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[0:00] Jess MacInally: Today's show is brought to you by Audible.

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[0:21] Jess MacInally: Alright, on to the real show, kids.

[0:26] Jess MacInally: Hello, I'm Jess MacInally.

[0:29] Andrew DeWolf: And I'm Andrew DeWolf.

[0:31] Jess MacInally: And welcome to Musicals with Cheese, a podcast where I try to get Andrew to like musical theater.

[0:36] Jess MacInally: How are you today, Andrew?

[0:38] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, I am just wondering today.

[0:41] Jess MacInally: That's a new word.

[0:42] Andrew DeWolf: I just invented it.

[0:43] Jess MacInally: Mm-hmm. Well, hello again. And what are we talking about today, Andrew?

[0:48] Andrew DeWolf: We're gonna talk about Hello Again.

[0:51] Andrew DeWolf: Again.

[0:54] Jess MacInally: Yeah, yeah. This is our second time recording this because Jess was a little too drunk the first time.

[1:00] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, so Jess hasn't drank anything tonight, I don't think. Is that correct, Jess?

[1:04] Jess MacInally: I have not drank. I am off drinking for at least a few months.

[1:08] Jess MacInally: Because of this episode, that's the actual reason. It was so totally unlistenable.

[1:18] Jess MacInally: Hello again.

[1:20] Andrew DeWolf: Hello, Chass!

[1:34] Jess MacInally: So, Hello Again is a musical with music and lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It's based on an 1897 play, La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler.

[1:45] Jess MacInally: Schnitzler? Also titled Regan. It is focused on the...

[1:51] Andrew DeWolf: I remember that.

[1:53] Jess MacInally: Schnitzler. I think I called him, I just called him Schnitzel and hoped you wouldn't notice.

[1:59] Jess MacInally: The musical premiered off-Broadway in 1993, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele. Since then it has been performed in London, Sweden, Australia, Germany, and New York.

[2:10] Jess MacInally: The stage musical has been adapted to film, which is directed by Tom Gustafson's and written by Corey Kreckenberg. Filming began in December of 2015 and had a limited release in the United States on November 8th, 2017.

[2:23] Jess MacInally: The film stars Audra McDonald, Martha Plimpton, T.R. Knight, and Rumer Willis, and it follows ten lost souls across ten periods in New York City history.

[2:32] Jess MacInally: The Daisy Chained Musical explores love's bittersweet embrace as the pursued become the pursuer and slip in and out of one another's arms, spinning through ten musical vignettes which come together in one soulful circle.

[2:47] Jess MacInally: The film was orchestrated and arranged by Todd Almond and Tom Gustafson's. Andrew, what'd you think of Hello Again?

[2:57] Jess MacInally: And just for further note, Andrew did not watch any live production of the show. He just watched a movie, and it's relatively the same basic story with one big alteration, which I'll come to when we talk about it.

[3:11] Jess MacInally: We are basically just talking about the movie.

[3:14] Andrew DeWolf: So basically...

[3:15] Jess MacInally: Sorry, there's any real production to use.

[3:20] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, so we're talking about the movie, so yeah. If we say anything you don't agree with, that's why.

[3:27] Jess MacInally: 100%. Blame Andrew is the final answer.

[3:31] Andrew DeWolf: Fuck you.

[3:34] Jess MacInally: So Hello Again, I think the show comes off as like a bunch of short segments that are essentially unrighteous. I think the characters are the same, like they use one character from the previous short segment, and they're basically unchanged, but they're in a different time period.

[3:55] Andrew DeWolf: I might be wrong about that though. They play the same role in a way, like the whore is a whore in both of them, the nurse is a nurse in both of them, but they are different characters in a different world that have different personalities.

[4:10] Jess MacInally: Well, do they have different personalities though?

[4:12] Andrew DeWolf: I think a lot of them do have the same personality as well. Like the soldier in both of them.

[4:18] Jess MacInally: Oops, sorry about that.

[4:19] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, go ahead.

[4:21] Jess MacInally: Well, some of them do and some of them don't. Like the nurse is very lovestruck when she's with the soldier, but when she's with college boy, she is very take control and strong.

[4:33] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, but then there's other ones where they don't change. Like the husband in both of them is very like kind of timid, I guess. I'm trying to find a way to describe him, but yeah.

[4:48] Andrew DeWolf: And the soldier in both of them is just kind of out for sex.

[4:52] Jess MacInally: So yeah. Well, do you want to just go scene by scene and describe them?

[4:58] Andrew DeWolf: I think that might be the best way to do this show, honestly.

[5:01] Jess MacInally: Alright.

[5:02] Andrew DeWolf: I agree. So let's start from the very beginning of Hello Again with the whore and the soldier.

[5:11] Jess MacInally: Commentary Italy Hello again. This scene takes place in 1901 in New York City night where a prostitute approaches a soldier.

[5:32] Jess MacInally: Now, in the original cast, the original off-Broadway cast, this was played by a woman, Donna Murphy. In the film, it is portrayed by a man dressed as a woman, which honestly rubs me a bit the wrong way, because it is just a cisgendered man playing a woman, and for no other reason aside from just like they wanted Martha Plimpton and Audra McDonald to be together, and it feels like a really shitty way to get that.

[6:03] Jess MacInally: It feels cheap, and if you are gonna try to take that move, at least cast a transgender person in that role, you know, instead of just confusing the audience with no reason. Especially being the very first short, it's a little awkward.

[6:18] Jess MacInally: I guess is the best way I would put it. And I feel that I don't understand the point of it. Like, there should be a narrative point to it or a thematic point to it. Or if they are just doing a woman as a woman, have a trans person in there.

[6:32] Jess MacInally: And if you're not, have it be addressed and have it be a man in drag. Because those are two very different things.

[6:41] Andrew DeWolf: I think what they did is that they kind of ruined this first short because they wanted to change the short at the end. But they wanted Martha Plimpton's character to be a woman, which is great, and I think it works.

