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[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hello everyone and welcome to episode 60 of Take A Bow Podcast.

[0:05] Eli Tokash: I'm your host Eli Tokash and it's not only episode 60, but it's also part two of the Ryan Worsing, or really act two of the Ryan Worsing show.

[0:20] Eli Tokash: And I'm so excited to finish this last part off with all of you and share his stories from Cher and Hello Dolly and Chicago.

[0:29] Eli Tokash: And these stories, I mean, they just continue to get better and better. His stories about Cher are just hilarious, and I cannot wait for all of you to listen to it.

[0:39] Eli Tokash: But before we turn it over to that, let's turn it over to what's going on in this industry right now, especially with all of these exciting things happening and we are getting inches and inches closer to Broadway fully reopening.

[0:54] Eli Tokash: Um this week the Jimmy Awards are going to be actually today. Tonight at 7:30. It's hosted by Corbin Bleu, and it's gonna be free on YouTube live for everyone to stream.

[1:07] Eli Tokash: So everyone go check that out. I was so excited because this week I was actually able to talk to a Jimmy Award finalist on the podcast.

[1:18] Eli Tokash: So that'll be coming out next week, and I'm very excited for you all to listen to that, and it's a great episode, and I made some new friends, so that was always good.

[1:28] Eli Tokash: I love the Jimmy Awards. We talked about how amazing it was, and just I figured in this Jimmy Awards season it would be great to bring on someone whose area of expertise could be useful for both myself and listeners.

[1:42] Eli Tokash: So very excited. The Jimmy Awards are incredible. I think they're one of the most important awards. You see new talent performing on a Broadway stage and having an opportunity to perform in front of the top casting directors in the industry and just an opportunity of a lifetime.

[2:02] Eli Tokash: So it's definitely worth checking out. Please go support these young artists who are putting themselves out there and entertaining others in this time. It's just brilliant.

[2:13] Eli Tokash: Um some other exciting news going on. Ben Platt just recently announced that he's going to be releasing a second album.

[2:23] Eli Tokash: Oh my goodness. If this is anything like his first, Sing to Me Instead, I am not ready. I'm not emotionally prepared. I will never be, but I am also always here for it.

[2:34] Eli Tokash: And I'm obsessed with music, and I cannot wait for August 13th, and I'm literally counting down the days. So everyone, August 13th. It's called Riviera, and I'm just so excited.

[2:47] Eli Tokash: I don't know. I love Ben Platt, I love his voice, I love his music. It's just so beautiful, it's so relatable, and very exciting stuff.

[2:55] Eli Tokash: And as we all know, if any of you have listened to these episodes before, I'm a huge, huge advocate and fan of Broadway stars just expanding their audience and their platforms and their selves, I guess really, in going to different aspects of the industry, such as music and movies and TV shows.

[3:22] Eli Tokash: And speaking of, let's talk about these Emmy nominations, okay? Because there were a lot of Broadway names in this year's Emmy nominations, which is so exciting, and as you all, like I said, I love seeing Broadway being on a pedestal as high as the other aspects of the industry that are held, I guess, a little bit above Broadway, which is not right and it's not fair.

[3:46] Eli Tokash: But you all know how I feel about that. So that being said, let's shout out those people who got nominated, shall we? I mean, obviously, we knew this was gonna be a big year with the Disney Plus recording of Hamilton, and so of course, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, Philip Asour, Renee Elise Goldsberry, all kinds of different people literally, of course, got nominated for Hamilton.

[3:53] Eli Tokash: And then of course, we have MJ Rodriguez and Billy Porter, who were both nominated in leading roles for a Fox drama series, Pose. Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo is also nominated for her amazing performance in Aretha, the Aretha Franklin movie.

[4:29] Eli Tokash: Randy Rainbow, who is a Broadway kind of personality, was nominated for outstanding short form comedy, so like YouTube and stuff like that, which is very exciting. So Bernadette Peters for her performance in Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Robert Lopez, who writes all those Disney movies, and Kristen Lopez, of course, his wife.

[4:48] Eli Tokash: Um, and of course, Julie Andrews, Jessica Walter, Titus Burgess, they all earned nominations, and of course, I would be remiss to not mention my dear friend and also Take A Bow Podcast previous guest, Bowen Yang, also got nominated, and he is the first ever SNL actor to be nominated in the supporting character category.

[5:16] Eli Tokash: So he's not technically like one of the main characters like Kate McKinnon and all that, but he's more like in the supporting areas, and he's the first ever actor to be nominated for an Emmy from SNL in that category.

[5:32] Eli Tokash: So very amazing stuff that we see there. Uh and it's also just like history that, okay, I don't know what I'm saying. Um very incredible work. I'm so proud of him and very excited to see if he wins.

[5:48] Eli Tokash: So everyone stay tuned and I don't know if you guys listen to the interview, go watch it because after, go listen to it because after you're literally gonna be the biggest Bowen Yang fan and go listen to Las Caltaristas and all the things because he deserves it and he's like always working and this recognition for him is just so major and I could not be happier for him.

[6:12] Eli Tokash: Um let's talk about some other things that's happening. So the Karate Kid musical is going to get a pre-Broadway tryout in the spring of 2022.

[6:21] Eli Tokash: So right now they've been like this production has been in the works for like a couple years and have been slowly coming and now it's finally gonna get its shot in a 2022 tryout, which is very exciting.

[6:32] Eli Tokash: So that's happening next spring and then Harry Potter and the Cursed Child moved up their reopening date to November 12th.

[6:41] Eli Tokash: So that's very exciting because it was actually a couple months later and so now that they moved it up hopefully that means they will also be moving up their, because you know how they're opening like just the first part.

[6:56] Eli Tokash: So hopefully that impacts that as well and they'll be able to show both parts at the same time sooner or all at the same time. I don't know.

[7:05] Eli Tokash: Um, either sooner or right when it opens. So I'll keep you all updated if anything changes. But I don't know, the show is just supposed to be seen in two parts.

[7:17] Eli Tokash: So I hope it works out that way, and I hope that people are able to see both parts and not just the first. Um that's it for the Broadway news.

[7:26] Eli Tokash: But I do want to mention one more thing that actually is very exciting from the Take A Bow side of things. Just this week we introduced the LGBTQIA+ Pride merch, and I'm very excited about it, and I created it myself, so I'm very proud of it.

[7:43] Eli Tokash: Um please go check it out if you have not already. It's on our Instagram, so you may have seen pictures, or you can go to our website, takeabowpod.com, and you can go see it there, or even order some.

[7:54] Eli Tokash: And right now there's only t-shirts and hoodies, but I'm gonna be adding a lot more to that collection. And I'm also gonna be start doing some other pride colors as well.

[8:08] Eli Tokash: So not only are we gonna be doing the LGBTQIA+ community and the bisexual community and all of those other communities based on your likes and the interests and sexuality, but we will also be doing mental health pride and disabled pride month and all of these different things we're gonna be incorporating all of those in Black Lives Matter, of course.

[8:35] Eli Tokash: Um and so I'm trying my best, and I'm gonna move as quickly as possible. But stay tuned for all of that because there's gonna be a lot of exciting things happening, and hopefully we're gonna get some new designs as well super soon.

[8:48] Eli Tokash: So I'll keep you all posted, but for now that's what we have, and I hope that you all enjoy them. I'm glad to see that we've already got a few orders.

[8:55] Eli Tokash: So this is very exciting, and I actually got a lot of interest from previous guests, so that's great, and I'm gonna be sending out to them as well.

[9:04] Eli Tokash: Also, major note about the LGBTQIA+ merch. All of the proceeds are going to be going straight to the Trevor Project.

[9:13] Eli Tokash: So if you purchase a hoodie, a t-shirt, whatever, and it's the LGBTQIA+ collection, that is going to be going straight to the Trevor Project.

