This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hello everyone and welcome to episode 66 of Take A Bow. I'm your host, Eli Tokash, and today we have a brand new episode that is unlike any other episode that you've seen or listened to on these podcasts before. So very exciting stuff. We have a total of nine Broadway celebrities talking to us in this week's episode, and they all talk to us about the excitement of the return to Broadway. It's kind of like the Pride Medley episode that we once did when it was Pride Month. This kind of episode is kind of just a tribute to Broadway reopening as well as sharing with the world my first red carpet experience, which was, I guess I could say it was a very good learning experience for me. I was nervous and it was funny because I was talking to other people that were there and they were like, "Well, why are you nervous?

You're kind of the one in control. You do these anyways, like every week you interview people." And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, I know, but like I'm on a red carpet, and I'm with all these fancy people in fancy suits and everything." I don't know, I was just kind of like intimidated, but I think it was a great episode. Each interview is about three to four minutes long for nine people, so we have an interesting episode, and it's very exciting. But before we turn it over to the episode and to all of our wonderful guests this week, which I will name in a second, I just want to talk about some Broadway news going on first.

[1:33] Eli Tokash: And I would be remiss to not start out with saying happy opening to Passover, which is the first play to open on Broadway post-pandemic. So very exciting stuff. Like I said, I saw the show, I'm obsessed with this show. I love it so much. It's wonderful. The story will make you experience all the emotions, literally every single one. This is a show that I recommend to everyone. I've said that before. The show is very time relevant and it's just so beautiful. So hopefully they pushed their opening day up two weeks to open just this past week, and it was just wonderful to see the success that's going on on Broadway right now with the show Passover, as it's the only show on Broadway right now, and no COVID protocol issues or anything like that yet. So it's very exciting if everyone continues to do their part and everyone continues to go about everything very safely. Hopefully it continues to do well.

[2:36] Eli Tokash: And then something exciting about something that relates to Passover is one of our guests is going to be, we actually have our first returning guests. Actually, we have two returning guests this week. One is like a returning guest because it's the first time I met him in person, which is the stage manager of Passover, Cody Renard Richard. And then we also have someone who is returning, but at the time it was the first time I had talked to him, and that is Jay Armstrong Johnson. So we kind of have two returning guests for the first time ever on Take A Bow. I'm very excited, and it's a different conversation, so don't worry, it's not gonna be boring, it's not gonna be repetitive or anything. You're just gonna enjoy this episode. But back to the news, back to the news. Happy opening Passover. Glad it was a successful opening with no issues and everything is still going well.

[3:27] Eli Tokash: We're gonna continue talking about this Laura Osnes saga that is going on in the Broadway world. I mean, Laura Osnes is just such a big Broadway star that she had stuff lined up, right? So she was already stepping down or fired, I don't know, it's kind of hard to say, from her role in the show that she was doing out in the Hamptons with Tony Yazbeck. And now the Disney Princess: The Concert tour has now replaced her with Christy Altimore. They released a statement, and it said this production will follow Disney Concerts COVID-19 safety policy, requiring cast and touring crew to be fully vaccinated, and will adhere to all the local health protocols at each tour stop in an effort to maintain a safe concert experience for patrons, local crews, and the entire touring company.

So this was kind of interesting. It didn't really use the term "fired," didn't use the term "Laura Osnes is stepping down." It kind of just said, "Listen, we are replacing Laura Osnes with Christy Altimore," and that's kind of it.

[4:40] Eli Tokash: So Laura Osnes was supposed to do this Disney Cruise tour that is happening right now, and she, of course, was Cinderella on Broadway, and so a bunch of people like Sierra Boggess, who played Ariel on Broadway, and so like all these people who played Disney princesses on Broadway are actually doing a Broadway tour on ships and other things and popping up and being their roles that they played on Broadway to surprise kids and families and everything like that. So it turns out that Laura Osnes was gonna be in that; she was gonna be doing her Cinderella role, but now that has changed, and it's going to Christy Altimore, who's gonna be doing her Anastasia role. So exciting for Christy. I'm not sure what all went down.

I'm just reporting it. Once again, I don't want to get too political with these things. I just want to let everyone know as this is very interesting and kind of a historic thing happening right now in the Broadway world, as this is like kind of like our first case of this, and I figured there would be something like this. So it's very interesting to see how actors and companies are gonna be working together to comply and to one another's rules and beliefs and everything. So once again, just reporting that Christy Altimore is replacing Laura Osnes in the Disney Princess: The Concert tour.

