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[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hey everyone, and welcome back to episode 32 of Take A Bow Podcast.

[0:05] Sydney Lucas: I'm Sydney Lucas, and we have a great episode for you today.

[0:12] Eli Tokash: We have an incredible guest. She's had the most incredible career from the start and to where she is now. Her literal first audition was the first job she booked. And then her second audition ever was the second job she booked. Both of them Broadway. Um, and she is she uh has been in she was in Lion the two the 2019 um uh live action Lion King uh and she was in Us, the horror film, uh directed by Jordan Peele and uh with Lupita Nyong'o, and uh I mean she is so immensely talented and oh she was also in Hairspray Live. Come on. Uh she's done so much. I uh this is probably the most fascinating uh research experience I've ever had because I I just I her career is is uh incredible.

[1:10] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, so without further ado, I mean that was pretty pretty good. Uh without further ado, Shahadi Wright Joseph, curtain up.

[1:18] Eli Tokash: Bam bam bam bam bam. Today we have a guest who I'm sure literally anyone has seen, whether it's on the big screen, on Broadway, at home on your TV, in magazines or on billboards, you name it. She's been there. Um, this award-nominated actress is known for her work in The Lion King, Us, Hairspray Live, and so much more, and we can't wait to hear all of her stories. Uh, so welcome to Take A Bow Podcast, Shahadi Wright Joseph.

[2:06] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Hi guys, welcome. We're so honored to have you on.

[2:10] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

[2:13] Eli Tokash: We're so excited. This is like taking me back to like us all in the Lion King Theater, just like making bags and all that, Halloween costumes and all of that fun stuff.

[2:25] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I'm so excited. I really do miss like our Broadway days, us being so young and getting to work and getting to do what we love. That was probably my favorite thing about my childhood.

[2:34] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, and the Broadway park and doing like Halloween at the Lion King Theater.

[2:39] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah.

[2:39] Eli Tokash: So Shahadi, one of my favorite things about doing this podcast is hearing how each and every person gets into the business. And your start in the business was kind of insane. Um, first audition ever was the first show that you ever booked, and that was Lion King on Broadway.

[3:01] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes, it was.

[3:02] Eli Tokash: Yeah. Can you like tell us first of all how you found out about it? Uh, what the audition process was like, and like how you felt when you when you got it, when you booked it.

[3:10] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Of course. So basically, my mom was just driving one day, and she actually heard um an audition for the Lion King on the radio. And she uh she told me and my sister about it, and she was like, I mean, do you guys want to do it? Like, you know, it'll just be fun. At that time, I did not know how big Broadway really was. I I had only seen like one Broadway show. I didn't think that it was that big. So I auditioned for it, and I I tried my best, and I kept getting more and more callbacks. Um, and it was probably over the span of like six months of auditioning, and my parents were like, she's getting closer. We might actually have to do this. And then I would say, right after the summer, we got a call from Jason Styler, actually, who was the casting director, and he casted me.

And he told me that I booked it and that rehearsals will be starting in like a week. And my parents were like, oh my God. And I was like, what does that mean? I had no idea, but it was probably that's probably like my biggest accomplishment. Um, you know, I really have to give it all to the people who helped me, my family and my parents and Jason, of course, and everybody who coached me, and you know, it's been such a great ride since then. They just thought it would be just some fun experience auditioning. Little did they know.

[4:35] Sydney Lucas: Oh my god.

[4:36] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah.

[4:37] Eli Tokash: Did you like did you know that this was like something that you could possibly be doing for the rest of your life?

[4:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I mean, I always knew that I was going to be in some form of the arts because my parents, my parents own a dance studio, so um, and they're choreographers, and my mom dances for Alvin Ailey. So I always knew that I was gonna be in the arts in some way. I thought that I was gonna be like some kind of a dancer, or you know, I don't know. Um, but I did not know that I was going to become an actor, like the only actor in the family. Um, so that's great. I have a lot of help with my auditions because of my parents, and that's always great. And I have lots of coaches who can help me whenever I need it.

[5:19] Eli Tokash: That's awesome. What a cool story. Um, so then literally, your second audition you ever had. You went two for two. Uh, your second audition was through School of Rock and you originated the role of Madison. Uh, so like what was obviously like Lion King and School of Rock were very different and there were different processes, you know, like you originated the role so you opened the show. Talk about like you know you had a Broadway show under your belt but talk about like the difference in the experience and what it was like making a new show.

[5:53] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Totally. Um, well with Lion King there would be another actress and we would you know alternate roles every day so that we weren't performing you know eight shows a week. But in School of Rock they did not do that. It was just performing every single show. So of course it it was more tiring there was a lot of work that needed to be done um which I did kind of enjoy you know it it really did push me and also while I was going into School of Rock I still had my contract with Lion King. So I still had to be doing shows while going into rehearsals for School of Rock. So sometimes I would have to take off days or I would have to like run from one theater to the other and go down to 50th street from 44th. Um so that was that was a lot. I really don't know how my parents did that.

[6:38] Sydney Lucas: Yeah good for you guys.

[6:49] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um it was absolutely insane. Shout out to parents I I can't imagine how much work that must have been for all of you.

[6:58] Sydney Lucas: Yeah yeah and plus we also lived in Brooklyn. Well, we still live in Brooklyn. So that would be like what? Like an hour forty five minutes on the train.

[7:07] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, and then getting home by like midnight, maybe after a show, and then going to school in the morning by like 6 a.m. It was just insane.

[7:16] Eli Tokash: Crazy. I can't, I can't even. And the fact that you you did it just one after the other, like the first thing you ever auditioned for, you booked, and then the second thing you ever auditioned for.

[7:25] Shahadi Wright Joseph: We did not get a break.

[7:27] Sydney Lucas: Yeah.

[7:28] Eli Tokash: No breaks needed.

[7:30] Shahadi Wright Joseph: No. Good for you though. Like, that's that's pretty impressive.

[7:33] Eli Tokash: And I mean, obviously, like so. Okay, sorry. I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this. This happens all the time. My brain works way too fast. Um, so obviously, like doing that, you know, it like prepares you for like so many things, and you don't even know at the time. Um, but like you you then did like two Broadway shows, and then you kind of had an interesting transition into the film industry. Um, and you made your first on-screen appearance in Hairspray Live as little Inez. Um so obviously, like knowing that you know you had two Broadway shows under your belt, like, did it help with that process and kind of being like, oh well, I kind of know what it's kind of like, but now there's cameras in front of me and stuff like that.

