This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Mary Dina: Hey everyone, welcome to Page to Stage.

[0:03] Brian Sedita: A conversation with theater makers.

[0:04] Mary Dina: We're your hosts.

[0:05] Brian Sedita: That's Brian.

[0:06] Mary Dina: And that's Mary.

[0:07] Brian Sedita: Join us as we focus the spotlight back on the theater maker to uncover their process.

[0:12] Mary Dina: We speak with folks in the industry that often aren't heard from.

[0:15] Brian Sedita: Such as stage managers, producers, crew members, marketing professionals.

[0:19] Mary Dina: And everything in between.

[0:20] Brian Sedita: We hope you enjoy this episode.

[0:26] Mary Dina: Hi, Brian.

[0:27] Brian Sedita: Hey Mary.

[0:28] Mary Dina: How's it going?

[0:29] Brian Sedita: It's going well.

[0:29] Mary Dina: What are we celebrating?

[0:31] Brian Sedita: Our third year.

[0:32] Mary Dina: Our third anniversary, which it also feels like it's we've been doing this for a long time, and it also feels like it went very fast.

[0:40] Brian Sedita: It's like we had a whole pandemic in there.

[0:43] Mary Dina: Well, we still have a whole pandemic in there.

[0:45] Brian Sedita: Like we're still going through that.

[0:48] Mary Dina: Yeah.

[0:48] Brian Sedita: Um, we've had a huge Broadway shutdown in there.

[0:51] Mary Dina: And the most exciting part, I think, about the last year is the fact that we were able to experience Broadway's return, and while you know, still creating content, and it was a really exciting time, I think, to be doing this type of work.

[1:08] Brian Sedita: Mm-hmm.

[1:09] Mary Dina: No, I completely agree.

[1:11] Brian Sedita: I th it also feels like we just recorded our two-year anniversary episode, which was episode 50.

[1:17] Mary Dina: It feels like we just recorded that.

[1:18] Brian Sedita: I don't know if you feel the same way, but like it feels like the last year of episodes has completely flown by.

[1:24] Mary Dina: I'm gonna be honest, I can't even remember actually recording that episode.

[1:28] Brian Sedita: Our podcast in the last year has also taken a different shape than it had the previous two.

[1:34] Mary Dina: Yeah, I think we really pushed ourselves this year to try something new.

[1:37] Brian Sedita: I mean, if you guys remember episode 50, we made some very bold statements that we of things we wanted to accomplish in year three in year three, in year two.

[1:50] Mary Dina: In year three, yeah.

[1:51] Brian Sedita: In year three, yeah.

[1:52] Mary Dina: One of them being the biggest thing that we immediately implemented in episode 51, which was our mini series on Six, and it was playing with our form and focusing on one show and getting different perspectives on that show, so that we could kind of you know give the give our listeners this experience of the process from multiple perspectives, which I so appreciated from our perspective because every person kind of just added to the next episode and it gave more color on the process.

[2:30] Brian Sedita: It gave us more to work with in terms of what kind of questions we were asking, how deep we were getting, and overall gave some like a larger perspective on the on a process, which is our whole mission, uh, when you think about it.

[2:46] Mary Dina: Yeah, I was really curious to see if the answers and the comments from our guests from one show would become repetitive because everyone's experience they were experiencing the same production.

[3:00] Brian Sedita: It's not like we're going over like all of the various productions that there have ever been of like lameiz or something.

[3:07] Mary Dina: We were going from one production that was actually currently coming back, that they were in the process of starting back up again.

[3:15] Brian Sedita: And so we were able to reflect on what the experience pre-COVID looked like during COVID and now in the post-COVID, if you want to say, of the return.

[3:25] Mary Dina: But actually, I don't think that was the case at all.

[3:27] Brian Sedita: I think everyone's experience was really different, and it brought a lot of color to the conversations we were having.

[3:35] Mary Dina: And I found it, I found it very exciting.

[3:38] Brian Sedita: Cause we were recording and releasing those like in the summer.

[3:43] Mary Dina: So right when like thing people were starting to announce that Brady was coming back and that like kind of we were getting some dates from some shows.

[3:52] Brian Sedita: Um I don't think in the episode with Kevin McCullum, we actually touched on any of that as the producer.

[3:59] Mary Dina: I'm not sure if he would if he would have said pre-announcement, but that's okay.

[4:03] Brian Sedita: Um it's interesting too.

[4:05] Mary Dina: That was the last show that you and I saw before the shutdown.

[4:09] Brian Sedita: And so to be able to use that as the show that we were going to discuss and kind of really dive deep into was exciting that we both shared that same experience together in the theater and were talking with people that put you know were were responsible for giving us that experience.

[4:28] Brian Sedita: Um at a time when we hadn't seen anything in so long.

[4:31] Mary Dina: Do you have tickets to C6 again?

