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[0:07] BRIAN SEDITA: Hey everyone and welcome back to Page to Stage. A conversation with theater makers. We're your hosts. That's Brian. That's Mary. To put it simply, we're both theater nerds. So let's pull back the curtain and get a glimpse at the artist's process while creating their art.

[0:28] Margo Seibert: Hi, my name is Margo Seibert, and I am an actor, singer, songwriter.

[0:34] Mary Dina: Well, thanks for joining us virtually today.

[0:36] Margo Seibert: Thanks for having me.

[0:40] BRIAN SEDITA: Because we were both looking into Octet, and we have a ton of questions about your process behind that show specifically, but of course you've done other a cappella musicals like In Transit. So some crossover there.

[0:52] Margo Seibert: I don't know why. I never did a cappella, but a cappella has found me. So I just go with the flow.

[1:02] Mary Dina: Oh, so you never did a cappella before.

[1:04] Margo Seibert: No, I said in my audition for In Transit when I was asked if I had any a cappella experience, and I said, "Well, my sister sings in an a cappella group and I've gone to their concerts." So I literally had nothing. Like none.

[1:18] BRIAN SEDITA: I you know.

[1:19] Margo Seibert: Yeah, exactly. And I'm really intrigued by your degree in International Relations.

[1:25] Margo Seibert: Uh yes. I grew up singing, I grew up acting. I loved it, like many of us do, but it was also like, is this going to be what I do when I grow up? I'm not sure. I never want to stop doing it, but maybe there's something else out there that I would be really good at and a conservatory program or something like that just didn't quite feel right to me. So I had a love of language and travel and AU had a fantastic International Relations program. And I actually went in to study peace and conflict resolution in the Middle East and took some Arabic and took a bunch of classes there and then was like this feels slightly depressing. So I changed to International Business at AU.

[2:17] Margo Seibert: The program was fantastic and they allowed me to perform the entire time. So that was a really that was they were very flexible and I really appreciated that. So I studied abroad and got my degree and graduated a little early, and then I was like, I'll do theater.

[2:36] BRIAN SEDITA: What made you pivot?

[2:37] Margo Seibert: Let's see. I was pretty driven to see, really to try to find out if I could make a living as a performer. So the wonderful thing in Washington, DC is that there's an incredible theater community here. And I started swinging shows, I started understudying shows while I was still in college to kind of see what that would be like, you know, while balancing retail jobs and nannying jobs and just to make sure that I could really do it and get hired and pay my rent. And so it was from a very practical standpoint, and there's such a rich community here, and I really found my place here. And so I decided that I would continue to pursue that. And it took me another at least five years before I moved to New York City.

[3:28] Mary Dina: So you're just doing like the regional circuits and yeah, regional circuits being in Washington, D.C for the yeah.

[3:33] Margo Seibert: Yeah, it's I mean so much fantastic theater here.

[3:37] BRIAN SEDITA: So yeah, I was and I and you're able very easily to jump back and forth from theater for young audiences to musicals to plays. And I realize now in hindsight how special that is.

[3:52] Mary Dina: So I'm less familiar with the theater scene in DC. Is there a strong new works effort in DC as far as theater goes?

[4:00] Margo Seibert: You know, I can't totally answer that only because when I was coming up, I didn't like start in New Works. But I know there are a ton of young theater companies or theater companies that are and there's a lot of I think there's a lot of new work development actually at Signature Theater as well. So that definitely is present here, and I think it has only grown since I was a part of the community.

[4:26] Margo Seibert: I'm here right now. If the theater was going on, I could just go explore.

[4:32] BRIAN SEDITA: Looking at your resume and the credits and everything, you've done a lot of what looks like to be a lot of new work in the recent years. And I and I'm sure Brian is too, but I am a huge I love new work. So it's just something about it that is just so exciting to me. And you know, just it's kind of the reason why we started this podcast, is just because we're so fascinated by the process behind that and all the pieces that it takes. And so I'm curious with your experience as what you know, your first, let's talk about I guess maybe what like your earlier in your early career of what you were doing with new works and how those experiences kind of built on each other, if that makes sense.

[5:13] Margo Seibert: Yeah. So then we can do the next project. Like what were you taking with you?

[5:17] Margo Seibert: Yeah, that's a great question. I actually realized now that you would we're starting out the beginning talking about the beginning of my experience with new work. It actually did start down here at Signature Theater. I worked on Tomorrow of the River, which I actually ended up doing in New York. That was a musical written by Marissa Michelson down here in Virginia at Signature Theater, and also The Boy Detective Fails by Adam Guan. And there was a show called The Hollow as well, which they signature very bravely ran two brand new musicals in rep, which was just insane. So like four times a week we did one and four times a week we did the other.

[5:58] BRIAN SEDITA: Wow, that's so cool. And was there a connection between the two pieces?

[6:03] Margo Seibert: Um not really.

[6:06] Margo Seibert: One was about the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the other one was about a boy detective. So that and that was where I met Adam Guan. And I feel like that my experiences there were my first in really getting immersed in like the process of new work, the changes that happen, the development, the discussions, which I it was unfamiliar and is also very like it keeps you on your toes, and then I kind of fell in love with that.

[6:38] Margo Seibert: And then when I got to New York, I ended up some I fell into the NYU graduate music theater writing program, not as a student, but as a performer.

[6:51] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh yeah, they bring in people all the time, really.

