This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:02] Ramin Karimloo: Hello folks and welcome to this week's hang. This week we got Hamilton's own Johanna Moise. I love the time we got to spend together. From someone who was on her road to be a cardiothoracic surgeon while still dreaming about treading the boards, who ends up treading the boards in one of the hottest shows ever in our industry. And during her time in Hamilton, she completes her neuropsychology degree. Super inspiring, and there's so much more to her. You're gonna even She's now a Wilhelmina model, all the while inspiring herself, keeping herself grounded in amongst the noise of this industry, but she is unbelievable. I can't wait for you guys to get to know her better on this week's hang. You're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network.

[0:51] Ramin Karimloo: Sorry about the neighbors, Johanna Moise. Welcome to the hang, star of Hamilton. How's that going?

[0:57] Johanna Moise: Good. It's going really well, actually.

[0:59] Ramin Karimloo: Were you in from the beginning?

[1:01] Johanna Moise: Um, no, I joined in 2019. I moved up here to do it.

[1:04] Ramin Karimloo: Really? From Florida.

[1:06] Johanna Moise: Where in Florida?

[1:06] Ramin Karimloo: South Florida, like um Broward County area.

[1:09] Johanna Moise: Very nice.

[1:10] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. A lot of my guests are like, there's a Florida thing going on. I have an affinity for Florida.

[1:15] Johanna Moise: I love the west coast of Florida.

[1:16] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[1:17] Johanna Moise: Yeah, like Sarasota and all that.

[1:18] Ramin Karimloo: I've never been to Sarasota before, but we did used to have a house in Fort Myers.

[1:23] Johanna Moise: Very nice.

[1:23] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. So tell me, so you moved up for Hamilton. So what was happening prior to Hamilton? What connected you to Hamilton?

[1:29] Johanna Moise: Um, I was going to school for cardiothoracic surgery, and then I didn't do that anymore. Um, yeah, I was going to school for cardiothoracics. I graduated high school in 2017 and then went straight to college, and then um there was like a regional theater by my house, and somebody pulled out of their production, and they were like, We need someone who can sing and dance. And so I auditioned for it and I got it and I was like, wait, I like doing this. Hold on.

[1:53] Ramin Karimloo: Yes. You're on the road to become a heart surgeon.

[1:56] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[1:58] Ramin Karimloo: Someone then goes, can you sing and dance? You're like, sure.

[2:00] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[2:01] Ramin Karimloo: Okay, fill in the space here.

[2:04] Johanna Moise: Well, I mean, I grew up dancing. Like, I've been a dancer since I was like four years old or something.

[2:09] Ramin Karimloo: All right. So you got a little a little movement. I'll sprinkle some of this uh story into it as well. Um well my parents put me into dance when I was I think four because I was born pigeon-toed, so they wanted to just like correct that. So they put me in ballet.

[2:21] Johanna Moise: Do you know I did read this?

[2:24] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[2:24] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[2:25] Ramin Karimloo: You read it.

[2:26] Johanna Moise: I think on your website.

[2:28] Ramin Karimloo: I keep forgetting that I have one.

[2:30] Johanna Moise: It's like, oh my gosh. It could use an update.

[2:32] Ramin Karimloo: It could use an update. It's a little old.

[2:34] Johanna Moise: Yeah. Yes, but they put me into ballet and then I just never stopped. Like I did everything like soccer, karate, judo with my brothers, tennis, but dance was the only thing that I was like, I really enjoy doing this.

[2:46] Ramin Karimloo: Karate?

[2:47] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[2:47] Ramin Karimloo: How um how deep did you get with that?

[2:50] Johanna Moise: Like, are you a black belt?

[2:51] Ramin Karimloo: Oh no, I got to a green belt, actually.

[2:53] Johanna Moise: So no UFC future for you?

[2:54] Ramin Karimloo: No.

[2:55] Johanna Moise: But my little brother, he's very into like boxing right now.

[2:58] Ramin Karimloo: Really? How old is he?

[2:59] Johanna Moise: He's um, I'm 24, he's 22. We're all two years apart, and there's six of us.

[3:03] Ramin Karimloo: Is he doing amateur fights?

[3:05] Johanna Moise: Yeah, well, he wants to, but my mom's like definitely not.

[3:08] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, okay. Everybody else in the family is like medicine track.

[3:11] Johanna Moise: So yeah, I want to talk about that too, but yeah, uh just uh with your brother. So he trains, but he doesn't actually do any fights.

[3:18] Ramin Karimloo: No, not yet. Does it when he spars in training? Is it with uh headgear on?

[3:24] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[3:24] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, he does it with the headgear. Have you seen him spar?

[3:26] Johanna Moise: Yes, he has a TikTok actually. He just made one. And he's uploading all of his like shadow boxes.

[3:31] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, and it's really cool to see. Must give him a shout. What's the TikTok?

[3:35] Johanna Moise: Um, I think it's G Ben Moise, I think.

[3:38] Ramin Karimloo: All right. Well I'll have a little look at that. See how it's cooked.

[3:41] Johanna Moise: He's really good. Like he's he's really quite like proficient in it and really good with his hands super fast.

[3:47] Ramin Karimloo: So yeah, my my oldest Jaden, he got into boxing for quite a bit from 15 to 17 and it dropped off, which I was disappointed that the training and s you know, in practice session sparring ended, but boy, he was good.

[4:01] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[4:01] Ramin Karimloo: Like I was as a father, I'm like, oh head trauma and whatnot.

[4:04] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[4:04] Ramin Karimloo: But I'd see him fight. I was like, wow, he's really good.

[4:07] Johanna Moise: Talented, yeah.

[4:08] Ramin Karimloo: His hands are fast. He still has the hands, so yeah. Maybe he'll get back into it.

[4:12] Johanna Moise: Well, I missed the discipline that came with that.

[4:14] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[4:15] Johanna Moise: And the training that the discipline that comes with training, the camaraderie of with the coaches and whatnot, and just you know, the life lessons you can pick up with with being in an environment like that.

[4:26] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, absolutely. Um, so your your family's all into medicine?

[4:30] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[4:30] Ramin Karimloo: Is that what you're saying?

[4:31] Johanna Moise: Yeah. My um oldest brother has autism, so he goes to like a vocational school. And then um my sister under him, she's just become a licensed social worker, and then my brother under her is gonna be a traveling RN. My brother under him is gonna be a general practitioner. Then there's me who was gonna do cardiothoracics, and then I'm clearly not doing that anymore. And then my little brother is doing bone medicine.

[4:55] Ramin Karimloo: How many's in the family?

[4:56] Johanna Moise: Six, six um kids.

[4:58] Ramin Karimloo: Wow.

[4:59] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I'm number five.

[5:00] Ramin Karimloo: Do you all get together for Christmas, Thanksgiving, like as best you can?

[5:03] Johanna Moise: I try to, yeah. I mean, um, for us, the biggest holiday is Haitian Independence Day, which is January 1st. So usually I try to go home for that if I can. But you know, with the Broadway schedule, you can't always like call out in those dates.

[5:15] Ramin Karimloo: Right. Do you try and like pre-negotiate that in a contract if you can?

[5:18] Johanna Moise: Yeah, and Hamilton's really good about that too.

[5:20] Ramin Karimloo: That's awesome.

[5:21] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[5:21] Ramin Karimloo: And how are most of them still around the quarter?

[5:25] Johanna Moise: All of them live at home.

[5:26] Ramin Karimloo: So it's only you that's got to travel down.

[5:27] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[5:28] Ramin Karimloo: That must be great though if you'll when you all get together.

[5:30] Johanna Moise: It is, it is. But I'm like very family oriented. So when I first moved to the city, it was like a lot of like loneliness, you know. But I've gained like a very good group of friends now that feel kind of like a second family, so that's been good.

[5:45] Ramin Karimloo: So that's been three years here?

[5:47] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[5:47] Ramin Karimloo: Yes. How long did it start feeling like a second home for you then?