[8:24] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I mean, most definitely that that did help a lot, especially with the rehearsal process. And I know that everybody used to tell me when I was younger that I would be good for the role because I don't know, like reminded them of me or something. I don't know. Um, so when I got the audition and I booked the role of Little Inez, I know that they were starting with rehearsals and all of that, and then I found out that it was going to be live, and I was like, I do live shows all the time on Broadway. We do it live. There's no going back. But usually we have another show to make up for after that. There's always another show coming up. Um, so that was a little bit nerve wracking to me because it was like, oh I can't like redo things.

I just gotta it's live. This this is only this is like my one chance. Um so that was that was a little bit nerve wracking for me. But you know I'm always performing in front of thousands of people but I usually can't see them which was the same thing that was happening during Hairspray Live. So a lot of the things that were happening were really familiar to me.

[9:24] Eli Tokash: Um and I think that I really just had to go out there and do it because that was like my only chance.

[9:29] Sydney Lucas: Yeah were you nervous for it or were you like um a pro.

[9:33] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I feel like it was a mixture of both. I mean like for my parts that I was more featured in, I was more nervous because you know everybody was going to be looking at just me or you know I always had those thoughts in my head those weird intrusive thoughts. Um but I think that in total I don't think that I could have regretted anything that happened during that show. It was fantastic and I think that that was probably one of my favorite moments in my career even though it low key like just started.

[9:52] Eli Tokash: Did you hear the audience? I I remember there being like an audience outside would you were you able to hear them?

[10:09] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I could hear them because there was like a little like mini audience in the studio.

[10:15] Eli Tokash: Oh that were actually performing so I could hear them and that actually made me feel more comfortable because that reminded me of Broadway and I had literally just finished with School of Rock so that was very it was very familiar to me.

[10:27] Sydney Lucas: Yeah you get that kind of immediate feedback whereas whereas with if you didn't have an audience, you're like, I don't know how I did it did I do it or I didn't.

[10:34] Shahadi Wright Joseph: And that's why I love like in-person auditions. I'm not like a big fan of self-cause I like to know what casting directors are thinking, you know, how they like give me notes and you know, I love that feeling.

[10:45] Eli Tokash: And I love the adrenaline, it makes me do well.

[10:47] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I'm the opposite way. I I love self-tapes because I just get to do it as many times as I want.

[10:54] Eli Tokash: No, I don't know. There's something about like doing it live where you have that like one shot and just like you gotta do it and like if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, you gotta use it, and it's like I don't know, it's totally like you said it's like an adrenaline rush when it like is all done.

[11:10] Sydney Lucas: Um but do you feel like you know, working doing a musical like on screen helped you with future on-screen projects?

[11:21] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I think so, yeah. I mean, I guess that I learned how to work around and with the camera uh when I started doing Hairspray Live, especially while dancing and performing and actually doing a musical. I feel like that was much harder than just you know, simply acting and talking to another person and like dialogue. Um so I feel like that most definitely launched my career into film and that helped me with my love of film more.

[11:46] Eli Tokash: Um so I really did enjoy that. Do you think do you think Broadway helped you at all at all with moving into film? Like, did you is there anything that's that you learn specifically from Broadway that you could take with you?

[12:00] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um whether whether it be I know I know sometimes the transition between Broadway and and TV or film can be a little jarring because they're so you have you physically have to act differently in both of them. Um, but was there was there anything that you that surprised you that the difference between the two, or was that anything you took from one to the other?

[12:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, well, during Broadway, you know, we I know that all three of us, we know that we always try to get things so perfect on the cry. And I think that that actually helped me in uh getting into film because I feel like I was really, really trying my best on each take, you know. Um I'm usually like, oh, there's no going back, you know, you can't just like fix it when in film, you literally can. You can just say, Oh, I don't wanna I don't really like that, I want to start again, I want to do this. You know, you have a lot more control and a lot more um decision making when you're in film.

[12:54] Eli Tokash: So I I did really enjoy that, and I feel like that helped me be more precise with my acting, like film acting, um, and just more accurate with what I wanted the character to be, or you know, who I wanted to portray.

[13:10] Sydney Lucas: I never thought about that. That's cool. It's a cool way to look at it.

[13:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: But it is I see that because I mean, obviously, yeah, I I don't know, like every scene you you do for film, like you do one take or one scene, you say, uh like 20 times, you know, and like you never know of those 20 times which one's gonna get used.

[13:32] Eli Tokash: So you have to be perfect like each time.

[13:34] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Which one they're gonna like more, you know. I try to make sure that I'm I like every single take because you never know what they're gonna use. Sometimes I don't like being surprised when I look at it and I'm like, oh, I didn't like that one. Oh, they used the one I didn't like.

[13:48] Eli Tokash: Right. Back back to Hairspray Live, just for a second. Um, the amount of legends you worked with in that show is just beyond insane. Because it's not only it's not only Broadway legends, not only movie legends, not only music legends. Um, you got Disney Legends too. It's so many legends. Um, you had Dove Cameron, Ariana Grande, you Kristin Chenoweth, Garrett Clayton, Jennifer Hudson. Literally, so many people. Uh first of all, what was it like meeting them? And then second of all, what was it like working with them? Do you have any cool behind the scenes stories of working with them?

[14:24] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh my gosh, totally. I mean, like, I was let's see, I was like 12, 11 at the time.

[14:30] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um when I did that. So I was really trying so hard not to like fangirl on my mom.

[14:34] Sydney Lucas: Yeah.

[14:35] Shahadi Wright Joseph: My mom was like, Don't be weird when you meet them. Please do not be weird. It was the weirdest feeling getting to like uh meet the idols that you've been watching for years. I had probably watched like the uh like what was it? Oh yeah, like the Teen Beach movie, like before that, and then I started to get to meet Garrett, and I was like, oh my gosh, you're real.

[14:58] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Like that was into me. Um, and I think that my favorite part about it was when we heard Jennifer Hudson sing, like for the first time live in the studio, and it literally sounded like a cast recording. It was absolutely insane. She's probably the most talented person that I've ever met.

