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[0:00] Kevin Ferguson: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the fabulous Feinstein 54 Below. Before we get started this evening, just a polite reminder. Please take this moment to silence your cell phones. Also, there is no flash photography, please. Please welcome Amy Spanger.

[0:18] Kevin Ferguson: Welcome to the Feinstein’s/54 Below podcast, where we take you behind the scenes at Broadway Supper Club. I'm Kevin Ferguson, an assistant programming director here at 54 Below. And our guest today is the leading lady, Amy Spanger. Y'all, she has appeared on Broadway shows, including roles like Roxy in Chicago, Bianca in Kiss Me, Kate, Miss Wormwood in Matilda, Sherry in Rock of Ages, and Holly in The Wedding Singer. It just goes on and on. Along with she is a Drama Desk-nominated actress who is a veteran of eight Broadway shows and originated Susan in Tick, Tick... Boom off-Broadway. And she's appeared in television shows like The Blacklist, Chicago Med, Law and Order: SVU, and so much more, including shows like Reefer Madness, the movie musical. Just on and on and on. She's also an actor in love with another actor living in New York City. We're gonna talk all about it. Everybody give it up for the Amy Spanger. Welcome, Amy.

[1:24] Amy Spanger: Thank you for having me.

[1:27] Kevin Ferguson: Yes. For saying all that lovely stuff that I wrote.

[1:30] Amy Spanger: Yes.

[1:31] Kevin Ferguson: Yes. Thank you for reading that.

[1:33] Amy Spanger: Yeah, no.

[1:34] Kevin Ferguson: No, we have to give you your credits. That is amazing. Just alone, what we already said, the eight Broadway shows, the Drama Desk nomination, the Law and Order: SVU, which is like every actor's dream to do that at least once.

[1:46] Amy Spanger: I've done it two times.

[1:48] Kevin Ferguson: Why is that type of wow.

[1:50] Amy Spanger: I have, yeah.

[1:51] Kevin Ferguson: Wow, that is so awesome. I need to catch your episodes. Let me see it. Let me—there's Amy. I love that moment when you're watching Law and Order: SVU and you see a familiar face from Broadway.

[2:00] Amy Spanger: You know what I mean?

[2:00] Kevin Ferguson: It's like every time.

[2:02] Amy Spanger: Like every single time.

[2:04] Kevin Ferguson: That is so awesome. Well, welcome. You're coming back with a new cabaret show at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Is this the first time since the pandemic you're gonna be getting back on stage, or have you been able to get back on stage since?

[2:18] Amy Spanger: It's been a long time. It's the first time since the pandemic for sure, but it's been a little bit longer because my mom got very sick a little bit before the pandemic started, and then she passed away right at the beginning of the pandemic. So it was kind of like a super dark moment for me.

[2:38] Kevin Ferguson: Sorry, not to bring it way down.

[2:40] Amy Spanger: No, let's talk about it. But the show that I'm doing at 54 Below is gonna be about coming out of the darkness into the light, you know. And I feel like we can all relate to that having been through what we've been through. I didn't really feel safe to act or sing in front of people. I did it still, but I did it kind of like badly for a little bit, and I did not book anymore because there was something just pressing on my heart, and I'm such an honest gal, like in terms of being like a performer and in terms of being a person, and so my instrument is connected to my heart. So I feel like I was protecting that a little bit by not getting on stage and doing stuff. But the pandemic actually provided beautiful time so that I could grieve and heal, and I'm feeling really excited about it.

[3:31] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[3:32] Amy Spanger: Up on stage. I'm so excited.

[3:34] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, no, I think it's gonna be great. I think we're all excited to see you. You have a resume with shows and roles on it individually, all of them are just such strong presences on stage. We miss Amy Spanger on stage.

[3:50] Kevin Ferguson: Okay, that energy you bring.

[3:52] Amy Spanger: Yeah, that energy that she is able to bring on stage is so infectious. And I know audiences are moved by your voice, and they are gonna be very excited to see you and welcome you back on the stage, Miss Amy.

