This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Heather Bedor: Hello everybody and welcome to The Broadway Fan Club. This is our special edition. I'm so excited. For those of you that don't know, my name is Heather, the lovely lady with the pink hair to my left or right is Amber. Um, we are thrilled, thrilled Thursday, I think that's what I'm gonna call it. Um, and I'm caffeinated, which is great. Uh, but we are beyond thrilled to have some of the incredible cast from Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song here on the show. We are doing the show specifically for them, and we cannot wait. We're so appreciative for them joining us. If you have not a clue what I'm talking about, first go ahead and find yourselves going to forbiddenbroadway.nyc. That's the first place you're gonna want to go check out again, forbiddenbroadway.nyc. Secondly, I am now gonna show you guys a really great video that's available on their website.

So you know what kind of trouble we're getting into tonight. We're very excited. So hop along on this choo-choo terrain of crazy, and we're gonna have a great time. Let me pull this up and start to rock.

[1:06] ♪ Musical number: "Your Typing is on Broadway" — performed by the cast of Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song ♪

[2:54] Heather Bedor: Hello, everybody.

[2:57] Cast: Hi.

[2:58] Heather Bedor: I feel never seen that video.

[3:00] Cast: I know, sizzle, isn't it?

[3:02] Heather Bedor: It's great. And you guys are all mopping along.

[3:05] Cast: That's my thing.

[3:06] Heather Bedor: Yeah, I know. Playing something and like watching everyone's reactions. And people sometimes are like, oh my god, I don't want to do this. Yes, I want to see this. So yeah, it's really great. Um, so before we get started, if you guys want to go ahead and tell the fine folks out there um listening in or watching who you are, um, and I think what your favorite role in the show is since you play multiple parts.

[3:29] Chris Collins Pisano: I guess we start with it. Hi, hi everybody. I'm Chris Collins Pisano. I'm one of the guys in um Merrily We Stole a Song. I'm gonna cheat a little bit on my answer to the question. I do um I do Ben Platt at the Palace. I do a number as him, and then I do um uh Daniel Radcliffe stuff from Merrily We Roll Along. Those are probably neck and neck.

[3:47] Jenny Lee Stern: Was that the pink, fluffy, feathery?

[3:49] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, yes, that's the pink marabou. Exactly.

[3:52] Jenny Lee Stern: Amazing.

[3:52] Chris Collins Pisano: You look fantastic, isn't it?

[3:54] Jenny Lee Stern: Of course. The kids are wearing that.

[3:56] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, come on. I know. I get very lucky with some of the costumes. They do a lot of the work for you. It's really incredible. The shift, um, personally I think the O'Mary shift is always really interesting too. Just see that one full facial hair.

[4:06] Jenny Lee Stern: Um yeah, the facial hair.

[4:09] Chris Collins Pisano: I'm glad that let's do it. I don't know. Whatever you want. We'll move in uh clockwise order.

[4:15] Jenny Lee Stern: Hi guys, Jenny Lee Stern here. Um, I play everyone from a 15-year-old baby boy to a 19-year-old baby boy to a 78-year-old Bernadette Peters to uh um age not disclosed Patty LuPone. Um I love it all. I love it all. I do particularly love the outsiders number. That's always fun. Um we do a gelical ball number, which is extremely taxing, but payoff is there.

[4:58] Nicole Venus Ortiz: So we love a good payoff, honey.

[5:03] Jenny Lee Stern: Absolutely. Yes, I think that should be included in everyone's writer is a massage, at least once per show. I'm thinking from the rooftops, and last but certainly not least, Nicole.

[5:18] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Hi guys, Nicole Venus Ortiz. Um, I pay tribute to all the fantastic black leading women of Broadway. So anywhere between starting off the show with Lorna Courtney and Anne Juliet, all the way to Audra McDonald making her upcoming debut in Gypsy. It's pretty fun.

[5:37] Chris Collins Pisano: And what are you eating? Because it looks delicious and I want some.

[5:40] Nicole Venus Ortiz: I'm having I'm having a pork lo mein on East 76th Street. I can't remember the name of the spot though.

[5:46] Chris Collins Pisano: I'll make sure to promote that at the end.

[5:48] Heather Bedor: Yeah, we love a good restaurant referral on the show because people come from all over and they're like, where do I go to have food before the show, after the show, whenever? And like I have my places, but you know, it's good to be like locals. You know where to go.

[6:02] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Very delicious.

[6:03] Chris Collins Pisano: There you go.

[6:05] Heather Bedor: Um, so we do have our comment section on, and one of our regulars, Jeff Cohen, asked, How old is Ben Platt?

[6:13] Chris Collins Pisano: He is a vampire, he is ageless, Jeff. Um, Chris, do you have any insight into that?

[6:17] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh my god. I actually have I think we're I think we're about somewhere. He must be like early 30s, I want to say. That means that I'm aging myself. I'm 30 years old. Fresh, fresh out of the box, 30 years old. Fresh little baby. I believe he's somewhere around there, maybe like 32, somewhere in the 32 to 35 range.

[6:33] Jenny Lee Stern: Now, do you guys find um, and this is kind of open, open format again. Oh, I just looked. He has 31.

[6:39] Chris Collins Pisano: You're very good at that.

[6:39] Jenny Lee Stern: Oh, excellent. Coming out, coming coming out with the stuff. Um, so do you guys find I know we can we're kind of getting into ages, and that's kind of great. Do you find transitioning from like one role to the next, and then you're, you know, as Jenny Lee just said, like shifting from 15 to 18 to 79. Do you find that there's like a taxing way of doing it, or are you finding that it's an easier transition nowadays? Like now that you've you've kind of settled into the show a little bit.

[7:09] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, I mean, it's just a matter truly of like the thing about Forbidden Broadway is right, you have no time to prepare. I was playing like an entire two hours of Bernadette Peters or you know, baby sometime, which you could that could be a two-hour show in itself. But I really feel like there might be a 54 Below spin-off or something coming with me as baby sometime. But um, you know, you would have like the preparation time and like get into character. It's sort of like you put on the wig, you put on the outfit, and go. So the transition is sort of you know, is what it is. It's a 30-second transition, and you have to figure it out and figure out where you're gonna place your voice, which we figure out in rehearsals, and um yeah, it's just kind of muscle memory at that point, right? Wouldn't you say?

[8:03] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, I totally yeah, so um that's kind of the dish. I mean, there's no real there's a lot of thought, I think, put into it like during the rehearsal process and the homework involved during those weeks, but during the run of the show, it's just kind of like go, go, go, figure it out, and like you know, it's not easy, right? I mean, Nicole is an accomplished vocalist and like for any singer, you kind of warm up your voice for your specific show that you're doing. This is like how to like figure out how to like drop your palate, raise your palate, stretch it, this, this, this or like belting, head voice, baby belting, mature raspy belting. It's like it's actually wild, and like I'm not saying like we're in a tier by ourselves, but I'm also saying there's a really hard 50 total alumni.

Like, if you go down the list of like Forbidden Broadway alumni versus like even Wicked alumni or something, it's like it's a small pool of people that can do this more than one time. I think you'll see a lot of people who have done the show like once, or but like it's hard, you know, and it takes I don't know, a certain kind of I would say like either a certain kind of skill and talent or a certain kind of mental illness, yeah, or the combination of the two. Anybody in theater, I think we all have a certain kind of mental illness, so but it's like we all have it, and we're just kind of like where it we need our own ribbon, I think, like an awareness, like a for me.

[9:48] Nicole Venus Ortiz: There's a special medal you should be.

[9:49] Chris Collins Pisano: We'll make you one.

[9:50] Jenny Lee Stern: Thank you. We can have like the identification brace for like theater performer, or yeah, or like and it's like it's got it's like a multiple step process, like Jenny said, you develop it during the rehearsal process, you figure out the impression, you figure out what you want to do, and you learn, you know, you learn all your blocking and everything. Then it's like at least for me, then the preview process is another level because you're finding the rhythm in the show, and you're letting your body learn how you're gonna make it through and how you can pace yourself full out and do like you know 12 11 o'clock numbers in a row, especially if you're Nicole. But also, that's where you figure out what is landing.

Like, is my impression am I getting too specific? Am I being too broad? Like, that's been like a thing with me with the Ben Platt number throughout the time that we've been doing that, like in rehearsal, I was like, aha, this is it. And then at the beginning of the previews, I was like, This is not working the way that I thought it was gonna work at all, and then like over time, within like the structure of the of the number, you find what you're able to not like change or like I don't know, but like you like can it breathes in a way, and you and the audience figure it out together, and then by the time like your body knows it and your brain knows it, then you can start having fun with it.