[15:15] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[15:16] Shahadi Wright Joseph: That's awesome. And that's like high praise because you've met some pretty cool people.

[15:21] Eli Tokash: Because just that little list there, like, there were so many more people that you've worked with and met that we'll get to in a second. Um, but before we talk about like the movies and the TV, uh the all the movies, and um I just wanted to ask, so you most recently we we've we've talked a lot about readings on the podcast, uh recently in the past couple episodes.

[15:45] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, but you've actually just came off of doing a virtual reading of a show called School Girls or The African Mean Girls Play. Uh, and you read alongside more stars, like Cynthia Erivo and Ashley Murray and Storm Reid and so many more people. So tell us a little bit about um just a virtual project I guess and also you know like a reading and just like what you were able to learn virtually and like seeing how they work and all that.

[16:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Right. Well as you both know, you know, I go to a performing arts uh school and you know, during quarantine we all have to do our little Zoom acting projects over Zoom and it feels weird, but I've kind of gotten used to it. Um so when I found out that we were going to be doing the reading over Zoom, I was like, how is that even gonna work? Um, just with like, you know, I know that play has a lot of blocking and it has a lot of things that incorporate, you know, actually being in person. Um, so I was I was a little bit confused, but then when we started rehearsal, everything felt so natural.

[16:55] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um and I basically I know and love and have been inspired by basically everybody in that cast. So it was kind of crazy seeing them on my screen and talking to me and talking to them and th it's insane.

[17:10] Eli Tokash: Uh b also like tell us a little bit, because just for like people listening and even us, um, talk to us a little bit about the story of the show.

[17:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, well basically, um, as you guys if you've seen Mean Girls, it's basically um like that show uh like that movie, like the film Mean Girls, um, except it takes place um in a boarding school in Ghana. Um so if you let me see, who was let me try to figure out which character related to okay, so I played the character of Mercy, which was basically um Karen in Mean Girls.

[17:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh, okay so that was that was a lot of fun because I don't usually get to play roles like that. So it was I feel like it was a fun exercise for myself as well, not only just being able to um act with some of my favorite actors, but really just like a way for me to grow and stretch as an actor.

[18:02] Shahadi Wright Joseph: And now for a brief intermission to prepare for the rest of the episode. Speaking of having to uh play roles that are different from what you have ever played before let's talk about us.

[18:15] Eli Tokash: Because that was a good transition.

[18:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah.

[18:20] Eli Tokash: Thank you. Um you well you've technically played two different characters um in us and obviously from Lion King uh to School of Rock and and everything you've ever done before. Obviously that's a bit of a different kind of um definitely a lot more dramatic. Uh what what was it like um to take on a more dramatic role like that.

[18:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. I'm not gonna lie it was a little bit more challenging than I thought than I thought that it was going to be while we're on Broadway we're so like um animated and you know we're always doing the most to be honest. Like when you start getting into drama you kind of have to like do the opposite of what you've learned your entire you know Broadway career.

[19:06] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um so that was a little bit confusing for me and when I when I first got the audition we saw that it was an untitled uh Jordan Peele film. So when my dad and I read it, we were like, oh, this is gonna be insane. This is gonna be 'cause we had just seen Get Out, and we were like, oh my god.

[19:21] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. And that was oh, that's probably one of my favorite films to this day. Um so we were like, this is gonna be something different. And the sides were just so crazy because I feel like there were two different scenes, and basically one of the sides, one of the scenes was for Zora, and the other scene was uh from this other movie a long time ago, but that one was basically for my other character, Umbre, which is her doppelganger.

[19:50] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um you know, one was evil and one was normal, I guess. Um and that was that was probably the hardest audition I've ever had to do. And I will not watch it to this day. I'm not gonna watch it.

[20:01] Eli Tokash: Really?

[20:03] Shahadi Wright Joseph: You haven't watched it before?

[20:04] Shahadi Wright Joseph: No, my dad watched it while he was editing it and sending it. Um but I will not I will not watch it at all.

[20:11] Eli Tokash: Wait, your dad edited the movie?

[20:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: No, no, no, no, no.

[20:14] Eli Tokash: Oh, I was gonna say no, no, no.

[20:16] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh, oh okay, got it, got it, got it.

[20:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I was like, whoa. Um edits all of my auditions and he sends them, he sends them out to my agents, of course. Um, but I have I have not watched my audition to this day.

[20:30] Eli Tokash: Gotcha.

[20:39] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. Takes so much range.

[20:41] Eli Tokash: So so yes, it so you're pretty much acting opposite yourself, your doppelganger Umbre. Um what was it like playing two different people in the same scene? Like, how did that work filming-wise? And then also were there how did you get into both characters? Were there days where you just had to transition between both characters?

[21:00] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes, we actually had specific days and we would know a schedule which characters we would be playing. So whenever I would go into the hair and makeup trailer, they would always start either with Umbre or they would start with Zora.

[21:11] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, and while I was in the chair and getting ready, that was when I would get into character. And on the days that we were playing our doppelgangers, it was probably like really silent on set. Like nobody was talking.

[21:22] Shahadi Wright Joseph: But on the days while we were just playing the regular Wilson family, you know, um it was very lively. Everybody was talking, having fun, you know, just being our normal selves because that was the characters that we related to the most.

[21:34] Shahadi Wright Joseph: But while we were playing our evil selves, I don't think that a lot of people talk. It was like weird. It was the weirdest feeling. Um especially with Lupita, she would get into character.

[21:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: She was she's very much a method actor. So she she would get into character maybe like three hours before we would start shooting. Um I think I would get in maybe like a half hour or an hour before we would get started.

[21:57] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um so that was that was a very interesting process.

[22:01] Eli Tokash: Were there times where you were like the normal character and someone else was their doppelganger?

[22:07] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes. Um sometimes we would like split in half with the family. Like sometimes it would be me and Evan who played my little brother.

[22:17] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, and we would be our normal selves, and then uh Lupita and Winston would have been their doppelgangers, and that would be that would be very interesting because Evan and I would just be, you know, hanging around just chilling, and they would be in character, not talking or like grunting, and it was like it's crazy.

[22:36] Shahadi Wright Joseph: It was such a crazy set. But I think that what I was most shocked about is how fast we shot that, you know, with basically having to shoot everything twice, you know.

