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[0:00] Macon Prickett: 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. I'm Macon Prickett, the club's assistant programming director. On August 27th, we are presenting an unforgettable evening with the People's Princess in celebration of the Razzie nominated musical Diana the Musical. Today we are thrilled to welcome Izy Taylor and Katie Royse Ginther, the co-directors and co-producers of this Joe Di Pietro David Bryan Score in concert. Katie, welcome to the podcast.

[0:44] Katie Royse Ginther: Thank you for having me.

[0:45] Macon Prickett: And Izy, we're also so excited to have you as well. Welcome.

[0:49] Izy Taylor: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

[0:51] Macon Prickett: Me too. Okay, you guys. I'm really excited about today's episode because I am a DiFana. I'm a proud DiFana. There is no shame here. We love what we love. We love who we love. And today we are talking about Diana the Musical. I just want to jump right into it. You know, Diana the Musical was such she came to me in my time of need. I needed her when I didn't know I needed her. And you know, there were all these rumors and rumblings and questions about this quirky little show. And it ended up capturing the hearts of people across the globe, thanks to its Netflix special that is still streaming, thank God. And the people who were lucky enough to see it, I was lucky enough to see it, and I know the two of you were lucky enough to see it as well.

So I really want just starting out, I'm really interested to hear what the two of you how the two of you found this show, the journey that each of you took with Diana the Musical, and where did your love for this show kind of begin? Because I know it was a fast and furious run. So uh Izy, let's start with you. Tell us about your Diana journey.

[2:05] Izy Taylor: Um, I am very involved in theater Twitter, and honestly, it took me a long time to see Diana, but I just kept seeing people tweeting about it and saying that they were having the best time and the best time. And Katie didn't actually live in New York at the time, but they were coming to visit when the show was closing. And I was like, wouldn't it be so funny if we went and saw the closing show together? And we went and it was just like the most fun. People were like cheering and yelling in line, waiting to get in. People were in full cosplay. I like fell in love. It was the most fun I've ever had. What about you, Katie?

[2:40] Katie Royse Ginther: Well, I lived in Seattle at the time, so all the information I would receive was three hours behind um what was going on. But uh when I was going to visit Izy in New York, um, and we had been talking about living there together for forever, so this was gonna be my last big trip before going. Um, and Izy texted me, hey, like um, this musical's closing, it's about Princess Di. Um, we should go. And I was like, How much are the tickets? Like, I don't know how much I really want to spend on a musical that got such a short run, and I didn't know anything about it. Um, and we went the closing day, and I just saw the line, we saw everyone dressed to the nines in their Diana best. Um, we sat, I remember all the way like in the nosebleeds, like the corner of the balcony of the um of the Long Acre, and just it was just the craziest thing.

I've never had a theater experience like that before in my entire life. And I did Rocky Horror for two years. Like, I've never had an experience where I just felt so like seen by the actors. I was having fun with everyone that was performing, everyone that was sitting around us during the intermission. People were just like celebrating the whole time. And um, people may have been booing Charles, but um Ro, who was playing Charles was eating it up, like we knew he was. Um, and afterwards, Izy and I left, and we were like, okay, we have to the kind of theater we want to make, we want it to be like that every time, like an audience experience like that. But there's no way to perfectly recreate such an amazing closing performance.

[4:15] Macon Prickett: Right. You know, I've actually been lucky enough to see a few closing performances, many of them cult favorite musicals over the last few years. And I am also I was lucky enough to see the final performance of Diana. So this is something we all share in common. I was there, I was uh screaming my head off, like, you know, having the best time. I saw that was my sixth and final time to see the show. So I, you know, it was such a journey, those four weeks of my life, you know, however quickly, I think did they run 33 performances?

[4:52] Izy Taylor: 33 performances.

[4:54] Macon Prickett: Yeah, so um I was pretty much a backer at that point. I I was um, you know, I I was should be on the list of co-producers, I guess. No, um it no, it was it was such a weird time for everyone with COVID with theater reopening post-COVID, and everything was so uncertain. And the unique thing about this particular show is that they had the experience of preparing, rehearsing, doing everything pre-COVID, then doing it all again during COVID to film the special, and then doing it all again post-COVID so like this team went through you know three different processes which is just crazy and you know things of course changed throughout the entire process but you know for them I've spoken to several people in the cast and the stage manager and you know for them it it's so interesting hearing them share their stories because many of them especially Gina you know they were involved for years with this project and it was it was and will sadly forever be just a tiny blip on the in the history of of the Broadway but thankfully DiFanas like the three of us are keeping this little show alive I mean it really was the little show that could and it made it despite the most difficult obstacles thrown in its way so I was so and it circling back I'm just gonna go on many little Diana tangents today because like this is my thing.