[9:25] Eli Tokash: And I'll make sure I can put it in your name, I can put it in Take A Bow's name, I can do it whatever way that you would like. You can tell me on the website when you make the purchase if you would like to put it in your name or not.

[9:38] Eli Tokash: Um, but so if you do donate, it's basically donating to the Trevor Project while also receiving a gift, courtesy of Take A Bow.

[9:47] Eli Tokash: So please consider doing it, and I'm very excited to be helping out and teaming up with the Trevor Project. That being said, let's turn it over to the drama dictionary, and then we'll turn it over to Ryan, everyone.

[10:00] Eli Tokash: I am so sorry. This week's drama dictionary is going to be featuring Ryan Worsing, and he's gonna be talking to us about the gypsy robe, and he does that in the interview.

[10:13] Eli Tokash: So, really, our drama dictionary is gonna be this interview. So, with that being said, Ryan Worsing, curtain up.

[10:41] Ryan Worsing: Do you need to go? I know we've been doing it for an hour, but like, okay, good. I got anything to do.

[10:46] Ryan Worsing: Right, because this is way too enjoyable. Um, there's so many things to talk about with you.

[10:55] Ryan Worsing: Okay, we can move on from Finding Neverland, I guess. I guess. I guess. Whatever. There's still plenty we could talk about, but it was such a special place.

[11:05] Ryan Worsing: Um with even with all this hindsight, it was such a special place. There was something about coming into that stage door where it was like you really felt like you were just in a new world.

[11:19] Ryan Worsing: Like, honestly. It just like it's cheesy, but like there was a certain smell about it. The minute you walked in, it was like a grayish white wall, and like it was like a light.

[11:31] Ryan Worsing: Like, I don't know, like it was just like magical, like as though it was like a gray and white wall. Like there was just something about it.

[11:38] Ryan Worsing: I don't know if it was because the show had such elements of magic to it as well, but there really was just, and again, I've said this already, but I couldn't put my finger on what about it has made such a lasting special impression on me, but there really was magic in the air every day.

[11:58] Ryan Worsing: Part of it was the story we were telling and how attached we all, I mean, everybody has some connection to the Peter Pan story.

[12:04] Ryan Worsing: Oh, sure. And I really felt like what we were doing with it was touching people.

[12:14] Ryan Worsing: Yeah. It really made a difference. And the cast, it would have been so easy for us to like speak that into existence and scare it away.

[12:22] Ryan Worsing: Um, but we were all, we all tried to honor it every night. Absolutely.

[12:28] Ryan Worsing: Okay, so Hello Dolly, come on, you're on stage with Bette Midler, not a big deal. You already mentioned it like it was nothing, you know, like just casual.

[12:28] Ryan Worsing: Um, but what was it like? Okay, honestly, like Hello Dolly is an iconic show as is, but then to have that cast is just like next level. How, what was that every night?

[12:28] Ryan Worsing: I mean, that's great. The whole experience was next level. I mean, I don't even know where to begin. I almost didn't go to my audition for it because I was just like this is so otherworldly in no plane of existence do I get to be a part of this experience.

[12:28] Ryan Worsing: Um, and then I was just so, so fortunate to get to be in that room. Hello Dolly, I had done before, like I said, it was my first professional job, but I'd also done it as a kid.

[12:28] Ryan Worsing: Um, while I liked Hello Dolly, okay, I'm gonna be very, I can say this to you, having done a show like Finding Neverland, I booked Hello Dolly in like our last three months at Finding Neverland and I was very hesitant to leave.

[12:28] Ryan Worsing: Um, the experience of Finding Neverland and move on to the experience of Hello Dolly because I loved Finding Neverland so much. I didn't think I would have a backstage or dressing room experience nearly as stellar as I'd had at Finding Neverland or, you know, I felt like the show, like I've said, was about something like we were doing something.

[14:01] Ryan Worsing: There was a part of me that was just like, Hello Dolly's not about anything. What are we doing here? And then our very first day of rehearsal. Um, we're in the room with Jerry Zaks who is our director. I had never worked with Jerry before. He's an absolute genius. And he was telling us he was telling us about the history of Hello Dolly. And he was telling us um about Hello Dolly's out of town tryout um before it opened in New York. Um they had performed in DC for their out of town tryout just weeks after Kennedy was assassinated. This was a history that I did not know. And the country after JFK's assassination had basically been in mourning. I mean, people were wearing black for weeks on end.

Yeah. Here we here was this little show about choosing life before life passes you by, um, that was about to open in Washington, DC. And Jerry told us that you know, people had to choose to come into that room and sit down for a show and choose to be happy, and what that experience became for people in the wake of such national tragedy to be in a group of people and to choose life and to choose happiness again, and that's what Hello Dolly was all about. And especially as we were starting rehearsals in January of 2017, that was exactly what the world needed to get. We were in this collective state of mourning for the previous two months, and people were gonna have to choose to enter a room and be happy together again, and it was our responsibility to provide that for him, and that gave me a completely different lens on what our responsibility as actors doing that production became.

And now I I just think the world of that show, and as many two dimensional productions as I have seen and been a part of, it that was definitely not one of them. It exposed a richness to that show, um and the performances in it that I am so grateful that I got to witness and watch every night and develop in the rehearsal rooms. I mean, it was a dream come true to watch Bette Midler create the eating scene.

[16:24] Ryan Worsing: Yeah. I remember when we were staging that scene, I shouldn't admit this, but I'm going to. We were staging that scene because I had done the show before, I was like, oh okay. Okay, let's not get staged in the doc scene. That gets really long and to have to sit through it eight times a week for a year, however long we're doing it. I would rather not be melting on stage after the polka and hello dolly and the wagers gallop every night. If I if I can be off stage for that scene, that would be great. Right. I was not off stage for that scene, but it ended up being one of the greatest gifts of the show, getting to watch that do that eating scene every night, which then led into Gavin doing his monologue for it only takes a moment, which usually is like watching paint dry, but to watch him do it, I mean it was a gift every night, every inch of that show I got to experience was a gift. The crown jewel of my career for sure.

[17:22] Eli Tokash: I love that. That's awesome.

[17:25] Ryan Worsing: We were also we all knew that it was something special. Um even like you said with Finding Neverland, you know, egos were put aside. Yes. Because we knew that none of us were Bette Midler, but also it was even bigger than Bette. But the production became even bigger than Bette. That being said, I have never in my whole career seen anyone who is as devoted to their audience as Bette Midler is. Which was a great lesson in and of itself. And if she was gonna be there every night, we had to be there too. You know me at this level where we were basically crawling out of the stage or at the end of the day. You know, you're not the first person to say that on here. Uh we had Beanie Feldstein on the podcast, and she had nothing but the highest praise for Bette saying she was like, Thank you, five, but everyone went to sit down, and Bette was still up doing her blocking, her dancing, whatever she needed to do. It was like she was like, she was an incredible leader. So that is so cool to hear.

[18:34] Ryan Worsing: She was I mean, if she asked me to run into traffic right now, I'd probably do it because I just so much respect for that woman. Right. And the work that she does and what she asks of of herself and her co-stars. Um I will never forget I understudied Ambrose later this run. And um the very first time I went on, the show opens with the two of them. Um it's basically him running out and shouting Mrs. Levi a whole bunch of times, and they're supposed to get the train, and it's just the two of them. Um, and I was terrified that she wanted to rehearse with me, she wanted to rehearse with me before half hour. And I'm not I'm not kidding with you. She had done the show for months at this point, and she knew me from the ensemble, but like we had only done our numbers together.

Um, I have never, I have never received more eye contact from my partner than I did from that. She was just so there with me at all times, and then of course she was so gracious. Everyone understood you would have gone on, she'd give them the final bow. I mean, the woman, uh as Beanie said, I have nothing but the utmost respect for her and the work she does.

