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[0:12] Jamie DuMont: I'm Jamie DuMont.

[0:13] Rob Russo: I'm Rob Russo.

[0:14] Jamie DuMont: And this is the Fabulous Invalid.

[0:16] Rob Russo: Tony Edition.

[0:18] Jamie DuMont: Here we are, live at the Carlyle.

[0:20] Rob Russo: At the Carlyle, what's the name of this room?

[0:22] Jamie DuMont: It must have a name.

[0:23] Rob Russo: It's called The Restaurant.

[0:24] Jamie DuMont: The Restaurant.

[0:24] Rob Russo: Yes.

[0:25] Jamie DuMont: Okay.

[0:25] Rob Russo: That's a little longer.

[0:26] Jamie DuMont: We're in the restaurant of the Carlyle.

[0:27] Rob Russo: But this hotel is not.

[0:28] Jamie DuMont: It's gorgeous.

[0:29] Rob Russo: It is gorgeous.

[0:30] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[0:31] Rob Russo: And we are here at the OM annual Tony Award party.

[0:34] Jamie DuMont: That we are.

[0:35] Rob Russo: This year co-hosted with the John Gore organization.

[0:38] Jamie DuMont: With John Gore and Broadway.com and Broadway Across America have come on after this is our 12th, 12th year, and I guess I should explain for anyone listening that um my husband, Rick Miramantes, and I.

[0:51] Rob Russo: Did you notice how I said his name Miramantez?

[0:54] Jamie DuMont: I didn't notice that.

[0:55] Rob Russo: I almost got it wrong.

[0:56] Jamie DuMont: I stumbled on my husband's name.

[0:58] Rob Russo: But the point is that we have had this party for we're debating over the number of years, but I think we're at 11 now.

[1:06] Jamie DuMont: It's a political question.

[1:07] Rob Russo: I think it's 12, but as we all know, I'm not good with facts and figures.

[1:10] Jamie DuMont: He says it's 11.

[1:12] Rob Russo: But it is our tenth year that we've done it at the Carlyle.

[1:15] Jamie DuMont: Um and it started out as a party in one of the suites for the cast of Hair after they won the Tony Award for Best Revival.

[1:22] Rob Russo: Yes.

[1:22] Jamie DuMont: That was about 50 people.

[1:24] Rob Russo: And um now we're at golly, I guess I can say this because it'll air after the party.

[1:30] Jamie DuMont: But I think we have like 700 people coming tonight.

[1:33] Rob Russo: That's amazing.

[1:34] Jamie DuMont: Well it is sort of like the party of the year.

[1:37] Rob Russo: As far as I'm concerned.

[1:38] Jamie DuMont: And according to Vanity Fair, if I might if I may toot my own horn.

[1:42] Rob Russo: Toot away.

[1:43] Jamie DuMont: Blow my horn.

[1:44] Rob Russo: Well, this is a family show.

[1:46] Jamie DuMont: Alright, I'm gonna toot.

[1:47] Rob Russo: Please do, don't blow.

[1:49] Jamie DuMont: Have you heard that Mimzy Star?

[1:52] Rob Russo: What now?

[1:52] Jamie DuMont: She got pinched in the S turbox.

[1:55] Rob Russo: So you were stoned.

[1:57] Jamie DuMont: Well, did you ever get it?

[2:03] Rob Russo: Oh, we gave Aaron a mic.

[2:04] Jamie DuMont: Did we give you are you on, Mike?

[2:06] Aaron: I am.

[2:06] Jamie DuMont: I am, yeah.

[2:07] Aaron: Can you hear me if I talk over here?

[2:08] Jamie DuMont: Well, I can now.

[2:10] Aaron: I have ears.

[2:10] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[2:11] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[2:11] Jamie DuMont: Aaron's sitting in the other side of the room.

[2:13] Rob Russo: I feel like I need to paint the picture.

[2:14] Jamie DuMont: We're we're no, no, you're good.

[2:16] Rob Russo: You're you're good.

[2:17] Jamie DuMont: We I we're gonna get Kritzer in here in a little minute.

[2:19] Rob Russo: That's right.

[2:19] Jamie DuMont: It's still early in the evening.

[2:20] Rob Russo: Um this this is a good one.

[2:21] Jamie DuMont: Well, we should talk about the show.

[2:23] Rob Russo: We'll be packed.

[2:24] Jamie DuMont: Yes.

[2:24] Rob Russo: So the 73rd annual Tony Awards have just concluded minutes ago.

[2:28] Jamie DuMont: They have.

[2:28] Rob Russo: And uh Jamie and I were uh just screaming like little girls uh at the announcement of Best Musical.

[2:37] Jamie DuMont: You were screaming like a little girl.

[2:38] Rob Russo: Well, okay.

[2:39] Jamie DuMont: We've talked about this.

[2:40] Rob Russo: We have, I have a history of it.

[2:41] Jamie DuMont: I said you I did it at the Drama Desks, and now I've done it for the Tony Awards.

[2:44] Rob Russo: Um Hades Town won Best Musical.

[2:46] Jamie DuMont: And not only thank goodness, and not only did it win Best Musical, but it was the biggest winner of the night.

[2:52] Rob Russo: Eight Tony Awards out of 14 nominations.

[2:54] Jamie DuMont: Wow.

[2:55] Rob Russo: By far the biggest winner of the night, swept categories left and right.

[2:59] Jamie DuMont: Um very, very exciting.

[3:01] Rob Russo: Even some categories that might have been considered to be a little tighter, like orchestrations or director, even.

[3:06] Jamie DuMont: Um, and lighting design, of course, for the fabulous lighting design.

[3:10] Rob Russo: Set design, which was one of the few upsets of the evening.

[3:12] Jamie DuMont: I really thought David Corins would go.

