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[0:00] Jayke Workman: You guys, as we enter Libra season, I think we all need to go in with Kim Cattrall's mindset. She said, I don't want to be in a situation for even an hour where I'm not enjoying myself. That is tea.

[0:19] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Oh my god, guys. Oh my god, goodness. Oh my god, oh my god, you guys! What's up, everybody? My name is Jayke Workman, and this is Oh My Pod, you guys, a musical theater and pop culture podcast.

[0:42] Jayke Workman: You guys, this week I had the immense pleasure of seeing the new off-Broadway show, Ghost of John McCain, starring none other than our very own guest for the pod this week, Ben Fankhauser. I j'adore him. And you guys, the show is absolutely kooky crazy. But before we talk about it, because of course we'll be talking about it with Ben, we have to dive right into this week's Broadway World recap, brought to you by my amazing pals at Broadwayworld.com.

[1:09] Jayke Workman: First, you guys, we of course have to talk about the very sad news that Dame Maggie Smith has passed away at the age of 89. Of course, Maggie Smith is known for her incredible roles in Harry Potter as Professor McGonagall and on Downton Abbey, but she has so so many stage credits to her name and even received a Tony Award in 1990. She was just an icon and legend of the theater and film industry, and she will truly, truly be missed.

[1:40] Jayke Workman: I mean, come on, Sister Act. What are we talking about? It's Dame Maggie Smith or nothing. Her in Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Are you absolutely kidding me? Maggie, we love you. May you rest in peace.

[1:56] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, Broadway World shared the very exciting announcement that Olivier Award-winning actor Andrew Scott is set to reprise his widely acclaimed performance as Vanya in the new adaptation of Chekhov's incredible masterwork, Uncle Vanya, obviously. He co-created the show with adapter Simon Stevens, and you guys, it's gonna play the Lucille Lortel off-Broadway starting March 11th of 2025.

[2:23] Jayke Workman: Andrew Scott on the New York City stage. I'm beyond. I love the Lortel. I think it's such an amazing space, and I cannot wait to see this show and Andrew's performance.

[2:35] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, Broadway World shared some gorgeous first look photos at Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, directed by Sam Gold, and of course, starring Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler. You guys, this production looks stunning. I mean, Circle in the Square, you kind of have like a playground as a director and as a cast because you can do so much in the space, but these photos are stunning.

[3:01] Jayke Workman: The lighting design looks absolutely beautiful. And okay, let's be real. If you know me, you know I am not necessarily a Shakespeare girly. Frankly, I'm just a little dumb. And I would prefer if you just, you know, said what you mean. Said say what you mean, and we'll get there. But I have to see this. It looks just beautiful. I love Rachel and I love Kit. Oh my god, I'm such a fan of Heartstopper, so I guess I need to go and get my tickets to see Romeo and Juliet at the Circle in the Square.

[3:37] Jayke Workman: It officially opens October 24th, but they are in previews right now, so maybe I will even catch a preview before the official opening. But definitely check out those photos on Broadwayworld.com.

[3:47] Jayke Workman: Next, you guys, we got the very exciting casting announcement that Jordan Fisher, Taran Killam, Keala Settle, and Stephanie Styles are all set to star in You're in Town at Encores this spring. You guys talk about brilliant casting. Jordan Fisher as Bobby Strong, adorable. He's gonna sing it down. Taran Killam as Officer Lockstock, ridiculous. I mean, I love that Taran is kind of having his little theater moment coming from Spamalot and now jumping into You're in Town at Encores. He's perfect for this role. He's going to be absolutely hilarious.

[4:23] Jayke Workman: And then you have Keala Settle as Penelope Pennywise. The way she is going to body privilege to pee. We are not ready. You guys, I smell a Broadway transfer. You heard it here first on the pod. Wow. Oh my god, that was like kind of good. But you guys, this is gonna be amazing. I love Encores. I think it's so fun, and they're gonna kill it. I can't wait to see the show. It runs February 5th through 11th. Nope, that's a lie. February 5th through 16th.

[4:57] Jayke Workman: And lastly, you guys, as they say, save the best for last. Broadway World has shared the announcement that none other than Barbra Streisand has confirmed that a definitive multipart documentary about her life and career is in the works. And you guys, my little gay heart is so beyond ready for this. I kind of am freaking out. The production has been granted unprecedented access to Barbra's personal archives, including hundreds of hours of personal, never-before-seen video. This is gonna change the world. There, I said it. Barbra releasing her own private personal recordings and videos. We have so much to learn and look forward to. I am over the moon. I cannot wait for this.

[5:53] Jayke Workman: And you guys, this has been the BroadwayWorld Recap. Oh my pod, you guys, I am so excited to welcome my next guest to the show. He is a bona fide Broadway diva, currently starring in the off-Broadway production of Ghost of John McCain. Please welcome my darling Ben Fankhauser.

[6:12] Ben Fankhauser: Hi, Jay. Welcome to the next one. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

[6:17] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, I wouldn't have had it any other way. How are you? Where could you tell the listeners where are you calling in from on this fine day?

[6:24] Ben Fankhauser: I'm calling in from my living room on this fine day from Midtown Manhattan.

[6:29] Jayke Workman: Ooh, oh my god, do you like living in Midtown?

[6:32] Ben Fankhauser: Um, it's okay. I like it like B plus, A minus.

[6:35] Jayke Workman: Okay, work. Because I mean, I would imagine that like the access to work is the draw.

