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[0:00] Holland Taylor: Who she was in the world was why she was such a great leader. Because people weren't responding to her political ideas, although that's the side she was on. They were responding to her enormous quality as a person. And that's I was really doing a portrait in that. This is not at all that. Yes. This is not a portrait at all. This is a sketch of the people so that we can hear the ideas and the contests and the conflicts and the agreements and the battle and the push and the pull of ideas. That's why this play is so brilliant, because it's very conceptual and was not at all conceptual. Yes. Oh, it's so exciting. And you two together must be electric with Diane directing it. What's it like in the rehearsal space?

[0:46] Holland Taylor: Well, it's great because actually she and I are generations apart, but we get along like gangbusters, and Diane Paulus, our director, I was so thrilled when she accepted this because she is a director that I trust, so that I can do something a certain way. We're working very fast. We're doing this play in about a week less than a play normally is done in. And it's huge to learn. So I can take a stab at a big speech a certain way, and I can say to her, is that too heavy, too much muscle? And she'll say, yeah, a little bit. And I can take okay, because I can then have the faith that I can adjust as she directs me to. Oh, I can't wait for this to be in front of an audience because I'm sure their reactions are gonna be wonderful.

[1:32] Ana Villafañe: I hope so. Oh, absolutely. What's the trick? A nerdy actor question. It's just two of you. That's a lot of lines, that's a lot of work.

[1:39] Holland Taylor: The thing is you can't learn in rehearsal. You have to learn in the morning and at night. Two times when you do not feel like learning. So that's what that's what it's like.

[1:49] Robert Bannon: Well, we're very excited. Break legs. Welcome back to Tony Nominee, Broadway star, television star, Emmy winner, and now here at Lincoln Center, congratulations.

[1:57] Holland Taylor: Thank you. What a lovely thing to say. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for all the work and all of that. I'm excited to see it.

[2:07] Ana Villafañe: So good to see you.

[2:07] Holland Taylor: So good to see you too. When I see you, I'm sorry. I still I just want to sing "The Rhythm's Gonna Get You." And I just, you know, it's just in my heart.

[2:17] Ana Villafañe: As you should. I'm honored. Do you want to know of my random story? I went to see "Once Upon a One More Time," and I sat next to Gloria Estefan.

[2:25] Holland Taylor: Wow.

[2:26] Ana Villafañe: And you know, it's just a moment. So when I see you, I love that show. Well, my dad. So thank you for sharing that journey because it makes me think of growing up, and I'm excited to see you here today.

[2:35] Holland Taylor: Thank you so much.

[2:36] Ana Villafañe: Thank you. No singing in this.

[2:37] Holland Taylor: You are acting your teeth out.

[2:38] Ana Villafañe: Come on.

[2:39] Holland Taylor: We are.

[2:40] Ana Villafañe: Yes, we are. It's been a minute. I haven't done a straight play since 2018, which was like MCC downtown. So now we're like Lincoln Center. Like it's all it's a different, it's different.

[2:51] Holland Taylor: She is different. I'm very excited about it. What brought you to this? It says timely. I mean, is there more timeliness than you could be?

[2:57] Ana Villafañe: I mean, I'm really excited. I think the universe knows what it's doing sometimes. This came to me, and I was not expecting it at all. I read the email and was like, what? But it was nerve-wracking, honestly. Like it's topics that can be really exhausting. I happen to be incredibly sensitive. So, like sometimes just the overwhelm of like America and politics and the world right now, it weighs on me. But I'm so inspired by the people who do step up every day and wake up and say, I'm gonna do something about that. And just drawing on that energy. And when I read the script, Mario has written a script that is so incredibly human and that really emphasizes how two human beings can disagree but figure out a way to arrive to the same destination for the good of everybody, right? And I think that that's really important.

[4:00] Ana Villafañe: I also think that seeing two women in their full power and being unapologetic to take up space in a space that's not built for us, right? Is huge. I also think Holland Taylor need I say more.

[4:16] Holland Taylor: Well, she says the same about you.

[4:18] Ana Villafañe: Oh my god, which I'm just like a puddle standing here because that's wild. Like it's wild to me that we're friends, like that she'll FaceTime me.

[4:25] Holland Taylor: Yeah.

[4:25] Ana Villafañe: Oh come on. I swear to God, oh my god, last night she was like texting me pictures, and I'm like this is just life. This is just life, you know.

