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[0:00] Jamie DuMont: Hi, BroadwayCon 2020 on the third day! Look at you all, we're so glad you're here. We're about to sit down, but we wanted you to know we're here for The Fabulous Invalid, part of the Broadway Podcast Network, and we're going to be filming our first live show with you, so you're going to be recorded live as well. In a few moments we're going to be having cast members from Hadestown join us, right? So without further ado, would you guys like to have a seat? Yeah, let's start. All right, let's go.

[0:49] Jamie DuMont: Welcome to The Fabulous Invalid, Broadway's podcast, where we present essential conversations with a curated roster of some of the most interesting and influential people working in the theater today, from actors to directors to designers to everyone in between. We take the name of our show from the title of a 1938 Kaufman and Hart play, which became a loving nickname for Broadway itself. Always on the verge of decline and always bouncing back, that is The Fabulous Invalid. I'm theater savant Jamie DuMont.

[1:20] Rob Russo: I'm a writer and theater critic, Rob Russo, with Stage Left at NYC.

[1:24] Jennifer Simard: And hi everyone, I'm Jennifer Simard, and I'm currently in rehearsals for the Broadway revival of Company. Yes, I'm so excited.

[1:34] Jamie DuMont: Well, hello Jennifer.

[1:36] Jennifer Simard: Hi.

[1:37] Rob Russo: Hello Rob, how's it going?

[1:38] Rob Russo: Wonderful. We're delighted to be here on day three of BroadwayCon.

[1:41] Jennifer Simard: I know, I had about five different outfits on this morning, because I realized as a lady up here on the stage with all of you beneath, it's all about not showing you all my business, right? So I thought maybe I should have brought them all bells, and that any time you see Jennifer Simard's business, ding, ding.

[1:56] Jamie DuMont: A business bell?

[1:57] Jennifer Simard: A business bell. That would have been helpful. I think I'm okay with my pencil.

[2:00] Rob Russo: I didn't get the black memo, so.

[2:02] Jennifer Simard: Oh.

[2:03] Rob Russo: I'm in Navy.

[2:04] Jennifer Simard: Come on, you've got to wear black.

[2:05] Rob Russo: You've got to do it.

[2:06] Jamie DuMont: Well, we're excited to be here for our first ever live taping of The Fabulous Invalid.

[2:10] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[2:11] Jamie DuMont: And we're thrilled that we're soon going to be joined by cast members of Broadway's smash hit, Hadestown.

[2:16] Jennifer Simard: Yes, give it up for them.

[2:19] Jamie DuMont: You will be hearing from Reeve Carney, Eva Noblezada, Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad.

[2:25] Jennifer Simard: Yay.

[2:27] Jamie DuMont: But before we do that, today is sort of a reunion for the three of us, because we haven't been with Jennifer in a little while, because she has been in rehearsals for Company. So Jen, tell us how that's going.

[2:41] Jennifer Simard: It's been a dream come true. It's a wonderful cast of some of the most talented actors I've ever worked with, and we really are a company, like the title suggests. We're all involved in each other's scenes, and we're really passing the ball and assisting so the other cast member can dunk it. There's no I in this show. It really is we, and I love that. It's a great ensemble piece.

[3:06] Rob Russo: Yeah.

[3:07] Jamie DuMont: So what I love about Company, and I assume everyone who's at BroadwayCon knows what Company is, right? The landmark Stephen Sondheim, George Furth musical from 1970, is that the show is structured as a series of scenes where the main character, Bobby, is going around at this time as a woman, i.e. Bobbie, and meeting with all of her married friends. So you are playing the role of Sarah, which was originally created by Barbara Barrie, who we had on our show earlier this season, and your husband, Harry, is being played by Christopher Sieber, who is a long-time pal of yours and was on Broadway last season in The Prom. What's it like now playing a married couple after being friends for so many years?

[3:49] Jennifer Simard: Yeah. We have been friends for 25 years, so we complete each other's sentences at this point. It's wonderful because there's so much built-in trust already, and we have a quite physical relationship in this show, which you will hopefully come and see. And so that just makes it so easy. Although the other day, he got released from rehearsal early and I had to stay, so I texted him, I want a divorce. I wasn't having that.

[4:14] Jamie DuMont: That's pretty extreme. All right. I have one question.

[4:18] Jennifer Simard: Yeah.

[4:19] Jamie DuMont: LuPone.

[4:20] Jennifer Simard: Oh, I love her.

[4:21] Jamie DuMont: Tell us about Patti LuPone.

[4:22] Jennifer Simard: I love her. Well, I knew her. I was fortunate enough to have her come see Disaster, and she sent me a video message, which I really treasure. And so at the end of it, she said to me, good luck in your career, Jennifer, and blew me a kiss. And now we're working together, and I can't stand it. It's so incredible. Yesterday, I forgot my lunch, and she was so kind, and she said, I have some of my salad. Jennifer, do you have half of it? Have half of my salad. And like an idiot, I politely declined. I'm like, it might be my only opportunity to break lettuce with Patti LuPone. And I said no, so I've got half.

[4:58] Rob Russo: I think everyone in the audience would have taken that salad. Am I correct?

[5:02] Audience: Correct.

[5:03] Jamie DuMont: I would have had to put it in a glass box.

[5:04] Jennifer Simard: Oh no, I couldn't possibly, you idiot.

[5:06] Rob Russo: I don't know if you guys saw this, but yesterday, she did a video to introduce, or two days ago on Friday, she did a quick video at BroadwayCon to introduce your cast mates who sang a song, and she was eating pretzels through the whole thing. And it's online, you can see it. In my opinion, so far, she won BroadwayCon.

[5:25] Jennifer Simard: Absolutely, you've got to stay nourished.

[5:29] Jamie DuMont: Well, Jamie and I are so excited to see you and your cast members in Company. It opens March 22nd, Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday at the Bernard Jacobs Theater. If you don't have tickets yet, make sure you get tickets, because this is going to be an incredible, incredible revival.

[5:44] Rob Russo: All right, but now, the real reason we're here. We're here to talk about Hadestown last season's critically acclaimed Tony Award-winning Best Musical. Yes.

[5:57] Jamie DuMont: Based off that response, as you all very much know, Hadestown intertwines two mythic tales, that of the young dreamers, Orpheus and Eurydice, and of King Hades and his wife, Persephone, on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back.

[6:11] Rob Russo: We will be joined by Orpheus and Eurydice, Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, in just a moment.

[6:17] Jamie DuMont: Very exciting.

[6:19] Rob Russo: One little second.

[6:20] Jamie DuMont: But before that, we'd like to bring out three of the other stars of the show, the Fates. So please help me and welcome Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad.

[6:29] ♪ Musical number: "When the Chips are Down" — performed by Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad ♪

[6:52] Jamie DuMont: Thanks, ladies.

[6:56] Jewelle Blackman: Hey, guys.

[6:57] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Hello.

[6:58] Kay Trinidad: Alrighty.