[6:56] Jess MacInally: Yeah, but basically they ruined this first one in a way, or at least made this, it kind of lessened what this one could have been.

[7:05] Jess MacInally: Introduction where you're immediately asking questions instead of following along with it.

[7:10] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, and especially in something like this where if you're going into this and you have no idea what it is, you might be immediately confused in the first ten minutes.

[7:20] Jess MacInally: Well, it is a confusing show as is, and adding that onto it makes it a bit more confusing.

[7:26] Andrew DeWolf: I think they try to help you a bit by giving you that short introduction with the man, the whore as a man and Martha Plimpton, like kind of giving that bookends to it, but I don't think it's effective.

[7:39] Jess MacInally: No.

[7:40] Andrew DeWolf: I think if they wanted to change that short in the middle, they should have also changed this short here, and they think they just kind of wanted to have their cake and eat it too.

[7:51] Jess MacInally: Um, and it just doesn't work. As far as the music in it, though, I think it's a good song to start with.

[7:58] Andrew DeWolf: Um, it's very good song. Like it's eerie, it's sexy, it's all the things you want it to be.

[8:04] Jess MacInally: Yeah, and I think with this, this is the song that they kind of come back to, isn't it?

[8:09] Andrew DeWolf: Yes, it is the wraparound song that comes in literally every single other song.

[8:14] Jess MacInally: Yeah, so I think it's definitely a good song, and I think it is good. It's just the short that it's in, it just makes it a little bit awkward.

[8:24] Andrew DeWolf: It's a good intro, but in the film it doesn't quite work. And I'm still figuring it out myself why it doesn't work as well.

[8:31] Jess MacInally: I think the second short works a lot better, in my opinion, anyway.

[8:36] Andrew DeWolf: Let's go get where I'm maybe.

[8:52] Jess MacInally: Let's talk about the soldier and the nurse. Andrew, describe the scene for me.

[8:56] Andrew DeWolf: In kind of like an immediate transition where in my first time watching, I didn't even recognize that it had transitioned. I thought that it was like the same scene, and so I was a little bit confused at first, but then I kind of caught on.

[9:09] Andrew DeWolf: Um, but they kind of go where the soldier is just immediately goes to I think he goes to like a diner or something like that.

[9:18] Jess MacInally: Or a bar.

[9:18] Andrew DeWolf: It's like a town hall, like a VFW hall.

[9:21] Jess MacInally: Yeah, it's something like that. And he meets, well, they call her the nurse in this, but I don't think she was a nurse per se, was she?

[9:29] Andrew DeWolf: I think she was like an army nurse, maybe set up there as like posing as one.

[9:35] Andrew DeWolf: Like has military nurses. He wants to have sex with her, so he kind of flirts with her and then brings her out to a car and they have sex, and the nurse wants to stay with him, but he doesn't care.

[9:48] Jess MacInally: Yeah, so he leaves. He just wanted to get his eternal nut out and do it with her, and she's wants the love. She's like, You said I was pretty, right? You mean that you like me, right? Do you actually like me? And he's like, Yeah, whatever.

[10:03] Andrew DeWolf: She's like, You're gonna go back in there and talk to that redhead.

[10:07] Andrew DeWolf: It's got kind of a weird like American Psycho vibe to it almost, because he's like in the mirror looking at a picture of her and like jerking off.

[10:18] Andrew DeWolf: Um, but I like this part. I think it's one of the better shorts in the entire thing.

[10:25] Jess MacInally: Well, you were a big fan of jazz.

[10:28] Andrew DeWolf: I yeah, and I think a big part of it is they do the forties. It takes place in the forties, so they do the jazz thing, but I actually really like the song and I think it works really well.

[10:38] Andrew DeWolf: I love like the instrumentation of this entire film. I think it's perfect, and there's little things throughout the entire show. But in this song, Todd Almond adds like this screaming noise in the middle of it that just gives it this like out of world experience that of like the sexual encounter, and I just think it's so cool.

[10:58] Andrew DeWolf: Like it's one of those things that like any other orchestrator probably wouldn't have thought of.

[11:03] Jess MacInally: It's a good song, and I think if I were to recommend a song from the show, me personally I would recommend this one.

[11:11] Andrew DeWolf: I don't actually know what it's called, though.

[11:12] Jess MacInally: I don't know what the songs are called, to be honest.

[11:15] Andrew DeWolf: They don't really mention names or anything.

[11:16] Andrew DeWolf: I've got a little time.

[11:19] Andrew DeWolf: I gotta spend it wisely.

[11:24] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, because he's about to get shipped off.

[11:27] Jess MacInally: Which is later used in the Titanic scene where he is trying to convince the young thing, like we only have a little time.

[11:39] Andrew DeWolf: We've gotta spend it wisely.

[11:41] Jess MacInally: Where I don't understand the reinterpretation of the songs in this show. It baffles me, but I love hearing it.

[11:48] Jess MacInally: Those are two very different meanings as far as like what that little segment means, but I guess it's neat.

[11:55] Andrew DeWolf: It's neat to see have recurring themes. It's just odd to have them mean different things.

[12:01] Jess MacInally: It is, but I also think that adds to the re-listenability and re-watchability of this film where it's like, oh, that that's from Tom, and that one is from in some other life, and that's reinterpreted here, and that comes in later.

[12:13] Jess MacInally: There is a line set in this, like in this song called "Your Mama Don't Know What She Don't See," which is used in the next song.

[12:21] Andrew DeWolf: Uh, uh the nurse sings to the college boy, which I find interesting.

[12:24] Jess MacInally: So we're gonna talk about the nurse and the college boy.

[12:26] Andrew DeWolf: Your mama don't know what she don't see.

[12:36] Jess MacInally: I should have met you in some other life.

[12:40] Andrew DeWolf: So let's talk about the nurse and the college boy. In 1967, a nurse is hired to take care of a wealthy college student who has injured his leg.