[6:42] Ben Fankhauser: I love the access. Yes. Yes, the accessibility. Um, the zeitgeist, as it were.

[6:47] Ben Fankhauser: Um but it's hard to like walk down 9th Avenue in your sweatpants and like get spotted by a colleague.

[6:53] Jayke Workman: Of course, of course. Or like an adoring, you know, fan coming running up to you.

[7:00] Ben Fankhauser: Lucky.

[7:01] Jayke Workman: Yeah. Well, we have so so much to talk about, but I most recently got to see you on stage in Ghost of John McCain. Will you please tell me not only about the show itself, but what was your road to this project? You are bouncing around the stage like a crazy person. How did this come about?

[7:23] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, that's right. It was so funny. I was telling the dressing room last night, I sort of feel like I'm like in a way, like doing drag in a weird way. Yeah, like I play all these different characters and these quick changes, and I'm like just being crazy. And the whole show, we've always joked, like kind of feels like a giant rusical in a way.

[7:42] Ben Fankhauser: It is absolutely a rustical. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just like, you know, with all the production value that an AEA project can garner you.

[7:52] Ben Fankhauser: Very that. Very that. You know. Um, so Ghost of John McCain came into my life pretty recently. Um, and it's not something I would normally like that would normally come across my desk. This kind of like ultra-charactery thing. For those of you who haven't seen the show yet, I play like six different political figures. I play Joe Biden, I play Lindsey Graham, I play Roy Cohn, I play Sarah Palin, even for your nerve, and even Grisabella.

[8:23] Jayke Workman: Yes, you do.

[8:26] Ben Fankhauser: Um, yeah, it's this like zany wacky show that um has basically two plus people play all these different worlds that populate uh all these different characters that populate this world. And yeah, like I said, this isn't normally the kind of thing that would come across my desk. So I love a challenge. I love subverting industry expectations, I love you know, trying something new. And that's exactly what I'm doing here. And I'm having a lot of fun, I will say.

[8:59] Jayke Workman: I mean, it's so fun because I know you and have seen you obviously in other things. This is, like you said, something very different, but you still, it's I was just like giggling to myself the whole time because I was like, while it is this like wack-a-doodle zany performance, it's also giving the Ben Fankhauser of it all with vocals down, which is just so silly. Like you still manage, even as fucking Lindsey Graham in like spandex and fucking like rubber, you're still giving a Broadway vocal, which is just ridiculous.

[9:34] Jayke Workman: What is the um like when when you got you know first asked to to like audition for this or whatever? Did you know going in that it was going to be so involved? Like you basically, anytime you leave the stage, you are changing to come back on stage as someone else. Like it is a like 90-minute just fucking roller coaster for all of you. Did you know that it was gonna be that way? Or like I was just like trying to envision like reading the script and being like, okay, I can picture this because what is on the page certainly is not what I would imagine on stage.

[10:13] Ben Fankhauser: That's so true. I mean, I feel like the most like the most challenging part of the show is the offstage part and all the changing, like being on stage is the easy part, right? Um, and when I first got the script, what delighted me about it was that oh, this is gonna take creativity and this is gonna take theatricality.

[10:21] Ben Fankhauser: Yes. Yes. Because you leave the page uh as one character and you turn the page and you're a new character. So I'm like, how are they gonna do this? Are they gonna give us different hats to put on, a little like Pajmina to like transform? Like, how am I fully transformed? So that definitely sparked my interest. And I didn't have the answer, which also piqued my interest. I was like, well, I don't quite know how to do this. So maybe I should take this project and see like how they're gonna do it.

[10:58] Jayke Workman: Right.

[10:59] Ben Fankhauser: Um little did you know that you'd be switching in and out of like gorgeous lace front wigs for every fucking track.

[11:06] Ben Fankhauser: No, I didn't know I did not know we were gonna have gorgeous lace front wigs. I'm not a wig person, I've never worn like I wore a wig one time in a show, and they put it on at the top of the show and they took it off. So we spent all this time getting it perfect, it was beautiful. But in this production, sometimes I have 30 seconds to change a wig, and we're doing it in the dark of backstage.

[11:26] Jayke Workman: Right.

[11:26] Ben Fankhauser: So I don't even know what I'm looking like sometimes when I walk out on the deck. Um which is part of the fun. But I remember uh this I know the writer Drew, Drew and I have collaborated before. Drew Fornarola, he has a program in Buffalo called Starring Buffalo, where they bring Broadway performers up to Buffalo and pair them with like local schools, and they put on these productions um for a weekend, and it's really lovely and fabulous.

[11:49] Ben Fankhauser: And I did Hunchback of Notre Dame for him uh a few years ago. Gorgeous. Um and he called me up and he said, Hey, I'm starting this new project, Ghost of John McCain, and we're looking for someone I think you're perfect for it. Will you take a look at the script? And so I read the script, I was kind of delighted by it. I thought it was so funny. And uh then I accepted the role, and then I read the script again and thought, oh god, I've made a huge mistake. Oh fuck, what am I doing? I was like, I don't really know about Lindsey Graham all that much.

[12:19] Ben Fankhauser: Like, I don't know how I'm gonna satirize this guy. I don't have an impression of Joe Biden at the ready, I don't quite know what I'm gonna do with it. And uh I think I then remembered like, oh, you know what? Run toward the bang. I think it's moments like this when you're really not sure if you can do it, like those are real growth moments, and so um I ended up getting excited about it again after I was panicking.