[11:05] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, just like really tight, really interesting. It's like almost like we do vaudeville, it's like this remnant of but it no, but I think oh sorry, go ahead.

[11:17] Chris Collins Pisano: No, no, no, that's I was I was just gonna echo everything they said, they put it perfectly, and I think in another recent interview, when I was asked what's my favorite part of the show, I've always said non-stop on repeat, it has to be the sore number that opens up the first solo for the track that I do because it's literally art imitating life for every musical theater vocalist. Like, we're always expected to sing at the top of our range in a world where singing high is so trendy these days that we're barely like in the mid or in the basement of what we can also bring to the table vocally. So, when Jenny was talking about going from head to rasp, depending on the age of the character we're doing, Lorna Courtney is more youthful, and then we have Audra, who's a bit more you know, heady, but has maturity in her tone, it's like we're going everywhere, and these guys do they're they're jumping in the air and then still coming back down and hitting mixed belt notes, so it's it's right.

[12:11] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, I mean, I think you know, I was reading some of the reviews from the show, and Theater Mania actually called out um saying occasional vocal gymnastics looking at you, Jennifer. Um it's just true, and you, you know, a lot of people that don't perform or don't sing don't know, but what you're talking about, like, you know, head voice, chest, like there's so much. But you guys also have to almost like replicate a well-known sing, like singing, well-known song, well-known vocal style.

[12:43] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah.

[12:49] Chris Collins Pisano: Can try, but you have to keep your self-identity there too and not force your voice to do something different. Um, I had the pleasure of seeing Bernadette Peters perform um on the Broadway cruise this past year.

[13:00] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah.

[13:01] Chris Collins Pisano: Damn that lady can sing. She had a whole cruise ship staring at her while she's jumping up on pianos. Um, but I just I can't imagine it. And playing such key roles that are so familiar to everybody, um, especially that have seen the last season or that know the history of the shows that you're doing.

[13:19] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah.

[13:20] Chris Collins Pisano: It's gotta be such a challenge, but you guys pull it off so flawlessly. Like even the sizzle reel, you're just like, no, I know what song it is, even though it's not the words to that song, I know exactly what you guys are doing.

[13:30] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, and correct me if I'm wrong, you just have a pianist accompanying you.

[13:34] Chris Collins Pisano: There's yeah, what did Jenny? What did you what was the thing you said the other day? The 10 finger orchestra for Fred Barton.

[13:42] Jenny Lee Stern: That isn't, I don't know where that originated orchestra of which is true.

[13:50] Chris Collins Pisano: I mean, and that's like whenever I hear it, oh, I'm so tired, like on the two show days. Like we do two shows on Saturday and two shows on Sunday.

[13:57] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Right.

[13:58] Chris Collins Pisano: I'm always like, oh, my back, my knee, my ankle, and then I mean you're only 30.

[14:03] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Right, right.

[14:04] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah. Well, that's that's a life in the theater for you.

[14:06] Nicole Venus Ortiz: That's also fair.

[14:07] Chris Collins Pisano: Uh huh. And then you look, you I look across the stage and I look at Fred Barton and I look at his hands and his fingers, and I'm like, what am I complaining about? I'm in a quarter of this show. He's playing the entire thing I'm just like it's wild. He's unbelievable. But I don't know to answer what you were talking about I kind of feel like sometimes and this also maybe goes into what Jenny was talking about about mental illness is that I just kind of feel like it's like as an actor and as a comedian I get to have my cake and eat it too.

[14:34] Chris Collins Pisano: I get to sing a song that I love in a show that I'm not in and I get to make fun of the person that that gets to do it. It's like to me I'm like this is this is like everything I could want. Let's say send up let's not say make fun of you right that's very that's a good honor fun it's just we we're celebrating all of these shows.

[14:54] Jenny Lee Stern: It is a celebration. Absolutely and that's also the thing it's like you know there's an agreement made with the audience and with you know ethereally I guess the person that you're parodying and yourself as well it's like you can't like Gerard loves okay like he's this is such a love letter always for the past 40 years. You know what I mean?

[15:20] Chris Collins Pisano: And he it's almost like I always like my I have two well I have three daughters and two of them are teenagers and they're get you know they're pretty deep into theater at this point like community theater and um raised them right goods. I raised them mensily ill it's be honest. Um but like you know if they're like oh I didn't get any any notes today or whatever I'm like or I got all these notes or whatever. And I and I say, like, the reason the director's like giving you notes is because he's like watching what you're doing, right? Like, and like invested in what you're doing. So, like for Gerard to be able to write a song about like such one niche little thing about of certain performer's performance. It's because he like cares so deeply about it, right?

[16:10] Jenny Lee Stern: Right. And I mean, he is, I mean, through the whole rehearsal process of all five editions I've done with him. He's always like, is that mean? Is that too mean? Is that okay? You know, like he really wants to honor these people and the work because look, hit or flop, it takes a lot of effing people and a lot of effing work to get a show to Broadway. Trust me, I'm I was the queen of the readings for like a decade. Um, so I know. Um, and so for a show to even make it on Broadway for like two months is such an accomplishment and takes so much blood, sweat, and tears and heart and soul that like you know, we're only trying to honor that, right? And just poke a little fun because it's fine. I don't think Forbidden Broadway is like closing any shows on Broadway. Do you know what I'm saying? Like right.

[17:12] Chris Collins Pisano: Poking fun a little bit, but you're not poking the bear, you're just kind of like tickling the Pillsbury. And I've had people that like cut succumb to the show who haven't seen a ton of the shows, and they're like, Oh my god, like I want to see the outside or something like that happen this weekend. Yeah, I'm right. Um whatever's be now or sorry, my cat's like ass. It's great. I'm like, we have a fur tax, it's fine.

[17:39] Jenny Lee Stern: That's okay. I think another another one might be bad. Nope. That's okay. They just want to be part of the show. Part of the show. Oh my god, this is Sunday. Hi, Sunday. Yeah. She was our baby kitten we got because our other cat out and was missing. And after five weeks, I like made my peace with it and got a new kitten. And then two months later, she came back.

[18:10] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, because she got jealous. Look, here she is. So now I have two cats when I wanted zero. That's okay. I mean, it's okay. I've accepted it. I am a witch, so I do need a familiar or two.

[18:24] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, Amber and I are actually gonna be going to Salem um Halloween weekend. I'm gonna fly out.

[18:29] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh my god. Well, that's our closing weekend. I'd say hit me up, but yep.

[18:34] Jenny Lee Stern: We are gonna be at Death Becomes Her Halloween night, and we're building our costumes.

[18:39] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, so if you guys want to go.

[18:42] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, um, we're gonna have a whole hollow weekend. And we have kiddies. Great.

[18:47] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, now I know a lot of our our listeners and viewers have not had the opportunity to see the show. They might have seen previous iterations, but with this show specifically, I know the sending up of you know Jonathan Groff or anything, Ben Platt. Do you have or have you had anyone that has been um paid homage to in the show see it this season?

[19:11] Jenny Lee Stern: Not yet.

[19:12] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, yes, wait, yes.

[19:14] Jenny Lee Stern: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Go for it.

[19:16] Chris Collins Pisano: Piano teacher.

[19:17] Jenny Lee Stern: Okay, so Alicia Key's piano teacher, her real piano teacher is a woman. Her name is Margaret Pine. Um she is not anything like what you see in Hell's Kitchen. Is it that's a so the whole Hell's Kitchen key is that like the show is not Alicia Key's actual biography.

[19:39] Chris Collins Pisano: Sure.

[19:40] Jenny Lee Stern: That's our take on it. I mean, that's our that's what we're focusing on.

[19:44] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah.

[19:45] Jenny Lee Stern: So um Margaret Pine, the real Margaret Pine, came to the show. I play her in the show and with her granddaughter, and it was so cool because you know, she's not a celebrity, she's a regular lady that lives in Manhattan Plaza.

[20:04] Chris Collins Pisano: And was that guys? Was that not cool?

[20:06] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, with me.

[20:08] Chris Collins Pisano: That is very cool.

[20:13] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, exactly. And it's like she's being honored. It's such a cool, I can only imagine what it's like to be musicalized like that. But also, let's think about this, right? Like, oh, great. So they're gonna put a whole show on Broadway about like the girl that you taught and became famous, and then like you're not even in it, like they literally like cut you out to like for the sake of storytelling.