[3:14] Rob Russo: We both did on our production show, and and not just us, I mean, pretty much all of the the Broadway press.

[3:19] Jamie DuMont: All of Broadway was expecting David Corins to win because he was, you know, the old probably the only person from Hamilton who didn't win a Tony that yeah for his set design.

[3:30] Rob Russo: But um Rachel Hawke won for uh Hades Town, which was very exciting.

[3:35] Jamie DuMont: It was one of the earlier um upsets of the evening, and you turned to me when we found out that news and you said, This means Hades Town's gonna win big tonight.

[3:43] Rob Russo: You knew it.

[3:44] Jamie DuMont: You felt it in your bones.

[3:45] Rob Russo: I understand this!

[3:49] Jamie DuMont: I'm wondering back again.

[3:52] Rob Russo: But like my mama always said when you're down, you're down.

[3:57] Jamie DuMont: When you're up, you're up.

[3:59] Rob Russo: You ain't six feet underground.

[4:02] Jamie DuMont: You're living it up on top.

[4:04] Rob Russo: Let's not talk about hard times.

[4:06] Jamie DuMont: Pull the wine in summertime.

[4:09] Rob Russo: And now we're living in.

[4:15] Jamie DuMont: Well, I'm the living.

[4:16] Rob Russo: Living it up on top.

[4:18] Jamie DuMont: There's a rhythm to how these things unfold, right?

[4:20] Rob Russo: Usually.

[4:21] Jamie DuMont: Having seen, you know, as many Tony Awards as you've seen, I won't, I won't dare say how many.

[4:25] Rob Russo: Well.

[4:26] Jamie DuMont: Okay.

[4:27] Rob Russo: Alright.

[4:27] Jamie DuMont: You can if you want.

[4:28] Rob Russo: I don't know what the number is.

[4:30] Jamie DuMont: I mean, I started watching when I was a little gay, and now I'm a big old gay.

[4:33] Rob Russo: Yeah, so every phase.

[4:35] Jamie DuMont: 40-something years of Tony Awards.

[4:37] Rob Russo: Pretty amazing.

[4:38] Jamie DuMont: 40, I don't know.

[4:39] Rob Russo: Uh.

[4:40] Jamie DuMont: It's been a long time.

[4:41] Rob Russo: Been a long time.

[4:41] Jamie DuMont: Well, this was this was a very exciting evening.

[4:43] Rob Russo: There was the potential for there to be a lot of um upsets given the way that the that the voting rules were this this year.

[4:49] Jamie DuMont: Um, it was a change from basically prior history, where um voters could only vote in a category if they had certified that they had seen every show in that category.

[4:58] Rob Russo: So what that meant is the show in the category that had the least number of of voters see it, that became the pool, the the number of voters who would actually be able to vote in that category.

[5:08] Jamie DuMont: And we expected that that we predicted that that might actually result uh in some some surprises.

[5:13] Rob Russo: But there were very few surprises tonight.

[5:14] Jamie DuMont: No, so I guess they're not gonna get swipe cards next year.

[5:16] Rob Russo: I thought I thought there would be a major upset, yeah.

[5:19] Jamie DuMont: And they'd have to redo it and give everyone a swipe card, which I was sort of excited about, the Broadway swipe card.

[5:24] Rob Russo: Well, Hades Town, again, biggest winner of the night.

[5:26] Jamie DuMont: What was the second from 14 uh nominations?

[5:29] Rob Russo: Um I would say The Ferryman, which took home Best Play.

[5:32] Jamie DuMont: Um, as was largely expected.

[5:34] Rob Russo: I was really pulling for an upset with What the Constitution Means to Me.

[5:37] Jamie DuMont: You could hear when What the Constitution Means to Me was announced in the hall, the crowd went wild.

[5:43] Rob Russo: Throughout the entire there's so much love for the show.

[5:44] Jamie DuMont: There's so much love for Heidi Shrek for what it means, for what it portends about the future of Broadway.

[5:49] Rob Russo: This this show that is really downtown fare.

[5:52] Jamie DuMont: Um, getting this platform on Broadway was really exciting, sort of a runaway surprise of the season.

[5:57] Rob Russo: Um but The Ferryman won.

[5:59] Jamie DuMont: And look, we saw it together.

[6:00] Rob Russo: You turned to me after it ended, and what what did you say to me?

[6:04] Jamie DuMont: Can we get tacos?

[6:05] Rob Russo: Well, yes, that's what you always say to me.

[6:07] Jamie DuMont: But what you what I was expecting you to say is that was a masterpiece.

[6:10] Rob Russo: Oh, it was, yes, yes.

[6:11] Jamie DuMont: Because it really is.

[6:12] Rob Russo: It's a masterpiece, and it deserved to win.

[6:14] Jamie DuMont: I'm not upset about that at all.

[6:15] Rob Russo: No.

[6:16] Jamie DuMont: Uh, in fact, it's quite exciting.

[6:17] Rob Russo: From the time I saw it in London last year, I I've just been waiting to see it again, and on Broadway, it was fantastic.

[6:22] Jamie DuMont: You are not going to get mad at me.

[6:23] Rob Russo: I would never get mad at me.

[6:24] Jamie DuMont: I say that I am really glad it won.

[6:26] Rob Russo: Have you heard about Dear Blanche?

[6:29] Jamie DuMont: Got run down by an ability.

[6:32] Rob Russo: No, don't worry, she's a game girl, you know.

[6:35] Jamie DuMont: Get up and finished for the game.

[6:36] Rob Russo: Kids got guts, have the nice time.

[6:38] Jamie DuMont: Rabalon.

[6:39] Rob Russo: So I will say of the speeches of the night of the from the winners, um, two of the best, well, the three best speeches of the evening came from winners from Hades Town, which, you know, the show is poetry, so how how how shocking that three of the winners would be so well spoken.

