This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Quincy Brown: So I texted her and I was like, I had no fly.

[0:02] Kevin Bianchi: She was like, oh, I'm so jealous.

[0:04] Kevin Bianchi: She's like, I want I never ever had to do that.

[0:07] Kevin Bianchi: And I wanted to do it.

[0:08] Kevin Bianchi: I feel like it's a right of passage.

[0:10] Quincy Brown: I know I feel like I didn't know they played the part.

[0:15] Quincy Brown: My name's Quincy.

[0:16] Kevin Bianchi: My name's Kevin.

[0:17] Quincy Brown: And this is Sentimental Men.

[0:19] Kevin Bianchi: But keep your thumb away from that skip button.

[0:22] Quincy Brown: We're here to talk and maybe scream about our favorite women in musical theater.

[0:29] Kevin Bianchi: Guys, I started watching Drag Race from beginning to end.

[0:32] Kevin Bianchi: It's always been something I've known was a thing, but I never actually got into it.

[0:36] Kevin Bianchi: I actually kind of blame Kevin for not getting me into it sooner.

[0:40] Quincy Brown: Because Kevin has been a fan, and I've known that Kevin watches it, and he's never taken the lead to tell me to watch it.

[0:48] Kevin Bianchi: My only response, Quincy, is that you're a grown-ass man and you shouldn't need to be told to watch a television show.

[0:55] Quincy Brown: Sometimes you rely on your friends to shepherd you through certain things and make sure that you're aware of certain things in pop culture.

[1:02] Kevin Bianchi: Quincy, I refuse to be gaslit into thinking that it's my fault that you didn't watch Drag Race until 2020.

[1:10] Quincy Brown: Also, I think we deserve credit for the fact that you're watching Drag Race for the first time, and that's not what we started a podcast about.

[1:17] Kevin Bianchi: Is that podcast would be unhinged?

[1:19] Quincy Brown: I feel like Drag Race is truly something else.

[1:22] Kevin Bianchi: Based on the fact that every time you ask me a question about Drag Race, you get like a six-page text in response.

[1:28] Quincy Brown: I think it's best.

[1:29] Quincy Brown: And if you guys don't watch Drag Race, they have different categories each episode where the queens have to dress up according to the category.

[1:35] Kevin Bianchi: You're the only person who doesn't know.

[1:38] Quincy Brown: This is a whole new world for me.

[1:39] Quincy Brown: If I was gonna be on Drag Race and there was an Emerald City challenge, I would wear the Stephanie Torren's costume that we talked about last episode with the Bride of Frankenstein hair.

[1:50] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:51] Kevin Bianchi: That's the look, right?

[1:53] Quincy Brown: Fun fact I did go in drag as Alphabet for Halloween two or three years ago, and I was um the featured image in the Playbill.com Broadway Halloween costume roundup.

[2:05] Kevin Bianchi: So such a claim for that costume.

[2:07] Quincy Brown: Such a claim.

[2:08] Quincy Brown: It's fully because my friend Felicia works at Playbill, but don't give away the secrets, just let the people think.

[2:14] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, hashtag keep the secrets.

[2:16] Quincy Brown: Okay, back to what you're all here for.

[2:19] Quincy Brown: Wicked.

[2:21] Kevin Bianchi: Kevin.

[2:22] Kevin Bianchi: Yes.

[2:23] Quincy Brown: Who are our guests today?

[2:24] Kevin Bianchi: Who are guests?

[2:25] Kevin Bianchi: Plural.

[2:26] Quincy Brown: Okay.

[2:26] Quincy Brown: Well, Kevin, our guests are two women who are both Alphabas and who I'm sorry, are related.

[2:34] Kevin Bianchi: I mean, anyone listening to this is already gonna know who it is.

[2:37] Quincy Brown: So our two guests today are Donna and Natalia Vivino.

[2:42] Quincy Brown: Donna Vivino, who was standby extraordinaire on the first national tour, and then lead on first national tour, and then standby extraordinaire on Broadway for I feel like a very long time.

[2:54] Kevin Bianchi: A while, yeah.

[2:56] Quincy Brown: I really feel like Donna Vivino is a staple Alphaba.

[2:59] Kevin Bianchi: I feel like Donna Vivino is a staple, period.

[3:02] Quincy Brown: In case anyone needed to be reminded, the original Cosette, young Cosette.

[3:07] Kevin Bianchi: She was doing seven shows a week in La Miz as a child, as young Cosette.

[3:11] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[3:11] Quincy Brown: Not today.

[3:12] Kevin Bianchi: How many Matildas were there?

[3:13] Quincy Brown: I guess Matilda is a heavier show for the child, though.

[3:16] Kevin Bianchi: Well, yeah, Matilda carries the show.

[3:18] Kevin Bianchi: She's the titular role, Quincy.

