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[0:06] Robert Peterpaul: Hello, beautiful people. Welcome to the Art of Kindness, where we have compassionate conversations with artists from all areas of the entertainment industry who are using their voice to spread joy and make this big spinning planet in the sky a better place to be. I'm Robert Peterpaul, and I'm so glad you're here.

[0:35] Robert Peterpaul: Roses are red, violets are blue. A smile, a touch, a simple I love you. A little kindness goes a long way. Welcome back to the Art of Kindness with Robert Peterpaul! Ow! That's me. Just made that up. LOL. Yeah. Happy Valentine's Week, AOKers. I'm so honored to have you here. We have a very fitting guest joining us from a Broadway show that I love. It flips the script on one of the greatest love stories ever written. I'm talking about & Juliet's. Obviously, it's inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet's, so perhaps I should redo my Valentine intro to you in Shakespearean verse. Huh? Okay. Music.

[1:27] Robert Peterpaul: Roses are red. Violets are fair. A smile, a touch, a word of care. A gentle greeting, Dawson Pot. Welcome back to the Art of Kindness Podcast with Heart. A simple act of kindness doth bestow a warm embrace that doth a glow. And with each episode, we do partake in tales of love, a treasure to make. Anyway, today's glowing guest is currently lighting up the stage on Broadway in & Juliet's. Get ready to be inspired by Melanie La Barrie. Melanie La Barrie is a Trinidadian performer and former DJ from Greater London who has made her mark as a bona fide stage star. On the West End, Melanie has been seen in shows like Wicked, Mary Poppins, Daddy Cool, Matilda, and most recently, the hilarious and wonderful new musical & Juliet's.

Juliet plunges Romeo's dagger into her heart. What if Juliet's didn't die? That should almost be the start of the pride. & Juliet's explores in the most fun way what would happen if Juliet's didn't end it all over Romeo. Melanie has been with the show since its initial workshop and now stars as Juliet's's nurse Angelique in the hit Broadway production. Her Broadway debut, by the way. Mel and I, I can call her Mel now, right? We're friends. Mel. We discuss her jubilant journey with & Juliet's, how she experiences and shows others' kindness as a performer, and much more. As always, please stay tuned after the interview for your kindness tip of the week with me, Rob! And be sure to follow us for more fun on Instagram at Art of Kindness Pod. Now, without further ado, please welcome the magnificent Melanie La Barrie.

[3:49] Melanie La Barrie: Every time I schedule a podcast, my apartment building is like, we're going to be testing the fire alarms between 12 and so if it goes off, then I'll just mute myself and we can hang tight for a second.

[4:00] Robert Peterpaul: That's okay. Because also I the same thing is kind of happening like downstairs. They've decided to like, I don't know, remake the apartment, like literally build a brand new apartment underneath.

[4:11] Melanie La Barrie: So there might be bugging. So I apologize in advance. I hope it doesn't ruin. I did beg them. I said, please, please just give me, you know, one little moment of peace for one hour. So I hope.

[4:24] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, you're like, just give me a minute. Please, just give me a minute. Please.

[4:27] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah, no, I'm so excited to talk to you today, though. I'm a huge fan. As a performer, you always seem to bring such a bright light and kindness to the world. You know, from I looked up your hit single, I will always be there for you, which everyone, it's not to be confused with the friend's theme song, but go download it right now. It's on YouTube. I think you can find it. Love that. Uh, to now, you know, you're lighting up the stage in & Juliet's. And I had the privilege of seeing that last month, and I was blown away. It was honestly, I think the best time I've ever had on Broadway. So between that and then you just as a person, you know, I see you on social media, seem to radiate positivity and joy. And I want to thank you for that. But you know, before I just keep complimenting you this whole time, I would love to start out by asking you, Melanie or Mel. Should I call you Mel? What do you think?

[5:11] Melanie La Barrie: Mel, yeah, definitely.

[5:14] Robert Peterpaul: Okay, cool. We're friends now. Mel B.

[5:15] Melanie La Barrie: Mel B.

[5:16] Robert Peterpaul: Oh wow. You're like Mel B.

[5:18] Melanie La Barrie: Melabee.

[5:19] Robert Peterpaul: Mel Labi.

[5:20] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah, but it's like the like a little your own your own spice girl, I guess. I would love to know how are you at taking compliments? Because I'm guessing you get a lot of them.

[5:26] Melanie La Barrie: Uh, yeah, I do. And do you know what? I receive them. I always say I receive it, I receive it gratefully. I feel that when people dismiss a compliment, it's dishonoring the gift that somebody has given to you. And so therefore, if somebody decides to bless me with a good thing, then I receive it gratefully and with an open heart because I don't want to dishonor that person.

[6:00] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, that's so beautiful. I love that. Because it does make it awkward when you're like, no, especially when there's a stagedoor thing happening. If you're just kind of running away, people are like, oh, maybe they're rude, but it's it's it's just a weird thing.

[6:13] Melanie La Barrie: I know I now I often run away from stagedoor because I don't think that anybody's there to see me. So I'm I'm kind of like and also because we're not stagedooring at the moment, because um with COVID and and we're trying to keep everybody safe and you know, make it make sure that everybody's on stage all the time, because that's the thing, is that we want to be there to do the work and and to give people give the most number of people the most pleasure that we can give, and we can do that by being healthy and being on stage, and so we're not currently stage drawing, but I will stand and and wave, but often I will just I put my head down and I go home because I'm just like, well, I don't think, you know, I don't think anybody's there to see me.

And a lot of the times, this is the thing is that people even when we were signing, you'd be signing something or like talking to people, and they'd be looking over your shoulder to see like the next person coming. So I don't know. I like authentic interactions, I like interactions where people really want to be around me. And if you know, if I'm just one of many, then I I'll just run away and go home.

[7:16] Robert Peterpaul: No, I get that. I think it's a societal thing. We're always looking for the next quote unquote best thing. So I totally get that. But I would argue that people are definitely there to see you. And if they're not by the end of the show, they're glad they saw you because your performance is so infectious. And I totally want to get into & Juliet's and everything under that beautiful sun. But to start out, since we are here today to talk about kindness in the arts and in your career, I would love to know, Mel, what is your definition of kindness?

[7:44] Melanie La Barrie: Ooh. That's a good question. I know it's a big one. It's a big one. My definition of kindness is when you can be present as yourself for yourself with other people as themselves and for themselves. So to me, kindness is giving the fullness of you. And it doesn't mean lots of time. It doesn't mean lots of effort, but it means being, I'm trying to avoid the word authentic because authenticity is something else. But yeah, is is to be your full self with the fullness of somebody else. To me, is kindness.

[8:44] Robert Peterpaul: I love that. It's almost falls under vulnerability too, I think, in a way. And coming from that place, like the most successful place you can be as an artist is vulnerable on stage and searching for the truth, quote unquote, to sound a little cheesy. So I love that definition. Do you feel like you learned that over the years? Do you think it was something you knew growing up during your childhood, or how did you kind of come to that?

