way in, and we could hear someone singing, so we just like peeked in to see Juwan in this classroom, and he like waved us in, and we just like sat and talked for like an hour and then got to know each other, started talking.

[43:14] Tia Altinay: We were like, Oh my god, we have so we're so similar in so many ways. Um and then yeah, cut to, you know, I got into the program and we were I was a freshman when he was a senior, and so he was my senior buddy, and we just like bonded so quickly, and then of course, cut to he's the genie of Aladdin.

[43:33] Jayke Workman: Yeah, cut impress of pop of pop, honey.

[43:36] Tia Altinay: And he was the genie in Aladdin, and I I remember for a long time, and and that was like the experience too of you you revere Broadway for so long and you think it's so so far away. But then like the tangible, like getting to l go on stage at the at Aladdin after the show and like see all of the things and like I was like, oh wow, this is a possibility. Like this is real and like my friends and people who I love are doing it.

[43:59] Jayke Workman: That was crazy.

[44:05] Tia Altinay: But and and you do get to also like peek around and be like, oh, okay, I'm not not allowed to say anything, but I can oh o'clock that over there. I'll see something magical.

[44:13] Jayke Workman: On the flip side, I'd love to know if you can share.

[44:18] Tia Altinay: Um, because we talk I've talked to like alphabets about like a no fly alphabet. Was there a Did you ever have a no fly carpet? What is the protocol? Are you allowed to sh share? Like can you even I think I've never had a no fly.

[44:33] Jayke Workman: Okay.

[44:33] Tia Altinay: But I have had a wonky fly.

[44:36] Jayke Workman: A b period.

[44:38] Tia Altinay: I've had a multiple uh uh malfunction carpet moment. And you have to just You just keep singing.

[44:46] Jayke Workman: Just keep singing.

[44:44] Tia Altinay: You just keep singing. Um there was one time where there was not a possibility to keep seeing because it was a major malfunction.

[44:54] Jayke Workman: And literally they brought the curtain in.

[44:56] Tia Altinay: They were like, and we're bringing the curtain in. Close the curtain. Close the curtain. Stop it, stop.

[45:02] Jayke Workman: So they brought the curtain in.

[45:03] Tia Altinay: Um and then Well, you're like midair.

[45:06] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[45:06] Tia Altinay: Wild. Um, you know, they bring out the old cherry picker and like job of it, whatever.

[45:11] Jayke Workman: Um, but they couldn't fix anything.

[45:14] Tia Altinay: So, you know, they basically you just reopen the curtain and you start again, and like, you know, unfortunately that audience doesn't get the literally, yeah. They don't get the full flight experience, but um, you know, you are on the carpet, the lighting is still happening. But so it's like Wow, that's so like you know carpet light.

[45:31] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[45:31] Tia Altinay: But like, yeah. Protocol overall is just keep going.

[45:35] Jayke Workman: Just keep singing.

[45:36] Tia Altinay: Yeah, just keep singing, just like Dory. Like, just keep it going until um you can kind of see a stage manager in a wing go.

[45:44] Jayke Workman: Being like, it's not happening.

[45:45] Tia Altinay: It's not happening. Um, but for the carpet specifically, they usually would bring in the curtain because you are in the air.

[45:50] Jayke Workman: So there's no like walk off stage.

[45:51] Tia Altinay: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? We'll just hold. Just hold.

[45:54] Jayke Workman: Wild.

[45:56] Tia Altinay: Yeah. So in terms of your Broadway shows, obviously you've worked professionally in theater outside of just Broadway. But have you had a uh a hardest show that you have worked on?

[46:14] Jayke Workman: In terms of no.

[46:18] Tia Altinay: They're all hard.

[46:19] Jayke Workman: Well, in terms of um.

[46:24] Tia Altinay: Well, it's funny because Aladdin actually is quite hard.

[46:27] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[46:27] Tia Altinay: Um, it is really demanding as far as like it's like cardio, like every number is at 110. Crazy for the ensemble. Um, like, and there's a lot of production numbers.

[46:41] Jayke Workman: Like normally there's like an opening number and like maybe the 11 o'clock number.

[46:45] Tia Altinay: You know what I mean? In Aladdin, there's literally like six production numbers. You know, that's part of like the everyone's on stage.

[46:51] Jayke Workman: Everyone's on stage, you're changing costumes, you're changing wigs, you know, it's not just you're in those You're in a column for a little bit.

[46:57] Tia Altinay: Columns and then they fall down around you.