[6:05] Eli Tokash: Let's turn it over to something a little more exciting. So I talked last week a little bit about how Waitress will be like on fire, kind of like that opening night, and just saying opening up like it's gonna be amazing. It's considered a revival, which is fun to me. It makes sense. But I saw that this week they announced that Waitress is gonna be honoring Nick Cordero, who originated the role of Earl, Jenna's husband, which is like the main girl, the waitress, the main waitress girl played by Sara Bareilles. He originated that role. So they're going to be honoring Nick Cordero with a new pie in the show called Live Your Life Pie, which, of course, if you remember listening to the previous episodes, and of course, all my talks and comments about Nick Cordero and the situation going on with him battling COVID and everything like that.

He had this great song called Live Your Life, and he wrote that, and that was kind of like his anthem while he was fighting COVID-19 and he was in the hospital. And so now they're honoring him with a pie named after that song to play a little tribute, which I thought was just very special, really, and it just makes me even more excited to go see Waitress because I'm interested in seeing like obviously they're waitresses at a diner, and they're famous for their pies.

[7:34] Eli Tokash: So there's a lot of talks about pies throughout the show. I wonder if they do change the scripts a little bit and see if they use the Live Your Life Pie instead of deep dish blueberry pie or something strawberry pie or whatnot. Maybe that's gonna be the mayor's new favorite pie. I don't know. I'm curious to see what they do with it, or if it's kind of just gonna be like on the chalkboard or they're gonna be selling it like they do in the theaters; they still sell like mini pies in a jar. There's a lot of things that they could do with it, so I'm curious to see what they do with it and how it works out because I just think it's a really special tribute to Nick Cordero, who obviously meant a lot to that show and originating the role of Earl.

[8:21] Eli Tokash: So okay, so very exciting announcement that was also announced this past week. Broadway at Bryant Park will return for a one-day event next month on Thursday, September 23rd, from 12 o'clock to 2. I'm so excited for this, okay, because Broadway at Bryant Park is kind of like a tradition at this point, and it's there like all the time, right? There's always a Broadway Bryant Park event every year, and obviously, like they couldn't do it with Broadway being shut down last year. It was very upsetting. It's such a big deal. That's when shows go out to the public and kind of you kind of grow Broadway in a lot of ways and kind of do it for the general public for free if anyone's walking by Bryant Park and they get a little show, you know, like it's kind of special.

So very exciting that they're figuring out how to do it this year in an outdoor space with all of these casts. Some of the casts that are gonna be there that have been announced so far, there may be more, so this isn't the final, I would assume it seems a little early, but right now the casts that are scheduled to be there are Aladdin, Caroline, or Change, Chicago, Diana: The Musical, Girl from the North Country, Mrs. Doubtfire, Six, Stomp, The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, and Waitress.

[9:46] Eli Tokash: So this is wonderful. I don't know who exactly from the show is gonna be there or are gonna be there if it's gonna be like a whole cast kind of thing or if it's gonna do something similar to what Neverland did when we did it where it was just kind of the kids and then they brought Laura Michelle Kelly out, and they didn't really have anybody else. It was kind of just like the five of us, four or five of us. And so, you know, some of these you can't bring the whole cast obviously, especially with COVID and everything going on, and you just have to be mindful of how many people and how many hours people are working and putting into the show and everything, so there's a lot that goes into these decisions.

So I'm not sure if everyone, I'm not sure what they're gonna be performing. I'm not sure who's gonna be performing, but once I do find out, I will of course update you all and hopefully see you all there on Thursday, September 23rd, during the day, which is very exciting. And that's actually before some of the shows that are gonna be performing even open. So it's very interesting, and I'm very excited. It's gonna give us a taste of shows like Diana: The Musical and Caroline, or Change, as well as Six, because that's technically not gonna be open. And yeah, and we'll see Waitress, which is gonna be opening right around that time, and Mrs. Doubtfire.

[11:06] Eli Tokash: So very exciting stuff, and it's gonna give us a taste of Broadway, and it's gonna be great. I love those days, and I hope to see you all there in Bryant Park September 23rd. I do want to say that I just cannot believe how soon this Dear Evan Hansen movie is coming out. Like it feels like forever ago we said like, "Oh, we're gonna have to wait like seven months," or like whatever it was. I don't even know. I'm just throwing out a random number. But it seems like forever ago I announced this and it was like it seems like it was so far away. And now we are literally exactly, well, I'm exactly a month away when I'm recording this, but you will be listening to it when it's like just a couple days past it.