[4:33] Brian Sedita: Oh, I actually saw it.

[4:35] Mary Dina: I saw it again actually at the end of December.

[4:38] Brian Sedita: Yeah, I actually won the lottery.

[4:40] Mary Dina: I want to go back and see it again.

[4:41] Brian Sedita: Like, obviously, now that they're open, they've been running, and there are new, there are new queens who are either permanently like stepped in or temporarily have stepped in, like long term or you know, temporarily long-term, whatever you want to call it.

[4:54] Mary Dina: Yeah, I'm curious.

[4:55] Brian Sedita: I also like would love.

[4:56] Mary Dina: I mean, obviously, some of our guests from that from that mini-series don't even live in the States, but I think it would be really cool to like meet Brittany to see Christy finally.

[5:05] Brian Sedita: I know Brian, you've been you've seen a ton of shows with who where Christy has either been a music coordinator or has played in the pit for for those shows.

[5:14] Mary Dina: Have you actually met her yet?

[5:15] Brian Sedita: Yeah, I met her at the opening uh opening night after party get together for Black No More.

[5:21] Mary Dina: Yeah, because Stan worked with her on that.

[5:24] Brian Sedita: Um, which was nice.

[5:26] Mary Dina: It's always nice to meet some of our guests in person, especially over this time where we haven't been recording in person with them.

[5:33] Brian Sedita: And uh it's it's always really nice and sweet to actually have a connection in person too.

[5:38] Mary Dina: Yeah.

[5:39] Brian Sedita: I love it.

[5:40] Mary Dina: Right after our our series with Six, we covered Chicken and Biscuits as our next series.

[5:47] Brian Sedita: And that was really special for us for so many different reasons.

[5:51] Mary Dina: Number one, it was just uh it was right in the middle of the Broadway reopening.

[5:58] Brian Sedita: And just to cover a brand new play by one of our former guests, Douglas Lyons, uh, making his playwriting debut on Broadway.

[6:11] Mary Dina: There were so many special parts of that process.

[6:15] Brian Sedita: We were able to cover new roles that we hadn't covered on the podcast yet.

[6:19] Mary Dina: Um, speak with people in the industry that we hadn't gotten a chance to uh give our our listeners that perspective.

[6:30] Brian Sedita: Um attend the opening night and be able to do a red carpet event live uh at their opening was really special and made us feel like we were almost a part of their process in a way and contributing to the process from a journalistic standpoint, which I think was the the closest I think I've ever felt uh with our podcast to actually being a part of the industry in in such a journalistic way.

[7:01] Mary Dina: It was it was just very different for me.

[7:04] Brian Sedita: So just a quick shout out to Six's PR team for helping us make this series possible.

[7:09] Mary Dina: We spoke with Adrian Brian Brown and also Imani Punch, both of them were able to help us coordinate episodes, and honestly, they did not have to do that.

[7:17] Brian Sedita: The industry was shut down.

[7:18] Mary Dina: I don't know what sort of relationship they currently had with Six at that time over last summer.

[7:24] Brian Sedita: Um, but the fact they were able to connect us with people that we were not already connected to in order to make these conversations possible.

[7:32] Mary Dina: So just a huge shout out to them and also to Chicken and Biscuits team.

[7:36] Brian Sedita: They had a lot going on, as Brian said at the beginning of this of when we were looking to record this series.

[7:43] Mary Dina: They were in rehearsals.

[7:44] Brian Sedita: And so I remember with Douglas's episode, he was literally meeting us on a break, on like on a lunch break or something, um, virtually, of course.

[7:52] Mary Dina: Um the theater, from the dressing room.

[7:55] Brian Sedita: Yeah.

[7:56] Mary Dina: And so we for Douglas's episode, we worked with his PR team who and they were amazing.

[8:01] Brian Sedita: And obviously, we know Douglas from personally, but also from uh episode 18, I believe.

[8:07] Mary Dina: Um, so if you haven't listened to those episodes, definitely go back and check them out.

[8:11] Brian Sedita: Um, but we actually reached out to um Hunter Arnold, who was a previous guest of ours because he was lead producing or he was one of the lead producers for Chicken and Biscuits.

[8:21] Mary Dina: So kudos and thank you to Kaylee Greenspan and to Hunter Arnold for connecting us with their PR team, um, Leslie Papa and Macy Sullivan.

[8:31] Brian Sedita: They were the two who we spoke with from their PR team.

[8:34] Mary Dina: And honestly, they were very busy.

[8:36] Brian Sedita: I mean, they were also planning the opening night and dealing with all of that at the same time.

[8:40] Mary Dina: So we were able to attend, which I know that was a huge memory, I think for me.

[8:46] Brian Sedita: Yeah, me too.