[47:00] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, my little gay heart.

[47:01] Tia Altinay: I mean I was like, I know. Prince Ali, like like you changed costumes, you know.

[47:06] Jayke Workman: Mid number.

[47:07] Tia Altinay: Mid number, like multiple times. You're changing hats multiple times, like wigs, like it's just the it's actually I didn't know how exhausting it was until I was out of it.

[47:17] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[47:18] Tia Altinay: Cause when you're in it, you're just like, go, go, go, go, go.

[47:20] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[47:20] Tia Altinay: And then I was like, wait a minute.

[47:21] Jayke Workman: You're like, damn.

[47:23] Tia Altinay: But I will say a close second to that would be Hamilton.

[47:27] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[47:27] Tia Altinay: Um, for the duration of the piece.

[47:33] Jayke Workman: Strap in.

[47:34] Tia Altinay: Oh, wait. We are going on a journey.

[47:37] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[47:38] Tia Altinay: Through history.

[47:39] Jayke Workman: How do you even begin?

[47:41] Tia Altinay: I have seen that show so many times. I've obviously watched the the pro shot, everything. I I don't understand how you begin to learn the language of that choreography.

[47:51] Jayke Workman: Do you know that like once we finished the first act?

[47:54] Tia Altinay: It was like, you know, you you're in the rehearsal room, you finish the first act, everybody's like, yay, we finished the first act. And I actually sat down and was like almost in tears. Cause I was like, I don't think there's any more room in my brain.

[48:06] Tia Altinay: For anything more. For anything more. Like I was genuinely concerned because I was like, I don't, I and I, and this was like full re- I really felt this way.

[48:15] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[48:15] Tia Altinay: There was no more room.

[48:16] Jayke Workman: No.

[48:17] Tia Altinay: I have learned all I can learn.

[48:18] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[48:19] Tia Altinay: Words, music, choreography, staging. Baby, I have done all I can do. And it is only the first act. Because the first act is as long as a lot of people's like show.

[48:29] Jayke Workman: Full show.

[48:29] Tia Altinay: I was like, I'm tired. I didn't swing.

[48:31] Jayke Workman: Oh god, no.

[48:32] Tia Altinay: I cannot imagine Hamilton.

[48:34] Jayke Workman: Oh my god.

[48:35] Tia Altinay: They are superheroes. I have no idea.

[48:38] Jayke Workman: I don't know how they do it.

[48:39] Tia Altinay: I don't know how they do it.

[48:40] Jayke Workman: So who put you into that show?

[48:43] Tia Altinay: Um Stephanie Clemens was our um associate.

[48:47] Jayke Workman: Um Michael Balderama.

[48:49] Tia Altinay: Okay. Was kind of the the head on that one. It was all like associates putting you in.

[48:54] Jayke Workman: You toured with the show?

[48:55] Tia Altinay: I toured with the show.

[48:56] Jayke Workman: I was original Philip Company.

[48:57] Tia Altinay: Got it.

[48:57] Tia Altinay: So they had Broadway, and then they had Chicago. The first tour, like not sitting down, we're actually going places. Although the first year I think we did like four cities, which was well, because you sit down forever long. Because it was Hamilton in its first tour, which was cool. Amazing, actually, incredible. That is just what a gift to be a part of again a legacy show. Much like Aladdin, but in that realm, I feel like it's kind of like all the people that are a part of Wicked, and they're like right now having their moment. Yes, you know what I mean? And they're like they're part of that legacy and history, and I very much feel that with Hamilton. Like they're at their 10-year mark, and it feels very, I just feel very fortunate to be a part of that fabric and to have been able to do that show as well, like you finish that opening number, gunk, and then it's just like you know, and oh the audience just roars. Roars, the audience just goes wild.

[49:58] Tia Altinay: So when you leave a show like that, this is a question that I get asked often, like by people who are not in the industry. When you leave a show like Hamilton or Aladdin or you know, whatever. When you leave a show that feels so secure, and people ask, like, why would you ever leave? Do you ever have a sense of like I'm making the wrong decision by leaving? Like opting to leave. I think that if I get to the point where it's time to leave, I know I'm making the right decision. However, it's always risky, it's always like, okay, girl, here we go. Yeah, like it's always risky, and it's also never because of the show itself. Like, I don't feel like I wish that I could have done Hamilton the show even longer. But it was time for me to leave. I didn't want to be on tour anymore. It was time for me to leave the tour aspect of things. I just couldn't build the life I wanted to build being on tour.