But we're exactly a month away right now from the Dear Evan Hansen movie being released, which is gonna be on September 24th, which is a Friday. Ben Platt announced that the Dear Evan Hansen movie will have two brand new songs that are not in the Broadway show. I'm not sure if it's gonna be in the extended album that they kind of released, but it doesn't seem like it. It seems like they're completely brand new. No one's ever heard of them. One's for Connor and one's for Alana.

[12:16] Eli Tokash: And then, which is interesting. Sorry, too. My brain's kind of rolling right now. I found that very interesting because they are announcing new characters as well, so I figured when new songs are gonna be announced, maybe it's for these characters, but it wasn't. So I'm curious to see how they add these new characters, especially with the success of the musical. You know, sometimes people don't want to touch that. Anyway, there's two new songs for Connor and Alana, and then there's gonna be a brand new ending. Ben Platt kind of teased to it in an article, but to sum it all up, it seems as if they decided to create a new ending for him to realize what he did. It kind of like, you know, he had lied to this family, and it kind of like showed you three years later when everything was okay and he wanted to make it up to Laura Dreyfuss, Zoe.

And yeah, it was just kind of like a rushed ending, you know. It's a two and a half hour musical and they didn't want to stretch it. But for this, they're kind of making Evan face his lies and face his wrongdoings head-on and learn from those and show that personal growth and show those in-between moments to kind of lead up to the "Oh, Zoe and I are good now," and the Murphy family is all okay with me and I made it up to them and blah blah blah. So I am very curious to see how that goes and just to see him face the wrongdoings that he did in lying and whatnot. So it's gonna be very interesting. I'm very excited for this movie, and I'm very excited for these new songs, and of course, to hear these songs again and be on a big screen. You know, I love Broadway when it's at a large market like movies and stuff, and it's being promoted on the TV with the trailer and everything.

[14:19] Eli Tokash: Like that's my favorite thing when Broadway's hitting large markets because it deserves it, and uh it's true. It just I'm very excited for it. Uh Jervin Hansen, September 24th. And that's enough for me rambling. Okay. I I've talked enough. I'm very excited and passionate about all these things. And um, with that being said, I'm gonna talk to you about this week's episode because I'm also passionate about that. And this week's episode, like I said earlier, we have nine total guests. Um you're gonna be hearing from Eric Anthony Lopez, who was starring in the production of the Phantom of the Opera as Raul, when it was the only one of two shows that was running through the pandemic during the pandemic.

And that's kind of his cast was the cast that we were following in this premiere that we saw the show must go on. Um, so that's Eric Anthony Lopez, and of course he was in Phantom on Broadway. I and um yeah, so he was in that world tour, and he may be coming on for a full length episode, which is very exciting. So stay tuned for that. And as I mentioned before, we have Cody Renard Richard and Jay Armstrong Johnson rejoining us. Um, we also got to talk to Tamika Lawrence, Greg Hildreth, Sammy Cannold, uh, who was who was the director and filmographer and everything of this uh wonderful premiere that we went to. So it was fascinating to talk to her. Uh Lilius White, Kimberly Marable, and Salisha Thomas, who's actually another returning guest.

So we have three returning guests. Um, so very exciting stuff. Um I this is gonna be a very exciting episode. You're gonna be hearing a lot of different um a lot of different perspectives on the way theater is returning and uh the excitement levels of it returning and also like Tamika Lawrence talking about Caroline or Change, which she's gonna be in when Broadway returns Greg Hildreth going to be in Company when Broadway returns uh Salisha Thomas is going to be doing the Britney Spears musical out in Chicago. Cody Renard Richard is currently doing Passover and then he's gonna be producing Thoughts of a Black Man. Kimberly Marable will be playing Persephone on tour and she was just in the uh Broadway version where she was understudying on Broadway and was doing was also in the ensemble every night.

So um very exciting for her to go out on tour playing Persephone Lilius White who is literally just announced going to be in Chicago. I didn't get to talk to her about that because it was kind of just announced uh and like I said Sammy Cannold is was directing it Jay Armstrong Johnson he is going to be doing this I put a spell on you and everything like that. So everyone has a lot going on right now that I talked to and uh we were able to talk about all kinds of different things. So I hope you do enjoy all of these wonderful interviews uh of these short clips and with that being said let's turn it over to them shall we curtain up on the show must go on premiere and now we will be hearing from Eric Anthony Lopez.

