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[0:06] Gordon Cox: Welcome to Stagecraft, Variety's Theater Podcast, bringing you backstage and behind the scenes with the stars, creators, and industry leaders on Broadway and beyond.

[0:16] Gordon Cox: I'm your host, Gordon Cox.

[0:19] Gordon Cox: A musician who's about to make her Broadway debut as the composer of the original score for the new revival of Macbeth, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.

[0:19] Gordon Cox: Gaelynn Lea is a singer-songwriter and violinist whose breakout came when she won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest in 2016.

[0:35] Gordon Cox: Since then, she's gone on to become not only a successful touring musician, but also a prominent advocate for the disabled and for accessibility in the arts.

[0:45] Gordon Cox: Lea was born with a genetic condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, and she's a wheelchair user who's arriving on Broadway at a time of increased awareness of the accessibility issues and inequalities in every area of the business.

[1:01] Gordon Cox: After all, it was just three years ago in 2019 that Ali Stroker became the first wheelchair user to be nominated for a Tony Award and the first to win one.

[1:10] Gordon Cox: Now Lea is in the virtual studio with me to tell us about making music, breaking barriers, and why theater is kind of her family business.

[1:28] Gordon Cox: So it sounds like this job working on a Broadway show found you rather than the other way around. Tell me a little bit about that.

[1:34] Gaelynn Lea: Yes. Uh well, so I'm a musician, of course, and I've been before the pandemic, I was a touring artist full-time, and then did a lot of online stuff, but out of the blue, um, last summer, I got an email um from the production team, and they just said we were interested in uh seeing if you want to score a Broadway show, and they didn't tell me which one it was or anything, and I said, of course I'd be interested in talking about it. Um, and they set up a phone call I didn't realize at the time with Sam Gold, the director, and um he told me more about the show, and it was just like, of course I will do that. But I mean it's it's actually my first full score in like in this kind of um like theater setting.

I did a live soundtrack to a film one time, but that was just like a weekend engagement. This very different than a Broadway performance uh that's gonna run all summer. So it was definitely a big challenge, but it felt like I couldn't say no, it would be, you know, it's just a great learning experience. It's been really fun.

[2:37] Gordon Cox: And once when you were first talking to Sam, he told you he knew the play, he told you who was in it, like what was what was the pitch? What did he tell you? And what was the um the mood that he was hoping to uh create with the music?

[2:52] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah, the pitch was basically that he there's a track on one of my more recent albums. Uh the album's called Learning How to Stay, and the track is uh instrumental fiddle tune, like it's traditionally uh Finnish traditional tune, and um, but I kind of play it a very different way, kind of like it's a full band, sounds sort of apocalyptic. It's very intense and uh really dark. And he said that that was sort of the soundtrack he was envisioning for Macbeth, and so he heard it on the subway one day and thought this would be so cool to be able to get live, you know, or not live, I'm gonna be pre-recorded, but to have music with the action on the stage. And so we started talking. Um, to be honest, I'm not, you know, this I live in Minnesota, northern Minnesota, so a lot of the things in terms of like who is in the play or like what else is going on in Broadway, I wasn't really connected to that.

So it was really about like this music would fit and does that sound fun to you, and that was uh definitely um like the more I thought about it, I had to think about it for a second because it was so out of the range of what I was planning to do for the next year. Um but it was like, well, of course I should definitely try that. It's a cool experience, so I do not regret it. So that's good.

[4:16] Gordon Cox: Yeah. And that was uh it actually leads me into my excuse me, next question, which was what did you know about Broadway? Had you been to a Broadway show, what was the like what was your impression of what Broadway is and how it works?

[4:28] Gaelynn Lea: Um no, I have not been to I mean, this will be my first Broadway show. Um, you know, I've been to a lot of theater. My parents owned a little theater company in Duluth, but it's obviously not Broadway, and so um I just I don't know. I I didn't really know what to expect, I guess. To be honest, I I figured um it would just be a massively bigger version of all the other kinds of plays that I've seen, and for the most part that is true. I mean, it's fun because it is also just a play. So being in rehearsals, you're seeing people rehearse theater, and in in that way it's it's like any other kind of theater, and that's really cool. But but what I haven't seen yet, I mean tech starts next week. I haven't seen the theater and I haven't seen all the special effects, and like it's just it's gonna be really cool to see such a large scale production um and have my music be a part of that. It'll be really fun.