[12:48] Jess MacInally: And instead of really taking care of him, she just kind of bangs him.

[12:52] Andrew DeWolf: And then leaves him all chained up.

[12:54] Jess MacInally: Yeah, she's a pretty bad nurse.

[12:56] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, depends on if it's Patch Adams logic where all you need is a smile.

[12:56] Jess MacInally: All you need is a bonin'.

[13:03] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, it's not Patch Adams logic. She's a bad nurse.

[13:07] Jess MacInally: Do you think they're gonna make a new Patch Adams and it's gonna be played by Will Smith?

[13:12] Andrew DeWolf: CGI Patch Adams.

[13:14] Jess MacInally: Oh god.

[13:15] Andrew DeWolf: They got a big CGI red nose on Will Smith.

[13:18] Jess MacInally: As far as this one, it's interesting. It's kind of got an awkward vibe to it because the kid looks like he's like 16, and the nurse is definitely older than that.

[13:28] Andrew DeWolf: They both look around the same age.

[13:31] Jess MacInally: I think I disagree. That didn't throw me off.

[13:33] Andrew DeWolf: I didn't see the boy as visibly younger, but maybe.

[13:37] Jess MacInally: I mean, I think what they intended is not that, so that might just be something I was picking up because, you know, something like this. You go in with your preconceived notions and they get put on to everything, so I think the song is really good.

[13:53] Andrew DeWolf: It's like really sultry, and really it is probably like the most active seduction song in this entire show.

[14:03] Jess MacInally: Which is odd because you think it wouldn't take much to seduce a college student.

[14:06] Andrew DeWolf: But she's like, no, no. I have banged a lot, and I wanna take advantage of the situation here, and you're gonna enjoy it.

[14:16] Jess MacInally: And it's not like he's totally against it. It's just nice to see a woman take authority in a musical theater song of her sexuality.

[14:24] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, I mean, she goes all out, and this college boy, he's tied up, and he talks about how his mother wouldn't like it, and um she reinterprets the mama don't mama don't know what she don't see.

[14:38] Jess MacInally: The one thing that kind of throws me off is that she leaves him tied up.

[14:41] Andrew DeWolf: I don't really understand why she did that.

[14:43] Jess MacInally: Well, because he was kind of snobby, like I won't be needing a nurse soon, so maybe you'll be out of a job, and she'll be like, fine then. Get yourself out of it.

[14:51] Andrew DeWolf: He didn't really say it that way, did he?

[14:55] Jess MacInally: I don't remember that.

[14:56] Andrew DeWolf: He kind of just says, like, oh I guess maybe I won't need a nurse sooner. Like, awkward kind of guy doesn't really know what to say, kind of talk, I guess.

[15:07] Jess MacInally: I don't know.

[15:07] Andrew DeWolf: Well, she offended him her, like, obviously.

[15:10] Jess MacInally: Like, she was like, fine, asshole.

[15:14] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, but doesn't she know that she's gonna get in trouble because this rich boy is gonna tell his mom that the nurse tied him up and had her way?

[15:24] Jess MacInally: Well, she doesn't need a nurse anymore now.

[15:27] Andrew DeWolf: She Patch Adams' dick heart.

[15:34] Jess MacInally: Let's talk about the next. I have to just think of before she gave into before I could have her most likely succeeding.

[15:48] Andrew DeWolf: College boy and the Young Wife. This one's weird. Describe it for me, Andrew.

[15:53] Andrew DeWolf: So, like the college kid from the last one and Bruce Willis are watching a movie.

[15:58] Jess MacInally: Uh I mean Bruce Willis's daughter, Rumor Willis.

[16:01] Andrew DeWolf: She's lovely, she's wonderful.

[16:03] Jess MacInally: She's wonderful.

[16:04] Andrew DeWolf: And she looks a little bit too much like Bruce Willis, but she's a beautiful woman, but you can't not see the Bruce Willis features in her face, and it just throws you off.

[16:14] Andrew DeWolf: Uh she really wants to give him a blowjob, and he can't get hard.

[16:18] Jess MacInally: Which I mean, this is a common thing. This happens to most people.

[16:20] Andrew DeWolf: You know, you ever been at the movie theater and your girl's just like, I want to give you a blowjob, and you're just like, I can't get hard. You know, that happens.

[16:27] Jess MacInally: I don't really know how he ends up getting hard, but it does happen.

[16:31] Andrew DeWolf: He Patch Adams in her mouth.

[16:33] Jess MacInally: Yeah, and then she and then he won't kiss her on the lips.

[16:36] Andrew DeWolf: And it's sad.

[16:38] Jess MacInally: It's sad, and she's just like, I cheat on my husband for barely to suck this guy's dick, and you can't even kiss me on the lips afterwards.

[16:49] Andrew DeWolf: Exactly. Look, if someone gives you a blowjob and you don't you can't kiss them on the lips afterwards, that's like the highest of offense.

[16:56] Jess MacInally: Taste your own dick.

[16:57] Andrew DeWolf: No, but like in all seriousness, though, like this is a really sad one. Actually, both of the ones with this young wife character are tragic.

[17:05] Jess MacInally: It sucks to see her in these terrible positions.

[17:08] Andrew DeWolf: And like, she describes a time when they were having sex on a boat, like, and she's like, it was freezing and I was naked.

[17:15] Jess MacInally: Like, why would I enjoy that?

[17:17] Andrew DeWolf: Was this with the college boy, or was that with the husband?

[17:19] Jess MacInally: Yeah, that was with the college boy, and she's like, He's like, it was great last time when we were in the boat.

[17:24] Andrew DeWolf: She's like, I was it was freezing in the boat and I was naked, and oh, that's gross.

[17:28] Jess MacInally: Let me guess he wasn't naked.

[17:32] Andrew DeWolf: But the college boy does sing, he reinterprets the nurse's chorus from the last one, I should have met you in some other life, to her.

