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[0:00] Jayke Workman: You guys, I joined a gym and now I can't even feel my legs.

[0:04] Jayke Workman: Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[0:06] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Oh my god, guys. Oh my god. Oh my god.

[0:26] Jayke Workman: What's up, everybody? My name is Jayke Workman and this is Oh My Pod U Guys, a musical theater and pop culture podcast. You guys, I have an absolutely wonderful interview with the iconic Mary Ann Lamb and Suze Misner for you to listen to. But before we get into that, we of course have to dive right into this week's Broadway World Recap, brought to you by my amazing pals at BroadwayWorld.com. You guys, this week's recap is chock full of casting announcements. Things are happening in the world of theater. First, you guys, we have to talk about Emmy Rossum and Zoe Winters leading Amy Berryman's Walden at second stage. You guys, a little off-Broadway moment for Miss Emmy Rossum. You may know her of Shameless fame.

She was on the amazing show Shameless. I think actually, is it still running? Is that show still a thing? Well, either way, I fell in love with her as Christine Daae in the film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. And then of course, did a deep dive into her whole career. But I am so excited that she is going to be making her New York City debut in Walden at second stage theater, directed by Whitney White, which is amazing. So Walden is set to begin previews on October 16th with an official opening night of November 7th at the Tony Kaiser Theater. So you guys, get your tickets today. And I can't wait to update you on all things Walden as they are reported on broadwayworld.com. Next, you guys, I am so excited to report that not only do I have one wonderful friend stepping into a leading role, but I have two.

Miss Hannah Shankman is taking over the role of Fanny Bryce full-time in the national tour of Funny Girl. I could not be more excited for her. I mean, I already talked about it on the pod, but I saw her do the role. It was astounding. She's also just an absolute angel of a human and deserves this so much. So huge congratulations to you, Miss Hannah Shankman, for stepping into the full-time role of Fanny Bryce. And my darling diva dear, Miss Maya Lagerstam has just been announced as storyteller number one in the first national tour of Shucked. You guys, I am so over the moon for her. This is going to be amazing. She really is like such a rising star. I kind of can't believe that more people don't know her name already, but I'm so excited that the entire country gets to see her shine, hear her vocals, laugh at all of her ridiculous jokes.

She is one of the funniest people I have ever met. So wishing a huge congratulations to Miss Maya Lagerstam on the national tour of Shucked. Next, you guys, in more casting news, Broadway World shared the very exciting announcement that Neil Patrick Harris and Jane Krakowski are joining Shit Meet Fan at MCC Theater. You guys, who does not love Jane Krakowski? I mean, NPH, of course, a doll we love. Miss Jane Krakowski can do no wrong in my eyes. I am so excited about this. This world premiere production is being directed by Obie Award winner and Tony Award nominee Robert O'Hara, and it is based on the Lotus production and Medusa film Perfect Strangers by Paolo Genovese. And you guys, it's going to be astounding.

I kind of can't believe that they are doing this at MCC with, you know, not just going straight to like a crazy huge commercial Broadway run. I mean, securing NPH and Jane Krakowski, among others, amazing. This show is set to begin previews on Thursday, October 10th, with an opening night set for Monday, October 28th, and it is a very limited run through Sunday, November 17th at MCC's Newman Mills Theater. So you guys, run, run, run to get tickets to this because you know it's going to sell out. I mean, NPH and Jane Krakowski are joining the previously announced stacked cast. Garrett Dillahunt, Genevieve Hanelius, Tony Award nominee Billy Magnussen, Debra Messing, Trammell Tillman, Constance Wu.

Stacked, you guys. I cannot wait to see the show. And lastly, you guys, in addition to Alyssa Milano joining the Broadway company of Chicago, it was just announced that Colombian singer Sebastian Yatra is going to make his Broadway debut as Billy Flynn in Chicago. This is kooky crazy, especially because I tend to be in the know of the secrets of the ins and outs of Chicago on Broadway, and this was absolutely blindsiding, darling. I had no idea about this. But you guys, the absolute dream boat, Sebastian, is going to be Billy Flynn for four weeks only, November 25th to December 22nd. It's going to be those holiday dates, baby. So get your tickets today to see the absolutely delicious Sebastian Yatra as Billy Flynn. And you guys, this has been the Broadway World Recap.