[8:47] Mary Dina: Just being able to be there with you, Brian, obviously, and to do this for the podcast and to be a part of this through Broadway Podcast Network, but to also have that in with those two women who working with them on the series and in the background was really cool.

[9:01] Brian Sedita: Yeah.

[9:01] Mary Dina: Shout out to Vivacity.

[9:04] Brian Sedita: And super shout out to you know, our team at Broadway Podcast Network for also organizing that and making that happen while she's no longer with Broadway Podcast Network.

[9:15] Mary Dina: Katie Rosen from Campfire Films PR, uh, who was working with Broadway Podcast Network at the time, also helped uh coordinate our attendance at the opening night of Chicken and Biscuits.

[9:27] Brian Sedita: So a lot of people behind the scenes making everything happen, and we so appreciate the people that helped make these episodes possible.

[9:34] Mary Dina: I just have to say, so I'm looking at the list of episodes that we released for Chicken and Biscuits, and we made a slight change for I think the first time ever for all of our episodes, and where we actually split up the episodes into two parts.

[9:49] Brian Sedita: Brian, do you remember why we wanted to do that?

[9:51] Mary Dina: Why, you know, we had a con we had a few conversations about it, I remember.

[9:54] Brian Sedita: Yeah, I mean, we did that so that we were able to do it a release every Monday rather than every other Monday.

[10:00] Mary Dina: Test in the waters.

[10:02] Brian Sedita: Testing the waters, seeing if that was exciting for people.

[10:06] Mary Dina: Um and it also gave the episodes a more digestible time for people that maybe necessarily don't have a full hour to sit with one episode.

[10:18] Brian Sedita: Maybe it was going to be more digestible to sit and just do a 25 minute one part.

[10:23] Mary Dina: And then if they were into the guest and they wanted to listen the next week, we always hope they did.

[10:28] Brian Sedita: They would tune in for episode two, part two, I should say, the following Monday.

[10:34] Mary Dina: And I don't know if it was as well received as we had hoped.

[10:41] Brian Sedita: We did revert back in the new year to our full episode with one guest.

[10:46] Mary Dina: Yeah, because that that really took us right to the end of the year with with Cheryl's part two releasing December 27th.

[10:53] Brian Sedita: And then we kicked off the year with reverting back to our original format, uh, not necessarily in the series format anymore.

[11:04] Mary Dina: Uh, first episode of the year was Matt DiCarlo, uh resident director at Moulin Rouge.

[11:09] Brian Sedita: And that's been someone who's been on our list for a while.

[11:12] Mary Dina: I know Brian was you were very excited when we were able to finally sit down with him.

[11:17] Brian Sedita: I he's so busy.

[11:19] Mary Dina: He's doing so many things.

[11:20] Brian Sedita: And even with the shutdown, I feel like he was he remained busy.

[11:23] Mary Dina: I mean, he was actually in Korea, right?

[11:26] Brian Sedita: He went over to Korea for Beetlejuice.

[11:28] Mary Dina: What I also loved over the last year is we were able to re-implement our final question.

[11:34] Brian Sedita: Oh, yes.

[11:36] Mary Dina: Which is what was the last great piece of theater that you saw.

[11:39] Brian Sedita: Yeah.

[11:40] Mary Dina: It still makes me laugh when people's reactions though.

[11:43] Brian Sedita: I mean, even before um, before COVID was even an idea, I feel like whenever we ask that question, I remember sitting in the BPN studios and watching people's faces be like, oh gosh, what was it?

[11:55] Mary Dina: Like trying to just either remember the last thing they saw or the last thing that really impacted them.

[12:00] Brian Sedita: We we're not paid to say this.

[12:03] Mary Dina: I'm not paid to say this, but I'm gonna just give a shout out to the app Mezzanine.

[12:08] Brian Sedita: It's an app you can get on the app store.

[12:11] Mary Dina: Um, I have an iPhone, but I think it's also on Android or you know, whatever that other whatever those other phones are.

[12:17] Brian Sedita: It's a diary that you can create an account and then have a full diary where you enter every show that you've seen, whether it's off Broadway, on Broadway, in the West End, regionally, and it keeps them nice and organized.

[12:30] Mary Dina: I have an account myself.

[12:32] Brian Sedita: It's you know free to make one.

[12:34] Mary Dina: And I feel like this was made for Brian.

[12:37] Brian Sedita: This was so made for me.

[12:38] Mary Dina: I actually did it, I did it pre-I've had it for a couple years actually.

[12:43] Brian Sedita: Um I I was one of like the beta testers for it.

[12:46] Mary Dina: Uh, like maybe maybe three.

[12:48] Brian Sedita: Literally made it for Brian.

[12:49] Mary Dina: If anyone knows Brian, I mean what I'm looking at right now in his virtual studio is show posters behind him, playbill collector, connoisseur.

[12:58] Brian Sedita: This is made for you.

