This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Kevin Ferguson: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the fabulous 54 Below. Before we get started this evening, just a polite reminder, please take this moment to silence your cell phones and also there is no flash photography, please. Welcome to the 54 Below podcast. My name is Kevin Ferguson, and I'm an assistant programming director here at the club. Our guest today is fresh off of his Broadway debut as Prince Charles in the popular hit musical Diana the Musical. He is also making his solo debut at 54 Below. His theater credits include The Bad Guys and No One Loves You, along with many other appearances on stage. You may have seen him on Madam Secretary, along with Boardwalk Empire, The Get Down and Power, and so many other TV shows, along with films like Equity and Netflix comedy, The Game Over. The credits go on and on. Everyone, please help me welcome the one and only Roe Hartrampf.

[0:57] Roe Hartrampf: Bro, welcome to the podcast.

[0:59] Kevin Ferguson: I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. This is fabulous. I mean, you came to this Broadway world, and I just feel like it is time. It is finally time for you to come to the one and only 54 Below. And it's happening.

[1:15] Roe Hartrampf: Yes.

[1:15] Kevin Ferguson: Yes. From your lips to the producer's ears, it is happening. We're here. I could not be more excited. But before we get into talking about your new solo show at 54 Below, I want to talk to you about just your life so the people and the listeners are getting a good, good feeling of getting to know you today, okay?

[1:32] Roe Hartrampf: Perfect.

[1:32] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, I love that. I like to always figure out how this all started. Like when did the theater bug happen for you? Where were you? At what age? How did it happen?

[1:42] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, it bit early. It bit early and it stuck. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. And when I was a kid, my parents tossed me into the church choir because I was pretty rambunctious and I couldn't really sit still, you know, and pay attention during church and things like that. So tossed me in the church choir, and I really loved that, but I was cutting up in church choir also. So luckily, the conductor, Cak Whitaker, instead of punishing me, asked me if I was interested in doing the musicals. Tossed me on stage, and we were doing little, you know, like Bible stories, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, Jonah and the Whale, stuff like that. And I was able to still cut up, but instead of a punishment response, it was a laughter or an applause response.

And I was like, oh, this is amazing. You know, this is exactly what I want to do. So luckily, my parents were on board and I started doing community theater and productions at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta when I was in like elementary school.

[2:40] Kevin Ferguson: Wow, that is very impressive. I mean, the Alliance Theater is one of the, you know, everyone knows that regional theater, and the fact that you had such access to it at such an early age, I know that was able to really guide you on this journey for sure.

[2:51] Roe Hartrampf: Absolutely. I mean, the level of professionals that I was working with in like fourth and fifth grade let me know like how to behave in a room, like what is expected of you in rehearsal, and then also the fact that you know you can make a living and have a family working in a theater. So when I then got into junior high and high school plays, you know, with kids of my age, I was confused. I was like, Why are you goofing off? Like, let's pay attention. This is very serious.

[3:16] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, you were that kid.

[3:17] Roe Hartrampf: I was. You're like kind of like Rachel Berry.

[3:21] Kevin Ferguson: Absolutely.

[3:22] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, very serious kid. This is drama club. We have to take it seriously.

[3:28] Kevin Ferguson: That's right. I had my tape recorder back in the day when you had to have your personal tape recorder for music rehearsal. I was like, stop from starting.

[3:34] Roe Hartrampf: That is so there.

[3:36] Kevin Ferguson: Okay, so you had such full education at such an early age. Did you want to go to college? Did you go to college? Or what was after high school for you?

[3:45] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, after high school, I definitely had the bug, and I thought that going to school was the right way to approach becoming a professional. Cause I didn't know many people in my immediate circle. No one in my family was a performer, and there wasn't anyone necessarily like that I was connected to who had done this professionally. And I went to a very type A school. So my college counselors were like, well, you've got to go to a good school, and then once you go to the right theater school, then you'll get the right agent, and then you'll become a successful actor. So I thought, okay, cool, just A to B to C. That's as simple as it is. So I was obsessed with going to New York. And so I became obsessed with NYU.

I went to summer camp at NYU first. So the summer before senior year of high school, I got into the musical theater program at Tish Summer High. Yeah. Which is a crazy experience. And got to live in live in the city, live in the dorms, which really made me catch the bug, and I was dead set on going to NYU. I auditioned as early as possible, like early decision, didn't even audition for any other schools, which in hindsight I was like, well, I could have gone and just looked at some other schools, but that was not an option. So I was in, I was into NYU by like Christmas of my senior year. So my second semester senior year was just completely goofing off, just like having a blast.

[5:06] Kevin Ferguson: Exactly. So I went to NYU for three and a half years, finished early, but I studied at the Stella Adler program.

[5:14] Roe Hartrampf: Oh so not the musical theater program, and then I did sort of extracurricular musicals on the side.

[5:20] Kevin Ferguson: Wow. So you said I'm gonna take the curriculum and I'm gonna add to it, you know, because I still don't want to do this musical theater. That is committed.

[5:27] Roe Hartrampf: Right, exactly. That's how you know you love what you do. Because if in school, I was doing the bare minimum, okay? I did barely enough to get the B's, okay? That was me and academics. I was like, I couldn't tell you a single academic course I took at NYU.

[5:40] Kevin Ferguson: Oh, okay.

