This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Quincy Brown: And it was this production of Sideshow, which are we fans?

[0:04] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, we're fans.

[0:05] Quincy Brown: Okay, good. Thank God. Thank God. Okay.

[0:10] Quincy Brown: My name's Quincy.

[0:11] Kevin Bianchi: And my name's Kevin.

[0:13] Quincy Brown: And this is Sentimental Men from Theaterly.

[0:15] Kevin Bianchi: We are here to talk, and maybe scream, about our favorite women in musical theater.

[0:24] Quincy Brown: You give me that kind of something, wanting all the time, needing every day.

[0:29] Kevin Bianchi: Quincy, how did our format become you singing us in?

[0:34] Quincy Brown: I kind of like it.

[0:36] Kevin Bianchi: I always want to, like, say hi, and you're always like...

[0:41] Quincy Brown: It's a fun little start.

[0:43] Kevin Bianchi: It is a fun start. It lets me know what kind of mood you're in, always.

[0:46] Quincy Brown: That's very true.

[0:48] Kevin Bianchi: Good morning, Quincy.

[0:49] Quincy Brown: Good morning. We're recording this in the morning. I'm drinking coffee as we do so.

[0:54] Quincy Brown: So I wish... I should have sent you a video last night.

[0:57] Kevin Bianchi: So Connor has an appointment for Which Way to the Stage at a regional theater.

[1:03] Quincy Brown: Are you allowed to talk about this? Is this hush-hush?

[1:06] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, no. He told me I was allowed to.

[1:08] Quincy Brown: We'll probably know one way or the other by the time the episode comes out, though.

[1:12] Kevin Bianchi: So nobody bring it up.

[1:13] Quincy Brown: And he's going in for that Carrie Dubek role?

[1:15] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. And so he has to do an Idina impersonation in the audition side.

[1:21] Quincy Brown: And so last night, it's bedtime.

[1:23] Quincy Brown: It's like all of the sides are, like, splayed out on the bed.

[1:29] Quincy Brown: And we're like, last night, I had a dream.

[1:32] Kevin Bianchi: No, it's like, last night, I had a dream.

[1:35] Quincy Brown: And we're, like, back and forth trying to figure out this Idina impression.

[1:40] Kevin Bianchi: Is he with you right now?

[1:41] Quincy Brown: And it was giving very much...

[1:43] Kevin Bianchi: He's somewhere in the apartment.

[1:44] Quincy Brown: Tell him to come do it live.

[1:45] Kevin Bianchi: He's not going to come in here and do it.

[1:47] Quincy Brown: Why?

[1:48] Kevin Bianchi: No, I sent him to watch the documentary this morning while we did this.

[1:53] Quincy Brown: And I said that...

[1:53] Kevin Bianchi: Documentary of the same title.

[1:55] Quincy Brown: Of the same title.

[1:56] Quincy Brown: Is the play which way is the stage and the documentary is which way to the stage?

[2:00] Kevin Bianchi: No, I think they're both two.

[2:02] Quincy Brown: Oh, okay.

[2:02] Kevin Bianchi: Because they're both a Rent reference.

[2:04] Quincy Brown: That line. Okay.

[2:05] Kevin Bianchi: Have you seen that news clip of her from opening night of Rent?

[2:08] Quincy Brown: And she's, like, 24 years old.

[2:10] Kevin Bianchi: And she's this little baby.

[2:12] Quincy Brown: And they're like, oh, we hear that you, like, still sing at the bar, like, at bars with your band.

[2:17] Kevin Bianchi: And she's like, well, yeah, it's the only way to get yourself out there in this industry.

[2:22] Quincy Brown: She's so little.

[2:23] Kevin Bianchi: And she's, like, totally still intending on being a rock star.

[2:27] Quincy Brown: Sure.

[2:27] Kevin Bianchi: Like, the fact that she's in Rent is, like, not her primary...

[2:31] Quincy Brown: Sure.

[2:32] Kevin Bianchi: It's so cute.

[2:33] Quincy Brown: It's a great interview.

[2:34] Kevin Bianchi: Anyway, that was my story.

[2:35] Quincy Brown: It was at 11.30 last night.

[2:37] Kevin Bianchi: Speaking of Idina.

[2:39] Quincy Brown: I went to Idina Menzel's album release party at $3 bill for her disco album, Drama Queen.

[2:45] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[2:46] Quincy Brown: I feel like...

[2:47] Kevin Bianchi: Okay, so it was advertised as being, like, I don't know if it was advertised or if this is just kind of what I assumed.

[2:52] Quincy Brown: In my head, I had 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

[2:55] Kevin Bianchi: And it was really cute.

[2:56] Quincy Brown: She posted on her story, doors open at 9, drama at 10.

[3:01] Kevin Bianchi: And so we get there.

[3:02] Quincy Brown: And it's drag queens performing Idina hits.

[3:06] Kevin Bianchi: So we had, like, Jen doing Life of the Party.

[3:11] Quincy Brown: Holly Pocket did her Let It Go dress transformation thing.

[3:16] Kevin Bianchi: The Standards.

[3:17] Quincy Brown: And then Nina West was emceeing.

[3:21] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[3:22] Quincy Brown: Idina came out on stage and looked stunning.

[3:25] Kevin Bianchi: Did you see my stories?

[3:26] Quincy Brown: I saw...

[3:27] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, I saw.

[3:29] Quincy Brown: Snatched.

[3:29] Kevin Bianchi: Whoever is styling her, bravo.

[3:33] Quincy Brown: Because she has been turning out looks on this press tour for her album slash book tour.

