This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:21] Heather Bedor: Well, look at us on time.

[0:23] Amber Brzezinski: What's the I know my I don't know.

[0:28] Heather Bedor: Well, I'm Heather.

[0:29] Amber Brzezinski: You're Amber.

[0:31] Amber Brzezinski: I'm Amber.

[0:32] Heather Bedor: Yes, you are.

[0:33] Heather Bedor: And we are the Broadway Fan Club.

[0:36] Heather Bedor: Uh yeah, it's been a weird day, guys. It's been a weird, weird day. I finally decided today was the day I'm gonna start to really unpack my apartment, minus this room. So there's that. Uh, but we have so much hey Jeffrey Cohen. Good evening to you as well. We have so much cool stuff happening today. Um, we were able to get our hands legally on um the entire Disney on Broadway D23 announcement um from this past weekend. For those of you that don't know, you are in for a treat. I am sure your socials have been blowing up like ours have. Um, but we cannot wait to show you that. We'll do that just after we uh go over what's been going on on Broadway this week. So opening, closing, celebrations, uh people coming in, people leaving, people lots of stuff, lots of announcements this week. There's like a lot of transitions this week, I think is what it really is. A lot of great.

[1:35] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it's not transitional time where you know shows are closing, yeah, the fall shows are opening.

[1:42] Heather Bedor: Yeah, they're making room for the new kids on the block. Hey Cheyenne, look at this. Cheyenne's even joining us. Usually you've had Selena. Um, not sure if you mentioned this. If there's a site which informs you of replacements for this evening's performances, yes, that's actually one of our moderators on Fleet Street. Um, and he actually does that. Um, and we will be kind of creating our own Broadway Fan Club one for the shows that we have a community for. Selena, you have a question. Hey, I love it. Right off the bat, let's get some audience interaction. Go ahead, my friend. What is your question?

[2:16] Selena: I feel like do you guys ever watch like Love Line with uh Adam Clo.

[2:20] Amber Brzezinski: Oh my god, I love that show.

[2:24] Selena: Um, when will the fan?

[2:26] Heather Bedor: Oh, that's really cute, Selena. Selena would like to know when the Phantom of the Opera will be back on Broadway. Um, in my dreams, it's every night, anyways. Um, and what you can't see on this whole area of my room, it's all Phantom. Um, there is no guarantee Phantom is ever coming back, but we know that it's supposed to be coming back in some sort of version, but there's no information.

[2:50] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, Jeff, I like saying uh I like saying Jeffrey Cohen. It's fun. Um, but yes, you got it. Um, and we will absolutely put the websites out there for who is coming in, who is going out, and who are alternates. I thought it's just under studies org. Very funny to remember. There's one of those, but that's under studies. It doesn't show who's coming, who's going out. I need to book more. Oh, JJ. Oh, Chris Baby. Uh yeah, I mean, just let me know and I'll find out a schedule. And then he'll be here. Did I not mention that? JJ is gonna be coming and doing the podcast. Hopefully, so if he said he's it. So we'll see. That's exciting. You'll know say, say. But what I do say is why don't we get the show going?

Um, Selena, we have such an exciting announcement for all of the D23 Disney on Broadway stuff. You just hang on tight, my friend, and you will get to watch the video as it happened. If you already know, that's cool. Um, but there's a lot you might not know. Hi, Olivia. Everyone's gonna join. Um, we're gonna get started. Uh, first off, happy World Elephant Day to you and World Elephant Day. Um, our friends over at Waterfall Elephants have been celebrating all day long. Um, and even at the Moulin Rouge because they have the elephant. So yeah, absolutely on Broadway featuring elephants as part of their plot.

[4:19] Heather Bedor: Uh that's fantastic. Um, yeah, so happy World Elephant Day. Uh, I am drinking a non-sponsored beer. If anybody um has ever had this, it's been that day. It's a peanut butter milk style nitro from Left Hand Brewing. I'm dog sitting, so if you hear a ruckus, it is just my friends here. Oh this little Frenchie guy making a lot of breakfast. It's alright, you guys got your fur tax early the show. Um, right. But yeah, so let's talk. Um, and you know what? Touching on Water for Elephants. Did you see the news, Amber?

[5:01] Amber Brzezinski: I did see the news, actually. I saw several Water for Elephants news, actually.

[5:05] Heather Bedor: Oh, well, I will just make the easiest one. Um, our dear friend Joe DePaul, who is the original um, you know, clown de jour. Um, he is going to be leaving the show. What we don't know if it's permanent or if it's not permanent, um, but we wish him happy trails. I think he's got what, like next week, right?

[5:26] Amber Brzezinski: I believe so, yes.

[5:29] Heather Bedor: So um that that's fun. You could your turn, Amber.

[5:34] Amber Brzezinski: And we have a replacement coming in. Let me um just I forgot his name.

[5:41] Heather Bedor: Oh my god, how dare you?

[5:43] Amber Brzezinski: I know. We have uh Philippe Aymard joining the company to carry on as Walter.

[5:51] Heather Bedor: Yep.

[5:52] Amber Brzezinski: So he'll be coming in. And then did you also see that uh we have Wade is going to be coming in as August?

[6:01] Heather Bedor: That's what I was gonna say. Wade is making his August debut of Wednesday, I believe, the 14th. He'll be playing Wade for both shows or August. He'll be playing August for both shows on Wednesday, and then also for Thursday.

[6:18] Amber Brzezinski: That's exciting, and I love that too. It's kind of gotta be interesting though to go from one character to the other, but they're also kind of like the bad guys, so right, exactly. But it works. I can't wait to see it. And he's such a sweetheart, too.

[6:30] Heather Bedor: So yeah, sitting Water for Elephants News. What's next?

[6:36] Amber Brzezinski: They also started their Tent Talk Back series. Let's see if yep. Um, next up we have Illinois, they're closing. They closed um on the 10th, which was just a couple of days ago. They played their final show.