[6:59] Rob Russo: Well, the concept of the Fates is a theme that occurs across mythology throughout history and cultures, typically represented as three goddesses who are weavers of a tapestry that dictates the destinies of mortals. This concept, very obviously, is interpolated into Hadestown through your characters. I was wondering if you could share with us how Anais, the writer of the show, has reimagined the Fates for this musical.

[7:24] Jewelle Blackman: What has been really cool about this entire experience, being in Hadestown, is that we are allowed to bring a lot of ourselves to our characters. So initially, when I know I auditioned for the role of the Fate, I necessarily did not know much about Greek mythology and who the Fates were. As I got involved with the show, I did my own research, and the Fates, we decided to name ourselves as the three Fates. There's the Fate of Death, Atropos, there's Lachesis, and there's Clotho. So one creates life, one measures life, and the other ends life, and I'm sure you can figure out who does that. So I think, as a person, me personally, I can be somewhat intense, I can be somewhat cutthroat, in a nice way. And so it's not very hard to play this particular character. Am I answering your question?

[8:19] Rob Russo: Sure, yeah. I mean, we're just interested in hearing about how these characters are reimagined for Hadestown.

[8:27] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I like that you all named each other.

[8:30] Jewelle Blackman: Well, in the Greek mythology, that's her name.

[8:32] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Oh, those are actual Greek.

[8:33] Jewelle Blackman: We decided who was who. But the cool thing was, when we, so we all did our individual research, and we came back to rehearsals the next day, and we said, so I looked up some stuff about the Fates, you know, we did our homework, and we all agreed without discussing who we were. So yeah.

[8:48] Kay Trinidad: It was fate.

[8:49] Jewelle Blackman: It was fate.

[8:50] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah, it really was fate.

[8:51] Rob Russo: So in my opinion, the Fates are kind of troublemakers, right? They're a little naughty, right? You guys are the voices in Orpheus's head. You're quite literally the thing that blows Eurydice to make the choices that she makes. However, you don't really interact with either of them. But sitting in the audience, as an audience member, it feels like all you do is interact with them. So how does that balance work? How did you work that out?

[9:17] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Well, actually, what you just said was another way that we're different than the original mythology, which is, in the original mythology, we are these three sisters that have a string, and we measure their life, and then we cut it off. And here we are, like you said, the wind. And we're also the voices in people's heads that are able to put doubt in your head or kind of steer you in the direction that will ultimately make you make the choices to fulfill your fate. And it's kind of testament to thoughts become things, you know, and that the power of thought, even if we're not physically touching you or you're not physically seeing us, which is weird, because to the audience, of course, they're seeing three people physically touch her or be in their face. But yeah, it's powerful how much our thoughts can influence and how much we influence the gods. Like, we influence Hades. We influence everyone. So...

[10:11] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, you really, you're the wheel that keeps everything going. You really are.

[10:17] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I don't want to brag, but...

[10:19] Jewelle Blackman: Brag.

[10:20] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Brag.

[10:21] Kay Trinidad: Go ahead.

[10:22] Rob Russo: Yeah, yeah. Well, Jewelle, you were just talking about how you each developed your own sort of identity, although you move as one unit. So I'm wondering if each of you could share more about what makes your fate unique.

[10:33] Jewelle Blackman: Well, I play auxiliary percussion. I'm just joking. I just play... Well, I'm not. That's the technical... It sounds very fancy, so I like to say it. But I play the tambourine. We all play different instruments. And so I play the tambourine, and people like... It's very funny. People go, what is that instrument you're playing? And I'm like, those bells. I go, they're bells on a string. I believe they're technically called finger bells.

[10:58] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Finger bells.

[10:59] Jewelle Blackman: You know, the auxiliary percussion instrument.

[11:01] Rob Russo: May I call you Finger Bells?

[11:03] Jewelle Blackman: Absolutely. It's my fate name.

[11:08] Rob Russo: So which of the three are you then, in terms of the three names you gave each other?

[11:11] Jewelle Blackman: So I'm Atropos.

[11:12] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I'm Lachesis.

[11:13] Kay Trinidad: And I'm Clotho.

[11:16] Rob Russo: Cool, cool. So there's a bird-like quality to the fates. I mean, your costumes literally have feathers on your turban. I don't know what you're talking about. They're turbans, right? Well, I mean, look, you've all seen the show, I assume, and the way you move is bird-like. You have the feathers. Is that deliberate? Do you have a bird thing going on?

[11:35] Jewelle Blackman: So first of all, when we heard this question, I said, really? I see myself as death with a feather. So the only way I really see us as birds, really, is kind of birds of prey. We're kind of watching and overseeing all that is going on. And we already know the outcome. That's how I kind of see us as birds.

[12:02] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I love birds of prey.

[12:04] Kay Trinidad: That's really great.

[12:05] Jewelle Blackman: Vultures.

[12:06] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Hades.

[12:07] Kay Trinidad: Vultures.

[12:38] Jewelle Blackman: I've been listening to Hadestown for a minute. There's have been a lot of incarnations of Hadestown. I think that their individual and collective vision for what they wanted for the faith and for the movement was pretty clear. And so it's kind of neat that we're on stage for most of the show. We only leave for like a couple songs. And it's kind of neat the idea of the gods always kind of watching over these mortals and watching them make their decisions and then coming in when they want. So it seems very purposeful that we're there. And I think it's neat, too, how our movement, we're doing a lot of the same movements but we're not identical to each other. So David was really amazing in like letting our personality and our take on the movement be able, you know, like he left it open to interpretation which is really nice. So you could see our personalities.

[13:24] Rob Russo: I love that moment in "Songbird" when each of you articulates the music, that ding, ding, ding, and by doing a different move each time. Every time I see the show, that's like the moment I wait for.

[13:34] ♪ Musical number: "Hey Little Songbird" — performed by Jewelle Blackman ♪

[14:07] Rob Russo: How many times have you seen the show, Rob?

[14:09] Reeve Carney: That is undisclosed information. I cannot share with the group.

[14:13] Rob Russo: Well, I think now would be a good time to bring out your co-stars and object of your temptation and taunting Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada.

[14:22] Eva Noblezada: Come home with me.

[14:26] Reeve Carney: Who are you?

[14:28] Eva Noblezada: The man who's gonna marry you.

[14:30] Reeve Carney: Amorphios.

[14:33] Eva Noblezada: Is he always like this?

[14:35] Reeve Carney: Yes.

[14:36] Eva Noblezada: I'm Eurydice.

[14:38] Reeve Carney: Your name is like a melody.

[14:40] Eva Noblezada: A singer. Is that what you are?

[14:44] Reeve Carney: I also play the lyre.

[14:46] Eva Noblezada: Oh, a lyre and a player, too.

[14:49] Jewelle Blackman: Woo!

[14:51] Reeve Carney: Join us.

[14:53] Eva Noblezada: Hello.

[14:54] Jewelle Blackman: Hi.

[14:55] Reeve Carney: Hey.

[14:56] Eva Noblezada: Thanks so much for joining us. It's weird getting up here because from the back, everything's reversed because we're sitting behind the projector, so I'm really tripped out right now that you guys aren't actually over on this side.

[15:08] Jewelle Blackman: It's all, now it's back to the right order. Hopefully.

