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[0:10] Robert Bannon: Hey round tablers, it's Adrian and John. Good morning. It's a little bit chilly here in New York City, but we are here for the press day for When Playwrights Kill, written by Matthew Lombardo and directed by Noah Himmelstein. Let me tell you, this is a stacked cast. Tony Award winners, Tony nominees. Wait till you see who we get to talk to today and have some amazing conversations with for When Playwrights Kill. I know I'm very good. I'm standing here with like legendary Tony Award winners here. Like, oh my goodness. But they couldn't make it, so Beth and Matt are here.

[0:47] Beth Leavel: Just kidding. Although every time I will admit, every time I still hear that, I'm like, no, I'm not. It took a while. You know, it's like one of the first times I was introduced, it's like Tony Award winner Beth Leavel, and I went, oh, that's me! I'm so sorry. It took another two nominations after that for you to be like, oh, okay.

[1:05] Matt Doyle: Oh, tick-tick. How excited are the two of you? A to be working together, and what a cast. And this play sounds like it's a lot of fun.

[1:11] Beth Leavel: Can you imagine? Can you imagine the six of us? We hardly get any work done.

[1:18] Matt Doyle: It's a little chaotic, yeah.

[1:20] Beth Leavel: But that's good. The play is chaotic.

[1:21] Matt Doyle: The play is chaotic. We just are bouncing ideas off of each other all day, which is really lovely. And I mean, I saw this cast list and I freaked out, and I saw this name in particular, and I was like, I really need that serotonin boost right now. Because you know, things are interesting in the world right now.

[1:36] Beth Leavel: Yeah.

[1:37] Matt Doyle: A little bit.

[1:38] Beth Leavel: Yeah. So it's nice to escape and get to laugh at ourselves and our industry and the absurdity of it and the wonderful things and the horrible things and embrace it.

[1:48] Matt Doyle: Particularly the horrible things.

[1:50] Beth Leavel: Particularly my character.

[1:51] Matt Doyle: Yeah, she's a horror.

[1:52] Beth Leavel: But then it looks like your character name. Like Brooke Remington?

[1:56] Matt Doyle: But you have to say it like Brooke.

[1:57] Beth Leavel: Yes, that's my sister's name.

[1:58] Matt Doyle: Remington. You know, that kind of tells you.

[2:02] Beth Leavel: Sorry, Brooke, not you. You're a good person, Brooke. Wonderful. I've seen a student down in Florida in a Catholic school.

[2:07] Matt Doyle: Okay, yeah.

[2:08] Beth Leavel: You're nothing like this Brooke.

[2:09] Matt Doyle: No.

[2:10] Beth Leavel: Remington. I love that.

[2:11] Matt Doyle: Isn't it great?

[2:12] Beth Leavel: It sounds like something from Dynasty, doesn't it?

[2:14] Matt Doyle: Yeah.

[2:15] Beth Leavel: Yeah. She's amazingly evil.

[2:19] Matt Doyle: And then and you're Jack Hawkins?

[2:21] Beth Leavel: I am.

[2:21] Matt Doyle: I am. Yes. No one calls me that ever. Literally, I think one person says Jack at one point in the script because I keep forgetting what my name is. And I'm like, but I'm the playwright, because that's what it says in the script. So when other people at this press event are like, you're playing the role of, I'm like, oh, I am. I'm a player.

[2:36] Beth Leavel: I'm called the actress.

[2:38] Matt Doyle: Yeah. But my name is many times.

[2:41] Beth Leavel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not always the best light. But yes, I'm wonderfully neurotic and absolutely miserable in every step of this journey.

[2:51] Matt Doyle: But isn't it nice to play something like that and bring some light to the heaviness that we're all experiencing on an hourly basis nowadays? To laugh like we're laughing and to laugh like the audience is gonna laugh. It just feels so healing.

[3:04] Beth Leavel: Yeah, to laugh at ourselves. Because we're really making fun of ourselves. Sometimes we're like, oh I'm not that bad, but then I'm like, sometimes I am.

