This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:21] Heather Bedor: Well, hello there. Happy Monday.

[0:24] Amber Brzezinski: Hi. Happy Monday.

[0:25] Heather Bedor: We are joined by a third. I love this. So this is great. Tomas, how are you?

[0:29] Tomas Constanza: I am doing well now. Um, you know, I'm in LA, so the fires have been pretty crazy all week. Um, and um, it's not over yet, but I think I'm in the clear as far as evacuation. So I'm doing okay today.

[0:44] Amber Brzezinski: We are keeping our hopes up for you. As you guys can tell, I'm sick again. So when I go on mute, Amber will talk and go, Amber.

[0:51] Heather Bedor: Oh man, you're putting me on the spot. As you guys know, I'm doing my thing. So if I look really weird, it's because I'm sharing to all of all of our bazillions of groups that we have. So if you're getting our notification, hey everyone. Welcome.

[1:06] Amber Brzezinski: Yes.

[1:08] Heather Bedor: Oh my god. I hate being sick, especially when we have a special guest um who technically is somebody else chased out at the stage door to go get. Tomas, do you want to introduce yourself to our followers?

[1:18] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, sure. My name is Tomas Constanza. I am the co-creator and uh general partner producer for Drag: The Musical. Uh now on Off Broadway at New World Stages in New York City.

[1:34] Amber Brzezinski: And also like, go ahead and pimp yourself out a little bit more. You can tell them your who you are because you've got the most amazing background. I'm so jealous.

[1:42] Tomas Constanza: I uh, you're actually a rock star.

[1:45] Heather Bedor: That's the cool.

[1:46] Tomas Constanza: I used to be.

[1:48] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, I was in a band in the uh in the early 2000s called Diffuser. I toured the world. Um, I um, I pretty much I am still, but I was originally a uh a music producer, songwriter um from New York, and I moved out to LA about 17 years ago after I left the band that I was in. Um, and yeah, so I got out, you know, I got out here and I started working on pop music and I have a recording studio with three rooms in it called Killingsworth Recording Company. I have a, you know, a bunch of people that work for me, songwriters, arrangers, um, producers, and um, yeah, I've sold a few records as a producer. Uh but yeah, so now I'm pretty much I guess more in the musical theater world. Um, but yeah, that's pretty much about it. Um, don't you hate talking about yourself?

[2:40] Amber Brzezinski: I'm so happy to have you in the musical theater world.

[2:43] Tomas Constanza: Oh, a bajillion percent. And you're bringing such a unique and powerful and important story to the masses. On top, I mean I think that comes from your musical background of being a professional musician, you're able to translate that to the stage, which is so cool, and we cannot wait to go into all of that right after our Broadway news.

[3:04] Heather Bedor: So you guys know how this works. If you don't know how it works in the Broadway Fan Club podcast, we're gonna go over some Broadway news that either I throw at Amber and she reads because I'm dying, or Amber researches, and it's great. And then we'll have a round table discussion. Uh Tomas, as always, it's just like hanging out on the couch and talking to your friends. Um, cursing is allowed, and questions are talking about and yeah, oh, I curse like a sailor. My dad was in the Navy, so I'm allowed to. Um, let's do it.

[3:31] Amber Brzezinski: And we have some of our regulars sitting in chats already. Um, so guys, if there's any questions that you have um or anything nice to say, because you know you don't want to say not nice things, um, please put that in the comment section. We'll make sure to try to get to you guys as soon as possible. But yeah, let's rock with some news and talk some Broadway. And as Tomas posted on social media, we're not gonna talk about Wicked, even though it's kind of kind of kind of part of your show of sorts through a part of my show.

[3:59] Tomas Constanza: Well, and being part of your crew might have helped a little bit with Wicked.

[4:05] Heather Bedor: Okay. Just I mean, a little bit, but we won't we won't talk about Wicked. We don't have time. I have nothing against it, just a little oversaturated at the moment.

[4:12] Tomas Constanza: That's a little over it's been a little oversaturated for like the last year and a half.

[4:17] Heather Bedor: Yeah, it's giving me a cavity, but it's okay. We can talk about it if you like. I'll just keep my mouth shut. We're not here, we're here to talk about Drag: The Musical and Broadway news.

[4:25] Amber Brzezinski: All right, Amber. You bring in the news.

[4:28] Heather Bedor: Speaking of Drag: The Musical and some comings and goings, we've had some comings and some goings.

[4:35] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, we have had our dear friend and co-creator of the show, Alaska Thunderfuck, played her final performance as Queen Kitty Galloway yesterday. And today, Jimbo joins the music as the new queen of the cat house. So that's pretty exciting. I posted Jimbo posted a little picture in her story. So I posted a little sneak peek in our group. If anyone's like, ooh, I'm dying to see.

[5:05] Tomas Constanza: Oh my god.

[5:06] Amber Brzezinski: Well, and Jimbo is posting like a couple of clips here and there, and I'm just going, oh, the voice, everything is perfect. Yeah, I can't wait to see. I'm hoping that we get to go see the show either in a couple of weeks. We're gonna see it again. We'll see it in like a couple of weeks.

[5:19] Tomas Constanza: Well, I'm hoping we're either gonna see it in a couple of weeks or in like a couple of couple of weeks.

[5:24] Amber Brzezinski: Because I'm gonna go back.

[5:26] Tomas Constanza: Yeah. Um, but Tomas, you'll laugh at this. I asked Amber the other night, and for those of you who have not seen the show, it's kind of like Romeo and Juliet of sorts, where you have two houses. Um, but you Amber said you're cat house.

[5:40] Amber Brzezinski: I am cat house, and I'm fish tank.

[5:43] Tomas Constanza: I uh, uh, I cannot say myself.

[5:50] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, I am neutral.

[5:52] Tomas Constanza: His own house.

[5:53] Amber Brzezinski: He is in the band, the band pit.

[5:55] Tomas Constanza: I am in the garage.

[5:57] Heather Bedor: Now is your hair still neon pink?

[5:59] Tomas Constanza: Uh no, when it's so funny because my phone, I guess we're alive now, right?

[6:04] Heather Bedor: Yeah, oh yeah.

[6:05] Tomas Constanza: Oh yeah, my phone is blowing up. Everyone's like, what's up with the beard? You look like a salty dog.

[6:10] Tomas Constanza: So I've never had a beard in my life. Um, and I so I got here, and I'm also in um, this is writing phase because I have another show that I'm currently uh involved in with Spencer Lift called Zodiac, and we are in hardcore writing zone. Oh but yeah, I've never had a beard in my life. So and when I got into the show, I guess in August, when I got to New York, I was sort of like, you know, have ash blonde hair. I'm like almost fully white. That's what five months of producing an off-Broadway show does to you. So after the show, the day I got home, I shaved my head.

[6:47] Heather Bedor: Show everyone at home.

[6:50] Tomas Constanza: Whoa. I shaved my head. It is gone, y'all. Gone. It's gone. Um, so now I'm gonna grow it back, and then when it grows back, and then we go to the UK, I'm gonna have to once again go pink, shave the beard, and be uh, you know, 35 year old Tomas.

[7:07] Amber Brzezinski: But from someone with pink hair at 36 years old, I think it's a good look.

[7:13] Tomas Constanza: For someone who I love it. But as you know, it's a pain in the ass because you have to it is with me. I was coloring it every five days.

[7:20] Heather Bedor: Oh my god.

[7:21] Tomas Constanza: That's why it looks so saturated. But the reason why it was taking so much is because I'm literally like white now. My hair is white. I aged like a million years in five months. So it was easier. Um, but the best part is it also glowed in the black light in the vampit. So like you just see neon pink.

[7:38] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, and neon I'm thinking maybe go blue next time. I could do something.

[7:42] Tomas Constanza: I think it's a zodiac, maybe I'll do something crazy.

[7:44] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, or you could do like green to black, a little bit Billy Eilish and—

[7:50] Tomas Constanza: Yes.

[7:51] Tomas Constanza: But I feel so liberated. I feel so liberated. I'm letting Gandalf. What's up?

[7:56] Heather Bedor: You don't feel naked on top of your head.

[7:57] Tomas Constanza: I do, I do. But um, my goal is uh, you know, I'm in I'm in writing zone, so I just like I get into it, I'm letting my gr letting it grow. You know, I want to be Gandalf, and then I'm gonna shave it off when I have to.

[8:10] Amber Brzezinski: I love it.

[8:11] Tomas Constanza: Shave off the gray.

[8:12] Heather Bedor: Are you gonna like just straight down to your belly, just like the big long beard?

[8:15] Tomas Constanza: As far as I can go.

[8:17] Amber Brzezinski: I'm loving it.

[8:17] Tomas Constanza: Or you can always split it and then put it over your head if you just keep the ball.

[8:21] Tomas Constanza: I could. Totally do that. But um, but yeah, no, the pink, it gets a little annoying after a while. All my sheets are pink, you know, everything I have in my head. My sweatshirts are pink, my hats are pink, everything is pink. So I was like, I need it to be good. And then my actual head was pink for like a week.

[8:42] Amber Brzezinski: Oh my god.

[8:43] Tomas Constanza: Yeah. I think you yeah, pink is good, but go with like purple or blue. Like go down the tools.

[8:48] Amber Brzezinski: I'm purple on this side, so I'm big with the purple also.

[8:55] Tomas Constanza: I love it. Yeah, my phone is blowing. Everyone's like, holy shit, dude. Your hair.

[8:59] Heather Bedor: Well, I have no hair, but my beard.

[9:02] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, holy shit, your beard. Look at that. This is like two weeks worth of beard. And uh, yeah, I feel wonderful. It's like no shave November, but in January, so everyone, everyone embrace it.

[9:16] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, embrace it, and then it'll be gone.

[9:19] Tomas Constanza: Don't worry. It will be. I will look 20 years younger in three months when I shave it and color my hair again.

[9:25] Heather Bedor: There you go. So you guys have three months to give them shit, and then you'll be good.

[9:30] Amber Brzezinski: I love it. All right, Amber, what's our next topic?

[9:35] Heather Bedor: Well, same topic, just different show. We have Maya Rafika, Jordan Fisher, and Philip Boygan all taking their friends bow in Hadestown yesterday. People were losing their minds because Jordan was actually out and doing stage tour.

[9:45] Amber Brzezinski: Losing their minds.