[6:56] Jamie DuMont: Um gave us three rules for making art.

[7:01] Rob Russo: Number one, nobody does it alone.

[7:03] Jamie DuMont: Number two, it takes a long time.

[7:05] Rob Russo: And three, it is worth it.

[7:07] Jamie DuMont: Which was such inspiring advice for any artist, anyone who makes art, especially in the theater, and coming from someone who started developing the show 13 years ago.

[7:17] Rob Russo: Wow.

[7:17] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[7:17] Rob Russo: Which is pretty amazing.

[7:18] Jamie DuMont: It is amazing.

[7:19] Rob Russo: Um, Andre De Shields gave us three rules for longevity.

[7:22] Jamie DuMont: Everything comes in three.

[7:23] Rob Russo: We talked to him about those.

[7:24] Jamie DuMont: Which we did, which we did, and this way this is a good um, you know, summation of it.

[7:29] Rob Russo: Number one, surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when they see you coming.

[7:34] Jamie DuMont: That's a good rule.

[7:35] Rob Russo: Good advice.

[7:36] Jamie DuMont: Good rule.

[7:37] Rob Russo: Number two, slowly is the fastest way to get where you want to be, which she said on the show when we interviewed.

[7:41] Jamie DuMont: Which is, I think, some of the best advice I've ever heard.

[7:43] Rob Russo: Absolutely.

[7:44] Jamie DuMont: And number three, the top of the mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing.

[7:49] Rob Russo: That's new.

[7:49] Jamie DuMont: We didn't get that.

[7:50] Rob Russo: We didn't get that on the show.

[7:51] Jamie DuMont: That's gold.

[7:52] Rob Russo: Damn what good advice.

[7:53] Jamie DuMont: He strutted onto that stage like he does every night at the Walter Kerr, and he won this Tony Award at 73 years old, on his 50th year as a performer, his fourth nomination.

[7:53] Rob Russo: Andre De Shields is a Tony Award winner tonight, which just feels right.

[8:08] Jamie DuMont: It's the best thing that's happened so far this evening.

[8:11] Rob Russo: I will say, I will say.

[8:12] Jamie DuMont: And then Rachel Chavkin, who won for Best Director, which is so well deserved.

[8:17] Rob Russo: Um, and we were just screaming again when it happened.

[8:20] Jamie DuMont: Um, I really wanted her to win, and she did.

[8:22] Rob Russo: And she had a very important message, um, which kind of was a through line of the evening, especially coming from folks associated with Hades Town.

[8:30] Jamie DuMont: What she said is basically that there are so many women and artists of color who are waiting.

[8:36] Rob Russo: There is no pipeline problem on Broadway.

[8:39] Jamie DuMont: Well, I'll quote her here.

[8:41] Rob Russo: She said it's a failure of imagination by a field whose job it is to imagine how the world can be.

[8:47] Jamie DuMont: Which was a pretty amazing, brilliant and so well put way of making that point.

[8:53] Rob Russo: And she used this Tony Win tonight uh as a platform to make that argument.

[8:57] Jamie DuMont: And look, as I sat back today and reflected on the season, to me, what Heidi Shrek, Aeneas Mitchell, and Rachel Chavkin represented is that when you give badass women an opportunity, they're gonna create badass art.

[9:10] Rob Russo: That they did.

[9:11] Jamie DuMont: Right?

[9:12] Rob Russo: And we need more of it.

[9:13] Jamie DuMont: And it's now Tony winning art in the in the case of Hades Town.

[9:17] Rob Russo: It's one of the rare musicals written and directed entirely by women to win Tony Awards for those capacities, which is tremendously, tremendously exciting.

[9:26] Jamie DuMont: I feel like I need to point out that Rob made notes.

[9:28] Rob Russo: I took notes.

[9:29] Jamie DuMont: I wanted to be prepared.

[9:30] Rob Russo: And is as always the prepared students.

[9:33] Jamie DuMont: Were you the teacher's pet?

[9:34] Rob Russo: Yes.

[9:35] Jamie DuMont: Yes, that makes sense.

[9:36] Rob Russo: Alternatively the teacher's pet, class clown.

[9:38] Jamie DuMont: But I got away with being class clown because I was teacher's pet.

[9:40] Rob Russo: It's a very, it's a tricky.

[9:42] Jamie DuMont: Don't see you as a class clown.

[9:43] Rob Russo: Were you a funny class clown?

[9:45] Jamie DuMont: I was I as a as a child, I was quite rambunctious, Jamie.

[9:47] Rob Russo: Alright.

[9:48] Jamie DuMont: Beside the point.

[9:49] Rob Russo: One more, one more poignant moment from the Hades Town team that I thought was great, and we saw this at the Drama Desk Awards.

[9:54] Rob Russo: Lighting designer Bradley King, who won for his gorgeous sliding design, said that Broadway needs to become less white, less cis, and less male.

[10:04] Jamie DuMont: Which, as a white cis male, I'm making that assumption, but I believe he identifies that way, is is you know a really great message.

[10:12] Rob Russo: And once again, um, you know, he's using that platform uh to to preach it.

[10:17] Jamie DuMont: And I thought that was a really um important message of the evening.

[10:20] Rob Russo: And there were a few stumbles tonight, I think.

[10:22] Jamie DuMont: Brian Cranston said something that may or may not have been taken in the right way.

[10:26] Rob Russo: Yes, yes.

[10:27] Jamie DuMont: Um I was a little, I was a little shocked, frankly, that he would make that joke, sort of like read the room, but he got up and said, you know, finally a straight white man wins an award.

[10:36] Rob Russo: Um and I texted a mutual friend of ours and said, next year men are canceled at the Tony Awards, right?

[10:41] Jamie DuMont: Can we can we not have men at the Tony Awards next year?