[15:13] Reeve Carney: We were just talking with your fates about how the roles were reimagined from Greek mythology into this show. How does Hadestown reimagine the characters of Orpheus and Eurydice from the mythology to this musical?

[15:30] Reeve Carney: Well, I think Anais, I sort of view it in a similar way. I actually don't know that I view it in a similar way to Anais, but whenever I'm approaching any sort of character, because I've had the opportunity to play a few characters that are not fully human, I guess, and I guess Orpheus is maybe another one of those. But it's always my goal to bring as much humanity to each character as we can because all of us are coming to see it, these shows. As far as I know, we don't have any Greek gods in the audience tonight, but maybe we do this morning. But yeah, I don't know. So in that way, I guess, like what Jewel was saying, you bring as much of yourself as you can to the character. That's what I'm working on.

[16:12] Eva Noblezada: A song to fix what's wrong, take what's broken, make it whole. A song so beautiful, it brings the world back into tune. Back in the time when all the flowers were blue. When you become my wife.

[16:31] Rob Russo: Follow up for both of you. What was your relationship to this myth before stepping into your roles?

[16:37] Eva Noblezada: I knew that Orpheus played the lyre and that Hades, I just saw Hercules, the animation. So I just saw like Hades with like a fire head. That's all I kind of knew. But I barely did research because I didn't really want to put too much pressure on myself subconsciously to try to copy or like make my character too epic. Because just like Reeve said in his perfect explanation, I wanted to try to bring as much humanity to Eurydice. And in the original myth, she doesn't say anything. She just kind of dies twice. So I wanted to not do that.

[17:13] Reeve Carney: Not die twice?

[17:15] Eva Noblezada: Yeah. But at least have a say about it.

[17:17] Rob Russo: Is that like part of your process when you approach a role? Do you like to know a little bit, not very much about it so that you can go in fresh? Or are you a researcher?

[17:26] Eva Noblezada: It depends. For Hadestown, I obviously wanted to know like the basis of the myth. But I didn't like watch other productions because I would never, ever want to plagiarize other beautiful artistry and what the other actors had been doing for Eurydice. But obviously for other roles, like if it actually happened, like Vietnam War, I will do my research.

[17:48] Jewelle Blackman: Do you like her?

[17:51] Eva Noblezada: Who are you talking about?

[17:53] Jewelle Blackman: I'm talking about Eurydice. Your relationship to her, because you're obviously very close to the character, but what do you feel about her? What do you think about her is really the question I'm asking.

[18:01] Eva Noblezada: I think we can all relate to every character. I think if you were to be in a different mood every day as the people here and go to see the show, you would relate to different characters if you really pinpointed their journey. Because sometimes you think, oh, this is the protagonist. This is the antagonist. These are the people that really fuel the antagonist. These are the people that really tear down the hero of the show. We all relate to all of them in a way. For me, I relate to Eurydice quite a lot. Very grateful for Rachel and Nance to open the conversation and let us all kind of bring ourselves into these characters. But I think she's a fucking badass.

[18:38] Jewelle Blackman: I'm glad you said it, because she is.

[18:42] Eva Noblezada: She makes interesting choices. Sometimes she doesn't make good choices. Sometimes she does make good choices. But that's what I like about her, is that she's a little flawed. And I love flawed.

[18:49] Jewelle Blackman: She's flawed and strong.

[18:52] Eva Noblezada: And I think those two things are very interesting.

[18:54] Jewelle Blackman: That's why you like me.

[18:55] Eva Noblezada: Yeah, that's why I love you.

[18:56] Jewelle Blackman: That's why you like me.

[18:57] Eva Noblezada: Flawed and strong.

[18:58] Jewelle Blackman: That's right. I was at an early press event for the show, and I was struck by something that Rachel Chavkin said, which was that the whole show rhymes, and that every rhyme costs a lot. And I think what she was getting at in saying that is that very often in a musical, the lyrics aren't poetry. But in Hadestown, they often are. And poetry can be very terse. It can be a Washington metaphor. And this entire show is sung, which means all you have to build your characters are those lyrics. So how did you all, I guess we can open it up to everyone, how did you go about discovering the characters, which are archetypes, and putting actual meat on the bones using the lyrics as your only guide, and then obviously working with the creative team?

[19:45] Jewelle Blackman: Like I was saying before, I think starting with the text is really important for me. And the thing about this particular piece, I found it to be quite emotional. I think most people will say this in the cast and the company, but even on the page, it is quite moving without even hearing the music, just reading the libretto. And so you definitely want to start with that. One of the things that's really interesting about this piece for me too, and I think all of us relate to this because we're all on stage so much, and a lot of times we're not speaking, it feels a bit at times like in those moments that it's almost like we're in a silent film. And that's sort of the approach, because you have to do so much with just your face or your body or with wordlessness.

Even though there's so much beautiful poetry, Anais has left so much space for the actors to do things in moments of silence. And I really love that about this piece, because you don't get that. I have not had the opportunity to be a part of something like that in the musical theater idiom until this.

[20:51] Rob Russo: What was it like when you all heard the score for the first time?

[20:55] Jewelle Blackman: That was special. I think the five that came from London joined like a week later, I think, in rehearsals. And I think, I was going to say this off of your last question actually, there was a day where we all sat down and kind of read and sung through, not even like full out, but the libretto and the score. And I think our co-star, eight foot tall Tim, Timothy Hughes, was actually saying this the other day.

[21:21] Reeve Carney: Yes, yes, yes, yes. We stand.

[21:25] Jewelle Blackman: He was saying the other day that it was really special because they had been working so much on the material so quickly that when we all sat down as a cast and read it, no one really had, I guess, considered the ending. And we had gone through this whole book of just Anais's prophetic poetry together and singing it and just kind of getting to know each other. And then the last page happens and everyone's just like, oh my God. But it's kind of crazy how we all had these emotional reactions, even though we were studying it and rehearsing it, and we weren't even on our feet. We were all sitting down at a table. That's how poignant her writing is.

[22:00] Jewelle Blackman: And some of the changes they made for Broadway, and some of them were made in London, but I love what they did. It's funny to say, I probably shouldn't say this, but why not? "Wait For Me" used to be my least favorite song on the show. It used to be.

[22:15] Reeve Carney: Uh-oh.

[22:16] Jewelle Blackman: Wow. But until there were some changes that, Anais made some brilliant changes that brought it into, it's kind of actually the thing I'm talking about that made the song for me is the thing that everyone sings online, that I see some of you guys doing all the Instagram videos for. That's what was added. We see it all. That was never a part of the song when we were in Edmonton, when Jewel and I were up there. And there were certain things that weren't in there. That change and what they did then in turn with "Wait For Me" too, I love. Those changes were so, I mean, so those were not a part of the original score, but I love them so much. And the way the workers join in and everyone's, it's so cool. And audience members, please don't go out there and say that Reeve Carney hates "Wait For Me," because he doesn't.

[23:05] Reeve Carney: No, I love "Wait For Me," but initially it's just a funny little story because it shows that Anais is actually putting out a book, which is chronicling all of her versions of all of these songs throughout the past 12, 13 years. And so you'll see her works in progress, which is pretty cool.