[9:51] Heather Bedor: Um, they will be superseded by Haley Kilgore from Once on This Island, Carlos Valdez, who's known from The Flash, and Tony Nominee, Tom Hewitt will be rejoining the company as Hades.

[10:05] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, it's so now they also just announced that beginning in February, Daniel Breaker and freaking Merle Dandridge will be joining.

[10:17] Tomas Constanza: Is that like Bob freaking Maggie?

[10:19] Amber Brzezinski: But it's like Bob freaking Maggie.

[10:22] Tomas Constanza: Fair enough.

[10:23] Amber Brzezinski: Um, that's pretty exciting. So they're having lots of Once on This Island um cast joining Hadestown. That'll be very interesting.

[10:34] Heather Bedor: The uproar, and I don't know, Tomas, if you've seen this, but so many people on the cast are hinting at a pro shot.

[10:43] Tomas Constanza: Of course they are, because why else would they have disassembled all of the UK it's better to shoot a pro shot?

[10:54] Amber Brzezinski: I don't know. Right. We shall see. I don't know, but I'm happy to speculate. Um, love us in Hadestown, so it's great.

[11:03] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, my second favorite musical of all time.

[11:05] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, what's your first?

[11:08] Tomas Constanza: Um, oh, it's tough. Uh, I would say um, I mean, can we go old school?

[11:15] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, of course.

[11:16] Tomas Constanza: I'll let you do this. Top five musicals or Broadway shows of all time or off Broadway.

[11:20] Amber Brzezinski: Okay, so I have a question for you. I mean, I know we're doing the news right now, but do musical movies count?

[11:28] Tomas Constanza: Yeah.

[11:29] Amber Brzezinski: Okay, so because I this is how Broadway news on us works. We just go off topic all the time. This is great.

[11:35] Tomas Constanza: Right. So yeah. This is our show.

[11:37] Amber Brzezinski: This is well, it's your show.

[11:38] Tomas Constanza: Eight years old, um, maybe six, seven, I don't even know. Um, I watched Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory with my mom.

[11:47] Amber Brzezinski: Okay.

[11:47] Tomas Constanza: And I was like, why is this I mean, yeah, the story's amazing, right? The book is great, Roald Dahl's great. Um, but I was like, what's up with like the music? Like it just felt really good. And it was interesting because in that same year, um, I saw Grease for the first time. Um, and I was like, wow, this is pretty amazing. And then my brother turned me on to Rocky Horror.

[12:04] Tomas Constanza: And I was like, what is so cool about all these three things? Um, and then I'll go for a deep cut, and this is a good one. I want if you guys know this one, I'd be very impressed. Have you ever seen the movie Bugsy Malone?

[12:24] Amber Brzezinski: Yes.

[12:26] Tomas Constanza: Remember? Oh my god. You fail. It is the best musical. Well, not really, but it's one of my favorites. Um, Paul Williams wrote the score, but it's a wonderful movie musical anyway. So that again I saw that year, and I started to figure out like wow, musical theater is pretty cool, the music is so melodic, everything just works great together.

[12:51] Amber Brzezinski: So, as far as my favorite musical of all time, I would probably say Rocky Horror, but also it's like but it is kind of Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory, but Hadestown is a motherfucker, it's a motherfucker.

[13:03] Tomas Constanza: And I still love when like and we're not gonna know spoilers here, but at the very end of the show, and you have the gasps in the crowd. Um, we talked about it last week in the show, but somebody was like, oh shit, fuck, oh my god, oh my god, I'm so sorry, because they were the only ones that were freaking out about it. But like I love that greatology, and I love Base of Hadestown. I was fortunate enough to see it with the original cast. Um, I know some of the original cast, I know some of the cast now. Um, and it will continue to do so well because it's a great way to educate and entertain, but the music is gorgeous.

[13:41] Amber Brzezinski: But also, I think both Amber and I, and Amber correct me if I'm wrong, definitely Rocky Horror fans, clearly.

[13:47] Heather Bedor: Huge Rocky Horror fans.

[13:48] Tomas Constanza: I love that. I was Magenta um in a shadow cast here in Orlando for six years, and we're just Columbia stuff. I just dress up as Columbia when I go see it, so which is fantastic, and um I love Roald Dahl. I love Charlie and Talkback, Lady Willy Wonka, like I love it. I I mean, I was um an a baby of the eighties and grew up in the 90s, but I was raised right with all the musicals and I performed as Sandy in Grease. So you kind of hit all of the like tops, which is great.

[14:19] Amber Brzezinski: Love that. Yeah, and it's you know, I get a lot of shit from people just like, dude, you don't love like Phantom, or just you don't love like Gypsy, and it's just like I don't I'm just not a super big fan of traditional musical theater where it's like a six minute song and there's dialogue and there's or they're singing every word.

[14:36] Tomas Constanza: It's just not my thing. I just I like pop music and I like hooks and I like, you know, I always wondered going to see a like Phantom. I mean I love all of it. I love Phantom, but I couldn't sing back anything. I couldn't like I couldn't remember anything. It's why I love Six so much. I think it's catchy and it's really doing a pro shot today with the original cast, yeah. Yeah, which is great. Um but yeah, so I just feel like that's where musical theater is going is a more universal style appeal musically. Um it's almost like jukebox music like Drag: The Musical is pretty much like a jukebox musical because it's so but that's just how we like it. Alaska, Ashley and I just like pop songs. Um and people singing them when they leave. Um but with that you do have to make the book work harder.

[15:28] Amber Brzezinski: So Oh, of course.

[15:29] Tomas Constanza: Well, and here's the thing too, and like I don't know if you're gonna take this as a compliment or not. Sitting in this first off, I was very fortunate. I got a ticket off of TDF. I was like second row center, like right in front of the runway, looking at the set design, I'm just like, this is gorgeous. And the minute like the band's out and everything's happening, it was very Hedwig and Angry Inch for me. Great. Love that. And I just sat there, like I helped produce a local performance of it. And our mutual friend Ginger Minge was also in a production as Hedwig. Like I loved it. And it was just such a great show. Like one important message, two, great music. Three, memorable music, because Amber can't stop singing it.

It felt like a Rocky Horror cult classic to me when I saw it. Like it felt like one of those, like I wanna like dress up and like how I love you guys how that you do those theme days, because like I want to dress up and go see this show, like with my friends, and like yell things back at certain parts.

[16:39] Amber Brzezinski: Like a lot to appreciate the Queens.

[16:42] Tomas Constanza: Go ahead, I'm sorry.

[16:43] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, no, I mean, we always thought of it as an interactive style show. So when we were we first started writing this, um it was just like, well, what's what's the approach? Like, what's the style? What's the vibe? And everyone was just like, it's gotta be Rocky Horror. Um, as far as just like the foundation of what we want, because you can you kind of need something to keep you on a path, right? So it was just like, okay, let that's that's where we start, and then it obviously evolved. I mean, we all you know love uh like the Sex Pistols and even like Meatloaf, um and when we were musically, that's the style I was thinking, which is like you know, Bat Out of Hell meets you know, the Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks.

Um, and that's sort of like that's that's where we should start, and then it could veer off. I mean, there's a lot of chromatics in the music to make it so it's not predictable as major or minor, which I kind of snagged from Rocky Horror, and even more so, like old Leonard Skynyrd and even old vaudeville. It's just like they live for chromatic scales to make it quirky and circus-y, so it took two years to put that album together because we had a clear idea, but we didn't know how to get there. But those were the foundations to get us where we're at, and I'm proud of it.

[18:01] Amber Brzezinski: It's a strong foundation.

[18:02] Tomas Constanza: I mean, you've accomplished that. Like everything you're saying, I'm like, nope, yeah, no, that makes sense because you are at that point. The music is catchy, but it's not too much where you're like, oh my god, I don't listen to the song. You know, like certain songs that are on the radio right now. Um but there's there's so many things that like I want to go back again and again to enjoy this aspect of the show and this aspect of, you know, this part of song. Like, there's so many things. Even I mean, I could talk all day about the costuming because my eyes didn't stop looking at it. But sure, I mean I need to go back just to see those costumes again alone.

[18:40] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, there's three. Yeah, and when you know, I mean, when we start once again, when we first started working on it, I mean, we there was never even a moment where we thought anyone else but Marco, I mean, we didn't even think about any, it's just like he's the only one that could really do it, and we were so lucky to get him. We never thought he would he would do it, but um, yeah, he's in a different world. Um, and the wigs too. It's just it's oh my god, gorgeous all came together. It it's it's it's such a perfect formula because it's not cookie cutter, but it's it's developing this like cult like following, at least from what we're seeing, not only in our groups, but you know, talking to people at the stage door.

Um, when I had the opportunity to do that, and Amber um had gone like what three weeks before that, and had me because we we have like our Broadway fan club um bracelets, and Amber made bracelets for most of the cast um that was able to come out, and it's just it's such a different kind of vibe. Like I love stage drawing to enjoy the experience of others and listen to the conversations and be able to thank the performers or you know, have great interactions, like that's how we officially met. Um, but it's so important because it's that sense of community all over again.

[19:57] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, and that sense of community is sort of what drove me into musical theater. And now that I'm gone, I miss that. I miss the camaraderie and I miss seeing everyone's faces every day. And I said it when on the last day I was there, I was talking to Nick Adams, and I remember clearly uh two years ago when we were in our first run. Uh we were hanging out together, we were going through everything, and I turned to him and I said, You know, I think I want to do this for the rest of my life. And he's like, You got the bug. He's like, and you'll never be able to go back. But mostly, yeah, it's the moving, it's first of all, it's challenging. But um, I love the moving parts. I mean, it definitely ages you.

It's it's hard. Um, but I just miss seeing everybody every day and sharing those memories because every day is a different memory. It's just like you don't know what's gonna happen, what's gonna go wrong, and it's exciting and it's fun. I'm feeling like sort of you know, a little sad right now that I'm not there. I'm just still trying to adjust. Um, I'm glad I'm I'm in Los Angeles, but I do miss it for sure.

[20:57] Tomas Constanza: Right. Well, you definitely have the bug, and it's not gonna be the last time you're gonna be doing an incredible show anymore. I'm sure of it.

[21:03] Amber Brzezinski: And then some, you're just gonna take over the world.