[17:41] Jess MacInally: I'm just gonna try to keep up with those as we go. But that was a reinterpretation. What do you think of the song in this one?

[17:47] Andrew DeWolf: Not the greatest. I mean, it's catchy, but in the original production I find it a little bit boring.

[17:54] Jess MacInally: Like but with Todd Alman adding like all the unique vocal flares to this song, it comes a little bit more interesting.

[18:03] Andrew DeWolf: It's a build-up, it's like ba da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba you know, it's like it's reflecting like what a blowjob in theory is like.

[18:15] Jess MacInally: It's like a constant build until the final release.

[18:18] Andrew DeWolf: You know, Jess, why are we talking about this? We have a bunch of like teenager fans.

[18:26] Jess MacInally: Do you think that teenagers aren't aware of what blowjobs are?

[18:29] Andrew DeWolf: I think they're aware of it.

[18:31] Jess MacInally: I'm just not sure legally we should be talking about it to them.

[18:34] Andrew DeWolf: Talk to your parents about the birds and the beebs.

[18:36] Jess MacInally: Birds and the beads.

[18:38] Andrew DeWolf: Learn all about it.

[18:39] Jess MacInally: If you ever see a bird flying around with some beads dangling, you know how to pull them.

[18:44] Andrew DeWolf: Just ripcord that bird.

[18:45] Jess MacInally: Either way.

[18:46] Andrew DeWolf: Oh no, no, no, no.

[18:49] Jess MacInally: I reached the poke.

[18:53] Andrew DeWolf: And his brilliant smile.

[19:01] Jess MacInally: Those two-toned shoes.

[19:05] Andrew DeWolf: His eyes are green.

[19:07] Jess MacInally: Next is the young wife and the husband. This one takes place in 1956. A married couple are getting ready to see a play for their first anniversary.

[19:14] Andrew DeWolf: The wife was significant.

[19:14] Jess MacInally: Yeah, an opera.

[19:17] Andrew DeWolf: The wife is significantly younger than the husband, and the husband is like, Yo, girl, I hear your friends cheating on her husband.

[19:26] Jess MacInally: That ain't good.

[19:27] Andrew DeWolf: That that's really bad.

[19:29] Jess MacInally: It's morally bankrupt.

[19:31] Andrew DeWolf: Which is reinterpreted from what the wife said in the last song in this one.

[19:36] Jess MacInally: And basically.

[19:39] Andrew DeWolf: He's like, you do not cheat on me.

[19:41] Jess MacInally: And the greatest of adventures, it's marriage, and you're living it, baby.

[19:45] Andrew DeWolf: And she tries to bang him, and he's like, No, no, no, no.

[19:49] Jess MacInally: Nope, nope.

[19:51] Andrew DeWolf: No, no, I ain't no ho.

[19:55] Jess MacInally: And then she goes in the bathroom and touches herself, singing probably my favorite song in the entire show, entitled Tom.

[20:02] Andrew DeWolf: When I think about you, I touch myself.

[20:07] Jess MacInally: Nope, that that was not my favorite song.

[20:10] Andrew DeWolf: But at the same time, the Um I leave a tip.

[20:20] Jess MacInally: And then he comes.

[20:24] Andrew DeWolf: The greatest of adventures of my life.

[20:28] Jess MacInally: You know that one.

[20:29] Andrew DeWolf: That's pretty good.

[20:29] Jess MacInally: That was pretty good, actually.

[20:31] Andrew DeWolf: I can't remember my husband's name.

[20:35] Jess MacInally: I can't remember my lover's name, but I do remember my stranger's name.

[20:40] Andrew DeWolf: That one.

[20:41] Jess MacInally: And his name was Tom.

[20:43] Andrew DeWolf: It was Tom.

[20:44] Jess MacInally: Great song, Rumor Willis pulls it off very well.

[20:47] Andrew DeWolf: This is probably my interpretation entirely, but I'm pretty sure the husband is gay.

[20:52] Jess MacInally: Like in the closet gay.

[20:54] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, with the connection to the next scene, I can see why you'd think that.

[20:57] Jess MacInally: I completely happened, though.

[21:03] Andrew DeWolf: Like when I first watched it, I thought that.

[21:06] Jess MacInally: Because one, he completely rebuffs her and doesn't want to have sex with her at all.

[21:11] Andrew DeWolf: Um, and then he goes upstairs and he turns on the like a TV or something and he starts jerking off.

[21:19] Jess MacInally: So, like, I don't know what you're supposed to interpret from that other than he doesn't find his wife attractive, but I think it's like he's in the closet gay and his wife is just a cover and it's sad.

[21:31] Andrew DeWolf: Mm-hmm.

[21:32] Jess MacInally: What do you think he was jerking off to?

[21:34] Andrew DeWolf: The Dick Van Dyke show or something.

[21:37] Jess MacInally: That would make sense.

[21:38] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, Dick is in the title.

[21:42] Jess MacInally: And Dick Van Dyke was an attractive man in the fifties.

[21:46] Andrew DeWolf: And a very good dancer, even to this day.

[21:50] Jess MacInally: Mm-hmm.

[21:50] Andrew DeWolf: So I'd jerk off to Dick Van Dyke.

[21:53] Jess MacInally: I've got that emotional connection.

[21:54] Andrew DeWolf: I already have.

[21:57] Jess MacInally: It's called Mary Poppins 2, baby.

[22:04] Andrew DeWolf: I think that this is probably my least favorite scene, but my favorite song, if that makes sense.

[22:10] Jess MacInally: Really, I think this is actually my favorite scene, and not my favorite song though.

[22:14] Andrew DeWolf: It's my favorite scene though, but it's a good song.

[22:18] Jess MacInally: I just think it's so sad.

[22:21] Andrew DeWolf: It is, and sh like you just see the sadness in Rumor Willis's eyes as she performs it.

[22:26] Jess MacInally: The one thing I would have changed is I think Tom should have been the soldier.

