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[0:00] Mo Brady: Hey listeners, just want to give a quick thanks to our Patreon members, including Kat Hicks, Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Linda Lee, Phoebe Stewart, and many, many more. We've been bolstering our Patreon offerings in the last couple months, so make sure to check us out at patreon.com slash TheEnsemblist. You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Mo Brady.

[0:43] Mo Brady: Travel back in time with me, way, way back to a long-ago year called 2013, where an overly caffeinated 30-something with a single Broadway credit was looking for a way to stay connected to the community of performers he so dearly wanted to be a part of. It was out of that desire to celebrate, to advocate, and to connect that our experiment called The Ensemblist was born. And here we are, almost eight years later, sharing with you our 500th episode. That summer, if you had asked that fresh-faced, child-free man if he had imagined The Ensemblist would eventually have 500 episodes to share, he would have said no. 100, sure. 200, maybe. But like, 500 episodes is a lot. How could there even be 500 stories about Broadway ensembles to share?

What we've found is that every person who has stepped on stage as part of a theatrical ensemble has a multitude of stories to share. And because of that, we've expanded our mission over the years, from simply sharing the unknown stories to making connections between those stories to document and celebrate our collective history. To commemorate our 500th episode, I've asked my podcast collaborators both past and present to share their favorite stories of working on and listening to The Ensemblist.

[2:12] Nika Graff Lanzarone: Oh hi, Ensemblist friends. To celebrate the 500th episode of The Ensemblist, Mo asked me to come up with some sort of something to say. While I suggested that we just get on the phone and do a free word association back and forth at each other, he only half-giggled at that, so I assume that that's a no. What I am going to do, however, is read some emails. On April 17, 2013, at 2:51 PM, I received an email from Mo Brady. The subject line read podcasts. Apparently, we had had a conversation before because he just jumped right in. Also, on a personal note, are you a podcast fan? And I responded back to him, April 17, 2013, at 2:53 PM, Oh yes, major. What are your faves? That's awesome. I'm obsessed.

My current favorites are Slate Culture and Political Gabfests, Marketplace, and Planet Money. I live for Radiolab and This American Life and also love 99% Invisible and The Moth. Comedy Bang Bang is solid if you're into indie comics, which I am, almost embarrassingly so. I will look into the Gabfests. I love Slate. Woo! Podcast buddy! Of course, I listen to T.A.L. Classic. I ask you about podcasts because I have an idea I want to bounce off of you. For a couple of years, I've been brainstorming an audio podcast about Broadway ensemble members, which I call The Ensemblist. The podcast would be a sort of love letter to the hard work and talents of Broadway ensemblists. Not so much retelling of their credits, but more their opinions, feelings, experiences within those credits.

They have a unique perspective about the business, personal fulfillment, and what it means to be successful. I haven't pursued the podcast because I think it would take a lot more work than just talking to a friend and posting it on iTunes. But if I had an equally passionate co-host, it could be a really fulfilling challenge.

[4:16] Mo Brady: Oh my god, I love this idea. I would kill to do this with you. Let's find some time to talk next week. April 17th, 2013, 4:40 PM. Mo Brady, to me. He he he, awesome. I'll see you on Monday, and we can chat then about a time to meet up.

[4:36] Nika Graff Lanzarone: Hey guys, I'm Nika Graff Lanzarone. And I'm Mo Brady, and this is The Ensemblist, the podcast for those curious about how Broadway really works. We go directly to the source. Interviewing musical theater's unsung heroes about their lives and experiences both on and off the stage. If you're curious about learning what split tracks, universal swings, or pre-production mean, The Ensemblist is for you.

[4:58] Nika Graff Lanzarone: The Ensemblist is so much more than interviews with performers. We take a theme and give you a variety of content on that theme, starting with a thorough description of the topic at hand, and an exploration of it from multiple angles. Each episode will uncover a different aspect of bringing a production to life, from dance partners and replacements to developing new work and doing double duty.

[5:22] Mo Brady: So, that's what I got. It brings back a lot of memories. The last eight years have been really amazing to watch The Ensemblist grow from two people trying to figure out how to tell a story that we thought was important and to grow into a vital, integral part of the theater world at large. I'm really, really proud of helping get that off the ground and move that forward because it is work that will never be done. I'm really, really proud. What's remarkable to me is how much of what we've become is in that kernel of an initial idea I shared with Nika eight years ago. A love letter to hard work. What it means to be successful. It's all there. In the years since we debuted, we've been lucky enough to work with many collaborators to bring you stories. I asked them all to share their favorite experiences, and I gotta say, they surprised me.

[6:31] Hattie Andres: Hey, I'm Hattie Andrus. I'm a director and producer based in Seattle, and I hold the very special title of first intern ever for The Ensemblist. When Mo emailed me to tell me that the 500th episode was coming up, I went back and read through all of our old emails from 2013 when we were working on the first year of the podcast. Y'all, we were scrappy back then. When I listen to the episodes now, look at the incredible social media presence and advocacy and blog posts that The Ensemblist is doing. I feel like a proud auntie. Working with The Ensemblist in the year after graduation from college was life changing. I had all this training and thoughts about the industry, but I didn't really have any real world experience or knowledge of how the industry actually worked.