[4:05] Amy Spanger: Oh my god. I'm hoping that I don't cry to start with.

[4:09] Kevin Ferguson: No, we're hoping you do cry. Come on, bring the tears. Come on.

[4:11] Amy Spanger: But like, but like do it a little later in the show, you know, like don't get up on stage and start falling, like cooling.

[4:19] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, definitely.

[4:21] Amy Spanger: Yeah, I understand that, but I think it would be understood, especially after you know what happened to your family right at the top of the pandemic, and then to go through the whole pandemic, everyone will understand the vulnerability that you're bringing on the stage and will appreciate it, and yeah, it's gonna be so awesome.

[4:41] Kevin Ferguson: So talk about it, yeah.

[4:43] Amy Spanger: Just be I'm just gonna be like, This is me. So, how did you go about creating a set list for the show? Since it's been so long, it's gonna hold a lot of weight to get back on stage. How'd you decide which songs you're gonna bring us?

[4:57] Amy Spanger: I'm still exciting. I'm still in the process of deciding, but the guy that I'm working with, Paul Mancy, is a Kander and Ebb aficionado. He has like a direct line to John Kander, and we were supposed to do just a Kander and Ebb concert over the summer that was cancelled due to COVID. So we just started like figuring out all these beautiful Kander and Ebb songs and some very obscure, and I wanted to do "Maybe This Time." And he was like maybe not everybody does it. And I was like, okay. But yeah, we were able to choose these beautiful songs that represent moments in my life. So there's a ton of Kander and Ebb. There's some Cole Porter. There's a little bit of rock. You know, gotta do it. And there's like some obscure—there's some from Steel Pier that Deborah Monk, okay, that is just it's like a one-off like Kander song. And I was like, what's the context? Because I hadn't seen Steel Pier.

[6:02] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[6:03] Amy Spanger: It's called "Everybody's Girl." And it's kind of like the grown-up version of Bianca a little bit because she likes men a lot. She's very vocal about it.

[6:11] Kevin Ferguson: Exactly.

[6:14] Amy Spanger: So yeah, so I was like, what's the context? And Paul was like Fred just wanted to write Deb an incredible song. And it's a one-off. So it's this brilliant, really funny song. So I'm doing that. And then I'm gonna do a Chicago section.

[6:31] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[6:32] Amy Spanger: With Miss Lana Gordon. Let's talk about it because that's a Roxy-Velma dream team.

[6:37] Kevin Ferguson: Okay.

[6:38] Amy Spanger: Like that is so exciting.

[6:41] Kevin Ferguson: I know.

[6:41] Amy Spanger: I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it hard.

[6:43] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[6:43] Amy Spanger: I really am feeling it. And we don't really know each other. I just reached out to her because I saw that Tina Fey concert that they did a year or so ago where the shows were performing in front of their marquees, and she was the Velma for Chicago and she was brilliant and just sounded like a dream and physically it's just perfect and it's like, I wanna know her. So I just like I sent her a DM. We weren't even friends on Instagram, but I DM'd her and she like got right back. And I was like, okay.

[7:14] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[7:15] Amy Spanger: So yeah, we're gonna sing a couple songs and then we're gonna dance, I think.

[7:19] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[7:21] Amy Spanger: I mean because Chicago, the training for that role, was that the hardest training? Was that the most specific training? I'm looking at all your roles. I would imagine Fosse and that role just without Fosse. What was the training like?

[7:38] Amy Spanger: Well, I actually was part of the classes that led up to the show Fosse. I was picked out of Chet Walker's theater dance class. He just plucked me out at twenty-three, and I had never done a Broadway show, and I was in a class with all these Broadway people. And the first day of class, Gwen Verdon came, was there, and I was like, Oh my god.

[8:03] Kevin Ferguson: Right.

[8:03] Amy Spanger: And she just taught us to do the frug walks across the floor.