[9:05] Melanie La Barrie: Uh well, uh, it's all of those things. I'm not always kind. I would love to say that I am, and I'm not always kind. I remember first of all, to go back to my childhood. What I love about growing up in Trinidad and Tobago is that community is a big thing. And at school, you know, because it's a big multicultural society, Trinidad, right? Because of its history. It's you know, we have a large African Indian, Asian population, we have big Chinese population, big Syrian population, and we celebrate everything. Like we celebrate East Indian Arrival Day, we celebrate Diwali, we celebrate Eid, we said, and they teach us that in our social studies at school. And also in your community, you're surrounded by everybody.

So we celebrate double ten. We said you so and you would go to these neighbors' houses, and you know, the Muslim neighbors who were doing food for Eid, and we would go to their houses, and the Hindu neighbors who were celebrating Diwali, we would go to their houses, and then if we were like doing carnival and people come to our house, and you know, so so it's community is everything, community is big, and so you learn how to be around people who are different from you, and how to but you're different, but you're inside their culture. It's not just like standing on the outside, you're dressing up and you're lightened days, and you know, you're learning to cook your food, and you're inside of all of it, so it that it starts there, and then I remembered when I was in Matilda 10 years ago, I found that I was centering myself so much in my world that I was becoming so identified, I was becoming selfish, and I'm just talking about myself and thinking about myself so much, and my brain was so full of all things me, and I've again so emotional thinking about it because I I just I saw myself becoming something that I wasn't happy with, and decided that I had to go and do something for other people, and I went and volunteered with Samaritans, which is um a hotline for people.

It started off as a hotline for people who were thinking of ending their lives so people could call that hotline and and we would just speak with them and you know, just be with them for whatever their choice was, and it also kind of like turned out to be um a place where people would call if they were lonely, or a place that people would call to get like ad hoc therapy, and we were just volunteers, it is just people on the telephones, and also we would have in-person visits as well, and I would do a lot of that. And I started also at that time doing uh training to become a therapist because I just I didn't like myself, I didn't like who I was becoming, and I I felt that I had to do better, and I had to be in this world for other people, and I was really glad that I did that.

[12:31] Robert Peterpaul: I'm glad you did that too. It's making me emotional because I think it's so beautiful that you had the self-awareness to realize you were going down this rabbit hole you didn't necessarily want to go down. And then instead of kind of making that make you insecure and getting in your head, you kind of just changed the mood and you said, I'm gonna do something, and you took action and you did such a beautiful service, and I want to thank you for doing that. And I think it's so hard. I was just talking about this the other day as an artist because you're supposed to champion yourself. You know, I'm I was just looking at myself on a self-tape, and then I'm listening to myself, how I sound, and it's so about you to get where you want to go, and then you get there, and sometimes it's hard to kind of shed that artifice.

So I appreciate you sharing that so openly because I think so many actors and performers listen to this and they can kind of learn from that that if you're feeling that vibe, it's just important to maybe, you know, change the vibe, change put a light on and do something else because it is hard. But you know, it is hard.

[13:28] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, we are here to talk about you today, so I do want to put that cap on. Getting to, of course, what we're kind of here to talk about, which is & Juliet's, you know, you worked on this show, which is such a beautiful community to kind of get back to your childhood and what you were just talking about. I felt like & Juliet's was this beautiful just melting pot filled with love and had had so many wonderful stories within it. So working on that from the very beginning, when you're kind of developing a new musical as a collaboration, I just did this workshop, and I feel like it can be hard to speak up sometimes out of fear for hurting someone else's feelings, or there can be this weird dynamic where maybe certain cast members just like are talking nonstop and it's like too much. And so have you learned kind of finding that balance or about using your voice and contributing and feeling validated as an artist but in a kind manner?

[14:20] Melanie La Barrie: Um I I do a lot. Well, I have done. I don't I'm brand new in New York, so I don't know if I'm gonna do anything here. But um, I do a lot of workshops. People ask me to do workshops a lot. I always say yes. I love doing workshops. I love I love working for young people. It's like I will go do anything. If even if somebody calls me and says I have a project, I don't have any money, I'm I will go.

[14:43] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, that's awesome.

[14:44] Melanie La Barrie: Because I like to give my time to young people because I because I love when people are using their creative spirits to make things.

[14:51] Robert Peterpaul: Yes.

[14:52] Melanie La Barrie: I am I always say I'm not I'm creative, but I'm not inventive. So I can't I can't make stuff. I don't know how to make something up out in from inside my head. But I can make your thing better. One thing that's so if I'm in a space and somebody's taking up all the air, I just let them. If they're just talking to me, I'm like, carry on. Yeah, um, because I'm not gonna fight. You have something you have something to say, and you want to take five hours to say it, by all means. I will go to my so British of you, keep commentary on. I'm like, you know, fine. You can it might be annoying, but you know, this is like some time out of my life, and then I'm gonna go to my house and life will move on. So there's that.

[15:37] Melanie La Barrie: Um if I am working on a brand new project with you, I always assume two things. One, this is the last time I will work with you. So I'm gonna tell you what I think. I always do I do this on every project. I do this in in shows, I do this with directors. I all the time. I said, This is probably the last time I'm gonna ever work with you. I do this with producers, and so I tell them what I think. Two, if you have asked me into your room, you know that I can make a unique contribution to your work. And therefore, it is my duty to help you with the thoughts that I have with the voice that I have been given. I am here to tell you what I think. It I don't want to hurt you, but I'm going to tell you what I'm not gonna tell you that this is the thing that's going to make your thing better.

I don't know that. But if you have asked me into your space to work with you on a project, then it means that I have some value and I want to share that value with you, and you can do with that what you will.

[16:50] Melanie La Barrie: So that's the thing. I think that's the difference, is about offering yourself and offering something from yourself, and then they don't have to use it. And if you do it in that spirit, then you can't hurt them because they could draw it in the bin if they want, or you know, the they could, or they could take it for free. I always say, you know, you can have this for free when I'm telling people what I think and saying, I'm gonna give you this and you can have it for free. Um, you know, so so and sometimes they take it, you know, there are things that happen in even in and Juliet's that aren't my scenes that you know. I've said to Luca, I said, I think you should do this, and you can have that for free. And he's done it. Um and he's been he and and it's it's a brilliant thing to know that you've contributed in that way. But if you have if you have uh uh no stake, and if you are given generously, then you can't hurt their feelings.

[17:48] Robert Peterpaul: I love that. I love that philosophy.

[17:50] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah, yeah. It's just the opportunity to create and do what we love. So I mean, if you're approaching it from that nature, and then just like you said, going home and wiping your hands clean, I mean you can't really get hurt.

[18:00] Melanie La Barrie: Exactly. And if the person is doing their workshop and they think their thing is perfect and they don't want to hear from you, then you just take the money and run. You say, oh, okay. I'm gonna sing your songs and say your words, and then I'm gonna go to my house. Good for you.

[18:17] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah. Do you know Leslie Margarita? Because obviously she was in Matilda.

[18:21] Melanie La Barrie: I don't know. But I I know who she is, and and she's amazing.

[18:26] Robert Peterpaul: Oh yeah, love her.

[18:27] Melanie La Barrie: She's amazing. And when she was she came on the pod a while back, and she said one thing she does in these kind of similar scenarios is she's she's just learned to say, good for you.

