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[0:00] Eli Tokash: Hello everyone and welcome to episode 97 of Take A Bow. I'm your host, Eli Tokash, and we have another great episode for you all this week. For any of you Neverland fans and listeners, uh, we have one of my friends from Finding Neverland, Teal Wicks, joining the podcast. She's played Alpha Butt in Wicked. She was Cher in the Cher Show. Uh, and she's done a bunch of other things, and we have such a great, great conversation, and I'm excited for you folks to listen to it, and it's gonna be a really fun one. So, before we get to that, before we turn it over to it, let's talk about some Broadway news because there's been a lot that's happened since I last talked to you all last week. Um I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I'll begin in saying happy opening to all of the shows that opened this week. Uh, happy opening to Plaza Suite and happy previews and happy first show to uh Mr. Saturday Night, Funny Girl, Birthday Candles, and Macbeth. And speaking of those shows, uh Funny Girl, I mentioned just had their uh first preview since the last time I talked to you all, and I was actually able to see their third performance of Funny Girl. Uh it was amazing. I thought the show itself was just fantastic. I knew nothing about the show going into it. Um, I love the fact that it was like show business within the show. Um, I don't know, those shows always kind of fascinate me, and uh just to see the life of like a showbiz star and all of that.

It was just super fun. And Beanie Feldstein did a fantastic job. Uh Jane Lynch really, really stuck out to me on stage. She really exceeded my expectations. I met her when she came backstage during Finding Neverland, uh, but I never saw her like perform live, and I think that was the first time that I did so, and she was just fantastic. And of course, Ramin Karam Lew was fantastic. Jared Grimes was fantastic. It was the first time I saw him perform live, and he blew me away. Um, he had these incredible tap numbers, and he was able to sing and act like a true triple threat. And I was truly impressed with his performance. But uh they were fantastic. And uh the choreography in the show was something that I didn't expect to be as good as it was.

Uh, but everyone in the show was just fantastic, and uh it was a third preview, and there was already a swing and an understudy on. So um that was that was awesome. So just incredible work, of course, as always, by swings and understudies. Um, just making sure the show stays on track and is able to go out there and perform eight shows a week. It's it's incredible. Uh blown away, and just congratulations to everyone in Funny Girl. Loved, loved, loved the show. Beanie Feldstein did amazing. She really uh definitely carried the show. I was a little um, I guess second guessing the choice. I was excited for it because you know, she's a friend of the podcast, she's been on the podcast before, um, and she's just such a sweetheart.

And uh I was very excited for her, but I was curious to see how it worked, and it worked tremendously, and uh I am excited to see her grow in the role and figure out uh, you know. I'm excited, and I'm excited to see her grow in the role, and I'm excited to see this show continue. I think it's gonna have uh a long little run here on Broadway. Um, it's just it's a great show, and it's a lot of fun. But that block on 52nd Street is just fantastic uh with MJ and Funny Girl. Um, it's it's iconic. I mean, really, it's just such a great little block which featuring two of the hottest shows and best shows on Broadway right now. Um, other Broadway news. Ariana DeVoe's won an Oscar for best supporting actress in a movie.

I am so excited for her. I am dying to get her on the podcast. I need to talk to her about all this amazing stuff, but she needs some time to wind down, and uh, she's got some other press things to do. So we're gonna get her on eventually. We're gonna talk to her all about this, and her performance in West Side Story still amazes me. I love watching it on Disney Plus. Mike Feist and Andrew Garfield were still snubbed from the Oscars, but hey, I'll take it with Ariana DeBoe's win. I'm so proud of her, so exciting. Uh, just threw me back to some Pippin days seeing her up there again on a stage and uh just kind of reminiscing the day. I was trying to find some like old pictures of us to like post for like a good luck and send her and all these fun things.

Uh, but it was really cool to look back on that stuff. So congrats, Ari. I'm so so proud of you, and uh I can't wait to see what's next for her because this is just the beginning. And in other news going on in the Broadway world. Uh, the piano lesson will be returning to Broadway next season, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, and John David Washington. I mean, do I need to say anything else? This seems amazing already. Uh, it is the first Broadway revival in over 30 years. So it's been a long time since we've seen the show on Broadway, so I'm excited to see it. I've never seen the show, I've never seen it on Broadway, obviously. Um, so I'm excited. What an insane cast. Love Samuel L. Jackson, love Danielle Brooks.

I mean, Queen. Uh, so it's gonna be a good one. And I'm excited to go check that one out. It's joining uh next season, so it won't be here for a little bit, but it'll be here soon enough, and I'm excited to go see it anyway. So uh keep your eye out for that one. Piano lesson, it's gonna be pretty good. Oh, uh more exciting news. Nikki Renee Daniels played Bobby in company yesterday. That's right. If you're listening to this on Thursday, the day that this came out, she is performing both shows um on March 30th, Wednesday, uh, as Bobby, the main character in company, and it's the first time a black performer will be playing the role of Bobby on Broadway. So congratulations to her. She's making history in the show, very exciting times.

Uh, just a great, great story. Always it with that company and in oh my god, with that company in company. I was like, wait, I'm not saying that right, but I am um amazing with that company in the show company. So uh great stuff all around for company. This is so silly, but yeah, I'm excited for her, and that's huge. It's a huge historic moment in the show that is so so popular and well known in in in theater history. So congrats to you again, Nicky Renee Daniels. Um, what else is going on here? Oh, oh, oh, oh, bring it sad for a moment. Um, Aaron Tvate, Natalie Mendoza, Tam Matou, and Ricky Rojas, the current leads in Mulan Rouge, will be playing their final performances in Mulan Rouge. Yes, I know.

It's so sad. Uh Aaron Tvade is leaving the show. They haven't announced the the replacements yet, and I can't imagine who they're gonna be, but it'll be interesting to see who they will be. Um, but you still have some time to go check out these wonderful performers. Um, obviously, so Aaron Tvade, Ricky Rojas, and Tam Mutu have been with the show since it opened. Um, and Natalie joined a little bit later. Uh so it kind of like opened before the pandemic uh for a very short amount of time, and then Natalie joined post pandemic. Um so they're all leaving together, and you have some time to catch them if you haven't caught them yet, as they will be playing their final performance in the show on May 8th.

So you have about a month to go see uh you have like a month and like a week or two uh to go see the current leads in Moulin Rouge with like most of the original cast uh in the show. Um and if not, I'm gonna keep you posted on who's next in line for the show uh because I'm sure that'll be well though it will be announced very shortly. So uh I'm so sad. I loved them. Aaron Tvade's performance was amazing. Ricky was uh amazing as well. I mean, just hilarious. Um who knows? Maybe Julius will will take over the role full time. I don't know. I'm spreading rumors, I'm spreading rumors, I'll stop. I'm sorry. Um anyways, let's continue here. Oh, POTUS, the new Broadway show that's coming with Julianne Huff, Lily Cooper, uh, Rachel Drake, uh, Vanessa Williams, uh so many, so many stars.

I mentioned it a couple weeks ago on the podcast, but they have changed their opening night date on Broadway. So they will be actually opening a week before uh their previously scheduled opening, and they will now be opening on April 27th so that they can be a part of this 2021-2022 season. Um, so that they will be eligible for this year's Tony Awards, uh, that they will be included in this uh kind of season of Hit Broadway history. Um, all of that fun stuff. They they would have missed the cutoff if they didn't. So they moved up a week and uh yeah, so we're gonna get this uh fabulous show um sooner rather than later. I mean it's obviously only by a week, but like still, um we're gonna see the show sooner, and uh I'm excited for it.

I don't know too much about it, but it looks amazing. And with those seven powerhouse women leading the way, I mean, can't go wrong, right? For the last piece of news, I wanted to share with you all uh on this Sunday, April 3rd. If you're in the area, if you live in New York and or you're visiting New York for this weekend, please stop by and come by the TKTS booth located on 47th Street in Broadway in Times Square this Sunday because we will be sending a message of hope and solidarity for the people and families in Ukraine. Stop by and support us. You can sing along with us, you can uh come out and just meet a couple people. You can come by and watch, you can come whatever you want to do. Um, just stop by and show your support and love, um, both for the Broadway community and for the Ukrainian families that this is dedicated to.