So going back I you know so I was there also you know the final performance what did y'all think of you know there were I saw drag queens you know dressed up like Diana people they were passing out the the British flags like people were waving them like crazy and what's so interesting is you know the curtain comes down after after the curtain call the cast comes out they take their bow there aren't really speeches it was a standard you know pretty quick kind of curtain call and it was over and what's so funny is Gina DeWall played 54 Below just shortly after. And she was like, yes, she was like, the second the curtain went down, we all found out we all had COVID. They all had COVID. Because you know, that was also such a weird time because show you know, remember shows were oh, too many people have COVID, we'll we'll be back in 10 days.

You know, Wicked and Phantom, it was just happening all over Broadway. And Diana, you know, they got their closing notice, and it was like we're closing in a week, and that casting crew was bunkered down, doing everything they could to stay safe to stay healthy so that they could just make it to the end. And yeah, Gina told us, she told us, she said, you know, the second that curtain went down, we were like, yep, we're sick. Such a such an interesting time. I'm so glad the three of us unknowingly shared that final performance with each other. Um it has such a such an interesting fan base because a lot of it, I know both of you said that you saw the tweets, you know, it was big on theater TikTok, theater Twitter.

I'm very much on those sites, you know, learning and tweeting as much as I can about about this this industry that we love. But you know, it was so interesting. I remember a there was a TikTok made about made from someone who was who watched it on Netflix. I did not watch it before I saw it, and neither one of you did either, and I think that was key. But I saw a TikTok, uh, a TikToker who's who saw the Netflix special, absolutely hated it, raked it across the coals, you know, really just did not like it, and that's fine, but then they saw it on Broadway, and their opinion had completely changed. And I was so happy I even messaged them, and I was like, I love this journey for you. Welcome. You know, we're all mad here.

It was very much that kind of situation. So I'm wondering how, you know, the two of you saw the vitriol on on the TikTok and the Twitter. So what what really was it just curiosity that led you to that final performance?

[9:04] Izy Taylor: I I think so. Truly, it was just like so many people I respected on Twitter were talking so highly of it that I was like, well, they can't be wrong, right? And I'd heard that it had turned into like a Rocky Horror-esque thing. And like Katie, I've done Rocky for five years, so that was just right up my alley. And I truly had to just go see with my own eyes. What are we talking about? I because I had heard that it was like, and I figured being from Seattle, I was like, well, I'm guessing if a show is closing pretty quickly after it opened, it's probably not doing too hot. Um, and I didn't, I knew it was on Netflix. Um, and I hadn't watched it because I just was like, I'd want to see it first.

And I think what um, and me and Izzy talked about this because since then, anyone that comes over to our apartment, we make watch it, our other roommate, we both live together. Our other roommate um has not watched it yet. Somehow they have dodged it. Um, but we were talking about it and we were like, you just can't match the energy in that room. Um, because like I I what I like to think of it as she's the people's princess, she needs her the people there, you know. Um, and as fun as the Netflix thing was, it's so understandable that you don't get it because there's not an audience there watching and laughing and stuff, and you know, in a theater, um, it's the psychology of like, oh, am I allowed to laugh now?

Because I don't want to be the one person laughing and throwing out the performance. What if this isn't funny? Oh, we're all laughing together. Ha ha ha ha, this is funny, and there's no one laughing during the um pro shot on Netflix. So it's hard for an audience member that maybe doesn't isn't as well versed in theater to be like, oh, I can I can laugh at this. This is a joke. This isn't just supposed to be writing that's meant to be like this part isn't meant to be taken seriously. The Scorpio line, especially, that's not meant to be taken seriously, that's meant to be funny. Um so it was cool to do that and then also watch like go see it and then also watch the pro shot and get kind of different sides of it, and also miss things we didn't quite hear because people were laughing and yelling so much. So and also when you sit in the balcony, there's only so much you can hear. So it was really great to have that opportunity to also just watch it.

[11:20] Macon Prickett: Right, right. And that fine, you know, that final performance was so filled with energy, and like you said, people like almost quoting the iconic lines from the show, like there was so much you would you you would have missed. I'm I'm curious though, how long did how long did it take after you saw the show for you to watch the Netflix special?

[11:37] Izy Taylor: You went home that night and watched it three times, yeah.

[11:42] Katie Royse Ginther: I am obsessed.

[11:44] Izy Taylor: That is hilarious.

[11:45] Katie Royse Ginther: I I watched it the next day after I saw it the first time, and you know, I was immediately like the staff here was they were so over me. I came into the dining room the next day, and I was like, everyone must see Diana, and our bartender at the time also loved it, and so we were kind of preaching the gospel of Diana to the staff here at 54 Below. But I mean, I made my roommate see it, my mom came to town, we went to see it.

