This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Miranda Moffat: Hi there, my name is Miranda Moffat, and I'm here with Jesse McInally, the host of the Cheese Wheel Podcast on the Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:07] Jesse McInally: And we're here in the car, driving home from this new series that we're starting, whatever we're gonna call it, uh, where we are coming back from a show that we've seen, courtesy of Broadway in Detroit, where we're gonna give our fresh off-the-presses, hat off the presses thoughts about a show.

[0:23] Miranda Moffat: And tonight's show was Kimberly Akimbo.

[0:27] Jesse McInally: I like your point of view, Ramo Cello, Limo, Bio, Macro, Micro, Mayo, Bakery.

[0:33] Miranda Moffat: Oh, with the turn of a letter.

[0:37] Jesse McInally: Oh, Catherine things better.

[0:41] Miranda Moffat: I wonder how you see the things you see with the change of perspective.

[0:49] Jesse McInally: Give us an overview of the plot of Kimberly Akimbo.

[0:53] Miranda Moffat: Kimberly Akimbo is what if Janine Tesori said, I'm getting another Tony, Tony. I'm taking home another fucking Tony today. Um, it's currently in the national tour. It played on Broadway from I want to say 2021 to 2024, and it is about a 17-year-old girl, but uh-oh, it's an old lady, so we can get a Broadway uh D.Va to play in the roles.

[1:19] Jesse McInally: And uh if the long time fans may recall in the original Musicals with Cheese episode Andrew and I did on this, we were fairly lukewarm at best about this show.

[1:29] Miranda Moffat: Um, uh seeing it live and having an actual experience with it. I I I I liked it a lot.

[1:35] Jesse McInally: I was gonna say, what's your what's your um your feelings and your cheese rating now in the post-mortem?

[1:41] Miranda Moffat: Oh, I don't I don't change my cheese ratings for those. Um I'd have to look at the logs. Um, but I I I think a lot of it duh comes down to performance. Victoria Clark is an actress who I like when I like her, but I've never loved her.

[1:56] Jesse McInally: But Carol Lee Carmelo is a performer I love at all times.

[2:01] Miranda Moffat: And there's the there's the police coming to get me for my bad takes.

[2:04] Jesse McInally: Yeah, this is my first time seeing the show. I didn't know anything really about Kimberly Akimbo ahead of time, other than what you had told me, which is like, oh uh a girl has a genetic anomaly, a genetic disorder that causes her to sort of like, you know, be older or age rapidly, which there are real life um sort of genetic disorders that sort of mimic this, but not in exactly the way that this exists.

[2:28] Miranda Moffat: Uh, me being like the science-y person, I would like to take a look and see sort of what this I I want to say that the most like the thing that this would mirror the most would be something like progeria.

[2:37] Jesse McInally: That's exactly what they've referenced in their writing.

[2:40] Miranda Moffat: Okay. So that's kind of what I was picking up. Although that disorder presents a lot differently than this one, obviously. There's no disorder that just makes you, you know, look like a normal 60-year-old person at 16 or whatever it is.

[2:52] Jesse McInally: So I thought that the concept was interesting. Um, something that I was thinking the entire time while I was watching the show, which I think all the time when I watch shows, is like, I wonder if there is some sort of deep soul-shaking sort of meaning or um idea that they had behind this, or if somebody was just like, hey, you know what would be fun, you know?

[3:13] Miranda Moffat: Well, this is based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, who also wrote the book um that he wrote in 2001. So he wrote it contemporaneously, but now that this show is released, it has become a period piece.

[3:25] Jesse McInally: Which I find fascinating as just like one of those relics that was it reads probably a lot differently today than when it was originally written.

[3:33] Miranda Moffat: Um and it does also scream to me like something that started as a play first that songs were added to.

[3:39] Jesse McInally: That was something Andrew and I brought up quite a bit. How'd you feel as far as that within the actual content of the show?

[3:45] Miranda Moffat: I I can see that and I can sort of agree with that. I think the songs are not necessarily as well integrated as as many of the other things that we've seen.

