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[0:23] Grace Aki: Here we are on day 8,423 of the quarantine. If you're familiar with "I Know It's Today" from the musical Shrek, you would know that that's how long Fiona was stuck in her tower. And that means that this podcast is for you. Here's the thing. We, if we're still in this quarantine, and we're still deep in self-isolation. Thanks for spending this time with me. If we're out, you could be doing so many other things. I appreciate you listening to this podcast. Today we have Felicia Fitzpatrick who is a hard get, but I got her. She is the Playbill social media manager. She hosts her own freaking podcast called "Call and Response," which is like the intersectionality of blackness and theater, and it is beautiful.

And you should subscribe right now because it's available on all platforms. I feel like I see her more than my family at this point. I see her in every audience. I see her beautiful, natural, flowy curl fro in any theater that I'm in at all times. I can spot her in a group of people. I'm just gonna shut up because I just want you to hear what we talk about. Okay. Thank you so much. Here she is, Felicia Fitzpatrick.

[0:56] Grace Aki: Today we have Felicia here, whom I've already talked about extensively. Honored. Just reading your resume. Do you have a website? Do you have a thing? Okay, well, I'm just gonna regurgitate exactly what's on there so that no one goes to your website. I'm just gonna. I mean, there's plagues, go to the website. Link in bio. How are you?

[2:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I'm good. How are you?

[2:04] Grace Aki: Besides my impending migraine, and that's making me sip Pedialyte, great.

[2:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh my goodness.

[2:11] Grace Aki: I just like that you got the biggest bottle. You guys can't see it.

[2:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's one size only at Duane Reade.

[2:18] Grace Aki: It was like this or bust, but I like went to the gym and that like made the migraine go away a little bit, and then I was like, I need to do my electrolytes here so it doesn't like kick back. I don't know. I've been experimenting.

[2:27] Felicia Fitzpatrick: A mood.

[2:34] Grace Aki: A 2019.

[2:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: 20 by teen.

[2:39] Grace Aki: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Hear it. Tell me on a Sunday. We're gonna explore all the things. But we encourage people to tell their stories. And I feel like Felicia, being the ripe young age of how?

[2:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: 27.

[2:52] Grace Aki: 27? We're the same age. Wow. I'm gonna be 28 in a month.

[2:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So sister.

[2:56] Grace Aki: Oh, you're older than me.

[2:57] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay.

[2:58] Grace Aki: But still.

[2:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But still.

[3:00] Grace Aki: So right now we're the same age. But still, you know, I should not have revealed because my resume does not say that.

[3:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, I will be editing this.

[3:06] Grace Aki: I'm okay. Bye. The end. Thank you so much for coming. You're in my dark. I could just be another 40-something getting high school roles.

[3:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, I say 40 now because it used to be 36, but we have raised that bar.

[3:18] Grace Aki: You're like Sutton Foster and younger. You know what I mean? Like you could pretend you're you could be singing "Teresa" was all really a ruse. Do you have a good Sutton Foster story?

[3:26] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No.

[3:27] Grace Aki: Have you met her yet?

[3:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No.

[3:30] Grace Aki: Because she hasn't been on Broadway since I started working at Playbill.

[3:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And subtle plug.

[3:38] Grace Aki: Because you work at Playbill.

[3:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: At Playbill on all social media platforms, if you want to go ahead and give it a follow.

[3:44] Grace Aki: Um, no, and I didn't see her in "Anything Goes" because I did see it, but I saw it with Stephanie J. Block.

[3:50] Felicia Fitzpatrick: We just nothing to sneeze at.

[3:52] Grace Aki: Yeah. Damon saw her, and he's just infatuated. So then when he got to like work with her, it was like of all the people, you know, you got Josh Renner, you got Rosie President, he was like, Stephanie J. Block is on the show. Hey yo. Shout out.

[4:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But she's a she's a she's just a monster.

[4:07] Grace Aki: She's so good.

[4:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I know, it's rude.

[4:10] Grace Aki: It's inconsiderate.

[4:12] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's disrespectful.

[4:14] Grace Aki: It's just like stop. It's like we have all these like, do you ever get in fights with people about who's the best alphabet?

[4:21] Felicia Fitzpatrick: You know, I mean, we get in like discussions, but I'm very open to everyone having their own experience because there was a long time where I was like very hardcore a fan of the Broadway revival cast album version of "A Chorus Line," and I love Charlotte Dambois.

[4:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Dambois. I never is it it's Dambois, not Dambois, right? Anyway, and my friend was it like Donna McKechnie or Bust, which I get now.

[4:52] Grace Aki: Yeah, now you understand.

[4:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But like at the time I was like, why can't we all just love what we want? So I just like maintain that ideology with Alphabs.

[5:00] Grace Aki: Oh, fair enough.

[5:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Do you know?

[5:02] Grace Aki: That's really diplomatic of you.

[5:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Do you understand that you did not offend anyone in that moment? You understand?

[5:08] Grace Aki: She am a Hufflepuff. You know what I mean?

[5:11] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So we're thinking very fair and just no, I mean, but also the other thing is too, it's like if you think about all of those iconic roles, which I don't even know I'm going on this tangent, but like with "Gypsy," like people just have emotional attachments to certain actors, or like maybe they were the first one that you know, whatever it is.

[5:28] Grace Aki: I'm like, it's usually the first one you saw.

[5:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Or it's the one you listened to in high school.

[5:31] Grace Aki: Exactly. That's how that's Lauren Michael's theory about Saturday Night Live is whatever cast was on when you were in high school is usually your favorite cast.

[5:41] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I believe that.

[5:42] Grace Aki: Isn't it see? That's a good theory. And I think that you could translate it for musical theater because that's when you're totally forming, you're like, oh my god, this person, like they get me. Like their voice gets me. And it's like no one gets you.

[5:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No one gets you.

[5:56] Grace Aki: That's true.

[5:57] Felicia Fitzpatrick: You don't get you.

[5:58] Grace Aki: Well, not in high school.

[5:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[6:00] Grace Aki: Not anymore.

[6:00] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But we could play in high school.

[6:02] Grace Aki: Oh we good.

[6:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: We're good.

[6:03] Grace Aki: Even though we're 36.

[6:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Beware.

[6:06] Grace Aki: Hi, Kat. Robin says hi. You guys haven't met her.

[6:11] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Uh you probably have if you look at anything I ever do.

[6:14] Grace Aki: Um, so tell me a story.

[6:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Tell me a little story about how we met.

[6:20] Grace Aki: Okay, I love it.

[6:21] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um yes. Actually, you know, well, so we officially met through I hate to give him a name drop, but Mark Pikert.

[6:29] Grace Aki: I'm so annoyed that we have to bring him up, but he was crucial. Because he met you at the Rise premiere party, didn't he?

[6:35] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes, yes, and then he came back to me with a glass of wine in hand and was like, Felicia, I just met this girl and you're gonna be obsessed with her. And I was like, I don't know. And then he was right, and then I was annoyed. It's like when your mom's right about something, you're like, damn it.

[6:48] Grace Aki: Yeah, but then you would never, but you would never tell her.

[6:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, no, no.

[6:53] Grace Aki: Mark can't hear her.

[6:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, he's not gonna listen to this.

[6:57] Grace Aki: Actually, he's probably not. I think he has me muted on Instagram.

[7:00] Felicia Fitzpatrick: My god. Mark, please confirm.

[7:03] Grace Aki: Um, anyways, but I feel like when we actually met was when you came for Instagram live.

[7:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes, it was a live.

[7:09] Grace Aki: A live. Sorry, Instagram live.

[7:11] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, and you were so funny, and I was very intimidated because you were so funny, but like in a supportive way. I was like, good for her for being funny.

[7:16] Grace Aki: Oh, good for her.

[7:20] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Good for her. She's under five. Good for her.

[7:23] Grace Aki: Uh I'm just a narcissistic bitch, that's why I wanted to um just indulge myself and see how we met.