[6:51] Heather Bedor: Yep.

[6:52] Amber Brzezinski: Um we also have The Wiz closing bracelet.

[6:57] Heather Bedor: We're running a special on our Illinois bracelets.

[7:00] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, we are running a special on our Illinois bracelets. Yes, let me. Oh, I don't have one in front of me. Just in case you guys are looking for something that's a little bit unique. Um, we have a bunch of Illinois bracelets on the Broadway Fan Club.etsy.com. So check that out. They're on special. They're like what 10% off, 20% off.

[7:19] Heather Bedor: Um, no, we're still using the code BroadwayCon 24. So you use the code and then you get the discount. It's amazing.

[7:28] Amber Brzezinski: And but what is the discount?

[7:30] Heather Bedor: It is 25% off.

[7:32] Amber Brzezinski: That's a lot of discount.

[7:34] Heather Bedor: It is, yeah. Well, that's fantastic. Fantastic. Alright. What is uh next?

[7:40] Amber Brzezinski: So yes, The Wiz. We have The Wiz, which will be playing its final performance on the 18th, which is this coming Sunday. I really wanted to get a chance to make it to the city to see that, but I just could not.

[7:53] Heather Bedor: That's okay, but you made it to the city for so many other shows this season when you really had to do it.

[7:59] Amber Brzezinski: I did. So I'm very proud of you.

[8:01] Heather Bedor: True. I know. Thank you. Did anyone in the comments get a chance to see The Wiz? It was one of my favorites growing up. So I remember the first time we ever watched The Wiz, like the movie was in like fourth grade. I am really big myself right now. Um like Michael Jackson's a scarecrow. Come on. Um good, Diana Wall. And I I wanted to see it, but it just didn't work out in the schedule and what I was actually gonna go see. But yeah, um, go get tickets if they are not sold out already. Go get them, go do it.

[8:30] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, Olivia just said she tried to get tickets yesterday, but they were sold out.

[8:36] Heather Bedor: So and Christopher Levy saw The Wiz in the 80s when they revived it with Stephanie Mills playing Dorothy, and now Stephanie is our current Hervinies in Haiti.

[8:49] Amber Brzezinski: Which is incredible. I can see it working though. 100%.

[8:52] Heather Bedor: She's got a voice. My goodness.

[8:54] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, you just saw that.

[8:57] Heather Bedor: I did. It's been almost three weeks. How is that possible? I don't get that. Like, guys, I don't know where time goes.

[9:06] Amber Brzezinski: Um, it's like this weird paradox. It's literally been what is it? One, two, yeah. This Thursday, it'll be three weeks since I was in New York for Hadestown. What just happened? Mine is blown.

[9:22] Heather Bedor: Do you hear that?

[9:23] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, what is that?

[9:25] Heather Bedor: I have no idea. That's different. Cool.

[9:29] Amber Brzezinski: Anyways, something's possessed. I heard like beeping and it's great.

[9:35] Heather Bedor: Yeah. It's not in my house.

[9:38] Amber Brzezinski: Because I have nothing fun.

[9:40] Heather Bedor: Well, Chris, Chris's seven weeks streaming feels like yesterday. You're going back in October.

[9:45] Amber Brzezinski: Um, I will be back. If not this month, I'm definitely gonna be going back for Broadway Flea. Um, we will be planning a couple of official meetups for the Broadway Fan Club. Um, some shows, some tours. We're gonna do it up, and I'll be proxying again for those of you that weren't with us last year. Um, so if there's something that you're looking for from Broadway Flea from Broadway Cares, um, I will go do your personal shopping for you.

[10:08] Heather Bedor: No, Chris, it's not an ice cream truck. That'd be lovely right now, but it's not. It was like it sounded like a Tamagotchi.

[10:15] Amber Brzezinski: I'm sure.

[10:18] Heather Bedor: That's what it is. Shut up. You have a it's a Tamagotchi. You didn't think that was a noise.

[10:25] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, Amber.

[10:28] Heather Bedor: Anyways, I I wanted at the arcade.

[10:33] Amber Brzezinski: Oh man.

[10:35] Heather Bedor: Anyways, moving on. Now that Amber is having a day and forgot that she is about to kill a Tamagotchi.

[10:42] Amber Brzezinski: Yep.

[10:42] Amber Brzezinski: I have it, no, but I have to admit, like a year, year and a half ago, I got the R2 D2 Tamagotchi. It's literally like you take care of the droids. Um, I think I played with it for two days. I was like, nope, this is why I didn't have one when I was a kid.

[10:58] Heather Bedor: Right. That's so funny.

[11:01] Amber Brzezinski: Alright.

[11:02] Heather Bedor: Alright. Moving right along, we have the official opening of Once Upon a Mattress is this week. It's been getting rave reviews. I mean, how good is then yesterday um they had Sutton Foster and Carol Burnett, who is the original, um, actually do like a full interview together. If you guys saw it, it was incredible. If you didn't see it, go back and watch it. Really awesome.

[11:28] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah. Um, it's nice to see support from like the old school to the new school. It's never like a replacement, there's never any kind of jealousy. It's like a graduation and like watching like the next generation come in and do something really incredible.

[11:44] Heather Bedor: Oh, yes, Olivia just passed by the red carpet. I believe opening is actually tonight.

[11:48] Amber Brzezinski: That would make a lot of sense.

[11:50] Heather Bedor: Yep. Well, I'll see all the photos on CBS this morning, Jeff. Okay, because I know there was one giant one yesterday. Um, it's a lot, it's it's a lot of fun. And if you guys aren't part of the Once Upon a Time, Once Upon a Time, wow, I'm tired. And now apparently drinking. Once Upon a Mattress group, we do have a Once Upon a Mattress group, um, along with a lot of others.