[23:41] ♪ Musical number: "Who Are You?" — performed by Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada ♪

[24:03] Jewelle Blackman: I just want to add something too about the music. I did a workshop back in 2015 and then one with you in 2017, and you know right away the music's beautiful. Like you hear it, you're like, oh, that's a great song.

[24:15] Jewelle Blackman: You know about just hearing it on its feet with like the orchestrations and I just have to shout out to like Todd Sycafuse and Michael Chorney who are the brilliant orchestrators and Liam Robinson who did our vocal arrangement because seeing that like having them just flesh it out into what it is is real and it's really good it's like sometimes on stage like you hear death in the form of a harmonic with the strings and you're like that's perfect like even now I'm still like floored by how perfect and how thoughtful every single instrumentation like instrument is you know. And one thing sorry one one last thing about the the music itself I hadn't heard ever a show a Broadway show that celebrated such different textures of voices there's no homogeneous thing there's there's zero homogeneous in in in Hadestown everybody is a unique particular person and we're such a band of unicorns everybody sounds so different and that rarely happens so that's the first thing that grabbed me and got me and you know to love this show.

And it's beautifully preserved on the cast album which I've been diving into very deeply this past week and uh you're right and you can you when you listen to it you can really hear all the distinct voices on the recording and obviously in the theater but speaking of music um most of you all play instruments in the show as we now know Kay plays the finger bells and the tambourine. I also play the piano in real life. Ah. So that also counts. You heard it here first. So I want to ask you guys you're do you know you're not in a John Doyle production but you're all playing instruments what's it like doing double duty? I mean I personally I play violin in the show and I've played since I was three so for me it's kind of second nature and it's really fun to be able to incorporate that part of myself in the show and um yeah I mean it's really fun. I love it.

[26:12] Kay Trinidad: I have to say I'm impressed when you uh pirouette with your violin. Thank you. Thank you. That's a talent. Yeah it's great to bring all those uh those talents to the forefront once again when I did the Canadian production of it I am a violinist so I played the violin in the Canadian production but then when Broadway came along they said how about you learn the accordion and I said how about not. So I had to uh but I didn't have a choice.

[26:35] Jewelle Blackman: And learn it you did.

[26:36] Kay Trinidad: And learn it. Was it hard to learn? Yes. The very first run through that we had I remember in the the rehearsal hall we got through any way the wind blows and I put the accordion down and did the rest of run through without the accordion because it was just so much um but what's great is that you never know what you can do until you try so you persevere and you continue and you and you do it.

[27:00] Reeve Carney: That is a good rule of life. Yes yes. And Reeve you play the guitar.

[27:07] Reeve Carney: Yeah I've been playing guitar for 25 years and I um I actually went to college for guitar. I went to University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Any any of you guys out here know? But um but I went there planning on you know that was my career path at the time and uh but it is weird it's it's difficult to act while playing guitar especially when this other character is playing this instrument that you've played for so long. That's the part that's weird because obviously it's not particularly complicated stuff to play um but it is weird uh when you have to not be thinking about that instrument at all and just be acting. You know that's a bit that's a bit tough I guess.

[27:43] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah. Did you come into the role knowing that you'd play the guitar or was it added as part of it or during rehearsals?

[27:48] Reeve Carney: I did yeah I I knew as soon as um I got to the first workshop rehearsal yeah. Um so there's a real range you've been playing the guitar for 25 years um you just picked up the accordion for the show. Uh does this mean that your understudies also have to know these specific instruments?

[28:06] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah.

[28:07] Reeve Carney: And were they cast for that or is it everyone's just sort of learning?

[28:09] Jewelle Blackman: Not in their case. I think anyone being anyone in the Orpheus role they have to. They have to.

[28:14] Reeve Carney: Yeah yeah. I don't think with you guys obviously with you I mean the fact that I don't know how you learn that so quickly.

[28:18] Jewelle Blackman: Well and then our understudies like Kimberly and Kayla had never played an accordion before. Or the violin.

[28:23] Kay Trinidad: Is there like a Broadway accordion teacher out there somewhere teaching accordion.

[28:29] Jewelle Blackman: Crash course in accordion. Instagram the Broadway accordion teacher. Oh follow that.

[28:36] Rob Russo: Now you're uh nine months into this smash run right? Really congratulations. Um can you educate our listeners a little bit about what changes nine months in in your opinion?

[28:43] Jewelle Blackman: I feel like Hadestown's a fine one.

[28:46] Reeve Carney: Yeah I agree. Like we we obviously like opened right on top of Tony season and we were all kind of knackered but also like we're trying as our best to like keep the family vibe in the building. Um but it's obviously like a very emotional piece and you know it wears out our bodies and wears our voices but we have the best time. But I think as time went on where we didn't really have the pressure to be on outside of the show if that makes sense. We really were able to sit back and go ah cool I can try this. I can do this. Actually it's funny I've been doing the show for so long and now like this one line makes more sense. Like I feel like we all kind of like sat back and relaxed into the show and now it's.

[29:40] Rob Russo: Wow that's interesting that that now that you've been doing it for so long you're discovering new things about particular lines that you read. That's that's fascinating. Have you found that throughout your performance things are changing because of that?

[29:51] Jewelle Blackman: I think um you you find yourself getting closer and closer to the truth. That's that's what I think about uh I've I've felt that in other projects too but especially in this project um because there's so much room with all of the metaphor to you know there's so much that you can work with and you have a great opportunity but a great responsibility at the same time.

[30:10] Jewelle Blackman: And also how many of you guys have seen Hadestown? Well to be honest we learned so much from you guys really like and that's part of what it is about being in such a long run. You we feel more than in shows I've been a part of before and even in previous versions the audience here on Broadway and the Walter Kerr Theater we really feel you guys it's it's pretty incredible so it's uh it feels like it's one unit and it's not uh so much us performing for you it's uh so I think that's that has to do with it that that sort of is why we still are learning things because every audience is different.

[30:56] Jewelle Blackman: And part of that is the long run but also the intimacy of the theater I think would help with feeling connected to the audience correct?

[31:01] Reeve Carney: Definitely and something I don't know there's something about this show too that I feel I don't know I don't know what it is but you can feel you can you can almost see the energy between the in the negative space it's it's pretty cool. I don't know what the quiets that like the when we were you were saying before like the open space that the music provides and the text provides and sometimes the fact that like there's like two bars of music where people are just being human on stage that's opportunity for stage and audience to truly connect it's like even though the stage is higher it's it's we're still in this together it's like it's I don't know it's like we're on this journey with you from the very beginning that's why um the legendary Andre De Shields comes out and really has that moment of connection with okay well I I and like yeah exactly he has that moment of we're on this together like looking everybody in the eye which I think is very special.

[31:58] Jewelle Blackman: And he does truly set the tone for the show right he comes out he commands that stage like no other human being can and it and then I think that's very important to help guide everybody along take everyone along on the journey.

[32:10] Rob Russo: What I said in my review was when you need a god just hire a god to play a god right well said with Andre De Shields. He truly owns his own divinity that's what Amber Gray says about Andre De Shields.

