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[0:00] Unknown speaker: Who knows? I don't care. I'm just happy to be here. Even if nobody shows up and we're just on the carpet, I'm in.

[0:06] Unknown speaker: This is a collect call from The Theatre Podcast, bringing you exclusive behind-the-scenes access to The Theatre Awards Season 2019.

[0:14] Unknown speaker: This is Cereal. Part of a Broadway-Lover’s Complete Breakfast.

[0:20] Unknown speaker: In this special five-part miniseries, we bring you stories and interviews from some of the most hard-to-access places throughout the month of May, leading up to the red carpet and press room of the Tony Awards themselves, which took place on June 9th, 2019.

[0:39] Unknown speaker: This is now Part 4 of Cereal, which means we've finally made it to June 9th. The Tony Awards took place this year at Radio City Music Hall, one of the most iconic performance venues in New York City. The main entrance to Radio City is on 6th Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. The red carpet, however, took up the entire city block on the east side of 6th Avenue, starting at 49th, ending at 50th.

[1:02] Unknown speaker: The carpet itself was under a giant tent of sorts, with the iconic Tony Awards logo repeated several times along the back wall, on top of freshly cut roses. As the crew sweeps and makes their final preparations in the background, Jillian and I set up and begin recording.

[1:16] Alan Seales: All right, we're here at the Tony Awards!

[1:19] Alan Seales: We are on the red carpet of the Tony Awards, and it is, uh, gosh, what time is it? It's 4.07. 4.07 in the afternoon. We got in, went through security, there were metal detectors. Uh, people, I think, will start arriving around 4.30? 4.45? Who knows? I don't care, I'm just happy to be here. So the, there's a lot of lights. We're under a big tent. Fortunately, the weather, the weather is perfect when you're not standing in the sun. The theme this year is rainbow. It's the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, so the, everything this year is rainbow. Everything, the playbills are rainbow bricks. The flowers on the backdrop are rainbow flowers that, uh, spoiler alert! And they're painted. Yeah, they're painted, you can smell it.

So when you see all these pictures later and see all the video, just know there are paint fumes wafting in the air. We're behind, like, a white, a very polite white farm-style barrier, I want to say, like almost a farm fence. I don't know if it's to protect the talent or to protect us from them. I think it's indeed to protect us.

[2:23] Alan Seales: I think so. The red carpet tent here is literally the entire block from 49th to 50th on the east side of 6th Avenue. So, we turn to our right, and there's Radio City. Radio City! We're here! Turn to our left, and there's the entrance to NBC Studios, and you can see all the way down to Times Square a little bit. Well, not really. It's electric. It is. Boogie woogie woogie? Yes. There's, uh, tourists standing across the street watching, trying to see what's happening. Um, the vibe is incredible. This is, for anyone who has ever dreamed of going to the Tony Awards, yeah. Hold on. Let's take a selfie right now. We're taking a selfie right now. Do a trophy. Okay, so. We'll post this. We'll post this. We're going to post so many pictures. The press, the media, everybody who is standing on this red carpet is wearing black tie. Like, I've got my chucks on. We're both wearing red. Basically, Jillian, you've got a prom dress on.

[3:18] Jillian Hochman: I do not. I don't get that.

[3:22] Alan Seales: Is that not a prom dress? This is not a prom dress. What is that? It's a gown.

[3:25] Jillian Hochman: Oh, it's a gown. Okay. I wanted to actually talk about, real quick, that I love the juxtaposition between all of us wearing super, super fancy clothes and gowns and tuxes, and then you look like a block away, and it's just normal New York, with tourists across the street, and t-shirts and shorts, and then the cars are still going by on the other side of the red carpet. New York does not stop for anybody. We didn't completely block 6th Avenue. No, that would not be nice. Oh, there goes a bus. Oh, there goes a bus. But it's not stopping here. Sorry. But, God, I love this city. This is just the best combination of file a permit, put up a tent, throw out a red carpet, and then the best of the best are going to show up here within a matter of hours. And somebody else is still in Warby Parker buying glasses right now.

[4:17] Alan Seales: Over the next 35 minutes or so, we gain more neighbors as other media outlets and journalists find their spots around us. The excitement starts to build, and other people recording audio and video commentary start walking around, talking into cameras in a similar fashion. It's now 4.45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. I'm here on a shoot without a script. We record this without a script. Michael James Scott from Aladdin is actually doing some red carpet correspondence for Good Morning America. He just walked by, did a little intro. This is a hell of a lot of fun so far. I think people are starting to come on the red carpet because they kicked all the media off. The Tony Awards this year were hosted by James Corden, who often has his real-life parents involved in skits for the Late Late Show on CBS.