[3:13] Matt Doyle: Yeah.

[3:14] Beth Leavel: Yeah. I think I do have those moments, actually.

[3:16] Matt Doyle: Yeah.

[3:17] Beth Leavel: I was telling Matt, I've never had a role that I've been so delightfully able to embrace my evil twin. I mean full on evil twin. But I really think that the audience is going to love her evil twin.

[3:32] Matt Doyle: Yeah.

[3:33] Beth Leavel: And want to see more of her evil twin. Just maybe to like don't embrace it like in real life, but.

[3:40] Matt Doyle: Please don't tell me what you do.

[3:43] Beth Leavel: It's like that. All of you, I love this. This is like I want to sit in and watch the rehearsals.

[3:47] Matt Doyle: Oh, you'd have so much fun.

[3:48] Beth Leavel: It's ridiculous.

[3:50] Matt Doyle: It is. It's fun.

[3:51] Beth Leavel: Yeah, off in a train wreck. And we don't have to sing.

[3:53] Matt Doyle: Yeah.

[3:54] Beth Leavel: Sorry. And we all say that like every day. We don't have to get out of here. I'm like, oh, isn't it so nice that we don't have to say.

[4:01] Matt Doyle: Well, that's wonderful and amazing. And to be premiering at the Huntington.

[4:06] Beth Leavel: We love you.

[4:07] Matt Doyle: He's from Boston.

[4:08] Beth Leavel: I'm originally from the Boston area.

[4:09] Matt Doyle: Yeah, I'm from the North Shore of Massachusetts, born in Beverly. So I get to be around like my entire extended family. They're all gonna be coming out to the show and cousins.

[4:18] Beth Leavel: And do they know that we're coming over there to eat?

[4:20] Matt Doyle: Yeah. Have you told them?

[4:22] Beth Leavel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we'll be crashing all of their houses.

[4:24] Matt Doyle: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's gonna be lots of, you know, sauces and you know, yeah, gries as well as the gravy.

[4:31] Beth Leavel: I love the gravy.

[4:32] Matt Doyle: I love that. A lot of Irish Italians that will be.

[4:34] Beth Leavel: Oh, there you go.

[4:39] Matt Doyle: So some lasagna and corners.

[4:39] Beth Leavel: Exactly. Yeah. Perfect, perfect. Could you please introduce yourself to the roundtabler?

[4:44] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Hi, I'm Marissa Jaret Winokur.

[4:46] Tomás Matos: Hello, my name is Tomás Matos.

[4:48] Robert Bannon: And I think the two of you are trouble. I'm just gonna tell you right now, because you look like you're so much fun. Are you having so much fun?

[4:54] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Yeah, we are having so much fun.

[4:55] Tomás Matos: I'm having so much fun.

[4:56] Marissa Jaret Winokur: We're getting in trouble too.

[4:57] Tomás Matos: And we are in trouble.

[4:58] Marissa Jaret Winokur: We do get in a lot of trouble. There's times where one of us will get in trouble and then the other one will stick up for the one that got in trouble.

[5:04] Tomás Matos: It's true, it's true. There's some definite, like no kindred spirits here.

[5:09] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Yeah.

[5:10] Tomás Matos: Yeah. Like our characters, you know, in the show are also causing trouble. So it feels very easy to just pull from ourselves and bring it into the role.

[5:17] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Exactly. Are you the villain in this play?

[5:20] Tomás Matos: I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I think, not villain, but more so definitely a different energy.

[5:27] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Yeah.

[5:27] Tomás Matos: It's like, it's like you definitely are like, we're in a play, we're doing a Neil Simon play, and then you're like, oh, Gen Z just walked in. Like literally, you're like, oh, this is now a show for everybody. Like that's actually like, you're like, I get, oh, I've said, oh, it's a little like this. It's a little, and then you're like, oh, okay. Oh no, no, no. This isn't 2026. Because I do think there's things about it that you're like, oh, this go what what when does because we also know that the play is based on a time that's not 2026, but we are playing it current current day. But I think that their entrance, their presentation, their character is what for me solidifies like this is 2026.