So, um, but all that being said, I'm really excited for the rest of this week because I have a couple more shows that I'm gonna see, and uh I'm obviously gonna have more reviews for you on next week's episode. So stay tuned and come back next week uh if you enjoyed this week's episode. So, with that being said, here is this week's episode with Broadway Star and a good friend of mine, Teal Wicks. Teal Wicks, curtain up today.

[0:08] Eli Tokash: We have one of my favorite Broadway principals on the podcast. She is one of my old friends from Neverland who has also been in three other Broadway shows, including Wicked, Cher, and Jekyll & Hyde. Everyone, welcome to Take A Bow, Teal Wicks.

[10:56] Teal Wicks: Hello!

[10:58] Eli Tokash: Oh my god. I'm so excited. Long time no see you. So glad that we're able to catch up. Uh this is this is so fun. I've been wanting to have you on the podcast for so long, and so I'm happy that we were able to do this.

[11:10] Teal Wicks: Oh my gosh, thank you. I'm so happy to be here. It's so nice to see your face.

[11:15] Eli Tokash: I know, I know. It's weird that we're in this virtual space, but it's better than nothing, right?

[11:20] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[11:20] Eli Tokash: Um, for sure. Well, the way I usually like to start these uh episodes is kind of asking people, you know, how they got started and like what inspired them to to join the theater and tell stories.

[11:36] Teal Wicks: Yeah. Love it.

[11:38] Eli Tokash: What what was your experience?

[11:40] Teal Wicks: I'll go. Um, okay, I'll go. Um, so okay, I grew up in Sacramento, California, which whatever, that doesn't really matter, but it's it was a good town to grow up because there's a lot of local arts. Um they have good, you know, good theater. They have a lot of like good small town, very, very basic kids' theater. They have like Sacramento Music Circus and some other semi-professional theaters, and then a lot of the national tours will come through. Um, so it's just it's a it's a really nice art city, and my parents really like just taking me to arts. They love anything from like outdoor concerts to you know the ballet to all the shows coming through to like the high school doing West Side Story, all that sort of stuff.

Um so just from an early age, they just kind of took me to all these things, and I just I really uh I don't it's so weird at a very early age. I think I just understood even if I didn't understand, but I had I had an appreciation oh my gosh, I had an appreciation for uh like live performance, whether it was a band or like just a street performer doing something on the street or in a theater. And I remember I for one when I was when I was little, the the movie Annie. Yeah, when that came out, I was obsessed with it. You know, it's a bunch of kids singing and dancing, and you're like, what? And as a kid, you're like that what are they doing? I want to be them. Um so that kind of just I loved music and I loved that sort of theatricality.

And then I saw the the production uh touring production of Peter Pan, which I think was starring Kathy Rigby at that time. I don't know, I forget how old I was, but I was still fairly young. Um, maybe like nine or ten or something, and we went to see it, and I d I remember that being the first time being in a theater and watching a show and just being obsessed with it and thinking I want to be up there. I want to get up on that stage and I want to do that like he, you know, with people and the audience and there, and there's a orchestra and just the whole everything about live theater, I that sort of that moment was a huge moment for me, and I just loved it. And that was at least the the sparking my interest in it, and my parents and I was always singing, and my grandmother was uh had been a choir teacher and a music teacher, and she played the piano, and from an early age, they were kind of like, Oh, she actually doesn't sound bad.

Oh, we're kidding you know, you know, there's some kids who sing and you're like, Hmm, bless their hearts, but that's not that's not gonna happen. Right. You know, but and then there's one that you're like, Wow, you're actually singing in tune, and oh wow, that actually is kind of pleasant to listen to. So I just would be singing whenever I wanted to, and I was kind of a shy kid, but anytime I would start singing or music came on, I would sort of come alive and be confident and people would stop and listen and pay attention, and I was kind of like, Oh, this is kind of cool. How do I do this? Yeah, and so they just when I s expressed interest in doing theater or whether it was at school or at the small regional things, my parents were like, Yeah, go do, yeah, go, go, go, go, go, do.

[15:00] Teal Wicks: Oh and also when I was really little, when I was like a kid, kid, kid, I took ballet class and also gymnastics, and I was actually really good at ballet.

[15:11] Teal Wicks: Um, so I started doing that for a while until I think I was like eleven, and then I started playing soccer.

[15:18] Teal Wicks: And that was the end of my ballet career.

[15:22] Teal Wicks: And then what, so did you do soccer and then you just like got back into theater at a later date?

[15:29] Teal Wicks: No, I did soccer and I did both.

[15:31] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[15:31] Teal Wicks: I would do, yeah, I would find a way to do both.

[15:34] Teal Wicks: And you know, my parents would drive me around to all the things, and then when I had a car and had my license, I drove myself to all the things and I just did the plays at school and did a little bit of the regional theater, the small, small town.

[15:49] Teal Wicks: I never did like the fancy paying gigs in Sacramento. I did the most basic, you know, almost everybody who auditions gets in sort of shows, but it just, I was in the world, you know, just being in the world of like what it means to go to rehearsal and be with a cast and in a company and I just, I was just obsessed.

[16:07] Teal Wicks: I just loved it, loved it.

[16:08] Teal Wicks: And when college time came around I knew I wanted to study drama.

[16:13] Teal Wicks: I didn't know if I would actually be good at it, but I was like at least I want to try.

[16:17] Teal Wicks: Right.

[16:18] Teal Wicks: And I went to UC Irvine in Southern California and just did drama there and sort of realized there that I actually was not bad.

[16:31] Teal Wicks: And figured stuff out and yeah and uh the UCI has a, they still have it, had uh they called it the New York satellite program where each spring semester or quarter, we were on the quarter system, you had to audition to get into this program and you would come to New York for like six weeks maybe and we would stay here and we'd take classes, we had to like take dance classes, we had master classes through the school, we had to go on so many auditions and all of the sort of stuff and I did it twice and I just fell in love with New York and sort of that was when I was like oh yeah, I'm gonna move to New York like I can, I love this city and I think I can actually do this.

[17:15] Teal Wicks: And so when I graduated I moved out here.

[17:18] Eli Tokash: That's awesome and pursued my Broadway dreams.

[17:21] Eli Tokash: So when you moved out here did you have a job or were you just like coming out here to audition?

[17:28] Teal Wicks: Oh no, I was just coming out here to live, to live just to live life, be young.

[17:33] Eli Tokash: And you haven't looked back?

[17:37] Teal Wicks: I haven't looked back.

[17:37] Eli Tokash: Look at you.

[17:38] Eli Tokash: Look at where you are today.

[17:38] Eli Tokash: Here you are, the star on Broadway that you are.

[17:43] Teal Wicks: Um that's amazing.

[17:43] Eli Tokash: So would you say like your first professional gig then if you weren't doing like the crazy things at Sacramento?

[17:51] Teal Wicks: Um would you say that it was the tour of Jekyll and Hyde?

[17:55] Teal Wicks: No, my first professional gig was um a production of Pippin at Goodspeed Opera.

[18:02] Eli Tokash: Yeah, of course.

[18:03] Teal Wicks: Oh my god.

[18:03] Teal Wicks: That then also did a mini tour.

[18:06] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[18:07] Teal Wicks: So that job was like, that job was my first time ever being paid as an actor.

[18:16] Teal Wicks: Um I got my equity card.

[18:18] Teal Wicks: I got my agents because they came to the agents I'm still with because they were representing a few people in the cast.

[18:25] Teal Wicks: Um, and it was also my first uh tour.

[18:29] Eli Tokash: Wow.

[18:30] Teal Wicks: And so it was a lot of firsts, and it was a really, it was such an amazing company of people and just had the best time.

[18:35] Teal Wicks: And Pippin's just such a fun show.

[18:37] Eli Tokash: I know, I hadn't, as you know, I had no idea that you were in Pippin.

