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[0:00] Quincy Brown: So it's like me and like 30 girls all wearing like black free people dresses singing Defying Gravity.

[0:11] Quincy Brown: My name is Quincy and my name is Kevin and this is Sentimental Men from Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:16] Kevin Bianchi: We are here to talk and maybe scream about our favorite women in musical theater.

[0:21] Quincy Brown: 50. “Janis Is Very Elphaba Coded”

[0:25] Kevin Bianchi: Hi guys, happy 50th episode.

[0:28] Quincy Brown: Kevin, I cannot believe.

[0:32] Kevin Bianchi: It really is crazy to think that we are here at the Big Five-O and we have been doing this for quite some time now.

[0:40] Quincy Brown: Quite some time. I remember being at episode 18, Stephanie J. Block and feel it and we were kind of like, wow, we did 18 episodes and we talked to Stephanie J. Block and it could have felt complete at that point.

[0:58] Kevin Bianchi: I feel like there's been a lot of moments through the journey where it could have felt complete.

[1:02] Quincy Brown: Yeah, but it never will.

[1:11] Kevin Bianchi: Do you think if the Barbie movie came out in 2014, Katy Perry would be the Dua Lipa track?

[1:17] Quincy Brown: Yeah, probably. I think about it a lot and I actually think she still should have been on this soundtrack.

[1:22] Kevin Bianchi: I wore my Katy Perry t-shirt to the movie in solidarity.

[1:26] Quincy Brown: Yeah, there was a couple girlies that I was like, ugh, I wish the soundtrack was like three discs.

[1:37] Kevin Bianchi: Every song is so good and I just want more of it.

[1:41] Quincy Brown: It's so curated and so good.

[1:43] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I was missing Katy, I was missing Taylor, I was missing Ariana. Those three really felt like they all could have had a moment on that soundtrack.

[1:51] Quincy Brown: You know, the song I love is the Sam Smith song.

[1:56] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, do you?

[1:57] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I think it's good at the gym.

[2:00] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, I can see that.

[2:01] Quincy Brown: It doesn't hit for me at this current juncture.

[2:05] Kevin Bianchi: What are your top three? Because I've been listening to the soundtrack a lot.

[2:08] Quincy Brown: Me too. It's so good.

[2:10] Kevin Bianchi: What are your top three tracks?

[2:11] Quincy Brown: We started our 50th episode and then immediately launched into Barbie.

[2:15] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, well, it's topical.

[2:18] Quincy Brown: As of the day we're recording this, it broke one billion today.

[2:22] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yay. Good for her.

[2:24] Quincy Brown: Good for her. I'm glad that Margot Robbie, that press narrative she was doing where she was like, when I pitched this movie, I told the studio that they were going to make a billion dollars. And maybe that was a little optimistic. I'm glad that that actually came true for her and she doesn't sound crazy.

[2:39] Kevin Bianchi: She manifested that. Okay, my top three songs. Number one, definitely Dance the Night.

[2:44] Quincy Brown: Is your number one?

[2:45] Kevin Bianchi: Is my number one, bitch.

[2:48] Quincy Brown: Wow. I love that fucking song.

[2:51] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, it was a big grower for me. I was a little lukewarm when it first dropped and then it has only grown in affection since.

[2:58] Quincy Brown: I just like, I don't know, man. It does it for me. I love a clap on seven, eight. I love the disco vibes.

[3:06] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, what's next?

[3:07] Quincy Brown: I love the choreography. Next, I would say, well, unfortunately, I do think that Lizzo's song is a certified bop.

[3:19] Kevin Bianchi: It's great. It's a great opening number.

[3:22] Quincy Brown: Huh? Say what you want to say.

[3:24] Kevin Bianchi: Listen, as a song, as a song, it's a terrific song. It's a great opening number. And for that, I like it.

[3:34] Quincy Brown: Um, and then my third favorite, I would say, is what's up?

[3:38] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, Barbie, you're so fine. That one.

[3:41] Quincy Brown: Speed Drive.

[3:43] Kevin Bianchi: Charli XCX.

[3:43] Quincy Brown: Yes. Which is like kind of a runaway hit for her.

[3:47] Kevin Bianchi: She's charting again.

[3:48] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it's on the commercial.

[3:49] Kevin Bianchi: There's a rumor that it's going to be on the music video.

[3:51] Quincy Brown: It's on the car commercial.

[3:52] Kevin Bianchi: That makes sense. Which also, I love, I love, can you imagine the wicked marketing scale at this Barbie level? I hope they learned from Barbie.

[4:01] Quincy Brown: I think everybody is learning. It's abundantly clear.

[4:10] Kevin Bianchi: Tell me your top three songs.

[4:11] Quincy Brown: It does feel like movies are back. I went to see, in the same weekend, I did Barbie, Theater Camp, and Joyride like three days in a row.

[4:20] Kevin Bianchi: And after seeing Joyride, I was walking out of AMC and I was like, damn, movies are back.

