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[0:10] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's the round table with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:15] Robert Bannon: Well, hello, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon, and thank you for joining us here another Friday night over at Broadway World. We're so excited to be a part of the Broadway World fam. Boom! There we go. And as you're here with us, we talk about artists talking about art every single week in theater around the world and Broadway primarily.

[0:35] Robert Bannon: It's Broadway season because we're in Broadway season. There's so many shows. There's something like 27 musicals or shows that have opened this season that are opening and on the Broadway. And as we get through closer to Tony time, and as we get through like the time where tourists are coming into the city, we're giving you new artists, new works. We've had writers, we've had designers, we've had choreographers, we've had directors. But I know you love the actors that get to be on the stage that sing and dance.

[1:03] Robert Bannon: Well, Water for Elephants is now playing at the Imperial Theater. We had a chance to be at opening. We had a chance to see the show. And we have this cast. Yes, they do. 27 members on the stage and a ton of Broadway debuts. Marissa Rosen is known in social media. She's known for singing with some of the biggest Broadway divas. She's known from touring this country in a bunch of productions. She's known for being in New York theater, but she has never been on Broadway. That is until now.

[1:40] Robert Bannon: Marissa Rosen joins the roundtable for an exclusive chat right here on Broadway World. Are you ready? Let's check it out.

[1:52] Robert Bannon: Oh, Broadway debut galore right over at the Imperial Theater. I know it's a lifetime of work. I know how she has performed on stages in basements in community theaters on concert halls in New York City, everywhere across this entire country. And now you can see her eight shows a week as part of this all-star ensemble that's over at Water for Elephants. Marissa Rosen, welcome to Broadway. You're here.

[2:16] Robert Bannon: Marissa, once we make a Broadway debut, you're a Broadway performer forever. Done. What's my new dream?

[2:27] Robert Bannon: What is it? Marissa, where are you from?

[2:31] Marissa Rosen: I am from Long Island, New York. So I'm a born and raised New Yorker. So Broadway and theater have literally always been kind of just like at my fingertips. So I was just like, That give me that. I want that.

[2:44] Robert Bannon: Do you remember I'm from Jersey? So I feel like Long Island and Jersey, it's like very similar.

[2:49] Marissa Rosen: Yes, we understand each other. I get it. I get you.

[2:53] Robert Bannon: When you were growing up, was there a moment or a show, or was it school? Like what was your first introduction to theater?

[3:00] Marissa Rosen: So I'm a music nerd. Anyone who knows me is like I'm the nerdiest music nerd of all music nerds. Um, so I was always obsessed with chorus and choir and harmonies, and I played instruments and blah blah blah blah blah. And so I was singing in my choirs, and I was like, Oh, I love this, but I was really shy. Shocking. I know no one believes me. I was the shyest human being in school, and I would like never try out for the solos, like like fourth rate. I don't know if that's the word I'm looking for. I wouldn't be like, it's mine. I'd be like, I guess I'll sing.

[3:30] Marissa Rosen: And then like I got uh what's called like all county chorus, which is where you get to be with all the schools, like um in all the counties, and they pick like the best people, and you all get to perform together, and I was like, Oh, I think I might be good at this and they don't and then I've always been obsessed with theater. Like my mom says I was performing in front of like our fireplace for nobody all the time. And um I got the theater bug and I was in theater school, like a theater school. Um it was called Fantasy Playhouse.

[4:01] Marissa Rosen: And I know it's so but I did that and I was very young and they put me in like an accelerated age group. So I was with like a bunch of much older, like 10 and 11 year olds when I was like seven or eight, and I was like, oh my gosh, I have to do this. This is what I need to do. And then it was over.

[4:16] Robert Bannon: Did you have a family that was supportive that would come to the shows? And are they theatrical and musical at all? Or is it just you?

[4:26] Marissa Rosen: Yep, I get it. Not even don't be mad at me, y'all, when you watch this. Not a note, not a singular note, but they are music lovers. Like my mom and my dad are the most eclectic. Like my dad's like rock and roll, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, you know, and my mom was like Donna Summer, Barbara Streisand and Wendy Houston. Um, and they literally every show, thousands of people they bring with them, they travel to cities, states, countries, wherever I am, and like they could not be more supportive.