[3:20] Quincy Brown: But so we have Ms.

[3:21] Quincy Brown: Donna Vivino and her younger sister, Natalia Vivino, who was the current Alphaba standby on tour before everything closed down because of COVID.

[3:30] Kevin Bianchi: And wait, Quincy, wasn't Donna was on tour with Cats when everything shut down.

[3:35] Quincy Brown: So they were both on tour.

[3:36] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, Donna was Grisabella on the Cats tour when everything shut down.

[3:39] Quincy Brown: And I love the idea of two sisters playing Alphaba, never been done before, as far as I know.

[3:44] Kevin Bianchi: I don't think so either.

[3:45] Kevin Bianchi: And I feel like enough people aren't talking about that.

[3:48] Quincy Brown: I think it's so cool.

[3:49] Kevin Bianchi: So we're gonna talk about it.

[3:50] Quincy Brown: Yes, please.

[3:51] Quincy Brown: Can't wait.

[3:51] Kevin Bianchi: But Quincy, before we do that, you wanna give me a little stuck on SJB.

[3:58] Quincy Brown: I have a really good stuck on SJB.

[4:00] Quincy Brown: I really hope you haven't seen it.

[4:01] Quincy Brown: And I kind of not to be offensive, but I don't think you have seen it.

[4:04] Quincy Brown: It is Stephanie J.

[4:06] Block of circa 1997, the year of my birth.

[4:10] Kevin Bianchi: I have to go.

[4:13] Quincy Brown: Starring as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific.

[4:17] Kevin Bianchi: Have you seen this?

[4:18] Kevin Bianchi: I've seen it.

[4:18] Quincy Brown: All right, all right.

[4:19] Quincy Brown: I had truly never seen it before.

[4:22] Quincy Brown: Full disclosure, I have only seen it because my farewell to the great American stage was South Pacific.

[4:28] Quincy Brown: So I was like very into that rabbit hole at the time.

[4:31] Kevin Bianchi: I see, I see.

[4:32] Quincy Brown: But tell me about it anyway.

[4:33] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so I stumbled across this video.

[4:36] Kevin Bianchi: I saw the title, I think it was like Stephanie J.

[4:38] Kevin Bianchi: Block in South Pacific, and I was like, what?

[4:40] Kevin Bianchi: Miss Block in a golden age musical?

[4:42] Kevin Bianchi: Because that's something that we don't really get to see from her.

[4:45] Quincy Brown: So I click on it and I watch it.

[4:46] Kevin Bianchi: There's a lot of book scene before the song.

[4:56] Kevin Bianchi: It's Cock Eyed Optimist that we're getting into.

[4:56] Quincy Brown: Wait, then I haven't seen this one.

[4:56] Kevin Bianchi: You haven't seen it?

[4:56] Kevin Bianchi: I've seen Wonderful Guy, but not Cock Eyed Optimist.

[4:55] Quincy Brown: Okay, no.

[4:56] Kevin Bianchi: So it's Cock Eyed Optimist.

[4:57] Kevin Bianchi: And the one section that I really okay, so I want you to watch it because it truly hello jelly.

[5:07] Kevin Bianchi: So I gonna dough with a thing called Hope and I can't get it out of my heart.

[5:11] Quincy Brown: Belted.

[5:11] Kevin Bianchi: Belt it.

[5:12] Quincy Brown: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[5:13] Kevin Bianchi: It's the same in Wonderful Guy.

[5:14] Kevin Bianchi: The um, and if you'll excuse the expression I use, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm like over and over and over.

[5:21] Quincy Brown: And it's just like so in the mask all the way forward.

[5:26] Kevin Bianchi: Because here's the thing, it was a belt, but it wasn't an obnoxious belt.

[5:29] Quincy Brown: It was not a contemporary belt.

[5:31] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, sure.

[5:31] Kevin Bianchi: That's how you put it.

[5:32] Kevin Bianchi: It was a period appropriate full chest voice, not a belt.

[5:36] Quincy Brown: Kevin, I feel like every episode you will like say something that truly impresses me so much, where I'm like, wow.

[5:46] Quincy Brown: Hey Kevin, are you missing the thrills and drama of Broadway?

[5:50] Kevin Bianchi: I am.

[5:51] Quincy Brown: Well, Resident Dramatics and twin brothers, Connor and Dylan McDowell are bringing you all that and more on their podcast Drama.

[6:00] Kevin Bianchi: Oh my god, Kevin, I've heard of that podcast.

[6:02] Quincy Brown: I also heard that they're joined weekly by thrilling special guests, and together they explore theater, entertainment, pop culture, and the vibrance of love and life in New York City with new episodes every Wednesday.