[3:56] Jesse McInally: They do tend to sort of stop the action as it's happening. Um something that you mentioned that Andrew said that I kind of agree with, where you're just sort of like, you know, get get back to the plot.

[4:04] Miranda Moffat: Um, but the the songs were really fun, really good. Um I thought that the way that they aged up Kimberly was really smart um and really well done.

[4:15] Jesse McInally: And when you say aged up, what do you mean?

[4:18] Miranda Moffat: Well, I just mean like, you know, sort of not she still looks like a teenager. And I think uh what's her name? Caroly?

[4:24] Jesse McInally: Carly Carmelo, yeah.

[4:26] Miranda Moffat: I think the way that Caroly played her was really remarkable. Um, and when you say, you know, like I had no idea who she was prior to coming into the show, but based on what you've said, it sounds like we got a real treat in being able to see her.

[4:40] Jesse McInally: It sounds like she's sort of a she is Broadway royalty to me. I have heard her voice so much.

[4:45] Miranda Moffat: She was uh uh the original Lucille in Frey. So I've wore that album out so much.

[4:50] Jesse McInally: Um that makes more sense now.

[4:54] Miranda Moffat: Um, but she's also been in things like Tuck Everlasting, um, the National Tours of Falsettos. She she is a headliner in her own right.

[5:02] Jesse McInally: When Hello Dolly toured a few years ago, she was Dolly, which is not nothing.

[5:07] Miranda Moffat: She is a Broadway diva that tours and is willing to actually schlub it down to Detroit with us.

[5:13] Jesse McInally: Which I appreciate heavily. I mean, being able to see somebody as talented as her.

[5:18] Miranda Moffat: And it with a repertoire like hers, I mean, looking at the uh playbill, like her section of, you know, this is what she's done, this is what she's been nominated for and won, like is is a lot longer.

[5:29] Jesse McInally: She has like four paragraphs, everyone else gets a sentence.

[5:32] Miranda Moffat: Yeah.

[5:33] Jesse McInally: So I mean, being able to watch her do that was incredible. I think that she was amazing, and I do feel like it was a real treat to be able to see her.

[5:39] Miranda Moffat: And the way that she performed it was really sincere.

[5:43] Jesse McInally: And really, I mean, it felt like watching a sort of awkward young person.

[5:49] Miranda Moffat: Um, I think the only thing for me that gave it her way or gave her a way was the voice.

[5:53] Jesse McInally: Like you can tell when somebody is who has like a more mature voice is singing in the sort of like, I don't know, nuances that they bring to it as just more mature.

[6:01] Miranda Moffat: And her her vibrato is also so specific. I mean, I love her voice, but it's so specific.

[6:07] Jesse McInally: And I was trying to think of like what it reminded me of.

[6:10] Miranda Moffat: And this is so weird, but I was I realized when I was listening to it that it sounds like do you know that uh that weird TikTok audio that's like nationwide is on your side?

[6:23] Jesse McInally: It was like that kind of I agree, but you know what else that reminds me of that's similar to that vibrato?

[6:29] Miranda Moffat: Yeah, Stephanie J. Block's vibrato.

[6:31] Jesse McInally: I really I like when they sing and sustain a note, it's like that it almost sounds like it hurts them.

[6:36] Miranda Moffat: It doesn't, it almost sounds like it's like delayed a little bit.

[6:39] Jesse McInally: I don't know how to I I can't like the the waves and peaks, like the crests and peaks of the sound wave just like are slower than normal.

[6:47] Miranda Moffat: I I can't describe it. I still I mean, obviously she was phenomenal, but that was just I don't know, something I was thinking about that was very specific.

[6:54] Jesse McInally: Talking about special treats for actors in this performance. We do have to talk about Justin Cooley, who joined as Seth.

[7:00] Miranda Moffat: He was in the original Broadway run, he was acclaimed there.

[7:03] Jesse McInally: Um we're he's only performing this role for five days. Specifically for Detroit, because we're better than everybody.

[7:09] Miranda Moffat: Yeah.

