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[0:00] Christi Esterle: The dear friends of the Dear Friends Podcast may be experts on musical theater, but they are not behavioral experts.

[0:07] Emily Clark: And their advice should always be taken with a grain of salt.

[0:11] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Their theater recommendations, on the other, those are pure gold.

[0:15] Christi Esterle: Without further ado, the Dear Friends Podcast.

[0:20] Emily Clark: Dear friends, spill your woes to your musical family.

[0:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Dear friends, they will take your questions and turn them into nuggets of wisdom.

[0:33] Christi Esterle: And an awful cynical world.

[0:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Dear friends.

[0:40] Emily Clark: Hi, I'm dear friend Emily.

[0:43] Christi Esterle: I'm dearer friend Christy.

[0:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And I'm dearest friend Jess, and welcome to the Dear Friends Podcast.

[0:48] Christi Esterle: Uh, write-in advice podcast for the musical-minded.

[0:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And my god, guys, this is the first episode.

[0:54] Emily Clark: We gotta make an impression.

[0:55] Christi Esterle: We can't mess this up, you know.

[0:57] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We are ready to advise.

[0:58] Christi Esterle: We are ready!

[0:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: No, Christy, we're ready, we're ready to advise.

[1:02] Christi Esterle: No come back.

[1:03] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We need to give advice.

[1:05] Christi Esterle: Um, we gotta set the tone too.

[1:07] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We can't do this again.

[1:09] Christi Esterle: We can't, so uh, you know, no pressure, can't I do wanna say right here at the top that yes, this is very similar to another podcast entitled Someone Else's Problem by Aaron Shilochian and the Lady Peterson that has since ended its run, and I asked them if I could steal their premise and keep it going and keep the flame alive, so to say.

[1:29] Emily Clark: So that's what we're here doing today.

[1:30] Christi Esterle: Thank you to Aaron and Delaney.

[1:32] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And go check out their show.

[1:33] Christi Esterle: I was a guest once, it was great.

[1:34] Emily Clark: Miss it a lot.

[1:35] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And I'm bringing you all together, and we're gonna try to make this world a little closer.

[1:40] Christi Esterle: We're dealing with the COVID pandemic.

[1:42] Emily Clark: It hasn't been any theater since March.

[1:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Uh, just been stuck in my little box here in this little corner of my house.

[1:50] Christi Esterle: It's just been me and the little diva funcle back here.

[1:53] Emily Clark: It's and there's people who might run away, run back there behind me.

[1:57] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, the little little children.

[1:58] Christi Esterle: Little family.

[1:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, but I just want an excuse to hang out with my friends Emily and Christy and talk musical theater, and uh, for some reason I can't just do that without having a project, so here we are.

[2:09] Christi Esterle: Ah, you but but but we have a bunch of questions that we got written in, and we're we're just gonna dive into how this will work.

[2:20] Emily Clark: Each of us is gonna read a certain question, and then we're just gonna try to give our best advice individually.

[2:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And individually, we're gonna also give a musical theater song that might help you through that event.

[2:30] Christi Esterle: And we're gonna try to recommend new songs you might not know, or some songs that just might make you feel good during that time.

[2:37] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We're we're gonna there's no rubric whatsoever.

[2:40] Christi Esterle: We might just adjust a buying gravity for everything.

[2:42] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah.

[2:43] Christi Esterle: Every song will be skimble shanks the railway cat.

[2:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Every song is memory, just every one.

[2:48] Christi Esterle: But we will never know until we actually get these questions read.

[2:51] Emily Clark: So, Emily, you're up for the first question.

[2:55] Emily Clark: Alright, so our first question comes from M, and he writes, dear friends.

[3:01] Emily Clark: Early in the pandemic, I met someone on Tinder, and we seemed to hit it off right away.

[3:06] Emily Clark: We started talking for hours, and it was great for a few weeks.

[3:09] Emily Clark: Then he got called back to work retail.

[3:12] Emily Clark: He's exhausted all the time, and we're lucky if we get to talk uh at all most days.

[3:18] Emily Clark: I get that retail is stressful, especially now, and I get it.

[3:21] Emily Clark: Being left on red isn't my fault, but I feel like I'm back at square one most days.

[3:26] Emily Clark: Do you have any tips on making the most of this?

[3:29] Emily Clark: I feel like if the plague hadn't happened, we might have been a thing for a while already.

[3:35] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh.

[3:36] Christi Esterle: Oh damn.

[3:37] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's rough.

[3:38] Christi Esterle: M.

[3:39] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I have been in both your shoes and the other person's shoes in my life.

[3:45] Christi Esterle: Um, and I'm gonna say this.

[3:47] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Might be harsh, but I'm gonna say this.

[3:49] Christi Esterle: When someone really likes you, there's kinda no excuse for why they won't hang out with you.

[3:55] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: They pr I know this is cliche, but they're probably just not into you enough to want to pursue this anymore.

[4:03] Christi Esterle: And it might not have anything to do with you, but I would suggest moving on because this person is not worth your time.

[4:10] Emily Clark: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna agree with you, Em.

[4:13] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I think I'm gonna give contrarian advice, to be honest.

[4:16] Christi Esterle: Um, it is stressful, and as someone that has worked many, many hours, like I've worked four jobs and then also did projects on the side.

[4:24] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I did loot like not text people.

[4:26] Christi Esterle: I did find valuable and emotionally gratifying, but literally just very busy.

[4:31] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And like I would send a text one day and then can continue the conversation four weeks later.

[4:36] Christi Esterle: I still do that.

[4:37] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's true, he does.

[4:38] Christi Esterle: I pick up the conversation right where you left off.

[4:41] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like, it didn't that five weeks didn't happen.

[4:44] Christi Esterle: So I I not exactly disagreeing with what you say, because that is a very valid point, but I can see from the other point of view where it's like it's a lot of work to keep up the relationships, especially when we're kind of forced to all do it over the social media and like text messages, not face-to-face events.

[5:01] Emily Clark: Yeah, I think I think the the major bottom line though, here is that I think you have to be the one to just walk away from this because for whatever reason this person is leaving you on red, and that's not worth your time, M.

[5:15] Christi Esterle: And it's and M, I also agree with that, but also, you this person probably has a different set of love languages than you probably do, which is also just a sign that you're talking about.

[5:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We're talking love languages now.

[5:26] Christi Esterle: I'm not qualified for this.

[5:29] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And just to say, we are not experts here.

[5:32] Christi Esterle: We're just people.

[5:33] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh, speak for yourself, kid.

[5:36] Christi Esterle: Well, the only experts we are here are musical theater experts.

[5:40] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And even that's questionable sometimes.

[5:42] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[5:42] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Sometimes, sometimes.

[5:44] Christi Esterle: Um, Christy, what about you?

[5:45] Christi Esterle: I don't know.

[5:46] Christi Esterle: I'm gonna put my mom hat on and say, have you talked about this?

[5:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Because that's always, you know, that's the thing.

[5:54] Christi Esterle: 90% of the time, my boys are screaming and fighting at each other.

