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[0:00] Anna Altide: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. Welcome, I'm Anna Altide.

[0:20] Anna Altide: Choreographer and performer Charlie Williams is no stranger to The Ensemblist, nor is he a stranger to Disney's mega-musical Frozen, which closed on Broadway last May but has sparked new life internationally. Charlie has played a critical role in Frozen's legacy as both an ensemble performer and associate choreographer. When it came to mounting the show in Sydney, where audiences and performers can finally return to indoor gatherings and performance spaces, Charlie was the obvious choice to step in and train the show's newest crop of ensemblists. Here is Charlie Williams in his own words to elaborate more on the emotional experience of returning to live in-person theatre, as well as the challenges along the way.

[1:12] Charlie Williams: Hi Charlie, would you introduce yourself and tell us where you're calling from today?

[1:17] Charlie Williams: I'm Charlie Williams and I'm talking to you from Hell's Kitchen, baby.

[1:21] Anna Altide: You are currently in the running or in the lead for the most frequent guest on The Ensemblist podcast. I think this is your third time.

[1:28] Charlie Williams: No way! That's awesome!

[1:33] Anna Altide: We've been around for a while, but I think you've done this three times, including our first interview when we sort of revamped in 2019. So maybe all of our success really is just because of you.

[1:45] Charlie Williams: Well, I'm honored to be back. Thank you for having me. We're going to talk about Frozen today and you have been an artist who has nimbly bounced back and forth across the production table working on the creative side of shows and performing in shows, but nothing as succinctly, I think, as Frozen where you've really done both.

[1:59] Charlie Williams: I've done everything but like open the curtain really or sell popcorn in the lobby, but maybe that's in my future. Will you tell our listeners all of the things you've done with Frozen thus far?

[2:14] Charlie Williams: I started my journey with Frozen out of town in Denver when we did our pre-Broadway tryout at the Denver Center as associate choreographer. Came to Broadway, still associate choreographer, opened up the show, and then I've been maintaining the show ever since it opened as far as casting replacements and cleanups and things like that, all in the kind of umbrella of associate choreographer. And then in 2020, I was like, you know what? Let me hop in this bad boy for a second. Let me get some health insurance weeks. I was in the show on Broadway performing eight times a week as an ensemble member. And then 2020 went the way it did, which was really fun. Found myself an unemployed ensemble member.

I'd most recently just went to Australia for 10 weeks to set the show there on my own, kind of representing the choreography department. Still under the umbrella of associate, but really taking the reins. It was my first time setting the show completely on my own as far as the choreography department went. So it was really fun and it went well.

[3:16] Anna Altide: So in March, you're performing when the shutdown happens. Is that right?

[3:20] Charlie Williams: Yeah.

[3:21] Anna Altide: Okay. When you sign on to be an associate choreographer for one of these big mega musicals that is likely to have a lot of productions worldwide, you sort of know this is going to be something that I'm going to revisit time and again down the road. Was the trajectory for Frozen laid out very specifically for you prior to 2020? And how did 2020 change that schedule?

[3:48] Charlie Williams: Oh, absolutely not. To answer your first question, it was not laid out succinctly. Typical showbiz, you have no idea what the future holds. If I had known that the national tour was going to be about a year after we opened, I probably would have tried to jump in the show a little bit sooner, if I'm being honest. Associates don't get health insurance. We don't get any union protection. So we don't get our 401k. We don't get health insurance. We don't get any of those great benefits. It actually is way more lucrative in a way just to do your eight shows a week and be on Broadway because you have all that steady paychecks and all the union stuff, which comes in handy when there happens to be, I don't know, a global pandemic.

At the time when Frozen kind of was getting ready to open on Broadway, we thought they were going to do what they called an aggressive rollout, meaning we were going to do the national tour and then right away to London, then right away to Australia, Japan, Germany. We have all these things on the table. But then they decided to not do that after we opened and wait a little bit. That's when I ended up having to jump in the Cher show for a bit. I got lucky and got another show and then, yeah, jumped into Frozen. So kind of rolled with the punches on that one. And I feel really lucky that I got to jump in there right before the great Broadway closing of 2020.

[5:01] Charlie Williams: From hindsight, like it all sort of looks planned out, you know, OK, so you're going to associate with Frozen and then you'll go into Cher show and then you'll come, you know, but it just doesn't happen that way.

[5:10] Anna Altide: Yeah. You look in the back. It looks like I really knew what the hell I was doing, but I definitely did not. Just rolled with the punches there. OK, the shutdown sort of shuts down. We go from two weeks to a month to three months. And Frozen is one of the first casualties to close on Broadway. Right. Are you like working in any sort of official capacity through 2020 after the show announces closing? Like are you on Zoom meetings about the future of the show? What are you doing as the associate choreographer prior to going to Australia or getting the call about Australia?