[7:10] Jesse McInally: Um, and uh truly, he was incredible.

[7:12] Miranda Moffat: I I really enjoyed what he brought to this.

[7:16] Jesse McInally: Um, not to like compare apples and oranges, but he's doing what I think Ben Platt thought he was doing with Evan Hansen.

[7:23] Miranda Moffat: He was spectacular, also.

[7:24] Jesse McInally: I mean, you know, you can just you can just tell.

[7:28] Miranda Moffat: Even the even the young performers, like everybody that was on stage was really fantastic.

[7:33] Jesse McInally: The performance itself, like the sets, the costuming, all of it was incredible.

[7:38] Miranda Moffat: I mean, it's an amazing national tour. It's it's just, you know, every every time you see a musical, it's like it's a magic, a magic trick happening.

[7:45] Jesse McInally: And that this, you know, this instance was no different. Sometimes it's better than others.

[7:49] Miranda Moffat: Like we, we uh like this one, I think uh brought a lot of things from the Broadway show and minimized it without defeating its purpose.

[7:57] Jesse McInally: Um, like sometimes I see a national tour like Beetlejuice, which is very much ruining a lot of the elements that made the Broadway show good.

[8:06] Miranda Moffat: And then there's some incredible national tours that I think are better than the Broadway version, like Fun Home, also by Janine Tesori.

[8:13] Jesse McInally: This I think hit that same Fun Home spirit where I'm like, you know what? The simplified staging and elements work for me.

[8:19] Miranda Moffat: And it's oh it it works.

[8:21] Jesse McInally: Um I really, really appreciated it here.

[8:24] Miranda Moffat: Um while we're talking about staging and all that, there is a section of the show where I myself, as a seasoned theater goer, yes, watching it, and it's when everyone is on ice skates, and I was not sure how they did it.

[8:37] Jesse McInally: I also was not.

[8:39] Miranda Moffat: I mean, there so there's like stuff that you can purchase because I've seen people who are like professional ice skaters, they have this sort of like board, sort of, you know, almost like a cutting board material that you can place somewhere and use it, and it's sort of like ice.

[8:51] Jesse McInally: And I think you have to have specific ice skates to do it.

[8:53] Miranda Moffat: So I think that maybe how they did it.

[8:56] Jesse McInally: Um, I don't know if the stage that that that is confusing.

[8:59] Miranda Moffat: That is, like I said, a magic trick. I don't know if the stage was covered in that in that particular section or what happened.

[9:06] Jesse McInally: But you're right. That is like, and to be like singing and dancing and harmonizing while you are on these like essentially stilts, sort of gliding around each other, also a magic trick.

[9:17] Miranda Moffat: I think every time I see a musical, it's just like, how do they manage this? You know, it's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.

[9:25] Jesse McInally: I think the scene stealer um of this show, and it was the same on Broadway when it was Bonnie Mulligan, um, is Emily Cock or Cock.

[9:34] Miranda Moffat: Uh forgive me if I'm saying that incorrectly, um, as Aunt Deborah.

[9:38] Jesse McInally: Um a character that I found really grating on Broadway, but I really felt compelled.

[9:44] Miranda Moffat: Maybe it's a Midwestern twang added to it, but I really, really liked what they brought to it.

[9:49] Jesse McInally: Um, and a lot of the more deadpan, not every joke was dialed up to 11, which it's very easy to play that role where you're just gonna be big at every moment.

[9:59] Miranda Moffat: Yeah, I agree. I also appreciated her performance.

[10:03] Jesse McInally: And um, you know, props to whoever is doing the marketing. I feel like I saw that girl specifically that was playing Deborah on my TikTok for you page like a thousand times.

[10:13] Miranda Moffat: It was every other video that they were like, hey Detroit.

[10:16] Jesse McInally: Well, hey, hey Emily, what's up?

[10:19] Miranda Moffat: Um I mean, they wanted to make sure you knew.

[10:23] Jesse McInally: Yeah, they really wanted me there.