[5:43] Jayke Workman: Oh, my pod, you guys. I am so excited to welcome my next guests, plural, to the show. Not one little lady, but two. You've read about them in the papers, and now here they are. Girl, we have Mary Ann Lamb and Suze Misner on the pod. Welcome. You guys, thank you so, so much for being here. We have so much to talk about. But first, would you tell us, where are you calling in from on this fine day?

[6:11] Mary Ann Lamb: Oh, go Lambie. I'm calling in from Sherman, Connecticut. And a lot of people don't know this, but my husband is the mayor, or in the state of Connecticut, the first selectman of Sherman, Connecticut.

[6:24] Suze Misner: Oh my God. That's amazing.

[6:30] Mary Ann Lamb: So I'm being very political.

[6:31] Suze Misner: Yes. We love to see it.

[6:38] Suze Misner: I am in Jersey City, right outside of Manhattan. Jersey City, baby. We know it well. I am a Jersey girl, born and bred and proud of it.

[6:47] Mary Ann Lamb: Hell, yeah. And don't you forget it.

[6:53] Jayke Workman: Well, ladies, I'm so beyond thrilled to have you here. We, of course, have so many things to talk about. But I first just want to say a special shout out to all of our mutual friends, the absolutely lovely Miss Jennifer Dunn for connecting us and allowing us to share your work on this platform. I'm so excited. And the crazy thing about it all is that we all have this silly connection because of Chicago the Musical. Mary Ann, you were in the original company on Broadway. Suze, you were in the original film version of the show. I can't believe that this show, and I've said it on the podcast a million times, but this show changed my life when I first joined the tour pre-pandemic. And then, of course, going into the Broadway company, it has just been the gift that keeps on giving.

But to even just to say that I get to connect to both of you because of Chicago is just so special. I just, I love it so much. And I've been fans of you both separately for so long. So this is just such a thrill for me.

[7:49] Mary Ann Lamb: Great. Thank you so much.

[7:51] Suze Misner: Of course. You guys, I mean, where do I even begin? First of all, Marianne Lamb, I can't even believe I'm talking to you, but icon, diva, and then Suze Yu with that sickening developpe that lives rent-free in my brain, forever immortalized on screen in Chicago, the film. What is this show? Would you guys both care to share what this show or this musical has meant to you as artists?

[8:21] Mary Ann Lamb: Well, one thing I want to say about Chicago is that I never, ever auditioned or worked with Bob Fosse. No. But my Bob Fosse was Anne Reinking, who I love more than anything. And we both came from the city of Seattle. And Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera and Dana Moore, those were my Bob Fosse. And what's amazing is how many Fosse shows I have done, and I've never worked with them. And I feel very lucky. And for me, my first Broadway show in 1978, because I'm old, was Dancing. And I came at 18 years old to New York City and saw Anne Reinking doing Dancing. And I thought, I want to do this so bad. So I came back to New York, and I ended up getting Song and Dance. And the whole time, I only came to New York, I was like, I want to do Cats, and I want to work with Bob Fosse.

Those were the two things I wanted to work with. Both of those things I never did. I just want to tell you, I never did Cats, and I never worked with Bob Fosse. But when I was doing Jerome Robbins, Fosse had died. And I just want to say, I thought that my dream had died. And then when I was doing A Funny Thing Happened in the Forum, they did Chicago at the Encores. And then I was in a big hit with Nathan Lane. And me and Lee Zimmerman were like, we both went, you know what, we're gonna, when it moved to Broadway, we both left the show. And I remember walking in the room with Anne Reinking and thinking, this is the best moment of my life. Wow. Yeah. And then I got lucky. I got to work with her five times in my career. And that, so Chicago changed my life, and Reinking changed my life.

