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[0:04] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's the round table with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:09] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to the round table, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to Son Broadway World over here on the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, and Spotify. I'm excited. Look, I love the venue of our next guest. I love Audible Theater. I love what they do there. Our next guest is on stage in a brand new show that's coming there called New Born. With some people you may, Hugh Jackman may have a career. If you look, he's one to watch out. He's on the rise, everybody. And this incredible evening, starring her, she gets top billing. She gets top billing. Alphabetical. Nope. I'm putting that on my resume. Top billing over Jackman. Take that, everybody. Incredible Marianna is here. Congratulations. Welcome to the show.

[0:54] Marianna Gailus: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited for this show. 27 performances only. What is it? Tell me what an evening of monologues? Is it a play? Is it a story? What are we gonna hear about?

[1:08] Marianna Gailus: Sure. Um, so it is three monologues. So it is Sepideh Moafi, who's absolutely incredible. She's having, I mean, she's been working for a long time, but she's having such a huge moment with the pit right now. Everyone is obsessed. Yes. Um, so it's Seppi, uh, me, and this guy you may have heard of, as you said, Hugh Jackman. Um, so he's the third one. And it's three stories. Um, three people telling their stories to the audience. And I think um we are we're in rehearsal now, and I think we're finding the world where these three stories are happening together. You know, why would these three beings kind of feel compelled to share with an audience some little snippets of their lives? So it's not gonna be, you know, just like one person talks and one person talks, one person talks. It might be a little bit more kind of metaphysical than that, um, which is really exciting. I'm excited as a nerdy actor, which I own. This is an exciting evening to do this and have monologues.

[2:09] Robert Bannon: You are, I'm not gonna say a nerdy actor, but you are quite the actor yourself. Um, if you look at your career and the work that you've done, you're not afraid to jump in and take on some serious stuff like Vanya, which you were, I mean, had rave reviews was such a big giant monster of a hit for you. And then you're if you're head of Gabbler, if you if you're any been to acting school, all the big parts that everyone says are the main parts you need to take. Marianna's played them all. She's done them. Especially what was great with Vanya because I got to be Sonia and Yelena. She did all the same show. So I got to be both, and everybody else. You I I was so scared when I went when I went to conservatory, I was so scared of the classic works because they're classic works and they scared me. I was like, Oh, give me a comedic fun little new mom. Why are you not scared to jump in there?

[2:58] Marianna Gailus: Um, why are you not? I could be like, What do you mean? Why do they scare you? They're iconic, they're hard. They're pieces that are judged as the greatest pieces of acting literally ever. So you just jump in head for you're not afraid of a challenge.

[3:15] Marianna Gailus: I mean, uh I would say I'm I'm not afraid of a challenge, sure, but I think um I love I'm such a sucker for Chekhov and Ibsen and and all of those um those writers, those writers who were kind of forming the modern contemporary theater as we know it and understand it. And so there's something so charged there. And I think um we talk a lot about this, I think, with Chekhov. I think um, you know he gets Chekhov and Ibsen but I think especially Chekhov we sort of think you know before before Stanislavski and Chekhov you know no one knew how to act and then there was this amazing production of the Seagull in 1898 and it changed everything right but I think um uh there's this brilliant essay and I'm completely forgetting um the the theater critic who wrote it I want to say it's a it's um uh it's either Bruce Dean or Gilman or one of those but um but about how Chekhov has more in common with almost Beckett than he does with sort of the other contemporary writers at the time and so I think the more we can kind of just take that language and that experience of being a person experiencing things then I guess it feels a little less scary.

[4:28] Marianna Gailus: Now Heda Gabbler was very difficult I'm not gonna lie um but I just felt so lucky um it was a really meaningful project for me to get to work with James Bundy who's this is his last year um as the dean at the David Gephin School of Drama um and he's a mentor and a teacher of mine and has shepherded so many incredible actors out into the world and into the industry and so that that um this is his the last show that he's directing in that capacity and so the fact that he asked me to do it was pretty wild but um I'm not really answering your question but I just think you're amazing yeah there's so much rich there's just there's so much richness there and I'm just uh it's just fun to to play around in it I guess.

