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[0:00] Jayke Workman: You guys, I'm just gonna stop you before you even ask. If I ever refer to someone as Jojo, I don't mean Jojo Siwa. I mean Jojo Levesque. Get out, leave. Oh my god, did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Oh my god, guys. Hi, Jayke in the podcast. Oh my god, I'm not gonna be 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.

[0:42] Jayke Workman: You guys, I know that it's all I can talk about as of late, but we are having the most fun ever in rehearsals for the new off-Broadway musical Fowl Play. It is so ridiculous in the best way. And I'm so excited to share that I actually have a 20% off code that you can use at checkout when you purchase tickets, which is O MyPod. So O H M Y P O D will get you 20% off tickets for Fowl Play off Broadway at the AMT Theater on 45th Street in New York City. Please come and see us. We were on August 8th through 17th, and we have 10 performances only. You guys, you do not want to miss this. So please, again, use the code OMYPOD for 20% off at checkout.

[1:27] Jayke Workman: And you guys, before we dive into an amazing interview with the icon that is Mamie Parris, we of course have to dive into this week's Broadway World recap brought to you by my amazing pals at Broadwayworld.com. You guys, first up, Broadway World shared the very exciting news that Cole Escola's brand new wild dark comedy on Broadway, OMERY, has been extended through November 10th at the Lyceum Theater. You guys, I still, still have not seen the show, and I have got to. I need to just get my tickets and freaking go because everyone is saying it is the show to see. I mean, I'm just so I have no right to be, but I'm so proud of Cole because this show is going over like gangbusters. I mean, Patti LuPone is like the featured promotional person in their new promo video.

It's just insane. So many people are seeing this show, and I need to be one of them. So you can now get tickets for this show, which is running through November 10th at the Lyceum. And I just, I love it. We gotta support the queer art, y'all. And who doesn't love the ridiculous Cole Escola? My god.

[2:36] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, we of course got the thrilling news that Miss Jojo Levesque and Aaron Tveit have returned to their roles of Satine and Christian in the Broadway production of Moulin Rouge. And you guys, they look so good. They look so happy. I mean, they're just both stunningly beautiful. All of the photos and the videos I saw on socials of their first bows back were just so thrilling. But also, that is not the only exciting news about Mr. Aaron Tveit because he announced that he's expecting his first child with his fiancée, Miss Erica Yang. So congratulations to this beautiful happy couple on your first baby.

[3:17] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, Broadway World shared a very exciting casting announcement that Adam Lambert and Auli'i Cravalho are going to join Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway at the newly renovated August Wilson Theater on September 16th. Adam Lambert is set to take over the role of the MC after Eddie Redmayne departs. And Miss Auli'i is going to be our very own Sally Bowles, which I'm just so intrigued and excited about. I mean, Adam Lambert is truly the unsung. Like, he needs to be on Broadway now. We need it. I can't believe that this is his Broadway debut, but it's gonna be a serve. The vocals, I cannot wait. And then Miss Auli'i, I mean, come on. Vocals down, but I'm so excited to see her take on Sally Bowles.

I think Sally is such a rich, just delicious character for an actor, and I can't wait to see what she does with it. So you guys can get your tickets to Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, and you will be seeing Mr. Adam Lambert and Miss Auli'i Cravalho starting September 16th.

[4:26] Jayke Workman: And lastly, you guys, Broadway World shared the crazy star-studded casting announcement of the new production of Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park at the newly revitalized Delacorte Theater. You guys, Peter Dinklage, Lupita Nyong'o, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh are set to lead this show. This casting is crazy. I mean, it's not to discredit any production that's ever been done at the Delacorte or to diminish the impact of Shakespeare in the Park, but my god, Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Lupita, like this is gonna be insane. Lupita as Viola doing the "I left no ring with her" speech. Are we kidding? I need it now. I need it now. Sandra Oh as Lady Olivia, come on! I cannot wait. I've actually never been to a production at the Delacorte, so I think this has to be my first.

Like, come on. This is gonna be amazing. And truly, I mean, it's no secret. I am not a Shakespeare girly because I am hashtag dumb and I can't understand it sometimes. But I will say I love Twelfth Night. So I cannot wait to see the show. And you guys, this has been the BroadwayWorld Recap.

[5:46] Jayke Workman: Oh my pod, you guys. I'm so excited to introduce my next guest on the show. She is a bona fide Broadway diva. Please welcome Miss Mamie Parris.

[5:57] Mamie Parris: Yay! Hi!

[5:58] Jayke Workman: Hi, doll. Thank you so much for being here.

[6:01] Mamie Parris: I'm so excited to be here. I was just saying, I can't believe that we have not crossed paths before because the world feels so small, this world of musical theater.

[6:10] Jayke Workman: It really is. I'm so glad that we have now.

[6:13] Mamie Parris: Yay! Thanks for coming. You guys, we're recording live in person.

[6:18] Jayke Workman: Together. We're like a foot and a half apart.

[6:20] Mamie Parris: Which like never happens. So it's so much.

[6:23] Jayke Workman: I know palpable.

[6:24] Mamie Parris: Palpable. I knew I would feel it with you on this couch.

[6:28] Jayke Workman: Um, okay. Well, diving right in, I usually ask, where are we recording or where are you calling in from? But where did you come from to be here on this day?

[6:37] Mamie Parris: Uptown.

[6:38] Jayke Workman: Uptown good.

[6:39] Mamie Parris: That's me. Love. I was I was in Harlem for a long time and I loved it up there.

[6:43] Mamie Parris: I'm in Washington Heights.

[6:44] Jayke Workman: Gorgeous.

[6:44] Mamie Parris: We've been up there forever. Love it. Love. Except I took the one train down here because that's closer to you, and the one train is just in the summer. It's an utter nightmare.

[6:51] Jayke Workman: It's a nightmare.

[6:53] Mamie Parris: Like there's just no air. Boiling hot. There's no air. Completely full of people.

[6:57] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[6:57] Mamie Parris: Yeah. It's great. I feel like that's I being on the one train has got to be what it felt like to be at the bottom of the pit in Silence of the Lambs. Like, I kind of want somebody to just throw it in an asset with lotion, so at least I can do something productive.

[7:09] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[7:10] Mamie Parris: There's nowhere.

[7:11] Jayke Workman: No.

[7:11] Mamie Parris: Very close. Horrible, horrible.

[7:13] Jayke Workman: Well, you made it here in one piece.

[7:14] Mamie Parris: I survived.

[7:15] Jayke Workman: Thank goodness. Yay. And we, of course, have to chat about our show that we are working on. I'm very excited.

[7:21] Mamie Parris: Fowl Play, baby.

[7:23] Jayke Workman: Me too. Fowl Play. When I first got I mean, I have been connected to Billy Reese and Yoni for a while, but they sort of just like casually were like, hey, would you like to um like read through this script with us as like a fun thing? And I was like, yeah, of course. Like whenever you need. So we did like a little rooftop gathering and read through the script, and it was so fun. And I didn't really think that I was gonna be a part of any further iteration of it. So then when they asked me to do it, I was like, of course.

[7:53] Mamie Parris: Why in the world would you not think you were gonna be part of the future iteration of it?