[17:40] Eric Anthony Lopez: Hello. Hi. How excited are you to be here tonight? I am so excited to be here. It is amazing to be at the Majestic where it all began in 1988. So it's super cool. I mean, you're familiar with this theater, yes. Like, do you have a favorite memory of this theater? So it was my first Broadway show, and I've actually done Phantom. So it's not the part. The the the show. And it's completely amazing. And it it is a full circle moment. How do you feel to be in a theater for the first time in 17 months? To be in a theater for the first time is a crazy experience. I'll also be performing as well. So to do all that on Broadway, it's it's it's nothing like it, and I'm so excited. Can you tell us what you're doing tonight? Like what performance? I will be singing, but I can't tell you why, what, or where, but that's all I can say is that I am indeed singing. Amazing. Well, good luck tonight. Thank you for your time. Let's turn it over to Cody Renard Richard.

[18:38] Cody Renard Richard: Hi, Cody! Oh my god, it's so good to see you. Oh my god, literally, nice to meet you in the flash. How are you doing, first of all? How are you feeling? What are the emotions going into tonight? Oh my god. Um, all the things. I'm feeling good. Uh emotions are crazy. Um, it's exciting, you know, it's all the things. Okay, so you have made the announcement for like the first Broadway show really opening on Broadway post-pandemic. How was that feeling? Talk to me about Passover. Talk to me about all the things you're up to right now. Yeah, um, that was wild just because I think the energy from the audience, because you know, everybody's been hungry for the theater. Uh that was infectious and it was crazy.

And um, and the outpouring of love where from people from that has been wild. Um yeah, it's been wild, you know. You know, it's been every audience since first preview has been kind of excited to just be back in the theater. Did you kind of expect that? Or do was it like while you were saying the speech were you kind of like taken aback? Oh, I wasn't expecting that at all. No, absolutely not. Um but uh which was kind of the more exciting because I wasn't expecting it, you know. Um yeah, it's been great. So you're like bouncing around from Broadway show to Broadway show now, because now you're doing Passover, and then you're gonna be doing Thoughts of a Black Man, right? Yeah. So uh I mean just talk to me about that and talk about everything, your busy schedule, talk about previews of Passover and everything.

So yeah, I'm stage managing Passover right now. Um I'm actually one of the co-producers on Thoughts of a Colored Man, so I won't be there all the time, but I you know, so I'll get to see this show through. But um, yeah, I've been hopping around. It's been it's been a long time coming, so I'm excited that we're back and like doing stuff, you know. Well, congratulations on all your success. What are you gonna be doing here tonight at the premiere of the show that must go on? Um I'm actually stage managing this as well. Sammy, who directed the movie, the permit the movie and like created it as a longtime friend of mine. Uh so I told her I would spend my day off with her. Um, which you know, it's been good. It's been fun. Yeah, of course. Well, thank you so much for stopping by. It's great to see you. So good to see you. Have a great day. Yeah, of course. Okay, everyone, here is Tamika Lawrence.

[20:56] Tamika Lawrence: Okay, I have Tamika Lawrence, and she is at the red carpet of the premiere. The show must go on. Talk to me about what this means to you being here tonight, being on a Broadway stage again, and all of the things just going through your heart right now. Yeah, I'm I'm very excited. Um this is my first time going into a Broadway house in a year over a year and a half. Um and uh I have butterflies, and I haven't had butterflies going into a theater since college. I think that I was super I'd become jaded before everything shut down. So to be able to have the blessing of coming back, I I'm appreciative. Amazing. Well, what are you gonna be doing tonight? Are you gonna be performing? What are you doing?

I'm going to be enjoying myself. So I'm really excited to have to not perform for once and and really take in what everybody's wanting to give. Oh, I love that. Well, it's great to see you. Um you're gonna be in uh Caroline or Change, which is coming to Broadway. It's gonna be opening up very soon, which is so exciting. How are you uh getting prepared preparing for that and just getting ready for all of that to be on Broadway again? Yeah. Um I'm training my body and training my voice again. You know, it's like athletics, right? So I'm just trying to get back into vocal shape and uh physical shape to do the show seven, eight times a week. And how excited are you to share the message of Caroline or Change and share that story uh throughout the the beautiful message that that musical brings.

You know, honestly, besides being able to perform the show again, I'm much more excited to perform it this time because uh I think people are more ready to have the conversation. Uh so that that puts me at ease a bit more besides you know the logistics of vaccinations and are people gonna want to be in a theater. Um uh uh uh just about the subject matter in particular. I'm really happy that uh through unfortunate circumstances that that we can actually talk about tough issues. Incredible. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today. It's so great to see you again. I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you. Yeah, of course. And here is Greg Hildreth.