[5:01] Marissa Rosen: So I get it. I get you, Marissa. I get it. Thanks. My my Jersey Italian messy family, they would rent charter buses to see me do like bad music man summer stock in somewhere. You know, I we're very lucky.

[5:16] Robert Bannon: That's very lucky. A lot of people don't get that, but it gives you the courage to keep going for sure.

[5:22] Marissa Rosen: Oh yeah. Did you like when you started auditioning auditioning professionally and you started some book book work? What what was that like as this? It's a journey. I think a lot of students watch this and they don't realize like you didn't just wake up and say, I'm on Broadway. Like it's a lifetime of work and effort.

[5:39] Marissa Rosen: It is. It's truly incredible. I always say I do a lot of coaching and I have a lot of clients and students, and I talk to a lot at like colleges, and I was like, you're either gonna want to do this for the rest of your life, or you're gonna be like, that was so fun. I can do something else. And I always say to my people, I say, if you are not utterly obsessed with this profession, and you don't have the thickest skin in the world, and you don't take everything as kind of an artistic opportunity, go do something you love, go make millions of dollars, be happy, live on a farm, like have like big cars, like and so when I was auditioning, my first I don't even remember my first audition, but it was like I remember they cut it down to eight bars.

[6:25] Marissa Rosen: It was a Broadway audition. We were all non-equity. We had been there since like four in the morning, and we were like, we're gonna book this. No, we weren't. Like, I we weren't. I like grew up thinking I could be like a fork in Beauty and the Beast, not knowing they were like roquettes. I was like, oh, they're they're not non-specific. But I always took every audition as an opportunity and every callback as a win.

[6:47] Marissa Rosen: Like they liked you enough to call you back. Like I booked that. I booked the chance to get to be in the room again and for them to get to see me again. And I can't tell you, nine times out of ten, when you don't book that job and you do great work in the room, you're gonna see those people again later. And they're gonna give you opportunities later. And so every opportunity is an audition for something else.

[7:14] Marissa Rosen: Um, I always say that I've had friends who have been in auditions for giant Broadway shows, and they've had callback after callback, and they were in callbacks for like five years before they booked that show, not other shows like that one. So, I mean, I've gotten to work since the minute I stepped out of school, whether it be regionally tour, cruise ships, you know, Carnegie Hall, the Met touring as a backup singer, like I got to do it all.

[7:39] Marissa Rosen: It wasn't the Broadway thing that we all like dreamt about, but I quickly learned that like Broadway was the dream, but I think the dream was just to be artistically fulfilled. And so when Broadway came, I I was like, what? Wait, wait, I'm happy doing everything else. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. And so I I really do say that every opportunity that I've had to be in a room has created the opportunity for me to be on that stage right now.

[8:08] Robert Bannon: I you put that no, that is it, everybody. That is exactly what I wish we could I could say as eloquently as you're literally a lifetime of all this work put together and all those experiences. If it's a cruise ship, if it's regional, if it's sing, it all comes together and meets you for this moment.

[8:26] Marissa Rosen: Absolutely. I saw you on the red carpet. We chatted for a moment uh on the opening of Water for Elephants. What what was the journey like to that show? What how did how did you get did your manager get an audition? Did you go away? What what happened?

[8:39] Marissa Rosen: Here's a great story about um be kind and do great work wherever you are, because everyone is watching. Um I had the opportunity to, this was kind of a a multi-faceted group of humans that helped me get to this point, unknowingly, totally separately. This is a a great um example of what I was talking about is so um our music supervisor for the show, Mary Mitchell Campbell, I call her my life changer.

[9:06] Marissa Rosen: Um she is the music director and music supervisor for every show on Broadway. She is also the music director for Miss Kristen Chenowith and Miss Jessica Vosk, whom I sing backup for and who are my friends. And um she has uh there it is there's the photo and there's more photos. Um just all these amazing uh incredible opportunities because I wanted to be a backup singer but I thought I couldn't because I didn't look look like a backup singer whenever like I didn't look like a a fork um Beauty and the Beast.