[12:10] Amber Brzezinski: You know, I found that interesting this week, Amber, is that we had a lot of people who were like, and it was amazing. Everyone was like, oh yeah. Um, I love this group, I love this, I love this. Do you guys know if there's any other groups for any of these shows? And I'm like, hi, um, if you are not aware, we run 60 plus groups.

[12:31] Heather Bedor: Um, right. Yeah, it's uh I don't know how we did it. And yesterday, so if you guys ever want to take a look at like the labor intensive stuff, go to the broadwayfanclub.com. That'll take you to our link tree. Um, it'll show you all of our groups. You can click on it, you can join Rick from there. It'll give you our contact information, but it's gonna show you everything, plus our merch. Um, right now it's taking to the Etsy shop. We're gonna be uploading our sp uh Shopify. There's some really, really fun stuff coming. Um, yes. I think you guys will be really happy about, I hope. Um, yeah, I'm just there's a lot in transition and flux. I think that's what I'm gonna say. Like August is like the in flux capacitor month.

[13:17] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, I did it.

[13:20] Heather Bedor: Anyways, so um, oh Cheyenne, Cheyenne says I'm telling everyone now I will lose my shit when we lose Carol.

[13:28] Amber Brzezinski: No, she's a vampire.

[13:29] Heather Bedor: Um, we won't, but that's okay. Moving right along. What is next on our agenda, my dear friend Amber?

[13:36] Amber Brzezinski: Next on the list is that we again have we had more um just announcements in general, like you were saying, more just there's lots of information coming at us.

[13:51] Heather Bedor: I just feel like I'm like an info stream right now.

[13:54] Amber Brzezinski: Yes, you're shocked.

[13:57] Heather Bedor: Um, we'll be announcing their tour cast.

[14:01] Amber Brzezinski: Yes, and they're going to be doing one cast member each day, which is cool.

[14:06] Heather Bedor: Yeah, so you get to kind of follow along with the big reveal every day.

[14:10] Amber Brzezinski: I like how they do that.

[14:11] Heather Bedor: Yep. Today they revealed that Mickey Abraham is going to be playing Lulu.

[14:19] Amber Brzezinski: Um, and she understudied Lulu on Broadway, and she was amazing.

[14:26] Heather Bedor: Yeah. So you are in for a real treat if you go to see the tour because she's phenomenal.

[14:33] Amber Brzezinski: Speaking of Lulu.

[14:35] Heather Bedor: Oh, yeah.

[14:36] Amber Brzezinski: Speaking of Lulu, we also had the Kit Kat Club London replacements announced.

[14:41] Heather Bedor: We had the Kit Kat Club London replacements announced.

[14:43] Amber Brzezinski: Yes, we did.

[14:46] Heather Bedor: So we'd love to know what you guys think. It's a quiet group tonight.

[14:48] Amber Brzezinski: It's nice.

[14:49] Heather Bedor: It's like being in the library.

[14:51] Amber Brzezinski: I know, right?

[14:53] Heather Bedor: I think in hush tones too.

[14:58] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, absolutely. And then we also had the full cast from Sunset Boulevard announced.

[15:06] Heather Bedor: Big cast.

[15:08] Amber Brzezinski: It's a bit, I think for a show, like it seems like it's a big cast, but it's great.

[15:13] Heather Bedor: And there's like a homegrown cast member in that. I don't know if you saw.

[15:17] Amber Brzezinski: What do you mean?

[15:19] Heather Bedor: So I'm gonna pull up. I sent you an article that my dear friend Beth Marshall posted. Um, Sydney Clark, who is gonna be playing Joanna slash the guard. Um, and I'm gonna give a shout-out to my dear friend Beth Marshall.

[15:35] Amber Brzezinski: So Beth posted this really like loving, wonderful post. The Queen is Broadway bound. This one is extra special. I have waited 13 years for my first to hit Broadway, and the day has arrived. I have believed in this woman since she was a freshman at high school at Spruce Creek.

[15:51] Heather Bedor: We coached to get her accepted into 13 top colleges for musical theater, and she chose Michigan University and since that graduation has worked for Disney Cruise Lines and closed the musical 6th in January. Since she has been doing many local works around New York and coaching, my top teen Steva from my very first year of the program and winner of District 3 Thespians State and Beth Marshall Presents with Florida Theatrical Association scholarships and actor in multiple Beth Marshall Presents productions.

[16:21] Amber Brzezinski: And she went down the list of everything she's done. So um Hoodies, which was Best Drama at Fringe 2014, the Trayvon Martin Project, Beatnik, um, just a lot of really incredible stuff working with her friend Julian Bond. Um, but now going to be at Sunset Boulevard. So there was amazing homegrown.

[16:42] Heather Bedor: I had a service from Best Personal Page. I'm super excited. Look how adorable.

[16:48] Amber Brzezinski: Um so super awesome to know like, well, there's a look, there's a lot of Orlando people out there.

[16:55] Heather Bedor: Um, a lot. And we're taking over. I actually just saw the Frozen tour when it came through Harvard um a couple of months ago.

[17:07] Amber Brzezinski: And Caroline Bowman was playing Elsa, and she just recently left the tour, and I was like, Oh, I wonder what you're gonna be up to.

[17:16] Heather Bedor: And then here she is announced as a Norma Desmond standby.

[17:20] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, yeah, well, which is incredible. And like you think about it, so like when I went to go see Justin Sargent, um, over when he was at New World Stages, um, for Sign of a Times, we were talking and like we already knew it was closing at that point, hadn't been announced.

[17:35] Heather Bedor: Um, but he had just been cast as King George for uh Hamilton, and like that was the hardest secret to keep.

[17:45] Amber Brzezinski: Right. But now we're talking about like cast members going backstage and like they just did their shits probe and um yeah, I said shits probe on purpose. You're welcome.