[12:41] Jayke Workman: Totally but like that's the artistic process, I guess, right? Is like, yes, let's fucking get it, and then panic, panic, panic. Oh shit, we actually have to do the job.

[12:49] Ben Fankhauser: Right. Right, right. Yes. Well, you certainly achieved the goal because it is insane. But so we have to talk about I mean, we have we have so many shows to talk about. We first crossed paths in Hartford, Connecticut doing um the Flamingo Kid at Hartford Stage. Um, which is hilarious. It's kind of like the gift that keeps on giving in terms of people that I know and love because so many of those people have gone on to do amazing, crazy other things, and I've had so many of them on the pod, which is so fun. But before we met, I'd love to know like what was your even road to musical theater and being an artist. Like, did you always know growing up that this was what you were going to do like professionally?

[13:36] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah. I grew up in Ohio in like a small town outside of Cleveland, and I did theater from a very young age, um, as like an after school activity, and what I fell in love with uh initially was community. You know, I'm like a child of divorced parents, and we moved to Ohio when I was young, and I was looking for a community and a place of belonging, and I really found that very quickly in the theater, in this little theater program uh in Cleveland called Stagecrafters, and I did shows like you know, Joseph and uh Babes in Toyland and Peter Pan and like you know, these shows that are really just like so much fun and uh just historically or like I don't know not kids shows but you know like yeah shows for the you know anyway so uh that's where where I fell in love with it and then when I realized probably in like middle school that you could do this for a career I was like I'm interested um and it it's been sort of like uh sort of sort of having blinders on ever since yeah you know and um like no plan B no uh other interests really which as I get older I'm like really you're not interested in anything you know how that like goes when you want to like branch out or learn nothing else it's just like musical theater.

[14:49] Jayke Workman: Got it.

[14:50] Ben Fankhauser: Um but like always loved Broadway. Um and then I also found uh a love for gospel music very early on um and I grew up listening to gospel Motown R and B which sort of influenced the way that I sing.

[15:05] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[15:06] Ben Fankhauser: And um so that kind of gave me like a unique voice in a way and uh I went to college in upstate New York at Ithaca studied musical theater um and while I was there I left and did the touring company of Spring Awakening the first national tour of the original yes you did yes I did um and had a blast doing that and I got my equity card got some sickening professional experience.

[15:32] Jayke Workman: Of course um was that with was Ben Moss on that tour.

[15:36] Ben Fankhauser: I replaced Ben Moss.

[15:37] Jayke Workman: Oh work amazing yes yes yes yes um and he was amazing and he he you know his performance when you replace someone in a show, you're inevitably not recreating their performance, but you know, like that's the DNA of the of that.

[15:53] Ben Fankhauser: Fitting into the sort of archetype that they've already yeah, so I was massively inspired by him. And um it's been fun, you know, many years down the road collaborating with Ben on different projects, different concerts and stuff like that. That was um fun to see him. But yeah, so I did uh Spring Awakening, then I uh went back and finished college, graduated, and got Newsies right away. It was like it fell out of the sky for me in a way. You know, I tell the story all the time, but I'll make it quick, which is that I was auditioning for the tour of The Adams Family, and it was cast by the same casting office, and I thought I'd give a pretty sickening audition. Um, but they called my agents and were like, he's not right for that. However, we're casting Newsies, and he is right for this other role in Newsies. So it's like that door closed and another one just like busted open and then it happened and snowballed before I could even realize what was happening.

[16:44] Jayke Workman: That is wild.

[16:46] Ben Fankhauser: And then it was just like second start of the right, straight on till morning.

[16:46] Jayke Workman: Straight on till morning. That is crazy. Okay, so we have to talk about Newsies, obviously. Did you know when you booked the show at Paper Mill how big it was going to be?

[17:03] Ben Fankhauser: No. Not at all. And they I I was just talking yesterday, um, on another event about the subverted expectations. Disney was not creating a Broadway show. They were not even really creating a production to tour per se. They recognized a need to license this property. They saw that high schools and um theaters all over the country were like doing illegal productions of Newsies because it was this beloved niche, you know, property uh from the flopped film. And um they said, let's try and create a licensable project, uh, you know, um production so that we can make money on that. And it can be the production, definitive production, exactly. So that's how they pitched that production to us. That's like what I auditioned for.

And when I got the show at Paper Mill, that's all it was. They were very explicit. This is not a Broadway production, it's not going to Broadway, this is only a Paper Mill. And it really, like when I say it's snowballed, I I really mean it. It was like there was no pressure to create that show with the um expectation of anything. All we were doing was like having a great time trying to like tell this story and honor this movie and um just give it life in an exciting way. That's all we were doing.

[18:22] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[18:23] Ben Fankhauser: And I feel like it's so important in the creative process to have the safety to create under those guidelines.

[18:29] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[18:30] Ben Fankhauser: You know, further along down my career, I mean, all of us have done these like sort of pre-Broadway things, and like, is the show gonna have another life? And are we gonna be good enough to get to that next level? And that is like such a real part of the industry, but it's such a killer of the creative process because I remember even doing Flamingo Kid in Hartford, you know, we had buzz about going to Broadway, and I I remember even thinking as I was falling asleep at night, being like, ah, I could have said that line better and gotten a laugh, and then we'd go to Broadway. Maybe they'll take me.

[19:04] Jayke Workman: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[19:05] Ben Fankhauser: That's exactly right. Right. So even even when your expectations are managed, that can be a a real sort of like hindrance, yeah.

[19:14] Jayke Workman: Hindrance on the creative process, totally.