[18:42] Eli Tokash: Like that you've been in a production of it.

[18:43] Eli Tokash: And like when I saw that you played Catherine, I was like, wait, I want to see that now.

[18:48] Eli Tokash: Like, why haven't—go ahead?

[18:51] Teal Wicks: That was like two decades ago, but yeah.

[18:53] Eli Tokash: You could still—I don't think there's any—

[18:53] Teal Wicks: Oh yeah, I know I could still do it, yeah.

[18:58] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[18:58] Teal Wicks: I don't think there's any—I think it was so long ago that I don't think there's any footage that exists in the world.

[19:04] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[19:04] Teal Wicks: So like a VHS, if that's what it's called.

[19:08] Teal Wicks: I'm just kidding.

[19:09] Teal Wicks: Rude.

[19:12] Teal Wicks: Um, no, it's just, it's—I don't know.

[19:14] Teal Wicks: We'll see.

[19:15] Teal Wicks: Maybe we can do some digging.

[19:17] Teal Wicks: Um, but that's hilarious.

[19:19] Teal Wicks: Um yeah, Pippin.

[19:21] Teal Wicks: I was just like blown away when I saw that.

[19:23] Eli Tokash: Anyways, um, that's so fun.

[19:25] Eli Tokash: I have to ask you for like people listening, you know, whether they're going through their first professional gig or whatever they're doing, um, and they don't have a manager like or an agent, like what is that process like and like is there—what are some of the difficulties whether it's like with contract negotiations and just finding that audition and stuff like that, like how could you help them?

[19:48] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[19:49] Teal Wicks: Well, unfortunately I'm not gonna be super helpful because I'm, I'm the, like I was, my start in this business was very much being in the right place at the right time and having the right person see me and a lot of things just sort of lined up and very much just luck, luck, luck.

[20:11] Teal Wicks: Um because I was going, you know, on all of the chorus calls and all of that and um and but I—so when I got Pippin I didn't have representation yet, but it was my first job, so I didn't have any other jobs before then, which I had to negotiate contracts and I would have been terrible because I'm honestly of the like I'm just happy to do it.

[20:40] Teal Wicks: Right.

[20:41] Teal Wicks: Oh my god, yeah, thank you for wanting me.

[20:43] Teal Wicks: I'll do it for food, feed me.

[20:46] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[20:46] Teal Wicks: Um, you know.

[20:48] Teal Wicks: Um, so I don't even remember, and luckily when I got Pippin, the casting director was very, very kind to me.

[20:55] Teal Wicks: I can't even remember who it was.

[20:57] Teal Wicks: I feel really bad.

[20:57] Teal Wicks: It's probably somebody who I still like see.

[21:01] Teal Wicks: Um was very, very kind and was very much like this, I know this is your first thing, this is normal, this is what it was.

[21:10] Teal Wicks: And it was a—and I had a principal contract, so it was also kind of like a big deal.

[21:14] Teal Wicks: Um, so it just, everything in that contract just seemed amazing.

[21:18] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[21:18] Teal Wicks: I was like, this is amazing.

[21:20] Teal Wicks: This is amazing.

[21:21] Teal Wicks: Um, but I would, if I had to give advice, because even though I have representation and they're amazing and all of that, you know, a lot of—we still have to sort of be aware of what we want to do and what we believe we are worth and all of that.

[21:37] Teal Wicks: And I would say it would be good to understand your finances, your financial life situation enough to know what do I need to make, how much money do I need to make to be able to like still rent, pay rent and eat and travel expenses and all of that sort of stuff.

[21:57] Teal Wicks: You know, what's that sort of range?

[21:58] Teal Wicks: What's your baseline?

[22:00] Teal Wicks: So you know if some things, if there's an option to negotiate, you can probably try to be like, well, I need at least this, and you don't have to go crazy high or crazy or low ball yourself.

[22:12] Teal Wicks: Um, but also you just sort of have to have a—I think a good idea of what you want to do.

[22:19] Teal Wicks: I mean, because there's a lot of times that I'm sure, I'm sure you probably as well have projects have sort of come up or auditions, and you're like, I don't really actually love this role, I don't actually really love the show, I don't know about it, but I desperately need a job.

[22:31] Teal Wicks: Do I just say yes because I need something?

[22:33] Eli Tokash: Right.

[22:33] Teal Wicks: Um, and you don't always have to say yes.

[22:35] Teal Wicks: I mean, there are times when you, where maybe you're like, I just need a job, so anything that pays me, I'll do it.

[22:42] Teal Wicks: But then there's also times that we can convince ourselves that we have to have a job and any job we're just lucky to have, and it's true, but it's also we are artistic human beings who have value and worth, and there are some things that may not actually be right, and we should have the courage to say no, I don't think that's right because it could be perfect for someone else, you know, so you gotta, you gotta stay true to yourself and make sure that you're doing things that um give you life for lack of a better word, you know, whether it's just pure survival life or like artistic life or whatever.

[23:22] Teal Wicks: Um yeah and I remember just in my career when I sort of realized the power of saying no to things it really shifted a lot of stuff because then I felt any project that I was doing or going after I actually went after it with my whole heart rather than like begrudgingly.

[23:39] Eli Tokash: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[23:39] Teal Wicks: And I think that's an important like message, you know, like 'cause if you're not gonna, if you know, if you can't go all in, then you probably shouldn't be doing it.

[23:48] Teal Wicks: Like you can't half ass it, you know?

[23:50] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[23:51] Teal Wicks: You have to, you have to go all in if you really want something and that's when you put your best work for it and that's when you put your best self forward to truly show your self-worth and everything like that.

[24:01] Eli Tokash: So that's really important for sure.

[24:03] Eli Tokash: Um talk to me about Jekyll and Hyde because I think it's really cool that you know you went on tour with it and then you went to Broadway with it.

[24:12] Eli Tokash: Um fascinating talk to me about that experience and talk to me about the shift from like tour to Broadway and like how it happened.

[24:22] Teal Wicks: Right.

[24:22] Teal Wicks: Um well with Jekyll and Hyde the plan for it was always do a tour and we're moving to Broadway.

[24:31] Teal Wicks: Like Broadway was always like we're going to Broadway, we're going to Broadway, we're going to Broadway.

[24:35] Teal Wicks: Um it's just our Broadway run was a lot shorter than anyone had anticipated.

[24:41] Eli Tokash: Right.

[24:41] Teal Wicks: And we actually ended up going into a different theater.

[24:44] Teal Wicks: I think originally our Broadway plan was to go into Richard Rogers.

[24:51] Teal Wicks: This was, you know, pre-Hamilton.

[24:53] Teal Wicks: So that theater was available.

[24:55] Teal Wicks: Always the thing.

[24:56] Teal Wicks: Uh but then when we were doing tour, the Marquee theater I guess KB was available like it was only a couple weeks before the Richard Rogers went and then our producers were like, we're gonna go to the Marquee.

[25:11] Teal Wicks: And the Marquee, I mean for anybody out there, I don't know how savvy or how much in the business people are or whatever or know these theaters, but the Richard Rogers and the Marquee are very, very different theaters.

[25:22] Teal Wicks: Very different amount of seats, very different stages, very different setup.

[25:26] Teal Wicks: Very, very different.

[25:27] Teal Wicks: Um so that was just kind of that was sort of the unknown unexpected thing.

[25:34] Teal Wicks: And not to say that if we were in the Richard Rogers we would have had a longer run for the show.

[25:39] Teal Wicks: But I think it just would have been a little bit, it's just like I think our show would have fit better in that theater.

[25:45] Eli Tokash: I'm curious if you had the, if you already knew like you were going to go to Broadway and everything and like you're staging the show like are you like planning, even though you're going on tour right now, are you planning to like stage it for the Broadway theater?

[26:00] Teal Wicks: Yes.

[26:01] Teal Wicks: Okay.

[26:01] Teal Wicks: Yeah, pretty much our rehearsals and our, well I guess our tech was because our set, the set and everything that was built for it was built for Broadway but then also then was gonna go on tour.