[21:05] Tomas Constanza: That's that's the uh that's the idea. Um I'm I'm working on it. Um, but yeah, I think you know, as far as like my music production career, right it's just after doing something like this like Drag: The Musical getting it to New York and building it over the past eight years. Um it's just hard to go back to what I was doing for two decades. Um so yeah I mean we'll we'll see what happens next but I think as far as Drag: The Musical is concerned but you know we want to stay in New York right now and you know hopefully go to the UK we're in talks right now and movie and TV show and all that um because this this is bigger than all of us and we all know it and we never intended it to be that way you know when we sat down Ashley Alaska and I were just like let's just we all were ready for a different challenge in our lives. We're like let's just try to do it like let's see what happens and that's why it also took us so long but it evolved and um it is now bigger than all of us and it's it's wonderful to see man.

[22:04] Amber Brzezinski: It's really cool too because and you can tell that you're humble and you're modest about it because you're like we worked really hard and like wow we got here but like that's that's already crazy but like now we're gonna try to do this like you're there and like when you have that kind of like triad of you know a crew or a family that you're working with and then you're putting it out to the world people see that just know that people are seeing that hard work behind it. It's not like you just plucked it out of somewhere in the middle of the air and just threw it on the stage. There's a lot of effort there's a lot of reasons behind everything and I think it it speaks volumes whether or not you hear them but you definitely will see some of them.

[22:44] Tomas Constanza: Yeah I mean, and what's interesting is you know, being in the band, I um being in the garage and seeing the crowd every night, just I would just focus on the faces of these people coming to the shows and it would just fill my heart with so much joy. And if I was having a shitty day, or if something went wrong, or whatever it may be, just seeing these people genuinely love the show, um, when they were crying or laughing, it just it made me feel so great, and I was just like, Well, this is why we do it. Um, I'm glad I had that in my life. And uh that's what I think also what I miss is seeing the the audience and chatting with the crowd afterwards. I don't know, Amber and I will just live stream me from the show when we see it and then still be like, alright, everybody say hi.

[23:32] Amber Brzezinski: Well just in the garage, right, Amber?

[23:35] Tomas Constanza: I mean I can play the flute and the piano, a little bit of guitar. I'm actually that's fine. Getting live updates from the crew cast and the the band as we're doing because it's Jimbo's first night. And um Yeah, this is great. They're there I mean I I always knew that Jimbo would be a great addition and people are loving it. So I can't wait to see it myself. Don't know when, but hopefully soon.

[24:00] Amber Brzezinski: You'll see it soon.

[24:02] Tomas Constanza: But that's awesome.

[24:03] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, I mean, and it's good that you're giving those updates because that means that things are going good. Because I don't know, I'd be a little scared if I wasn't getting updates when there's a new person in.

[24:11] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, and I am I'm a Virgo, so it's just like I am always just like, What the hell is going on? Notice So yeah, I mean the whole day today was just you know, getting ready because Jimbo just flew in from uh UK Dragcon, yeah. And it's just amazing how he's just going right to the you know, the theater and just getting ready and I love that excitement.

[24:32] Amber Brzezinski: How long was the rehearsal to work him in?

[24:35] Tomas Constanza: You know what? I don't even know. Uh I think it was maybe like a week and a half.

[24:42] Amber Brzezinski: Wow.

[24:42] Tomas Constanza: Um, I was gonna say, I feel like I posted a photo on the plane going into the first rehearsal, and it was about a week ago.

[24:51] Amber Brzezinski: Yes.

[24:52] Tomas Constanza: Um deep dive down into stuff, and I'm like, how did you find it? I love it. I love that. It's great.

[24:59] Amber Brzezinski: Do we have any more Broadway news going on, Amber?

[25:02] Amber Brzezinski: We do. Also, Emily in the comments is going to see the show on Monday night. We hope you enjoyed the show, Emily.

[25:10] Tomas Constanza: Oh, I love that.

[25:11] Amber Brzezinski: Um, so it's next Monday.

[25:12] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, Monday nights are great too because it's uh Broadway is dark, so we get a lot of you know, interesting people will come out on those on those evenings, and we love it.

[25:23] Amber Brzezinski: Mondays were great.

[25:25] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, that's why we do our podcasts on Monday nights because literally our tagline is when Broadway is dark, we keep the ghost light burning.

[25:32] Amber Brzezinski: Love that because everyone needs Broadway, like at least us. We're like theater 24-7.

[25:38] Tomas Constanza: So sure, why not? Um I love that. I love it. Very cool.

[25:42] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah. So all right, what's next in the news, ma'am?

[25:46] Tomas Constanza: Um, more cast changes to last week for Jeremy Jordan and Gatsby. He will be playing his final performance on the 19th, and then our good friend Ryan McCartan will be coming in as the new Jay Gatsby. He's a good friend, like we actually know him. It's cute.

[26:02] Amber Brzezinski: Um, his mom is his mom is in the group. We're good friends.

[26:07] Tomas Constanza: Yes, and Jeremy Jordan's grandmother is Jeremy Jordan, and she's sweet. Um, but yeah, I I love it. We we really like our goal is to just cultivate these communities where people feel comfortable enough to be able to shout from the rooftops about their loved ones being in shows. We have you know, have your cast join it. I mean, nobody harasses people if they do, they're out um just plain and simple but yeah and you won't be seeing Jeremy Jordan for like what maybe a month and a half two months and then he'll be in Floyd Collins which will be awesome Floyd Collins yes yep wow um we also have Stereophonic who played its final show on the 12th it has a West End production um on the sites with a US tour also scheduled to begin in October they did not do a closing night speech they did not do a closing night speech um we have a lot of drama behind it so that's why they peacefully wait.

[26:27] Amber Brzezinski: There was drama behind it how behind Stereophonic I I went to the first preview the first night it opened um and I yeah I I really loved it but the first act is long oh a hundred percent um there is speculation of somebody stating that they stole the entire show from them.

[26:27] Tomas Constanza: Oh shit yeah that came out what like two months ago Amber I believe so and then so I heard wasn't it like a producer someone that produced Fleetwood Mac or something like that. Is that the guy?

[27:39] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah yes oh shit yeah so it's not good no I mean but the show I mean look they won a Tony they won multiple Tonys yeah and but it just kind of plummeted sales and unfortunately in this industry if there's like a rumor that seems to be true people seem to listen to it and we do our best to fight them, you know, and and stand up for what we know.

[28:03] Tomas Constanza: Um, I mean, everyone's got to be a good thing.

[28:04] Amber Brzezinski: So hold on. So people, so just the fact that I don't I don't know the guy's name, but he came out and sales are plummeting because he just made the accusation.

[28:14] Tomas Constanza: Oh no, man.

[28:16] Amber Brzezinski: Yep.

[28:16] Tomas Constanza: Oh jeez.

[28:17] Amber Brzezinski: I know they were technically a limited run, they kept extending, but they just they ended um just like they they could have extended more if ticket sales were up higher, from what I had read.

[28:29] Tomas Constanza: Oh no.

[28:31] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah. It's you know, I it I said this when we first started doing the Broadway fan club, you know, a little bit under a year ago. I said, When you realize that Broadway is just local theater, just with many more theaters and a lot more divas, like you realize it because you still have all the drama behind it.

[28:52] Tomas Constanza: Oh, I can attest to all of it.

[28:54] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, but yeah, that's the you know what the one thing that I I don't like about the musical theater world. I mean, there are a couple of things, but you know, this is space, space, you don't have to watch okay.

[29:04] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, for the most part, it's great, but that's something that just turned me off a little bit in general. Um, but mostly I love, you know, the musical theater. It has embraced me and Alaska and Ashley, you know, so much because, you know, in the music world, it takes a while to get into that world. Um, you can't just like jump into a room with real songwriters; like you have to work your way up. It takes years, like a hazing period, literally. Yeah, it takes years to get into the big rooms. Yeah, um, but with the thing is the difference is like with musical theater, if you write a piece, it's gonna take three to seven years to get it to off-Broadway or Broadway or anywhere substantial, right?

With songs, I mean, you could get in a room with a bunch of songwriters. You can literally write, produce, mix, and have a song done in six hours. And then it's just, it's kind of transactional. It's like, all right, you do this, your song is done, you move on. With musical theater, that commitment has to be there by everyone involved because it takes years. And there's something really cool about that that I love. That commitment is, it's like perfecting a recipe, like cultivating that, perfecting the recipe and then serving that out on stage.

[30:17] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[30:17] Tomas Constanza: And I will admit, I mean, I'm signed to Concord music group. They have, you know, a great theatrical department, great music department, but they never gave me any inkling that they didn't want to help me pursue this dream of mine. From the moment I went in there, I was like, I have this idea. They were like, you know, whatever we have to do to make it happen. Uh, Victoria Traub, who ran Rogers and Hammerstein over there for years, is my mentor. And if it weren't for her, I, you know, wouldn't be in this position right now. We have one of those instead of Larry Lelly, he's our Yoda.

[30:50] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, and that's awesome.

[30:51] Tomas Constanza: I mean, it's just, it was open arms. I mean, yeah, along the way, I'm not gonna get into it, but we definitely got knocked down by traditionalists, um, which sucked. Uh, you know, you get the, yeah, there's a few people who are like, you'll never get to Broadway and all that shit. And you know, we, it's just like running through brick walls every day. Those are the people you invite to come see the show and be like, hey, what were you saying all those years?

[31:16] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[31:17] Tomas Constanza: Nothing more that I want to do than give the middle fingers at people that said I could never do it. Um, but it hurts after a while when you're diving through brick walls day after day after day after day, and you're just trying your hardest to get there. Um, but you have to do what you have to do, and you have that dream and you have that focus, and it's worth it.

[31:36] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[31:37] Tomas Constanza: And I, I, you almost took the words out of like my brain, and I think Amber and I have talked about this a lot, you know, with the Broadway Fan Club and like our direction that we're wanting to go. You do have like naysayers, or you have people that are really embracing it because they get it, but it's those people that like talk shit, and you're like, oh, okay, bye. And then you move on. It's, uh, in Orlando we call it the time show salute, it's like next. Um, but when you find your people and you find like when you find your people, I think that's the most important part. And I think we're navigating that, you know, you're our people now. Like we get each other, and it's really important to continue to support that from either going to shows or just being a supportive, like, hey, you're doing awesome. Like, I think that's so key.