[10:25] Miranda Moffat: Um, but I'd like to talk about um, because like, you know, everything notwithstanding, um, the performance, obviously, the the set deck, like the quality of the production itself is really incredible and wonderful.

[10:39] Miranda Moffat: The story, um, I also think is like, you know, strangely, I know that you said your initial impression was to kind of be lukewarm. I kind of found it really like emotionally touching. Like, I don't generally have a huge emotional reaction to many things or most musicals, because there's just sort of like that element of disbelief where I don't know. It's just it's a little bit different when you're watching a musical and you're sort of kind of separated from the action versus a movie when you're like right up in it. But I really found it emotionally compelling. Um, I really thought that the themes and sort of the message that they were going for was really interesting, but there were definitely some places and some things about it that I'm like, I don't know how I feel about that.

[11:23] Jesse McInally: Like, what do you mean?

[11:25] Miranda Moffat: Like, obviously, it's adorable to watch a romance blossom between two young people. And, you know, you really do have that sort of suspension of disbelief, uh, especially with Carolee's performance being so great that these are two young people who are connecting, and it's really sweet. But then you're also like in the back of your mind, you're like, that's a 60-year-old woman. See kissing a 20-year-old.

[11:49] Jesse McInally: I agree with you about the Broadway product. I felt that way about the Broadway production with Victoria's Clark's performance. Um, I don't know what it is about Caroline Carmelo. She has like this cherubic face where I almost probably she looked too youthful for the role. Like she sings with a uh a toned, like aged, like properly trained voice, but like her performance and just her look, she does not read as 70, 80 years old as how she was written to read.

[12:18] Miranda Moffat: She reads kind of like Sutton Foster playing a teenager, sincerely.

[12:22] Jesse McInally: No, I mean, really, she she really does look amazingly youthful. She looks more like a teenager than Ben Platt in the Dear Evan Hansen movie.

[12:29] Miranda Moffat: It's not like a that's really not a relevant criticism, honestly. Like obviously you have to have that sort of that's just like the logistics of actually putting on that show is that's the thing that's just gonna happen. It's just like it's something that you sort of think about in the back of your mind. You're like, oh, that's a little strange. But like overall, when you're watching the show, it's still very like Did you notice that they did a did a proper stage kiss, like the lips didn't touch?

[12:51] Jesse McInally: I did not notice that.

[12:52] Miranda Moffat: Um his cheek went on her or his lips went on her cheek, his her lips went on his cheek, and it just blots it enough. I think I was just at the right angle to be like, oh, that's not a real kiss.

[13:02] Jesse McInally: I mean, well, you know, whatever. Like if the thing that I appreciate about his character is it's Seth.

[13:08] Miranda Moffat: Yes.

[13:08] Jesse McInally: Seth just likes a MILF.

[13:11] Miranda Moffat: I think I don't even think Seth knows what he likes. I think he just likes Kimberly, which I think is nice. It's very sweet. It really is very sweet to watch. And it's nice to have I I didn't realize how much I needed. There's not many Broadway shows where they have a woman of a certain age as a lead. Like you at a certain point, he got like, okay, with the caveat of every Santa musical, and maybe Mama Me and Mama Rose, but outside of those, there ain't much.

[13:36] Miranda Moffat: A lot of media, especially modern media, is a young person's game, which I think is part of what they're playing with here, but that's kind of part of what they're toying with here.

[13:45] Jesse McInally: Sure.

[13:47] Miranda Moffat: But I I agree with you. I think that it's great that there's a space for these types of roles and these types of leads, and I think that there should absolutely be more of them. And I feel that more and more as I get older and I watch things and the people in the shows are younger than me.

[14:00] Jesse McInally: Disgusting.

[14:01] Miranda Moffat: How dare they? Please don't do that to me. Um, I think my only the only things that I sort of, if I had to have like any kind of criticism to say about the show, is that it's one of those things that from the beginning, from the very start of watching it, I feel like, oh, I don't know, I don't know if this is going to end well. Like the whole every as soon as it started, I'm like, this cannot possibly go well. And surprisingly, it does, it does not live up to the sense of anxiety it gave me. Like things do end pretty decently. Like the aunt doesn't get put in prison, they don't all go to jail. Like I thought she was gonna die at the end. Like, I don't know. It's just it's one of those things where you don't, I I just didn't think that it was going to end well.