[9:39] Marissa Rosen: But um so she is an amazing life changer. And then Mr. Jesse Robb who's our brilliant choreographer um I've got to work with um his partner a bunch and we're very good friends. And then Jesse and I got to work on a project called Modern Love, which was on Amazon Prime and we got to do like a flash mob dance with Ann Hathaway and I was like yeah sure I'm a dancer. Cool.

[10:03] Marissa Rosen: Um so I had him over there and then Jessica Stone and Rick Ellis who were just like pipe dreams of people I wanted to work with um because I respected their work. Pig Pen, I had been in audition for like a decade ago. It was just such a weird group of humans that I I was connected to in different ways.

[10:22] Marissa Rosen: So long story short, I was asked to do a reading of the show um about like two years ago and I was unfortunately unavailable. And so I was like, oh, I ruined my whole all my chances, whatnot. And then Jesse Robb called me totally randomly before he was attached to the project and was doing something called pre-production. If for those of you that don't know, it's usually when um musicians or choreographers get into a room before the show goes into production to kind of try out, you know, dances and uh tricks and things and see what's gonna work so that they could put it on the actors once they get to rehearsal to save time.

[10:59] Marissa Rosen: And he had called me because he just needed like a funny dancing character actress just for the day. And I was like, you don't know that I was supposed to do this reading because he wasn't involved in that reading. So that day was crazy, and we did that for a day where we did the song The Lion Has Got No Teeth, which you'll see in the show. None of that choreography is in the show, don't tell.

[11:18] Marissa Rosen: So um, because it changed so much. And so then all of a sudden, my agents called me and they were like, You have an audition for Water for Elephants. And I was like, Oh my god, I thought that was gone. I thought that opportunity was absolutely just like you missed it. They didn't hate me, I just wasn't available. And I went in and I got to sing for Jessica Stone and read for Rick Ellis and sing the music of Pig Pen for them for Pig Pen.

[11:46] Marissa Rosen: And I I got a call that I got to do the uh out of town Atlanta production, and on we didn't know anything about Broadway. We were like, cool, an amazing world premiere of a regional production of a show at the beautiful Alliance Theater. Sign me up. Um, and that's how literally it happened.

[12:05] Marissa Rosen: And then all of a sudden we were getting Broadway offers, and I was like, yeah, sure, sure, sure. I knew that was happening. Like it was wild, and it was just, yeah.

[12:18] Robert Bannon: Well, this show is unlike really anything you're going to see because A, it's a you gigantic beautiful cast of performers singing and dancing and telling this beloved story, but there's a gigantic circus element of performers that are making also their Broadway debut that is things that you've never seen on Broadway stages, at least that I've ever seen before.

[12:40] Robert Bannon: So what was the rehearsal process like when literally there's circus acts around you twenty the the whole sh entire show?

[12:49] Marissa Rosen: It's um watch your head. Um they are doing the most amazing things. So they are um a lot of them are a troop called Seven Fingers and they're incredible. I have followed them for so long. Um they um are out of uh Canada and so a lot of their rehearsals they kind of had already rehearsed together and put some things together and then we as the dancing ensemble, we put our things together, and then it really wasn't until we got to rehearsals for the show that we kind of got to come together.

[13:23] Marissa Rosen: And that was wild because we had no idea what was going on. Um, and like circus performers have their own language and musical theater performers have their own language, and we're brought up we always we always joke about this that we're brought up, we're like, you know, you have numbers on your stage and you you you walk to two and you get to four and you better be on your number or or else.

[13:45] Marissa Rosen: And they're like, they're like, Well, we're gonna throw this person and she might land on two, but she might land on three and a half or four. So watch out. Like so we were just like, okay, okay. And so we had to find this beautiful language together to ensure our safety, and they're so big on safety that has been they have taken care of us so much.