[18:36] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, she just says, Good for you, and then she kind of you know walks the other way because this people you're not gonna reach them. It's just kind of like you gotta be and I'm like two plus two equals five, sure. Yeah, okay.

[18:48] Melanie La Barrie: I mean, it could, I don't know. I'm not very good at math, so I'll take your word for that one. But do you have any contributions, I guess specifically you're most proud of with Anne Juliet? I mean, I know you you're bringing your your soul to it and it's so authentic. I mean, we're not gonna use that word today, but on stage you're shining your bright light. But is there any instance where you're you're like, oh wow, I was really validated in that moment, and I'm just so happy it's there. Shout yourself up.

[19:11] Melanie La Barrie: Um it it was it's the proposal speech, and I'll tell you why. It's because it it didn't exist in this script when we first started, and it came quite late in rehearsals, and I I do feel very validated by it because I feel like David Westread wrote it for me. And I feel that I mean, he's a brilliant writer, and he don't need my help. But I feel that he he used a lot of my rhythm and the way that I speak and a lot of the you know things that Trinidadians do, like the repetition and the all the ideas kind of pushed together in a you know in in a small lots of words in a small space.

[19:55] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah.

[19:56] Melanie La Barrie: Um, and I feel like I feel like he really saw me and when he gave me that. And it's my favorite piece of text that I think I've ever said out of my mouth.

[20:08] Robert Peterpaul: I love that. I love that moment.

[20:09] Melanie La Barrie: It just bursts out of you.

[20:11] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah, and I love that. And I always describe it as kind of like running running like at full pelt towards the end of a cliff and then jumping off and not knowing where you're gonna land. Um, and I feel that way, and I always get to the end of it, and I know what the lines are, but I always get to the end of it and I don't know what Paulo's gonna say. I and I love that feeling, even though in in my logical mind knows that he has to say yes, please. Um because those are the lines, but there is an emotional part of me that just never knows. I never know what he's gonna say.

[20:45] Robert Peterpaul: That's so beautiful, and that makes for us as the audience having such a a beautiful time because we're not sure what he's gonna say either. And and we hope he's gonna say yes. I mean, this is supposed to be a light musical, but you know, it it's such a great thing that you can kind of get to that place. And I would say, even sometimes when people write things for you, which is such a beautiful privilege, it's so easy, but it's so easy that it can be hard. Because then you're you get in your own head and you're thinking, Oh, I'm not doing enough, this isn't enough, but really just being yourself and bringing yourself to it is enough. Have you encountered that? And do you feel like sometimes you need to take yourself out of your own brain? You seem like a really healthy person to me who maybe doesn't go down those rabbit holes but give me advice.

[21:27] Melanie La Barrie: I do I go down some like I have to like rarely stop myself. I have a great partner my my boyfriend Martin.

[21:35] Robert Peterpaul: Yes you thank him in your bio I saw which is so sweet.

[21:38] Melanie La Barrie: I do I do because he um he's like the the only person in the whole wide world who sees like me who who said you know I I am healthy and I and I do present healthy to the world but um he's the only person who sees like sad me and anxious me and um and and fearful me uh because I remember I'm I'm gonna share this with you I remember uh when we did Anjolette and I I'm so grateful for the love that I received from the audience every night but you know the reviews didn't really mention me very much um and some of them mentioned me unkindly and I remember me and Martin we went out for a drink and I went um god I said it it didn't make this splash that I thought I was gonna make on broadway did I and and he said no I you didn't and you know he's always very honest and I and I was I mean mostly I don't care um you know like I read every review yeah I'm not one of those actors who's like, I don't want to know. It's that I I want to know everything. Yeah.

[22:49] Melanie La Barrie: I want to know everything. And I love the good ones and I hate the bad ones. And I like literally, I I feel all my I feel all my feelings. Like, I'm not, I'm not gonna sit here and be like, I'm happy all the time. Like, I think that's why I'm healthy, is because I really feel all the things. And you know, I feel them fully. And I get like mad as hell, and you're sad as hell, yeah, you know, and I do all of those things. And we were sitting like just talking about it, and I was so upset. But he and he was he's so good because he just he reminds me all the time of who I am, you know, and he's always real, like he'll never sugarcoat stuff, you know.

[23:36] Melanie La Barrie: And but but he, you know, he will say, Yeah, it it wasn't like and now you're a great big star, because I'm not I'm just here in Angelia, just doing the same job that I did in the West End. Um, but but he says, but you're here though, you are here, and I said, Yes, it's true. So I mightn't be making great waves, but I'm here, and hopefully, and I'm doing the thing that I always want to do, which is just touch one person. And if I touch one person, then I've done more than enough. Um, and I am shown night after night by the audience that I may be successful at doing that.

[24:17] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, yeah, you touch way more than one person. I mean, I as a sugar coder over here, I'm I'm being completely honest when I say my wife and I walked away thinking, who was that? I mean, that was the first time we ever saw you perform. And my wife, I think originally I was in talks to have somebody on the podcast, and we both turned to each other and we were like, I want to talk to her. My wife is like, You gotta have her, you gotta have her. I was so excited when I heard you were available because I know some people do vocal rests and don't do interviews and things like that, but we were just so marveled at not only your ability to make us laugh and be this like larger than life character in this show, but it was so grounded in authenticity that we hadn't really seen on Broadway, and it's different.

And I think I have my own feelings about reviews and friends that have dealt with them. And I mean, I've dealt with them regionally on little levels here and there, but it's like these people have the megaphones, but it's not necessarily the truth. It's it's a lot of what's coming from them. And I I feel like to have whatever is coming your way, that energy to feel it is so important, like you're saying, because you're building that cowus, and it almost gives you freedom to just not care eventually down the line.

[25:24] Melanie La Barrie: I mean, we're always gonna care a little bit because we're human.

[25:26] Robert Peterpaul: I hope that I care all the time. Like I I never want to get to a point in my life when I don't care about stuff.

[25:34] Melanie La Barrie: I hope to what I okay. Um you know, you you're never in charge of your reputation, but you are in charge of your character. So there is that. Um I I can't do anything about my reputation, but I can build the person that I want to be. But I hope that, especially as an artist, I hope that I kind of care because I care because I made this thing. You know, I'm I made this thing and this thing has come from me, and I always want to care about it. I always want, I always want to kind of be unreasonably annoyed by I like that.

[26:10] Robert Peterpaul: That's cute.

[26:11] Melanie La Barrie: But it doesn't what it doesn't do is like it doesn't sit with me. Like I don't take it then, it doesn't rest as a heavy stone in my heart forever.

[26:21] Robert Peterpaul: Amen.

[26:22] Melanie La Barrie: I feel the thing and then I'm done. So I read the thing, I cuss the man who wrote it, and then I'm done.

[26:31] Robert Peterpaul: Me too.

[26:32] Melanie La Barrie: Boogity boogity. I feel like it's almost like you you care, but you don't feed it. You don't, you're not gonna feed the negativity and go down that rabbit hole and print it out and just every night on stage think about that crap because it is just one person, and I think the proof is in the pudding about all the other people that you're you're lighting up.