Working on the episodes, talking about split tracks, understudies, dance captains, pre-production was like a whole nother chapter of my education and really prepared me to go into working professionally in the theater.

[7:43] Jackson Klein: My name is Jackson Klein, and I am the global producer of The Ensemblist. I first joined the team back in April 2015. When asked to share a story about working on the podcast, so many incredible memories from the past six years came rushing back to me. From fun occasions like eating dough donuts for dinner at City Kitchen with Mo and Nika the night I first met them, and getting recognized as The Ensemblist's Jackson Klein during a night out at therapy, to creatively fulfilling experiences like spearheading a series on queer representation and helping produce countless photo shoots and a few live shows. The memories are plentiful. But one sticks out as perfect for this occasion. I love a good star turn, but I've always associated Broadway with the performers who have built long-lasting careers as ensemblists.

Flipping through the annual Playbill Broadway yearbooks in my youth, I'd see the same names again and again. Lisa Guida, Ann Sanders, Linda Muggleston, Gracie-Ann Kingsbury, Peter Greggus, etc. These artists make up the foundation of the American musical theater. So when it came time for Donna Marie Asbury, who spent over 20 years playing June in the Ensemble of Chicago to hang up her fishnets, I was honored to be invited to celebrate her accomplishment in a spin on the Legacy Robe Ceremony. Flash forward to June 3rd, 2019, a muggy Monday evening with a stillness hanging in the air on 49th Street. A group of representatives from Actors' Equity and I were met outside by Barrett Martin, one of the other Chicago ensemblists.

We were ushered inside where we joined the cast and crew in a Legacy Robe-style circle on stage. Speeches were made. Many tears were shed. A signed bowler hat and a pair of Legacy slippers were presented to Donna while photographs were taken for the New York Times. Donna circled the stage clockwise, the opposite of a traditional opening night Legacy Robe Ceremony, three times, reaching out to touch each person present along the way. The significance of Donna's long run in Chicago was beautifully captured in a line from Rebecca Kim Jordan's speech. And I may be paraphrasing. You are who the Legacy Robe was created for. Thank you, Mo and Nika, for taking a chance on a very, very eager 20-year-old and giving me the tools and support to help me grow into the person I am today. I am forever grateful.

[10:18] Chad Campbell: Hey, y'all. Chad Campbell here, former intern and editor for The Ensemblist. Thinking back, I would have to say that one of my favorite memories of my time with the show was when we were working on the live show for the St. James Theatre at 54 Below. Just getting to be in the same room as everyone, you know, Nika, Mo, Jackson, and Kevin, like, there was just so much of my time when I was not able to be there. You know, I was either in Ohio or off on a contract. And so I just really loved getting to be with everyone in the same room for once. And yeah, that was probably one of my favorite memories of my time with the show apart from so many other things. But yeah, happy 500, The Ensemblist. One of my favorite things that I got to do while working with The Ensemblist was getting a chance to write stories that meant a lot to me personally.

When I saw The Prom for the first time, I was so struck by the song Unruly Heart. And every time subsequently I saw the show, that song continued to just have such an emotional impact on me. So in the summer of 2019, I got to work on a piece with two of the ensemble members of The Prom, Fresnel Hogan and Jerusa Kvazos, where I talked to them about the process of building ensemble characters, but specifically how they kind of brought their characters in Unruly Heart to life. Because in that song, they're all playing teenagers across the country, across the world who hear Emma's song Unruly Heart and have their own emotional reactions to it. So yeah, that was my favorite. And that's one of the stories that I consider myself really lucky to have gotten to write.

[11:57] Anna Altheide: Hi, everyone. My name is Anna Altheide, and I am an associate producer at The Ensemblist. My involvement with The Ensemblist actually began nearly two years ago. I literally can't help but pinch myself when I say that. Two whole years. Wow, it almost seems hard to believe. And every step of the way, I have felt so fortunate to participate in a podcast, in a movement, really, that's truly blossomed in so many ways. I have so many fond, incredible memories I've collected over the course of two years, even during this pandemic. I felt so fortunate that through this last year, especially, I've played even a small, minute part in uplifting theater voices through these darker days. Prior to lockdown, I met and connected with performers I admired from afar for years, one of whom even bought me a drink before a show and just wanted to know my life story, or as much of it that I could consolidate into 20 minutes, which at that point was all of it.

Despite not being much of a performer myself, aside from the occasional karaoke stint, I've always loved it, and I've always gravitated toward it, even before I could walk and talk. Frankly, I wouldn't know what to do with myself this last year without having a creative outlet like The Ensemblist. Those are my greatest memories.

[13:19] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Nika Graff Lanzarone, Aaron Albano, Anna Altheide, Hattie Andrus, Kevin Bianchi, Chad Campbell, Jackson Klein, Michael Fatica, Christine Shepard, and Angela Tricarico. The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein and me, Mo Brady. Please rate and review The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. Our Patreon members have on-demand access to our archive, including full conversations with our guests, and early access to episodes. You can join Cullen Elijah, Joey Soji, Stephen Bell, Rebecca Russell, and many, many more for between $5 and $20 a month at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Thanks for listening. Until next time!