[3:39] Kevin Bianchi: Although I wonder if she has a different stylist for book Idina and disco Idina or if it's the same.

[3:45] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[3:46] Kevin Bianchi: I mean, there's a lot of Idina's because there's also QVC Idina, you know?

[3:52] Quincy Brown: But QVC Idina and book Idina live in the same universe to me.

[3:55] Kevin Bianchi: They do, but they're a little different.

[3:56] Quincy Brown: And then remember, like, I don't even remember.

[3:58] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, it was when the documentary was coming out and she was doing press for that.

[4:02] Quincy Brown: And it was very, like, movie star glam in that moment.

[4:06] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[4:06] Quincy Brown: A chameleon, that one.

[4:08] Quincy Brown: So she comes out and does a speech and dedicates the album to the queer community.

[4:12] Kevin Bianchi: It was very touching.

[4:13] Quincy Brown: And then she sang acapella royalty, which is a track on the album.

[4:18] Kevin Bianchi: It's very Celine Dion-esque.

[4:19] Quincy Brown: I would implore you to listen to it, Kevin, because I feel like it would resonate with you.

[4:23] Kevin Bianchi: Have you listened to the album yet?

[4:25] Quincy Brown: I have not, Quincy.

[4:26] Kevin Bianchi: This is my least favorite trait of yours.

[4:30] Quincy Brown: Is you wait until we're sitting in front of recording microphones to ask me if I've listened.

[4:35] Kevin Bianchi: That's a pretty good least favorite trait.

[4:37] Quincy Brown: So you can catch me.

[4:38] Quincy Brown: Um, yeah, you'll really love royalty.

[4:43] Quincy Brown: So yeah, so then she gave us live vocals, sang royalty acapella, left the stage.

[4:47] Quincy Brown: A bunch of queens came out and performed too.

[4:49] Quincy Brown: The show itself was like an hour long.

[4:52] Kevin Bianchi: I was expecting like a four hour Idina Menzel festival at $3 bill on this Thursday night that I went.

[4:58] Quincy Brown: That was not the case, but it was still really incredible.

[5:03] Quincy Brown: After the show wrapped, it was kind of like dance floor time and they're playing Idina hits.

[5:08] Quincy Brown: They played a dance electronic disco remix of At This Table from her second holiday album, which actually went pretty hard, but I was like, there's more catalog here.

[5:25] Kevin Bianchi: Why are we at At This Table already? There's other catalogs.

[5:28] Quincy Brown: That is so funny.

[5:30] Kevin Bianchi: Not At This Table.

[5:33] Quincy Brown: Quincy, can I bring us into the resume of today's illustrious guest?

[5:37] Kevin Bianchi: Yes, please.

[5:38] Quincy Brown: It is Stand By City on Sentimental Men.

[5:43] Kevin Bianchi: Yes, it is Stand By City.

[5:45] Quincy Brown: And that's a city that I love to be in.

[5:47] Quincy Brown: Today's guest is Emily Kristen Morris.

[5:50] Kevin Bianchi: I'm so excited.

[5:53] Quincy Brown: She is a current standby on the national tour, but is also one of my favorite social media presences because she does those voice teacher reacts videos.

[6:04] Quincy Brown: In 2018, she was on the Something Rotten national tour as Bea.

[6:08] Kevin Bianchi: If you're ever in a fix and it's a fix, you need to mix, then I'm your go-to guy.

[6:13] Quincy Brown: Go-to guy.

[6:14] Kevin Bianchi: You're not a guy.

[6:16] Quincy Brown: One of my favorite songs.

[6:17] Quincy Brown: In 2023, Emily Kristen Morris made her Wicked debut on the second national tour as the standby for Elphaba, where she currently sits as the standby for Elphaba.

[6:28] Quincy Brown: Regionally, Emily Kristen Morris has slated in some of the most iconic roles, Daisy in Sideshow, Sophie in Mamma Mia, one of my favorites.

[6:37] Kevin Bianchi: Wait, that's perfect for her.

[6:38] Quincy Brown: Audrey in Little Shop.

[6:39] Kevin Bianchi: It's perfect for her.

[6:41] Quincy Brown: Audrey in Little Shop and something you're going to love, the titular role in Lysistrata Jones.

[6:45] Kevin Bianchi: Let's do a double episode with her and Patti Murin and only talk about Lysistrata Jones.

[6:55] Quincy Brown: For your birthday, we'll do that.

[6:57] Quincy Brown: Ms. Morris is a concert vocalist and the founder of EKM Vocal Studio.

[7:01] Quincy Brown: And as I mentioned before, the internet's favorite voice teacher, because she do have a reaction for everything.

[7:06] Kevin Bianchi: So I'm so excited to welcome her to the show.

[7:13] Quincy Brown: Let's get into it with Emily Kristen Morris.

[7:22] Quincy Brown: Emily Kristen Morris is here on Sentimental Men today.

[7:26] Emily Kristen Morris: This feels right.

[7:27] Quincy Brown: Yay!

[7:27] Emily Kristen Morris: I'm so excited.

[7:28] Quincy Brown: I'm so excited.

[7:29] Emily Kristen Morris: This feels like a long time in the works.

[7:30] Quincy Brown: We've been trying to make this happen and I'm glad that it has finally worked out.

[7:34] Emily Kristen Morris: Me too.

[7:35] Emily Kristen Morris: Me too.

[7:35] Quincy Brown: Honestly, one of my...

[7:37] Quincy Brown: Emily, you are one of my favorite content faces in the wicked sphere.