[5:58] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: You know, he's doing something I don't like.

[6:00] Christi Esterle: Have you told him?

[6:01] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: No.

[6:02] Christi Esterle: Are they supposed to know?

[6:04] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's that's a fair point.

[6:05] Christi Esterle: Like, yeah, it doesn't mention that you brought this up.

[6:08] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And I feel like a lot of communication issues is a lack of communication.

[6:11] Christi Esterle: We are not in a romantic comedy here.

[6:13] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: You can talk about simple misunderstandings.

[6:17] Christi Esterle: And if you put it out there, you know, you can send a text or an email if you have like a lot to say.

[6:22] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And if they just leave you on red, then like again, you have your answer.

[6:25] Christi Esterle: Yeah, like your answer.

[6:27] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Well, you put it, you put it out there, you did what you could, but I think there's a lot more positive I I think you could get a lot more out of this if you just let that out and then moved on with your life and found someone worthy of you.

[6:41] Christi Esterle: Um, alright.

[6:42] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I want to go first with the song recommendation because I think I have the most apt, and I'm so glad this is the first question we talked about, because there's no way this could have been more fair than this.

[6:52] Christi Esterle: My song recommendation to help you get through this very specific issue is having to do with a very similar issue in a musical called She Loves Me, where Amalia Balish is left at the restaurant by her dear friend.

[7:04] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, someone that she thought she was super into and probably won't have worked, but then left her um on red in the way that you could have in like Hungary in the 1920s, I believe.

[7:14] Christi Esterle: That's what I took it.

[7:15] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, so my song recommendation is Dear Friends from She Loves.

[7:18] Christi Esterle: Oh, it all takes the inspiration, which is the inspiration to the title of this podcast.

[7:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, you know.

[7:26] Christi Esterle: I think that's a beautiful song for one, and it really does sum up the feelings that was described here, Em.

[7:32] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[7:32] Christi Esterle: Uh what about you guys?

[7:34] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I don't know.

[7:35] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like, I feel like there has to be some like good if you want to get into like a bitter place with it, you know.

[7:41] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I feel like Sondheim middle-aged lady songs are always a good a good place to start for something like that.

[7:47] Christi Esterle: Um, just if you want to feel that musical theater rage a little bit while holding your cocktail.

[7:54] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So um, if you feel like going into that place, I I always recommend something like Ladies Who Lunch or Could I Leave You.

[8:03] Christi Esterle: Um, those will do just fine.

[8:05] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, I mean, and then if you want to get wistful, hey, there's always send in the clowns about just the timing not being right.

[8:11] Christi Esterle: Alright, what is the one?

[8:12] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: You have to pick one.

[8:13] Christi Esterle: Send in the clowns.

[8:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Let's do send in the clowns.

[8:15] Christi Esterle: Send in the clowns.

[8:16] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I love it.

[8:17] Christi Esterle: Alright, Christy, you're all right.

[8:19] Christi Esterle: Well, I am gonna go off just Jess's thing, but I'm gonna rewind back to earlier in the story and the other character, Georg, who is talking about, you know, meeting this girl this um, you know, pen pal, and not sure if she's gonna like him, if he's gonna say something completely stupid, or if he's going if this is gonna click, or if he's just going to make a complete ass of himself.

[8:41] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And that is tonight at eight.

[8:43] Christi Esterle: So yeah, you know, listen to that, you know, get all that anxiety over where you stand with this person out, and then get everything out in the open.

[8:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Guys, we did it.

[8:52] Christi Esterle: That is the first question that we've ever done on the show.

[8:55] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: How are we feel.

[8:56] Christi Esterle: How we feel.

[8:57] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I'm feeling good.

[8:58] Christi Esterle: We're doing this.

[8:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We got this.

[9:00] Christi Esterle: We can't stop.

[9:01] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: The train's going.

[9:02] Christi Esterle: Alright, Christy, you're up for the next one.

[9:04] Christi Esterle: What's our next question?

[9:05] Christi Esterle: Next question.

[9:08] Christi Esterle: This is an anonymous person.

[9:10] Christi Esterle: Offstage drama can be a common occurrence when putting on a show.

[9:14] Christi Esterle: What is the best way to not let drama affect your love of theater?

[9:21] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh my god.

[9:22] Christi Esterle: Come on.

[9:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: The offstage drama is part of the fun, isn't it?

[9:27] Christi Esterle: Not always, not always.

[9:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I get where they're coming from.

[9:30] Christi Esterle: No, I don't think I've ever done a show where there hasn't been some clashing.

[9:34] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: There is always drama.

[9:37] Christi Esterle: That's because that's who pee that's who um theater people are.

[9:40] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, there's clashing personalities.

[9:42] Christi Esterle: You're put together with a group of people who you don't necessarily know if you're gonna work well with.

[9:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And even mayor may not like.

[9:48] Christi Esterle: Oh my god.

[9:48] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And if it's not them, it's the company, or it's the stage manager, or there's always drama.

[9:53] Christi Esterle: I feel like you just have to embrace it and uh kind of roll with it.

[9:58] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: You don't have to be a part of it.

[9:59] Christi Esterle: It's actually more fun to be on the outside and uh listening to other people's show drama or showmance stuff.

[10:05] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah.

[10:07] Christi Esterle: But you'll always get dragged in whether you want to or not.

[10:10] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: No matter what, you end up in the middle of it.

[10:13] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I did um I did chorus line in college, and you know, I was sharing a dressing room with the girl played Cassie who was not happy with the entire production and would just go on about it for every time we were off stage together.

[10:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And it's just like, you know, eventually you just kind of have to smile and nod, and you have to learn to leave that in the wings and you know, just go and do the show and have fun.

[10:35] Christi Esterle: Sometimes, if the show is bad, the the backstage drama will actually help you get through it more, like being able to just dish about it and gossip.

[10:42] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I don't know.

[10:43] Christi Esterle: I I feel like you have to just embrace it.

[10:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Shared misery is a beautiful thing.

[10:48] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[10:48] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It really is the one thing that's got us through 2020.

[10:51] Christi Esterle: Let's be honest.

[10:52] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Shot in Freud, it's all we need.

[10:55] Christi Esterle: Oh, every day.

[10:56] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Every day when you hear the new Trump lawsuit getting kicked down, that's all it's running through your head.

[11:01] Christi Esterle: Um, but I like I I agree with all of you guys, but I I think you have the wistful look of it after it's happened, but in the moment, it's terrible.

[11:10] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like it is a horrible experience in the moment.

[11:13] Christi Esterle: I guess it depends on the drama.

[11:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like if it's just like you, there's someone bitchy in your cast you don't like, like I can handle that.

[11:19] Christi Esterle: But if someone's like actively pulling awful shit or people are like horrible, that's obviously a different story.

[11:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, I'm kind I kind of am looking at it from like a fun perspective, or like looking at it kind of, yeah, like how I used to get dragged into it more when I was younger, when you're kind of just more dramatic anyway.

[11:36] Christi Esterle: Um, I don't know.