[22:46] Eli Tokash: That was kind of that was insane to me.

[22:49] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I have to ask because my mind has been thinking about it ever since you like mentioned it. Um did you ever reach out to like Dove Cameron? Because this is giving me like Liv and Maddie where she played like two characters and did you ever like ask for advice or anything?

[23:03] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I did not but that sh that would have been so cool.

[23:06] Eli Tokash: Wait a minute I know like I don't know I never even thought about that but she had been doing that for what like four years three years?

[23:14] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah and that process has always intrigued me so just like hearing you talk about it is so cool.

[23:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: She's like played every scene she's done every scene twice yeah playing Maddie and playing Liv That's crazy.

[23:32] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I did have a double um and she it was really crazy I met her on like literally the first day that I was on set on the NBC lot and her name oh yeah her name was Yindraze and she she was um she literally looked exactly like me we had the exact same build that's the same hair same height same everything and we were like oh my gosh and I originally I thought that she was like I thought that she was older than me I was like oh are you like 17 16 like how old are you because I was 13 at the time and she was like yeah no I'm 23 and I was like that's insane.

[24:10] Eli Tokash: It was that's crazy.

[24:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: That's so cool. Like how did they find you? How how did they find everybody?

[24:18] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Because everybody double looked exactly like them except for Evans because they had like they had a girl playing him for her for his double because he was so short.

[24:27] Shahadi Wright Joseph: So it was it was kind of crazy the whole thing was insane.

[24:31] Eli Tokash: No, um, d were there ever times where uh I I assume you did tutoring on set, right?

[24:38] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes.

[24:39] Eli Tokash: Were there ever times where you had to switch between both characters, but also at the same time switch out of snap out of both of them and then go into like learning mode?

[24:50] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, yeah, most definitely. Um we shot most of the movie during the summer, so I didn't have to do school for most of shooting.

[24:56] Shahadi Wright Joseph: But then we started getting into like the September shoots, which would start with you know getting into school and stuff. Um and most of my school was done basically on the beach because the uh at the end of that that was kind of cool.

[25:09] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um we were shooting all of the beach scenes, all of our vacation scenes, so that was that was really great.

[25:16] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um but usually I would start by getting into my Zora costume and everything and then I would shoot for a minute and then they would be like oh yeah school time and then I had to stop from you know crying and stuff and like get into school and it was just it was a crazy switch and sometimes your body doesn't really know you know if you're acting or not like that that kind of that kind of um what's the word that kind of switch can be so weird for your body and your mind like just spiritually that sometimes you don't even know when to turn it off.

[25:54] Shahadi Wright Joseph: So sometimes it would feel weird for the rest of the day because I just got finished from like being terrified of myself and you know crying all day and being dehydrated to like you know just being regular Shahadi. That was like the weirdest feeling for me.

[26:08] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[26:09] Shahadi Wright Joseph: It's always such a tricky thing trying to transition like from the emotional and I'm also I'm I'm sure the playing Umbre was also a challenge of its own.

[26:20] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[26:21] Shahadi Wright Joseph: But it's always such a it's such a weird and sometimes sometimes when you're when you're in doing an emotional scene and they say okay, go to school, you're like, no, I can't.

[26:30] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I like my brain doesn't have the capacity to do it right now.

[26:34] Eli Tokash: I don't know.

[26:34] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I really do need to keep working on that because that is the it's the craziest feeling. I'm like, I I don't know what to do now.

[26:42] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[26:43] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. Props to you. That process is like crazy. Just doing like a scary movie and just doing dramatic scenes in general to like doing two different characters at the same time.

[26:53] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Like all of it just like incredible.

[26:55] Eli Tokash: So like props to you.

[26:57] Shahadi Wright Joseph: You even got like nominated for awards and stuff like that for your role.

[27:01] Eli Tokash: So like it well deserved.

[27:03] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I it was so cool. Thank you so much.

[27:05] Eli Tokash: Yeah, no worries.

[27:07] Shahadi Wright Joseph: After playing young Nala in The Lion King on Broadway, uh a few years later, you got to revisit the story in the project, and you voiced young Nala in the in the live action version.

[27:20] Eli Tokash: Um and you voiced young Beyonce.

[27:24] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I mean, what the heck is this? Um how cool was that? Like you I saw that you got to meet Beyonce, like what was that first encounterment like?

[27:34] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Well, I was really hoping to meet her while we were shooting, but we all had separate scenes, so we would never actually overlap when it came to actually like being in the studio.

[27:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: So I met her at the premiere, which was still awesome. Um at any time meeting Beyonce would be great, you know.

[27:52] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I don't really care about the time of the place. But um it was it was so fantastic seeing her, and she actually she approached me first uh while I was just like standing there because I heard that she was like around and uh she was like wait, you're my you're my Nala, right?

[28:08] Shahadi Wright Joseph: And I was like, Yeah, and I was like it was so crazy, and like I think the first thing that I noticed about her was like the way that she smells she smells amazing she smells like I don't know how to explain it she smells like happiness like I that's how she smells.

[28:08] Eli Tokash: Wow that's awesome.

[28:08] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah no I mean like come on you meet Beyonce for the first time on the red carpet like what the heck like just you're already on like another like you're in another like zone just because you're already on the red carpet and it's a premiere of your movie and then you're meeting Beyonce and oh my god like that's so cool that's sorry I just had a fangirl sorry.

[28:08] Eli Tokash: No yeah we're we're kinda just we're processing it.

[28:08] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um do you like the process of like voicing a character uh like in what you do?

[28:08] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah I do like it I think that animation is something that I've always been really interested in and you know being Nala just like since Broadway and in the film like it's been such a familiar character to me that I really cannot get away from and I think that it's like it it was just such a fun process to revisit that again after you know being on Broadway and having to do that every single night um you know and then going into the film I felt like there was just like this rush that came back like from my Lion King days and being on Broadway running around the Minskoff theater it was brought back so many memories um and it was it was just it was such a great process for real.

[29:42] Shahadi Wright Joseph: What was the audition process for that like it was actually it was actually really really short.