[5:40] Roe Hartrampf: Except for like maybe one. I took an art history class that I liked. But besides that, I was like, what I have to take what? Sociology? Who's yeah?

[5:48] Kevin Ferguson: So wow. Okay, so you went to NYU. Did you stay in New York? You've been in New York, kind of like New York based that since then.

[5:55] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, I've been in New York almost as long or longer than I grew up in Atlanta now. It's kind of wild.

[6:01] Kevin Ferguson: Wow, wow. I did have one year and a half that was sort of the last year where I moved to Los Angeles. And you know, I feel like everybody who's a New York actor has that should I or shouldn't I moment. Like, maybe I gotta be in LA, maybe I gotta be out there. And it was a total ghost town for me. It was not the right move, was not my vibe.

[6:19] Roe Hartrampf: Wow.

[6:19] Kevin Ferguson: But the good thing that came out of that was while I was in Los Angeles was when I auditioned for Diana initially. I made a tape in my bedroom in Los Angeles for the Diana musical, and then it ended up the first round of Diana was in La Jolla, just like three hours south of LA. So I just drove there.

[6:37] Roe Hartrampf: Wow.

[6:37] Kevin Ferguson: And I mean, you said it, so let's talk about it. Diana the musical. Like let's talk about it. You made your Broadway debut, which congratulations still. Like that is so fabulous. So huge. How do you even prep for taking on Prince Charles? Like, it's Prince, it's the Prince Charles. You know what I mean? Like Capital T, Capital P, the Prince.

[7:01] Roe Hartrampf: I don't know if we have enough time on this podcast. We might need a whole other podcast to dive all the way into this.

[7:07] Kevin Ferguson: Right.

[7:08] Roe Hartrampf: But the prep was almost like one of the most fun parts for me. I love accents, I love impressions. I feel like I'm a good mimic. So when I was prepping for the initial audition, I was just watching YouTube videos. And the one that stuck out to me the most that ended up being useful because there's a whole song in the show based on this interview is the initial interview that Charles and Diana gave as their sort of debut as an engaged couple. They the engagement announcement. And they're both young and shy and nervous, and they don't seem like they really like each other. And Charles makes this comment where the interview asks them, like, Oh, I assume you're very much in love, right? Because neither of them have said, like, I love this person.

He says, I assume you're very much in love. And Charles sort of rolls his eyes and scoffs and says, Yes, well, whatever love means anyway. And so just like working on that, that sort of like highbrow, borderline, condescending, but also you know, self-deprecating energy within that accent was a really fun entry point to prepare for the role.

[8:08] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. I mean, you're playing such a public figure, you know what I mean? So there are people who have done their research just about print, the print, you know what I mean? So they're coming to see the show looking at you as well, making sure you're getting all the nuances down. Do you feel like it was a more challenging role for you? Or did you kind of feel like it came natural? Like, did you have to fully transition, or did you feel like you kind of connected with him?

[8:34] Roe Hartrampf: I feel like it did connect with him in a funny way, where I sort of I felt for him. I felt a lot of empathy for him being in the position that he was in, which outwardly is a factually is a position of intense privilege. Like he's one of the most wealthy and well known people in the world, doesn't have a specific job, you know what I mean? Just like, you know, gets to sort of work on projects and do his own thing. But I really felt for him in the way that you know, he wasn't able to live his life exactly how he wanted to. Everyone was watching, everyone had an opinion, and he was trying his best to split the difference, right? He was trying to thread the needle in, let me do what my country and my family expect of me, but also let me try and live the life that I want to live at the same time.

And so I sort of had empathy for the good intentions that he had and the errors that he made. And one of the things that I felt like was really helpful and generous on the part of Chris Ashley, our director, was that he continually told us as performers, we're not trying to make a documentary here, which I really appreciate. So the pressure was sort of off in terms of the accuracy of the impression. You know, he was like, I want us to tell the story that Joe De Pietro and David Bryan have written here on this page, as opposed to remaking The Crown or making a documentary about these people. Let's try and tell this story as it is on the page and not get bogged down or stressed out about other people's perceptions of these real life people as they walk in the door.

[9:58] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah. Real life people. And that is the part that I just feel so connected to every time I see a musical that is about real people and their tragic lives, because it just feels so human and reminds us that these megastars that we're making these musicals about at the end of the day were humans. And I just think that is just so important to remember. And the theater definitely makes you leave feeling that.

[10:26] Roe Hartrampf: And especially, especially something like musical theater, right? Where it requires you to suspend your disbelief so much. Not only did these real historical figures not stand still on a stage and speak for you in costume, they certainly didn't ever sing their thoughts and feelings. So I think it is nice to use this sort of like larger than life medium to bring us back to the very human center of these characters we think we know.

[10:47] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, totally. Now, let's talk about the idea of it being your debut and it's that big of a role. You know? How did Broadway embrace you? I mean, the Diana fans, the Dai Fannas, I think is what some people were calling them, were like really committed to the show.

[11:05] Roe Hartrampf: Yes. How did Broadway and the fans, what was that feeling like?