[12:13] Izy Taylor: I was like, it was like I was taking a friend every time. I did go by myself the last time, which I you know, I needed that, I needed that closure, so it's all good. But what do y'all think about the reviews? You know, we live in this world now where reviews really matter to a certain amount of people and then word of mouth really matters to another group of people. And then you see both on Twitter, which is why, you know, despite all of its garbage, you know, places like Twitter and TikTok and Instagram are a great place to hear many opinions, not just the paid critics' opinions. So what did what what are y'all's opinions on those reviews? Because I mean they most were brutal, but some, you know, there were a few that were pretty that that understood the camp that understood what they were trying to do with it.

Some of the reviewers were expecting more of a like kind of like a biography on stage kind of thing. For example, like in Smash they're doing Bombshell about Marilyn Monroe. I think they were expecting something that was going to be like that. Um and it definitely felt more made for a millennial and Gen Z audience for sure. I don't know if that was um the composers and um writers' intentions but that was definitely what we got especially with certain lines I I like feeble little husband we that's one of our favorite lines in our house uh uh Serge Mary from Ryan a Scorpio I'm gonna keep mentioning that line because it's the best one in the show in my opinion. Um and I also I I really think that it's hard like reviews are interesting because it's all based on opinions right and if you're not the target audience then and you're like hired to go review this show or you're selected to go review the show but you weren't in mind like your demographic wasn't mind for that.

It's hard to really think about it. So whenever I'm reading a review about any show, I always look up who the reviewer is and like what they've liked in the past. So I kind of understand like, oh, this is the lens you're reading it through. Um I always have a hard time reading bad reviews because sometimes reviewers just put stuff in there to kind of add some pizzazz for people to read it. Um like just using some buzzwords that are kind of hurtful for or not kind of very hurtful for those who work so hard on a beloved show um to get more people to read which I I get it. I respect that get those viewers but I feel like um a lot of the show then was overshadowed by these buzzwords that were so negative in the reviews and even thinking about the positive reviews that exist negative reviews get so much more um read than positive ones I feel like um it today in our culture so it was really hard to read that and then um go in and then see something amazing and then think wow so all these people just missed out because one or two people that worked for these publications didn't like it. That really really sucks. So that was that was my in like interpretation of reviews. What about you over there, Izzy?

[15:17] Katie Royse Ginther: Um I honestly don't believe that I read any reviews before I went in to see it. I knew they were getting bad reviews. I had seen TikToks making fun of it and I was honestly when I first heard about Diana I was pretty snooty about it and I was like that can't be good. Like that's not fun at all. And then after seeing it it really changed my perspective on theater and what it means to see a show and like have that amazing experience. And also that like theater can be fun and it should be fun. And Diana was so fun. And I think oh that cast was so talented. And I'm glad I didn't read any reviews because I would have been so mad. Like when Roe got nominated for a Razzie, I was like, How dare you? Like he was perfect. Like he was perfect. He was perfect. He is perfect.

[16:07] Izy Taylor: Yes, no, no, absolutely. I you know, it I did read them when they came out. I hadn't seen it at this point yet, but I did see it, I think the first time just a few days after the official opening. And yeah, it's it's one of those things like like you said, Izzy. I really it may it changed my view on theater as an art form entirely because since then I've seen so many silly shows. I mean, look at like like Titanic or or you know, one uh Anne Juliet or Once Upon a One More Time, they're all these silly shows that they know they're not changing the art form, you know, they're not changing what the basis of the art form, they're not trying to, you know, s make a grand gesture and and you know, change the world, but they also like by not trying to do all that kind of are because they're also helping theater people and you know audience members alike realize that like oh well, I mean, it's not Hamlet, or it's not you know, Chekhov, but it's still like we had a freaking blast.

We like got a Diana themed cocktail, and we saw a drag queen in the bathroom dressed up like Diana, and then we saw these people belt their faces off for two hours, and it was just a good time, and that I mean that alone, I've I you know, having just a fun, good time in a theater and sharing that experience with another thousand people, that doesn't happen near enough, and I'm I'm glad that I had this experience with the show, and it sounds like the two of you are too, you know. Glad that you you did have that kind of eye-opening experience thanks to a silly show like Diana the Musical, you know. So that's that's I I love that. I love that for all of us. So I'm glad we're all we're all here together. This is totally a safe space.

[18:02] Macon Prickett: Um I do want to go back a little bit and talk about how the two of you met and your both theater backgrounds and producing backgrounds. Where well we're definitely gonna get into the concert because I have a lot of questions about that. But where did um where did this dynamic duo? Where did where did y'all begin? And tell me a little bit about where theater first entered your life.

[18:26] Izy Taylor: We met in high school. We met in high school theater. I am two years older than Katie, but we met doing legally blonde or tanking tanking a show before Legally Blonde. And I think I was it was after Mama Mia 2 came out and we saw Mama Mia too, and we were right. We were sitting in a cafe together and we're like, we should move to New York together. We should like actually move to New York and pursue theater. And against all odds, it happened. Like met in high school and I graduated early. I moved out here a year before, and Katie came and joined me, and now we're doing shows and having fun. And it's ridiculous and awesome.