[19:16] Ben Fankhauser: So the beauty of Newsies is that it was like truly organic. It was like not going to Broadway, it was not gonna be anything, and so we were just free to enjoy it. And uh even when we got to New York, when they told us we were gonna go to Broadway, it was a limited run. It was 12 weeks only. So it was like summer on Broadway, it was like this little opportunity to like be on Broadway for a summer. So it was this really like humble, sweet thing, and then people like flooded the theater and bought tickets and just kept coming and coming, and it became like inevitable. It was just like, oh, this is people really want this show right now. And I remember the day our producers came in and told us we're we're open ended now, like we are gonna make the show run. And so then it was like, oh my gosh, we were supposed to have only 12 weeks, and now we get more. So at every stage of that process, it was like the cherry on top.

[20:13] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[20:14] Ben Fankhauser: You know, even just the initial casting being in the Paper Mill production felt like a cherry on top for my life. I love the movie growing up, so I thought, oh, even though I get to like participate in a production somewhere once.

[20:25] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[20:26] Ben Fankhauser: We'll be a little cherry. And in such like a beautiful, like a principal role.

[20:30] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[20:31] Ben Fankhauser: And and the role came, I mean, it just it fit like a glove. It came so easily to me. I felt like I really knew this guy, and like in many ways, like am this guy. You know, he's like a nice Jewish boy next door who's like to try to make a difference. So I'm like, hello.

[20:45] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[20:45] Ben Fankhauser: Um, you know, even the filmed version when we filmed the um staged version in 2017 felt like a cherry on top, you know. It was like, oh, we had this Broadway run. Oh, and now we get to do a filmed capture. I mean, that's kind of the the like really gaggy part of it all is that like not only do you get to say, I originated this role, I am on the original Broadway cast recording, I did it on the Tonys, all of it.

[21:11] Jayke Workman: Right.

[21:11] Ben Fankhauser: But then, even if you didn't see it, because you live in Ohio you get to watch me do what I created forever. It like lives immortalized.

[21:23] Jayke Workman: That's so insane.

[21:25] Ben Fankhauser: Where was that filmed? Was that in LA?

[21:27] Jayke Workman: Yes we filmed at the Pantages in LA um with the touring company, the fantastic touring company of Newsies. I remember I was on the road with Beautiful at the time and I flew to LA to we shot the movie in like a week or two and um I remember watching the show that night and thinking Whoa we were never this clean. We were never this good. I mean they were phenomenal and um yeah it was a blast like a converging of families of like two different worlds getting to like come together for like a mega Newsies.

[21:59] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah that's wild.

[22:00] Jayke Workman: And I mean I even um I did a show with uh Michael Rios and he was telling me about doing the like filming the stage production and how everything was elevated. Everything was like if we're gonna we're gonna capture this and it's gonna live forever it has to be perfect. They were like no more doubles, we want triples. No more this we want that. We want the extra back handspring we want the extra vocal like you guys were pulling out all the stops.

[22:27] Ben Fankhauser: But it shows I mean the it's it's incredible.

[22:30] Jayke Workman: Thank you.

[22:31] Ben Fankhauser: It's so amazing it was really fun yeah and and um it was it was great to reunite with old cast members and it was great to make friends with new cast members and like feel like we were creating a a legacy of some kind that we could like pass on to people. Like the same way that I grew up watching, like Into the Woods on VHS and like Kathy Rigby's Peter Pan, you know.

[22:51] Jayke Workman: Oh yeah, delights me to know that that um kids are watching that.

[22:56] Ben Fankhauser: That's even like something that I've spoken to a couple people about on the pod is um like how we feel about like bootlegs and things because while it's supposed to be this like taboo, you're never supposed to do it. I being a kid in the Midwest, like who never had access to Broadway except for like the few touring shows that would come through Kansas City, like that I that is how I learned and like understood what Broadway is. So I wish that more people were given the opportunity to do these like pro shots and these you know professional recordings, not only because it's a great way for them to make money and all of that, but because people, kids and and adults, you know, alike, are are not necessarily able to access it. And so, like in that way, it's so exciting.

[23:45] Jayke Workman: I mean, I will never forget watching you on the Tonys and being in my basement, being like, what I have to do that.

[23:57] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, like watching that Tony award performance. And then my favorite thing too is that you guys hit the button and the flashbulb goes off, and then the camera cuts to Bernie Telsey, and he goes, It's fantastic. And that that memory like lives in my brain rent-free.

[24:17] Jayke Workman: It's still you can watch it on YouTube.

[24:20] Ben Fankhauser: I know because I do often money, but just hilarious.

[24:24] Jayke Workman: Oh, I love that. Well, I was gonna say something really special about that performance was um during a commercial break when we were loading into the Beacon Theater to perform, that's when they had announced Chris Catelli winning for best choreography.

[24:39] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[24:40] Ben Fankhauser: And then we got to do our number. So there was like a whole scene backstage where when they announced that Chris had won, we were like jumping up and down with excitement, like, oh my gosh, this choreography that we do every night that we like was built on our bodies and helped create in some way.

[24:55] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, won a Tony, and we were thrilled. And then to just go right on stage and dance it. I mean, it was truly that is wild. Insane. I can't even imagine. I mean, yeah, that's wild.

[25:06] Jayke Workman: So you mentioned being on tour. Were you and Cara both on tour and went to do the movie at the same time?

[25:16] Ben Fankhauser: Carol Lindsay, I mean.

[25:18] Jayke Workman: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just wicked. Ever heard of her?