[5:52] Johanna Moise: Honestly, I feel like 2021 when we came back after the pandemic, we started rehearsal.

[5:57] Ramin Karimloo: Of course. You know, with like everybody.

[6:00] Johanna Moise: You must have been here maybe a year tops before it all shut down.

[6:03] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. It was like I I was a vacation swing, so I did six months and then I was gone, and then I came back right before the pandemic hit, like four months of the show, and then we were on vacation for two weeks.

[6:14] Johanna Moise: And now you feel like you've got a second home.

[6:18] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, absolutely. That work community is good.

[6:19] Johanna Moise: Yeah, because I see you in the gym every now and then. I'm like, she knows what she's doing.

[6:23] Ramin Karimloo: Well, because of Jen, Jennifer Keller, who like is also in the show with you?

[6:26] Johanna Moise: Yes, yeah. She's like, Oh, so she got you training.

[6:29] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[6:30] Johanna Moise: Really?

[6:31] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. Well, she's taught you well.

[6:32] Johanna Moise: She has. Thank you.

[6:34] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, I was watching, I was like, it made me uh re-question my form.

[6:39] Johanna Moise: So you're gonna let's go back to this. You're gonna be a heart surgeon.

[6:42] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[6:43] Johanna Moise: So uh where were you at before Hamilton called?

[6:48] Ramin Karimloo: Um in your studies and your I was doing my undergrad in biology um with the cardiothoracic, like focus, and then I so when I did that regional theater job, I was like, oh, I really like this. And there were actors from New York that came down to do it in Florida, and they were like, You should audition for Hamilton, and I was like, I can't. I'm like, I'm doing this to fill in for somebody, but also like I have to follow that track. Like, that's just what we're supposed to do, and like what my parents want me to do.

[7:17] Johanna Moise: And and I do love science. Like, I it's like one of my favorite things. So I was like, no, I'm just gonna do this, have fun, and then go back to work. Um, but then Hamilton ended up having an ECC in like February of 2018.

[7:31] Ramin Karimloo: What is that?

[7:32] Johanna Moise: ECC.

[7:32] Ramin Karimloo: Um equity chorus call.

[7:34] Johanna Moise: So like um, you can just basically come and like sign up your name early in the morning to get seen or not. And so I begged my mom, I was like, please, and she's like, You you're not even union, like you're not gonna get seen at this audition. She's like, You're gonna pay like $400 to fly to New York City for one day to try and get seen, and if you don't, what happens? And I was like, Well, if I don't get seen, then like it's like a sign I just shouldn't be doing this.

[7:57] Ramin Karimloo: So she helped me pay for the table. One and done sign. Look at that.

[8:01] Johanna Moise: Well, I was like, well, my parents are very, very practical. They were like, You it's your studies that are most important. So like you do that, you get a job, you build a career, you get a family. That's like just the way that they think about things. But I was a bit of a dreamer, and so I was like, please, and they did. So I flew up for that audition.

[8:20] Johanna Moise: I signed my name up at 4 a.m. and I didn't end up getting seen.

[8:24] Ramin Karimloo: What?

[8:25] Johanna Moise: Yeah. So they held us in the holding room, I think, for like three hours, and then the monitor was like, We're not seeing non union today, but you can leave your head shots and like we'll call you. And then I flew home. I was devastated. It was so bad.

[8:39] Ramin Karimloo: Okay, we're gonna continue the story. But when you're flying up to how passionate were you about cardiothoracic surgery?

[8:46] Johanna Moise: Oh, I like that is what I want. I was like, I want my hand around an aorta and a heart. Like, that is what I need to do.

[8:51] Ramin Karimloo: So the the passion to go up for this ECC.

[8:58] Johanna Moise: Was a little more, yeah.

[8:59] Ramin Karimloo: Was it?

[9:00] Johanna Moise: Yeah. Well, just because like were you always daydreaming about being a performer on stage?

[9:04] Johanna Moise: Always, yeah.

[9:05] Ramin Karimloo: Okay.

[9:05] Johanna Moise: Like going up a dancer, like you do competition and you take class and you see your peers getting better and like you're winning awards and things like that. And it's just so it was like an escape for me because school was very much like you've got your five APs, you go to school, you study, you study, and if you study, you get like the product. But with this world, it's so you can work and work and work, and still somebody behind the table could be like, Oh, you're too short, you know? Like there's been that variability with it this whole time.

[9:33] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[9:33] Johanna Moise: So, but I I remember I watched um like the movie version of Le Miz and like news whenever that came out and legally blonde, the MTV version.

[9:41] Ramin Karimloo: That was like when you say movie version of Le Miz, what do you mean?

[9:43] Johanna Moise: Um with Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman.

[9:46] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[9:46] Johanna Moise: I watched that and I was like, oh my god. And then go into my room and like sing to the mirror.

[9:52] Ramin Karimloo: Really?

[9:53] Johanna Moise: Which character spoke to Fontaine or Epine?

[9:55] Ramin Karimloo: Epanine.

[9:55] Johanna Moise: Okay. You know, I just I was just obsessed.

[9:59] Ramin Karimloo: And you'd be perfect as Epanine.

[10:01] Johanna Moise: Thanks.

[10:02] Ramin Karimloo: No.

[10:05] Johanna Moise: Maybe later.

[10:06] Ramin Karimloo: I don't know. We'll get the backing track on my own. We'll close out this podcast with you singing.

[10:10] Johanna Moise: With me singing, yeah. But um, and I shared a room with my sister at the time.

[10:14] Johanna Moise: And I still do when I go visit home. Like we're very, very close. Like my family, my brothers all share rooms. I shared a room with my sister from like I was five years old to literally 19 when I booked the show. Like, we're all just like my mom's biggest dream is to have a huge plot of land that all of us live on with like all of our family.

[10:33] Ramin Karimloo: So okay. So you're now on the flight back.

[10:37] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[10:37] Ramin Karimloo: You're like, Broadway's over.

[10:40] Johanna Moise: Well, yeah.

[10:40] Ramin Karimloo: I'm gonna be a heart surgeon. Fine. I'll just save people's lives.

[10:44] Johanna Moise: Yeah, yeah. If I have to, you know, if I must.

[10:46] Ramin Karimloo: And it was so like the biggest blow. Like I was on the plane, like crying, hiding in my beanie hat.

[10:52] Johanna Moise: Like, I would love to have asked you, what's the matter? They didn't see me for Hamilton, so now I gotta be a heart surgeon.

[10:59] Johanna Moise: But then I got back and I just went back into school, but I did continue doing those like regional theater shows because it worked around my schedule. I was like, I can have this for a little bit longer.

[11:10] Ramin Karimloo: When you say regional, is that community theater or is that like semi-pro?

[11:12] Johanna Moise: Community theater.

[11:13] Ramin Karimloo: So no payment. That's purely passion and well, I did get paid.

[11:17] Johanna Moise: So I guess would it be community theater, perhaps?

[11:21] Ramin Karimloo: I don't know. Let's call a semi-pro.

[11:23] Johanna Moise: Okay, great.

[11:24] Ramin Karimloo: A semi-pro theater.

[11:25] Johanna Moise: Yeah, we did like flash dance.

[11:27] Ramin Karimloo: The musical was my first ever musical I did.

[11:29] Johanna Moise: And I was like, Is that like a weekend run or is it a week?

[11:32] Ramin Karimloo: It was month?

[11:33] Johanna Moise: It was two weeks, and it's like always a senior matinee. Like everybody in the audience is like 70, 80 from like Century Village down the road.

[11:41] Ramin Karimloo: And we were just like living our best lives for them.

[11:44] Johanna Moise: And they were living their best lives.

[11:45] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, yeah. They had a great time.

[11:46] Johanna Moise: And at the time I was like, this is everything. Like I get 300 bucks, like I'm this is amazing.

[11:52] Ramin Karimloo: Um, but still going to school. And then um eight months later, after that initial audition, I got an email from Telsey, like inviting me to a dance call in the city.