[19:07] Katie Royse Ginther: Yeah, we always like um so I have a twin as well, um, who doesn't do theater uh but did theater with us in high school and Taylor um or Izy Taylor always was like telling us about how they knew about us because there's two of us and we both have this big blonde curly hair, my sister and I, um, and we went to the same elementary school as Izzy we went to the same middle school as Izzy we went to the same high school as Izzy um but because we were younger we were like oh the older kids are so cool like we're not gonna bother them but Izzy always knew about us because how are you gonna forget two loud curly haired blonde kids that look the same. Um and so when we joined high school drama I remember um when um Izzy was the first upperclassman to talk to me and I thought that was the coolest thing and I was like I gotta keep this friendship going.

I gotta keep tricking them into thinking I'm cool. And then um yeah when I think Mamma Mia too came someone's gonna look this up and prove me wrong and that's fine. I think Mamma Mia too came out I wanna say 2016, 2017, something like that. And we had been friends for a long time at that point. Um and so when we saw it, yeah, we both were I was I remember saying how does she just like how does Donna just do whatever she wants like she just goes to all these places and then Izzy was like well that's a life without anxiety and depression I was like okay so how do we do that? Like knowing that we live in a real world. And Izzy was like well I wanted to move to New York and I was like what if we just did that and so every year even though they went to college in Oregon I went to college still in Washington State we'd text at least once a year that question of you still want to do it. Yes I do. And we kept that going until 2022 when I finally moved out here.

[20:53] Macon Prickett: That is amazing. Where where's the film of that that friendship that story um I have to say I'm also just completely obsessed with the the fact that Mamma Mia too is what what did it because I mean there's definitely a theme here. We are all about the camp. We are all about the fun. So no that that's hysterical and um yeah that's amazing. Um so you both worked on you know you both did theater in high school where did your love for theater begin I was thinking about this earlier today.

[21:26] Izy Taylor: I've always been in love with theater. I'm very lucky that my parents are obsessed with theater so they instilled that love in me so early. They took me to see Peter Pan when I was four years old and I remember sitting in the orchestra and Peter Pan flew above me and like dropped the pixie dust on me and it was over. Like that was the only thing I ever wanted to do. And so they put me in classes and I just continued and continued and they were like you're gonna get a real job one day, right? I was like no I just it just kept going. Like I can't remember a time where I wasn't doing this or in love with it what about what about you Katie?

[21:59] Katie Royse Ginther: Well we so my sister and I always we moved around the country a lot when we were younger um and so we became our own best friends and then um what was kind of nice was our parents really like encouraged that friendship and so we kind of started shifting and we'd read books together we were big readers and then we wanted to start acting out the books and we'd make our parents watch um and sometimes these shows would be five or six hours and they would just sit there. God bless them. But yeah it was that and then when we um moved finally to Seattle when we were eight um we needed like an extracurricular thing to do and there was like a summer like theater camp thing happening at one of the local elementary schools so we did that and then that just like even if I started to go away from theater a little bit, like in middle school I did, it would always come back around like something in elementary school.

We always did like little shows here and there that like one of the local like um just moms and dads would put on for us and like organize. Um and then in high school, um, when there was a drama club, we both were really excited about it. So we joined that. Um, and that's where we met Izzy. And it was great to meet um people that were starting to go off into college um with the dream of doing theater. And so that's what got me thinking, okay. So do I want to do this or do I want to do something else? Um, and never once have my parents ever um like talked down this dream of mine. They've always been so supportive, like Izzy's. Um, and I'm I'm still shocked they're just letting me do it. Well, letting me do it.

I'm 23 now, I'm gonna do whatever I want. Um, but they've always been so supportive, always have found ways to come out and see whatever I'm doing. Um, and it's really been great to learn how to be really inventive. I think theater's been cool for me, just learning that your imagination is that's your limit. Like you can just go and do whatever you want. I mean, money is a limit too, but it's cool to see if you just bring enough people together that have a common goal and a common interest and love of something and just see what you can create. And I think that's been something that when I discovered that back when I was a kid with my sister doing those books, that's been cool to kind of like translate into my adult life now, making theater today.

[24:24] Macon Prickett: No, it and it's so I I love both of those stories, and I love that that theater was also something that could brought the two of you together, you know, when you were when you were working in high school, but you know, it's so the friendships that are made in the theater are unlike you know any other because we're put in such vulnerable places on on stage in these, you know, costumes under these spotlights with these people saying these words and singing these songs, and you know, the friendships you make, whether you're on stage or or in the wings or working in the booth, you know, those you we always say, oh, those are the friendships that last a lifetime, those are the friendships that you'll have forever, even the ones you don't really like in the show, you're gonna be connected to them no matter what.