[5:12] Robert Bannon: Well talk about that's why you're a Broadway and theater superstar, and I get to do this. Because so when you when you are talking about great writing and talking about the greats, talk to me about Ella Hickson, who wrote this and talk about modern day great writing.

[5:29] Marianna Gailus: Yeah, it's been incredible to get to meet and work with Ella. She's in the room most of the time. And so we're able to uh really, it's always a conversation. I think that that's kind of the most important thing for Ian Rickson, our director, and Hugh, because they founded this theater company together, right? It's called Together, um, with Sonia Friedman. And it's so important that it be collaborative. And so Ella has had a voice in uh shaping, shaping the texts, you know, the texts are still very alive, um, things are changing. And there's just something that she's the three stories are so different. It's so interesting. Um, you know, you in in some ways, all three characters kind of have some, I don't want to say sin.

I think sin is a really heavy word to use, but but I think there is something, there's something confessional about these stories, and that is the kind of language that we use when we're talking about these monologues, these pieces. But this the source of each character's sort of internalized shame and guilt come from on the one hand, widely different things, but also just such deep fundamental things, whether it's about you know parenthood, attraction and sexuality, about um grief and and friendship, it's just they're they're such uh you know, deep, almost archetypical things that we all can connect to. And so I think that's how they kind of all exist in the same space. And the fact that they all came out of her head is kind of incredible.

[7:02] Marianna Gailus: And she actually described, I don't wanna, I might, I might be telling the story wrong, but um the way she described it, my uh monologue, which is called Rattle, that was the one that she started with, but she kind of ran into a little bit of trouble with it, sort of took a break from it, and then in one go, wrote the monologue that would become the one that Hugh is doing. And just like it's so interesting how just one little nugget of something just becomes something else. Um and uh yeah, she's brilliant. And I love um, she has a play called Oil, which I think is uh I love like time jumping um types of plays. Uh I'm a I was a history major in undergrad, so and a huge nerd. So that always sort of excites me when um when you I mean, like I think theater is truly kind of one of the the only places you can really do time travel.

Um, and so that's always really exciting to me. And these these all three pieces kind of travel through time in a really cool way. Um it's been yeah, it's been amazing hearing her talk about her own work. It's incredible.

[8:02] Marianna Gailus: I I can't wait for people to check this out. I am excited, I get excited by the fact that people may walk into this theater because of you three and buy a ticket and then see this show and be exposed to art and theater in a way that this is not, you know, a musical, it is not a commercial as commercial as some other properties are, and you're gonna go in and see a different style of art, and you all are bringing this to people in the massive way that they may not be able to see. How did this come to you? Did you audition? Did you get a call? What happened?

[8:31] Marianna Gailus: Sure. So um, so I I did audition. Um, our incredible casting director, Jim Carnahan, has been um uh a mentor and a and uh and I'm so grateful, a sort of cheerleader of mine. Um, it was through him that I got my my first my first job, which was a little part in a Broadway show called Patriots two years ago, and I was um an audition reader for him just out of grad school. So he had shown Ian and Ella my Vanya self-tape, um, which is wild. And so based on that, they asked if I would tape a little bit of the monologue. I did. I sent it off. Um, Ian came back with a little adjustment. I sent off again, and like the next day they said that um I'd be I'd be joining the show. So I think, you know, pretty wild.

[9:18] Marianna Gailus: Um, I know Ian has sort of said that normally he doesn't cast people without having met them in person because I was actually I wasn't in New York, I was in LA at the time, so I couldn't meet anybody in person, but I'm just grateful they kind of took this jump and trusted me with it.

[9:35] Marianna Gailus: It's incredible. What an incredible amazing story. 27 performances only. If you are somebody who feels like you're gonna get locked out, I just want people to know tickets are on sale. There is a $35 digital lottery that's on today ticks for all performance days, and the box office open is at 12 on performance days when the show starts for $35 day of dove tickets. So you're not gonna be priced out. There's a way that you can see it no matter what.

[9:55] Robert Bannon: Who should come see this show? What if they're like it's three monologues? It feels too advanced, too hard, too smart, too fancy for me.