[11:09] Roe Hartrampf: It was better than I could have imagined. It was everything I ever asked for. I mean, the only thing I that would have been even better is if we had run longer, I suppose. Right. But yeah, given the circumstances that we were in, there really was not, I could not have asked for a better welcome or a better role to make my debut in. It was a lot of responsibility. I had some early days I was feeling a lot of imposter syndrome, like, you know, I've never done this before on this level. Am I gonna be able to pull this off? But the support that I felt from not only our creative team and our producers and my cast, but from the community at large, you know, the response from the people who really got the show and were really passionate about the show was so welcoming and so warm that it was everything I imagined it would be. It was incredible.

[11:51] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, I bet. Like you said, it was short-lived. Do you feel like the critics were just like missing the mark? There was a very clear intention that I feel like we at 54 and me when I saw it, I understood what the director was trying to do. Because I feel like the fans loved it and I got it, but the critics, how was that received? How do you feel about that?

[12:14] Roe Hartrampf: You know, it's so layered. But like I think it's exactly what you said. The folks who got it really got it. And I think that what I kept trying to encourage people to do whenever I had a conversation with someone who was bringing their parents or someone who was flying in to see the show that I knew I was like please just try and leave your expectation at the door.

[12:33] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, and I think that when you look, you know, going way back when we first started working on this show, when Joe and David first started writing the show, it was like 2017. I first started for the show in 2018.

[12:44] Roe Hartrampf: So there was not as much Diana content out there as there was by the time we actually opened fully on Broadway in 2021.

[12:53] Roe Hartrampf: So I think that folks by that time had been so flooded with what they had come to expect was the proper quote unquote proper tone for a Diana show that they were coming in maybe expecting it to be like The Crown or like Spencer, which are both incredible pieces of art in their own way that were very different and separate from our show.

[13:16] Roe Hartrampf: So I think that folks, if you came in expecting one thing and then all of a sudden it's a rock concert with Judy Kay in a bright pink boa, you know, dancing like a fairy godmother, you might sit back in your chair and say, wait a minute, this isn't my Princess Diana or this isn't what I was expecting.

[13:33] Roe Hartrampf: And what our hope was, was that the performances and the show as a whole would win you over enough that by the end of Act two you'd be like, I gotta come back and see this again.

[13:43] Roe Hartrampf: But some folks, I don't know that they could get over that initial roller coaster drop of like, okay, this is the kind of show that I'm seeing and I'm not sure this is what I signed up for.

[13:52] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[13:53] Roe Hartrampf: So I think that the critical response was, in my opinion, overly harsh. Like the tone that was taken sometimes I was like, come on, y'all.

[14:00] Roe Hartrampf: This is, it's a musical. Like, let's, yeah, let's relax a little bit.

[14:04] Roe Hartrampf: But it, you know, people take Diana and her legacy very, very personally.

[14:09] Roe Hartrampf: And the funny thing about it is, so do we. Like us as the people who created Diana, the musical, take it very personally, and we were trying to highlight the playful, light, youthful side of Diana that was really a part of her personality, and less so the, you know, with sprinklings of the sort of stately, serious tone or the places where she had to be very, very serious, but also trying to highlight, like she was a human being who loved Phantom of the Opera, she loved very lighthearted stuff, and I think she would have thought that this show was very charming and funny.

[14:42] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, no, definitely.

[14:43] Roe Hartrampf: I mean, who else gets to have a musical written about them?

[14:47] Roe Hartrampf: It would have been an honor.

[14:48] Roe Hartrampf: I feel like she would have loved it, but you know, I can't speak for her.

[14:50] Roe Hartrampf: But I just feel like, yeah, like you said, the people who got it got it, and they loved y'all, like the fan.

[14:56] Roe Hartrampf: This was crazy.

[14:57] Roe Hartrampf: Now, my question is, like you said, y'all started this, you got your first call about this in 2018.

[15:05] Roe Hartrampf: A lot of people don't realize to be a part of an original cast or original show, you might be with it longer than it even runs on the big stage.

[15:14] Roe Hartrampf: You know what I mean?

[15:15] Roe Hartrampf: So when things like this, it takes years to make a musical.

[15:20] Roe Hartrampf: What happens when in the middle of making of all those years of making that musical, a pandemic happens?

[15:26] Roe Hartrampf: Whew, again.

[15:27] Roe Hartrampf: This is, that's a third podcast we gotta do.

[15:29] Roe Hartrampf: This is a whole, we're just stacking all we got at least three podcasts inside of the time.

[15:33] Roe Hartrampf: You know, it was a total shock, and it's so funny now looking back, it almost feels like it was a dream.

[15:39] Roe Hartrampf: It's like, wait, we did do that. That is something that happened.

[15:42] Roe Hartrampf: It was such a huge like emergency break on this roller coaster ride that I was ready to go on because it was so much ramping up, so much energy in 2020, and we were supposed to be opening in March 31st of 2020, which is a very funny date now.

[15:59] Roe Hartrampf: So we were really on edge for like how is this gonna be received? Are we ready? We're making a lot of changes and previews, all those things were happening.

[16:06] Roe Hartrampf: And then we're sent home.

[16:08] Roe Hartrampf: And looking back now, I'm just so grateful that I was a part of the show when the pandemic hit, honestly, because even though it was a heartbreaker to be delayed and pushed back, our producers really, really fought to keep us together as a cast, to let us know that they were making plans, they were scheming on ways to get us back together, to get us paid, to get us healthcare, all those things.

[16:36] Roe Hartrampf: They never really cut the cord.

[16:37] Roe Hartrampf: It was never like see you if we see you.