[21:43] Greg Hildreth: Oh my goodness. It's so great to see you. It's nice to meet you. I'm Eli Tokash with Take A Bow on the Broadway Podcast Network. I'm with Greg Hildreth. Great. And we're at the show Must Go On Premiere. How excited are you to be at a Broadway theater again? And just what are your emotions right now? I'm so excited to be at a Broadway theater, I can't believe I'm about to go inside. No, no, no, no, no. Thank goodness. I haven't I haven't warmed up at all. I'm just a spectator tonight, which I'm happy about. So you were was your last show Frozen? No, I was uh I was in the middle of uh Company. I was yeah, we're about to open Company. Oh my god. So talk to me about that. Are you did you start rehearsal yet?

We start rehearsal uh October 7th. Oh, great. Just about two more months. Oh my gosh. Christopher Sieber is a great friend of mine. He's been on my show. Yes, right, of course. Um, how excited are you? Not only like able to be uh performing on Broadway once again, but like just what is the the message of going into this historic revival with a gender bent kind of cast and everything like that. Are you excited? What's your I'm so excited. I'm excited for our extraordinary cast and crew. Uh Marianne Elliott at the helm. Uh I'm excited just to feel like I'm a part of a community again, too. I've really missed that this past year. Well, that's wonderful. Thank you so much for your time. Yes, I appreciate it. Yes, nice to meet you too. This is Jay Armstrong Johnson.

[23:01] Jay Armstrong Johnson: Hi, I'm Eli Tokash with the Broadway Podcast Network, and I'm here with Jay Armstrong Johnson. And I'm obsessed with your outfit tonight. Okay, your pants are everything. Thank you. Um, my friend DW is my stylist and often dresses me for events like this. So we're going to a phantom event, he said black lace, honey. Well, it's fitting. Okay. Just like this theater for a premiere to basically kick off Broadway's return. The long the home of the longest running Broadway show. What is your what is your emotional, like mental state right now with being back in a Broadway theater for the first time in ever? Um it's a bit overwhelming, um, especially since I was Raoul and Phantom of the Opera for a year and a half, so it feels like I'm coming home a bit.

Um but it's uh it's more exciting than anything. I think if we stay diligent as a people and maybe get some more people vaccinated and wear a masks, and you know, then we'll be able to come back and be healthy and happy and let theater live again. Amazing. And you have a 54 Below show coming up. Can we talk a little bit about that? When it is, tell me everything. It's actually on my birthday, September 1st. Um, and I'm doing an all country music set. I'm from Texas, and so I'm getting back to my country roots on my birthday this year. Well, happy early birthday. Is DW dressing you then? You know he is. Amazing. I'm sure it's gonna be fabulous. Thank you so much for talking to me today. Thank you. Have a good one. Thank you, you too. This is the director of the show must go on, Sammy Cannold.

[25:57] Sammy Cannold: Hi, it's so nice to officially meet you. Um I'm here with Sammy, and she is the director and producer of this premiere tonight. And this is just so exciting, not only for you to like be in a Broadway theater, but also since this is your piece. What's going through your head tonight? How are you feeling? Tell me everything. You know, I'm I'm a bit giddy because I just got to tech with the actors. So we were we were putting the numbers together, and for me to you know be back in tech after 500 days, it's very dreamy. Um and to get to do it in in the majestic and uh on the set of this incredible show that has been such a you know reason that I went into the theater in the first place. It's a gift.

Absolutely. Was that kind of like something you took into consideration? Like, I mean, this is the home of the longest running Broadway theater, and now we're basically kicking off Broadway with your event. So, like, was that like the significance is not lost on me, and you know, uh Hal Prince is my hero, and to get to be in his theater, and you know, to get to be in the home of a show that has been such a stalwart on Broadway for so long, I think is it feels uh you know like a a part of Broadway's Welcome Back should be the Phantom of the Opera. So we're we're grateful to get to do this here. Absolutely. So with your I mean, obviously the movie, the documentary is gonna be playing, but also you have a list of performances tonight.