[4:25] Quincy Brown: They're back, baby. It's the summer of movies.

[4:28] Kevin Bianchi: I'd love seeing how excited everybody is by all of the practical sets in Barbie. Just because we know so much of Wicked was filmed on big practical sets.

[4:40] Quincy Brown: So I'm very excited to see that those excite people.

[4:44] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, cute. Anyways, tell me your top three.

[4:48] Quincy Brown: It's tough. Surprisingly, because I typically don't resonate with this style of music. I've been listening to a lot.

[5:01] Kevin Bianchi: I think Laura Bell Bundy would sound really pretty singing that song, actually.

[5:05] Quincy Brown: I actually think that's a tougher song. Since it's in the zeitgeist now, I'm seeing a lot of TikTok covers. And it's actually tough because it's very high and is not placed in a super flattering part of the register for most females.

[5:18] Kevin Bianchi: It works for Billie.

[5:20] Quincy Brown: But what I realized, it's not. Because you have to be that whispery.

[5:24] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, it's hard. Anyway, I love the Haim song, Home.

[5:28] Quincy Brown: And yeah.

[5:30] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, what is it?

[5:32] Quincy Brown: Barbie Dreams.

[5:38] Kevin Bianchi: Yes. I was saying to a friend today that I love how the real world music feels like 2023. But then all of the internal character music feels like music from Greta Gerwig's childhood.

[5:57] Quincy Brown: I consume media in such a different way than I consume media.

[6:03] Kevin Bianchi: In that you pay attention.

[6:04] Quincy Brown: Anyways, welcome to the 50th episode of Sentimental Men.

[6:10] Kevin Bianchi: So I just went to the Renaissance World Tour. Here's the thing. I feel like I'm not a super proactive person when it comes to going to concerts and stuff. I kind of just assume that it will happen for me in the way. I don't have it in me to buy tickets online.

[6:20] Quincy Brown: It always happens for you the week of.

[6:23] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, it's a lot to go through the Ticketmaster of it all. So I was like, I'm going to see Beyonce. I don't know how, but it'll happen. And then the day before, I kind of had a moment where I was like, oh, I still have not. Tickets have not materialized for me. I guess I'm not going to see Beyonce.

[6:39] Quincy Brown: And then I started to feel really bad because I did see Taylor Swift this summer. And it did not feel right for me to see one and not the other.

[6:45] Kevin Bianchi: But then the morning of my friend Ryan texted me and was like, hey, I think I'm going to get these tickets. They look like they're in good looking. Well, at the time, I had read the text briefly and I had gathered. They look like good seats. They're cheap. I'm going to buy them. And I was like, yes, if you want to get if you think they're good, I think they're good. Let's do it.

[7:03] Quincy Brown: And so he buys the tickets. And then we meet up to go to MetLife. And we're sitting on the train. And he was like, I can't wait to see how these no view listening only seats turn out. And I was like, record scratch. Wait, what?

[7:18] Kevin Bianchi: He had texted me that they were no view listening only. I missed it in the conversation.

[7:23] Quincy Brown: Yeah. And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we had to pick up our tickets at the box office. And the whole train ride, we were kind of like, no, we'll have a view. That's not going to happen to us. They're not going to be no view seats.

[7:36] Kevin Bianchi: Unless you're behind a pillar.

[7:38] Quincy Brown: Yeah. And I'd seen some Twitter discourse and photos. And the no view seats were blocked by VIP risers or whatever. So they were no view. But we were just being delusional and like, no, we'll have a view. It'll be fine.

[7:54] Kevin Bianchi: Did you know where the seats were? Or did he blindly buy them because they were no view?

[7:59] Quincy Brown: Yeah, no, we knew they were section 100. And I guess that was his logic. He looked at the seating location on the maps. And he was like, I just cannot see how this would be a bad seat. They actually look like incredible seats.

[8:11] Kevin Bianchi: So he was smart about it. But we had to get the tickets at the box office. So we were like, oh, we'll just upgrade at the box office. We'll just ask the guy. And then we get to the box office. And the guy hands us our no view seats. And he flags to us that they're no view. And I go, yeah, are there any view seats available? And he looks down, shakes his head, and is like, you bought no view seats. I don't know what you were expecting.

[8:33] Quincy Brown: Very serious, no attention. This is a Beyonce concert.

[8:37] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, so then we were like, OK, took our no view tickets. And still, we're like, it'll be fine. We'll have great seats. We get to our seating location. We were in the fifth row, section 100. I can see if our seats had been five to the right. She has VIP risers on the stage that I could see that blocking the main stage. But still, you would have a good view of the section out into the main area of the concert.

[9:03] Quincy Brown: But we had perfect seats. I kind of had the best seats than any other gay that I knew was going that night that bought their tickets in advance.

[9:10] Kevin Bianchi: Now knowing the story of how those tickets came to you, I'm so impressed because everything you posted, I was like, of course, Quincy's in these seats. Like, of course, this is where Quincy sits when he goes to the Renaissance tour.

