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[0:10] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Oh my god, guys. Hi, Jake is a podcast. Oh my god, guys. 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. You guys, I am currently standing by for the role of Mary Sunshine in Chicago, the musical on Broadway. But we also just had our very first rehearsal for Foul Play off Broadway, and you guys, this cast is whack-a-doodle in the best way. I mean, this show is going to be ridiculous. Our first read through was a laugh riot. I honestly don't even know how we're gonna keep it together on stage, but we have 10 performances at the AMT Theater off Broadway.

You can get your tickets at this very moment at attendthefowlplay.com. You guys, you do not want to miss this incredible new show off Broadway. And you guys, with that, we have to dive into this week's Broadway World recap brought to you by my amazing pals at Broadwayworld.com. First, you guys, we got the very exciting casting announcement that none other than Caroline Carmelo is going to star in the national tour of Kimberly Akimbo, starting at the Denver Center in September. Miss Carolee Carmelo is a three-time Tony Award nominee who has appeared in 16 Broadway musicals, including Mamma Mia, Kiss Me Kate, The Addams Family, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination. You guys, I mean, she is so incredible, and she is playing the titular role of Miss Kimberly Akimbo.

I cannot wait. I mean, I'm gonna have to go out and see this on tour because obviously it's not gonna happen in New York City, but she is going to bring so much to this role. I just is perfect casting. Next, you guys, Broadway World shared the very exciting news that Mandy Gonzalez is going to be a guest star in the role of Norma Desmond at Select Performances of Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Obviously, it was previously announced that Nicole Scherzinger is going to play the title role. But when it comes to a show as difficult as Sunset Boulevard, you have to have a standby who is ready and able to do the role at a moment's notice. So she will be playing one show a week. And I guess this just means I have to see the show multiple times because of course I have to see Nicole Scherzinger slay the house down as Norma Desmond, but who doesn't want to see Mandy Gonzalez in this fucking role?

I'm so excited. And lastly, you guys, I am so sad to report that the off-Broadway Theater, The Lori Beachman, which is housed by the West Bank Cafe, is set to close its doors next month in August. The organization shared that, quote, due to the high cost of conducting business and the continuing fallout from the pandemic, we can no longer afford to remain open. Which is just so disappointing because any establishment that produces new art in this city is so, so important, and we are losing something so vital here. There are many GoFundMe's and petitions similar to that online that you can of course contribute to to help and prevent this amazing theater from closing. But I am wishing everyone who has ever had the pleasure of performing at the Lori Beachman a huge congratulations. And I hope, hope, hope that this theater gets to stay open. And you guys, this has been the BroadwayWorld Recap.

[0:27] Jayke Workman: Oh my pod, you guys, I am so excited to welcome my next guest to the show. He is a brilliant performer of the stage. Please welcome Mr. Stephen Mark Lukas.

[4:27] Stephen Mark Lukas: Hello. I'm so happy to be here. I'm so glad we're doing this.

[4:30] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, I'm so glad you're here. When I finally got to see you again for the first time in months since we've been on the road, I was like, oh my god, I adore you. I must have you on the pod. Would you tell the listeners where are you calling in from on this fine day?

[4:45] Stephen Mark Lukas: So I am right now in a teeny tiny hotel room in Philadelphia. We just got a theater. Yeah, last night, City of Brotherly Love. We opened last night at the Academy of Music here in Philly, which is just an absolutely beautiful theater if you've never been. It's like a 19th-century opera house. My god. It's really just a beautiful theater. Had a great reception last night, a great opening night, and yeah, we're excited to be here for a couple weeks.

[5:17] Jayke Workman: Yay! I'm so excited. I mean, we will of course talk all things Funny Girl, but I had the absolute pleasure of seeing you play Nick Arnstein opposite my darling dear Miss Hannah Shankman as Fanny Bryce. And it was, I mean, it was the Kennedy Center. It was like, this is the cream of the crop. It doesn't get fucking better than this.

[5:35] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yes. Yeah, we've had a few great cities in a row. I mean, we were at the Kennedy Center for three weeks. Before that, we were out in California. Like we've really, and then we're here at this beautiful theater in Philadelphia, you know, and with this show, you know, like the closer we get to Broadway in New York, like the audiences really have an appreciation for this particular show and the story of Fanny Bryce and all of that. So yeah, we're in a great little groove with this tour.

[6:04] Jayke Workman: Hell yeah. I mean, you guys have been cooking for what, how many months now?

[6:09] Stephen Mark Lukas: Ten months.

[6:10] Jayke Workman: Ten months. That's crazy. It's like nearing the how long it ran on Broadway, which is insane.

[6:17] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yes, yeah, we ran for 19 months on Broadway. So we've got a little bit to go, but yeah, and I did, you know, the whole Broadway run. So I've done a lot of Funny Girl.

[6:29] Jayke Workman: Let's dive right in with Miss Funny Girl, because this was a show. I mean, it was so highly anticipated when the revival, you know, was announced that it was gonna come. We had Beanie Feldstein, we had Lea Michele, like there were so many different eras of that show, and my dear bestie, Miss Leslie Blake Walker, was also in the original Broadway cast with you and did the entire run. And so I got to sort of, you know, get a peek behind the curtain as to the ins and outs and the, you know, people are being put into the show, people are leaving the show, and so like there were so many iterations of it, but you were there from the beginning, and you, you know, not only were you in the show understudying one of the principals, but then you went on many times opposite some Broadway heavy hitters. Tell me what is it like to get the call that you are gonna be sort of the next in line to do one of these huge roles.

[7:30] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah, you know, it was really interesting. So I had a really interesting sort of genesis with this show. I knew it was happening, and my whole career, you know, I have really gravitated towards these old classic musicals. It's just sort of what I always wanted to do. And I've done a lot of Rogers and Hammerstein and the shows that everybody else feels like, you know, that's dated. You know, I love that. I love bringing these shows back to life. And so I saw they were doing this. And I actually went in for the standby for Nick and got a call from my agent saying, you know what, they actually need that call that track to cover Ziegfeld, so you're a little too young. So would you mind coming in for the ensemble?