[26:17] Teal Wicks: Um so it was, and I guess that made it so that we could fit into any theater that was open on Broadway because we had to fit the show into anything, all these different theaters across the US.

[26:31] Teal Wicks: Right.

[26:32] Teal Wicks: Um but yeah and I think they were, we had a little bit of, I think pre-Broadway rehearsals but it wasn't a lot.

[26:39] Teal Wicks: It was sort of, it was mostly just tech.

[26:42] Teal Wicks: It might have been like a week of rehearsals refining things um maybe adding things that we couldn't quite do on tour because of just the logistics and technical sort of restraints of touring houses.

[26:58] Teal Wicks: Um you know, we changed a little choreography and but I think more or less the set was the same and oh I got a new costume.

[26:58] Teal Wicks: Yes.

[26:58] Teal Wicks: I got a new dress, which was so nice.

[27:09] Teal Wicks: They were like, oh you're getting a new dress Broadway, an extra costume.

[27:12] Teal Wicks: It's like oh thank you, the Broadway.

[27:15] Eli Tokash: Um that's amazing.

[27:17] Teal Wicks: So it was, it was minor.

[27:19] Teal Wicks: It wasn't like completely like rehauling the show.

[27:22] Teal Wicks: You know, I think we, if we had rehearsals other than just like tech and previews it was probably like a week and then the sort of usual sort of week of tech and then the preview process and yeah.

[27:36] Eli Tokash: I know.

[27:36] Teal Wicks: It was interesting though like being on tour because there were cities that they loved us.

[27:42] Teal Wicks: They loved that show.

[27:44] Teal Wicks: And then there's cities where they were like mm mm what's happening, why is he so upset?

[27:50] Eli Tokash: Oh no, that's crazy.

[27:52] Teal Wicks: I know, I feel like that is one of those shows where it's just like you either love it or you just like, you don't, it just goes over your head.

[27:58] Eli Tokash: You know?

[28:01] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[28:01] Teal Wicks: And I think sometimes those shows are good, you know.

[28:05] Teal Wicks: Yeah, I think, I mean, you know, I sometimes I think it's good to have a show that has very strong opinions about it.

[28:12] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[28:12] Teal Wicks: Hopefully, hopefully it's a mix of good and bad rather not rather than just bad.

[28:17] Teal Wicks: But um, you know, shows that are sort of like in the middle state that are people are like, yeah, I mean it's good.

[28:24] Teal Wicks: They just, you know, people forget about those shows eventually.

[28:26] Teal Wicks: They don't have, yeah, longevity and Jekyll and Hyde has its fan base is hardcore.

[28:33] Teal Wicks: Like the Jekyll and Hyde fans are fans.

[28:36] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[28:37] Teal Wicks: For sure.

[28:38] Teal Wicks: And then the ones who are not just like absolutely not, say hilarious.

[28:47] Eli Tokash: Speak those words.

[28:48] Teal Wicks: Right.

[28:49] Teal Wicks: I love it.

[28:50] Eli Tokash: Well, so talk to me about like what it was.

[28:53] Eli Tokash: So you're on tour with it and then and you make your Broadway debut and you're on a Broadway stage and you're performing.

[28:58] Eli Tokash: Like what was that feeling to just like finally have like everything that you've been working for, like in college and everything, you're doing it.

[29:04] Teal Wicks: You made it to the stage.

[29:06] Teal Wicks: Oh yeah.

[29:06] Teal Wicks: Oh my gosh.

[29:08] Teal Wicks: Well, well, 'cause my Broadway debut was in um was in Wicked.

[29:14] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[29:15] Teal Wicks: So I'm here, I'm here to help.

[29:17] Eli Tokash: Yes.

[29:18] Eli Tokash: Wait, that's even cooler that like your Broadway debut wasn't Wicked, but we'll get to that.

[29:24] Teal Wicks: It was, it was amazing.

[29:26] Teal Wicks: Because I, with Wicked I had done two California companies.

[29:30] Teal Wicks: Right.

[29:31] Teal Wicks: You know, I moved to New York, I was, I always laugh as like I moved to New York, did the big move, left California to like pursue my Broadway dreams and had, you know, a few great regional gigs and whatnot, which were super fun.

[29:44] Teal Wicks: But my big first big, big uh big contract, big role was Alphabet and then it was in California.

[29:52] Teal Wicks: Right.

[29:58] Teal Wicks: I did Los Angeles and San Francisco companies, um, and I had lots of ups and downs with it just because it's a really hard role and I had never done anything like that and I was like, oh, this is what it means to carry a show and to do a role like this.

[30:11] Eli Tokash: Hmm, okay, yeah, it's tricky.

[30:14] Teal Wicks: Um, and then when Broadway came, it was amazing because I was making my Broadway debut in, for one, Wicked, which is a huge, huge show and the role of Elphaba, which is such an iconic, like, superstar role, and I had already done it for a couple years and I felt like I had really found who Elphaba was for me. Like, I really felt like I had made my own stamp on it and the fact that Wicked asked me, you know, I had done it before and they were like, we would love you to do it on Broadway. That just felt like such, um, confirmation of the work that I had done with this role.

[30:51] Teal Wicks: And so when I went on Broadway, I went in feeling very confident and comfortable, which not a lot of people get, especially if their Broadway debut is like a new show and all of that sort of stuff and you don't know if the audiences are gonna like it or blah blah blah. Um, so it was, you know, very much a, uh, a sure thing and I felt very, very confident and the best I remember my very first performance because Elphaba has, you know, this great entrance. She comes basically upstage and just runs straight down center stage and literally stops and takes in this new world, this new adventure she's on. And I mean, I then I was like, this is wow. I allowed myself a moment to actually stand there and absorb the fact that I was on Broadway, center stage on Broadway.

[31:31] Eli Tokash: Right.

[31:46] Teal Wicks: And a lot of times Elphaba gets entrance applause, and I have friends and family out in the audience too. So, um, so you know, you get entrance applause, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is happening. This is really happening.

[31:58] Eli Tokash: Right.

[31:59] Teal Wicks: And then I was like, wait, you have to do your show. You have to actually do the show. You just started. So turn to the act, turn to your fellow castmates and act. So then I did. Um, yeah. So it was pretty, pretty awesome. Like, especially in a theater like the Gershwin, like that theater is like, it's huge, you know.

[32:19] Eli Tokash: Like looking out in that, I feel like would be so intimidating, you know.

[32:22] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[32:23] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[32:24] Teal Wicks: But that's hilarious that like that's what, yeah.

[32:26] Eli Tokash: I felt that's your Broadway welcome.

[32:28] Teal Wicks: I know, it really was my Broadway welcome.

[32:30] Eli Tokash: That's amazing. What a cool story. Did you ever think your Broadway debut you would be like covered in green?

[32:37] Teal Wicks: No, I know. No, no.

[32:40] Eli Tokash: I love it. Do you even know what I look like, you guys?

[32:44] Teal Wicks: Oh my god, that's hilarious. I love, I love it. I want to talk about all the makeup and all that stuff. Like, what was just like, that seems insane. How long did it take? Like, what was that even like? Did you, like, I don't know, like do your skin, does your skin break out? Like I think that'd be like a lot.

[33:01] Teal Wicks: Yeah, your skin, your skin goes through a lot. Um, I mean they have built into the, like, I don't, I feel like because there's a few people, um, because Bach has to be painted as the Tin Man, so, um, so I think they all have, um, like facials and whatnot built into contracts because basically you have to, you gotta, you're putting your skin through a lot, yeah. It's weird though, like you're, I can't speak for everybody, but for me there was a point where my skin just got used to it and was like, oh, okay, this is what we're doing. Whatever. Okay, I can handle it. Um, so thank you, skin, for being kind. Thank you towards that. But yeah, but they actually, but um, so with Wicked they have, um, makeup artists.

You know, it's usual everybody has the wig people and I think I, and I think there's the wig gal does Glinda and Elphaba because Glinda goes on first, so they have time to get Glinda and then comes to Elphaba because like Elphaba doesn't enter until at like ten, fifteen, ten minutes into the show, fifteen minutes, uh, something like that.