[19:45] Ryan Worsing: There was a we had celebrated her birthday on stage one day, and we had this massive cake. The car came down, and the first thing out of her mouth was, let's cut this up and give it to people at the stage door. That's just where my head was. That's always where her head was. We had to stop the show for technical difficulties. She's like, You want me to go out and sing for the audience? She was the greatest. I cannot sing her praise enough. And what's more is that was every single principal on that show. They were the most selfless giving people. David Hyde Pierce is the nicest man in show business. Yes, unquestionably nicest man in show business. Um, Gavin Creel, Kate Baldwin, Beanie Feldstein, Taylor, and then when Charlie was the kindest.

Um, and a lot of them could have had egos, those are some big stars, big names who have done a lot of great stuff. But everyone realized how special the moment was, and even Bette got to that point. She hadn't done um Broadway musical since Fiddler. Um, she she told us on our very first day with her, she was you know so grateful that we all wanted to work on this project. We're like, You kidding? We're lucky to be here. Um but she said, you know, every last one of you, you're all better singers than me, you're all better dancers than me. None of you are funnier than I am, was the no way. That's amazing.

[21:10] Ryan Worsing: And she said, But I'm just so grateful to be here. That being said, I haven't been on the Broadway stage that wasn't just by myself in 50 years. So if I turn to you and say, What are you doing on my stage? Just be patient. Stop it. Did that ever happen? Uh no. We had been warned. We were like, you know, just be ready to play in the moment with Bette, but no, she was always right there with us. Even in the moments where, like, in the gypsy run or whatever, where she would forget her purse or drop a line or whatever. No, she was always she was so in control of her performance and what she could do with the audience that none of it mattered. But that was because she had put in so much work leading up to it.

I mean, she knew that role backwards and forwards down to her pinkies. Beanie may have talked about this, but Beanie and I was always talking about how much we like to watch Bette's hands work. Because there was life dripping through the ends of her fingertips. She was always so fully present, even through her fingertips, that it was thrilling, thrilling to watch a part of every night.

[22:06] Ryan Worsing: She's a funny broad. Hilarious. And like on stage, her little one-liners were just the uh it everyone was like floored, like everyone was blown away, but at the same time falling on the floor, laughing, like literally. It was just also she was also one of the first people that I ever worked with who like I kind of especially she was a part, a huge part of some of my favorite childhood movies. Yeah. She was the first time I was working with someone that I was almost starstruck, I guess. Um, but that just was never that person, you know, she was always so much about the work. Uh there would be days when we would be rehearsing scenes and she'd just shake it off and she'd go, ooh, that was too whiny, and we'd be like, Do you even win a friend Sanderson from Hocus Pocus? Because that was you. That's just a lesson. And to get to watch her work, uh, I was again the thrill of my career.

[23:26] Eli Tokash: Oh, that is so legendary. Freaking cool.

[23:29] Ryan Worsing: Yeah. I have to ask, like, Hello Dolly, man, like, it's no joke. Like, you going from Finding Neverland to how physically demanding that show is to then Hello Dolly, like almost right away. Like both of those shows, I mean, those numbers in Hello Dolly are not easy at all. And they're huge and they're long. So, like, what did you do? Like, how do you keep yourself like in shape and making sure that there's no injuries and all of that? Like, that's a really great question because I have found that with each show I do, I have to modify my like training and stretching regimen. Sure. Uh completely. And when I was doing Hello Dolly, I actually was taking a lot of crossfit classes. Just because of how athletic the show was.

[24:25] Ryan Worsing: Um while, yes, the act two numbers were incredibly demanding, and they were. Um there was even stuff like I ended the number before the parade passes by with Jessica Lee Golden sitting one-handed, and I would walk around the passerelle and then do a turn with her sitting on my hand, pressed over my shoulder the whole time. That was not anything my shoulder was ready for before I had gotten to do the boy lifts and Finding Neverland with you guys. No way. It's things like that that they accumulate, and you're like, okay, I have this skill set from this weird thing that I had to do in a show before, but now I can apply it here. But now I'm gonna have to do it differently. I'm gonna have strength in the shoulder with some stabilizing and some handstands, so that's why I led to a lot of crossfit on that show.

No way. Um, we also, I mean, those waiters gallops were often. There was one, there was one section where I had about two counts of eight to go on downstage center and then run all the way around the back of the stage, run up the back staircases, and end up on the banister to slide right back down the stairs. So just the athleticism of it alone required more than just your average dance classes. Um and that's when crossfit really became helpful for me on that show, just for my stamina alone.

[25:51] Ryan Worsing: The act the way act two is structured in Dolly is the the principles start with elegance, and then it immediately goes into the waiter's gallop. And while there's like six or I think there's seven variations on the waiter's gallop that we did. Um, but there's only about you know, this much dialogue in between each and every one of them. And I'm in all all but one variation of the waiter's gallops. So you do all of that, which total time is about 10 minutes, and then you've only got two pages of dialogue to change your costume and come back on for the six and a half minute title production number, Hello Dolly, with its own reprise, which then you go off stage and change into a a wool tuxedo to do the polka. So just stamina alone of that show for the gentlemen is was very taxing. We had a lot of fans backstage, ice packs. It was not infrequent for the gentlemen to be standing sweating in just their uh tuxedo shirts with crop straps and not much else.

[26:54] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[26:56] Ryan Worsing: That's it was hot. It was a very hot show. Lots of lots of wool, lots of three-piece suits, beautiful costumes, don't be wrong. But uh you didn't want to be standing on stage with a courtroom scene if you didn't have to be.

[27:09] Eli Tokash: Nope. Understandable that's tough.

[27:14] Ryan Worsing: Oh my god. I can't imagine. That show was literally maybe the most colorful show that I've ever seen. Like literally, like between Bette's dress, Beanie's dress, the blue suits that were in it, Taylor's suit, like everyone had a different costumes, yes, very merry pop comes. Yeah, yes. Um it was the but that was the thing. It's like the costumes were probably hotter than they needed to be.

[27:45] Ryan Worsing: But again, we all recognized the moment. We were like, right, gonna get to wear costumes as beautiful on stage with Bette Midler ever again. When are you gonna get to ride this train across the stage ever again? Yes, it was every moment was like, okay, I can make this little sacrifice because I can recognize the greatness of the whole.

[28:04] Eli Tokash: Right.

[28:06] Ryan Worsing: So freaking cool. Yeah, it was worth every bit of it. Every bit. And you were you were with it the whole run, right?

[28:14] Ryan Worsing: I left for two months when the Cher show had their out of town tryout in Chicago. And then the day before we headed back to New York after Cher, I had a phone call from our company manager at Hello Dolly because my replacement had torn his ACL. So then I got to go back in for the last six weeks when Bette and David came back and close out the show before we started our New York run of the Cher show.

[28:41] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. Wait, so did you ever do the show with Victor Garber?

[28:45] Ryan Worsing: I sure did.

[28:46] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, yeah, his first like four or five months.

[28:49] Ryan Worsing: He was so lovely. He and David, they were so sweet. They just loved, especially because they come from a history of stage work. They have such regard and respect for what we do. Um, I'll never forget the first day that we did the title number of Hello Dolly with Victor in the room. He'd seen the show a number of times, but just like it was almost like he was fangirling over us.

[29:16] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[29:17] Ryan Worsing: He just kept coming up to us and complimenting us on the number over and over again. And it's it was so sweet. It reminded me of a moment that we had I had with David in our initial rehearsals. Um we were rehearsing downtown um off of Union Square at a place that used to rehearse a lot of Broadway shows, but it was kind of out of the way for our show.