[16:40] Roe Hartrampf: We were in constant communication, and then they found ways to continue to work on the show.

[16:45] Roe Hartrampf: So David and Joe went back to the, you know, the writing table and came up with a whole new opening of the show.

[16:51] Roe Hartrampf: Then they got us, they got us together on a Zoom workshop.

[16:54] Roe Hartrampf: Yes.

[16:55] Roe Hartrampf: So they, yes, they paid us a full equity rate for a month-long workshop over Zoom in the middle of a pandemic, which was incredible.

[17:02] Roe Hartrampf: We got healthcare weeks and all that stuff.

[17:03] Roe Hartrampf: Right.

[17:04] Roe Hartrampf: And then at the end of that, they announced like we have some really big news that we can't quite tell you yet, and took another couple weeks.

[17:11] Roe Hartrampf: And they sent us an email saying Netflix has agreed to take this on.

[17:14] Roe Hartrampf: We're gonna film this as a movie, we're gonna make this happen.

[17:17] Roe Hartrampf: So I'm just, I was so ultimately so grateful for the creativity and the sort of chutzpah, if that's the right way to use that word, that our producers had to say, you know what, we're gonna try and make this other thing happen to guarantee that we can come back and to guarantee that our show makes its mark.

[17:34] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[17:34] Roe Hartrampf: Again, you know, the response to that film, I think was skewed because we filmed it in gosh, what was that, September of 2020, which is months, months and months and months before a vaccine.

[17:47] Roe Hartrampf: Like vaccines were a rumor.

[17:49] Roe Hartrampf: We were like fingers crossed, we might get it, we might not.

[17:52] Roe Hartrampf: It might be next summer.

[17:54] Roe Hartrampf: We don't know when we'll have a vaccine.

[17:55] Roe Hartrampf: So it was like scary times.

[17:58] Roe Hartrampf: If you got sick, it was like game over.

[18:00] Roe Hartrampf: We all had to bubble.

[18:01] Roe Hartrampf: It was really intense.

[18:02] Roe Hartrampf: And we made this thing happen.

[18:04] Roe Hartrampf: And the idea was trying to get content, especially theater content, out to an audience who was stuck at home.

[18:11] Roe Hartrampf: We don't know when Broadway's gonna be back live.

[18:13] Roe Hartrampf: So please enjoy this experimental live capture/slash film with no audience on a streaming platform at your leisure.

[18:22] Roe Hartrampf: Please enjoy.

[18:23] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[18:24] Roe Hartrampf: So that was the original intention, as I understood it.

[18:26] Roe Hartrampf: That being said, it was also a commercial for our show, right?

[18:29] Roe Hartrampf: So they wanted to use it as a promotional tool for when the show came back live.

[18:33] Roe Hartrampf: Now, the live return was much, much, much delayed, as we all know.

[18:38] Roe Hartrampf: So we initially thought we were coming back in spring of 21.

[18:41] Roe Hartrampf: That didn't happen.

[18:42] Roe Hartrampf: Then we thought it maybe summer 21, then it was gonna be fall 21.

[18:45] Roe Hartrampf: So they held the movie back until October of 21, a year after we filmed it.

[18:51] Roe Hartrampf: So by that time, everyone had already gone back to the movie theater.

[18:54] Roe Hartrampf: That summer was like, oh, COVID's gone.

[18:57] Roe Hartrampf: Like, oh man, total free-for-all.

[18:59] Roe Hartrampf: You know, Cuomo said weed and Broadway for everybody.

[19:02] Roe Hartrampf: Like, just go for it.

[19:04] Roe Hartrampf: No masks.

[19:05] Roe Hartrampf: And by the time it came out, people were like looking at it as though it were a fully produced proper film.

[19:13] Roe Hartrampf: And I think they were judging it on the level of like the Hamilton live capture or something.

[19:18] Roe Hartrampf: When I wanted to be like, y'all, this was an experiment.

[19:22] Roe Hartrampf: Like this is all brand.

[19:23] Roe Hartrampf: This is basically a previews process.

[19:25] Roe Hartrampf: Like we rehearsed that new couple opening numbers for like two weeks, re-choreographed the whole opening, put it on film for y'all to enjoy in the pandemic, and I think people just looked at it like it was meant to be a super polished like Netflix extravaganza when what it was initially intended to be was something to tie people over or like bring us all together in the middle of the depths of the pandemic.

[19:25] Roe Hartrampf: And I think people were eager to forget about those dark times.

[19:51] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[19:52] Roe Hartrampf: And by the time Fall of 21 rolled around, everyone was ready to dunk on whatever they could, yeah, you know, on Twitter, which is, uh, is what happened.

[20:01] Roe Hartrampf: Oh man, I just feel like it's still like I don't know.

[20:06] Roe Hartrampf: I love the Diana musical because it just gives me hate is gonna hate, but we still gonna be fierce.

[20:11] Roe Hartrampf: Thank you.

[20:11] Roe Hartrampf: You know what I mean?

[20:12] Roe Hartrampf: Like the idea that Netflix called y'all and I never seen the show.

[20:18] Roe Hartrampf: Do y'all know how iconic that is?

[20:19] Roe Hartrampf: That is fabulous.

[20:21] Roe Hartrampf: I think they sent them a recording of a Zoom where with all of us sitting, you know, in little squares.

