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[0:00] Joshua Turchin: Hello and welcome back to the Early Night Show Virtual Edition. My name is Joshua Turchin and thank you so much for being with us today. I'm so excited to welcome the incredible Chris Anthony Giles from Spamilton and Ella Hinds, who is the current National American Miss District of Columbia Junior Teen. So please stick around. Welcome to the Early Night Show. It is officially spring. During the pandemic in MIC, it means that we can spend some time out of our boxes, well, apartments, and enjoy the more mild temperatures. It also means that it's time to celebrate Passover and Easter and enjoy spring break. One thing that I've always found funny is how confused the stores can be, especially during the holidays at least.

For example, take this Easter treat at Target. Yep, that's right. To celebrate Easter, they recommend that you buy this kosher hala. I guess they figured it was for Passover and then sort of merged the holidays. But during Passover, any leavened bread is not even kosher. So not only would people who celebrate Easter not want to purchase the hala, but the people celebrating Passover wouldn't be able to eat the hala either. On the bright side, it gives people from different religions the chance to learn about other religions, albeit from a hala perspective. Wouldn't it be great for all of us to be in a place where we can put aside our differences and learn to support each other? Kind of like, well, Neverland.

[1:30] ♪ Musical number: "Never Never Land" — performed by Joshua Turchin ♪

[4:20] Joshua Turchin: But is best known throughout New York City for his role in the hit musical Spamilton. I worked with him on a reading for a show by the creator of Forbidden Broadway and Spamilton. And he's so incredibly talented. I'm so happy to welcome Chris Anthony Giles to the Early Night Show. Hi, Chris!

[4:37] Chris Anthony Giles: Hello, Joshua Turchin. How are you today?

[4:41] Joshua Turchin: I'm doing good. How are you?

[4:43] Chris Anthony Giles: I'm good. I'm good. I'm better now that I'm on your show.

[4:47] Joshua Turchin: Oh yay, I'm so sorry. Thank you for asking me to come on this. This is amazing.

[4:55] Chris Anthony Giles: Of course, I'm so happy to have you on today's show. How have you been doing during this very long and extended intermission?

[5:04] Chris Anthony Giles: Well, it's been a nightmare, but we're getting through. I'm very optimistic soon this will be over and we can all get back to work.

[5:11] Joshua Turchin: Yes, I wish I like wish that we could just restart things now safely, but I mean we're making a lot of progress. More and more people are getting vaccinated, and hopefully soon getting vaccinated very soon.

[5:25] Chris Anthony Giles: Oh, really? Yay! Hopefully, like soon, we will be able to come back.

[5:31] Joshua Turchin: And um, so I remember I worked with you in the reading of Blah Blah Land. I think that was about like three years ago.

[5:41] Chris Anthony Giles: Yes. That was I forgot about that.

[5:45] Joshua Turchin: I know it was such a cool experience being able to work with the Forbidden Broadway team. And like you, because you're part of the Forbidden Broadway team. You were in Spamilton, right?

[5:56] Chris Anthony Giles: Yes, I was in Spamilton. I was in the original production of Spamilton. Um, yes. In 2016, it was so long ago, 2016.

[6:09] Joshua Turchin: Oh my gosh. Who did you play?

[6:12] Chris Anthony Giles: I played, as I affectionately like to call myself, the fat Leslie Odom because he's much skinnier than I am. I played Leslie Odom playing Aaron Burr.

[6:27] Joshua Turchin: Oh, yes. It was like an inception kind of thing.

[6:31] Chris Anthony Giles: But yeah, that was really fun, and really out of my wheelhouse, because I don't, from what I know from Forbidden Broadway, most of the actors who do it, um, they do a lot of impressions and stuff, and I do no impressions, so I was really um, I was really like why am I auditioning? Like my agent told me to go in and do this, and I was like, why am I auditioning for this? This is not, I'm never gonna get this. And of course, the auditions that you think you're never gonna get are the ones you get, which is how I ended up here on this amazing ride that was only supposed to be three weeks long and ended up about two years, two years worth of Forbidden Broadway.