[29:37] Eli Tokash: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[29:38] Ryan Worsing: And it was just the two of us in the elevator one day. Um, and I remembered that he wasn't called until 10:30 that morning. It came about 9:45, and he was there. Right in the elevator up. How are you? How's your day? Did you have a great evening yesterday? And then I said to him, David, I didn't think you were called this early. What are you doing here? And he just looked at me and as earnestly as could be said, Well, you're rehearsing Broadway choreography this morning, aren't you? I have the opportunity to be in the room for that. Why would I miss that?

[30:05] Eli Tokash: No.

[30:06] Ryan Worsing: He would just come sit and watch our choreography rehearsals. Wow. These people, I mean, as big of stars as they were, right? And just like all of us, felt so lucky to be in the room. It made for the greatest, the greatest experience.

[30:23] Eli Tokash: That that's pretty incredible. I mean, like, it seems like I mean, it's easy for like us to say, like, you know, we really get to understand, like, we're so thankful to be in the room with these people and all of that, but they like understand the bigger picture of just like, oh, like, you know, this could be my last time on stage, and this could be uh, and then I'm gonna go do another movie, or like whatnot. Um, and then like, and then just the back. And even moments like um David would stand off stage left and watch us do the title number every day. He he would come on at the end of the reprise, but you know, he could have been with the stress or getting water, but he would watch it every day because no matter what we achieve, what success we arrive at. I do think that especially for us theater kids, there's still that part of us that is kind of willing to pinch ourselves to believe that we're still there.

[31:19] Ryan Worsing: And I think that was genuinely that moment for him each night, you know. He got to drink that in, and with all of his success, it was still a special treat to be in that moment.

[31:31] Eli Tokash: Totally, and you know, Broadway's hard, so like he like he gets it, you know. Like he's like, this. I appreciate this, you know. Like everyone can take a step back, and I feel like as like for me, like I never understood that until I haven't worked in three years. So like, you know, like you then you get to reflect and you're like, wow, like that is so cool. Like, I was on a Broadway stage.

[32:00] Ryan Worsing: Yeah.

[32:01] Eli Tokash: Yeah, like you don't get you don't get it. Like when you're in the moment, you're kind of just like worried about like telling the story and me and having fun with who you're with and everything, and you're living in the moment, really. And then afterwards, you're like, wow, like that's something really, really cool that I just did. You know, I mean we work so hard at it, and when you're in it, sometimes it is difficult to see the forest for the trees.

[32:27] Ryan Worsing: You're reverse all day, and then you're performing, and then you've got to you know, rest up for what is another long slog the next day. It's not always easy to reflect in the moment. Sometimes it does take that distance.

[32:40] Eli Tokash: There's hardly ever time to reflect.

[32:44] Ryan Worsing: There's not. There's not, there's just not. So like you really have to wait until afterwards. I want to talk to you about the Cher show because I want to talk to you about the Cher show for a lot of reasons. First of all, two weeks as Cher, come on.

[33:01] Ryan Worsing: Yes, two weeks as Cher. I I'm so mad to like say this right now.

[33:09] Eli Tokash: I never got to see the Cher show.

[33:11] Ryan Worsing: It's okay. We only ran for what, nine, ten months?

[33:15] Eli Tokash: Well, that was the problem. So if it was a little longer, I would have been done with Trevor, and I would have been able to see you guys.

[33:23] Ryan Worsing: So I was in Chicago, and you guys had just left Chicago basically.

[33:26] Eli Tokash: Just left. You know, like it's like, ugh, we just missed.

[33:30] Ryan Worsing: Yeah, whatever. It was planned, I'm sure.

[33:33] Eli Tokash: No, I know. Um, but honestly, like I want to talk to you. I don't even know if I should talk to you about the show first or if I should talk to you about your Gypsy Robe moment.

[33:44] Ryan Worsing: Because you were I wanna let's talk about that. Because you got to wear the Gypsy Robe. First of all, explain to everyone what kind of that is, how that works, and then tell me about what that moment was like for you.

[34:01] Ryan Worsing: Okay, so uh the Gypsy Robe, which uh has since been changed to the Legacy Robe, is a huge uh Broadway backstage tradition. I wanna say it started around the show Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Somewhere in there. I think I think I might be close on that. Um and basically it is uh an honor to be presented to the individual in the ensemble who has the most Broadway ensemble credits.

[34:33] Ryan Worsing: Um it's just kind of a way to honor what we or at least used to think of as the unsung heroes of the Broadway shows. You know, they're not gonna be nominated for Tony Awards, they're not gonna get above title billing, but they're the workhorses, the people who have put in the time and have supported a lot of Broadway shows um along their way.

[34:56] Ryan Worsing: Uh so it's a real honor. You know, the people who have gotten it are people who have made incredible careers out of uh performing on Broadway. Uh, you know, I have friends who got our the woman who got it on Hello Dolly, I think Hello Dolly was like her thirteenth Broadway show when she got it on that.

[35:16] Ryan Worsing: Oh so just to know that the history that they bring with them, and then when you get the great honor of being named as well, to be a part of that history is it was it was a very flattering moment uh for me. Yes. Uh I I was truly honored.

[35:38] Ryan Worsing: But then, of course, once you are announced as the Legacy Robe recipient, there are plenty of superstitions that you have to uh follow through with so that you don't jinx the production. So you then run around the stage three times counterclockwise so that everyone in the company can hit your hand, uh high five or touch the robe.

[35:59] Ryan Worsing: And then you have to visit every dressing room while wearing the robe and bless the theater um with the Legacy Robe. Then you also get the great honor of handing on the Legacy Robe to the next recipient at the next opening night, which for me uh I had uh really good luck because I got to give it to Erica Mansfield, who we did Finding with.

[36:24] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[36:25] Ryan Worsing: Um when Kiss Me Kate opened.

[36:27] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[36:28] Ryan Worsing: Also was so special to be able to give it to someone who I have worked with, who I love so very much. Um, and it was her first time receiving it as well.

[36:38] Ryan Worsing: Um, to pass that honor on to her. But the whole experience of it was really uh something that I don't take for granted. It's super special. Again, like I said earlier, you know, so much what I love about what we do is the history of this business and why things are the way they are.

[36:55] Ryan Worsing: And it's moments like that that make me feel a part of that history.

[36:58] Eli Tokash: Right.

[37:00] Ryan Worsing: And that that's something that'll stay with you forever, too. Like you know, it's just such it's so incredible. I mean, all I mean, every Broadway show will stick with you forever, but like that's like another moment, and just to have that during Cher and everything.

[37:14] Ryan Worsing: Yeah, it's one of those things, you know. Um, I have been at this a while now. Um making my business in the theater, and you know, some things do sort of start to feel the same after a while. Um not that way, but the novelty of things sort of starts to wear off.

[37:33] Ryan Worsing: Um, but then it's little moments like that that you're like, yeah, that's just another feather in my cap that when I look back on this time in 20 or 30 years, I'm gonna really think fondly on that opportunity.

[37:46] Eli Tokash: Yeah, that's amazing.

[37:48] Ryan Worsing: Yeah, I love that so much. Okay.

[37:50] Eli Tokash: Okay, Cher.

[37:53] Ryan Worsing: Cher.

[37:53] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. First of all, wow. I mean, like, it's so cool that I don't know, like the fact that Cher was always like very um hand-on with the production and everything, I think was so so cool to like from a fan perspective, just be like during like seeing that and you can just be like more appreciative of the project and everything that goes with it.

[38:21] Ryan Worsing: So, like, how was that for you?

[38:24] Ryan Worsing: And also talked well, yeah, we'll start out with that.

[38:28] Ryan Worsing: Um Cher herself was a fascinating creature. I own I had limited interactions with her.

[38:38] Ryan Worsing: But when when I did, they were they were always funny little comical moments I I will never forget when we were um developing the show we did a four week lab uh about a year before we took to Chicago sure and we did she came to one of our presentations and they were like Cher will you speak to the group before we present your life story to you and she's like okay so we're all in the room she's like okay everybody gather around let's um let's circle up and she kind of does this gesture and so everyone like gathers as if they're gonna hold hands and she goes but let's not hold hands because I just met you.