[34:07] Teal Wicks: So basically, uh, for me it was I got at half hour. So I'd always have to get to the show earlier to do whatever I needed to do, whether I have to warm up or like, you know, stretch, do my roll out on the roller and do all those sort of things. And then at half hour you have to get in the chair to start getting painted green. And, um, and the makeup artists is like, the makeup artists I have, they're just, they're amazing. They're such cool, wonderful, lovely people. We all just have the best time. Um, and yeah, they paint you green. It's your face, it's your neck, it's like your chest, it's like a little bit of your chest and then your hands and your forearms. Um, because Elphaba has a green, like kind of a sheer green bodysuit that goes underneath all the costumes.

So that makes her arms green and like the rest of her chest kind of green. Um, but they need the makeup to sort of transition. Um, and they can do the makeup actually pretty quick, I think, because they need to be able, if something happens and they have to throw an Elphaba on mid-show, I think they have the makeup down roughly. They can do it in like five minutes. And like, I mean, it's, you know, just literally slapping it on and being like, don't look too close, people. But, uh, but yeah, I think they have to be able to do it like it's like, like five minutes or less. Um, but for, but for Elphaba, I don't know, every makeup artist is sort of different, but it's usually would be like 15, 20 minutes to get all green, and then because Elphaba starts out her makeup over the green is fairly plain, and then at intermission, she gets glam because she's grown and all fancy, so she gets like more contour, she gets like lashes. She gets glamified Elphaba.

[35:55] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[35:56] Teal Wicks: And then, yeah. And then after a show, you basically take it all off. I and everybody had their own thing. It was just easier to like jump in it because all the Elphaba dressing rooms I had all had a shower. So you just jump in the shower and just wash it all off. Um, and you can tell if you, anybody goes on tour, um, and they go in a theater and the bathroom looks like it has like green in the grout, you know, Wicked has been there. You know.

[36:22] Eli Tokash: Oh my god, that's hilarious. I was gonna ask you that. Like I was like, are you finding like green like on your phone, like on your everything, like the Neverland sparkles, like those never escape.

[36:34] Teal Wicks: Neverland sparkles. I feel like a year, I feel like sometime early in the beginning of the pandemic, I found all of a sudden a Neverland, um, little confetti thing just was just on the ground and was like, what, what happened? Um, yeah, those things stick to you. I still find them.

[36:55] Eli Tokash: Yeah. I mean I, and I was curious, like I feel like, I don't know. I, I obviously I haven't, I haven't done that, but I feel like the makeup in like Wicked would be like the same thing, you know?

[37:01] Teal Wicks: It definitely, uh, because I wear a lot of hats. Um, oh, so I had some hats that had almost like a permanent little green tinge. Um, um, but I don't know. I got really good at taking the green off so it mostly come off. It was mostly like, yeah, like hats, um, would just have a little maybe like a green tint because a lot of time the green would sometimes get stuck in your hairline. Um, and sometimes you only want to scrub so hard because you're just gonna have to do it again. Like that's the thing for a two-show day you have because Elphaba gets glammed in act two, you have to start with a fresh clean slate at the top of the next show on a two-show day. So you can't just like walk around green.

You gotta take her off and then start all over again. But yeah, the green, the green definitely like lingers and I remember getting facials like months after I finished, maybe not month, but like a month after I finished Wicked or whatever and still green would come out. Yeah. You would have to, if you were going to get facials, you had to tell the facialist what was going on or they would be like, what is, what's going on with your skin? There's greens like stuff coming out of your pores. You should have this checked out.

[38:20] Eli Tokash: That's amazing.

[38:20] Teal Wicks: There's no blackheads, it's just green.

[38:26] Eli Tokash: Greenheads, that's hilarious. Oh god, that's so disgusting, but amazing. Only on a theater podcast would we be talking about this.

[38:34] Teal Wicks: Um, that's hilarious. So I wanna ask you, like with Wicked, it's just, I mean, you said it, like you're belting your face off, you know, you're doing all these insane things. Like, is there anything, it's physically, vocally, and emotionally challenging and like, and demanding. So, like, would there be something that you did for Wicked to like warm up and like, uh, just a routine that you would have that you wouldn't necessarily have for like a show like Neverland or for a show like something different?

[39:02] Teal Wicks: Yeah. Um, even Cher, like, yeah, like that.

[39:07] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[39:07] Teal Wicks: Um, with Elphaba, I found with Elphaba that I, um, I had, I actually needed to rest a lot.

[39:19] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[39:20] Teal Wicks: Like know that, um, sleep, sleep was my friend and water was my friend. Um, and to not push myself like I, if my body was really tired, then my body was really tired, and maybe we weren't gonna, you know, because as actors, we're like, I mean, not all of us, but like, you know, sometimes we get really crazy about like we have, because you have to look after your body, and so you're like sometimes it's I gotta work out, I gotta work out, I gotta work out, or like I gotta massage, I gotta massage, I gotta massage, I gotta yoga, all the whatever everybody has their things. Um, and I would really have to just pay attention to my body and be like, if I'm really tired, just like, no, you don't need to do any exercise today.

But I would, I, I mean for t before almost any show I do, I do a little bit of a physical warm-up. Maybe not in Neverland as much. Mary Barry, Mary Barry I didn't need to do a lot with her. Um, but, uh, but with almost any other show I try, I try to do a little bit of like, I always do a vocal warm-up, always, always, always. And with Wicked, I had very specific ones that I found with my voice teacher, um, and I would always do a warm-up in the shower, uh, because I was lucky enough with all the Elphabas to have a shower attached to my dressing room. So I'd usually get to the theater super early, do a warm-up with the shower running so I could like steam and do all of that. Um, and then stretch and the foam roller was my biggest friend with Elphaba 'cause like my back would get really, really weird from the weight of the costumes and also just I decided at some point my Elphaba was very like, like kind of hunched shoulders, which is not healthy to like run around and do a show and try to sing with your like shoulders hunched.

So it was a lot of trying to just get out those kinks and whatnot. Um, so yeah, so basically like sleep, rest, and a lot of water was my biggest, my savior with Elphaba and also like vocal rest, like a lot of, I'd be like, I would wake up and I wouldn't speak like my husband would go off to work and I'd basically be nonverbal with him and not really make sounds until like an hour or two after I woke up depending on how tired I was the night before just to give time for like everything else to wake up before I use the little chords.

[41:48] Eli Tokash: Mm-hmm.

[41:49] Teal Wicks: Yeah. It's craziness. Did that come with like, did that come with like time in the role and like learning that like through your body and like kind of examining that or was that something that like you just, uh, automatically did like when going into the role?

[42:04] Teal Wicks: Oh no, that was very much trial and error.

[42:07] Eli Tokash: I Yeah.

[42:08] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[42:08] Eli Tokash: Interesting.

[42:09] Teal Wicks: Because when I first, when I first started with Elphaba, I didn't have a lot of discipline. Like I was, as annoying as this sounds, like I was blessed with vocal cords that could sing this show. Um, but I had never done anything that demanding consistently. So I was just doing the stuff I like, I remember in LA I used to drive to the theater and just sing along to the radio, and that was my vocal warm-up. Um, then I realized that was actually not really healthy, like trying to like sing along to Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin before I'm about to go do Elphaba. No, no, no. Don't do that. Don't do that.

[42:45] Eli Tokash: It's hilarious.

[42:48] Teal Wicks: So it was a lot of trial and error. Um, and just figuring out what worked and what didn't work. Um, and sometimes, you know, I made lots of mistakes and I learned from those.

[42:59] Eli Tokash: Yeah, I mean you have to, right? Especially like when you're like early on in the industry, like that was your Broadway debut. Like it's different. Like I feel like you, after Wicked, I'm sure you became self-aware and like really understood all of the stages that you had to go through in your next shows following that. So like, yeah, so it makes sense the whole trial and error thing, and like I'm sure that there's things that you even found during The Cher Show, which was your most recent Broadway show.