[25:08] Macon Prickett: And it looks like that's evident here, because I mean, talk about going to college, you know, miles away from each other, states away from each other, and still that text, hey, we still doing it, are we crazy? Are we doing it? And and now here you both are. Um, have either of you produced a show before, or is this your producing debut?

[25:28] Katie Royse Ginther: I actually have my own theater company um called Kitchen Sink Theater Company. We have been um produ we used to be called Uki Spooktacular because I really wanted to put on a production of Rocky Horror, it all comes back. Um I really wanted to put on a production of Rocky Horror in my college town in Washington State. Um, and I met this um awesome, awesome human named Audrey, who also wanted to do it. And so we were like, okay, and we just and Audrey was like, we need a theater company name for the marquee. What do you want it to be? And I was like, I don't care. And um eventually Kitchen Sink came from a random word generator, and I was like, that'll work. And to this day, I'm like, yeah, if you want to make a theater company, just get a word generator and you'll be fine.

Um Kitchen Sink, I do think is cool because it's like so many awesome random people I've met throughout my life, um, both in Seattle and here. Um, and so it's like all of us with our crazy different backgrounds thrown together and we just make theater. But um, I've produced Rocky Horror twice. Um, and aside from Diana, uh Diana being a licensed work, um, I've really been specializing in doing new works. Um, I produced a New York festival at um Matthew Corazine studio on um 56th in Manhattan. We did a 48-hour play festival last April. Um, and we just finished up a run of Ozzy Dixon's Poster Child, which was um another new work about the trans experience. Um we did that in July at the Crane Theater with Frigid, and they're amazing.

Um, and we're looking to the future. I'm actually producing something um outside of Kitchen Sink with um the actor Matthew Labanca. It's a one-man show called Communion that will be at the cell in September. Um, and it's about his experience uh working for a Catholic school and also being a gay man and the problems that you can imagine that come with that, and it is an amazing show. So listeners keep an eye out for that show. Um, but yeah, producing was never my number one thing that I wanted to do. I used to just want to be an actor, and then I was like, I'll direct, and then moving to New York, meeting all these people that have all these awesome ideas and but they don't know where to start.

I'm like, well, I figured it out. It's I used to sell tickets through a Google form and a Venmo, and thankfully don't do that anymore, because that was just horrible, horrible bookkeeping. Um, but yeah, that's kind of what my producing journey has been, and it will be a long one ahead that I'm really excited about.

[27:54] Izy Taylor: Um, I also used to produce Rocky Horror, a different Rocky Horror cast than Katie. Mine is Eugene's Bruin Fruit in Eugene, Oregon. And I did that for a few years, and then my producing debut in New York was actually Poster Child with Katie and Ozzie, who is in our 54 Below concert. Which I'm excited. And then I'm producing something in the future as well that I cannot talk about yet, but it will be coming.

[28:16] Macon Prickett: Oh, we love we love that. We love a little tease. We love a secret thing. Yeah, oh no, we do. A secret in the theater industries, you know, that's there are so few secrets in this in this industry. So it's always good when you have one. Um, so great. So the two of you produced independently, you've produced together, you're working with these theater companies, you you are in control of these theater companies, which is amazing because it sounds like you have tons of great ideas coming in the future. This is the perfect time for a quick break. We're gonna hear a few short messages, and we will be back shortly.

[28:52] Macon Prickett: And we are back with Katie and Izy, and we are finally talking all about 54 Sings, Diana the Musical, Sunday, August 27th, 7 o'clock at 54 Below. Where I know you're both obsessed with this musical, as I am. Where did the when was the decision made? When did the two of you look at each other and say, We have to produce this show at 54 Below? Tell me about the beginnings of this journey and then where we are now, just a few days away from it.

[29:24] Katie Royse Ginther: I went into Izy's room and I was like, Did you see that um so and so is producing this show at 54 Below? They just put their audition on like notice on Playbill, and Izy's like, Oh, I know this person. Um, that's crazy. How did they get that? And then we were starting to wonder about the process, and we talked to a couple other people we knew about that produced shows at 54 Below, and so we emailed um and we asked about how to do it, and they sent us the pitch formula. And so we were sitting here, we were like, Oh, we totally have the ability to produce something at 54 Below. We don't want it to be just anything, it has to be something good. Um, and so we were sitting there, and then I just looked at Izy and I was like, What if we did Diana?

And Izy was like, I do you think they'd take it? I was like, I don't know, but we should just write something. Thank goodness Izy was an English major in school, because you do not want to see what that would have looked like if I had written it by myself. Um, but we wrote the pitch, we put all of the love we have for the show in the pitch, sent it off, and got the best response we could have possibly gotten. Um, the composers gave us the rights for free because we were they read our pitch and were so excited. If you guys are listening, thank you so much. Like, it's still we look at each other and we say the rights are free, and we just can't believe it, like to this day. Um, but yeah, that was kind of the how we got into it. Do you want to speak to anything else?