[9:20] Quincy Brown: But they were supposed to be the worst seats in the house.

[9:27] Kevin Bianchi: These main character seats.

[9:30] Quincy Brown: It was so fun. Straight view. You saw Oprah.

[9:34] Kevin Bianchi: We saw Oprah walk in with Gayle.

[9:36] Quincy Brown: I was so jealous. Ryan really freaked out over Oprah and Gayle. Like, it was big for him.

[9:43] Kevin Bianchi: Truly, night of my life and I want to go again.

[9:46] Quincy Brown: Great. I'm glad you had a good time.

[9:48] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so now that we've gotten our non-Broadway discussion out of the way, who are we talking to today, Kevin?

[9:56] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so Quincy, today we are talking to Mary Kate Morrissey.

[10:01] Quincy Brown: How fabulous is that?

[10:04] Kevin Bianchi: A lot of people have been requesting Mary Kate for a long time now.

[10:08] Quincy Brown: Yeah, and it just, it feels like the right time.

[10:12] Kevin Bianchi: It feels like we're in this good groove of like talking to the current witches.

[10:17] Quincy Brown: She's current standby on Broadway.

[10:19] Kevin Bianchi: Oh yeah, so okay, let me explain to the listeners. So Miss Mary Kate Morrissey, back in 2015, made her Wicked debut as an Elphaba standby on the second national tour.

[10:31] Quincy Brown: And then in 2017, she became the principal Elphaba of the second national tour.

[10:38] Kevin Bianchi: Then in 2019, she was in the original cast of the Mean Girls first national tour as Janice, which of course then makes her the trailblazer of the Elphaba to Janice pipeline.

[10:53] Quincy Brown: Which is love her for that.

[10:54] Kevin Bianchi: Which like is the pipeline that makes the most sense in my head. Like, duh, duh. You have the Wicked to Waitress, which makes sense. You have the Elphaba to Celine, but like Elphaba to Janice is really perfect.

[11:06] Quincy Brown: It really feels, it feels good.

[11:09] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[11:10] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I agree. Then over the pandemic shutdown, she and Jenna Claire Mason founded the Double Name Witches coaching studio.

[11:22] Kevin Bianchi: Then in 2021, she reopened the Mean Girls tour after the shutdown and then left the tour and was replaced by Lindsay Heather Pierce.

[11:32] Quincy Brown: And then in 2023, she is making her Broadway debut in Wicked as the standby for Elphaba, Miss Eliza Joy Fox.

[11:41] Kevin Bianchi: What a sleigh. I gotta say, I'm glad she's in the Broadway company because Miss Mary Kate Morrissey is great at the social media content of it all.

[11:51] Quincy Brown: And I feel like her and Ali Trim backstage are really keeping us fed with the goings on that are happening in that standby dressing room on Broadway.

[12:00] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. And I want to hang out in that dressing room.

[12:03] Kevin Bianchi: Mm-hmm feels like a very appropriate 50th guest I think so because she in a lot of ways has a very traditional wicked journey like she moved up through the tour and then up to Broadway and then presumably at some point if she so wants to she could be principal on Broadway.

[12:24] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it very much feels like we're so the beginning of the journey. She takes us. Yeah, she takes us through a very typical Elphaba journey, which is kind of retro in this day and age. I feel like wicked has kind of shaken it up recently.

[12:34] Kevin Bianchi: I agree. Okay, cool. Let's get into this interview with Mary Kate Morrissey.

[12:48] Quincy Brown: Mary Kate Morrissey, thank you so much for joining us on Sentimental Men today.

[12:54] Mary Kate Morrissey: Hey y'all. How's it going?

[12:57] Quincy Brown: It's going good. How are you?

[12:59] Mary Kate Morrissey: I'm great. You're between shows right now, right?

[13:03] Mary Kate Morrissey: No, I thought that we had two shows today and I even went to the theater and then there was no line outside the—there's usually like a massive line and there was no line and I was like, wait a minute. I pulled up my rehearsal schedule. We only have one show today, which is great.

[13:11] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yeah, because you guys are on a crazy schedule for the next couple weeks.

[13:15] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, the whole of July is just like not what I'm used to.

[13:22] Kevin Bianchi: Mary Kate, I have to say you have been one of our most requested guests from the time we started this podcast.

[13:27] Mary Kate Morrissey: Really?

[13:28] Kevin Bianchi: Like yeah, really and truly I feel like every other week we get a message asking to have you on, so I'm very excited that you're here finally.

[13:34] Quincy Brown: So we start every interview with how did wicked the musical come into your life?

[13:44] Mary Kate Morrissey: Oh man, I was in high school.

[13:47] Mary Kate Morrissey: What? 2004, right? Um, and I saw—I saw Shoshana Bean and Megan Hilty and I remember seeing the show and feeling like I mean their chemistry and the caliber of the performance that they were giving was so extraordinary that I remember thinking there's no way in hell. I'll ever be able to do that. But that's all I want to do.