[6:54] Margo Seibert: Yeah, so they bring in I literally don't know how that happened. But I it's always so impressive too to look back at those those relationships that you probably made there. I'm so interested to hear if you have any that have continued throughout your career.

[7:10] Margo Seibert: Oh, yes, absolutely. I mean, so many people that I mean, I met Or Matthias, who was the MD of Octet. I met him when I was, you know, I want to say volunteering. I guess they pay you a stipend. Was hired by NYU to develop or you know, to just come in and and help writers with their 10-minute musical or their 30-minute musical or just to sing a song, and you have to be able to pick music up quite swiftly and and sight sing, which I, you know, kind of make up my way through that. But that's interesting.

[7:47] BRIAN SEDITA: We're gonna get to that.

[7:48] Margo Seibert: Yeah, sure. And so, you know, there I actually I feel like that was the deep dive. That's like the amount of changes, the amount of you know, how hard those students are working and then.

[8:04] Margo Seibert: Oh, yeah, yeah. You have no time to sit there and think about, you know, am I doing this right? You're just doing it.

[8:10] Margo Seibert: Yes, it really, really helped my speed in very swift decision making and you know, in a reading situation. In college, we would call my teachers would call it the fuck it muscle. Fuck it, just do it. It's very strong these days. It's very strong. It's like, okay, give me the script, let's just do it and let's just see what happens. And you know, I've found the most freedom, a lot of freedom in that.

[8:36] BRIAN SEDITA: Your Broadway debut was Rocky, right? Did you start in Rocky in any developmental stages?

[8:44] Margo Seibert: No. So I knew I knew no one. It really is one of those stories that you don't hear very often anymore. I feel very, very fortunate. But I didn't know anybody artistically connected to the piece. I auditioned, I got a call from my agents that there was this musical happening that sounded like a terrible idea. And I was like, I've never seen the movie of Rocky, I know nothing about it. Sure, I'll go. And so the music was so beautiful and the scenes were so stunning. I actually just kind of it found me and it worked. I think that the artistic team was just as surprised. I think they kept going, who is this person and where did she come from? I had mostly been doing work outside of the city, mostly like hopping around regionally and a very few things in New York before that.

And I also my young one of my younger sisters had died in a car crash very suddenly before like right a right before I went into auditions for that show. So it was a kind of a crazy time and it just all worked out for me to be able to I think tap into the place where Adrian was and that sadness and so it truly it was incredible. I mean, I never imagined making my Broadway debut in any kind of a leading role capacity.

[10:33] BRIAN SEDITA: Right. That's really phenomenal to land a principle um on YouTube.

[10:38] Margo Seibert: It's crazy. It's crazy. I've been, I mean, the first the day that we had presentations, you know, set and costumes and everything. I mean, I went to the bathroom and I just I cried. I just like shut myself in the stall because I was so overwhelmed and full of joy, and just like, you know, was used to like scrappy theater, which is also phenomenal. But this was not that. And it was really it was really incredible. I'm very, very thankful that so many people agreed to take a chance on somebody that they didn't know.

[11:14] BRIAN SEDITA: Speaking of taking chances, I'm wondering um so an a cappella musical, right? In Transit was the first a cappella musical to hit Broadway.

[11:25] Margo Seibert: Yeah.

[11:25] BRIAN SEDITA: Can you connect the dots from Rocky to In Transit for how you became involved in that process? And because that's uh, you know, when your a cappella career took off, it seems.

[12:16] Margo Seibert: Oh my god. It's so funny. It just makes me giggle just because I'm always like, I don't know how that happened. But I so after Rocky, of course, many other things happened, and I don't know my resume very well, but it's all the blur, it's literally all blur, like what is time? But I in 2015 did a brand new production of Ever After at Paper Mill Playhouse with Kathleen Marshall. So and I got to play the lead Danielle in that was like one of the movies, one of my like most beloved 90s movies from such a good movie. Oh my god, it's still such a good movie. So I worked on that with Kathleen Marshall, and Kathleen Marshall directed In Transit. So Kathleen is like one of the most loyal directors I've ever worked with.

She really values relationships. And if that feels more and more rare, but she when she finds somebody that she enjoys working with, it's like you have a mutual trust there, and especially a mutual trust in new work, which can be so trying. So Ever After was a blast. I actually met my husband doing that show. So total success. And then Kathleen asked me to come in and audition for In Transit in 2016.

[13:11] Margo Seibert: I don't know. 2016. A long time ago.

[13:14] BRIAN SEDITA: Yeah, yeah, right. So when you were asked to come into audition, what were some of the things that kind of ran through your mind as far as like how do you prepare for such a thing? Like were were you given instructions on materials to prepare at that point?

[13:26] Margo Seibert: Yeah, what was the rehearsal? I'm sorry, the audition process like that.

[13:29] Margo Seibert: That's a yeah, great question. I'm trying to remember. So most of the time.

[13:33] Margo Seibert: They were navigating that too.

[13:35] Margo Seibert: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, that musical had been kicking for about 10 years, I think at least. And they had done a production of it at 59 East 59. And so, and I had also not been a part of that in any other iteration than when it went to Broadway. So I most I sang, I think I sang something from my book. I think I sang something from The Last Five Years that I had just done. One of my favorites. I was like, I know this. And that was for the team and all because it was a team of five writers and that was probably like such a tricky balance, too.