[7:43] Quincy Brown: I love everything that you put out, so I'm really excited to have you here with us today.

[7:47] Emily Kristen Morris: Thank you.

[7:48] Emily Kristen Morris: It's very sweet.

[7:49] Quincy Brown: Wait, what city are you in right now?

[7:50] Emily Kristen Morris: We are in Atlanta.

[7:52] Emily Kristen Morris: It's boiling hot.

[7:54] Quincy Brown: But also it sounds like it's boiling hot in New York, so maybe it's just everywhere.

[7:57] Emily Kristen Morris: It's just like humid.

[7:59] Emily Kristen Morris: You cannot set foot outside without dripping.

[8:02] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it's thick.

[8:03] Emily Kristen Morris: Thick air.

[8:05] Quincy Brown: Yeah, juicy.

[8:09] Quincy Brown: So we start every interview with how did Wicked the Musical come into your life as a person?

[8:15] Emily Kristen Morris: Oh my god, I remember it very vividly.

[8:18] Emily Kristen Morris: Okay, so I'm from San Francisco, born and raised in the city.

[8:21] Emily Kristen Morris: Hallowed grounds.

[8:22] Quincy Brown: Yeah, hallowed grounds.

[8:24] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, so I'm 28.

[8:25] Emily Kristen Morris: So I was born in, whatever, 1994.

[8:28] Emily Kristen Morris: And I think I was just young enough that my parents didn't take me to the out-of-town tryout.

[8:37] Emily Kristen Morris: But I remember when it happened.

[8:38] Emily Kristen Morris: And I hadn't gotten into musical theater yet.

[8:42] Emily Kristen Morris: But I remember my friend Perry and her mom, my elementary school friend, saw it and couldn't stop talking about it.

[8:50] Emily Kristen Morris: And we were carpool buddies.

[8:54] Emily Kristen Morris: And they would play the album in the car.

[8:57] Emily Kristen Morris: And I remember San Francisco as a city feeling a lot of pride about Wicked, once it had moved to New York and once it had become a phenomenon.

[9:06] Emily Kristen Morris: I think in the early days, especially, San Franciscans were like, well, you know, it started here.

[9:11] Quincy Brown: That was us.

[9:12] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[9:12] Quincy Brown: That was us.

[9:14] Emily Kristen Morris: So I just...

[9:15] Emily Kristen Morris: I saw it at the public.

[9:17] Quincy Brown: Yeah, yeah, literally.

[9:19] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[9:20] Quincy Brown: And so I just remember growing up, it was something people talked about a lot.

[9:24] Emily Kristen Morris: But this was before I had even gotten into musical theater.

[9:27] Quincy Brown: My understanding is that you were a theater kid, and this has always been your dream.

[9:32] Emily Kristen Morris: Definitely always been my dream, yeah.

[9:34] Emily Kristen Morris: I mean, starting early.

[9:35] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, I didn't get into the singing aspect for a little while.

[9:39] Emily Kristen Morris: I was really into the acting of it all.

[9:43] Emily Kristen Morris: And then eventually took my first musical theater class and fell in love.

[9:48] Quincy Brown: Yeah, yeah.

[9:50] Quincy Brown: When was the first time that you saw the show?

[9:59] Emily Kristen Morris: I want to say 2008, when it was back in San Francisco with Teal Wicks.

[10:04] Quincy Brown: Oh, nice.

[10:05] Emily Kristen Morris: And I want to say Kendrick, right?

[10:08] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[10:10] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, yep.

[10:11] Quincy Brown: And I remember seeing it, and I remember that moment of defying gravity.

[10:16] Emily Kristen Morris: And so, okay, here's the tea with me and Wicked.

[10:21] Emily Kristen Morris: I didn't see myself as an Elphaba for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long time.

[10:24] Quincy Brown: This is on my list of questions, so I'm glad you're going into this.

[10:27] Emily Kristen Morris: Well, yeah.

[10:28] Emily Kristen Morris: So anyway, all this to say...

[10:30] Quincy Brown: Because you saw yourself as a Glinda, or just because you didn't know where you fell?

[10:34] Emily Kristen Morris: Didn't know where I fell.

[10:35] Emily Kristen Morris: I mean, growing up as a little girl with blonde curly hair, I sang popular with my voice teacher.

[10:44] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[10:44] Emily Kristen Morris: We should get into that, because for sure, I had a mental block about it for a long time.

[10:47] Emily Kristen Morris: But anyway, when I saw it in 2008, it wasn't like, oh, that's my role.

[10:51] Emily Kristen Morris: It was just like, oh, this is musical theater at its best.

[10:54] Emily Kristen Morris: And I want to be a part of musical theater.

[10:56] Emily Kristen Morris: I would love to be a part of this show, but I don't know in what capacity.

[10:59] Emily Kristen Morris: But you know, loved it regardless.

[11:03] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[11:04] Quincy Brown: So then when was the first time that you ever submitted for Wicked?

[11:08] Emily Kristen Morris: So I moved to the city in 2017, and I remember when I moved to the city,

[11:17] Emily Kristen Morris: I was subletting a place in Harlem, as you do.

[11:21] Emily Kristen Morris: And my roommate was a musical theater girl that I didn't know super well.

[11:25] Emily Kristen Morris: But anyway, she had made some comment, and I'll never forget it,

[11:30] Emily Kristen Morris: about like, well, have you been in for Elphaba yet?

[11:32] Emily Kristen Morris: And I was like, no, I just got here.