[26:48] Melanie La Barrie: For some reason my heat just turned on, so I'm gonna run, turn it off, come right back because we don't need that.

[26:53] Robert Peterpaul: I don't need that juju in the background.

[26:56] Melanie La Barrie: Where's this where's this Arctic winter I was promised? People are like you gotta get yourself some boots and like a coat, I'm sweating in the tube.

[26:59] Robert Peterpaul: The tube.

[27:05] Melanie La Barrie: Oh my gosh. I have boxes to say the tube because I studied in line. That's a different story. You don't even know that. But since you have been on the West End, you performed kind of all over. I don't even know if this question makes sense, but I was wondering now being on Broadway, have you experienced I guess kindness in a a different way? Have you seen differences in the way people treat each other in this business or even the audiences?

[27:28] Melanie La Barrie: Hmm. First of all, I love New York. I love New Yorkers. New Yorkers are like some of the kindest people I think I've ever met. I you know, Londoners aren't kind. You know, they they they're polite, but they they're not you know, I remember like when I first moved to London and I was so lonely. I was so lonely. It's such a lonely city. Um I don't feel like we're in New York. Like New Yorkers will save your life. They're not gonna be nice about it, but they will save your life. And I I can go anywhere. I could sit in a restaurant by myself and somebody will talk to me. Somebody will strike up a conversation. I would go to a bar and somebody will end up. Martin and I we go, we go to places, and we will always end up speaking to somebody. Because people will just talk to us. They'll just, you know, they'll ask you some, you know, by the by question, and then suddenly they're telling you their life.

[28:29] Melanie La Barrie: I love that. I love it so much. Now I love London, and London is my spiritual home. Um, but that this is the thing that I have found about New York. I work with the kindest, most generous human beings in the whole world. Uh, in the theater, I can't make it on stage but for the support staff that work in theaters. Um, and the people who look after me backstage, and the people who make sure that I am safe. I love the people in this Sundime Theater with my whole, like every beat of my heart. My dresser, Jeannie, uh, my wig supervisor, Sarah, Austin and Franco and Dave and all of those fellas who work in backstage. They are literally my beaten heart every day that I go to the theater because they, one, they make everything happen and they keep everybody so safe and so prepared, and they make sure that I get on that stage.

But two, the care with which they work, the care that they put into their efforts every day. It is second to none. And it's really, really beautiful. And I experience kindness on a daily basis, and that's why I love what I do.

[30:01] Robert Peterpaul: You deserve it. And it is beautiful aesthetically too. I mean, that theater, the Sandheim Theater, is so beautiful. And walking in as an audience member, I can tell you the front-of-house staff is equally joyous and kind. And you know, we got a drink and people are dancing. And it's just, it's such a, I love them so much, you know, the front of house people. Oh my god, because we warm up and we go into the lobby and we warm up before the show, and it's voluntary to warm up. So only a few of us kind of turn up um because the kids kind of warm up closer to the show, you know. They want to, they have their own routines and Broadway is kind of weird to me because in the West End, you have to go to warm up, it's mandatory.

You know, you come in an hour and a half before curtain and you warm up on the stage, and you know, you get your notes and you do that. But the voluntary warm-up is kind of like, it blows my mind. But they do offer us a warm-up, which our beautiful dance captain Brittany does for us, you know, all the time. And Nico, our assistant dance captain, they make sure that we're, you know, us who turn up that we're warming up, and I'm always passing by the front of house people, and I adore them, adore, they're so happy and nice and sweet. And Tara gave me a heating pad for my back the other day, and I was like, I put it in my cover, I have it on my back every night, people, because I'm an old lady and I'm falling out of that bed every night, and everything hurts me all the time.

I mean, my back is hurting me right now. I have a pillow right here. I just at that workshop I just did. I literally brought a pillow because those steel chairs weren't doing it. I'm like, I can't move. That's where my stress goes, my back. Anyway, not about me. No, but they are so lovely, and I love that about them. Um, that they, that the joyous experience of coming to the Sundam Theater and seeing & Juliet's starts the moment you break that door. And that's nice. They get it. They really, really get it. They get how much a part of this show they are. And I love it, you know, sometimes you when during the boy band and you look down at the back of the theater and they're at the back of the theater, throwing their hands in the air.

And I said, I love these people. They because they feel the joy with us, and that's so beautiful. It really is so beautiful. And it's not just a job, it makes it fun and it's what it should be, which is passion. And I think that's where it always starts.

[32:25] Melanie La Barrie: And someone who has a lot of passion is your character Angelique, the nurse to have a little clunky transition here. I think what I loved about her is that she's kind of a champion of dreams for Juliet's in the show. Who is your Angelique in real life? Do you have someone who's kind of championed you on your journey as an artist?

[32:44] Melanie La Barrie: Well, you know, I have been very fortunate to be raised by two incredible women. Um, my mom and my stepmom. And uh, they kind of worked together. I, you know, uh for traumatic reasons, I ended up in different places, and but they kind of worked together, they put their heads together and they raised me. And you know, I always wanted to be a performer. I always wanted to like be on stage and they said, sure, but you gotta do good in school. And you know, but we will support you. We will, you know, and they went to all the competitions and you know, carried my clothes and you know, made sure that I was ready and when I was losing my voice, you know, made me the tea with the honey and the lemon, and so it starts there with them, um always, always kind of supporting that dream of me but always kind of like still wanting that academic excellence.

You know, I just, I just over the pandemic did a master's in organizational psychology and I don't think my mom was ever so happy. She was like, thank god yes, you did something that's incredible in that. Well, you've done a lot of things but I think that feeds you as a performer too because it's so close together this, the psychology. I think that's why a lot of people like to study that because it's studying people and that's kind of what we do.

[34:09] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah, and but and then they kind of realize it's really not about that you start wanting to study psychology because you think it's like, oh I'm gonna study, you know, like I'm gonna get to understand people. It's like, well you get to understand how people think, um but like when it comes to language and memory and you know that sort of stuff. And then I think people get duped into studying psychology. It's like that in communications. I think everybody starts out with when you're like, I have to make a decision at such a young age about what you want to do for the rest of your life, which is so wild.

[34:41] Melanie La Barrie: It's so wild, it's absolutely wild. I wanted to be a surgeon when I was like, like I did science. Yeah, I did sciences at school. I literally, I did, I've never been to drama college, I've never been to any kind of like drama class or acting school or anything. I did sciences at high school because I was gonna go into medicine. But I was performing all the while. And so therefore I never, then this, I stopped going to school. I was just like, I'm tired. I'm so that's a different kind of drama, the surgery when you're in the surgery room. But anyway, so I digress. I said it's so my, my mom's um, first of all, were my original Angeliques. I think Martin, my partner, is my current day. We've been together um now, yeah, in about eight days, we would have been together for 14 years, and he's seen me through, he's seen me go through it, and he's always, always there.