[14:14] Mary Kate Morrissey: And I was completely obsessed with playing Elphaba with wicked with Broadway and it was just like but I didn't know anything about the stage door or bootlegs or anything like that. I was just like thinking about Shoshana Bean day and night kind of thing, you know what I mean?

[14:34] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[14:35] Mary Kate Morrissey: Wait, so when you were in high school, were you already set on being a performer? When did that ambition come?

[14:43] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, my—it was the only thing I was ever really good at and my pop used to sing on the Irish radio in Philadelphia. My grandparents off the boat. So I come from like a family of artists but artists who lived in like pretty severe poverty so that when I shot out my parents where my dad was the first of his family to go to college and he afforded me so many opportunities to like study and be in shows and things like that that the whole family was kind of behind me like whoa, this is your destiny kind of amazing.

[15:10] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, so that's when performing started for me and I never really looked back and went to see her at Syracuse for it and I remember Julia Murney came and taught a master class and they had me sing the wizard and I for her stop and she was like great like just open your arms like this when you do it’s me and then you'll book it. It's fine.

[15:33] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, I was like me like I'm a sophomore in college just like Julia.

[15:39] Quincy Brown: Wow.

[15:40] Mary Kate Morrissey: Because she went to Syracuse too, so she was back to sort of do her—

[15:45] Quincy Brown: Yeah, so after seeing it, was Elphaba the track? Did you know that belty roles was gonna be your thing?

[15:53] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, for sure, for sure, but I—it took me a long time to figure out how to sing it. Even like the first couple times I went in I think like I grew up singing sort of Irish songs so more bluegrassy or Americana or like low-key sort of things and I was working on a bluegrass musical at the time down at Signature for my first audition and I went in and they were like, oh you can't sing it. I was like cool. Cool. Great. I love that because now I can sort of release the desire to play this role. I'm not everybody know that it's not gonna happen and that's fine and just like move on with my career.

[16:29] Quincy Brown: Oh, you were like done after one.

[16:36] Mary Kate Morrissey: No, yeah.

[16:39] Mary Kate Morrissey: I really thought that I was gonna have to fight but I yes, I don't love that. And then I signed with my agents and then I sort of knew that that wasn't really the case and I do in the back of my head I was supposed to play it.

[16:50] Mary Kate Morrissey: So when I signed with my agents, I was like, I'm gonna play—they have so many Elphabas on their roster, right? And I was like, I'm gonna play the role and so you guys should rep me and then—and so then they—yeah, I know and then they put me back in for it.

[17:05] Mary Kate Morrissey: They were like great, but it wasn't like—the first time I went in it was not a pre-screen. It was like an appointment.

[17:09] Quincy Brown: Mm-hmm. And was it for Elphaba?

[17:13] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah. And then I went—so then the second time I went in they like bumped me back a couple levels.

[17:20] Quincy Brown: So now you had to fight.

[17:24] Mary Kate Morrissey: So now I defy, so it's like me and like 30 girls all wearing like black free people dresses defying gravity at the old Chelsea office and it was crazy and I'll never forget either.

[17:34] Mary Kate Morrissey: They're lined up on the benches all the way down everybody in the same outfit.

[17:41] Quincy Brown: Everybody in the same outfit.

[17:41] Mary Kate Morrissey: And Cesar Rocha was like he had me sing defying gravity like eight times that cut and there were like 30 girls outside and I'm just like, I'm just like, okay, I'll just sing it again. I'll just sing it in and he like pushes my resume back and he's like, well, I'm not gonna be the one who tells you you can't do it. So—

[18:04] Quincy Brown: They sensed your determination.

[18:07] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, hence I was like, okay, I guess I'll just keep going then.

[18:11] Quincy Brown: Yeah, okay. Wait, but so you got the feedback that you couldn't sing the role the first time you went in.

[18:18] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah.

[18:20] Quincy Brown: What were we doing in between auditions so that the second time around you were feeling better about it all?

[18:26] Mary Kate Morrissey: Not yodeling so much, not like pressing, studying with like different people.

[18:30] Mary Kate Morrissey: Definitely like from vocally for me that's kind of been like my hardest thing to get like I'm not—you can put me in a crowd of normal people and I'm an excellent singer.

[18:45] Mary Kate Morrissey: Right. You can put me in a crowd of Elphabas and I'm gonna be the worst singer in the bunch. You know what I mean? Like that's true, Mary.

[18:55] Mary Kate Morrissey: I'm just saying like that's not where my like big strength—I'm not like I have to do this role because it's a big thing and that's what I want. That's not like what drew me to it originally, so like the vocal stuff has always been something where I'm like trying different things, learning more.

[19:11] Mary Kate Morrissey: So I started studying with someone after I was a standby because I wanted to play the role full-time and his name is Matt Farnsworth. I'm still gonna take with him, but he like changed the way I sing completely and that's like the only reason why I feel like I have any sort of confidence in the show that I give now.

[19:29] Quincy Brown: Was this second audition the one that booked you the first contract?