[14:49] Miranda Moffat: And my other thing is that like the parents specifically, I thought it was very interesting, an interesting take on like you, you know, usually when you're hearing about individuals that have some sort of specific genetic disorder, there's a very or condition, there's like a very specific way that you see that portrayed, and there's a very specific way that you see those parents portrayed. And this is one of those instances where it's like sometimes these, you know, kids with these specific diseases don't have the support system that they deserve. Sometimes they are born to really shitty parents and really shitty households. But they're not like precious level shitty.

[15:25] Jesse McInally: They're normal shitty.

[15:25] Miranda Moffat: Yes. Um, but it also, while I'm watching it, I'm sort of like, I don't part of me is like, I don't care what the parents have to say. And I don't want to hear from them because they're not good people and I know that they're not going to be good people. So, like, if I had to give anything, that would be like my very personal gripes with it. But like overall, obviously that's not like a relevant criticism of just the whole story, just my own personal, like, ugh, you know?

[15:51] Jesse McInally: Yeah, I okay. Can I psychoanalyze a little bit of Janine Tassori's work as a composer? Because we I know she there's a lot of other collaborators here, but when we talk about Sontimes work, we kind of just like he's the auteur here. So I'm doing the same thing here.

[16:04] Miranda Moffat: Yeah, go for it.

[16:05] Jesse McInally: A lot of her work has to do with daddy issues. Like it's just sad dad's galore. Everybody, like, oh god, who was I? Some director or something that they were like, you told me it always comes back to their mom. Who was that? I can't remember what we were talking about, but you were like, Yeah, all of their work always comes back to their mom.

[16:21] Miranda Moffat: Spielberg, it's always his dad.

[16:23] Jesse McInally: Spielberg. His dad always leaves. He he wanted to fuck his mom and he's mad that his dad left. That's the Spielberg method.

[16:28] Miranda Moffat: We're having a real real Oedipus feeling.

[16:32] Jesse McInally: No, not really. But yeah, that's that's interesting. That there's always, you know, like no matter how hard people try, there's always just themes that they that they sort of stick to. I think is interesting.

[16:43] Miranda Moffat: Well, I do want to actually, you did see Fun Home on Broadway with me, um, a good day ago.

[16:49] Jesse McInally: Yes, a decade ago.

[16:51] Miranda Moffat: I that was also written by Janine Tassori. That was her last Tony winning musical. That was also a big, big fucking deal.

[16:57] Jesse McInally: You mean prior to Kim Lily?

[16:59] Miranda Moffat: Yes, this is her follow-up to Fun Home, basically.

[17:01] Jesse McInally: Like, okay. So how how would you compare the two? And which one do you think you like better?

[17:06] Miranda Moffat: Hmm. Hard to say. Um, not super comparable in my eyes, I guess. And it's also been forever and a day since I've seen Fun Home. If I could say anything, I would say Fun Home, I think has slightly better integrated songs. Like the songs are definitely what is pushing the main action. Um, and also kind of songs that I think stuck around in my head more, like the um uh I'm changing my major to Joan. Like, I still think about that song sometimes. Whereas like, I don't, there's not really one particular song in Kimberly Kimball that I really feel like is gonna, you know, stick in my brain. Truly the I the only one that sticks out to me is like not even a song, it's just like in New Jersey, that's all I will think about, like with connected to the show.

[17:57] Jesse McInally: True, fair. I think, you know, sometimes it like I think Kimberly at Kimbo, if you're looking at it as a complete piece of art, is a really good piece of art. Um, is really emotional and um satisfying and really funny. I mean, like that's something we have to bring up too is that the audience that we had tonight was like super into it. I mean, it was gasps and gaffaws and you know, like a lot of laughter. It is really, really funny. And like, like you said, a lot of the comedy really lands. I was not expecting it to be as and we've seen funny shows before where it's just lands like uh art and church.