What kind did you kind of plan it accordingly to make it work with the documentary? How did that go? So the performances are sort of themed to be about coming back to the theater and what the what the emotion of doing that is. Um, and I think that you know we feel uh that we have an opportunity to speak to the community but also for the community in some ways to say, you know, what what is our message in this moment? Our message is that you know we are back, we're ready to to go into the future and uh come come back to the theater. Well, thank you so much. It was so great to talk to you and so nice to meet you. Likewise, good luck tonight. Oh my god. I know. Thank you so much. Good luck. It's gonna be amazing. And now we have Broadway legend, Lilias White.

[28:06] Lilias White: Well, I'm Eli Tokash, and I'm with the Broadway Podcast Network for Take A Bow. Yeah, kind of. Different shows. So uh tell me what you're feeling right now just being back in a Broadway theater for the first time in so long. It's uh very exciting. You know, it's it's where I live, you know, where my wheelhouse is.

[28:29] Lilias White: Um, I was just telling someone that my first Broadway show on Broadway was at the St. James Theater across the street. So being on this block has a lot of fond memories for me. And um I'm I'm I'm excited and and happy to know that things are starting to move up again and and that changes are being made so that there's equality and fairness in this industry. Yes. So I'm I'm happy to be here.

[28:56] Eli Tokash: Well, that's wonderful. Tell me a little bit about what the arts means to you and how important it is to keep the show going, you know.

[29:05] Lilias White: Well, you know, the arts are an essential part of living, I think, for everyone on the planet. We are essential workers. Uh-oh. We are noisy, essential workers. And we need to perform the art as much as the audience needs to receive it. So I am excited that we're going to get a chance to start up again uh with things better. I think it is about and clearer. And hopefully, hopefully happier.

[29:44] Eli Tokash: Well, that's wonderful. Thank you so much for talking to me today. Get some get some cold air. Get that AC.

[29:50] Lilias White: Yeah, all right. Enjoy your night.

[29:52] Eli Tokash: Thanks to you too.

[29:53] Lilias White: You're welcome. Curtain up on Kimberly Marable.

[29:56] Kimberly Marable: Hi. I don't know if you remember me. I was inviting everyone in Funny Neverland and Pippin, so I did a lot with like Broadway service and stuff like that.

[30:02] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[30:03] Kimberly Marable: Oh my god, it's so great to talk to you again. I love this jacket.

[30:06] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, thank you. It's Express, you know. Nothing fancy.

[30:11] Kimberly Marable: Thank you. Oh my god, that means so much. Thank you so much. I'm Eli Tokash, I'm with Take A Bow of the Broadway Podcast Network. And so I'm so excited to be here with you tonight. How are you feeling? Are you ready to be in a Broadway theater once again? What are you what are you feeling?

[30:25] Kimberly Marable: I am beyond excited to be in a Broadway theater again. We've been waiting so long for this moment. And it's finally here. And yeah, I just I think we're we're among the lucky ones to be able to step foot into the building and be in community and share an artistic experience again. And I I'm just excited for for this to be able to usher the world back to Broadway.

[30:47] Eli Tokash: Absolutely. Well, before the pandemic, and of course the Broadway shutdown, you were in Hadestown in the ensemble and you understudied Persephone. Well it was announced today that you are going to be playing Persephone on the tour of Hadestown. What is what was that phone call like? How excited are you? Tell me everything.

[31:04] Kimberly Marable: I'm so excited for you. I um yeah, excited seems to be the theme of of the millennium. Um yeah, I'm incredibly just thrilled and honored to be able to bring Persephone to to the to North America, really. Um she is such a fantastic goddess of a character, and I I'm just thrilled. Thrilled to thrilled and thrilled to be able to still be in the world of Hadestown. Such a beautiful story, um, with fantastic music. And um, and um yeah, I'm just beyond beyond excited.

[31:38] Eli Tokash: I actually got to see you as Persephone on Broadway with Benel Fambrini and his family.

[31:44] Kimberly Marable: Yes, oh my god, you absolutely killed it. So I cannot wait for you to bring that character to life every night on tour. Everyone around the world is so lucky to see you, honestly. You're gonna kill it. I'm so excited for you. Have a great evening and enjoy tonight.

[31:56] Kimberly Marable: Thank you so much. Have a great day.

[32:01] Eli Tokash: You too. And last but not least, this is Salisha Thomas.

[32:06] Salisha Thomas: Honey, I don't know. Literally, I was like, Dory, do you want me to interview you? Like, I mean, if you would.

[32:11] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. Are we recording? Let's see.

[32:14] Salisha Thomas: Oh my god, who we here with today?

[32:16] Eli Tokash: I'm here with Eli.