[11:37] Christi Esterle: I mean, honestly, I've never known how they're how to not have drama in a show because there is just all is there any is there anything you do when you're working with kids to help the help minimize that, or do you just let let them go and be themselves?

[11:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Working with middle schoolers and having their talk about drama.

[11:55] Christi Esterle: Oh, and they have it, they all have it too.

[11:57] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It it the thing that I do is I I kind of tell them to leave their BS at the door, like when they're in the rehearsal room, when they're practicing, when they're doing their show, that's what their focus should be.

[11:57] Christi Esterle: Um, I I kind of don't pull the you all have to love each other and be best friends.

[12:16] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I do pull the you are in a company together and we have a goal and we are working towards that goal.

[12:22] Christi Esterle: Um, but middle schoolers are also middle schoolers, they just they are peak drama.

[12:29] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like it's the best time of your life and the worst time of your life.

[12:32] Christi Esterle: It was never the best time of my life.

[12:33] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It was always never the best time.

[12:38] Christi Esterle: It's it's not the best time.

[12:40] Christi Esterle: I mean, like, it's it if there's something really cool about discovering like a passion when you're in middle school. Like seeing a kid do a show for the first time and having them discover that. That's a really exciting thing to see and to have happen when you're that age. However, yes, everything else sucks. Um so with the middle school drama, yeah, and this could apply to adults too. Just leave it at the door because you're gonna have your beefs, you're gonna have your drama, but that's kind of for you to deal with on your own time. Do it in text, but your phones can't be backstage either.

[13:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Right. So I mean, I agree. Um what was the most drama you guys had in like your theater productions? Because mine was like I was in a production of The Wiz as the Whiz, and while in a rehearsal, I found out my girlfriend was cheating.

[13:26] Christi Esterle: Oh my goodness.

[13:27] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like that was like as dramatic as it got.

[13:30] Christi Esterle: Oh my god, are you kidding me?

[13:31] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It was right before the headshots for the like the outside of the like, so I'm like teary every time I see it in the hallway, I'm like, there I was, there it is.

[13:39] Christi Esterle: Oh my god.

[13:40] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh jeez. I don't know because like I've looked I've been doing this a while. Um, and there's different levels of it. I don't know. I mean, there's there's been showmances, there's been breakups, there's been affairs, there's been um people who hate each other, there's been casting drama, there's I and then there's the stuff that's beyond your control. Just um, like someone just goes through a bad breakup in their life, and now they have to direct the show that you're doing, and they're kind of a mess. Like, there's just so many levels of it that you kind of just you kind of just have to be like, all right, how do we just and the end game of the show must go on is kind of the mantra I feel like it's like okay, how do we do this? Because in the end there's gonna be a show and we have to do it.

[14:24] Christi Esterle: I love it. I love it.

[14:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: All right, songs, guys. We got we gotta figure out what songs we'd recommend for this person and how they get with it. It just so happens that there is a show based on this exact situation. So, and supposedly based on a real life situation. Story goes, this is probably apocryphal, that um Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine, who were like this huge acting couple way back in like early mid-20th century, they were doing Taming of the Shrew together. The story goes that the fights they were having off stage were at least as interesting as anything they were doing on stage when they were Kate and Petrucchio. Supposedly, Cole Porter heard this story, and it became the musical we now know as Kiss Me, Kate.

[15:05] Christi Esterle: So that's all about you know, all the drama off stage kind of leading into the stuff on stage. So I think an appropriate song for this is uh is another opening, another show because that's all about picking up and doing the show no matter what crap you've been going through to get there.

[15:21] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's brilliant. I love it.

[15:23] Christi Esterle: That's what I was thinking about. That's such a good answer.

[15:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Okay, I know. That's just one of my favorite um theater stories. So, guys, I had something and it left my brain, so give me just a second. God bless it. It was just in there and it just flew away. Um, okay, uh, I'll go with this.

[15:40] Christi Esterle: All right, so uh on the same uh kind of track of like squabbling backstage couple drama, um, you can't go wrong with uh the Irving Berlin super racist musical, Annie Get Your Gun. However, however, the songs divorced from the show are pretty great and pretty fun. And uh I would highly recommend um I know I I should do there's no business like show business, but I'm kind of feeling anything you can do.

[16:09] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh yeah.

[16:10] Christi Esterle: So uh I think that epitomizes kind of the same vein of the um oh what are their characters in Kiss Me, Kate?

[16:17] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah.

[16:18] Christi Esterle: Um in that same vein of the squabbling backstage drama couple.

[16:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um I'm gonna go totally left field because I this is the one I was honestly having the hardest time thinking about. And for some reason, the only one that came to my head while is just A Chorus Line, because that is literally about the backstage of this show about to go on. And the song that really stuck out to me is At the Ballet, which is not really about squabbling, but just about how like despite all the drama in your life, everything is great at the theater.

[16:51] Christi Esterle: And sometimes it follows you here.

[16:53] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So I like that.

[16:54] Christi Esterle: Exactly. So that was my answer for that specific situation where you're thinking about all the drama. You know what? It's all gray because when you're on stage or watching the stage, it's all beautiful at the best.

[17:07] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Alright, I I think it's my turn.

[17:09] Christi Esterle: It's your turn.

[17:09] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I guess you get Kyle's question. Um, with the pandemic killing karaoke bars for the foreseeable future. What's the best way to find an excuse to break out into song?

[17:21] Christi Esterle: I don't understand the question.

[17:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Who needs an excuse?

[17:25] Christi Esterle: Yeah, that's fair.

[17:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I if if it's to be seen by other people, um, I mean virtual karaoke bars.

[17:33] Christi Esterle: Oh, yeah.

[17:33] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I've produced a couple virtual cabarets. I uh I performed in one of them, but I've got to be.

[17:40] Christi Esterle: Um need to do that. You can let me know when you're doing that again.

[17:43] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh god. I promise people send in the clowns. One of these days when I have a break, I promise.

[17:48] Christi Esterle: When we just throw a podcast into the mix.

[17:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um you're welcome.

[17:53] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[17:54] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um gosh, I mean, you know, my parents have uh a folk band, and they have been doing this thing. They live kind of in the mountains in Pasadena and this kind of nice little neighborhood. And what they've been doing is like once a month, like on a Saturday, they um sit outside with their band and they they perform and they're socially distant, but they make it so that anyone in the neighborhood can hear them.

[18:17] Christi Esterle: Um and I thought that was really nice.

[18:19] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Hey, Brian Stokes Mitchell was leaning out of his window during the first days of the pandemic and singing, and that was yeah.

[18:27] Christi Esterle: I'm glad he's doing better.

[18:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I know he was doing pretty rough early on.

[18:30] Christi Esterle: I know.

[18:31] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: No, I think I was brilliant.

[18:32] Christi Esterle: Um, I just love like these, like, have you guys seen the first date like thrown together pandemic special version of that Broadway show?

[18:40] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh no.

[18:41] Christi Esterle: Samantha Barks. It was really well done um for a pandemic. Like it was much better than say like what we're doing right here, where it's just like first date over Zoom.