[22:29] Andrew DeWolf: I think they should have brought the soldier back and had him be Tom.

[22:32] Jess MacInally: I get why they didn't do it in the film because it would confuse the Jay-Z chain, but I get what you're saying.

[22:36] Andrew DeWolf: The only thing I don't like about it in the movie is they film it all in Central Park, and I'm really sick of people filming things in Central Park, so I find Central Park boring.

[22:44] Jess MacInally: Fuck off, Jess.

[22:45] Andrew DeWolf: This isn't Mr. Popper's Penguins, okay?

[22:48] Jess MacInally: Like, come on.

[22:50] Andrew DeWolf: Like, I've walked around Central Park for a long time, and I'm just bored.

[22:55] Jess MacInally: The only interesting thing in Central Park is looking at Dana Barrett's building from it.

[23:00] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, I mean, that's cool and all, but like, come on.

[23:03] Jess MacInally: You got that restaurant that closed? What was it called?

[23:06] Andrew DeWolf: It was also in Ghostbusters.

[23:09] Jess MacInally: I mean, really, the only reason to go to New York City is to see shit from Ghostbusters, okay?

[23:13] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, come on.

[23:14] Jess MacInally: Fair.

[23:15] Andrew DeWolf: You want to move on to the next one.

[23:16] Jess MacInally: I want to live what's left of it.

[23:19] Andrew DeWolf: Right here.

[23:21] Jess MacInally: And ring to us.

[23:24] Andrew DeWolf: And toast to you.

[23:27] Jess MacInally: And toast myself, myself, myself, right?

[23:31] Andrew DeWolf: Alright.

[23:32] Jess MacInally: Andrew, describe this scene for us.

[23:35] Andrew DeWolf: So a young man sneaks onto the Titanic.

[23:39] Jess MacInally: He's a stowaway, but he meets this gorgeous woman, and then the ship sinks, and they...

[23:47] Andrew DeWolf: Okay. I think you're watching the wrong film.

[23:49] Jess MacInally: Oh.

[23:50] Andrew DeWolf: Oh shoot, no, no, okay, never mind.

[23:52] Jess MacInally: This is from Hello Again, right?

[23:55] Andrew DeWolf: Yes, yes. Sorry, sorry.

[23:57] Jess MacInally: Okay, so a young man sneaks onto the Titanic and he finds a gorgeous older man, and then the ship sinks and they die.

[24:08] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, okay, that's much better.

[24:09] Jess MacInally: Alright, how do you like this song?

[24:13] Andrew DeWolf: I don't like this scene at all.

[24:15] Jess MacInally: What?

[24:16] Andrew DeWolf: Why?

[24:18] Andrew DeWolf: Uh well, number one, I think the Titanic is fucking cliché as all hell.

[24:22] Jess MacInally: But in fairness, the show came out before the Titanic movie.

[24:26] Andrew DeWolf: But still, I mean, come on. You can't have something in the 1910s that's not on the Titanic. Come on. Other shit happened in the 1910s. Fucking World War One. Come on. Like, you could have had him in the trenches or something. That would be neat. Blow job in the trenches, you know. That would have been cool. Have the bombs like coming closer as he's getting closer to coming.

[24:54] Jess MacInally: Jesus Christ, Jess. The way you put that, it's like poetry.

[24:59] Andrew DeWolf: It's that, and it's like the husband is such a bad person in the scene. It's like he doesn't tell his little boyfriend that the ship's gonna sink. He lies and it's like, oh, everything's fine. Let me give you a hand job. Yeah, it's like, come on. Like. I mean, I guess the implication of this is that he doesn't want anyone to know that he's gay. Right? I think is the implication.

[25:27] Jess MacInally: Well, there's that in the world. But essentially, this is the I think this is the only orgasm, basically, it seems like. He wants to go up on a high note. This is the only scene though where someone actually commits like an actual rape, basically.

[25:43] Andrew DeWolf: Sex without like full awareness of the situation.

[25:46] Jess MacInally: Yeah, that's rape.

[25:48] Andrew DeWolf: Yep, so and also he uh is getting him drunk at the beginning of the scene, so. Like, I mean, this is just kind of an uncomfortable scene, I guess. Because of that.

[25:58] Jess MacInally: At least it's the most blurred consent.

[26:02] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, it's kind of the one that makes you feel like you need to take the shower the most. Because not only is he I mean, he's raping him, I mean, basically. Not not in like a forceful sense, but in like a false presences kind of way, so still gross and still the same thing. Um, but he's also murdering him, essentially.

[26:25] Andrew DeWolf: His death probably wouldn't have happened if he hadn't given him that death hand job.

[26:31] Jess MacInally: Yeah, or at least he would have had a better chance of survival. I mean, we don't know where they were on the ship, so it's possible they would have died either way, but like he would have had a better chance had he been told.

[26:43] Andrew DeWolf: So and really the song in this is I mean, not that memorable, so at least in my opinion.

[26:52] Jess MacInally: I'm sure Jess can sing every word.

[26:52] Andrew DeWolf: But I love this song, yeah, I do. It repeats a line from the nurse and the college boy where she was like, Don't you want someone like myself, myself, myself? And he's like, and cheers to you, and cheers myself, myself, myself, you know, that callback.

[27:10] Jess MacInally: Is this a better love scene than the Titanic film by James Cameron?

[27:16] Andrew DeWolf: It's shorter, so yes.

[27:18] Jess MacInally: Yeah, then I would like to say that, yeah. The Titanic uh Titanic movie is fucking long.

[27:24] Andrew DeWolf: I survived the shipwreck. That was Sunday night. I survived the plane crash. That was Monday night.

[27:39] Andrew DeWolf: Uh, the young thing in the writer is definitely my least favorite scene.

[27:44] Jess MacInally: I agree. Basically, it's a wannabe filmmaker, brings his camera into a nightclub, um, and he finds this guy, and he quotes the last song by saying, I found an angel, I think I found an angel. And they go back home and they fuck.