[32:17] Salisha Thomas: No, no, no. I love you, Eli. I love you, Sweetie. I'm here with Andrew, my boyfriend.

[32:22] Eli Tokash: Oh no, no. Just say your name.

[32:24] Salisha Thomas: Oh, me. Yes. Salisha Thomas.

[32:27] Eli Tokash: Amazing. And we're here at the premiere of the show that must go on. Oh my god. How do you feel? How do you feel being in a Broadway theater?

[32:32] Salisha Thomas: All of the things. Honestly, the moment I step in, I'll probably get a little teary-eyed because we've been waiting for so long. The last time I was in the theater was seeing Tina on Broadway, February 20th on my birthday. And so it's been so long. I'm like, dear God, we've been waiting for this. Is it happening? Are we really coming back? So it's nice to like step into the theater for this and like have something to celebrate.

[32:57] Eli Tokash: Yeah. Well, now you're like doing both sides of the red carpet. What is that like? Talk me through that experience.

[33:02] Salisha Thomas: Honey, I don't even know how to know how to stand on this thing. I'm like, should I ask people questions? Oh, I'm on the you know, it's it's fun, Eli. And I just want to hugging. Oh my god, I'm so sweaty right now. But we will definitely give hugs, I promise.

[33:20] Eli Tokash: Me too. I'm sweating and I'm missing a nail.

[33:22] Salisha Thomas: Oh my god, no. No one fell off on the train.

[33:25] Eli Tokash: Oh no.

[33:27] Salisha Thomas: Honey, we needed the Uber.

[33:29] Eli Tokash: Oh, it fell off in my black car.

[33:32] Salisha Thomas: Right. The limo that took you here tonight.

[33:34] Eli Tokash: Yes, the limo that brought me here tonight.

[33:37] Salisha Thomas: Well, thank you so much. Enjoy your night.

[33:40] Eli Tokash: I love you.

[33:41] Salisha Thomas: Oh my god, I love you. I love you so much. It's so good to see you.

[33:44] Eli Tokash: It's good to see you too. Thank you. I'll see you.

[33:47] Eli Tokash: And there you have it, folks. Like I said earlier, you just heard from Eric Anthony Lopez, Cody Renard Richard, Tamika Lawrence, Greg Hildreth, Salisha Thomas, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Sammy Cannold, Lilias White, and Kimberly Marable. This was a blast. I don't know if you guys could like tell while I was doing it and whatnot that, like, you know, I I didn't, I just like there was so much to talk about in short, so such short amount of time. It was kind of rushed, and it was kind of like I I could have talked to every one of them for days and talking to them about their new shows and their new projects that they're doing and everything. So um hopefully we do get them back on for like a longer episode uh to talk more about it all in depth.

But as you can tell, everyone is so excited to be returning to the theaters. Everyone is so excited to get back in rehearsals, everyone's excited to have a job again. Come on, that's that's huge. Um having a job. We love that. Yes, income. Um, and uh yeah, it's just everyone is just you can tell Lilias White said it perfectly about you know how much Broadway means to people and how much live music and entertainment means to people and how much each person needs it, especially at this time. Um it was just there's a lot to take away from all of these little interviews in such a short amount of time. Each one was truly moving and uh something that you could take away from each and every one of them.

So I I can't thank everyone enough to uh and I can't thank Broadway Podcast Network enough for giving me this opportunity to talk to these wonderful people about Broadway's return, and of course the premiere of the show must go on and everything else.

[35:26] Eli Tokash: So thank you all for listening to this week's episode. I am going to be returning the triple E segment back this week, okay? The triple E segment is Eli's Entertainment Experience, and that's when I talk about my experience in the entertainment industry. And I don't know why, but uh I was in the shower yesterday. I have some great shower thoughts and shower times, um, and some great shower songs too. Um, but that's that's for another time. This time, I want to talk to you about one of my shower thoughts. And randomly, I was thinking about audition songs, and something was telling me that I just need to talk about audition songs on this podcast. So, whoever is out there sending me these signals, and whoever needs to hear this, this segment right now is for you.

And there's a lot of, you know, going into an audition, especially for a musical theater uh audition, there's always the fear factor and the nerves coming in and hitting you. And a lot of that is due to you kind of hyper focus on the song that you're about to sing for these people who may or may not have ever heard uh you ever sing before. Um, so it's it there's all kinds of things that you kind of get into your head about, like, oh, I hope I don't crack, I hope I don't forget the words, I hope I don't do this, I hope I don't do that, I've gotta act on myself, I gotta tell a story without a scene partner. There's all these things. So the main thing about making making the perfect audition song choice is that you could literally sing it the second you wake up.