[32:21] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah that's great I love that um I have a question about teching the show because it's a very technical show um those of you Jennifer you've been through the tech process many times it's it's arduous right it's a it's a hard it's a hard thing um but specifically you have a double turn style is that the right way to describe it it goes in it you have two alternating in a way almost triple because there's a center ring as well right which is the elevator yeah so I guess my question also turns yeah right so it's three all right I'd say it's three turntables that turn either in the same or opposite or or conflicting directions what is that like to learn how to be on you said conflicting I answered my own question there you go excellent you know we had the chance in oh sorry we were fortunate that we had the chance in London it was pretty amazing we worked at the Royal National Theatre which is an incredible institution in London and um they uh they just they take such good care of you they we had the the entire set a version of our set with the the actual turntables in our throughout our entire six-week rehearsal process so we had the chance to really learn the turntables when we got to Broadway these guys only had two week or we had a week and a half we only had a week and a half in tech something crazy but um the one thing that did change for us but you guys should talk more on it because it was more difficult for you guys because of that but uh the the set did shrink from London so we the London people did have to get used to um it being about three quarters the size that that made it a bit harder because you don't want to be looking down at your feet too much but you have a pretty narrow path to walk it's kind of daunting when you first start you have to walk on to them a certain way you have to exit them a certain way you have to make sure it does not tackle you that you are the boss of them but um yeah they were they were troublemakers until we whipped them into shape i feel like if i had to do my job on one of those airport mover things i would not be able to do my job so i don't know how you guys do it at least that's straight yeah that's true and there's not fog that obstructing exactly and no lights yeah the lights in your face are hard yeah that's a real thing oh my gosh okay well since this is broadway con after all and it's all about fans and stands um we're gonna take some questions now from the diehard hadestown fan base so earlier this week we solicited questions on twitter and instagram um we got like a million responses jamie and i spent hours pouring through hours and we collected our favorites um so we thought it'd be fun to run through some of them with all of you um some of them are quick questions some of them might be a little longer um i'll kick us off with i think a pretty easy one um at julie's rod private on instagram uh writes uh what type of flower is the hadestown flower i can hear the audience whispering the answer yeah should we say yeah go for it you say it's a carnation there you go did you all get your flowers did everyone get flowers out there oh there you are hi well it's interesting a lot of people were asking the question whose hand is in the logo they were like obsessed with it is it your hand no everyone asked me if it's mine i as far as i know i i wasn't really sure i don't think it's mine but i can tell by the fingernails it's not mine when i look closely there you go okay so uh pressing question has been answered it's not reese hand so orpheus has a third hand we don't know about well i don't know if it was supposed to be orpheus's hand that's the thing i'm not really clear on maybe well actually it could be it could be haiti's hand right you both have the flower trip yeah oh we're getting to the bottom of it now okay well that's a that's a mystery we'll have to explain another day okay this one is b so hailey saint james from twitter asks um you guys have been on broadway for nearly a year now what's the craziest part of the run so far oh there are probably some good ones wait

[36:22] Jewelle Blackman: What does this mean? Because the first thing I think of is like, things that go wrong on stage that are very exciting.

[36:28] Reeve Carney: Well, please dish. Would anyone like to hear one of those stories?

[36:33] Eva Noblezada: Don't yell at us, though. I'm scared. No, joking. I'm trying to think. There's so many good ones.

[36:40] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, come on.

[36:41] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I mean, in a preview one time, Andre De Shields, his, like, feathers caught on fire.

[36:47] Jewelle Blackman: He was, like, in "Way Down Hadestown" holding his umbrella, and that's when the Fates are, like, staged right or whatever, so I happened to be there.

[36:54] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And I'm like, huh, it's kind of growing. So I got up on stage and I did this.

[36:58] Jewelle Blackman: She jumped up there.

[36:59] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: She was like, and I took it out with my hand, y'all.

[37:04] Jewelle Blackman: That was crazy. And now he calls me his guardian angel.

[37:07] Reeve Carney: Like, he'll introduce me to people. He's like, this is my guardian angel. Like, straight up.

[37:12] Eva Noblezada: Thank you for saving his life.

[37:15] Jewelle Blackman: She's like, we have a witness.

[37:21] Reeve Carney: All right. There was one time the revolve didn't, sorry, no, I mean, you know what happens.

[37:26] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But there is only one time this happened in previews when at the very end, the fricking middle turntable did not go down.

[37:35] Jewelle Blackman: Who is there?

[37:36] Eva Noblezada: We have another.

[37:37] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Is it the same person?

[37:41] Jewelle Blackman: Well, actually, didn't even, it was in the air still. The Fates were still up on the platform.

[37:44] Reeve Carney: You guys were up and you had to figure out a way to get down.

[37:47] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: It was so awkward because obviously, like, where am I supposed to go?

[37:50] Jewelle Blackman: So I was just like, it's me.

[37:58] Reeve Carney: For your listeners at home, she just did an amazing small shuffle back.

[38:07] Jewelle Blackman: All right. Any other horror stories?

[38:10] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Tony, Tony Day. We were very tired, yet very excited.

[38:14] Jewelle Blackman: And I walked on with the guitar and fell on the turntables.

[38:20] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And you can't fall nicely. Like, I literally.

[38:23] Jewelle Blackman: Please do it for us.

[38:27] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But I saved the guitar.

[38:28] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, that's right.

[38:30] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And I have a scar to prove it.

[38:33] Jewelle Blackman: All right.

[38:34] Reeve Carney: I was so scared. I thought you fell on the stairs.

[38:36] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: It was really loud.

[38:37] Jewelle Blackman: It was so it was so. But she really did, guys.

[38:40] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I keep it above her head.

[38:43] Jewelle Blackman: You're putting out fires. You're saving the guitar.

[38:45] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And the Fates are really.

[38:46] Jewelle Blackman: I hope someone got a picture of the day.

[38:49] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And I hope to the audience, like, acknowledge you're falling.

[38:52] Jewelle Blackman: Or do they think it's part of the show?

[38:53] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I don't remember anything.

[38:54] Jewelle Blackman: But just keep the guitar in the air.

[38:56] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah, you did.

[38:58] Jewelle Blackman: Save the guitar.

[38:59] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: It's still in tune.

[39:00] Jewelle Blackman: All right. This is officially my favorite segment of this last hour.

[39:04] Reeve Carney: Are we safe to move on or any more?

[39:06] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Okay.

[39:07] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, well, there's the one time. I'll just put this in.

[39:09] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: So the song "Nothing Changes" that the Fates sing.

[39:14] Jewelle Blackman: Early on in this in previews, Andre De Shields used to give us our notes with the pitch pipe.

[39:20] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: It's taped. It's taped at a particular note, A flat.

[39:23] Jewelle Blackman: So we can't go wrong.

[39:25] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But somehow he played the wrong note.

[39:28] Jewelle Blackman: So, you know, the Fates did what we do, our own thing.

[39:32] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I decided to sing it in the note that he gave.

[39:35] Jewelle Blackman: Yvette decided to sing it in the original key.