[38:39] Ryan Worsing: Oh I was like oh my gosh we just offended Cher but I was like I spent the last year and a half working with that like I and they were very close friends so like I understand what that kind of energy is coming from and it's not coming from a dark or dismissive place it's coming from a protective place of a woman who's had to survive in her career for 50 years entirely by herself so it was moments like that that I found comical of like oh yes you are fascinating because of the way you've had to care for yourself protect yourself advance yourself over these many years.

[39:57] Ryan Worsing: When we when the first time she came and saw the show in Chicago she was sitting right behind me.

[40:03] Eli Tokash: What are you getting?

[40:03] Ryan Worsing: She was sitting right behind me and um she came in after the lights went out she was wearing a hat so nobody really knew she was there. I obviously knew she was there. And there was this one part in the show where Sonny and Cher were exchanging rings.

[40:20] Ryan Worsing: And there was um inscriptions. Uh and the line was something about I got inscribed on the inside of the ring. And from behind me, she goes, Well, that's not how it happened.

[40:33] Ryan Worsing: She screamed it out. Screamed it.

[40:35] Eli Tokash: Oh my god.

[40:36] Ryan Worsing: Totally. For the whole audience to hear. Apparently the inscription was on the outside of the ring and on the inside of the ring. So that was something we had to fix for performances the next day. But it was just like, oh, this is what we're getting into.

[40:49] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[40:51] Ryan Worsing: Oh my god. That is iconic.

[40:55] Eli Tokash: Only Cher.

[40:56] Ryan Worsing: Only Cher would be allowed to like do that. You know? It was uh it was a learning experience in that regard. I've never never I mean I've worked with plenty of celebrities, but on stage with them. But to have somebody of that uh star power uh and that level of fame on the other side of the table as a completely different dimension to things.

[41:20] Eli Tokash: Right.

[41:21] Ryan Worsing: See, see that's what I want to know. Like when Diane came to see Pippin in Finding Neverland, it was like nerve-wracking, okay? Like all you want to do is like make sure that like their vision is what it like was what I'm doing.

[41:36] Ryan Worsing: So like what was it like to like perform for the person that in the story is your that's the story that you're telling? Like it's literally it's not like she's like told you how to do it or anything like that, but like it's she's lived it. Like, how can I make it to that? Right. It was tricky, yeah, it's tricky. If I'm gonna be totally frank, I think biomusicals are probably best saved for once a person is no longer with us.

[42:08] Eli Tokash: Oh.

[42:09] Ryan Worsing: Okay. And that is that is not any sort of criticism on Cher at all. I'm speaking very broadly um in general. Because she did contribute a lot of really good stuff, but it was it was those moments like that. Like she shouted out in Chicago. Well, that's not how it happened. Where the inscription of the ring was on the inside the outside was not kind of the crux of that scene. Like that was not the important thing that necessarily needed the attention and focus on creating a really focused narrative.

[42:42] Eli Tokash: Sure.

[42:42] Ryan Worsing: Um and so there were a handful of moments like that along the way of like, okay, let's absolutely honor the experience um and stay as true to it as possible, but also remember that we are trying to stage this life, um, and not everything is going to be to a T the way it was maybe experienced.

[43:03] Eli Tokash: Sure.

[43:04] Ryan Worsing: Uh we also threw a lot of incarnations of the lens with which we told that story.

[43:11] Eli Tokash: Oh.

[43:12] Ryan Worsing: Um, there was there were certain concepts that used to be layered on it, like when we were in our out-of-town tryout in Chicago, it was basically a show within a show, as if we were creating a variety show around Cher's life.

[43:25] Eli Tokash: Um, and then that got tossed out.

[43:28] Ryan Worsing: So as we were trying to sort through some of that, especially with her, the questions became okay, how over the top and how um exaggerated do we make some of these things in the attempt to make them feel like a very theatrical variety show, and then how do we refocus or pair them back to make them the honest moment that they actually were in this woman's life?

[43:54] Eli Tokash: Um and sometimes those things weren't always agreeable.

[43:58] Ryan Worsing: Yeah.

[43:59] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[44:00] Ryan Worsing: And that made that was really an interesting and learning experience to watch the creatives try and navigate what they thought would be really good storytelling versus staying true to Cher and what she was really looking for.

[44:18] Eli Tokash: Right.

[44:18] Ryan Worsing: Wow, that's fascinating. It was a lot. It was um again, I don't know that it would necessarily be my first project to want to like hop back into creating that kind of world with somebody who is still so close to it.

[44:35] Eli Tokash: Right.

[44:35] Ryan Worsing: Um I I also find that at least this is just for me, the best bio musicals are the ones that are told um by antagonists. You know, we think of being told so well because we get Shay's perspective.

[44:51] Eli Tokash: Sure.

[44:52] Ryan Worsing: Hamilton is told so well because we get Burr's perspective.

[44:56] Eli Tokash: And when the person is the person that you're telling their story about is alive, you're not always granted the opportunities to share other people's perspectives on them.

[45:09] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[45:09] Ryan Worsing: Yeah, totally. That that totally makes sense.

[45:13] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, when you're a writer, oh my god, what can't you do?

[45:16] Ryan Worsing: Piano writing, dance captain, uh, everything.

[45:19] Eli Tokash: Oh Lord, I don't know that I'm gonna make it that far, but um, but okay, um, so your role in Cher was a swing and you understudied some iconic people in in the music industry. Um, so what was first of all, what was the experience of being an off stage swing?

[45:41] Ryan Worsing: Okay, and not having to do it every night and also just playing those roles. Um being off stage on that show was uh a lot of work.

[45:54] Ryan Worsing: Because that was one of those shows where especially for the ensemble, the offstage work was almost more difficult than the onstage work. Very rarely did the ensemble get out there and perform a full number, um, like we think of with traditional musicals.

[46:12] Eli Tokash: Um if we did full versions of Cher songs, they were generally performed solely by the three ladies.

[46:20] Ryan Worsing: Um, so we would often get out there and do like eight conservative choreography, twelve counts of choreography, and then you'd run off stage and have to change into another ridiculous, completely fabulous costume, um, and move some set pieces around.

[46:33] Ryan Worsing: So it was tough in the regard that it wasn't your standard musical um as far as swinging and dance happening. A lot of work was required of like, okay, I moved this set piece here, and then I don't even know how this quick change works because he's the only person in the show who has this one costume, and it's absurd.

[46:56] Ryan Worsing: It's conversion built for him. Um there was a lot of trailing that I had to do on that show.

[47:03] Ryan Worsing: Um it was also technically a very big show.

[47:09] Eli Tokash: Oh, sorry, we're gonna say this.

[47:11] Ryan Worsing: It was uh bigger than sometimes it physically needed to be because our main set pieces were these two um folding walls, basically, and each wall was run by automation, and then on each wall there were five panels each.

[47:29] Ryan Worsing: And on one side was a mirrored side, and on the other side was all LED lights.

[47:33] Ryan Worsing: So just the technical aspect of the show required a lot more specificity to keep people safe to get people in their right light.

[47:43] Ryan Worsing: Um so that well, my dance captain on Finding Neverland a lot of the time felt like sharing the storytelling that we were doing.

[47:55] Ryan Worsing: Cher felt a lot more technical.

[47:57] Eli Tokash: Gotcha.

[47:58] Ryan Worsing: I had to be a lot more um, it was not so much uh okay, find this journey of how they get to hear and play in this world in this play. It had to be a lot more specific.

[48:09] Ryan Worsing: It for no other reason just to keep people safe.

[48:11] Eli Tokash: So they didn't get a massive Cher angel wing in the eye.

[48:15] Ryan Worsing: You know, it was it was it was a treasure shell.