You have to come to a dance call. And I am not a dancer, I mean I am nobody's dancer, and I knew they were tap dancing, and I was like, all right, so I went in dance call, you know, did they make me do maybe like three counts of eight and then got cast as the understudy, and I was, you know, in the ensemble on stage, which is something I had never done, and was frankly terrified to do because I've always played principals my whole career, and you know, I just always have had such a respect for people who are in the ensemble and are true triple threats, and I was like, God, I don't know that I can do that. You know, I was really intimidated by it. And you know, we have a week or two after getting the call, you know, they called me and said, Okay, you have to come get fitted for your tap shoes.

And I, as much as I'm not a dancer, I am absolutely not a tap dancer. And so I was on YouTube like shuffle step, shuffle step, trying to figure out if I'd be able to do it. I was, you know, convinced I was gonna be fired the first day. Of course, I showed up to rehearsal and they said, you know, you're not tapping. So thank goodness that that was the story. But yeah, and then I, you know, I got to be the ensemble for a year, which was just such an incredible experience with a great group of people. You know, we had such an amazing cast on Broadway. Yes, you know, the ensemble, all of us got really, really tight through that process. And, you know, through all the ups and downs and everything with the show, and it was just really, you know, such a meaningful experience by the time I left.

I just came away with absolutely, you know, just absolutely in love with all my castmates and just, you know, such a deep appreciation for, you know, what it means to be an ensemble and, you know, what it means to be an understudy and how difficult that is. And yeah, and then I, you know, eventually got the call to do the tour, and it was just sort of one of those things of being in the right place at the right time, you know. I actually didn't get to go on for Nick for a while for about the first year of the show on Broadway, and I finally got the chance to go on. Yeah, and it was just sort of everything fell into place, and it's just been such a dream to be able to take over the role and to do it full time.

[10:28] Jayke Workman: Yeah, well, I never got to see you do it on Broadway, so I was so thrilled to get to see you do it at the Kennedy Center. It was stunning. And you know, I of course Katarina being there and everything was so, so exciting, but I made sure that I was there on a day when Hannah would be on as Fanny as the alternate because I adore her and you guys together. I mean, it was magic. That show is one that, like, no matter who you are, no matter where you are in your life, it's like the romance and the cheekiness of it all. I mean, she's just so brilliant. And I saw it I think six times in New York, but then to see it again on the road. I mean, it's a very different show. It's not a copy paste. You can't take something that was sort of, I mean, almost you could say site-specific in that in the August Wilson with the way that they created the set and everything, and then, you know, putting it on the road is just gonna be a different thing.

But it was so beautiful, and I was just so proud of you because I was like, I have absolutely zero right to say that I'm proud of either of you, but I'm so proud of you. It was so wild. You, I have to say, not to just, you know, blow smoke right up your skirt. You look so good, bitch. You sound incredible, obviously. You're acting down, it's gorgeous.

[11:47] Stephen Mark Lukas: Thank you.

[11:47] Jayke Workman: You come out in that little robe, just casually rippling abs on the Kennedy.

[11:47] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah, we have a little moment of thirst, if you will.

[12:00] Jayke Workman: A little sex appeal, which I actually think it serves a purpose, you know, which is that, you know, of course, for me and Kermu played the role on Broadway and, you know, came out in the robe and everybody screamed and it turned into a thing, and, you know, they asked me if I wanted to keep it. They're like, You could put on a tank top or we can do something else. I was like, no, I want to keep it. And for me, it's really about not to be too, you know, schmack-dy here, but for me, it's a, you know, it's like we see Nick at the beginning of the show, and he's so dressed up, he's dressed to the nines, he's in tails and a white tie. And as the show goes on, Susan Hilfrey, brilliant designer, actually made it so that he sort of unravels in his wardrobe as the show goes on.

So he starts in white tie and then he's in black tie, and then he's in a suit, and then he's in, you know, we see him at the top of the second act and he's in pajamas, so it's this gradual like stripping away of his formality, which is sort of what he leans on at the beginning. So yeah, it's a fun little moment, but I think it serves a purpose, or at least I've convinced myself that it has.

[13:00] Jayke Workman: It certainly served a purpose for me. Uh so you know, we could of course like talk at length about Funny Girl, but you have had your hand in so many other shows. And um, I would love to know about your sort of like the regional that you have because you have played some really iconic roles opposite some incredible people in some amazing places like Paper Mill. So like tell me what is the um, is the audition process for you, or even like you know, when something comes into your inbox and you are asked to come in for something, is it about the role that you're drawn to? Is it a show that you're drawn to? Is it the theater or the team? Like, where do you sort of, you know, pick and choose, or do you pick and choose like the projects that you want to put yourself in for?

[13:53] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I think, you know, I um, when I was in college, I went to NYU, you know, I saw two shows back to back at Lincoln Center. One was Light in the Piazza and the other was South Pacific, the revival of South Pacific. And I really just fell in love with, like I said, with old classic musicals, or at least shows that are written in that format. And I knew I wasn't, you know, I never, I loved dance. I loved studying dance. I kind of knew I wasn't going to be a dancer. I sort of didn't start early enough in, you know, everybody who was really excelling at dance had started in, you know, when they were a kid, or at least in high school, and I really felt like I was like, that's not in the cards for me.

[14:35] Stephen Mark Lukas: And what really draws me to this business is really, you know, interpreting songs and acting through song and telling a story in that way that I think only musical theater can do.

[14:46] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and so I always kind of knew that it was gonna be a while before I would get, you know, like a succession of Broadway work.

[15:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, I always kind of knew that I was gonna have to work regionally and sort of build up my skill set in terms of, you know, creating these roles.

[15:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, so it really took a while. You know, I was very lucky two years out of school, I booked The Book of Mormon.

[15:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: I was a standby for Elder Price on Broadway. I was one of the first replacements in that show, and it was really an exciting time to be a part of it because it had won all the Tonys and they were putting tours out and all that, and I moved around, I did the Chicago company, you know, all the different tours and stuff at various times.

[15:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and then after that, you know, I knew it was gonna kind of be a while that I was gonna have to like, you know, go back in the oven and bake a little bit before I really was ready to do the roles that I wanted to do.

[15:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, and that took the form of working at some amazing regional houses. And I love regional theater, you know.

[15:44] Stephen Mark Lukas: I always say that I think, you know, every regional theater serves such a purpose in the community that it's, and you know, the shows that they program are reflective of the values of their community, and it's really exciting to get to do, you know, one theater's Guys and Dolls is not the same as another theater's Guys and Dolls.