[18:35] Miranda Moffat: Yeah. I mean, these actually actually made me laugh, which was hard to do. Um, so I think as a in total, it's a really heartwarming, really funny thing to watch. And really, like I really enjoyed it. I'm always worried going into anything. Like the worst thing that you could do is bore me. And that's always my concern. I was not bored, I really enjoyed it. However, it's not one of those musicals for me personally that I feel like the songs are really replayable, or like I said, would really sort of stick in your head, or you know, those kinds of things. It was it's really fun to watch as a show. I don't know that it I would enjoy it so much just listening to it as an album. Do you know what I mean?

[19:13] Jesse McInally: Yeah, but not every musical is made to be an album. Break Comet is a wonderful music that musical that was not made to be an album.

[19:20] Miranda Moffat: Yeah, yeah. Um, I I I am much more positive about this show than I was. I was very middling on it when me and Andrew covered it. Um and this kind of goes to the root of all problems that seeing a bootleg is not always an equivalent of seeing a proper show, and I will never say its replacement value, but if you're poor, don't feel guilty. I'm pro bootlegs. Don't don't dare. Don't you dare quote me out of context there. If we can't ever own anything anymore, you know, like pirating is fine. Pirating is fine. But like half these Broadway actors would not have an account of how they performed on Broadway without bootlegs, and they are the first to admit that. Um, so I am always pro bootleg. Just don't do it in front of me, or I'll be pissed off. That's my reveal bootlegs. But Miranda, what was your overall thoughts on Kimberly Akimbo and your cheese rating?

[20:09] Miranda Moffat: Oh, jeez. Um, is that is cheese rating still a thing that you do?

[20:13] Jesse McInally: Oh, yeah, we're in the cheese wheel, baby.

[20:15] Miranda Moffat: I see.

[20:16] Jesse McInally: Okay, okay. That's we'll never let that die.

[20:19] Miranda Moffat: Um, let me think. So I will say my overall thoughts, as I sort of already summarized, is that it is a really enjoyable experience to see, especially live um with an audience who is laughing and you know, crying with you. It's heartwarming, heartwarming, it's um it's hilarious. I think the themes are really interesting. I think the dynamics of the characters are really interesting. Um I mean, I will think about Aunt Deborah being like gay straight, gay straight forever. That was but that did it.

[20:54] Miranda Moffat: Just goes to show how useless that stuff was in the story, though. It was really funny though. It was funny to watch. Um, the fact that it got resolved in like half a second. That felt like amazing. Felt like such a relief. Um, oh, I'm so sorry to interrupt your overall thoughts. I don't want to spoil it, but I set you up to prepare for That's right, you sure did. And man, it still doesn't work for me. I won't spoil, but that twist is like, you know, it doesn't really change anything. Do we need that moment? It really doesn't. I mean, it's certainly relevant context and it certainly adds to the emotional punch of what's happening. But only for that moment, not for the rest of the story, or really contextualizing what's happened before.

I was also very confused. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Was the man that she fucked like ancient? They don't elaborate. Because he died by being scared and it they made it sound like he was an old ass man, and I'm like, did her mom go fuck this like 90-year-old bedridden neighbor? Or did he just uh uh uh uh ugly neighbor with a big fat tummy that died of a heart attack because a Tim Robinson sketch enters his fucking ro So that part I'm I'm a little I'm a little sketchy on. And I will say it's like another if I had to like give a critique, I would say the I don't think the parents get the sort of comeuppance that they deserve um for being as awful as they are. It's just like it's one of those things where I get that the musical has to like wants to sort of end on a happy note and you don't like want to leave the audience depressed, but like them just being her dad, like literally in the last 10 minutes being like, We didn't want you.