[8:08] Kevin Ferguson: So Gwen Verdon walks into the room casual. With you being a newcomer at that moment, did that shake you in your boots or did that inspire you more?

[8:19] Amy Spanger: It didn't shake me in my boots. I just was like, I want to be her. I want to be close to her. Because I saw Damn Yankees when I was 19. I did that show up in New Hampshire, like before I moved here, and I was like, oh my god, I want to be her. I want to do what she does. I want to sing, dance, and act all together, same time. And do comedy and be sexy, and she was a quintessential Broadway star. So I just wanted to learn from her and absorb everything I could. And also we did "Change Your Way of Living" from All That Jazz one day in class. Anne Reinking came in and taught it to us. And then we danced for her. I hadn't really done anything huge in New York yet, but I was like, I have made it. I have done it. Like I was just levitating, like walking down the street.

[9:15] Kevin Ferguson: So it's those New York moments.

[9:17] Amy Spanger: Totally, totally. But that training was just like a foundation for so much. And when Chicago came around and was auditioning, I had taken another class with Anne Reinking where she taught "Hot Honey Rag," a combination from Hot Honey Rag and All That Jazz. And so when they had me come and audition for it, I was like, I know it. Had a leg up, so to speak. And she remembered me and that connection was clear. She was like certainly a cheerleader for me in my career. And I booked it. I booked actually my first book the standby for Roxy and Velma. Somebody was doing a play, so I came in and I did six weeks standby. I never went on. They just put like all the other people on. I never went on. I like a beeper.

[10:05] Kevin Ferguson: Wow.

[10:06] Amy Spanger: But I learned them both and I was just around the cast and it was incredible. But then I replaced Marianne Lamb in the Cell Block Girls as June. And then from there I booked the tour as Roxy because I was rehearsing Roxy and they had people come in and watch me rehearse Roxy as an understudy. And so then they had me do the tour. So it was a dream come true.

[10:33] Kevin Ferguson: Yes. That is such an iconic role. And as a dancer, would you at the time consider yourself a dancer when you first took that one that invited to that first Fosse class?

[10:45] Amy Spanger: Yeah.

[10:46] Amy Spanger: How long had you been dancing? Like when did you start dancing? I started dancing kind of late. I was like 14, but I was a gymnast from like five to twelve. So I had that foundation. We took a little bit of ballet. It was very natural. It all came very naturally to me. So yeah, it started late, but I came here as a dancer. And I was going to dance calls. And then I would sing. And people were like, You should go to the singer hall with that voice. And I was like, oh, okay. So um, like I had no idea. Because I didn't go to school. I just like moved here on a whim. And I knew two people and I had $2,000 from my hometown bank. And I started waiting tables and circling auditions and the non-equity auditions and the backstage magazine. It's like an actual paper. And I booked my first Broadway show in three years.

[11:39] Kevin Ferguson: That's amazing.

[11:41] Amy Spanger: Yeah. Yes, you know it's two years in Tim. It's not three. You know down to the day. Well, I gave myself a goal to do it in three. And I did it like one, three.

[11:51] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. Amy, that is amazing.

[11:53] Amy Spanger: Isn't that cool? I think you Yeah, you don't hear that story a lot now. Like now the new Broadway formula is what school you went to and how they transitioned you into the city and helped with all that. The idea of all of that. I recommend doing that, kids. Do that. Yeah. I got very lucky. I got like really lucky. And then to have a goal for yourself of three years, which a lot of people would say is really ambitious, and you did it with two months to spare.

[12:23] Kevin Ferguson: I did it.

[12:24] Amy Spanger: Yeah. So awesome. That is and what show was that?

[12:28] Amy Spanger: Sunset Boulevard.

[12:29] Kevin Ferguson: Wow.

[12:30] Amy Spanger: Yeah. And of all shows to start off with, such a beautiful show.

[12:35] Kevin Ferguson: I know. Incredible. Incredible.