[12:01] Ramin Karimloo: Bernie Telsey, casting director, for those who aren't aware of this first name, last name basis you're on with them.

[12:07] Johanna Moise: One of the biggest offices in the city.

[12:09] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[12:09] Johanna Moise: And I got the email and I ran downstairs to show my parents, and they were like, How do you know this isn't a scam?

[12:15] Johanna Moise: Like because they're very they came from Haiti and they moved to the United States when they were like twenty six and twenty-seven respectfully.

[12:24] Johanna Moise: So like my dad was like, I don't know what Broadway is. We're not going. Like we already said one done done.

[12:30] Johanna Moise: And I was like, no, but like this is good because then I can like show them my stuff.

[12:34] Johanna Moise: And actually, if they like hate me, this will finally be it.

[12:37] Johanna Moise: And they're like, okay.

[12:39] Johanna Moise: So they sent me up with my sister came with me that time.

[12:43] Johanna Moise: Oh, they're sending reinforcements now.

[12:45] Johanna Moise: They were like, check out the area. Because again, everybody in my family lives in Florida.

[12:49] Johanna Moise: Like, nobody has ever moved. It was just me, and I was like 19 years old and like, I'm gonna be a star.

[12:55] Johanna Moise: And they were like, No, you're not.

[12:57] Johanna Moise: Um, but yeah, my sister came up with me and I did my audition and then they did like cuts, and I was like, and then they called me to stay behind to learn the next combo.

[13:07] Johanna Moise: I was like, Yes.

[13:08] Johanna Moise: So then I did that that day, and then went back to the hotel.

[13:11] Johanna Moise: And it was every time I flew up, it was like I was there for like a day and a half.

[13:15] Johanna Moise: So I was there for the day of the audition, then I flew back the next day.

[13:18] Johanna Moise: Um, but on my flight back, like literally I was boarding the plane.

[13:23] Johanna Moise: They were like, You've got to call back for next week.

[13:24] Johanna Moise: So I was like, So I got home and I was like, Hey, so they liked me, so I have to go back.

[13:31] Johanna Moise: And my mom was like, You literally, this is the last time I'm paying for this.

[13:35] Johanna Moise: Like, you have to tell them you're from Florida.

[13:37] Johanna Moise: This is like not plausible for you to keep flying up and down.

[13:41] Johanna Moise: Like it's just not financially smart or anything.

[13:43] Johanna Moise: So I was like, But if they know I'm from Florida, they're not gonna hire me.

[13:46] Johanna Moise: She's like, Well, that's just how this works.

[13:49] Johanna Moise: So I flew up again for the following week, did that um dance call, got called back again in the room, did another dance, and then got called back to sing, and I was like, Okay, so I'm not from here.

[14:01] Johanna Moise: Like, I I'm sorry if this is like a trouble or not, but like, please, if I'm able to, can I sing before my flight home?

[14:06] Johanna Moise: And they were like so understanding, like, yeah, absolutely.

[14:09] Johanna Moise: I sang with our current music director, Ian Weinberger, all of the material from the show.

[14:13] Johanna Moise: He was like, Great, thank you so much.

[14:15] Johanna Moise: And I was like, Great, thanks.

[14:16] Johanna Moise: Flew home.

[14:17] Johanna Moise: And then that was in November.

[14:20] Johanna Moise: December 14th is my birthday.

[14:22] Johanna Moise: I got a call a week before.

[14:23] Johanna Moise: And they were like, if we have anything for you, you'll hear like the week of your birthday.

[14:27] Johanna Moise: Like, we know your birthday's coming up, it'll be like so fun.

[14:29] Johanna Moise: And I was like, Oh my god, great.

[14:30] Johanna Moise: I didn't know.

[14:32] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[14:32] Johanna Moise: I was talking to Lauren Harris.

[14:35] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[14:35] Johanna Moise: She was like, We'll call you next week.

[14:37] Johanna Moise: And I was like, okay.

[14:38] Johanna Moise: And then my birthday came and went, and I didn't get a call.

[14:41] Johanna Moise: So I was like crying the whole thing.

[14:43] Ramin Karimloo: Um, your birthday?

[14:45] Johanna Moise: I did.

[14:45] Ramin Karimloo: No, you didn't.

[14:46] Johanna Moise: I did.

[14:48] Johanna Moise: In like a public parking lot too.

[14:49] Johanna Moise: Like, I was just like Hamilton made you cry on your birthday.

[14:54] Johanna Moise: They did, they don't know it, but I was a mess.

[14:57] Johanna Moise: Um, and then I got a chicken tender pub sub because that's what you do.

[15:00] Johanna Moise: Happy days.

[15:01] Johanna Moise: And it was on sale, so it was a sign.

[15:04] Johanna Moise: Again, me with my signs, but and then January 1st, I was supposed to start another regional contract.

[15:09] Johanna Moise: We were gonna do the producers um with Clayton Phillips and then you are in demand on the regional scene.

[15:14] Ramin Karimloo: Listen, come on.

[15:15] Johanna Moise: I'm a South Florida theater girl, okay.

[15:17] Ramin Karimloo: Were you auditioning for all that too?

[15:19] Johanna Moise: Um, they in South Florida they do like um have an audition for like the season at the beginning of the year.

[15:25] Johanna Moise: So you just like you sing one song, you do like a dance call, and then they're like, Oh, like she could be in this show, this show, this show.

[15:30] Ramin Karimloo: The reason I asked is I wondered what was your nerves, your psyche like when you were coming to audition for a big Broadway show, where you you seem as you're telling the story, you seem pretty calm and collected.

[15:41] Johanna Moise: Well, I like the thing for me is that I can't think about how big like the opportunities are, or else I'll psych myself out.

[15:48] Ramin Karimloo: So I do that all the time.

[15:49] Johanna Moise: Well, like, it's so true though, because you're like, oh my gosh, like series regular for HBO Max, I have to be perfect.

[15:55] Ramin Karimloo: Yep.

[15:55] Johanna Moise: And then it because it's so you don't know how it works, and they could just be like, You look like my ex-girlfriend, so it's not a thing.

[16:02] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, I blew my opportunity on a couple of things.

[16:04] Johanna Moise: And the first time I tried to learn from it, it was one of those where I self-taped for something.

[16:08] Johanna Moise: I was like, oh, whatever, I just self-taped, I didn't care.

[16:10] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[16:10] Johanna Moise: Next thing you know, they're flying to LA for a screen test.

[16:13] Johanna Moise: I'm like, okay, so I'm going.

[16:14] Johanna Moise: And I didn't realize with you you do the deal before you do the screen test.

[16:19] Johanna Moise: So you know if you get it, it's all done.

[16:20] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[16:21] Johanna Moise: And I was like, yeah, okay.

[16:21] Johanna Moise: And they said, this is how much you get per episode.

[16:23] Johanna Moise: I was like, how much?

[16:23] Ramin Karimloo: Remember your next.

[16:24] Johanna Moise: I was like, Yeah.

[16:25] Ramin Karimloo: You were like, wait.

[16:27] Johanna Moise: By the time I walked into the room, I've already equated how much you could make, how be good for my boys.

[16:31] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[16:32] Johanna Moise: And I everything is one of the windows because now I cared.

[16:34] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, exactly.

[16:35] Johanna Moise: And so this great that sort of ignorance is bliss sort of thing is fabulous.

[16:40] Johanna Moise: Like, I and trust me, like, if I didn't get it, I would have probably spent a week like crying about it and then been like, okay, I'm really not supposed to do this.

[16:48] Ramin Karimloo: I get it now, you know what I mean?

[16:49] Johanna Moise: Okay.

[16:49] Johanna Moise: So now it's January 1st.

[16:51] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[16:51] Johanna Moise: They call me, they're like, hey, so like if you're still interested, or like if you're around, like we're there's space for you at the Richard Rogers, which is the Broadway theater, as a vacation swing for six months.