[7:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Uh, but you do Playbill Live every week.

[7:33] Grace Aki: You're the official host.

[7:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Me and Mark.

[7:35] Grace Aki: You don't you don't understand. I have seen, I had seen prior to that day, you at a plethora of events. Like hundreds of little like so many on the streets, and I was so intimidated by you.

[7:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because not because of anything you did. It's my own bullshit that I would be like, she's just so cool.

[7:54] Grace Aki: Oh my god, stop.

[7:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like I thought you were so cool.

[7:56] Grace Aki: Stop!

[7:57] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because and then I learned who you really were, and then I was like, I'd be like, there's nothing to be intimidated about.

[8:02] Grace Aki: No, but it was so cool because I was like, oh cool. I'm glad that you are the way you are. It was really nice, is what I'm trying to say.

[8:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Well, it's funny that you say that though, because I met Damon at BroadwayCon 2016, the inaugural.

[8:17] Grace Aki: Yes, he's an opening number.

[8:18] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, exactly. And anytime I see a biracial kid, I'm like, who's that? I'm like, we should be friends.

[8:23] Grace Aki: We should have light eyes.

[8:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I was like, let's really be friends. So the one listener, Mark Piker, uh, Felicia is biracial. Continue.

[8:31] Grace Aki: He's so loyal, do you know what I mean? He just follows all the projects we do.

[8:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um anyway, so when we met, I don't know, we had we I we were chatting, and I think he'd been in Aladdin at that time or something.

[8:43] Grace Aki: Oh yeah, you're on it.

[8:45] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And it was the blizzard, also, by the way.

[8:47] Grace Aki: It was the Blizzard.

[8:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes.

[8:49] Grace Aki: Oh my god. It was like an out of control slumber party, okay, with Broadway fans.

[8:54] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[8:55] Grace Aki: Which was kind of amazing, an epic way to kick it off.

[8:57] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But um, but he at some point he had mentioned his fiancée, and I'm like, I don't know who she is, but she sounds delightful because whatever he said about you.

[9:04] Grace Aki: So I knew who you were before I met you.

[9:06] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That's so nice.

[9:08] Grace Aki: Yeah. If we could just look down on Earth and see all the times our paths passed.

[9:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That would be crazy though.

[9:15] Grace Aki: I think we could do that for a lot of people in our lives.

[9:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like my friend has a theory that like we could just and then as we end our lives, as we end our car, but you're not as our lives end.

[9:25] Grace Aki: We can look down and be like, nah, man, I could have met that person all these times.

[9:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Which is probably the truth for us because of the worlds.

[9:31] Grace Aki: So true.

[9:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: The worlds we live in.

[9:32] Grace Aki: So nice.

[9:33] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um you are another Southern belle.

[9:37] Grace Aki: Oh well.

[9:38] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I have dressed up as a Southern belle for Halloween before, I should say.

[9:41] Grace Aki: Truly?

[9:41] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[9:42] Grace Aki: Like a hoop skirt.

[9:42] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[9:44] Grace Aki: It was lilac.

[9:45] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Lavender.

[9:45] Grace Aki: You're a I feel like you really rock purple.

[9:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Uh it is my favorite color.

[9:51] Grace Aki: Okay, well, confirmed.

[9:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So confirmed.

[9:52] Grace Aki: I like to think so.

[9:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um but yes, Southern Belle.

[9:54] Grace Aki: Southern Belle.

[9:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I guess I've never really claimed that identity, but I like it. It's hard because it's always put with a lot of negative connotations with other things, which rightfully so. But at the same time, it's kind of like this beautiful like little pride thing that we can have.

[10:09] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[10:10] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I think the other reason, like I don't necessarily claim it is because, like, I was born in Texas.

[10:15] Grace Aki: Right.

[10:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: My mom's from Texas, my dad's from Florida, like my family is from the South.

[10:21] Grace Aki: But I was technically raised on the West Coast.

[10:23] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, where?

[10:24] Grace Aki: Uh San Jose, California, and Portland, Oregon.

[10:29] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh.

[10:29] Grace Aki: Mostly or a little suburb of Portland, Oregon, that's actually in Washington State called Vancouver.

[10:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But I always say Vancouver. People are like, You're Canadian.

[10:36] Grace Aki: I'm like, no.

[10:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So they don't know anything.

[10:39] Grace Aki: You know, I see like y'all, but I don't necessarily have like a southern accent.

[10:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And like I like biscuits and gravy, but you know, there's just like certain nuances that I feel like I didn't get because I didn't grow up in the South.

[10:53] Grace Aki: Or like raised. How you think a Southern person is raised. You're like, I didn't have that.

[10:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, but still, like with my I guess my mom has all of those southern sensibilities, so she still instilled them in me, even though we were I actually remember one time in California, I was I played soccer for like a week.

[11:13] Grace Aki: It was a very long time.

[11:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I tried to picture that.

[11:15] Grace Aki: I know.

[11:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I wanted to do it because it's a uniform, like I thought the little uniforms and the shin guards were so cute.

[11:21] Grace Aki: We're trying to get to the real root of it.

[11:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I loved my prop work with the soccer ball.

[11:26] Grace Aki: Get your head in the game.

[11:27] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But like exactly. And the well, the reason I stopped soccer was because I shared the ball with the other team.

[11:35] Grace Aki: Like we were taught in kindergarten, to be clear, but that was not what we were supposed to do in soccer.

[11:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Anyway, um, after like the one soccer game that I played, I remember we were leaving the like field or whatever, and this lady asked me something, and I was like, Yeah, and my mom was like, Yes, ma'am. And she was like, This is California, you don't have to say that.

[11:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And my mom was like, She's my daughter, yes, she does. And it was just like this whole thing.

[12:00] Grace Aki: So there were moments like that.

[12:00] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Also, they don't have manners in California.

[12:04] Grace Aki: Confirmed no.

[12:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay.

[12:06] Grace Aki: Like, but yeah, so I mean, she she definitely taught me those things, you know.

[12:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, no matter what state we were in.

[12:12] Grace Aki: Yeah, yeah.

[12:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Well, it yeah, I would hope so.

[12:15] Grace Aki: That's always funny to me. Like, when I was babysitting, um, when I started when I first moved here when I was babysitting, there was a parent, um, and I was trying to get the kid to be like, say thank you for your pizza slice.

[12:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And he goes, nah.

[12:30] Grace Aki: And then his mom was like, Yeah, I'd rather, like, he's he's already, and I'm like, please and thank you.

[12:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That was just weird to me that they didn't want it.

[12:40] Grace Aki: Like, it's not like a weird Southern thing to me, it's just like common courtesy question mark.

[12:45] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So, yeah, I know it's it's just really it's funny, and that's nice that she did that for you.

[12:49] Grace Aki: Shout out to Mama Fitz, Mama Fitz, who's a huge fan of yours.

[12:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Who is listening, hopefully as well. She actually she probably listened to this one. She'll be like, unless Felicia's like this is not calling response. I don't know why I've downloaded this on it.

[13:01] Grace Aki: Honestly, no, she like she does listen to "Call and Response," but it'll be like six months after the fact.

[13:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No shade, no tea, mom, but um she'll get to it when she gets to it.

[13:09] Grace Aki: She's a busy woman.

[13:10] Felicia Fitzpatrick: She is a busy lady.

[13:11] Grace Aki: She is.

[13:12] Felicia Fitzpatrick: My mom will immediately listen or or watch the thing that I put out, but then she'll like I won't, she won't be like, hey, I watched it. It'll be like, mm-hmm, you picked the wrong shirt.

[13:20] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like it'll be like immediate feedback.

[13:23] Grace Aki: You're like, you know, no, no, no, no, no.

[13:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes, it'll so yeah, that's Margaret.

[13:28] Grace Aki: Um but anyway.

[13:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So tell me, so tell me how you got here to New York.

[13:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Well, it was by way of Texas, funnily enough. Um I just like made my way back east.