[20:38] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, so I think it's cool that we could do that for her.

[20:41] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, seriously, yeah, that is really cool. It is it is a great way to honor people, and I think you know, Forbidden Broadway also does album recordings, and I think that's great because it might be different, and five seasons later, somebody might be like, Oh, what was that one joke? But you always will have Forbidden Broadway to look back and be like, Oh, yeah, I remember that one thing that happened at the Tony's, yeah, yeah.

[21:04] Chris Collins Pisano: Is there a joke or s or a song or a part of a song that you guys are finding that's really reading well with an audience, or something that you would like to see read better?

[21:15] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Nicole had this explosive moment, yes. Sorry about that. I was with the That totally wasn't me raising my hand, but hey, I just it's not myself, whatever. I mean, I do really I do really appreciate how excited people get for like the Cynthia Rebo and Ariana Grande, you know, um tribute for the wicked, but I think they especially have a really great sense of humor when we talk about Cynthia Rebo being an age-defying version of Elphaba because it's it's based on school students, you know, and obviously both her and Ariana Grande are in their 30s, which is kind of comical nature, so it just goes really well with the jokes that we're poking fun at during that particular number.

[21:55] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah.

[21:57] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, we also have like a lot, I don't know. A lot of my favorite things, I don't even know if I can really really spoil them because we have like some little twists, like with like our outsider's number has like a big and Gerard loves to do that kind of stuff a lot where the parodies aren't always just like us singing just the songs.

[22:14] Chris Collins Pisano: No, of course.

[22:16] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, you know, he's like Jenny said, he has such a love of the art form and of the history of the art form that he loves to play around with the musical choices that you can make. So the best way of putting that is go see the show.

[22:28] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, seriously. Go see the show.

[22:30] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, a number of things on their head, it's really important.

[22:33] Chris Collins Pisano: And uh post that ticket link below.

[22:37] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, I was gonna say go ahead and post. We've got the trend link in the and the website. Here you go.

[22:43] Chris Collins Pisano: But if we were running that NYC.

[22:47] Jenny Lee Stern: If we were running longer, yeah, and I was like some sort of person that worked at today's picks or TDF or something like that, I would create a package where you saw like over a month period or something, like all the shows that we parody and then end it with Forbidden Broadway.

[23:07] Chris Collins Pisano: And I think that right like a full package for like 500 bucks, something like that, right?

[23:13] Jenny Lee Stern: Like see a mad may have a show on Broadway, then go see Forbidden Braway at night. Or you see like literally five shows within a few weeks.

[23:21] Chris Collins Pisano: And I don't know, that's a great in my next life when I'm a like a business person.

[23:27] Jenny Lee Stern: I don't know. Maybe you'll get maybe you'll get an email after this podcast.

[23:30] Chris Collins Pisano: I don't think I ever will be a business person though.

[23:33] Jenny Lee Stern: It's gonna be like sell the idea, just sell the idea to somebody.

[23:36] Chris Collins Pisano: You guys work the much longer hours than a regular business person, a traditional business person does.

[23:42] Jenny Lee Stern: It's much more taxable.

[23:43] Chris Collins Pisano: Okay, we're gonna do a cat introduction to all right, Chris.

[23:45] Chris Collins Pisano: Who's a cat?

[23:47] Jenny Lee Stern: This is um, this is Trish the dish.

[23:48] Chris Collins Pisano: Well, this is Trish the dishes butt.

[23:50] Jenny Lee Stern: What's I was gonna say cat blood turning their butt off?

[23:53] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh I don't have a pet, I have uh trust because it's a furry worm.

[23:57] Nicole Venus Ortiz: So they're I'm gonna have a furry worm like and Nicole's eating pork, so we're good.

[24:05] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, we all have there you go.

[24:07] Jenny Lee Stern: We all have our own pets. Um, yeah, Amber actually fosters animals, so the I do have that dog you just saw. That was Sky.

[24:14] Chris Collins Pisano: She's my foster dog.

[24:16] Jenny Lee Stern: She's hopefully gonna get adopted in the next couple of weeks when she so we always prefer tax because there's a constant rotation of animals coming in and out of there.

[24:26] Chris Collins Pisano: She is cute little sky.

[24:29] Jenny Lee Stern: She was shy sky, and now she's like codependent sky.

[24:32] Chris Collins Pisano: So now talking about codependency now.

[24:35] Jenny Lee Stern: Um when you guys are creating this. Um, I know that you go through rehearsals and workshopping it. What is the lead up time before actually performing to a live audience for the show?

[24:46] Chris Collins Pisano: Girl, not enough time.

[24:48] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, it was this. I feel like um during next generation, we had I just gave up base. Yeah, you know, and we had we had some people kind of swapping in and out at the beginning of the process.

[25:00] Chris Collins Pisano: So Nicole kind of came in a little later and stepped up to the plate like an absolute champion that she is.

[25:06] Jenny Lee Stern: My cat is a green, and um yeah, I feel like we had like a maybe another week or two last time we did it, but this time we really just kind of made it happen, I guess.

[25:16] Chris Collins Pisano: But it takes a I think it takes a special kind of talent to be able to do that, not to like you know, float your boats, but really like you're working harder because you're having to portray all these different performers and their characters and the songs and learn the blocking and be able to work together, and there's just so much that I don't think a lot of people understand or see.

[25:37] Jenny Lee Stern: Um, as fans, I guess what is the best way? How can we support? Like, do you should we go to the show and just like blow it up? Not like that, but like blow it up online.

[25:49] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, do we want like I I know that there's been a little bit of um and this is a great question. Sorry, the word salad from the concussions happened. But there's a lot of people online that are getting very upset because some shows are allowing for pictures or videos during certain parts, and I'm not calling out any shows, Romeo and Juliet. Um, but there's a lot of video or interaction, but people are putting it out there on social.

[26:17] Jenny Lee Stern: On one side, you have a lot of people going, I want to see this show because of X, Y, and Z that I saw, and then you have a lot of people going, Well, that was that ruined it because I already know that's gonna happen.

[26:31] Chris Collins Pisano: Like, you know, in Sunset Boulevard, when he goes all the way through Schubert Alley, now everybody is coming up to the sides to watch them record.

[26:40] Jenny Lee Stern: Right, right. Do you feel that keeping the secret of Forbidden Broadway a secret when you see it, or are there talking points that you would hope that people are able to do without giving away too much?

[26:53] Chris Collins Pisano: Hmm. That's look, honestly, real key. I just like want it on the algorithm for the next three weeks. Like, I don't I don't there's like get it there. Uh freaking, you know, yeah, Hamilton's son dies, like whatever. You could also look that up. Like, do you know what I'm saying?

[27:17] Jenny Lee Stern: I mean, like, there's like a couple jokes that are probably funnier if you don't know they're coming, but also you kind of it's forbidden Broadway, guys.

[27:25] Chris Collins Pisano: Like, you're gonna know almost everything's coming, like eight cars ahead. So um, yeah, I mean, I I would say the more that can get out there, yeah, the better for me.

[27:41] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Um, as a performer that's like pretty much confident in my performance all the time, I'm always fine with picture and video. Like, I don't with this age that we live in now, like with the whole thing, like when people and this is this it might be like uh uh unpopular opinion because every actor has its own their own opinion.

[28:06] Chris Collins Pisano: Like, if I was in, I just did like a regional production of cabaret last year, right? And in my opinion, it was like my best work, and there was no video or pictures allowed. For myself, I would have effing loved for some of the moments in that show to like be on TikTok or you know, not blowing myself up like it would have gone viral, but who knows?

[28:29] Jenny Lee Stern: Like you never know.

[28:31] Chris Collins Pisano: You never freaking know. The algorithm is so insane. The stuff that goes viral is so crazy. Like I say, the more you can be in the algorithm, the better, period. For better or for worse. Because even if it's for worse, and someone's like, oh my god, this girl doesn't sell anything like Burn it at Peterson's.

[28:50] Chris Collins Pisano: Okay, come see for yourself.

[28:52] Jenny Lee Stern: Right.

[28:52] Chris Collins Pisano: Come see for yourself.

[28:54] Nicole Venus Ortiz: I always say any press is depressed.

[28:56] Chris Collins Pisano: I agree.

[28:56] Jenny Lee Stern: I agree.

[28:57] Chris Collins Pisano: Like, I just I feel like because look, baby, like it's not about the money, right? Like, I'm not in this business for the money, okay? Like if I was if I wanted to make money, I would be selling pharmaceuticals or something like that.