[13:00] Mary Dina: And uh, you know, what I love about it is I only I only log my Broadway shows in this app because I want to know, you know, statistically, how many have I seen?

[13:10] Brian Sedita: And then you know, if people ask me what have I seen recently, all I have to do is pull it up and be like, oh, I've seen all this.

[13:15] Mary Dina: And so just to give you guys some some stats that you didn't ask for, I've seen a hundred as of last night.

[13:21] Brian Sedita: I saw the minutes.

[13:22] Mary Dina: I saw a hundred that was my hundred and eighty-fifth show on Broadway.

[13:26] Brian Sedita: And like ever, like ever, not just like in the last X years.

[13:30] Mary Dina: Like ever.

[13:31] Brian Sedita: And in the last year, so since Broadway has returned in September, so not even a full year, maybe like seven months.

[13:40] Mary Dina: I have seen 34 shows.

[13:43] Brian Sedita: Six of them are Caroline or Change, mind you.

[13:46] Mary Dina: So I don't want to you log your duplicates, so like every time you've seen Wicked, it's been added.

[13:51] Brian Sedita: Yeah, there's 11 wicked entries.

[13:53] Mary Dina: There's six Carolina change entries.

[13:56] Brian Sedita: I'm serious about this.

[13:57] Mary Dina: So maybe we'll have to get somebody from the uh from the app.

[14:00] Mary Dina: Make sure you export that.

[14:02] Brian Sedita: Export that information so that you don't ever lose it.

[14:05] Mary Dina: I do have all my playbills in chronological order, so it would just take a little extra time, but I have all the information backed up in one way or another.

[14:13] Brian Sedita: Wow, the more you know, the more and no one asked.

[14:17] Mary Dina: But that's cool. I we should link the mezzanine app in our show notes if anyone's interested.

[14:21] Brian Sedita: And like speaking of that, though, we've spent a lot of time, especially this spring, talking about who else we want to talk to.

[14:29] Mary Dina: I mean, there's so many, there are so many jobs out there in theater.

[14:33] Brian Sedita: And that's been like our mission from the beginning is to really shine that spotlight back on those jobs that we either never hear from or don't hear from them often enough.

[14:42] Mary Dina: Um and I think while we've done a really good job over the last three years unpacking those roles, obviously there's like a thousand more jobs that we have yet to explore.

[14:53] Brian Sedita: And so I'm really hoping that we can get even more jobs on what is this year four.

[15:03] Mary Dina: Yeah, and not to pat ourselves on the back, but we did cover a lot of brand new roles that we had never covered before in the last year, especially the way that we were able to, especially through the series.

[15:18] Brian Sedita: What role, I guess, were that we covered this year that was new for us, which one was like the most surprising to you, or were the one you learned the most about?

[15:28] Mary Dina: I'm gonna probably say our episode with Van Deen as record label founder.

[15:34] Brian Sedita: I just found that our episode with Van Deen was most interesting for me because it really had a lot of touch points to my background in theater and what I've I've really, you know, everybody can appreciate a Broadway cast album and how and everybody has those cast albums that they've listened to on repeat.

[15:54] Mary Dina: And so to be able to talk to somebody that has such a hand in creating those cast albums was really special.

[15:59] Brian Sedita: Totally.

[15:59] Mary Dina: And what I loved about that episode with Bam was that we learned they're obviously not surprising. We learned of all the other roles and all the other um different types of people that we can speak to in regards to recording labels.

[16:13] Brian Sedita: So and I have to say, on a personal note, and this is probably because it was so close to my heart, bringing on my former professor Carol Healy to speak about her process was really satisfying to me and and really special to a lot of the people in my immediate circle.

[16:35] Mary Dina: I know I got a lot of messages about that particular episode of a lot of my friends listening to it and commenting on you know our podcast and also of course the brilliance that is Carol Healy and preserving that because that was a huge part of my education.

[16:53] Brian Sedita: And so to be able to preserve some of that process of one of the brilliant minds that I was able to work with in college was really special for me.

[17:01] Mary Dina: My I would say to flip the question on myself of what was the most like educational to me, um, was the conversation we had with Christy.

[17:11] Brian Sedita: I didn't even know that music like what music coordinator was.

[17:15] Mary Dina: And to be quite frank, I don't think I knew I've never even heard of that role before.

[17:20] Brian Sedita: So it is that was I think wild too, because I I would say that probably provided the most education for me of something that I really knew nothing about going in.

[17:30] Mary Dina: And since then, every time I look at a playbill, I see music coordinator, and and it's it's really amazing.

[17:37] Brian Sedita: Like I know that that's kind of why we started, and you just mentioned this is why we started the podcast to bring light to roles that have never been um never gotten so much attention.

[17:48] Mary Dina: And so it's really rewarding even for me to go into a theater and just sit down and know more about the theatrical process and the people behind it, and realizing Christie works a lot.