[5:24] Gordon Cox: Yeah. Was Macbeth the play meaningful at all to you? Did you know it or like it or dislike it?

[5:30] Gaelynn Lea: I mean, I like Shakespeare. Um, but then the more he described it, it's cool. It's you know, he's obviously making it his own, and so a lot of the preconceived ideas you would have about what a Shakespearean soundtrack would be like is not the case, you know what I mean? Like I there's modern sounding instruments and effects and stuff because it's not meant to be stuck um in Shakespeare's time. Like that's not really it's really fun to fit the vibe of what's happening on stage, but not have to be constrained by um this is what people are expecting when they see Shakespeare, you know.

[6:09] Gordon Cox: And how and when in the production will the music be used? Is it underscoring or like played during scene changes or all of the above?

[6:16] Gaelynn Lea: It's all of the above. It you know, we both kind of started out. Um he gave me a list of cues and I read the script and wrote some ideas for where there could be music, and then we came together and kind of talked it through and I had a list of about 50 different places where music could come in, and I don't think it'll all end up being exactly where we are, you know, envisioned when um when we first talked, but it's there's a lot of music and it kind of it kind of just flows throughout, which is cool. I mean, um, as far as I know, when you see it in April, it'll be a big part of what sets the mood um for different scenes, and there's a little bit of singing, which is cool. Um that wasn't something we were talking about right when we started, but it kind of develops that way. So um it's fun. And then there's a band, so it's me on my violin.

[7:09] Gaelynn Lea: Um be recorded. Is it all recorded?

[7:12] Gaelynn Lea: Entirely recorded. Yeah, it is. Um, yep. And so um there's a band, so I recorded all the parts in Duluth and then sent it off to I have three people that I'm working with that are just really talented and subtle. And I said, I don't want it to sound like a guitar solo, I want it to sound like an atmospheric piece, and so they all did a really good job of just building the sound out a little more so it doesn't sound all just like a violin scoring a piece. So it's really fun.

[7:40] Gordon Cox: And does this recording uh elements of this recording have to be able to be manipulated on the fly in the case of something taking too long or longer than it usually does, etc.? Like is that something you factor in?

[7:56] Gaelynn Lea: Yes, that has been the biggest learning part, but it's good. I'm so glad that this is my like I bet I've had this experience now. Um basically, as you know, I had the audio for the first read-through, and so which you know, they had been rehearsing for a couple weeks and and then they had a read-through, and so um it was pretty you know, on pace, but on the stage, it just is different, and it's gonna be different every night. And so I started thinking about how can I create like a bed of sound first, and then different like a bed of sound first and then different cues that can be pressed to come in whenever the word that I want it to happen are so I kind of as I was thinking about it, I asked my band to create um different ambient tracks in the right keys for each theme.

There are themes throughout the the play, and so I kind of weave those in and out so that there's always something underneath when I'm scoring, but but it should theoretically feel pretty in sync with what's happening on stage because of the way we've broken it up. I mean it's pretty massive because it's kind of a tempting to have a live band sound without a live band. But um, but I think it's gonna work. I mean, like we're trying it out in rehearsals, and um as I as I'm getting farther along, so I'm still in the mixing process right now. Um the the engineers sending me those little broken up parts as separate files, and and we're working them in to the play, so it's pretty it's pretty cool, but it was uh daunting to think about how am I gonna make this feel live because I didn't want it to just be all boring, I mean sorry, but you know, all just background like ambient stuff. I wanted it to feel like it was going along with the story, and so that's kind of how we worked it out.

[9:44] Gordon Cox: Yeah. And how would you describe the sound of this show versus how you would characterize the sound of the music that you write for yourself to perform?