[20:27] Roe Hartrampf: And like the, I think the instruction from Chris Ashley was like, make sure you leave your camera on, and while we're playing the audio of you guys singing, because you can't sing on Zoom, please just sort of act the intention of the song into your camera.

[20:40] Roe Hartrampf: We're like, what?

[20:41] Roe Hartrampf: They're like, yeah, just give us face.

[20:44] Roe Hartrampf: Don't mouth the words, just give us face.

[20:46] Roe Hartrampf: And we were like, why are we doing this?

[20:48] Roe Hartrampf: And later on, we learned is because, oh yeah, the Netflix executives were watching, like we had to like try and act a little bit for them.

[20:53] Roe Hartrampf: Netflix is literally watching.

[20:55] Roe Hartrampf: That's why so fierce.

[20:57] Roe Hartrampf: Okay, so you're like, you know, leading man, you're on Broadway.

[21:01] Roe Hartrampf: Was there any moment where you got starstruck?

[21:03] Roe Hartrampf: Who came up and talked to you backstage?

[21:05] Roe Hartrampf: Oh man, I mean, you know, because it was a different time, like we really didn't get the full backstage experience.

[21:12] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[21:13] Roe Hartrampf: Early days though, I got really starstruck when Nina West came to see our show, like one of the drag queens.

[21:18] Roe Hartrampf: Yes.

[21:19] Roe Hartrampf: I was like, I was like, oh my God, that's me, that's Nina.

[21:21] Roe Hartrampf: Like she's friends with some of our cast members that I'd never met her, and I was like, totally starstruck.

[21:26] Roe Hartrampf: But I wish that more people had gotten to come see the show because it was a really quick on and off.

[21:30] Roe Hartrampf: Cause I mean, just the response, like it was so wild to have people come and see get those rush tickets and sit like second row.

[21:38] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[21:38] Roe Hartrampf: You know, like when you were out on stage, like doing the thing, and you see, like, oh, there's Brandon Duran away.

[21:43] Roe Hartrampf: So like there's somebody right there, second row center, Alicia Umphorus, like oh my gosh, uh, like I hope this goes well.

[21:49] Roe Hartrampf: And just the genuine response from people who I respect, you know, in our community who really got it and who were like, this is very special.

[21:57] Roe Hartrampf: I'm gonna tweet about this.

[21:58] Roe Hartrampf: I have to let people know to go and see this.

[22:00] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, really, Twitter was where it took off.

[22:03] Roe Hartrampf: You know, I feel like we had a real foothold there that just didn't quite have time to result in ticket sales, unfortunately.

[22:10] Roe Hartrampf: Mm-hmm.

[22:10] Roe Hartrampf: Totally.

[22:11] Roe Hartrampf: I just feel like it's still just so impressive and so awesome.

[22:16] Roe Hartrampf: And also your journey leading up to it, being an actor in the city, you were still working, but this was like your first big moment, you think, theater-wise?

[22:26] Roe Hartrampf: Because you have a lot of TV credits that we're gonna definitely talk about in a second.

[22:29] Roe Hartrampf: But I just feel like leading up to Diana, what was that road like?

[22:36] Roe Hartrampf: It was a long road, you know.

[22:37] Roe Hartrampf: I mean, I am really grateful because I was able to work quite a bit in TV, but I just never broke through in musical theater in that on the Broadway level.

[22:46] Roe Hartrampf: I think that it was just right role, right time.

[22:49] Roe Hartrampf: You know, it was really the stars aligned, and that's what people always tell you is like you just gotta wait for the right thing.

[22:54] Roe Hartrampf: And it really ended up being true.

[22:56] Roe Hartrampf: But you know, even in the pandemic when we were waiting on the show to come back, I went back to bartending.

[23:01] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[23:01] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[23:02] Roe Hartrampf: So the summer of 21, even though we knew the show was coming back in the fall, I was like, pandemic unemployment is done.

[23:08] Roe Hartrampf: I gotta make money.

[23:10] Roe Hartrampf: So I went back to my day job and I was shaking cocktails at the bar like for the company that I worked for for almost 10 years, had a blast, it was really great experience.

[23:19] Roe Hartrampf: But my some of my bar regulars were like, wait a minute, you were on Broadway.

[23:23] Roe Hartrampf: And I'm like, yes, I know, man.

[23:25] Roe Hartrampf: Did you want another Bloody Mary?

[23:26] Roe Hartrampf: Or like, how can I help you tonight?

[23:29] Roe Hartrampf: They're like, but you're, you made it.

[23:30] Roe Hartrampf: And I'm like, yes, I was like, y'all don't quite understand like the how this really works, but yes, I was on Broadway.

[23:37] Roe Hartrampf: Yes, I will be again in a couple of months.

[23:39] Roe Hartrampf: But in the meantime, was that shaken or stirred?

[23:42] Roe Hartrampf: You know, it was a lot of that.

[23:44] Roe Hartrampf: That is crazy.

[23:45] Roe Hartrampf: Okay, before you went back to the bartending and the quarantine, was there anything new you learned about yourself?

[23:50] Roe Hartrampf: Because like we weren't outside of the Zoom rehearsals you were having.

[23:54] Roe Hartrampf: Was there any other new skill you learned?