[17:55] Heather Bedor: Um, but they did their sits, they did everything, and then um he's just been posting like first looks. It's really fun to see. I love when it's like people we know where people we're adjacent to that are just really so damn talented that they're performing and entertaining the world.

[18:11] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, absolutely.

[18:13] Heather Bedor: Oh, Olivia's laughing at me.

[18:14] Amber Brzezinski: No, I will only call it a shits probe because if you've ever been to one, it is a shit storm in the best way possible.

[18:21] Heather Bedor: Oh, it's my turn to go to the mic.

[18:22] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, wait, okay, wait, huh? Let me jump from five floors back.

[18:26] Heather Bedor: So it's fantastic. Um said did seem like a huge company with electrical list, yeah, Cheyenne.

[18:33] Amber Brzezinski: And then Olivia says, speaking of which, I wonder when they will announce who will take over for Grant.

[18:37] Heather Bedor: Best in a water for all offense. We have it on good authority that that will probably be within the next week or so.

[18:46] Amber Brzezinski: So we'll let you know. The minute we when the minute we know, we will let you know.

[18:50] Heather Bedor: Yeah, absolutely. What's next? What's next? I'm like hyped up because I'm sitting for the first time because I've been literally sweating my ass off in my apartment trying to just make it look livable.

[19:04] Amber Brzezinski: Again, another cast announcement. More um Romeo and Juliet. Today was a huge day for cast announcements. I think my phone was like 33 too.

[19:19] Heather Bedor: Yeah. Now, how do you follow all of the cast announcements?

[19:24] Amber Brzezinski: Um, I just mostly follow things on Facebook, that's how I get notified.

[19:30] Heather Bedor: Um, I also tend to refresh the Playbill page like every hour just to see if there's any news that I'm missing.

[19:38] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah. I'm also in a couple of Discord servers that pop in some news every now and then.

[19:45] Heather Bedor: Um, I get my Reddit now, like Broadway Reddit is hysterical. Um speaking of announcements, it's a two for one.

[19:54] Amber Brzezinski: Uh we talked about Romeo and Juliet. Did you know that Rachel Zegler was just announced as being the live action Snow White for Disney's live action Snow White, like so amazing.

[20:03] Heather Bedor: So very cool. It'll be really cool to be able to see her portray both of those.

[20:10] Amber Brzezinski: Absolutely.

[20:15] Heather Bedor: So quiet.

[20:16] Amber Brzezinski: I am so quiet.

[20:18] Heather Bedor: I'm looking for my fan rooms. Looking to see what's next on my list.

[20:23] Amber Brzezinski: We got a little bit of uh fur tax. He just walked behind you. It looks like you have a tail coming out of your shoulder.

[20:29] Heather Bedor: Yes, perfect. Everybody, that is Zen Zenjamin for long and um keeping sense.

[20:36] Amber Brzezinski: Yes, he does.

[20:37] Heather Bedor: Yeah, he does. He's climbing on the back of the couch like the cat.

[20:41] Amber Brzezinski: Yes. Um, another show announcement. We have Stranger Things coming to Broadway, which is going to be huge.

[20:53] Heather Bedor: Amber was like, we're making a group, right? And I'm like, yes, Amber. So we have Stranger Things.

[20:57] Amber Brzezinski: And I love it. And you know, I'm kind of gonna throw it out to our viewers right now. I'm a Stranger Things fan. Um, do you think that it's gonna translate well to the stage?

[21:09] Heather Bedor: Um, or do you think it's gonna so like a lot of people were really against like 20 sided tavern because it's Dungeons and Dragons as like a show, and it freaking works so well.

[21:22] Amber Brzezinski: I'm expecting Stranger Things to it's supposed to be a prequel, right?

[21:26] Heather Bedor: I believe so, if I'm not mistaken, yes.

[21:30] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, uh Jeff, no, uh we do not stream any shows without permission. He asked if we stream any uh live 54 Below shows.

[21:42] Heather Bedor: Only if we are invited to do that, but we are gonna stream the D23 panel as soon as we're done making our announcements, right?

[21:51] Amber Brzezinski: Absolutely, and I think that's honestly just about sums it up. So we're just about ready to all right.

[21:58] Heather Bedor: So everybody get your popcorn, go to the potty. Um, this is your one-minute warning.

[22:05] Amber Brzezinski: Um, and then we are gonna watch it's a 10-minute clip, right?

[22:08] Heather Bedor: It's about a 10-minute clip, yes. So keep in mind that it is a little bit of a time, but that's okay, that's what we're all here for.

[22:17] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, do I personally stream? No, um, I like to be somewhere in person for a lot of that stuff.

[22:25] Heather Bedor: I like doing pro shots and streaming pro shots, like what Amber and I did with Bonnie and Clyde.

[22:30] Amber Brzezinski: Um, and then you know, with the new announcement from D23 with Frozen, it's gonna be great. Pro shots are awesome, but streaming cabaret style shows really hasn't been my thing.

[22:40] Heather Bedor: Um, but I'm not opposed to it. I'll do it on occasion, um, especially during COVID. I did it a lot.

[22:46] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, yeah.

[22:48] Heather Bedor: Um I watched Love Never Dies during COVID. And then on PBS.

[22:55] Amber Brzezinski: I just recently watched the miscast show.

[22:58] Heather Bedor: I streamed that, that. That was amazing.

[23:02] Amber Brzezinski: So I'm not opposed to it. If I see something that strikes my fancy.

[23:09] Heather Bedor: Oh, and I just got a notification from Musicals Daily. Here are the musicals coming to Broadway over the next year for the 2024-2025.

[23:16] Amber Brzezinski: And guys, we have a group for every single one of them. Sunset Boulevard, maybe happy ending, a wonderful world, uh, Tammy Faye, Death Becomes Her, Swept Away, Gypsy, Redwood, Boop, The Last Five Years, Old Friends, and Smash.