[9:54] Gaelynn Lea: Um, you know, a lot of my songs um are folk y, like my you know, I'm a folk songwriter. Um, but the instrumental stuff I do, I wouldn't say it's a far cry from that, actually. Um I started out learning how to loop with Alan Sparhawk of the band Lowe. Um he lives in Duluth too, and so we had a project for many years together, and sometimes we still get to do stuff uh occasionally, but he taught me about looping and gave me my first looping pedal, and I practiced for a bunch of years, and those things, a lot of what I did is I would reinterpret traditional fiddle tunes, but a lot of the sounds that I'm drawn to are not far off from where we're headed with Macbeth. Um although it's different because it's just underscoring, so it definitely I have little melody lines for each main theme or character, however you want to think about it, um, that keep recurring, but a lot of it has to do with how do you make each time it comes in sound a little bit different. So it's definitely different than an album or songwriting. Way different than that, but um but it's fun.

[11:06] Gaelynn Lea: And the the songs that are in there um with singing I would say um like are pretty characteristic of my vibe.

[11:14] Gordon Cox: So are are there any moments when the characters sing?

[11:18] Gaelynn Lea: Occasionally Shakespeare writes songs. I can't think of any in Macbeth but there might be some that I'm forgetting. I don't know.

[11:24] Gaelynn Lea: That I mean I think that's kind of TBD. Um so I can't give you a direct answer on that.

[11:30] Gaelynn Lea: Um yeah I I know there you know it has to be all by the books with the union and stuff so I don't know.

[11:35] Gordon Cox: Right.

[11:36] Gaelynn Lea: I'll let you'll find out when you watch it.

[11:38] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[11:39] Gaelynn Lea: Um and so how much do you anticipate the music being revised and reworked in advance of the opening?

[11:48] Gordon Cox: You start previews on the 29th and then you'll you know get the experience of well first you'll go through tech and then start previews on the 29th and see how the music works with audiences. How how much do you expect work to continue and evolve?

[12:01] Gaelynn Lea: I'm assuming that it will um you know it's already evolved quite a lot. Like there's a lot of sections that were separate and now they're all connected with different underscoring and then I'm going into the studio tomorrow and Saturday to do a couple cues that didn't exist before. Um and then when we see it live, I'm sure things will get reworked or moved or possibly cut. I mean it's a you know it really has to support what's on stage because obviously you don't want to be doodling over Daniel Craig and making it hard to hear anything. And so um but the but you know the way I did it is everything I sent to Sam, he gave me the go ahead to send to the band. So he's heard it all. And so I think we're not starting from like a complete unknown place.

Um I'll be curious. I wasn't actually supposed to be at a lot of the previews, but I think I am going to come back because I'm here until opening night. Um I think I will probably kind of pop in a few different times and then take notes and see if anything needs to be moved around. It'll be I'm really curious how the audience responds. So far among the casts and the creative team it's been a really positive response and they said that it really supports what's happening but it's so different. But we're in a little rehearsal space and the big um theater is gonna really change the vibe I think of what happens.

[13:22] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[13:23] Gaelynn Lea: Um I wonder if we could talk a little bit more about your background. You mentioned that uh your parents owned a theater company. Tell us a little bit about that and your memories of that time and of what theater was for you then.

[13:34] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah. Well I mean theater is a huge part of my family. It's just it's funny to be involved again because I hadn't really for a while but um my parents met in a play. They met in Brady Dune. Um and then I was born shortly after that and then they did plays um you know all the time when I was growing up and I actually did my first play um when I was seven I or not even because I couldn't read yet. My dad recorded my lines. I did a Mark Twain monologue. Um and he recorded my lines on a cassette tape and I listened to them and memorized them that way. And so plays, you know, I did a lot of children's theater and they when I was 10 opened a dinner theater which mostly did like small scale musicals and murder mysteries and then some smaller casts like regular plays.

So they kind of had a gamut um and and that was a big part of growing up because they they would go down to this theater which was on the third floor of like a place that had a bunch of shops and a hotel and a bunch of different stuff. And so we like kind of grew up there like when I you know they'd bring us to rehearsal instead of getting a babysitter and we would we'd hang out and run. I mean all the people in the stores knew us like their own children probably and then we we would take like naps before they you know because they take forever to rehearse so we'd sleep on the floor and um with these little mats that we brought with us and so we and then we ushered I did lights.