[7:57] Jayke Workman: They just fully, it was so casual.

[7:59] Mamie Parris: You're so talented.

[8:00] Jayke Workman: Oh my gosh. And you're so perfect for this. I can't believe there was ever a world in which you were like, they're not gonna ask me.

[8:06] Mamie Parris: Well, you just never know, you know.

[8:07] Jayke Workman: It's true, it's true. I was I'm so so glad that they asked me to do it. But tell me, what was your road to this specific project?

[8:15] Mamie Parris: Rolled up in my inbox. And you said it just rolled up, click, and I was like, this sounds insane. And you know, I've been a very different person, not a very different person, but my career goals and what I want to be doing and spending my time on has really shifted post-pandemic. Yeah, I kind of had a reckoning, like I think a lot of people did, where I was like, you know, I'm not trying to get right back on Broadway in some show that means nothing to me and deal with the stress of a commercial production. And you know, I just I was like, I want to remember why I decided to do this. So I've really been focused on doing things I really want to do that are interesting, that are fun, yeah, that are challenging. And so this kind of showed up, and it's incredibly unconventional. I think that's safe to I would say so.

[9:06] Mamie Parris: It's very unconventional. And I'm also like very political and very much an activist. So any type of activism theater, which really this is, even though this is hilarious and strange and people should see it because it's enjoyable, it also really thumbs its nose at certain bureaucratic institutions.

[9:23] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[9:24] Mamie Parris: So yeah, it just kind of showed up. The role sounded fun.

[9:28] Jayke Workman: And this Debbie.

[9:30] Mamie Parris: Debbie Dubois.

[9:32] Jayke Workman: You know, talk about her.

[9:34] Mamie Parris: She just shows up. You know, I think she's the kind of woman who does just show up. For any of us who are performers, she's a director. And when I tell you I had so many weird out there teetering on completely inappropriate directors in my life that I was able to draw from for this character. I knew immediately who she was. I was like, I know I know who this person is.

[10:01] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[10:02] Mamie Parris: Yes. And so it's fun to play a character that has had a past that is not um has not evolved to where she should be. You know, and it's it's always kind of interesting when I'm asked to play someone who's I'm not the villain of the piece, but I'm definitely not helping the situation.

[10:19] Jayke Workman: Right.

[10:20] Mamie Parris: And so it's always a journey when you get asked to do that, and you're like, but I'm such a nice person. And I do believe in this thing, and I do believe in in, you know, in love is love and and diversity and equity and inclusion. Like I do, but somebody's gotta be these people are obstacles, our real life obstacles that actually exist.

[10:39] Jayke Workman: Well, and that's the point of like getting to leave Mamie at the door and being like.

[10:42] Mamie Parris: Exactly.

[10:43] Jayke Workman: Not today, honey. She's she's someone new.

[10:45] Mamie Parris: That's why I signed up to do this in my life. Just play. I love playing other people, and I love being able to step out of my own skin for a minute. So she's really fun and out there. And I just I love shows like this where my character is important, but I'm kind of on the periphery and I get to just enjoy all the madness that you guys create.

[11:04] Jayke Workman: Yes. Well, I love that. I even like on day one, I think I joked with you. I was like, I can't believe that they got Miss Mamie Parris in their show, and she's not singing a damn.

[11:15] Mamie Parris: Isn't that funny?

[11:16] Jayke Workman: It's hilarious. I mean, of course, you are brilliant in the role, regardless of the fact that you are not singing.

[11:21] Mamie Parris: Oh my god, thank you. I mean, that's hilarious. I know. I was like, my agents, it's so funny when this rolled up, they were like, you know, it's real, it's not a singing role. And let her know, you know, let us know if a song would make it more enticing.

[11:34] Jayke Workman: Uh-huh.

[11:35] Mamie Parris: Like, like maybe if I wanted them to write Debbie Dubois on I kind of laughed, and I was like, I just what would her song be? Right. You know, I don't know if I want to think about that. It could be very disturbing. So, yeah, no, I'm I'm simply the actress, the actress.

[11:53] Jayke Workman: And we love it. I mean, the cast is so fun.

[11:56] Mamie Parris: Oh, terrific.

[11:57] Jayke Workman: Just the first read through was like such a it was you could just already feel how open and excited everyone is to just throw everything at the wall. Everyone is bringing such different and distinct energy to the room. It's really, it was so fun to just be there for the read through and kind of like live in the aura of all these people. It was really really exciting.

[12:17] Mamie Parris: Had you crossed paths with um the writers or anybody on the project?

[12:21] Jayke Workman: Oh my god. I mean, they'll have to correct me if I'm wrong because we know this business is chaotic.

[12:25] Mamie Parris: Of course.

[12:26] Jayke Workman: So it's entirely possible that we that they had asked me to do something in the past and I wasn't available, or that we met at a party or something. But no, we've never worked together.

[12:33] Mamie Parris: Love.

[12:33] Jayke Workman: Um, but I love what they're doing. I think it's so fun.

[12:36] Mamie Parris: That's so cool. Because I feel like I mean, not to sort of like put you on a pedestal while you're literally sitting in front of me, but like I've known of you for so long, you know, you have this extensive career in the theater, and so I would imagine that it would be easy to sort of reach a point where you're like, oh, I'm not I wouldn't even entertain doing something like this, you know.

[12:54] Mamie Parris: And so the fact that it's like a new project, regardless of you know, you're you're you didn't know anybody on it, but you still were like, I want to do it.

[13:01] Jayke Workman: That's what I'm saying.

[13:02] Mamie Parris: You know, I I don't think I'm ever gonna be that person that's like I don't need to do this project. There are a lot of projects I don't need to do. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff I don't need to spend my time on. And I do, yeah. My lovely new agents are so kind because I do say no to quite a bit, especially now that I'm rather particular, you know. I don't want to go out of town unless it's something specific. And even in town, I it's I I got an offer the other day for something that was like I said, this is just not for me. The role is not for me, the script doesn't I it just depends on the piece.

[13:34] Jayke Workman: Yeah, and I love development, I love doing new work. So if I think it's got merit, or if it's people I know that I really want to work with, or both, then I jump at the chance, you know. But it just depends, I think, on the situation, the circumstance, the piece.

[13:49] Mamie Parris: Totally. And I got this and was like, oh, this is this is different. Yeah, this is different, and this is it's quick.

[13:56] Jayke Workman: Yeah, you know, so it's not like you're committing to a lifelong endeavor where you're like, oh, this is gonna take everything else off the table.

[14:02] Mamie Parris: No, yes. So it just seemed like a good time. And it's gonna be.

[14:06] Jayke Workman: Well, and how lucky we are that you get to we all get to do it together. Like this is gonna be so funny.

[14:11] Mamie Parris: It's gonna be a whirlwind.

[14:12] Jayke Workman: It is. I mean, I have not worked on a show in this capacity in quite some time where the turnaround is this expeditious.

[14:22] Mamie Parris: Very expeditious.