[13:39] Grace Aki: You always have to go home.

[13:41] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I know. So I let's see. Grew up dancing, right?

[13:47] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Wow, okay.

[13:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And wanted to dance with Alvin Ailey.

[13:52] Grace Aki: Wow.

[13:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, and as you should. What a great yes.

[13:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: You're amazing.

[13:59] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[14:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, took ballet, right? Everyone's like, you have to take ballet if you want to be a professional dancer. And I was like, it seems very boring, but fine. And so I took it and started to like it.

[14:12] Grace Aki: Mm-hmm.

[14:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then I went through puberty and like grew boobs and thighs and a butt. And they were like, I'm not made for this.

[14:20] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[14:20] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I get it. And people told me that. They were like, yeah, you're not gonna be successful, essentially. And anyway, so all this to say, I quit ballet and started doing dance team at my high school, and then I was like, oh, actually, then my amateur school dance teacher passed away, and I was like, you know what? She's the one who introduced me to Alvin Ailey. I was like, fuck it. Like, I am going to, even though I haven't taken ballet in like three years, I'm gonna audition for NYU Tisch.

[14:46] Grace Aki: Digging.

[14:47] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And it's gonna be a movie montage, and it's gonna be all in her honor. And then, like when I accept my Tony Award will be for her. It's the opening episode of Pose.

[14:54] Grace Aki: Like, but it's you.

[14:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Truly, like, truly me. Um, like with a little bit of Smash, I don't know. It just feels like all very moving to New York, Karen Cartwright, even though I'm team Ivy, even though I love Catherine McPhee.

[15:05] Grace Aki: Okay, so anyway, that was so much. I'm overwhelmed. It's this Pedialyte.

[15:11] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, so no, so I came to audition for NYU and I didn't get accepted. I got rejected is a better way of saying it.

[15:19] Grace Aki: And that's a harsh word to give it.

[15:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I get it though. Because you know what I mean. Like, yeah, during a dance audition, it's it very much is like a it you are being cut, like you're pushed out of the way.

[15:31] Grace Aki: Which was horrifying. Just so everyone knows, it is horrifying to dance in New York.

[15:32] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It is.

[15:38] Grace Aki: Anyone that does it, wow.

[15:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It so is, it's so intimidating. And so I cried a lot. And then I had applied to University of Texas, and my mom and I went to go visit, and I was like, I'm not gonna like it. I was deciding between that and Northwestern. We got there.

[15:55] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[15:56] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I loved it.

[15:57] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[15:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And there was just, I don't even know how to explain it. Like, I've tried to articulate it before, but there was just something about the energy that I was like, oh, I can I just felt so at home there. And so there I went.

[16:10] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I actually was accepted as a math major, which always just feels weird because I hate to do the tip at dinner now. But like I did like math at one point. Like I did enjoy it. Like calculus, what?

[16:21] Grace Aki: Um, so that first year, sorry, this is such a long story, is that okay?

[16:25] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes.

[16:25] Grace Aki: This is what this is for.

[16:27] Felicia Fitzpatrick: This is literally what this is for.

[16:28] Grace Aki: Okay.

[16:29] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But we will get back to New York. We need to know all the facts.

[16:31] Grace Aki: Well, it's it's because I don't care if we get back to New York. I'm listening.

[16:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay. It's like it's because it's all connected.

[16:36] Grace Aki: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[16:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Anyway. So we get there, like full-time math major, we have the orientation, and they're like, uh normally this is when we would have the social mixer, but you're natural science kids, so we're gonna skip it.

[16:49] Grace Aki: And I was like, help! Help me, this is not my group, these are not my people. I need to socialize.

[16:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So I immediately transferred into the liberal arts program um to do African American studies.

[17:01] Grace Aki: Wow.

[17:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, and it was they, I mean, I that community was so amazing. They had like a Black Studies Center, and a lot of them, like a lot of the professors, a lot of the students overlapped with theater and dance, which was amazing.

[17:12] Grace Aki: Right, yeah.

[17:12] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, but it was during that year, because it was out of state, like no one from my high school went there.

[17:18] Grace Aki: Oh, you know, everyone had come from these little pockets of random towns in Texas, and like, you know, whatever, had their whole groups already.

[17:26] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, so I felt very, very lonely that first year. And I was just reading, I keep journals, so I was reading about it actually the other day.

[17:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But my first year there, and I was just so I even knew it at the time. I was like, I'm really lonely, I'm really sad, I feel like I don't have any friends here. And so I started finding different writing opportunities.

[17:44] Grace Aki: I don't know why that's where my mind went, but um, because you're so you have you are just a very expressive person, and you're like, if I'm not gonna get to express it to another person, I can get it out.

[17:54] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That's beautiful.

[17:55] Grace Aki: Like you're like, I've gotta physically do it, and that's probably how it surfaced.

[17:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, yeah. I feel I love that actually, yeah, that's so true.

[18:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, and so yeah, so that's what I did that first year was finding those opportunities and hanging out at the Black Studies Center, and then I met Elizabeth Allensworth, and she was a girl in my dorm, and she loved New York City as much as I did, and she loves Sex and the City, so we would like watch that on the weekends and eat our leftover Chewy's Tex-Mex.

[18:24] Grace Aki: Ugh, so good about it. Chewy's oh my gosh, yes, but okay, so who are you in that vernacular of Sex and the City?

[18:32] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, I know. Gosh, I should be better prepared for this question.

[18:35] Grace Aki: Um you knew you were a Hufflepuff, so I have to know which one you are.

[18:38] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I was actually hardcore Hufflepuff. Um, I think I'm a Miranda mixed with a Carrie.

[18:46] Grace Aki: Okay, it depends on your girl group, doesn't it?

[18:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It depends on your friend group at the time.

[18:50] Grace Aki: It does I guess, yeah.

[18:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I I always say I'm a Miranda with like a Carrie rising, I think.

[19:00] Grace Aki: The move.

[19:00] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because she like Randus, like I'm always like, oh, you don't need no man, just like build your empire and work hard.

[19:09] Grace Aki: So that feels very random, but I do like Carrie's writing and like taking every experience and making it a writing thing because I guess I'm expressive.

[19:18] Felicia Fitzpatrick: There you go.

[19:19] Grace Aki: Um okay, so you and her are like really enjoying that world, New York.

[19:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, yeah.

[19:24] Grace Aki: Right, right.

[19:25] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And so I I remember we were in her dorm room, and I don't even know how we started talking about it, but like we started talking about Twitter and social media, and I don't even know me.

[19:37] Grace Aki: I guess Instagram wasn't on at the time, but we were just talking about like social media, and I made my first Tumblr that night and my first Twitter.

[19:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I know, shout out to Tumblr.

[19:47] Grace Aki: And we just like had we just made these plans about how we wanted to move to New York and she wanted to do fashion and I want to do performing art stuff.

[19:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And so I guess all of these different like forces combined. I was like, I really I I had felt bitter, it felt like a breakup in New York when I got rejected from NYU, but at this point I was like, you know what? I wanna go back.

[20:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like I love it. I loved the energy I felt when I was there. I want to go back and under any circumstances.

[20:14] Grace Aki: So um I I applied to the theater and dance department, transferred into there, and at the same time was pursuing social media and writing stuff.

[20:25] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So I think I went back and forth of like I have to dedicate my life to one.

[20:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I guess it was my sophomore year. I was like, I want to go work at 17 because this was like Carrie Diaries was happening.

[20:39] Grace Aki: Oh no, no, I'm familiar exactly with where the I know where this is headed.

[20:42] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I know what you're talking about.

[20:44] Grace Aki: The Teen Vogue era of like and so and like and I was obsessed with the movie Devil Wears Prada, Gossip Girl was very big, like it was just so New York and we all thought we were gonna have pencil skirts, tiny like Fendi briefcases, yes, in Manhattan, lasers, yeah, yeah, internships immediately.

[21:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, I think that's a good idea.

[21:02] Grace Aki: Exactly.