[10:03] Marianna Gailus: Hmm. I mean, I think honestly, I can't really speak for myself, but I do think kind of going to what you said, people are going to come because of the actors who are in it. Um, and especially with Hugh and Seppi. And they are such luminous and charismatic storytellers that I think you'll really kind of watch them disappear into these stories.

[10:31] Marianna Gailus: And um, you have so much buy-in with them already, just as people and as artists. And so you kind of they will take you on the journey. You can kind of trust them too. Um, and hopefully you can trust me also. Um, but I think that yeah, I think this is really for anybody, anybody who's um interested in a little bit of something different.

[10:52] Marianna Gailus: Yeah, it isn't a play, it's something else. I think people who are interested in uh language and storytelling, it really does feel like kind of being around a campfire, sort of talking together. So maybe people who are interested in a little bit more of a kind of ancient ritualistic style of theater. Not that you know, the huge spectacle that's out there also isn't fantastic and entertaining and meaningful, of course, of course, of course it is.

[11:19] Marianna Gailus: But um, but yeah, if you just want something, something a little different and surprising. I think um, I think this is really accessible to anybody. Anybody relationships, intimacy, friendship, love, whatever you're going through. A tree surge. If you're a tree surgeon, this is your show.

[11:33] Marianna Gailus: This is your show. Tree surgeons everywhere. Uh, it opens May 8th. The previews are about to go up and about. Um, so for you, your journey to being where did you grow up?

[11:43] Marianna Gailus: So I grew up in New York City on the upper west side, born and raised.

[11:48] Robert Bannon: Oh, so you're a lifelong New Yorker.

[11:50] Marianna Gailus: Lifelong New Yorker. You did Broadway, you did all of this, and you went, you're a New Yorker who went to Juilliard.

[11:59] Marianna Gailus: Yeah, for grad school. So I did my MFA um at Juilliard for the drama division. Um, because for her undergrad, she only went to Yale.

[12:07] Robert Bannon: And so I know. Do you know Marianna? Now that we're friends, and I know you, that's what I'm gonna say. I brought it up to somebody, and somebody said to me that also went to Yale and also went to very, you know, prestigious schools and said, it is incredible, it is a big deal. I am not taking away from it, but there is more to art, and there is more to the work than just having a big fancy school next to your name.

[12:33] Robert Bannon: How do you approach when people like me tease and say, well, you went to Yale, you went to Juilliard?

[12:38] Marianna Gailus: I know you're proud and I know that was an incredible amount of work, but it's just a part of the piece.

[12:43] Marianna Gailus: It's just, yeah, no, exactly. It is a part of the piece. And I think for me, um, I mean, just to sort of because so I don't think I sort of admitted that I wanted to be an actor until quite late. I feel like I was already in college by the time I kind of admitted to myself that this is something that I wanted to do.

[13:00] Marianna Gailus: Like I'd always done theater, I'd done summer Shakespeare camp, I'd done all the things, you know. Um, but uh, it really wasn't until you know, sophomore junior of college, I thought, I think I think this is what I want to do. Of course, this surprised nobody in my life. I think it was the most surprising to me.

[13:17] Marianna Gailus: Um, but uh, but I just mentioned this because I think like going to Yale for undergrad for me, it was the first time that I felt like I was surrounded by people who loved school and who loved what they were learning. And obviously, you know, it's a big, it's a big school. It's a right, like kind of you say, there's a there's a sheen to its name, and I'm sure that there are corners of it that are cutthroat and ugly and awful.

[13:43] Marianna Gailus: But the people that I met there, it wasn't competitive at all. People were just so enthusiastic about what they were learning, and um, it just felt it felt I felt uh at home in a way I think I hadn't really in high school, um, where I sort of felt like I was the only one who who loved class.

[14:00] Marianna Gailus: I know that's not really true, but that's just how I felt. And then, you know, going to Juilliard, I think I knew that graduating from from undergrad, like I was not ready to hit the streets and start auditioning. There are so many people who who are. There are so many people who do not need to go to school for theater, right? There are so many people who are ready. I was not.