[11:36] Emily Kristen Morris: And she was like, oh, well, every belter in the city goes in at some point.

[11:39] Emily Kristen Morris: So just be ready.

[11:39] Quincy Brown: Oh, my God.

[11:40] Emily Kristen Morris: And I remember that moment, because from that moment to the moment I actually got to go in for real was six years, I think.

[11:48] Emily Kristen Morris: Like, it didn't happen quickly.

[11:50] Quincy Brown: I was playing in your head for six years.

[11:52] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah.

[11:52] Quincy Brown: Oh, yeah, for sure.

[11:55] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, right.

[11:57] Quincy Brown: So yeah, the first time I went in, I mean, I think I went into an EPA.

[12:03] Emily Kristen Morris: Sure.

[12:03] Emily Kristen Morris: I sang Metal Ark.

[12:05] Emily Kristen Morris: I was like, put me in your ensemble.

[12:07] Quincy Brown: As you do.

[12:09] Emily Kristen Morris: But yeah, I didn't get an appointment until pretty close to when I got it.

[12:15] Quincy Brown: Okay.

[12:15] Quincy Brown: And you have a good sideshow story about how the first wicked audition audition came about.

[12:21] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[12:22] Quincy Brown: Can you give it to us?

[12:23] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah.

[12:23] Emily Kristen Morris: So it's totally one of those just magical musical theater dreamy moments that you don't think are going to happen to you.

[12:30] Emily Kristen Morris: Um, yeah, so I was doing, you know, my first show back from COVID.

[12:36] Emily Kristen Morris: And it was this production of sideshow, which are we fans?

[12:40] Quincy Brown: Yeah, we're fans.

[12:41] Emily Kristen Morris: Okay, good.

[12:41] Quincy Brown: Thank God.

[12:42] Emily Kristen Morris: Thank God.

[12:44] Emily Kristen Morris: I was just so excited to get to do that show because no one does that show.

[12:47] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, yeah.

[12:48] Emily Kristen Morris: I was playing Daisy and it was right outside of Manhattan.

[12:52] Emily Kristen Morris: And yeah, we were performing a I think it was a matinee and somebody was like,

[12:57] Emily Kristen Morris: I think the music director of Wicked is in the front row.

[13:00] Quincy Brown: No.

[13:02] Emily Kristen Morris: And I kind of was like, okay, you know, okay.

[13:06] Quincy Brown: Not gonna let that.

[13:07] Emily Kristen Morris: But were you like, let me make sure I sound up to snuff tonight?

[13:12] Emily Kristen Morris: Sure, sure.

[13:13] Emily Kristen Morris: I mean, I didn't think much of it, honestly.

[13:15] Quincy Brown: Yeah.

[13:16] Emily Kristen Morris: Nice.

[13:16] Emily Kristen Morris: But then, but you know, that was good.

[13:19] Quincy Brown: It's okay.

[13:20] Emily Kristen Morris: Cool.

[13:21] Emily Kristen Morris: Well, that's a good thing.

[13:22] Emily Kristen Morris: So then it turned out that he is Dan is just such a Oh my God, lovely, lovely human being and just a huge sideshow fan.

[13:30] Emily Kristen Morris: And like, you know, grew up with it was on the picket lines when they were closing, trying to get it to stay open.

[13:39] Quincy Brown: Oh, yeah, it was like a big sideshow fan.

[13:41] Emily Kristen Morris: And, and so he had just made it a priority.

[13:45] Quincy Brown: Picket line.

[13:48] Emily Kristen Morris: So he, he's just a big fan.

[13:50] Emily Kristen Morris: And when he saw that it was playing somewhat close to Manhattan, he was like, I'm going.

[13:56] Quincy Brown: And so after that happened, we got to talking and like literally just DMing on Instagram.

[14:01] Emily Kristen Morris: And he was really sweet and really, really complimentary and, and, and asked me, have you been in for Elphaba?

[14:07] Emily Kristen Morris: And I was like, No, I haven't.

[14:09] Emily Kristen Morris: And then the next morning, I woke up with an audition for Elphaba.

[14:13] Quincy Brown: Thank you, Dan.

[14:15] Emily Kristen Morris: Literally, I owe a lot to that man.

[15:39] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, yeah. And then the next, like, two weeks were, it was a lot of back and forth. And it was, I think, two rounds of taping again. Okay, the same stuff. With adjustments, same stuff. And then eventually, like, a final work session in the room, you know, like 45 minutes taking our time. It's interesting to hear a post-pandemic audition process for an Elphaba because it took so long to get you in the room.

[16:03] Quincy Brown: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, and we have people out here on tour that never were in the room. Like, you know, we're utilizing tapes.

[16:12] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[16:12] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, technology.

[16:16] Quincy Brown: Which is so interesting. I know.

[16:16] Kevin Bianchi: It's crazy. Can I pause just because we asked this of, I don't remember who, oh, of Lisa, because she also was a self-tape Elphaba appointment originally. And we were talking about how for like a project in a role this size, having the ability to like micromanage and like nitpick your own audition.

[16:27] Emily Kristen Morris: Oh, my God.

[16:28] Kevin Bianchi: Has to make this 20 times harder than it would be.

[16:34] Emily Kristen Morris: Especially you with your voice teacher cap on, too. I can't imagine. And all of my notions of I'm not an Elphaba in my head, which we can talk about. But yeah.

[16:46] Quincy Brown: So how many scrapped takes are in the camera roll?