[14:34] Mamie Parris: I saw Titanic very a couple of iterations before it moved to Off Broadway. I've not seen it at its current home where I need to go. I just haven't had the chance. Yeah. But um I saw it very early on in its development and loved it and had an absolute blast and think it's hilarious. It's insane. It's insane. And who better than Ty Blue to jump from literally jump that chip right on to this one? Yeah. Because it's that type of like wack-a-doodle just shenanigans. It's like there's no, I mean, there is obviously like artistic merit, but at the same time, we can just have fun and be silly, and it's so it's so exciting. It's very exciting. It's very exciting. And it's been interesting to try to when people ask me about it and they're like, well, what exactly is it?

And I'm like, I really don't want to give things away. I know. But I told somebody the other day, I told a friend, I said, you know what it feels like? I said, I feel like this must be very similar to what it felt like for the original team who was working on Little Shop of Horrors. That is back in the day. Exactly what I liken it to. It's that kind of sensibility, yes, that humor, that can't the like level of grandiosity. Yes, yeah, but of the case. But the, you know, the love is there. The important stuff is there. It's real, but it's not real. And the characters fully, fully believe that what they are doing is absolutely normal. Absolutely. Yeah, which is like what makes the hilarious work.

It's what makes it work. Which it's so fun. Exactly. Well, I would argue that this is probably a very different show for you to do, not only because of the the not singing, but also the the storytelling, you are even just from the first read through a hilarious comedian. Oh, thanks. But you have had your your hand at playing some really iconic fierce ladies. I mean, I would be remiss if I did not ask you about cats, the musical. I got to see you three times in that show. You did? Oh my goodness. Three times. Yes, and now it's crazy. Because you know, when I was the starry-eyed like junior in college who was like, I just want to be on Broadway, and then to see all you guys do it, and now I've you know worked with so many, and Sarah Jean Ford is on the pod, and Christine is on the pod, and oh yeah, I mean the groups cast was insane.

But yeah, what was it like to take on such an iconic I mean to sing that song to sing memory every night? Was there pressure for you? Yes. You know, it's funny, I I don't think I ever took it on or took the idea of like, oh, I got hired to do this. It was so quick, it all kind of happened very quickly, and I felt very comfortable with the material. Um, so I just kind of have always felt comfortable with that material. So I just kind of was like, Oh, I'm gonna go do this thing. And then, you know, I had a week of rehearsals here and there. I mean, I probably had three rehearsals and then a put in. Oh my god. And then kind of went into the show. Yeah, it's kind of wild, but that's you know, that's Broadway when you go in as a replacement.

And and Grisabella is so insular and so separated from the rest of the cats that you really can do that. That is true. Um, so I think even though I knew the responsibility I was gonna carry, I don't think it ever really I I don't think it the weight of it ever really hit me until I was out there doing it. And probably not until I was out there doing it ten or twelve times. Once you've settled in. Right. The adrenaline is not so so high. Exactly. And then all of a sudden you start to become aware of your surroundings a little more because I'm very much I'm that kind of nerdy uh actor that is like I I live in the world of the play, I really don't absorb the audience at all. So it's not until you do it a few times that you even realize what's happening out there.

Yes. Then it became really quite palpable, this idea that like that this that they were waiting for this. Yes. Because to me it was all about creating the story and trying to create a story. You know, Grisabella appears on stage like five times and each time it's just for about short, short time. But there's a big sense of responsibility as an actor to create an arc in that time that not only tells the story of Grisabella, but really tries to pull the the story of the show together. So it's a big responsibility. So I was always so focused on that that it wasn't until probably two or three weeks in that I would get out there to sing memory and you would hear the music start. And that was really when I noticed that like no one is breathing.

No one, it was, you know, 1,500 people in the audience and no one was breathing. And by the end, I could feel them like leaning in. Hell yeah. It was such an interesting experience. It felt like like when you get on a plane and you know that the plane doors seal and you're pressurized. Yeah, it felt like all of a sudden my I had this like ball of energy around me that was absorbing everyone else. It felt very maternal in a way. I felt like if I could take everyone under my fur coat, you know touch me. Exactly, yeah. It really felt that way. And it was really interesting how I would finish singing the song. It's such an iconic song. Yeah. And finish singing the song and it would be silent. Yeah.

Like no one would applaud. It would take four seconds, five seconds of just deathly silence. And then somebody would start the applause. And it was so cool because it really did feel like everyone was just wrapped. Yeah. So it was a really cool exper. I loved doing cats. You know, I know people's feelings on cats are mixed. They love it. They hate it. I always remind people, I'm like, look, I think people have such visceral reactions to the play because it was such a phenomenon, especially for a lot of us who grew up, like it was our childhood, it was on Broadway. You know, of course. It was such a phenomenon. And I just try to remind people that like, look, this is one of the most avant-garde things ever to hit Broadway, let alone become a commercial success.

Yes. Yes. Like if you boil it down and stop, get it out of your head of the Saturday Night Live Skits and all that stuff, and get into the idea that they created this world of cats in a junk. It's weird. Yeah. It's weird. It's very weird. But it lean in the came from something else. And people don't realize that that there was source material first. So it's like creepy children's books, source material. Creepy, creepy children's books. I am one of the freaks. I am a cats person. I grew up on it. I mean, watching it. I loved it. I've always liked it recording that I had until it finally just died because I watched it so many times. See, I was a little before the VHS. I mean, I was old enough to see it, obviously, but like I I grew up with like my I tell this story sometimes in my concerts, but my mom was a flight attendant, and she brought home somebody had left behind uh one of those case logic cases full of cassette tapes.

Uh huh. And it had the two cassette original cast recording of cats. And it was one of the first times. This was very I was not a musical theater kid. Right. I was probably 12. I had never heard anything like this. And from the moment that synthesizer, meet, meet, meet, meet, me, meet, me, me, me. And I was like, what is this? And I would play it and dance around in my room. I mean, I would skip memory because it was boring. When you're 12. Yeah. But I was like Macavitying it up. Oh like so it definitely cats was a big important part of my young life. Totally. I I joke, but it's only a half joke that like part part of cats was my full sexual awakening. I was like watching the rum tum tugger.

I was like, something illuminated the homosexual child. Those tights and that like fur vest. I then just see Mr. Tyler Haynes do it all. Shout out Tyler Haynes and love boat of the century. What a good human. What an angel. That was the other great part of that show, was just what wonderful humans we had in that show. And I love, you know, I've always danced, but I've never been a dancer dancer. I just I was always like decent at it and I could fake it enough. So I I've been hired to be a dancer in shows, but like in the past. But watching these athletes. Oh, yeah. I would show up to all my stuff, like the the jellical ball entrance. I would show up like at the beginning of the jellicle ball just so I could watch them from off stage.

Because oh, they were just and just incredible, lovely human beings. What a good group of people. So cool. Well, you you touched on it a little bit, but I would love to know, like going back further, you what what your upbringing was like in terms of art and and culture. Like was did you like pre-being exposed to cats, was there any musical theater in your life? Or like what sort of led you to this world? You know, there was a lot of like Shirley Temple, like that kind of stuff. Like old battle rider movies. Yes. Yes. Because we were not a theater artistic family really. That just wasn't the world we were in. We were very musical, because I am from the South. So storytelling and music is just a part of our lives.