[21:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh yeah. If I if we had Bull Type back then, I would have been like out of my like it's it's well yeah, yeah.

[21:09] Grace Aki: Um so I was like, I'm gonna intern at 17 magazine, and I applied and I didn't hear anything back.

[21:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then we had like a school trip up there for spring break, and I was like, I'm gonna tweet at them and like email them and stalk them essentially so I can like have a an office visit.

[21:26] Grace Aki: And so I think someone had emailed me back and they're like, call me when you get up there.

[21:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I called them and they're like, we can't say we're busy, but call back tomorrow.

[21:35] Grace Aki: And I had my pink blazer, hot pink blazer.

[21:38] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I had like some regular black briefcase, and I had a no iPhone, I had a Samsung Gravity 3, so there was no internet access.

[21:46] Grace Aki: So I had my laptop with me in case they emailed me.

[21:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, right. And I remember calling her from like a Starbucks or something, and she didn't answer.

[21:54] Grace Aki: So I was just like, maybe if I go over to Hearst and sit in the lobby, and I'll check my email and my laptop, maybe she'll respond.

[22:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I sat there for like 30 minutes and she didn't, and then I was like, I'll go walk around Central Park.

[22:08] Grace Aki: Well, because that's what you would do if this were a TV show.

[22:10] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Exactly.

[22:11] Grace Aki: And she will call me back and it'll be great.

[22:12] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, clearly, I think my whole life's a movie.

[22:15] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um she never called me back.

[22:18] Grace Aki: Cut to.

[22:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um sad.

[22:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I remember being so sad that day, but anyway, rejected again and did not get the internship.

[22:28] Grace Aki: So then I went home to Austin and I was like, I'm still gonna get an internship in New York, and I'm gonna love it.

[22:33] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So I applied to DoSomething.org, which is a non-profit that is social cost campaigns with young people, and uh they were looking for a social media intern, and it was like your cover letter has to be 180k.

[22:46] Grace Aki: Are wait, what was the did it used to be 140 characters for Twitter?

[22:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Maybe 180. It's it's all different now, it doesn't matter.

[22:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But whatever it was at the time, I think 140. Um cover letter has to be 140 characters, and I was like, What?

[22:59] Grace Aki: So then I was like, I'm gonna make a video because then I can make the link the a character count.

[23:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That's amazing.

[23:05] Grace Aki: And like go get her.

[23:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um so I dressed up like Janet Jackson.

[23:11] Grace Aki: And I'm sorry, Miss Jackson.

[23:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, during Nasty Boys era, and I was like, No, my first name ain't baby, it's fleece. I'm a social media intern if you're nasty.

[23:20] Grace Aki: Because it just I don't know, it just felt right.

[23:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay, it just felt right, and then I did the whole video explaining stuff, and that was the tweet.

[23:27] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It was like, no, my first name ain't baby, it's fleece. I'm a social media intern if you're nasty. See why here in the link.

[23:34] Grace Aki: And I got it.

[23:35] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Wow.

[23:35] Grace Aki: Shout out to Janet.

[23:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Do Something, do something.

[23:38] Grace Aki: So yeah, so then I came up here for the summer 2012, and that's basically how I got up here because that sort of changed my life in so many different ways.

[23:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Uh, that like I ended up coming back the next summer for an internship, and then when I graduated, they offered me a job, and at that point I had to decide if I wanted to pursue performance full-time or do this editorial social media thing, and I chose the editorial route because or social media, I guess I should say, because I hate rejection.

[24:09] Grace Aki: And like, my god, that's half of what performing is, you know.

[24:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, like auditioning and hearing no, and I'm so bad at that.

[24:17] Grace Aki: Isn't it?

[24:18] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And you know what? Everyone that enters into that world, I'm gonna say everyone. I'm speaking on behalf of everyone right now, hates that, you know?

[24:27] Grace Aki: Yeah, so it's funny that we all put ourselves in these positions of like, I really hope I get it, and I think I'm gonna get it, and then I oh I didn't get it.

[24:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, like what?

[24:37] Grace Aki: I don't know anybody that's like, yeah, it's no big deal, and I'm like, it is a big deal, or so that you know, it it's very hard.

[24:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So you're right. It's I mean, it's not you did not by any means pick a safety or like, you know, but you definitely pick something that you knew you had the satisfaction of, I know that I'm gonna kill that.

[24:57] Grace Aki: And like that's comforting.

[24:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, and I and I and using the expressive thing earlier really hit like I feel like it was just another form of storytelling for me.

[25:06] Grace Aki: So that tracks of like why I was I was like, you know what, I can still do this and feel excited about it.

[25:12] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, like I do with dance or theater.

[25:14] Grace Aki: So and you're so tied to it. Did you do it in high school?

[25:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: What?

[25:18] Grace Aki: Did you do theater?

[25:20] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, I know.

[25:21] Grace Aki: I just did dance.

[25:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I just did dance growing up. I was only I was in Fiddler on the Roof in fifth grade. My name was Anya. It's probably like not appropriate, considering I'm not Jewish.

[25:30] Grace Aki: Um but it but that I loved Fiddler on the Roof and I loved that experience so much that I was like, wow, this is so cool.

[25:39] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I think growing up on Disney movies and stuff, I've always loved musical theater, but that was the only thing I really did.

[25:44] Grace Aki: Aw.

[25:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, that's sweet.

[25:51] Grace Aki: I didn't have a theater department in my high school either.

[25:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So did you, when you moved up here, you get the internship. Did you just have like was it absolutely mortifying the whole apartment experience?

[26:01] Grace Aki: Because that to me, see, you guys can't see her face. She literally just cocked her head back and like died.

[26:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um so for for the internship, like I oh thank goodness for Leah Todd. Shout out to Leah Todd, um, was doing an internship here.

[26:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: She went to UT. She did an internship at Lincoln Center, and she had a friend of a friend who had two rooms available in her apartment.

[26:23] Grace Aki: Stop.

[26:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So she got one and I got one, and I was just like, Harlem.

[26:26] Grace Aki: Where?

[26:26] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um 157th in Broadway.

[26:28] Grace Aki: Yes.

[26:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I'll never forget.

[26:29] Grace Aki: Yes.

[26:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And um, yeah, so that was fine.

[26:35] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then the next summer, like I found a place for that subway set summer, so it was fine.

[26:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then when I really moved up here, I had no idea. Because I was like, uh, subleasing so easy, like so easy.

[26:48] Grace Aki: But like the broker, the fees.

[26:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I felt like you have to move in and two, like, you've got somebody else looking at it.

[26:55] Grace Aki: Um, can you move in to Mario? Can you wire me $3,000?

[26:59] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So stressful.

[27:00] Grace Aki: I know they're like, we need your mom's nail technicians, cousins, neighbors, doctor. Like, you need all this information.

[27:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, and you're like, why?

[27:08] Grace Aki: Why?

[27:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, oh, do you not have credit? You don't have credit when you need a guarantor.

[27:11] Grace Aki: It's so much stress.

[27:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It is not what we it is not what I had expected from the film Rent, which was what I thought.

[27:20] Grace Aki: I said, Well, I will pay the rent. So I should be fine.

[27:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I know.

[27:25] Grace Aki: No, it's so true.

[27:26] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's that's whenever like people email me being like, I want to go to move to New York, I'm like, okay, just prepare to hate moving here.

[27:32] Grace Aki: Actually, once you live here, it's fine, but like moving here is not great.

[27:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's hard. You really need to try to contact somebody and and be like, how can I do that?

[27:42] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[27:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then like be self-sustaining.

[27:45] Grace Aki: Right.

[27:46] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because nobody likes the you know, it's so true.

[27:50] Grace Aki: It's hard to explain to people. It's like you have to go through it.

[27:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Is that Tom Hanks?

[27:54] Grace Aki: You know it.