[18:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It was like got a couple of there, but then when you've got like all the ensemble, they all pop in and screens instead of coming up.

[18:56] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I got it. I was shocked at how well that worked.

[18:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, I think that that's a good way, but as far as karaoke, what's stopping you from karaoke in front of your family?

[19:04] Christi Esterle: There's not a Yeah, I when I was uh at when the pandemic started, I was living in a house full of theater people, and we actually had karaoke nights all the time.

[19:13] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: But we were lucky because you know we were kind of quarantined together.

[19:16] Christi Esterle: Now, since then I've moved and it's just you know, me and my husband.

[19:19] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: But um Oh my god, how are you so am I even getting through?

[19:23] Christi Esterle: You guys can have a two-person karaoke night.

[19:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Come on.

[19:26] Christi Esterle: Well, and that's the thing. Like and my family is nearby too. So you could definitely do it with your bubble, uh, as long as you're no, you know, safe and sanitizing.

[19:35] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, but I feel you, man. I used to do karaoke a lot. It's a big was a big part of my life, and now it's just not anymore.

[19:43] Christi Esterle: So I feel you on that.

[19:44] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Uh yeah, I mean, I think my best actual answer to the question also leads into my answer my song uh answer. So my the best way to like kind of sneak in a song like without anyone noticing it, is and I've done this, and my girlfriend hates it when I do this, is you take a good story song from a musical and you just start leading up to it in conversation until eventually you're halfway through singing it.

[20:11] Christi Esterle: Um and the ultimate like random story song that really doesn't belong in a musical is the Schmuel song from The Last Five Years.

[20:19] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So you literally just be like, hey, I've got a story for you. New and unpublished, a little Christmas story. That then you just go into it, and you're before you know it, you're singing in front of someone.

[20:28] Christi Esterle: I love it.

[20:29] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I I I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go kind of the opposite way, because I think the best way to get kind of uh singing to happen naturally is to pick something that like everyone kinda knows, um, and kind of have it build into a sing-along.

[20:45] Christi Esterle: So as weird as it sounds, I and I only believe this because I saw this show on Broadway, and the circle and the stage was practically in the round, and I could watch every single audience member singing along with this song, and that song is the title song from Oklahoma.

[21:02] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So just start singing Oklahoma out your window, and I guarantee that people are gonna start singing along with you.

[21:10] Christi Esterle: A brand new stage.

[21:11] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, it works.

[21:12] Christi Esterle: Everyone starts going, okay.

[21:17] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It it transcends.

[21:19] Christi Esterle: Wait, hey, we belong to the works really well.

[21:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I'm I'm one of those people who, you know, it's like you make you music where you're at. Um, I'll be I'll be cooking in the kitchen and just singing at the top of my lungs, probably making the people in the you know house next door thinking I'm weird and probably embarrassing the heck out of my kids. But just throw on something that you love to sing along to.

[21:43] Christi Esterle: So I think the one I'm thinking probably the one that I love singing along to best right now is um don't lose your head from Six.

[21:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's so much fun.

[21:57] Christi Esterle: No, those are all such good answers. My god.

[21:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I think now is as good a time as any for some advertisements.

[22:04] Christi Esterle: Go buy their shit, guys, buy their stuff.

[22:08] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Hey folks, how are you enjoying the show so far? It's been a lot of fun. Christi and Emily got a lot of fun things to say, don't they? I'm just here to ask you if you'd be willing to leave us a review on iTunes and also leave us a rating because we're a brand new show, and the algorithm is very much helped by your ratings and reviews.

[22:25] Christi Esterle: And also, if you could just send it to a few friends, and then they'll send it to a few friends, and it's just a pyramid scheme into us becoming the most famous podcast on Broadway Podcast Network.

[22:33] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And you love pyramid schemes, don't you?

[22:35] Christi Esterle: I wanted to give a little bit of credit here in the mid-show. Um, our theme song was created by the amazing Robin Nash of IOU Music UK.com. She's amazing, and if you have interest in getting your theme songs made that sound as incredible as that, go check her out.

[22:53] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: IOUMusic UK.com.

[22:56] Christi Esterle: And I know I jokingly brought this up at first, but I really do want to provide some thank yous to Aaron Shilochian and Delaney Peterson and their wonderful but now defunct podcast, Someone Else's Problem, which this basically stole the format from.

[23:08] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I asked their permission, and I am very grateful that they granted it for me.

[23:12] Christi Esterle: And if you're enjoying this first episode, why don't you check out some of their episodes? They're still up and going on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, everywhere there's podcasts. They're really great.

[23:20] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I'm a guest on one of them. I'm a huge fan, and I do appreciate them letting us let that premise live on a bit longer.

[23:26] Christi Esterle: So thank you to Aaron and Delaney.

[23:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And if you don't quite have enough of Emily and Christy, you can find them on their own YouTube channels. Find Emily at Stealing Focus, and you can also find Christy at Musical Hell.

[23:38] Christi Esterle: They do wonderful content and you'll learn stuff at the same time.

[23:41] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And I also have another podcast called Musicals with Cheese, where I try to show my friend Andrew that musicals are great one musical at a time. And you can find that on the Broadway Podcast Network.

[23:50] Christi Esterle: Alright, guys, I think that's all we have to say here. Let's get back to the show.

[23:58] Emily Clark: Alright, Emily, you're up again.

[24:00] Christi Esterle: Alright.

[24:00] Emily Clark: Ooh, this is another anonymous one. Dear friends, with the holidays just around the corner, I cannot help but find myself getting seasonal depression really hard. And being away from my family because COVID during this time of year just makes it all worse. Any advice for getting through a blue blue Christmas?

[24:22] Christi Esterle: I feel like because COVID is just like an ants is just like the reason for having COVID.

[24:29] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[24:29] Christi Esterle: I didn't get dressed today because COVID.

[24:31] Emily Clark: Yeah, that's your all-purpose excuse right now.

[24:33] Christi Esterle: We're doing this podcast because COVID.

[24:35] Emily Clark: Because Covid.

[24:36] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[24:37] Emily Clark: Um I would say it's okay. First of all, it's okay to have the sad moments. We're living in a really hard time right now. And I think it's okay to have. And you know what? The holidays, I always get weirdly sad sometimes anyway. Just because emotions are heightening. There's so much stuff going on. Um, so let the sads happen. You know, let all the sad blue Christmas you know music wash over you and have a good cry.

[25:05] Christi Esterle: Um, I'm a big believer in that. But um, I don't know what your social bubble situation, but I'm also a big believer in the idea of the family you choose. Your family is important for sure. Um, but if you can't be with them, maybe you can still be with family you choose, people in your bubble, people who are around you who you can might be in the same boat as you.