[6:15] Kevin Bianchi: Plus, Sentimental Men listeners are in for a huge treat as they have had some of our favorite Alphabas, some of my favorite Glindas, some of our favorite Fierros, and even a Nessa Rose or two on the pod.

[6:28] Quincy Brown: So follow them at the Drama podcast and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[6:33] Kevin Bianchi: Drama.

[6:35] Quincy Brown: Drama.

[6:40] Kevin Bianchi: When we were kind of planning out who we wanted on as guests, we were like, we have to have the Vivino because that's such a unique and crazy story that you both is.

[6:59] Quincy Brown: Um, you know, she was telling us that you know she was 12 when she first saw you do the role.

[7:03] Quincy Brown: Um, where were you in your life when Wicked entered your peripheral?

[7:08] Donna Vivino: Oh gosh, I mean, I'm I probably was around Natalia's age, maybe a year older.

[7:13] Donna Vivino: I don't know.

[7:13] Donna Vivino: I can't do math but I know that I saw a Dina.

[7:17] Donna Vivino: Oh yeah and then I saw the original cast and then I joined the show five years later and I'm still in my twenties so somebody can figure that out.

[7:24] Kevin Bianchi: So and what's interesting I think is that it and Donna it entered your life when you were an actress and you were doing the thing.

[7:30] Kevin Bianchi: You know what I mean?

[7:30] Kevin Bianchi: You it entered your vicinity kind of in that regard whereas Natalia you were more of a fan I would imagine at age you were not like looking for the auditions at that point.

[7:42] Natalia Vivino: No, right?

[7:43] Natalia Vivino: You were just like every every 12 year old girl at some point is like I think I could do this in all honesty I was watching it and thinking oh my God I like to sing but I was still so shy at the time like I was like I don't know how she does that.

[8:01] Natalia Vivino: Like that's um oh my gosh I wonder if that's like scary or like if it's fun or is it really hard like I just was like overwhelmed by it in the best way.

[8:11] Natalia Vivino: It was amazing to see you do it.

[8:13] Quincy Brown: So was Donna the first time that you saw Wicked?

[8:16] Natalia Vivino: Yeah.

[8:17] Natalia Vivino: Oh my that's yeah so I was fan rolling so hard.

[8:22] Quincy Brown: Okay so can we do a quick run through of each of your audition processes just to how we got the role of Alphaba Donna let's start with you.

[8:30] Donna Vivino: Okay.

[8:31] Donna Vivino: Um I always wanted to audition for Wicked but they would never see me for it because they were like yeah uh I don't know like you're just not right for the show or did I hear that someone told you you're a Glinda?

[8:43] Donna Vivino: Kind of I was doing Martin Short uh which was a comedic part so you immediately you know everyone was like oh well I guess you're a Glinda but you don't sing that way so there's nothing for you in the show and I'm like well I you can sing that way but you're right.

[8:55] Donna Vivino: And I when I was doing Martin Short I the uh associate director on that show was also the second associate director they used to and so I said oh wow you know I'd really love to audition for that show um and then I got this call from my agent maybe six months later saying they want to see you for Wicked um they've given you like the Alphaba packet but listen like I'm like no I don't expect anything when I showed up every single Alphaba cover in every company at that moment was there and I had never been in the show so I looked around I actually got very relaxed because I went oh they're literally just being nice Paul was just like let her come in and sing the stuff and I was like not a chance this is never gonna happen for me today how fun that I'll get to sing this and then I got a call three weeks later that I got the part the standby on tour but my agent said to me I knew the next day like they called the next day and they were like you you're gonna get it so I had one audition for Wicked which is really one and done yeah but I had 14 for Hairspray so I I paid my dues.

[8:55] Quincy Brown: I love watching Natalia listen to that story.

[10:03] Natalia Vivino: I've never heard it.

[10:03] Quincy Brown: It was as Florida as Quincy and I were Natalia what about you?

[10:07] Natalia Vivino: My first time I ever went out for Wicked I was 20 and I knew I was like I'm way too young but I was like if I could just get a call back I'll be happy like if I just don't want to make a fool of myself like that was my first national tour Broadway audition.

[10:22] Natalia Vivino: That alone was like ooh to me like don't just don't be bad.

[10:27] Natalia Vivino: Oh my gosh what a blessing in disguise this was I went and I my heart was beating out of my chest.

[10:32] Natalia Vivino: I was very, very physically nervous, which is something that doesn't normally happen to me as much in an audition, but because this was just so big in my mind.

[10:41] Natalia Vivino: I was like, oh, and luckily I had an appointment, but they were running behind. But I ended up just like playing this little maze game on my phone. And I just like, and then I was able to physically calm down. I went in the room, and I remember the acoustics felt so good. So I just started like living in it, and I was like having a great time, and it all worked out. And they called me back and I got to finish the callbacks in LA. And then that was it. And my agent was like, well, they were very pleased, and they've put you on file. And I'm like, okay. And then I moved on. And then the next year, around the same time, I did the entire process again. And then nothing. And then I thought, okay.