[51:04] Tia Altinay: Being mobile. Yeah, which I had done multiple tours when I was in my 20s. I'm still it's crazy because I still am. Yeah, for like the last like 40 years I've been in my fun. But um so it's always risky and why would it is funny because you know people are lawyers for like their whole life and they're like they're like I worked at the same law firm my whole life. Yeah what do you mean? Why would you leave? Exactly. And I'm like oh God sounds terrible. Um I think also it's just part of the fabric of who we are right that Vagabond yes she's a rolling stone. Yes. She must leave going back to your earlier point about like wanting to be somewhere when you get to the point where you're just like the crabby person at work yeah you probably should go. But you know what? You probably should go. Incredible quality to have that you have the self-awareness to be like I should go instead of sitting in it.

[52:00] Tia Altinay: It's because it makes you yourself miserable miserable. It also makes everyone around you miserable and it's like for what for what what are we doing here? We're not making that much money. I know and it's so like I get it when you get to a point where your priority changes and you're like okay I am gonna sit in this show because I want to this is the financial goal I have or I need to pay off this or I you know I've I have several children or whatever, but if that's gonna be your priority to sit in a show, then also it does need to be your priority to like not be the grumpy Gus at work. Yeah in the show. And to and to still pull up and still show up for that paying audience. Which goes back to the fact that doing a long-running show is a skill. Oh yeah. It's a skill.

[52:47] Tia Altinay: It's it's a skill to be able to learn a new show like Hamilton, and I did successfully learn the second act. You did it. I did it. That's pretty insane. But it's so like it's a it's a skill to learn a new show. It's also a skill to know how to pull up when you're on show 5000 because you've stayed in a show. That's crazy. Yeah. It's really about remembering that it might be your 5000 show, but it is hundred percent someone's first time seeing a show. Yeah. Or someone's first time seeing that show. That show. Or someone's first time seeing you in that show. And like and it's someone's Christmas present, someone's birthday. Someone's hard-earned doll hair. Yes. Yeah. Wild.

[53:33] Jayke Workman: Well, Tia, I just adore you. Thank you so much for coming on the pod. Wait, before I let you go, I have a series of um musical theater rapid fire questions.

[53:44] Tia Altinay: Oh my god, rapid fire. Okay, correct. It's never rapid fire. It's also not all musical theater, so I don't know why I call it that. Um at this point I also have it memorized, so I was gonna try and pull it up, but whatever. Okay. Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Weber?

[53:57] Tia Altinay: Andrew Lloyd Weber.

[53:58] Jayke Workman: T.

[53:59] Tia Altinay: I know. Love that answer. I know that that is like I know and except for the glories who have been in Weber shows. Oh, that and um I'm sure that it's it's very like, you know, oh my god, like her like IQ for musical theater is so low. She didn't hold on time. But um it's sometimes just too cerebral for me. Yeah. I like a good old sing song. Ding dung ding along. Yeah. I think a good thing. That's what that's what Andrew Lloyd Weber sounds like to me, by the way. Dink donk dink along. I like a good old, like attainable hummable tune.

[54:35] Tia Altinay: Phrase. Yeah. You know? Motif, if you want to. Yeah, yes. The IQ of the Sondheim can just be a little The Demon Baba Rufita. Definitely has its place, of course. Yes. And I it's like math versus like history to me. Or something. And I'm more giving you history and English than math and science.

[55:00] Jayke Workman: Sweatpants or jeans.

[55:00] Tia Altinay: Well, lately I've been getting into sweatpants, like but like cute. Like giving like sportswear? Yeah, like sportswear. Like sweatpants would make it cute. Yeah, my girlfriend's like, you know, a basketball coat. Yeah, like it's crazy. Like we wear like Nikes.

[55:14] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite musical?

[55:17] Tia Altinay: Oh, that's a great question. Um, that's hard. Cause it's all like apples, oranges, and bananas. Well, conversely, do you have a least favorite musical? Because I do.

[55:33] Tia Altinay: I don't know if I can I say it's a big thing. I know. Everyone's always so scared as if someone who wrote the musical is gonna come on the pod and beat them up. Oh my god. Wait, this is you're gonna have to do a cutaway because I really do want to think about this. Okay, my I can say that my favorite musical, like historically, has been a show that I'll never be in, and that um I just it's my favorite because I was truly gagged when I saw it and had that like, oh my god, musical theater is fucking awesome. In the Heights.