[16:05] Stephen Mark Lukas: It reflects sort of who their subscribers are and what they're trying to say to their community, and I've always found that really exciting.

[16:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: So yeah, you know, I think it's always about a role for me, I think. I think it's always about, you know, do I feel like I have something to say with this role?

[16:22] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and even doing, you know, I've done Oklahoma a number of times, and each production was very different and sort of said something very different, and I played the character of Curly very differently.

[16:32] Stephen Mark Lukas: I've done Guys and Dolls a few times, and that's always an amazing show to do. And um, so I think it's, you know, it's about, you know, roles and it's not just checking roles off a bucket list, because I, you know, I of course I have that list of roles I'd like to do.

[16:47] Stephen Mark Lukas: But I also feel like, yeah, and I feel like, you know, there are certain roles that I have had to wait till I was sort of at the right point in my life to be able to play.

[16:56] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah. Um, so that's been a big part of it, just sort of waiting for the stars to align and something to come in where I say, you know, I think I have something to say with that at this point in my career.

[17:08] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I'm really leaning into that now as I've gotten a little bit older.

[17:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, you know, there are things that I know I can do that I, you know, that I could probably, you know, get a job doing that I feel like, you know, do I want to sort of start, is there another point I want to make at this point in my career?

[17:25] Stephen Mark Lukas: Isn't it, is there a different story I want to tell? Um, how can I best serve, you know, the community in my, in the business with my work at this point?

[17:34] Stephen Mark Lukas: So it's, you know, as I've gotten older, those conversations have become really different than they were when I was 24, and I just wanted a job, you know.

[17:41] Jayke Workman: Sure, of course.

[17:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah. Well, and I mean, you come to a point, I think, in your career where it does become less about, or you know, one would hope it becomes less about like I just need a job.

[17:53] Stephen Mark Lukas: I like, I'll do whatever you want. I just want to be in the play versus, you know, you reach a point where you're like, okay, I have established myself enough as a human, you know, like financially and otherwise to be like, if I didn't want to take this opportunity, I don't have to, which is like it's such a strange, like layered thing, you know.

[18:15] Stephen Mark Lukas: Like I've talked to a lot of people on the podcast, but also I've talked to a lot of, you know, up and coming actors who are in BFA programs and whatever who are like, I just need the next thing, I just need the next like rung on the ladder, so to speak.

[18:30] Stephen Mark Lukas: And it's, it's fucking hard.

[18:33] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[18:33] Stephen Mark Lukas: So to reach a point where you can be like, okay, I'm in for a role that I want, a show that I want, a theater that I would like to work at.

[18:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: That's great. So I like that's the opportunity that I'm gonna take versus just being like, I'm gonna throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

[18:50] Stephen Mark Lukas: Well, and I think it's also a self-fulfilling prophecy as you get older.

[18:53] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, when I was young, I had the great fortune of siding with a great agent right while I was still a senior in college.

[19:00] Stephen Mark Lukas: And they wanted me to go into everything. They got me in for everything, you know, from commercials to industrials to Broadway musicals to, you know, TV.

[19:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, I was flown to LA to screen test for something, and I kind of had a lot of like luck right out of the gate.

[19:19] Stephen Mark Lukas: And, you know, I kind of thought that everything would be just that easy, you know what I mean, and that the jobs would just keep coming.

[19:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: And you know, it turned out that I had to sort of, I had a lot to learn, you know, about myself and what I could bring to the business.

[19:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and so it is, you know, when you're young you go in for everything and people sort of see you as this blank canvas that, you know, what are we gonna do with him?

[19:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and then as you get older, you know, you sort of start to self-select and, you know, ask yourself like, well what, you know, what is it I really do well? What is it that I do, you know, that is so innately me, you know, where I'm funny, where I'm engaging, where I, you know, can add something to a creative process?

[19:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I feel like that's how the conversation has shifted for me, is like where, how can I serve the work rather than, you know, what's just, well, you know, what's the next thing that I can book?

[19:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, of course, you know, I need a job. I love working. I always, you know, I always want to work.

[19:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: But, um, and then it, you know, it sort of doubles back on itself in terms of the business too where the business sort of gets to know you as a certain type of performer who does something really well and those are the start, those are the appointments you start to get, you know, rather than just sort of throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.

[20:41] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[20:41] Stephen Mark Lukas: Well, in sort of a similar vein, but um, I guess on a little different path, I'd love to know, I mean, you have played Gaston, you've played Elder Price, you've played Nick Arnstein, Curly, all of these like sort of quintessentially masculine roles.

[21:02] Stephen Mark Lukas: And you are, I mean, you know, again, I just gush about you, but you are just so stunningly beautiful, and you are a very mask presenting person.

[21:10] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[21:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I would love to know, but you know, you are also an openly queer person who has a beautiful fiancé.

[21:19] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yes.

[21:19] Jayke Workman: I would love to know, like, are there ever instances for you, or have there been throughout your career where the masculinity is something that you have had to deal with?

[21:35] Stephen Mark Lukas: Because I mean, I am lucky enough now that being open about like being a non-binary person is really being embraced in the world of theater.

[21:45] Stephen Mark Lukas: But there was a time where people literally would make comments of like, you're never gonna work if you can't play straight.

[21:50] Stephen Mark Lukas: And while I completely understand like an acting, you know, perspective on that whole argument, I just think like the day in, day out, like stepping into an audition room, it can be so, uh, like gender dysphoric and like mind fucky when you're like these people are expecting me to be this.

[22:09] Stephen Mark Lukas: Like what has your experience been like with that?

[22:13] Stephen Mark Lukas: That's a great question, and I honestly love talking about it because I really, um, I think that this is my life's work to some, you know, to some extent, and I'll explain what I mean by that.

[22:25] Stephen Mark Lukas: But you know, when I was in college, um, you know, I like I said, I signed with a really big agent, my senior year of college.

[22:32] Stephen Mark Lukas: I was flown out to LA to test for Glee, actually, of all things, and I was like down to the wires between me and Cory Monte for the role of Finn on Glee, which is, you know, a whole nother conversation, but amazing that I got to work with Jane Lynch and Lea Michele and Leah, yeah, doing Funny Girl, and I, you know, I ended up making out with Lea Michele eight times a week on Broadway.

[22:52] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, but, um, you know, uh, so I was with this, you know, amazing agency, and they were so supportive and they're so great, but one of the things they said to me was, you know, we, I had booked a tour of Light My Candle that was supposed to go to the Philippines, actually.