[23:56] Roe Hartrampf: I feel like a lot of the artists and the performers, we all had to like sit on our hands and learn a new thing to pass the time.

[24:02] Roe Hartrampf: Did you learn anything new about yourself?

[24:05] Roe Hartrampf: I really learned a lot about rest, which is kind of a funny thing to say, but I actually didn't pick up a new skill, and in some ways that was purposeful.

[24:13] Roe Hartrampf: Mm-hmm.

[24:14] Roe Hartrampf: Where I was like, you know what?

[24:15] Roe Hartrampf: There is nothing to do right now, and you don't need to beat yourself up about that.

[24:21] Roe Hartrampf: And you can actually sit still and recharge and do some journaling and look inward before you get back to this very, very privileged place that I was, I was lucky to be, and a place that I had been working towards being for so long.

[24:35] Roe Hartrampf: So I was, I felt again like really privileged in the pandemic to know that I had a contract to go back to.

[24:42] Roe Hartrampf: And there were even times that where that wasn't guaranteed, we weren't positive when we would go back or if it'd be possible.

[24:47] Roe Hartrampf: But I felt very, very lucky to know that there was at least a chance that I would be going back to not only just a job, but like my dream job.

[24:56] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[24:57] Roe Hartrampf: So I really tried to take the time to get the skeletons out of my closet on my own time because I had it for the first time in a very long time.

[25:05] Roe Hartrampf: And so I learned how to lay down on the couch for the afternoon and like just read a book and like do some journaling, take a walk, drink your water, you know, just sort of reset in a way that I had never had given myself the time to do.

[25:18] Roe Hartrampf: Listen, I have not taken a nap since the world reopened.

[25:22] Roe Hartrampf: I miss it.

[25:24] Roe Hartrampf: Amen.

[25:25] Roe Hartrampf: It's a funny thing to be like.

[25:27] Roe Hartrampf: Remember when I, you remember quarantine days where you, it was bad for you to go outside and you just sort of cooked a lot and like slept a lot?

[25:34] Roe Hartrampf: That was actually pretty good. Like obviously the world was collapsing and a lot of people were very, very ill. But there were some positives. For those of us inside, it was yeah. Especially for the busybodies of artists that live in New York. I mean, when you're doing your gig, yeah. When you're not doing your gig, you're at your like day job trying to get the rent paid. So it's just constant moving and you gotta walk everywhere and it's public transit. Woo, New York City. And then we snapped back and we were, you know, just supposed to pretend like it never happened. So it's just back to full speed. Here we go. Yeah, I was watching a lot of TV over the quarantine. I so much. And I just feel like that's so awesome that you are here because I love Madam Secretary, so we gotta talk about it.

[26:13] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[26:13] Roe Hartrampf: We gotta talk about Boardwalk Empire. We gotta talk about The Get Down. Power. So many.

[26:30] Kevin Ferguson: Power.

[26:32] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah. I've got it, you know. It's funny, like I feel like I said, I feel very lucky to have had these little moments on so many very, very cool TV shows. And the people that I've gotten to work with along the way are hilarious and fun. Also, like my first TV job ever was also Margot Robbie's first job in the States.

[26:52] Kevin Ferguson: Wow.

[26:53] Roe Hartrampf: So I was on this show called Pan Am that was like gonna be like Mad Men in the Sky. It was on ABC. And I was on the pilot episode, and they were like, we got this amazing young woman from Australia. We found her off of a tape. Like she we're so excited to have her. And she was so sweet. But the star of that show was gonna be Christina Ricci. Like that was the vehicle for Christina Ricci on network television. But then Margot Robbie was there, and everyone was like, who is this? And so there's I think there was a photo that ended up in the New York Times of like the Mike and Roll was like a newly wet on the plane, and I asked Margot Robbie to take a photo of me and my new bride instead of like ordering and she's stressed out because it's her first day on the job or whatever.

But there's still a photo that was in the New York Times at one point of Margot Robbie taking a photo with an old school camera of like me and Erin Darkey, who played my wife on the show. Just things like that. Like it's fun to look back and be like, wow, yeah, 10 years ago, I was one of the first people to work with Margot Robbie. So I feel very lucky to have this long but like little little stints on each project. I got to work on Boardwalk Empire, which is such an iconic show. I was on the first, I think it's like the first two episodes of Power. Like season one, which we didn't know what that was gonna be at the time. And it took off in such an incredible way. And then Madam Secretary was really cool because my role was just a one episode guest star.

I was with them for like not even a week, a couple of days, and it was a really wonderful plot line where Eric Bergen's character, we sort of learned more about him personally and learned that he was bisexual, and I was playing his ex-boyfriend, and he and sort of his discomfort with revealing to his co-workers his sexuality. And it was a one-episode thing, and it was really lovely, and I loved working with Eric. I loved working with the team. And then a couple years went by, and I was like, Oh, yeah, I thought maybe that character would come back. Like it was a cool plot line, but I guess they just moved on and didn't get back to it. And then it came around to be the final season, and we got a call that was like, hey, we want to wrap up Eric's character's plot line with Trevor.

So they brought the love interest back, and we ended up getting engaged on the show. So it was a really wonderful, you know. I'm on the serious finale of Madam Secretary and didn't earn my place there at all. I'm just like, oh, that guy from season three is back in season six. So I felt very, very lucky to be there. It's a very, very cool community to be a part of.