And you know, there was a time I was after Matilda, I was gonna step away from the industry. I was, I was done. I said, you know, I'm gonna go and you know, um, be a therapist. I'm gonna go work in the NHS and um work with people uh who suffer with mental illnesses, and that is what I was gonna do. Um and so he's seen me make those decisions and then seen me go from show to show. Um, he's been with me all the way through uh my highs and my lows, and he is definitely the adjunct to my dreams. Um, he is the bedrock on which I stand and the punching bag for my um for my fears and my worries, and he takes it all with great grace, you know. It's like, uh for all of these years, if he's with me, he brings me a coffee in bed.

Um, and you know, when people talk about what, what's your, how do you show your love or what was it? Like, oh, love language, love language or whatever it is, and his love language is all is feeding me with us of but um, yeah, exactly. But he is um, yeah, his acts of service, and he really, he shows me that he's he loves me. He's not a romantic guy, you know, he's like he's not a flowers and candy kind of guy, but he shows me every day that he loves me, and um, and through art and life, he sees me through um those moments that when I when I get small and reminds me that I am not small and re-inflates me to live in the world again.

[37:44] Robert Peterpaul: I wanna, I want to animate that and like show you as a balloon. That's so beautiful, especially as Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I think we should play that for him and get that to him because I love what you said, and I'm happy for you. You deserve that. I mean, going back to your song, he will always be there for you. I mean, it's, you found somebody that you sang about.

[38:08] Melanie La Barrie: I do my research.

[38:09] Robert Peterpaul: You do, you literally do. That is hilarious that you found out because like I perform under a different name now, and all of that, and you literally um because Austin, who's our uh head of props at this song, he literally teases me with it every day. He goes, Yeah, Belly Hudson, you know, Caleb Sonian. I'm like, shut up.

[38:31] Melanie La Barrie: I loved it. I listened to it, I thought it was so beautiful. I was like, this could have been the Friends theme song, why not? It would have been a sweeter version.

[38:38] Robert Peterpaul: I think it's great. Well, you know, you shared how Martin, you know, does acts of kindness for you, and I think bringing a cup of coffee to somebody in bed says it all. Do you have any stories about acts of kindness you can share on Broadway from your run with & Juliet's? You know, things you shared about your beautiful team backstage, but maybe things people have done for you.

[38:57] Melanie La Barrie: I see you put up your hand, so you got one.

[38:58] Melanie La Barrie: So I do. I do have one, and it's like literally when we were recording the cast album, I was very, very sick. I had, I had laryngitis and um had no voice. Two weeks before the cast album, I had literally zero, zero, zero voice. I was so sick. I had a really bad chest infection. I was on uh steroids and antibiotics and like literally trying to get my voice back. And I was in Texas with my mom. My mom lives in Texas, and then we had to fly to New York to do the cast album. And I just like got back like a little bit of voice. And we did the stuff that we do together. So the four of us, you know, the four friends, we sing domino and show me love and blow, and we did all of that. And then I had to uh like kind of like hang out in the studio while Betsy was doing her stuff, some of her stuff.

And my voice was just like, you know, because it was being used, and it was just so bad. And at the end of the night, I think it was like about by 9:30 at night, I was supposed to go back into the studio and do perfect. And I just couldn't do it. I could not, I just could not sing it. None of the boys was just coming out. It's not the hardest song I sing in the show, but it just was not coming. And we had cameras in there, and Max likes told us to get out of the studio and he dimmed the lights and he's like, and he came in, and then he came in and he said, he held my hand and he said, We're gonna try it tomorrow. Um, Lorna's in the studio, uh, be right before me doing Baby One More Time. And he said, you know, I'm gonna see if you know, maybe you need somebody to, you know, just be here with Lorna or whatever.

And so I went home and I never felt so much like a failure in my entire life. Now I do this buildup because it really matters what comes next. The next day I went to the studio at my allotted time, and Lorna had just finished like singing the house down. Oh yeah. And I held her hand and I said, Lorna, I am in trouble. I cannot, I'm having great difficulty singing this song. Um, and I need you, I need you, I need you to help me. Will you come into the studio with me and just be there with me while I try to sing the song? And she, that little girl came into the studio with me, the microphone, and Lorna on the other side of the microphone, and she held my hand, she squeezed my hand. Oh, and the version of the song that is now out on the album.

I don't know if it's beautiful, I can't listen to any of it because I don't like myself as a singer anyway, but I can't listen to the recording, but what's there is imbued with the strength that Lorna gave me through holding my hand. Um, that that young person could have the grace and the kindness to do that for somebody who's like more than twice her age who could actually be her mom. Um, that she, and she never, never asked for anything. She never, never talked about it. She never went, I did this. She just did that for me. And I am talking about it. Um, because I think she gave me a piece of her soul on that day. And I will be forever grateful for her kindness. And it shines through the recording which is beautiful by the way just for the record. I was just listening and I love, I love the album. I've been listening to it nonstop on my walk. Well, my run I would say runs their walks my walks. So I'm gonna be honest.

[42:39] Robert Peterpaul: So I oh that story blows my mind. What a wonderful act of kindness I think that's so sweet. Cause we do get by with a little help from our friends like the song says and we all need each other no matter what age we are what we've been through and just asking for help is such a hard thing. So I'm you I guess proud I always hate that word but I'm happy that you did that. I think that's really such a wonderful thing and you just sharing that maybe you encourage listeners out there to ask for help if they need it because let go of that pride. We just we need each other and it's better together.

[43:10] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah I ask for help all the time because it's one thing that I know for certain is that there I cannot do any of this by myself. You know I spoke about it earlier when I said I don't make it onto the stage without the support and help of like so many people like so many people make it you know make it possible for me to be on that stage. And so therefore I always always always ask for help. I am stubborn too you know and so I we all are a little bit yeah yeah and I you know I I like my solitude, and I like to do a lot of things on my own. But where where impossible because we do not we cannot grow all of us, we we like you know the trees in a forest. Yeah, and we might be standing alone and mighty and growing at different heights and different widths, but we're connected by the roots, and we have to remember that you know we underneath it all, we are connected by this thread that binds us to all the other people around us, and um, and so it is our duty not just to help but to ask for it as well to be helped, yeah, and we have to remember that.

[44:30] Robert Peterpaul: It is literally that that that is how we breathe. We breathe because other people breathe, and we live and exist because other people exist, you know. The very idea of us is made flesh and form because other people perceive us to be so we have to remember that we we don't stand here alone, that no man is an island, you know.

[44:57] Melanie La Barrie: Yes, you can't have one without the other. I mean, you can't have a Broadway show without an audience out there. I mean, it's just if a tree falls in the forest, does anybody see it? Did it did it really fall? But trees have been along for so much time, I think, because they are connected and they do communicate with each other underground, which I think is so cool, and you're just reminding me of that.

[45:14] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, but speaking of the solitude that you touched on with yourself on the flip side, do you have things you do as a Broadway performer hitting the stage eight times a week to take care of yourself? Do you have any self-care advice for fellow performers or just people out there grinding nonstop?