[12:37] Amy Spanger: And Betty Buckley had just come in. And so I got to just like the ensemble is like on stage with her for those big musical moments that she had. And so I'm just like watched her do her magic.

[12:50] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. Just incredible.

[12:52] Amy Spanger: Wow. Right. Brilliant. Okay. So being there for that moment, but still being in the Broadway world now all the way in 2021. Do you feel any kind of culture shift on Broadway with the community at all? Or do you feel it is still kind of the same resilient force that you came to the city with? How it moves and the culture and the people. Do you feel like it's a little different now?

[13:17] Amy Spanger: Back then, they had a lot more money. They paid people really well and they had a lot of money to put into sets, costumes, everything, like all the elements. And I feel like that has changed a lot. I don't know how or why it's changed so much, but I also feel like ticket prices are too high. Just way, way too high. Like I want to see the Talking Heads musical, American Utopia. I'm gonna see that. But I've looked up tickets and they're like 600, 700. I'm like, no, I can't. So yeah, I just want it to be more available to everyone, to not just rich people. I would like that to happen.

[14:01] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, Broadway is such a commercial force right now. We have shows that people are really willing to spend a lot of money to see them, which is awesome. You know, art is expensive, and you definitely should cut these artists what they are right to claim. But yeah, how the artist was supposed to go support the shows.

[14:20] Amy Spanger: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Somebody asked me they're like, what are you gonna see? And I'm like, I can't at the moment because like I can't afford it. I can't afford to go at the moment. I get tickets from people and I will go and they give me a you know what I mean.

[14:35] Kevin Ferguson: Same.

[14:36] Amy Spanger: Oh it's a comp. It's a comp ticket. Yeah. Okay, here I come. I love a comp.

[14:41] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[14:41] Amy Spanger: But we're going to see Mary Wends of the Windsor on Friday. And that's like free. Free theater. How about that? You know okay. What a concept.

[14:51] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. Gotta get it while it's hot.

[14:52] Amy Spanger: Yeah. So like in terms of you're asking me about Broadway, I just think they should have people play the roles who have trained their whole lives to do that. And I know that it puts like the asses in seats to have like a big celebrity come in. But I don't know maybe like a little less of that would be good maybe.

[15:12] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[15:13] Amy Spanger: Yes. I totally understand. Yes. Definitely. And I think you also have a strong grasp on people who have done the work and the study because you're teaching master classes and coaching people now. So it's really important to you to see the work happening on the stage and not just the celebrity happening.

[15:34] Amy Spanger: Exactly. Exactly. And sometimes there's a rare occurrence where a celebrity is very talented in terms of singing and acting and sometimes even dancing and that celebrity will get to do the role, and I'm like, yes, of course, more power to you. But yeah, I'm coaching now, which has been my pivot during COVID, and it's been really wonderful. It's been really, really lovely. I have some like little star people, stars in the making.

[16:03] Kevin Ferguson: Oh exciting.

[16:04] Amy Spanger: Yeah. It's exciting. What's the style of your class or your course?

[16:09] Amy Spanger: I'm just acting through song ladies. But I can warm people up. But it's mostly I talk about the acting, like you have to be grounded in something. You gotta have like intention. You gotta know what you're doing, who you're talking to, you know, that kind of thing. It's been really wonderful. It's been I'm so grateful that I've had that during this time. This little community that I've built, you know, here in my apartment. Because we're not like in person yet. But it's been really lovely. And one of my students just got into NYU.

[16:42] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[16:43] Amy Spanger: Yeah, one of my students just did like a songwriting NYU summer thing, and another one of my students just did Scotland summer musical theater program. And so it's going good.

[16:56] Kevin Ferguson: Oh, I know you're so proud. That is probably so exciting to be able to be a coach and see your team win.

[17:04] Amy Spanger: Yeah. That is so awesome. So the mentoring, do you think that could ever lead to full teaching at an institution? Or do you just want to stick to teaching masterclasses here and there?