[43:28] Teal Wicks: Yeah, you're like, oh, I never even realized that. Like there's always, your body's always changing and you're always...

[43:31] Eli Tokash: It's so true.

[43:36] Teal Wicks: Look at you, Eli.

[43:37] Eli Tokash: You know.

[43:37] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[43:37] Eli Tokash: You know, I'm learning seasoned, little seasoned Broadway veterans.

[43:42] Teal Wicks: Absolutely not. Um, I let's talk about Neverland because I wanna let you go, Sun. But yeah, I have to talk to you about Neverland because that's the show that we did together and it was just such a fun time. I want to share my favorite memory like later, but um, going from like a show, I mean, obviously Wicked wasn't your, your like you didn't do Wicked and then Neverland, like back to back. But like you kind of talked about how Wicked was, you kind of talked about how Wicked was so demanding and then Mary Barry, you know, you had some more time off stage. So like was there an adjustment period of like, hmm, like what should I do off stage? Or like what, what do you kind of like enjoy that in just being with the cast and just like being able to chill and not have to stress about your performance as much?

[44:30] Teal Wicks: Yeah, good question. Um, Mary Barry is interesting just because I, uh, in the beginning I, I had, I had issues trying to figure her out. She was fun, but also she felt like she kind of, she felt like one of the villains in the show. Yeah. And I've never really played, played like a straight-up villain really, so I was like, okay, how do I, how do I wrap my brain around that?

[44:56] Teal Wicks: You know, and I'm just I'm sensitive and I go through life being like, I just want everyone to like me. I just like everyone, I don't want the conflict. So I was kind of like, okay, how do I do this? So it took me a while to be sort of at peace with what my role is, just in the show. And then eventually I was like, okay, that's fine. This is what we're doing. Luckily, we had such a great company of people. The cast was just amazing. It took me a minute once we got into production to figure out what to do with my time. So I would read, but I didn't want to read too much because it kind of takes me out of the show. So I would just sort of putz around and do stupid things. But then there was one performance where I was upstairs and it was before my last big scene in Act Two, the Circus of Your Minds sequence.

And because I'm dressed, I don't have to do a costume change, so I don't have a dresser coming in and being like, okay, we're gonna do your costume change. And all of a sudden I was on my phone doing something stupid, and then I heard a line that is past my cue line for when I usually go downstairs to end with my entrance. And then I start running down the stairs, you know, like four flights of stairs at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, in a crazy dress and heels, running downstairs. I slip, twist my ankle, hear like a pop, and I'm like, oh, that didn't sound good, and basically hobble on stage and get seated just in time before the curtain goes up to reveal it's Ty and I sitting there like on a couch, supposed to be like, you know, canoodling, and Barry comes in.

I make it out, and then I come off stage and was like, I think I did something bad, and I look down and my ankle is like crazy swollen, and I barely finished the show. I didn't even do the bows because I couldn't walk. One of the carpenters at the show basically carried me out the stage door after the show so I could get in a cab, and I was out of the show for like a week because I sprained my ankle so bad.

[47:29] Teal Wicks: Yeah, I remember that. So after that, I stopped going upstairs. I stayed downstairs and just hung out off stage with the rest of the cast, which was honestly the best thing ever because we would have so much fun. We would play games, like Carol Lee would do like bananagrams. We had like a puzzle. We would color. That became the best thing ever. I realized I just can't leave the stage. I have to stay off stage, and then I stay in the world, and I'm having more fun than being up in my dressing room all by myself, playing on my phone, doing things that don't necessarily bring me joy.

[48:10] Eli Tokash: Right.

[48:11] Teal Wicks: You didn't always pop up and hang out, but whether you literally watched the show in the wings, or you were literally in the men's or the quick change room on stage left or whatever, you were always popping around. I was like, this is so interesting. Now she's doing this, and now she's always here. I loved that. It was so fun to engage with you and everything like that. But I was like, now that you say that, I do remember there was a time where it just wasn't like that. So that's fascinating that your ankle was kind of the root of that.

[48:55] Teal Wicks: I know. And yeah, I was like, okay, that's the lesson. That was the lesson. And then I also loved, and I tell this anytime I talk about Finding Neverland, of course, no matter what people think about the show, whether they absolutely loved it or they didn't, they always talk about the last bit with the play and the nursery and the glitter tornado and all of that. As soon as they start doing the song and everybody's acting out Peter Pan in the nursery, I think it's some of the most beautiful theater, and I can almost a hundred percent say that every single night I stood off stage and watched it just because I loved it so much. I was basically the only cast member in the show that wasn't in that number.

[49:41] Eli Tokash: Right.

[49:46] Teal Wicks: I mean, even the dog was in that song.

[49:48] Eli Tokash: The dog.

[49:51] Teal Wicks: Well, you could have played the dog.

[49:53] Eli Tokash: Colin was originally supposed to play the dog.

[49:55] Teal Wicks: You should have played the dog.

[49:56] Eli Tokash: I know. We could have all been in it. Or it could have just been like a random mermaid in the background just waving.

[50:06] Teal Wicks: Yes. Oh my god. I just love it. So I would watch that off stage as well. There's so many things to love about that, especially because our set was just so colorful as it is. Then you add all of the costumes and everything like that. They weren't flashy; they were all simple things, but it all came together and meshed so beautifully that it made it what it was.

[50:31] Teal Wicks: Oh, it was so pretty. It was so pretty sweet, and I just loved it. One of my favorite memories of Neverland, especially with you, was the Broadway Baseball League because we had a team and we teamed up with Fiddler, I wanna say. It was just so funny because you need at least one girl to play in the league, and you were like, should I do it? You kind of had that back and forth thing, and then you finally did it. It was you, Caroline, our Wrangler, and then it was Laura Hayward. We had three girls, which is great, and usually one or two of you would show up. I think you literally played the first game, and then you were just like, okay, how do we do this b-ball? You were like, how do we do this? What do you need me to do? Do you want me to catch? Do you want me to play this? They were like, what was you? We'll shove with love like we do on stage.

[51:34] Eli Tokash: It was so funny, and I don't know why that's always been a memory that's stuck with me because I just love when people in theater try to play sports. That's one of my favorite things.

[51:50] Teal Wicks: Well, like I said earlier, I played soccer. I'm an athletic person, but I am not good at hand-eye coordination. I can run. I remember because I've done at least two Broadway softball leagues with Jekyll and Hyde and with Finding Neverland. I remember Wicked was obviously my first Broadway show, and they were talking about how that team is very particular with who plays, so I was like, well, I probably shouldn't play anyways, but cool, good to know. I've never played softball. I'm not good at it. I wish I was good, but I'm not just because my hand-eye coordination is no good, but I'm really fast. On a few of the teams, I had been a pinch runner for someone because I can run real fast to that base.

[52:43] Eli Tokash: At least your story is, oh my god, I was running to a cue and not running to steal second base.

[52:50] Teal Wicks: You know that you sprained your ankle. Injuries. I remember one of the games, I don't know, it was probably in Neverland when we were doing Neverland, somebody threw the softball to the next base to get someone else and literally hit the person in the head who was running. I was like, oh. Was it with Finding Neverland, or maybe it was when I did Jekyll and Hyde, but one of the doormen, the guy who ran the door, blew his knee out completely playing in the Broadway softball league and was out for a while because injuries happen. People take it seriously. We're competitive creatures; obviously, we wouldn't succeed in this crazy business.

[53:41] Eli Tokash: Right.

[53:42] Teal Wicks: But do you like softball? I mean, I enjoy playing it or whatever, but watching it on TV or even going to a game, with baseball, it's just too slow for me. Performers are just like, so what's next? We're always going; our brains are always doing stuff, and it's just way too laid back for me. I need something a little faster and more engaging. I feel like nowadays, too, it's so unfortunate, especially because of the pandemic. Our brains just need constant stimulation.

[54:15] Eli Tokash: Oh, I know.

[54:16] Teal Wicks: Nowadays, and it's like not healthy, but that's just the way it is. Baseball is not constant stimulation, so I think that also has something to do with it.