[30:54] Izy Taylor: I I almost feel like it was like a joke at first. We were like, what if we what if we did Diana? And then we just kept laughing, and eventually that us laughing turned into us writing a pitch, and now we're here, and I keep saying that I feel like I've like memed a little close to the sun. Like I just kept going, and I'm so excited about it. But like sitting in that rehearsal room and like listening to these people sing these songs for me, I'm like, wow, this is truly just my and Katie's ridiculous passion project that has come true for some reason, and I'm so grateful, but like it's so silly.

[31:35] Macon Prickett: I I love how you just described the having that moment of like, what have we done? You know, like is this like are we all okay? No, and that's that's okay, you know. Um what was the casting process like for this? Because I'm I'm imagining, and correct me if I'm wrong, um, you know, you have a big cast, so we're not looking at the same person singing the same track throughout the performance. Um tell us a little bit about casting and how you're making these because you're both producing and directing this show. So what can you tell us about your like overall director's vision for the show?

[32:11] Katie Royse Ginther: Uh there were a few people we reached out to initially, uh like Caro's Di Pietro. Um, one of our other um cast members had just worked with her on a concert. Um, and so we asked this person, their name's Emily Houseman. Um I texted them and I was like, I know you're with Kara right now, no pressure. Can you ask her if she wants to do this? And um she actually ran into Izy at a different 54 Below show earlier this month and said that this was the fastest yes she has ever given. Um and so that made us even more excited to have her. Um we reached out to her, we reached out to um a few other people that um Ozzie Dixon and Grace Miss um I can never say her last name, I'm sorry, Grace. Ozzie and Grace um both were in Poster Child, so we asked them if they just wanted to continue their journey with us as um producers into 54 Below.

Um we have a friend from home, Lauren Drake, who is an um one of the best singers I think that exists to this day, and now she will be gracing her presence for one like in New York for one night, and everyone will see it and lose their minds, and then she'll go back to Seattle because she has a ton of stuff booked over there. Um, so it's great to have her and a couple other people, but then um we opened up auditions on Playbill because we just were like there's only so many folks we know that are singers.

[33:29] Izy Taylor: Um, and we got a hundred and eighteen auditions, and we decided we're just going to do it virtual. We don't have time or money or a space to meet these people in person. So us and our music director Jake Sinski sat down and watched all of them and then met, and it took like three hours to settle on our final people. I think we cast 17 people from the open call or something like that. I think maybe no, 15, maybe something like that. But a a good amount of our cast is from the open call of and we don't know them. A couple of them auditioned in the open call, and I was like texted them because I knew them and I was like, oh hey, you saw this silly little thing I'm doing? Great, uh cool. I would have asked you to be in it. I didn't know you were in New York. Um, so that all worked out really well. Do you want to speak to anything else about the casting process?

[34:20] Katie Royse Ginther: I mean, it just that I was so scared and like asking friends and being like, Will you please be in this thing? Because I don't know who else is gonna do it. And then auditions just started rolling in, like our first day we had them up, we got like 40 auditions. I was like, oh my gosh, this is like people are interested. And honest watching those auditions was so fun to me. It like everybody did the rage or miss you most on Sundays. Which I was like, wild choices, but I love. Someone jumped in with um in the middle of happiness simply breathe. And I don't remember who that was, but if you're listening to this, I think about you a lot. Whoever you are, we love you. Um, that is that is a choice I respect.

[35:07] Macon Prickett: No, uh what something after you know my initial obsession began, something I couldn't wait for. It you know, I immediately after seeing it for the first time, I turned to my friend and I was like, I'm going to go see every regional community, like every theater production of this show I can, because if we thought Broadway was like a silly camp fest, like those productions are going to be next level. Like I cannot wait to see a bunch of like high schoolers do Diana the musical one day. Like I hope to direct one. I hope to to support them. I hope to just throw whatever spare change I have to them. Like, here, like, do yes, you're doing Diana, like I'm I'm so here for it. And so one of the funny things is when I after I saw it, I also told my friend Stephanie, I said, you know, it's only a matter of time before this is done at 54 Below.

And and the fact that the two of you who after this conversation I very much trust with the material, um, the two of you are doing it. I I'm thrilled. I really can't wait. I mean, I will definitely be here. Um, could you tell us a little bit about your about the director's vision though for for the concert without giving too much away because we do we don't want to spoil any surprises.

[36:18] Izy Taylor: Yeah. It I feel like every note we give in rehearsals is just more camp. Sillier, more camp. Um, we're vaguely telling the story of Diana, but the songs are all out of order. We pretty much just picked the most fun ones and went with that.