[27:59] Grace Aki: That's behind her. Uh Felicia's in Hoboken, if you couldn't tell because of the clean air. Um you can smell it, you guys. Um, there's a there's a plate on my wall, which I feel like everyone's going to reference, so I should just every time shout it out. The girl who married us, one of my BFFs, Kara Zalaya, she actually does social media for the Daily Coast. Oh, she's amazing. Um, she we asked her to marry us, and she said, Well, I feel obligated to give you my wedding gift now. Because Damon is often referenced as looking like a young biracial Tom Hanks. A la big. Do you see it? Do you see it now? So Tom Hanks is on this plate. Because it is so funny. And honestly, yeah. But it's weird because like you don't think Tom Hanks and then him, but like somehow people do it all the time.

They're like Turner and Hooch, that's him, and I'm like, that's a weird thing to say, and I'm not attracted, but am I attracted? So funny. So that's what that's about. That's hilarious. I need them to meet, and then him to be like, oh my god. Oh my that's why. If they met, oof, um it would it's looking in a mirror. Um, can you you attend a lot of events? You attend a lot of opening nights. You I mean, you have to cover everything, which I know it's just like glamorous and exhausting all in the same time.

[29:21] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah. But you get to like go to everything, which is cool. Um, you know what's like super cool, but do you have like stories that you couldn't wait to tell your mom, or just like things that you just never thought would happen, like when you were at an opening night or a show that you went, oh wow, I wasn't expecting to love this as much as I do. Um, yeah.

[29:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, no, the the story that immediately came to mind was what I met Whoopi Goldberg for the first time.

[29:51] Grace Aki: Stop.

[29:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh shoot, you just dropped it on the floor. It's so heavy. It's here. We're here, we're in it. Um that was amazing.

[30:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It was amazing because I've looked up to her my whole life. Like, you know, and the conversation about representation is long and like whatever, and we get it, so we don't even get into it. But no, no, no, but yeah. She was just one of those people, even though we don't look alike, but just she was just one of those people that I was like, wow, like here's this black woman doing something, like I could do it too. And she was so seen. I mean from uh comic relief with Robin Williams, Billy Crystal shout out. Um shout out to Billy, my ex-husband. We're dealing with stuff, but I still we're on good terms. I love him. Um anyways.

[30:50] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, no, but I understand because like when when we look at that, I mean like how many women were on the forefront in the way that she is.

[31:00] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[31:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, I get it. No, for sure. And like I don't get it, but I get it. But like, but like mainstream stuff, like exactly like you know, she was doing, I mean, uh, that brandy Cinderella, Whitney Houston, like that was my that was my shit. Um, um everything.

[31:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I'm I'm can't think of any right now off the top of my head, of course. So when you see her, you're like, can't catch her. Did you expect to see her at this event?

[31:24] Grace Aki: No, so sorry, sorry, sorry. So this was the event. So it was June 2016, um, because the Tony Wards and the Pulse shooting had just happened.

[31:33] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, I was at that Tony's.

[31:35] Grace Aki: You are the Tony. I'm not trying, I'm not trying to flex, but I was at that Tony's because it was it was oh my gosh.

[31:41] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And we horrifying.

[31:43] Grace Aki: Well, right, right. Yeah. Right.

[31:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But the band together, James Corden's announcement. Like, we were all there, and I was like, oh, this is a night. Because it was the Hamilton year.

[31:50] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[31:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: People forget. It was. It was.

[31:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um. And so the Broadway community, of course, like it well, everyone was very affected by it, so they decided to do that recording of what the world needs now is love. So I had to cover it because Playboy was like helping produce it or whatever.

[32:06] Grace Aki: And so I was going to cover for social. This is the time when like Snapchat was big, okay? So I'm like teaching Matthew Broderick how to Snapchat, like Burnette Peter, like Audra, everyone is fucking there.

[32:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I'm like, this is a lot. And I hadn't even been at Playboy for a year, so I was still adjusting to like quote meeting celebrities or whatever and teaching them how to Snapchat.

[32:25] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, and then I see that she's there. I see that Whoopi Goldberg is there. I didn't know she was gonna be there, and I was like, I l I I'm I'm honestly like getting chills right now just thinking about it. I just remember being so overwhelmed, I was like, okay, fuck.

[32:42] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because it's happening, and you like it's happening no matter what. It's like I can't avoid this. This is not a dream. So I was like, word word over word, and I honestly avoided her.

[32:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I was like, if she was like, I was like, okay, I'm gonna go into this like little nook and hide. And so then someone else said hi to her, and I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna be mad at myself if I don't say hi to her. Right.

[33:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I went up, I'm literally gonna cry for whatever reason. Um, and I was just like Miss Goldberg, and she's like whoopy baby, just whoopy. And I was like, I was like, I just want to thank you. You know, I've been such a big fan of yours. Like, just thank you for all the work you've done. Sister act, hello, sister act.

[33:20] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, that is that is the real shit. And we hugged.

[33:25] Grace Aki: Oh.

[33:25] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I was like, Do you mind if we take a photo together and we snapped a selfie?

[33:29] Grace Aki: That's a hard ask.

[33:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I know that that must be hard for you. Because you're like, I know how this feels, I know this feels, I know, this feels like.

[33:35] Grace Aki: I rarely do it.

[33:35] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[33:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I and I know, like, because uh, but like I had to. I had to.

[33:41] Grace Aki: Because you love her so much.

[33:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I do.

[33:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So, anyways, that was that I don't that was the picky.

[33:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, it's like the perfect amount of blurry, but like, like of like, oh my god, this is so in the moment, but also like you can see who we are, you know what I mean?

[33:56] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, so that was epic and and amazing. Like, the I she called me baby, and I was like, Yes, thank you. Whoopi.

[34:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I remember my fifth grade yearbook too, um, or maybe it was uh sometime in elementary school, I performed in the talent show, and this teacher, oh yeah, it was fifth grade because they did Beat It by Michael Jackson.

[34:14] Grace Aki: I'm familiar.

[34:15] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And the one of the teachers was like, Whoopi would have been so proud because everyone knew how much I loved her. So just like that, just thinking of that like cosmicness, I was just like, oh, it's too much. Just too much, just too much.

[34:25] Grace Aki: Oh, that's beautiful.

[34:27] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[34:28] Grace Aki: Shout out to Whoopi, we love you.

[34:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: We love you.

[34:31] Grace Aki: I know you're listening.

[34:32] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I well, for the of all the people whoopy's listening.

[34:35] Grace Aki: Oh, I I don't have the same Whoopi story, but I have one, basically.

[34:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I was I will tell this story, I'll tell this story in a thousand different ways because a thousand things happened the night I saw the second week of Book of Mormon previews.

[34:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes, I know, I know.

[34:54] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Second week, my mom, long story short, actually, you know what? It's my pod, I can do it.

[34:58] Grace Aki: Okay, so Margaret sees on Facebook, a friend of hers is saying that the Book of Mormon is gonna be a really good show because they saw it out of town. And and my mom said, Well, my daughter's going on a trip, like a school trip, to New York. Should I buy tickets?

[35:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And he was like, exclamation points, yes. My mom is not a theater girl, she just wants to give her daughter good experiences, and God bless you, Margaret.

[35:21] Felicia Fitzpatrick: She spends, I will not say the amount of money, but an exorbitant amount on like she can't justify it. Like, I'll be like, I need a toothbrush at home, and she's like, figure it out. And then, like Book of Mormon, she's like, I will spend my left kneecap on the tickets.

[35:35] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So Margaret, she doesn't know what the show's about. She's offended by a lot of things. She does not watch South Park. We are religious. Like, we we go, we're on the second row, my dude, and they've taken out the first row for the orchestra.

[35:49] Grace Aki: And I'm like, we get there an hour early.

[35:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Doris Roberts from Everybody Loves Raymond.

[35:56] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah on our row, directly behind me, Susan Saran, and I'm like hyperventilating. Because I'm like, and highest shout out. Um I am a young person, and I was like, What's happening? And these celebs are coming because it's a preview, you know.