[25:22] Ben Fankhauser: Um, love her, adore her. Was she on the tour with Wicked, maybe at that time?

[25:26] Ben Fankhauser: I think so. I bet we were both on the road. That's so wild. Just like casually leaving your little national tour job.

[25:33] Ben Fankhauser: I know, I know, precious. It's so funny too, like, because you know, we had to get or at least I had to get special permission from the producers, like, thank you, um, the producers of Beautiful for letting me out for those um two weeks. And I actually the way I found out that they were doing a Newsies movie was from my stage manager at Beautiful who came into my dressing room um and was like, So you're leaving for the Newsies movie, huh? I was like, wait, what? But my agent I think like the way it works is like my agent got the offer and then like immediately called the producers before they even called me, 'cause they're like, well, might as well just make sure we can do this.

[26:06] Jayke Workman: Right. That's insane.

[26:10] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah. Well, switching gears a little bit, I would love to ask you about your endeavors as a writer, because while I of course have admired your performance skills for so so long, I had the immense pleasure of getting to see your off-Broadway writing debut with A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, alongside one Alex Wyse, who I also absolutely adore, friend of the pod. But I would love to know about maybe the intersectionality of being a performer, being a writer, but also literally putting that story and that perspective on stage in that show. Because you guys uh in my opinion were uh extremely vulnerable in sharing your relationship, basically your real life relationship, but uh you know, told through the lens of these characters.

[27:03] Ben Fankhauser: Um, in such a small, you know, I mean, it's a cast of three, so so that is already vulnerable in itself. But I'd love to know about that process and how that show came to be for you guys.

[27:14] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah. Well, it's funny that we're talking about Flamingo Kid because uh when we were all three of us doing Flamingo Kid together, that's when Alex and I um sort of had well, Alex really was like, Hey, let's write something together. And I was like, I don't know. I I've never done it before. I'm scared, I'm no good, blah, blah, blah. He was like, No, you are like we just like hang out every night and like shoot the shit and make jokes and we like laugh our asses off. Like, let's put that down on paper.

[27:43] Ben Fankhauser: Let's write it down, yeah. Yeah, I was like, Oh, is that how it works? Okay. Um, so it was really the fun that we had in Flamingo Kid, and Flamingo Kid is like one of my favorite experiences to date. I that show was so much fun. It was very fun. We were just like totally goofing off in this like colorful, bright world, and I loved like there were so many like older character actors in the show, because like I feel like that's I was staring down my future. The old Jews. You know, yeah. It was it was awesome. And um, and I felt especially like Alex was my partner in crime on stage, and we just had a blast. And so anyway, that was I feel like the origins of us feeling like let's cook, let's let's get in the kitchen and make something.

[28:29] Ben Fankhauser: Um, and it was very uh shortly after that process that we started, and we weren't sure what we wanted to make. It was like, should we do a concert at 54 Below? Should we what what are we doing? And pretty quickly this um this story emerged in front of us of um an old sort of machine-made Disney star that is now well into their forties and and now what? And I think that was a reflection of both of us having a pretty front-loaded career. We both had success early on, and um we were contemplating, okay, now that we've like been in show business for about 10 years, and we're staring down this long road of unknown, what happens?

[29:15] Jayke Workman: Right.

[29:16] Ben Fankhauser: And not like I'm saying we were made, you know, these like Disney made stars, but I'm uh you know, just that was as we were imagining the sort of extreme version. Um, and so we we this story emerged of of this uh pop star, Regina Comet, who was on a quest to find her relevance again. Um, and Alex and I I think we're both at a place in the business where you know we were playing these kids in Flamingo Kid, but we're both in our 30s, and we're wondering like, how much longer are we gonna be the best friends? How much longer are we gonna be the kids?

[29:49] Jayke Workman: Right, and when does that transition start happening and how do we prepare for it? What does it look like?

[29:55] Ben Fankhauser: And so uh Regina was sort of our outlet uh into expressing those um feelings in an extreme way of of like what is it like to lose your relevance and how do you find your relevance again and like who's gonna watch you in you know 20 years, and will people buy tickets to your concert? And uh will you have to sell out and take the money and do a commercial in order to stay relevant? And um, so all those themes uh were were fun to grapple with. And then Alex and I had this just fantastic uh storied relationship, um, because he and I grew up together in Ohio and we did like shows together in middle school, and um Alex is a couple years older than me, and I like saw him in professional productions and like looked up to him and um and then in our early career, you know, at the end of college and even through college, we like hung out together and just had this blast.

[30:51] Ben Fankhauser: And then when we both got to New York in the you know, 2011, 2012, 2013 era, our our careers sort of um went went different ways. And he you know, was on the road with Wicked for a while and doing a bunch of Broadway shows and I was doing Newsies and um and then we kind of came back together and found each other during Flamingo Kid. So we we had this sort of journey of this um of this friendship that we wanted to talk about as well. And um we decided that a three person musical was a fantastic challenge to try and figure out how do we triangulate these journeys and how do we tell all three of these stories in a way that every character on stage matters to the other character and and so we need this triangle to actually move the story forward.

[31:37] Jayke Workman: Right.

[31:38] Ben Fankhauser: It's not just one person's story with two people backing them up that was really important to us that it felt like it could be any one of our stories. Um I should say too, uh, the majority of this happened during the pandemic.

[31:52] Jayke Workman: Right.