You were not what we wanted. Like, and then it's like, oh well, it's okay. She'll send us postcards, and she's just like, It's okay. Forget me. I'm about to die in Disney World. She where she's just like, I was like, What? So I feel like if anything, like the the act two does sort of speed run through that plot like really quickly, and then it's just like, oh, well, I guess it's okay. 'Cause she gets to go on an adventure. So it is a little bit, you know, not completely satisfying in the end, but still overall pretty compelling. Like he she steals his fucking car. That's a pretty, pretty satisfying comeuppance, if you ask me.

[23:09] Jesse McInally: I yes, I agree. I love that she's like going out on an adventure with Seth. I think that's super cute. But like, I don't know. Just to see the parents all like happy in the group singing, like, oh yeah, live your life. And it's like you destroyed your own lives and your daughter's life. Like what? And now you got another kid to destroy.

[23:27] Miranda Moffat: Exactly. So like it is a little bit too much of a oh, it's okay. And that's on that's what musicals do all the time. And it's not parade. Not parade. You can't accuse parade of doing that. Um, but yeah, musicals do that a lot. And I'm always like, eh, well. What do you think is the worst case? Because this is not remotely the worst case. Truly, I think next to normal has the worst case of we'll be fine.

[23:49] Jesse McInally: Yeah, yeah. Somebody who like, you know, has a degree in psychology. That ending definitely is not not good from what I can remember. Yeah, treating your mental health and taking care of your mental health is very important. Um, I don't know. God, there was something I feel like there was something that we watched a little while ago that had that I had that same gripe with it.

[24:11] Miranda Moffat: Was it a musical? Yeah, I mean, and that's really honestly. Now that I'm thinking about it, that's kind of a common theme for me, is that like I feel like the second act does sort of rush the plot. It sort of rushes to get to the end, and then it's like despite any of the emotional turmoil happening, it always ends in like a happy go lucky sing songy because it's like I mean mega mixes and all the Moulin Rouge was probably the worst one where it's like get through the fucking ending. Holy shit. Oh, she's dead. Ooh, le vous coucher avec moi, c'est soi. I didn't have a happy note. Everyone smile. So I feel like they they feel like they have to do that. Um I can't think of a musical that really does lean into like sort of depressing stuff, except for me be braided.

Lamece kinda does. Uh it's still a very like hopeful, ah, we're all gonna meet in heaven, yay, kind of thing. So I don't know. That I always have that issue. It seems to always rush in the second act, and it always ends on a happy note, regardless of sort of you want consequences. You want steaks.

[25:10] Jesse McInally: Yeah, yeah. But I get I get that that's also not everybody's sort of cup of tea. Um, so cheese.

[25:16] Miranda Moffat: Oh god. Yeah, it's the hardest part of every show. I just feel like the name of every cheese flies out of my head when you ask me this question. I don't know. Um I've been doing this for 350 weeks. Let me think. Um, how about sort of like um like a habanero sort of situation? What's that one cheese I got you that you really liked? It was like habanero cheddar cheddar, yes. It's like a habanero cheddar because it has its spicy moments and it had a lot had a lot more cussing than I expected it to have. It feels like something that people would think to take their kids to, and in fact, there was a kid sitting in the row in front of us, and it is not. Here's the thing it's very hard to get a parental advisory sticker at a Broadway show.

Fair enough. You have to be like Book of Mormon levels for it to pop up. I theater is the one place where there's no fucking rating system, and God bless it. That's so true. But there was so much cursing, which I'm obviously a fan of. They had a damn swear jar in as a like prop in this as a plot point. So, like, I'm fine with it, but damn, some kids in the audience. So I would say it's a habanero cheddar because it will uh you know it's got some spiciness, it'll warm you up. Um, and it's pretty, you know, it's it's some people's thing, it's some people's favorite thing, and it's you know, some people can't handle it.

[26:43] Jesse McInally: That's fair. Um, I'm trying to remember based I didn't get to the cheese rating when I re-listened to our musicals and cheese episode on this, but I'm I I know my two moves, so I either probably gave it some cheese whiz from Great Adventure theme parks, or that's a good one, not like nacho cheese from an adventure park. That would make sense. I it was something like that. Uh that seems like something I do, or the opposite, age cheddar.