[29:13] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, right. I'm not doing that.

[29:15] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, we were just talking about that with Chris before the show. Um, I've been working on for a while. I really pharma, you've been changing um, but you you know, a lot of people are like, oh, I'm gonna be big on Broadway. It's like the you know, glee version with Leah Michelle, she's gonna make it be a star.

[29:37] Jenny Lee Stern: Right, it actually goes talking about 30 year olds playing teenagers. Um, but I love Glee. Um, but you have this like incredible opportunity to perform. And if you're a true performer, you go to perform because your whole being is saying, be on stage, perform, do these lines, learn these songs. If you're going to be on Broadway or off Broadway, and your goal is to make it big and be famous and make money, you're in the wrong business.

[30:06] Chris Collins Pisano: I mean, can it happen? I love Nicole's response. But like can it happen? Yes, but because of social media, sorry, because of social media.

[30:17] Jenny Lee Stern: Like, yes or no? I mean, do you think like word of mouth is enough in this day and age to become on Broadway?

[30:25] Chris Collins Pisano: I don't know if word of mouth, I don't know if print reviews have the same power. Um, I mean, maybe on Broadway. I know on Broadway, definitely, you know, a bad review can stop people from buying tickets, but no, it's a different thing. I think that I and yeah, and I mean, how many, at least like my generation growing up, the amount of like YouTube bootlegs that I've seen and like that are have become a part of this the you know, whatever you want to call it, the zeitgeist, the lexicon of just like musical theater nerddom.

[30:52] Chris Collins Pisano: I yeah, I don't go, I don't care. Well, I'm not gonna be unhappy. It's not taking anything out of at least in this show, it's not taking out anything out of my paycheck for you to film it and put it somewhere. If it gets somebody to come see it, or they think it's funny. That's that's great. I think that our I think that what we're doing in this show stylistically and the show itself that we're performing just deserves a larger, you know, deserves to have a larger audience outside of just it's amazing that it's a niche New York City theater thing. I think that's amazing. That's a very special thing to be a part of. But I think that that's something that a lot of people can kind of feel like they're a part of from afar with this kind of a thing, and feel like they're part of this like small, like super smart team of people that love this stuff.

[31:34] Jenny Lee Stern: Well, exactly. There's a lot of people who look forward to Forbidden Broadway and like, oh, what are they gonna do? And um here in Orlando, they're gonna spoof this year.

[31:42] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, exactly. So here in Orlando, we had um we had um Halloween Horror Nights, and years ago we have it was called um the Bill and Ted Show. And sorry, I just thought Nicole said I agree with Jenny.

[31:56] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yes, I agree with that. I think we all do, um, with the social media stuff too.

[32:00] Chris Collins Pisano: But so with Bill and Ted, it was Bill and Ted's excellent Halloween adventure. And every year we would look forward to seeing what they'd spoofed. They'd spoofed movies, TV shows, and it was like the Forbidden Broadway of like the theme park world for Halloween.

[32:15] Jenny Lee Stern: But it was always interesting because you would be like, Oh, this song, the song they're totally gonna make fun of in the show, and you would look forward to it, and then they stopped doing the show, and so many it would have a cult-like following, and I see that with Forbidden Broadway as well. There's 40 years of history, there's so much there, and people look forward to seeing it. It's just opening up more of a broader base.

[32:35] Chris Collins Pisano: Um and to kind of touch with the social media stuff, and is print dead. I mean, there was a lot of people that were having problems when shows were not giving them a physical program and they were only doing digital, it's true, and vice versa.

[32:50] Jenny Lee Stern: Um, can you please everybody at all times? No?

[32:54] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, you know, we were talking about Amber and I created the Broadway Fan Club, and we started off with a group that we had about 5,000 members with. We have 500,000 members in a short period of time, literally seven months, half a million followers, which we're very appreciative for, and they're all fandom based.

[33:14] Jenny Lee Stern: Every single one of them, and they want to learn more and be part of a community and feel part of a family.

[33:19] Chris Collins Pisano: I think Amber, you can talk about that too.

[33:21] Amber Brzezinski: Just yeah, absolutely. I think that it's a lot of people that are looking for a place where they can go and like have a conversation about the show that they just saw and keep it going and continue you know to relive that moment because kind of you know their family and friends are sick of talking to them about it, but they still want to keep talking about it.

[33:43] Chris Collins Pisano: And that's what we wanted. So we created that space for the people to go and that's what we love to do.

[33:51] Amber Brzezinski: I think it kind of translates over to the podcast too like this show people want to feel like at least what I'm what we're seeing and I think we can all agree we want to feel connected to something a connection you know these comic cons are blowing up people are going and paying five hundred dollars to get so and so's autograph or whatever because it's a personal connection they've made or an obsession so having people have the opportunity to kind of learn more about you guys learn about the show but also be like oh yeah well I know Nicole likes Pork Lomain like whatever you know it gives them a little bit more sense of um friendship it's a friendship of the show where they want to go support what they're learning.

[34:34] Chris Collins Pisano: So I think that's what we always try to create.

[34:37] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah so I have a question do you guys have any like special pre-show rituals since it is a very like intense show where you're doing all those like 11 o'clock numbers over and over again so do you like to do anything special before the show to kind of get yourself really ready to man I I like to listen to music before the shows and usually it kind of like I have to kind of cater it to whether it's more of like an amp up to get ready for this day or whether it's like kind of a chill out to find like a nice like base level neutral place to start off but listening to a lot of ACDC before the shows.

[35:18] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh yeah okay and and we also have at least from you know Jenny comes from Penn but I get off at Port Authority and then I walk from 8th to 11th down 42nd street and it's like you know it's like a 10 10 maybe more depending on whether you're more of a saunter or a stride and I do o'clock ink yes.

[35:36] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah exactly but you know I'll just I don't know so I I find that music really helps with whatever my mental head space is at my other pre-show ritual at least in between shows is to just like masochistically danged homicide life on the street on Peacock.

[35:55] Chris Collins Pisano: Okay.

[35:56] Jenny Lee Stern: I I don't know I'll have to check I'm really I'm really having a huge thing with that love affair with that show right now.

[36:02] Chris Collins Pisano: Nothing wrong with that.

[36:03] Jenny Lee Stern: I found this straight I'm gonna have to check that one out.

[36:05] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah if you're a fan of on order SVU it's where um detective John Munch the character began Richard Belzer did the whole round they adopted him into for him to play it like for 20 more years.

[36:17] Amber Brzezinski: Anyway sorry I don't apologize about that show.

[36:21] Chris Collins Pisano: No peop people know now.

[36:23] Amber Brzezinski: Yeah.

[36:24] Jenny Lee Stern: Nicole anything else that you guys add to it well I have three children ages six, thirteen and fifteen.

[36:33] Nicole Venus Ortiz: You have your hands full my day begins on a Friday or a Monday at like 545 a.m and I get the first ground off to school and then I work out and then I get the second one off to school.

[36:51] Jenny Lee Stern: And then I come home and like do a million errands and you know things I need to do inside chores, outside chores, as I call them.

[37:03] Nicole Venus Ortiz: And then I go for like a walk every day.

[37:08] Jenny Lee Stern: And yeah, just like checking off my list.

[37:11] Nicole Venus Ortiz: So the by the time I get to the show, I leave my house at like four o'clock. And then by the time I get to the show, which starts at either 7:30 or 8, um, I'm warmed up, babe.

[37:24] Jenny Lee Stern: I've been at 545.

[37:27] Nicole Venus Ortiz: If anything, I need to like chill out.

[37:30] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah.

[37:31] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Um, so yeah, that's kind of my thing. I mean, I'm kind of getting there like just to give you know my family like the most time with me. I'm kind of getting there at the last minute that I can.

[37:43] Amber Brzezinski: Of course.

[37:44] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Sometimes I even have one or more with me based on their schedules. And um, you know, it's like a whole different ball game because you just need to be able to go on no matter what.

[37:56] Chris Collins Pisano: So I've kind of taken my pre-show rituals like down to a whatever happens, happens. Do you know what I mean?

[38:05] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Because I also could get like you don't understand, like my six-year-old can text now from her iPod.

[38:12] Chris Collins Pisano: So it's like half hour or five minutes places or during the show, and I have like three children, my mom, I have like three ex-husbands, like the amount of questions coming at me per day that could happen at any time, yeah, is absolutely wild.