[10:20] Suze Misner: Oh, yeah. I mean, I never even got to actually meet her. But when we did the tour pre-pandemic, she wrote us individual notes of congratulations. And she said, like, love, Annie. And it was the wildest, that for me was that moment of like, oh my god, I'm actually doing Chicago the Musical right now. This is so insane.

[10:40] Mary Ann Lamb: Isn't it amazing? And then the random, crazy connection too of Lee Zimmerman, because her daughter, Kaylee, is a dear friend of mine, had her on the podcast. She is insanely talented. It's just like, the world's colliding is crazy.

[10:59] Suze Misner: Yeah. And I just want to say, I also did the movie Chicago.

[11:05] Mary Ann Lamb: Yes, you did.

[11:06] Suze Misner: So Chicago has been a big financial support for me. And I just have to say that you don't realize when a show's a hit, how it kind of takes on over your life. And that was a very positive thing to my life. Yes. I just want to say that.

[11:17] Jayke Workman: Go ahead, Susie.

[11:28] Suze Misner: Yes, Susie, tell me. I mean, I, so I basically, I was in Forum with Marianne. And she was about to start doing Chicago on Broadway. And she was like, what do I do? And she and I were doing choreography in the wings. I was really helping Marianne with her choreography for the show.

[11:43] Mary Ann Lamb: Yeah. Yeah. Because Annie was very free about that. Right, Lammy?

[11:50] Suze Misner: Yes. And you choreographed, actually, what I did when I went into the audition.

[11:57] Mary Ann Lamb: Yeah, it's true.

[11:58] Suze Misner: Oh my God. That's a true story. Yes. That's a true story.

[12:02] Suze Misner: Um, but for me, you know, my history with Chicago is that is is pretty deep as well, because Jonathan Bernstein, my guy, was Walter Bobby's associate for the production that you are now in with Annie. And it was incredible. And I started dating him. Right. And I was like, Oh, no, no, I am he they kept saying, We want you to audition. We want you to be in this. We want you to do this. And Jonathan was like, I think you should audition. I was like, Yeah, no, I am not working with you. Are you crazy? Oh, it's from you. I'll do that when like you do the dish. No, right. I did not do the Broadway show. Um, but then when the movie came around, I really, really wanted to do this movie. And I, I thought what an interesting opportunity to combine my acting that I had already been starting to do and transferring into act being an actor, as well as still have my love of dance.

So when I auditioned, I absolutely was panicked because I thought, I don't know how I'm going to genuinely connect to being a murderer. You know, and I knew that Rob wanted us to take this serious, like not go toward the joke, the comedy.

[13:31] Mary Ann Lamb: Yeah. Comedy as much.

[13:32] Suze Misner: Yeah. And so I really had to dig deep. And I went back to the old acting school thing that I hated when I was in acting class, which was animals. Like I was like, I auditioned for that. I brought it out. And I walked around New York City and I looked people in the eye, like I was a cat. And I was like, I'm just going to look at them and just stare at you and be so slow. Scary, scary. And people really would like walk away from me. Like I'm on to something.

[14:09] Suze Misner: Yeah. And then I was like, now I'm going to enjoy this. Yeah. Total craziness into the audition.

[14:17] Mary Ann Lamb: And I was actually the first cellblock girl that they hired. Yeah. Yeah. And I can honestly say, there's so few things that I wear with a badge of honor, but that is one of them, because I'm so proud of being in that musical. It was such an incredible, like Lammy was saying, such an incredible experience to be with Rob Marshall, who had Bob Fosse, and had such a free, he gave us so much freedom to interpret physically and emotionally what we wanted to do.

[14:37] Suze Misner: And I said, I think I want to use matches. And he was like, great. I love that. Yeah.

[15:02] Mary Ann Lamb: So I just was like, I'm gonna be the resident lunatic. And like, I'm gonna actually be a sociopath. He was all in with me and gave me freedom physically to, he would give me a sketch of what he wanted me to do. And then he would say, I would go away. And I would just play with it with Joey. And we would come back with another version. And he was like, I like this. I don't like that. Do this. So it was such a great, great collaboration.