And then the year after that, I went to the open call. I didn't know that. Yeah. And I did the eight bar thing with like it was crazy. Like it's eight bars a cappella in and out. It's very what? What did you sing? I sang the end of Monster from Frozen. But as that was happening, I got an email that I had an appointment the next day. So I was like, all right, like, cool. Cool, cool, cool. And then I went back, and everybody at that appointment was either SAG or AEA. Yeah. So I and I was non-union. I was like, oh, okay, like they want to cast union people, or there's something I don't know. And then I did it and it was over. And six months later, I got a call, and my agent was like, are you available in like late August, September?

And I was like, yeah, like why? And he's like, do you um you you good with going on a tour potentially? And I was like, what tour? And I was shocked. I was like, what? And he's like, yeah, they're looking for a new standby. Um, they're tossing some names around right now, but you are in that mix. Um, this isn't official yet, but I'm just giving you a heads up. Yeah. And I was like, okay. And then within the next couple of days, he was like, okay, so you got it. And it was just unbelievable. It had happened so in advance that I had come to peace with like, okay, I may never be in this show, but that's okay.

[12:43] Donna Vivino: Oh my God, it's so funny. I was told later when I was on the tour, one of the people who were in that callback room, they said, oh yeah, we cast you like right after you left the room. Like we had decided you would be in it. We just didn't call until like ages. Like they were like, oh yeah, we decided the next day. But Viva Vinos, that's so cool though, how you both got there after you had gotten to a place where you were like, it's not gonna happen. The pressure's off. So, Donna, Natalia was telling us earlier about how you were kind of a very helpful resource as she was going into the show and becoming the standby. What was it like on your end to hear that your little sister was going into this role that you really are famous for and have you are an iconic alphabet?

[13:26] Donna Vivino: Oh, thank you. I was so not surprised. I was like, duh. Because the first time she went in, I was like, she's gonna get it. She's just too young right now. Someday they're gonna give it part. When she got it, I was teaching in a camp with Adam Sousa, who is the musical director on the tour. And I said to him, I said, my sister just got cast the tour. He's like, I know I cast her. And I was like, yes, I did. He goes, I cast her. And so didn't mean everybody left her. He goes, but I was like, it's time. Oh my God. I just was not surprised. Like I knew she was gonna get it eventually. And I did say to her, I'm like, you're not you're not a dancer, you're like me. I mean, we can move. Actually, all three years I auditioned, the breakdown for what they were considering before was actually Pink Beret Alphabet understudy.

Oh yeah. And so at somewhere along the line, they changed it and was like, no we'll we'll do stand by instead i said to you i was like you're never gonna be pink brain that's never gonna be pink beret i said you'll be I said it's fine they're gonna you're gonna make you a stamp I knew they'd make you a standby today I was like that's how it's gonna work so Kevin and I have a theory that every alphabet can fall into a category of their uh wizard and I alpha a defined gravity alphabet or a no good deed alphabet and it's not oh Donna doesn't agree okay I would love to hear your take because I was a Wizard and I alpha and then I became a no good deed alpha that is so accurate Donna and honestly I'm both I am not a defining I do not like Defiant Gravity do not like to sing that song.

[14:51] Donna Vivino: Wizard and I was my favorite thing to do and then by the time I was leaving it was no good deed and I think that's part of just being like I literally feel like I like grew into second act alphabet. Um I just I don't know I don't I don't think it's that black and white yeah you know I think between Wizard and I and no good deed I still am unsure like which one is like the most challenging one because some days for me it's wizard and I and other days it's no good deed and other it's it's like it changes like sometimes I'm like ooh no good deed was like that was everything that I needed it to be and then wizard and I like it'll it'll flip flop. So yeah there's well other alphabets have said that wizard and I is difficult because it's right out of the gate.

So if you're kind of maybe having an off day then that's when you realize it is during wizard and I it is and there's all of this like there's all this adrenaline and you're running and there's all this momentum and so yeah there's you you just you have to have so much so much strength and vocal stamina with that with that song.

[15:49] Natalia Vivino: I love that. All right. So the Vivino don't subscribe to our ideology of night. Oh no, I'm not saying I don't subscribe to it. I just I don't know which one I am. Like I think one of the stage managers said, oh yeah, every alphabet has like her song that's like that's her thing. And it's interesting that you didn't even touch Defiant Gravity, Natalia. Like we did not mention that as you were talking about the song.

[16:11] Donna Vivino: Honestly, I okay. I love Define Gravity because I like getting in the I like flying because it feels fun. And I'm just like I love to fly. I don't like singing that song. For some weird reason, Defying Gravity is one of the most relaxing moments for me. Maybe we wanted to talk to you guys, which this feels like a weird thing to say because it's a very low pressure section, I feel like for Alphaba.