[17:01] Johanna Moise: Like, we know you're in school, but like, so if you don't want to do it, I was like, no, I want it, yeah, yes, please.

[17:07] Johanna Moise: And they're like, okay, great, we'll send you an email.

[17:09] Johanna Moise: And the they called me from like a Massachusetts number.

[17:13] Johanna Moise: So at first I like to do it.

[17:14] Ramin Karimloo: You don't have an agent rebucking you for this.

[17:15] Johanna Moise: No, no, no, no.

[17:16] Johanna Moise: So they called me directly.

[17:17] Ramin Karimloo: Tell me your mom became your agent.

[17:18] Johanna Moise: No.

[17:19] Johanna Moise: For this deal.

[17:20] Johanna Moise: Give me the phone.

[17:20] Ramin Karimloo: No, it's just like, come here.

[17:22] Johanna Moise: No, they called me from like a Massachusetts number and they told me that I booked it.

[17:26] Johanna Moise: And then I ran downstairs and I was like, I'm gonna be on Broadway.

[17:29] Johanna Moise: And my dad was like, What is Broadway?

[17:32] Johanna Moise: And my mom was like, No, you're not.

[17:34] Johanna Moise: What do you mean?

[17:35] Johanna Moise: And did anyone go, who makes a call on New Year's Day?

[17:38] Johanna Moise: Well, yeah, they were like, number one, we were just at my grandma's house for like the soup and like the prayer and all of the things, and then we came home and I got this call, and I was like, I'm quitting school.

[17:48] Ramin Karimloo: Of course, it's your independence day as well.

[17:50] Johanna Moise: Yeah, yeah.

[17:51] Johanna Moise: And they were like, No, you're not.

[17:53] Johanna Moise: What's happening?

[17:53] Johanna Moise: And then they sent the actual contract via email, like as they do.

[17:57] Johanna Moise: And I was like, Yeah, this is how much money I'm making.

[17:59] Johanna Moise: Like, but the thing is, they called me on January 1st.

[18:01] Johanna Moise: The job started on January 7th.

[18:04] Johanna Moise: So I had like a week to pack up everything and go and convince my parents to let me to go.

[18:10] Johanna Moise: Um, because they were like, You're no, like my whole entire life, I'm like, I'm gonna be a doctor, I'm gonna hold hearts in my hands and like fix people and save them.

[18:18] Johanna Moise: That's what I'm gonna do.

[18:19] Johanna Moise: And to tell them that I wasn't doing that anymore, it was like very shocking.

[18:25] Johanna Moise: And also, I don't think any of us really thought that it would actually happen.

[18:28] Johanna Moise: Like, they were like, Yeah, like this is like a nice dream, and like, but it's always been a hobby.

[18:34] Johanna Moise: Like, dance has just been something to like correct your posture, and like we move on.

[18:38] Johanna Moise: But I booked it, and then the next day, my dad went to work, and he was like, my daughter, she she booked this Hamilton something, and his co-workers were like, Hamilton, and like telling him how amazing it was.

[18:50] Johanna Moise: And he came home and he was like, I didn't know this was like a great honor.

[18:53] Johanna Moise: And I was like, Yes, that's what I've been trying to say.

[18:56] Johanna Moise: Um, so then they ended up letting me go, obviously.

[18:59] Johanna Moise: And my mom flew up with me and spent a week in a hotel with me trying to find an apartment, and like she met the stage managers, walked across the stage during January time as well.

[19:08] Ramin Karimloo: That must have been hard.

[19:09] Johanna Moise: Oh, it was hard and like expensive too, and also it was my first time in like a big city, so I was confused.

[19:16] Johanna Moise: I was like, what a shock.

[19:18] Johanna Moise: Yeah, it was very much a culture shock, but then I started work my first day of work.

[19:22] Johanna Moise: I got to watch the show, and then I was like weeping, obviously, because and it was my first Bobby show I ever saw, too.

[19:27] Johanna Moise: So I was like, This is crazy.

[19:30] Johanna Moise: And then I started working.

[19:32] Johanna Moise: So that's it.

[19:33] Johanna Moise: And the heart surgery, the whole thing on hold?

[19:36] Johanna Moise: No, they were like, you can do this, but you have to continue your schooling.

[19:41] Johanna Moise: Like you can't stop.

[19:43] Johanna Moise: And I was like, but it's gonna be so hard.

[19:45] Johanna Moise: They're like, well, that's what you wanted.

[19:47] Johanna Moise: So I I ended up switching my major.

[19:49] Johanna Moise: Um, instead of cardiothoracics, I switched to neuropsych and I completed that online.

[19:54] Johanna Moise: Um, and I graduated two years ago now.

[19:57] Ramin Karimloo: So you're psychologist.

[19:58] Johanna Moise: Yeah, neuropsych, yeah, undergrad.

[20:02] Ramin Karimloo: My god.

[20:04] Ramin Karimloo: Going back to heart surgeon, because obviously I played a heart surgeon for two years.

[20:08] Ramin Karimloo: I'm basically a heart surgeon.

[20:09] Johanna Moise: Yeah, obviously.

[20:10] Johanna Moise: I was a cardiothoracic surgeon, head of department.

[20:13] Ramin Karimloo: So did you ever get into a surgery and see a heart surgery being done?

[20:19] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[20:19] Johanna Moise: On Take Your Child to Work Day.

[20:23] Ramin Karimloo: Whoa, I wish I went with someone because I was in there as an actor, but like all done up and like watching it, the hand in the chest cavity.

[20:33] Ramin Karimloo: Okay, the jaws of the case.

[20:34] Ramin Karimloo: Can we just walk through this?

[20:35] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[20:36] Johanna Moise: No one warned me what I thought it'd be a delicate little like.

[20:40] Ramin Karimloo: So I'm in there, I'm all scrubbed up.

[20:42] Johanna Moise: So I spent an hour with the actual surgeon.

[20:44] Johanna Moise: So as an actor, that hour is all I needed.

[20:46] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[20:47] Johanna Moise: What is about to happen?

[20:48] Ramin Karimloo: I look back now.

[20:49] Ramin Karimloo: I didn't need to be in the room.

[20:50] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[20:51] Johanna Moise: You did all the prep work.

[20:54] Johanna Moise: And obviously, I'm all done up, and I think I had to pretend I wasn't an actor.

[20:58] Johanna Moise: I was like a junior, you know.

[21:00] Johanna Moise: It's just one of our work experiences.

[21:01] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[21:02] Johanna Moise: So I'm sat at the back.

[21:04] Johanna Moise: And the chainsaw, whatever that first instrument.

[21:08] Ramin Karimloo: I was like, right now, you see the little smoke coming up.

[21:13] Johanna Moise: I was like, so I'm like, okay, I'm all right.

[21:16] Johanna Moise: And he's talking to me about it.

[21:19] Johanna Moise: I'm like, and I look over, and his assistants literally put up, yeah.

[21:25] Johanna Moise: Cracking.

[21:26] Johanna Moise: Cracking the sternum in this big.

[21:27] Ramin Karimloo: I'm like, sorry, I cursed.

[21:28] Johanna Moise: Sorry.

[21:29] Ramin Karimloo: You well, you're it's not about don't worry about my pockets.

[21:32] Johanna Moise: Your parents are gonna be upset.

[21:34] Johanna Moise: So they're just ripping this sternum back.

[21:36] Johanna Moise: I was like, oh yeah.

[21:39] Johanna Moise: I said, I thought it'd be like you know, a delicate thing.

[21:41] Ramin Karimloo: Oh no, no, it's it's and he and he told me, I said, So what's the recovery like that?

[21:45] Ramin Karimloo: Surely the pain.

[21:46] Johanna Moise: He goes, funny enough, because the way it put it back together and they secure it, it's not as bad as it looks, the recovery.

[21:54] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[21:54] Johanna Moise: And then as I went to ask the next question, all I remember is I'm looking up and he's going, Are you okay?

[22:02] Johanna Moise: I passed out.