We were from Texas and Louisiana, deep south, and that's just we told a lot of stories. My I I knew stories of generations that you know my mother had never met. Like I still know some of those stories. Yeah. So that was a big part of it. And then my both of my parents c sang casually, not like in church, not in public anywhere. My mom had the most beautiful voice, and she sang all the time around the house. She sounded like Karen Carpenter. Love gorgeous voice, and she just sang all the time. So on car rides and stuff, we would sing, and I always knew I liked to do that. Um, and then it wasn't really until you know, I was exposed to some musical theater by chance, like cats. I remember uh one of my very early ones was my mom at a garage sale found some old records, and one was the cast recording of Chorus Line.

Of course. That was a big one. A couple of old films, like was it Stage Door, or one of them that had a a lot of music, and I had that. So I loved, and I always loved like jazz, like the old like Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald and all these jazz singers. So I thought I wanted to be a singer. Um, and then we wound up, we moved around a bit. My family was airline, we landed in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time they had this really terrific magnet school program. Does not exist anymore, unfortunately. The school board was very corrupt, it was like a whole thing. But I was very lucky to be there at the time I was there because I went to my eighth grade year, I went to the Kansas City Middle School for the Arts.

Work. And I got in so last minute, because it was very desirable. You know, they have these themes because the whole idea of a magnet school is to integrate inner city schools. Sure. So literally bussing white kids in. Yeah. Which seems like such an archaic idea to us now. But at the time was a I thought was a really cool way of just like create, you know, of course, of integrating a city that was very different in the city limits versus the suburbs. Oh, yes. So I landed there at the last minute, and as luck would have it, I didn't have a single choir class, but I had an acting like foundations of the acting class, and I had a dance class. And pretty quickly I took to the acting class big time.

And it's so funny because that teacher, it was his first year teaching, his name is Ron Meyer. Um, I was 12, and he's now retired, and we're good friends. He started acting again, so he like finished teaching. He's an actor in Kansas City, he works a bunch. Amazing. I know he's come to see me in shows. We like it's really, really great. So, but that just he I remember being in the class, you know, the second week of class or something, and he was talking about what it was to create a character, what characters were, you know, and he was talking about what that meant, and it just kind of struck a chord in me, and I thought, oh my, I do that. I just do that all the time in life. And I was like, mate, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

Wow. So then I did, you know, after a couple weeks, I got into a choir class, and then I was just singing and acting and dancing my little heart out. I went to the high school for the arts. Wow. Got to do more of it there. And that's really where my exposure was. That's amazing. Well, it's kind of crazy because again, cannot believe that our paths did not cross sooner because I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. I didn't know that. So I fully did all the theater in Kansas City. I did the Starlight and Coterie and New Dinner Theater and everything. So my goodness. Well, the new theater is where I met my husband. Oh my god. We did Greece there. Oh my god, who were you? I was Rizzo. Yeah. And he was Sunny Lottieri.

Oh, come on. Oh my God, shout out to dinner theater. I know. I know. Hilarious. That's crazy. So then cut to that's where Ron Meyer is working there right now. Oh my god. He's like covering all the adult male roles and newsies. Love it. At that theater. Wow. This theater, you guys is like this dinner theater, but it's not like dinner theater like you imagine. Oh no, no. There's no wagon wheels in the house. It's got crazy lights. It's enormous. It's huge. It's the only dinner theater contract I've ever done. I have never wild. I was 12 when I worked there and I did sound of music. And it felt like the biggest. I was like, this is the height of Broadway. This is the first time. It's very professional.

It's huge. It's huge. It's huge. I loved working there. But that was, it was so funny because I was so young, but I thought that I had like made my name for myself in Kansas City. I was like, I'm working in all these theaters. And then I I joke with my mom because she we moved to Minnesota when I was 12. So right after Sound of Music. We literally closed the show. We the cast went out for ice cream, and then we got in the car and I drove to Minnesota. Oh my goodness. So that was like a crazy whirlwind. But um I don't know where I was going with that story. Other than I loved it. Kansas City. Yeah, my first professional show was I was 13. It was the summer I turned 13, I think. Or the summer I turned four.

I think it was the summer I turned 13. And it was the very first year they had the Kansas City Shakespeare Festival. It was called the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. And they were doing the Tempest. And part of their concept was Prospero had all these little child minions that would like go around and we'd made the sounds. We played like, you know, rain sounds during the storm. Yes. Yes. And so we would run around and do his bidding. And so I got to be one of Prospero's minions. And to this day, I mean, that was my first exposure to theater in a professional environment.

[29:08] Mamie Parris: You know, union actors and like it was such a cool experience at that age to be exposed to the idea that people could do this for a living.

[29:16] Jayke Workman: For real.

[29:16] Mamie Parris: I wasn't just doing like school shows. Like I watched professionals and they all went out and smoked on the break. It was hilarious.

[29:22] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[29:23] Mamie Parris: But like in the world. In costume, of course.

[29:25] Jayke Workman: Yeah, I'm sure none of those adults remember me at all, but I remember all of them.

[29:29] Mamie Parris: Well, you'd be surprised because I the we talk about it all the time, how small this world is. And I I was doing, I did Sound of Music, and my my captain was Ron Bomer. And Maria was um Leanne Larkin.

[29:44] Jayke Workman: And wow.

[29:44] Mamie Parris: So to see those two huge, you know, I was like in awe of them. And then now, cut to. Ron's daughter is Glinda on the wicked tour.

[29:52] Jayke Workman: Amazing.

[29:53] Mamie Parris: Still friends to this day. Like we I still talk to these people. It's just crazy that like from that young, you know, we you form connections in this. It's a small world.

[30:01] Jayke Workman: It is.

[30:02] Mamie Parris: You know, it's really amazing that at this point in my career, because I've been doing this for a long time in the city, that I'm really still working with new people all the time. And not just new young people, but new people, you know, you just haven't bumped into before.

[30:14] Jayke Workman: I've also never been much of like a let's go network. Like I don't I love meeting people, but I'm not somebody that like needs to go to all the openings, so that's probably why I most people.

[30:26] Mamie Parris: But I love to work with people.

[30:27] Jayke Workman: So well, okay, so cut to you have graduated high school.

[30:32] Mamie Parris: Yes.

[30:33] Jayke Workman: Did you go to a collegiate program for musical theater?

[30:35] Mamie Parris: I came right to New York. I went to AMDA when it was much, much smaller. It's very exciting. Now they're a fully accredited university. They've got their own, they've got the old Ailey building and they've got dorms.

[30:46] Jayke Workman: When I went to AMDA, it was your classes were like all over the city.

[30:50] Mamie Parris: Uh-huh.

[30:50] Jayke Workman: Their home base was the Ansonia.

[30:52] Mamie Parris: I mean, honestly, yeah. We would have like 20 minutes to go from a class at the Ansonia to go to ballet at like 68th Street. And the whole contingent of us, my little class would like stop at Grays Papaya and get two hot dogs for a dollar.

[31:05] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[31:05] Mamie Parris: And like cram our faces as hot dogs.