[38:35] Amber Brzezinski: And um, yeah, so I kind of don't have like any rituals.

[38:41] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Not that I would even share in case there's impressionable musical theater students.

[38:46] Chris Collins Pisano: Fair enough.

[38:47] Nicole Venus Ortiz: But maybe one day there'll be like a um forbidden Broadway number made about me.

[38:52] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah.

[38:52] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Right. What really gets me through the show underneath.

[38:58] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah.

[38:58] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Like there's a secret underbelly of some of the things we need to do to get through, you know.

[39:04] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh right.

[39:05] Jenny Lee Stern: Of course.

[39:06] Nicole Venus Ortiz: 100%.

[39:07] Chris Collins Pisano: Anybody that Nicole, anything that you would like to share with the class?

[39:12] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, I mean, um, it's hard for people to believe, but I have typically had a common struggle with stage anxieties since elementary school. And so the only way I've found to like deal with the mental hurricane that's constantly going on in my brain the minute I wake up every day, is it's just like creating an intentional space for safety.

[39:31] Chris Collins Pisano: And so um, like uh in my dressing room, like I have like a setup, I'm very OCD, like I'm a very methodical type person, like I can tell when things are out of place and it makes me feel like I'm in control of something because my brain is always beating me up.

[39:45] Jenny Lee Stern: So by the time I get to the theater, every day is the same. I throw on my headphones, I put on my sound healing meditation tracks, most of the time it's birds and bees.

[39:54] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Jenny's heard of it back in the rehearsal process. We're kind of like bonding through it.

[39:59] Chris Collins Pisano: And then by the time places comes, I just you know, I get into the task-oriented routine of it all. We're getting our garments on, we're getting our mics on, and now it's like we're on the clock.

[40:08] Nicole Venus Ortiz: But getting to the clock is a whole process for me because I am such an empath and like I soak so much in that I have to create intentional ways to like kind of just you know, squeeze everything that's going on inside of me so I can have the most freedom when we get on stage.

[40:24] Chris Collins Pisano: And that's what I've shared with my cast members is that you know, like, yeah, showbiz is crazy behind the scenes and after the scenes, but when I'm on stage, all that is put to the side once the audience is there and they're there to have a good time with us.

[40:36] Nicole Venus Ortiz: We can kind of like let all that go for those 90 minutes. That's kind of a freedom outlet for me.

[40:40] Chris Collins Pisano: So yeah.

[40:41] Amber Brzezinski: Well, and I I think that's important to note too is there are a lot of performers who have stage anxiety, or they don't like the sound of their voice, or they hate the way this is delivered. Um, so it's important to know like people still suffer through this, and there's ways to go through that's why we always ask, like, preach our rituals, or like, how do you feel about this?

[41:01] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Because I I don't ever take offense to this place if anybody listening out there or you guys here, like people on Broadway or off Broadway or performing on a stage, they might be a celebrity to you, but they're normal people that have daily things, they have kids they've got to take to school, they have anxiety, they've got pets to take care of, like respect their space and their time.

[41:26] Chris Collins Pisano: We push it so much with like theater etiquette and stage door etiquette.

[41:30] Amber Brzezinski: Um, so many people I always talk about the stupid Hades Town experience. I had some lady through a fit and said she's gonna write a bad review about Hades Town because Jordan Fisher didn't come out and stage door.

[41:42] Chris Collins Pisano: So and I was just oh my god.

[41:45] Amber Brzezinski: And I mean it was right away.

[41:49] Chris Collins Pisano: I mean, she and she came up and my friends were cosplaying because we um our friends with some of the cast, and they wanted to get a picture, and um she came up to us just venting, which is fine, and we're like, hi, so um, COVID's a thing, there's a stomach bug going around, there's bronchitis playing around.

[42:06] Amber Brzezinski: Um, they're not required to come out and stage door because they're not paid for that.

[42:11] Chris Collins Pisano: They're literally trying to get home.

[42:13] Amber Brzezinski: Like, like if you're leaving work and somebody stops you outside the door of your office and wants, you know, to take up 15 20 minutes. Do you want to do that? Or do you want to get home and get to your kids or to your spouse or or just get the hell out of there?

[42:27] Chris Collins Pisano: Like, respect people.

[42:28] Amber Brzezinski: It doesn't have anything to do with the show. It's not a requirement.

[42:32] Chris Collins Pisano: So you guys are regular people, everybody is a regular person, but there's something called a safe space, like what Nicole is saying, creating that space as well.

[42:40] Amber Brzezinski: And people people naturally forget that too.

[42:43] Chris Collins Pisano: Like they see us doing what we do on stage, and we make it look so easy that they just think, oh, it must be nice getting to do this for only 90 minutes a day, or the amount of days you do it a week.

[42:52] Amber Brzezinski: They don't understand the pre-routine that goes into keeping our bodies intact, keeping our voices, you know, lubricated so that we can have enough stamina.

[43:00] Chris Collins Pisano: I mean, a six show weekend marathon that like the one we do. I get I get like inside my feelings when I can't say hi to people when it's the night before two show day because Jenny and I we commute back and forth between Jersey and Pennsylvania, Jenny B in Pennsylvania.

[43:13] Chris Collins Pisano: We don't have that extra 15 minutes because that kills our training schedule as much as we would want to stick around.

[43:19] Jenny Lee Stern: So, yeah, people forget about all of those possibilities that they don't consider because of their self-interests with wanting to get close to the actors, you know.

[43:27] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Right.

[43:27] Chris Collins Pisano: Right.

[43:28] Jenny Lee Stern: No, and I think that's so key. Like, just you guys have so much on your plate, and there is so much, you know, you're talking about lubricating your voice and keeping it's incredible to me. Like some of these TikTokers, and they're like, Oh, yeah, just exactly what you're saying, emulating, oh, you're performing 90 minutes, or they're making fun of. There's one TikToker, I can't stand. She'll literally film around New York City in the theater district and be like, oh my god, somebody smoked a cigarette. I can't sing now. Oh, here's my high e. But she's making fun, but like not in a teasing way like Forbidden Broadway does. And it's like everybody works so hard. And I think you guys, you really do work, I think, harder than most people really think, or no. So it's always appreciated when you guys are able to share kind of that inside information a little bit and prepare others that want to do what you guys are doing.

[44:20] Chris Collins Pisano: You can't prepare to be in Forbidden Broadway. It's you don't choose Forbidden Broadway, it chooses you. You can't prepare for it.

[44:31] Jenny Lee Stern: That kind of brings us into the next question. Were you sought out? Were you guys sought out for this? Was it something that you always had on the radar? Like were you like, Oh, when I, you know, get to this point in my career, I want to do Forbidden Broadway, or it just kind of happened and you're like, Oh, it's here.

[44:48] Chris Collins Pisano: I think Chris, maybe you why don't you go first? Because you sort of were like a forbidden, you knew a Forbidden Broadway, right?

[44:55] Chris Collins Pisano: I mean, I remember when I was in college, when I was studying theater in college, there was somebody that, like a graduate a few years above me who had done a Forbidden Broadway, so they would talk about Forbidden Broadway, not a ton, but a good deal, and then there's a lot of people in my generation that have grown up listening to it and have like a love. And I wasn't really one of those people, but then I kind of just kind of fell into it. I did a regional summer stock show on Long Island at the Gateway Playhouse, and then they brought me in for another show the next season that happened to be Forbidden Broadway. Because usually, you know, Forbidden Broadway is all cast by, you know, they work with a casting director, but they really kind of do it all on their own, and it's a whole thing, and it's a very inside thing.

[45:41] Jenny Lee Stern: Right.

[45:41] Chris Collins Pisano: And this was just like a production at a summer stock that Gerard, who's the creator, writer, director, since the beginning, yeah, mastermind and operation. He just happened to be directing it, and then right after it, he just happened to start doing Next Generation, which is the first time that I met Jenny. And so I kind of feel like I just got I really got lucky that I found them, they found me, and that we found out that we had a good working relationship with each other because it's like it's like auditioning to be in a family.

[46:14] Jenny Lee Stern: Right.

[46:14] Chris Collins Pisano: You know, you're not that's where I feel like Jenny's really right about it picking you. It's like it's a it's not just like you're fit for a role or you're fit for a style. There's a ton of amazing people out there who can do unbelievable things with their voice and you know, as performers, but it's also like you know, it's a weird, kooky, crazy family, and the process. Yeah, and you but you we all have a deep love and a deep trust, and we all see theater and we see this art form and like in with like an extra color and an extra lens, and it's just you know, so it's been it's been like I don't really honestly use word blessing that much in my life, but it's been like a huge, you know. I mean, it's given me a lot of work, it's let me really learn honestly the most about myself and as an artist.