[25:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, as long as you all are safe um and do all the right social distancing and planning. Um maybe you could try that for the first time this year and see how that works. I mean, I'm a big hugger, so I I get how rough this is. And Christmas is my time, Sagittarius time, so it's like, oh my gosh, it's gonna be so different. But on the other hand, it it you know, it's all the same. It's all the feeling you get and all the uh what I've been doing is just been surrounding myself with like Christmas y stuff, like even though it's like two days after Thanksgiving, I already got like the tree up and like just things that make me feel that Christmas y feeling has really been effective for me. Um, and uh it's gonna be a rough year.

My I'm sorry to say this, um, but no matter what, it's gonna be a harder year than usual, even though it's you lot very hard for a lot of people this time of year. Um, but maybe next time it'll be better. And you know, they'll be safer than the safety is what's really that matters. What about you, Christy?

[26:24] Christi Esterle: I'm all about making stuff for the holidays, so um, you know, I you know, I love making fudge candies. Um, I've just gotten into you know a whole bunch of crafty stuff over the past year, again, because COVID. Um, so I've just been making gifts for people, like um, some homemade jam, jewelry. Um, again, I'm gonna make up a batch of fudge this weekend, probably. So, yeah, do some of your fun holiday stuff um for yourself and make some gifts for your fan for friends. You know, mail them off and make some make make things a little special for them.

[26:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Beautiful, beautiful. Um, I'm gonna start down the song hole, if you guys don't mind. And this might be the most obvious, obvious answer. This is probably the one we're all thinking of.

[27:08] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[27:09] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, have yourself a Merry Little Christmas from Meet Me in St. Louis. Specifically the line, someday soon we all will be together if the fates allow. Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow. Which kind of sums up the entirety of this question, in my opinion.

[27:23] Christi Esterle: Okay.

[27:23] Emily Clark: Not the one I was thinking of, actually.

[27:25] Christi Esterle: I of course went directly to MAME's We Need a Little.

[27:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's what I was thinking. Because if you're thinking if you know the context of this story, this is actually happening right around the crash of 1929. So Mame has lost all her money, you know, she's flat broke and things look desperate. She she says, you know, haul out the Holly.

[27:45] Christi Esterle: We're having Christmas right now.

[27:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It's true.

[27:47] Christi Esterle: So yeah.

[27:48] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh no, the Christmas regret's coming.

[27:50] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[27:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Uh so yeah, just make the most, you know, it it sucks, but let's have a little Christmas anyway.

[27:55] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[27:56] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go the non-musical route. Um, I think like if you want to get in that like sad Christmas mode to feel the feels, I think I'll be home for Christmas, but specifically like the Carpenter's version with like Karen Carpenter's sad pretty voice singing. I think like these will all hit like well, these all hit a certain Christmas mood.

[28:18] Christi Esterle: Like these all hit kind of like a sadish kind of wistful mood that might kind of help you release those emotions.

[28:26] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[28:26] Christi Esterle: Or Merry Christmas, darling.

[28:27] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's a very good one.

[28:28] Emily Clark: Oh, that's a good one too.

[28:29] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Either of those. Uh yeah, I think those are all great. Oh my gosh. Y'all, y'all bring in your A game with these song recommendations.

[28:37] Christi Esterle: Um, all right, I think it's Christy's turn to read a steep.

[28:41] Christi Esterle: All right. This is from Juliet, and she says, Dear friends, I've really wanted to cosplay as Christine Day for a few years. Any tips for cosplaying as Broadway characters without spending too much money?

[28:57] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I think the first tip I would have is don't cosplay someone from Phantom of the Opera.

[29:01] Christi Esterle: No!

[29:01] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, I mean, Christy, you have specific, specific um relationships.

[29:06] Christi Esterle: I have actually cosplayed um twice as Phantom of the Opera characters, one says Christine and one says Madame Giri. And um again, I am not a I'm not a cosplay expert, but in my experience, if you're trying to do anything pre-20th century or, you know, elaborate dresses, you're not gonna do it on the cheap. You're looking at good 800 bucks just for the fabric itself.

[29:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um that said, you could probably do uh not too expensive version of her dressing gown if you um, you know, go to the thrift stores, you know, find a nice little um white pen noir um that you can add a little lacy ruffles to and make that work fairly well.

[29:44] Christi Esterle: I mean, how much would it be to get the um the Hannibal dress that she the ballet dress?

[29:49] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I feel like that's a pretty simple outfit.

[29:51] Christi Esterle: Well, yeah, but you know, you've got corset born co-I cannot talk. Cow horses boning.

[29:56] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And you've got like I guess it depends on how elaborate you want to go.

[30:01] Christi Esterle: I mean, Maria Bjornsen's costumes for Phantom are super detailed. There is like lace and ruffles and sequins and appliques for days on just about everything and yards of fabric on all of them. So, you know, if you just want like a simple version of what somebody's wearing, you know, you can kind of pare it down a little bit.

[30:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, but otherwise you're looking at a lot of accessories. I'm noticing a horrible trend in like Broadway cosplay.

[30:30] Christi Esterle: Or if you want to cosplay as any female character, you're upward of like $800, $900 minimum.

[30:36] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, but if you want cosplay as the Phantom, go to a thrift store, find that little cumber bomb you're spending $35. There's actually um a lady who goes by Phantom on a budget who um does really good um cosplay of male characters in Phantom on the budget as her name suggests.

[30:53] Christi Esterle: So yeah, there's that. I mean, oh geez, there's not a whole lot of um, you know, female characters you can do on the cheap. I mean, the Heathers were pretty popular at Broadway Con a couple years ago.

[31:03] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's it.

[31:04] Christi Esterle: Well, let me tell you, so I've cosplayed, I've dabbled in cosplay a lot, and I've done my Mrs. Lovett cosplay quite a bit, and that has and that has evolved over the years because the first time I did it, I just bought a bar wench in a bag costume, okay?

[31:20] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It was really cheap.

[31:21] Christi Esterle: I'm actually a big fan of repurposing those like Halloween costumes in a bag.

[31:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's a good idea.

[31:26] Christi Esterle: Because if you're just doing it for funsies and you're and it's just a one-off, as long as people can kind of like if you put on a Sarah Brightman wig and that dress and like a cheap, like kind of lacy white gown, like uh dressing gown, they'll get it, especially if the phantom is there with you.

[31:41] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Now, here's the thing: is that I started doing it more and more, where eventually I was like at the Ren Fair one year and I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna invest in a corset.

[31:50] Christi Esterle: So I got a corset that's reversible. The other thing is is that there's been so many different versions of Mrs. Lovett that I kind of just was able to make it my own.

[31:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I as long as I had like the the bunches in the hair and like uh Angela Lansbury here with it.

[32:05] Christi Esterle: People got it.

[32:06] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: People got it. They were like, you're her from that.

[32:09] Christi Esterle: And um, and that's where I feel, especially if it's a bro, uh, you know, Phantom might be different because it it's so iconic and it hasn't really been done in a lot of different interpretations at all, except for the Broadway one. But you could find a way to make it your own and at least start off cheap.

[32:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And then if it goes over well, and if you want to do it more and more, you can add to it and embellish it kind of as you go.

[32:32] Christi Esterle: Um, because in the end, I feel like it's it should be about the fun of it.