[6:02] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Yeah.

[6:02] Tomás Matos: And that's so important, especially nowadays. You need to have that representation. Period.

[6:06] Marissa Jaret Winokur: I concur.

[6:07] Tomás Matos: Yes. I mean, I'm here with the Tony Award winner, and I saw you in Tribeca last year with uh uh what was it? Uh yeah.

[6:12] Marissa Jaret Winokur: You were getting your photos taken.

[6:15] Tomás Matos: I yeah, probably. I do I do enjoy a photo being taken.

[6:19] Marissa Jaret Winokur: I remember I was like, oh my goodness. And then we saw you at the premiere, and I was like, oh my gosh, I get to see them again.

[6:23] Tomás Matos: Oh period, so good to see you again. That was fun. That was my first Rebecca. That was and now look at this. Yeah, here we are. With a Tony Award winner.

[6:31] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Um excuse me. I mean, come on now.

[6:34] Tomás Matos: And I will say, Celebrity Big Brother. I'm a huge fan. Huge fan.

[6:37] Marissa Jaret Winokur: I the stage managers all said they just binged it. They all watched it together.

[6:42] Tomás Matos: Yeah, no, Celebrity Big Brother was really fun. Like I definitely but it was like doing theater. Like I keep saying it's like being in the room with all these different personalities. Like that was what Big Brother was like for me. I had to like figure out where everybody is, make sure check in on everybody, make sure everybody's okay. And yeah, like that's theater is like the big brother house. And then we do get rid of people.

[7:03] Marissa Jaret Winokur: And then once you're gone, you're gone.

[7:04] Tomás Matos: You're gone.

[7:04] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Wait, you won. Did you get to keep your money, or did you have to give it to a charity?

[7:10] Tomás Matos: No charity. It was all for mommy.

[7:12] Marissa Jaret Winokur: I got oh yeah, no.

[7:14] Tomás Matos: Wait, you got that coin.

[7:15] Marissa Jaret Winokur: I got that coin.

[7:16] Tomás Matos: Oh my god.

[7:17] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Okay.

[7:19] Tomás Matos: I already spent that coin.

[7:22] Marissa Jaret Winokur: No, I got paid.

[7:25] Tomás Matos: Paid. It was a good painter. And it was such a good season. It was such a good season. The season one was really the best. Or it was really the best.

[7:33] Marissa Jaret Winokur: And now you guys opening in Boston at the Huntington.

[7:36] Tomás Matos: I know, I'm very excited. I feel like we're fit, we're closing the loop. Like we get to like let Boston see what they started.

[7:42] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Yeah, literally.

[7:43] Tomás Matos: Yeah. Well, congratulations.

[7:45] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Thank you so much for stopping.

[7:46] Tomás Matos: Thank you.

[7:46] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Did I just ask that we could take a quick little photo?

[7:48] Tomás Matos: Yeah.

[7:49] Marissa Jaret Winokur: That's my hubby over there.

[7:55] Tomás Matos: Thank you.

[7:56] Marissa Jaret Winokur: Thank you.

[7:56] Tomás Matos: Thank you, Nicki.

[8:00] Adrian: We're rolling. I'm Adrian. Robert Bannon is my cousin. He's out in Detroit, so I'm the East Coast correspondent.

[8:06] Kevin Chamberlin: Oh, hello. Nice to meet you. Could you please introduce yourself to the roundtabler, please?

[8:10] Kevin Chamberlin: Hi, I'm Kevin Chamberlin, and I play the director. How excited are you to be working with this amazing cast of people?

[8:18] Kevin Chamberlin: Well, what's wild is that most of the cast, we all came up through the ranks together. Beth and I have known each other for 40 years, Adam and I 40 years, and so we're all sort of the old Broadway pros. And then you know, we have a couple of the younger generation. I think we have three generations represented in the show. So it's pretty cool, and it's we all need a comedy right now. When you think about there hasn't been very many Boulevard comedies, you know.