[16:39] Natalia Vivino: Oh gosh, is it when the wizard's singing? We we do want to ask though a similarly about the like something bad dancing through life popular chunk.

[16:49] Donna Vivino: Okay. Popular is my favorite thing to do in the show.

[16:52] Natalia Vivino: So really why?

[16:54] Donna Vivino: Because I love to have a scene with Glinda like that.

[16:57] Natalia Vivino: Are you sitting on the bunk bed kind of thinking about your groceries for tomorrow, or are you in the scene?

[17:02] Donna Vivino: No, I'm in it. I'm not a grocery shopper, kind of I it's hard for me.

[17:06] Natalia Vivino: Do you have a favorite chunk of that?

[17:08] Donna Vivino: I love the first classroom scene.

[17:11] Natalia Vivino: Oh because the journal and Donna, you made Alphaba a lefty.

[17:16] Donna Vivino: I did.

[17:17] Natalia Vivino: Donna, what do you mean you made Alphaba a lefty?

[17:19] Donna Vivino: Natalia saw the show, and she actually goes, oh my gosh, you know, lefty too. Like me. I didn't know that. I said no, my alphabet's a lefty.

[17:27] Donna Vivino: Yeah, I just feel like she'd be left-handed.

[17:29] Natalia Vivino: Wow.

[17:29] Donna Vivino: That's so interesting.

[17:30] Natalia Vivino: I love that.

[17:31] Donna Vivino: I always got the idea because they used to like say that you're from the devil if you've if you're left-handed, like you're sinister.

[17:36] Natalia Vivino: Donna, I love that acting choice from you.

[17:38] Donna Vivino: And Natalia really is left-handed.

[17:40] Natalia Vivino: Wicked.

[17:41] Donna Vivino: She's actually wicked. And I like to really write in the journal in some shows that I did, I would I would actually be taking real notes.

[17:47] Natalia Vivino: Like Dillaman would be talking and be like, okay.

[17:49] Donna Vivino: And like I always want to really be in class.

[17:53] Natalia Vivino: Like I liked it.

[17:55] Donna Vivino: So you popular's fun too, because like Donna said, you get to watch Glinda be Glenda and it's really fun.

[18:01] Natalia Vivino: And she may like shake things up one night or do something a little different than she normally does.

[18:06] Donna Vivino: And it's just fun. Like have either of you ever broken during popular, like the Glenda Macy laugh.

[18:11] Natalia Vivino: I mean, I used to do it on purpose sometimes for Allie.

[18:14] Donna Vivino: Because the audience was, she would just have them in the palm of her hand.

[18:17] Natalia Vivino: It's getting to the point where I'm like, I think they're waiting for me to break.

[18:19] Donna Vivino: So I gotta I love that.

[18:20] Natalia Vivino: That's funny.

[18:21] Donna Vivino: I always love the moment in dancing through life between Alphaba and Nesserose.

[18:25] Natalia Vivino: I think that's a super sweet little transitional moment where she's talking about Bach.

[18:28] Donna Vivino: Oh yeah.

[18:29] Natalia Vivino: I have to take it back.

[18:30] Donna Vivino: I like when Glenda dances with Alphaba.

[18:33] Natalia Vivino: Oh there was a moment probably five months into my run with Katie Rose when I was doing the role full time.

[18:40] Donna Vivino: She came over and the way she looked at me when she started to dance with me, I just started to freaking ball.

[18:44] Natalia Vivino: And like that, and that's not a good choice.

[18:46] Donna Vivino: But I just was like, like she just really made me cry.

[18:49] Natalia Vivino: That is a beautiful moment.

[18:50] Donna Vivino: I mean, I think it's when they not fall in love, but kind of like their relationship.

[18:54] Natalia Vivino: Yeah, where it becomes real.

[18:55] Donna Vivino: Is it lonely being a standby in Wicked?

[19:00] Natalia Vivino: I firmly believe being a standby is what you make of it.

[19:04] Natalia Vivino: You know, no show is guaranteed. It comes when it comes, and you know, you just learn to enjoy every moment.

[19:12] Natalia Vivino: You know, once I got over the intimidating parts of covering alphabet and thinking like, oh, can I do it? Then it's like now I can like enjoy other parts about being a cover and take a lot of pride in that position because I just learned how essential covers are.

[19:27] Donna Vivino: Do you know, you have to have a lot of self-love and like you have to try not to be too hard on yourself.

[19:32] Natalia Vivino: If you go on and maybe it wasn't exactly how you envisioned it would be or should be.

[19:37] Donna Vivino: And you know, you have to remember it's like I don't do it eight times a week, but when I go on, I give it everything I can and be proud of yourself for that.