[22:03] Ramin Karimloo: Oh no!

[22:04] Johanna Moise: I was out.

[22:05] Johanna Moise: That was the end of my uh your experience as a cardiotherapist.

[22:08] Ramin Karimloo: I'm going home.

[22:09] Johanna Moise: I'm done.

[22:10] Johanna Moise: You're like, I'm good.

[22:11] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, and he goes, Don't worry, I passed out my first time too.

[22:13] Johanna Moise: I was like, that still doesn't help to hear that.

[22:15] Johanna Moise: All I remember is him explaining that last bit, and then my eyes opening up, and I see these eyes just over me.

[22:21] Johanna Moise: I was like, Oh, did I pass out?

[22:22] Ramin Karimloo: He goes, Yeah, I was like, Yeah, you're on the floor.

[22:24] Johanna Moise: Gave me some jelly beans, and I went home.

[22:27] Ramin Karimloo: Get your sugar back up.

[22:29] Johanna Moise: So you're okay in the room.

[22:30] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I mean, we my parent because my dad's a doctor, my mom's a nurse, all of our like take your child to work days.

[22:36] Johanna Moise: We got to go to the hospital and like get scrubs and so you're in the room, you weren't even from a viewing gallery.

[22:41] Johanna Moise: Um, we were in the room for a gallbladder surgery.

[22:44] Ramin Karimloo: Wow, yeah, viewing gallery for a cardiotherapy.

[22:46] Johanna Moise: I know what made me pass out though, because everything when you walked in, because the patient's all covered up, you just see a little bit the little square, yeah.

[22:53] Johanna Moise: But when the lady that was doing this, I saw the feet shake, yeah, and it became a human.

[23:00] Johanna Moise: Cause up until there it just looked like just like when I'm on set.

[23:03] Johanna Moise: It looked like it doesn't look real.

[23:05] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[23:05] Johanna Moise: Then I saw the feet move because of the vigorous pulling.

[23:08] Johanna Moise: I was like, oh, that's a human.

[23:10] Ramin Karimloo: Mm-hmm.

[23:11] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[23:12] Johanna Moise: It's it's a lot.

[23:13] Johanna Moise: My dad, when he saw his first cadaver, he like peaced out and did he?

[23:18] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[23:18] Johanna Moise: And that's why he does general practitioner general practitioning and um geriatrics now.

[23:24] Johanna Moise: My brother.

[23:24] Johanna Moise: He was gonna be a surgeon.

[23:25] Ramin Karimloo: Because my brother's gonna be a a doctor as well before he became a cop.

[23:28] Johanna Moise: And he he got to the point where he saw the cadavers.

[23:31] Ramin Karimloo: I said, What happened?

[23:32] Johanna Moise: He goes, I was out.

[23:33] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[23:34] Johanna Moise: I can't do this.

[23:35] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[23:37] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[23:39] Johanna Moise: So you're a neuropsychology.

[23:42] Johanna Moise: Neuropsychology.

[23:42] Ramin Karimloo: What does that mean?

[23:43] Johanna Moise: Um basically it's like psychology, but with a focus on like how the brain interacts with like the rest of the body, like what hormones stimulate what and why people um act the way that they do, whether it's like an increase in dopamine or like a lack thereof of serotonin, all of these things, and how drugs um or like uh medicine interacts with the system.

[24:03] Ramin Karimloo: So does that do you does that come into your work?

[24:08] Johanna Moise: Does it come to your workouts?

[24:09] Johanna Moise: Is that something you're constantly thinking of? You seem like quite a cerebral person. I think the psychology part definitely, because we had to do like a focus on like original psych and like learning about all the different techniques and different teachers of everything. And I think that it helps me because I also love acting and stuff, so I think it helps me get into the head of characters more so with Hamilton. I'm in the ensemble, so like dancing all the time. But when I get sides and things like that, it really helps me to understand where they're coming from and why they would respond the way they do. Which like writers of shows obviously like writing the show, they know why that is, but then you're given the sides, and you're having to figure out how to make this person also yourself, which is so you that's your breakdown.

So when you get a script, yeah, besides obviously the obvious of learning the lines and setting up the self-tape pantomime that we have to go through. Um because obviously, as actors, we want to get into the mind of the character, we want to find our conduit. What's the first thing you do then to get it off the page?

[25:19] Johanna Moise: Um, my brain is very good at memorizing things. I don't have an iodetic memory, I don't have like a photographic kind of thing, but and for the listeners at home, iodetic like a photographic memory. Thank you. Yeah, asking for a friend. But um, I like to read through it and understand what's going on and what they want, who they're interacting with, what's causing them to not get what they want and how they're gonna figure that out. And then reading the breakdown again and being like, how did they perceive this person when they wrote who they were? Right, and then how to add that into my life or see it from a way that I would understand and how to intermingle them through their brain.

[26:06] Johanna Moise: Have you ever got to the point where you've sat with the writer? Like, has the audition gone that far yet for you? Or so I would love for them to sit down and talk with you about this. Not that far. I've gotten like a couple of like you're on hold for this day, and then it's like, uh, sorry, or like in the mix, yeah. Sorry, sorry. You know. Don't you love that? And I love when they're like, they give you 12 pages, we need to spy tomorrow. Yeah. Then seven weeks later, we're still thinking about it. Are you now? Yeah, that happened. I did I don't know if I can say well, I did I auditioned for a certain movie that came out recently that I auditioned for it, and then like six months later I got called back for that character and then another character in it, but never had the like talking to the casting director kind of thing. So I was like, wait, so they I didn't understand that's how it could work also.

[26:54] Johanna Moise: Yeah, yeah. I was like, I did this literally six months ago. Sometimes I wonder too, like I've if you go out for something, I've been out for something where they like you, but they keep bringing up for other roles in it. So by the third one, I'm like, I'm not gonna put this down anymore. You either like me or you don't. Yeah. Or like they're just trying to figure out like where you fit in the story, which like amazing, but I just never thought that they would remember my tape to be like, oh yeah, bring her back. So that has been good for me to be like, it's not all just a void. Yeah. But it does, you know, take a mix sometimes. And I give one audition I had 18 pages. I'm like, it's for a film. I was like, I'm basically shooting all my films. Yes. What? On my iPhone camera.

[27:34] Johanna Moise: Yeah. So are you gonna do anything? Are you I guess you're so pursuing as an artist, but the psychology part, that's just gonna take over. Is that something you gotta keep? I don't know, like how do you keep up in your skills? Do you still do the readings? Yeah, I mean I just love to read. Like that's just a thing that I do. So I have a couple of books about like psychology that I just like um you do that because you enjoy it. Yeah. Right. Yeah, it's just something that I like. Um, but I can go get my master's and then a PhD. And even with a neurosych degree, you can still take like the MCAT and go to doctor school, which is what my parents would really adore.

[28:14] Johanna Moise: So if you decide to do that, how many years of education are you looking at? Um, I think it's like eight or so, eight years and then eight more from here on in? Yeah. I think it's like four years of the master program and then four years of like residency and placement, and then you're doing your thing. Oh my days. Yeah, it but it also I feel like the older I get, the faster time flies by. Like I wouldn't have um foresaw that I would be in the show this long already. Yeah. Like it still feels like I just hopped off the plane and like it's my first day of work, you know.

[28:48] Ramin Karimloo: Well, that's a great great feeling to have.

[28:50] Johanna Moise: Yeah, but it's how many years into it now? Two years, two and a half?

[28:53] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, two and a half, not including the pandemic.

[28:55] Johanna Moise: Right. Yeah. And it still feels great. So it's fun. Yes. It's just you find new things, and I think it was written in a way that you're always discovering something new about it.

[29:06] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. How does the family feel about what you're doing now?