[45:32] Melanie La Barrie: Um look, I'm I'm literally right now hungover because I went out with some of my pals last night from the show. Um so I wish. I wish that I could say that I was like super disciplined. My voice is probably gonna be all sorts of crooky tonight. Look, um, I do yes, I I you know, you try to feed yourself well and drink like lots and lots of water and um do all the good things that make yourself healthy. But for me, I just I like quiet, I like it when it's quiet. I love the silence. I'm so good with being by myself in the silence. I am so I remember like when it was like debut day when we were having our big Broadway opening. My mom and my sisters, you know, they all descended on me. Um because my sister one little sister lives in Brooklyn, and my older sister and my mom, they live in Houston, and they like kind of all here.

My mom is like, let's go for and I I had you know the show, the big opening that night, and they were like, My mom is like, let's go for brunch. And I was like, I cannot Martin just kind of like cuddle them out. Yeah, you know, he says, No, she has to eat her porridge and with her banana. Um, and she has to, because I was like, I can't do, I have to just stay quiet. Yeah, and he was very good at like taking them out for brunch, and they had a they had a great time. Um but I I do like to be quiet.

[47:04] Melanie La Barrie: I am very noisy, you know, when I can't, you know, on occasion, like last night. Um but well, you can be because you refill your cup, it sounds like yes. Oh, yes, you have to replenish yourself. You have to revive and rejuvenate and you know, do all the things. And, and you know, like I'll just watch TV and I love watching like I love like a hospital procedural, you know, it's just like like the residents. I could watch like 10,000 episodes of these shows where I know exactly what's gonna happen, but I'm gonna watch it anyway. Um, like, you know, is nothing that makes me think too hard. Um, you know, I like doing puzzles or trying to learn the guitar for the um teenth time. Um yeah, like literally like learning German on the dueling go up.

I can't, you know, I could say where is the toilet now. But um, that's good. You can get somewhere with that. It's important. But it's um, yeah, I I like doing things like just little quiet things. Um, but but you know, sometimes there's discipline and sometimes there's not.

[48:10] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah.

[48:11] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah.

[48:11] Robert Peterpaul: Do you need the balance?

[48:12] Melanie La Barrie: Little quiet things. I think that could be your your book title that I'm gonna write for you with little tips on being quiet. Because in this world where we put such an emphasis on having your voice, which is important, I think nowadays it's kind of a little too far where everyone's always shouting, you're on social media, you're doing this, and everyone's always putting out the noise, and so people aren't quiet enough, which doesn't allow them to really listen a lot of the time. And I think when we're listening is when we grow. And when I think about shows like Anne Juliet, which maybe I'm just like diving too deep into it, but I was kind of reflecting on the show, and I'm gonna try and word this in a way that makes sense.

And I feel like Anne Juliet and shows like it are the answer to affecting and changing people's minds that we wouldn't necessarily reach with other shows. So, an example I've I've used before, because I have asked people this as a question, but I just kind of want your your overall thoughts on this, because I don't think anybody has the answer. Is there is that movie Don't Look Up. Do you remember that film that came out recently? Clearly, it was about, you know, climate change, all the stars in it were, you know, far uh lefters. So people that maybe don't think about those ideas or whatever your politics are and don't agree with it are not gonna watch the movie and they're not gonna be affected by it.

A show like Anne Juliet is so beautiful and brimming with representation and inclusion, but it's not preaching, it's just a good time and a good story. And I feel like people are gonna go see that for the good time and then maybe leave with other thoughts that they didn't expect. So, what are your thoughts on that? And as fun as this show is, the way it can kind of change the world.

[49:50] Melanie La Barrie: So, what we do is we give you an objective view of the world and then we don't comment on it. Yes. We show you the world as it is. Everybody on that stage exists in the world, and we don't make a big deal about it. We say this is our friend. You know, we have a you know all the colors, all the sizes, all the races, all the genders, all the we have it all. And then we don't, you know, we don't have to tell you. We give you what you recognize, and you don't even know that you're getting it from people who are different from you. We give you love, we give you doubt, we give you um change, adventure, courage. We give you all of these things. You recognize all of these things. So all of these we're not showing you anything new, but we've just put the world on stage.

And I think sometimes, you know, we have that song Show Me Love, and I think that that's exactly what we're doing on stage is that we're showing people how love exists in the world. How love shows up in all the ways.

[51:03] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah.

[51:03] Melanie La Barrie: Via friendships, via marriages, via new encounters, via you know, uh being there in yourself and in your own standing in your own space and saying, This is what I want. Um, and and we're just yeah, we don't have to preach to you about the world because the world is. People aren't gonna go away anytime soon. I hope that's a good thing. And different people are not gonna go away anytime soon.

[51:28] Robert Peterpaul: No, and so suddenly you're leaving the the auditorium and you're going, oh, but they also had this person on stage, yeah, and they're doing, oh, and then suddenly you're like, you didn't even know that we were teaching you a lesson.

[51:41] Melanie La Barrie: Yeah, it does. It hits you when you leave. It's not the kind of thing that again has I think quote unquote an agenda, which some things have. And I only say that because obviously we're our own corner here in New York in the arts, but there are people whose worlds are very insular, and they they never see this kind of beautiful rainbow, which does exist, like you're saying. And I think if there's those people, even a couple of them in the audience, I mean, this show has succeeded with beyond its goals, even because again, it's just such a beautiful, fun, joyous uniting time overall. I mean, the whole audience is dancing by the end, which is pretty rare for a Broadway show, up out of their seats.

[52:16] Robert Peterpaul: Awesome. Does anyone climb the stage?

[52:18] Melanie La Barrie: I was feeling that energy when I saw it, like people are gonna jump up there. I was like, no, no, no, no.

[52:23] Melanie La Barrie: Um, no, I don't think I don't think we I don't think happened no storming the stage. Maybe I'll come back. We haven't had that. No, we have people kind of like rush down the aisles to kind of like come down to you know to dance a little closer to the stage, but we haven't had anybody kind of try to get up there, which I think would be cool. I don't know what I would do.

[52:39] Melanie La Barrie: That's happened to me. I did this concert and we were singing Let It Be, and people stormed the stage and they did a conga line. They were very efficient though. They did a conga line around us and then they walked off. But all the ushers were like, snap crackle pop.

[52:53] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, yeah.

[52:54] Melanie La Barrie: So that was kind of crazy. I I only have a few more things, so I'm I'm keeping an eye on the time. I want to respect your time.

[53:00] Robert Peterpaul: But that's okay.

[53:01] Melanie La Barrie: That's okay. We have time.

[53:02] Robert Peterpaul: Okay.

[53:02] Melanie La Barrie: But as my cats are like getting up, they're like, We have time. Speaking of changing the world, you know, I love seeing how your incredible co-star Justin David Sullivan recently decided to abstain from consideration in the Tony Awards and urge the shows to expand their reach. I love that that actually got a lot of press and people were talking about it, which I think is important because it gave more visibility to the whole thing. As an experienced performer in the cast, and like you're saying, with all these newer, younger folks on the rise. Do you and the other, I guess, quote unquote parental figures in the show do anything to like do they ever ask ask for advice, or do you do anything to kind of guide them and support them on this journey?

[53:44] Melanie La Barrie: I mean, they uh they're so lucky to have you because just talking with you now, I feel inspired to do 80,000 different things, and I want to put everything you've said on a t-shirt as a quote. So I mean, I'm sure something's happening.