[19:36] Mary Kate Morrissey: Okay, well then so I was gonna say so then once you're on tour, when does the principal conversation start happening?

[19:41] Mary Kate Morrissey: It didn't happen right away for me.

[19:44] Quincy Brown: I've been backing up. Did you want that right away?

[19:50] Mary Kate Morrissey: I don't know. I didn't at the time. I was like thrilled to be a standby for Elphaba. I was thrilled to like do it a couple times absolutely shitting my pants every single time I go on. You know what I mean?

[20:01] Mary Kate Morrissey: Like just really? I mean, this is 2017 so this is like eight years ago.

[20:07] Mary Kate Morrissey: No, 2015. This is 2015. So I'm like young and this is like my first big gig and I stood by for Alyssa first and then I stood by for Emily Cook and so I feel like I learned so much by watching these like great Elphabas do the role.

[20:26] Mary Kate Morrissey: But when I was done I was done I was like, that's cool great love that for me did that. Gonna play the role 90 times gonna go back to the city and wow see what happens and then I like did a couple gigs and I was like, you know what? I think I do want to do it full-time.

[20:42] Mary Kate Morrissey: So I like put my name back in the ring and they made me re-audition.

[20:52] Quincy Brown: We're still not sure.

[20:57] Mary Kate Morrissey: And but did you walk into this re-audition with a new confidence of like, okay guys, we all know?

[21:03] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, it was definitely like it's my turn like it's my time and it does feel like that like in this world I'm learning there's all like Lisa Ligweo who is the associate directors very much like when it's your time when it's your turn when it's your death.

[21:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: So she's very like heat into when people are ready and not ready, which is great.

[21:21] Quincy Brown: And when you go back in that second time, are you then feeling like you have like—you have cheerleaders on the other side of the table as opposed to those first and second times when you were fighting a little bit harder?

[21:33] Mary Kate Morrissey: Totally. Totally. I think that having friends in the company and in management and Lisa being already wanting to give me the shot was something that I had in my favor.

[21:41] Mary Kate Morrissey: I do remember I was—and I was working on much fancier project so I was getting more confidence and feeling more grounded and the artists that I was and I'll never forget I was doing this show home street home with Ali Trim up at the O'Neill and I took like the Amtrak train back down for a callback and I went in and Lisa Brescia was playing my mom and so she was like you can do it, but she was like giving me a pep talk, right?

[22:15] Mary Kate Morrissey: So yeah, there's so I was like everything is lined up. This is mine. Everything is my thing the vibes are vibing and I go in with like my side printed out and I sing and I'm like, I don't know who knows if it's who knows who knows but I feel like it's mine and then I'm sitting out in Times Square because it's right after Chelsea's office changed and there's all this construction.

[22:35] Mary Kate Morrissey: I'm sitting on a thing and I see the girl who went in after me on the phone with her mom and she goes I don't know mom the girl who went in before me sang the absolute shit out of it so I'm just gonna go get like and I was like that was me like—

[22:49] Quincy Brown: Reality show I want to watch actresses going into Chelsea to audition for wicked.

[22:56] Mary Kate Morrissey: Stream of the front door of the building. I want to see everyone on the phone with their mom.

[23:04] Mary Kate Morrissey: It literally just how things you'd hear yeah the things I've said to my mom, you know.

[23:13] Quincy Brown: So then I knew I had it I knew I had it in the bag after that.

[23:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Mm-hmm. So when you took over full-time was navigating because I imagine when you were going on a standby you found a show kind of a set show that you were able to do was navigating the vocals of it all difficult when you took over full-time or had you figured it out as a standby?

[23:31] Mary Kate Morrissey: I only feel like I'm just starting to figure it out.

[23:38] Mary Kate Morrissey: Really?

[23:39] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yeah, I think that I think that I have matured so much with life experience and study and just playing the role and like I think that I had this idea of who Elphaba should be and I felt like nobody should ever know where I end and Elphaba begin and that like wasn't actually giving her character enough credit.

[24:06] Quincy Brown: Welcome back to Sentimental Men. Today, we’re diving into a very special episode with our guest, Broadway’s current Elphaba standby, Mary Kate Morrissey.

[24:36] Kevin Bianchi: Yes! We’re so excited to have you here, Mary Kate.

[25:06] Mary Kate Morrissey: Thanks for having me, guys! I’m thrilled to be here.

[25:16] Quincy Brown: So, let’s start from the beginning. What was your first experience with Wicked?

[25:26] Mary Kate Morrissey: I remember seeing Shoshana Bean and Megan Hilty perform. It was such a pivotal moment for me as a kid.

[25:36] Kevin Bianchi: That’s amazing! Did you always know you wanted to be in musical theatre?

[25:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Absolutely! I was singing from a young age, and I just fell in love with the art form.

[25:56] Quincy Brown: And you went to college for this, right?

[26:06] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yes, I studied musical theatre and had the opportunity to sing for Julia Murney, which was incredible.