[31:52] Ben Fankhauser: Um, so we had Flamingo Kid, and then uh a year later the world shut down, or maybe less than a year later, and um, you know, all we had was like Zoom in our living rooms and just like endless hours. And um, so we put our heads to the grindstone and we like made this musical and we did um readings on Zoom and uh we wrote music together and uh it it was definitely like a savior through the pandemic of this you know, had to have this creative project. And then um to get it mounted off-Broadway. I mean it was truly um one of those snowball moments again, like that you kind of don't know what you don't know.

[32:30] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, so it's all just kind of happening to you, and you're like, oh, okay, okay. Um and then, you know, the the final element was like the performing of it, and that was a real challenge too. Like I'd never performed something that I've uh written to that extent.

[32:44] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[32:44] Ben Fankhauser: Um so like our preview process, like changing stuff was really wild because I mean you know, in some ways we could just like change it. We we were the writers, so we could just like change it in the moment on stage if we wanted, like we did, you know, and uh we had fun. And and everyone on that show, from like the backstage to the to the onstage to the brilliant Brianna Marie, um, to our like production management, everybody was like so game and so happy to be making a quirky musical that's just like light and funny, um, and has heart as well in the heart of the pandemic. You know, I think we were the first original musical back in New York.

[33:23] Jayke Workman: Right.

[33:23] Ben Fankhauser: I mean, it was still you couldn't get into the theater without showing your vaccine card.

[33:27] Jayke Workman: Yep.

[33:27] Ben Fankhauser: You know, we were testing for COVID three times a week. It was um it was still a scary time, and we were like, fuck it. We're doing this musical.

[33:35] Jayke Workman: You have to do it.

[33:38] Ben Fankhauser: That's so cool. And you also had the opportunity to record the cast album, which is incredible because again, there is always that question of like, will it have another life and all of that? But like, regardless of if there is ever another production of it that you have a hand in, you have this forever. You have this recording and it's of you and your best friend. Like, what the hell? That is so cool.

[34:07] Ben Fankhauser: I know. And one of my favorite songs that we wrote for the show was our uh sort of like um when when the friendship, spoiler alert, severs and then we come back together. We we got to write this song about friendship and about doing it with your pal and how it's when you're collaborating, it's so much better than when you're doing it on your own.

[34:24] Ben Fankhauser: And um, you know, I tried to do it by myself, but I couldn't, and I realized I really needed my friend, and that's one of my favorite songs we wrote for the show. Um, say goodbye. And uh yeah, I just love that it's commemorated on a cast album. It reminds me of like being a kid in my living room with my boom box and my CDs and like putting on Last Five Years and trying to understand what that musical meant just by listening to it.

[34:48] Jayke Workman: Absolutely.

[34:49] Ben Fankhauser: I hope there's someone out there who's doing the same thing with Regina Comet, trying to understand what it means just by listening to it.

[34:54] Jayke Workman: Hell yeah.

[34:55] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, it's so cool. Well, so in thinking of you know, smaller scale productions that you have done, because you have done some very, very huge things. Um, I'd love to ask about your experience working regionally and doing shows that may um may mean more to you in in one way or another, um that has less to do with like this sort of idea of commercial success, you know.

[35:23] Ben Fankhauser: I mean, we talk all the time about like it's this is never linear for any of us, like the the up and down of like you're on Broadway one week and the next you're touring in stock.

[35:33] Jayke Workman: That's right.

[35:34] Ben Fankhauser: But I'm here. Like how how do you um how do you navigate that? And and are there projects and theaters that you are particularly drawn to um, sort of regardless of this sort of commercial vibe?

[35:46] Ben Fankhauser: Yes. Yes, that's that's something that I'm I've been learning over the last few years is is the importance of going away to the regions and and doing work. The importance for me personally. Because of just what you said, there's so much pressure in the in the commercialism of it all to turn out a product that is like marketable and sellable and like great and sustainable and like cheap enough to produce, but like you can sell tickets for a high price.

[36:16] Ben Fankhauser: Right, it's it's just it's really hard. And like we were talking at the very beginning of the of the pod of like uh it's just it's hard to create under those circumstances. So when you get to go away and for 12 weeks to um uh to Naples, Florida, to do a classic musical, like that's that's my opportunity to like practice, you know, and to fail and to create without the pressures of like what are people gonna think of my performance? My only job in those 12 weeks is to like invest in the text.

[36:51] Ben Fankhauser: Sorry for that one, but like invest in the text, like create a compelling character for me and like tell a story that might touch someone in the community of Naples.

[37:01] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[37:01] Ben Fankhauser: Period end of story. And like that makes me think of like the power of theater and bringing great stories to the regions and great performances to the region so that people that have their hardworking lives and their families out there can come to a night at the theater and remember what it means to be human. And remember that like everything is gonna be okay and that the stresses of work will go away. Or, you know, remember that like to call their long lost family member because you know what whatever it may be. Um particularly um I do summer stock um sometimes in Sacramento at Sacramento Music Circus, and that's a very special place for me. Um it's a theater in the round, it used to be a circus, and it and it's this family affair.

And when I walk into the theater to go do the show, I see all these families coming in. And it reminds me, we had something growing up in Ohio where you would go out uh and like sit on the lawn and like see the orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra play. And all your your you'd pack a little picnic basket and you'd go with your family and you'd sit on the lawn and you'd like hear the orchestra, and then you'd go home. And it was just like fabulous night. And I had like great memories of that growing up. And um, I think that's why I like working at um in Sacramento at Sacramento Music Circus, uh, because I see these families creating those memories. And I like feel a sm like I have a small hand in that. Uh you do based on you know the the the role I get to play in in that uh performance that night that they get to see and enjoy and like talk about on the car ride home. I love that.