[15:06] Gaelynn Lea: Oh wow I put you to work I mean I guess that's what the parents did and then I uh I I wrote the I wrote a murder mystery for them once and I also did a couple of the shows I was in the band for a couple of them so like it was very much a part of our family's uh fabric or whatever so it's really fun and then after high school I did my last play senior year of high school I was in a Shakespeare play. I don't even remember which one it was so don't it wasn't Macbeth for sure. Um it was a comedy and um and then I didn't do any theater ever again. So um it's you know I would go to my parents' plays but they retired maybe five or six years ago now. So um yeah so it's just a really weird like full circle moment to be back and in such a different capacity with nothing in between. It's like whoa it's it's fun but very surreal.

[15:59] Gordon Cox: And you uh rather than work on theater you you sort of devoted yourself to music it sounds like.

[15:59] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah I mean I I liked theater but I mean it is a huge commitment and I didn't I mean I wasn't like the world's best actress or whatever and when I started performing it gives you the same kind of energy at least it does for me where you feel very alive and in the moment and and you're connecting with the audience but it's just I don't know music was just kind of the way that I felt I don't really drawn to that. So when I started performing I was glad that I found it because I you know I was in an orchestra all the way from fifth grade and through high school and stuff and then I would do fiddle jams but when I started performing as a an artist who sings and you're on a stage and it's an audience that that kind of like filled the void I think of where theater had had been such an important part of growing up. Because I did a lot of plays. I mean I probably was in like 16 or 17 plays um before high school ended. So it wasn't like a small part of growing up and this kind of filled that area for me.

[17:07] Gordon Cox: I'll have more with Gaelynn right after the break.

[17:16] Gordon Cox: And now here's more with the musician Gaelynn Lea.

[17:25] Gordon Cox: Do you feel like your own music is theatrical in any way and that the theatricality as factors into your own work?

[17:33] Gaelynn Lea: You know what's funny is I never thought that and I but I had been told that a lot of times like um even the songs that I sing, you know, obviously I kind of thought, oh, the background or like the instrumentals.

[17:46] Gordon Cox: Right.

[17:47] Gaelynn Lea: There's a few that I'm like, that would be cool if to see in a film or whatever. But the singing songs, um, I've been like, you should write a musical. Like I've heard people tell me that before, and I guess it probably they probably are. They're not like long ballads. They usually do yeah, I guess they probably are theatrical, but I don't know why. I mean, I guess just growing up, I mean, I grew up around a lot of short tunes and stuff, so I suppose everything just kind of shapes the way you write. So it's it's cool to have this experience because who knows what I'll do next now. And it's been kind of fun to think about different ways to use music and and like having it be in a play or a soundtrack of a film or whatever, like it's a different you're not performing it live, so it's a little bit different, but it's not less it feels so creative.

I mean, it's been really fun to make have this roadmap of a script and like try to really how do you support that moment and then getting in the room with the director and seeing where your ideas aligned and where they were maybe not the same. You know, like that it's just it's been really creative and fun, so I definitely want to do something like this again someday, I think. It's been really cool.

[18:57] Gordon Cox: Do you have a favorite musical? Were there shows that uh you grew up with that were particularly uh meaningful to you?

[19:04] Gaelynn Lea: Um, well, you know, my parents uh they did the all night strip when I was pretty little, and it's it's like a musical review of the forties. So I've been really into big band music like my whole life basically. And then for me personally, I was obsessed with Way Mizerab when I was thirteen. Um, like obsessed at the soundtrack.

[19:26] Gordon Cox: Oh, really?

[19:26] Gaelynn Lea: Okay, good. I was like, I don't know if that's normal, but no, oh yeah.

[19:29] Gordon Cox: Oh yeah.

[19:30] Gaelynn Lea: So that that's the probably the most uh memorable or like impactful musical for me. Um and then we, you know, I I don't know if we actually like saw a lot of the music. I mean, we saw these little ones that my parents did, but it wasn't like the big full cast ones, but we were around the show tunes because they would go perform like a musical review at different parties and stuff, and so I grew up around those songs, but I can't tell you like that's from this play. Oh yeah, that's from this play. So I have a lot of those songs in my brain, but not with a lot of context.

[20:03] Gordon Cox: Yeah, yeah.

[20:05] Gaelynn Lea: Um, you're also a disability advocate and an advocate for accessibility in the arts. And what's your impression of Broadway right now in terms of its accessibility?