[15:30] Suze Misner: Wow. I mean, it is something special because while we can think of like the lore of Chicago, the musical and how long it's run on Broadway, it shifts and it changes because of the people that come in and out of that building and the new people who put their hands on it and reset things and rework things. But for when you do a show on film, it is forever that. And so like, you guys get to say, I, it's there right there. You can watch it right now. Like that is so amazing.

[16:01] Mary Ann Lamb: And I, I'd love to know too, you know, in thinking of the world of Chicago, was it, was it a hard shift for you to stray from the Fosse of it all and to do things in a different movement style?

[16:08] Suze Misner: Well, for me, I have to say, um, because Rob Marshall was a Fosse dancer and worked with him, he had, he had that, the darkness, the sarcasm that, you know, that Fosse lives in.

[16:22] Mary Ann Lamb: Yes. The subtlety that the depth, you know, that every, everything is acting. There's no such thing as singing. There's no such thing as dancing. We're all just acting. We're all just storytelling.

[16:39] Suze Misner: And, and again, like Susie said, Annie also give us freedom. So when we, I mean, that first, that opening of all that jazz is like 75% ad lib.

[16:58] Mary Ann Lamb: So cool. And now of course it's not, but when we developed it, it was like 75% ad lib. We were just ad libbing and ad libbing and ad libbing. And that's the way also that Rob Marshall works a lot. I mean, he gives us a lot of structure to live around, but I felt like what I loved about both Annie and Robby is that like Susie said, they, he, they both allowed us to pull ourselves through the choreography and find that those steps on our own and find the characters on our own.

[17:32] Suze Misner: And I think that that is what's so spectacular because even Chicago today, like you said, every single one of you that's on that Broadway stage is pulling yourself through because there's a lot of space to do that.

[17:39] Mary Ann Lamb: Totally. I mean, we actually just recently had Mr. Walter Bobby back to do a rehearsal and it was astounding to, to hear him talk about how he and Annie developed that overture for performers. And he was so adamant about like, you have to come on stage and for those eight bars or whatever you have of your little solo, it is entirely about you. And then when you all come back together in that wedge and you do that first breath together, we're two bourbons in and we're together and we're working as a unit. And I was like, this is the most astounding, like, I was like, is someone recording this? Is someone writing this down? Like, it was just thrilling, but I mean, I could talk forever about Chicago, the musical, but I'm so excited to talk about what you two have created and are working on together, which is Dancers for Harris, Move Us Forward. Please, please tell me. I mean, tell me everything, but first of all, what was even the inception of this, this sort of like advocacy work that you guys are doing?

[18:51] Suze Misner: Do you want me to go? I'll go and then we're going to tag team this. One thing, one thing is Susie and I have been friends for years. And like I said, I look up to her as an amazing actress, but also a director choreographer. And all of a sudden, COVID hit and we're in the middle of election season. This is 2020. And, you know, dance has been my whole life. I was a professional dancer at 16 and now I'm 65. So I have lived life as a dancer and I'm still growing as a dancer. And being away from the community, being stuck in our houses for COVID, it was so emotional for all of us. And, and dancers are a community. We go into a studio together. So when we were going through this whole COVID, and we're going through this election, which I'm, we're both very passionate about, we both contacted each other and said, what can we do?

And at this time, what we went through the election, and all of a sudden, Georgia was a tie. And both of us were like, we got to get the Senate. Otherwise, we're going to lose some of the most important rights in our country. We got to get the Senate. So Susie and I, Susie came up with the greatest name ever. Because we were like, let's, because everything was on Zoom. Let's do masterclasses on Zoom. That's what I was thinking. Let's get the best that are sitting at home, and they will teach masterclasses. And Susie was like, yes, and we'll call it Flip It. I was like, that's so perfect. So let's flip the Senate blue. So we ended up with three weekends, and we got some of the biggest names in the business.

And we, you know, from Jerry Mitchell to, to Joanne Hunter, to Charlotte DuBois, to Desmond Richardson, we got the biggest names to teach in their living rooms. And everyone donated money. And we did, just like we're doing today, donate what you can. And both of us did not have a clue if we're going to raise $500. You know, we didn't know what was happening. We just decided that we were going to do this. We booked everybody on Zoom. And, and there, and we ended up making $20,000.