[29:11] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[29:12] Roe Hartrampf: I just feel like how awesome is that. I mean, you've also done film, you know, and Netflix. You've you're you're no stranger to Netflix at this point.

[29:20] Kevin Ferguson: Game over, man.

[29:22] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, like this is really exciting. But since this is a theater lover podcast, let's talk about the comparison and that journey of doing the filmed stuff versus the stage stuff, because you also have credits from Second Stage and Alliance Theater as a child. Like let's talk about the prep from film versus TV.

[29:42] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[29:48] Roe Hartrampf: I was just talking about this with somebody else, and it's it is a very different medium. It's funny, like the skill set is not different, you know what I mean? Like the idea on both in both mediums is just we're just trying to tell the truth, right? Like we're just having honest human reactions in a given set of circumstances and suspend your disbelief whether you're on a proscenium stage or whether you're in front of a camera lens, like it's the same idea internally. But I do think that the technique changes outwardly, externally. So, like I just saw a show at the Kennedy Center in the Opera House, and that's a 2300-seat house, huge, and you on the stage are so far away from that first tier of the balcony.

It is you are like way, way, way back. So, you know, you've got to be, and I really don't like this word, but you've got to be bigger. You know, you've got to make sure that the folks in the top seats know what you're doing, they know what the intention is. And so that involves things like you know, a big cross is super helpful, some body language is really helpful. You can't do the minutiae just in your face, you can't do it with just with the thought, you've got to do it physically with your whole body. But on camera, you have a privilege where you can just sort of think and react internally because the camera loves to see that, they love to see the what's going on in your eyes, your thoughts.

[31:02] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, exactly.

[31:03] Roe Hartrampf: Right. You're just trying to think. But the scary thing about that is you've only got about four takes to get it. And so if you've got an emotional scene, you gotta be ready when they say go. And you don't get the benefit of having the scene before to ramp into your emotion. Right, you're shooting out of context. You might have shot the first scene three weeks ago, you might have shot it uh uh six months ago, but you've got to be ready to go when they say, All right, rolling. Yeah, you don't have a coach on set. Sometimes you do, but you know, no in my circumstances, being a three-day guest star, you don't have your coach on set, like you're just there, and it's on you. So the pressure is high, but then the bonus of that is once you do it once, it's there forever.

Whereas on stage, you do get the chronological buildup, you do get the live stimulus, but then you gotta do it eight times a week, and you're hoping you get to do it for a full year. So there's pros and cons to both. There's a lot of different stamina, there's a lot of different prep involved, and it really makes me excited to go back and forth, and that really is the dream for me is to be able to move between the mediums and get to work in both on this level.

[32:12] Kevin Ferguson: That was going to be my next question. If you had to pick one in the future, what would you really want to live in?

[32:20] Roe Hartrampf: If it's a long thing, you know, they maybe have 10 years on this project. Would you rather if that is a film thing or a stage thing?

[32:27] Roe Hartrampf: That is such a tough question.

[32:28] Kevin Ferguson: I know 10 years is long.

[32:29] Roe Hartrampf: Let's say five.

[32:30] Kevin Ferguson: Ten years long, okay.

[32:31] Roe Hartrampf: But yeah, if you're saying like, right, you're gonna do a tour of this, or you're gonna be, you know, it's it's the next like smash eight on Broadway two or three years, or you're a series regular for two or three years on TV show. I think I would probably go TV. I mean, that's I feel bad saying that in some ways because theater is my passion.

[32:49] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, but like theater is a huh soul, it is a capital G grind.

[32:54] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah. I now didn't understand that going into Broadway, I was like, Yeah, I've done off-Broadway, I've done this before, like you know, but I've never had a run that's like that. You know, I've never had a previews process that is like that. And I before I played in the Long Acre, I had never played to a house bigger than like 500 people. And the Long Acre is a thousand almost, maybe like nine, nine eighty, something like that. And so I was shaking in my boots walking out there the first time. I was like, oh my gosh, a thousand people at one time. This is crazy. So I think that you know, there's there's so much joy in both, and theater is my is my passion. But if you if I really had to choose one or the other, I would say for a long gig, I would I would love to do a series regular on a long running TV show.

[33:34] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah.

[33:35] Roe Hartrampf: Well I'm into manifesting and speaking to the universe. So we're gonna throw that up to the sky.

[33:39] Kevin Ferguson: I hope it comes out yeah.

[33:40] Roe Hartrampf: Okay. Thank you so much, David.

[33:42] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[33:43] Roe Hartrampf: Wow, bro. Okay, so let's talk about this show.

[33:46] Kevin Ferguson: Because we don't talked about your whole life. Are you gonna tell those what's the what's the vibe with with your show?

[33:51] Roe Hartrampf: You know August 9th, August 10th, 900 back to back 54 below.

[33:56] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[33:57] Roe Hartrampf: It says it's your solo show. It kind of gives a little mystery because like what vibe what genre? Like are there a special guest? What's this set list like?

[34:03] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah there's I there's, you know it's still in process I'm gonna be totally honest. It's it's in the works I'm working with an incredible MD Ben Rahala who's who's wonderful.