[36:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: This is when everybody's there. And so, like, I see Cameron Diaz would be there. And I'm like, what I want I want. Because I'm like, this is where I'm a Georgia girl, I don't see people.

[36:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I don't see people. I'm sitting with mom, Hasadika Eboy comes on, and people don't know to laugh. They don't know that they can laugh yet because they don't understand that this is all like ha ha ha.

[36:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And everybody, there's like a moment of break, and then everyone gives themselves permission to laugh at it. There was literal, I've never seen it happen in theater where everyone goes, Oh, oh my god! Because we freaked out.

[36:41] Grace Aki: That's so funny.

[36:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because they don't know if they can do it. This is the first time, I think, in a long time that where people were like, What? And then it's intermission, and I'm like sweating because I can see what's happening around me.

[36:54] Felicia Fitzpatrick: The show's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. And then I said, Mom, and I'm like holding her hand like a crazy pants. I was like, Mom, what if my favorite celebrity's here?

[37:04] Grace Aki: And she goes, who?

[37:06] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I was like, Steve Martin.

[37:09] Grace Aki: And she was like, there's Steve Martin's right here, quit being weird.

[37:11] Felicia Fitzpatrick: She turns around, two rows behind me.

[37:13] Grace Aki: You're lying.

[37:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Steve in my glasses that I'm wearing right now, because I got them at the time to match him. That's because I just seen him on his bluegrass tour playing banjo.

[37:23] Grace Aki: I can't make this up.

[37:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I was like, oh my god, Steve's hair. And like after the show, I couldn't even watch the second act because I kept looking behind me to see if he was laughing.

[37:31] Grace Aki: To know if it was good comedy.

[37:33] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I'm crazy.

[37:34] Grace Aki: No, okay.

[37:35] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I love that.

[37:36] Grace Aki: I love that.

[37:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: We leave. And I'm at the stage door. Josh Gat, Andrew Gandalf, Randall, nobody's at the stage door because there was no fandom yet. So they're just talking to me. So sweet.

[37:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Whoopi comes out in head-to-toe black sweats and orange crocs.

[37:50] Grace Aki: And I was like, You are a GD legend.

[37:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah. And she's only talking to the African American members of the company. She doesn't have to talk to anybody else.

[37:57] Felicia Fitzpatrick: She's like, I mean, I'll get to you guys later. But she was like, I have things to talk about because like this is important for like African culture, but and I was like, whoa.

[38:06] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So I didn't like talk or touch or take a pick. But just seeing her in that presence, I was like, wow, and just like knowing what she was doing. It was very cool.

[38:17] Grace Aki: I'm like very proud of you for not going up to Steve Martin and being like disashed.

[38:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: He he dashed out of the theater.

[38:23] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then I physically ran into um, oh my gosh, Ant Man, why am I not having his name come to me?

[38:30] Grace Aki: Paul Rudd.

[38:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Paul Rudd.

[38:32] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And I was just like, he's cool, but like clueless.

[38:35] Grace Aki: And like I yeah, hello, clueless.

[38:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But it wasn't like the level that he's at now. I tell him this story at the Ant Man to a premiere, and he's crying laughing because I said I knew I'd see you in another light.

[38:45] Grace Aki: Like, or something.

[38:46] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's like, wow, you're weird, but you're nice.

[38:48] Grace Aki: That's so funny.

[38:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But he appreciates good comedy too.

[38:50] Grace Aki: Yeah, and then he introduced me to Michael Cerberus, which is who I was really hyperventiling.

[38:54] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Woo!

[38:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Hyperventilating out the Who's Tommy? See you Broadway 2021. That was such a long-winded story.

[39:02] Grace Aki: I'm so sorry.

[39:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I loved it.

[39:04] Grace Aki: And shout out to Margaret, though.

[39:06] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Shout out to Margaret who changed my life in so many ways, besides giving birth.

[39:10] Grace Aki: Um let's let's talk.

[39:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I was like, let's talk about gay stuff.

[39:16] Grace Aki: Yeah!

[39:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That was right. Sometimes, you know, when you like you connect with someone and then you're like, oh, I get it, and then they post something like, oh no, I really get you. That's how I felt like sometimes with some of your things.

[39:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And like you, you just said by teen.

[39:31] Grace Aki: 20 20 by teen is this year.

[39:33] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah. How would you describe, or you can just tell me a story about your connection to queerness, your connection to queer culture? Any of the following.

[39:46] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I love that. Those are that's a great way of phrasing phrasing that. Um love people is is like the short answer to that.

[39:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um I identify as a queer woman, and I say queer specifically because there's all of these like arguments currently about what is queer. That and like bisexual versus pansexual, and oh, is pan making bisexual transphobic? I'm like, like semantics.

[40:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: My mom's an English teacher, like it's too much. I love everybody, yeah, regardless of their gender, regardless of their sexual orientation, honestly.

[40:26] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like the amount of versions I've developed on like gay men who would never want to have sex with me is very high.

[40:31] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[40:32] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um so I I've I have said pansexual, but I don't want to be transphobic for bisexual people, so sure bisexual, pansexual, queer, I'm all here for it.

[40:44] Grace Aki: Um so that's that.

[40:47] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah, fair enough.

[40:48] Grace Aki: No, it's it's funny because yeah, like we're we're trying so hard to like tread lightly on terminologies because of course, like, and we should have everyone feel accepted and loved, but at the same time, yeah, it's like can get a little difficult because you're like, well, I just like everybody.

[41:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because that's how, yeah, I understand.

[41:04] Grace Aki: It's like that's how I feel.

[41:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I just like no, I can just like everybody, and that's okay, and I don't have to explain that to anybody, and I don't have to, you know, justify anything.

[41:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like I always say, like, Damon is my like they said, you may kiss your bride, and I'm like, yes, he has very high cheekbones. I could have been with a woman, and that's okay.

[41:20] Grace Aki: You know, like he just happens to have the parts he has, but like it could have been anybody, my dude.

[41:25] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So no, no, no, I get that.

[41:27] Grace Aki: Yeah, I just I mean, are you biracial?

[41:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, oh yeah, uh well, Japanese American, right?

[41:34] Grace Aki: Okay, so it's a lot of things.

[41:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Well, uh and the the reason that I asked that is because I have felt duality because of being biracial my whole life.

[41:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh not fitting into either racial group to understanding both racial groups on topics, and I don't know if that informed my queerness, but it's this thing of like, oh my god, like there are so many identities out there.

[42:02] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, like why would I just limit myself? I I I I don't think I, Felicia, could limit myself to one gender because of my experiences of liking one gender.

[42:11] Grace Aki: Uh, right, right, right. Because you're like, well, I have all these experiences with a bunch of different lives and like parts of you that are this and then like this race and that yeah.

[42:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And and I think, yeah, I think because trying to understand my own duality and understand the nuances of of racial groups, like I find myself applying that to all people, and so then I find myself attracted to people. Does that make sense?

[42:39] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[42:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I've never actually tried to really articulate that thought, but was there ever like a show or like can you tell me a story of like did you ever see a show or experience a movie, or just maybe in life where you were like, oh, that might be like how I feel. Do you know what I mean?

[42:57] Grace Aki: Um I say that I was kind of convoluted.

[43:00] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, no, no. The the about queerness.

[43:02] Grace Aki: Yes.

[43:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Well, I will say, this isn't something that I necessarily think described how I felt, but I think one of my queer sexual awakenings would have been Motocross, the Disney Channel original movie.

[43:14] Grace Aki: Stop.

[43:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh yeah.

[43:16] Grace Aki: Because I wonder if that is a true story for a lot of people.

[43:21] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Do you know?

[43:21] Grace Aki: Oh, yes.

[43:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because I just think of it. Tell the can you tell the people a little bit about Motocross?

[43:25] Grace Aki: Oh my god, if y'all haven't watched Motocross yelling, right? And you need to pause this podcast and go watch it and then immediately come back.