[21:11] Suze Misner: Wow. And then we also became partnerships with Dancers for Democracy, and they made 10,000 on a Zoom. So together, we made $30,000 to flip the Senate blue. And so that, to me, showed the power of dancers.

[21:28] Mary Ann Lamb: Yes. And some of our classes were way over 100 people. And it was so powerful to see the passion and how hardworking dancers are. And even through COVID, we all came together. So now I'm going to pass it over to Susie, so she could talk about Dancers for Harris.

[21:50] Suze Misner: Yes. Well, I don't know that I have much to add, because you just said that so beautifully. I would start by saying, in 2020, I'm just going to correct you for a minute, because it was your idea. You are the one who came to me and said, Susie, I want to do this. And I am, I, oh my God, it makes me, oh, it makes me emotional. I'm so indebted to Marian Lamb. Oh my God. Tears, because she has been one of my greatest advocates. And whenever, I don't know if you do this, Jake, I'd be curious to know if you do. But like, whenever something was like, oh, I don't know what to do with myself. I feel like I'm just sitting around waiting, waiting, waiting. And Marianne would say, get in the studio. Let's get in the studio.

As a matter of fact, I have two dancers waiting for you in the studio. And I'd be like, what, what, what am I going to do? And I would show up. And then the next thing you know, I would have an idea. And then I made a movie. And then because of Marianne's support. So when she came to me in 2020, and said, I want to do this, literally, my entire goal was, okay, yes, I wanted to flip the Senate, of course, because I'm very political. But also, I was like, I want to find a way to support Marianne Lamb in the way that she has supported me. And I'll tell you the truth. Now I'm gonna cry.

[23:25] Mary Ann Lamb: We can all cry on the pod. We don't even have alcohol.

[23:31] Suze Misner: I mean, Jake, do you do that? I'm curious, like what you do when there's a moment of stasis in your career? Or, you know, what do you do?

[23:37] Jake Workman: I certainly do. I mean, getting into a studio, for sure, whether it's by myself or, or going to take a dance class. Also just singing and finding my way there. But that was also a huge part of the reason why I started the podcast was because I was like, I, yes, I don't have I have full control over this, first of all, which, you know, just my crazy Virgo brain alone. I'm like, thank God I have, I know what I'm doing. I know what to expect, whatever. But also, I found that it was so much more than just, you know, holding myself to a schedule and making sure that I get my episodes out and everything because I get to connect with people who have the same frame of reference for all of the things that I love and know about.

But also, I get to learn so much from other people, like things that I just never ever would have known or like tiny little anecdotes that like, just don't get shared. And now they get to like be shared and also sort of like forever. You know, out in the world, people like get to learn with me. So I think that's been a huge thing, honestly, is like getting to speak to other artists and creatives about the things that we love, but also just the day in, day out of, you know, like, this shit is hard. And like talking to Jen Dunn about like, she's a mother of two and doing all this craziness. It's like, it's amazing to me.

[25:01] Suze Misner: I love that. I feel like that's a huge part of why and Marianne, you can jump in. But I feel like one of the reasons we went back at this and we added, you know, we had a great team during Flip It and it was small and it was so hard and it's hard again to do this amazing team with we'll just name them out. Let's say some of them.

[25:21] Mary Ann Lamb: Yeah. But our team.

[25:28] Suze Misner: Yeah. Joanne Hunter, and Valerie Pettiford, Nina, Nina Goldman. Yeah. And Kelly Gleason that you did the tour with.

[25:36] Mary Ann Lamb: Yes. And now you name them.