[23:08] Stephen Mark Lukas: And the Philippines is a very Catholic country where being gay is at least at the time, and I assume, you know, it was basically illegal to be gay.

[23:19] Stephen Mark Lukas: Dangerous, yeah.

[23:20] Stephen Mark Lukas: And so it prompted this conversation between me and my reps about how we were gonna handle this sort of going forward.

[23:27] Stephen Mark Lukas: And one of the things my agent said to me, and he meant well, um, you know, he meant well, he meant, you know, to support me.

[23:34] Stephen Mark Lukas: He said, you know, we want you to be proud, but not so proud you don't get the job.

[23:39] Stephen Mark Lukas: And, um, you know, at the time, you know, the only people I knew that were out that were working that were playing the kind of roles that I wanted to play were Shoshana Bean and Gavin Creel.

[23:48] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and I sort of brought them up and he said, well, neither of them are movie stars.

[23:53] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I was like, oh my gosh.

[23:55] Stephen Mark Lukas: So you keep sort of moving the goalpost, right?

[23:57] Stephen Mark Lukas: And you know, again, he meant well, and he was looking out for the, you know, my career and everything, but it was a different world than it is now.

[24:06] Stephen Mark Lukas: I mean, yeah, you know, things have changed drastically, but I really did internalize that as well as, you know, some feedback that I had gotten early in my career about, about, you know, oh, we think he's too light in the loafers or whatever, and you know, those phrases that people love to throw around.

[24:22] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I really internalized that and, um, you know, I don't know if I took it as a challenge or I, I sort of, uh, I just sort of ignored it, but I, I knew that I could do what it is I had set out to do.

[24:37] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, I always knew that my work was solid, and I knew that when I, when I was on stage, you know, I'm an actor, and if I'm in love with a woman or I'm in love with a man in this role, I can serve the text and I can, I can do that well.

[24:50] Stephen Mark Lukas: I knew that about myself.

[24:51] Stephen Mark Lukas: So I kind of didn't let myself get sidetracked by that conversation.

[24:56] Stephen Mark Lukas: And it's just sort of the way that it's happened that I have ended up playing these really like hyper-masculine roles.

[25:03] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I've struggled with that.

[25:05] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, to be honest, I've really struggled with, you know, how, you know, what can I, again back to the question of like what can I bring to the world by playing this character?

[25:15] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I think right, you know, what I've settled on is that, you know, almost all of the ills in society can be traced back to men feeling like they're not man enough, right?

[25:15] Stephen Mark Lukas: And that is what a lot of these characters feel, right? I mean, Nick Arnstein is a perfect example of a character, absolute pinnacle of that.

[25:41] Stephen Mark Lukas: Exactly. I mean he is trying to prove his masculinity through the course of that entire show.

[25:46] Stephen Mark Lukas: Gaston, right? Trying to prove, trying to be the alpha male.

[25:50] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I realized at a certain point like, oh, me as a gay man being told I'm not man enough and Nick being told like you have to provide for your wife, you're, if you take her money, you're not man enough.

[26:02] Stephen Mark Lukas: Like the journey is actually the same, right? It's a parallel journey.

[26:06] Stephen Mark Lukas: And so that I actually have not just the ability to play these roles, but I have like a unique responsibility, I think, to sort of unravel that.

[26:23] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I think, you know, in playing these roles as a queer person, I think I, um, I have a unique perspective.

[26:23] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I think, you know, what I've always tried to do with them is to find the humor and to find the vulnerability in these characters, you know.

[26:32] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I think that by doing that, um, I am in a position to sort of start to unravel this idea of toxic masculinity and, um, you know, make these characters a little bit more human and say something too about society, you know.

[26:48] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah, it's been really interesting playing Nick Arnstein on this tour because everybody loves to hate Nick.

[26:55] Jayke Workman: Oh yes.

[26:56] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, and they would, you would you include a reviewer in that?

[27:00] Jayke Workman: Oh, they all do.

[27:01] Stephen Mark Lukas: I mean, they all like, I've stopped. I mean, I stopped reading reviews a lot because I really don't care what some weatherman in, you know, Iowa thinks of me or my performance.

[27:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: But you know, it, I understand it.

[27:14] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, I do understand that it is really unsavory to have a conversation about, you know, this man who, uh, in essence, you know, is emasculated by his wife making more than him.

[27:25] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, I would argue that the story's about a lot more than that.

[27:28] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, he is, he is somebody who's deeply in love with Fanny, and it's society that is telling these characters this is how you have to behave, and they're both up against that.

[27:36] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, Fanny's up against this societal ideal of what it means to be on stage and a woman.

[27:41] Stephen Mark Lukas: Nick is up against the societal ideal of what it means to be a man and make a living.

[27:45] Stephen Mark Lukas: So they both have this pressure imposed from the world in which they live that they both have to try to break out of.

[27:51] Stephen Mark Lukas: So I think it's, it's a lot, it's about a lot more than that.

[27:56] Stephen Mark Lukas: But, um, you know, people get really uncomfortable with the character of Nick and back to the original Broadway production.

[28:02] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, Barbara Streisand writes in her memoir about how they were in previews for the original production of Funny Girl, and they, you know, the character of Nick would come on stage, Sydney Chaplin, and the audience would just get so uncomfortable, and they ended up cutting a lot of his stuff because of that.

[28:14] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah.

[28:14] Stephen Mark Lukas: He had a beautiful lullaby that he used to sing to the baby that was cut, temporary arrangement, which is put back in our production was cut, you're a funny girl, which is put back into our production was cut.

[28:24] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and so I get it, you know, I get it.

[28:27] Stephen Mark Lukas: But I also think that it's, you know, in this case, like it's really important to have that foil because you have to give Fanny something to, you know, she's a Phoenix rising from the ashes at the end of the show.

[28:27] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah.

[28:27] Stephen Mark Lukas: You have to give her an obstacle, and Nick happens to be that obstacle.

[28:42] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I also think that it's a very human story, and it's something that a lot of people feel and have to deal with.

[28:49] Stephen Mark Lukas: Um, and so it's, you know, again, I try to bring as much heart and as much sensitivity to the character as I can.

[28:56] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[28:57] Stephen Mark Lukas: Well, I mean, I've been asked about my own sort of opinions and, uh, like feelings with my identity, juxtaposed to shows like this that are just like the quintessential like man and woman love story and everything.