[16:53] Emily Kristen Morris: You know, I gave myself a limit. I gave myself a firm limit. And I tell all my students that it's very important. It's never going to get better after six takes, really, especially singing this material. It's not going to get better. And the other thing I did is I took breaks. I think I only did something like, you know, maybe six or seven takes of but then, you know, it's the whole packet. Right. So like if you're doing six takes of one song and seven takes of that, like you just can't. So anyway, I probably only did five takes probably of both songs. But I think I took breaks in between. I, you know, went on little vocal naps. I, you know, had a snack. Like I just took my time with it. But I will say filming the defined gravity cut in your living room with a track and a camera in front of you is like the weirdest experience.

[17:47] Kevin Bianchi: I also imagine there's something that's like makes it less nerve wracking to do on tape as opposed to going into the room for your first couple auditions, you know?

[17:51] Emily Kristen Morris: Maybe. I think I would always prefer to just be in the room. But yeah. Yeah. No, in some ways. Yeah.

[17:57] Quincy Brown: Okay. So as you go through these standby auditions, you knew it was standby that you were auditioning for from the get go. What were your feelings about being a standby at this point?

[18:06] Emily Kristen Morris: You know, I've always sort of, I think I've always known that I am going to have chunks of my career, if not lots of my career, you know, being an understudy, standing by all those things, just knowing that I'm an actor, singer. And so, you know, I was ready for that. And I don't think I knew what it would entail, but I knew that this was only exciting. And, you know, I was just excited.

[18:29] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. It was going to be a huge moment.

[18:34] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. So then going into then, like, what has been surprising to you about standing by? Expectations versus reality.

[18:41] Emily Kristen Morris: You know, everyone told me when I took this job, it's going to be isolating. That was something that actually everybody did tell me. And I was like, cool, cool, cool. I'm going to make the best of it. And I think I have, but it is.

[18:55] Quincy Brown: And there's no standby Glinda on tour, right?

[18:55] Emily Kristen Morris: It's a really weird job. There's no standby on tour for Glinda. Yeah. I think it's a really, just from talking to people who've done it on Broadway and also just like beyond the wicked sphere, you know, I've been really lucky to connect with a lot of standbys and alternates because it just makes you feel less alone. And it's so good to know that you're not the only one experiencing, because I am the only one experiencing it out here. But yeah, from talking to people who do it in New York, it's a really different experience because you have your Glinda standby that you share your dressing room with. And you go.

[19:26] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[19:26] Emily Kristen Morris: And then you go home at the end of the day. You go home to your friends, family, dog, apartment, all the things. And it is like a really it's a crazy experience to like, yeah, you leave New York, you leave your people and your place and you come and do this thing that no one else is doing in the building. And yeah, that has been like that was definitely a shift, a paradigm shift. And I think I am very grateful for my.

[19:58] Quincy Brown: I've always been someone that can keep myself busy.

[20:02] Emily Kristen Morris: Like I. It does feel like you have. Yeah. You're doing a lot of other hustling during the shows.

[20:10] Quincy Brown: Up in the attic, running the show.

[20:10] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, I've always done it. So but then beyond that, like, I just have so many, you know, other things that fuel me and I'm running my business and I'm working on my, you know, yeah, my my social media stuff and whatever. So I think I've I've been really good about like keeping inspired and and driving joy from other things, even when like, you know, it's been two months and I haven't been on stage or whatever.

[20:37] Kevin Bianchi: Did that have to take time, though, to kind of transition into a point where you're like, OK, I am here every day, so I'm going to find ways to utilize this time and make it feel worthwhile.

[20:42] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, honestly, the first I remember when I was OK, so when I was learning the role, I think this was probably after like my first run, maybe my first put in. And I was like, oh, whoa, that's hard. And our PSM at the time, Opie, was like, well, you know, I tell everyone it takes six months for a full time Elphaba to find her footing. Like it really takes six months.

[21:19] Kevin Bianchi: Interesting.

[21:19] Emily Kristen Morris: And you're not full time and it's going to take you that much longer. And I was like, go, but it's true. It's true. So I feel like it took me a long time to get to a point where I was like chilling backstage. You know what I mean?

[21:31] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[21:31] Emily Kristen Morris: Even and even now, like I'm still, you know, if I haven't been on for a while, I'm still yeah, I make it a goal of singing through running through once a week, maybe once every two weeks, just because, yeah, this isn't something you can just like flip on in. And I at least it doesn't feel that way to me.

[21:55] Quincy Brown: Sure.

[21:55] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[21:55] Quincy Brown: Can we talk about the first time that you went on for Elphaba and what was surprising, what you weren't expecting?

[22:01] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, it was the best day ever. So I had a little foresight, which was cool, which meant that my family could be there. And I haven't had much of that.

[22:14] Kevin Bianchi: Is your family in San Francisco?

[22:14] Emily Kristen Morris: Okay, cool. What city were you in?

[22:21] Emily Kristen Morris: We were in Chicago, which is the best. Love Chicago.

[22:27] Kevin Bianchi: Wow. Wow.

[22:27] Emily Kristen Morris: You know, people say like your debut, it's a it's a moving train, and you're hopping on and you might black out, but you're gonna get through it. And you know, I actually didn't experience that at all. It was very calm. I was able to really I think that I just knew with who this role is, and who I want my Elphaba to be. I couldn't be living up here and flighty and bubbly. And I needed you to strike me as a very grounded person.

[22:50] Quincy Brown: Thank you.