[8:45] Adrian: No.

[8:49] Kevin Chamberlin: You think about you people talk about Neil Simon in the show. There's an event that happened with Neil Simon, and he kind of figures in the show, and so it'll make people think about, you know, oh there was always a Neil Simon comedy on Broadway. Right, there always was. It's just there is no comedy right now.

[9:06] Adrian: Yeah, I mean we love a good drama, but we need to laugh.

[9:08] Kevin Chamberlin: We need to have enough drama. Especially in these times.

[9:11] Adrian: Yes, that is true. Now are you a you're a Jersey man if I'm not mistaken?

[9:15] Kevin Chamberlin: I am from New Jersey, South Jersey, a little town called Moore's Town near Cherry Hill.

[9:18] Adrian: Okay, all right. We're from Jersey, we live up in Ramsey.

[9:21] Kevin Chamberlin: Oh okay. And I went to Rutgers.

[9:22] Adrian: Oh, Rutgers, go run.

[9:24] Kevin Chamberlin: I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Acting from Rutgers. Yes, yeah, my cousin loves their football team.

[9:28] Adrian: Yes. The theater majors didn't have time for football.

[9:33] Kevin Chamberlin: Sadly. Yes, yes, yes. But it's so exciting. I wish you the best of luck, and thank you so much for talking to us today.

[9:38] Kevin Chamberlin: Everybody come see us at the Huntington.

[9:40] Adrian: Yes, thank you so much. Could you please introduce yourself to the roundtablers, please?

[9:43] Adam Heller: Oh, I'd be happy to. I'm Adam Heller, and I'm playing the producer in When Playwrights Kill.

[9:49] Adrian: Ooh, the producer juicy rolls.

[9:52] Adam Heller: I've known a few over my time, yeah. It's really a wonderful comedy. We're excited to go to the Huntington and Boston, and it's and I'm really joining old friends and Kevin was it like it's amazing how he said like how many different generations are involved in this cast.

[10:10] Adrian: Yeah, yeah.

[10:11] Adam Heller: And we've all sort of, you know, when you're in this theater world, you kind of bounce back and forth and meet a lot of the same people and enjoy a lot of the company. So it's Kevin and I have known each other for decades, and so it's really nice. And though we've never worked together. So we've just known each other socially, and we've done a few readings together, God knows there are plenty of those. And so it's really been a pleasure to get to work with him and be in the same room.

[10:40] Adrian: That's so great, and then to be premiering in Boston. How fun is that?

[10:43] Adam Heller: Ah, well at the Huntington. It was a theater that I took my father to just before he passed away, and he was a big theater lover as I am, and so going to back to the Huntington is gonna be very meaningful for me.

[11:03] Adrian: Yeah, oh that'll be so great. And you're a Jersey boy too, right?

[11:06] Adam Heller: I am Englewood, New Jersey.

[11:09] Adrian: Oh yeah?

[11:09] Adam Heller: Oh yes, oh yes. We enjoy Jackson Hole every so often.

[11:13] Adrian: Oh, yeah.

[11:13] Adam Heller: Oh yes, interesting, yeah. We like their soup and their grilled cheese.

[11:17] Adrian: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to know. Good to know. Without it. I was just back in Montclair and had a went to a fantastic diner there. And the name escapes me, but I know yeah, I know which one you're talking about.

[11:29] Adam Heller: I can't think of it either, but yeah, Montclair has some great places to eat too. I mean Jersey knows its food.

[11:34] Adrian: We do, we do a little Boston does too.

[11:36] Adam Heller: Oh, yes, they do. Yeah, so my sister is and brother-in-law live in Boston, and so it's gonna be a homecoming, and I'm really excited.

[11:44] Kevin Chamberlin: That'll be so much fun.

[11:45] Beth Leavel: Well, congratulations.

[11:46] Kevin Chamberlin: Thank you.

[11:47] Beth Leavel: Good luck with everything, and we'll talk to you soon.

[11:48] Kevin Chamberlin: I appreciate it, thank you.