[31:07] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[31:08] Mamie Parris: Yeah. While we ran to ballet class because you can do that when you're 18.

[31:12] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[31:12] Mamie Parris: And like cramped, yes, and then go to ballet. So it was a really cool experience. You know, it's not for everybody that kind of life, because it was not a traditional college program.

[31:22] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[31:22] Mamie Parris: But I was not a traditional kid. And I was so ready to uh get out and just be here and start working. I was very independent. Um, and my my family had kind of fallen on some hard times. There was a whole that was right after the recession of um was it well the recession of 89, which kind of lasted into the nineties, and I graduated in ninety-five.

[31:45] Jayke Workman: Yeah, I was sixteen, I was really young. But um I so I came to the city in ninety-five. Um, but I also had two brothers, and I just knew it was costing my family a lot to have three kids they were taking care of.

[32:00] Mamie Parris: So in a way I was like, let me just get to New York. Let me everything was on loans. Yeah. And I was like, then they won't worry about me. And when I tell you, I did not tell them that I like there were I remember there were two or three weeks I ate nothing but rice.

[32:13] Jayke Workman: My mom would send me care packages.

[32:15] Mamie Parris: Yeah. Of food because she was a big couponer. Love. Yeah. And they'd send me like five dollars when they could. And I was just always like, Oh, I'm fine, I'm you know, I'm my friends bought me the this or that. I just would not tell them because I didn't want them to worry.

[32:27] Jayke Workman: Right.

[32:28] Mamie Parris: So I just got used to like going to bed hungry. And we were rehearsing all the time. But it was great for me. I had wonderful instructors. That school for a while, I don't know if it still does, but for a while it got a bad rap, and I really think it was an elitist attitude because it was true.

[32:45] Jayke Workman: It always is.

[32:46] Mamie Parris: But they're very um, they accept a lot of different levels. They accept people based on desire. And I think it's really an incredible thing because they have a very practical way of teaching. And I've seen students come out of there that really grow so much from beginning to end.

[33:01] Jayke Workman: Of course.

[33:02] Mamie Parris: So it was really I I got a lot out of it. It was wonderful to just be in the city. I can't believe that my parents let me do that. I mean, I literally turned 17 and like the next month moved to New York City.

[33:13] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, I can't imagine.

[33:14] Mamie Parris: With like $50 in a rolling suitcase. Just like bye.

[33:18] Jayke Workman: Bye.

[33:18] Mamie Parris: And that was it. And so I I went to school, I did the two year program. Um, I never went back and got my degree because I just started working.

[33:25] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[33:26] Mamie Parris: I mean, if that was the goal to have the the training for them. Since I didn't have, you know, money really to fall back on, it actually kind of worked out amazingly for me because I had to take the jobs.

[33:38] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[33:39] Mamie Parris: I was not somebody who could like sit and be like, I only want to wait for Broadway or off Broadway. I can't I don't want to leave town.

[33:43] Jayke Workman: I left town.

[33:46] Mamie Parris: Yeah. I did everything. Take that gig. Yes. And it all made me better.

[33:50] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[33:51] Mamie Parris: So that's such an exciting. I mean, we there is such a strange like elitist vibe when it comes to talking about collegiate theater and like what it means to be at the BFA and weaponize the BFA.

[34:04] Jayke Workman: It makes me really sad because I I coach and I do master classes and stuff sometimes. I love working with people. I love working with people who are new to the city, who've just but I I work a lot of times with people who've come out of very prestigious PFA programs who are lacking, and it's through no fault of their own, some very um essential skills.

[34:27] Mamie Parris: And you wonder, how did you make it through there without these things?

[34:31] Jayke Workman: I think it's become such a big business.

[34:34] Mamie Parris: Yeah.

[34:35] Jayke Workman: And I do think there's some great training that goes on at some of those very prestigious BFA programs. Great training, but they've gotten so big and so busy that I feel like sometimes skills, techniques, and sometimes people even slip through the cracks.

[34:51] Mamie Parris: Yep.

[34:52] Jayke Workman: I think also so much, and and I guess I don't really know where it comes from, but I think so much of the sort of branding of graduating from a program it affects that because people select programs based on the three things that they've seen on TikTok or whatever, and it's the most popular school and it's the most expensive, so that must mean it's one of the best.

[35:16] Mamie Parris: And what hurts my heart is how many times I talk to people after they've graduated from the program and they say, Yeah, I never really felt like this program was for me, but I felt like I got in and I should go.

[35:33] Jayke Workman: Do what feels like the best fit for you.

[35:36] Mamie Parris: Absolutely. It's great if it's prestigious, or if you know your favorite star went to the school, that's great. But if it doesn't feel like it suits you, what are we doing?

[35:44] Jayke Workman: Yeah, you're never gonna really feel great about what you're getting out of it.

[35:49] Mamie Parris: Right. And be realistic about your wants and your desires and and w what you're actually gonna pursue. You know, I have a a friend of mine who I can call a friend. She's a peer now, she's a uh coaching client that I actually started working with when she was quite, she was my youngest client ever. She was 13.

[36:04] Jayke Workman: Um, she's terrifically talented.

[36:07] Mamie Parris: And I went through the whole college audition process with her, which was you know, it's insane nowadays. Crazy. Um, and she got accepted to some terrific programs, and she wound up landing, she has an incredible voice, she's very talented, she's a great actress, and she wound up landing um getting into a lot of musical theater programs.

[36:27] Jayke Workman: She chose to go with uh a BFA program at a nice prestigious university, but just through their acting program because when she looked into the musical theater program, it felt so loaded down.

[36:42] Mamie Parris: There was no free time, there was no expression, there were no elective options.

[36:47] Jayke Workman: Right.

[36:47] Mamie Parris: And she was like, if I can keep working with you, keep getting the vocal training that I'm doing, but stay in this program that gives me some freedom.

[36:56] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[36:56] Mamie Parris: And I was like, I'm just so glad that she made the decision that's best for her. And she's thriving.

[37:01] Jayke Workman: She's thriving.

[37:02] Mamie Parris: So it's it's tricky. It's tricky because there are they're great programs. People come out and they're so so talented, but you just you gotta do what suits you.

[37:11] Jayke Workman: Yeah, a hundred percent.

[37:13] Mamie Parris: So how did you then I mean, you just sort of have such a broad range of shows that you've done. Like where how did you go from okay, I'm gonna hit the ground running, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna take any gig, you know, whatever I can, to then be being confident enough to lead a show like The Wicked's.

[37:36] Jayke Workman: That's a good question.

[37:37] Mamie Parris: I think I was always I've always been an actor first. And I think that really helps you when you're talking about the potential of playing roles. Because I work with a lot of times people who really have always been confident in their vocal abilities or in their dance abilities, but have not been confident in their acting abilities, and we work on that.

[37:53] Jayke Workman: I always came at this as an actor first.

[37:55] Mamie Parris: Like I moved to New York thinking I was gonna do classical theater, experimental theater. But I love to sing, and I could sing and dance, and you're very marketable when you can do that.