So, like, I mean, that's kind of like a stretch, but like if you it's gotta be a song that you are so comfortable with that you could sing at any point, and it's something that you sing every day, and it's something that you can sing like nothing else. And it's interesting because there are songs that we can sing and we go higher than songs that we try to sing in and we can't hit, but we're just so used to singing that song, and we're our our muscles have kind of worked it out and figured it out in in an interesting way because that's just how muscles work, you know, like it's weird. Um, but you have to be so um comfortable with the song, and you have to be so um you have to be so sure about the story and that you're trying to tell, and you wanna make sure that it's something that you can relate to.

If you can't relate to your song that you're about to sing for the 30 seconds or 60 seconds that you have for them to hire you, you're not gonna be able to move them. So, why would they try to hire you? So you need to tell a story that not only means so much to you, but it also can mean you other people can relate to it, and other people can really be like, wow, you just took me on a 30-second or 60-second journey, and I I feel that, you know, and I thank you for that, and I thank you for taking me to this place. And that's what's gonna get people's attention, and and that's gonna be what makes people want to hire you, and what people want to and and why people want to work with you, and w and also want people to get to know you because if they see that you're telling the story and that you're you have this story and you have this specific thought, it's gonna come out, and they're gonna be so intrigued because you're not telling them what that story exactly is, but they're gonna want to find out, and so that's kind of the beauty of all of this.

That's kind of the beauty of that's I mean, you go to a musical, right? And you go, There's something that's gonna happen, but I don't know yet, and that's what's the exciting factor is that's what excites you when you go to see a show because you it's that anticipation moment of I know something's gonna happen, but I want it now. I want that, I need to find out, and that's what makes you fall in love with things. So that's my advice for doing audition songs. It's gotta be a song that you can sing anytime, it's gotta be a song that you know inside and out, that you could literally like recite uh automatically, that you can sing like nobody's watching, and that you can fully tell a story on, and especially it it gets tricky because on audition songs, there are often times that you have to cut it down and you have to do just a certain section and just 16 or 32 bars, um, and you can't do the whole song, and you can't take them on that whole journey, but you have to make them.

You have to literally look at every word and every sentence and be like, what am I trying to say here? And how can I have an arc to the end, and how can I leave it on a positive note, and how can I how can I win in the end of this 30 seconds uh or 60 seconds. So that's my advice, and that's kind of what I've learned, and that's kind of been my motivation, and kind of been the advice that I've learned and taken throughout my experience. And I hope that it does help you with yours, because there are there are so many songs out there that I promise that you will be able to relate to at least one of them. And I promise you, like even if you can't sing it, you can adjust it. You know, you can adjust it to where you can sing it, you can lower it, you can hire it, you can you can do whatever you want.

It's your song as long as you are comfortable, as long as you walk into that room and you are like as confident as can be, and this is my role, and this is my song, and this is my story to tell. That's what's gonna get you the job, and that's what's gonna make you so exciting to work with and so intriguing to work with, and that's what's gonna uh land you your next big role in in on Broadway or on tour or wherever it may be. And um, so yeah, that's my little rant about audition songs. Those are my three roles, rules that I kind of live by when I'm currently finding audition songs for my new voice. Um so yeah, I I I don't know, something spoke to me, and I was like, I gotta share that. So that's this week's Eli's Entertainment Experience, and that's also episode 66 of Take A Bow. So I hope you enjoyed this week's episode, and I hope to see you all next week. Bye everyone.

[41:46] Eli Tokash: Thanks for listening. For this episode's curtain call, I would like to recognize a few people who also deserve to take a bow. This podcast would not be possible without the help from Dory Berenstein, Brittany Bigelow, Katie Rosen, Alan Seales, and the team at the Broadway Podcast Network. Next in line to take the bow is Tessie Tokash, who edits the audio and all the visuals for this podcast. A special thanks to patrons Brian Thompson, Pat McNamara, the listeners at PCC, as well as all the other patrons for their continued support. If you're interested in becoming a patron, go to patreon.com slash TAB. And if you enjoyed this week's episode, don't forget to subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening to this on. Also, feel free to give us a follow on Instagram at Take A Bow Podcast. Take A Bow's logo is designed by Giselle Bustos and the music is by Nikki Torsha and Cormac Collinon. Bye everyone. Hope to see you next week.