[43:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: They're like Googling motocross.

[43:33] Grace Aki: As fast as your fingers can type. Like it's iconic. It's a cinematic masterpiece.

[43:38] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Mark, you're never gonna watch it, so it's like the opposite of what Mark loves, which is joy and happiness.

[43:43] Grace Aki: Yes, Mark, I said it.

[43:45] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So anyway, Motocross is a retelling and adaptation of Twelfth Night.

[43:51] Grace Aki: Two twins, chilling in California.

[43:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: The brother, well, I guess they both do motocross, but he's like the competitor. He breaks his leg because they're fooling around in the yard, even though their dad told them not to.

[44:04] Grace Aki: And so she's like, I can't let this ruin my family. I have to compete as him.

[44:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And the mom's like, yeah, I'm a badass feminist. Like, I'll help you.

[44:11] Grace Aki: And so she cuts her hair, and they go, I'm leaving out some details, but they go and they compete, and she's just well, at first she's not very good, but then Riley Smith, who's also seen in New York Minute, who is very sexy, trains her, and she gets really good and she like beats everybody.

[44:29] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And again, there's more details, but like hashtag no spoilers, I guess. I don't know.

[44:32] Grace Aki: Anyway, all of this to say, I think back to that movie because one they totally queer it up with gender.

[44:42] Felicia Fitzpatrick: There is sexual tension between Riley Smith and I can't think of the actress's name, a lot of something, but Andrea.

[44:49] Grace Aki: Andy.

[44:50] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And uh, yeah.

[44:53] Grace Aki: So, anyways, I love that movie. And I think that was just one of the first because I was definitely attracted to Andrea without knowing it.

[45:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Mm-hmm.

[45:02] Grace Aki: Especially, especially when she's masculine presenting.

[45:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, yeah.

[45:10] Grace Aki: But you were like, you couldn't tell, you were like, I don't know if I just I like that person for I wouldn't be I wanna be their friend.

[45:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No, I don't.

[45:18] Grace Aki: Yeah, like that's the thing.

[45:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So keep going.

[45:20] Grace Aki: No, no, no, no, no, no, keep going.

[45:22] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But that's the thing, like, and and I've been reconciling with this too.

[45:28] Grace Aki: Let's get deep.

[45:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I a lot of the women I've been attracted to have been blonde hair, blue eyes, and I'm like, have I I've always wanted to, I've always wanted to look like that.

[45:43] Grace Aki: Like, have I always wanted to look like that because I was attracted to them, or am I attracted to them because I've always wanted to look like that?

[45:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like an emulation.

[45:49] Grace Aki: Like, I wanna yeah, okay, okay.

[45:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, I used to be obsessed with Hillary Duff.

[45:54] Grace Aki: And I'm sure that was a queer awakening that I didn't realize at the time, too.

[45:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And it's like obviously there's all of the stuff of like white supremacy and like white beauty ideals.

[46:03] Grace Aki: We are just fresh off of slave play talking about this.

[46:06] Felicia Fitzpatrick: You know that's what we're going to do.

[46:08] Grace Aki: Yeah, so much.

[46:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[46:09] Grace Aki: And like there's all of these things, like all of these layers, but with that in mind, like it's kind of like bluest eye by Tony Morrison too.

[46:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But anyway, with all that in mind, what like I don't know, it's all so much.

[46:16] Grace Aki: It's all so much.

[46:23] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Can I just tell you, just while you get your breath about this? Because I understand. I was uh it was my senior year of high school, and um I went to the bathroom at the time.

[46:34] Grace Aki: Um TBH was I know I know you guys are gonna hear this, and you're gonna be like, shut up.

[46:39] Felicia Fitzpatrick: You're gonna look at my photo, and you're gonna be like, shut up, girl.

[46:42] Grace Aki: But I was I was very much bullied at the time, very, very much bullied, which I don't want to get on to right now.

[46:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But for whether or not it was my fault or not, it was egregious, like a lot of things were being done to my things and me.

[46:55] Grace Aki: And so in the bathroom, I remember going to the bathroom that day on the fine arts hallway, and in the bathroom on one of the stalls in the back, which I think is still there, which is upsetting, in Sharpie.

[47:06] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It said, Grace, um, Grace, my last name, Hearts Vaginas.

[47:11] Grace Aki: And because I was also like not really um hooking up with the guys that I it's just not something I wanted to do.

[47:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, so I was not, and thus they weren't hooking up with other people, but I was like not doing that, so then people were like, Oh, she's a lesbian for sure.

[47:27] Grace Aki: And then, but I remember looking at it and then bawling because someone would have the audacity to write that in a bathroom stall, and then I went, I'm not actually offended by that.

[47:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Mainly because, well, you shouldn't be if you like vaginas, like it's not an offensive thing, right?

[47:43] Grace Aki: Or or just in general, like vaginas aren't offensive, but it was just it was just the idea of like, oh well, maybe somebody's trying to tell me something.

[47:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So I just like sat there and I was like, oh, and I just like I got up out of the stall, I like wiped my tears a little bit, and then I kind of like just never, you know, I didn't, I wasn't like get someone take that off the stall.

[48:07] Grace Aki: I was like, you know what? Whatever.

[48:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like someone had the need to do that, and I was like, okay.

[48:11] Grace Aki: It was on the tampon box too, which I thought was funny.

[48:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Good for you for like that's like such a mature reaction to that, I feel like.

[48:18] Grace Aki: It was just hard, but that was one one the first time anybody ever said or did anything like that, and I went, okay, maybe maybe maybe I'm just gonna go watch the L word and see what happens.

[48:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh that's so funny.

[48:32] Grace Aki: Which thank God we have that revival.

[48:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[48:35] Grace Aki: I say revival as if it's a Broadway show.

[48:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That's that was an appropriate response.

[48:39] Grace Aki: You're right, you're right.

[48:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Embarrassing theater in all life, theater in all lives.

[48:42] Grace Aki: Um yeah, that's in high school kids can be mean, even though that you're right, like that's not an offensive thing to be said about you, like just the fact that someone was doing that to hurt you, just like it's just weird.

[48:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It was honestly now. I'm like, that person's weird.

[48:54] Grace Aki: No.

[48:56] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh well.

[48:57] Grace Aki: It might be one of my friends.

[48:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: What if it was just like a hilariously cute prank they were trying to pull?

[49:02] Grace Aki: It's like that didn't work.

[49:03] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, why did you own that thick of a Sharpie?

[49:05] Grace Aki: Anyways, um, like who gets the wide tip?

[49:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Anyways, um, which uh another okay.

[49:12] Grace Aki: So let's talk about wide tips.

[49:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I don't know, do you have a story about a wide tip?

[49:16] Grace Aki: Um my god, this is so funny. This, okay, so this is the part of the show that I didn't prepare you for, which I'll just cut out, I guess, any of this if I want to.

[49:23] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um so this is the part of the show where it's called Story Story Die or Short Story.

[49:29] Grace Aki: And you are going to you can go first, I can go first.

[49:32] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay.

[49:33] Grace Aki: And one of us gives like a random suggestion of anything.

[49:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay.

[49:37] Grace Aki: You can say a word, phrase, or song.

[49:39] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, you and I could do like weird song stuff.

[49:41] Grace Aki: And then um you have to, you have two minutes to, or I have two minutes, to just tell me a story about that thing that makes you think of that thing.

[49:50] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It doesn't even have to include it.

[49:51] Grace Aki: Okay.

[49:51] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I could say donut to you, and you could tell me a story about phalanges.

[49:55] Grace Aki: I don't know why I said that.

[49:56] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But you know what I'm saying.

[49:58] Grace Aki: But I like it.

[49:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's very yes and.

[49:59] Grace Aki: It's yes and because I feel like we deserve to have the freedom to tell a silly story.

[50:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And it could be true or false.

[50:07] Grace Aki: Story, story, die or short story.

[50:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes, let's we can shit, we can just say it's short story time.