[14:06] Marissa Rosen: And the joy that it brings me to get to see these people do these like death-defying acts every day, but then to find out that they are like in awe of us singing harmonies um or dancing and I was like you are I I I'll show you more yeah yeah yeah yeah just don't throw me like but what they're doing and they just do it they're like oh yeah yeah no you want me to do you want me to be thrown like over the thing yeah yeah no problem and I'm like I I had lunch like I can't I can't even walk to my next number without being like oh they're incredible uh oh they're so good I couldn't say enough about them they're they are incredible Water for Elephants the musical dot com while we're talking to Marissa get your tickets get your tickets and come down to the Imperial I'm sure the day you found out you had a theater and that you had a date that this was coming to Broadway was this very special special moment that you'll remember forever.

[14:58] Marissa Rosen: Yeah, I cry. I've been crying a lot. I'm like, can't tell puffy eyes, but you know, you just never know how it's gonna happen, and then all of a sudden it happens, and they're like, "Well, you've got 11 minutes to get to Broadway, go!" And I was like, "Hold on, wait!" Literally, this is a lifetime of hurry up and wait.

[15:15] Marissa Rosen: We just talked to Rick Ellis about how he incorporated this beloved novel, and that became a hit movie that now is a Broadway show, and how it's a very personal, even though he has no relationship to elephants and circuses, he's infused a very personal story of his own life and his own relationship into this story that it's really a story about looking back and family and community and all of that. What are the themes that you notice every single night when you get to tell this story?

[15:45] Marissa Rosen: I mean, so many of the words that Rick so eloquently used, his words paired with Sarah Gruen, who wrote the book, they've just created this heart-wrenching story. I mean, I'd have to say the themes absolutely are family, community, loss, grief, excitement, just emotion, trust. I guess I would say trust would be the biggest theme because not only is Jacob trusting his gut, which you'll see, but he's also trusting the new people in his world to help facilitate in his new life that he's trying to create. And we also trust each other on the circus, which is one of the lines in the show that we, you know, we look after each other on this patch, and that's the whole theme of a circus family. So many of our circus artists grew up in the circus, and that's exactly what it is.

They build the tents, they serve the food, they do the tricks, they clean up, they do the costumes, they clean up after the animals. Like, it's just a community. And I couldn't have asked for more wonderful people to get to do it with.

[16:56] Marissa Rosen: So I love the little, for lack of a better word, the tent of the ladies. I don't know, how would I describe you? They're called the Bally Broads in the show, and they're just like a trio of sass. I don't know, they're my favorite part. They're kind of a part of the circus that's supposed to be like a separate tent that it's called the Cooch Tent. If you have to X that out, so sorry. And it's kind of, you know, where men or whoever wanted to would go. And it's nothing crazy, it's just like a little bit of a different show. But the trio of girls led by the unbelievable Sarah Gettelvinger, who is my leader of dreams, just the most beautiful, very tall drink of water. And then we've got Taylor Collatin, who is also making her debut, who was a swing in our show, who got bumped up to an on-stage part, and she is remarkable.

And we're just this trio of broads who kind of entertain, and my character named Sue is a little bit slower on the uptake of when she likes to do stuff, so she's trying to keep up. And we just have these great moments of delicious vocals from Pig Pen and hilarious choreography from Mr. Jesse Robb, and I don't know, it's just girls being girls.

[18:23] Marissa Rosen: Yes, and I'm like, and you're fun to watch. Your entire track of the show is fun to watch, the way you react to other things going on, the way you are as a trio of girls or as a circus family. There are so many small nuances and pieces of acting that you're doing that people make, don't blink your eyes for one second because they're working the entire two and a half hours that they're up on stage to tell the story. You brought up that you've had quite the career. One thing that we've had in common is we have both been in the big gay Italian family.

[18:59] Marissa Rosen: We have! And I am sure if those St. Luke walls could talk, you have put on some shows and some things have gone on. If we're talking about my big gay Italian wedding, funeral, all of those things. Was that one of your first big New York City jobs?