[56:04] Jayke Workman: Oh my god. Why would you never be in it?

[56:07] Tia Altinay: Because I'm not Latin. So I figure, you know, you probably should be Dominican or Puerto Rican or I don't know from the Heights. Famously, there are no black people who are from the Heights. Not true, I guess. But I'm not Dominican. I can see like if I if I could pass as Dominican, I don't know, whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just trying to, you know, leave space for those that are. I love it for you. But um I saw that show four or maybe five times over the course of its time. Like I saw it when it was like off and I saw it on. And um I it was it was my first experience with like Lynn's style.

[56:46] Tia Altinay: Yeah. Everybody's first experience with Lynn's style. And that's what made it so like, what the hell am I watching? This is so fucking awesome. Um, which I think people had that with Hamilton too. They're but in my mind, I was like, well, they're rapping. They did that in In the Heights. Do you know what I mean? Like, like I kind of like already, like, not that I wasn't wowed by rap musical. I was like rap musical, we've done that. Like, you know, and then obviously the genius for me was the history because I'm a huge history buff. But um in the heights for me, I just was like, I don't know what I'm watching right now, but I am obsessed. Wow. And like the music and like the story got to me, I was like crying, you know. I just like I loved in the heights. I do love in the heights. I think it is so good. I love that music. So beautiful, so beautiful.

[57:29] Tia Altinay: Um yeah, as far as something I hate, I do what I don't know, musical I oh, well, I don't really want to say I'm gonna tell you offline because it was fairly recent. And I was like, oh peace. It's always so confusing to me when you can go to something and know immediately that it's bad. But it got enough funding and it got to the point of production. In in so much as they're actually on the Broadway. How do we get here? So who lied to you? Astounding. Someone lied to her several times and told her that she was fly, hot, sexy, and beautiful, and she is nothing like that. She's nothing of the sort. You're nothing of the sort. And and they and she just kept writing checks. It's wild. Wild. Wild.

[58:14] Tia Altinay: Um, okay. Do you have a favorite costume you've ever worn?

[58:19] Tia Altinay: Yeah, uh, Greg Barnes always. Probably my wedding costume for Aladdin. It was purple, my favorite color.

[58:29] Jayke Workman: Mine too!

[58:30] Tia Altinay: Oh my god! And it was like Saroski crystal down. Again, the skirt was hand-painted, hand bedazzled as well. Those original costumes were just crazy. Yeah. And my wig was like fly, I had like a crown. I mean, it just was like, I mean, the idea being that we're like visiting princesses to the royal wedding kind of like idea, and that cost it was like a two-piece. My body was tight and right, thieves, it was everything. I think probably that, yeah. Greg Barnes originals are always a win.

[59:06] Jayke Workman: Well, my last question for you is a question I ask every guest, which is what is one thing that you would tell baby Tia?

[59:14] Tia Altinay: Baby Tia. The sooner that you can start trusting that little voice inside you that is telling you that you are fly, that what you are feeling is right, that the path that you want to walk is okay, and stop listening to those outside voices that are trying to tell you what you were you were supposed to do and um who you're supposed to be, and um what people won't want to work with you or won't want to love you or won't want to be around you if you X, Y, or Z. Just like shut all those outside voices down and listen to the inside voice. You are going to be so much happier, and you are going to um go so much further in your personal life as well as your career.

[1:00:03] Jayke Workman: Love.

[1:00:04] Tia Altinay: Wow.

[1:00:05] Jayke Workman: Yeah. That was beautiful. Well, thank you so so very much for coming on the pod. I'm so glad you had fun. Um, would you tell the listeners where they can find you on socials and keep up with your shenanigans?

[1:00:17] Tia Altinay: Keep up with my shenanigans on Instagram at Tia Altinay. That's all I have is the Insta. Stop. I just never got around to the other things until now. And now the other things, do they even exist anymore? Like who knows? Literally. And at this point, yeah at this rate. Period. Nothing will exist. Nothing exists. That's for the next podcast.

[1:00:40] Jayke Workman: Yeah, exactly. Tune in next week.

[1:00:42] Jayke Workman: Tune in next week for nothing exists. You guys, that's it for another episode of Oh My Pod, you guys. Thank you so so much for listening. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to the pod, and you can follow the show on Instagram at ohmypoduguys. Love you, and I will talk to you soon. Bye.

[1:01:06] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, oh my pod, you guys.