[39:38] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And I sing the middle part.

[39:40] Jewelle Blackman: So she didn't sing.

[39:43] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But we found our way.

[39:44] Jewelle Blackman: And then we are.

[39:46] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: So eventually we got back on track.

[39:48] Jewelle Blackman: Thanks to Liam coming in.

[39:50] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But not after the first eight bars going by and not any particular key.

[39:54] Jewelle Blackman: We tell them.

[39:55] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Tell them.

[39:56] Jewelle Blackman: What Andre said during rehearsals.

[39:59] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: He would joke all the time that he's going to give us the wrong note.

[40:02] Jewelle Blackman: And he did it.

[40:03] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: And he did.

[40:04] Jewelle Blackman: And he did.

[40:05] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Well, and you still put out the fire on his arm.

[40:08] Jewelle Blackman: Even after all of that.

[40:10] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: All right. Well, let's move on to Gabby 18.

[40:14] Jewelle Blackman: I hope I'm pronouncing it right.

[40:15] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: There's only one B.

[40:16] Jewelle Blackman: It might be Gabby 18.

[40:17] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But I'm going to go with Gabby.

[40:19] Jewelle Blackman: Gabby 18 on Instagram writes.

[40:21] Reeve Carney: What does Reeve really write in Orpheus's notes?

[40:24] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Well, I don't know if I should reveal exactly what it is only. I'll tell you some of it.

[40:27] Reeve Carney: But, you know, they're actually like for charity.

[40:32] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: They sell the notebooks.

[40:33] Reeve Carney: So if you guys ever want one, you can really find out what I read.

[40:38] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But I mean, I'll say this, that I never like to do anything on stage.

[40:43] Reeve Carney: If I am visible to you guys, I do my absolute best to have no thoughts that Orpheus would not have.

[40:49] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: So anything in that book is something that Orpheus would be thinking rather than Reeve, you know.

[40:54] Reeve Carney: So that's what I'll say about that.

[40:57] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: What does Orpheus think, Reeve?

[40:59] Reeve Carney: Well, you know, that's another. Some of those are secrets, too.

[41:01] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Those are private thoughts.

[41:04] Reeve Carney: Right. Well, I tried. We take our job seriously, though.

[41:08] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: You know, we want to make sure that it's I mean, as soon as I'm offstage, I'm Reeve again.

[41:11] Reeve Carney: But when we're on stage, we are we are these people.

[41:15] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah, it's pure.

[41:16] Jewelle Blackman: Okay, that's nice.

[41:17] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: All right. Well, I'm going to say this wrong, but Elefthera Tsar on Instagram writes.

[41:23] Jewelle Blackman: Favorite Greek God.

[41:25] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Oh, controversial. Go down the line. Everyone can share.

[41:29] Jewelle Blackman: Is there a God of food?

[41:33] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: That would be mine.

[41:35] Jewelle Blackman: Ina Garten.

[41:38] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Dionysus.

[41:40] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, yes.

[41:42] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Oh, yes.

[41:45] Jewelle Blackman: I don't I don't know that I don't really have an answer for that because I don't know enough about all of them, too.

[41:49] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I feel like I might not pick my actual favorite if I were to say something.

[41:56] Jewelle Blackman: If I were to research all of them, I'm really not sure.

[41:59] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Okay, well, let's move on. We maybe you guys have answers.

[42:03] Jewelle Blackman: Okay, anybody.

[42:04] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I thought Athena was cool because she's like a warrior.

[42:07] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah.

[42:08] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah.

[42:09] Jewelle Blackman: Well, we have Athena fans.

[42:11] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah.

[42:12] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah. We love a powerful woman.

[42:15] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah.

[42:16] Jewelle Blackman: All right. So we have an Instagram question and that you just asked that.

[42:20] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I just asked.

[42:21] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, no, this is an Instagram question.

[42:22] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I'm not wrong.

[42:23] Jewelle Blackman: Miss Daisy. Mr. Basil wants to know when you knew that the show would be huge.

[42:30] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: What was that moment?

[42:34] Jewelle Blackman: I know when I was in Canada, actually, 2018, I knew that this show was special.

[42:40] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I knew that it was going to go somewhere because it was so different and was in its own like there was nothing.

[42:49] Jewelle Blackman: It was so original and moving all at the same time.

[42:52] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah.

[42:53] Jewelle Blackman: So I knew from then that something was going to happen with the show.

[42:56] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I knew from a workshop, actually, when we I got to hear the trombone riff at the beginning, which it was different thing because the order.

[43:02] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah.

[43:03] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Right. The trombone. But I was like, man, it's so different. You don't hear that kind of sound on Broadway. And I just I think anytime something is like a new offering on stage, you know, like that, it's like it's going to be special, you know.

[43:20] Jewelle Blackman: I don't I always love the show and you always are very hopeful.

[43:24] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Well, you're not always you. It's good to be hopeful, I think.

[43:28] Jewelle Blackman: But the I think for me, there are many stages. But when even I did this workshop, maybe it was March of 2018.

[43:39] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I think March of twenty eighteen.

[43:41] Jewelle Blackman: There were some changes made that I said, oh, this is getting exciting.

[43:46] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But that's back when Orpheus used to be. I don't know if any of you got to see it in London or off Broadway, but it was a different character, like a quite different character that we were playing. And so I was excited by that.

[44:00] Jewelle Blackman: I mean, he used to be much more of like a tough. I always think he's he's he was a bit like Patrick Swayze in "Roadhouse." I don't know if you've seen that movie, but Orpheus used to be kind of like that. And but I liked the changes to the book that were made in that workshop in March of twenty eighteen.

[44:15] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But then again, on Broadway, it was completely flipped because we arrived from London after having played it that way for so long. And they said, oh, now Orpheus is going to be delicate and naive and vulnerable. And I was like, OK, so.

[44:29] Jewelle Blackman: But I think that was that. I'm so glad that that's the way it is, because I enjoy playing it this way so much more than I did the other way.

[44:36] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Well, here's a fun question at E. Karma. Abigail on Twitter writes, if you could play any other character from the show, who would it be and why?

[44:44] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah, Hades, I would love to see that.

[44:53] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah, that makes sense. Oh.

[44:57] Jewelle Blackman: I don't know, but Hermes would be fun.

[45:01] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Yeah. Yeah. Just don't catch on fire.

[45:02] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah. I mean, Hades used to be my answer too just because I love his emotional arc, the way he like transforms is kind of amazing.

[45:12] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Mm hmm.

[45:15] Jewelle Blackman: For Stephanie.

[45:19] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I probably see Hermes, too.

[45:21] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah. A lot of Hermes left.

[45:24] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: OK. A thousand lives read on Instagram rights. What goes on backstage during an intermission?

[45:26] Jewelle Blackman: You don't want to know. You know, too much.

[45:28] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: We do. I just struggled with that name. Give me something fun. We have fun.

[45:30] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah, we have to have fun because it's so hard.

[45:35] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Do you rest, though? Rest?

[45:38] Jewelle Blackman: Just intermission. You mean during an intermission?

[45:40] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: What is that? You have what's rest?