[36:38] Izy Taylor: I'm the person to answer this question. No, you're good. Um, something that I've really been um saying to the cast is this isn't going to be like a review of the music. This is going to be a show for the people that didn't get to go see it. Um, that have the means to come be at fifty-four below at 7 p.m. on August 27th, plug. Uh and uh so I I've really been telling them like you don't have to be like doing your own dramaturgy about who Diana was and blah blah blah and why she's singing this song about the dress or whatever. But if you could translate those emotions um from yours that she may be feeling in the song to yourself to kind of make it more real, you know, act, like then that'll make it more fun because how are you gonna just sing the dress and not like and say all those words, those silly words.

I think we I don't know if we can say that word on this. Um, but go listen to the dress. Um, how are you gonna sing that song and not just act your heart out and just have the best time? Um, and what's so great, we haven't met the whole cast yet. We're um we've are just in the midst of solo rehearsals right now. Um, a lot of them don't take themselves too seriously. And honestly, I've been telling them, and I've been telling Taylor, like that is just the best thing about people in the industry today. We just know not to take ourselves too seriously, and that's how you're successful in my eyes. And like any little note I give them, like, oh yeah, like your boyfriend just cheated on you, like uh sing it like that.

Like you've just been so wronged by your ex or something, or you really want to like show this ex friend of yours like what's what, and you want to go out in that dress and show off on the town, and they get it. It's just translating so well to them, and they do it better than ever. And um, some of them are doing their own personal dramaturgy work and they will tell us about it. Um, the character Paul is a real person. Um, and I I did not know that, so it shows my work. Um, but our actor uh Juan Castro, who's amazing, um, who you will see playing Paul, um, was telling us about um who Paul is and kind of what he's up to now and how um these songs would be per are perfect for him. And um he just really brought that little extra um oomph to the rehearsal room by knowing that, which is really, really cool.

Um, but yeah, just kind of encouraging, like all these people have different backgrounds. Some of them have been on Broadway, off Broadway, lots of 54 below shows, just regional theater, maybe nothing at all. Um, so it's fun to kind of see them all come together and just then remind them just because everyone has different experiences in this room and everyone at 54 below that's watching will have different experiences doesn't mean that you can't be silly, can't be this doesn't have to be a serious thing because it's not. So it's been really, really fun getting to work with all of them on this.

[39:35] Katie Royse Ginther: Yeah, and you know, like so many people who love the show, and I'm sure most of your cast, you know, a lot of us were really young or or not yet born when all of this was going on in the world, the whole Diana Charles saga and everything. So so it's so interesting to see young people connect to this story that most people alive today think, oh, well, that like is so fresh. That’s just recent history. Well, I mean, it's it's not, you know, we have we have to admit that it uh, you know, there's uh some time has passed. And you know, seeing this like group of young people connect to this icon and then also do all of this research to learn all of these details about her life after seeing it musicalized in this fun camp way on stage is is so like inspiring as as a theater person myself, you know, just seeing how it can inspire and uplift and excite people to do their research to do their homework, you know, to really like kind of get into it.

I also um going back, you know, you said the director's vision, you you keep saying, you know, you you don't want them to take it too seriously, you know, more camp. And as someone who's you know, I saw the show towards the beginning and I saw the final performance. And really, when that cast started leaning into the camp of it all, because there was really a push, you know. I think about halfway through the run where it was clear like we are here, we're doing this for the camp. The odd the, you know, Gina's little like wink to the audience after the Scorpio line, which is j which was just like um delicious, the way she would just kind of like smirk to the first few rows, and everyone would lose their mind, like so hilarious, but also just that is the essence of the show.

And so I'm so excited to see what y'all are bringing to the stage because it seems like y'all have that exact vision for this concert production and hopefully future concert productions. Who, you know, who knows? Who knows what this could become?

[41:39] Izy Taylor: Um, what are the two of you? You know, I know both of you work with your own theater companies and everything. Um, Katie, I know that you recently can you remind us the name of the festival that you just had a show with?

[41:52] Katie Royse Ginther: Um, yes, uh, I did a 48 hour play festival with MCS.

[41:57] Izy Taylor: Cool. And tell us about your future projects that are not Diana related.

[42:02] Katie Royse Ginther: Yes, well, um, I have that show Communion with Matthew, that is just gonna be amazing, and it's gonna be a developmental thing. So come and see some new theater. Um, and then after that, Kitchen Sink is hosting Knights of One X in November and December, um, written by Simec Resch and Jessica Morland, who are both uh resident playwrights with Kitchen Sink. So we're looking forward to showing off their work. And then aside from that, uh, we're also producing Strike Out, um, which is a play by um this awesome human named Liz uh that I'm working on with Emily Houseman, who is one of our marketing people with Kitchen Sink. Um, and then we're also doing this is a show that I am very, very, very excited about.