[54:26] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[54:26] Teal Wicks: Sorry, theater folks for the sports talk.

[54:33] Eli Tokash: Yes, the sports ball.

[54:35] Teal Wicks: But I want to get back and talk about Cher because that was a show that you did most recently, and like that is one of the shows. You played Cher. Come on. That is one of the coolest things ever. I have to ask you, you played Cher, and you're working with Cher, and she's watching you. Was there ever a time where it was just like, oh my god, the person I'm playing is right there, and she's watching me? Is that nerve-wracking?

[55:06] Teal Wicks: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Talk to me about that.

[55:07] Teal Wicks: Well, the first time that she came to see the show, it was when we were doing the out-of-town tryout in Chicago, and we knew she was coming to see the show. We just didn't know exactly which show. She was coming a certain weekend, and we were like, we don't know which show she was actually gonna see. Luckily, nobody told me. It wasn't until basically bows, and I was off stage with Stephanie and Michaela and my other shares, and they were like, okay, we have something to tell you. I was like, oh god, what? What? We're closing. Oh my god, what's happening? They didn't want to tell me before, but Cher actually just watched the show. I was like, oh, okay. Sorry. Thank you for not telling me before because there's no way I would have been able to get through it.

I'm also the type of performer that I don't really like to know who's out in the audience. Some people want to know, and I don't. I mean, I'll obviously know if I have friends or family out there, but if there are fancy industry people, I don't want to know because I just want to do my show.

[56:12] Teal Wicks: It really does impact your show. You try to do more, and that doesn't always help.

[56:20] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[56:21] Teal Wicks: I noticed that with Neverland, and I got to a point where I was just like, okay, if anyone's here, just stop. Just don't tell me. You can tell me after the fact, and that's fine because I like to approach every show as if it has the potential to be one of my best shows ever, and it can be great in so many different ways. Anyway, so yeah, very grateful that they did not tell me. Then we all met her after the show. She came in, or maybe it was in between shows. I don't remember, but we all gathered as a company downstairs, and she came in. I remember when I saw her for the first time, I was like, oh yeah, that's what she looks like. When she was talking to us, I was like, oh yeah, okay, yep, that's how she sounds.

That's how I've been trying to figure out how she talks, and I was like, okay, I'm not super off track. I'm kind of in line with how she actually speaks and how she actually is when she's not, you know, all my other reference points were YouTube videos. I was like, okay, cool, this is cool, this is cool. The next show that I did, knowing that she was in the audience, I spent the whole show wondering how she felt about the lines I was saying. I was like, I wonder if she ever actually said that. I wonder if she's sitting there saying, I never said that to Sonny. I never said that.

[57:47] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[57:48] Teal Wicks: I don't know. All of that was just weird, and it took me out of the show for sure because I was like, I wonder if she actually thinks that. I can't imagine watching somebody be you on stage and being like, I don't do that, or like, oh, do I actually do that? Is that what I do? It was a hard time for Cher because it took her a while before she was comfortable with watching the show. She was like, this is just too much. I didn't realize what it would be like to actually watch my life on stage. Even though she said yes to it and approved the script and all those things, watching it is something different. But yeah, it was a trip. As the journey went on, she would show up more and more, and she'd have one-on-ones with us shares.

There was a time when we were at the Neil Simon Theater when we were doing the Broadway run in previews, and she came up and sat in my dressing room, and we chit-chatted. She had her assistant pull up some old Sonny and Cher comedy bits that she really liked, and she was like, see, I really like this joke. I kind of wish we had this joke in here instead. I was like, okay, Cher, I can't do that. I can't change it. You're right, Cher. If you want a different joke, you have to tell them. But yeah, it was just interesting. As the journey went on, she would open herself up more to us. The very first time we all met her, she had a hat, she had sunglasses on, she had a little bit more leather jacket, a little more dressed up.

The next time, the sunglasses were off. She was wearing sunglasses inside the theater talking to us. Then the next time, those sunglasses were off. The next time, the hat was gone. The next time, her hair was less done. She was in more casual clothes. She slowly would peel away her armor. I take that as a sign that she was getting comfortable with us.

[59:46] Eli Tokash: That's really cool.

[59:48] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[59:48] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[59:49] Eli Tokash: For sure.

[59:50] Teal Wicks: Well, talk to me about the show itself and just like, I don't know, 'cause it's like, yeah, it's like a show and it's like an autobiography and everything, but like it was kinda like a concert too, you know, in a lot of ways.

[1:00:02] Teal Wicks: Like it's not your like traditional theater and I think that's what was so cool about it because at the same time it was, you know?

[1:00:09] Eli Tokash: Like talk to me about just like how fun it was and how different it is compared to a show like Wicked and like Neverland and Jekyll and Hyde and all of that.

[1:00:17] Teal Wicks: Yeah. It was um I mean it was fun. It was also I think, you know, one of the like the the showyest showiest.

[1:00:26] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:00:26] Teal Wicks: Showiest shows I've done this with like flashiest. That's the right word. Flashiest because it's Cher and like the Bob Mackey costumes and um and getting to work with Bob Mackie is such a dream. Oh my God. It's so like oh god that was such a gift. So cool. And like just the appreciation of like I love how all of a sudden I'm what is that like a siblet S of like I'm like appreciation. I don't know why I keep you got it though, yeah. But like the appreciation of of clothing and um and just fully because it Cher like like the female body and like what clothing how it can like hide and highlight things and draw attention and and just his love of just sparkle and glam and all of that and just feeling what it's like to wear dresses that are made out of very specific beating and they have literally a weight to them that you don't find in you know things that you buy at like Macy's or Target.

Um so it was just it was a very flashy show which was difficult because it was it felt like oh trying to think about how to say this. It felt like there was presentational stuff, but then because it was also still a play or telling someone's the you know behind the scenes of someone's life and a very complicated person who has had a lot of ups and downs and hardships also trying to then be vulnerable and emotional and honest and all of that. So it was interesting figuring out how to go between those two things. Um but the key to that was it was very that's very Cher. So it actually helped like when you have to switch it on and just be you know glamour clear Cher and like a barely there outfit and sparkles and like deliver like all these you know belt your face off and be a rock goddess and then switch to being like at home a mom having a fight with her husband and those sort of things.

So um it was interesting trying to do that and I I had a lot of fun. I had it was it was a journey and there were difficult times but I look back on it and I've I really loved it. And I loved my character. I loved I loved all my cast um and it was also because of the Cher show having sharing sharing the role with two other people. We had a very very strong actually four other people because D Rossioli, our standby for Star and Lady, she was there for all of anytime it was like a Cher specific rehearsal or a Cher works session with like our vocal um coach or um yeah, all of that D was always there. So there were four of us. So we really created like a sisterhood bond that was That's awesome. Also really lovely.

Um made it until things were a little heightened and emotional just because, you know, we are female actors and we tend can tend to be emotional especially when we're stressed and exhausted. Um but it just it it just kind of it just made things feel a little extra heightened and a little extra meaningful because we were all going through it together and really trying to be there and supportive for each other and while trying to portray this this huge iconic superstar that is as Cher is she's also she also sort of has her own world going on. So sometimes it felt like we were almost competing with her rather than uh trying to pay homage to her because it just her presence is just so there and she was also doing her own tour, her concert tours and all of that and so sometimes it felt like it was okay the Cher show versus Cher herself.

[1:04:28] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:04:28] Teal Wicks: Which was tricky to navigate fascinating. I it's crazy. I I don't know like just the like even with like MJ, like obviously like he's not alive and everything but like now that that's on in Broadway, you know, like all of these like biographical like you know, shows I feel like are just so tricky. And like I mean all the shows I guess all shows on Broadway are like based on people you know and based on stories and everything like that. But like you know, when it's someone that's just so prevalent and is such a iconic and cultural like figure you know like it's just it I can't imagine how how tricky it is but like it's done in such a legitimate way in such a beautiful way in such a powerful way that like i it's it's successful you know and like y'all made it to Broadway and you guys like killed it you know like it's so cool.