[32:24] Tomas Constanza: So thank you for bringing that up because it's true, because you do have like the haters out there, and then you realize those haters don't know what they're talking about. And it's all a part of the camaraderie, like the investors, the producers, the cast, the crew, everyone involved, they literally become family. You become close to these people. It is, it's amazing, and that's what I love about it. Everyone has this one belief, this one commitment, and nothing's gonna stop us. And if you do feel like, you know, there will be a couple of days you wake up and you just like, you know what, fuck this. But you have other people that help you through it. Um, and it, you know, in the team and you know, family, friends, and it's, it's truly amazing, man.

I feel so blessed that we're here right now doing what we love. So many other people to acknowledge along the way. Obviously, I mean, my agent, it's just like everyone just is just like, we're gonna make this happen, we're not gonna let it fail. And it's, it's amazing.

[33:16] Amber Brzezinski: Keep the momentum going.

[33:17] Tomas Constanza: I think it's the whole now. How, how we can get into some more about drive. Like we can always do Broadway news, but we've got you here. So why are we gonna, you know?

[33:24] Amber Brzezinski: But, and you know what? I feel like maybe this is a good time to show a video.

[33:28] Tomas Constanza: Um, I have the sizzle reel loaded up. Um, so people that have not seen the show yet or haven't had the opportunity to kind of see the first look. Let me go ahead and pull this up, and then we can talk some more.

[33:50] Amber Brzezinski: All right, Tomas, you can see that, yeah?

[33:53] Tomas Constanza: I can.

[33:54] Amber Brzezinski: Here we go.

[34:51] Tomas Constanza: Oh, so good.

[34:54] Tomas Constanza: Just that little sizzle reel just makes me want to like keep, I just want to go back so badly. I just, we have a very good marketing team called RPM. They put it together. They are insanely great at what they do, and that's another aspect of the team marketing and press and all, it's just so much that goes into getting a show movie.

[35:18] Amber Brzezinski: I love it.

[35:19] Tomas Constanza: We know it, man. We know it. We've got lots of followers and viewers just in the drag um group specifically, and they just love it. And Amber is kind of like the queen of that group because I think in another life Amber was a drag queen.

[35:42] Amber Brzezinski: I think we need to find another name for you.

[35:46] Tomas Constanza: We need something fun.

[35:47] Amber Brzezinski: So Alaska taught me.

[35:49] Tomas Constanza: Alaska taught me how to get your drag name.

[35:51] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, it is? Okay.

[35:53] Tomas Constanza: So it's, oh fuck, the name of the street you grow up.

[35:58] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, the first pet, yeah.

[35:59] Tomas Constanza: First pet.

[36:00] Amber Brzezinski: Right.

[36:00] Tomas Constanza: And then the street you grew up on, and then the last dessert that you ate.

[36:04] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, that's new.

[36:05] Tomas Constanza: Oh, that's new. Okay, wait. So first pet, street you call now. I'm gonna do it. So my first pet was Chicklet. The street I grew up on was Pine Ridge, so Chicklet Pine. Um, and then the last dessert I had was New Zealand ice cream. So that doesn't, I don't, I don't think that works.

[36:30] Amber Brzezinski: I like that one.

[36:30] Tomas Constanza: What about you, Amber? What you got?

[36:32] Amber Brzezinski: My first pet was a boy cat named Thimba. So I guess I would be Simba.

[36:36] Tomas Constanza: We already cathouse anyway, so that's fine.

[36:41] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it fits my house.

[36:44] Tomas Constanza: Um, Louisiana and cinnamon rolls.

[36:50] Amber Brzezinski: I, you know what? That's a really good one.

[36:52] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, so I guess that's it.

[36:54] Amber Brzezinski: Louisiana cinnamon roll is really good.

[36:56] Tomas Constanza: Let me see how cinnamon roll.

[36:57] Amber Brzezinski: I love it.

[36:57] Tomas Constanza: Yeah.

[36:58] Amber Brzezinski: Well, what's your love?

[36:59] Tomas Constanza: I love that. Mine is, well, Sharon Needles gave me mine.

[37:02] Amber Brzezinski: Tanya Hardon.

[37:04] Tomas Constanza: Oh, okay.

[37:05] Amber Brzezinski: That's a good one.

[37:06] Tomas Constanza: Also. Otherwise, I'd be, otherwise I would have been Biscuit Hickory Donut.

[37:09] Amber Brzezinski: And that sucks.

[37:11] Tomas Constanza: Yeah.

[37:12] Amber Brzezinski: So yours sucks like mine sucks.

[37:14] Tomas Constanza: All right, cool. Drop yours in the comments, people. If you want to let us know your drag names.

[37:18] Amber Brzezinski: Let us know your drag name.

[37:23] Tomas Constanza: And then when you, if you've seen the show, let us know your house too. It's like Harry Potter.

[37:27] Amber Brzezinski: It's great. What house are you?

[37:29] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, right.

[37:31] Amber Brzezinski: I love it.

[37:32] Tomas Constanza: Um, I'm gonna try to not die over here. Sorry, guys.

[37:35] Amber Brzezinski: So more drag news or more drag news.

[37:37] Tomas Constanza: I wish it was drag news.

[37:40] Amber Brzezinski: Just, uh, theater news.

[37:42] Tomas Constanza: Uh, we had full casting that was announced. Um, so you can check out the full cast announcement in our group, boop, the musical group on fan group on Facebook. Um, we also had Death Becomes Her canceling a couple of performances within the cast due to illness. It has since come back, but I believe they canceled um Wednesday's matinee and Wednesday's evening performance due to illness within the cast.

[38:15] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, cool.

[38:16] Tomas Constanza: So I got what everybody has up in New York down in Florida.

[38:19] Amber Brzezinski: Great.

[38:20] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, apparently.

[38:21] Amber Brzezinski: And Cheyenne has shared her um drag name with us.

[38:26] Tomas Constanza: It's Beats Asia Poinsetta Hershey.

[38:29] Amber Brzezinski: No, I think hers is Asia Poinsetta Hershey.

[38:33] Tomas Constanza: Or Hershey.

[38:36] Amber Brzezinski: That's actually amazing.

[38:38] Tomas Constanza: Asia Poinsetta Hershey, that's amazing.

[38:40] Amber Brzezinski: Oh my gosh.

[38:41] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, I think that's a great drag name.

[38:43] Amber Brzezinski: That's a good one.

[38:44] Tomas Constanza: Oh my god, that's a really good one. See, you would think that I would have a good one. I don't. I think one of them, like one of the ways of doing it, I was like Lynn Sherwood, because it was like middle name and like the community. And I'm like, oh no, that sounds like a porn name, not a drag name.

[39:00] Amber Brzezinski: So that's a little porny.

[39:02] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, a little porn.

[39:03] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[39:06] Tomas Constanza: But um, well, Tomas, you know, you've been telling us about going in. Like what really pushed you guys or you to go, hey, I want to do this. This is what we're gonna bring to the stage.

[39:15] Tomas Constanza: That's an amazing question. Hold on. My phone is, everyone's making fun of my beard.

[39:22] Amber Brzezinski: Oh my god.

[39:23] Tomas Constanza: Okay, make fun of his beard in the comments so we can. You'll never see this. This is gonna last till March and then it's coming off, but I want to be hand off. Um, and the show was going great. I'm actually, I don't know if anyone knows yet, but oh, I think I already said I'm taking live text messages from the cast crew and band. Everything's going great. Um, okay, so I s, you know, I was in a band for a little while, then I became a producer in like 2003. And I was producing a lot of bands on Long Island, and then in 2007 I moved out to LA. Um, and I started working with more in the pop world, like re like pop artists, um, rap artists and so on. And then about 13 years ago, I just didn't like doing it anymore with streaming and so on.

It just, I don't know, I wasn't really, I almost felt like the songwriting process was like speed dating. It's like I do songwriting sessions with people I don't know. After four hours, you jump into another session. It just wasn't fulfilling. So around that time, I started working with uh my friend Kevin Bard, who's another writer on Sony, and he was like, you know, we should just write songs for licensing for TVs, ads, um, uh, commercials, advertising, um, films, blah, blah, blah. It's called the sink sinking, sync world. So I was like, all right, let's try it. Our manager was like, You guys are crazy, no one's gonna care. So for a year we wrote songs that just entailed that focus, and, uh, you know, we didn't really get anything.

Then a year after that, we started to pick up, year after that started to pick up within five years. We became pretty much the biggest duo of writers for that style in the world. We were doing 400 syncs a year. There were a few other people out here doing it in LA, um, Mosella and Tim Myers, and like all these other people, but it was becoming very lucrative. And around that time, 13 years ago, I also got a phone call from David Charpentier, who at the time was representing I think one drag queen, Sharon Needles, and he was like, Look, I want to do a record. Your name keeps coming up. Um, I want to do the first like original album by a drag queen. Um, would you be interested? And I was like, Well, I'm literally the straightest guy in the world.

I grew up listening to like heavy metal, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Slayer, and I know nothing about drag, so I just don't know if I'm your guy. He's like, you know, why don't you at least just call Sharon? So I don't know if you guys are familiar with Sharon. So I call up Sharon. Sharon literally was like, stop being a pussy and just do my record. I want it to sound like Nine Inch Nails meets Marilyn Manson. I was like, Well, this is gonna be interesting. No one knew what we were getting ourselves into. It was a two-month process at my house. That's where I first met Alaska because they were dating. Um, like Jane County was at my house, Amanda Lepore came to my house, like all these like legends.

[42:09] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, it was a constant party.

[42:11] Tomas Constanza: It was still till this day, it was the best experience I ever had making a record in my entire life. So anyway, so we did that record, and then the next record we did was Alaska's, was it Anus the first record?

[42:23] Amber Brzezinski: Yes.

[42:23] Tomas Constanza: And so, well, Sharon's net record went to number three on the Billboard charts. Then we did Alaska's album, it went to number one, and we were like, all right, well, we're on to something. And I was, Ashley was part of that team. Right. Um, so we just then we did Alaska's second album, and then we were doing all these drag albums. We were having these number one Billboard hits. So that all happened like 13 years ago. So about eight years ago, I started to see that the sync world and licensing was starting to get diluted because a lot of the writers in Los Angeles, pretty much all over the country were like, this is a great way to make money because it was, it was, I mean still is, but I started to see it was getting diluted.