[19:15] Marissa Rosen: It was my second off-Broadway show. I had gotten to do Tony and Tina's wedding prior to that. But my biggest Italian wedding was definitely like a game changer for me. I met my incredible best friend Marty Thomas in that show, and I have this beautiful family who actually came to see the show last week, like 10 of them. They all got to come see Water for Elephants, and that was the craziest because that was kind of the opposite. We only did the show like three or four times a week, and there was like 11 minutes of rehearsal, and everyone just like did their job, and it was so fun because it was interactive but scripted, so it was totally different. It was, as you know, but that big gay Italian family is one of the most wild, fun, wacky people I've ever met, and they got to bring in such amazing special guests all the time, like yourself, and I had the best time doing that job.

[20:15] Robert Bannon: Well, they're gonna watch this now. So shout out to Anthony and Deb and the whole of the, you know, I'll be doing the show in Florida. I still do the shows with them because I just want to watch them work. I just want to see them do their thing because they are some of the funniest, ridiculous that you'll ever see. They're so funny. I laughed on stage every night. Not professional, don't do that. But I love that they came to see you. You talk about Marty Thomas. You and Marty have quite a career as well, like a Christmas album that we could be streaming also. What has that partnership been like? And what has it been like to do live shows, podcasts, albums like you have done? You two are quite the Johnny and Marie of Broadway.

[21:04] Marissa Rosen: That's so funny. We call ourselves the Donnie and Marie of NYC.

[21:08] Robert Bannon: Yeah, and I didn't even kill that.

[21:09] Marissa Rosen: Because it's just you who you are. We, okay, you need 17 more interviews for me to even tell the story. So I'm in it, I'm not a soft or short-spoken human, so I'm sorry. But anyway, I met Marty in maybe a gay Italian wedding unknowingly. There wasn't a lot of singing in the show. I played this character called Maria who might have grown up to be Sue in Water for Elephants. I'm not gonna lie to you. She is a rapping, singing, breakdancing person from the Hez and X, and it's not that different. But we didn't know each other. I didn't really know his feat. If you don't know Marty Thomas, he beat Britney Spears on Star Search and was in the original cast of Wicked and Secret Garden and Xanadu and just this super talent, and I wasn't around then yet, so I didn't get to become obsessed with him till after.

But we were at karaoke one night, and he heard me sing, and I think I did "Share Like You Will" laugh. Everyone, I think that was what it was, and he went, and then he kind of like molded me into his little Frankenstein monster, like Barbie doll. And he started the show called Diva, Marty Thomas presents Diva, which we did at Industry Bar for like eight years, and he produced and arranged music and costumed, and we had Broadway and TV guests every week, and we did three and four-part arrangements of songs, and I had to learn how to perform as me, not as a character, and that took a lot of work, and Marty kind of helped me, which shaped me into the backup singer or the solo singer that I am today when I'm not on stage.

But yeah, we spent every waking moment together. We have our award-winning Christmas album that won, it was award-winning before it even finished getting done, clearly. And it's super fun. We've got Christmas, Hanukkah, everything on there for everyone. We've done a show called Marty and Marissa, which was very Donnie and Marie. We've done Diva, we've done tours, we've done podcasts, we have sleepovers, he cuts my hair. It was probably one of the most important relationships I've ever gotten to be a part of. And now he came to opening night, and he got to watch the fruits of his labor come to fruition.

[23:24] Marissa Rosen: Literally, I talked to Jessica Vosk about it on the red carpet. You know, she was so excited, and she was like, "I was there, I'm here for Marissa. I'm here for this cast, but I'm here for Marissa because I'm so proud of her." I'm sure that that young theater kid in you like dies about Kristin Chenoweth and Jessica Vosk and your contemporaries, and they use you, and you use them to put on great shows and entertain people. Have you gotten to the point where you even sum it up? What I mean, how do you look back? What do you, how do you, is it just become your regular day-to-day life? Is it still shocking?