[26:16] Kevin Bianchi: Wow, that must have been a dream come true!

[26:26] Mary Kate Morrissey: It really was! She’s such a talent, and I learned so much from that experience.

[26:36] Quincy Brown: Speaking of experiences, can you tell us about your audition for Mean Girls?

[26:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Oh my gosh, it was wild! I had to prepare a lot, and I remember feeling so nervous but excited at the same time.

[26:56] Kevin Bianchi: I can only imagine! What was the vibe like in the room?

[27:06] Mary Kate Morrissey: It was really supportive. Everyone was rooting for each other, which made it a lot easier.

[27:16] Quincy Brown: That’s great to hear!

[27:26] Kevin Bianchi: So, let’s switch gears a bit. What are your thoughts on Barbie and its impact on culture?

[27:36] Mary Kate Morrissey: I think Barbie is such a fascinating character. She represents so many things, and it’s interesting to see how she evolves over time.

[27:46] Quincy Brown: Absolutely! And what about Beyoncé?

[27:56] Mary Kate Morrissey: Beyoncé is a powerhouse! Her influence on music and culture is undeniable.

[28:06] Kevin Bianchi: We love her!

[28:16] Quincy Brown: And BroadwayCon is coming up! Are you excited?

[28:26] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yes! It’s always such a fun time to connect with fans and fellow artists.

[28:36] Kevin Bianchi: We can’t wait to see what this year brings!

[28:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Me too! It’s always a blast.

[28:56] Quincy Brown: Well, we’re so glad you could join us today, Mary Kate.

[29:06] Kevin Bianchi: Yes, thank you for sharing your journey with us!

[29:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Thank you for having me! It’s been a pleasure.

[29:26] Quincy Brown: And to our listeners, we hope you enjoyed this episode.

[29:36] Kevin Bianchi: Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review!

[29:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Yes, please do!

[29:56] Quincy Brown: Until next time, keep celebrating the amazing women in musical theatre!

[30:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye, everyone!

[30:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[30:26] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[30:36] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[30:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[30:56] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[31:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[31:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[31:26] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[31:36] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[31:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[31:56] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[32:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[32:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[32:26] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[32:36] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[32:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[32:56] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[33:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[33:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[33:26] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[33:36] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[33:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[33:56] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[34:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[34:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[34:26] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[34:36] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[34:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[34:56] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[35:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[35:16] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[35:26] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[35:36] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[35:46] Mary Kate Morrissey: Bye!

[35:56] Quincy Brown: Bye!

[36:06] Kevin Bianchi: Bye!

[36:39] Quincy Brown: So, Mary Kate, you mentioned that you saw Shoshana Bean and Megan Hilty in the show as a kid. What was that experience like for you?

[37:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: It was incredible! I remember just being in awe of their performances. They brought such a unique energy to the role, and it really inspired me to pursue musical theatre.

[37:39] Kevin Bianchi: Did you ever think back then that you would be playing Elphaba yourself one day?

[38:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Honestly, no! I mean, it felt like such a far-off dream. But seeing them perform definitely planted the seed for me.

[38:39] Quincy Brown: That's amazing. And you also mentioned singing for Julia Murney in college. How did that come about?

[39:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: It was a masterclass opportunity. I was so nervous, but she was incredibly supportive and gave me some great feedback. It was a pivotal moment for me.

[39:39] Kevin Bianchi: Julia Murney is such a powerhouse! What was the song you performed for her?

[40:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: I sang "The Wizard and I." It felt so fitting, and I just hoped to do it justice!

[40:39] Quincy Brown: That's perfect! And speaking of auditions, you had a wild audition for Mean Girls, right?

[41:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Oh my gosh, yes! It was one of those auditions where everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but somehow it turned into a great experience.

[41:39] Kevin Bianchi: What happened?

[42:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Well, I got lost on the way to the audition, and then when I finally got there, I realized I had forgotten my sheet music! But the team was so understanding, and I ended up singing a song from memory.

[42:39] Quincy Brown: That's impressive! It sounds like you handled it like a pro.

[43:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Thank you! I think those moments really teach you to adapt and just go with the flow.

[43:39] Kevin Bianchi: Absolutely. And now that you're in the role of Elphaba, how does it feel to finally be living that dream?

[44:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: It feels surreal. Every performance is a reminder of how far I've come, and I just try to soak it all in.

[44:39] Quincy Brown: That's beautiful. And speaking of soaking things in, let's talk about Barbie and Beyoncé! What do those mean to you in the context of Broadway?

[45:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Oh, they both represent empowerment and creativity in such different ways. Barbie has this nostalgic connection, while Beyoncé is just a force of nature.

[45:39] Kevin Bianchi: They both inspire so many people, including artists like yourself.

[46:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Exactly! It's all about representation and showing that you can be anything you want to be.

[46:39] Quincy Brown: Well said! And what are your thoughts on BroadwayCon?

[47:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: BroadwayCon is such a unique experience. It's a chance to connect with fans and fellow artists, and the energy is just electric!