[18:02] Brian Sedita: Yeah.

[18:03] Mary Dina: Yeah.

[18:04] Brian Sedita: And what was so fascinating though is that a lot of these if you go back and listen to like a handful of conversations we've had with with guests any year, not just in the last year, so many of the roles that our guests are were currently in at the time of recording were not necessarily the the job that they had in mind when they were graduating college or when they were trying to like figure out what it is they really wanted to do.

[18:29] Mary Dina: It was through exploring, it was through literally happenstance.

[18:34] Brian Sedita: And so I just find it very encouraging for someone who didn't when I was in college and I still was like going through the four years of college and had no idea what I wanted to do, and literally have been finding my way just one stumble at a time, that we have like a whole library of resources for people out there, whether they're fresh out of high school or college, or are more seasoned and and in in their own careers, but maybe are considering something else that they can go to and hear hear their experience like from their from their mouths directly.

[19:13] Mary Dina: It's not like we're like writing this down or taking notes and then repurposing it.

[19:18] Brian Sedita: It's we're it's literally from their mouths directly.

[19:21] Mary Dina: So I just find that so cool.

[19:23] Brian Sedita: I'm wondering since this last year was part of the return of live theater.

[19:29] Mary Dina: What was your favorite theatrical experience in the last year?

[19:34] Brian Sedita: And it could be different from what was your favorite show. Just what was your favorite experience?

[19:39] Mary Dina: I was seeing uh the New York concert of Matt and Savannah Shawl, and their two YouTube daddy-to-daughter duos that I found over quarantine.

[19:49] Brian Sedita: I we invited them to the live stream series that I was producing over the pandemic, and then we produced their virtual concert debut.

[19:57] Mary Dina: And so when they were coming to New York, they invited me, and it was great to meet them.

[20:01] Brian Sedita: And it was it was such a fun.

[20:03] Mary Dina: It was my first, I don't think it was my first in-person thing.

[20:08] Brian Sedita: Um but it was yeah, but it was like the first like new thing, I think that I was experiencing in the city, and I was also meeting them for the first time.

[20:18] Mary Dina: And so that that whole trip, I would say, was pretty cool because I got to meet them.

[20:25] Brian Sedita: Um, and also I got to spend some time in the city, which I felt like I have not done in in this way.

[20:34] Mary Dina: And so that weekend, they were Playbill, I think, was doing this big or some some organization, some brand was doing this big thing in Times Square with like panels and conversations and a lot of content.

[20:45] Brian Sedita: BPN was a part of it as well.

[20:47] Mary Dina: Um, and Douglas was on a panel with other black flip playwrights who were being produced in this current Broadway season, um, 2021-22.

[20:59] Brian Sedita: And it was free, it was in the middle of Times Square.

[21:01] Mary Dina: It was so hot, it was like in September, and I went and I was listening to this panel, and I obviously adore Douglas, and he knows that I adore him, and I'm always in his corner, but just listening to him on the stage with three other black playwrights in various points of their all of their careers.

[21:22] Brian Sedita: They were at different points.

[21:23] Mary Dina: Two of them are making three of them were making their Broadway debuts.

[21:27] Brian Sedita: But some of them, this was their first thing they ever wrote.

[21:30] Mary Dina: Others, they've written several other pieces of work.

[21:33] Brian Sedita: Um, and so that range was really exciting.

[21:36] Mary Dina: And hearing Antoinette Noundu, who was the playwright for Passover, who was the playwright for Passover.

[21:44] Brian Sedita: I'm like, my brain is not there.

[21:46] Mary Dina: Um, who is the playwright for Passover? Listening to her talk about what her play was about.

[21:52] Brian Sedita: I had, I mean, I had heard of it obviously before and knew very little, but listening to her speak about it in her words directly, there was just something in that moment where I was like, I really want to try to get a ticket right now.

[22:03] Mary Dina: And I had the time, I wasn't meeting someone for dinner until hours later, and so I had a chunk of time where I was able to see a matinee, and I literally I ran all the way up to that theater.

[22:14] Brian Sedita: Um, and was able to grab a ticket as doors, you know, they were about to open doors to go into the theater, and so that was really cool.

[22:22] Mary Dina: And then to just sit there, I think I was like second row because they had like that one ticket they were looking to fill, and obviously that play.

[22:28] Brian Sedita: I mean, I want to read that play.

[22:29] Mary Dina: I'm just so curious to see how it reads because it was just something it was visually just like unbelievable.

[22:37] Brian Sedita: That was I think that whole weekend was really those two specific moments, but that whole weekend was was very special.

[22:43] Mary Dina: How about you, Brian?

[22:44] Brian Sedita: I had so many experiences, I was so fortunate to be able to have seen so many things and on really special dates with special people and you saw like every first show back.