[34:16] Kevin Ferguson: Yes he's the he's the greatest so we're collaborating on what what it's gonna look like what the shape is going to be there are going to be special guests. A few a few invitations have been sent out to these guests. We're still waiting on uh confirmation for times and dates and avails and all that stuff but I'm very excited about the people that uh I have in mind. I'm hoping that every fingers crossed everybody's able to do it with me. But it's really gonna be almost like what this podcast was so far. Like I I think that my intro to this community has been as a British historical figure from the 80s and sometimes when I meet people on the street they're surprised that I'm not British.

[34:56] Roe Hartrampf: Wow you're like I'm which is sort of shocking I'm like hello uh my grandmother's name was Peaches.

[35:05] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, yes, she was the best uh so we are so I'm talking about trying to introduce people to who I am and where I came from and the differences between the way that I've been seen so far and and who I actually am and then where I'm headed. So it's gonna be kind of an introduction to me as a person and me as a performer and get to show off a few things that I didn't get to show off in uh Diana.

[35:32] Kevin Ferguson: Yeah, because I forgot forgot to even ask you what kind of music you listen to outside of musical theater. When you're not listening to musical theater, what's the genre?

[35:40] Roe Hartrampf: I mean it's a l that's a lot. I I honestly am one of those people that likes almost every style of music, including country and like metal music. I really like it all.

[35:50] Kevin Ferguson: I'll go I'll go with some metal, I'll go for some.

[35:53] Roe Hartrampf: Let's get bro into a metal musical.

[35:55] Kevin Ferguson: That would be fair.

[35:56] Roe Hartrampf: Let's make it happen.

[35:57] Kevin Ferguson: Let's do some let's do a I do think we should do a pop punk musical.

[36:00] Roe Hartrampf: It's about time.

[36:01] Kevin Ferguson: Okay.

[36:02] Roe Hartrampf: A Paramour jukebox musical.

[36:03] Kevin Ferguson: I'm there.

[36:04] Roe Hartrampf: All right.

[36:05] Kevin Ferguson: Okay.

[36:05] Roe Hartrampf: I am there.

[36:06] Kevin Ferguson: Let me take some notes real quick.

[36:09] Roe Hartrampf: All right. When I'm getting the big trophy on the big stage, I'll make sure to put you in the accession speech.

[36:14] Kevin Ferguson: I would love that.

[36:15] Roe Hartrampf: I'll be there crying in the in the cheap seats.

[36:17] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[36:18] Roe Hartrampf: I got the 250 student rush.

[36:19] Kevin Ferguson: I got the 250 student rush.

[36:21] Roe Hartrampf: The student rush.

[36:22] Kevin Ferguson: Always with the student rush.

[36:24] Roe Hartrampf: Well out of school, still trying to get student rush.

[36:27] Kevin Ferguson: That's uh I'll be we're always learning.

[36:29] Roe Hartrampf: I'll be at the ticket booth. Sir, I am a student of the world and a student of life. I am always expanding my mind.

[36:35] Kevin Ferguson: Yes.

[36:36] Roe Hartrampf: Oh wow. Bro, this has been so fun.

[36:40] Kevin Ferguson: I feel like I could key with you all day.

[36:41] Roe Hartrampf: We do need to do a part two and a part three. Next time you come to another show, we're gonna do this.

[36:45] Kevin Ferguson: It's in the works.

[36:46] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah.

[36:46] Kevin Ferguson: We're gonna go the deep dives.

[36:48] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah, okay.

[36:49] Kevin Ferguson: Serious.

[36:52] Roe Hartrampf: Part two gonna be deep.

[36:54] Kevin Ferguson: Oh all right.

[36:55] Roe Hartrampf: Well, do you have any social medias? Let the people know where they find you.

[36:59] Roe Hartrampf: Yeah. It's at rotramp, R-O-E-T-R-A-M-P on Instagram. And then Twitter is my full name, which uh is uh you'll learn how to spell eventually. It's at Roe Hartrampf, which is R-O-E-H-A-R-T as in Thomas, R-A-M as in Mary, P as in Peter, F as in Frank.

[37:17] Kevin Ferguson: Mm-hmm.

[37:18] Roe Hartrampf: I got a last name like that too.

[37:20] Kevin Ferguson: It sounds like it's written.

[37:22] Roe Hartrampf: It may it makes sense.

[37:23] Kevin Ferguson: But I bet your whole life you've gotten a little bit of like oh yeah, energy towards the big thing.

[37:29] Roe Hartrampf: That'll be in the show as well, yeah.

[37:30] Kevin Ferguson: We'll have a full uh like follow the bouncing ball to spell my last name.

[37:34] Roe Hartrampf: Here we go.

[37:35] Kevin Ferguson: Yes, yes.

[37:36] Roe Hartrampf: All right.

[37:36] Kevin Ferguson: Well, Roe Hartrampf.

[37:39] Roe Hartrampf: We are so happy to have you.

[37:41] Kevin Ferguson: Please don't be a stranger. Everyone, please catch his solo show August 9th and 10th at 9.30 at the one and only 54 Below.

[37:50] Kevin Ferguson: I am your host, Kevin Ferguson. It was so nice talking with you, Roe.

[37:52] Roe Hartrampf: It was a pleasure.

[37:54] Kevin Ferguson: All right. We'll catch you all next time.

[37:58] Roe Hartrampf: Bye now.

[37:59] Kevin Ferguson: See ya.

[38:03] Announcer: You've been listening to the 54 Below Podcast, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.