[29:47] Shahadi Wright Joseph: That was probably my fastest audition process ever. I just sent in, I think that it was after my acting class. We got the audition and they were like, my agents were like, oh, we need this like right now, like right now, like as soon as possible. And we were already at like, where were we, like Pearl Studios or like Ripley or something? You all know where that is. And we were like, well, we have like the space right now. Let's just rent out of space really quickly and you know, try it. And I already knew the lines. I knew that I was familiar with it and the song, easy. We recorded that, and then I would say maybe a month and a half later, we got the call that I booked it. And Sarah Finn, um, she called and she was like, yeah, that was it. You got the roll, that was it. No callback, no nothing. It was just one self-tape, and I was like, oh wow, okay. And you did it kind of on the run, just out and about.

[30:39] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes. Um, that was I feel like the most stressful auditions for me are the ones that I get, and the ones that I actually like and enjoy, I don't usually book those. It's usually the ones that I don't really like, the ones that I'm never gonna watch, the ones that make me cringe, are the ones you're not like they just want me to be more comfortable.

[30:57] Eli Tokash: That's so interesting. So you said that like the lines were the same and anything, like for the movie was basically the same script as Broadway, like basically the same for real.

[31:08] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Wow. A lot of lines were so similar. It was crazy, and I was like, oh, I know this. I'm I've done this before. This seems like deja vu. When you were recording, did you ever like somehow like get into the choreography or something?

[31:22] Shahadi Wright Joseph: A little bit because I would always, you know, I would um, I would always remember the choreography, and whenever I heard the songs, I would kind of like do it in my head a little bit. But you know, we were while on Broadway, we would do just can't wait to be king, and we would be on those tall ostrich puppets all the time while doing that. So I would be doing like that sitting choreography while I was singing, just like to get into it, and it brought back a lot of memories.

[31:48] Eli Tokash: Wow. That's awesome. And now for a brief intermission to get a beverage, go to the bathroom, whatever you need. After all, we are at the theater. Well, our home theaters. But you get to just.

[32:00] Shahadi Wright Joseph: So you now have a brand new Amazon series called Them Covenant. Are you currently uh uh filming that right now?

[32:10] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I actually just finished shooting, I would say maybe two months ago. Oh yeah, because our production got shut down for COVID back in March. And the funny thing was, and this is probably the most annoying thing, it was probably my last day of shooting, and I had like maybe one or two scenes left to do, and they were like, yeah, we have to shut it down. And I was like, oh my god. I didn't know when we were going to actually be going back to LA. We like everything was so unknown. So I was like, oh wow, like on the last, on literally the last day, we got shut down. Um, and then we continued shooting um back in September. Uh yeah, it was September, September. Um, so I went back to shoot that, and we finished like my last two scenes. Everybody, I looked taller, like it was a whole thing of trying to get continuity back when we were in March because I sprout up like crazy. Um, so that was a lot of fun. It was a great experience.

[33:10] Eli Tokash: What is filming in the era of COVID like?

[33:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, yeah, it was it was kind of tough for me, you know. We had to get COVID tests every day, every day on set. Um, it wasn't too bad. They didn't have to like go up in my brain or whatever. It was kind of like just a quick blob, which was it was enjoyable, it was a little uncomfortable, but it was fine, and then we would have to wear our masks, like probably until they were saying rolling, we had to wear our masks and then take them off really quickly. And then as soon as they were done, put them back on. Um, and then during lunch, you know, we have to wear like our face shields and everything. It was like a whole thing. Um, but it wasn't too like inconvenient, except that like you know, you can't be like hugging people. I didn't get to like hug my cast when I got the wow. So that was tough, but it was at least we got to do that. We got to act together again, you know, doing some crazy, crazy scenes. Um, and that was that was great. It was fun.

[34:04] Eli Tokash: Yeah, did you have like was it weird just like being in a role and just filming and you kind of f are finding your groove and it's like the last couple days and then just going away from it and then coming back? Like, what was that?

[34:15] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Totally, you know. When I was reading the script again, you know, all the memories were flooding back. There were actually there was a script that uh in an episode that I could not actually read because it was like too much for me, I guess. For me and the girl who plays my little sister, Melody. I couldn't read that one, so everything was a little bit confusing for the last episode that I was shooting, but I was like, okay, I'll figure it out along the way, I guess. Um, so I don't really know what happens kind of in the middle of that, but it was great.

[34:48] Eli Tokash: Wow, that's pretty cool.

[34:50] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. So when we all watch this on Amazon Prime, we're all gonna be like looking for their masks hanging out of their pockets.

[35:00] Eli Tokash: I really hope that they didn't catch that, but yeah.

[35:04] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I'm sure they can edit it out. It's fine.

[35:10] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. Yeah, on the face. So, what can you tell us about a little bit about it? Like when is it do you guys have a release date yet?

[35:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Or um they I know that they said like around March or like sometime like that, but with COVID and everything, I think that it might have changed. I'm not too sure. Um I do have to figure that out. But um we also did have a date for the trailer, which was back in like October, which that did not happen. So I think that everything really did just get pushed a little bit. So we do have to figure out when that's actually releasing.

[35:44] Eli Tokash: Yeah. Right. So say your social media handle really quickly just so like everyone can like keep up to date on when that comes out.

[35:51] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh yeah, it's at Shahadi S-H-A-H-A-D-I on Instagram and basically everything.

[35:58] Eli Tokash: Awesome. And and one last thing before we go. Uh you are part of this podcast series called Six Minutes, right?

[36:08] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes, yes. I actually I finished shooting that a little while ago, but that was that was a little part that a lot of people don't know, and that's how I got into voiceover, you know. That was really great for me.

[36:19] Eli Tokash: Was it the first voiceover you ever did?

[36:21] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um yeah, yeah, actually, yes.

[36:25] Eli Tokash: That's awesome.

[36:27] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, that was the first one. Um I was pretty I was pretty uh comfortable with doing voiceover for for Lion King. Um because I got I booked Lion King after that, so I knew how the experience was with being in the booth all day and kind of just going through the scripts and everything. It was it was great.

[36:45] Eli Tokash: Yeah, so you already knew what it was like. That's that's honestly uh Eli and I were were reading the uh the basically the the tagline what it was about.

[36:53] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh yeah. This is awesome. This epic sci-fi story.

[36:57] Eli Tokash: Yeah. It was a lot of fun.