[22:55] Mary Dina: I feel like.

[22:56] Brian Sedita: Uh it would, you know, those were some of the most exciting experiences.

[23:00] Mary Dina: It was like theater was brand new for people.

[23:05] Brian Sedita: It was it was really, really special the energy in those audiences.

[23:08] Mary Dina: While Caroliner Change was something uh, you know, an experience as a whole for me that I'll, you know, cherish forever and will listen to on repeat forever.

[23:19] Brian Sedita: I I can't not say, and everybody knows I'm just uh a wicked fanatic.

[23:27] Mary Dina: I feel like you should just insert the that like that uh best like the part where they sing wicked in the in the cast album, just insert that as the answer.

[23:36] Brian Sedita: Yeah, wicked.

[23:37] Mary Dina: Um wicked going back on the opening night with Mary, with my childhood best friends, my husband, my professor from college, my like everybody that loved Wicked, I somehow managed to help organize a group of eighteen to go see.

[23:58] Brian Sedita: Honestly, that sounds so stressful to me, but you pulled it off.

[24:01] Mary Dina: I it was the most um it wasn't stressful.

[24:07] Brian Sedita: It was actually very fulfilling to be able to like share this really beautiful experience that I held so close to my heart and with people that were really, really excited to be there.

[24:17] Mary Dina: Um just experiencing that show again w it was a lot of crying.

[24:25] Brian Sedita: Um there were a lot of tears.

[24:28] Mary Dina: Good tears.

[24:29] Brian Sedita: Yeah, it was really emotional.

[24:31] Mary Dina: Uh in ways that I didn't realize would be emotional.

[24:33] Brian Sedita: Like, why why did I cry during Sentimental Man?

[24:37] Mary Dina: Like Well, because it you're being sentimental.

[24:40] Brian Sedita: Yeah, I guess so.

[24:42] Mary Dina: But that's what I tell you depart that like really got me when we saw Wicked?

[24:46] Brian Sedita: No, what was it?

[24:48] Mary Dina: Okay, so everyone was like even during the shutdown, everyone was always talking about how like the opening line, oh, it's good to see me isn't it was gonna like be it for everyone?

[24:58] Brian Sedita: I I did not get as em I didn't really get emotional as I expected.

[25:02] Mary Dina: I think I was just like severely overwhelmed and like it really felt like it was like a dream because it had been something so so out of touch for so long that like not that I forgot how to be an audience member, because I certainly did not, but I f forgot really what it felt like.

[25:20] Brian Sedita: It was like an out of body experience too.

[25:22] Mary Dina: Yeah.

[25:23] Brian Sedita: And I think also mixed with the fact that it was wicked, it was a show that I personally haven't seen in over a decade.

[25:28] Mary Dina: And so I was literally re like relearning the show and learning the story all over again.

[25:35] Brian Sedita: But the part that really got me was at the end.

[25:39] Mary Dina: It was one of the last lines, and it's something that Glinda also says, where it's like we've been through troubling times and there will be more troubling times.

[25:47] Brian Sedita: Like just saying I got goosebumps just now saying that because it's like it's so real, and like every single person in that audience and every single person who has seen it since that I'm sure that line will hit every person unexpectedly and probably in different ways because it's so relatable.

[26:06] Mary Dina: And I for I think that like we forget that theater is also like very relatable, wicked or not.

[26:12] Brian Sedita: I can go on and on.

[26:13] Mary Dina: Not about not even just about that show, but what about like from our podcast journey?

[26:18] Brian Sedita: Do you think?

[26:18] Mary Dina: And this doesn't have to be specific to just this year, but like what about our journey so far as podcasters?

[26:26] Brian Sedita: Do you have you found to be either the most rewarding or just most sentimental, maybe?

[26:33] Mary Dina: I mean, really every conversation we have feels so special and so different, and the connections that we make with our guests and our listeners.

[26:43] Brian Sedita: But I think there's so many moments, and it's weird because when you are so close to New York City, when you're so when you realize that the Broadway community is so small, and you know, we are such a small fraction of what make up theater and the Broadway community and you know, just the culture.

[27:08] Mary Dina: But when you realize how small it is, and you as a kid dream to be part of something like that, even if it is in the smallest way, uh, you know, for example, like when we went to the chicken and biscuits opening night and did the red carpet event, went to the party and did more press there.

[27:29] Brian Sedita: I mean, that's a moment I never thought I would have.

[27:33] Mary Dina: I've been to opening nights on Broadway as a you know, just a partier, right?

[27:39] Brian Sedita: With with friends that are involved in shows, but it never went uh with a job in mind, right?

[27:45] Mary Dina: Like, never was there for a specific purpose, like we were there for uh to be part of the process, and I think that that I know we speak about our podcast being a process-based podcast all the time, but that's now part of our process, which I find so interesting and fascinating that we're creating a we're creating a huge episode just with our own journey doing this.