[14:15] Margo Seibert: Yes, totally, but also very amenable to change because they had grown with the piece and were ready to, you know, do the version of In Transit for 2016, you know, and not necessarily keep things that they were really nothing was really particularly precious to the writing team, which is so amazing.

[14:37] Margo Seibert: So amazing. So I and I also, um, Deke Sharon, who was the arranger of all the vocals, and he did all the Pitch Perfect movies. So that was another element of like, okay, can we create instrumentation with our voices? Um, Rick Hip Flores was the music director. So we did do a bunch of, um, within the audition we did like, um, the building of chords and kind of like what you do, you know, when you're auditioning for a chamber choir or some kind of a cappella group, like can you hold your part? Can you hold your part? How pure are you on pitch? And I really, really think that the relationship that I had already previously cultivated with Kathleen went very, very far in that process as well. Were there any differences in auditioning for Octet versus In Transit since they were both a cappella musicals?

[15:31] Margo Seibert: Uh, um, yes. Well, I didn't audition for Octet. Um, I, so Dave and I have known each other like tangentially in the community for a while, and he had been a fan of, um, the piece that I did, Tamar of the River, um, which was with Prospect Theatre Company. And he had heard me sing, I think, quite a bit. And so, I mean, the guy is a genius. I'm gonna say it because I mean it. And, um, he's a genius, and he was like, yeah, I would like your voice on this. So he invited me to come to a workshop of Octet, which was the start of my experience with Octet. So auditioning was a very different experience. The, um, differences between the two, it's a different kind of a cappella in the sense that In Transit was very pitch perfect forward.

We never stopped singing. We sang from moment one to the last moment of the show. We changed backstage while we changed clothing. We, when we were grabbing props. I mean, sometimes you would give your measure over to somebody else who had one measure off so you could take a sip of water before you started singing again. Um, and we were mimicking all sorts of sounds, and you know, here I'm a bass and here I'm more of a trumpet. And so it was like vocal acrobatics.

[17:04] Margo Seibert: I can't believe that you just said that you were doing it even off stage, like while changing. It's like when does your voice get a break? I mean, wow. It didn't. Our voices got a break when they gave out and we went out of the show and our understudies came in and then we repaired and went back in. Um, it was, yeah, the, I think everybody who worked on that show was like that was the ultimate vocal marathon for sure. Um, very, very difficult to maintain. Any, um, I mean, I don't know if as a company this was decided or if you took this on individually, but were there any specific warmups that you were doing to kind of, you know, prevent any specific damage to the vocal cords? I know that they hired a, um, kind of like a vocal liaison who came in a couple times and be was like, watch out for this and watch out for this.

I don't think that anybody could really foresee the kind of wear and tear, uh, that would happen. You know, like because with an eight show week you're always like, sure, it'll be fine. Right. And, um, everyone will be fine. And then you find out that it's much harder. So warm-ups, I think it was kind of up to, I mean they hired an incredible group of professionals who knew their voices very well. And so there was a ton of vocal rest that went on. There was a ton of very specific eating that was going on, very specific working out, PT. Yeah, we were in it.

[18:37] BRIAN SEDITA: And do you think that it informed, like, or changed your process as a performer if you know if you're comparing it to a non-a cappella musical or production that you've been a part of? Did any of those habits that you created or any of those rituals that you were a part of to help you in In Transit and in Octet, do you think any of those kind of became part of you?

[19:00] Margo Seibert: Sure. I mean, I think that there's probably nothing more intimate than a cappella singing, um, in the sense that there is no one to lean on but each other. It's not like, you know, I can run down and talk to the conductor and just say, like, hey, I'm feeling like this. And like, can we just take this? Or is there like, yeah, pump it up, or like I have to lay back a little bit. And, um, because both in In Transit and in Octet, we wore in-ears. Um, so we had basically everyone's voices panned in one of our ears. Was it specifically mixed for vocal parts that may help you hear your harmonies? It was mixed to your request, which was a very long process of like cultivating exactly what that was. But it would be like, hey, I can't hear, like, usually I was singing with Erin Mackey, because she was, you know, first soprano and I was second.

So most of the time she was, she was turned up pretty loudly in my mix, just so I was always bouncing off of her. And sometimes it would be like, but the tenor two line, like I cannot hear right now. Like if I hear it, it's gonna knock me off my pitch center. But we heard, I mean, you could hear if someone was, um, if someone had had a late night. You could hear if someone was congested. You could hear, like, there may or may not have been a day where two of our cast members both got a stomach virus and ran off opposite sides of the stage to vomit while we were all singing.

[20:36] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh my god.

[20:37] Margo Seibert: And that's happening in your ear. So I would say that like there's nothing more intimate than everyone's like oral life being projected into one of your ears, um, for about an, you know, an hour and a half, eight times a week. I love that. Oh my god. Yeah, right. It's really crazy. So they, and the difference in Octet being musically, it was much more like a chamber musical. So it was a very like instead of mimicking instrumentation, um, in more of a like a Pitch Perfect beatboxing kind of way. Uh, Octet's, you know, the first number in Octet and the last number were basically like chamber pieces. So it was a very like organic, holistic sing. We start here, everyone moves through their story, and we end here. And we were all, um, we I think we were all chosen for the very individualistic qualities of our voices.

[21:45] BRIAN SEDITA: That's really interesting to think about in terms of mixing and how that's probably playing a really huge, um, part in the overall sound of the show. But then especially in Octet, you guys break off into your own moments, uh, and become those like singular parts aside from the group. Also, I just want to congratulate your whole ensemble in getting the special Drama Desk Award.