[32:36] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um and and it's not like you're doing some crazy video game character with crazy big things like all over that all it should, yeah.

[32:43] Christi Esterle: It's like a dressing gown, you know.

[32:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So I would say don't be afraid to just kind of start off small and cheap and then see how it evolves over time.

[32:52] Christi Esterle: Do you want to make these investments?

[32:54] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And also Christmas is coming up. Hey, mom and dad, can you get me this present?

[32:58] Christi Esterle: You know, yeah, yeah.

[33:00] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Going off of that, yeah, um, cosplay's obviously been a learning process for me as well. So, you know, uh simplicity patterns that you can kind of adjust are very cool.

[33:09] Christi Esterle: Um, like I said, the thrift store is your best friend, especially if you're doing like something like Epanine, where you can just throw together like a jacket, trench coat hat, and you know, a couple uh some baggy trousers.

[33:22] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, so yeah, be creative, you know, bar uh find stuff, borrow stuff, you know, and uh have fun with it.

[33:30] Christi Esterle: Um while I've got you three on here, or you two on here, including myself. What is a cosplay you would like to do that you've never done before?

[33:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: A Broadway cosplay. Let's let's limit it to that.

[33:41] Christi Esterle: Well, I am all over six right now, so I seriously want to cosplay either as Jane Seymour or Anne of Cleves.

[33:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, I think it would be really fun to do someone like Persephone from Hades.

[33:56] Christi Esterle: Oh my god, I want to do that one too.

[33:58] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, because uh especially um Amber Gray, you know, with her amazing hair and like her bag, her big bag.

[34:05] Christi Esterle: Oh, yes, the big the Y Nan bag flowers.

[34:08] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that would be a lot of fun.

[34:11] Christi Esterle: I'll probably do like every Sonheim character though at some point, I imagine.

[34:16] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And just it's just a fantastic dress with uh, you know, the green.

[34:19] Christi Esterle: I love it, I love it.

[34:20] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, green's written for me.

[34:22] Christi Esterle: I swear, as soon as like costume parties open up, um I'm doing MC from Capper.

[34:27] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like Joel Gray.

[34:28] Christi Esterle: Joel Graham, I was gonna say we're not going with like the shirt and the bow tie suspenders or the Allen coming edition.

[34:34] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I don't I don't think I could pull that off, to be honest.

[34:37] Christi Esterle: All you have to do is slick your hair back and like put on that really pale makeup and walk around yeah, like that.

[34:43] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: With the cane.

[34:44] Christi Esterle: Oh yeah, I gotta have the cane.

[34:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, you gotta have the cane.

[34:47] Christi Esterle: Um all right, so songs.

[34:49] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um let me get mine really quick, because mine is not very good.

[34:53] Christi Esterle: Um I don't there's not many songs about like getting dressed or fabric, and the only one that came to mind about this was the lay ladies paying from Sunset Boulevard.

[35:04] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Because I only line I remember from that is Patty Le Pone going, I love fly na na na.

[35:12] Christi Esterle: She was supposed to say I love flannel on a man, but it came out as I love flaw.

[35:17] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Way back in the early days of the interwebs, there was like a sa uh a website of Miss Heard Theater lyrics that had that as the name.

[35:26] Christi Esterle: I love flat na na na na.

[35:29] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I love it. I love it.

[35:31] Christi Esterle: So that's my choice, just because that's the only one I know that's about getting dressed.

[35:35] Emily Clark: Oh, come on.

[35:36] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh, well, I can think of one other one.

[35:37] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[35:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Put on your Sunday clothes from Hello Dolly, which is what came to mind.

[35:41] Christi Esterle: Um, just because it's all about, you know, getting dressed and strutting out on the town and being your fabulous self.

[35:48] Emily Clark: Uh gosh, I have I actually have I have two, but um I'll say one and then you can take the other if you want.

[35:55] Christi Esterle: But um I'm my strongest suit from Aida.

[35:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh, absolutely. Literally a fashion show.

[36:01] Christi Esterle: But I think we want to have another Lloyd Weber in their uh Rainbow High.

[36:06] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh yeah.

[36:07] Christi Esterle: Oh shit.

[36:08] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Another good yeah.

[36:10] Christi Esterle: But all about getting really good.

[36:13] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Christine didn't really sit around being like, what am I gonna wear?

[36:16] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[36:17] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Multiple Patty Lapones in here.

[36:20] Christi Esterle: You got two many Lapones.

[36:22] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: All the patties.

[36:24] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[36:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: You know what? I know it's out of order, but I think I'll read the next one just just to save y'all either of you from having to read it.

[36:31] Christi Esterle: Um, alright, so this one is from Nicholas.

[36:37] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I have IBS, and I have often have to leave a conversations abruptly to um take care of my business. I can never think of a non conspicuous way to exit the situation without letting them know I'm a literally about to poop my pants. Got any ideas?

[36:54] Christi Esterle: Okay, I actually do have an idea. Because I I when I'm at parties, I'm a big fan of like not committing to a location very long. I like to float around or even just fidget or like get up to look at something. And if you start doing that enough, people just get to used to seeing you moving around. So if you're just always getting up to look at a thing or go talk to someone else, it's like camouflaging it a little bit.

[37:18] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I think they won't notice it as much.

[37:21] Christi Esterle: And just hopefully, God willing, there's not a line in the bathroom.

[37:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Also helps with those abdominal pains moving about.

[37:29] Christi Esterle: Exactly. It helps like it all flow flow downward as it all things should. Um you know, just saying excuse me and leaving is, you know, it can't be, you know, it's it's a little sedentarily weird, but I think people know, you know, like the I'm imagining like dead dead conversation, like, especially over Zoom.

[37:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like I have to go.

[37:51] Christi Esterle: Okay. I'm going.

[37:53] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah. Well, that's why the the uh turn your camera off option is just like the best.

[37:59] Christi Esterle: Yeah. So that's another thing.

[38:00] Christi Esterle: You could also be the kind of person who just doesn't turn their camera on in a Zoom call.

[38:04] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like, oh, I can't only do this thing with my internet's really annoying.

[38:08] Christi Esterle: And then you can slip away and they'll never go.

[38:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I do can I uh this might be a TMI. Just make sure you do take the turn the camera off your T if you're taking the laptop into the bathroom.

[38:21] Christi Esterle: Oh, and uh and make sure you're muted.

[38:24] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Exactly. Very good advice.

[38:25] Christi Esterle: Okay, tell us your TMI story.

[38:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, so I work from home now, as we all probably do.

[38:32] Christi Esterle: Oh yeah.

[38:33] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um and quite often I'll be like on the Zoom or the WebEx or whatever meeting on my computer, and I have a very close friend that I've known for many, many years, and he's like good, who works with me, thank god.

[38:45] Christi Esterle: I love him to death.

[38:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, but he knows whenever it goes when I join him with my phone all of a sudden, he knows I had to use the restroom and I didn't want to miss what is being said in the meeting.

[38:56] Christi Esterle: So he's like, I see what you're up to.