[29:10] Johanna Moise: Well, it's interesting because when I first left, they were like, Okay, you're going for six months and then you'll be back, and then we'll get back on track and like figure it out. Get it out of your system. Yeah. He was like, You did it, you made your Broadway debut, you don't have to do it anymore. Um, but now it's like my mom and dad, they'll still be like, so like what's the plan? Like medicine? When are you doing that? But also my mom will send me links to articles about like the benefits of self-taping. So like they're doing their own research in like a parent way, like they're like, We don't want you to have instability, but also I guess yeah, you could be in a movie, which would be cool.

[29:46] Johanna Moise: I don't doubt that for a second. Well, yeah, I got to I got to do um, I got to do Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as a dancer in that movie, and my dad was like, Yeah, my daughter worked with Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman and yeah, you can watch her on Netflix. And then I did like a animated movie, Secret Magic Control Agency, which was voiceover, and they were like, Yeah, she's that character on Netflix. So they're I they're very proud, but also I think they just want stability and so much of our life is like not that. But um Hamilton has been really good because you know it's been so stable for so long, crossing my fingers.

[30:24] Ramin Karimloo: So in the for now, in the here and now as we're speaking, that's the foreseeable future?

[30:30] Johanna Moise: Yeah, right now. I um is it open-ended for you right now?

[30:33] Johanna Moise: Yeah, because I'm a permanent swing. I used to be vacation and then they upped me after the pandemic. How do you feel when you first cause uh to be a swing for your first job, that's quite a task.

[30:43] Johanna Moise: Yeah. I don't even know how they because it wasn't on my resume. I never swung anything before, so I don't even know how they were like, Oh, she can do that. Yeah, you know. No. So it was Flashdance the musical. But I was like the ensemble, you know what I mean?

[30:58] Ramin Karimloo: Yes, yeah. Well, that's why I'm saying like swing is a difficult job.

[31:02] Johanna Moise: Yes, yeah. So you just had to sit there and make notes and watch everyone because Hamilton's quite intricate.

[31:07] Johanna Moise: Yes, yeah, to be like to be that person one identity. Literally, and then flipping and then sometimes switching who you are in the middle of the show. Now I've gotten much more comfortable with it. Like I'm not as scared, but when I first had like a mid-show swing on, that was crazy.

[31:23] Ramin Karimloo: How often are you going on these days?

[31:25] Johanna Moise: Um Do you find you go through seasons? So like you'll have like two weeks, three weeks of constant being on or split tracks.

[31:31] Johanna Moise: Yeah, and then you have like a week. And then I'll have like a week off, and then it'll go back to like the craziness. So you're obviously in theater when you're off. Unless up until a certain point in the show before you can leave, right?

[31:41] Johanna Moise: Yeah, yeah. Up until what do you do with your time?

[31:44] Johanna Moise: Um I read a lot of deadline articles and like read books, and um sometimes we'll like play card games with the other swings and stuff like that.

[31:54] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. Just to pass the time. How often do you find yourself I should go watch tonight just to refresh?

[31:59] Johanna Moise: Um you're on enough to not have to do that. I feel like I'm in the show a lot. As recently, it's been like a lot of like, hey, you're on. Or and sometimes we'll get the schedule for the week and it'll say that we're scheduled to be on because people have like personal days of vacation. Um, but you know, with like the COVID and like everything like that, it's just been so we've had to like rely on the swings and understudies and standbys a lot more than when I first joined.

[32:25] Ramin Karimloo: And I saw on your social media, and it's a congratulations, and is it it's a belated congratulations?

[32:31] Johanna Moise: Willhelmina model?

[32:32] Yeah. Come on.

[32:34] Johanna Moise: Yeah, that was really cool. How did that come about?

[32:38] Johanna Moise: Um, my manager is married, or their partner is a Willhelmina agent, and he's been wanting to meet with me for a while, ever since I moved to the city. But when I first moved to the city, I was like, I cannot do that. Like I am nowhere near confident enough to like stand in front of a camera and not shake and cry. Um, but this year I really wanted to focus on saying yes to things more and like just putting myself in places that terrify me a little bit. And so I met with them and they liked my look and my conversation with them, and then we signed, and now here I am.

[33:13] Johanna Moise: Someone told me yesterday, how do you know you're growing? And they said, when you're uncomfortable.

[33:17] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[33:18] Johanna Moise: That's so have you how does that work being a Wilhelmina model now? You just go to castings, you go do you have a book?

[33:25] Johanna Moise: Well, I have to I have to get I have to start doing test shoots now with like different photographers and stylists and like build a portfolio. But I did go on a casting um la two weeks ago, my first casting, and I booked it.

[33:38] Johanna Moise: So thanks. But yeah.

[33:39] Ramin Karimloo: Look at that, one for one.

[33:41] Johanna Moise: Yeah, but it's just it's strange because it's such a different world because it's so much based on the physicality, and it's important to me that I don't lean into the like okay, I'm a model now, so I have to like you know, stop everything that I'm doing and like trim down.

[34:00] Ramin Karimloo: Well, that's not why they wanted you.

[34:00] Johanna Moise: Well, right, and just like reminding myself of that when you like obviously you walk into a casting room with like gorgeous, super tall, gorgeous people, and you're just like I don't know.

[34:10] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, but you okay, you're not but just like the tallest person, but you're super gorgeous, and you got a lot of personality and you bring a lot to the table that's unique.

[34:18] Johanna Moise: Well, yes that no one else can do. Just like um uh relying on or like recognizing that I am like a unique and whole individual, just as myself.

[34:28] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, it's about knowing your own star power, right?

[34:30] Johanna Moise: Yeah, yeah. Which we all have in us.

[34:32] Ramin Karimloo: Exactly.

[34:33] Johanna Moise: Yes, because there's like not everybody can do what I can do, and not everybody I can't do what the next person can do, yeah.

[34:40] Ramin Karimloo: That's right, it's knowing what you got.

[34:41] Johanna Moise: Yeah, but that's the hard that's easier said than done.

[34:44] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[34:44] Johanna Moise: And I'm still learning that at times, you know, you kind of look, oh this could be like such and such. No, what does Ramin or Johanna want to bring?

[34:53] Johanna Moise: Well, right. It's like I forget who says it, but somebody says that like comparison is the thief of joy, and that it's I agree with that. Something that I have to drill because obviously you're like, I auditioned for this, and then you watch the show come out, and you're like, This person booked it. Like, why did they book it? What do they like more about them? And then you start to get into this, like so.

[35:10] Ramin Karimloo: Do you self-check yourself? Are you good at that when it comes to because obviously you need a social media presence? I know you're on TikTok, and obviously you're gonna start doing more photos, so you will be posting that because why wouldn't you just a business tool?

[35:22] Johanna Moise: Yeah, but then you have to watch yourself the clicking, going further on and looking at what other people are doing.

[35:29] Johanna Moise: Exactly. Are you good at not doing that or at least balancing that or using it as an inspiration? Like, oh, that's cool.

[35:35] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I think I'm I've gotten better at not just being like I'm just like terrible. That's why they didn't pick me. I think I'm better at like seeing the whole entire situation for what it is and understanding that maybe it's just not my time right now. And I think a lot of that has to do with like my self-checking and the work that I do outside of the building at any building that I walk into, like audition-wise, I like to like stay ready so I don't have to get ready for an audition kind of thing. Or just like journaling or like meditating, keeping myself um in like a balanced place so that I'm not pouring from an empty cup.

[36:13] Johanna Moise: That's lovely.

[36:14] Ramin Karimloo: How often do you journal?

[36:16] Johanna Moise: Every day.

[36:16] Ramin Karimloo: Do you set a certain time, or is it like, okay, I can do this now?

[36:19] Johanna Moise: Um, wake up, I journal, I do this.

[36:22] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I have one that I do in the morning right when I wake up, and I just like write down whatever thoughts just come to my head, whether it's like song lyrics or like something a dream was about, and then just whatever unconscious, just yeah, just like writing it down, and then I like to go back and read it and be like, that's so reflective of like where I was at that time, and you don't even like realize it really, but um that's nice, and then I have one that I just have in my backpack at all times, and if I think of something, I just like jot it down real quick.