[47:04] Jenny Lee Stern: That's awesome doing this. So this is yeah, I feel like it finds you, and then you if you're you know, you stick around, they're incredibly loyal, you work hard, they work hard. It's amazing. Went off the rails at the end there, but you know.

[47:15] Nicole Venus Ortiz: No, but it's okay. Stop. I know what we're talking about.

[47:18] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, and then sort of like in contrast or whatever, I really didn't know anything about Forbidden Broadway until I auditioned. Well, the first time I ever auditioned for it, I knew nothing about it and sort of let it go right after I was 19 years old. Auditioned in the basement of Ellen's Stardust Diner. Love Ellen's. Um really didn't know what I was getting myself into, which is probably why I didn't get cast. No, fair enough. And then um whoops, and then um when I went in again for Alive and Kicking, you know, I prepared a little bit, but I still didn't really know.

[47:58] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, you're so old, you're being old.

[48:06] Jenny Lee Stern: It is okay. We're painting a pumpkin for a pumpkin decorating contest at her school. I'm doing a I'm feeling a bunny. I love bunnies. She has a big pumpkin and a little pumpkin, and so she's doing the Easter bunny and an Easter egg. Oh, I love that. Very creative.

[48:31] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, bring it on.

[48:34] Jenny Lee Stern: Bring it on. I mean, it's like Dark Stellington. He is Halloween and Christmas. He's gonna be a good one.

[48:40] Chris Collins Pisano: There you go. I guess oh that and funny you say that because what are you gonna be for Halloween?

[48:45] Jenny Lee Stern: Sally.

[48:46] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, I always see pictures.

[48:52] Jenny Lee Stern: So yeah, and then the um then when I auditioned for Alive and Kicking, like I kind of knew what I was getting myself into, but I still wouldn't say I was like a fan, but I do feel like most people kind of discover Forbidden Broadway in college, right? Or like you summer stock kind of a thing, and I guess I just missed that. I was I was bad guys. Like I wasn't sitting around listening to Forbidden Broadway. I was like doing bad stuff. But like no, it's you know I was taking I was taking advantage of the dark side of summer stock.

[49:24] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah.

[49:27] Jenny Lee Stern: We all have to if you're doing summer stock you have to at least flirt with it.

[49:27] Chris Collins Pisano: You have to at least flirt with the dark side.

[49:33] Jenny Lee Stern: Right. I mean I did say I've had three husbands so you know that's okay. I'll tell you about it later.

[49:42] Chris Collins Pisano: She'll tell you about it when you're older.

[49:46] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Nicole anything you'd like to add on top of that one.

[49:50] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Oh yeah I mean Forbidden Broadway found me through um the original outlet that I first met Gerard Arlison Dream through because my first off Broadway gig was through Spamleton which was created by Gerard as well. That process wasn't entirely the same as the Forbidden Broadway process because that was a more specified niche on one person that they were making fun of at the expense of other celebrities that they used to kind of tell that comical story. So you know there was a more regimented structure there was a more you know um like laid out itinerary of how the rehearsals were and things like that. But with Forbidden Broadway that was more of an experimental thing and it was all shaped around the people who were in the group and so as you know Chris and Jenny were saying when I got added um at the time that I did it was definitely like crash course into the wilderness because not only did I have to absorb the material but at the same time I also still had to observe everybody's strengths and everybody's chemistry on stage with each other, and how anytime I went out on stage with that group, how I could complement what already was happening so that I didn't like hold anything back or interfere with anything that was already established because everything was already brilliantly coming together when I was just sort of doing the rehearsals.

[51:04] Chris Collins Pisano: And so oh, sorry about that. Sorry.

[51:12] Nicole Venus Ortiz: And so uh live TV. Um and so yeah, and so like I this was another thing that I had mentioned in a previous interview for Forbidden Broadway that like the experience was tunnel vision for me because I really just wanted to take everything in hindsight, and like I wanted to like absorb as much as was being thrown at me, and I think all of us attested to that, right?

[51:32] Chris Collins Pisano: So much sorry.

[51:34] Jenny Lee Stern: You're very polite there, that's okay.

[51:36] Nicole Venus Ortiz: That's just kind of close. There's context to it, of course, but anywho. So yeah, so when um when Gerard told me about Forbidden Broadway, it was back before um they were having their Broadway dates announced, and I was like out of town at the time, but I was always very interested in working with everybody in any way I could if I was around. So July 28th came, and then it turned out when I came back home to the states that oh, they haven't premiered yet, but they're gonna do an off-Broadway contract, and it's gonna happen sometime in August. So by the time I got back, one thing led to another. On a Saturday, I met the cast, and then on a Monday we had official rehearsal, and 10 days later we had previews.

And so yeah, no, and so it was it was definitely wild, but like Chris said, like, there's so many talented performers, there's so many talented actors who like have incredible skill sets on how they can use their instruments and how they can tell the stories that are being told. But with this particular type of machine, it's really about your skill with how well you roll with the punches, you know, and it's not an easy thing, you know. There's really no judgment passing, but it's just a matter of can you see the bigger picture at the end of the line despite what's happening on the way there, you know? And so, and so I felt really um challenged in that area, but in a good way, because I was like, okay, if I can just see through everything that's happening right now and get to the goal of what we're trying to get out of this framework that we're building, we're gonna settle down eventually.

And we did, we did. We we got our show, we locked it, we froze it, you know. I mean, things come left and right, but we handle it the way that we know how to handle it best, and we keep it moving, and the audiences keep coming back and they keep talking to people about the shows. I've had friends who come see the show, and kind of to echo from earlier, like friends of mine have said, of everything I've seen you in, this is probably the hardest vocal show I've ever seen any cast do. And I'm like, yeah, and in hindsight, like from the mental illness phrase, like we don't realize it until the end of the week, until we're just like, see you never until finally trying to like go into your falsetto on a Tuesday morning.

No, no, it's literal auto autopilot has been shut down, power off. But but it's been rewarding because you know, you gotta have tough skin in this business, nothing is meant to come easy. Obviously, in our own ideal world, you know, we want to be able to balance challenge with an unnecessary, you know, level of industry stress, but it's not something we're always going to be able to control when with the conduits of all of this like artistic content that we're bringing to the forefront. So, yeah, I mean, I I think we're champions for everything that we've been able to tackle and conquer, truly.

[54:20] Chris Collins Pisano: Surely absolutely. I love that. I love and I also love what you said. You said something about complimenting each other on stage, you know, finding and also I'm assuming the tour you were just coming off of was a sister act and age, I guess.

[54:31] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah.

[54:32] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, so that's that's a big shift on top of that. But oh my god, I can't imagine. Um, but you know, working and complimenting each other because it is a family. You're also performing on stage and learning different dynamics of how you perform on stage, besides being backstage, besides now having your own personal lives, like it I really swear that every performer out there has multiples multiple personalities. You have to. You have to be able to acclimate to everything very quick and turn on a dime if needed. So I it's it's incredible and it is extremely exhausting, and I can't imagine it. That's why we're always so appreciative when we have talent that's able to join us on the show and share a little bit of themselves with us because I'm sure you guys would much rather be playing with your kids or your pets or just chilling and not having to ever talk about it. Most of us are we're accomplishing it at the same time.

[55:22] Chris Collins Pisano: Hey, you know, multitasking.

[55:26] Jenny Lee Stern: Just like what we do in Forbidden Broadway.

[55:31] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, there's multitasking, had no idea. Um, but you guys really do roll with the punches, and it's always so nice to see the cohesion between everything. Um, we have just a couple minutes left with the show. Um I I want to ask, there's gonna be a couple of questions I'm gonna throw out there. I'll throw the first one out. In a future iteration of Forbidden Broadway, what would you guys like to see? Either song, performer, show, what would you like from any era, any decade, any show, what would you like to see out there?

[56:05] Chris Collins Pisano: Man, I mean, well, let's look, let's just look forward at like the upcoming Broadway season. I mean, I think there's a lot.

[56:12] Jenny Lee Stern: Oh yeah.

[56:13] Chris Collins Pisano: There's a lot that could light up Gerard's noggin and a great thing. Like you guys said, Death Becomes or Death Becomes is coming out soon.

[56:19] Jenny Lee Stern: Death becomes her.