[17:18] Amy Spanger: I never say never. I don't really know. I can't tell the future. I'm not psychic. But you never know. I mean, I feel like I'm an actor, so I'm gonna keep doing that. I love it. So my foot will always be there. And I think people who move on to that maybe don't really have the time to do the acting. So I yeah, I'm thinking probably I'm gonna have to stick with acting and do that still, like on the side.

[17:45] Kevin Ferguson: Your acting, you still have it, you still can do it. Why retire and start teaching when you still can do it? You're still out there and loved and your resume is so stacked, and you already have such a skill set with film and everything and TV as well. Do you feel a preference between stage work or screen work?

[18:07] Amy Spanger: At the moment, because I've done so much stage work, I think I would like to do more TV and film. For sure. I feel like that's been the goal. So yeah, but it's the right project for me for theater and like the right people too. Like I like to be around kind people and like-minded creative people. So I tend to be a little bit picky about that.

[18:33] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[18:34] Amy Spanger: But I just love it. And I actually been doing some play readings over Skype during the pandemic and plays for a lady my age are really good. Well, theater right now for somebody who's I just turned 50, just so you know.

[18:50] Kevin Ferguson: Amy, happy fiftieth.

[18:52] Amy Spanger: Come on. All right. Come on, 50. I need your skincare regimen. Jeez, I would have never thank you.

[19:02] Kevin Ferguson: Amy.

[19:02] Amy Spanger: Thank you. Just try to be like honest about it. Because people can look it up. You can look it up. So it's like whatever. But somebody who's fifty, a woman who's fifty in musical theater, there's not a lot at the moment. There's not a lot. There's like two, three jobs right now. And all my friends are playing them. And I'm like, I love you. That's great. But you know, there's more to do with plays and with TV and film. But if some musical thing comes up, I will of course do it.

[19:30] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[19:31] Amy Spanger: Well, I feel like looking at your amazing resume, I can see you playing all of those roles. Is there a role that you know though that you could slay, though some people would not assume you could do like is there a song or something or a character that you've always wanted to play that you feel a little miscasty for, but you it to your heart you know you could do it?

[19:52] Amy Spanger: It's not something I feel miscasty, and it's Audrey in Little Shop, of course. Definitely. That is not a miscast at all. No, no, and I got super close. It was between me and Carrie Butler the last time around.

[20:05] Kevin Ferguson: Oh wow.

[20:06] Amy Spanger: And um yeah, I didn't get it, but it's one of those roles where it's just in the blood, in the bones, that kind of thing. And for an actor, it's endless the choices you get to make as Audrey in that show. You get to have so much fun in that role.

[20:21] Kevin Ferguson: So yeah, well, she's like targets and she's funny and she's sexy, and she gets to sing her ass off. That's a really great part. All of the drama.

[20:34] Amy Spanger: Yeah, that would be very exciting to see.

[20:37] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[20:38] Amy Spanger: Ooh. Right? Okay, so how can we make this happen? We gotta get some Little Shop songs in your show or something. I think that could definitely still be there. You know, don't get way too many secret.

[20:52] Kevin Ferguson: Okay, we're not gonna spoil any more about the set list.

[20:55] Amy Spanger: Your listeners have already sorry, they've heard it. Okay. Now you guys just gotta come and see the show and see what she's gonna give you.

[21:02] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, no more spoilers.

[21:03] Amy Spanger: Yes, please.

[21:07] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[21:08] Amy Spanger: So you have one guest, and which was Lana. Do you have any more guests? Is your husband potentially gonna he's coming, yeah. He's gonna be a we're figuring out what we're gonna do together. What sort of do that for you? Cause that is so romantic, the idea of two actors falling in love and still acting, both of them still pursuing the acting life and holding each other up and supporting each other.

[21:34] Amy Spanger: Yeah.

[21:35] Kevin Ferguson: Uh, how'd you meet? Did Browe bring you together, or was it just a random coffee shop?