[11:50] Beth Leavel: All right, thank you so much.

[11:51] Adrian: So nice to meet you.

[11:51] Kevin Chamberlin: Hi, come on in the table with Robert Bannon.

[11:56] Adrian: We're rolling.

[11:57] Adrian: I'm Adrian.

[11:58] Adrian: Robert Bannon is my cousin. He's out in Detroit, so I'm the East Coast correspondent.

[12:02] Kevin Chamberlin: Oh, hello, nice to meet you.

[12:04] Adrian: Could you please introduce yourself to the round table, please?

[12:06] Kevin Chamberlin: Hi, I'm Kevin Chamberlin, and I play the director.

[12:10] Adrian: How excited are you to be working with this amazing cast of people?

[12:14] Kevin Chamberlin: Well, what's wild is that most of the cast, we all came up through the ranks together. Beth and I have known each other for 40 years, Adam and I 40 years, and so we're all sort of the old Broadway pros, and then you know, we have a couple of the younger generation. I think we have three generations represented in this show, so it's pretty cool, and we all need a comedy right now.

[12:41] Kevin Chamberlin: When you think about there hasn't been very many Boulevard comedies, you know.

[12:44] Adrian: No, you think about yeah, people talk about Neil Simon in the show.

[12:48] Kevin Chamberlin: There's an event that happened with Neil Simon, and he kind of figures in the show, and so it'll make people think about you know, oh there was always a Neil Simon comedy on Broadway.

[12:59] Adrian: Right, there always was.

[13:00] Kevin Chamberlin: There is no comedy right now.

[13:02] Adrian: Yeah, I mean we love a good drama, but we need to laugh.

[13:04] Kevin Chamberlin: We need to have enough drama, especially in these times.

[13:07] Adrian: Yes, that is true.

[13:08] Kevin Chamberlin: No, are you uh you're a Jersey man, if I'm not mistaken.

[13:10] Adrian: I am from New Jersey, South Jersey, a little town called Moore's Town near Cherry Hill.

[13:14] Kevin Chamberlin: Okay, all right. We're from Jersey, we live up in Ramsey.

[13:16] Adrian: So okay, and I went to Bra Wreckers.

[13:18] Kevin Chamberlin: Oh, Ruckers, go run, go ahead.

[13:19] Adrian: I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Acting from Ruckers.

[13:22] Kevin Chamberlin: Yes, yeah, my cousin loves their football team.

[13:24] Adrian: Yes.

[13:25] Kevin Chamberlin: The theater majors didn't have time for football.

[13:28] Adrian: Sadly.

[13:29] Kevin Chamberlin: Yes, yes, yes.

[13:30] Adrian: But it's so exciting. I wish you the best of luck, and thank you so much for talking to us today.

[13:34] Kevin Chamberlin: Everybody come see us at the Huntington.

[13:36] Adrian: Yes, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[13:38] Kevin Chamberlin: Thank you, thank you.

[13:38] Adrian: Oh, I'm scooch over here.

[13:40] Adam Heller: Hey, come on in.

[13:42] Adrian: Are we ready, babe?

[13:44] Adam Heller: Could you please introduce yourself to the roundtablers, please?

[13:46] Adam Heller: Oh, I'd be happy to. I'm Adam Heller, and I'm playing the producer in When Playwrights Kill.

[13:52] Adrian: Ooh, the producer juicy rolls.

[13:55] Adam Heller: I've known a few over my time, yeah. It's really a wonderful comedy. We're excited to go to the Huntington and Boston, and I'm really joining old friends, and Kevin was it like it's amazing how, and he said like how many different generations are involved in this cast.

[14:13] Adam Heller: Yeah, yeah. And we've all sort of, you know, when you're in this theater world, you kind of bounce back and forth and meet a lot of the same people and enjoy a lot of the company.

[14:38] Adam Heller: So it's really been a pleasure to get to work with him and be in the same room.

[14:42] Adrian: That's so great, and then to be premiering in Boston. How fun is that?