[38:41] Jayke Workman: Um yeah, me too.

[38:43] Ben Fankhauser: I love it, and I like love again, I love working in the regions. It's a great way to practice, like actually practice without the pressure of like being good enough to go to Broadway.

[38:53] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[38:53] Ben Fankhauser: Um it's a great way to like v you know revisit the classics. Mm-hmm and um it's a safe place to try on new work as well.

[39:04] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[39:05] Ben Fankhauser: I also think there's like a there's far less of uh the concern with type in the world of regional theater and like I I know that I have played roles regionally that I never would have even been called in for in New York. And that's been a really exciting thing because it it allows me to expand my own uh sort of perception of what I am and what people consider me for and what they think I could do. Um yeah I've had I've I've felt like I've learned so much and grown so much as a performer working regionally um just in terms of like the scope of my voice and my ability to learn quickly and swing and cover people and all of it. Like that is where you learn is when you're in the trenches and you have ten days to put up the show, Mama.

[39:58] Jayke Workman: Right.

[39:59] Ben Fankhauser: Exactly. There's there's something like really lovely about reconnecting with that part of us that's like let's roll up our sleeves and like do the show. I mean when you go to the regions you're not like putting up the set most of the time like you did in high school. Like I remember in high school we would build the set, we'd perform on the set and then we'd strike the set in the next weekend.

[40:21] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[40:21] Ben Fankhauser: And in a way like I just think it's so important to like g stay in touch with that with those mini theater makers in us that like we're scrappy and and made plays because like we wanted to have fun with each other and we want to like give the community a little gift. It's so lost in commercialism you know totally and um so that's another reason I I love going to the regions is like being in touch with with like younger Ben who like did a musical because he loved to do a musical.

[40:52] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[40:52] Ben Fankhauser: And I mean you touched on it a little bit but like in in the idea of doing new works too it's like you might not be making the most money it might not go anywhere but having a hand in creating something at the ground level is so exciting. And having done something like Regina Comet do you have any desire to to continue in the world of writing and keep creating yourself.

[41:14] Jayke Workman: I do I do it's sort of my dream to write something um for someone else like not for me to be in that's a big dream of mine to I I I don't know like the scale or the size like I'm not trying to write Miss I gone this giant musical but like I do like want to write something that I can sit back in the house and watch.

[41:34] Ben Fankhauser: Uh-huh um and that is gonna be its own challenge. You know Regina was so much like oh I can just like use my voice and access my voice for my character and like write to my strengths. You know like I would write song Alex and I were writing songs for each other and for ourselves. We knew we we knew our strengths we knew what we could do. Of course um so that's uh definitely something I'm looking forward to and uh and maybe, I don't know, maybe we'll even have an opportunity to uh premiere something that we write in the regions, you know, as like a on the ground level.

[42:08] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[42:08] Ben Fankhauser: That would be incredible.

[42:10] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[42:10] Ben Fankhauser: Well, Ben, I just freaking adore you. Before I let you go, I have a series of musical theater rapid fire questions that I ask every guest. Are you ready?

[42:20] Jayke Workman: I'm ready.

[42:22] Ben Fankhauser: Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber?

[42:24] Jayke Workman: Sondheim.

[42:26] Ben Fankhauser: Sweatpants or jeans.

[42:28] Jayke Workman: Sweatpants.

[42:29] Ben Fankhauser: Do you have a favorite musical?

[42:33] Jayke Workman: Oh girl, not this question.

[42:35] Ben Fankhauser: Um I have a few. Um Floyd Collins comes to mind.

[42:42] Jayke Workman: Love.

[42:42] Ben Fankhauser: Into the Woods comes to mind. Um Yeah, there are many. But I saw a production of Floyd Collins in college and I cried my eyes out. I'm like kind of like that basic bitch that's like, if something can make me cry, I'm like, it's brilliant.

[42:57] Jayke Workman: It's gorgeous.

[42:58] Ben Fankhauser: Well, it's coming to Lincoln Center basically.

[43:01] Jayke Workman: Lincoln Center, I know.

[43:02] Ben Fankhauser: I cannot wait.

[43:03] Jayke Workman: That's so exciting.

[43:04] Ben Fankhauser: Uh do you have a least favorite musical?

[43:08] Jayke Workman: Um least favorite musical.

[43:13] Ben Fankhauser: I you know, um, okay, in the same breath as I said, like anything that makes me cry is brilliant.

[43:21] Jayke Workman: Okay, another um I'm gonna love on Adam Gettle for a second, because I love me some Adam Gettle.

[43:25] Ben Fankhauser: Of course. I saw his recent musical Days of Wine and Roses last um year. And this was a beautiful musical based on this film. Beautiful. And it was so uh it's it's about um addiction and alcoholism. And um it was so hard for me to stomach this subject matter.

[43:48] Jayke Workman: Um and so it's an interesting question.

[43:50] Ben Fankhauser: You're asking me in my least favorite musical. I think Adam Geddle is brilliant. I thought the score was brilliant, I thought the story was brilliant, and it was so devast the content was so devastating to me, I could hardly take it.

[44:01] Jayke Workman: That is a very interesting take on this question.