[38:58] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I I I feel like my whole life right now is like TMI. I definitely don't do this when I'm teaching, I will say this, okay?

[39:05] Christi Esterle: Um because I can't because I have to be on the whole time.

[39:07] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: But um, I'm also like in grad school and I have like meetings that I have to do online, and I have definitely definitely just taken the computer to the bathroom because I'm muted and my camera is off and it's been like that for almost the whole meeting, and I'm s that way I'm just still listening and I can still chime in on the chat.

[39:26] Christi Esterle: But hey, I don't know.

[39:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I I feel like uh if you haven't done that, you haven't lived in this pandemic.

[39:32] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[39:34] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Well, again, I'm going into mom mode, and maybe this is you know me speaking as someone who had to spend a solid five years of life changing diapers, but everybody poops.

[39:43] Christi Esterle: Everybody poops, man.

[39:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: What?

[39:45] Christi Esterle: Both of you?

[39:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: What?

[39:48] Christi Esterle: And girls poop too.

[39:49] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So if you just have to say, excuse me, I need to use the restroom and leave, you know, even if you have to suddenly people will get it because you know we don't like yeah, we don't like to talk about it in polite society, but everybody knows it happens and they'll understand.

[40:05] Christi Esterle: Why can't we like agree that that's a thing and we all just kind of get used to it?

[40:09] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Why does that have to still be a thing nowadays?

[40:13] Christi Esterle: It doesn't.

[40:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It doesn't.

[40:14] Christi Esterle: Gosh darn it.

[40:16] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: You know, you don't have to be like, I am leaving the room to poop, but you know, back in the day, ladies say I need to go powder my nose.

[40:24] Christi Esterle: Yeah, just I need to use the facilities.

[40:27] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: There is like a million euphemisms you can use for you know needing to go to the bathroom.

[40:33] Christi Esterle: If you're in a situation or a party or a gathering or something where you're with people in person and you're close enough with them, not that you have to pronounce you know, sorry, proclaim it.

[40:43] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It's not like you have to proclaim it, but if the host of your party is like your best friend and they know your life.

[40:49] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[40:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Obviously, they don't need to know the details of your irritable bowel syndrome, but you you know, if you're going to the bathroom, you know, if they're you're in there a little while or if you're making bizarre noises, they might come back.

[41:00] Christi Esterle: You might they might, you know, knock on the door, say you were okay and they're eventually, but but everyone will be fine.

[41:06] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Everyone will get over it, I promise you.

[41:08] Christi Esterle: All right, song.

[41:10] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Uh okay, so this just made me think of I don't know. I I pictured you getting up and running to the bathroom, and so what was playing in my head was run freedom run.

[41:22] Christi Esterle: Run away.

[41:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So I just want you to picture that because maybe it'll make you laugh too when you're running to the bathroom.

[41:28] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[41:29] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I have I have not so much of a song, it's almost like a little snippet. We're going back to She Loves Me now.

[41:35] Christi Esterle: If you've ever seen She Loves Me, they're all they're all working in a perfume shop.

[41:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And every time a customer leaves, you know, they'll all go and they'll do this little goodbye song.

[41:43] Christi Esterle: Goodbye, thank you, madam.

[41:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I forget how it goes, but Thank you.

[41:47] Christi Esterle: Thank you, please come again do come again.

[41:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, goodbye.

[41:51] Christi Esterle: And it's like they'll stop in the middle of whatever they're doing, they'll do this song, and then they'll go back to arguing about whatever it was they were talking about five seconds ago.

[41:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So that's just what popped into my mind.

[42:01] Christi Esterle: It's just like that little interruption saying, okay, I'm leaving.

[42:05] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, the only song that popped into my head for this is from Now Hear This, and it's That Makes Me Hot, which is about like those really embarrassing situations that we all have to deal with in life.

[42:17] Christi Esterle: Like you push someone down on accident their prosthetic leg goes fly.

[42:21] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, that's a good one about like, yeah, we all have to deal with these really embarrassing like I wet myself like in public while on stage.

[42:29] Christi Esterle: It like stuff that you feel really guilty and weird about, but really no everyone.

[42:34] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Everyone does it in no and hardly anybody notices or cares.

[42:38] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[42:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Local youth the local um youth repertory just did an abridged version now here this virtual.

[42:44] Christi Esterle: It was really neat.

[42:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh, cool.

[42:46] Christi Esterle: Okay.

[42:46] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: All right, so uh another anonymous one.

[42:52] Christi Esterle: Dear friends, so I live on a pretty busy road, and for about two weeks, there has been this guy who drags his rowing machine onto the pavement and just ergs for an hour every night around 5 p.m.

[43:06] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I have so many questions, and I feel like I'm at the beginning of a rom-com.

[43:10] Christi Esterle: But also, I can't bring myself to go say hi to him while he's literally sweating and heavy breathing from exercise.

[43:17] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Is it way too much if I take him some water or something, or too creepy?

[43:24] Christi Esterle: Take him that water.

[43:26] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Get get it.

[43:28] Christi Esterle: I have more questions than answers at this point.

[43:31] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, I was I thought it was gonna be like, why does this guy have to go do this on the street?

[43:35] Christi Esterle: But it turns out, it turns out I think they're really into it.

[43:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So uh get the binoculars out.

[43:41] Christi Esterle: I guess before you bring water, you need to have like the wave or the hello, or the or at least uh at least a a passing something.

[43:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Paper airplane, just throw throw it at him with a letter like you want some water.

[43:54] Christi Esterle: I can't help but think I can't help but think that anybody who is dragging a rowing machine out to the middle of the road every day at 5 p.m. and doing their exercises wants to be noticed.

[44:03] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I was gonna say he's doing this for attention.

[44:06] Christi Esterle: He's doing this to be seen.

[44:07] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I disagree.

[44:08] Christi Esterle: It depends on where they are, but like if they're outside, maybe he's just doing it for a tan.

[44:13] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Like in the middle of the road, why can't you go into a driveway or something?

[44:18] Christi Esterle: I see it says in the middle of the pavement.

[44:20] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I'm not sure if it's like that means in the middle of the street.

[44:23] Christi Esterle: Maybe it's in his like driveway or something.

[44:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, that's what I thought.

[44:27] Christi Esterle: Well, hey, if if they're cute and you're like not being a creep about it, if you're just nice, like how does one approach that without being a creep about it?

[44:36] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Because I feel like at a certain point we're all kind of being a creep about it.

[44:39] Christi Esterle: I don't know.

[44:40] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I mean, I would assume it's the same etiquette for approaching someone in the gym, which I've never done, so I couldn't tell you what it is.

[44:46] Christi Esterle: I I guess if if they're doing this out in public, it only makes sense that someone would see them.

[44:52] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um and so if it's not like they're poking into their house to be like hello or knocking on the door.

[44:57] Christi Esterle: If you're just walking by, oh, you know what you could do is you could just be walking by with you just have like some waters or something, and you could just know like notice them like it's the first time you've ever seen them, be like, wow, that's such a great idea.