[23:31] Heather Bedor: So there is a lot. There's so many. That's 12 new shows.

[23:36] Amber Brzezinski: Yes. I'm gonna go broke.

[23:39] Heather Bedor: I'm willing to go broke.

[23:41] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, see, even my phone's like repeating after me.

[23:44] Heather Bedor: All right. So everyone went to the potty. Everyone grabbed their popcorn or their booze, and um, I think we're ready to play, yeah.

[23:51] Amber Brzezinski: All right, and then we will hold questions or comments until afterwards. You guys are more than welcome to comment while it's playing.

[23:57] Heather Bedor: Um, but then we can have like kind of a little QA talk back afterwards.

[24:23] ♪ Musical number: "The Cat from the Pen" — performed by Unknown performer ♪

[27:33] ♪ Musical number ♪

[27:45] Amber Brzezinski: Meanwhile, will be worth my water.

[27:49] Heather Bedor: I will go step to five.

[34:37] Amber Brzezinski: Well, hello there.

[34:40] Heather Bedor: Wow.

[34:43] Amber Brzezinski: So yeah, I think my jaw was dropped. I mean, I was getting live updates from friends that are there, and then, you know, everything was being posted, and we were like, okay, we have a group for this ready, we have a da-da-da-da for any for this, and da-da-da-da-da.

[34:57] Heather Bedor: And then I was very honored to receive this video to be able to play for you guys.

[35:05] Amber Brzezinski: So the announcements that came out of that panel. Uh, Frozen was recorded as a pro shot coming to Disney Plus 2025.

[35:16] Heather Bedor: And that was the West End cast.

[35:19] Amber Brzezinski: Yes, which is totally fine.

[35:21] Heather Bedor: Um, I don't care. It's a great show.

[35:23] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it's a good one.

[35:24] Heather Bedor: No, I think the West End cast was amazing.

[35:26] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, I saw it in previews, I saw it regular run, and I saw it on tour.

[35:30] Heather Bedor: Um, I have the cast exclusive like hoodie that was designed for the costume designer, which is like a limited edition of like 40.

[35:38] Amber Brzezinski: Um, I own it.

[35:39] Heather Bedor: That's that parka.

[35:41] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, yeah, the really thick one with the fur with the I can't wear it here.

[35:45] Heather Bedor: Um, but it's fantastic.

[35:47] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it looks like Kristoff's jacket.

[35:50] Heather Bedor: Uh, so yeah, um, I absolutely love that show.

[35:54] Amber Brzezinski: And you've got The Greatest Showman coming.

[35:56] Heather Bedor: It's been so long, like it's been in the works for a while, guys, and it's been so hard to like not be like, it's coming, it's coming.

[36:04] Amber Brzezinski: Um, they've not only been teasing it um here at Walt Disney World when they do Festival of the Arts um or International Festival of the Arts in January, they do a Disney on Broadway show like every single day of this festival, which is my favorite, and they do a half hour show where they sing songs, and usually they will sing a song from a show that's coming up that people are aware of, like Freaky Friday or High School Musical, they do The Little Mermaid, uh Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, depends on who's here.

[36:32] Heather Bedor: They usually sing a song that they originated.

[36:35] Amber Brzezinski: Um, and then they've been pushing for two years. Greatest Showman songs, and it's like, okay, we know, like we know.

[36:42] Heather Bedor: Come on, come on.

[36:44] Amber Brzezinski: I'm so freaking excited. It's gonna be incredible.

[36:48] Heather Bedor: Um, I love The Greatest Showman.

[36:50] Amber Brzezinski: I love it.

[36:52] Heather Bedor: Do people were like throwing a fix or like, well, that's not the real story, but it's historically accurate based off of a lot of stuff.

[36:59] Amber Brzezinski: But yeah, no, Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron weren't there.

[37:01] Heather Bedor: Like, we know, but it's right, Romeo and Juliet's not accurate either, but we'll just go with that.

[37:09] Amber Brzezinski: It's fantastical, it's based off of reality. It's gonna be incredible.

[37:13] Heather Bedor: And yet another show, the circus.

[37:17] Amber Brzezinski: Right.

[37:18] Heather Bedor: The circus is coming to Broadway.

[37:21] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it's amazing.

[37:23] Heather Bedor: Um, so we got those, and then Hercules is gonna be heading to the West End.

[37:29] Amber Brzezinski: Yes.

[37:30] Heather Bedor: Um, so it's gonna be a lot of fun upcoming Disney on Broadway.

[37:35] Amber Brzezinski: Um, Coco is eventually gonna have an official official announcement.

[37:39] Heather Bedor: Um, we can do like the six degrees of separation to elephants because Hercules with Izzy McCala, who was Meg in the Paper Mill Playhouse, is now in Water for Elephants.

[37:50] Amber Brzezinski: Six degrees of the elephant.

[37:52] Heather Bedor: I love it.

[37:54] Amber Brzezinski: Um, there is another video that shows Susan Egan actually singing, I Won't Say I'm in Love.

[38:00] Heather Bedor: And for him that knows, I love Hercules, and Meg is one of my favorite, like I really really, really, really yes, Chris, a Barnum revival.

[38:08] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, yeah.

[38:09] Heather Bedor: Uh, but I really want to cosplay as Meg, but Susan Egan singing, I Won't Say I'm in Love with the Fates.

[38:15] Amber Brzezinski: Like, come on, I would have died if I was in that room.

[38:19] Heather Bedor: I told myself it doesn't matter, I'm gonna be at next year's D23, whether it's here in Orlando or if it's gonna be back in Anaheim.

[38:25] Amber Brzezinski: They've been trying to alternate.

[38:26] Heather Bedor: Um, just because of panels like this, just because of it. Disney is, you know, getting on somebody's nerves every once in a while.

[38:34] Amber Brzezinski: But Disney is my happy place, and Disney on Broadway is literally combining my two loves.