[19:47] Natalia Vivino: It's it's hard, but it's also pretty fantastic.

[19:50] Donna Vivino: Honestly, every performer at least once should experience being a cover of some kind because it teaches you a lot.

[19:56] Natalia Vivino: I love being a standby.

[19:57] Donna Vivino: I loved it.

[19:58] Natalia Vivino: So I stood by and then I took over and I did the role a year and nine months.

[20:02] Donna Vivino: How was that?

[20:02] Natalia Vivino: I was hesitant because I was tired.

[20:04] Donna Vivino: Yeah.

[20:04] Natalia Vivino: It's a year on tour.

[20:06] Donna Vivino: And I was fried on that second contract.

[20:07] Natalia Vivino: That was when the no good deed alphabet started.

[20:09] Donna Vivino: Oh, interesting.

[20:10] Natalia Vivino: So before Broadway.

[20:11] Donna Vivino: Yeah, oh yeah.

[20:12] Natalia Vivino: But then that ended in and I took about a year, and I remember I was so tired.

[20:17] Donna Vivino: And, you know, there was stuff like, do you want to go do it in New York?

[20:19] Natalia Vivino: And I was like, I want to stand by in New York for a while.

[20:22] Donna Vivino: So you were offered Broadway lead?

[20:24] Natalia Vivino: Because I the lore of it all is that you were offered Broadway lead and decided to stand by, which I love.

[20:30] Donna Vivino: I I don't know.

[20:31] Natalia Vivino: I mean, I I the way it went down was I had basically said when I left.

[20:34] Donna Vivino: If standby on Broadway is available, I'd love that job.

[20:37] Natalia Vivino: So when you're standing by, and I think this is interesting to ask both of you because Natalia, you're a relatively new standby and Donna, you stood by for a long time.

[20:46] Donna Vivino: When you're standing by for alphabet and you go on, are you trying to emulate the current principal or are you doing your own thing?

[20:53] Natalia Vivino: So uh the our principal on tour is the lovely Talia Saskower.

[20:57] Donna Vivino: Her take on the role and mine are different.

[21:00] Natalia Vivino: When we have rehearsals, if there are specific notes, is it an alphabet note for just alphabet, or is it a Talia specific note?

[21:11] Donna Vivino: Anything that was given as like an alphabet thing, I would also um take note.

[21:17] Natalia Vivino: Yeah.

[21:18] Donna Vivino: I don't know.

[21:18] Natalia Vivino: I feel like I had a lot of freedom.

[21:21] Donna Vivino: Yeah.

[21:21] Natalia Vivino: But it's like I'm gonna do what I want to do.

[21:23] Natalia Vivino: Were you like that from the beginning, or was that something you grew into?

[21:26] Donna Vivino: No, I've always been that. That's just me. I'm a natural mimic because I do like personations.

[21:31] Natalia Vivino: Yeah. And so I actually would shut my monitor off because I didn't want to hear Carmen sing it because I would start to pick up on some of her vocal habits.

[21:39] Donna Vivino: Not that she's not amazing, but that's not my voice. And Donna, is it a difficult you have an air about you that it is not a difficult thing for you, the role of alphabet?

[21:47] Natalia Vivino: Stephen Aremus came in Minneapolis when I took over the role. He came and saw me and he's like, you can take alternate notes if you want.

[21:55] Donna Vivino: And I was like, What do you mean by that? Because I literally sang it by the book.

[21:56] Natalia Vivino: Oh, yeah. I always did. Not a single absolutely. Because Steven Schwartz wrote it a certain way for a reason.

[22:03] Donna Vivino: And then Stephen Arimas came and he's like, I think that you should take some altered higher notes. And I was like, Am I not sounding exciting? He's like, I just wanted to sound date more dangerous. And I was like, got it.

[22:12] Natalia Vivino: I mean, when Steven Schwartz came to see me do it, and I was so tired and I didn't even know he was in the audience, and I sang the score. But Stephen actually said to me, like, I have not heard the score in so long. Thank you.

[22:24] Donna Vivino: Well, I think your wizard and I things I've never felt no one else has done, and it is so good.

[22:29] Natalia Vivino: I all do it now, I think, right? It's no, it's a little different than yours. What if they go sing everybody swing higher? And I'm like, Yeah, I didn't want to go as I was like, that's a whole lot of excitement.

[22:40] Quincy Brown: Natalia, what about you? Is it a difficult thing or are we kind of the Vivino's just got the chords?

[22:46] Natalia Vivino: So in the beginning for me, it was a difficult thing with all the moving around combined and adrenaline and there were a lot of things I had to learn to manage. A lot of it too was just like stamina endurance training.