[28:00] Andrew DeWolf: But the entire time this filmmaker's like, close up, De Palma, love it, da da, and I just wanna punch him in the face. It's like the worst part of Rent for the entire short. Like, honestly, I wouldn't even hate Rent that much if they didn't do that stupid shit where the fucking guy was like, Uh, pen left, pan right, close up. Uh, zoom in. It's like, dude, s fucking stop.

[28:28] Andrew DeWolf: And then this guy, I think he starts it. He like literally starts with him making like some sort of uh camera reference. I can't remember.

[28:37] Jess MacInally: Yeah, I was like, it does. He like opens with like close up. It's like Ugh, skip this scene, hang on. Film directed by me, edited by me, and starring me.

[28:52] Andrew DeWolf: These filmmakers, man. Filmmakers are just they just love fucking talking about their own films and jerking themselves off. Like Christ. Can you believe people that make films like just the worst?

[29:01] Jess MacInally: The worst.

[29:07] Andrew DeWolf: And this filmmaker lies to his like one night stand that oh, I'm working with Paul Newman on a screenplay. In reality, he was working with Randy Newman.

[29:20] Jess MacInally: What is the bug?

[29:28] Andrew DeWolf: You know what that would actually be cool. If I knew a guy working with Randy Newman, I might blow him.

[29:36] Jess MacInally: That's a fair point. So, this scene, not good, probably the least good scene in the entire show.

[29:42] Andrew DeWolf: But at least he doesn't get to stay with that guy in the end, and he gets the come up and for being the horrible douchebag he is. Except for every single scene ends with that same thing happening, so it doesn't feel nearly as satisfying.

[29:56] Jess MacInally: Yes, but at least this time he deserves it.

[29:59] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, the husband deserved it too. The only one where they don't walk away at the end is the one with the husband and the young wife.

[30:07] Jess MacInally: Which is the one where you actually want them to walk away the most.

[30:14] Andrew DeWolf: I think that's also the only one where they don't actually have sex.

[30:22] Jess MacInally: Today's show is brought to you by Audible.

[30:26] Andrew DeWolf: Audible!

[30:27] Jess MacInally: Audible is offering our listeners a free audio book with a 30-day trial membership.

[30:32] Andrew DeWolf: That is a good deal.

[30:33] Jess MacInally: That's a good deal. Good deal. Just go to just to go to Audibletrial.com/slash musicals with cheese and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs.

[30:43] Andrew DeWolf: Just download a title free and start listening. What are you waiting for? It is that easy.

[30:48] Jess MacInally: It's easy.

[30:50] Andrew DeWolf: Literally, you can go to Audibletrial.com slash musicals with cheese right now and just get started. Just download a book. You could get uh you could get like a a book about like words. You know, like that'd be so that'd be cool to have. It's like words, but it's spoken in your ear.

[31:06] Jess MacInally: Why Audible? Audible content includes an unmatched selection of audiobooks, original audio shows, news, comedy, and more from the leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, and entertainers.

[31:19] Andrew DeWolf: I'm gonna suggest a book for you. So it's Shine, a short story by Jody.

[31:23] Jess MacInally: Thank you, Jess.

[31:24] Andrew DeWolf: And it's narrated by Audrey McDonald.

[31:27] Jess MacInally: Imagine having Tony Winner, Audrey McDonald, in your ear.

[31:31] Andrew DeWolf: Oh my goodness.

[31:32] Jess MacInally: Telling you the story.

[31:33] Andrew DeWolf: Oh my goodness, that's so cool. I can't even imagine that.

[31:37] Jess MacInally: Alright, you ready to get back to the show?

[31:38] Andrew DeWolf: I'm totally down. Let's fucking talk the more about sex.

[31:42] Jess MacInally: This is the sleaziest episode of Musicals with Cheese you will ever listen to.

[31:47] Andrew DeWolf: Promise we won't get this graphic ever again.

[31:50] Jess MacInally: This is so sleazy.

[31:52] Andrew DeWolf: I'm actually wearing a suit with a bow tie right now.

[31:54] Jess MacInally: I'm sure I don't actually know. I had to tell that there's three people behind me playing saxophone.

[31:56] Andrew DeWolf: I had to tell him to stop. That's how sleazy this is.

[32:10] Jess MacInally: And one designs with my cube.

[32:20] Andrew DeWolf: Alright, let's talk about the writer and the actress.

[32:23] Jess MacInally: So, this is the one big change from the stage to the screen. So in the original version, it was a silent film where the writer has the actress perform in a way that she feels was a lie, and then she refuses to go on. It's kind of a goofy scene, and I don't particularly like it.

[32:42] Andrew DeWolf: So for the film, it takes place in 2002. A songwriter is helping his ex-girlfriend, a famous actress turn singer, attempt to make a comeback in pop music and record a new song.

[32:51] Jess MacInally: The singer is played by Audrey McDonald, and then he convinces her to do auto-tune, despite the fact that she can literally hit any note in the vocal language.

[33:22] Andrew DeWolf: Or even even nineteen sixty, actually.

[33:25] Jess MacInally: Yeah, so he tries to build up her confidence in singing by banging her and telling her how beautiful she is. Then when she asks him to say that he loves her, he refuses and says, You broke up with me, and by the way, I'm fucking your lover, and then walks out.

[33:40] Andrew DeWolf: Got um.

[33:44] Andrew DeWolf: Uh ultimate power move. This does have a pretty good, like, well, pop song.

[33:48] Jess MacInally: It sounds like Cher.

[33:50] Andrew DeWolf: It does sound a lot like Cher. Very very much like Cher.

[33:53] Jess MacInally: It's very heavily Cher inspired, I bet. It's catchy, it's goofy, it's the right amount of fun, and it's a good addition for the movie.