[36:48] Ramin Karimloo: Smart.

[36:49] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I like that.

[36:50] Ramin Karimloo: So, what's going on with you and zodiac signs?

[36:53] Johanna Moise: What's the deal there?

[36:55] Johanna Moise: I I don't know a lot about astrology.

[36:58] Johanna Moise: I know I'm a Sagittarius with a Scorpio moon and a Scorpio rising.

[37:01] Ramin Karimloo: Well, I asked this because again, you're a fabulous website.

[37:03] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[37:04] Ramin Karimloo: You offer this with a little hmm.

[37:06] Johanna Moise: Hmm.

[37:07] Ramin Karimloo: Yes, indeed.

[37:08] Ramin Karimloo: Because a Sagittarius, I've heard that a lot of people think that they're very like.

[37:14] Johanna Moise: I'm like clawing the microphone for those who are not.

[37:18] Johanna Moise: Um, but then Scorpios are like so emotional and like very emotionally driven.

[37:23] Johanna Moise: And I feel like I'm a very sensitive little lady.

[37:27] Johanna Moise: I feel like I'm always crying.

[37:29] Ramin Karimloo: But you know, for people.

[37:30] Johanna Moise: Crying's great.

[37:30] Ramin Karimloo: Nothing wrong with crying.

[37:31] Johanna Moise: I know.

[37:32] Johanna Moise: It releases uh, what is it?

[37:33] Johanna Moise: You know, what does it release when you cry?

[37:35] Ramin Karimloo: Dopamine and serotonin.

[37:38] Johanna Moise: And it's good for you.

[37:38] Johanna Moise: But also, I I went to see Parade the other day, and I didn't know what it was about.

[37:42] Johanna Moise: And obviously, it's a very terrifyingly and sad story.

[37:45] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[37:46] Johanna Moise: It's one of those shows where it's hard to leave going, that was amazing.

[37:49] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[37:49] Johanna Moise: And it was.

[37:50] Johanna Moise: I feel guilty to say something like that.

[37:52] Ramin Karimloo: Right.

[37:52] Johanna Moise: It was like the actors, like the grace and humility and vulnerability they have to have to be able to do that eight times a week is astounding.

[37:59] Johanna Moise: And I feel like they have to walk around with their heart like literally outside of their chest all the time.

[38:05] Johanna Moise: I spent 20 minutes in our stage manager office after the show, just like weeping, like, but like ugly crying.

[38:11] Johanna Moise: Like it was bad for anyone that walked in.

[38:13] Johanna Moise: They're like, is she alright?

[38:14] Johanna Moise: And I was just like, um, but yeah, I'm a very sensitive girl.

[38:20] Ramin Karimloo: It's nothing wrong with that.

[38:21] Ramin Karimloo: That's great.

[38:22] Ramin Karimloo: And that's great that a show and art does that, you know.

[38:25] Johanna Moise: Yeah, but then like my mom, I called her on FaceTime, because I call my mom every day.

[38:29] Johanna Moise: It's like just a thing.

[38:30] Johanna Moise: But she was like, Johanna, I feel like you like seek out these things that bring you pain.

[38:36] Johanna Moise: And I was like, no, it's not.

[38:37] Johanna Moise: I just, you know.

[38:38] Ramin Karimloo: So, yes.

[38:40] Johanna Moise: Well, I don't even want to dive into what it was about that show because it is heartbreaking so yeah yes but so so good yeah so then so you're not so hard into astrology not so much I'm I'm very into like um like angel numbers right now I I just got the this 444 because I've I've been seeing that like iteration of numbers for a while ever since my grandfather passed away last year and I was like I don't know like why like every time I look at my phone it's like four four four and I'm like what is happening um and like all the stuff surrounding that is like really beautiful and powerful and I think like self-affirming for like the points you are in your life which could be a whole load of like so now when you see 444 yeah what do you do?

[39:28] Johanna Moise: I I I'm just like it just like gives me I don't know I kind of get chills when I when I see it.

[39:36] Ramin Karimloo: But does does it mean like it I don't know for I because there's no wrong answer but it could be do you sometimes when I so when I ever see whether it's 111 555 yeah I'll just do a moment of gratitude for something.

[39:50] Johanna Moise: Well yeah like 1111 I'll always like make a wish 444 is um it's basically saying that your angels are like protecting you like they're around you they're protecting you and like pushing you forward so I'm always like okay I'm on the right path like it's always like one of those where I'm like okay thank you and then I can continue on yeah it's funny yesterday someone said to me wish is like regret it has no constructive value.

[40:14] Ramin Karimloo: Whoa so like having gratitude adds value.

[40:17] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[40:18] Ramin Karimloo: And I'm not saying it's right or wrong.

[40:20] Ramin Karimloo: But it's made me really think about it.

[40:21] Ramin Karimloo: Like when you wish for something, I'm like, oh.

[40:24] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[40:25] Ramin Karimloo: But having like gratitude for something or a focus or an intention.

[40:29] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[40:30] Johanna Moise: So I don't know.

[40:31] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[40:31] Ramin Karimloo: Because wishes can be fun, you know.

[40:33] Johanna Moise: Well, yeah, absolutely.

[40:34] Johanna Moise: And I think that they can like bring a hope.

[40:36] Johanna Moise: I think that I'm trying to recognize like what I'm grateful for now and also still have like room for hoping for what could be next, you know.

[40:46] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, I like that.

[40:47] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[40:47] Ramin Karimloo: Hope is great.

[40:48] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[40:48] Johanna Moise: We always have to have hope.

[40:49] Johanna Moise: Michaela Diamond is hope personified in that show.

[40:52] Ramin Karimloo: I've been thinking about it for days.

[40:53] Johanna Moise: But don't cry.

[40:54] Ramin Karimloo: I won't.

[40:55] Johanna Moise: You can cry.

[40:57] Ramin Karimloo: There's cameras here.

[40:58] Johanna Moise: Listen, that's what we want for the zoom in.

[41:04] Johanna Moise: Join us on the hang.

[41:05] Ramin Karimloo: I'm like weeping.

[41:06] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[41:06] Ramin Karimloo: No.

[41:07] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, that's great.

[41:07] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[41:07] Ramin Karimloo: Well, that's the thing, you know, like perfection is never attainable.

[41:11] Ramin Karimloo: But hope and the the pursuit of trying to be better in yesterday.

[41:17] Ramin Karimloo: It's something that you can actively do.

[41:19] Ramin Karimloo: Have that intention, have that grace, have that joy in the process.

[41:24] Ramin Karimloo: And like for I mean, like a lot of what we do is like you don't get a clear answer.

[41:28] Ramin Karimloo: It's like a lot of no's.

[41:29] Ramin Karimloo: And it can be really easy to get beaten down by all of that, but like the one active thing you can do is like take stock of what you do have if it's friendships or like a roof over your head.

[41:40] Ramin Karimloo: You woke up today, you're breathing today.

[41:42] Ramin Karimloo: It's all those little things that we don't think about.

[41:44] Ramin Karimloo: That they just stack up.

[41:45] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[41:46] Johanna Moise: And if you don't have gratitude for that, then whether it's your God, universe, I don't know, whatever you want to believe in.

[41:51] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[41:51] Ramin Karimloo: Why would you get more?

[41:53] Johanna Moise: Exactly.

[41:54] Johanna Moise: When you don't see what what's here now.

[41:55] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[41:56] Johanna Moise: I I feel like i it you can like close yourself off to like that good energy if you're just in that space of like nothing's happening for me, you know.

[42:06] Ramin Karimloo: So I'm looking at the questions on the old gram and we have spoken I'm sorry.

[42:12] Johanna Moise: Sorry.