[21:39] Amy Spanger: We were doing an out-of-town tryout for a show that never came in that should have come in, damn it. It's called Robin and Seven Hugs.

[21:45] Kevin Ferguson: I don't know.

[21:48] Amy Spanger: Okay. That was at the Globe, the old glow ten summits ago.

[21:52] Kevin Ferguson: Wait, eleven summons ago.

[21:54] Amy Spanger: We'll be 10 years married September 4th. So yeah, we met and I saw him dance, and I was like, that's it. He's with me forever.

[22:03] Kevin Ferguson: Aww.

[22:05] Amy Spanger: And I told him, you're mine now. I did. I was like, you're actually mine, so let's figure that out. And we were with other people at the time.

[22:16] Kevin Ferguson: Oh wow.

[22:18] Amy Spanger: One of those love stories.

[22:19] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[22:20] Amy Spanger: So like we had to make some calls and it was awkward, but it was just it was right. We were with the wrong people, and then they absolutely now we're with the right people.

[22:30] Kevin Ferguson: So it's an energy like that that reminds you this is the wrong situation.

[22:35] Amy Spanger: This is the energy I deserve, or that I want.

[22:37] Kevin Ferguson: Exactly. You gotta go with best for you.

[22:40] Amy Spanger: And now ten years later, still going strong.

[22:43] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, yeah. He's gonna be in the show with you.

[22:47] Amy Spanger: Yeah, you guys are gonna sing something beautiful. You have a short list of duet songs, but we're not even gonna mention the short list.

[22:52] Kevin Ferguson: Okay, yeah, don't do it.

[22:53] Amy Spanger: But do you think it's gonna be something comedic or like a ballad?

[23:00] Kevin Ferguson: Ballad.

[23:01] Amy Spanger: Yeah.

[23:02] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[23:03] Amy Spanger: It's gonna be a ballad. That's so exciting.

[23:07] Kevin Ferguson: Oh, and so romantic, especially after the COVID quarantine year we had. I think a lot of people in relationships have a whole new layer of love for the person they had to hang out with a lot last year.

[23:22] Amy Spanger: Well, you know, if you if it was not right, these people are not together anymore.

[23:27] Kevin Ferguson: Exactly.

[23:28] Amy Spanger: I have friends who had just moved in together, a new relationship, and they're going strong. So I'm like, okay, you're good, you're good. And for Brian and me, it was really hard, of course, but it was great. I mean, we laughed a lot. We hung out a lot, and we love each other so and we like each other.

[23:47] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[23:48] Amy Spanger: Yeah.

[23:49] Kevin Ferguson: Aw.

[23:50] Amy Spanger: Yeah. That makes me smile. That's so sweet.

[23:53] Kevin Ferguson: So do you guys get to go out since the city is opening up a little bit more? Have you had a date night to see a show? Is there a show that you're excited is coming to Broadway? Potentially you might take him to?

[24:05] Amy Spanger: I do want to see Passover Broadway.

[24:09] Kevin Ferguson: I haven't. I did see Passover.

[24:11] Amy Spanger: You have?

[24:12] Kevin Ferguson: Do you love it?

[24:12] Amy Spanger: Yes.

[24:13] Kevin Ferguson: Okay.

[24:13] Amy Spanger: It was amazing. I thought it was really something just refreshing for Broadway. Not even to give any of the storyline away. I walked into the theater and there was rap music playing as the house music.

[24:27] Kevin Ferguson: Oh.

[24:27] Amy Spanger: And I had never experienced that at a Broadway theater before. I just felt like wow, we might be in some new times. And then the curtain came up, and the content that was on the stage, I was like, Oh, we are in new times.

[24:39] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[24:40] Amy Spanger: Is it an in fair nice?

[24:42] Kevin Ferguson: Like cast of people of color.

[24:44] Amy Spanger: Well, it's a very small cast, but there's three characters and two black guys, and then there's one white character. And I say one white character because I thought it was really cool not to give away too much, but I saw in the program there was a white woman and a black man, but the white woman never came on stage.