[14:45] Adam Heller: Ah, well at the Huntington. It was um a theater that um I took my father to just uh before he um before he passed away, and he was a big theater lover as I am, and so going back to the Huntington is gonna be very meaningful for me.

[15:06] Adrian: Yeah, oh that'll be so great.

[15:07] Adam Heller: And you're a Jersey boy too, right?

[15:09] Adam Heller: I am Anglewood, New Jersey.

[15:11] Adrian: Oh yeah?

[15:12] Adam Heller: Oh yes, oh yes.

[15:13] Adrian: We enjoy Jackson Hole every so often.

[15:15] Adam Heller: Oh yeah.

[15:16] Adrian: Oh yes, interesting, yeah.

[15:18] Adam Heller: We like their soup and their grilled cheese.

[15:20] Adrian: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to know.

[15:22] Adam Heller: Without the case.

[15:22] Adrian: I was just back in uh Montclair and had a went to a fantastic uh diner there.

[15:28] Adam Heller: But and the name escapes me, but uh I know yeah, I know which one you're talking about.

[15:31] Adrian: I can't think of it either, but yeah, Montclair has some great places to eat too.

[15:34] Adam Heller: I mean Jersey knows its food.

[15:36] Adrian: We do, we do a little bit.

[15:38] Adam Heller: Boston does too.

[15:38] Adrian: Oh, yes, they do.

[15:39] Adam Heller: Yeah, so my sister is uh and brother-in-law live in Boston, and uh so it's gonna be a homecoming, and I'm really excited.

[15:47] Adrian: That'll be so much fun.

[15:47] Adam Heller: Well, congratulations.

[15:48] Adrian: Thank you.

[15:49] Adam Heller: Good luck with everything, and we'll talk to you soon.

[15:50] Adrian: I appreciate it, thank you.

[15:51] Kevin Chamberlin: All right, round tablers. We are here with the actual director and the actual playwright, Matthew Lombardo and Noah Himmelstein.

[15:59] Matthew Lombardo: Congratulations.

[16:00] Noah Himmelstein: Thank you so much.

[16:01] Matthew Lombardo: How are you?

[16:01] Noah Himmelstein: I'm so great.

[16:02] Matthew Lombardo: You're excited.

[16:03] Noah Himmelstein: We are having the most joyful, craziest time working on this very unhinged bananas beautiful play.

[16:14] Matthew Lombardo: It sounds with speaking with the cast, they sound like so much fun.

[16:18] Noah Himmelstein: And they said rehearsals are just so much fun.

[16:21] Matthew Lombardo: And a little chaotic, they said too much.

[16:22] Noah Himmelstein: Good, good, good.

[16:23] Matthew Lombardo: I mean both.

[16:23] Noah Himmelstein: Yes.

[16:24] Matthew Lombardo: I mean, this play is very meta in the best way. It is about a rehearsal process, it is a show within a show where the show combusts and everybody is trying to destroy each other.

[16:34] Noah Himmelstein: We have a little bit more sanity in the room, but it's a controlled chaos.

[16:38] Matthew Lombardo: And our vision was to assemble a room of the most glorious, talented, beloved theater artists to do a play about glorious, talented, beloved theater artists.

[16:49] Noah Himmelstein: And all six of them are bringing into the room amazing ideas and creativity and vulnerability.

[16:57] Matthew Lombardo: And so it's really a dream.

[16:59] Noah Himmelstein: It just sounds so much fun.

[17:00] Matthew Lombardo: We need a little laughter right now.

[17:02] Noah Himmelstein: Yes.

[17:03] Matthew Lombardo: Serious is fun, but we're done with the drama.

[17:05] Noah Himmelstein: No, totally, totally.

[17:07] Matthew Lombardo: And we started this play a couple years ago, and we've been very fortunate to have some time to develop it. You know, it's a physical comedy, so we need to really work it on its feet with amazing artists like this to see what we have, you know, like Noises Off and the great Joe Orton plays.

[17:23] Noah Himmelstein: They all were figured out in space and time, and so we are so excited to get to Boston on that big beautiful stage at the Huntington and have our moment.