[22:50] Emily Kristen Morris: Oh, that's a very sweet thing to say. Thank you. I try to be. But yeah, yeah, I wanted Elphaba to feel grounded. And so I needed Emily to feel grounded. Which I is definitely like one of the things that I do, even when it's last minute, even when I didn't expect to go on that day or whatever, like that is something I check in with myself about very intentionally, because I want that to be part of who she is. So it was but it was a really like beautiful, awesome time. And it was a two show day my first time on.

[23:28] Kevin Bianchi: And you did both shows?

[23:28] Emily Kristen Morris: Oh, my God. And the show the next day, actually, I had three in a row, which was such a blessing.

[23:35] Quincy Brown: Oh, my God.

[23:35] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah, such a blessing. I mean, I feel like I learned so much. And then all the pressure isn't on that, like one performance that you do you get?

[23:39] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, right.

[23:39] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. Mm hmm.

[23:47] Quincy Brown: Yeah, it was a really big, like, thank you moment. I was really thankful it worked out that way.

[23:52] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Well, especially too, we were talking to Mary Kate recently about how as a standby, it's nice because you get a note and then you have a while to work on it and implement it on your own, which is nice in some ways, but then in others to get to go on for the first time and have two immediate chances to say, Oh, let me let me try to tweak that. Or let me adjust here.

[24:14] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. And kind of get an immediate second go at it must be so.

[24:21] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[24:21] Emily Kristen Morris: Yep. Did you get any notes in that first initial round of performances?

[24:26] Emily Kristen Morris: Mm hmm. I mean, we get notes every time. Yeah, we're are, you know, they're, they're definitely very good about noting us. Yeah, after the show and before the matinees. Yeah, I met with PSM and I think, probably. Also with our MD.

[24:38] Quincy Brown: Yeah. If this feels like the right moment, then to talk about like not seeing yourself as an alphabet originally.

[24:44] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. Because also, I feel like recently, you and I have spoken because you posted a picture in your story, I think from like auditioning for Elle Woods.

[24:49] Kevin Bianchi: Oh, my gosh, like, okay, but wait, the Emily Kristen Glinda that I didn't know I needed until now.

[24:53] Emily Kristen Morris: And at that point, you said that you felt like you probably could tackle either.

[24:59] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, I'm curious, like the journey from not feeling like either to now being like, yeah, I could do both if you need me to.

[25:04] Emily Kristen Morris: I actually think that that is what it's been. It's like, Oh, I think I could really fit into either of these. Right? And it's been a realization. Well, no, I think. I think literally in college, there was a moment where I like, polled my friends. I was like, because I was so distraught.

[25:24] Quincy Brown: Everybody put your heads down.

[25:32] Emily Kristen Morris: Because at the time I was doing, I was doing this like summer stock, you know, contract. And we had this like cabaret and they had given me popular. And I was like, I'm stressed. Just because I know that like, I fit in the world. I knew that I loved the music. I knew that I fit in the world of this show. And I wanted, you know, I wanted to figure it out. So anyway, yeah, all that to say, I think that for a long time, it's been like, I think I could do both, which makes me feel like I'm probably not specific enough to do either.

[26:02] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, you know, interesting.

[26:02] Emily Kristen Morris: Like the girls who know that they're alphabets and the girls who know that they're Glinda's aren't Glinda's. And those are the people that are going to book, you know?

[26:11] Kevin Bianchi: Right.

[26:11] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So you recently celebrated being 10 years cancer free. Congratulations.

[26:18] Kevin Bianchi: Congratulations.

[26:25] Emily Kristen Morris: Something that struck me in that video you made was you talked about the scar and relating that to Elphaba. That I thought was really fascinating and like an interesting way into the character. Can you talk a little bit about it?

[26:37] Emily Kristen Morris: Oh, yeah. Um, yeah. Well, okay. So to connect that to what we were just talking about all this to say, like, I, I think the reason so long, I was wondering if I was, you know, more of a Glinda or whatever, it's just because of like, looks, just just being whatever, blonde, curly hair, not feeling angular and witchy and moody and dark enough, right? All that to say, I relate so much with Elphaba. So, so, so, so, so much. I know exactly what it is to be pointed at and stared at and asked about a skin abnormality.

[27:20] Kevin Bianchi: And yeah, yeah.

[27:20] Emily Kristen Morris: So I mean, when I when this all went down, and when I was diagnosed with cancer, like this was, I remember my doctor was like, you know, it's gonna be a quick little surgery, you're gonna have like a little scar, it's gonna be, you know, maybe a centimeter right here. And I was like, Okay, like, I hope it doesn't, you know, affect my ability to, to live out my dream. And, and then I woke up with this huge scar because, yeah, long story short, there was just a lot more cancer than they thought. And I mean, thank God, right? Rather have a scar than but right. But yeah, for years, um, I was really wondering if anyone would want me cast me love me all the things. And so yeah, there's that line in the middle of a one short day where she's like, nobody's staring, nobody's pointing.

And that that feels very, very close to home. Because what people don't realize is that, oh my God, it's constant, you guys, it's constant, even to this day. And now it doesn't affect me in the way it did when I was 18. But yeah, what what do we need to do to like make a PSA? Like, hey, maybe we don't comment and ask strangers about their scars, because it's it's not going to be a happy story. You're asking them to like scars or scars? What? Oh, man.

[28:39] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[28:39] Emily Kristen Morris: So and these days, it really Yeah, it's fine. But um, I know what I mean that that first scene in she's when she is coming to grips with what this first year of school is going to be and everyone's staring at her and like, I just I really know what that is.

[29:00] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah, yeah.

[29:00] Emily Kristen Morris: Well, because you went through this part of your life, like between high school and college, right?