A lot of people were gravitating towards it. Because as you can remember, like a decade ago, if Jay-Z or if, you know, Prince got an offer to have one of their songs on a coffee commercial, they'd be, or whatever it may be, they'd be like, no way. But now they're all doing it. It's so lucrative, right?

[43:19] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[43:20] Tomas Constanza: So I was like, I just feel like I needed something else. Um, so every year at that point, I was going back to New York to visit family. I also had a studio in New York, but I would spend a week just seeing shows. So in March of 2016, I'll never forget the last show I saw was Kinky Boots.

[43:37] Tomas Constanza: I walked out of the theater and I thought to myself, like, I think I can do that. But it wasn't just the drag aspect, that's what gave me the idea. I was just like, well, you know, at that point, I mean, it still is massive, but at that point it was gaining so much speed. And I produced all these drag queens. I was very, you know, me and David became very close friends, and I was like, you know, on the work on the plane ride home, I was like, I there's no one else I thought of other than Alaska and Ashley. It's just like we've been writing partners for so many years. Obviously, Alaska has such a great background with musical theater. So I came home, I was like, You guys wanna write a musical?

They were like, Yeah, I think we were all sort of looking for a different challenge in our lives, right? Um, but we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. So we didn't know what we were gonna write about. And I don't remember if I said to them, like, let's write a musical about drag or Alaska was just like, let's write a drag musical. But essentially it took us two months to come up with the idea, and of course it was Alaska, it was just like, let's keep it simple. It's just like two rival drag clubs. It's it'll be money. And we were like, you know what, it's simple, it's fun, let's do it. So we spent um so we didn't know what we were doing. So we're like, let's frame it out with the album first, which you guys have heard.

It's the studio album. Let's frame out every song according to the story, and then we can fill in the blanks, either we'll get someone to write the book, like who cares? So it's I think it took us like a year and a half to write that part, and then it came part time to write the book. And I remember uh talking to my agent, Susan Weaving, and she was just like, you know what, why don't you guys just do it? And we were like, We're never gonna be able to do this. Like, it's just gonna be too hard. So just give it a shot. So we wrote we wrote the book, and then I'll never forget, I got a phone call from Susan. She was like, Look, Tommy Matola from the Dodgers group wants to see it with with Michael David, and they wanna just they want to do a reading.

We were like, All right, this is fantastic. I mean, they were doing the Temptations at the time, the Tina was a Tina Turner musical. They had so much going on. So we flew to New York. At that time, we had Wayne Salento directing the show of Wicked Fame. So You said no Wicked on the show, we're not mentioning it. No, I know. I had to come up. So we had no idea what to expect. So essentially, we're like, let's do a shortened version and we'll play the album as we come across the songs. So we roll into this reading, not knowing that when you have a reading, you have to have like everyone there that's playing a certain character. So it was me, Alaska, Ashley, and Wayne playing like 15 characters.

So there were like 15 people in the room, and we're like trying to read this thing while I'm pressing play. The wrong songs are playing. Oh my god. Like 15 minutes, Michael David was like, guys, like stop. Like we we get it, but this needs a ton of work. Um we like where it's going, but why don't you just release an album for us? Like you've been doing with all your other stuff. And Matola's like, I'll give you 50 grand, just release three songs, let's see how it goes, and then we could talk. So after the show, I mean after the show, after the reading, I remember walking outside, and Victoria Trau of Concord Theatrical turned to me and said that was the absolute worst reading I've ever been to in my life.

But look at the bright side, they actually gave you advice, and it's good. Yeah, I mean, you came out of that, like it's like Shark Tank. You came out of that with money and advice, and you were on your way. Right. Um, well, we we got out of there and we turned down the money. We said, you know what? Let's do it ourselves, let's release an album, we'll get star drag queens, we'll get famous comedians. We had this big idea. Yeah. And um it, yeah, and then we obviously we had to work on the book, and then like I guess like a few weeks later, COVID hit. At that point, Alaska couldn't tour, and we all had nothing to do except get into a room and write. Yeah, so you know, with with the disaster that COVID was, the silver lining was is it gave us a chance to really tweak this book while working on the music.

Um, and it took us two years to put the music together. It took me a year just to actually produce the the actual music to find the right tones, all that stuff, and then took another year to record the vocals, put it together, get everyone involved. Um, and in the meantime, we're writing the book. Um, and it was fun. We were getting together three times a week. We were like getting it together, and in that time we brought in Spencer Lift because Wayne just I don't know if he was working on something else. So we was coming together. So the the record came out and it went to number three on the billboard charts. And then at that point, we were like, okay, we have to do a workshop. And that's when everything really started to work together.

And then we did a workshop of like three days in LA. Um, we had you know, Monet was a part of it, and Juju and Jen and everybody. And then after that, that's when we met the other two producers, um Scott and Matt. And that's when we're like, all right, let's do a real run. And that's when it really started to take off. Right. Um, yeah, I just like rambled the third through all eight years of like everything we went through. But that's and we're still hanging on to that. I'm like, I know I'm fascinated. I'm like, wow, just a lot of people don't realize what work goes in, and you don't even know where it's going at that point. Because you're like, we're gonna do this, we want to do this, but you don't even know if it's gonna get to that point, but you're so diligently working on something because that's where your passion is taking you.

I think that's so commendable. Because like along the way and along the way, we had people obviously the naysayers like, you know, like what are you doing? You're never gonna get the broad. Like I can't even tell you how many times I heard it, but it was kind of like a lot of it was in the music side of things, actually. Yeah. Um, I I mean, I remember talking to someone from Sony one night at a party and was like, all excited, like you know we finish this record and he was like right dude you're never gonna go to Broadway what you just wasted two years of your life like you know drag queens on broad what's never gonna happen and I was crushed for like an instant you know and then I I bounced back pretty quick but I was like holy shit because the the the level of emotions that that are involved in this and getting it to work is just insane.

Um but yeah so that's pretty much how it all started and then you know we did the ro all the sold out runs in LA and then we're gonna go to the UK before New York but just it it wasn't working because the UK I think we're gonna do really great but we're like we at this point in 2024 earlier in the year we did another run. We're like we gotta make a move. Right. Right. There's a lot of momentum here. So yeah we got the offer from Michael Coco and the Schuebrook group to go to New World stages and we were like let's just go. And then we were like but it's gonna cost five point two million. So it's like that's a lot of money. Um but we just put our our heads to the you know heads down and we just right raised the money and it was every day it was just like what are we gonna do now?

And you get so close to like if we don't get like 40 grand by the end of the day we're gonna shut it down and it takes a toll on you. Um it's that belief. Yeah you have to have that belief. Exactly it's it's it takes a very strong individual or group of individuals to be like yeah okay I'm gonna keep doing this though. It just it's it's a lot of strength that a lot of people don't have so it's amazing that you guys do because without that we wouldn't have the show. We wouldn't have so many people working so hard on something to get this great message out too, which is really important. You know, a lot of people are like in our in our group, they're like, is it appropriate for children? Yeah, a hundred percent appropriate for children.

There are some things that might go over their heads, which is totally fine and planned. And Amber can attest to this. Um, the Brendans are all over our pages. They love our group, their parents, like their moms are great. Um, well, because at the end at the end of the day, like what people don't, I mean, they I guess they do understand or they don't understand it. The story is about self-discovery, it's literally about the the journey of self-discovery and acceptance through the art of drag. That's why it's called drag the musical. I remember there was a producer that wanted to come on board, but like you can't call it drag the musical. It's like if you have a a pop musical and you call it pop the musical, it's just like I guess it makes sense, but it is actually it but it's and I know like like K-pop, you know, it was like musical is called K-pop, it's about a style of music, and I guess people are saying that had something to do with you know their failure, but this is this was what the show was about.

It's about the self-discovery through drag. Um, but the Brendan story was sort of a subplot, and then it just rose to the surface so fast. And I think eventually when we do do a movie, the movie's gonna be through the eyes of Brendan. Um because you know, it it's beautiful. Everyone sees themselves in Brendan one way or another, and I think you know, we got lucky with that. We didn't intend that to happen, it just happened through writing and the process, right? So I'm glad that it did. I love it. Now, are any parts of the show taken from personal experiences, or is this like all new material? Um, well, I would say definitely I would say each a lot of these characters we we do throw ourselves into.

I mean, obviously, uh uh Alexis Gilmore, Alaska really brought some personal experiences into that, and I mean, I guess Kitty Galloway is way uh as well. For me, I brought a lot of my experience into Tom Hutchinson, um, Ashley with Dixie, and we all sort of played with it, but um yeah, I think with with Brendan, we both shared our vision of Brendan because when I was growing up, um, you know, my brother turned me on to Kiss when I was very young, and um, I remember playing like Detroit Rock City with like a tennis racket, and you know, Gene Simmons was always wearing these like these massive boots. So I would my mother would have boots, I put the boots on, and I pretend I'm like Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley jumping around.

And then, you know, as this whole process went on, I started to realize like, you know, I grew up listening to Kiss and Alice Cooper, uh Twisted Sister, uh David Bowie, um, and all you know, the New York dolls, right? And they all were dressed in drag. And then like the 80s comes along, and everyone's wearing makeup. I love like rat, Motley Crew, all that stuff. So for me, Brendan's journey is something that I see myself in because he's fulfilling a fantasy of becoming a rock star, right? So at the end, he comes out and he's the rock star. Right. Um, because I never realized it, but Alaska's just like what you bring to the table is you like the gritty side of drag. And I never saw it until like two months ago when Alaska did an interview and was just like, well, Tomas likes the gritty side, but then I sort of like the glamorous side, and that's where we met in the middle.

And it was so brilliant the way that Alaska saw that so clear, and it made me feel so good. I was like, Alaska, thank you. Like, I didn't realize it. But essentially, obviously, Alaska sees Brendan, you know, through the journey of finding out who he is from his perspective. So for for me, you can see it however you want, and that's the beauty of the show. I love it. Now we are at nine o'clock, but I don't want to stop talking. Do you have a couple more minutes? Yeah, yeah. This is, you know, I want to make sure, you know, people, you know, get my my ideas and my thoughts on drag the musical, and I want to share my. I think Amber and I are both single like this. I'm like, go ahead and keep talking.