[22:11] Margo Seibert: So cool, right? So cool. In total, eight Drama Desk awards, right?

[22:16] BRIAN SEDITA: Yeah, nominations.

[22:17] Margo Seibert: Nominations, correct, yeah. They, they got the award. We got, I was like, wait, wait, we already got it. How did you find this out?

[22:27] Margo Seibert: Oh, I, I mean, I honestly think like Instagram, and then they did send us a, they did send us a very, very nice email. I mean, it's been Octet's been receiving a lot of recognition at the Lucille Lortel, I believe we just won for Best Musical, and Koohoo Verma won like Best Supporting Actress, and our director, Annie Tip won, and, um, and we'll, I think also the Drama League, we have nominations, and then the Drama Desks. So I'm like, we're so thrilled as a family. Like we, we are only super bummed that we can't be together going to any of these events.

[23:03] BRIAN SEDITA: Right. There's that. And it's also you guys closed like almost a year ago now, right?

[23:08] Margo Seibert: Yeah. So it's, it's so strange that, you know, the way that this award circuit works.

[23:14] BRIAN SEDITA: Totally. Did you guys always think of your family and your company as this big ensemble? Was that really part of the rehearsal process for Octet?

[23:23] Margo Seibert: That's a great question. I think that that actually, I think the family part of it came as a result of working so hard to, um, to be able to sing that music. Because in the workshop, so not all of the music had been written yet. Um, there had been two workshops. I was only part of the second workshop of Octet. And it, I mean, talk about like the most intimidating thing. I mean, again, as I said I hinted to earlier, I'm, I'm a sight singer. I'm a sight singer, and but sometimes I go with what I think should be on the page and not exactly what's on the page. I don't have any music theory. And I was in that room with an incredibly talented group of people, I would say at least half of which have like a deep music theory.

And that seemed very helpful. Um, and so it was good for them. Good for them. And, uh, and so I honestly felt like in that first workshop, and I don't mean this in any kind of negative way, it was a bit every person for themselves, in the sense that my part is so difficult and your part is so difficult. And when we put the two of them together, it's literally like, what on earth is happening? That we would, I mean, we would be rehearsing. I would rehearse, come home after the, um, after rehearsal for the workshop and rehearse for an additional four hours. I mean, just, and we didn't have, um, we didn't know how we were gonna get our pitches at that point. So we were still being guided by our music director or he was occasionally accompanying us. But I mean, Dave's writing is not easy. It's beautiful, and that's what makes it so incredible. But it was not an easy learn.

[25:23] BRIAN SEDITA: And how long did you guys have as far as like the rehearsal development process goes?

[25:28] Margo Seibert: Oh, well, I think that so the workshop was like two weeks, but then when we were at Signature, I wanna say we had like something ridiculous, four weeks. Yeah. I, I wanna say, I mean, if it wasn't four weeks, it felt like four weeks, but it could not have been more than five. I'm almost positive it was, it was four. So we had one week that they tacked on before the show began, a few weeks before the sh before rehearsals began, where we got together and tried to review what we had done in the workshop.

[26:03] BRIAN SEDITA: Based on memory.

[26:05] Margo Seibert: Based on what was, yeah, based on memory, memory and what was still there. And then, like, I mean, we had, um, Oran and Simone on our music team, and they sent us like an individual track for every single number for every single part. So the idea was that we had so little time to really learn this music, let alone put it on our feet and be able to sing and then move at all while doing it, that it was almost imperative. We had a chat very early on in rehearsal that said, basically, you need to be off book by like a week, a week. Yeah, by, by, yeah. But we know we don't have all the, we still didn't have all the music written. Uh, Dave didn't have all the music in yet. So I know we're starting rehearsals, but like you should be off book.

So it was, um, it was very hard. It was very hard, and, and that is like where the family, I think, truly began. It's like this very unique experience that a very select group of people are in. So that kind of just like draws you together as a unit into a family. And like, and like if I don't have this book in front of me, how on earth am I finding my note? Okay, so my note is your note three measures before, but a half step, half step up, you know. So, like I have to be listening to you, then I have to hold that note, then I have, you know, and it was just like really like that rehearsal process, the how incredible our MD was, like how prepared Annie Tip was to be like, okay, she like she basically knew what she was doing in the sh the outline of the show, and the staging was very simple but very effective.

And like Dave knew what he wanted, you know. I mean, he didn't really do a ton of rewriting, he did like in terms of never mind, not that number. Here's a different number, you know. Everybody was just working as hard as they possibly could.

[28:05] BRIAN SEDITA: And you guys were on stage the whole time.

[28:07] Margo Seibert: Uh, yes. Not only are you focusing on, you know, just like the music in general and like making sure that your part is going well, but I feel like there's definitely this other sense of focus that you need, or this muscle, this focus muscle that you're flexing the whole time, uh, truly just to get to the end, I'm sure, but to be in the moment and to be with that, you know, that group, and that's so present in the story of the show itself. So I'm wondering how that might have affected your process, you know, while you're on stage and, and I guess preparing too, and like keeping that same focus eight times a week.

[28:47] Margo Seibert: Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question. I really think that what I enjoyed so much about Octet was that like you always felt like you were part of the unit. You always, I mean, it was eight people singing eight different parts. So everybody is essential.