[38:39] Heather Bedor: Absolutely.

[38:41] Amber Brzezinski: So Olivia's wondering where The Greatest Showman will play in which theater.

[38:44] Heather Bedor: No idea. But you know what? We'll find out when it gets closer to that.

[38:47] Amber Brzezinski: We don't know the scale of the set.

[38:49] Heather Bedor: We don't know if they're gonna do something like Water for Elephants with more puppeteering.

[38:52] Amber Brzezinski: Are they gonna do full-fledged like Kong?

[38:54] Heather Bedor: But we'll find out.

[38:56] Amber Brzezinski: We will find out.

[38:57] Heather Bedor: But there's so much coming, and I think it's just, you know, everyone's like, oh, Broadway is just stuff, it's all IP and it's all this, but that's what's getting people to the theater.

[39:09] Amber Brzezinski: Right.

[39:10] Heather Bedor: Stuff they're familiar with.

[39:12] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[39:12] Heather Bedor: I mean, look, I'm gonna put it out there.

[39:15] Amber Brzezinski: I love Back to the Future on Broadway.

[39:17] Heather Bedor: I do.

[39:18] Amber Brzezinski: It's a comfortable show for me.

[39:19] Heather Bedor: I love the story, I love what they did with the musical aspect of it.

[39:23] Amber Brzezinski: It's a lot of fun.

[39:26] Heather Bedor: But people are like, well, that shouldn't be Broadway, blah blah blah.

[39:29] Amber Brzezinski: Well, why not?

[39:29] Heather Bedor: Well, because it's a movie.

[39:32] Amber Brzezinski: Uh, Grease, Broadway and movie, movie like a lot.

[39:36] Heather Bedor: There's a lot, guys.

[39:37] Amber Brzezinski: I've got hiccups now.

[39:38] Heather Bedor: This is great.

[39:39] Amber Brzezinski: Uh, but it's gonna be, and Olivia, I'm gonna politely disagree.

[39:45] Heather Bedor: It's not gonna be very similar to Water for Elephants because it's gonna be a Disney Broadway.

[39:51] Amber Brzezinski: Um, and Disney always goes way, way more extensive with set design, costume design, and how they're gonna do stuff.

[39:58] Heather Bedor: Because have you ever seen Aladdin?

[40:01] Amber Brzezinski: Just leave it there.

[40:02] Heather Bedor: Yeah.

[40:03] Amber Brzezinski: Um, but Frozen.

[40:06] Heather Bedor: Okay, we're gonna go back to Frozen for a second.

[40:08] Amber Brzezinski: Um, I remember sitting at first preview, and it's gonna sound so stupid.

[40:15] Heather Bedor: For those of you who have not seen Frozen on Broadway, it's stupidly cute.

[40:19] Amber Brzezinski: There's a whole scene in the beds, and then all of a sudden, like they did like this digital mapping with like, you know, Elsa's powers is their kids like around the bed and they're jumping, but then the freaking Olaf doll coming to so much.

[40:33] Heather Bedor: Let me have it.

[40:36] Amber Brzezinski: I still, I'll never understand how she does the costume changes.

[40:41] Heather Bedor: Let it go.

[40:44] Amber Brzezinski: Really?

[40:45] Heather Bedor: No.

[40:46] Amber Brzezinski: Awful.

[40:46] Heather Bedor: Yeah, okay.

[40:47] Amber Brzezinski: I was like, don't ask about it.

[40:50] Heather Bedor: So impressive, but it's so impressive.

[40:52] Amber Brzezinski: It is the whole, the whole ensemble at the end, including Anna.

[40:57] Heather Bedor: Um, and obviously Anna and Elsa, but they freeze at a point too, and like Anna comes back to life.

[41:04] Amber Brzezinski: Spoiler alert.

[41:05] Heather Bedor: Um, but yeah, the costume change for Let It Go is just dramatic.

[41:10] Amber Brzezinski: And seeing Caissie Levy and Patti Murin in those roles, Jelani was, I mean, come on, what a show.

[41:17] Heather Bedor: Um, I'm like literally smacking my hair.

[41:21] Amber Brzezinski: What a show, but it was so lovely, and I'm excited to see the Pro Shot.

[41:27] Heather Bedor: Um, and Frozen was my first show that I saw post-COVID.

[41:33] Selena: It was the first hint of Broadway that I had. It literally was coming to Dr. Phillips Center, which is our big theater here, but it's a Disney, it's also like a Disney sponsored theater, but it's our main theater here in Orlando. And I remember sitting with my mask on, I was second row back. The ticket was like crazy cheap for whatever reason. I had gummy bears because that was like everyone was eating gummy bears. I sat there and the curtain went up and the tears were rolling, and I'm sitting there just still enjoying the show, still knowing what's happening, but just it was such an emotional, like it felt like a part of me was finally back. Um, and I was happy that Frozen was that show. So to have the access to a Pro Shot, yes, please sign me up.

I know it's gonna be amazing. I'm telling you, when I say I'm gonna like rewind and rewatch that dress scene over and over again, just because it blows my mind, it's so good. It's like pulleys and cables and stuff. I mean, it's Disney Magic, it's Disney Magic, but just like the way the set changes at that moment, too. Like it's stunning. Yes, and I've only seen it on tour.

[42:50] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[42:51] Selena: So I haven't even seen it in like a stationary theater where it like has the extra bells and whistles. That's like seeing a Wicked on tour. Like you have Wicked on Broadway, and then you have Wicked on Tour, and they're both amazing.

[43:05] Heather Bedor: I was gonna say that not that there's anything wrong with seeing the tour. But there's just that little extra when you see it in the theater where it makes its home.

[43:16] Selena: Yes, except I mean, there are some shows that are doing pretty well touring. You know, I don't know what our viewers out there what they've enjoyed watching on tour. Um, I've seen Beauty and the Beast on tour because it was a show that hadn't been out in a while. Um, let's see, I'm trying to think of like what I took my mom to Moulin Rouge.