Yeah. Let's have a question. Oh, yeah, yeah. Is there anything that's like specifically memorable that like hit the cutting room floor, like a song or like a line or anything? [55:14] Tomas Constanza: I mean, I'd say there were a there are a lot of songs that hit the cutting room floor. Like, if you listen to the studio album, you'll see. Um, one of my favorite songs is the accounting song that was sang by Ma Max Von Essen. Uh it's so brilliant, and it's funny because if I have you guys seen um Death Becomes Her yet, yes. You know, there's a song in there that's sort of reminiscent. Oh my god. There's a song in there that's reminiscent of the accounting song. Um that goes that goes into like the plastic surgery and all that, um which I thought was very interesting, but it just didn't work live.

We couldn't do it. But it it's one of my favorite songs for sure. Um Out of My League is another one of my favorite songs that Alaska sings. I mean, the last song on the record, get it on, is so well done. That was sort of like a song where we're just like, I we gotta get something for the last song. Like, like what are we gonna do? And it came together so quick, and we love it so much. Um, but as far as lines, there's there's so many. Um, and I I can't even remember because we've gone through so many different versions of this show. [56:20] Tomas Constanza: I'm sure there's some improv happening on stage as well, maybe possibly. Yeah, I mean, that's yeah, I mean, what they do do a lot of that.

And um, I asked Jan about it recently. I was, you know, because there there will be some nights where the crowd isn't giving back. Um, and you try to you try to make the best of it because if you don't get that energy back, it's really hard to keep it going. When you walk out and people are screaming and they're giving back, like you were saying, Amber, with every word, and it's like a Rocky Horror Picture Show style night. Right. When they don't give that back, you need to find something to keep you going. And Jan's just like, you know, we play games and we try to improvise to keep ourselves on our toes, and sometimes that's how the best stuff happens. Um, so yeah, and and I think they appreciate that we're letting them improvise every night and milk some jokes, some you know, not so much, uh, because it keeps them happy and it's it's more fun.

So, yeah, we we try to do it as much as possible. [57:20] Amber Brzezinski: Well, and you know, that's that's a important lesson for everybody is if you're gonna go see the show, which I know you're all gonna go do again and again and again, bring that energy because they need it. Like you you don't want to just go out there to crickets, you want people to give that feedback because you know it's working and what's not, but bring the energy hoot and holler. Um, like this is not I I'm not calling out anybody on Reddit or any shows on Reddit that I've been reading about. Some people are livid during Death Becomes Her, do it for the gays that people are hooting and hollering, like you're on a drag show, guys.

Guys, go see drag the musical and go hoot and holler, and nobody's gonna give you shit for it. [57:58] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, man. It's especially believe me, the the actors they love that shit. It gives them energy.

[58:09] Tomas Constanza: I mean, that's the Sunday matinees are sometimes really hard.

[58:12] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, I can imagine.

[58:14] Tomas Constanza: And we try and we try to, you know, like sometimes when there's a spot that they should applause and they don't, you know, Alaska will just do something like there is an applause here, and then people will go crazy.

[58:23] Amber Brzezinski: Right.

[58:23] Tomas Constanza: But what I used to do in the garage too, playing in the band, is I used to lead people into clapping or laughing or crying, just so just to it's sort of you know, you know, people would understand it, and that's why when I left, I felt comfortable that it was already in motion. Um, whether it's a certain part where we need a little clap, uh, you know, I would do a little clap, or if I had to yell louder so that people would yell louder, it worked. Um because it's almost like giving people permission to have fun.

[58:54] Amber Brzezinski: That's the way I think Jan actually told me that too.

[58:57] Tomas Constanza: Jan said to me, like, I like the way you're giving people permission, or was it Nick Adams that said that? And I was doing it more and more. Um, I mean, I would be screaming so loud sometimes, like you could literally hear me, you know, with the people in the audience. Um, but it worked, and um, I think right now people are understanding it, and it's it's automatic at this point.

[59:19] Amber Brzezinski: I love that fantastic. It's you need that kind of energy, you're kind of like the tour guide, and you're like, No, it's okay, you have permission to be like loud and crazy and have fun, like not disrespectful, but like right, you know, enough to the point where you're enjoying it, like letting people know it's being enjoyed.

[59:35] Tomas Constanza: Um, is there anything that has happened backstage that's like the thing that you guys all talk about? Like good, funny, any pranks, anything like that.

[59:44] Amber Brzezinski: Well the thing is is that I'm not I'm not backstage, so I'm in the I'm in the garage.

[59:50] Tomas Constanza: So I'm saying pre-show, post-show, or what you've seen.

[59:53] Amber Brzezinski: Well, I would I I would show up five minutes before we would play and literally plug in and play. Um, because I was always so busy.

[1:00:00] Tomas Constanza: Yeah. Um so I you know that's something that I think you know, people in the cast would really understand. But I I do know that every night it was something different going on. I I can't really recall right now, but you know, I remember like one time we were supposed to go on and Laguna couldn't find our mic.

[1:00:20] Amber Brzezinski: Oh and we literally it took 20 minutes to find you know to get the mic on and all that.

[1:00:25] Tomas Constanza: But from the band perspective, I do remember a few occasions where like one we're all in the box, the drums are electric drums, everything's in the box, they call it, so there's no acoustic sounds coming out of the garage. So we're able to really adjust the volume without uh without leakage, um, which is great. But the problem is is that if the drums don't work, you're screwed.

[1:00:48] Amber Brzezinski: And one night we went in and the brain they call it that powers the drums wasn't working.

[1:00:54] Tomas Constanza: And I mean, it was we were literally supposed to go on. Luckily we had a backup, but we had to program the backup um and then re-hook up. So we went on a half hour late that night, but I was scared. I was like, oh my god, we're gonna have to and it was a Saturday night.

[1:01:07] Amber Brzezinski: Um, but generally, you know, from the band perspective, we're always like our we have in ears and they go out all the time. So when they go out, you can't all you hear is like the rubber on the drums. It's terrifying.

[1:01:19] Tomas Constanza: And I'd be on the other side of the stage sometimes, and then Andrew would go out, so it wouldn't be able to hear anything. So I'd just be ringing it. Um, but uh, you know, we we would have fun in there when the garage door would go down you know we did have our our stash of of vodka on the floor that we would do shots from periodically um you know we used to get in trouble for it but it goes along with the whole vibe of the show and um you know we it's another you know I I missed the band the most because that was how I connected with everybody um but yeah it every night it would be something different for sure whatever it may be the projectors going down I remember uh New York magazine came one night to review the show which is a big big deal yeah our projectors our side projectors didn't work and it was like we are gonna get crucified and what also the main compressor on the uh sound didn't work so what a compressor does is it limits all the instruments and all the vocals from going past a certain point so it basically harnesses everything so that people don't go deaf and the compressor went down and we didn't know it and either did the sound engineer so everything had this mid-range like frequency burning through everyone's ears and we couldn't control it and we're just like we're gonna get crucified but then they reviewed us of you know with what highbrow and brilliant and we were like how did that happen so your eyebrow and brilliant clearly it's it's the art of live theater one one night or a couple of nights people passed out from the flashing lights and we had to stop the show.

[1:02:50] Amber Brzezinski: Oh my god um someone went into convulsions one night in the Fabrice seats so yeah you get all that stuff Alaska breaking tables you know and it's a drag and falling over and wigs falling off.

[1:03:02] Tomas Constanza: Like it's it's all a part of the charm of the show.

[1:03:05] Amber Brzezinski: And they always works though.

[1:03:07] Tomas Constanza: It does.

[1:03:07] Amber Brzezinski: And they'll run with it.

[1:03:08] Tomas Constanza: They'll like make jokes about it throughout the whole show. One time in previews, Alaska slammed the door coming in for a scene and the the siding of the door fell onto the stage.

[1:03:19] Amber Brzezinski: And it was like nine feet long and drunk Jerry had to like carry it backstage.

[1:03:24] Tomas Constanza: It was it was super funny. But there are you know that's what I miss about the show is every night it's a different memory. Um it's uh yeah it's really cool.

[1:03:34] Amber Brzezinski: You'll be back soon enough.

[1:03:36] Tomas Constanza: Yeah I am I'm not looking to get back there anytime soon right now. I'm just enjoying getting settled in LA working on my new show and you know just spending quality time here and relaxing a little bit.

[1:03:50] Amber Brzezinski: Well a little bit absolutely um have they ever convinced you to get into drag?

[1:03:56] Tomas Constanza: It's a personal question I have to ask yes um well there's a TV show that's sort of in the works right now for for drag sort of a reality show and I know what one of the skits that they pitched was um I would have to take all the drag queens to a hockey game and we would have fun funnel beers at the hockey game but in return I would have to go to Times Square dressed in drag playing the guitar.

[1:04:20] Amber Brzezinski: Oh my gosh I will Amber will be there.

[1:04:23] Tomas Constanza: We will I'll be there yeah um I don't know man I don't know I don't know we'll see but yeah I mean you know they always mess around with me and it's it's it's lovely.

[1:04:34] Amber Brzezinski: Um yeah it drag queens are like I mean and we all three of us have so many friends that are in that industry too and it's hard and but it's a beautiful thing to see and then to put yourself out every night on a show is really important too.

[1:04:49] Tomas Constanza: Um, what is one thing that you want people to take away from the show?

[1:04:56] Amber Brzezinski: Um it's it's very simple.

[1:04:58] Tomas Constanza: I just want them to be happy. I want them to leave the show happy, and that would be everything for me. You know, drag the musical isn't lame is. It's it's a simple story that is a simple message. I just want people to come and enjoy themselves and leave happy and no intermission, which like some people get a little bit put off. They're like, What do you mean there's no intermission?

[1:05:19] Amber Brzezinski: I think some shows, and I think especially with drag the musical, I think if you stop with an intermission and like you're taking a break, you kind of lose the momentum of a story.

[1:05:28] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, and I you know, look, we we clocked in at 147, 149 before opening night, and now we're at almost two hours because you know we the laughs are so long and there's so many of them, but we have to, I think what we're trying to like get the pacing back down again.

[1:05:45] Amber Brzezinski: But I was nervous about it.

[1:05:46] Tomas Constanza: I was like, oh my god, that's a long time to to have a show running is two hours straight. But then I realized someone told me the other day that lame is the first act is two hours, and then the second is an hour and a half, so it's like they can do it, they can do it.

[1:05:59] Amber Brzezinski: Well, and the new trend is like these 90 minute, like hundred like almost two-hour shows.