[29:07] Margo Seibert: And like, and it's really gonna mess everything up if somebody goes out, you know. Um and so to that, and I also loved that everybody got a moment of individual sharing. So it was this wonderful thing where you know, we're a unit, we come out, we sing, we tell our story, and we move right back to be that support system. And I think because the music was so hard, because it was so much fun to sing together, and because we had to be so supportive, I mean, the only time when you weren't singing backup is when you're singing your solo number. There was no time to kind of like zone out, you know. And so you just feel so well used, so important, and like everyone is depending on me and I'm depending on everyone else so it's it was such a it's such like a I don't know such a team such a team to do a show like that I often think about how long you know when you have a longer run that's more than I don't know like you know two three weeks maybe um trying to maintain the energy and the ability to do what you do to recreate it you know eight times a week plus and having to be on stage and having to be in that in that moment I'm sure really helped keep you kind of like on edge a little bit in a in a good way in a helpful way would you say that that that was your experience?

[30:44] Margo Seibert: Absolutely I mean I honestly don't I don't remember us finding Octet particularly exhausting because it was it fed us you know I mean it wasn't a particularly long show but it was a very dense show and it also just felt like because it's centered around people's relationship and addiction to technology it felt incredibly important to be sharing that with the audience every night it felt incredibly important to like take a moment to examine our relationship to our phones, our dating apps, our gaming um how we shame other people online to us enjoying each other's company and like being a unit, being a team, it also felt very important to be sharing this with the audience right now.

[31:41] Margo Seibert: I mean, honestly, it feels like even right now, like a year later.

[31:45] BRIAN SEDITA: Yeah.

[31:45] Margo Seibert: I was thinking the same thing, honestly.

[31:47] BRIAN SEDITA: It'd be totally crazy if you guys did like a virtual version of this, because that would be on like another meta level.

[31:53] Margo Seibert: That would be so meta.

[31:55] BRIAN SEDITA: I wouldn't put it past anyone.

[31:56] Margo Seibert: I'm sure things are in development. But I think that that was like another element of it was that like people left that show sometimes not wanting to talk at all, but wanting to talk about and put their phones away or like reexamine why they're using their technology and how they're using it. It felt almost like um, I think some of the best theater feels like it feels like a service, you know.

[32:22] BRIAN SEDITA: Yeah, um, as well. If you take your experience in Octet and like that ensemble unit and family that you guys created, if you take that back and put it next to your experience with In Transit, would you change anything about your experiencing In Transit, or would you maybe um approach the work differently?

[32:41] Margo Seibert: Well, I think that inherently in Broadway, the stakes feel much higher because more money is on the line. That's like it is what it is. And so, like, whether you like it or not, there's a different pressure to putting a brand new musical up at Signature. That's a commission, and we're gonna see how it goes. And we love Dave, and like maybe this is super ambitious and won't work out, and maybe it will, you know, to like millions of people or like millions of dollars are invested, people have invested their time. You are lucky enough to get a Broadway theater. This needs to work, which I which is not unique to In Transit.

[33:23] BRIAN SEDITA: No, I've heard that a lot.

[33:24] Margo Seibert: And I think that that's a really um interesting commentary to kind of like shed light on on like the machine aspect of Broadway and you know just like the artistic ventures that people have and like those risks.

[33:37] BRIAN SEDITA: Yeah.

[33:37] Margo Seibert: You know, it makes you think about what you know in the end everybody wants a great show and everybody wants it to be well received. Are these high stakes putting a hindrance on those artistic uh I don't know how they can't you know I mean I think that's also why p uh shows do so much pre-development and and runs out of town so that they ha get the time that they want and need to create the thing that they want to create which is also a lot more money as well.

[34:09] Margo Seibert: I wouldn't say like in these a cappella musicals like my In Transit family like we um recorded one of the songs remotely um we recorded a s uh one of the songs that we sang in the show together just a couple weeks ago called We Are Home because we are all home and um and it was about loving it's like a song that's just about like why did we all come to New York in the most positive way? Like we came here to be who we wanted to be we came here to be you know like a family to be individuals to be like part of this community even though it's crazy. And um and so I think that kind of like intimacy and also the voice I mean what's more intimate than like singing and vibrating um I think it really joins you, you know, um, as a family for a very, very long time. So I would say that that's a very similar between the two pieces.

[35:10] BRIAN SEDITA: That whole like team player aspect of our experience that you've had now in these these shows. How do you take that to other work? I know you were just in um Unknown Soldier, which I didn't get a chance to see and I so regret not seeing it.

[35:23] Margo Seibert: Um we're supposed to keep running.

[35:26] BRIAN SEDITA: I know.

[35:26] Margo Seibert: It was supposed to keep happening. I heard I had so many friends that said that they had just bought tickets to like the next week after they just saw it on opening.

[35:34] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh, gosh.

[35:35] Margo Seibert: Crazy. Right, because we open on Monday and theater shut down on Thursday.

[35:38] BRIAN SEDITA: Right. How do you take like those experiences of being that, you know, such a team player um and in that ensemble family to other shows where it's it might not be as uh front and center?