[25:04] Kevin Ferguson: Oh, it's so cool.

[25:06] Amy Spanger: Which I feel like that's a whole different show if you go see her on stage. So now I gotta go see it again with her.

[25:12] Kevin Ferguson: Right.

[25:13] Amy Spanger: Wow. I love that. And it's very race-based.

[25:16] Kevin Ferguson: So yes, it's very race-based.

[25:18] Amy Spanger: So the fact that it's a white woman, I definitely feel like that's a different element than the person who plays the role.

[25:24] Kevin Ferguson: Now, do you feel a way? Because you've said you've understudied and stand by so many roles. Do you feel a different energy or anything when you're coming in originating a role versus coming in and taking over a role that someone has already originated?

[25:44] Amy Spanger: Do you feel that or yeah?

[25:45] Kevin Ferguson: I've done both kind of equally, and it's always better to originate.

[25:50] Amy Spanger: Of course, it's better to like be on the ground floor of something and create it yourself and create it with everyone else and have that collaboration.

[26:00] Kevin Ferguson: And I had the experience where I come in to replace somebody, and I'm welcomed with open arms and just like do what you do, and I've had the experience where I come in, and they're like, No, you can't do any of that, none of that.

[26:17] Amy Spanger: So they note, note, note, note, note, and I'm like, oh, they don't want me at all. So I definitely prefer to be at the ground floor and create something brand new.

[26:27] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

[26:29] Amy Spanger: Cause I feel like if you come in and replace a role or whatever the term is, I feel like you have to really stay true to what the previous person did.

[26:39] Kevin Ferguson: And do you feel like there's a lot of room to bring your own self in? Have you had the opportunity to do that? Do you as an actor kind of make sure that happens?

[26:49] Amy Spanger: It depends on management. It depends on the director and the associate directors. Sometimes they're very open, just like don't want that person. We want you to bring what you do in to it. And then sometimes they're just very like by the book. Matilda was very, very, you cannot stray.

[27:09] Kevin Ferguson: Wow.

[27:11] Amy Spanger: Wow. This was the first time I experienced that. The story was beautiful. The story was so stunning and the production was so stunning. And I was so grateful to be a part of it and grateful to work with all those children. They were incredible.

[27:25] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[27:27] Amy Spanger: And the cast was amazing. But that element of it was a real bummer.

[27:31] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[27:31] Amy Spanger: I didn't feel like I could really people would come and see me, and I was like, it wasn't really what I wanted to put out there.

[27:39] Kevin Ferguson: Exactly.

[27:40] Amy Spanger: I'm being like true.

[27:42] Kevin Ferguson: No, I totally no.

[27:43] Amy Spanger: That is this is what we need to hear. This is what the people want to hear.

[27:47] Kevin Ferguson: It's hard.

[27:49] Amy Spanger: Yeah.

[27:49] Kevin Ferguson: And there's so many other factors too.

[27:51] Amy Spanger: There's a lot of factors when you're an actor and all the people who have input in the artistic integrity of the show.

[27:58] Kevin Ferguson: Right, right.

[27:59] Amy Spanger: Well, they kept saying to me, they were like, your audition was so good. Why don't you just do what you did at the audition? And I was like, oh.

[28:06] Kevin Ferguson: It was just it was insane.

[28:08] Amy Spanger: It was not cool. But like you said, the production was beautiful, the set design, the costumes.

[28:15] Kevin Ferguson: Do you have a favorite costume that you've worn in a particular character?

[28:19] Amy Spanger: Probably the blue pen noir from that beautiful like Osmer robe from the cake.

[28:27] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[28:27] Amy Spanger: With a bustilla.

[28:29] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[28:30] Amy Spanger: Yeah. It's just fabulous. It's so fun being an actor, getting to dress up in those costumes and play the different characters. It's just and it's an experience only an actor or an artist would really understand just playing dress up as a full adult playing dress up.

[28:45] Kevin Ferguson: That's why I do, you know, like a play.