[7:23] Joshua Turchin: Yeah. I am so sad I wasn't able to see you in Spamilton because I've seen from videos just how incredible you were in it.

[7:35] Chris Anthony Giles: It was so much fun. I had a ball with Dan, who you just had on, which was awesome. Uh, Dan Juan Crawley, yes, I love him, Nick, Nora. We just had a ball. We had a ball. It was an experience that only we know about.

[7:52] Chris Anthony Giles: It was an experience. And Gerard, of course, who created this whole thing for us.

[8:03] Joshua Turchin: Uh yes. Um, I think I also have to like I feel like we've been in more stuff together because we know I probably I don't know. But I didn't actually realize this until we um worked together in Blah Blah Land, but I did actually see you um playing um Dr. Greenaway on a Disney cruise.

[8:25] Chris Anthony Giles: What? Really?

[8:27] Joshua Turchin: Yeah.

[8:30] Chris Anthony Giles: Yes. Wow, that was in 2012.

[8:34] Joshua Turchin: Yes, I played Dr. Greenaway on my first Disney cruise, which was uh also another amazing experience. I didn't even know you saw that.

[8:42] Joshua Turchin: That was amazing. Yeah, well, I'm just wondering like how the Disney cruises work. Um, how often did you get to um perform?

[8:53] Chris Anthony Giles: Okay, so you um, did they take you to Canada and they rehearse you for two months and then they take you back to Florida and put you on a boat and for another six months you um, you work you do it's a half hour shows um from what I remember you do three a day, two or three a day um, it's a lot of hard work but also amazing fun and it's Disney I mean how can you hate it it was a ball it was very hard work though it was a ball.

[8:53] Joshua Turchin: Did you just do that show Believe or did you do like all the other shows too?

[8:53] Chris Anthony Giles: Oh no, you do all three shows. There were three shows. There was Believe, um blanking out has been so long ago there were two other shows um, but Believe was the one they mainly cast me for because um I played the lead role in that um, yes wow yes you bring me back I didn't know you were gonna talk about that.

[8:53] Joshua Turchin: No, I I like research Disney in my free time um as well as do the Early Night Show and compose and yeah so when did you go on that cruise last or like I don't remember I remember I last went on a Disney cruise in like 2017 2018.

[8:53] Chris Anthony Giles: Oh wow yeah and yes I love those. They're so fun. They're so cool and fun. And they're bringing like all these like new experiences to the Disney cruises, too.

[10:39] Joshua Turchin: Oh, I am a huge nerd and love Marvel, especially Avengers. And I know they've got the show.

[10:47] Chris Anthony Giles: Oh my god, are you kidding me? It's so good.

[10:51] Joshua Turchin: WandaVision is literally one of the best shows.

[10:54] Chris Anthony Giles: And I want to talk to you about it now, but we will spoil it for everybody if we do.

[10:58] Joshua Turchin: Oh, that is true. Um, I don't know, spoilers here, but in case you haven't seen it, go watch it. It is so good. Oh my god, see it.

[11:09] Chris Anthony Giles: Um, so since theater is now paused, how have you been staying busy?

[11:15] Chris Anthony Giles: I've been staying busy by um teaching, actually. I've learned that I kind of like it, but not teaching in the sense you would normally think. I have been teaching English to kids in China online.

[11:34] Joshua Turchin: Oh wow.

[11:36] Chris Anthony Giles: But what's more interesting is I can't speak a word of Chinese.

[11:42] Joshua Turchin: Yeah, I know.

[11:47] Chris Anthony Giles: So how did you get started teaching English to kids in China?

[11:51] Chris Anthony Giles: Well, a friend of mine, um, a friend of mine did it, and he got me into it. Um, and they're really just looking for people who are energetic, and who can communicate. Um, it's like perfect for like actors.