[53:56] Justin and I talk all the time, and um it it was a tough time for them because uh yes, it's very brave and courageous, uh, but it suddenly this the spotlight was on them. And and they for for them, they were like, I just want to I this was just my decision. Uh, you know, I didn't, and I want people to start to think about it and to start to have these conversations. And actually, you know, the Tony Awards was saying that they were having these conversations, you know, kind of quietly having these conversations, and we kind of want them to have these conversations out loud. Because where is this space for our uh non-binary gender fluid friends? Where is it? So they went through a bit of a tough week.

They did all the talking, but they were like, I don't want to, you know, that I don't, it's not that I'm trying to be like a champion for myself. I'm just wanting this conversation to happen. And I remember saying to them, you already did the hard part. You did the hard thing when you do decided to live authentically. This is when we use the word authentic. When you decided to live your life out loud as your whole self, that was the hard part. This is not hard. It is annoying, and now we this is what we're talking about, and you know, everybody wants to talk about it, and people have views about whether they should be saying that or not. But I said, You you already went through it. You went through the fire. So now you have the courage.

[55:30] Melanie La Barrie: Uh, yeah, we talk we talk all the time. We, you know, I suggest, but you see, this is the thing is that my experience will never be theirs. So I don't know, I can never know for certain how they're feeling or what they're going through.

[55:48] Robert Peterpaul: Right.

[55:49] Melanie La Barrie: I could maybe suggest things, but they are the ones who will have to put whatever it is they're going to do into action and and to to move forward in in the way that they know how to move forward because they their resources, their inner resources are theirs alone, and nobody else has those things. So I love that kid with my whole heart. Like that is my child. If I had I don't like children, but if I were to have a child, I would hope that that child would be Justin David Sullivan. Because that child is, I feel like if I burst her from my loins, you know. Um, and I'm fiercely protective of them. Fiercely protective of them, and will go to bat for them at any point. Not that they need it, because their courage and their strength is unmatched.

[56:54] Robert Peterpaul: So they don't need anybody's really to protect them.

[56:58] Melanie La Barrie: Well, they're so lucky to have you and have you as that champion as you are in the show. I mean, you're all in the show, is that that support system, and I love that it's even more because they flesh it out and you get all these wonderful other moments.

[57:10] Robert Peterpaul: Speaking of moments, I know our time is slipping away, but really quickly, I would love to play a surprise game if you have the time.

[57:17] Melanie La Barrie: Okay.

[57:18] Robert Peterpaul: Insert cheesy theme song. Everyone's beautiful in their own way. It's the compliments came on me.

[57:21] Melanie La Barrie: Yay, okay.

[57:23] Robert Peterpaul: It's the compliment. Compliment, yay. Basically, I reached out to someone in your life for a compliment or a loving statement about you. I'm gonna read it to you, and then you have to guess who said it.

[57:35] Melanie La Barrie: Okay.

[57:38] Robert Peterpaul: You can ask me yes or no questions. You can get three guesses, we'll say because people freak out when there's no rules, but there's really no rules.

[57:45] Melanie La Barrie: I don't really know anything.

[57:46] Robert Peterpaul: I think you're gonna get this. It's pretty obvious who this person is, but it'll still be fun to read it.

[57:52] Melanie La Barrie: Okay.

[57:53] Robert Peterpaul: I don't know. Okay. Maybe I won't read the last sentence.

[57:55] Melanie La Barrie: No, you're gonna get this, I think, from the top.

[57:56] Robert Peterpaul: Okay. Let's see. All right, here we go. Let me put my reading voice on.

[58:01] Melanie La Barrie: Okay.

[58:02] Robert Peterpaul: Your smile makes me smile. Your wise soul guides us every day. You are smart and funny, and even when the punchline is wrong, I admire all of your talents and your tremendous generosity to everyone around you. You are beautiful, even before we wake up together, hiding under the sheets every day. And my answer to your proposal will always be yes.

[58:27] Melanie La Barrie: That's my baby. That's my Paolo. That's my the love of my life.

[58:35] Robert Peterpaul: I'm loving it.

[58:36] Melanie La Barrie: Yes, Paulo. Thank you. You're you're wonderful co-star and opposite on stage. He that you know, he sent that right away. What do you love about working with him?

[58:44] Robert Peterpaul: I mean, you guys have such beautiful chemistry.

[58:47] Melanie La Barrie: He's so fun. He's he's he's the kindest, most generous man I think I've ever met in my whole life. And he's a major superstar. Like Paulo is Tony Award winning Paulo, you know. He's like, he's a big freaking deal, right?

[59:06] Robert Peterpaul: And I love working with Paulo because we we talk about it. We talk about so much. We talk about politics, we talk about you know the world, we make jokes, we laugh all the time, but we also talk about our work, we talk about our scenes, like we will literally sit there and like flesh things out. You know, we don't wait for directors and stuff, you know. Like some actors are afraid to talk to other actors because they're like, you know, I feel like you're giving me notes and that kind of thing. We don't do that.

[59:36] Melanie La Barrie: We we never give each other notes, you know. You know, we you know, we talk about it, we kind of say what what's this? This, you know, is I don't know if I'm doing you know, this right, or what do we feel about you know, X, Y and Z that turned up in the scene, or you know, or he'll do something and I'll laugh about it because I I will always laugh about something, you know.

[59:56] Robert Peterpaul: Me too.

[59:56] Melanie La Barrie: Breaking his real life getting a good one. Like he he has so he's like he has such good strength of character because I'm forever, like I'm like Paulo, you know, you know, English is his second language, and you know, sometimes he will like like he wouldn't know what the word is coming up, and he will leave his head, and because we look in each at each other so intently, I will know when he's about to say oh yeah, another word because I'm just like in his eyes, and I'm like, Oh, I see you looking, I see you looking.

[1:00:27] Robert Peterpaul: You're looking for the English word.

[1:00:29] Melanie La Barrie: He's he's kind of he's so brilliant. I love him in this show because people know him as this great, you know, statesman of theater, you know, some enchanted evening, you know, he's it's the opera world, and he's like so he's magnificent, he's just a magnificent human being, and he's so handsome. But the the amount of fun that he has in this show and to show that side of him in this show. I told him, I said, I cannot wait for New York to see you like this, because it's going to blow their minds.

[1:01:04] Robert Peterpaul: I love that he gets to show because he is that he is that fun in real life. You know, one night he he took me to Bridland. It was like the best night ever. We went to the Carnegie Hall first, and then we went to Bridland after. We had like a mate's date.

[1:01:18] Melanie La Barrie: That's so fun.

[1:01:19] Robert Peterpaul: We had like the best time. I love going anywhere in New York with Paulo as well, because he's so famous. Like he's so famous. He can get us in any way. I'm like, and I like I love that he's he's like such like a major deal, and he is so generous to me, you know, just let nobody come in from new from London. And you know, uh I just love that he he shares himself and his talent and his wisdom with me, and and you know, he's and that he you know he has to bear with me all the time, you know.

[1:01:59] Melanie La Barrie: Because I'm like, I'm too much, I could be too much, and he he just lets me get on with it. I he's I love him, I literally love him. I love him.