[35:51] Margo Seibert: Yeah, I mean, I in some ways it there's a relief to it. Like my hitting this note or not hitting this note is not going to create a domino effect and ruin the show. Um so it's just a different experience. Like that obviously we had we created a family, it was a brand new work. We made so many changes. Um there were rewrites up until the very the up until we opened, which I loved. And everybody's working, you know, um, Trip Coleman and Danny Goldstein and getting to sing Michael's music. I it was it was great. It's just a different kind of it's a everybody um in that show also was very much in their own story. Um most of my text was sent via email or telephone. So it's actually quite an isolating show in that in that way.

[36:49] Margo Seibert: So you know, that's what I love about theater. You know, the couple seasons ago I was doing like a four, a four-hander at Playwrights Horizons and Thanksgiving Play, and then you can do an eight-person a cappella musical Signature. So it's like I love the variety. I mean, I'm like, keep it coming. I love it so much.

[37:07] BRIAN SEDITA: Did you notice if there was a difference in preparation and process when you were leading a company versus working in an ensemble? And you know, and you I know you just talked about having like, you know, there wasn't a lot of pressure to be, you know, hitting the right pitch at the exact moment that everyone else was. But is there other types of maybe non-vocal or non-physical things that go through your mind when you're having to prepare in a principal role?

[37:33] Margo Seibert: Oh, that's that's a good question. Um, I mean, one of the uh very early on actually with Rocky, like one of the most important things that kind of stuck with me that Alex Timbers said was, or he actually came up to me and asked me, or said he needed me to be a team leader in Rocky. He was like, I basically told me that he was depending on the two of us on Andy Carl and myself to set the example and like lead the team because it's very easy, and in any show, for the there's the potential for um a souring of um of attitude, and especially when people get fatigued and you're in previews for an extended period of time, and there are changes after changes after changes, and your song gets cut, and you know, it's just like it's a such a micro universe, and everything becomes very heightened and very important.

And so it's it's it was very, very important to me that I took that advice with me through, especially anytime I'm leading um a cast, is that like it has to, it has to, I don't, I was gonna say it has to start with me, but that's not necessarily true. I it I have to be a very important part of like keeping the team positive and not complaining to everybody if I'm having a hard time, or like really using the right moment, especially with new work when you're asking for changes, or like there's something that's really been bugging you, or something that you think we could make clearer. It's all about like being a good example and taking knowing that you know your cast and your team is watching your conduct.

[39:19] Margo Seibert: And I'm sure timing is everything.

[39:21] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh my gosh.

[39:22] Margo Seibert: And that that only also comes with like experience and being like, yep, shouldn't have asked for that change today. Um, or like, let me just put out put it off another week and like see how it goes, and maybe it'll actually trusting the preview process and knowing that like, man, the audience is gonna know that this is a problem, you know. And if they don't, maybe you're stuck that way for a couple months. But um, but anyway, I would say that that is a I guess a difference. It wasn't that in Octet, I felt like, uh, whatever, we're it was a different kind of team. It was like we were all equals and we were all like running at the same speed, you know. We all have to be like equal parts. And sometimes in the hierarchy of casts, it's really important that like, of course, that you have an incredible leader, you know, and hopefully that's the artistic team. But I think it also really um helps if it's your principal actors as well.

[40:24] BRIAN SEDITA: Do you think that the this just kind of came to me based on what you were just saying? Do you think that the those performers who are in those principal roles who are essentially leading the company, do you think that the responsibility lies on them to be the advocates for if something's not working? Or do you really think that it should or could come from anyone in the collective?

[40:49] Margo Seibert: Well, I think it should come from anyone in the collective. Um, but I don't always know that that is how it has worked up to this point. I've heard that from some actors too. They'll they'll say that they look to, you know, the the leading players or the leading players who will feel like they have this responsibility to the rest of the cast to be that advocate um in previews and you know I also think it depends on what you're advocating for. Because when you first said advocate, like an advocating, I was like a hundred percent yes. Like if there is an issue with rehearsal hours, and I know this is all like equity deputy stuff as well, but if there's anything where it's going to be easier if I take it to general management, if it's going to be easier if it's coming out of my mouth, then I definitely feel like I have I have that responsibility because I have the privilege of being in the position that I'm in.

[41:45] Margo Seibert: And you always have to pick your battles, like you said.

[41:48] BRIAN SEDITA: For sure.

[41:48] Margo Seibert: For sure. If people are like uh honestly, I feel like most of in terms of advocating for stuff that's not necessarily like um monetary or like um whatever is is kind of just sensing being sensitive to the morale of the team. Um, and I think like we have to do what we can do to make people feel safe and protected and keep morale up. Because when all is said and done, like everybody's gonna leave and we're just gonna have to run the show. You know, like everybody, everybody leaves us. And then it doesn't matter, like what the you know, the amazing work of the choreographer, it's us, and we have to be able to run as a team. And so, yes, I would say like if somebody's having a very specific issue with a line of theirs, like that's their work. But if I can help advocate for the team and for morale, I think it's essential.

[42:48] Margo Seibert: What is your favorite part of developing new work? And you know, what do you look forward to most when we can develop work again?

[42:58] Margo Seibert: Ha! Oh, that's so sad and happy. Um, at the same time, I love and and I again it has only come with being familiar with the unknown, but I I love the changes that occur during previews. I love the rewrites. I love, I mean, I did a I did a play at Rattlestick a few years ago called The Undeniable Sound of Right Now, written by Laura Eason, and and she is incredible. And she gave us a 40-page rewrite one day in in previews. I mean, obviously it was 40 pages because something, you know, tracked through the 40 pages.