[36:59] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. That's so cool. Sorry, that's just so cool. I don't know, like, you know, like obviously a lot of podcasts are like this where you have you have like friends just like having a conversation or something like that. Um so it's interesting that it was like a scripted podcast. Like did you did you I don't know, like guess I did you I guess like know what was like happening? Like did you get to record with other people, like or was it just your lines?

[37:27] Shahadi Wright Joseph: We would all record all together, which was great, and we would uh we would get little snacks and we would get to talk sometime. It was it was a lot of fun. Um I remember I got to record my most of my scenes with um Lily Brooks who used to play oh yeah sister. She was really, really great. I love and miss her.

[37:48] Eli Tokash: I love your gradual uh just evolution from Broadway to film. I love how you how you started out Broadway show, immediately after Broadway show. And then you did like a film Broadway show.

[38:04] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yes.

[38:04] Eli Tokash: And then around that time you did uh pretty much a TV show but with no visuals.

[38:10] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah.

[38:11] Eli Tokash: And then and then from there you I uh which came first, us or Lion King.

[38:17] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, well I shot Lion King first, but came out first.

[38:23] Eli Tokash: So then so then you did another pr film but with no visuals and then and then oh my god, that's it's it's cool.

[38:32] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah.

[38:33] Eli Tokash: Yeah, and the switch from, you know, Broadway and you know, musicals uh and switching into horror was kind of weird for me.

[38:43] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um but I I absolutely love horror, it's probably one of my favorite genres to watch and you know, just to be a part of. But uh my mom says that after after them covenant, uh I shouldn't do as much horror anymore because I don't want to get pigeonholed boxing to just doing horror all the time.

[39:00] Eli Tokash: So would you ever consider coming back to Broadway?

[39:05] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um, oh most definitely. Yeah, maybe what maybe when I'm older, more like secure and everything, because Broadway, you know, that takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of work, and I'm pretty sure that my parents don't want to be driving me and doing that all again. I don't even want to make them do that again. That was probably um, but I would I would most definitely do it again for sure.

[39:27] Eli Tokash: So say you want to do uh you want to do you want to do stuff other than horror. Do you have a type of project that you that you want to do?

[39:38] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh completely, yeah. I love drama, like I love drama roles, dramatic roles are are so intriguing to watch, you know. I wanna like kind of make my rounds in like all genres, kind of. Um, and like I over quarantine, me and another one of my actor friends from um the show This Is Us, she's a dramatic actor. We actually created a little film during quarantine, which was really cool. Um, and we've kind of just been working on that for the whole time. We didn't think that it was like gonna go anywhere, but we just had like a little pitch with our agents, which was kind of cool.

[40:15] Eli Tokash: That's awesome.

[40:17] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Anything more, but that was we each had like a vision for like the roles that we really, really wanted to play. Um, but we never really got the chance to, so we were like, why don't we just do it ourselves? Do it ourselves.

[40:30] Eli Tokash: Yeah. I love it. That's so cool. I I just I absolutely adore people who do that because I think that takes so much courage and it also takes so much creativity.

[40:41] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Um It does, you know, really like putting yourself out there and like creating something is really vulnerable and that's not something that I've always been like too comfortable with. So it's really like bringing me out of my comfort zone.

[40:52] Eli Tokash: Yeah. How did you do it? Did you do it through Zoom and stuff like that?

[40:55] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, Zoom and FaceTime and you know, we would just FaceTime and you know, work on our treatment and everything and storylines, characters, look books, we would do all of that on FaceTime and Zoom. Um and then we would like literally just show our parents it um, you know, what we've been working on like every single week and they would give us notes and you know, we would go back and fix it. It was a great experience.

[41:17] Eli Tokash: I love that's awesome. I love that um you're kind of building that other skill of writing. Is there are there other um I know you said that when you were young you thought you were gonna be a dancer? Um, but is there any other uh the I guess uh medium of the in entire arts industry? Is there something like directing or do you want to continue writing that you're are there any things that you wanna try doing or or you're interested in going into?

[41:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, well, I mean like I've always loved to write. I love writing so much, you know. Like even in school, I I'm really good at writing essays. I just like don't really like doing homework. But I but I do love writing, so this is something very interesting for me and I I it's my first time actually writing something professional. And my parents have always taught me about writing ever since I was young. My mom still corrects me on my grammar every single day. And you know, she's always like you have to do interviews like you're writing something, you know, make sure that it's perfect.

[42:16] Eli Tokash: Um my parents are the same way.

[42:19] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yep, yeah, you already know. It's helpful though, it's it works.

[42:23] Eli Tokash: It does, it does. I it's it's annoying, but it works.

[42:28] Shahadi Wright Joseph: But um, yeah, no, I've always loved to write. I feel like I would if I wasn't like an actor, or if this acting thing doesn't work out, I would probably be a writer.

[42:36] Eli Tokash: Um I think it's worked out.

[42:42] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Worked out and worked out and then worked out more. So maybe like some kind of like an executive producer or a producer like that would be that would be really, really cool for me. Or both. I could always do both.

[42:54] Eli Tokash: Yeah, seriously. I'm in the same boat as you actually. If I if I wasn't an actor, um I would definitely be a writer as well. It sounds amazing, and I feel like people like hearing actors and you know, talented actors kind of just like reciprocate the work that you want and kind of bring your vision to life sounds so interesting to me.

[43:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I would love to do that. What do you like to write? Do you like to write about like kind of your stories and experience or do you kind of like fiction?

[43:20] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I love I guess I like realistic fiction um better. I feel like writing about different stories that I don't personally have experience in, but trying to create accurate like representation um is really fun for me.

[43:36] Eli Tokash: Wow, that's so cool. Everything you do, you just you you just kill it, and um from the start of the of I guess your life, but also the the start of when you first got into the business. Um, and keep killing it, dude. You're you were super awesome, you're incredible, and we're so so happy you came on.

[43:55] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Thank you.

[43:56] Eli Tokash: Thank you. Seriously, for real. Thank you for talking to us. Thanks for ha ch chatting with us, and we wish you all the best luck in the new year. It's 2021, new start, new year. We look forward to seeing your name out there. Hopefully we can't so excited to see what else you do.

[44:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I yeah. Thank you so much. For real. Take a Bouchha Howdy right, Joseph. Woo woo.

[44:20] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. That was so fun. Literally, I mean, she had so many great things to say, and it was cool to hear, like you mentioned earlier in the intro, um just about like that she went two for two on her first two auditions.