Um, there's a show called Goodwater that my friend Jessica Moreland wrote. It actually is a nationally acclaimed show now, ever since uh 2022, I believe. Um, and it's about climate change, it's an allegory for Pandora's box. It delves into depression, loss, grief, um, just the dying world around us because let's get real. We need to be more real about this. What's going on? And I think this show really goes into that grief. Um, and it's a five-person show, very intimate. We're doing an industry reading of it in October to kind of get that buzz started, and it's gonna be an open and free event, um, just so people can hear it. And then there will be an actual performance of it in April or May that um Kitchen Sink puts on with a venue TV D. But it is a show that Jessica and I have been working on together.

Mia the director, Jessica is the writer, for five years, and um there have been I think four productions of it, all in the Seattle area, and we agreed it's time to move it to New York, and um, all the people back home in Seattle are very, very excited to see it move over here and start to really shoot off. Um, and there I hope that there's a big future for Goodwater here in New York. So keep an eye out, everyone.

[44:00] Izy Taylor: Yeah, and and Izzy, I know I know you have I know you have secrets. I know you can't you can't give away too much, but where where can we see you in the future other than Sunday the 27th at 54 below?

[44:11] Izy Taylor: That is a great question. I honestly don't have a ton coming up. I have been very, very busy, so I'm looking forward to this little break. And then my my secret show should be around next fall. So I'll be busy working on that. And I also with our with KJ Harding, your lovely lighting designer. We work at the same school together. So I'll be going back to theater school and teaching my little set tech kids.

[44:37] Katie Royse Ginther: Oh, I love that. We we love KJ here. We love KJ.

[44:40] Izy Taylor: KJ makes it happen. KJ's gonna make it happen on Sunday the 27th for 54 Sings Diana the Musical. Uh before we go, I have to ask each of you. Okay. We'll start with Izzy. Favorite song from Diana the Musical and your favorite line. The line can be from a song that's not your favorite. What's your favorite line?

[45:02] Izy Taylor: My favorite line is actually also the name of my AirPods. Um it's the kindergarten teacher is also a bitch. It's my favorite line. Nothing tops that. Snapclay is my favorite song. Just amazing.

[45:15] Katie Royse Ginther: You were so prepared for that answer. I love it. I love it.

[45:18] Izy Taylor: Okay, Katie.

[45:21] Katie Royse Ginther: Favorite line is serves me right for marrying a Scorpio. Like it just it comes out of nowhere. And I think it's between main event and As I Love You, because as I love you when she just jumps in uh Teyamo, uh Takiro. Like I remember looking at Izzy like like I'm a very like physical theater goer. Like if I like something I'm like very like I remember like hitting Izzy's arm and being like, what's going on? Why are we in Spanish now? Um just every part of that song of As I Love You is just like hilarious. It's such a good song. And then main event is just I love a boxing match, and I just love reading people for filth, and it was just so good. They did it so so well. So well.

[46:14] Izy Taylor: No, I I had the exact same moment that you were talking about when I saw it the first time when she started just the with the belting um in Simply Breathe. I was like, what is happening? Because I got like a rush ticket, and so I was in like the second row, and so she was right there just like scruting, and I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Everyone stop. What is happening in this show right now? I I could not breathe, and she was singing Simply Breathe. So I mean the two just, you know, they they were together beautifully.

[46:46] Macon Prickett: Well, I can't wait to see these moments that we've just talked about, what what plans y'all have for them on our stage on Sunday. I am so looking forward to it, and I hope Difana's from far and wide get 254 below, buy your tickets, come support these two incredible producers in their work, their very hard work that they've put and the the cast, I'm like stuttering now, we'll have to edit that. Um come support this fabulous cast and crew and these two amazing producers. Where can we find the two of you on social media?

[47:21] Izy Taylor: I'm on Instagram and Twitter as Izzy.taylor, I Z Y, period Taylor.

[47:27] Katie Royse Ginther: Cool. What about you, Katie?

[47:29] Katie Royse Ginther: I'm on Instagram as Katie Royse Ginther, all one word. Um and also I have a website, uh KatieRoySkinther.com and you can find out more about Kitchen Sink Theatre Company. Literally just type in Kitchen Sink Theatre Company on Instagram or Facebook. Same with the website KitchenSync Theater Company.com. That's theater with an R E, not an E R.

[47:53] Macon Prickett: Hey the specificity is important. Well thank you, Izzy and Katie for joining me today. I have been looking forward to this because I knew it would just be a geek out session about Diana the musical and I'm so looking forward to meeting you both and so looking forward to 54 sings Diana the Musical on Sunday August 27th at 7 o'clock and I hope to see all of you Difanas out there downstairs in Broadway's living room. It's gonna be a blast you've been listening to the 54below podcast part of the Broadway podcast network.

[48:33] Macon Prickett: To find out more about our upcoming shows visit us at 54below dot org.