[29:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: But specifically with Funny Girl, there is a song called "You Are Woman, I Am Man."

[29:16] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[29:17] Stephen Mark Lukas: Which is kind of, I mean, you look at that and it's pretty much the most like binary perspective you could get. However, I feel like, and maybe I'm just biased because I love Funny Girl, but I feel like that song specifically is the culmination of both Fanny and Nick coming together and showing the cracks to the audience in their own perceptions of each other and what those gender expectations are like.

[29:49] Jayke Workman: Because you both, I mean, you know, you're saying you are woman, I am man, whatever.

[29:54] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah. But all of the subtext in that, specifically with the brilliant staging that you guys have been given, there's so much weakness being exposed even though the words are strong. Yeah, and I think that's a really cool thing to think about in terms of gender and, and yeah, you know, I mean, I love looking at old things from today's lens. I think that's why things withstand the test of time and we revive shows again and again. And I think gender is one of the biggest elements that has shifted and gender perspective in the last, you know, 50 years of musical theater, so it's just so exciting to know that you have this beautiful, like openly queer life as a performer and then you get to still tell these stories. It's just so cool.

[29:55] Jayke Workman: Yeah, and I think, you know, part of it too is, you know, I can't really take too much credit because some of it is just my height and the way that I look and the shape my body is, you know what I mean? Like I'm a tall guy, I'm a big guy, I have a baritone voice, like some of it is not really, I can't take credit for it.

[31:04] Stephen Mark Lukas: Sure. But it's, it's again, it's interesting to see sort of where the business sort of sees you and what do you get tasked as and then as a performer to say, okay, well what can I do with that? Like how can I fill that out in the most interesting way? And "You Are Woman, I Am" is a really interesting, you know, like using the tools that you're given in some ways.

[31:26] Jayke Workman: And you use the privilege. I mean, now obviously, like outside of Funny Girl, I really love and respect how outspoken you are on like a political level just on your social media because there are often, you know, we've been told throughout like our careers and even like training for it, it's like stay very neutral, don't post things on social media that would have anything to do with, you know, this or that, like stay very, even just like how you present is very like if you're going in for a type, you have to make sure that on social media you look that type. And I'm like, girl, I have my full ass out on Instagram. I have my acrylic nails and a mustache. I'm like, you guys can, if you guys don't have the imagination to put me into a role, then I don't have time for you. I'm so sorry to say, like I'm gonna post what I'm gonna post.

[32:19] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah, you know, social media is interesting. You know, I think that I am at a turning point with it now a little bit, which is that I, you know, I think I did feel that pressure for most of my career to like only present certain things. When I first started dating Brian, you know, we had a lot of conversations about it because I wouldn't post a lot of pictures of us together.

[32:40] Jayke Workman: Right.

[32:41] Stephen Mark Lukas: And it wasn't because I loved him and it wasn't because I didn't want people to know I was gay, it was just this sort of thing that I was always thinking through the lens of, you know, what if so and so from, you know, such and such casting firm, you know, looks at my social media and what if they're casting this role and, you know, if they do a cursory look at it, like what are they thinking about me?

[33:02] Jayke Workman: Right.

[33:02] Stephen Mark Lukas: And I think I'd lived a lot of my life through that lens as a lot of us have in the business. And I think, you know, the business is changing, you know, it really is. I mean, I think that conversation I had with my agent doesn't happen now or at least I hope it doesn't as often. And so I, you know, I went to, I saw Charles Bush perform at 54 Below a few years ago and, you know, his story is just amazing. But one of the things he kept saying sort of as a refrain is, you know, I would just show up authentically and then see what would happen as a result.

[33:38] Jayke Workman: Right.

[33:38] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, and it's not going to be what you think, right? Like it's not going to be sort of the predetermined thing you have in your mind. Like if you just show up authentically, like there will be a place for you and it'll be different and it'll actually be much more interesting than the one you can sort of shoehorn yourself into. And so that's where I'm at now and I'm, again, you know, undoing decades of sort of messaging about you have to present this way or this is how you enter the room or whatever. And I think, you know, listen, like I like the roles I do. I like doing it. I like sort of putting on this masculine exterior. I think it's really interesting. I'm also at a place in my life now where I'd love to play queer roles.

I've never been cast in a gay role. In fact, I booked a TV show a couple years ago, I booked a guest star in a TV show and the character was gay and I was like so excited. They called me two weeks before shooting and said, actually now his fiancée is a woman and he's straight and I was like, oh my God, you know, and so, you know, there's phenomenal actors, you know, just today, you know, Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer were nominated for me for Fellow Travelers. So, you know, I think that the world is changing a lot and I think, you know, we have a lot more work to do, but I really am at a place where I want to see what else I can do. You know what I mean?

[35:03] Jayke Workman: I, I, I, I, you know, like I've played a certain type of role in musicals for a long time. I would love to keep doing that. I'd also love to see what else I can do that sort of more authentically embraces my queer identity.

[35:16] Stephen Mark Lukas: Definitely. And I wonder if it would even be, you know, either a challenge or a sense of ease in being able to tap into something that's so intrinsically yourself. It's like if you are less concerned about putting something on, so to speak, you know, and there's more openness to just laying your heart out on the table.

[35:41] Jayke Workman: It's crazy. Well, is there, I mean, in thinking of the roles that you have played, which are pretty much all either like the leading men or the, you know, like one of the main principals.

[35:56] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah.

[35:56] Jayke Workman: Is there something that you find that you need from a scene partner to make your performance as like open and authentic as possible?

[36:08] Stephen Mark Lukas: That's interesting. No, I mean, I think I think that it is my job as an actor to just really be fascinated with romance, you know, that like romance of all sorts, like really interests me. Sensuality really interests me. You know, you have a scene like "You Are Woman, I Am Man," where it ends with them on a bed together.

[36:34] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[36:35] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, where they enter, she's furious with him. So it's like, how do you get from point A to point B? And that like the mechanics of that are really interesting for me. I will say that, you know, Funny Girl has been a really good learning curve for me because I have done now, I have played Nick opposite Lea Michele, opposite Julie Banco, opposite Hannah Shankman, opposite Katarina McCrimon, opposite Effie Ardima, and opposite Leah Platt, who's the understudy on the tour. So I've done it with all these women, and you know, it is about staying present, and it's about really trying to find those things that you love about that person, and that you connect with about that person and really make it specific.