[43:43] Margo Seibert: And most of it was my journey, and it was incredibly terrifying. We spent the entire dinner break trying to memorize the new lines and like I find that thrilling because I've really become okay with not being perfect and not actually trying to strive for that at all and finding so much flexibility and excitement and fulfillment in the playing, you know, and like trying to get there, maybe. I actually have found that at least in a lot of the new work experiences that I've had, the changes have often come from discussions with the writers themselves. So often instead of being completely like thrown off guard by something that is coming my way, it's usually like, oh my gosh, this is exactly what I've been needing.

And therefore informs this in a way that I feel I feel um you feel heard. Yes, heard, and like also like a part of me is now in this script. Like yeah, that's the best me. And that's really good writing. I like to think so. I'm appreciative of everyone who's been like, yeah, yeah, we'll put that in. That's fine, Margo.

[45:07] BRIAN SEDITA: Is there a particular um story that you like to tell, or is there anything so looking at you know, your career so far and the roles you've been able to play, what has drawn you to them? What has made you say, like, oh yes, like I need to do this, or oh, I would love the opportunity to do that?

[45:27] Margo Seibert: Hmm. Well, I that's a great question. I think that I've also grown to trust that roles come my way for very specific reasons at specific times. And I think that that actually excites me a lot. I don't always know. I actually often, um, or actually more often now, I'll go like, this isn't, this is the wrong part for me. You know, this is wrong. I'm not supposed to play. Um, speaking of that the show at Playwrights Horizons, I played a woman named Alicia, not in this, not in uh Unknown Soldier, but in the Thanksgiving play. I played like a white girl who is trying to pass as a Native American, who worked at Disney World, who only talked about how beautiful she thought she was, and um was, you know, for lack of a better term, like a bit airheady.

And I read the script and I was like, nope, there's no way that's not who I am. Nope. I don't think I should audition. And they were like, well, that's the role they want to see you for. And uh, and like it just it just happened. And it was all of a sudden like, oh, Alicia's my next journey. Okay, why? Like how? And I have found that to be more true now that I don't always set out to often, I don't set out to find the thing or go like, oh, this is happening next up in this season. I want to play this. Because somehow the universe or whatever's going on knows better and just presents to me the next, the next journey, the next um, you know, like Ellen, who I was just playing was like an OBGYN who was, you know, accidentally pregnant and trying to deal with whether or not she was gonna keep the baby and like searching through her family's history and like um was really an incredible.

A lot of these, a lot of these characters that come my way are very flawed and I and very real, and I love that. So I think that that is more of what I'm doing these days is like accepting the role that presents itself and figuring out like why now, what do I why is it important for me to say these words right now and like how can I serve that up to the best of my ability for somebody who's out there who needs to hear this story right now.

[48:06] BRIAN SEDITA: Right. And then you're kind of almost like learning a little bit about yourself through that process too, I'm sure.

[48:11] Margo Seibert: 100% because I think otherwise it would be quite boring. Like I have to learn something about like a little bit more about life this way. And and I think that's why I don't know why or I'm so drawn to this career is like the dealing in empathy and understanding like why on earth would this woman make these decisions. I mean, Octet is like a prime example. Um Jessica like has done something horrific, and it's been captured online, and like she's an unlikable person, but unlikable people don't think that they're unlikable. Right. Oh, I was just listening to something that said, um, oh, I can't remember, but it was along the lines of that exact sentiment. It's like people who are insane don't think they're insane.

No. They think that everything is going exactly the way it should be, and they're thinking completely normal. Right. And then sometimes you have a terrible, horrible, no good day that gets called online. So or you have, you know, you have a you have a slight mental break. So like that you know, like you do. So I just uh that is what is that empathy building is like it's is the thing, you know, and understanding why we make the decisions, why I make the decisions I make, why you make the decisions you make.

[49:38] BRIAN SEDITA: Is there anything I mean, we're in this we're in this crazy time. I mean, there's no hiding it, but I'm really curious talking to various theater makers what they envision for our industry moving forward and how they as in it the individual in the industry are kind of taking control over the story that they're telling, if that makes sense. So I'm curious as to what you envision for for I guess the industry and also for your part in it as we kind of come out of this.

[50:11] Margo Seibert: I mean, I wish I had an answer. I feel like this is gonna last longer for us than we want it to, um, as theater makers specifically, because I think even once we reopen and people are protecting themselves, I think that's still the there won't be peace of mind to share a crowded space. I do think that theater will be incredibly inventive and figure out ways to social distance and to remotely still get the like theater out there. I mean, like Playwrights has put together like an amazing podcast. Um and many and like many seasons are going um fully audio for you know Williamstown and whatever. I know everybody wants to do what we were doing. And I know that the moment we're allowed to we will but I think the real challenge will be like how do we how do we find our audiences?

How do we engage our audiences in a in a safe way? And I was just talking to a friend on the phone. It's like we haven't really felt compelled to like do online readings and like try to make theater for the sake of making theater right now online. It's been more of like you know what I am gonna take this full pause I'm gonna take this full pause and I'm gonna figure out like what of those projects that were maybe on my plate or thought I wanted to do like are really gonna fill me up. And maybe none of them will maybe all I need to do right now is like rest and repair and be safe.

[51:53] BRIAN SEDITA: Which is very important as well.