[23:56] Marissa Rosen: Oh, every single day. I say I am like 17 different people. I have a million alter egos, and I still have butterflies in my stomach when my cool friends call me. And you know, Jessica's one of my best friends, mine's one of my best friends, Kristin has become my sister. It's truly incredible to think that these people take the time and have the respect and love for me that I have for them. And it just really goes to show you just, you know, if you work hard and take everything very seriously, but also are playful, people really migrate to you. And I just try to give out kindness so I can receive kindness, and that has served me in so many ways, even more than talent. I always say that if I have the opportunity, I will hire kindness over talent any day because you can teach talent, you can't teach kindness.

And I don't know, it's kind of a pinch-me moment every single day. I wish we all could understand that lesson that when you walk into a room, the singers are a dime a dozen, but a nice person is gonna be memorable forever, you know.

[25:06] Robert Bannon: That's important. Oh my goodness, I can't wait to see Brett Douglas and the rest of the big gay Italian family so I can say, "Look at what you did to Marissa Rosen. You found her, and you knew her, she was a superstar, and now look at her on Broadway." And I want everyone, you need to go see Water for Elephants because it's a beautiful fun. I said to Rick that if you're gonna buy a ticket, you need to splurge to get a fancy seat. You need to sit orchestra right. You need to literally watch as they fly over your head. You are literally surrounded by a circus, and you guys are putting on a beautiful, heartfelt story every single day. I hope you are. I'm just excited for you, Marissa. This is only the beginning.

[25:47] Marissa Rosen: Thank you so much. I really hope y'all come. If you do, come say hi. I have a gold sharpie, and I'll sign anything you want. Maybe. But seriously, if nothing else, just come see this beautiful group of people telling this beautiful story. And I just want to thank everyone because I've gotten enough support to keep me crying for years. And it's never lost on me. And thank you for having me. This is so special, and yeah.

[26:18] Robert Bannon: No, we're so honored and grateful for you to spend time with us. Water for Elephants, the musical.com is where you can get your tickets. You could follow Marissa at the Marissa Rosen.

[26:28] Marissa Rosen: Absolutely.

[26:28] Robert Bannon: So follow her right now on Instagram. Make sure you tell her you say hi. And then get, that's it. We'll see you at the stage door with the gold sharpie because the playbill has got a lot of dark black color, so you need your Marissa Rosen signature pristine.

[26:40] Marissa Rosen: Yes, please come get the gold sharpie.

[26:43] Robert Bannon: Get the gold congratulations. We can't wait for what's next, and we can't wait for you to have the most beautiful run. Break all the legs and have a blast.

[26:51] Marissa Rosen: Thank you so much.

[26:53] Robert Bannon: How beautiful is that? How sweet is that? Can you imagine what it was like when she called her family and told them that she was coming to Broadway? You know, New York, New Jersey, Long Island, all this area, Connecticut. There's something about family. And no matter if you're Italian, Irish, Jewish, any ethnicity, any kind of religion, there's just something about family that keeps us together. And what do we do art for? We do art for family and friends. And sometimes we have our own chosen family that we create and we make as artists and we work with them. And that's what Marty Thomas and her have done. That's what the cast of Water for Elephants has done. That's what the cast of My Big Gay Italian Wedding has been together for decades has done. It's all about coming together to create something special to share art with people and humanity.

[27:43] Robert Bannon: So that's always great to talk to you. Get your tickets, go see Water for Elephants, go see a Broadway show today, support local theater, support the theater down the street, support the regional theater, the tours that are on the road. Just go out there and buy a ticket and support artists because they're out there sharing their heart to make their art. My name is Robert Bannon. If you want to follow me, go to Robert M. Bannon on Instagram or go to RobertBannon.com. And this show is always somewhere. It's on the Broadway Podcast Network. Go to BroadwayPodcastNetwork.com and see The Roundtable on a daily basis, or subscribe to us over on YouTube. We're here every Friday. So honored to be here every Friday here on Broadway World. So grateful. Thank you for being here. There's more good than there is bad. There's more happiness than there is sad. And the best is always yet to come. Till next time, everybody. Thank you so much for being here. Bye.