[4:33] Holland Taylor: What is the back and forth like? What is the impulse is your it's a conversation, they say the show. So yes, the entire show is a very lengthy conversation, and it's about concepts, you know, it's about ideas. It's not a fight because I think that that would be really dumbing it down too much. It's a really elegant conversation between two people who are figuring out how to coexist. I wish we had a lot more of that in the world, right? So it's so it is really really relevant, and I'm really excited to share it. I'm really I think it's like kidding me as we speak because like you know, we're in this room every single day from like for many many hours, and I and then you walk out, and it's like, oh my god, these are these concepts that we're talking about in the show are very real out there, right?

And so I'm excited to kind of hold up a mirror to audiences and let it be a think piece. Let this be something that then for weeks people are talking about it. Oh, you need to go see this. So, you know, there's a lot of lines, especially that A gets to say. I mean, both actually. There's a lot of things that we get to say that are just such truths, and that's one important thing about this as well. It's like both characters are so anchored in their truths. Um it's nice to kind of have a space where we can actually just say that. Say those things that nobody wants to say out loud, that you're not walking out, you know, in the middle of the day necessarily talking about, but all those things that are left unsaid, we say.

[6:27] Holland Taylor: I want to know, I want the tricks on how you memorize your lines. That's a whole separate concept.

[6:30] Ana Villafañe: Well, I'll let you know when it happens. Congratulations, we'll be here. We're really excited to see it.

[6:36] Holland Taylor: Thank you so much. I'm so excited too. Thank you. Thank you for your time today.

[6:44] Ana Villafañe: Last time we were with Diane, we reunited the "Waitress" cast during the pandemic.

[6:49] Holland Taylor: Oh my goodness. Yes, what memories. We just love your work and all that you do. And we think I think of you, I'm a musical theater stan and fan, and we love your work on stage, but this is something special.

[7:01] Diane Paulus: I know, and I get to work with Anna, who I've admired for years from the musical theater world on a play, and let me tell you, she is an incredibly fierce actor. I am so excited for the musical theater community to come out and say, wow.

[7:16] Holland Taylor: Yes.

[7:17] Diane Paulus: You know, stand back, take a look at her acting.

[7:20] Holland Taylor: Well, when Holland Taylor says she can act and she's great, that's pretty high praise.

[7:24] Diane Paulus: I was gonna say, I mean, the two of them, it is a joy to be in the presence of two actors with such great, not only skill and talent, but intelligence, humor, and deep, deep caring. They care for each other, they care about this play, they care about the themes in this play. And this is a play about intergenerational friendship and learning, and that is happening inside the play and in the rehearsal room, and it's a beautiful thing to behold.

[7:58] Holland Taylor: Oh my gosh, it's beautiful. It sounds like such a we live in a world where political parties, same parties have different ideas based on generations, there's a conflict within. So, what is it like as a director to kind of weave the narrative, the story with the actors? How do you give feedback with a piece like this?

[8:13] Diane Paulus: Yeah, you know, I love this play because Mario has written a piece of music here, which presents two different points of view, but seesaws it. So you as an audience member, and I always feel like as a director, I'm the stand-in for the audience, right? You as an audience member are invited to hear both points of view. And to hear both points of view in a way that you say, you know what, she's right. Wait a minute, no, she's right. No, she's right. And by the end of the play, you realize both points of view are valid and both points of view are needed. And that you know what, despite difference in race, class, gender, these two women want the same things for our country. And they're both interested in progress and the future. And we need plays that bring us together and give us a space to imagine a conversation where two people care about the same things.

[9:10] Ana Villafañe: Yes, I'm so excited. I'm a political science major nerd.

[9:14] Diane Paulus: You will love it.

[9:14] Ana Villafañe: I'm ready. I'm so ready. And it's women, and that's what I love. Women directed, women actors, beautiful. Congratulations. Can we talk about when has there been a recent contemporary new play hit the scene that's a two-hander?

[9:29] Diane Paulus: Yeah. Two-hander.

[9:30] Ana Villafañe: Yes.

[9:30] Diane Paulus: Where both characters are leading figures that are female politicians.

[9:38] Ana Villafañe: I mean, come on.

[9:39] Diane Paulus: Ever?

[9:40] Ana Villafañe: Ever.

[9:40] Diane Paulus: Ever?

[9:41] Ana Villafañe: Ever.

[9:41] Diane Paulus: This is major.

[9:42] Ana Villafañe: Major.

[9:42] Diane Paulus: And you're in the middle of Lincoln Center. Your LaGuardia's around the corner. There's gonna be young actors, young people with ideas that are gonna see this and be inspired by what you're doing. I predict this play after its beautiful life here in New York. You know, ART's already lining up. It's gonna be done around the country. It's gonna be done in high schools and colleges, because there is no play that does what Mario does, that has given voice to women and their points of view through such sharp writing that is funny and smart and heartfelt.