[56:20] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, there's so there are so many things. I, you know, I didn't know that about the Romeo and Juliet that they're allowing filming.

[56:27] Jenny Lee Stern: They're not allowing it.

[56:28] Chris Collins Pisano: They're not allowing it, but oh, but it's happening. But you know what I mean? Like those kinds of those kinds of stories and those kinds of rumors that you hear when they reach like a certain fever pitch. It's like then maybe people would love to see like an actor and an actress trying to perform Romeo and Juliet, and you know, everyone in the front row is encouraged to like climb up on the stage and get really close to the camera or something. I don't know. It's just but that's the good thing about Forbidden Broadway is that you know if there's there's always material there, and yes, there are some difficulties with like you know, most shows having pop scores that can make it a little parody, you know, actually setting it to it can be a little more of a challenge.

Definitely not an obstacle, but more of a challenge. But I don't know. I just think that there's always theater changes, it evolves every year. The art form changes, so teasing and poking fun of it and keeping that love alive from both sides of that aisle is also always a valid fun and exciting thing to do.

[57:27] Jenny Lee Stern: I love that. Well, I need to see this is what I need to happen because there was like a three-year hiatus of Forbidden Broadway for the first time in history, right before we opened Alive and Kicking, which was like 13 years ago.

[57:41] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, so like it was a big thing. Now, in that time, things that were missed. Number one, next to normal. I need my girl, Alice Ripley, to make a Broadway resurgence. She's never been spoofed in Forbidden Broadway, I don't believe. That's wild. Sideshow and Next to Normal. Next to Normal definitely was not done. Yeah. And I was really pushing for that. In Alive and Kicking, went through many, many incarnations.

[58:15] Jenny Lee Stern: I can imagine. And I was really, really fighting for Judy to get down on the floor while she was like um hunting for her pills and just start making sandwiches. Yes. Oh but regardless, I need an Alice Ripley moment.

[58:30] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Absolutely. Um, let me say this: like I'm obsessed with Alice. I love her as a person, but like she's the ultimate iconic diva superity in the history of divas, it just like isn't that enough.

[58:43] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, talent. So I need that moment, and I also need it for myself.

[58:49] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, absolutely. I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute.

[58:54] Chris Collins Pisano: 100%.

[58:56] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, I think to kind of like real back to what we were talking about earlier about some of the taboos of like social media sharing with shows. Um, you know, I had mentioned it in the chat earlier because of the background noise. I just think when you have a show like Forbidden Broadway and any other um production that is more jukebox musical based but not story-driven, there's really no need to have such a strict rule when it comes to those type of genre productions and not allowing guests who come to see the show to take video, to take photo and share bits and pieces, or however long of a length the videos are on social media because the more people know about it, the more excited they're wanna want to come out and see it because anyone who's a real theater goer understands that just because you saw the video once doesn't mean you're not gonna want to see us again because our line of work deals with can we do that again seven more times or can we do that again in our case five more times you know people just want to see the athleticism too of how we do what we do and so bulls are great you know when you have Broadway story driven production but we're kind of a Broadway jukebox musical we're just paying homage to songs that are picked out from shows that stand out the most for all these theater lovers and why wouldn't we encourage them to do that?

[1:00:13] Chris Collins Pisano: And I just think it has to do you know um it's it's just very antiquated the way that we've like created these rules around how we share the show's um art and everything that we're creating especially because of the generation that we're in we should gap the bridge between millennials and Gen Zs versus keep it divided because the Gen Z are the future of the algorithm becoming what it is becoming so give them something to be excited about you know yeah uh Amber and I sat through a um presentation of Ken Davenport several months ago and talking about the future of generations um with social media and the interaction with them and I I agree I think that there should be a certain section of certain shows everybody everybody take your phones out at this time and if you want to record it fine but then you're not fighting for it to go viral it's out there it's different shows it's different ways um I know like uh JJ from Back to the Future like him and Tommy Brackway used to do a bunch of stuff with each show they did where they would perform a different dance number at like curtain and people look forward to that kind of stuff and it's fun because you can recur record a curtain call or maybe you can't um but like I always go back to like I want to go see phantom I'm a huge phantom fan and the woman in front of me took her phone out in the darkness and recorded the entirety of the book and it had to have been like one of the big double ones and I'm like I would like to not have that but maybe if everybody was doing it during a specific scene then it would be a little bit more allowable I agree for sure I'm sorry Jenny I interrupted you.

[1:02:48] Jenny Lee Stern: No no no I was just gonna say like here's the deal live theater is the kind of the only kind of entertainment well no live anything right like even though we're doing the same show technically saying the same lines yeah singing the same songs we're in the same costumes like every single night we do the show is a once in a lifetime experience a hundred percent so like even if like I don't really care how many times you've seen Hamilton on Apple D or Disney whatever um which is great you should they should keep doing that and we should keep watching that you haven't seen Hamilton like you haven't seen it right like so to say that that's gonna honey I think if that alone proves the theory of like there's a video out there yet everybody still wants to see the show and call out at night it makes you want to see it more like because you're like wow now I want to see the sweat and like feel the breath and like hear the bike.

[1:02:48] Chris Collins Pisano: Yep it's like stop if it was if it was that easy then great we would all just go on stage do the show one night film it and then get a check and call it a day like that's not the medium we're dealing with.

[1:03:01] Jenny Lee Stern: So, like, and if especially was something like Forbidden Broadway, you could go come last Friday and then come you know this Saturday, and like it's gonna be a just it's just gonna be a different show.

[1:03:13] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, somebody's gonna be having a different kind of day, someone's gonna hit a note differently, someone might forget or like it also is the kind of the show that's if something happens in the audience, we can sort of break the fourth wall and talk about it.

[1:03:25] Chris Collins Pisano: Like yeah, every night is gonna be different, and and I just think that's silly to think that like you're giving something away because there's a clip on TikTok of a show, and then they're not gonna spend the money for a ticket, is to that's actually silly, and that's any producer or sorry, union that forbids that is being silly, they're being a silly goose, let's say it's always it's a comedy too, you know.

[1:03:52] Jenny Lee Stern: We it especially with that that adds another layer of like you know, jokes land could at different times, and we find out there's a laugh here where we didn't know that thing that you thought was a laugh, all of a sudden there's like a match right now, yeah.

[1:04:52] Chris Collins Pisano: So yeah, that's fair.

[1:04:55] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, you know, all that stuff happens too, and like it's that's one of my favorite things about like the West End, like all those national theater things that you see all the time, and then you can go on.

[1:04:55] Jenny Lee Stern: I know there's like Broadway HD and stuff, but I agree.

[1:04:55] Chris Collins Pisano: I think that there's there's a way and a balance to find it and make it of use and of a tool for us, and not like uh you know, yeah.

[1:04:55] Jenny Lee Stern: I mean, maybe like yeah, exactly.

[1:04:55] Chris Collins Pisano: It's as long as it's done with respect and not like you know, running in front of somebody as they're trying to do it.

[1:04:55] Jenny Lee Stern: Don't run in front, check that your flash is off, you know, tips.

[1:04:55] Chris Collins Pisano: But you know, if that's if that ends up being like uh just a change to the pre-show speech or stuff like that, you know, it's like that's rolling with the times as well.

[1:04:55] Nicole Venus Ortiz: I think there's yeah, there's a there's there's so I'm also it helps us in Forbidden Broadway the more video that's out of the Broadway show.

[1:04:55] Jenny Lee Stern: For real. I mean, they ditched those those Tony Award performances go off of YouTube in such a I was like, Oh, I'll watch the I need to watch the outside as one.

[1:05:02] Chris Collins Pisano: That's right. We're like we're on an off Broadway contract, honey. Like, we can't go see Broadway shows in preparation for this.

[1:05:09] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Like, we are kind of figuring it out through if you would like us to do specific work, you we would love we would love it to be.

[1:05:18] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, that's hard still photographs.

[1:05:22] Nicole Venus Ortiz: A lot, like there's a lot.

[1:05:24] Chris Collins Pisano: Uh I mean, there's like one video of Shayna Talb singing um keep marching, and then like you know, a clip on some morning show or something.

[1:05:34] Jenny Lee Stern: But like a lot of my Shaina Talb is done from still photographs.

[1:05:39] Chris Collins Pisano: 100 okay I love that, which sounds crazy, but it's effective.

[1:05:44] Jenny Lee Stern: Like somehow it's effective these people.