[28:14] Mary Dina: I don't know. I feel like I mean, I don't think it's like one very large thing or even one very specific thing. I think it's the fact that we've overcome for lack of a better word, we've overcome a lot like with the podcasting. Like obviously, when we first started, we were recording out of my apartment in Inwood. Brian and I would share one mic, and our guests would share or have their own mic, and we would sit on couches and chairs and would create this whole thing on our laptops, and then we joined the network, and then our setup was very different. It was very for us, it was hands-off. It was this beautiful studio in Midtown, and was walkable after work. Just show up with the guest and record, and then we'd leave.

And it was it was it was amazing for what it was for the time that we had it. And then we went virtually, and we were using two different platforms over the course of the last two-ish years um with the network still. Then we decided to try our own. We've also recorded with Mo Brady's episode. We recorded on the phone. We were on the phone with each other and individually recording ourselves on Audacity or whatever the program was that we had on our computers. We've done the same thing and delivered the same conversation or same product a variety of different ways, and we've overcome those technical challenges along the way. But I think what's really has stayed consistent has been the conversations.

It's been, it's been the quality of conversations, and we've never really, I mean, obviously, we've changed the format here and there just to spice things up, I think. Um, and I also think, and we haven't actually talked about this. I don't, but I think we would continue, we would try a series again when the time was right. Um, we haven't like knocked that off the playing cards, but I think like our conversations have stayed very genuine, which I really like.

[30:13] Brian Sedita: Me too. And I'm glad you brought that up as a really rewarding part about the whole thing, because really there are so many obstacles to producing and putting together the episodes that we put together. I mean, just from the get-go, I mean, time. You and I are both so busy over the last year. I started a new job. I've there's so many things that make it so difficult to still do this. And yet we still do it and on a rather pretty good schedule that I can't say we take many breaks here and there, you know, we can't always get an episode out just for timing or whatnot, but we're really, really dedicated to making this happen as frequently as we possibly can. I think like I don't know if you feel the same way, I have to imagine you do, but for me, even like in the times where it's like really hard to like record that episode or to just like find time in our schedules, because like you said, we're both very busy and then adding in like our guests' availability, what really keeps me going is like is really sharing the conversation.

So even if it was recording like outside and there was background noise, I mean, obviously it's not super ideal, but like I feel like we as long as the conversation is there and obviously can be is listenable. I feel like I feel like the fact that we're putting this out there for other people to listen, to laugh, to learn, to love from, I think is just really cool.

[32:00] Mary Dina: It is. It's not the easiest thing, especially when especially like we were doing this for the past three years, right? I mean there's so much that happened in that time and uh it's I'm happy and proud that we are one of the podcasts out of so many because we know so many people started podcasts over the quarantine for whatever reason to have a creative outlet to share some new pieces of information and we've stuck it out through that. So not to be really pat ourselves on the back for continuing, but when so many other people gave up or it didn't work for their lives and schedules anymore, we've still been able to keep this going uh because we still are so passionate about doing it.

[32:46] Brian Sedita: Agreed. Do you have any specific goals for this next year?

[32:51] Mary Dina: That yeah oh okay she she's coming hot no I mean I think I think one of our goals from last year which was to really work on the transcriptions still really a goal of mine to make that to make our episodes accessible to everybody. It's just incredibly time consuming that is a goal of mine. How about you?

[33:14] Brian Sedita: Also, my other goal would be to just really keep exploring these roles we've yet to talk to. Yeah, I would say that that's my main goal and is kind of what keeps me interested and going is speaking with those new roles that we never have. It kind of feels like, yeah, yeah, we checked it off the list. And um aside from that, I'd like to just keep growing relationships with people in the industry and providing really quality content that people are going to find us as a reputable way to consume and be educational and entertaining and just a way to connect and unplug and and and make theater accessible worldwide.

[34:03] Mary Dina: With that in mind, Brian, that to segue from that, we this was one of our goals from last year, which was I don't know if we actually specifically set it or if it's meant to be a surprise like it is right now, but um we've act it's something that we wanted from the beginning. We've launched, we are launching a website which will feature jobs. Well feature real jobs that exist, whether they're actively available in various companies, or they're just something that you should be aware of. It's gonna be a place you can go to and you can learn more about those jobs. And what's really exciting is that we're going to be including and highlighting our guests through that. So it'll serve two purposes. You can listen to our episodes on our website. Um, but also you can learn more about jobs, not and not just from our podcast. So I like to think of it as like the appendix to our episodes.

[35:00] Brian Sedita: Huh. That's a nice way to put it.