[23:01] Natalia Vivino: I did a five show weekend in St. Louis, and that was such a blessing to get to experience because then I really had the feeling of cool, this is how it feels to do one after the next, this is how it feels to do doubles. So suddenly my confidence like went way up.

[23:16] Quincy Brown: So you both were on tour when all of the COVID craziness happened.

[23:29] Donna Vivino: I mean, Broadway shut down first. Once that was going on, we were like, huh, how does that work? And um it was March twelfth, I remember, and I was getting ready to go to work, and we got an email and it was like you gotta go everyone company meeting on the stage, shows canceled tonight, we have to talk.

[23:50] Natalia Vivino: Like, and it was like so I guess we all thought in the beginning that it would be like oh, it'll probably be a week or two talks, and it just kept getting pushed and pushed and pushed.

[23:59] Donna Vivino: And my crazy ass was a very different experience. I bought N95 masks in January.

[24:04] Natalia Vivino: Really? I'm a crazy person, but I knew because I work for Disney Cruise Lines as well. I do a solo show and I'm down in the Caribbean, they're asking these questions, and the cruise director's shaking her head like they just shut down Hong Kong Disney and Shanghai Disney.

[24:17] Donna Vivino: I'm like, they they never shut down. What what do you mean? So I started to do a lot of research, and when I went back to tour, I was literally like, there is no way this has not come to New York already.

[24:29] Natalia Vivino: So I ordered like these N95s and I would wear them on the planes. Then I decided, you know what? I'm gonna fly home, my day I can get my car. I'm not getting on planes anymore.

[24:35] Donna Vivino: And so then, like, I remember it was March 10th, and somebody in the show, like, knocked at my dressing. They're like, hey girl, like, where are you gonna stay in St. Louis? I'm like, St. Louis. I'm like, that's in April. I'm like, oh, we're gonna be shut down this week.

[24:46] Natalia Vivino: And he's like, stop, don't say that. And I'm like, no, really, though, we need to be. Like, like it's not, it's not cool. Like we actually we need to be safe.

[24:54] Donna Vivino: So two days later we were. But it's still, you know, listen, at the end of the day, like theater, theater has been around since the beginning of time. It'll be back.

[25:05] Quincy Brown: Vivinos, this has been so much fun. So, where can people find you on social media to keep up with the Vivino?

[25:11] Natalia Vivino: My Instagram and Twitter are both at Natalia Vivino and mine are at Donna Vivino. I mean, simple. Easy. I have a huge teaching business online. It's Broadway-Unlimited.com at B W A Y Unlimited on Instagram.

[25:26] Donna Vivino: And it's unlimited because together we're unlimited.

[25:29] Quincy Brown: Perfect. Thank you so much, Vivino.

[25:38] Kevin Bianchi: That was so much fun. Quincy, I gotta tell you, I was a little nervous to have two guests at the same time. But now I feel like I could do three, four, five, six, seven guests at the same time.

[25:50] Quincy Brown: Let's do a real housewives reunion style show with all alphabas and we're the Andy Cohen.

[25:56] Kevin Bianchi: Okay. First of all, I love that. I'm imagining like a 16-person Zoom call with like you and I as the center squares.

[26:04] Quincy Brown: I honestly don't think I could handle that. I think two alphabets is my limit.

[26:08] Kevin Bianchi: If two alphabets is my wizard and I, I have to build up to my no good deed, which is four or more alphabets.

[26:15] Quincy Brown: So let's get into how Donna a little bit. She didn't drag us, she just I'm actually really thankful that she said that because at the end of the day, like we are fans of the show. We're we have nothing to do with the show. We have no authority over it in any way.

[26:28] Kevin Bianchi: I feel like everyone we've spoken to so far, I'm not saying that they were just like appeasing us, but they were have been like into that kind of They've been playing along with our rules with our game.

[26:37] Quincy Brown: Yeah. I'm very thankful that Donna was like, yeah, but Oh, I thought it was really interesting that Natalia's favorite section of this huge chunk that we talked about this episode was the classroom scene.

[26:50] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, because that's my least favorite. Yeah, I mean, I do take a little snooze during something bad. I'm not gonna lie. If I was gonna get up to go to the bathroom during act one, I'd be like, okay, I just have to make it to the Yeah, the classroom scene.

[27:01] Quincy Brown: But on brand for Natalia, because she talked about how much of a nerd she is, and that's her favorite scene, and the fact that she takes real notes during the scene. The cutest. I hope she gets to keep her notebook at the end of her contract so she can have that forever because that's probably really special.

[27:14] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, another thing I loved was Donna's acting choice to make Alphaba left-handed because left-handed people were typically known as evil and sinister.

[27:25] Quincy Brown: I loved that because I feel like you could just be like a really good singer who can make her way through the book scenes and like looks good in the green. And that's enough. You know what I mean? Like that, like I am satisfied with an alphabet if she just like can sit hit the notes. You know what I mean? Because that's the tall order.