[38:03] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[38:04] Mamie Parris: And I took those jobs, so that's kind of where I landed, and I am not unhappy about it. It's been wonderful. I love my career. Um I think for me, I just I don't know. I I never I I maybe it was the way I was raised. My parents were very um nonconformist, question authority, do do your thing, trust yourself.

[38:27] Jayke Workman: Love that.

[38:28] Mamie Parris: And I think a lot of my training was that, you know, I went to this high school, middle school for the performing arts. It was very much like do your own thing. It was very hippie-dippy in that sense. And then I came to AMDA where it was a lot of like, be yourself, you're not in the university program, live your life, do your thing.

[38:46] Jayke Workman: So I kind of got to curate my training and my experience up to that point. So then when I got into shows, it felt very instinctive to me when I would either play a role, you know, or was understudying a role. I I'm not somebody who waits around to be told what to do. Some directors I think really love that. Some directors are not used to it.

[39:06] Jayke Workman: I like to come in, I mean, you saw me at the reading.

[39:10] Mamie Parris: Yeah. I like to come in guns blazing.

[39:12] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[39:13] Mamie Parris: I'm like, I'm making some freaking choices. Hell yeah. And if you don't like them, tell me.

[39:19] Jayke Workman: Right.

[39:19] Mamie Parris: So it was always surprising to me. I remember being in a show and I was an understudy for a role, and I was talking to another a guy who was understudying a role, and he was much younger than the actor playing the role. And he was like, Oh, I just feel so stupid when we're in understudy rehearsal because you know, I would never be cast in this. I'm not this.

[39:36] Jayke Workman: And I was like, it was so foreign for me to think that way.

[39:42] Mamie Parris: And I I was like, Well, don't you think you kind of have a great opportunity here? Because you can make this character whatever you want. Like he can still be this personality, but you can come up with a story as to why he's like a young guy in this position. And you right, and he was not so comfortable doing that.

[39:58] Jayke Workman: And I think that explains a lot about why I've been comfortable to shift between covering and being in the ensemble and performing roles, because I'm like, I I'm just gonna do what I want to do. I don't know. I I love that.

[40:12] Jayke Workman: Well, there are people who really think of it in the way of like, well, I've left the ensemble. I could never go back into the ensemble. I've played the lead, I've played a principal, and I I that's always something that I've been sort of confused by because I mean my my only Broadway show that I've ever done is Chicago, and I'm billed as a principal.

[40:30] Mamie Parris: But I what I would give to dance in the ensemble of Chicago, the musical rock or any musical. I'm like, put me in the ensemble. I want to play.

[40:38] Jayke Workman: It's it's too bad because that's the theatrical world we're living in. You have to be such an advocate for yourself that you really do have to draw the line sometimes, even though you might want to go do something, but then it it unfortunately, a lot of times, depending on casting, depending on your producers, they don't always have the imagination you'd like them to have.

[41:00] Mamie Parris: Right.

[41:00] Jayke Workman: You kind of have to tell them what's what.

[41:03] Mamie Parris: Yep. So for me, I don't know that there was ever this drive that was like, I need to be the star of the show. But I absolutely always wanted to play roles because that's my favorite thing to do.

[41:12] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[41:12] Mamie Parris: I'll create a character in the ensemble, but when I can like really dig into a character arc on stage, that's what I'm gonna do.

[41:19] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[41:20] Mamie Parris: And it doesn't, it's never been like I need the last bow. It's more like I I want to be telling the story. That's why I'm gonna be the parts. I love the yeah, and it's fun.

[41:30] Jayke Workman: Yeah, it's so fun to create a character like that. So cool.

[41:33] Mamie Parris: So I I don't know. That did I even answer your question? I have no idea where this began.

[41:36] Jayke Workman: I went off on a tangent.

[41:40] Mamie Parris: You're so fine. So there. So in thinking of because obviously you have worked so many places, not not just on Broadway, you work regionally and across the country, but I would also love to ask you about your solo shows that you have done because I think that's that's a really exciting sort of like you get to be in charge of what you want to do in in that regard.

[42:01] Jayke Workman: Um, where did that first start for you?

[42:04] Mamie Parris: Was there a person who said you should do a show? Or did you think did you come up with it on the that's a good question? I don't remember where it began. To be honest, I've traveled around and kind of done my own show here and there for a while. It's been very casual. You know, I usually go, it's myself and like my music director, my friend Barbara, and we'll go and and we just come up with a show.

[42:24] Jayke Workman: And we have our like standard show that was very musical theater because a lot of places it was billed as like Broadway. Um I go up to Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, which is this luxury wellness spa, you know, resort, which is lovely. I've gone up there several times, and it's a very casual, like do your own show kind of thing.

[42:41] Mamie Parris: And I think that experience really has helped me develop kind of w what it's like to create a show that tells a story or at least has a through line, but also lets you have some freedom in that respect. So I really learned that it's nothing to be intimidated by, you know. It's more about creating the story you want to tell. It's fun.

[43:03] Mamie Parris: And then this last, you know, the last one I did, uh, the big cabaret here, which was so wonderful. I did a green room 42, um, which was oh my god, it's so great. It's so great. That space, that the sound and the oh, everything is great.

[43:18] Jayke Workman: Um, shout out to oh oh gosh, now I'm forgetting their name.

[43:21] Mamie Parris: Sheridan?

[43:21] Jayke Workman: No.

[43:22] Mamie Parris: Yeah, Sheridan, right?

[43:24] Jayke Workman: Oh my goodness. I was like, wait a second.

[43:26] Mamie Parris: They're terrific.

[43:27] Jayke Workman: Lights and sound, Sheridan is nailing it out there.

[43:29] Mamie Parris: Yes. So I got to do this great uh show that Ben Rimmeler helped me put together called uh Surrender and Andrew Lloyd Weber Thrill Ride.

[43:36] Mamie Parris: Yes. It was insane. It was a process because they guard the rights to that material.

[43:44] Mamie Parris: I can only imagine lives. That was a whole thing. I was like, when the girl needs an entertainment lawyer. Seriously. But um, it was a blast, and the people came out and it just was a whirlwind. And I got to tell my stories. Got to tell the story about discovering CATS. Yeah. I got to tell my stories of working with Andrew Lloyd Weber, of my career, of having the opportunities I've had and just sing and sing my face off and just it was like so cool. Like living a roller coaster. It was so so fun. We won Best Cabaret of Twenty Twenty Three Time Out New York. It was so surprising. I was like, I said, Oh my god, I hope the diehard cabaret community does not hate me because I'm so I'm so new to this and I was like, and it went really well.

I think I just had really terrific collaborators and Ben Rimmelauer and Brian Nash, and we just had a blast. So now I'm really planning to put together my next show. It's gonna be something different. I'm actually, you know, I'm in recovery for Bell's palsy right now. I'm in my seventh month after developing Bell's palsy around New Year's, which is a temporary facial paralysis, hopefully temporary. And I'm getting better all the time, but it's a very slow process. So I was like, maybe this is a story that needs to be told. Maybe I need to talk about what this is in a show. I've spoken with a lot of people who really identify with the struggle because they have issues either visibly or in other ways that they feel like can sometimes prevent them from presenting themselves the way they want to.