[35:03] Mary Dina: It's really it's just a resource guide, something that our listeners that are peaked, whose interests are peaked in a certain job can go to it and explore other jobs, go a little more in depth. And it's shareable, right? So it's not like they have to send and they have to like sift through a you know 70 plus episodes to figure out what they want. It's in one place. They can look at it, they can they can run through it, they don't have to listen to 45 minute plus episodes with like learning about it. They can obviously, um, but it's all right there in one place, which I find so exciting. And when we spoke with our guest this past year, Ananth, um, off air, he had said, you know, I really think there should be a place that has all this information.

And we were like, we're working on it. We are working on it. And so if he if he is thinking that, I'm sure there are other people who have thought that. Um, I'm surprised it hasn't existed before. And I think what is really great is we're launching it with just the basics. We're launching it with with just what we said. What we've what we've had on the podcast, knowing that there is a whole world outside of what we're gonna have. And it's updatable, so we'll be updating it as we go, but also there's room to grow. So there's room to, you know, I envision one day being a place where we can post job listings, maybe and talk about come in feature companies that you should be aware of and and building partnerships in that way. Um lots of things, but I'm really excited. Brian, what's what where can they go to find it and look at it?

[36:51] Brian Sedita: Page to stage podcast.com.

[36:54] Mary Dina: Brian, what was the last great piece of theater that you saw?

[36:57] Brian Sedita: I don't remember what I've seen.

[36:59] Mary Dina: And that's why you need the app Mezzanine. Mezzanine keeps all of your theatrical experiences in one streamlined diary.

[37:07] Brian Sedita: I don't remember if I said this last year or if we even talked about this last year, but I'm gonna say six. I'm gonna say two answers. I'm gonna say six because it was the last thing, like pre-Broadway, sorry, pre-COVID. Um it's very sentimental in the fact of like what things what what things used to be. I'm gonna say chicken and biscuits because also as my like part two answer, because it was a friend's playwriting debut on Broadway. So that was very exciting. And my relationship with Douglas um goes beyond the podcast um and before the podcast. Um I am very much determined. I'm just putting it out there, even though I've already said it to him a thousand times. Like I am determined to work with him creatively in some capacity because I really believe in the work that he's doing and also like the heart that he puts into his projects.

So that was a very like for a lot of reasons, Brian. You also said a lot of those reasons earlier on this episode, but there was a lot of things that kind of made that weekend between seeing the the show and attending opening night, like the red carpet, and then covering the party afterwards. It was just very um memorable and special. So those are my two answers. How about you? What was the last great piece of theater that you saw, Brian?

[38:28] Brian Sedita: Truthfully, I don't know when I'll see a piece of theater that hits me the way that Caroliner Change did. I saw it six times in its very brief run at roundabout this season. It is truly one of those pieces and experiences that came into my life. It's when it's the perfect what made it so special was that it came into my life at the perfect time and meant so much to me and spoke to me in the moment that it was entering my life. And I think that it's pretty beautiful that it did have a finite end to it. I don't want to say like I was in a period of life where I had to have a finite end. But the the period of my life that it really represents and hit me hardest in it's kind of interesting to have like an end to that show at the same time that maybe I was transitioning to a different period of my life in so many weird ways.

The piece is brilliant. I wasn't familiar with it from its original run on Broadway. And so I think that that's another reason why I love revival so much. Caroliner Change, I uh cried a lot over you, and I still will, I'm sure. It's crazy to think that we're now in year four of the podcast.

[39:55] Mary Dina: Yeah, year four. I mean, yeah, it's exciting. I'm so curious to see what happens. Like, will we continue to be meaning me and Brian be recording virtually in separate spaces? Will we record an episode or two together again? Will we be in the studio again for any episodes? Will we be at BroadwayCon or a live event ever again? So thank you, everyone who's listening and who has continued to listen.

[40:23] Brian Sedita: Yeah, I mean, like, I like to think that we'd be doing this for zero listeners because we enjoy it that much. Just in terms of the conversations we have, but uh it makes it makes it really nice that uh people also listen to these conversations as well. And we love hearing from you. So please drop uh a rating and a review wherever you're listening to this podcast because it helps other people find it and it keeps us going in a way. It's motivational. We've gotten several recommendations um for other podcast guests or roles to cover um over on our Instagram specifically. So if you have any recommendations or have ideas, or you really want to hear from somebody or hear um someone specific talk about their job, please recommend them to us over on our Instagram at Page to Stage Podcast.

[41:22] Mary Dina: Until next time.

[41:24] Brian Sedita: No, we have an outro for that.

[41:26] Mary Dina: Just kidding.

[41:27] Brian Sedita: Mary looked at me like, what do you want me to say? I was like, wait, how do we how do we end this?

[41:33] 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.

[41:48] Brian Sedita: Until next time.

[41:50] Mary Dina: That's Brian.

[41:50] Brian Sedita: That's Mary.

[41:51] Mary Dina: We'll see you later.

[41:52] Both: Bye.