[27:47] Kevin Bianchi: But then to like hear that she was like, Yeah, I was in depth analyzing what it meant to be a witch in whatever like medieval steampunk year that this play takes place in.

[28:01] Quincy Brown: Left-handed. Left-handed. It seems to me this is a half-baked hypothesis that no alphabet's like defying gravity. It wasn't even like, oh yeah, it's not really my gig. She was like, absolutely not, never.

[28:17] Kevin Bianchi: Which is funny because like obviously her defining gravity is fantastic. But then when Natalia didn't even mention Defiant Gravity when she was giving her answer to that question until we brought it up, I was like, oh, and Lindsay Pierce also didn't like Defiant Gravity.

[28:29] Quincy Brown: And this is interesting because as an audience member, it's like the show centers on that moment. Yeah, it's built around Defiant Gravity. Like that is like the moment for an audience member.

[28:39] Kevin Bianchi: And it's so funny that, like, seemingly for an actress in the role, that's just like a box you gotta check.

[28:45] Quincy Brown: Yeah, because I guess if you really think about it, it does make sense because there's a lot going on in Defiant Gravity that as an actor you need to like be aware of.

[28:53] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, it's a tough technical moment. You have the book bag, you have the cape on, you have the broom, you're standing on a tiny little platform, and you're only like you're hooked in, but you have that little claw around you, and then you're up, and then Lindsay Pierce was saying that you're shaking at the same time, and you're trying to belt incredibly high. It is just like a lot.

[29:11] Quincy Brown: It's a lot, which is funny because when I'm sitting there watching it, I am living for it. So I appreciate Thank you, Alphabas, for doing what you do.

[29:18] Kevin Bianchi: The mission statement of this podcast is thank you, Alphabas, for doing what you do.

[29:22] Quincy Brown: She put that on a t-shirt, merch.

[29:24] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, Kevin, we just had two alphabas. Let's get into your Glinda corner.

[29:30] Quincy Brown: I was thinking about how much we love like an alphabet's last show video, and then I got to thinking about how there is a video, maybe you've seen it, of Chenwith's last popular. And she adds three and a half minutes to the song because she the toss toss scene, she like goes on a full improv.

[29:51] Kevin Bianchi: She literally have you seen it.

[29:52] Quincy Brown: I don't think I've seen it. I don't spend time watching popular videos.

[29:58] Kevin Bianchi: I do feel Quincy. Elphaba songs have like the staying power. Like those are the earworm songs that you like leave the theater and you like have them in your head.

[30:07] Quincy Brown: But all of Glinda's material is stupid good. Like she gets three like hella actable songs. I also think that like mainstream wise, like all of my non-theater friends, when you say wicked, they think popular.

[30:21] Kevin Bianchi: Really? Yeah, like popular, I think has broken the mainstream in a way that no good deed hasn't.

[30:27] Quincy Brown: Well, sure. Even like my straight guy friends will hum to popular, or like they'll sing popular to appease me because they know I love Wicked and musical theater and stuff.

[30:35] Kevin Bianchi: Huh. Maybe it's because the Ariana Grande cover.

[30:37] Quincy Brown: Maybe. Is that giving Ariana Grande too much credit?

[30:40] Kevin Bianchi: No, there's no such thing.

[30:41] Quincy Brown: Anyways, Kevin, thank you so much for that Glinda Corner.

[30:44] Kevin Bianchi: Quincy, thank you so much for giving me the space to talk about Glinda.

[30:49] Quincy Brown: Every day, Kevin, broadening my Glinda Horizons. What would I do without you?

[30:53] Kevin Bianchi: You wouldn't have watched Drag Race, apparently.

[30:58] Quincy Brown: All right, guys. Another episode in the books.

[31:00] Kevin Bianchi: In the Grimmery.

[31:03] Quincy Brown: In the Grimmery. Another episode in the Grimmery. We'll see you guys next week.

[31:07] Kevin Bianchi: We will not see you, but you will hear us next week.

[31:12] Quincy Brown: You'll hear us. Or maybe not, because this might be the no, you'll hear it. We gotta get a clean out of just play the music, Quincy.

[31:26] Quincy Brown: You've been listening to Sentimental Men. This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Quincy Brown and Kevin Bianchi. Thanks to Julia Jamarzo for our thrillifying artwork. And thanks to you for tuning in. You can reach us at sentimentalmenpod at gmail.com. Or on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Scent MenPod. That's S-E-N-T-M-E-N-P-O-D. Till next time, I'm Quincy.

[31:49] Kevin Bianchi: And I'm Kevin.

[31:55] Quincy Brown: I was supposed to go finst up you. Talking to him and I hear 925, and I'm like, okay, Quincy, thank you.