[1:06:05] Tomas Constanza: Like you've got six that does it.

[1:06:07] Amber Brzezinski: Um, maybe happy ending doesn't have an intermission.

[1:06:11] Tomas Constanza: Oh, Mary, too.

[1:06:12] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, Mary as well, yeah.

[1:06:13] Tomas Constanza: So you've got like a like a movie length of a show, but it's a show, and then I love the opportunity that it gives you somebody.

[1:06:21] Amber Brzezinski: I I wonder we got an angry face, and I almost know exactly who that is.

[1:06:24] Tomas Constanza: He always tries to give us a thumbs up and he always gives us an angry face.

[1:06:27] Amber Brzezinski: Um, not intentional.

[1:06:29] Tomas Constanza: Uh but it's adorable. But it gives you an opportunity to almost try like we have some members that do three show days.

[1:06:38] Amber Brzezinski: Like when I'm in New York, I do two show days, if not three show days, and I love that because you guys do offer the opportunity that you can catch multiple shows.

[1:06:48] Tomas Constanza: Um I know one of our members had asked earlier if you have any two p.m. matinees.

[1:06:51] Amber Brzezinski: I don't think you guys do.

[1:06:53] Tomas Constanza: You have a Sunday at 3 p.m.

[1:06:54] Amber Brzezinski: What is your actual schedule for the show?

[1:06:57] Tomas Constanza: I think Sunday is a 2 30 and a seven, and then Saturday is a 3 p.m. and an eight. Um yeah, that's just I think for this show that's what we decided on.

[1:07:06] Amber Brzezinski: And you know, I mean, I I give it up to the cast for doing those two show days, especially back to back. It's so brutal.

[1:07:14] Tomas Constanza: I I mean, I'm tired and I'm just playing like bass in the band.

[1:07:17] Amber Brzezinski: I mean, yeah, I'm well, but you don't really get a break though.

[1:07:21] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, it it's but for them to get dressed up in makeup and then do the show and then do the make sure that they're healthy, uh total new respect for everyone.

[1:07:31] Amber Brzezinski: And and I I go way back with most of the cast. I mean, years and years and years, but this is just like next level of the their commitment.

[1:07:40] Tomas Constanza: Um I love all of them and uh yeah, it's pretty amazing what they could do.

[1:07:45] Amber Brzezinski: And the fact that if not all of the cast, but most of the cast is coming out to stage door and so kind with their time and so kind.

[1:07:45] Tomas Constanza: So kind with their time, but just you can tell they're exhausted, but they won't ever let you figure that out.

[1:08:01] Amber Brzezinski: Like just so kind and effervescent.

[1:08:04] Tomas Constanza: I like that word, effervescent.

[1:08:05] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, and they'll and I think they'll always do it because I remember I was I was at a bar recently with Nick Laughlin and I think Jan, and um we were just talking about everything, and you know, it was I think that show was like it was a rough night for some reason, and I was just like, you know, I don't know how you guys can get through a show when no one's giving anything.

[1:08:26] Tomas Constanza: It was like a Sunday matinee, and then the Sunday night was was just awful.

[1:08:31] Amber Brzezinski: And they were just like, we're so grateful to be here that we just find a way through it.

[1:08:35] Tomas Constanza: And I was just like, holy shit, what an amazing way to look at it. Because I mean, obviously, I'm grateful to be here too, but I never looked at it like I'm grateful to be here.

[1:08:44] Amber Brzezinski: And it was great to actually have them explain it to me and realize it because I get so caught up with I'm doing a million things.

[1:08:52] Tomas Constanza: Like producing the show is really hard. I'm a main investor. Uh play in the band, I'm a co-creator. We got press, we got this. Like my day starts at nine in the morning, and sometimes it doesn't end to one in the morning.

[1:09:03] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[1:09:04] Tomas Constanza: Um, and it was really, really hard. It was really, really hard.

[1:09:08] Amber Brzezinski: Um, but it was worth every second of it.

[1:09:11] Tomas Constanza: Which I love.

[1:09:12] Amber Brzezinski: My favorite question to ask people.

[1:09:14] Tomas Constanza: Um I knew it's coming.

[1:09:17] Amber Brzezinski: What is the question that you always wanted to be asked either about yourself or about the show that no one's ever asked, and what is the answer?

[1:09:24] Tomas Constanza: Wait, say that one more time.

[1:09:27] Amber Brzezinski: What is a question that you have always wanted to be asked, whether about yourself or the show, and then what's the answer to that question?

[1:09:37] Tomas Constanza: Did you ever think about quitting?

[1:09:39] Amber Brzezinski: And my responsibility, never.

[1:09:42] Tomas Constanza: That's the first thing that pops into my mind.

[1:09:44] Amber Brzezinski: You've always wanted somebody to ask if you ever thought about quit being quite like.

[1:09:47] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, so I could just literally say never.

[1:09:49] Amber Brzezinski: Um I love that because it's like an obvious question that I'm never asked.

[1:09:52] Tomas Constanza: Um, I don't know.

[1:09:54] Amber Brzezinski: That's just the first thing that popped into my mind.

[1:09:55] Tomas Constanza: No, I I love it.

[1:09:57] Amber Brzezinski: I love it because usually everyone's like about my favorite topping and pizza.

[1:10:01] Tomas Constanza: And I'm like, you know, I I think that speaks volume.

[1:10:04] Amber Brzezinski: Like you you're such a genuine individual, and you really are wearing so many different hats.

[1:10:10] Tomas Constanza: Um, but your momentum of what you guys are trying to accomplish and what you've already accomplished is just awe-inspiring.

[1:10:17] Amber Brzezinski: Um, so that's why it's like you're gonna come on the show, great. You're gonna be on the show. When are you gonna be on the show?

[1:10:20] Tomas Constanza: Because we we are so appreciative of your time.

[1:10:24] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, but I also want people to understand, you know what it really really takes from my perspective because I I I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

[1:10:35] Tomas Constanza: I mean, my lawyer, agent, Concord, they were like, Why are you producing the show? Not only uh as a producer, but you're a general partner, like that alone is a full-time job.

[1:10:45] Amber Brzezinski: And I was just like, Yeah, that's all right.

[1:10:47] Tomas Constanza: It's like I want to keep things rolling, it's okay. And now, you know, I I'm just like, I don't know how I do it.

[1:10:54] Amber Brzezinski: I don't know if I would ever do everything ever uh do it all together ever again because it destroyed my life as far as just functioning on a day-to-day basis, didn't destroy it as far as like it was awful, it just like it just sucks the color out of your life because you're doing so many things, but um now that I'm here I'm starting to realize how lucky I am to be in this predicament and see it and share it with others.

[1:11:22] Tomas Constanza: Uh and I say that now, I said it today. I'm like, I'm never producing another show ever again. I said it, I told Ashley yesterday, I don't think I could ever do it again.

[1:11:30] Amber Brzezinski: But then again, but show your producing inside of me.

[1:11:33] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, there's a fire inside of me that's just wants to get these shows to stage because I think I have a lot to say and I want to share some of my thoughts with the world, and I don't know, it's cheesy, but it's true.

[1:11:46] Amber Brzezinski: No, I don't think it's cheesy. I think it's honest.

[1:11:48] Tomas Constanza: Um, you're not saying anything just to get a response, you're being honest about it, which I think is so important, and also like doing so many different things at the same time.

[1:11:57] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah, you might not want to do eight things at the same time next time.

[1:12:00] Tomas Constanza: But now, at least the way I would take it away is take away from it, is you now know what it takes to go into each individual thing.

[1:12:08] Amber Brzezinski: So that if you're gonna work with somebody, you know that that's what you're looking for.

[1:12:12] Tomas Constanza: Is hey, I would do it this way. I'm gonna find somebody that also is gonna share that ideology of being able to do something in the right direction.

[1:12:20] Amber Brzezinski: Right.

[1:12:22] Tomas Constanza: You're right.

[1:12:22] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, because essentially what happens happened now too is I spent the last eight years with Alaska and Ashley building an infrastructure on the musical theater world with Broadway meeting people. So now moving forward, I don't think it's gonna be as hard. And I just what I just keep telling people, it's like it's like you're running through a brick wall multiple times a day.

[1:12:41] Tomas Constanza: And after a while, you do get hurt. And it's just like, and it takes a while to jump back. Um, but yeah, I just all your listeners, I just want everyone to just hear my side of it. Um, because it really is interesting too, how it all works from the inside. And I learned a lot, man. I mean, you're always welcome to be on the show. Like, I think Amber and I have not done this amount of not talking in a while, but it's welcomed because usually we're having to pull information from people and like what else? But you are so passionate, and it's just it's really cool. Like, I'm so appreciative to like be in your company. And Amber, I'm sure I'm speaking on your behalf too, but like we both are such fans of the show.

We want to do whatever we can to make sure the show goes on for as long as possible and grows in numbers and grows in strength and goes over to the UK and you have a pro shot. And like there's so many things like please tell us that you'll come on the show again and again, whatever you want to do.

[1:13:44] Tomas Constanza: Yeah, and I also think it would be really good to get Ashley on the show because she has her views are so different than mine but so informative. And I think it's really important to get her take as well. I mean obviously it would be great to get Alaska on too but Alaska is in Australia right now and Alaska's crazy but Ashley definitely can add a lot to your listeners.

[1:14:10] Tomas Constanza: No, I mean we're here for you and we always try to you know let our guests know like it might be like our stream yard studio but this is your show. We're here for you to make sure that the followers that we have the people that are new fans of the show because they've seen it or want to see it that they have a good understanding of what's going on behind the scenes what it takes to get to that point because and I don't know if you know this but you're probably inspiring a lot of people either people who want to be a musician people who want to be a producer people who want to bring something off broad while you're on broad like you are constantly inspiring people. And it's something like I was told a while ago and I'm like that makes no sense but when you speak your reality and like you're talking about things and you're able to share what you've gone through in a very realistic way people see that and they gravitate towards that because they want to learn like we're as human beings we constantly strive for education and to learn more.