[43:34] Amber Brzezinski: Um great on tour.

[43:39] Selena: Moulin Rouge on tour is great, but I want the big ambiance of it. It felt so small because you don't have the windmill, you don't have the elephant, you don't have a lot of the big set design, you do have a sign. Um, but I wanted more. Um, yeah, but go see shows, see your local shows, see local theaters producing local shows, go see touring shows, support the shows and the performers because without us, they don't have a job. And those performers are the ones who can one day make it to Broadway. Those are some of them have been on Broadway and decided to go on. They start off somewhere, you know what I mean?

[44:19] Heather Bedor: I mean, yeah, yeah.

[44:21] Selena: Well, think about it. Jasmine was on the sixth tour and now she's on Broadway.

[44:26] Amber Brzezinski: Absolutely, and that happens a lot, but you really just never know. You might see an understudy and go, whoa, they're really good. And the next thing you know is they're the actual like lead, like in this big world of Broadway and performers blows my mind. Um, but then you also look at like the crew, the production staff, the pit, like there's so much behind the scenes, and because guys are constantly running. Like, um, you have choreographers that just left one show to go into another show to do another show, and they're doing it within a month. Like, how are you guys doing this? There's so many things you guys just don't see, and we want you to be able to see them or at least appreciate them.

[45:10] Heather Bedor: I agree. It is so impressive. All the inner workings that go into making a show from a thought to a reality.

[45:19] Selena: Yeah, I mean, it's so impressive, and I'm excited for it. I'm a Disney kid, I'm a Broadway kid. Bring it on, bring on the new shit.

[45:30] Amber Brzezinski: Absolutely. All right. What else do we have to discuss? We've got 14 minutes left of our lovely, lovely podcast for a lovely Monday night. It's not raining. Your Wi-Fi is not messing up, my Wi-Fi is not messing up.

[45:44] Heather Bedor: I know. That's pretty much all of our topics. We just had a small list this week.

[45:48] Amber Brzezinski: I was it was a small list, but it was a poignant list because there's a lot of stuff happening. Um, but it's not like chaos yet.

[45:58] Selena: Right. Like we were saying, it was a more like data-filled week.

[45:58] Amber Brzezinski: It was.

[46:03] Selena: Yeah, it was definitely like an upload week of like here's everything that you can expect. It's like getting you ready, like it's like giving you a toolbox to be like, okay, now I know when to plan this trip or when I'm gonna do this, or how I'm gonna go see this.

[46:17] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, absolutely. For sure.

[46:19] Selena: I've already gotten, we've already gotten our tickets for Death Becomes Her for next year, so that's exciting.

[46:28] Amber Brzezinski: Well, we're gonna be seeing it before then too.

[46:30] Selena: But before then, too. But we've gotten some tickets for Death Becomes Her. Um, let's see. Would really like to get a ticket um for oh my gosh, it's on the top Sunset Boulevard and Boop. Those are on my lists. Did I ever tell you my Betty Boop story?

[46:51] Amber Brzezinski: I feel like I did.

[46:53] Selena: No.

[46:54] Amber Brzezinski: So I'm gonna I'll entertain the mask. I feel like I've talked about this before. Um, I was maybe five, six. Um, my uncle had a photography studio in like the mall that was kind of dying. And the mall had an event with Pauline Commander, who is the original artist of Betty Boop. And they have this like McGill Gorilla and all sorts of, you know, craziness. Um, but they had for us kids, they had us do like a walk like Betty Boop contest, and there were different prizes.

[47:30] Selena: So, like, oh I'm sorry, I was six because I can remember seeing the year five to six and painting somewhere. I remember seeing her like with her hand on her hip and out, and they had first prize, which was a signed book with McGillagorilla, and you got a plush, and you got to be like that person, and like the second place was like she drew Betty Boop within a minute, and it's this massive guys. When I'm talking like probably four feet tall, five feet tall, massive, hand-drawn chalk uh uh pastels within like a minute.

[48:06] Amber Brzezinski: So what happened was you had a minute to after she drew it to walk or do your best Betty Boop impression.

[48:15] Selena: So it's a bunch of kids. I remember this boy did it, and he won the McGill Gorilla and the book, and I was really upset because I was like, Oh, I want the plush, it's stuff beautiful. But I won the Betty Boop signed by Pauline Kamander to Heather, and I was at that point, we knew I like talking to the crowds because it said to my favorite MC Heather, and it was like just going on six.

[48:39] Amber Brzezinski: Um that's amazing. I love it.

[48:41] Selena: So that has been like my cherished possession. Um, I've never become obsessed with Betty Boop, like she had a really big like push in the 90s, push to the early 2000s. Um my aunt was, I just never really was like, oh my god. But the history of it is so much fun. So many, but for it to come to the show is really to Broadway is really cool. I will find, I don't know, it now that my house is clean, I don't know where anything is. Um, but like my dad got it like um sealed, like you can get like stuff framed where there's no oxygen, so the paper doesn't get crusty. This thing's massive. Um, so it's cool to see like, you know, I have that history of it, so I'm excited for it. Um, it's gonna be really interesting and unique.

[49:27] Amber Brzezinski: Um, I'm honestly really looking forward to Redwood too.

[49:31] Selena: Uh yeah, that's gonna be an original story. I sat through that quick little panel that you uploaded um when I was at Broadway Con. Um, the way that they're talking about the set design and like the fact that there's no physical trees, but they're literally climbing these redwoods and like up and like while like Idina Menzel is singing. Like, come on. I mean, obviously, she's done Defying Gravity, she can do anything, but damn.

[49:57] Amber Brzezinski: Um, yeah, I'm looking forward to like the revivals, but like there's it's gonna be a hell of a season.

[50:04] Selena: I really expect it really is.