[12:17] Joshua Turchin: During the pause, have you had time to ride your electric unicycle scooter?

[12:23] Chris Anthony Giles: Oh, are you kidding me? And I still gotta teach you how to ride that thing.

[12:26] Joshua Turchin: I know, I know. It looks so cool. And like, isn't it also like a backpack?

[12:33] Ella Hinds: I don't have one that's a backpack, but if you find one, please tell me about it. I remember there's like there's a type of unicycle scooter thing. I think like you can also store stuff in it. Well, mine when you when I'm not riding it, there's a trolley handle and it like looks like it's uh it's like a bag of some sort, but it's not. I think that's what you might think. Probably, but I know unicycle scooter, it's amazing. You need to get one. I love it. They're cool as long as you don't fall. And when you fall, you leave it. Self-balancing, yes. Okay, that's good. So limits fall because if I were to go on it, the first thing I would do would be fall. Of course. That's the fun part. Fall first, and then you get back up some kind of saying in that. But yes, yes, it's amazing. You should do it, you should try it. Get your convince your parents to get you one. I shall now.

[13:38] Joshua Turchin: Uh, what song would you like to sing with me today? And why do you select that song?

[13:43] Ella Hinds: I will be singing Los Pinguinos by Heisler and Goldrich. Oh, two ladies who uh make songs that are hilarious and that I've been using for a dish pieces for a while now. And I love this song, and I thought it'd be appropriate for this song for this uh show. Hopefully.

[14:08] Joshua Turchin: Hopefully, yeah. Well, of course it will. I am so so excited to hear you sing the song. Here we go.

[14:23] ♪ Musical number: "Los Pinguinos" — performed by Ella Hinds ♪

[16:47] Joshua Turchin: Thank you so much, Chris. That was so amazing. I hope to be able to work with you again really soon. My next guest is the current National American Miss District of Columbia Junior Teen, and is also an incredibly talented performer. I'm so happy to welcome Ella Hinds to the Early Night Show. Hi Ella.

[17:05] Ella Hinds: Hi!

[17:08] Joshua Turchin: Hi, I'm so happy to have you on the Early Night Show today.

[17:13] Ella Hinds: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Um, it's been like a little over a year since the pandemic began. How have you been doing since it began?

[17:25] Ella Hinds: I've been doing okay, of course, with all the changes. You know, I'm kind of like adjusted to them now. Um, so yeah, I've been doing a solid okay.

[17:35] Joshua Turchin: That's good. Um, how has life changed for you?

[17:40] Ella Hinds: Um, well, obviously, school is online. I think a lot of kids across America schools online. Um, so that was a big change because I um go to Duke Ellington School of the Arts in DC, so I'd have to commute there. And I'm you live in New York City, so you know all about commuting.

[17:46] Joshua Turchin: Yep.

[17:46] Ella Hinds: Um, so that was really a big change that um, you know, now I just wake up and roll out of bed and you know, get on a Zoom call. So that has been a huge change for me.

[18:09] Joshua Turchin: Um, so congratulations on your amazing title of National American Miss District of Columbia Junior Teen.

[18:17] Ella Hinds: Thank you.

[18:18] Joshua Turchin: Um, did the pageant take place during the pandemic?

[18:23] Ella Hinds: So the preliminary to go to the national pageant um had to be virtual because it was in like June-ish, so the height of coronavirus, unfortunately. So we had a little crowning moment at home and we made it special, but um, it was definitely different.

[18:40] Joshua Turchin: Yeah. The national pageant actually was in Orlando, Florida over Thanksgiving weekend. Of course, it was um like totally outside and socially distant, so it was really different. Um, but yeah.

[18:52] Joshua Turchin: That's so cool. Now I know that you have an organization called Arts for All, right?

[18:58] Ella Hinds: Yes.