Because I think it can be really bad if it's just sort of generic, you know. I think that can be, that's where you run into trouble. And I think that it, you know, it's about having that relationship and allowing it to be specific and allowing it to be authentic. You know, Katarina and I have a very different dynamic on stage than Hannah and I do than I did with Leah, you know, so it's about, and also the show, you know, the story of Funny Girl really is Fanny's story too. So the show is naturally gonna change a lot based on the actress who's playing Fanny. So it's been really a good action, you know. Last week I did the show with three Fannies. I did it with, yeah, so I did it with Kat, I did it with Hannah, and I did it with Leah all in the course of a week.

And I had to really, I found myself as an actor like, you know, being you having to really be on my toes and really, you know, ask myself, am I really talking to this person? Am I just sort of saying the lines the way that I know how to say them because I've been doing this for two years? Or am I really speaking to this woman who's in front of me? And that has been a great challenge as an actor and something that I've learned a lot doing.

[38:27] Jayke Workman: Absolutely. What a brilliant, I mean, we talk about it a lot, I guess, and we sort of argue that like the way to learn is to do it, but like I think there's an inherent sort of, not privilege, but like what a gift it is to get to sit with a role for this long and find new things every time because we're often asked as performers, how do you keep it fresh when you have been in the show this long? And you know, specifically on a tour where the place changes, you're traveling every, you know, few weeks or so, but like if you're doing the same show for two years, how do you keep it fresh? And it is that, it's finding the truth and the authenticity and the nuance in the day-to-day. You don't have to do it the same time or the same way every single time to a certain extent.

Obviously, there are marks you have to hit and there are things you have to do in the same way for timing and whatever, but when you get to experience a show like that every night with a person opposite you, that, I mean, it just lends itself to finding the new things. How fun.

[39:32] Stephen Mark Lukas: That's so funny. It is, and it really is, you know, I almost think of like Meisner work, right? Where it's like the repetition is like the thing is actually counterintuitive. Counterintuitively, the thing that breeds presence and authenticity is like the fact that it's so rote. You know, I hit a point with, you know, I, and there are, there have been chapters with playing this role, right? Like doing it as an understudy on Broadway, you just wanna stay in the right spot and not hit anybody and sing the right notes and be in your light. Lea Michele, you know, and not get in Lea Michele's way. You know what I mean? Like that was my primary concern. And then, you know, at a certain point, you know, Ramin left to do Phantom and I got to do it for three weeks.

And that was a different sort of chapter with it, right? Which was really leaning into it and trying to find more depth in it and trying to make sure it was really connected and authentic. And then rehearsing the tour.

[40:27] Jayke Workman: And building up stamina, absolutely.

[40:29] Stephen Mark Lukas: And then rehearsing the tour. And then, you know, and you know, it's such a gift to get to a place where you, where I try to be now, which is where the mechanics of it are so solid that you really don't have to worry about it.

[40:42] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[40:43] Stephen Mark Lukas: And you can really just play and be in the moment. And, you know, that, again, it hasn't happened to me before, really, because I've always been, I, you know, I did Book of Mormon for a while, but I was a standby. So every time I went on, I was like shot out of a cannon. You know, even doing it for three, four weeks at a time, which I got to do, you know, it was just this major event for my nervous system to have to go on and do that show.

[41:10] Jayke Workman: I know the feeling.

[41:11] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah, and that's why, you know, standbys, understudies, swings, like they are the heroes of this business, and we all owe them our lives. But doing something like this where it's like, yeah, I know I can do it, you know. I've done it with COVID, I've done it with, you know, unknowingly, I've done it with a cold, I've done it, you know, when I was tired, I've done it when I just got off a flight, I've done it when I hadn't slept for five days, like whatever. You know, I like, I know I can do it on my worst day, and it's not really about that, it's about showing up and really trying to be present and really trying to be as authentic as I can and strip away those layers of like all that rehearsal and all that, you know, doing it on Broadway and doing it in this and doing it in that, like just stripping all that away and trying to come back to like what am I actually trying to do in this moment and what is the person in front of me giving me.

[41:58] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[41:59] Stephen Mark Lukas: So cool. Well, before you were Broadway's Stephen Mark Lukas, I would love to know what your road to being an artist was like. Like, did you have a particularly musical upbringing? Was it something that was like talked about? Or were you like the dark horse who was like, I want to be a performer?

[42:25] Stephen Mark Lukas: That's so, that's a great question. I mean, it was a little bit of both, honestly. You know, I have to say, you know, my parents loved musicals. Neither of them, you know, ever did anything artistic professionally, but they loved musicals and they would take us in the car down to New York every November, every like I think it was Veterans Day weekend, we would go and see like four or five shows, just like see as many shows as we could. And but they would, you know, back then like they would call Telecharge and like get tickets like six months ahead of time. So we would have the tickets in my, you know, on my dad's desk. My dad would order the, you know, the either the cassette tape or the, dating myself, or the CD, and we would like listen to the CD, listen to the cast album as a family and like sing the songs and, you know, it was really like, you know, we would drive up to, you know, go skiing or something, we would listen to Les Mis and like sing all the songs the whole way.

And that was really my introduction to it, and it just became this special thing that sort of brought our family together. And I just loved it. And I think, you know, I never thought I would really do it as a career until I got to high school.

[43:39] Stephen Mark Lukas: I went to boarding school, um, and went to Phillips Exeter in New Hampshire, and they had a phenomenal music program. Um, and it was actually like just working with the voice teacher there and singing in choir and like doing all that that I kind of got the sense of like, oh wow, this is actually a job. Like I could actually I could do this. Um, and sort of made the wild decision at the time to apply to conservatories, um, and again sort of thinking like this is a crazy idea I don't know that I'll actually be able to do this for a living, um, but let me try. Um, and I've always had like I really have always had a rebel streak. Um, I know and that's also why I think I get cast as, you know, Gaston in Nick Arnstein because I think I do have, yeah, I think I do have like a little streak of darkness in me that like just really doesn't want to play by the rules and like the surest way to get me to do something is to tell me not to do it.