[1:02:10] Robert Peterpaul: You guys make that proposal real.

[1:02:12] Melanie La Barrie: No, we love Martin too, even though I don't know him, but I'm sure he's amazing from what you said. I think he is so hilarious in this role, and what I really appreciate is that the show allows for his duality as a character, which it does for so many of the characters in the show, because you you can kind of not hate him at times, but you're like, why why what is I want to change your mind? Why are you thinking that way? And they allow for those moments without making him this over the top caricature.

[1:02:36] Robert Peterpaul: So it's amazing to hear he's just as fun in real life, but that's the that's a testament to his talent as well.

[1:02:43] Melanie La Barrie: That you you're right. Listen, that that's a hard role, and he could be everything from you know, like creepy to you know, to to overbearing, and you'd be like, Why are you being like this? But the the talent of the man is is so vast that he always treads the right side of of how far Lance can go, and it it he's a very, very clever, clever human being to be able to do that to to and to do that arc so succinctly, and and you know, it's it's economical the way that he does that arc because he goes from, as you say, somebody that you could be a little bit kind of annoyed with in the beginning, and to see his the fullness of him and the forgiveness that he asks for at the end, Paolo, clever, clever, clever, clever.

[1:03:42] Robert Peterpaul: Well, Mel, clever, clever, vastly talented person as well. I would love if we could end our time together here today by you just sharing a tangible kindness tip for listeners to incorporate in their day.

[1:03:55] Melanie La Barrie: So something people can actually do to spread kindness around and make the world a little bit better. Uh I will share the same thing because I think that uh that this will be pertinent. I uh when people ask me, you know, how what a tip on being an actor, um I always say observe everything because the minute you open your eyes, you will find opportunities to be kind, you will find opportunities to grow, and suddenly you will see miracles in small corners. So open your eyes and see, really see people around you. And that I think is the first step to really, really live in kindly in this world.

[1:04:55] Robert Peterpaul: Mel! I have goosebumps, I love that. That is such a gift, I think, for people to hear. Because it is all the things that are gonna reach people and hit home are the simple things, I think. They're the things we learn when we're little, you know, be yourself, or hopefully you learn that when you're little, but they're the hardest things to do. I mean, as an actor, sometimes the hardest thing to do is to walk into a room fully as yourself and present yourself and bring yourself to it. And it should be the same. But it's the biggest mistake that we can make is if we don't do that, because you rob them of the opportunity of seeing something that they have never seen before. And that's why I continue to work, is why I work a lot in my own accent, is that because they haven't seen this before. I am probably not the best at everything, but I am my own, I'm the best at being me.

[1:05:36] Melanie La Barrie: Then another Melanie La Barrie in this world. And you are the best at being you, and all of you out there listening, you are the best you that exists. So don't try to be anybody else, don't try to do any other thing. Do not rob people of the opportunity of seeing you. You, the whole you, because it will be something that they had never seen before.

[1:06:10] Robert Peterpaul: Yes, especially in this business where everything's so subjective and you get bombarded with a million different types of information. You know, don't move your face so much, move your face, be authentic. Don't, you know, wear that to the audition. Wear this, don't wear that color. It's like you gotta take what you like and leave the rest, and I think bring yourself to it ultimately because no matter what, even if you're not quote unquote right for the role you're going in for, you're showing the people yourself, and that's what they're gonna remember. That's how they're that's how they're gonna remember you and maybe call you back. And it's just doesn't even matter if they do, because then you went in there and you did your thing.

[1:06:41] Melanie La Barrie: So that's it.

[1:06:42] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, but that's it, and you know, it's like what is for you will not pass you. We say that in Trinidad. What's for you wouldn't pass you. So if you go into something and and you don't get it, then that is not for you. That's somebody else's things. Leave it alone, you know, because that thing is for them, you know. So we can't get stuff that is not going to be right for us. All the things that are coming to me will come to me. Nobody's gonna take that away from me. All the things that are coming to you will come to you. So go into all of these things joyously because you're like, okay, it might be this, it might not. Who knows? And who cares? Next one, yeah.

[1:07:25] Robert Peterpaul: And if you didn't approach it with joy and it didn't happen, like statistically, most of the things these things don't do, you just actually don't even get rejected, you just hear nothing. Yes, statistically speaking.

[1:07:35] Melanie La Barrie: So, which is okay for you because we love the silence, we love the quiet. But I'm just saying, it's like you might as well feel the joy in the moment and approach it with joy, otherwise, you're not gonna experience a lot of joy.

[1:07:45] Robert Peterpaul: So, I love that you said that, and you're shining your light, and you're encouraging others to shine their light. I think it's so important. I'm a big fan now. I'm so glad you're in New York, and I'm glad we have someone like you to look up to in this industry. And as the show progresses and eventually maybe schools start performing it way down the line. I'm so glad it's your voice on the soundtrack and in these interviews that people will be able to look back on and learn from because you really radiate such a truthful and joyful message, and we need more people like you. So, thank you for being yourself.

[1:08:14] Melanie La Barrie: Thank you, thank you so much.

[1:08:16] Robert Peterpaul: Thanks for being here today.

[1:08:17] Melanie La Barrie: Thank you for having me. It's been a real, real pleasure, and now it's time for your kindness tip of the week.

[1:08:34] Robert Peterpaul: I just love talking to Mel. Everybody go see & Juliet's if you can. Run, do not walk. This is such a fun, powerful, and overall wonderful show. So please go buy tickets. Since it is Valentine's Day week or Valentine's Day Day, depending on when you listen to it, or it might just be a random day in the spring. In that case, hello, people of the future. Today's kindness tip is oozing with love. Today's kindness tip is inspired by another wonderful A-OK guest that we had for our season two premiere, actually. I'm talking about sweet Magnolia's star, Joanna Garcia Swisher. And boy is she sweet. As you all know, if you listen to the podcast, I always ask guests for a tangible kindness tip at the end of our interview. When I asked Joanna, here's what she said.

[1:09:22] Joanna Garcia Swisher: Say I love you. I tell people I love them a lot. Even people that I just meet. It's not romantic or anything like that, but it's not shying away from sharing that genuine portion of your heart. It physically changes someone's chemistry to hear love coming at them. That changes the world.

[1:09:40] Robert Peterpaul: So your kindness tip is to tell people you love them. This is the season of love. Seasons of love. Anyway, not my best. But I also probably could have just inserted Joanna saying that here and saved you all the heartache of hearing my voice for any longer than you have to. But I'm gonna show myself love and say, you know what, Rob? Your voice isn't that bad, okay? Okay? So show yourself love, show others love, and just spread the joy around. Because what the world needs now is love.

[1:10:17] Melanie La Barrie: Sweet love.

[1:10:19] Robert Peterpaul: No, not just a song. Sorry, I'm singing again. All right, before I keep singing for another hour, I want to thank you all so much for tuning in again to the Art of Kindness Podcast with me, Robert Peterpaul. If you enjoyed your time, please come back soon. Maybe leave us a review, five stars somewhere. What what? Spread the word, tell your friends, and let's keep growing this kindness community. Oh, audio hug. Until next time, please remember everything is going to be a okay.