[10:44] Rob Russo: I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[10:46] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, and it just wasn't a joke that didn't land.

[10:48] Rob Russo: But no, I don't.

[10:49] Jamie DuMont: But it's but it's interesting in in in our community, which is ever so it was just always so uh concerned about those kinds of things.

[10:59] Rob Russo: Yes that's and so thoughtful about them.

[11:01] Jamie DuMont: It does feel like an unfortunate misstep.

[11:04] Rob Russo: Right, right.

[11:05] Jamie DuMont: Absolutely.

[11:05] Rob Russo: Well, one of the few um upsets, if you can call it that of the night, I'll I'll say surprise, um, was Sergio Trujillo's win for Best Choreography, which both of us had predicted um that Warren Carlyle would win.

[11:20] Jamie DuMont: He won the Drama Desk.

[11:21] Rob Russo: He won so many awards across the industry.

[11:24] Jamie DuMont: Um Sergio won.

[11:25] Rob Russo: Uh let's not forget that my husband didn't speak to me for five full days after I predicted that uh Warren would win.

[11:33] Jamie DuMont: And he was right.

[11:34] Rob Russo: Um I will say I didn't realize this until um it happened, but this is Sergio's first Tony Award.

[11:42] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[11:43] Rob Russo: Um and he's never won a Drama Desk either.

[11:46] Jamie DuMont: So uh for someone who has done so much work on Broadway, who is beloved within the community, um and as a man as a as a Latino, you know, choreographer, there are not many Latinos working on this in this level in Broadway.

[12:01] Rob Russo: Again, it's part of that message of the night, like let's bring more diversity into the room because when you do, you get, you know, Ain't Too Proud, right?

[12:08] Jamie DuMont: You get his choreography of Ain't Too Proud, which was absolutely stunning.

[12:11] Rob Russo: It's so integral to the way that show uh moves and feels.

[12:14] Jamie DuMont: I mean, I I I didn't get to say this to Des McAnuff, but I think he would agree when we had him on the show, um, that it's hard to tell where Des's work began and Sergio's work began, right?

[12:23] Rob Russo: Because it was so seamless. The whole show moved. Um, and when he got up and accepted his award, Sergio, um, he made the point that he came to America as an illegal immigrant. His words, not mine. Um, and here he is tonight, winning a Tony Award. And I was very taken aback by that. It was very powerful in this climate to have someone uh have that journey uh and um get this achievement. Uh it's really worth something, you know, something worth celebrating. Very special.

[12:54] Jamie DuMont: Well, we are celebrating tonight, that is for sure.

[12:57] Rob Russo: It's great.

[12:58] Jamie DuMont: Oh, it's great, it's great.

[13:01] Leslie Kritzer: So great.

[13:02] Rob Russo: It's what I we sing, we sing so rare.

[13:20] Leslie Kritzer: Like old gaming.

[13:25] Rob Russo: Like Bahra.

[13:29] Leslie Kritzer: Don't take that kind of croon in chum.

[13:33] Rob Russo: All right, Leslie Kritzer.

[13:35] Leslie Kritzer: Wow, we are back here. It has been a year. Last year I was here for the first time.

[13:41] Jamie DuMont: First time ever, which is shocking to me.

[13:43] Leslie Kritzer: I mean, well, I met you here last time.

[13:46] Jamie DuMont: I know.

[13:47] Leslie Kritzer: And think of how far we've come. I mean, now we're like close.

[13:50] Jamie DuMont: We like it.

[13:51] Leslie Kritzer: Literally, literally close.

[13:53] Jamie DuMont: Literally close.

[13:53] Leslie Kritzer: I'm loving it. You guys look amazing.

[13:55] Jamie DuMont: Okay, wait. No one has asked you because you really haven't been asked what you're wearing tonight. Who are you wearing too?

[14:00] Leslie Kritzer: Who are you wearing?

[14:01] Jamie DuMont: Oh, me?

[14:01] Leslie Kritzer: Yes, I'm sorry. Jamie, me.

[14:02] Jamie DuMont: I'm wearing a Tom Brown tuxedo that's very old, but I do have a gorgeous sapphire and diamond pin from Vidura. They were very gracious to loan it to me.

[14:12] Leslie Kritzer: Yes.

[14:15] Jamie DuMont: And it had uncut sapphires in it, which I've never seen in my life.

[14:19] Leslie Kritzer: Yes, thank you.

[14:20] Jamie DuMont: Well, I might have had hair and makeup done, but you know, I'm not gonna say that.

[14:23] Leslie Kritzer: You, me.

[14:24] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, the way you look.

[14:25] Leslie Kritzer: I would look like the crypt if I didn't.

[14:27] Jamie DuMont: You look you are those ostrich feathers you're wearing.

[14:29] Leslie Kritzer: These are ostrich feathers, the Pamela Rowland dress. Thank you, Brandon Lewis.

[14:33] Jamie DuMont: You look gorgeous.

[14:34] Leslie Kritzer: My second look in the night. I've never done a costume change, but listen, I didn't have a Bot Mitzvah.

[14:39] Leslie Kritzer: So, or any Sweet 16 that I can remember, or a huge 40th birthday party. So listen, I didn't get nominated this year. I'm wearing two dresses. I have an amazing costume. I'm I'm living my truth today.

[14:52] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, you are laying it. You look absolutely stunning.

[14:54] Leslie Kritzer: Thank you.

[14:54] Jamie DuMont: And what are you wearing, Rob?

[14:55] Rob Russo: Uh I'm just wearing a little blue velvet, uh navy blue velvet jacket.

[15:01] Leslie Kritzer: But the shoes.

[15:01] Rob Russo: Shoes are good.

[15:02] Rob Russo: Some patent leather shoes, yeah.