[45:10] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I've never I've never done this in the street.

[45:13] Christi Esterle: Do you do this a lot?

[45:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Wow, you must you must work out a lot, huh?

[45:16] Christi Esterle: Are you are you trying because I have some water?

[45:18] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I'm Emily, by the way.

[45:19] Christi Esterle: You know, I think there's a way you can do it.

[45:21] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh my god, Emily's flirting voice is like it's too realistic for me.

[45:26] Christi Esterle: I can't can't take it.

[45:28] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I you know, you just have to kind of I don't know, playing cool a little bit, but uh but they're in the public street.

[45:33] Christi Esterle: Like it wouldn't be weird if you just walked by and just like even just a hi.

[45:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah.

[45:39] Christi Esterle: Working hard.

[45:41] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah.

[45:44] Christi Esterle: Yeah, where are you going with that thing?

[45:47] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It's like you're on the Thames.

[45:49] Christi Esterle: No, no, no.

[45:50] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: No, I've got better advice.

[45:52] Christi Esterle: Um, 445.

[45:53] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Bring your own rowing machine.

[45:56] Christi Esterle: On the same spot he did in your driveway and just better yet.

[46:05] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh yeah.

[46:07] Christi Esterle: I think wipe down first, COVID.

[46:09] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh yeah.

[46:10] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[46:10] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I think there's a way to make this work.

[46:11] Christi Esterle: Have a c have some Lysol with wipes with you.

[46:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Alright, guys. What is our song recommendations for this dear friend?

[46:18] Christi Esterle: I want to say, I'm gonna say small world from Gypsy.

[46:21] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's a good one.

[46:22] Christi Esterle: Because that also it's super flirty.

[46:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: It's also like you kind of just met the person and you're feeling them out and saying, like, funny, you like this.

[46:31] Christi Esterle: I like that too.

[46:32] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: What a crazy small world.

[46:34] Christi Esterle: So I I want some water.

[46:36] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Yeah, yeah.

[46:37] Christi Esterle: I love it.

[46:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's such a good choice.

[46:39] Christi Esterle: Christy, what about you?

[46:41] Christi Esterle: I um I don't know for one, whatever reason. I went to an obscure Ellen Mencken show called Weird Romance, and there's a song in there called Stop and See Me.

[46:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, which is actually um a homeless lady who is used who is, you know, being ignored by everyone who passes her by.

[46:58] Christi Esterle: And I think that might be what this person is saying, dragging out their rowing machine is they just want to be seen by I don't know, maybe the person writing the letter, maybe somebody else, maybe just whoever's passing by.

[47:09] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Alright.

[47:10] Christi Esterle: And I I I think my song, just because it's like rings of that, like you don't know, you don't know anything about them except what they look like and what they do.

[47:19] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And my choice is Tom from Hello Again.

[47:22] Christi Esterle: Alright.

[47:23] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Which is just about this girl that likes sees this guy and all she knows about him is his face, and that his name is Tom, and she can't stop thinking about him.

[47:30] Christi Esterle: Like she forgets her husband, her lover's face, like all that, except for this guy named Tom.

[47:35] Christi Esterle: I'm surprised none of us said call me maybe.

[47:39] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Hey, I just met you, and this is great.

[47:42] Christi Esterle: It's like literally the plot of Call Me Maybe.

[47:45] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: But isn't the twist of the song calling maybe that he's gay?

[47:49] Christi Esterle: Wasn't that the twist of that music video?

[47:51] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Oh.

[47:52] Christi Esterle: I isn't that the twist of Olivia Newton John's physical.

[47:58] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: That's what happens.

[47:59] Christi Esterle: I don't know.

[48:00] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Okay.

[48:02] Christi Esterle: Alright.

[48:03] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Well, what what a wonderful episode.

[48:05] Christi Esterle: What have we learned today, kids?

[48:07] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: What what is the overall lesson, do you think?

[48:10] Christi Esterle: I've learned that some questions will stay evergreen.

[48:13] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Will there be drama backstage?

[48:15] Christi Esterle: There always will be.

[48:16] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Does he like me?

[48:18] Christi Esterle: I don't know.

[48:18] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Maybe.

[48:21] Christi Esterle: You know what?

[48:22] Christi Esterle: That's about that's about as fair as we can get.

[48:25] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I've learned that everything I've learned that everything is happening because of COVID because COVID.

[48:25] Christi Esterle: Because Covid.

[48:31] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Actually, now that I think about it, that should be the title of the episode, you know, just because COVID.

[48:35] Christi Esterle: Dear friends, episode one, because COVID.

[48:38] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: I like it.

[48:39] Christi Esterle: Uh yeah, it just rings right off the ears.

[48:42] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: But thank you to our wonderful viewers that are listening to our first inaugural episode.

[48:47] Christi Esterle: We did it, guys.

[48:48] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: We did it.

[48:49] Christi Esterle: I think we made it to the end pretty okay, all things considered, you know.

[48:53] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And we're also brand new to all this, so please give us a follow on iTunes.

[48:57] Christi Esterle: We're on Spotify, Stitcher, and all that.

[48:59] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: All a dear friends pod.

[49:00] Christi Esterle: Um, and also let's not forget that we all can be financially supported through Patreon.

[49:05] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Emily, what's your Patreon?

[49:06] Christi Esterle: Uh, it's Patreon.com slash stealing focus, which is my musical theater YouTube show.

[49:12] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Um, I'm at musical hell pretty much everywhere on the internet.

[49:15] Christi Esterle: And I'm on Musicals with Cheese on the Broadway Podcast Network.

[49:19] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And also, this podcast is all over social media at Dear Friends Pod or Dear Friends Podcast or something like that.

[49:25] Christi Esterle: If you type in Dear Friends Pod, you'll get us eventually.

[49:27] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And our show is an offshoot of Someone Else's Problem created by Aaron Sherlockin and Delaney Peterson, who gave us permission to steal their format.

[49:34] Christi Esterle: So thanks to them for that.

[49:35] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Also, our wonderful introduction and theme song was created by Robin Nash at IOU Music UK.com.

[49:42] Christi Esterle: So go send her some love over there.

[49:44] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: So guys, is there anything else you want to say before we wrap this all on up?

[49:48] Christi Esterle: Stay safe out there, socially distanced, wear your freaking masks, excuse me.

[49:53] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Trying not to work blue.

[49:54] Christi Esterle: Oh, and make sure that you uh check out our playlist for each episode, because I'm gonna be making a playlist of all the songs we talked about, because I love making playlists.

[50:04] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And that'll also be in the bio of this podcast right now.

[50:07] Christi Esterle: So I guess now that we're at the end, the only thing I have left to say is don't break our hearts, don't let this end, dear friend.

[50:14] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: Alright, we'll see you next time.

[50:16] Christi Esterle: Bye bye, my friends.

[50:25] Christi Esterle: They will take your questions and turn them into nuggets of wisdom.

[50:32] Jesse “Jess” McAnally: And an awful icynical world, dear friends.