[47:39] Kevin Bianchi: It really is a celebration of everything we love about theatre.

[48:09] Mary Kate Morrissey: Absolutely! I can't wait for the next one.

[48:43] Mary Kate Morrissey: I want her to grow through the show. I want you to literally watch somebody grow into their power and into themselves. I want you to see somebody who doesn't have it together and then ends with living a life that she's chosen for herself. Living a life that she was born into versus living a life that she's chosen for herself. I think the box I want to check...selfishly, the box is that I sound fierce. Someday, someday that box, that's one of my boxes, honestly, that someone says, Wow, you sounded amazing. Because that's like, obviously my complex. But like, yeah, because people are saying that. Like when you're around once in a while, you want to be like, Yeah, I listen to how good it is. Fresh.

I want to make you miss it. Yeah, totally. But I think the box that I want to check most is that she is in charge of her story, and she changes. And then with the actors that I'm with, I think the box, what I want is that I'm not a selfish actor, that I'm a team player, even though I'm playing Elphaba. Like that every interaction with another actor on stage is meaningful, and is what drives the story forward. And there's nothing to throw away, just because someone else is in a scene with me, and I'm not doing no good deed. And I feel like I've gathered that covering the role and standing by for the role instills that team player offstage morale thing in an actress.

[50:17] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I think so. Okay, this has been so much fun. Thanks for having me on.

[50:21] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yeah, I gotta go to the show.

[50:24] Quincy Brown: Yeah, thank you for doing this. There is a show this time.

[50:28] Kevin Bianchi: There is a show. But look, separation, you don't even know if there's a show or not. Look, check this off my Wicked box. I'm in the Sentimental Men podcast. I feel like I've actually made it. I'm a real Elphaba now.

[50:43] Mary Kate Morrissey: Oh, my God. Thank you for doing this. We really appreciate it. This is so much fun. Thank you.

[50:48] Quincy Brown: Right on. Thanks, you guys.

[50:55] Kevin Bianchi: Quincy, I am in love with her. I'm like a big fan of Miss Mary Kate Morrissey. She is so cool. Like, I want her to like me so bad.

[51:03] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I was just like this. She's chilling. She shows up to the theater when she doesn't even have a show. I can't. I can't. Like, to me, she is swaying and sweeping, mindless. Like, she is just like, just going with it. She's so cool. I want to be her friend so bad.

[51:26] Kevin Bianchi: Quincy, you know, may I point out something that I loved about talking to her? I was very interested in her belief that her vocals come from a place of acting and not necessarily as like a singer first.

[51:40] Quincy Brown: Very Jackie Burns coded. Very Jackie Burns. I thought that was really interesting. And then when you were like, no, no, no, no, no, girl. We love your voice. We love when you do this. And she was like, yeah, but that's an acting choice. Yeah, that was I was gagged. Caught me. I just wanted to flag on record that the vocals are very much there with Mary Kate Morrissey.

[52:05] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I know. Yeah, that was really funny, though. I love when somebody is so good at something. And then they're like, Oh, yeah, like, I'm not really thinking about that. Because even the Jackie Burns being acting first when her vocals were like, I think she is one of the Elphabas to be known as having very solid, solid vocals in the role for sure. And to hear her to say that she approaches it from an acting perspective and acting of it all is what helps the vocals. Yeah, also fascinating how these artists work. I loved finding out the plane to like piecing together the puzzle of the costumes that she wears from past Elphabas in the show.

[52:44] Quincy Brown: Oh, my God, I think it's so cool. I want to go to the storage so bad. How cool I mean, she hit the trifecta. Well, it was a shape is not that girl coat. Bernie's Defying Gravity dress. And I mean, Q sex. What was it was there was something coming Q sack. It wasn't the actual dress. Was it shoes or something? I don't know. I forget. But yeah, a holy trinity and good juju to have on you.

[53:12] Kevin Bianchi: Yes, we were just talking about that with Olivia too about she wears somebody else's shoes and she feels like she's grounded in that person. Like it's I just think it's a cool unique thing to inherit a costume from somebody because there's so much juju like you're saying like living in that fabric and especially cool now when like the generation of girlies going into the show grew up with Wicked idolized right where I'm like I imagine in the earlier days you're stepping into another actress's costume. It does not carry the same weight as like stepping into that now. You know?

[53:50] Quincy Brown: Yeah, right. Like you're Shoshana Bean and you're like, oh, Eden. Yeah. Like, you know, I mean, like at that point, they're peers with each other. But now they're legends. Also love to know that Stephanie's costumes are still in rotation. I'm like, how are those costumes cared for that they can last that long?

[54:10] Kevin Bianchi: I know. Shout out to the wardrobe team on tour, because that's a lot. So moving into BroadwayCon, one of the first panel, the first panel we did was a greenifying panel with Talia Suskauer and Krista Kaimimoku Wong, who we love. We have to have her on this podcast. She is officially one of my favorite women in musical theater. She's the makeup artist backstage at Wicked, the singular makeup. As we learned, it's just her, the whole show, painting Elphaba Green, putting fake beards on people.