[14:20] Marianna Gailus: And I think what um, you know, you also auditioned for for drama school. You don't think you're gonna get in. Um, but I think in the end, what really attracted me to Juilliard at the time was I think I wanted to be back in the city. I didn't mind that it was a four-year program. That's kind of an extra year.

[14:36] Marianna Gailus: And in the end, it didn't matter because COVID hit halfway through. Um, but what attracted me to it, I think was that it really is a uh an incubator in a conservatory where you don't have to be a multi hyphenate. You can just be this one thing and just sort of wake up and all you're eating, breathing, thinking about all day is this one thing.

[14:58] Marianna Gailus: I think that's what I that's what I needed. So that's that was more what it was about. It was just about really steeping in this thing and feeling the the many lineages of my different teachers and and being in being in community.

[15:12] Marianna Gailus: I mean, like that your class is your world. And there's something, there's something really vulnerable about being watched all the time by 17 other people, and they become the people who bear witness to your biggest breakthroughs and your ugliest failures, you know.

[15:31] Marianna Gailus: And um, I'm an only child, so I don't really know what having siblings is like, but there's just something about the the ultimate knowing that happens with your class. So so yeah, I mean, that's what it's that's what it was about for me, um, more than anything else.

[15:48] Marianna Gailus: And then yes, it does help in material ways as well, once you sort of hit the industry. That's absolutely true.

[15:55] Robert Bannon: Yeah. Well, listen, if you even if anyone who wants to be an actor out there, you find your conservatory, you find a school, those people are going to become family. And that class as you go through the years together and you bear your life and soul literally on the acting school floor.

[16:09] Robert Bannon: Um, is such preparation, no matter what school it is. Um, it's important. The training is so important.

[16:16] Marianna Gailus: Oh, um, you took me back to my acting. I drop I want to just say I dropped out of Juilliard, everybody at 18. So thank you. I'm just taking that credit.

[16:26] Robert Bannon: Yeah, hell yeah.

[16:28] Marianna Gailus: Yeah, and the BFA is like they have to do college also. I mean, that's crazy.

[16:32] Robert Bannon: It's hard.

[16:35] Marianna Gailus: It was so it's so hard. Our teachers always say, yeah, um, because the grads and the undergrads train together, right? Um, you know, look upon your undergraduate compatriots with empathy because they are also writing essays.

[16:49] Robert Bannon: I had a bad audition for rent, and I just said this business is not for me. I'm gonna I can't do this.

[16:54] Marianna Gailus: Look, that's the true story. And then if I but and but look at when you stick through it, you can be right now opening this beautiful, incredible new show in New York City with this big and giant career.

[17:03] Robert Bannon: Marianna, I say this in all humility. Your career is going to be so giant. You are going to make so much incredible headway in this business, and you're going to tell such incredible stories that people feel seen, that people are moved, that people will remember.

[17:17] Robert Bannon: And I'm so excited that I got to have a few moments and chat with you before this explosion that's about to happen to you, truly.

[17:25] Marianna Gailus: Thank you. That means a lot. I'm really, I'm really lucky and grateful to everyone who has um sort of pushed me forward because it's it's it's it is kind of like you say, it is just the beginning for me, and already I'm feeling um like I've gotten to do so many of the things I just dreamed of doing.

[17:43] Marianna Gailus: So I can only hope that uh I can kind of keep going with with uh grace and and curiosity and and openness because otherwise you know what are we doing? Like like they said uh um with the with the moon mission if you can't take love to outer space why are we going you know that is I love that that is perfect that is the perfect analogy.

[17:52] Robert Bannon: Uh listen everybody right now go to audible xmineta.com you can get tickets Audible theater and together brings newborn with Marianna with you with set there this this cast is so good everybody that you're gonna need to grab a ticket and you better run before opening night and the reviews come out because you're not gonna have a seat to be found.

[18:21] Robert Bannon: I am so excited for you congratulations break legs having the most incredible rehearsal experience have the most incredible previews and you're gonna make New York City explode opening night and we're here for it. Thank you for spending time with us.

[18:33] Marianna Gailus: Thanks.