[45:16] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[45:17] Mamie Parris: So it's been really cool to feel like I can be an outspoken advocate for those people and I would love to maybe put something together to talk about that. So we'll see.

[45:25] Jayke Workman: That would be amazing.

[45:27] Mamie Parris: Right. It's kind of sounds like a good time. And it also, I mean, when you boil it down, there's such universal connection to that to be not feeling like yourself or yeah, any any struggle like that. It's remarkable, you know, how many people it connects with who not who don't just have facial differences but also have physical differences that they feel are apparent or like you said, just don't feel like themselves, people who are exploring their gender identity.

[45:54] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[45:54] Mamie Parris: It's a big deal. People who even just are in the business having a hard time feeling comfortable in their own bodies, comfortable as their own people. And it's been really cool to talk to people about those struggles and try to at least bring some awareness or at least bring the conversation to the table.

[46:12] Jayke Workman: Yeah. You know, definitely.

[46:13] Mamie Parris: And you get a belt face too.

[46:14] Jayke Workman: So well, Mamie, you are just such a delight. Before I let you go, I have a series of musical theater rapid fire questions.

[46:23] Mamie Parris: Oh my god, okay, rapid fire. I'll do my best. Every guy, oh, it's never rapid fire. I always say that, and then I end up going on tangents, so um, okay. My first question is a rather polarizing one, probably for you. Because Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber.

[46:39] Mamie Parris: Oh, that's really tricky. I mean, you know, I have a soft spot for Andrew Lloyd Webber, so I'm gonna have to be Team ALW for this one.

[46:48] Jayke Workman: Love!

[46:48] Mamie Parris: Yeah. Um sweatpants or jeans.

[46:52] Mamie Parris: Ooh. Probably jeans. I mean, who doesn't love a sweatpant? But I'm not one of those people that I'm I'm not wearing sweatpants to the airport.

[47:00] Jayke Workman: Out.

[47:00] Mamie Parris: Yeah, no. No, no. Not so much. She's turning a look.

[47:03] Jayke Workman: Yeah, no.

[47:03] Mamie Parris: Um, do you have a favorite musical?

[47:06] Mamie Parris: Ooh, I don't know. I really wish that was an easier question to answer. That's a very broad question.

[47:12] Jayke Workman: Yeah, that's tricky. Well, on the flip side of that, do you have a least favorite musical?

[47:18] Mamie Parris: I don't I don't think I can say it without offending someone. I always say minus Footloose. I just never need to see another production of Footloose ever again. You know, I have to say, and this is hard because I've worked with Frank and I who doesn't love singing those incredible Frank Wildhorn like incredible pieces. But I saw a million years ago, like when I was in school, I saw Jekyll and Hyde, the original on Broadway, but I saw it in previews very, very early. So it had not yet found its identity.

[47:44] Jayke Workman: And you were like...

[47:46] Mamie Parris: And it was an absolute nightmare. Bless their hearts. You know shows can grow to be something else.

[47:52] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[47:53] Mamie Parris: The one I happened to see that night was just didn't know what it was. So yeah.

[48:00] Jayke Workman: Um would you ever like to do a Broadway play?

[48:03] Mamie Parris: Oh absolutely love. I was actor first.

[48:06] Jayke Workman: Yeah yeah that was something that was yeah yeah definitely definitely.

[48:10] Mamie Parris: Are you a morning person or a night owl probably a night owl but I wish I love being up in the mornings. But you know our schedule is not conducive for that.

[48:20] Jayke Workman: Yes okay so but anytime I like need to be up in the mornings and the birds are chirping. I love it.

[48:28] Mamie Parris: Yes and I'm like a big newspaper reader so like on the weekends my newspaper comes and I love having my coffee and sitting at the table.

[48:34] Jayke Workman: Actual physical newspaper that's too just on the weekends.

[48:37] Mamie Parris: Yeah. But it's it's lovely.

[48:39] Jayke Workman: Um could you think of the craziest thing a director has ever asked you to do either in an audition setting or otherwise?

[48:39] Mamie Parris: Ever ask me to do oh jeez. I mean I've had spinning plates I guess that's that's a more fun I'm thinking of all the stupid terrible direction I've got over the years. And I've worked with some wonderful directors, but I've also gotten some stupid, terrible direction. Sure. You know, like my I guess this isn't the same, but like I've I worked with a director once who I would see him go up to my male colleague, my male co-star in the show, and give him a whole paragraph on like this is what you're feeling. And at this point, you know, you're questioning this, and this is all the obstacles coming between you, and I just really want to see that you're valuing this and like really in-depth direction.

And then he would come to me and he was like, Can you take your hair down sooner? And I was like, This is not a person who should be directing humans. Certainly not women. So yeah, so I don't know. I'd have to really think on something specific, but that's that's that's a real experience.

[49:44] Jayke Workman: Adorable.

[49:45] Mamie Parris: Yeah. Uh golden age or contemporary.

[49:49] Mamie Parris: Oh, there's a place for both. As long as it's good.

[49:51] Jayke Workman: As long as it's good.

[49:53] Mamie Parris: As long as it's good. I love contemporary because I love developmental new pieces. So absolutely. Yes.

[49:58] Jayke Workman: Uh, do you have a favorite role you've ever played?

[50:02] Mamie Parris: I loved playing Judy Burnley in 9 to 5.

[50:05] Jayke Workman: Oh, yeah. What a classic.

[50:08] Mamie Parris: I grew up with that movie. I adore Jane Fonda. What a on the surface, just a great character who grows and changes so much in a show. Absolutely. I had a blast and so fun. Wow that and I loved, I did On the 20th Century, and I understudied Kristin Chenoweth. And that role, Lily Garland is a blast to play. And I went on a bunch and it was like, oh, that's awesome. Opposite Mr. Sean Hayes.

[50:30] Jayke Workman: Yeah, Peter Gallagher.

[50:32] Mamie Parris: Oh, Peter Gallagher.

[50:33] Jayke Workman: And Andy Carl.

[50:35] Mamie Parris: Oh this wonderful. Oh my god, yeah. Dream Bug. The first time I went out opposite Peter, and he like says his first line to me, and for a minute, I'm sure like the audience didn't know, but literally for a millisecond, I could not speak. I was transfixed by those eyes. Those gorgeous. I was literally like, yeah. My name is like I could not remember.

[50:55] Jayke Workman: Yes. Wow, that's insane.

[50:57] Mamie Parris: Yeah. Um, coffee or tea?

[50:59] Mamie Parris: Coffee.

[51:00] Jayke Workman: Me too.

[51:00] Mamie Parris: Decaf.

[51:01] Jayke Workman: Oh, decaf.

[51:02] Mamie Parris: Decaf. Only decaf.

[51:03] Jayke Workman: Uh, could you think of the hardest show you've ever done?

[51:07] Mamie Parris: I mean, maybe Alphabet. Maybe Alpha. And you know, everybody talks about it being vocally taxing. I was very fortunate. I mean, I was cautious too, but I like my technique was pretty solid, so it wasn't too terribly vocally taxing, but it is physically and emotionally taxing.