[1:05:48] Chris Collins Pisano: I remember one day during rehearsal, I walked around uh forgive me, I can't remember what theater outsiders is at, but I walked around the theater that they're occupying at the time at the moment, and I took a picture of the guy that I parody, and it's just like him like slumped and sitting on a stair.

[1:06:02] Jenny Lee Stern: I was like, Oh, okay, great.

[1:06:03] Chris Collins Pisano: Uh, first time I do the first time I break into my number, I'm sit on this chair.

[1:06:06] Jenny Lee Stern: I was like, I'll just try and sit, I'll try and sit like that.

[1:06:09] Chris Collins Pisano: And it's it informs all and it informs the audience and it informs you.

[1:06:13] Jenny Lee Stern: And it's yeah, it's great.

[1:06:15] Chris Collins Pisano: I mean I love that.

[1:06:16] Jenny Lee Stern: I mean, it it is true, it's always a big battle between our members of like should you or shouldn't you?

[1:06:20] Chris Collins Pisano: We're always curious because everyone has a different read on it.

[1:06:23] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, but it really is different, you know.

[1:06:25] Chris Collins Pisano: We we've had so many different kinds of personalities on our show, and it's always fascinating because everyone's like, I don't care if it's recorded or I don't care if it's this, and then you get pro shots and it's different, and it's, but it is when we talk about Amber and I talked about in the pod all the time.

[1:06:39] Jenny Lee Stern: Is when you're in the theater, have that right etiquette because it is once in a lifetime you're with the c the one group of people, you're in a one kind of mood, you just ate this kind of food, like you're gonna experience a show differently every time.

[1:06:51] Chris Collins Pisano: So we always want to encourage people see it once, see it twice, see it 50 times, you know.

[1:06:56] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Right now, go see Forbidden Broadway until until it's not available anymore because you're gonna miss out on that once in a lifetime opportunity.

[1:07:05] Chris Collins Pisano: And you want to go see it.

[1:07:06] Jenny Lee Stern: Um before we wrap, is there anything that you guys are working on that you want to discuss besides Forbidden Broadway, or tell people how they can find you on social media and kind of see where you go go go next?

[1:07:19] Chris Collins Pisano: Um you can find me on Instagram. My handle on Instagram is Leaning Tower of Pizano. It's not like an unbelievable dearth of knowledge about myself, but you never know.

[1:07:24] Jenny Lee Stern: You never know.

[1:07:31] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, nothing currently um on the books right now, but you know, shows yeah, like we just got our notice.

[1:07:39] Jenny Lee Stern: Yeah, no, no, no.

[1:07:40] Chris Collins Pisano: But you know, that's a life that's the thing that we're all prepared for. You know, it's the time to just get back to auditioning or know that we get an early vacation. You know, whatever it is, it's we gave this thing a great run.

[1:07:50] Jenny Lee Stern: We're here for a good time, I guess not a long time, but that's everybody, you know, that's to the to the fault of everyone that's not gonna be able to see it after November 3rd.

[1:08:00] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Right, right.

[1:08:01] Chris Collins Pisano: We'll be back.

[1:08:01] Jenny Lee Stern: It's Forbidden Broadway.

[1:08:03] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, I don't know.

[1:08:04] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Yeah, social media is the best place for me too. Just Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok.

[1:08:12] Jenny Lee Stern: Did you want to say something, Jenny?

[1:08:12] Jenny Lee Stern: I feel like I talked over to you.

[1:08:13] Nicole Venus Ortiz: No, no, no. I was waiting for Nicole, but I um I was gonna say, yeah, like we just got our closing notice unexpectedly, so we thought we were employed till January.

[1:08:23] Jenny Lee Stern: Nothing lined up.

[1:08:25] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Actually, however, um, there is a silent whispers of maybe us doing this version of Forbidden Broadway in a couple other places, maybe around the country here and there.

[1:08:41] Chris Collins Pisano: Nothing official inside scoop for you guys the fact but you can find me on Instagram at um pinned down pinup, and that pretty much just tracks my like single mom lesbian life.

[1:08:55] Jenny Lee Stern: Cool, and um yeah, which in a single mom lesbian in the suburbs of Philadelphia is kind of rights itself, honey.

[1:09:03] Chris Collins Pisano: You don't really need to I don't put a lot of work in pumpkins, though, because that's what I think you're right.

[1:09:10] Jenny Lee Stern: I will we will definitely be getting an update on the Easter bunny pumpkin.

[1:09:14] Chris Collins Pisano: I was a saccharone on a field trip today.

[1:09:17] Jenny Lee Stern: Um yeah, my apologies the whole BRT is the handle.

[1:09:23] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, so that's kind of what like your subscribers or stuff.

[1:09:27] Nicole Venus Ortiz: If they don't know, like if you want to go down a Forbidden Broadway rabbit hole and you have Spotify or Apple music, like all of those albums from across the years, like if you saw something in 1984, they probably parodied it.

[1:09:42] Chris Collins Pisano: They probably parried the thing that you've been talking about over your wine glasses for the last 30 years.

[1:09:47] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Like there's so much history uh of course in theater and Broadway, but there's so much history that Forbidden Broadway has done its own chronicling of, and you it's all right there, like even like next generation, which Jenny and I did, Spamblin with Nicole, it's all available, and you can really just do it.

[1:10:01] Chris Collins Pisano: I do it sometimes very late at night.

[1:10:03] Nicole Venus Ortiz: It is a very deep wrap as well.

[1:10:07] Chris Collins Pisano: You you could if you're looking to to binge something, like you run out of binge watching something on Netflix or Hulu or Disney Plus, go binge Forbidden Broadway.

[1:10:17] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Seriously.

[1:10:17] Chris Collins Pisano: But go support the show now while you can.

[1:10:20] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Um, so it's forbiddenbroadway.nyc.

[1:10:24] Chris Collins Pisano: That'll take you right over to the website.

[1:10:27] Nicole Venus Ortiz: Um, you can learn all about the rest of the cast, the creatives, the history behind it.

[1:10:31] Chris Collins Pisano: There's links to everything.

[1:10:33] Nicole Venus Ortiz: You can watch the sizzle reel over and over again and memorize it and do your own version if you want.

[1:10:38] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, but with that being said, we ran a little bit over time.

[1:10:42] Jenny Lee Stern: We want to thank you guys so much for joining us.

[1:10:44] Chris Collins Pisano: We hope that you had a good time.

[1:10:46] Jenny Lee Stern: So thank you.

[1:10:47] Chris Collins Pisano: Actually, did I see on Twitter that John was making his off Broadway debut this weekend?

[1:10:55] Jenny Lee Stern: Uh he's gonna be making his, it's gonna be his second appearance.

[1:10:59] Chris Collins Pisano: Oh, okay.

[1:10:59] Jenny Lee Stern: Maybe like first for the full, I can't remember.

[1:11:02] Chris Collins Pisano: Maybe we hadn't opened yet and we were in previews, but he's he's done the he's done the show before, but this will be okay.

[1:11:07] Jenny Lee Stern: Oh, yeah, this Sunday is the second time.

[1:11:09] Chris Collins Pisano: Yeah, okay.

[1:11:10] Jenny Lee Stern: I was gonna say, congratulations to him.

[1:11:12] Chris Collins Pisano: But that'll be a good idea.

[1:11:16] Jenny Lee Stern: And um Catherine Penny, also Danny Hayward wasn't able to make it just phenomenal in the cast as well.

[1:11:22] Chris Collins Pisano: Unbelievable costumes and choreography and all this other stuff.

[1:11:26] Jenny Lee Stern: I can't wait to hear how the rest of the run goes.

[1:11:28] Chris Collins Pisano: Um, we're hopefully gonna send all of our Broadway fan club members.

[1:11:32] Cast: We're gonna pack that place up, right, everybody?

[1:11:36] Cast: Absolutely.

[1:11:38] Cast: Um guys again so much.

[1:11:41] Cast: You guys have been lovely.

[1:11:42] Cast: Um, children and pets included and Chiniest restaurants.

[1:11:45] Cast: We've got to hear about recommendations.

[1:11:48] Cast: Hi, buddy guys.

[1:11:49] Cast: I'm gonna run into it.

[1:11:51] Cast: Go run.

[1:11:52] Cast: Bye, everybody.

[1:11:52] Cast: Thank you so much.

[1:11:54] Cast: Thank you so much.

[1:11:54] Cast: Have a great night, everybody.

[1:11:55] Cast: Thank you.

[1:11:56] Cast: Bye, everybody.

[1:11:58] Cast: Bye bye.