[50:09] Grace Aki: It's short story time, ladies and gents.

[50:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay.

[50:14] Grace Aki: Okay.

[50:15] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So do you want to go first?

[50:16] Grace Aki: I want to go first.

[50:17] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like do I give a word?

[50:18] Grace Aki: I'll give a word first.

[50:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: You want to give a word and then I'll tell the story.

[50:21] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[50:21] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay.

[50:22] Grace Aki: Okay.

[50:24] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I can't even prepare for the word.

[50:27] Grace Aki: You're like, I can't do the word.

[50:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um Tom Hanks.

[50:33] Grace Aki: Okay.

[50:34] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay, so I was watching, I've been watching a lot of weeds.

[50:38] Grace Aki: And oh, this is oh, this might tie into the core.

[50:41] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay, so I've been watching a lot of weeds.

[50:44] Grace Aki: Have you seen weeds?

[50:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay, not important.

[50:45] Grace Aki: Anyways, I've been watching a lot of weeds.

[50:47] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And the girl that plays um Mary Louise Parker, um, who is a queen among queens, who is a goddess on stage.

[50:54] Grace Aki: I will watch anything and everything she does.

[50:55] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Are you going to see how I learned to drive?

[50:56] Grace Aki: I will be there.

[50:57] Felicia Fitzpatrick: We should go.

[50:58] Grace Aki: Anyways, so uh weeds, weeds, weeds.

[51:00] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So I'm watching it, and I'm like, this girl that plays her friend, she's like conniving.

[51:04] Grace Aki: She's also like a hotter older lady.

[51:07] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, let's do it.

[51:07] Grace Aki: She's so cool, she's so funny.

[51:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then I'm like starting to go a deep dive like on her history, and I was like, she was in the Flintstones movies.

[51:14] Grace Aki: Yes.

[51:15] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yes, yes, yes, opposite Rosie O'Donnell.

[51:17] Grace Aki: So then I'm like, now I'm gonna deep dive.

[51:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Then I watched by my lonesome, the Flintstones movie the other day because I was like, nostalgia.

[51:24] Grace Aki: And then I was like, hold on, Halle Berry in this movie.

[51:28] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh my god, this was like one of my like weird childhood, probably sexual awakenings.

[51:32] Grace Aki: And then I looked at a photo of Damon and I started to weep.

[51:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And then I went back to watching Weeds, and I was just like, oh my god, she's so good.

[51:41] Grace Aki: But she stars opposite in big, and that is the end of my story.

[51:44] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, I loved that.

[51:47] Grace Aki: Oh, I yeah.

[51:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I forgot about the Flintstone movie.

[51:50] Grace Aki: Um like I've been not watching in years.

[51:52] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Oh, if you can watch it now, you're like, oh my.

[51:55] Grace Aki: What streaming service is it?

[51:56] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It's also, it's it's on Netflix, and it's also directed by Steven Spielberg.

[52:00] Grace Aki: There's so many funny Easter eggs on that movie.

[52:02] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Shout out to revisit film.

[52:04] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[52:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Rick Moranis.

[52:06] Grace Aki: Oh my god.

[52:07] Felicia Fitzpatrick: So many people.

[52:08] Grace Aki: Kyle McLaughlin, if you're a fan of Sex in the City.

[52:11] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Hello.

[52:11] Grace Aki: Whoa, I need to re uh Netflix I'm coming for you.

[52:14] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Yeah.

[52:15] Grace Aki: I need to revisit.

[52:15] Felicia Fitzpatrick: No other streaming service allowed.

[52:17] Grace Aki: Is that a podcast?

[52:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Thank you for employing my husband for several months, but don't really appreciate that he's in Canada.

[52:23] Grace Aki: Okay, so it's time for your section of short story.

[52:27] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Alright.

[52:28] Grace Aki: Oh my god.

[52:29] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And Felicia's word is I have to say it.

[52:33] Grace Aki: It's Spongebob.

[52:37] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, it ha it doesn't have, but I I'm about to relate to Spongebob, even though it doesn't have to, right?

[52:42] Grace Aki: No, it doesn't have to.

[52:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um, okay, I'm just gonna tell the story of the closing performance.

[52:48] Grace Aki: Oh, okay.

[52:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Because it was the first and only to this date, final performance I've ever been to on Broadway.

[52:55] Grace Aki: Talk about it at a Broadway event that was just like life-changing.

[52:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Um can I give context before we tell the story?

[53:03] Grace Aki: I'm gonna talk.

[53:04] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I did not expect like Spongebob on Broadway.

[53:07] Grace Aki: Like, let me make that very clear.

[53:08] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, I were not ready.

[53:09] Grace Aki: I enjoyed the cartoon as a kid, whatever.

[53:12] Felicia Fitzpatrick: But I was like, uh, uh Ethan Slater, I love you.

[53:17] Grace Aki: Like that that whole cast, I love you, Tina Landau.

[53:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Like, that I sat down, and by the end of that show, the first time I saw it, I was like, how have we been living without this show?

[53:28] Grace Aki: How like it was so joyful.

[53:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It it every every element was in sync from the costumes to the scenic design to the direction to the actor to the like music, all of it just worked, and I was like, whoa, what?

[53:41] Grace Aki: I did not expect to like it this much.

[53:43] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Cut to seven shows later.

[53:46] Grace Aki: I've seen it seven times.

[53:48] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I guess the the last time I saw it was the seventh time, but um, me and my friends were like, we have to go see the closing performance because we love it so much, and it's just brought us so much joy, and we've cried so many tears over it.

[53:59] Grace Aki: In fact, sorry, the the performance after it was they announced that they were closing.

[54:05] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Mama Fitz and I went to because she was in town.

[54:07] Grace Aki: I was like, we gotta go.

[54:09] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And they had just announced it like two days before.

[54:11] Grace Aki: Um, literally cried the whole opening number because I was like, like this show's gonna end, and that's so sad.

[54:16] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Anyway, final performance.

[54:18] Grace Aki: Ethan Slater got like the biggest applause that lasted like five minutes.

[54:23] Felicia Fitzpatrick: The the um Mike Dobbs, I think his name is the sound designer, got his own like standing O.

[54:28] Grace Aki: The final moment and best day ever.

[54:30] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Ethan Slater, I'm in love with you clearly.

[54:33] Grace Aki: Like his voice cracked just a little bit from emotion while he was like looking at everyone bikini bottom, and I lost it.

[54:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It was like it was such a community, it was such a family.

[54:43] Grace Aki: They brought so much joy to everyone.

[54:45] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I love you guys. Good night.

[54:46] Grace Aki: That's so pure.

[54:49] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Sponsored by Pedalite.

[54:52] Grace Aki: Okay.

[54:53] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Well, now, yeah.

[54:55] Grace Aki: I feel like that was the worst story I've ever told my entire life.

[54:58] Felicia Fitzpatrick: It you know what though?

[54:59] Grace Aki: You have so much emotion behind it.

[55:01] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay, that it's translating.

[55:04] Grace Aki: I just like I get I don't know if I get caught in the details of stories, but I just like think of things that I think are important and that might not be that I should get it.

[55:13] Felicia Fitzpatrick: That's all that it's about.

[55:14] Grace Aki: No. People enjoy you. You're a light unto us all.

[55:19] Felicia Fitzpatrick: And with that, um, we would bid you all good night.

[55:22] Grace Aki: This has been tell me on a Sunday with Felicia Fitzpatrick.

[55:26] Felicia Fitzpatrick: I love you, Grace.

[55:27] Grace Aki: Yay, I love you. I'm sorry you don't love my cat.

[55:31] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Shout out to Cats.

[55:32] Grace Aki: Shout out the movie Me is a goal, which we will be at.

[55:36] Felicia Fitzpatrick: Okay, bye.

[55:38] Grace Aki: And one time.

[55:40] Felicia Fitzpatrick: There's more to the story.

[55:44] Grace Aki: The kind of story we need right now.