[45:42] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, well, there's not we don't have that much.

[45:45] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I mean, most of us have to change costumes and then I eat an RX bar usually and secrets.

[45:49] Jewelle Blackman: I drink about I drink about 60 ounces of water per act like before the act.

[45:57] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Do you have water bottles placed backstage or?

[46:00] Jewelle Blackman: You don't get to leave stage, really.

[46:02] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: So we have to drink it all like the military.

[46:04] Jewelle Blackman: We have to go like before you go into the desert kind of thing.

[46:07] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: It's like like a camel. Yeah.

[46:09] Jewelle Blackman: I hope you don't have to pee after the first number.

[46:13] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: What? And then hope you don't have to pee after the first number.

[46:17] Jewelle Blackman: But sometimes we have to really bad.

[46:19] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Like there's actually one of my favorite parts of the show, which is actually kind of sad because we don't get I don't get to see anybody because my dressing room is like at the frickin roof of the theater.

[46:28] Jewelle Blackman: And I'm all by myself and I'm right by the bathroom.

[46:30] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: But my favorite part of the show is before sometimes because I get to see the Fates and we're always like waiting. There's two bathrooms downstairs and everyone's like using the bathroom. It's just like our time to like go to the bathroom and be like, hey, good to see you, like make a joke. But it's the only time I get to see them backstage bathroom time.

[46:47] Jewelle Blackman: Grace Nat on Instagram asks, what message do you hope audiences get from your show?

[46:57] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Hope. I mean, I think you have to really. You have to realize people often ask me what you have. You all seen the show or some of you haven't. Well, I'll just say they ask why at the end, why do you do this? And I tell them sort of so you don't have to. I mean, that's that's the way I feel about it. You we don't have to do that. We really don't. I truly believe that. So I think that's for me, that's one of them.

[47:25] Jewelle Blackman: There are so many messages. But me speaking as you know, the person who plays Orpheus, I think that's the main takeaway for me that you you have the opportunity to learn from the so-called mistakes of others or even your own. And I think it's really important to remember that and not to lose sight of the fact that there is still a chance to get to the place that you once dreamed you could you could eventually reach.

[47:52] Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: I mean, there's a couple of things that stick out to me as far as the message, if you will. One is that negative forces, even if they're just in our own heads, are very real. And to not give power to that, because that will affect your feelings. And to not give power to that, because that will affect your faith. And then the other thing, too, is that even if you're just like whatever your current circumstances are, that every single person has the ability to create change just the way Orpheus did, even though it didn't necessarily work out, you know, maybe in the way he wanted. But he was still able to do kind of a really big thing.

[48:30] Eva Noblezada: I love that. That always sticks with me. It's like, it's okay, just keep doing what you want to do, and you could help make the world the world you want to see, you know? The world you dream about. I love that. That's very true. You want another question? Yeah, why not?

[48:49] Rob Russo: A real quick one, and this is kind of a funny one, but @brotheroftheunderground, appropriately enough, on Instagram, writes, what are you going to do when the chips are down?

[49:04] Eva Noblezada: Oh, that's what we're saying.

[49:06] Rob Russo: Eva made a video. If they're delicious, you're still going to eat them. Fabulous. Okay, well, maybe one last question, because I don't think there's a real answer to that question. Lauren Prescott on Instagram asked, what's been the most rewarding part of being able to take this production to Broadway?

[49:23] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, my God, man. It's so fulfilling, and to be able to create work that you love, and to call it work, and the people you work with, it's just very fulfilling to be able to form this family and tell such a story that's moving to both the audience and us at the same time. It's very transformative. Every performance, there's something I could take away from, I'm sure the audience takes away from, and it's just very beautiful to know that we can all share that all at the same time, and walk away with something powerful. For me, this is my Broadway debut, so the fact that it was really ... Came to Broadway, like seriously, this was something in the works going on, because I'd been trying to get here for many years from Canada, and then I stopped after I had my child, and this story came along at the perfect timing, and the fact that it was also my son's first Broadway show is also special, so it's just all the things.

[50:19] Rob Russo: Great. Well, we have one final question that we ask everyone that comes on our show, and I would also encourage the audience to check out our show. We're available on iTunes, and Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also check out our social media, at Fabulous Invalid, and we have a website as well, thefabulousinvalid.com, where you can also go to listen to our episodes. However, I think we're at 60-something episodes, and we've asked every single person that's come on our show this question. Joelle, we'll start with you, and the question is, what was that thing or experience that made you want to work in the theater?

[50:55] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, I saw The Lion King. The Lion King was it for me.

[50:58] Rob Russo: Excellent.

[50:59] Jewelle Blackman: Yes.

[51:00] Rob Russo: Good answer. Kay?

[51:02] Kay Trinidad: I don't even know. Being able to connect and make people laugh, and feel something.

[51:08] Jewelle Blackman: Excellent.

[51:09] Kay Trinidad: I can't remember what came first. I think I used to write plays for my sister, Sabine, and we would do these performances, not really knowing, oh, that's called theater. And so, we would just do these shows, and then I saw Phantom of the Opera. When it came by, I grew up in Miami, and I was like, this is amazing. This is so magical. So, that kind of did it for me.

[51:31] Rob Russo: Which, I believe, Phantom of the Opera celebrates an anniversary today. Is that correct?

[51:34] Kay Trinidad: Today, yes.

[51:35] Rob Russo: 32 years on Broadway.

[51:36] Kay Trinidad: That's right.

[51:37] Rob Russo: So, yeah, Phantom. Love for Phantom.

[51:39] Eva Noblezada: Some love for Phantom. Rob and I just saw it recently. It's in great shape.

[51:43] Rob Russo: That chandelier is still thrilling, I can report.

[51:45] Eva Noblezada: Yeah, it's still false.

[51:46] Jewelle Blackman: Oh, my gosh.

[51:47] Eva Noblezada: Yeah, it's still false. Spoiler alert. Eva, what was the show or experience that made you want to work in the theater?

[51:51] Eva Noblezada: I actually wanted to be an opera singer first, and the first thing I saw was Phantom. Like, ever. It was like a clip, and then I got the movie, and then I remember putting a blanket on my shoulders and singing Wishing You Were Someone Here Again. And then, my mom once had a migraine, and she opened the door, and she was like, shut up. But the first theater experience I actually saw that I cried, I was nine years old, was Lion King. The first musical I ever saw, and it was on Broadway, it was Cats in 1987. And so, I think that has to do with some of the fabric of why I wanted to do this. But I think another big part of it, because I initially thought I'd be a musician and an actor as well, but I didn't ever think of combining them, because I did a little bit of both as a kid.

But not musical theater, necessarily. Or definitely, I hadn't done musical theater at that point. Actually, no, I was in South Pacific when I was ten. So actually, I did do that, but that was like at school. But I think one of the big things was going to, I had the chance to go to an incredible performing arts academy called the Hamilton Academy of Music in Los Angeles. You guys heard of that? It's now called AMPA, Academy of Music Performing Arts. I think because Hamilton the musical is so popular, they couldn't be Googled anymore, so they changed it. But honestly, I think this is maybe the moment for me. I was going into the ninth grade, and this school would put on, in the 90s, it was putting on like $100,000 productions, because they had an incredible group of people that would donate money, and they really believed in these kids.