[15:04] Jamie DuMont: And Jamie, you're also wearing amazing shoes.

[15:06] Rob Russo: I might have some Jimmy Choo's on.

[15:07] Leslie Kritzer: Jamie's always wearing amazing shoes.

[15:09] Jamie DuMont: I love me a Jimmy Choo.

[15:11] Leslie Kritzer: Okay, so what did you guys think of tonight? Where are we feeling? What are we at? What do we feel like talking about?

[15:17] Rob Russo: I am I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome of the evening as a huge fan of Hadestown.

[15:23] Leslie Kritzer: Um I am as well.

[15:25] Rob Russo: Yeah, I was really pulling for it, and it's the big winner. You know, it wins from 14 nominations, um, which is really terrific.

[15:31] Leslie Kritzer: I will say, I I thoroughly enjoyed the telecast, and I thought the musical numbers are really terrific this year.

[15:37] Rob Russo: I, well, you know, I was in one of them, so I think it's a watch them like I normally do and experience it like you guys experienced it.

[15:45] Leslie Kritzer: So I don't have Veneem. Do you have any like what did you I thought the Temptations came off amazing?

[15:50] Rob Russo: I love the Temptations, I love you guys, I love the prom.

[15:54] Leslie Kritzer: We love the prom.

[15:56] Rob Russo: So now we have Leslie's husband Vadim.

[15:58] Leslie Kritzer: Sorry.

[15:59] Rob Russo: Joining us in the booth. She's a musical director, musical director of Falsettos on Broadway. Very accomplished music direct musical director.

[16:06] Rob Russo: And um Vadim, what did you think of tonight?

[16:08] Vadim: I love tonight. I was uh, you know, I'm here to see my wife, I'm here to see Beetlejuice, and uh I was so excited.

[16:15] Vadim: I was I was thrilled with their presentation.

[16:17] Rob Russo: That's what I was excited about.

[16:18] Vadim: It was it was so smart, you know.

[16:19] Vadim: It really Jamie and I went back to see the show just the up the other night. Um and I'm so glad that I revisited it. A.

[16:27] Vadim: And B, the Tony Award performance, what you guys did in tailoring it for the audience, to me really showed the spirit of what that show feels like in the Winter Garden.

[16:37] Rob Russo: Good.

[16:38] Vadim: Uh I think that's what everyone was going for. It was such a great, for lack of a better word, commercial for what the show is.

[16:46] Leslie Kritzer: Business friends.

[16:48] Vadim: I have only known this amazing, amazing man and his unique daughter for a few months.

[16:55] Leslie Kritzer: I don't even know how many. I'd have to check my pay stubs, but as my guru Otho always says, What's going on, Delia?

[17:10] Leslie Kritzer: Are you alright?

[17:12] Vadim: Um I'm so sorry.

[17:15] Leslie Kritzer: I don't I don't know what just happened. I meant to say, Me sademi, said demi, said demi, said dami, said I was worried personally that America or people who know the sh the movie would want to see Deo the way they know it.

[17:34] Vadim: Sure, sure.

[17:35] Leslie Kritzer: I I personally thought it would be fun to start it in the audience to have different celebrities even pop up and join in.

[17:42] Vadim: But at the end of the day, it kind of seemed to work and the highest.

[17:46] Leslie Kritzer: And it worked a little bit. The Han Solo bit was hilarious.

[17:49] Vadim: You know, like it's it's always tricky with these things. You know, you you want to do the perfect thing, then you just gotta go with your gut.

[17:57] Leslie Kritzer: And I I think all the shows came off really well, and some more than others.

[18:02] Vadim: Right.

[18:02] Leslie Kritzer: As far as but they all seem to do well, which is great.

[18:05] Vadim: That doesn't happen every year.

[18:06] Leslie Kritzer: No, but I didn't get to see all of them.

[18:08] Vadim: We're rooting for that.

[18:09] Leslie Kritzer: You know.

[18:10] Leslie Kritzer: And I'm a huge Hadestown fan.

[18:11] Vadim: Huge, huge huge hates.

[18:12] Leslie Kritzer: It's a great show.

[18:13] Leslie Kritzer: But speaking of things that don't happen every year, correct me if I'm wrong, Leslie. Did you not meet Catherine O'Hara the other night?

[18:16] Leslie Kritzer: Did she not come see your show? Because I think we have to talk about this.

[18:22] Leslie Kritzer: This is big news.

[18:23] Leslie Kritzer: Okay. So I knew I found out that she was going to be presenting our number, like uh introducing our number.

[18:32] Leslie Kritzer: So I I was already excited.

[18:34] Leslie Kritzer: And I was like, there's no way in hell she's not gonna come see the show and just introduce the number.

[18:40] Leslie Kritzer: And then I got confirmation that in yes indeed she's gonna come see the show.

[18:45] Leslie Kritzer: I said, I don't want to know when.

[18:47] Leslie Kritzer: And then all of a sudden, someone told me when.

[18:50] Leslie Kritzer: And I was actually okay that they told me because I see fries.

[18:55] Vadim: I see French fries.

[18:56] Leslie Kritzer: We'll get some French fries.

[18:58] Vadim: Go get the fries.

[19:00] Leslie Kritzer: This is why he's a good husband.

[19:01] Vadim: Yeah.

[19:02] Leslie Kritzer: Then I found out when she was coming, because Tina Fey was coming the matinee a Saturday, and then Catherine came Saturday night.

[19:09] Leslie Kritzer: And it just worked out so perfectly because I wasn't even nervous.

[19:13] Leslie Kritzer: I was honored to show the work that I had been.

[19:16] Vadim: They also have sliders, Fiddy.

[19:19] Leslie Kritzer: We got you a slider.

[19:20] Leslie Kritzer: Um I didn't even feel nervous because I was just honored.