[54:44] Quincy Brown: But yeah, like we met her and I was immediately like, oh, she's like. Well, and when you when you realize she was from Hawaii to watching you to make that connection. She immediately slipped into speaking pigeon, too. I loved it.

[54:57] Kevin Bianchi: It was. Yeah, it was. I'm obsessed. We have to have her on. This is this is a formal invitation. But anyways, I guess my point with bringing that up was it was one so incredible to see like the makeup happening so close. I never thought I would be able to do that in my life. Seeing it up close and hearing about all of the protections used so that the makeup doesn't like smear and she doesn't rub it off on people. You see it and you're like, OK, yeah, but surely this is like coming off just like by nature of sweating and doing the show. So it's crazy to me that like a white coat like that. I'm not that girl can last for so many years when there is so much like happening, you know, just because like I know I can't even I try not to have white in my wardrobe because I just have not found a way in my 26 years of life to like keep white things white. Also, like when you don't have a laundry machine or a washing machine, like you have laundry.

[55:49] Quincy Brown: Moving out of the first panel, which was so much fun. So we did two panels on Friday, Friday. So Friday morning we did that green fine panel and then we walked through the Marriott Marquis with Talia Suskauer in a robe and full Elphaba green, took her down the escalator, went to the lobby bathroom where she de-greened in the sink. Yeah. And then we went straight to do a main stage panel, The Witches of Wicked with Alyssa Joy Fox, Amanda Jane Cooper, Hayley Petun, Talia Suskauer, Jenny Denoya. That it? Two girlies who went into the show principal first contract, no working their way up. And three girlies who I think like really worked their way up and really did that traditional route that we talked about.

And so it was cool to be able to like talk to hear both sides of the fence and like hear the different experiences. I thought it was cool that there were a couple of them who had done the show together at different points because then it was really cool, specifically Jenny, because she has probably the most touch points of anybody, but to hear her answer a question and then have Hayley kind of like reaffirm her answer and be like, Oh yeah, like I was with you at that point. Yeah. And it was cool to see the Hayley and Jenny friendship dynamic in real life.

[57:01] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Those girlies love each other. They sure do. I liked doing the main stage panel a lot though, because it kind of did just feel like doing an episode. Like we kind of stuck to our typical shtick at least. And so I felt more at ease during the main stage panel. The weekend went so smoothly for something that like I was pretty stressed out about of about the like morning of. I don't know, man. I love talking to more than one person at once.

[57:33] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it's fun. It's fun. I think especially 50 episodes in. How many times can we I'm going to say this because it's the 50th episode, so I feel like I can get a little mushy, but I had a moment when we were sitting behind everyone while they were singing and we were just like having fun and like sitting there and these girlies were in front of us. I did have a moment where I was like, bitch, who are we? Like what is happening to us? I did love that we got to do that because it wasn't planned. Like, I don't think we didn't walk out there being like, we're going to sit and we decided at the moment. Yeah, like, but then when we introduced Hayley and she came out, I was like, wait, I want to watch this. I don't want to like walk off stage right now. So we just said it ended up being so much freaking fun.

[58:18] Kevin Bianchi: It was really fun. You know, what's funny is I feel like we've been doing this for a long time. But then one of my friends was like, when did you start this podcast? I was like, oh, yeah, like during the pandemic. And they were like, wow, so it really hasn't been that long. I thought this had been going on for a while. And in my mind, yeah, that is kind of a long time ago. It feels like a long time, two years, three years. Well, it'll be three years this Wicked day. That's really crazy.

[58:46] Quincy Brown: Yeah, I think that's a long time to keep up something that we were just like, to keep up something that we were just like, hey, I'm bored. You're bored. I don't know how people who podcast like who like release an episode every single week because they're a podcast I listened to that I've been doing it for like 10 years releasing every week. I don't know how that happens. Thanks for putting up with our infrequency guys.

[59:05] Kevin Bianchi: All right. Bye.

[59:14] Quincy Brown: All right. See you next week.

[59:18] Announcer: You've been listening to Sentimental Men from Theaterly. This episode was produced by Quincy Brown, Kevin Bianchi and the team at Theaterly. Thanks to Anthony Abitangelo, the most swankified podcast editor in town. And another thanks to Michaela Reynolds for making us look downright Osmopolitan in our new key art and to Julia DeMarzo for our logo design. If you want to get in touch, send us an email. We love to hear from you all. You can reach us at sentmenpod at theaterly.com. That's T-H-E-A-T-R-E-L-Y. You can also connect with us across social media on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at sentmenpod. Thanks for tuning in. Till next time, I'm Quincy and I'm Kevin.

[1:00:06] Kevin Bianchi: This is such a cool thing. Yeah. And I'm so happy we got to do it together.

[1:00:12] Quincy Brown: I'm not in a sentimental mood.