[25:43] Suze Misner: Oh my God. Okay. I'm going to give a shout out to our team, the amazing team behind Dancers for Harris Move Us Forward. Nina Goldman, Joanne Hunter, Sarah Rodriguez, Shay Coghlan, who's doing all of our Instagram, Bella Mittenthal, who's doing all of our TikTok, Kelly Gleason, Marissa Paley, Brooke Schulte, Tara Nicole Hughes in LA, Valerie Pettiford, Jessica Walker, Jen Dunn, who is now, I mean, we've got to put her on the team, right? Nathan Hite, who helped us with our logo. Marissa Paley. I mean, people have been coming out and I'm going to say this that is really important. I love dance more than anything in the world. And it's very difficult right now. And I, when you say, why are you doing this?

I'm doing this for healthcare. I'm doing this because my body is how I make money. And we are dancers. We live in our bodies. Our bodies are our moneymakers. And every single dancer should have the right to healthcare why they age or why they're surviving. And my other big thing about it is, it's a human right issue. We should have human rights. We should love who we want to love. We should care for who we want to care for. There's so many human rights issues that are being taken away from us. And being a professional female dancer, it's so important to know that I should have complete control on my body.

[27:20] Mary Ann Lamb: A hundred percent.

[27:20] Suze Misner: If this body makes money, then I get to decide. I have my choices that I make for my family choices.

[27:28] Mary Ann Lamb: Absolutely. I think it's so amazing that you can think of the intersectionality of both being an artist, being a dancer and being a woman. And what those intersectionalities mean in terms of being a real world person. I think we sort of have forever, I say we as theater people, but we've been given the short end of the stick the entire time as artists. And now we are, you guys are so beautifully using your tools that you have and using your resources to actually facilitate real life change. And even if it just is in terms of making money, having people donate and pay, we're going to see the change in real time. And the fact that it's a woman.

[28:18] Suze Misner: Kamala Harris. I'm so excited. I literally have never been so excited to vote in my entire life.

[28:22] Suze Misner: Also, Tim Walz is from Minnesota. I'm from Minnesota, so I feel very extra special in it.

[28:29] Jayke Workman: So tell me, so walk me through like the actual sort of events of Dancers For Harris. What are you guys looking to do?

[28:35] Suze Misner: Well, and I'm just gonna extrapolate a little more on what you were just saying, if you don't mind, just for a second.

[28:41] Suze Misner: Oh my god, of course. And you can edit shit out. I love you, Suze Misner. No, but I was just gonna say that I think that a huge part of our number one, I mean, this is, I think so many people feel helpless about what you can do, not only as an artist, because you sit around and you wait. And so I think it is such an incredible thing, Jayke, that you said, no, I'm not gonna wait. I'm gonna make a podcast. And I said, I'm gonna get in the studio because of Mary Ann Lamb or whatever. The same is true with politics. I think we feel helpless. And the truth is, actually, you can do something. And that something can be what we do or what we are doing, which we're going to explain. It can be knocking on doors, it can be writing letters. But the idea of participation versus almost victimhood, I don't even know what to call it. Just being complacent in the fact that you can't do anything.

[29:47] Mary Ann Lamb: That's right.

[29:48] Suze Misner: Yeah, just being complacent. I think it's a huge lesson, a life lesson to get involved.

[29:54] Suze Misner: So what we're doing is a week long of masterclasses with some absolutely extraordinary choreographers, actually, they're all choreographers and teachers, and you donate whatever you can, and all the money goes to the Harris Walz campaign.

[30:06] Suze Misner: And then we're also gonna do, we think, right? It's all happening as we speak. We hope and think we're gonna do a national Zoom call to dancers that will talk about why this is important, why reproductive rights for women, just trust women, get out of our bodies, let us make our own decisions. LBGTQ plus community, they are coming after you. Let's protect our people because we know—

[30:52] Mary Ann Lamb: Human rights.

[30:54] Suze Misner: Yeah, have gender affirming care. They're clear that the suicidal ideation, let's just help people, not hurt people. And I think even climate change, there are so many reasons to dance for Harris. There are many reasons to literally do a kickball change. I mean, come on, let's just do it for the Walz.