[34:01] Andrew DeWolf: And it suits Audrey McDonald very well. And it's kind of odd that they just kind of have sex like right there, but oh well.

[34:08] Jess MacInally: The recording studio.

[34:09] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. It's weird that they have missionary sex in that way.

[34:13] Jess MacInally: I think it's weird that they wouldn't be worried anyone's gonna walk in.

[34:16] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, if they walk in, what the fuck are they gonna do? Oh, okay, I guess that's happening.

[34:23] Jess MacInally: Hey, they're having sex.

[34:25] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, that's nice. Big scandal, famous famous actress having sex in a recording studio.

[34:32] Jess MacInally: I like that they did the little pop segment, and I think it's neat that they have like a completely different style of music for that, which is fun.

[34:38] Andrew DeWolf: Um I thought I'd enjoy an opera singer like a trained opera singer being auto-tuned as much as I did. Like, it's a neat sound.

[34:46] Jess MacInally: I mean, to be honest, I think I actually would have preferred the silent film thing, but I've always been kind of a sucker for that like 1930s style, so that's kind of a personal choice, I guess.

[34:59] Andrew DeWolf: Whereas I I've always hated the 2000s with a passion, so what?

[35:06] Jess MacInally: Why?

[35:07] Andrew DeWolf: That was when I was a child.

[35:11] Jess MacInally: What, like Michael Jackson?

[35:13] Andrew DeWolf: I have like inverse nostalgia, I think. Like I pretty much everything that I remember when I was a kid, I hate.

[35:21] Jess MacInally: It's like, oh, I remember that when I was a kid. That's horrible.

[35:25] Andrew DeWolf: I don't know. It's like the opposite of nostalgia. So, like the 2000s, like any music from the 2000s, like whenever I hear that fucking low song, I'm like, oh god.

[35:36] Jess MacInally: Alright, let's move on to the actress and the politician.

[35:39] Andrew DeWolf: I can play advisor to the senator.

[35:42] Jess MacInally: I am me to work on your image.

[35:45] Andrew DeWolf: I'll manipulate the press.

[35:49] Jess MacInally: We'll buy a registered house for the Georgetown address to light the place off as a work expenses.

[35:53] Andrew DeWolf: I'm through the IRS.

[35:58] Jess MacInally: Um, the there's an actress and a politician. Uh the actress is well, probably not the same actress as the previous one, but it's it it's it's an actress who loves a senator, and the senator is is uh Miss Hillary uh Clinton.

[36:14] Jess MacInally: Pretty pretty obviously. I mean, uh they don't even try to cover that. Well, that's something that you would take away newly from like the gender change.

[36:23] Andrew DeWolf: Yes.

[36:24] Jess MacInally: Yes. Which I think the gender change does work. It's just it's just that it creates problems with uh the first segment.

[36:34] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, but I really like the scene, and it never worked for me when it was a heterosexual relationship. Like, why couldn't they be together or something? But now that it is uh Yes.

[36:48] Jess MacInally: Exactly. For those of you don't know, that's a Star Wars episode 2 reference, and didn't work there either. Like here that makes sense because it is the 80s. Like homosexual relationships were not as well regarded now as it as it was then as it was now. Um so especially for politicians, so it'd be really bad if that yeah. Um so it would have been really bad if that got out. So this rings a little bit more true to life than it did before.

[37:22] Andrew DeWolf: Alright. Um so Andrew, what did you think of this song?

[37:26] Andrew DeWolf: I think the song is one of the better ones in the show. Yeah, I think of my favorites, um my three tops are definitely the soldier and the nurse song, the uh young wife and the husband, and this one here.

[37:41] Jess MacInally: So you and I are very close, except I'd probably put the Titanic song at a low number three, Tom as one, and this is number two. So I just like jazz a lot. I like Patter songs a lot, and I think this one's really great.

[37:55] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, no, I agree. This is a very good song. It's political jabs are funny, like I'll be friendly to Republicans, like shit like that. But the chemistry they have is really good in this scene. Like the between the two of them, I think it's really good. Oh, and to keep up, um, this one reinterprets the lie motif from the previous song where they talk about it being a lie. So there's that reinterpretation there.

[38:21] Andrew DeWolf: Angel, don't wake up. I am in your dream sleep. Love it. Don't wake up. Who else dream me? If only I'd just kissed you. Hey there. Where you going, love? Yeah, in this one, it's kind of this is the wrap-up one.

[39:12] Jess MacInally: Yeah. The horror character is like aware of everything. Like i it's weird. It's like it's almost like implied that they know what's going on. I don't know. I mean, I get that. This is like a you know, one step away from being like a weird sci-fi thing where it's like there's multiple timelines or some shit, and then the the whore is like this character that can see all of it, and like they know.

[39:42] Andrew DeWolf: Well, they bring back the hey, where you goin', lover, from the first song in this. And they kind of refer to other people like the girlfriend I knew, my wife and my ex, or my girl. Like something like that. Yeah, my husband, my ex. Basically referring to all these people as if they're all Daisy Chain and connected to this version of the politician specifically.

[40:03] Jess MacInally: It's just very and and then uh to see this, uh this I guess it's a prostitute, right? To see this prostitute, you go in this door that says hello again or something, or hello. It might just say hello. I can't quite remember. It says something like that though. And then he's like on a screen. And he's got a mascot. It's like an internet prostitute, but they decided they didn't want to make as much they didn't want to make as much money being an internet prostitute, so they decided to do it only in one room, I guess. I don't know. Why is he not just on the internet doing cam sex? Like that's a thing, isn't it? This could be like a very fancy, like, you know, kind of like the screen. Or not screen. Like where you have the plexiglass between you and the person.