[50:06] Amber Brzezinski: Absolutely. There's some great stuff coming this year.

[50:11] Selena: There is some great stuff coming, and we still have our classics that are gonna be our anchor shows um until knock on wood, they never go away.

[50:19] Amber Brzezinski: Absolutely.

[50:20] Selena: And again, we have shows for all the new groups that are coming. So if you're interested in the show, I mean we have new groups for all the new shows coming.

[50:29] Amber Brzezinski: I do that's exactly what I meant. Um so if you have enjoyed, you know, all the information that you're getting from groups that you're currently in, we have similar groups that we're making for all the new shows that are coming. There's so many.

[50:44] Selena: And you can go right to the broadwayfanclub.com. Again, that will take you directly to our link tree that has every single link. They are in order of largest to smallest. Um, we even have what's coming next season, so you can get in on the ground floor of those groups. Some of them might only have 20 people, but like let's look at Fleet Street. Like Fleet Street, that's what happened in February. The show opened, and then all of a sudden it's in the thousands.

[51:07] Amber Brzezinski: So definitely go visit the Broadway Fan Club.

[51:10] Selena: And then if you wanted to skip going to the website and you feel like buying one of those incredible beaded bracelets that Amber has been busting her up over, you can go to the broadwayfanclub.sy.com. Move those beautiful beans. Push them into the camera. Let's see.

[51:24] Amber Brzezinski: There you go. Do you have any of the new ones on there?

[51:30] Selena: Uh let's see. The newest ones that I just missed.

[51:34] Amber Brzezinski: You just did the Beetlejuice ones.

[51:37] Selena: I feel like they're at the bottom because I just stacked them all.

[51:41] Amber Brzezinski: That's okay.

[51:42] Selena: So you've been working very hard on Beetlejuice. Um, some wicked ones. Uh we've been doing like iHeart series. Um, we've got a lot of cool stuff. So go check out the Etsy shop. Um, we'll also start putting our stickers in there. Um, and then you'll see more of our Shopify merch if you go to our website and see it through our merch location.

[52:04] Amber Brzezinski: Selena, don't even worry about looking for it, they'll just go right to the link to it.

[52:09] Selena: Zen ate it.

[52:11] Amber Brzezinski: Probably.

[52:12] Selena: I thought he ate one the other day, but I found it.

[52:16] Amber Brzezinski: He looked at you like endless.

[52:17] Selena: I thought he ate the Miss Argentina, but I found it.

[52:21] Amber Brzezinski: Show everybody the Miss Argentina one.

[52:24] Selena: The Miss Argentina one. You when you put it on, you get Miss Argentina scars on your wrists.

[52:32] Amber Brzezinski: My goodness, so creative.

[52:35] Selena: Cheyenne says, speaking of who's going to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Hi, that'd be me. Um, I'm gonna buy it.

[52:40] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, I will absolutely be going to see Beetlejuice.

[52:43] Selena: But that's why we're like, we will embrace our fellow Netherlings and our fellow Broadway fans of Beetlejuice because everyone needs a good Beetlejuice merch to go to. And we're gonna need a lot of requests for Ride the Cyclone, which is cool.

[52:57] Amber Brzezinski: So many ride requests for Ride the Cyclone.

[53:00] Selena: That's like one of our most popular sellers. We have a set that says it's not a game, it's just a ride, and that is like our biggest seller.

[53:09] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it's awesome.

[53:11] Selena: So go support the Broadway Fan Club. What does it mean when you spend money on our Etsy shop? It means that we can buy things for giveaways, it means that we can pay for StreamYard Studio, which is this thing that you're viewing us on now. Uh, it means that we can pay people to produce our merch, like our stickers, our t-shirts, um, all the other fun things coming.

[53:32] Amber Brzezinski: So um, definitely keep an eye on everything. Check on our website again. So, again, if you want to go to our Etsy shop, it's the Broadwayfanclub.sc.com. Or if you want to go check out everything, it is the broadwayfanclub.com. Make sure you put in the Broadway Fan Club, otherwise you will get a very different kind of website.

[53:52] Selena: But I think we'll leave it. I think we pushed a lot of info.

[53:55] Amber Brzezinski: It's a lot of info pushing.

[53:57] Selena: We were like Broadway drug dealers of sorts.

[54:00] Amber Brzezinski: Um, I'm here.

[54:00] Selena: Absolutely. But don't forget to tune in every Monday night. We are here every Monday, 8 p.m. Eastern time. Uh, because when Broadway is dark, we keep that ghost light burning for you. So make sure to tune in, share with your friends.

[54:14] Amber Brzezinski: Uh, we've got a lot more stuff coming up, but we want to make sure that you guys oh, and there's the fur tax again. Zen says go visit the broadwayfanclub.com.

[54:25] Selena: Thanks, Zen. You're such a great spokesmodel.

[54:28] Amber Brzezinski: Uh we hope that everybody has a wonderful start to their week. Maybe you learn something new, you're excited for new shows, and stay tuned. Also go ahead and make sure you join those groups that you love so much.

[54:39] Selena: Uh, because it takes fans like you to keep those communities running. Um, so we will virtually pet Zen every time that you like our groups.

[54:43] Amber Brzezinski: Yep.

[54:49] Selena: Oh, somebody's like the group.

[54:50] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, okay.

[54:51] Selena: Wait.

[54:51] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, so oh, so oh yeah.

[54:54] Selena: He loves getting loved.

[54:57] Amber Brzezinski: Uh if you if you want Zen to keep getting loved and pets um like he does, uh please go ahead and follow our website down the rabbit hole to your favorite groups communities.

[55:10] Selena: Uh, we will see you guys next week.

[55:13] Amber Brzezinski: And uh ciao for now.

[55:15] Selena: Bye bye.

[55:17] Amber Brzezinski: We'll see you next week.

[55:18] Selena: Yeah, bye.