[20:15] Gaelynn Lea: Um, I mean, I think I'm lucky because Sam really cares about that, you know. Um, I think he has some personal experience with disability in his life, and um, and he's just done a good job from what I've read, you know. I I didn't know who he was when he asked, of course, because I felt so bad, but they didn't even tell me I was talking to him, like they I thought I was talking with the producers on our first call. So when he answered, I was like, oh, so then after our call, I was Googling and I was like, uh yes, it was bad, but um he knows that, so I can't I feel okay saying that in real life, but he, you know, I'm not a New Yorker, so what are you gonna do? Um, but he you know, he's incorporated disability in ways that I don't think are super common, at least from what I understand in Broadway, or maybe it's moving towards that.

Um, and so every time I've had an a question about accessibility, they've already thought of it, which is really cool. But I can't say that I know anything about if that's normal um on Broadway, you know.

[21:11] Gaelynn Lea: Um, I really want to see my dream, and this is something that I grew up around, and I guess I've never really talked about it, is we did this thing in Duluth, which kind of ahead of its time in the late 80s, early 90s. So I was in a lot of these plays called Access Theater, and half the cast was disabled and half the cast wasn't, and um, and then the coolest part to me is they had ASL interpreters, but my dad was the director of a bunch of those plays, and he and it wasn't for children, it was like adults. I was one of the only kids in the cast a lot of times, but um he would have the ASL interpreters kind of mirror, like follow the characters around on stage so that you weren't just looking off to the side, and um, and so they would be wearing black still.

Um, but they would be there would be two of them and they'd be kind of offset playing playing different characters, and so in like my dream world, stuff like that would happen. And I don't, I mean, that's not probably gonna happen in this play, and I don't I know they're gonna have some interpreted plays, so that's cool. Um but I just I think it's really fun to think about how can you be creative with accessibility in a way that's like above and beyond or like maybe not done all the time. Um that'd be my dream. But so far, every time I've had a question about like, well, is this gonna happen? Is that gonna happen? Is this gonna be accessible? Um the answer has always been yes. So that's really cool.

[22:34] Gaelynn Lea: Um, but I mean, I gotta say, in the music industry more generally, that's often not the case. And they're learning at a very I mean, um, I've been part of a disability group uh that I helped found called Ramped, it's recording artists and music professionals with disabilities, and we've actually been working with the recording academy to talk about how to make the Grammys more accessible, um, like on screen and off.

[23:00] Gaelynn Lea: And they're, they're, I mean, I gotta give them credit. They've been really um open and willing to learn and excited about the possibilities. We'll see how it ends up in a couple weeks here, like what they end up being able to do. Um, but they're lurk, you know, they're learning, and it seems like everywhere is like that where it's not stuff that they already knew. And I think that that is a shame in 2022 that we just haven't talked about it enough where people literally are just like, oh, I've never thought of that. And so we should have thought of it by now, but at least there are some key players that are at least willing to start thinking about it. And that's a change that I think 10 years ago, even probably you couldn't have said was real, you know. Even when I started, you know, there most places weren't accessible, didn't have a plan to become accessible. And um, at least now a lot of places are realizing that they kind of have to start talking about it.

[23:56] Gordon Cox: Yeah, yeah, that's something that Broadway in general is thinking about, particularly not just uh in the house, but also backstage. I don't know if you've been backstage at the Longacre yet, but they're not warrants of rooms, and they're all these stairs and they're you know, it's like cramped and tight, and it's just uh it is a challenge to accessibility. And so when as you I know you've make a point of only playing accessible venues, and you've had to think sort of outside the box uh in order to do that sometimes. What are some lessons that you learned from doing that that you feel like oh, these are things that every should everybody should be thinking about in performance venues?

[24:33] Gaelynn Lea: Well, I think the first thing is that if you keep playing at inaccessible places, they aren't gonna change. So like um, I kept thinking if I just like told them about it, and then they had time to think about it the next time I would come back, they would do it, but they wouldn't. So um I think the biggest thing is that if you're a non-disabled performer, it's really important to start real like recognizing that it's not just on the disabled artist to be setting these kind of guidelines. I really would love to see a campaign of established and and beginning, it doesn't matter, but like some like some higher profile people making the same commitment because it's I mean, I'm just one person, and um obviously it would be probably more impactful if somebody with a lot more press than me made the same stance, you know.