[31:22] Mary Ann Lamb: And we don't have a long lifespan as a dancer. And what's interesting is, yes, it's so important with unions. Not every dancer gets to be involved in a union. But for me, being 65 years old and ready to retire, my union pensions will save me. And fighting for unions. Now, that's why healthcare to me is so important and why I'm fighting, because not every dancer is part of the union. We are like working blue-collar workers. I mean, that's what an artist is nowadays. And right now, both in Los Angeles and New York, our communities are suffering. Because of the strikes, because of COVID, we're slowly getting back. And it was really interesting, because Susie and I, when we did Flip It, it was always donation.

And this time around, we were like, okay, let's, because these are big names, like Andy Blankenbuehler and, you know, Brian Friedman, and we have some big names that are teaching. And all of a sudden, we sat back and we're like, oh, we'll charge $30. And then all of a sudden, we listened to our community going, you know, $30 is too much for class. It's a struggle right now for any dancer to train or any singer to train or any actor to train.

[32:38] Suze Misner: Yeah, because we're not getting financial support on it. And there's not a lot of work. And so that's why we changed. And we listen, and we're like, you know what, donate what you can. I mean, you can come and take a class for a dollar, or you can give us $5,000, whatever you want. But it's important.

[33:00] Mary Ann Lamb: It is. And I think it's so smart of you, but also just so empathetic of you to increase the accessibility level of it. And to say, I mean, because also, while we do talk about, you know, these are huge names that anyone would be so lucky to get to work with and learn from. These are also people who are fighting for the same things that we are. So they are just as incentivized to donate their time for any, you know, amount of money or exposure. It doesn't matter. It's like, the reason that we're doing this is because it affects all of us equally. And that is a really exciting thing to think of, too, in terms of people like Andy Blankenbuehler, who are, you know, these huge, incredible names. But we can come together and recognize that, like, we're all the same. And we're all fighting for the same things in real time.

[33:55] Suze Misner: Yeah. And it's very interesting between the West Coast and the East Coast, because we're all a community. And we're a community, honestly, across the United States. And so what we also want to do is call to teachers. And I'm going to hand it over to Susie. But this, to me, is a very important bringing the community together. We're hoping that what we can do is we want to, you know, actually in our Zoom call, so we might be a little premature in telling you about this, but secret that we're exposing. We're going to just ask people to donate their class, like, and you can teach a class outside. You don't have to have a dance studio. You can just say, come, spend a dollar with me, and then they will donate on our page, and they will be supporting the cause.

And it's really about just trying to continue that momentum that Kamala has of excitement and of moving us forward and of Black Lives Matter and of equity and inclusion and all of the things that the party has stood for for so long. You know, we just want to, we want to kick it for Kamala. That's what we want to do.

[35:13] Jayke Workman: Hell yeah. And I think it's a difficult, not a difficult thing, but I think it's an exciting way to look at fundraising. And as the person who would be donating, oftentimes it's hard to feel like I'm putting my money towards something that's actually going to do anything. And even just like the emails from the Harris campaign of like, we need your help. We need, like, please, like, we have to make a change. But, you know, there's only so much you can do and only so much money you can throw at it. But then when you think of it in terms of something that you actually get to learn from or you get to benefit from, there's kind of no, there's no reason not to donate five, 10, 50, $100 when you know that not only am I getting something from this experience, but also I know exactly where the money is going, which is just so thrilling.

And also, I just want to say with Dancers for Harris, you don't have to take a class to donate. I mean, it's a beautiful thing. This is a community. And I think it also has the potential to expand past just this one election season. You know, I mean, I think the outreach that you guys have created from 2020 to now has been such a huge jump. And I'm just so, like, impressed and in awe of the work that you guys are doing because it's so exciting. I mean, when Jen even said, like, oh, my dear friends are doing this thing. Would you be interested in talking to them? I was like, of course I am. Are you kidding? This is so cool. So would you tell me where is the, or like, for the people who are interested in taking classes or doing the Zooms and stuff, what is their next step in finding you guys and figuring out when they can take a class and how they can donate?

[37:03] Mary Ann Lamb: Well, you can find us on Instagram, Dancers for Harris, and basically all of that information is there is you just click in the bio, I believe, the Lincoln bio, and then it takes you to our landing page. And that has the whole schedule of all the teachers for both LA and New York.