[29:05] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah.

[29:05] Emily Kristen Morris: So like, literally, you know, that first day of school.

[29:13] Kevin Bianchi: Oh my God.

[29:13] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. Yep. Crazy. Can we talk a little bit about you finding your voice after that surgery? Because you came out of it with a paralyzed vocal.

[29:49] Emily Kristen Morris: I was paralyzed. I woke up and I have audio recordings. I'm a voice teacher, so I'm going to get nerdy about this, but no cord closure. Tons of air leaking through. Couldn't find any chat voice. About a range of five notes. So where do you even begin with that? I was a terror! I was a terror! I have written letters to my SLP, speech language pathologist, since being like, I'm sorry. Because I was on a rampage. I was like, problem, how do we fix the problem? I have to go to CCM in three months. Yeah, I got two months to do this. Yeah, so it was a lot of voice therapy. It was a lot of luck. So this happened, you're booked into a BFA program already, and this happens? Yes, yes. Oh my god. And you didn't take a year off or anything.

You did this in the summer. Work. Work. No, no, I don't know about that. You better push that recovery. Well, yeah, so we didn't know. We didn't know. I was, yeah, they found a lump right before my senior prom. I had just gotten into my dream school after the whole college audition process, which is such hell in so many ways. But anyway, I had gotten in. I had gone to our accepted students week, and I had met my classmates, and I was just so excited. And then I was diagnosed. And the thing about thyroid cancer is it's super slow growing, which is a good thing. But I had had it for maybe 10 years when they found it. And so it was like, well, it's been here for a while, but let's get rid of this.

Let's get you into surgery. And I was like, yeah, let's get me into surgery, because I got to go do my training. I got to go. It's like an 18-year-old mentality. Yeah, yeah. Just get it all done. Literally. And then that curveball hit about the voice of it all. And we didn't know, because the thing about nerve damage is there's no timeline. There's no way to speed it up. But were you told at the time that there was a path to recovery from this? Yes and no. Okay. It was really scary. It was not clear. Like a path, but not a guaranteed result. Not a guarantee, and no sense of if and when it came back. Would it sound like me? Would my years of working on this instrument be evident? Would I know my instrument?

Were you thinking you were going to have to drop out of school? Yeah, I was wondering. Yeah, but I do think I attribute it to a really good vocal therapist. Really good. The whole team was just so good. But then I think I was just young, and my body bounced back quickly. Was your interest in coaching and pedagogy there before your surgery and recovery? Or did that come after? I think that peaked it. I think that peaked it. I think that I was in so much hell and so much trauma of it all, but there was this small part of me that was like, can I see that scope again? What does it look like? Wait, what do I need to do to make it function better? Yeah, totally. There was a little bit of a voice nerd in there already for sure.

[33:00] Quincy Brown: Okay, so voice nerd. One thing that we hear from all of the Elphabas, not all, a majority of the Elphabas, is that it's not necessarily the singing of the role that will get you, it's the yelling that you have to do while you're acting. Right. I agree. How do you navigate yelling in a healthy manner? Completely agree. Yeah, I don't know. In some ways I think I'm still figuring it out, but I do like, you know, of course vocal health comes first, but I do think that it does need to be that. I don't want to see an Elphaba who isn't. I've always thought of Elphaba as like kind of, especially Act II Elphaba, it's kind of Shakespeare, it's kind of Greek theater, right? It's big. It's huge. And it's also deeply felt.

But, yeah, the highs and the lows have to be there and the stakes have to be there. And so I don't want to cheapen it ever. So I, yeah, I mean I think I'm really grateful to the voice knowledge that I have because it's helped for sure. But, yeah, I do go there because I think it's really important. Do you do like a speech warmup in addition to a singing warmup of any kind? If I have time. If you have the time. Sure, sure, sure. Yeah. I worked with somebody, an awesome SLP, speech language pathologist, when I booked this job specifically on the speaking element of it because I just wanted to get really intentional about it. But, yeah, I think that what people don't realize is like speaking and singing at its best should be really similar.

We never want singing to feel too sing-y, especially in musical theater, and we certainly don't want speech to sound, you know, yeah. So it's I think that smart singers, and I'm sure that Elphaba's, you know, find this to be true, that like it's not that different.

[35:21] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. That's been helpful. All right. So are you a wizard and I, defying gravity, or no good deed Elphaba? It can mean whatever you want it to mean. All we ask is that you explain why. I'm so strict. Okay. Oh, God. I've been like, ever since you guys emailed me, I've just been like, what am I going to say? Because I think the truth of it is that it changes. Especially going some time in between. Oh, my God. Yeah. As the standby. Yeah. It just changes. I think the thing that feels the most consistently just like, oh, I'm in my body. I feel dropped in. I know who this person is. This feels so good. I love what I do. You know, just that consistently is defying gravity for sure.

[36:14] Quincy Brown: Yeah. Well, okay, so when I thought you weren't going to give us an answer, I was going to say that you were defying gravity, because we've been talking so much about a grounded Elphaba, and to me that defying gravity is that moment.

[36:26] Emily Kristen Morris: Yeah. Yep. But sorry, please give your explanation.

[36:29] Quincy Brown: Yes, yes. No, no, but yes. That said, I find myself most inspired by, thrilled by, scared by all the things no good deed. I love no good deed. I love that moment, but it's also the scariest for me. I know that a lot of people say the hardest thing for them is wizard. And I, I think for sure the hardest I, and it's, it's, these days it's actually feeling quite good, but it took the longest. Your things I've never felt is clean. It sounds so good.