And so um, so that's the first thing. And then the other thing is just like accessibility of the stage. I think there's this misunderstanding that as long as you can get up there, it's equal access. And like a lot of the ways people get up there is by being carried, and you just don't carry other artists on stage. That's just not actually I mean, yes, you can do the show and and and I think it's a powerful thing to just be out there doing your art, but you shouldn't have to be carried. But it took me a while to get to that point. You know, I performed for a few years really regularly, like full-time touring before I decided like I this isn't changing, and that's why I did it. I was like, it's never gonna change, I guess, if you don't start demanding things be different.

Um, but that does limit where I can play, and I think that maybe the biggest lesson I've learned is just how much people haven't thought of it and why it's important to talk about it because when people witness, like I played at the Mercury Lounge in New York City a couple years ago, and um they had said they'd get a ramp and it wasn't accessible, I mean it was not safe and way too steep, and then the bathroom wasn't really accessible, and and my green room was in the mop closet, and so like there was a lot of issues with that show. Um, and then when people find out about that, they're like, Oh, that's terrible, but they literally had no idea. Right, and I've played hundreds of shows like that, and so um I think it's just a matter of artists have to start saying stuff, and it's hard because you don't want to come off as like the pain, the pain artist or the artist that's uh complaining or whatever.

But if nobody talks about it, then like really nothing changes, and so because nobody even realizes that it's an issue, you can't fix something if you don't know it's a problem, you know. So um it's been yeah, it's been interesting to try and raise awareness because when you talk about it, people do care. I think it's just that they never had it on their radar before.

[27:21] Gaelynn Lea: So yeah, yeah, it's weird. And you've also played some unconventional venues, it sounds like you've played some churches, you've played some oh yeah, you know, places that places that are fully accessible.

[27:32] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah, well, because when I started booking, you know, I at this point in my career I'm pretty DIY, so I have a booking assistant who helps me, but I pretty much like am I pretty hands-on in what I'm doing. Um, and so before COVID, the last tour we did, I think, or maybe the last one before that was we basically called it the Unitarian Church Tour because um Unitarians are ex very accessible a lot of the times, and so at least in my experience, so we played uh me and my guitarist did like six shows at churches that time, and then we had other venues sprinkled in. Um, but accessibility um because it is a priority, there are some towns where it really there isn't really a place, and I'm not like, oh, it has to be personally at this point, maybe eventually I will, but I want to work with people who want to make it accessible.

So if everything else, like people can get in the door, they can go to the bathroom, they can see the stage. If they don't have a ramp to the stage, I'll play on the ground, but it's awkward for them. And that's so, but that's fine, because that's like the whole point is for them to think about what why am I on the ground and not on the stage? Um, but I'm not like trying to shame or belittle places. I understand that maybe they're gonna start thinking about how to get a ramp then because they couldn't the first time. Um but there are some venues that are just so far out of the realm of accessible that um it's I don't feel good playing there. So it does limit where you can play.

[28:57] Gordon Cox: So are you have you returned to playing live yet?

[29:02] Gaelynn Lea: Uh post post-shutdown, I guess. I've done a couple outdoor concerts, and I think this fall I probably will do a few. Um, but we were pretty locked out. I mean, I'm pretty small, and so before especially before the vaccine, um, I was not doing things out in public. I did like a hundred shows online at a weekly series that ran for like 18 months or whatever. [29:25] Um, but yeah, I just wasn't comfortable doing the indoor thing. And I think I probably will start uh doing some stuff in the fall. [29:33] But I I am working on a memoir, and so um it's kind of like a convenient time to just actually focus on that when I get home. I'm not working on one right now, because right now a hundred percent of my life is dedicated to this play.

But um, yeah, so we'll see. I mean, I want to get back on the road, but I also want to be safe. And I also don't want to make people put themselves at risk, especially in the disability community. Um when I do go back, I wanna think about how I can do some hybrid stuff or continue to reach those people that aren't yet comfortable going back out.

[30:08] Gordon Cox: And so you'll be in New York for the next month and a half or so, it seems like.