[40:54] Andrew DeWolf: Oh. Okay. And then like she can get invited inside or something if she gives enough money or something like that. Yeah, I don't know. It's weird. It is weird. And then the fact that like every time they show him the um like the years pop up on him or something. There's like text where it shows the years. Um It I don't know. It it kind of gives off this weird vibe that like he knows exactly what's going on. And then also she when she leaves, she sees all the characters, but she also sees the prostitute, but it's not the prostitute, or maybe it is. Like they're working. Well, not the one from the first scene, the one that she saw. But like, is it not him or is it him? Or I don't know. This last scene is a little confusing.

I think they're they're like trying to tie everything together, but it just doesn't work. And they kind of had like what they were kind of stuck with what they had in the film. It's not like they are the original show. It's not like they can fuck with that too much either. Yeah, so I I think that the last scene just kind of It ties it up in a in a very sloppy bow. But I that sloppy bow like gives me the feels, and I don't know why.

[42:06] Andrew DeWolf: It didn't give me anything. Like when everyone starts coming back screaming hello again at her, I'm like, ah, why am I feeling things? I I mean, I didn't have any feelings. I don't think I have feelings, to be honest. I might be like a sociopath.

[42:22] Jess MacInally: Except when you're watching La La Land.

[42:24] Andrew DeWolf: Lala Land was very emotional and I cried. I sobbed and I clapped. I clapped when he was on screen. I clapped when I recognized him.

[42:36] Jess MacInally: He he.

[42:39] Andrew DeWolf: I didn't get that side of Lala Land. I like the ending, but that one scene in Lala Land where they fucking dance in space is stupid.

[42:53] Jess MacInally: Fair. I mean, yep, you can't fight with that.

[42:58] Andrew DeWolf: But the ending's really good. I don't know. Um. Alright. I mean, what did you think of the whole show?

[43:08] Jess MacInally: I love this show. Um, it's not perfect. It is sloppy in places both in the show and in the movie. Um the movie makes a lot of choices that I appreciate, and like in a lot of one other ones that I find very hard to justify, and uh it feels like it's an attempt to for inclusion, but it doesn't work right. It rubs you wrong and I don't think they had it all together when they were working. Like they didn't justify it very well. This show is incredibly hit or miss. And it's almost like I would maybe even like recommend watching like segments by themselves rather than watching the whole thing. Because there's like parts of this where that I just wouldn't recommend, but there's other parts that are like, oh, that's pretty good. I will say that the subject matter is obviously very mature, considering every scene is a sex scene. So not for everybody.

[44:11] Andrew DeWolf: In which case you probably didn't appreciate our discussion of it. Um yeah, it is a very sexual show, so if that's something that you are not comfortable with, um it has a lot of that. Very frank sexual conversation.

[44:29] Jess MacInally: Yep, from pretty much every character.

[44:32] Andrew DeWolf: Including us.

[44:34] Jess MacInally: Yep, especially us. Um, no, Andrew, what is your cheese rating for Hello Again?

[44:41] Andrew DeWolf: Um Hell again's kind of like a grab bag, I guess. I guess it'd be hard to pick like one cheese for it. Um I guess I'd give it like one of those like sliced cube cheese, uh, like platters where you kind of get like a bunch of different types of cheese. And you know, some of it you like, some of it you don't like. Um, and then the crackers that it comes with are maybe soggy.

[45:07] Jess MacInally: I think that's a good answer.

[45:11] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, so yeah, that's that's probably what I'd give it. I think it's a mixed bag. There's some good music in it, there's some music that's like passable, um, and then there's a lot of plot elements that are like there's some that I would say are just uncomfortable and bad, and then there's others that I would say are like actually pretty compelling, and then there's a few that are just like, eh. So.

[45:36] Jess MacInally: Well, I'm gonna give it string cheese because it all ties together and comes together as a whole.

[45:42] Andrew DeWolf: And little strands of cheese.

[45:44] Jess MacInally: Yep, it's you you do need a degree in string theory to understand how it ties together, but once you have that, you're good to go.

[45:54] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, I would like to completely naturally kind of transition into saying that today's show is brought to you by Audible. Audible is offering our listeners a free audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. All you have to do is go to Audible Trial.com slash musicals with cheese, the name of our show. And you can browse the unmatched selection of audio programs and download a title for free and just start listening. Just go for it, you know. It's really that simple. Just go to Audible Trial.

[46:21] Jess MacInally: Is it that easy?

[46:24] Andrew DeWolf: Musicals with cheese.

[46:25] Jess MacInally: It is that easy. Just go to Audible Trial.com slash musicals with cheese. It's really simple. It's free. You get you get a book like with it. You literally you get it. I when I initially got it, I got the Disaster Artist, which is a great book, unrelated to musicals, but that's what I've done I've I have used it, so just letting you all know.

[46:49] Andrew DeWolf: So thank you guys for listening. Please um follow us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher at Musicals with Cheese. Our Twitter is Cheesy Musicals, our Instagram is musicals with cheese. Our YouTube page is musical theater lives. Email us at musical theaterlives at gmail.com. Our title card was created by Jolene Casco. Follow her at Jolene Casco. Please, please, folks, leave us more reviews so we can do another contest. We want to do another contest where we give you guys a twenty five dollar gift card, but we need more reviews. Tell your friends to review, tell your family to review. Leave us all the reviews on iTunes so we can climb up those charts and be the greatest musical theater podcast in the world. And if you'd like, we do also have a Patreon page where you can donate to us directly if you'd like.

[47:34] Jess MacInally: Yes, if you want to give us your money directly and don't really want to review us, just donate to our Patreon.

[47:40] Andrew DeWolf: Absolutely. We really appreciate everything we can get.

[47:44] Jess MacInally: Yes, because we are poor.

[47:46] Andrew DeWolf: We are broke human beings. We sit around and we watch musicals and we talk about them. You think that makes us any money? No.

[47:52] Jess MacInally: No. In fact, it loses us money on a monthly basis. We love you guys.

[48:00] Andrew DeWolf: We do it for you.

[48:01] Jess MacInally: Yes, we love you. We do it. Alright. We'll see you next week, and thank you for listening to Musicals with Cheese.