And so, there was a production of Guys and Dolls in 1997 at my high school that I was entering that next year, and it blew me away, seeing the passion of these kids that were so talented. And it was as good as anything that I had seen in a professional realm. And so, that might have been it for me, seeing Guys and Dolls at my high school.

[53:52] Rob Russo: Let's support arts in the schools.

[53:54] Jewelle Blackman: Yes.

[53:55] Rob Russo: If that isn't a clear example, right then and there, let's support art in the schools. Look, I lied. We have time for one more question. So, I'll start with you, Reeve, and I'm going to ask everybody this. What do you guys do after the show to relax?

[54:12] Reeve Carney: Uber Eats. Because you know what? It's like when you're putting a lot of energy forth. I love cooking, but after the show, I'm pretty tired. I'm not tired in a bad way, but I don't really necessarily want to cook, so I do a lot of that. I've been watching Stranger Things. Yeah, it's awesome. I'm halfway through season two, so that's been cool.

[54:37] Eva Noblezada: I was going to say Uber Eats.

[54:40] Rob Russo: All right, well.

[54:41] Eva Noblezada: It's just tiring, man. I don't want to cook. I've already watched Stranger Things. I love Stranger Things, but I just finished Bates Motel.

[54:51] Jewelle Blackman: Ooh, that's good.

[54:52] Eva Noblezada: Yeah, that really messed me up.

[54:54] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah, that's good. It doesn't end well. Spoiler alert. All right. Eva?

[55:02] Jewelle Blackman: Binge watch the show as well. I just finished You. Have you all seen it? It's so good.

[55:08] Kay Trinidad: It's creepy.

[55:09] Jewelle Blackman: It's so creepy.

[55:10] Kay Trinidad: It's way creepy.

[55:11] Jewelle Blackman: And I'm like, why am I fascinated by watching this psychopath killer who's really charming? That's what it's to say about our society, that we want to watch this.

[55:19] Rob Russo: That's a different podcast.

[55:21] Jewelle Blackman: That being said, I saw every episode. It's really fun, actually, now to be in a schedule where you do have time to ... I would never binge watch shows before, and now I can, so I'm like ...

[55:33] Reeve Carney: Thank God for Netflix.

[55:34] Jewelle Blackman: I know.

[55:35] Rob Russo: Kay, what do you do to relax?

[55:37] Kay Trinidad: Yes, so I get home, and the first thing I get to do is see my amazing husband and my two pups, so we take them for their last outing of the evening, and then we do Seamless. Not Uber Eats.

[55:46] Jewelle Blackman: I like Seamless, too.

[55:49] Reeve Carney: I feel a fight brewing.

[55:51] Kay Trinidad: That's right. Does anybody do Try Caviar?

[55:54] Jewelle Blackman: What?

[55:55] Kay Trinidad: I haven't tried it.

[55:56] Jewelle Blackman: Do you know Try Caviar?

[55:57] Kay Trinidad: No.

[55:58] Jewelle Blackman: It's good.

[55:59] Kay Trinidad: Oh, it's like fancy seamless.

[56:00] Jewelle Blackman: Yeah.

[56:01] Kay Trinidad: You can get ...

[56:02] Jewelle Blackman: You fancy.

[56:03] Kay Trinidad: Yeah. You can get any restaurant, practically, in New York. It's a little more expensive. There's a service fee, but if you're craving something that's outside of your range, Try Caviar.

[56:13] Rob Russo: Well, Uber Eats has coupons.

[56:14] Jewelle Blackman: All right.

[56:15] Kay Trinidad: So does Seamless.

[56:17] Rob Russo: I feel like we all need to move back. You're about to start snapping.

[56:33] Reeve Carney: It takes me a while to get home. I sleep on my 40-minute commute to Brooklyn, and then I sleep some more. Yeah. I go straight to bed when I get home. I'm tired. I'm tired.

[56:45] Rob Russo: So what we've learned is sleep and eat. Just good.

[56:49] Jewelle Blackman: There you go.

[56:50] Rob Russo: You all work very, very hard, eight shows a week, and you deserve to binge watch, sleep, and eat. Well, thank you so much for coming on our show.

[56:59] All: Thank you.

[57:00] Rob Russo: Yes.

[57:01] All: Yeah.

[57:02] Rob Russo: All right. We're done.

[57:03] All: All righty.

[57:04] Rob Russo: Thank you.

[57:05] All: Thank you very much, everyone.

[57:06] Rob Russo: Thank you.

[57:07] All: So much, BroadwayCon. Thank you.

[57:40] Rob Russo: BroadwayCon is an annual convention held in New York City for fans of all things Broadway. Over the course of three jam-packed days at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, fans come together to celebrate their shared passions and revel in the magic that is the theater by meeting and interacting with their favorite Broadway stars and with each other, often in costumes representing characters from their favorite shows.

[57:58] Rob Russo: Each day is filled with panels, performances, interviews, workshops, and sing-alongs, including preview performances from current and upcoming Broadway shows, conversations with cast and creatives like our panel about Hadestown, and discussions featuring the industry's top practitioners. There's even a cosplay contest on the last day, signing tables for autographs, and a marketplace for buying merchandise and memorabilia, and learning about different arts organizations and products.

[58:20] Rob Russo: Produced by Mischief Management and attended by over 5,000 fans, this year was the fifth annual BroadwayCon. A festive mood pervades the atmosphere, and it's hard not to get a boost of energy from the attendees, most of whom are younger audience members, including teens and tweens. The sixth musical, which hasn't even started performances on Broadway yet, was the Toast of the Weekend, boasting a massive sing-along, and the kids from Sing Street, which opens this spring too, also made a splash, hosting an impromptu concert in the hallway.

[58:46] Rob Russo: While strolling through the marketplace, Jennifer, Jamie, and I were thrilled to learn that we've been immortalized as caricatures on a Lights of Broadway show card, the Baseball Cards of Broadway, featuring our show and a second card from my other podcast, Stage Left, the Podcast. Lights of Broadway show cards pay tribute to the new and notable on Broadway, as well as the legendary and revered. Each collectible card features a caricature of the person or people, by artist Justin Squiggs Robertson, on one side, and information and fun facts about them on the other side of the card. And best of all, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Lights of Broadway cards go to charities close to the collective heart of the Broadway community, including Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS and the Actors Fund. You can check them out at thelightsofbroadway.nyc. And if you're interested, you can find out more about BroadwayCon by visiting broadwaycon.com as well. We can't wait for next year.

[59:43] Rob Russo: That's our show. Thanks for listening. You can hear us anytime on iTunes. The Fabulous Invalid is a production of O&M Etc. and The Fabulous Invalid LLC, and a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network. Our theme music is by Lucky Chops. Today's episode was edited by Aaron Kaufman. Find us online at thefabulousinvalid.com and on social media at Fabulous Invalid and on iTunes, Spotify, and wherever you find your podcasts, and be sure to tune in next Wednesday.