[30:13] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah.

[30:14] Gaelynn Lea: Um, and uh and then you go back to working on your memoir. Is that the is that what's next for you?

[30:19] Gaelynn Lea: Yep, yep. I mean, I have some gigs uh lined up in Minnesota when I get home. But yeah, primarily it'll be working on that. And then eventually I'll get to release the soundtrack of this music, which is pretty exciting. Yeah, but uh not quite yet. And then yeah, hopefully just writing music and working on that book and eventually getting back on the road when it makes sense to do that.

[30:42] Gordon Cox: And you said you might be interested in doing Broadway again, maybe sometime, something like this again sometimes.

[30:46] Gaelynn Lea: Honestly, yeah, it's been it's been such a good experience. And my recording engineer in Duluth, he's the one that recorded me ahead of time because I did a ton of recording before we left. Um, he's like, well, I didn't learn how to do all this to only do it once. Yeah, so both of us kind of feel like, well, this was a good learning curve, and like now why would we not wanna try something like that again? So I it's really fun. It's uh and the cast has been so cool. I mean, I'm not I live under an actual rock, so I'm not like a person who's seen every Daniel Craig movie or Ruth Negga movie or anything, but they're wonderful and the cast has been just really welcoming and it's a cool communal experience to be involved in a play. Um, and so it would be fun to do something like this again for sure. I've really and Sam is just like an amazing director. It's really, really fun to see this being shape up. So I yeah, I'd definitely be interested in doing this again.

[31:44] Gordon Cox: Yeah, and people are always encouraging you to write a musical. Do you have any interest? Is that a thing you would be interested in?

[31:49] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah, I mean, now that I've seen it, and now that I have you know, it kind of feels daunting, like, oh, invent a musical. But what I'm realizing is if you were to have the script in front of you, a lot of the inspiration comes from the script. I mean, like I wrote um a lot a lot of the themes are just like you think about the character and then a theme appears. And so, yeah, it's something that I think I would want to try. Not without like being scared, of course, because a lot of these are um you're like, I don't know, would it work? But I think it's important to try. And now that I kind of understand where the music comes from, it's just like the script and the inspiration of the characters. Um, I think I probably could do it. I don't know if I knew enough before to feel comfortable saying yeah.

[32:39] Gordon Cox: Great.

[32:39] Gordon Cox: Yeah. Well, we look forward to hearing the new musical when it happens.

[32:43] Gaelynn Lea: Or in the main but in the meantime, uh, we are looking forward to uh seeing hearing the music uh during Macbeth and then when we get to hear it uh in the in the cat. I'm gonna call it a cast album.

[32:54] Gaelynn Lea: I don't know what it's called.

[32:55] Gaelynn Lea: Oh, no, I guess it's a score.

[32:57] Gaelynn Lea: It's not a soundtrack. We can't call it a soundtrack, probably.

[33:01] Gaelynn Lea: But I guess you call it a score. It's yeah, yeah, it's really it's fun. I have so many plans for that because I I've just been thinking about how because I really like a lot of the people I know aren't gonna come out to New York because I'm in Minnesota, and so just thinking about how I can present it where it kind of feels like it connects to the play. I'm really excited about thinking of that, but that's definitely not now. And now I gotta just make sure everything is ready to go.

[33:26] Gordon Cox: Well, we're looking forward to hearing it. Thanks so much, Gaelynn.

[33:28] Gaelynn Lea: Thank you. Have a wonderful day.

[33:30] Gordon Cox: Yeah, thank you too.

[33:31] Gaelynn Lea: Yeah.

[33:36] Gordon Cox: That was Gaelynn Lea, the composer of the original score for the starry Broadway revival of Macbeth, starting previews at the Longacre Theater, March 29th. If you like what you're hearing on this and other episodes of Stagecraft, I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps us grow our audience of folks who love theater as much as you and I do. Or tell a friend about Stagecraft. Or give us a shout out on social media. Find past episodes and subscribe on all the pod places, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and on the Broadway Podcast Network, which is a great place to find more theater for your ears. I'll be back in two weeks with another new episode. Until then, find me on Twitter at G Cox Variety. Thanks for listening, and see you at the theater.