[28:45] Amy Spanger: Like a play.

[28:49] Kevin Ferguson: Keep playing.

[28:50] Amy Spanger: Right. Yes. The thing about starting from the roundup is that those costumes are built for your body. And I believe it's in the hair, everything's built. When we did the costume parade, it's like the first day, like on a Broadway show, where everybody shows up and they just walk through in their first outfit.

[29:07] Kevin Ferguson: I had really short blonde hair, spiky blonde hair at the time, and I had this beautiful red kind of long pompadour wig.

[29:17] Amy Spanger: And I just was transformed. I mean, like completely transformed.

[29:21] Kevin Ferguson: So it's just yeah, it's so exciting.

[29:23] Amy Spanger: And it's so fun to see because then you take the wig off and you get to meet the real Amy, and you're like, Wow, you're a whole different person. It's just so I love that part. I love to see someone transformed.

[29:34] Kevin Ferguson: I could just sneak out. Sometimes people did not even know it was me.

[29:37] Amy Spanger: They were like, Are you?

[29:38] Kevin Ferguson: Wow.

[29:39] Amy Spanger: Yeah, so that was fun.

[29:40] Kevin Ferguson: You really transformed.

[29:41] Amy Spanger: Well, listen, we are excited to see you transform again on our tiny little stage at the Broadway's favorite supper club, Fine Signs 54 Below.

[29:52] Kevin Ferguson: I love it.

[29:53] Amy Spanger: This is going to be a cabaret experience. Y'all's not gonna want to miss. You're mentioning writers like Candor and Ebb and Jonathan Larson and Cole Porter, and then duets with your husband.

[30:06] Kevin Ferguson: And then the title is hilarious. How did you come up with the title?

[30:10] Amy Spanger: Amy Spanger Sings Her Face Off. It was an expression from the 90s. I don't know if you probably were too young for it, but it was an experience in the 90s. Like when I was doing Rent, it was like, oh, are you singing your face off? You know?

[30:24] Kevin Ferguson: Aww.

[30:25] Amy Spanger: It was just an expression. And I was like, you know what? And it's sort of like aspirational too, because we've been hanging out and not performing. So it's just like I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna sing my face off.

[30:36] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, yes. I love that.

[30:38] Amy Spanger: Okay, and I also love asking everyone that comes on here. What would you tell someone being an actor if they're too scared to go out to the audition or too scared to move to New York? What would you say to ease that fear a little bit in them?

[30:55] Amy Spanger: I've done a lot of stuff scared.

[30:58] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[30:58] Amy Spanger: And just keep showing up to show up. You can be scared sometimes. I tell the, you know, like the fear or the trepidation in my belly. It's just like beautiful butterflies that are free that want to be free. So just keep going.

[31:13] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[31:14] Amy Spanger: Don't stop.

[31:15] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. Well, you heard it here first, everybody. Amy, thank you so much for taking the time out to chat with me today.

[31:23] Amy Spanger: Kevin, I loved it. I love talking to you.

[31:26] Kevin Ferguson: Listen, we're excited to see you perform at the club. Y'all can catch Amy and Amy Spanger sings her face off September 19th at 7 o'clock at Fine Science 54 Below.

[31:36] Amy Spanger: Get your tickets. The box office is open right now. It's a great team. They'll help you out and grab those tickets. You're not gonna want to miss this.

[31:43] Kevin Ferguson: Amy, tell them. Tell them they're not gonna want to miss it.

[31:45] Amy Spanger: Come. Please come. I'll make you laugh. I'll make you cry. There will be all the feels. I promise.

[31:52] Kevin Ferguson: Yay!

[31:54] Amy Spanger: Aww.

[31:55] Kevin Ferguson: All right, Amy. Well, I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna chit-chat with you another time.

[32:01] Amy Spanger: And I cannot wait to see your show.

[32:07] Kevin Ferguson: You've been listening to the Fine Science 54 Below podcast, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.