[1:05:22] Teal Wicks: Yeah and like honestly like a lot of people are saying like and and it may be the case like six is like leading the way for Broadway like you know like they're um like the female led and everything like that but like you guys were you guys kind of started that too where you know your three like incredibly talented women like leading the way on Broadway and like sharing like a a female story you know like in that that I feel like y'all were the first like stepping ground for that.

[1:05:54] Teal Wicks: So nice you guys.

[1:05:55] Eli Tokash: Yeah and then yeah and then we had Tina you know Tina like basically came in right kind of continues that like like this huge iconic just a badass goddess like powerhouse lady um and telling that story and yeah it is it is exciting. I know I haven't seen six yet because I just oh whatever like life and then also now it's like one of the hottest tickets. So I was like ah I missed my window to see it.

[1:06:26] Teal Wicks: Um so good.

[1:06:28] Eli Tokash: I know but I'm so but it's it's so interesting. It is so interesting that that the show is as huge a hit as it is. Not that it wouldn't be, but I know like from its origins the fact that it's that it is where it's at also means that the audience the audiences are craving that sort of thing. And like you were saying, like strong women telling strong stories and it's also like real cool fun just music. Just melting and singing and dancing for for the heavens.

[1:07:03] Teal Wicks: Absolutely.

[1:07:04] Eli Tokash: Well Teal, I don't wanna take up too much more of your time but this has been a blast, seriously in in catching up on all the things and talking about your career 'cause we really haven't had a conversation like this before. So I appreciate you coming on here and chatting with me.

[1:07:20] Teal Wicks: I know. Why but why would you wanna have you were you were you were little doing your own thing. Living your I totally like just did not get it when I was younger. I was just like what is happening? I'm working with like my best friend. Like, you know, like it's just like you they're just a person. And like we still are but like I didn't realize like I didn't even watch Glee. Like my brother was like oh my God Matthew Morrison and I was like you know like I was so like blinded to that 'cause like I was so young. So it's like cool to like now revisit that and be able to like oh like I'm curious to see how this happened and how this worked and like being able to like learn and sponge more things. It it's fascinating. So I think that's I appreciate you.

[1:08:00] Teal Wicks: Oh my gosh, of course. I think it's lovely. And yeah and you were such oh my gosh you were such you were such a joy. I remember when you joined the company, especially 'cause Colin Colin knew you and he's like, oh he's such a dream and we're just like, oh hey. Hey, always such a you were such a positive, lovely little light popping all around the all around the the theater.

[1:08:24] Eli Tokash: Stop.

[1:08:24] Teal Wicks: I mean all you guys were. All you guys are like it's I can't now I wanna do now I wanna do a whole nother conversation with you and I wanna know about you and I know wanna know what it's like being that young and having to do be in a Broadway show because Lord I was not ready to be on Broadway until I was on Broadway, which was when I was in my twenties. I needed I needed a few decades to figure out who I am and what I wanted to do.

[1:08:55] Eli Tokash: Yeah, for sure.

[1:08:57] Teal Wicks: But uh it it was it's it's a whole thing and and to be doing it with like going to school and all of that and you know doing you know we're all in this industry, so like we do like multiple things at once, you know. It's not like we're just doing the show. So like all of that stuff just factored in. Like I look back on it and I'm just like what was I like thinking? But I know we survived, we're here and we're doing it.

[1:09:19] Eli Tokash: We sure are.

[1:09:20] Teal Wicks: So yeah, and like now we can look back and just be like, that's so cool. Like go good for us, you know.

[1:09:24] Eli Tokash: Good for us.

[1:09:28] Teal Wicks: Yeah. I know, like we are pretty cool, like we are okay, you know? People do like us. There are people in the world that like, yeah, they're cool. They're like a good person.

[1:09:37] Eli Tokash: It's crazy. Especially like in a time where especially during the pandemic where it's like everyone sucks, everyone's bad.

[1:09:45] Teal Wicks: Yeah, no one can stay inside, our president's a mess, like you know, like there's all these things. And like now to look back, it's like, yeah, no, the world the world will be okay.

[1:09:55] Eli Tokash: Yeah.

[1:09:55] Teal Wicks: We got we got we got enough good good hearted, well-intentioned people in the world. We just need them to be in places of power to make decisions.

[1:10:05] Eli Tokash: Right.

[1:10:06] Teal Wicks: That's a whole nother that's a whole nother.

[1:10:08] Eli Tokash: That's another conversation.

[1:10:10] Teal Wicks: Um, well, tune in for part three.

[1:10:12] Eli Tokash: Now just I know, right? Um thank you so much. I seriously, I really just can't thank you enough. It was so good to see you and talk to you again. So thank you for coming on here.

[1:10:22] Teal Wicks: Oh my gosh, it was so fun.

[1:10:24] Eli Tokash: Yeah, and you have so much to take about for. So thanks for doing it on the podcast today.

[1:10:32] Teal Wicks: Yeah.

[1:10:33] Eli Tokash: Take about Teal Wicks. Oh my god. Just everything, just reminiscing the whole Finding Neverland uh moments and kind of talking about you know, Cher and working with her and how she was able to like kind of reveal more of herself. Like that all of that stuff was so fascinating. She brought so many fun things to the table. Uh talking about Jekyll and Hyde, Wicked, all of the fun stuff. I really hope you enjoyed this week's episode because she's one of the greatest people I know. She was so fun to talk to and reconnect with. So thank you again, Teal Wicks, for coming on the podcast, sharing some stories and kind of catching up. And as always, thank you all for listening. I usually do a couple more segments, but we have been here long enough today.

Uh, and I appreciate you for sticking around to the end. So I'm just gonna wrap it up by saying, as always, follow us on social media for more exclusive content, uh, whether it's Instagram or it's TikTok, or you can check us out on Patreon. Uh, our social media on TikTok and Instagram is at takeabout podcast. Uh, Patreon is patreon.com slash T A B. And you can check us out because we are hosting a very special uh live event uh for takeabout. We are gonna be doing this whole thing, this whole podcast thing. We're gonna be doing it live, and we're gonna be doing it at the Green Room 42 on April 18th at 9 30. And I have some incredible special guests coming that I'm not going to announce this week, and it's killing me that I can't announce it yet.

But I will hopefully be announcing it next week on next week's episode, uh, because time is ticking, but I can assure you that we have some incredible guests, and they've actually all already been featured on the podcast. So, really, it's kind of like a uh reminiscing since the last time we've talked on the podcast to talk about the incredible things that they've been up to since talking to me on the podcast, and kind of uh also paying uh uh a tribute and saying thank you for all that they've done for the podcast and just coming on and all that and celebrating with them. So, once again, thank you all for listening. If you're interested in that live show, check us out. It's on the green room 42 website, or you can go to the link in our bios in our social media uh to buy your tickets today.

All the tickets are super cheap, they are less than a rush ticket to a Broadway show. I promise you it's going to be a fun night. We have so many fun things planned for you. Uh, it's gonna be super interactive. So come check us out. It's at the Green Room 42. Once again, links are in the bio, or you can go to the Green Room 42 website and just search Tickabao. Uh either one will work. Come check us out. And each ticket comes with a $10 food and beverage voucher. Um, so you'll have a kind of like a gift card for like your drink or your food or whatever you want, and you don't even have to get that if you if you don't want to. Um, but the options there. So, once again, thank you all for listening.

I hope you will come check us out and uh appreciate you all staying till the end. And if you can make it to the live show and you are wanting to to come see check out what this is and and kind of participate in the fun night that we have planned, uh we are offering live streaming tickets, so you can go uh check those out. You have to have access, and you have to buy a ticket to get the access to the live stream link. Uh, that is also on the green room's wonderful website that they have for us where you can buy your tickets. So I hope to see you all next week because we have yet another exciting episode with a very exciting guest. So, thank you all for tuning in and see you next week. Bye everyone.

Have a great week. For this episode's current 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 Jory 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 T A B. 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 takeabal 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.