[10:19] Robert Bannon: Sold. Get your ticket.

[10:20] Diane Paulus: Get your tickets!

[10:21] Robert Bannon: Congratulations, it's so good to see you. Thank you so much for spending some time with us today. See you at the theater.

[10:25] Diane Paulus: See you at the theater.

[10:28] Mario Correa: Writer Mario Correa.

[10:31] Robert Bannon: Mario?

[10:31] Mario Correa: Yes.

[10:32] Robert Bannon: We wrote this show. I mean, do you have like a crystal ball, a fortune teller? I mean, it's as topical as possibly can be.

[10:39] Mario Correa: Well, you know, it's funny because I'd like to say I had a crystal ball, but the truth is it all started when I was 18 years old when I volunteered on a campaign of a woman who's running for Congress. She won, and I became a congressional staffer from age 18 through most of my 20s. So I learned at the foot of this extraordinary Congresswoman named Connie Morella. And this world was the world that I just loved, and I've always carried it with me. So as these real life characters became, you know, huge personas in real life, they inspired me to think about that world that I knew and to imagine the closed doors conversations that were taking place.

[11:14] Robert Bannon: It's so juicy and good. If you like politics, which we all should be involved in politics, and if you like art, then this is a show for you. I was a poly sci major, writer, I was. I'm a nerd about it. And I love art. My mom said if you can't be an actor, then be a politician, it's the same thing. So this is not based on any particular person, it's more of a collage, an homage.

[11:31] Mario Correa: Well, I would say it's really it's closely inspired by these two extraordinary public figures, but they are in this sense characters in a play. So we're not trying to recreate the public figures that inspired this play. We are just trying to imagine these conversations with a little bit of taking like a little breath away so that we can hear these conversations in the voices of these extraordinary actors.

[11:57] Holland Taylor: Well, Diane said that she doesn't think there is a play out there that's led by two powerhouse women, directed by a woman that's gonna inspire women running for office or art. Why was it important that this is a woman led show that if they're women in politics?

[12:12] Mario Correa: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, the entire creative team, except for myself, are women. And I think it's important because I mean I learned at the foot of an extraordinary woman leader, and so I've always been fascinated by this. But the amount of work and the challenges that they have to surmount behind closed doors is extraordinary. And I don't think folks sometimes know that. We just see the public sort of persona, but the amount of sacrifice and work and smarts and determination that these women have, and that's what I wanted to bring to the fore this or any year, really.

[12:45] Robert Bannon: I'm riveted. I'm sold. Have you let it sink in yet that you have Holland Taylor, you have Anna, you have Diane, you're at Lincoln Center, your show is going to be put up on its feet right here?

[12:55] Mario Correa: No. The short answer is no. In fact, you know, it's funny because I was gonna say that it's a dream come true, but it's not because I never let myself dream this. You know, this is beyond any dream I could have had to have this cast, this director, our team, and to have it here. It's beyond anything I could have imagined.

[13:15] Robert Bannon: Well, we're really excited to see it. Congratulations.

[13:17] Mario Correa: Thank you, Speaker. We look forward to this and all the work that's to come. Break all the legs.

[13:21] Robert Bannon: Welcome to Lincoln Center. Let's go.

[13:24] Mario Correa: Great to meet you.

[13:25] Robert Bannon: Well, there you have it, our coverage of "N/A" coming to Lincoln Center. I hope that you get your tickets and come on down. Some of the best off-Broadway work, some of the best Broadway work. Lincoln Center is just some of the best places. When you talk about funding and why it's important we give money to art and art education, there's nowhere like seeing art right here in Lincoln Center. There is nowhere like providing new playwrights and these stories to be told and provided to an audience for education because when you go to vote this November, it's stuff like this that people will remember in the polling place. So it's so important. Come support politics, be part of the civic. I'm a poly sci major, y'all, so I can't help it but get a little nerdy about the politics.

So make sure you register to vote. Make sure you vote for all elections, and make sure you come out and see "N/A," Holland, Anna, Director Diane Paulus, and come see it at Lincoln Center. My name is Robert Bannon. I hope you follow me at Robert Bannon on Instagram, or you listen to us every day on the Broadway Podcast Network, RobertBannon.com. Join the party every day. We're artists talking about art. The best is yet to come, and I'll see you next time. Thanks for being here.