[19:20] Leslie Kritzer: I was just honored because I literally have watched and re-watched so much of her work.

[19:30] Leslie Kritzer: Just to get to feel close to understanding the brilliance of her timing, which I've adapted in my own way.

[19:38] Leslie Kritzer: Her amongst many other comedian, comedic actresses that I know and actors.

[19:43] Leslie Kritzer: And to meet her was just like also a you know, she she I met her, she came up on stage, she was like, You are a freak, you're amazing.

[19:52] Leslie Kritzer: She called you a freaking like she was basically like I'm nothing compared to you.

[19:56] Leslie Kritzer: I was like, okay, wait a second.

[19:57] Leslie Kritzer: Like, I really can't. The reason why I love you so much is you're self-deprecating, which I love.

[20:01] Leslie Kritzer: Your career is just unbelievable.

[20:04] Leslie Kritzer: And I literally pulled her aside.

[20:06] Leslie Kritzer: Like I wasn't gonna do this, but uh, you know, we took our pictures, and we like, oh my god, you're amazing.

[20:11] Leslie Kritzer: And then I went back to her and I said, No, you really need to understand that women like you are paving the way for women like me.

[20:19] Leslie Kritzer: We look to you to go, we want to do what you want to do, and we know that it's possible because you're doing it and you're still doing it.

[20:27] Vadim: Yep.

[20:28] Leslie Kritzer: And and she was, she she loved it.

[20:30] Leslie Kritzer: She was like, they wrote so much more for you than they ever did for me in the movie.

[20:35] Leslie Kritzer: And it's very different what you're doing.

[20:37] Leslie Kritzer: It's very different.

[20:38] Leslie Kritzer: So you get to own it.

[20:42] Leslie Kritzer: The universe is more than just space with no end.

[20:45] Leslie Kritzer: La la la la la.

[20:47] Leslie Kritzer: Just think of the universe as a female best friend.

[20:50] Leslie Kritzer: And you can be like, hey, universe, what's happening, girl?

[20:55] Leslie Kritzer: And she'll be like, I'm not.

[20:57] Leslie Kritzer: Just run in the world.

[21:00] Leslie Kritzer: And you'll be like, what?

[21:02] Leslie Kritzer: And the universe will be like, I know.

[21:06] Leslie Kritzer: You're on the right track, girl.

[21:07] Leslie Kritzer: I got your back, girl.

[21:09] Leslie Kritzer: I'm helping you grow.

[21:11] Leslie Kritzer: Be positive, act positive.

[21:13] Leslie Kritzer: You are a child of the air.

[21:18] Leslie Kritzer: Life coaching, nailing it.

[21:21] Leslie Kritzer: Time to take command.

[21:22] Leslie Kritzer: You dictate the hand the universe deals.

[21:25] Leslie Kritzer: Look, science makes no sense.

[21:27] Leslie Kritzer: Who needs evidence?

[21:28] Leslie Kritzer: Go with your feels.

[21:30] Leslie Kritzer: The best thing about her, and you guys, it's like here's the thing in this business.

[21:33] Leslie Kritzer: You know, we're all actors, creative people, we're all crazy in our own ways.

[21:38] Leslie Kritzer: But you sometimes I feel like people think you have to be really bitchy or nasty to be like brilliant or really messed up to be brilliant.

[21:47] Leslie Kritzer: She's so nice and so kind and so generous in a way that I I did not feel was put on at all.

[21:53] Leslie Kritzer: I there's very few people in my life that I want to meet that mean so much to meet her, Carol Burnett.

[21:58] Leslie Kritzer: Most of them are dead, to be honest.

[22:00] Vadim: Yeah.

[22:01] Leslie Kritzer: And you know.

[22:02] Leslie Kritzer: So I I'm not gonna have a slide.

[22:04] Leslie Kritzer: What a perfect cap.

[22:06] Leslie Kritzer: Anyway, that was a run on sentence.

[22:09] Rob Russo: Yeah, yeah.

[22:10] Leslie Kritzer: That's okay. You can run on when you're talking about Katherine O'Hara anytime.

[22:13] Rob Russo: Anytime.

[22:14] Jamie DuMont: Alright, I think we should go enjoy the party for a little bit.

[22:16] Leslie Kritzer: Let's do it.

[22:17] Jamie DuMont: You know what? I just also want to say, Jamie.

[22:19] Jamie DuMont: Everyone wants to come to this party. You know that, right?

[22:21] Leslie Kritzer: I do.

[22:22] Jamie DuMont: Everyone wants into this party.

[22:23] Leslie Kritzer: So you're like, why are you so dressed on my car?

[22:26] Jamie DuMont: Like, oh Jean Jamanian, gotta go say hi to her.

[22:29] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, gotta go say hi to Jean.

[22:30] Jamie DuMont: Alright.

[22:30] Leslie Kritzer: Gotta say hi to Gene.

[22:31] Jamie DuMont: We'll be back in a second. Bye.

[22:33] Leslie Kritzer: And you heard it's in the stars. Next July we collide with Mars.

[22:40] Leslie Kritzer: Well, did you ever?

[22:42] Leslie Kritzer: What a swell party, a swell party, a swelling, elegant party.

[22:49] Rob Russo: Listen.

[22:54] Rob Russo: Well, we're back.

[22:55] Rob Russo: And uh it's about two o'clock in the morning, and we're at the Carlisle Party, and we have uh the party has uh only just begun.

[23:01] Leslie Kritzer: And that is Rick Miramantes, who is my husband and the co-host, actually the host of the party.

[23:09] Rick Miramantes: Lovely to have you here.

[23:10] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, thanks.

[23:11] Rick Miramantes: It's nice to be here.

[23:14] Rob Russo: Right.

[23:14] Rick Miramantes: Yeah.

[23:15] Rick Miramantes: What's your favorite moment this season?