[17:32] Matthew Lombardo: Yes, yes.

[17:33] Noah Himmelstein: April 3rd, it starts.

[17:34] Matthew Lombardo: Correct. We start April 3rd, spring in Boston.

[17:37] Noah Himmelstein: I went to Emerson.

[17:38] Matthew Lombardo: Being in Boston, when everything is blooming, when you know it's all filled with college kids and exciting theater and great food.

[17:48] Noah Himmelstein: We're gonna be at the hotel each night, sort of diving deeper into our work.

[17:53] Matthew Lombardo: We're gonna try different jokes every night, we're gonna have previews, you know, all the things that are less common these days because of economics.

[18:01] Noah Himmelstein: But you know, growing up, aspiring to have a life in the theater, this is what I always dreamed of.

[18:06] Matthew Lombardo: That is true, that's true.

[18:07] Noah Himmelstein: And you I know you're you've lost your voice, but I have lost my voice.

[18:11] Matthew Lombardo: Matthew has done some wonderful work in Boston. He was uh he's worked at the Huntington, the Majestic, the Wilbur, and so uh this is a great theater town that you have a lot of wonderful experience in.

[18:22] Noah Himmelstein: And it's great to go back to the place that inspired um this production.

[18:27] Matthew Lombardo: So that's what's so fun and fantastic.

[18:30] Noah Himmelstein: And this cast truly is amazing.

[18:32] Matthew Lombardo: I have to, I got to speak to all of them. The energy is palpable.

[18:35] Noah Himmelstein: Like I love that so much.

[18:37] Matthew Lombardo: Yes, like I said, our vision was a play about theater people with theater stars that all bring in a very different kind of personality.

[18:44] Noah Himmelstein: We're creating a symphony, so they all play a different instrument.

[18:47] Matthew Lombardo: And you know, we have the director, we have the stage manager, we have the actress, we have purposely all of these sort of broad archetypes that then when you fill with specificity and quirks and you know Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tomás Matos and Kevin Chamberlin and the unbelievable Beth Leavel and Matt Doyle and Adam Heller, I mean it goes on and on, the creativity in the room, and each of them are bringing in you know their experiences with producers and playwrights and stage managers that bring truth to the crazy.

[19:18] Noah Himmelstein: And great comedy has to be truthful.

[19:20] Matthew Lombardo: And Kevin even said, too, it's different generations, so everybody's bringing a little something different to each of their characters, and that's amazing.

[19:27] Noah Himmelstein: That's our relationship.

[19:28] Matthew Lombardo: The play speaks to that, the play is the crash between this playwright entering this world and what is in his gut and the story he needs to tell versus the hierarchies of this business and trying to be an artist in a world that really values commercialism.

[19:43] Noah Himmelstein: It's relatable on a lot of levels.

[19:47] Matthew Lombardo: So we all have had those experiences, those heartbreaks, those moments where you know decisions were made behind other doors that really impacted you, and you're really just trying to make something good and trying to be seen for your talent and um yeah, having a great time.

[20:03] Noah Himmelstein: This is so awesome.

[20:04] Matthew Lombardo: I mean, amazing.

[20:05] Noah Himmelstein: You guys, April 3rd, go get your tickets, go see this amazing play in Boston at the Huntington.

[20:10] Matthew Lombardo: It's absolutely amazing.

[20:12] Noah Himmelstein: We are dog parents, so I what is your puppy's name?

[20:15] Matthew Lombardo: Yeah, so I have Paisley and Willa. Paisley is a mini golden doodle, and Willow is a Westie, and they are sisters.

[20:22] Noah Himmelstein: I love it.

[20:22] Matthew Lombardo: We have a golden doodle.

[20:23] Noah Himmelstein: What's your name?

[20:24] Matthew Lombardo: Chewbacca.

[20:25] Noah Himmelstein: We call him Chewy.

[20:25] Matthew Lombardo: Yes.

[20:26] Noah Himmelstein: So he's 91 pounds.