[19:00] Joshua Turchin: Uh can you tell us a little about it?

[19:03] Ella Hinds: Yeah, so Arts for All is an organization that I founded in 2020, actually, and I wanted to do the launch in person, but it was like corona just started, so we're like virtual. Um, so we did the launch over Instagram live and we raised over $1,500 and we donated a half of the proceeds to the COVID-19 World Health Organization Relief Fund. Um, but it's an organization that strives to bring all kinds of art forms to all kinds of people at little to no cost. And we host things like a lot of benefit concerts, and we did just set a play festival called Innovative Woman to showcase works by women.

[19:39] Joshua Turchin: So yeah.

[19:41] Joshua Turchin: That's amazing. How can our viewers and listeners support Arts for All?

[19:47] Ella Hinds: You guys can definitely follow us on Instagram and Facebook. You know, I'm a big Gen Zier here, so I use Instagram like every day, and you can find all our updates there at Arts for All at Instagram.

[20:00] Joshua Turchin: So yeah. When probably reopened, is there a show that you can't wait to see?

[20:07] Ella Hinds: Yes. Throughout this whole pandemic, I've been listening to Jagged Little Pill like crazy. So I really want to see that.

[20:15] Joshua Turchin: I do too. I also really want to see six.

[20:18] Ella Hinds: It looks so good.

[20:19] Joshua Turchin: Both shows do.

[20:21] Ella Hinds: Yeah, six too.

[20:23] Joshua Turchin: Do you have any dream parts at any shows?

[20:28] Ella Hinds: Yes. I am a basic theater kid when it comes to the Sun. I really want to play Alpha and Wicked. It's like my dream role.

[20:35] Joshua Turchin: You'll be such an amazing Elf Buck. Because your voice and acting skills, they're just incredible.

[20:44] Ella Hinds: Thank you.

[20:47] Joshua Turchin: Speaking of singing, what song would you like to sing and why?

[20:53] Ella Hinds: Um in Wicked?

[20:55] Joshua Turchin: Um, no, just um for the show today.

[20:57] Ella Hinds: Oh, I'm so sorry. I would like to sing not a day goes by from Merrill We Roll Along. I really love this song because it has a lot of acting opportunities. And you know, it's not that classic musical theater that's all happy, you know, it digs a little deeper, and I really like that.

[21:15] Joshua Turchin: Yay, well, I can't wait to hear you sing it. Here we go.

[21:28] ♪ Musical number: "Not a Day Goes By" — performed by Ella Hinds ♪

[23:28] Joshua Turchin: That was incredible, Ella. I can't wait to see what you do next. If you're enjoying the Early Night Show's virtual edition and are in the New York City area, come check out the Early Night Show live at the Green Room 42 on April 9th. Yes, we are gonna be live again at 7 p.m. Friday, April 9th. The Green Room 42 is one of my favorite MIC cabaret venues and has a very strict COVID protocol to ensure that everyone remains safe, including very limited tickets and social distancing. For some more information and to get tickets, go to joshuin.com slash shows. For some Broadway fun, come join me on my Twitch at Joshua Turchin. We play some Minecraft among us and play some music. So follow or subscribe to my Twitch.

If you're a student whose show was cancelled, please send us a link to a video of you singing to early nightshow casting at gmail.com and you may get a chance to go on the show. If you're enjoying these virtual cabarets, please consider making a donation to the Actors Fund's emergency relief fund at www.actorsfund.org to support people working in the entertainment industry who have suddenly found themselves out of work. Anybody helps. You can also find the Early Night Show on the Broadway Podcast Network where podcasts are found, and videos for episodes online on theearly nightshow.com. Thanks again to my guests, Chris Anthony Giles, and Ella Hinds. And let's keep entertaining. Any artists who want to be virtual guests, send me a direct message on my Instagram at Joshua Turchin, and let's keep making music to help the world. Stay healthy and wear a mask.