[51:55] Margo Seibert: Yes I do know people who have jumped on the on the you know virtual readings people who are still developing things or continuing with the development that was happening pre-COVID but there's also there's it's so important to to use the time however you need it to and however it's gonna best suit you in the moment and that can change. I mean we've been I mean I was like right like I was I was writing a piece before I'm I've I've been able to finish some music that I had already started and will probably release soon. But like I haven't been able to start anything new and like I'm just have to be fine with that. You know, like that's all right. Eventually it will feel right to make something brand new again. But May 8th is not the day.

[52:42] BRIAN SEDITA: This is a great segue into what has become now a nostalgic question, which we always ask our guests as a final question. What was the last great piece of theater that you saw?

[52:53] Margo Seibert: You were even in a show. So you probably didn't see anything for quite a while.

[52:58] Margo Seibert: I know. I didn't see anything for a long time. Okay, there's two. One is I went to like, I guess maybe the national theater replaying, like their whatever those, like fathom events. Yeah. To see Fleabag.

[53:14] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh yeah, I saw that too.

[53:15] Margo Seibert: It was great. And I just to see like Phoebe Waller-Bridge do her thing and how little she was how incredible she was as a storyteller without really moving around and like sitting on a stool the whole time. So that was incredible to me. And especially to see then how that translated into a television show. Um was like super exciting. It like really got my like, oh theater, theater can be anything, you know, like like got very excited. Um I also saw a piece called The Infinite Hotel.

[53:49] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh my god, me too.

[53:50] Margo Seibert: Oh my god, my teacher was in that.

[53:53] BRIAN SEDITA: Um that I think did I ever use that as a uh when people ask us what was the last great piece of theater, Mary. Did I ever mention that?

[54:01] Margo Seibert: No, I don't think so.

[54:04] BRIAN SEDITA: Did you see you saw it last year at the um what festival was that?

[54:08] Margo Seibert: I know what's the festival called.

[54:10] BRIAN SEDITA: Ooh.

[54:11] Margo Seibert: I can't remember, but it was um in Brooklyn.

[54:14] BRIAN SEDITA: Was it?

[54:15] Margo Seibert: Yes, it was. Um, it was so good.

[54:18] BRIAN SEDITA: Oh, I'll let you take this.

[54:19] Margo Seibert: This it was so good though. I talked about this for months after. Let me see if it says prototype.

[54:25] BRIAN SEDITA: I just looked it up on the prototype festival.

[54:27] Margo Seibert: Yeah, the prototype festival. So I had uh somebody that I knew who's who was a part of it, there or her husband worked on it, and I uh I kind of blew my mind in the sense that you're like, oh, this could be what theater also is, which is like a highly choreographed, in the moment, multi-camera um piece of theater that is being shot and then is made into a movie at the same time with an audience being It was like a sound stage, yeah. At the same time of uh I was upstairs, like they had like a valley. Upstairs too. So you basically have headphones where you can hear all of the audio. It's really really incredible. And if you were down on the floor, then you were like an you were moved around, or sometimes you were were you ever an extra?

You were like in crowd scenes, yeah. Um and so it was an incredibly inventive way to get people um part of the story, yeah. Part of the story, and like really be active, but but it was it was a place where theater and film then met. And it it wasn't in one of those, you know, hokey or um self-masturbatory ways where we're just like, oh, we did this thing. We we got this up on its feet in this way because this is how we wanted it to be, and we're shocking the audience with the way we're we're changing form. Yeah. Um it was really it it lent itself to the story. So and like all of the audio was made by a foley artist. Like it was like every sound, every sound effect was made on the spot live. So it was just a very it was a very, very cool thing, and I cannot I understand that it probably didn't wasn't able to run longer because it was probably so expensive to run, but I was like, everybody should see this. Like I saw it in closing. Um and I I never got a chance to talk to anybody who's actually seen it. So I'm so glad you mentioned that.

[56:27] BRIAN SEDITA: Yeah, that's that's one that that comes to mind in the sense that I went and was like, I've never experienced anything like this. And it's and in a really in a really thrilling way.

[56:37] Margo Seibert: How can our guests find you on social media?

[56:41] Margo Seibert: Oh that's a that's a great question. Uh like, what is my handle? Um, it's um you can find me on Instagram, um, at Margo underscore Seibert or my website, Margoseibert.com. It's Seibert. It's not Cbert. S-E-I-B-E-R-T. Um, and you can find my music on Spotify or whatever streaming service you have. My most recent album is called 77th Street.

[57:10] BRIAN SEDITA: I was listening to it today. It's it's beautiful.

[57:13] Margo Seibert: Thank you. Thanks for listening. Yeah, and we'll put all of the all the links that you just said. We'll put that in our description notes as well. So everyone can just go read there. I really appreciate it.

[57:22] Margo Seibert: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me here. How fun. It was it was actually really, really nice to talk about. Theater and Octet and past experiences as I stand in a closet.

[57:35] BRIAN SEDITA: Well, great. Congratulations again on the Drama Desk Award.

[57:38] Margo Seibert: Thank you so much. It was great talking to you guys. Bye.

[57:41] BRIAN SEDITA: Bye.

[57:44] Mary Dina: Thanks everyone for listening to this episode of Page to Stage. To keep up with us, you can find us on Instagram and Facebook at Page2Stage Podcast. And if you're enjoying these conversations, we would really appreciate it if you could take a couple minutes to rate and review us wherever you're listening to this podcast. Until next time. That's Brian. That's Mary. And we'll see you later. Bye.