[48:18] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[48:18] Ryan Worsing: Oh my god. We had trapdoors that were constantly going down. Just the technical aspect had to be super specific.

[48:27] Eli Tokash: Right.

[48:27] Ryan Worsing: Wow.

[48:29] Eli Tokash: And you were you were the dance captain there too, right?

[48:35] Ryan Worsing: So you were teaching Oh my god.

[48:38] Ryan Worsing: Hopefully, not as many rehearsals um as there were.

[48:41] Ryan Worsing: There still seem to be quite a few rehearsals.

[48:43] Eli Tokash: Oh boy.

[48:44] Ryan Worsing: Um boy.

[48:46] Ryan Worsing: But yeah, but not quite as many, I I would say.

[48:48] Eli Tokash: Okay.

[48:48] Ryan Worsing: But yeah, we we still rehearse a lot.

[48:51] Ryan Worsing: I'm waiting for that show where I just like go in and do my two and a half hours a night, and that's it.

[48:58] Eli Tokash: But I don't think I was anytime soon.

[49:01] Ryan Worsing: Hey, yes, let's I would welcome a Come From Away.

[49:06] Eli Tokash: Right.

[49:07] Ryan Worsing: Right.

[49:08] Eli Tokash: I think a lot of people would.

[49:10] Ryan Worsing: That and like a flight.

[49:14] Eli Tokash: Right.

[49:15] Ryan Worsing: We love that.

[49:16] Eli Tokash: We do.

[49:17] Ryan Worsing: And Trevor is kinda similar.

[49:20] Eli Tokash: It's not like crazy.

[49:22] Ryan Worsing: It's Josh Bryn's choreography, but it's not like it's like craziness.

[49:25] Eli Tokash: Like it's nothing like physically demanding, which is beautiful.

[49:30] Ryan Worsing: Um there are really nice things about that.

[49:35] Ryan Worsing: You know, we all love to be a part of you know a show that looks like there's tons of money on stage, but at the same time, there's something like some of my favorite work that I did was on stage at Chicago Musical where all we're doing is moving chairs around.

[49:48] Eli Tokash: And that's just, you know, because it gives you the time and permission to really just focus on storytelling.

[49:54] Ryan Worsing: Yeah.

[49:55] Eli Tokash: You're not so caught up in all of the technical elements, which can be great, um, and really enhance the production or the viewing experience.

[50:03] Ryan Worsing: But when your job as the actor is to kind of focus on your job as an actor, that can be really nice.

[50:10] Ryan Worsing: It's also there is a lot of beauty in simplicity.

[50:14] Ryan Worsing: Uh, because especially for an audience member, like in Neverland, like there's still like my parents have seen it however many times, like, you know, and like every time they're like, Oh, I noticed this today, and I noticed this.

[50:30] Ryan Worsing: And that's just because there's so many things happening where you can't catch everything, you know, like and you can't just focus on the storytelling because of everything visually that's happening, even from an audience perspective.

[50:42] Ryan Worsing: Some people would would make the argument that in that world, uh, you know, you have to they feel limited in their creativity, feel the limitations that much more.

[50:55] Ryan Worsing: Whereas I find uh the the people that I respect the most creatively find that to be an opportunity as opposed to a hindrance.

[51:06] Ryan Worsing: When they have to narrow their scope, it allows them to really be clear in their storytelling.

[51:12] Eli Tokash: Yeah, it's wonderful.

[51:15] Ryan Worsing: So I I I totally I try to go to cr in chronicle uh chronological order, um, but I missed the Chicago segment.

[51:25] Eli Tokash: Um let's talk about Chicago.

[51:27] Ryan Worsing: Okay.

[51:27] Eli Tokash: If if what I've read is correct, sometimes it's not.

[51:32] Ryan Worsing: You've had multiple stints in the show, right?

[51:35] Ryan Worsing: Yeah, so I did about three years total over a four-year period. The first time I joined the show, I did it for just shy of two years, and then I left to go do the out-of-town tryout of The Nutty Professor, Marvin Hamlisch's last musical.

[51:54] Eli Tokash: Sure.

[51:55] Ryan Worsing: Um, and then he passed away in during out of town tryout, and the show never went anywhere.

[52:01] Ryan Worsing: So as soon as I got back into town, um, a few weeks later, Chicago called and I said, Hey, would you be interested in coming back in as a medical replacement?

[52:10] Ryan Worsing: So I went back for six months as a medical replacement.

[52:12] Eli Tokash: Oh, there's medical replacements, you know.

[52:14] Ryan Worsing: Um, and then left the show that time, and nine months later they called and they said, Hey, we have a we have an opening, so I went back for another year.

[52:22] Ryan Worsing: So on and on I did three years over a four-year period, but yeah, it was like 13 or 1400 performances total.

[52:30] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, that is insane.

[52:34] Ryan Worsing: It is insane, and yet still like nothing compared to the people who have done it for 20 years.

[52:40] Eli Tokash: Right.

[52:41] Ryan Worsing: But any day I was having a hard day, I would just look across the stage and see how engaged they were.

[52:47] Ryan Worsing: Then I would have to pull it together.

[52:49] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[52:49] Ryan Worsing: Come on, I got it easy.

[52:51] Eli Tokash: Come on.

[52:51] Ryan Worsing: Exactly.

[52:52] Ryan Worsing: Right.

[52:52] Eli Tokash: And I sat here for three years.

[52:54] Ryan Worsing: Right.

[52:55] Ryan Worsing: Yes.

[52:56] Ryan Worsing: And not even all at once.

[52:57] Eli Tokash: You know, you got your breaks.

[53:01] Ryan Worsing: No, but honestly, I I have to ask, because I mean, I don't I don't think I've had anyone on from like a Chicago and Phantom type show where it's been on Broadway since the ice age, you know?

[53:13] Eli Tokash: Like so.

[53:14] Ryan Worsing: So um in a show like that, like I know like typically, you know, when shows open, they don't really change.

[53:23] Eli Tokash: But like in a show like that, it has to change, right?

[53:27] Ryan Worsing: Over It has to.

[53:29] Ryan Worsing: I I think.

[53:31] Ryan Worsing: I mean, I'm that kind of person that believes if you if you hold on to a show too tight, you're you're gonna suffocate it.

[53:40] Ryan Worsing: Um because you're going to be bringing in new talents, um, who who have you know their own strengths and weaknesses that they bring to the role, that the chemistry that they find with their co-stars is gonna be different.

[53:54] Ryan Worsing: Chicago is a great show in the regard that it allowed um the breadth of each individual to inform the performances.

[54:04] Ryan Worsing: Um I don't think that can be any truer than the role of Billy Flynn.

[54:10] Ryan Worsing: Um I saw I saw people, you know, like Chris Sieber play Billy Flynn and then I saw people like Coleman Ingall play Billy Flynn.

[54:18] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[54:19] Ryan Worsing: Um and their their takes on the role were completely different, you know.

[54:22] Ryan Worsing: You know, there were there was the more traditional sort of Jim Naughton interpretations, but then like I think of Coleman, and he he'll probably kill me for saying this, but like the way Coleman played Billy Flynn, and and pardon me on this, but he played Billy Flynn like a gay cocaine addict.

[54:39] Eli Tokash: Oh.

[54:40] Ryan Worsing: And we I would just sit back on stage and I'd be like, that is different.

[54:46] Eli Tokash: Right.

[54:46] Ryan Worsing: But there is absolutely nothing in the script that challenged any of that performance.

[54:54] Ryan Worsing: And in fact, it made it a really, really interesting choice in playing that role.

[55:00] Ryan Worsing: Then I also got to see somebody like Christopher Fitzgerald play the role who played it like the ultimate con man swindler.

[55:09] Ryan Worsing: And because the creative team gave them permission, it allowed each of them to play the role to the best of their ability and bring their unique talent to the production.