[44:35] Eli Tokash: Like, it's so hard to land one audition and she was batting a hundred percent at um yeah uh between her first two auditions.

[44:44] Shahadi Wright Joseph: I mean, that's incredible.

[44:45] Eli Tokash: Yeah, it was like she it was like she was shot out of a cannon and just zoom.

[44:51] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah, it's actually interesting. I also booked my first two auditions ever.

[44:57] Eli Tokash: What?

[44:58] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah.

[44:59] Eli Tokash: Wait, explain which auditions.

[45:01] Shahadi Wright Joseph: It was for A Christmas Story and then Mary Poppins. Those were like my first two ever like auditions and like for like professional theater, and I booked both of them and I was like, wow, this is awesome.

[45:14] Eli Tokash: Oh my gosh.

[45:15] Shahadi Wright Joseph: You know, it's so interesting. I mentioned this in the beginning of the actual episode, but I always love hearing about how everyone gets their start in the business because it's always super different. Like Kelly O'Hara in our podcast with her, she was talking about how she got her start a little later than us. And you know, some people start out in the business and they just go on auditions and auditions and auditions, and it takes forever to finally book something. I think for me, it took about a year for me to finally book something. I think I went on just tens and tens of auditions before I booked something. And then after that, it also once again took a couple of years to click. So like Fun Home, that was I started acting when I was six, and I got Fun Home when I was nine. So that was a three-year difference. But it's just so interesting hearing how everyone's start is different.

[46:14] Eli Tokash: Seriously, and like Queen Kelly O'Hara said on our last episode, it's all about timing.

[46:14] Shahadi Wright Joseph: It's all about timing. Everyone has their own. And look at that. Look at how that timing worked out for you.

[46:24] Eli Tokash: Exactly, so true.

[46:27] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Yeah. But also, I mean, just hearing the process of her filming Us is just so fascinating to me. I don't know why. I've always just been super interested in that ever since like I heard Liv and Maddie, which is like a Disney Channel show, did that. And the fact that like she did that and like lived it, I was just so excited to hear what she had to say on that and what the way that they did it, just and having a double that looked exactly like her. Like all of that stuff is just so cool to me.

[46:59] Eli Tokash: For those who don't know, I know we talked about Liv and Maddie during the actual thing, but Liv and Maddie, Dove Cameron is the actor who plays both Liv and Maddie and Liv and Maddie are twins. And I don't know if the process was they were always going to just get a single actor to play both twins, or they were going to try to get real twins.

[47:09] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Try to get real twins.

[47:19] Eli Tokash: But anyway, they went with the incredible Dove Cameron, whom Shahadi worked with in Hairspray Live, as we've already established, and they're two completely different characters. And I think the range that comes with playing either twins, but in Shahadi's instance, her doppelganger, that takes so much range.

[47:39] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Right. I mean, you really have to play complete opposites, you know. So it just goes to show, you know, how far that range really is, because it's from one hundred percent to another hundred percent, you know.

[47:51] Eli Tokash: So yeah, it's incredible. And just like her stories of meeting Beyoncé and then just telling her about filming during COVID and all of that fun things that the new projects that she's worked on through the quarantine and all of that. I think she's writing her own thing now.

[48:12] Shahadi Wright Joseph: That's so cool.

[48:13] Eli Tokash: Yeah, seriously. I can't wait to keep up with that and go follow her social media so you can just keep up on all of all things with Shahadi. This is really a guest of ours who you really need to look out for because in the next coming years she's gonna be a really big star. So we were so excited to talk to her and I mean she already is, but yeah, just seriously gun, she's just incredible.

[48:43] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Seriously.

[48:44] Eli Tokash: Well, it's been a big week for Take A Bow. So obviously it's been the holiday season and it was Merry Christmas. Sid, how's your Christmas? I hope everyone listening had a great Christmas for all who celebrate or happy holidays.

[48:58] Sydney Lucas: My Christmas was so good. How was yours?

[49:01] Eli Tokash: It was great. I can't complain. It was a rare time where both of my parents were off from work. So I actually got to spend time and it was all five of us, me and my parents and my two siblings. So we had so much fun just like playing games, relaxing, watching TV, football games, all of that fun stuff.

[49:22] Sydney Lucas: That's wonderful.

[49:23] Eli Tokash: Yeah. I love it. I was really excited.

[49:24] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, it was great. Always.

[49:29] Eli Tokash: And another thing that has been happening lately is I don't know, if for those of you following us on social media, you guys may know. We've been posting clips from like video episodes of the podcast, and we now have all of our full episodes video episodes on our Patreon. So those are available for all patrons in the $20 a month category, which is and above.

[49:59] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, and above, and it's called the Incredibly Remarkable Ring of Key category.

[50:06] Eli Tokash: The ring of key holder, excuse me. So if you're enjoying these podcasts and you think it would be fun to like actually watch it, go check it out and it's on our Patreon. So in the second you become a patron, you'll get access from that. And yeah, so it's been fun. We've been getting great responses from it, and yeah.

[50:27] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, and we don't have every single one of the episodes due to, you know, due to us starting out, but also due to guest preferences. But every guest that we've recorded visually, we have on there. Also, just a quick note the ones of Sydney, it's also just the interview.

[50:45] Eli Tokash: Yeah, so it's not like the full episode, the things that Sydney and I record on our own. We don't usually record them, so it's just the part with the guests that we record.

[50:57] Sydney Lucas: Right. So we have like three episodes of Just Sydney and I, and obviously those aren't recorded, so it may look like less are in there, but they're in there, I promise.

[51:08] Eli Tokash: So yeah, another fun thing that is happening in just actually it's happening tomorrow if you're listening to this the day it comes out, and it's the Ratatouille musical, which TikTok started.

[51:24] Sydney Lucas: It was released.

[51:25] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, what a cast. Did you see that?

[51:29] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, I saw it. One of our past guests, Andrew Barth Feldman. He's gonna play, he's gonna play what is it? Alfredo.

[51:35] Eli Tokash: Alfredo Linguini is his name.

[51:39] Sydney Lucas: Oh my gosh. He is the human, he's the human in Ratatouille.