[51:23] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[51:24] Mamie Parris: So that's a marathon. It's a marathon. It's three hours long. Nobody talks about it. You're just running the entire time. And I took a ballgame tour. So a lot of times you're in houses where the only crossover, you have to go down in the basement and back up, and you're wearing this, like, you know, 14-pound dress. And you're like, it's just it's a lot. I remember one time in the second act, you know, there was such a lull in the second act for the ensemble that they would be able to put on their sweats and stretch and stuff. And so I'd pass by where they were hanging out off stage. And I remember one time I was like running and sucking on a water bottle, and my dresser's with me, and I'm like hoofing it. And I said, Oh, I wish I could be doing what you're doing. And he was like sitting down, texting, and he goes, What, like texting? And I said, No, sitting. I should have sat down. I just want to sit down.

[52:05] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[52:06] Mamie Parris: So maybe that one.

[52:06] Jayke Workman: Did you feel pretty in the green?

[52:09] Mamie Parris: Yes. Yes. I mean, you know, it's very different makeup plot the first act in the second act. The first time I put that I had that first act makeup put on, I was like, oh my god, I look like a frog. Because you just it changes the shape of your face. I look like a frog. The contour and all that. But then you get the glamour makeup in the second act, and of course you feel stunning. Sickening. And just wicked. Like just really powerful.

[52:32] Jayke Workman: Which is exactly what you want to feel like.

[52:33] Mamie Parris: Yeah.

[52:34] Jayke Workman: Yeah. Do you have uh maybe outside of Wicked, do you have a favorite costume you've ever worn?

[52:39] Mamie Parris: Oh. Was it that Judy Burnley blue?

[52:43] Mamie Parris: Oh, I know the blue nightgown. No, you know what it probably was. I mean, I know there are certain people in this business that are kind of not, you know, we don't really talk about much anymore. But when I did On the 20th Century, the costumes were designed by William Ivy Long, who is a masterful designer. And I don't know what other people's experiences with him in the field are. Your fittings and your clothes as an actor really can tell you a lot about what the overall experience is going to be like.

[53:11] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[53:12] Mamie Parris: And I mean I have very specific examples of shows where I had fitting experiences where I was like, ooh, I don't get good vibes from this. And that's exactly what the show was. With this, it was totally different. He really, even though I was in the ensemble, I was, you know, it really felt like he designed everything for me specifically.

[53:31] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[53:31] Mamie Parris: And I had a costume for the number Babette as my ensemble member. Everything was always I was always in this beautiful blue color. And it was this midnight blue full length gown that was strapless that had this black mesh overlay and these beautiful black mesh gloves and this hat and it just was the most stunning costume.

[53:49] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[53:50] Mamie Parris: And I danced like a crazy person on cocaine in that number. Like you wouldn't have stopped to see the dress. Of course, of course. But it was absolutely gorgeous. And I remember thinking at one point when I had that on before I went on stage, and I was like, Oh, this is we are lucky to do this. I wrote on the Tonies. Yeah, it was it was just so lovely to feel like, oh, I'm I'm on Broadway. Look at this costume.

[54:11] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[54:12] Mamie Parris: Yeah, it was really, really gorgeous.

[54:14] Jayke Workman: Well, and how special too, because so often as a replacement, you are putting on a costume that was maybe designed for someone else.

[54:21] Mamie Parris: So that's so cool. I've been very lucky. I mean, I was the original in that one, so I wasn't a replacement, which is great. But even in shows I've been I've replaced in the majority of the time it's been brand new stuff, which has been I've been really lucky to have a well, you know, you're we're all shaped so differently. And a lot of times, you know, if you're the first replacement or whatever, like with CATS, um, they designed that original costume concept, but they get a chance to having seen it for three months on stage, something going, Oh, I always wanted to finesse this.

[54:52] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[54:52] Mamie Parris: So they get to like zhuzh the costume a little bit of doing, which is kind of nice.

[54:56] Jayke Workman: Love that.

[54:56] Mamie Parris: Yeah. Well, my last question for you is a question I ask every single guest, which is what is one thing you would tell baby Mamie.

[55:05] Mamie Parris: Baby Mamie. I've been pretty good at that. No, I think I would have encouraged myself from day one. I think because I came out young and also I needed money, you know. I needed to work and I needed to book jobs. So the stakes were there. So I don't feel like I owned my individuality from the start. So I wish earlier on in my career I could have just owned my assets, my individuality, and not try to be a mind reader with casting directors and auditioning and and even doing shows, but really go in and be my own individual person. I think overall I've done that in my life, but I could have been a lot more confident in that arena. And I think, um, yeah, it would have given me an even better experience career-wise overall. But I don't know, other than that, I just would tell her to enjoy it.

[56:05] Jayke Workman: Love.

[56:05] Mamie Parris: Yeah, enjoy it. It's fun.

[56:07] Jayke Workman: It is fun.

[56:07] Mamie Parris: We get to do fun things.

[56:11] Jayke Workman: Well, Mamie, you are such a joy to speak to. Would you tell the listeners where they can find you on socials?

[56:17] Mamie Parris: Absolutely. You know, I don't do a lot on socials. I do some on socials, but I'm on Instagram. I'm at Mamie Parris Official.

[56:24] Jayke Workman: Official.

[56:24] Mamie Parris: Official. And then on TikTok, I'm at Mamie Sings. Yay. So, and that's pretty much. I'm also, you know, I've got a website, MamieParris.com. I update it every now and then. But really, the socials are if you're looking for the most current, you're gonna look at the socials. And I'm very excited that, you know, there are Playbill just came out with a wonderful article I did an interview over a month ago.

[56:44] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[56:44] Mamie Parris: Where I get to talk about my experience with Bell's palsy.

[56:47] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[56:48] Mamie Parris: And for theater goers that are gonna be going to the theater in August, the print edition of Playbill did pick it up.

[56:53] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[56:53] Mamie Parris: So you're gonna see me in your playbills if you're going to a Broadway show or a national tour. So enjoy that.

[56:58] Jayke Workman: Fantastic.

[57:00] Mamie Parris: And I meant to ask you about that actually, just how how lovely it was that you shared that on socials.

[57:05] Jayke Workman: I'm so open about it.

[57:06] Mamie Parris: I'm so honored that they asked me to do it. And I'm so thrilled that they decided to put it in print. I think it's gonna be cool for a lot of audience members who don't know a lot about this the industry necessarily to read that and it's it's food for thought, which I'm really excited. And of course, come see me at the AMT Theater.

[57:23] Jayke Workman: Yeah with Jake doing Fowl Play.

[57:26] Mamie Parris: That's very exciting and awesome. And thefowlplay.com tickets are going, so yay, as well they should be. You guys, this is you you want to see this. It's so so you want to see this. You want to be in the club that sees the show.

[57:40] Jayke Workman: Well, thank you so much. This is so cute. This was very fun. Thank you for having me.

[57:45] Jayke Workman: 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 OhMyPodUGuys. And also, don't forget to get your tickets today for Fowl Play off Broadway using my code OMYPOD for 20% off. Thank you guys so, so much for listening. Talk soon. Bye!

[58:09] Jayke Workman: Oh my pod, oh my pod, you guys!