[55:21] Ryan Worsing: And I genuinely think it's why Chicago is still running to this day, because they trust the people that they hire enough, and they trust the staging of the production enough to let people do the work, and it's not it's only going to help the show, it's not gonna hurt.

[55:41] Ryan Worsing: Um I mean, I genuinely think fondly about Coleman's Billy Flynn, even though it was night and day from anything I'd ever seen, but I was like, yeah, you that makes perfect sense.

[55:52] Ryan Worsing: It's like that um revival of uh Oklahoma that came out a couple years ago, which I loved, loved, loved, loved.

[56:01] Ryan Worsing: It was like they didn't do anything that wasn't in the script, it was just not how any of us had experienced it before.

[56:10] Ryan Worsing: But because they were able to mine those really unique moments, it left a different taste in your mouth with the exact same show without doing anything to change it or reorganize it or change words or meaning.

[56:25] Ryan Worsing: No, it just imbued something different on it.

[56:28] Ryan Worsing: Now I had it enriched it that much more.

[56:31] Ryan Worsing: Right.

[56:31] Ryan Worsing: So I have to say, my experience with Oklahoma was I had never seen the show before until that revival.

[56:40] Ryan Worsing: And the way that like people were talking about, oh like Oklahoma's having a revival, here's what it's about, kind of thing.

[56:49] Ryan Worsing: It was like almost like seemed a little boring, you know, like and not like not like in a bad way, but like to a what for 13-year-old at the time, like it's not like something that I would want to go see.

[57:04] Ryan Worsing: But I saw it and was like, whoa, that is not what they were describing to me.

[57:11] Ryan Worsing: So and it's totally like when you think of Pippin almost and what Diane did with the revival of that and making it a circus.

[57:22] Ryan Worsing: Like when I had when I had auditioned for Pippin, I had found bootlegs of the original production, and it was not as entertaining for a 11-year-old to watch compared to that.

[57:37] Ryan Worsing: Like it's incredible what how m people can envision roles and shows in such different and but yet equally successful and equally uh and and making sure that the right story is being told at the same time, you know.

[57:53] Ryan Worsing: It's just incredible.

[57:55] Ryan Worsing: Chicago, Chicago was um a great show for me, and then it taught me a lot of lessons.

[58:01] Ryan Worsing: So many lessons, and that was kind of one of the biggest ones is that you just trust the work that you're doing.

[58:08] Ryan Worsing: Um there was there was no place to hide in Chicago.

[58:11] Ryan Worsing: There were no costumes to hide behind or something else to hide behind.

[58:14] Ryan Worsing: You were just so exposed.

[58:16] Ryan Worsing: Um and so when you see people who are so confident in the work that they are doing, like somebody like Coleman or Chris Fitzgerald, and and even if they are doing it completely different than you're used to, it gives you that permission structure to um know that you are enough and what you are bringing is unique um and can be used to enhance as opposed to be different.

[58:43] Ryan Worsing: Right.

[58:44] Ryan Worsing: Uh it it's it was very empowering to learn those lessons at Chicago of like, oh it's not everything that I thought musical theater was or should be.

[58:55] Ryan Worsing: This can be anything we want it to be.

[58:58] Ryan Worsing: Um, so long as we are confident enough in ourselves and the material and the work we're doing on it.

[59:05] Eli Tokash: I love that.

[59:06] Eli Tokash: And you got to play so each time you did you each time you came into the show, you were you playing different roles where you played.

[59:13] Ryan Worsing: I did different tracks.

[59:14] Ryan Worsing: So the my first track in the show was Aaron.

[59:19] Ryan Worsing: I had to talk about a second.

[59:21] Ryan Worsing: It was Aaron who plays Hunyak's attorney.

[59:23] Ryan Worsing: Um really, really not a great moment because Hunak is like the heart center of that show.

[59:30] Ryan Worsing: Right.

[59:31] Ryan Worsing: I have to yell at yell at her all day was pretty pretty awful.

[59:34] Ryan Worsing: Um, and then as my medical replacement, I came back to Sergeant Fogarty.

[59:38] Ryan Worsing: But my last year in the show, I played the Steerfoss in the overture, and then became um the jury for the corporate scene.

[59:48] Ryan Worsing: And that was a dream.

[59:50] Eli Tokash: So that was your favorite.

[59:51] Ryan Worsing: Yeah.

[59:52] Ryan Worsing: Because your face was the best part.

[59:55] Ryan Worsing: Yeah, your face kind of went up, you know.

[59:58] Ryan Worsing: As the dream member for that whole scene, it's just like you get to do slapstick comedy, and you get to you have to play six members of the jury during the course of that scene.

[1:00:09] Ryan Worsing: And you have to create a physical life as well as a way to wear this one stupid coat in six different ways that makes you complete and distinct characters.

[1:00:22] Ryan Worsing: Um it was just fun to get to play and have permission to be that outlandish in physical comedy every night after doing like all this slinky fossil choreography, and then to get to completely turn it up on its head to do some slapstick every night.

[1:00:39] Ryan Worsing: I loved it.

[1:00:40] Eli Tokash: Must have been that NYU training, you know.

[1:00:43] Ryan Worsing: Oh, you know.

[1:00:45] Ryan Worsing: Oh my god.

[1:00:46] Ryan Worsing: Uh it was it was a blast.

[1:00:47] Ryan Worsing: I I really love that track.

[1:00:49] Eli Tokash: That's amazing.

[1:00:50] Eli Tokash: Well, Ryan, I mean, we've done a whole two-act show today.

[1:00:55] Eli Tokash: Um honestly, I mean, I don't want to take up any more of your time, but this is so nice.

[1:01:02] Eli Tokash: Just to catch up with you, let alone talk about, you know, these shows were so special to both of us and all of that.

[1:01:07] Eli Tokash: It was really really great.

[1:01:09] Ryan Worsing: Oh my god.

[1:01:10] Ryan Worsing: Well, honestly, like I hope people like will actually like watch this episode as opposed to listening to it on like podcasts, because just the way that you are able to tell stories and like watching you like talk about it and just the passion behind your face and the smile, like from ear to ear the past two hours, has even been like more enjoyable than listening to the stories at times.

[1:01:33] Ryan Worsing: Like it was that's very honestly.

[1:01:36] Eli Tokash: Yes, I I'm obsessed.

[1:01:37] Ryan Worsing: Like I'm here has I think this year has been for all of us.

[1:01:42] Ryan Worsing: Yes.

[1:01:43] Ryan Worsing: Raised a lot of questions, and it it I can't tell you how you how many times I've thought back to that story about um Jerry's axe telling us about the out-of-town tryout for Hello Dolly.

[1:01:56] Ryan Worsing: Um it has been easy to feel like what we do over this past year is frivolous, um, and question the importance and value of what we do um because it has been so removed from our lives.

[1:02:11] Ryan Worsing: Um, but I genuinely think that it's more important than ever.

[1:02:15] Ryan Worsing: Um what we do.

[1:02:17] Ryan Worsing: And those of us who get to do it and and tell stories and and shape minds and hearts and emotions for a living are are really fortunate, and we need the reminders more than ever that what we do is is not frivolous, that art is life, we get to engage in it on a daily basis.

[1:02:38] Eli Tokash: Yeah, absolutely.

[1:02:40] Eli Tokash: So, what's next?

[1:02:41] Eli Tokash: Like, do you have your eyes set on anything?

[1:02:44] Ryan Worsing: Well, I was working on a a project uh uh Encores.

[1:02:48] Ryan Worsing: I was getting to do my first Encourse concert, Love Life actually, with Kate Baldwin and Chris Mitchell right as we right as the shutdown happened.

[1:02:57] Ryan Worsing: So it would be really nice if we got to pick that one up and present it because that show is so unique and is never done.