[44:04] Ben Fankhauser: I love that. You know, so so while I thought the work was absolutely brilliant, Kelly O'Hara and um Brian Darcy James were beyond. And um I'm just such an emotional, like my emotions like really rule me. So when I think something is beautiful and it makes me cry, I'm like, it's genius and good. When the story makes me so upset I can hardly stomach it, I'm like, it's bad. I can't see it again. I'm never saying this again.

[44:27] Jayke Workman: I completely I just like can't take it.

[44:29] Ben Fankhauser: But it was so beautiful. Uh would you ever like to do a Broadway play?

[44:34] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, yes, please.

[44:37] Ben Fankhauser: Done and done. Great. Bring it on.

[44:40] Jayke Workman: Um are you a morning person or a night owl?

[44:43] Ben Fankhauser: Night owl, unfortunately.

[44:44] Jayke Workman: Me too.

[44:46] Ben Fankhauser: Um can you think of the craziest thing a director has ever asked you to do, either in a rehearsal room or an audition?

[44:54] Jayke Workman: Well, some of the things I'm doing in Ghost of John McCain are some of the craziest things anyone's ever asked about.

[44:59] Ben Fankhauser: That is absolutely accurate. Um so come on down to the Soho Playhouse if you want to see some crazy things.

[45:00] Jayke Workman: If you want to see Ben Fank do the Fankhauser thing.

[45:11] Ben Fankhauser: Yes, truly. Um yeah, no, you know, I'm game. I don't know. I think I'm I'm pretty like director proof in that like I any director can ask me to do anything and I'll like do it. I'm like kind of a whore that way. I'm not afraid to look silly.

[45:25] Jayke Workman: No, I mean, come on, you know.

[45:29] Ben Fankhauser: I love it.

[45:29] Jayke Workman: Uh Golden Age or Contemporary.

[45:32] Ben Fankhauser: Oh.

[45:33] Jayke Workman: I guess I'll say contemporary.

[45:35] Ben Fankhauser: Come on.

[45:36] Jayke Workman: I knew what those rip speaks.

[45:38] Ben Fankhauser: You know.

[45:38] Jayke Workman: Um, do you have a favorite role you've ever played?

[45:43] Ben Fankhauser: Um it's I've played some great roles. Uh I I I gotta shout out Davy from Newsies, of course, because it opened so many doors for me, and I was I played it for so long and I had it just felt like a true extension of me. But I also have to shout out um Barryman and Beautiful, because I think um playing like a hypochondriac um to the extreme um helped heal me.

[46:06] Jayke Workman: Love, love me some Carole King.

[46:09] Ben Fankhauser: Yes.

[46:10] Jayke Workman: Uh coffee or tea?

[46:13] Ben Fankhauser: Coffee.

[46:13] Jayke Workman: Coffee.

[46:14] Ben Fankhauser: Same.

[46:15] Jayke Workman: What is the hardest show you've ever done?

[46:19] Ben Fankhauser: Um the hardest show I've ever done.

[46:23] Jayke Workman: Um, probably newsies, although um Regina comment was um pretty hard, although like having a lot of the dialogue, the time flies by.

[46:33] Ben Fankhauser: Um yeah, I'll say newsies. A lot of dancing.

[46:36] Jayke Workman: Uh do you have a favorite costume you've ever worn?

[46:43] Ben Fankhauser: Maybe I'll have to say Ghost of John McKinnon.

[46:46] Jayke Workman: That's certainly my favorite costume you've ever worn.

[46:49] Ben Fankhauser: Right.

[46:49] Jayke Workman: Yeah, you're not alone in that one.

[46:51] Ben Fankhauser: Yeah, it's yeah.

[46:53] Jayke Workman: Well, my last question for you is a question I ask every guest, which is what is one thing that you would tell baby Ben.

[47:01] Ben Fankhauser: This is your RuPaul moment.

[47:03] Jayke Workman: My I was just gonna say another RuPaul moment.

[47:06] Ben Fankhauser: Um, what would I tell Baby Ben? I mean, there's so much to tell. It would probably be like, don't worry. You're a warrior, don't worry so much. Like, let uh let nature unfold in front of you in real time. Um, you're gonna be tempted to like control so much of it and try and get ahead of so much of it by catastrophizing or um just by like thinking the worst thing is gonna happen. And um you don't, you know, it's really just a way of of protecting yourself, young Ben, and you don't um you you don't need to. You're gonna be okay, and uh you you can let the world spin around you and let nature take its course, and you can just be uh be present there for it, and you don't need to control it so hard.

[47:56] Jayke Workman: Love.

[47:56] Ben Fankhauser: I love it. Well, Ben, thank you so so much for coming on the pod. Would you tell the listeners where they can find you on social media?

[48:05] Ben Fankhauser: Yes, of course. You can find me at please and thank you, P-L-Z-N-F-A-N-K-U. Please and thank you. Please follow me. And uh come see Ghost of John McCain at Soho Playhouse. We're playing through uh November 10th.

[48:17] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[48:20] Ben Fankhauser: Uh it's a really, really fun political satire. It feels like an SNL sketch on crack. It's really funny and fun. And I'm so intrigued for those last five days post this crazy. We're gonna see the election night. We're gonna do a show on election night, so come on down and let's commemorate together.

[48:37] Jayke Workman: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wild.

[48:39] Ben Fankhauser: Well, thank you again. I just adore you.

[48:41] Jayke Workman: I adore you, Jake.

[48:43] Ben Fankhauser: Thank you for having me. Love ya.

[48:46] Jayke Workman: You guys, that's it for another episode of Oh MyPod, 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 mypod, you guys. Thank you so so much for listening. Talk soon. Bye.