[1:15:10] Tomas Constanza: So I what I would say is is that if I could give any advice to people that are listening that are writers or whatever they do. Yeah, and they want to be involved with their actors, want to be producers, lighting, sound, anything. All I can tell you is surround yourself with people that are hardworking and rational. Um like with Alaska and Ashley, I literally we've been working together for 13 years now. We've never had an argument. We disagree, and when you have Alaska in a room, it's because I always get heated, I'm Italian, and it's just like I'm always like ah, and Alaska. And you're from Long Island where my whole family is from. I understand. And Ashley's from Long Island too. But it's just to have the Alaska, Alaska has this way of diffusing a situation that is I wish I had it.

It's just so cool and collective. And Ashley, too. And I think we together, we couldn't have done it without each other. We never would have been able to do it with the support of each other, our drive, and especially with the producers, Matt and Scott, and everyone affiliated, like everyone, Concord Theatrical, the cast. You have to surround your if there's one bad apple. What I have learned, and this is the truth: if there's one bad apple within a cast or within a crew or something, it will spoil everything. So that is tricky to get around. And oh my god, is it so true? I was told, and I was like, no way, but it is true.

[1:16:38] Tomas Constanza: It's interesting because as you're as you're saying certain things, and Amber um agree or disagree when I say this, a lot of the things that you're talking about on that side, like you know, trying to earn a seat at the table or trying to, you know, you're having the negatives and the naysayers or like hitting the brick wall, but like getting back up, like we go through that too. And it's every aspect of it, and you know, we had, and you might find this hard to believe. We had people pretending to be us and calling some of our partners and trying to get us in trouble as ourselves. It was super fun. But oh yeah, um, that was a fun show to do. And I was like, we are best. Um but it's it's really like I'm at a loss for words besides the concussion.

But you and your honesty is so appreciated in this industry that there's a change. And I think like everybody, like in the theater world, especially in New York, everyone's kind of felt like the winds are changing in like the last two years or so. Like it's almost like old guard to new guard, and there's a different way of doing things and there's a newer way or a better way, but people still want you know the old way, but there's like a blending of the two. And I think that you guys have kind of found that magic because you're taking I don't want to say a simple story, but you're taking a story of you know, finding yourself and like being true to who you are, which I love with you know memorable music and memorable things happening, but you're presenting it in a lighthearted almost way where it's digestible for people, like Avenue Q style.

It's digestible, it's a hard-hitting but simple message that is important, and you're being able to present that out to everybody and people can digest it without going, oh man, that was too much. Like it's it's so enjoyable.

[1:18:33] Tomas Constanza: Um I also if any of your listeners or anyone ever wants to ask me a question directly, I'd be more than happy.

[1:18:41] Amber Brzezinski: Cool.

[1:18:41] Tomas Constanza: If you want advice or for anything, I'd be more than happy. So I'll give you guys all of Tomasa's phone number.

[1:18:46] Tomas Constanza: No, I'm sorry. I mean, like if anyone has like if someone wrote something, I will read it. Um it you know, I I'm all about giving back because when I was coming up, I never really had someone um like take me under their wing until recently with Victoria Troub and the people at Concord. My whole life, I had to just keep driving and driving, and you know, my ambition got me to this point. But I you know it would have been nice to have someone just to say, okay, well, you're doing that wrong and so on. So I'm more than willing to help someone get to that level. And I will add another secret, but another big thing that everyone should think about too is just like ha besides getting involved with people that can help you get to the next level, like creatively or whatever, like it's important also to have that connection personally too.

Um, I mean, for me, I mean, I can't even tell you how many times I was ready to just give up, you know, and my wife would be like, you can't. And it's that's what kept me going as well. So it's like, you know, when I know that no matter how bad it gets, you have a lifelong partner that will help you through it, it helps a lot. I mean, Ashley has Grant and Alaska has, you know, her partner Matt Herman, who is amazing, and that really helps solidify everything that you're doing. It gives you a structure that you could lean on without it falling over. That people in faith too, whether it's religion or spiritual, it really it I mean, I don't want to sound cheese, but it helps, man. Everyone that we're affiliated with, they all are like really happy with their lives, and it translates.

Um, and it is without a doubt true. I mean, every I will wake up in the morning, literally this morning, seven o'clock in the morning. I'm getting emails and texts with problems and holy shit, this and that. And then you know, you I have my wife just being like, just you know, it'll be fine. It'll be okay. Just think about it.

[1:20:49] Tomas Constanza: Yeah. So that's another thing that will really help. And also I wanted to say before I leave. Um questions.

[1:20:54] Amber Brzezinski: Well, I know that maybe some of your listeners, I don't know if anyone's listening live, but if they have any questions.

[1:20:59] Tomas Constanza: Oh, we've got lots of people on the live stream viewing. I can actually check our live numbers now.

[1:21:04] Tomas Constanza: If someone wants to ask a question, like I'm I usually do QA's at this point. And people might have some interesting questions that I can answer. And if they don't have it right now or they're too shy to ask in the comments, um, they are more than welcome to either send them to me directly or Amber directly. Um look, you're talking. We have 1300 viewers right now. So people might just be um out there and just hanging on every word like we are.

[1:21:31] Tomas Constanza: Um I hope so. I hope you know sometimes I chat a lot. Um but I feel I feel there's a lot that I could share to bend to help someone. You know this is not the last time you're on our show, right?

[1:21:42] Amber Brzezinski: I love it.

[1:21:43] Tomas Constanza: This is fun. You're stuck with us.

[1:21:45] Tomas Constanza: Um but no, and I agree. I actually did and Amber kind of knows this. I did an experiment like a year and a half to years ago, because I've always been like a theater girl. I did a little bit of theater in high school, but I was a band girl. I played the flute and I found a lot of my community and like my theater family here in Orlando. I've done the Orlando Fringe for 20 years, and I did an experiment like well now almost two years ago, but I'm going, I want to do more theater in my life. Theater makes me happy. One of my friends, um, you know, COVID shut everything down. And I was at Broadway Flea in 2019. The last show I saw before COVID hit, so I saw Hades Town because it had just opened.

I saw the second preview of Little Shop, and then boop, COVID, and I was just like this depression that I didn't know about. And I went to um a local theater that my friend's own, and they did like a what they call musical Mondays, and it was theater back in my life, and my friend Amy was like, you know, thinking about it, and like you needed it, it filled that hole in your heart. I will not get emotional. Um, but I said to myself, you know, now going on I guess it's been two years. Um, look at me crying. This is great. Uh, but you surround yourself with people that you want to, you know, be like, or you have to surround yourself in like this good community of people or this good group of people, um, you know, to kind of change your view and change your perspective of how things are happening. And so I started to really focus on spending time with my theater friends and my theater family and going to see more shows and getting more active in the industry. And here we are.

[1:23:29] Tomas Constanza: Um yeah.

[1:23:32] Amber Brzezinski: That's a great story.

[1:23:33] Tomas Constanza: Um, and that's what that's what I have found. That's what musical theater is all about. It's different than the music world. And I'm not shitting on like sometimes people are like, hey, you're shitting on us, but it's it's just not the same. It's just different. Um, and also I've been doing music for 25 years, so it's like this is for me, this is new and exciting. It's almost like someone in the musical theater world who wants to make an album. It's the same thing. They're gonna be like, oh my God, this is the greatest thing. It's just new and exciting. That's all. And that's a good story though. I like that.

[1:24:01] Amber Brzezinski: Oh, yeah. Thank you.

[1:24:02] Tomas Constanza: Well, but it's it's Amber and I met under the weirdest circumstances, and you know, we came together, we were at opening night party for Water for Elephants, and we sat there and we're like, we're in this room. Like, how are we in the stream? And then we're like, we're in this room. And we've adjusted like our thought process on it. And we're just so honored to be able to have like an incredible community of people. And that's what we strive to create is these communities where people can surround themselves with, you know, hey, let's do a meetup. Hey, let's I'm scared to go by myself, or like I'm gonna be in a city by myself today. We want to create these communities where people can surround themselves with people. Um, not necessarily like minded, but supportive.

[1:24:44] Tomas Constanza: So well, that's it's wonderful, and I'm more than willing to I to jump back on again. This is really fun. Um I'm gonna have like solid. What'd you say? Sorry.

[1:24:57] Tomas Constanza: Like when I have like a a a really like important piece of news, I'll hit you guys up. I definitely would suggest getting Ashley on because her insight is insane. Anybody you want to have on, we'd love and then um obviously we'll talk after the show. Um when we end the stream. If anybody um does have any questions or if they want me to read a script or anything like that, um just hook me up. I am I will help anyone if they need advice on anything. I promise you I will, you know, give it a hard listen or I will read something.

[1:25:30] Tomas Constanza: Um and the next time I'm on the show, I will be freshly shaven and I will have a new head of hair. I will have my pink hair back with my blue hair. I can yeah, I went back to my natural color. I've never had fun colors, um, but I went back towards my natural. I would never shave my head, and I don't think I could pull off paint. Um I am getting a message from my wife. She's saying ravioli will be done in eight minutes.

[1:25:55] Amber Brzezinski: Oh no, it's five minutes.

[1:25:56] Tomas Constanza: Go get that ravioli. Guy and Tomas. Meatballs and we have ravioli and I'm glad to be back in LA. Um, but this was great.

[1:26:06] Amber Brzezinski: She does she make enough for us to have too.

[1:26:09] Tomas Constanza: Like I know. Actually, whenever you're in LA, I'll make you meatballs. I made lasagna. So I have to find me.

[1:26:17] Amber Brzezinski: Um before you go, give us like an elevator pitch of why people should see drag the musical besides how incredible you and the casting crew are.

[1:26:25] Tomas Constanza: I would say go see drag the musical because it will be the best night of your life.

[1:26:28] Amber Brzezinski: Agreed.

[1:26:29] Tomas Constanza: You heard it here. It will be. You guys go check it out. If you want to go check out Drag the Musical, it's super easy. Go to www.dragthemusical.com. And then when you decide that you want to go join the group, because you should be, go to www.thebroadwayfanclub.com. Um and seriously take Tomas up on that offer if you guys have something you want to listen to have him listen to or read, or just to say like, hey, you're amazing. Um please message us. We will get him in touch with you guys. Um and thank you so much. We cannot wait to have you on the show again. And we look forward to having Ashley on the show too.

[1:27:03] Tomas Constanza: Love it.

[1:27:05] Tomas Constanza: Thank you guys. Love you guys.

[1:27:07] Amber Brzezinski: All right. Thanks, guys.

[1:27:08] Tomas Constanza: Bye.

[1:27:09] Amber Brzezinski: Bye.