[5:40] Charlie Williams: When you're an associate choreographer, at least with what I've done, is that, you know, I never like leave the position of associate choreographer. I'm just kind of on call when they need me. So with this 2020 and the shutdown, even though they're Disney and we kind of think or at least they think they run the world, they didn't know what the hell was going on either. There wasn't really Zoom meetings to be had because nobody knew what was happening. So it's not like we could make any progress by being like, OK, so when we reopen, we're going to do this or casting or there just wasn't any answers. So to answer your question, I just sat around eating and getting fat like a lot of people did during 2020.

I didn't do a damn thing. We were supposed to do Australia in May of 2020, but that clearly soon faded away that that wasn't going to happen in May. And then Frozen ended up announcing, like we said, closing Broadway. And then it was still kind of up in the air. So I was out on Fire Island living my life, socially distant, mind you, on the beach when I got a call to be like, hey, Australia is doing well with their COVID protocol. So saddle up, baby, you're going to Australia in the fall. I was like, really? I don't know if that's going to happen, but OK. So I kind of just like waited and bided my time until getting kind of closer and closer. And I was like, hey, guys, is this really still happening?

And they're like, yep, you're going. Get ready. And I was like, I don't know. I'm going to wait to kind of prep myself until I really know that it's happening. And it wasn't really until the plane landed in Sydney that I was like, OK, I guess we're doing this. I guess it's really happening here.

[7:12] Anna Altide: I want to talk about the dance department's organizational structure. And was it always assumed that it would just be you that would go to Australia? Did that change because of COVID?

[7:22] Charlie Williams: That changed because of COVID, for sure. This was the first international mounting of Frozen. And originally, I believe it was going to be about 150 people total flying over there. And I mean, I'm talking lighting designers, assistant lighting designers, directors, assistant director. It takes about that many people to get a show up. But then we ended up only being able to bring, I believe, 30. So we went from about 150 to 30 just because of all the COVID protocols. We all had to quarantine and all this stuff. So it added a lot of money to the expense of putting the show up. So we ended up having to basically go with the bare minimum of people, meaning I was there representing all the choreography. Adrian Sarple, who's the associate director, he and I work a creative team out there with all the Aussies. So it was definitely a scaled down team in Australia.

[8:02] Anna Altide: That's crazy. Were you nervous?

[8:15] Charlie Williams: Hell yeah, I was nervous. And also, mind you, my 2020, like, Mo, I was like, I don't know why I'm frightened. Like I've never, it's been so long since I've been around Broadway or the shows, you know, I'm not even being in a theater to go right into a creative process where I'm leading the room with a whole cast of Australian people like that. I don't even know if it was something like on Broadway or resetting the tour, I could at least like have my peeps or my friends or people I know. But this is like a room full of strangers looking at me being like, Okay, teach us the entire show. Now the production down there obviously has dance captains, would you like teach them the show in advance? Was it really that like 10am on Monday, you walk in and you start at the top of the show? Or was there any sort of prep that you got before?

[9:01] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Welcome to The Ensemblist, where we celebrate the performances and careers of ensemble performers.

[9:26] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Today, we're diving into the reopening of theatre, specifically focusing on Frozen Australia.

[9:49] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: We have a special guest, Charlie Williams, who has played a critical role in the legacy of Frozen.

[10:16] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Charlie is both an ensemble performer and Associate Choreographer for the show.

[10:31] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: As audiences and performers return to indoor gatherings, Charlie has stepped in to train the newest crop of ensemblists in Sydney.

[10:56] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Let's hear from Charlie about his experiences and the excitement of reopening.

[11:16] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Stay tuned as we explore the journey of bringing Frozen back to life in Australia.

[11:38] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: We'll discuss the challenges and triumphs of this process.

[11:58] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Now, let's welcome Charlie Williams to the show.

[12:18] Charlie Williams: Thank you so much for having me! It's great to be back on The Ensemblist.

[12:38] Charlie Williams: The experience of reopening has been surreal, to say the least.

[12:58] Charlie Williams: After such a long time away from the stage, there's a palpable excitement in the air.

[13:18] Charlie Williams: Training the new ensemblists has been a rewarding challenge.

[13:38] Charlie Williams: Each performer brings their own unique energy and perspective to the show.

[13:58] Charlie Williams: It's been wonderful to see them grow and find their place in the production.

[14:18] Charlie Williams: The rehearsal process has been intense but incredibly fulfilling.

[14:38] Charlie Williams: We’re all just so eager to share this beautiful story with audiences again.

[14:58] Charlie Williams: The team has worked hard to ensure that everyone feels safe and supported.

[15:18] Charlie Williams: It's a new chapter for Frozen, and I feel honored to be a part of it.

[15:38] Charlie Williams: The response from the cast has been overwhelmingly positive.

[15:58] Charlie Williams: Everyone is ready to bring their best selves to the stage.

[16:18] Charlie Williams: I can't wait for audiences to experience the magic of Frozen once more.

[16:38] Charlie Williams: It's a show that resonates deeply, and I believe it will touch hearts all over again.

[16:58] Charlie Williams: Thank you for allowing me to share this journey with you.

[17:28] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: Thank you, Charlie, for your insights and for being part of this exciting time in theatre.

[17:46] The Ensemblist & Broadway Podcast Network: We look forward to seeing Frozen come to life in Australia!