[23:18] Rick Miramantes: Okay, I have to I I I and I'm not the first one, but it's like a split answer, and I'll be fast.

[23:26] Rick Miramantes: One is the it's very personal to me, um, and big to the night.

[23:33] Rick Miramantes: It is the performance of Reeve Carney in Hadestown.

[23:38] Rick Miramantes: Because he is Orpheus, and if you follow the trajectory of the mythological story, Orpheus is like the star of the fucking show.

[23:48] Rick Miramantes: Sorry.

[23:49] Rob Russo: Orpheus is the star of the show.

[23:51] Rick Miramantes: No, you can swear, we're explicit.

[23:53] Rick Miramantes: Oh, okay.

[23:54] Rick Miramantes: You got that in stereo.

[23:56] Rick Miramantes: And you know, I remember him, I worked with him on Spider-Man, and uh what he the tools that he has, the theatrical tools that he possesses now are uh kind of astounding to me because he is uh an integral part of that uh extraordinary show.

[24:16] Rick Miramantes: Um but vocally what he does is so special, and so much of the storytelling and the book, and the it's it's in the music and in the songs and in the lyrics, and he is frankly the muse, the channeler of Aeneas Mitchell herself.

[24:37] Rick Miramantes: So what he does can never be underestimated, overestimated, or whatever that phrase is.

[24:42] Rick Miramantes: So that's number one.

[25:01] Rob Russo: Number two is um a musical that I just absolutely love, and they so killed it tonight. Uh Ain't Too Proud?

[25:10] Leslie Kritzer: Yes, oh my gosh. Um Life in Times of the Temptations. And the moment in that show that I think expresses something so special is when Jeremy Pope, who was of course a star of the night and introduced in a big way as a superstar to America, when he sings one of my favorite pop songs, "Just My Imagination," but he turns it into a one-act play into an aria, and it is so gut-wrenchingly touching and beautiful. And he takes uh and he turns the idea uh that dirty word, that dirty phrase, jukebox musical, he turns it into something so glorious that I was I I'm I I'm so proud to be around that moment every time it's done, and I'm so thrilled to watch it every night that I'm lucky enough to do so.

[26:53] Rob Russo: What's your favorite all-time Tony moment?

[26:56] Leslie Kritzer: Ever? I okay, so tonight I will just say that it's about those performances, you know, and the ones that really land, and I will say that for the ages, the Ain't You Proud number will become one of those. One of those like Michael Bennett, like Tommy Toon. I will say my favorite Tony moment is a thing that I watched when I was young on TV and then on YouTube, and the subsequent speech that followed it, it would be "We'll Take A Glass" from Grand Hotel.

[27:30] Rob Russo: Yes.

[27:31] Leslie Kritzer: Oh my gosh. That's a good one. It's magic.

[27:33] Rob Russo: All right. Pure magic. Go host your party. Thank you, husband. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Rick, for joining us.

[27:47] Jamie DuMont: And as we take it, something takes and hold me out. Right now we are delighted to have Lisa Goldberg with us. And I have to say, Lisa, if it wasn't for you, we would not have had a season this year. Because you truly, truly represent everyone on Broadway. If my husband doesn't represent them, well, he doesn't really do what you do, because he does shows. You do personal PR. We work together. You work together, but you work with everyone on Broadway. You represent everyone. It's unbelievable. I mean literally half of our shows came through your office.

[29:01] Lisa Goldberg: Well, thank you.

[29:02] Jamie DuMont: So thank you. The invalid thanks you from the bottom of our health.

[29:06] Lisa Goldberg: It's still fine.

[29:07] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, there is. So what do you have a favorite Tony moment?

[29:14] Lisa Goldberg: Um, I have a bunch of favorite Tony moments, but I grew up a dancer at a series dancer and then did Broadway shows myself. Um so I was addicted to the Tonys growing up and would, I'm aging myself, but I would tape it, you know, every year.

[29:33] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, I have my Tony tapes.

[29:35] Lisa Goldberg: Right. Oh, I still have them as well. So I would re-watch them over and over again. But my thing was I would memorize every single person who won, especially like the producers and directors and choreographers, and I would memorize their names, who they won for, their speeches, so that when I moved to New York, if I ran into any of them, you would know. I would know right off the bat, right? So when I got to New York, I left school when I was 20 and moved up to New York to start auditioning, and I was walking down, like, are we allowed to curse?

[30:10] Jamie DuMont: Oh, fuck yeah.

[30:11] Lisa Goldberg: So, no shit. I was walking down right in front of the Marriott Marquis on like 44th, 45th on Broadway. And um, I ran straight into Barry Weisler.

[30:22] Jamie DuMont: Oh my gosh.

[30:23] Lisa Goldberg: And I quoted his Grease speech to him. Like the Rosie O'Donnell, Greece, you know, whatever that was. And um Barry was like, Well, fuck yeah, I like you. Here's my card. I'm gonna give you an audition. Here you go. And like literally called me in for years after that, even like, and that was before I had an agent and would call me in for auditions.

[30:48] Jamie DuMont: Wow.

[30:48] Lisa Goldberg: So that you know, I could be seen. So I guess like that's kind of a great Tony Rover.

[30:57] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[30:59] Lisa Goldberg: I have a good Scott Wise one too, but if he ever heard this, it would embarrass him. So do you want to tell it?

[31:05] Jamie DuMont: I'm sure he doesn't listen.

[31:07] Lisa Goldberg: I'm sure he's screaming right now. So feel free.

[31:11] Jamie DuMont: Okay, all right. You ready?