And so I think I really was like yeah, you know what I'm gonna do this and um went to NYU and got to NYU and realized like oh wow I have so much to learn, you know, because I was there with kids who had really had been working professionally and had like, you know, gone to summer camp and doing it and I really had just done it in high school and done, you know, I'd done a little regional theater and community theater and stuff like that growing up, but you know, that was where I sort of like saw what I was up against and saw like, you know, what it was going to take to really um, to do this for a living. Um, totally, but um, but yeah, so that's the story I mean it's, you know, I still don't know if I am Broadway Stephen Mark Lukas but hopefully I will be someday.

[45:19] Jayke Workman: I can confirm, I can confirm you are. Wait, were you kissing boys at boarding school?

[45:25] Stephen Mark Lukas: I went to high school for the arts.

[45:27] Jayke Workman: Did you really? Girl, let me tell you, these people had the gall, the audacity to not let me go. I mean, in the dorm in my high school.

[45:36] Stephen Mark Lukas: They were like, I'm so sorry, but you can't be on the girls' floor.

[45:41] Jayke Workman: And I, of course, all my best friends were girls. They wouldn't let me go into their rooms. Meanwhile, I was like, oh, okay, fine by me. I guess I'll go to my room with my gay roommate and close the door and do whatever we want. Like, what is that about? It was funny. So I got to Exeter and I went through my sophomore year. I went to a year of public high school and I got to Exeter my sophomore year, and I was still, you know, quote unquote straight, but I had all these friends who were girls, and I would just kinda like go over to their house and they would let me up and they were like, oh, we're not worried about him. Oh yeah, you know, you're supposed to have the door open and like three feet on the floor or whatever the rules were, and like they were like, oh, C when you can go up, he's fine.

And I was like, all right. So um, but yeah, I ended up I came out, you know, my at my sophomore year of high school, which was, you know, sort of for a number of reasons, just earlier than I think I was ready to, but it was, you know, luckily I was in a really supportive environment. You know, it was a school that had a gay straight alliance and had a lot of resources, and um, you know, it was difficult. It was my first year away from home, you know, and sort of coming to terms with my own identity. You know, it was less about telling my parents or anything like that. I wasn't really that concerned with that, but it was more about embracing it myself and sort of admitting to myself that, you know, that I was gay.

Um, but it was also through that that, you know, I had a voice teacher who was gay and was older and married and that was, you know, he saved my life in a lot of ways because he, um, you know, he understood and he was a resource for me, and I would see him every week and we would talk and um, you know, gave me sort of a model that, you know, I could have this vibrant rich life, you know, even though I wasn't straight, which at the time was like, you know, I didn't know what was gonna happen to me. I didn't know any, I grew up in Maine, you know, I didn't know that many gay people.

[47:29] Stephen Mark Lukas: To quote one of my very favorite drag queens in the entire world, Miss Trixie Mattel always says being gay is not hard. Yeah, being gay is not the thing that's hard. Straight people make being gay hard because of all of their own shenanigans and issues with it. Like so that's the T is like when you're a kid you don't know anything else because we're not told. I mean maybe now these the new generation is lucky enough to be told that this is normal, but like even I remember watching, it's so funny that you brought up Glee because like I remember that was like my first instance of like wait what? What gay people are like absolutely being celebrated and talked about not just like as like the butt of the joke but like oh yeah these are main characters who just happen to be gay but like we're gonna talk about other things.

I was like and we grew up in an I think we grew up at a really interesting time too because it wasn't there there wasn't hatred for gay people it wasn't totally taboo to come out, um, but you know, the model at the time was like, you know, Sean Hayes and Will & Grace like that was that was sort of where we fit was to be like a sort of punchline, right? Especially in terms of an archetype, um, and you know, sort of growing up with that being the expectation, you know what I mean? And sort of having some acceptance around gay rights and gay marriage but not it wasn't ubiquitous, you know, and then living through, you know, the establishment of gay marriage as a normal thing in society, you know, through gay rights.

And so we've sort of seen an interesting trajectory, I think. Um, you know, and I never felt like I had to be repressed. I never felt like I had to deny my, you know, my self, but I also, you know, didn't come out blazing the way that I would have liked to. You know, I also didn't feel like I could just totally tell the world right away. So it was just sort of an interesting transitional period, I think that we grew up in.

[49:35] Jayke Workman: And look at you now.

[49:37] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh my pod.

[49:40] Jayke Workman: Shouting it from the rooftops. Well, Stephen, you are just such a treat. I am so glad I had you here. Before I let you go, I have a series of musical theater rapid fire questions.

[49:50] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh, yes, absolutely.

[49:52] Jayke Workman: Every guest, are you ready?

[49:54] Stephen Mark Lukas: I am ready.

[49:56] Jayke Workman: Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber?

[50:00] Stephen Mark Lukas: What do you think? Say it. Say it out loud.

[50:02] Jayke Workman: Sondheim.

[50:05] Stephen Mark Lukas: Sweatpants or jeans?

[50:08] Stephen Mark Lukas: Sweatpants.

[50:10] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite musical?

[50:13] Stephen Mark Lukas: Ooh gosh, that's tough, but I think it has to be Into the Woods.

[50:17] Jayke Workman: Uh, love. Do you have a least favorite musical?

[50:22] Stephen Mark Lukas: No, I don't have any that I dislike enough to call them my least favorite.

[50:26] Jayke Workman: Oh come on.

[50:27] Stephen Mark Lukas: I mean, I have shows that I don't, you know, like I don't think I have any least favorite musicals. I think I have like there are shows that I've never really understood. You know what I mean? That well, I don't know. I don't want to be the I don't want to trash everybody's work. But I'll say this.

[50:44] Jayke Workman: Oh, allow me.

[50:45] Stephen Mark Lukas: Uh, Footloose can absolutely burn in hell. I don't ever need to see a production of Footloose.

[50:49] Jayke Workman: Yeah, that was my first professional job was a summer stock production of Footloose when I was, no, I was one of the, I was like Vickle or somebody, one of those guys. Like has a name but doesn't have any lines.

[51:01] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah. Love it. Uh, would you ever like to do a Broadway play?

[51:07] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I'd love to do it. I'd love to do more plays. You know, I, again, it's that thing of, uh, you know, the business sort of grabs on to you and tells you what you're gonna do. And I would love to do more, more, more plays. Absolutely.

[51:22] Jayke Workman: Uh, are you a morning person or a night owl?