[37:23] Suze Misner: Yeah, so any, any TikTok and TikTok and also Facebook, which is amazing, because like, I am such an old, not on social media at all. And I have had to be on social media. Shea and Bella are like, make a video, make a video. And I'm like, Oh, God.

[37:37] Suze Misner: Oh, I don't make I do not do develop pays or kick it anymore. Just a casual movie star shy from the camera.

[37:43] Mary Ann Lamb: I am. Exactly.

[37:49] Suze Misner: Totally. And I don't love videos, but I'm doing it because I'm like, but I will do whatever it takes right now to try to, you know, I don't know if you feel this way, but I feel nervous. Even though I'm active in this, you know, effort. I also still feel like we have to work. We can't take it for granted.

[38:11] Mary Ann Lamb: 100% I mean, I will say there is that simultaneous. I am nervous because I've seen what can happen. But I have also never felt more empowered to vote in my entire life. And I the the shift even it's it's vote blue no matter who but when when President Biden stepped aside. Yeah, it was such a courageous. It was the most generous thing he could have ever done for this country. And the fact that now this person who we get to vote for just so happens to be a woman of color. It's just it's just brilliant. Brilliant. I like get I get like so excited, teary because I'm like, I we get to be a part of this. I get to say that I voted for the first like mixed race female president in 250 years. I mean, it's so exciting.

[39:21] Suze Misner: Yes. And a sweet little teddy bear old white man as the vice president. Come on.

[39:25] Mary Ann Lamb: And then we'll see Pete. Then we'll see Pete run to be the first gay man running this country.

[39:32] Suze Misner: Hell yeah.

[39:40] Jayke Workman: Yeah. So these classes are in person.

[39:40] Suze Misner: Yes.

[39:44] Jayke Workman: Are they also going to be live streamed?

[39:44] Suze Misner: So we're trying to figure out whether we can get the technology for that.

[39:48] Suze Misner: Sure. Time. So that is a stay tuned. We will let you know.

[39:56] Mary Ann Lamb: Love it. I think Los Angeles, they're definitely we're going to resume those classes, I believe.

[40:03] Suze Misner: Fabulous. So even if we're in like areas that we might not be able to actually come in person, we could either like clock in on Zoom and or just do a little shimmy shake and then click donate to Dancers for Harris.

[40:09] Mary Ann Lamb: That's exactly right.

[40:14] Jayke Workman: Love it. Oh, my God. I have to I'm like, I have to sign up. I have to come take class.

[40:21] Suze Misner: Please sign up because it's going fast.

[40:27] Jayke Workman: Hell yes. Are you guys both teaching?

[40:27] Suze Misner: No. It's too big of a job what we're doing. So we're like, we're not teaching, but we're putting it together.

[40:34] Mary Ann Lamb: Love it. So grateful to you, Jake. I mean, it warms my heart as someone who doesn't do interviews to actually like talk to someone who's like you. You're just such a warm soul that is open and serious. And I'm just genuinely like if you are the next generation that is so excited about voting, then I feel hopeful for where we're going to go. I do.

[41:07] Jayke Workman: Oh, thank you. I feel the same way. I feel the same way. I think that I don't like doing these at all. And I felt like it was that we were just at a cocktail party. I just met one of the warmest, most incredibly talented people.

[41:23] Suze Misner: Oh, my gosh. That is a high praise coming from you. But of course, if Jen Dunn says that you're special, you're a rock star. You can trust Miss Jen Dunn, that's for sure.

[41:37] Mary Ann Lamb: Yes, because she's everything.

[41:37] Jayke Workman: Well, ladies, thank you so, so much for being here. This is such a treat. And I cannot wait to get the word out about Dancers for Harris.

[41:46] Suze Misner: Yes. We, listen, we dance, we win.

[41:55] Jayke Workman: That's right. 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. Also, look for the link in the episode description for Dancers for Harris so that you guys can donate and hopefully take class and we can get the ball rolling. Thank you so, so much for listening. Talk soon. Bye.