[37:05] Emily Kristen Morris: Thank you. That's good. But yeah, the one that felt scariest and hardest for a long time was definitely no good deed. That said, it's also the most rewarding. It's the most rewarding moment of the show.

[37:19] Quincy Brown: Well, Emily, this has been so much fun. Thank you for coming on.

[37:22] Emily Kristen Morris: Oh, you guys. Oh, I'm so thankful and grateful. And I love what you guys do. And thank you for sharing all your wealth of knowledge about this show and it's yeah. Seriously. You guys are so great.

[37:36] Quincy Brown: Thank you.

[37:37] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Quincy, that was really fun. I'm so glad we got to talk to her.

[37:44] Quincy Brown: So delightful.

[37:45] Kevin Bianchi: She is really sweet. I really love to have her perspective. Cause she, we haven't had many people on during their standby role and it's like, they're very, like she's still very early in her journey and she, her wicked journey. She has a lot of like preparation work of the show to speak to. But like she, I think I can't remember if she said this on mic or to us after, but there's only a handful of times that she's actually gone on. So it was interesting to talk to her with so much like thought work, but not necessarily having figured out her alphabet yet.

[38:22] Quincy Brown: When it is worth noting, after we interviewed her, she did have a string of going on, which was exciting.

[38:29] Kevin Bianchi: She did.

[38:30] Quincy Brown: Yeah. Having this conversation with her. I also think it's interesting to talk to her and Mary Kate Morrissey in such close proximity because they're both standbys at different points in their wicked journey. So hearing how each of them approached a standby contract with wicked was very fun and fresh and cool.

[38:49] Kevin Bianchi: I agree. I agree. And so different. The experience on tour and on Broadway too.

[38:55] Quincy Brown: Right. It was cool to highlight. After speaking to them both, I have this newfound clarity of like, Oh yes. And I don't even know if this is something they specifically said or if this is just something I'm gleaned through talking to them is like, on standing by on Broadway, I can see being a much more enjoyable situation or a much more conducive situation to normal life because you're kind of at home base and you can like live your life still and then also be doing the standby thing. But I can see standing by on tour as being much more isolating because you're picking up and traveling from place to place. So you're kind of just consistently alone within the company that you're traveling around with. And with no Glinda standby to, to like do it with, you know, why don't they have a Glinda standby on tour? Who do we have to get on to talk about that?

[39:38] Kevin Bianchi: I know. That is weird to me. I wonder.

[39:41] Quincy Brown: Yeah. I don't know why Glinda doesn't have a standby. You know what I did think was really cool though, is when she was saying how she actually felt her most comfortable those first couple of times that she went on as standby. And it was kind of because she didn't have time to think about getting things wrong. And she was just like giving herself the grace that it wasn't going to be perfect. And I think that's so interesting because it's, I'm sure that's a fairly common experience that, you know, these, these ladies have. And it's interesting, I guess the challenge to like harness that, that feeling or that like grace that you give yourself. And how do you then carry that with you through your whole run?

[40:26] Quincy Brown: Kevin, before we wrap up, we have some exciting news that I am tickled pink and green to share with the listeners. We are bringing back the green circle. We are launching our Patreon. We are very excited to be doing so we're doing it in two tiers. The first tier $5 a month, just like last time gets you close friends, which gets you early guest announcements. You get to help us plan episodes and come up with questions for guests.

[40:54] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. And so we're going to do a sweep of our current close friends. Cause a lot of you are grandfathered in on Instagram from the last green circle. We're starting fresh.

[41:01] Quincy Brown: We're starting fresh. And then there's going to be a second tier that's $10. And the second tier gets all of that plus on the Patreon, there's going to be many bonus episodes. There's going to be early access to our regular episodes and super, super excited to start doing this extended versions of every episode.

[41:23] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. Cause we record for much longer than I would say the final edit happened much longer. And we just like cut out like extraneous stories or off the record stuff. And the off the record stuff will still stay out of the extended. But there's going to be, you're just going to get more. If listening to this podcast is something that is really fun for you, you're going to get more. You're going to get some extra minutes of fun.

[41:48] Quincy Brown: That wasn't a great.

[41:49] Kevin Bianchi: And I would recommend it's okay. It's okay. And I would recommend going and making sure you're signed up now because our next episode is such an exciting guest. And you are definitely going to want to be hearing that extended cut.

[42:06] Quincy Brown: Yes. If all goes according to plan. But yeah, if we end up booking this guest, I could see us talking for a very long time with her because there's like a lot to talk about.

[42:16] Kevin Bianchi: Yes. Remember when we started this podcast and you would always be like, we've got some really exciting stuff coming up and we would have nothing.

[42:23] Quincy Brown: Oh, I always feel like we had like, and I would always be so unconfirmed. I'd be like, Quincy don't promise them things.

[42:29] Kevin Bianchi: Yeah. We've swapped. Look at how we've grown as people.

[42:32] Quincy Brown: I know. So subscribe on Patreon, join us on Patreon. If you're looking for a free way to support the pod, open up whatever app you're on right now. Give us a rating, give us a review and any of those things that you do handprint on our heart. You know, we are thankful for all of you.

[42:52] Kevin Bianchi: Thanks.

[42:53] Quincy Brown: Okay. Thank you. Bye.

[42:59] Quincy Brown: 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.

[43:40] Kevin Bianchi: And I'm Kevin.

[43:45] Quincy Brown: Whoever's styling Disco Idina, I want you to style me. She looks incredible.