[20:27] Matthew Lombardo: Oh my god.

[20:28] Noah Himmelstein: So I've often thought that Paisley should do an origin movie about Chewbacca when she when Chewbacca was five and a young girl.

[20:36] Matthew Lombardo: Can we please do that?

[20:37] Noah Himmelstein: I love that so.

[20:38] Matthew Lombardo: Yeah.

[20:39] Noah Himmelstein: Thank you guys so much.

[20:41] Matthew Lombardo: Congratulations.

[20:42] Noah Himmelstein: Thank you.

[20:42] Matthew Lombardo: Go see this play.

[20:43] Noah Himmelstein: Yeah when you're on the show.

[20:44] Adrian: Okay.

[20:44] Adrian: Round tablers, I am here with a fabulous.

[20:47] Adrian: Actually, if you could introduce yourself to the Round Tablers, please.

[20:49] Alan Seales: I am Alan Seales, one of the lead producers of When Playwrights Kill.

[20:54] Adrian: This sounds like a really, really fun play.

[20:58] Alan Seales: I saw a workshop of it a good while ago and an intermission of the workshop.

[21:03] Alan Seales: I texted Matthew Lombardo, the playwright, and I said, I don't care how, but I need to be involved.

[21:08] Adrian: At intermission.

[21:09] Alan Seales: Oh my gosh.

[21:09] Adrian: I didn't need to see the second act because I knew it was gonna be a hit.

[21:13] Alan Seales: This thing is going to be phenomenal. I mean, the cast alone, Tony Award winners, Tony nominees.

[21:17] Adrian: I mean, come on.

[21:18] Alan Seales: Yes, yes.

[21:19] Adrian: The cast is incredible.

[21:20] Alan Seales: Working with them together, and then back at that workshop I saw, they had only each of them had only had the script for like maybe a day or two, if I remember correctly, and then now seeing them all with a full like rehearsal schedule and embodying these characters and mostly being off book by this point.

[21:35] Adrian: Right, right.

[21:36] Alan Seales: I cannot stress how funny this thing is.

[21:40] Adrian: And it's it's something we need right now.

[21:42] Alan Seales: I was just gonna say, we need to laugh.

[21:43] Adrian: We need to.

[21:44] Alan Seales: We need to laugh. There's so much going on in the world, and like bringing the world premiere to Boston now, like we want to revitalize the Boston area and really get that to start being another pipeline of like pre-Broadway type of runs.

[21:59] Adrian: Yeah, so we're we got a lot of ulterior motives here.

[22:02] Alan Seales: I like oh, so you could be the first uh to do that here.

[22:05] Alan Seales: Boston used to I uh don't quote me on this. Boston used to very much um send a lot through, but now like uh there's a tax credit there now, if you want to get in the business side of things.

[22:15] Alan Seales: So there's a tax credit incentivizing people to go to Boston, so now like that's part of why we went there.

[22:19] Alan Seales: And in addition to the fact that the true story that this fictional story is based off of happened at the actual Huntington Theater where we're having our world premiere.

[22:28] Adrian: See, that's perfect.

[22:30] Alan Seales: I love that so much.

[22:31] Adrian: And isn't it nice when you're like when you see something and you're like, I want to be a part of it.

[22:34] Alan Seales: Yes, that that was one of those things it was just never any question. There was never a question I want to be a part of this because it was at a time like when I saw the workshop that I was like, I need I need to laugh.

[22:44] Adrian: Things were getting really stressful.

[22:45] Alan Seales: And it this is one of those things that it's it's so heartfelt. There's such a great message within, and I think everyone can relate to the existential crises that we deal with within the show.

[22:56] Adrian: Right.

[22:57] Alan Seales: But at the end of the day, you will not stop laughing.

[23:00] Adrian: It is just so funny.

[23:01] Alan Seales: Oh my gosh, how terrible.

[23:02] Adrian: Alan, thank you so much.

[23:03] Alan Seales: Congratulations, and we'll talk to you soon.

[23:05] Alan Seales: Thank you, thank you.