[51:42] Eli Tokash: The human and Ashley Park is playing his girlfriend. I thought that was incredible. And then on top of that, you have like Broadway legends like Wayne Brady, Titus Burgess, André De Shields, Priscilla Lopez, Mary Testa, and then you bring in Adam Lambert to the next.

[52:03] Sydney Lucas: What?

[52:04] Eli Tokash: Like when does it Chamberlain? Who is it?

[52:07] Sydney Lucas: Oh, yes, of course. How can I who was like the person who one of the people who started it on TikTok?

[52:13] Eli Tokash: Right. And I actually believe that he wrote something for it.

[52:17] Sydney Lucas: Oh my gosh.

[52:19] Eli Tokash: But I could be wrong. I have to fact check that. And another thing too is like it's so funny because when all of this kind of started on TikTok and it was kind of just a thought, it wasn't until Andrew Barth Feldman like sang a song that someone wrote from it that it really started picking up speed and was like actually a something that could actually happen. And I don't know about you, but like after thinking about it, like I think that Ratatouille could make an incredible musical.

[52:50] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, it isn't it is by far, by far my favorite Disney Pixar movie of all time. Yeah, Disney just keeps killing it on Broadway, you know. But and this wasn't even them, like Disney Theatrical. It was like literally TikTok. So if you want to support the Actors Fund and you wanna check out some new art that's being created at the moment, go check out Ratatouille the Musical, and all you you'll have to donate to the Actors Fund to get a spot at the reading, and it's gonna be a great time, and I'm really looking forward to that.

[53:25] Eli Tokash: It's the best.

[53:26] Sydney Lucas: Yay.

[53:27] Eli Tokash: Okay, so here is our entertainment business lingo of the week. Eli, we'll have you explain this one, but it is our lingo is something called a ghost light. And it sounds very mysterious, and it kind of is a little bit. But Eli, go ahead and tell everyone what that is if they don't already know.

[53:49] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Before I start, we have to figure out a name for this. Honestly we do this entertainment lingo is just too much. I love hearing it, and it's always so funny. Which honestly is a great reason to keep it. But like, if anyone has name suggestions, please let us know.

[54:05] Eli Tokash: It's very corn. You just comment on it's whatever, I don't know. Okay, so a ghost light is this light, and it's not necessarily a lamp. It's this tall lamp, I guess you could say, and it has a cord, and it sits at the middle of the stage. And legend has it that everything when the stage is not being occupied, like during times when the cast isn't there and the crew isn't there, it will be on. And like at night, when it's like you're done with the show, and actually immediately after the show, when the curtain comes down, they will put the ghost light out there because all the lights are usually shut off. And actors are just like getting into their street clothes, getting ready to leave. So if anyone has actually been backstage after a show at a Broadway theater, you may have seen a ghost light on that theater stage.

But legend has it that every theater has their own ghost. And that someone kind of like watches the theater for per se. But the ghost light is, I mean it obviously has everyone views it differently, but a ghost light also like scares away the ghost. So the ghost isn't gonna want to go into the light, so it's kind of like protecting everybody inside of the theater and the theater itself, that like nothing bad is gonna happen if this ghost light is there. And it's just like, I don't know, it's just like a regular kind of lamp that's like just sitting at the stage. So I mean the word itself, ghost light, is kind of self-explanatory.

[55:51] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, and it's been a thing and a tradition, I guess you could say, for a very long time.

[56:02] Eli Tokash: Yeah, and from a practical perspective, it makes sense because when you're first going into the theater, especially the lighting crew and all of the, you know, just the crew of the show, when they go into the theater, it's really dark, so they need some kind of light to try and find all of the lighting equipment and everything. So the ghost light helps with that.

[56:20] Sydney Lucas: Yeah. So there's lots of fun things that the ghost light can do. And if you saw Finding Neverland, they had a great scene about it. And then it went into this beautiful song. So you may have heard it before from like a show because I'm sure shows mention it all the time, especially like the shows within a show. If that makes any sense. And yeah, that is our entertainment lingo of the week.

[56:47] Eli Tokash: Yes, please to help us find another name.

[56:50] Sydney Lucas: Seriously. But this episode was so much fun. We couldn't thank Shahadi enough for coming on and talking to us. It was a blast, and we hope you guys enjoyed this episode. Sid, it's been real. I can't believe it, but I'll see you in the new year.

[57:07] Shahadi Wright Joseph: Oh my gosh.

[57:10] Eli Tokash: It's a fresh start. Everyone, have a happy new year, and it is a fresh start. 2021. Let's make it as good as it can be. Oh my goodness, 2020 was a lot for a lot of people. But we're so thankful that we had the opportunity to continue to entertain thanks to you guys. And we look forward to keeping it up in 2021 and giving you all some more entertainment.

[57:40] Sydney Lucas: Yeah, and regardless of when you joined the podcast family, whether you're here from the beginning or whether this is your first episode, we are so excited to take y'all into the new year, and we're just excited to continue this journey with you, and your support means the world. So thank you.

[57:57] Eli Tokash: Thank you so much, Shahadi, for being a wonderful just way to end out the year. We hope to see you next year.

[58:07] Sydney Lucas: That was so corny.

[58:08] Eli Tokash: That was so corny.

[58:09] Sydney Lucas: No, but we hope to see you next episode. We have a great guest.

[58:16] Eli Tokash: Sick beat him, all right. For our curtain call, we wanted to give a few special thank yous to Nikki Torsha and Corm McCollinon for our amazing music, Giselle Bustos for designing our logo, and Tessie Tokash and Sidney Lucas for editing our episodes. Feel free to subscribe and leave a review on whatever platform you are currently listening to us from. This podcast wouldn't be possible without the help of Dory Berenstein, Alan Seales, Brittany Bigelow, and Katie Rosen at the Broadway Podcast Network, as well as our top patrons Henry Friedman, Brian Thompson, PCC, and Patrick McNamara. Speaking of, if you enjoyed this week's episode of Take A Bow, go check us out on Patreon at patreon.com slash T A B and become a patron today.

Through our Patreon, you will form a relationship with us and get an inside look on what goes into this podcast. To learn more about this podcast, visit BPN.fm forward slash takeabow and follow us on Instagram at takeaboutcast, where you can contact us with any feedback, suggestions, or questions, and keep up with all things Take A Bow. See you next week. Bye everyone.