[42:14] Ramin Karimloo: All right okay the old gram is amazing the old gram is that what we don't call it no it's amazing it's tickety talk gram yeah yeah yes the old Twitter Twitter having you on there okay so we've talked about zodiac sign that's been there and um your TikTok channel I do have a TikTok channel yeah yeah what do you do on that um you blown up no no uh just funny yeah are you funny I think I'm the funniest person in the world then then I agree okay great excellent I'm not gonna argue that yeah just funny videos or like Hamilton videos I did look on your tickety talk and you you write I do write yeah I do write songs I saw you in the studio that day yeah with my friend Q he has um amazing studio by the way it's literally in a bedroom in his house so you write music you play guitar I do anything else um I'm I played piano growing up uh but I can't I can't read music so it comes from the ears yeah so it takes me a while to like plunk it all together but yeah how proficient are you on the guitar on the guitar um well I say that I'm a beginner at best I it's easier for me to pick up like I I taught it to myself in the beginning of the pandemic and I could like play songs at the end of a month.

[43:33] Ramin Karimloo: So do you do you have any live shows coming out?

[43:36] Johanna Moise: No so when do where do we hear this music of yours?

[43:40] Johanna Moise: It's not out yet but I'm but it's original right yes yeah I I've written I think I've written like 10 or so songs.

[43:48] Johanna Moise: And Q, he wants to release an EP in like the summertime.

[43:53] Johanna Moise: So we're figuring out how that works and like how I feel because sharing music is such a vulnerable experience that I didn't really think about when I was writing it.

[44:03] Johanna Moise: And a lot of the stuff that I've written, or not a lot, but like one song that I've written in particular, the one that I was in the studio for, I wrote it like in a very, very different headspace than I am now about everything.

[44:14] Johanna Moise: But that's okay.

[44:14] Johanna Moise: It's a timestamp of that moment.

[44:16] Ramin Karimloo: Exactly.

[44:16] Johanna Moise: That's why, like as a songwriter, you don't necessarily need to tell us what it's about it.

[44:19] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[44:20] Johanna Moise: What we take from it is that's up to us.

[44:22] Johanna Moise: Exactly.

[44:22] Johanna Moise: And it was like a thing of him being like, this feels like lightning in a bottle right now.

[44:26] Johanna Moise: Like I feel like if you did choose to release it, a lot of people could feel something from it.

[44:32] Johanna Moise: And I was like, oh, you're right.

[44:33] Ramin Karimloo: Okay.

[44:34] Ramin Karimloo: Broadway star, Wilhelmina model, now a singer-songwriter extraordinaire.

[44:38] Johanna Moise: Oh bad at compliments.

[44:41] Ramin Karimloo: Well, learn to take them.

[44:42] Johanna Moise: I'm trying.

[44:43] Ramin Karimloo: Um, okay.

[44:44] Ramin Karimloo: General question, but I think it's always something I don't I can't hear enough.

[44:48] Ramin Karimloo: Is how do you handle your hectic schedule?

[44:50] Johanna Moise: But I think we've got that because you you journal, you take time to recently.

[44:55] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[44:57] Johanna Moise: Just like doing things that I'm like, if I'm if I'm burnt out, I can tell, and I really don't want to like project any of those emotions onto anybody else.

[45:06] Johanna Moise: So I'll usually like take a day, if it's my day off or not, but like and not say a single word all day and just kind of like relax away from people.

[45:14] Johanna Moise: Sit in the silence.

[45:15] Ramin Karimloo: Recharge, yeah.

[45:16] Ramin Karimloo: You go into the gym, is that an often thing?

[45:18] Ramin Karimloo: Is that something you actively enjoy doing?

[45:21] Johanna Moise: Yes.

[45:21] Johanna Moise: I I find that it like quiets my mind in a different way.

[45:24] Johanna Moise: Like I'm just kind of thinking about like using the muscle, and then because physiologically it releases endorphins and like serotonin and all that stuff, you're just like, I do feel better.

[45:34] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I certainly work out.

[45:37] Johanna Moise: Uh my my m volume is the same, but my reasoning is different now.

[45:41] Johanna Moise: Like any sort of aesthetic benefits that you know, we work out with certain goals, we have certain rep ranges, certain weights for a reason, but it's certainly mental first and foremost.

[45:51] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, it's no longer about like changing the way my body looks because it's the only body I have, and you know, I I have to try and accept it for what it is every single day.

[46:00] Johanna Moise: Just want to make it work for how you want it to be.

[46:03] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, like I just want to be able to like I mean, a goal I have, a new goal is that I want to be able to run a marathon.

[46:09] Johanna Moise: I don't know when that's gonna happen.

[46:11] Ramin Karimloo: How do you so when you run do you run outdoors now?

[46:14] Johanna Moise: Um, yes, yeah.

[46:15] Johanna Moise: Like when it's warmer, obviously.

[46:17] Ramin Karimloo: How far do you run on average?

[46:21] Johanna Moise: Maybe a mile and a half, maybe.

[46:23] Ramin Karimloo: Why do my I don't loosen up?

[46:25] Ramin Karimloo: My legs feel like lead.

[46:27] Johanna Moise: Yeah, I feel like further I get it.

[46:29] Johanna Moise: I've heard that um if you lift a lot that you're like a slower runner, or it's like harder for you to run, like because you're using different like fast twitch fibers and like different types of things.

[46:38] Johanna Moise: But I want to be able to run a marathon, but I think for the mental clarity and also like the determination you have to have to do that.

[46:44] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, because like it's like a mind game.

[46:47] Ramin Karimloo: When I ride my Harley by mile 20, I'm gonna stop.

[46:49] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[46:50] Ramin Karimloo: Let alone run 20 seconds.

[46:51] Johanna Moise: You know what I'm saying?

[46:52] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[46:52] Johanna Moise: But I feel like if I'm able to like train my brain to be like, you can do this.

[46:57] Johanna Moise: Your body's your brain is the one that retires faster than your body will.

[47:01] Johanna Moise: So if you just keep like tapping into that, you'll be able to make it.

[47:04] Ramin Karimloo: You definitely can.

[47:06] Johanna Moise: I think that I can.

[47:07] Ramin Karimloo: All right, so where are we now?

[47:09] Ramin Karimloo: It's March when we're recording this.

[47:11] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[47:11] Ramin Karimloo: When's the New York marathon usually?

[47:13] Johanna Moise: November.

[47:14] Ramin Karimloo: Okay, next November.

[47:16] Johanna Moise: Not this year next year.

[47:17] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, next November of the November.

[47:18] Johanna Moise: So 2024, you're gonna do it.

[47:20] Johanna Moise: Absolutely.

[47:21] Ramin Karimloo: You said absolutely.

[47:23] Johanna Moise: I did.

[47:23] Ramin Karimloo: Okay, no going back.

[47:25] Ramin Karimloo: Your family's gonna hear this.

[47:27] Johanna Moise: They probably won't.

[47:28] Johanna Moise: No.

[47:30] Johanna Moise: But yeah.

[47:31] Johanna Moise: I'm gonna do it.

[47:32] Johanna Moise: I'm gonna and I'm gonna go so fast.

[47:34] Ramin Karimloo: And do you know what?

[47:35] Ramin Karimloo: I'll be there to take a photo.

[47:38] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[47:40] Ramin Karimloo: Great hanging with you.

[47:42] Johanna Moise: Great hanging with you.

[47:43] Ramin Karimloo: So Tickety Talk, what what's your handle?

[47:45] Johanna Moise: Johanna Moyes.

[47:46] Ramin Karimloo: And Instagram the gram.

[47:48] Johanna Moise: Johanna period Moyes.

[47:51] Ramin Karimloo: Are you on anything else?

[47:52] Johanna Moise: What's your website again?

[47:54] Johanna Moise: Johanna Moyes dot com.

[47:56] Ramin Karimloo: Boom.

[47:56] Johanna Moise: Yeah.

[47:57] Ramin Karimloo: You're awesome.

[47:58] Johanna Moise: You're awesome.

[47:58] Ramin Karimloo: Speak soon.

[47:59] Johanna Moise: Thanks.

[48:00] Ramin Karimloo: My daughter.

[48:07] Johanna Moise: I flipped the table.