[31:13] Lisa Goldberg: I'm ready. So I mean, the guy's happily married with like a couple kids now. So here you go. Right? When I was uh teenage, a young teenager, I watched him win for Jerome Robbins Broadway. Right? And he was so fucking amazing. And I said to my mom, one day, I mean, he thanked his wife. I mean, I'm I apologize to Savannah, his daughter, and his first wife, but he thanked his wife on the Tonys when he won, and I said, one day that guy's gonna get divorced and date me. Cut to I met him again, same spot in front of the Marriott Marquis when he was doing Damn Yankees. I'm telling you.

[31:55] Jamie DuMont: That's right.

[31:56] Lisa Goldberg: And uh yeah, we ended up dating off and on for a little while. I think the Marriott Marquis is like a magic moment for you.

[32:04] Jamie DuMont: It's a good story.

[32:04] Lisa Goldberg: For you and no one else, apparently.

[32:06] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, really have a good history.

[32:08] Lisa Goldberg: For me in the Drama League. Tutti's having some good times at the Marquis.

[32:13] Jamie DuMont: So they're reversing the curse.

[32:14] Lisa Goldberg: Reversing the curse.

[32:15] Jamie DuMont: Yeah. All right, well, Lisa, thank you for sitting with us for a second. Go enjoy yourself.

[32:20] Lisa Goldberg: This isn't really going to air, right?

[32:22] Jamie DuMont: Oh, it is.

[32:24] Lisa Goldberg: Sorry, Scott. Well, just reflecting further on uh the show tonight, I did want to make sure I mentioned that we had a historic win tonight with Ali Stroker winning a Tony Award.

[32:37] Rob Russo: That we do.

[32:37] Jamie DuMont: Becoming, as we mentioned in our predictions episode, the first uh performer in a wheelchair ever to be nominated and now win a Tony Award. And also, fun fact, as we discussed, the first actor to play Ado Annie ever to even be nominated, which and then won.

[32:52] Rob Russo: And then to win, yeah.

[32:54] Jamie DuMont: Which was very exciting. And her performance tonight, I think really showed to America. I mean, she was on the Glee Project, so a portion of America knows who she is. Um, but that she is a star.

[33:06] Leslie Kritzer: Absolutely.

[33:06] Jamie DuMont: She's a real star. And I can't wait to see her next project. And I hopefully someone will write something new for her.

[33:11] Leslie Kritzer: For her.

[33:14] Jamie DuMont: Um, because she's such a talent, and she really showed that tonight. And as Rick mentioned, and Jeremy Pope, you know, he was in two shows this season, nominated for two Tony Awards, and performed twice on the telecast because Choir Boy uh play performed a number from from the show, which was also very unique.

[33:37] Rob Russo: It's nice to have a historic moment on the show.

[33:39] Jamie DuMont: And we had two of them.

[33:40] Rob Russo: Yes. And it's sort of a that is screaming that you're hearing in the background. A sign of progress that there are fewer and fewer barriers to break in terms of awards. There are fewer firsts to be had. And Hades Town, again, becomes one of the few musicals ever to be directed and written by women.

[33:58] Jamie DuMont: And that has to change.

[34:02] Rob Russo: And I have a feeling it will. After, you know, we're the season we had really showed a lot of progress in terms of the types of shows that make it to Broadway, which was very exciting.

[34:16] Jamie DuMont: So Choir Boy performed, which was very unique to have a play perform a musical number. The other non-best musical nominee that performed was a Cher show.

[34:24] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[34:25] Jamie DuMont: Which was very exciting, and it really gave an opportunity to showcase Bob Mackie's now Tony Award-winning costumes, which was a lot of a lot of fun and worthwhile. The last thing I will mention, because I do think it's very important, is they changed the rules this year so that uh best revival plays that were never on Broadway in the first place. So if you were if you revive an older play that never premiered on Broadway, um the playwright is eligible to win the Tony Award. Because unlike Best Musical, which the award goes to the producers, the award for best play goes to the writer of the play. Um, and this season we had um Kenneth Lonergan for the Waverly Gallery, which is an older play from the 90s that had that came back in revival on Broadway, and The Boys in the Band, which was written in 1968, a year before the Stonewall Riot, a year before the modern gay liberation movement. Mark Crowley, who's still alive, thank God, gave a beautiful speech.

[35:24] Leslie Kritzer: Gave a gorgeous speech.

[35:26] Jamie DuMont: Because The Boys in the Band won, and he got to win a Tony Award for a groundbreaking play that literally premiered 50 years ago. So that was really, really special, and it's one of those uh moments that I'll long remember as a special Tony moment.

[35:40] Rob Russo: Oh, well, it was a lovely show.

[35:43] Jamie DuMont: It was, it was a lovely show.

[35:44] Rob Russo: And I saw very little of.

[35:45] Jamie DuMont: You did because you put on this amazing party at the Carlyle running around.

[35:49] Rob Russo: Yes, yes. And um, yeah, it's it's been a great, it's been a great season.

[35:53] Jamie DuMont: It's been a good season for the invalid. This isn't our final episode. We're getting to the end of the side.

[36:00] Rob Russo: I am Mr.

[36:01] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, no, we're both Misty. Well, we'll we'll we'll start up again. Don't worry. We're not going anywhere. We're we're gonna do this again very soon. But we are gonna take a bit of a break. We have what, one more episode after this?

[36:12] Rob Russo: Yes, that's right.

[36:13] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah. One.

[36:15] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[36:16] Jamie DuMont: Maybe two.

[36:17] Rob Russo: No, one, I don't know. A bonus.

[36:19] Jamie DuMont: Stay tuned, stay tuned. That'll be a bonus episode. Fabulous. Well, thank you for listening to our little Tony uh Swarm for joining us at the Carlyle.

[36:26] Rob Russo: Yes, all right. Well, cool. Let's get back to it. Have a good night.

[36:29] Leslie Kritzer: Bye.

[36:30] ♪ Musical number ♪

[36:58] Rob Russo: How are we living reality?