[27:07] Miranda Moffat: Oh, that's terrible. That's terrible, Jesse. Those are the two routes I'd go where I would just say something to try to get Andrew to be like, uh, you suck. I hate you.

[27:17] Jesse McInally: Exactly. That's lazy. So lazy of you. Um, our wonderful keeper of the cheese, Juliet, keeps a record of every cheese rating. And I see early days. I saw six weeks in a row. He gave cheddar. He obviously does not have a good um vibrant vocabulary for cheese types. You've seen what he eats. I think maybe you guys just need to have like your own sort of document of like cheese options.

[27:47] Miranda Moffat: I also want to look at that spreadsheet. Like, give me I want a percentage breakdown of how often we like Swiss and shit shows up. Swiss is always like, it's pretty good, but it's got some holes.

[27:58] Jesse McInally: Exactly. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. I feel like that is probably so overused. Give me, give me the data breakdown. I want the stats. Honestly, I think Juliet would give that to you. Like, they're very good about that.

[28:07] Miranda Moffat: Well, there you go. Um, maybe one day. I'll do a PowerPoint. Juliette's still insists that the best cheese rating was given by my mother. What was it? It was for the Grinch musical. And she said blue cheese because they blew it. Margie. Come on now.

[28:33] Jesse McInally: Um, all right. I think we've got another one in a couple weeks. What uh what what's up preview for I think it's Book of Mormon we might be seeing.

[28:40] Miranda Moffat: Is it? I don't know if that's on our list. We're gonna have to check that out. That's a big if. Um, but like you've seen Book of Mormon. Like it it'll be a nice return because this time you won't be on drugs.

[28:50] Jesse McInally: That's so true. The last time we saw Book of Mormon, we were up in the balcony. I think where were we? The opera house? I think we're the opera house. Detroit Opera House. Um to the wise. Detroit is a great place for musical theater lovers. I believe that we have the most theaters per square mile uh just below New York City, if I'm not mistaken. Um, so it's a great place if you love theater. But yeah, last time we saw Book of Mormon, I had just had my wisdom teeth out and my face was like two to three times its normal size. So that was really interesting. She wouldn't smile, so I couldn't tell if she was enjoying it. So that was really interesting. So yeah, it'll be great to actually see it again when I am of sound body and mind. That'll be nice.

[29:29] Miranda Moffat: Yeah, and there's a lot of cool things. Like uh coming up, I really want to talk to Amber about the upcoming shows. Um specifically, like there's things there that I'm curious how they're gonna pack up in a tour, like back to the future. That's a very set specific musical. And how are they gonna make a car fly over an audience? That is interesting. I also don't know. Um that's yeah. Fan fate for it's like Phantom and Beauty and the Beast, like things that we know people are gonna show up for. But I'm excited for Shuct. I wanna hear about corn, guys. I'm really lame. I'm excited for for the like, you know, the normies. I love a good phantom of the opera. I love a good Disney musical. And I'm hoping like something a little I'm so grateful that we got parade. Like parade was such a blessing. Like for me, I don't think I've truly felt that bliss in a theater in a very long time.

[30:25] Jesse McInally: Yeah. Amazing. It was amazing.

[30:27] Miranda Moffat: Yeah, we will see you next week on whatever the fuck this show's called.

[30:33] Jesse McInally: We should no, we should call it theater and the D.

[30:33] Miranda Moffat: Theater and the D. There you go. We'll see you next time, guys. Thanks for tuning in.

[30:43] Jesse McInally: Clever.

[30:43] Miranda Moffat: Wait a minute. I like your point of view.

[30:46] Jesse McInally: Clever cleaver limber Kimberly.

[30:51] Miranda Moffat: I like Kimberly Lavaco turns into I like cleverly Akimbo.

[31:02] Jesse McInally: You cleverly Akimbo.

[31:07] Miranda Moffat: You that's a pretty good one.

[31:12] Jesse McInally: I did my grandmother's name and got Arabian beard.