[51:26] Stephen Mark Lukas: You know, I try to be a morning person. Um, these days I'm a night owl. I really am. It's hard. After the show, I like get home, I take my magnesium, I try to calm down, but it always takes me like two or three hours after the show.

[51:38] Jayke Workman: We eat cupcakes, we cupcakes hotel, you know, of course.

[51:43] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah.

[51:45] Jayke Workman: Um, could you think of the craziest thing a director has ever asked you to do?

[51:49] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh my gosh, that's a great question. I'm gonna have to think about that for a moment. Either in an audition room or, you know, a rehearsal room.

[51:57] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh yeah. I had an audition. Oh god, this is bad. Um, I had an audition for this this like MTV um TV show that was called, I think it was called I Love You But I Lied. And it was like one of those recreation shows where like it was a story of somebody being cheated on or something, and they would like tell the real story, but then like recreate.

[52:18] Jayke Workman: Oh, like a reenactment.

[52:20] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yes, like they do on Dateline or whatever. And um, but it was only about like people who are unfaithful, and they made me and this other actor who's a very, you know, very well-known actor now, um, they made us take our shirts off and like make out with each other, and like they wanted us like go at it in the audition room, but like no consent, no like discussion with my agent, but they were like, you guys just make out and now can you take their shirts off? And I mean looking back at it, I was like, oh boy, like if only that had happened. Oh yeah, it was a female casting director, and then like a gay male um director who was directing the word and it was like holy me too. It was it was bad. And I actually I see him I run into that actor all the time that we actually have a great relationship, and we always laugh at it because if that happened now, I would I would walk out of the room.

[53:12] Jayke Workman: Oh, uh everyone would be sued.

[53:14] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yes, absolutely. Crazy.

[53:17] Jayke Workman: Um, uh golden age or contemporary?

[53:19] Stephen Mark Lukas: I know the answer to this.

[53:21] Jayke Workman: Golden Age.

[53:22] Stephen Mark Lukas: Golden Age, he's curly forever.

[53:25] Jayke Workman: Uh, do you have a favorite role that you've ever played?

[53:29] Stephen Mark Lukas: Gosh, that's a great, you know, it's a sort of a toss-up between I loved playing Curly in Oklahoma. I really did. I just think that that show, you know. Yes, is it problematic in some ways? Absolutely. Is the music beautiful and does it tell a really interesting story? And is he a really interesting character that has like this dark side to him and is also the hero? Yes. So I love playing that. And also, Elder Price was really just so special. Um, that's me. I mean, if I've ever played a character that is so uniquely me, it was playing Elder Price.

[54:04] Jayke Workman: So I am a Mormon.

[54:06] Stephen Mark Lukas: Exactly. Um, so that it would have to be a toss-up. Come on. Um, coffee or tea?

[54:12] Stephen Mark Lukas: Coffee.

[54:13] Jayke Workman: Oh, coffee. All the coffee.

[54:15] Stephen Mark Lukas: Same all the way. Uh, what is the hardest show that you've ever done?

[54:20] Stephen Mark Lukas: Book of Mormon.

[54:22] Jayke Workman: For sure.

[54:22] Stephen Mark Lukas: For sure. I mean, that role is just is so it's so hard to sing. Um, and I, you know, was 24 and really didn't have that much training when I when I did it. And you know, it was it was tough. It was like she's up there all steam and all quiet all the time, and you know, now I have a lot more tools at my disposal, right? So um, but it was, you know, it was very isolating too because you have to be quiet all the time and rest, and you know, yeah, yeah. But it was rewarding.

[54:51] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite costume that you have ever worn?

[54:56] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh gosh, that's a great question. Um, I love, uh, well, let's see. When I did, I did Production Beauty and the Beast at Paper Mill, and I played Gaston, and it was this custom fitted hunting jacket that was like red leather um to play Gaston, and it had like muscles painted on it, like worn like on the outside, and it was it was really just beautiful. I think that that would have to be it.

[55:22] Jayke Workman: Love it. Do you who would you say is the silliest cast member in Funny Girl?

[55:29] Stephen Mark Lukas: Well, I think we both know who that is. I think it would have to be, it would have to if you ask me who the funniest, the silliest cast member on Broadway would be, it would have to be Leslie Blake Walker. And the silliest cast member on the tour would have to be Hannah Shankman.

[55:45] Jayke Workman: Absolutely.

[55:46] Stephen Mark Lukas: Yeah. So it's two absolute goons.

[55:49] Jayke Workman: Goons, yes, absolutely. Well, my last question for you is a question that I ask every single guest, which is what is one thing that you would tell baby Stephen?

[56:00] Stephen Mark Lukas: Oh my gosh, that's such a great question. Um, besides, you know, just like it's all gonna be okay. Chill out. Like, like chill the fuck out. Sure. Calm down, it's gonna be fine. Calm down. No, I think it would be what I said earlier, you know, just to like try to show up as authentically as you can and understand that your career will likely therefore take a path different than the one you have in mind, and that's okay. Um, but just to embrace authenticity and you're better. I mean, uh, I would I would tell him, you know, you're a better actor if you come from a place of authenticity rather than a place of trying to check the boxes and be the things that you think you need to be to get the job.

You know, show up authentically, and like if you're good enough, you know, they, the world will shape to fit your vision of the character or your vision of the role, or you will get a different role that is that is more appropriate for you. So um, just to embrace authenticity, that would be it.

[57:04] Jayke Workman: Totally. Wow. Well, Steven, I just love you. Would you tell the listeners where can they find you on all of the socials to keep up with your gorgeous self?

[57:14] Stephen Mark Lukas: Absolutely. You can find me on Instagram, it's probably the best place. Um, at S M Lukas, S M-L-U-K-A-S. Uh, follow along. I'm also on TikTok, but I I'm just, I'm just, I you know, I as a geriatric millennial, I'm I'm just learning. So be patient with me on TikTok.

[57:34] Jayke Workman: Well, thank you so so much for being here. You are such a treat.

[57:36] Stephen Mark Lukas: Thank you so much. I love you so much. It's so great to see you, and it's so great to this was so wonderful. So thanks so much for having me.

[57:44] Jayke Workman: Thank you. You guys, that's it for another episode of Oh My Pod, you guys. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to the pod, and you can follow the show on Instagram at oh my pod, you guys. Thank you so, so much for listening. Talk soon. Bye!

[58:03] ♪ Musical number: "Oh My Pod" — performed by Unknown performer ♪