[1:03:06] Ryan Worsing: Um the show hasn't been done in New York since its original production, and there was never a cast recording made of the show because the musicians were on strike when the show happened.

[1:03:16] Ryan Worsing: So it would just be nice to make that happen.

[1:03:19] Ryan Worsing: Um, and then hopefully in the next few weeks or months, there will be another announcement on something a little more long term that will get me back to Broadway and and play with some friends again.

[1:03:34] Eli Tokash: I love that because I am very careful about who I asked that question to because it's a sensitive topic.

[1:03:42] Eli Tokash: It is a sensitive topic, but also uh it's a sensitive topic anytime, but especially after the uncertainty of the last year and a half.

[1:03:50] Eli Tokash: I think it's a little more trepidatious with how much they say, but hopefully we all get to celebrate each other and um amazing opportunities very soon.

[1:03:50] Ryan Worsing: Very soon.

[1:04:04] Eli Tokash: I love it, I'm so excited.

[1:04:06] Eli Tokash: Oh my gosh, this is everything.

[1:04:08] Eli Tokash: Ryan, you belong on the stage, no joke, and I cannot wait to see you because I know I will sometime soon.

[1:04:16] Ryan Worsing: Um well, hopefully, we get to share a stage together again soon.

[1:04:20] Ryan Worsing: That would be a dream.

[1:04:21] Ryan Worsing: I would be and and I'll be in your on in your ensemble dressing and dressing room and everything now because I'm an adult, so we can share a dressing room, right?

[1:04:30] Eli Tokash: Right, or um, oh my god, she will still be your dresser.

[1:04:33] Ryan Worsing: We'll make Susie will still be my dresser.

[1:04:35] Ryan Worsing: I that's in my contract now, by the way.

[1:04:38] Ryan Worsing: Susie was my dresser on Finding Neverland for those who don't know.

[1:04:41] Ryan Worsing: Um, but yes, a gem, literally.

[1:04:44] Ryan Worsing: Everyone, everyone, we are so blessed, and I I am blessed.

[1:04:48] Ryan Worsing: We are all blessed.

[1:04:49] Ryan Worsing: Everyone listening to your stories today, this week.

[1:04:52] Eli Tokash: This is probably gonna be a two-parter, actually.

[1:04:54] Eli Tokash: So it's probably gonna be for two weeks in a row.

[1:04:56] Eli Tokash: Um sorry for the length, folks.

[1:04:58] Ryan Worsing: Oh my god, it's everything.

[1:05:00] Eli Tokash: But yes, I literally can't thank you enough.

[1:05:02] Eli Tokash: It's been wonderful to catch up with you, and I it just thank you.

[1:05:06] Ryan Worsing: I mean, honestly.

[1:05:07] Eli Tokash: More soon.

[1:05:08] Eli Tokash: It's so great to be.

[1:05:09] Eli Tokash: Yes, Eli.

[1:05:10] Eli Tokash: Take care, and thanks for listening, everybody.

[1:05:12] Ryan Worsing: Yes.

[1:05:13] Ryan Worsing: Oh my gosh.

[1:05:14] Eli Tokash: See ya, Ryan.

[1:05:15] Ryan Worsing: Take care.

[1:05:16] Eli Tokash: Take about Ryan Worsing.

[1:05:18] Eli Tokash: Oh my goodness.

[1:05:19] Eli Tokash: That wraps up the two part episode, and we will be hearing from a new guest next week.

[1:05:24] Eli Tokash: But honestly, how amazing are these stories?

[1:05:27] Eli Tokash: The stories about Bet Midler, the stories about Cher.

[1:05:31] Eli Tokash: I mean, it's literally the episode of the icons.

[1:05:33] Eli Tokash: Like, let's be real.

[1:05:34] Eli Tokash: We're just talking a bunch of icons, just name dropping and speaking so highly, but also just talking about how much of a diva they are.

[1:05:44] Eli Tokash: Like, it's just it's incredible.

[1:05:45] Eli Tokash: And I'm here for every moment of it.

[1:05:47] Eli Tokash: And I hope that you all enjoyed these fun stories uh from these last two episodes, and of course, every other one.

[1:05:55] Eli Tokash: Um, but that being said, I hope you all catched the drama dictionary word of the week.

[1:06:01] Eli Tokash: It's Gypsy Robe, and I was so excited that Ryan actually gave us such a great in-depth uh description of it.

[1:06:09] Eli Tokash: So I hope you all picked up on it.

[1:06:10] Eli Tokash: And I thought, like, why not have like a little guest uh do it this week if he did it so brilliantly during the interview?

[1:06:17] Eli Tokash: So uh I figured it would be great, and I figured it would be uh useful, and of course, uh who better to come from than someone who was able to uh have that opportunity themselves and wear the gypsy robe and be able to carry on that tradition.

[1:06:32] Eli Tokash: So it's just a huge milestone as an actor and as a creator, and it's very, very impressive, and something that he will never forget, and hopefully, we'll be able to do soon.

[1:06:43] Eli Tokash: Uh, because just because you got it once doesn't mean you can't get it again.

[1:06:47] Eli Tokash: So, uh Ryan Worsing, you're the best.

[1:06:50] Eli Tokash: I am so so happy that we were able to catch up and talk Neverland last episode and also all of your amazing things since Neverland in this episode.

[1:07:01] Eli Tokash: I mean, your stories literally his stories for days.

[1:07:04] Eli Tokash: I mean, the audition stories from last episode, and even like this episode, he had so many just iconic and hilarious stories that like leaves you just with a smile on your face and just remembering how beautiful Broadway is, just even uh on stage and not just from an audience point of view, and just how there's literally a show within a show in every show.

[1:07:30] Eli Tokash: Um, just like the backstage stories and show the stuff that goes on there.

[1:07:35] Eli Tokash: Like it's literally a whole nother show going on while the show's going on.

[1:07:40] Eli Tokash: So um, it's just it's another world, and I'm so glad to be able to be bringing that to you all every week.

[1:07:47] Eli Tokash: Um, and I hope I hope you guys are enjoying it.

[1:07:50] Eli Tokash: And uh, that being said, I cannot wait for next week because we have another great great episode, and it's with a very, very fun guest.

[1:08:00] Eli Tokash: I'm one of my personal favorite actors and people that I've seen on Broadway, and it was our first time meeting, so I'm very excited for you all to listen to it.

[1:08:09] Eli Tokash: And uh, he talks some about some great things.

[1:08:12] Eli Tokash: So um, until then, I hope to see you all next week.

[1:08:16] Eli Tokash: And uh I hope everyone have a has a great week.

[1:08:19] Eli Tokash: So, thanks everyone.

[1:08:21] Eli Tokash: For this episode's curtain call, I would like to recognize a few people who also deserve to take a bow.

[1:08:26] Eli Tokash: This podcast would not be possible without the help from Jory Bernstein, Brittany Bigelow, Katie Rosen, Alan Seals, and the team at the Broadway Podcast Network.

[1:08:34] Eli Tokash: Next in line to Take the Bow is Tessie Tokash, who edits the audio and all the visuals for this podcast.

[1:08:40] Eli Tokash: A special thanks to patrons Brian Thompson, Pat McNamara, the listeners at PCC, as well as all of the other patrons for their continued support.

[1:08:48] Eli Tokash: If you're interested in becoming a patron, go to patreon.com slash TAB.

[1:08:54] Eli Tokash: And if you enjoyed this week's episode, don't forget to subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening to this on.

[1:09:00] Eli Tokash: Also, feel free to give us a follow on Instagram at TakeA Bow Podcast.

[1:09:04] Eli Tokash: Take a Bow's logo is designed by Giselle Bustos, and the music is by Nikki Torsha and Cormac Collinon.

[1:09:11] Eli Tokash: Bye everyone.

[1:09:12] Eli Tokash: Hope to see you next week.