A wonderfully nice older couple with their own camera entourage just happened to park down next to us, and we quickly realized who we were standing next to. Setting up for their own red carpet interviews were James' parents, Malcolm and Margaret Corden. We were fortunate enough to have a quick chat with them discussing their newfound fame, how James got into theater at a young age, and how proud they are of their son.

[5:18] Alan Seales: So we are here on the red carpet of the Tony Awards with Malcolm and Margaret Corden, of course, James Corden's parents. And people know you because he has you on the show so often. He has you on his show so often. Are you guys, are the two of you used to this kind of fame now?

[5:34] Malcolm Corden: We love it, we love it. Who wouldn't do it for their children? You know what I mean? That's the thing. And CBS look after us so well, don't they? They're great. We have a lovely time. It gives us a chance to see James and his family. He's got three children which we love spending time with them as well. This is an added bonus. We're very blessed. We're very fortunate with what we do.

[5:59] Alan Seales: And when he was a kid, did the two of you encourage him to get into theater or performing or how did that start?

[6:06] Margaret Corden: It started through church, really. Really? Yeah, he started performing on the church stage and then he realized he could make people laugh through his antics and he loved it so much. And then we had a neighbor who was involved with a local sort of youth theatre project and that was his life then, you know what I mean?

[6:25] Malcolm Corden: Yeah. But, you know, if I could encourage anyone who wants to do this, you know, we took James for probably, when he was, you know, between sort of early teens to late teens, must have been 30, 40 auditions. It's what he wanted to do, so. Never give up.

[6:51] Margaret Corden: Right. That's the thing there.

[6:57] Alan Seales: They ended up going to various shows for a pre-Tony montage for the Late Late Show, including James' dad Malcolm actually writing King Kong. We have a quick chat about that before I ended up making Malcolm cry.

[7:07] Malcolm Corden: It's so soft. It looks, you think, oh, it's going to be, oh, it's soft. When you touch him, he's all spongy and the graphics of his face are amazing.

[7:19] Margaret Corden: Yeah. You know, he sort of looks you in the eye, you know, it's fantastic.

[7:25] Alan Seales: Yeah. It is a phenomenal show. We've had fun.

[7:29] Alan Seales: Well, thank you both for coming over and talking. Thank you for supporting such a wonderful son who is making such a huge impact on the world.

[7:34] Malcolm Corden: Hey.

[7:45] Alan Seales: I mean, you've got to be proud.

[7:45] Margaret Corden: We are.

[7:45] Malcolm Corden: Yeah, it's terrific.

[7:45] Margaret Corden: Yeah. He brought tears to his eyes. He's crying.

[7:54] Alan Seales: Thank you. Thank you so much. It's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you.

[7:58] Unknown speaker: It's now around 5 p.m., which means that most nominees and performance categories have just finished their 2 p.m. matinees or are still wrapping them up. As such, the first guests that start to arrive on the red carpet are the creative nominees who already had all afternoon to get dressed.

[8:07] Alan Seales: We begin with Mark Kaufman, an executive producer with Warner Brothers Theater Ventures, who's part of the team responsible for bringing Beetlejuice, nominated for Best Musical, to the stage. Tell me what this feels like for you tonight.

[8:15] Mark Kaufman: This is like a dream come true. I was just saying to somebody else that as a kid I used to watch the Tonys and now I'm on the other side of the television and especially to be here for Beetlejuice is such an unbelievable honor. I love the show and I'm really hoping that everybody sees what they're seeing in the theater out there.

[8:38] Alan Seales: Next, we spoke to two individuals in roles we don't often hear from, producers of another ilk, the kind who are often silent from a creative perspective but essential to a production because they help bring the money in to make it all happen. Chris and Ashley Clark, who own a company called Beetlejuice.

[8:52] Unknown speaker: is a network that normally only produces television. Speak on why they decided to get involved with Broadway for the first time, with Tootsie. As you've probably noticed, almost every time I talk with someone from Tootsie, I bring up the outdated tropes. Robert Horn's script for Start was fantastic. It obviously got better and better and better as he worked on it all the time, but that, and also it was so topical. And so, it started on a really high base, where that film was 20 years, 30 years ahead of its time, as we all know. And now, with the Me Too movements and everything that's coming out, how does it speak to you? Well, I think our show is such an ode to women, that when you're in the audience, you feel so empowered in a way that is magical.

Because we're talking about anything that we can do in high heels, we can do the best backwards, forwards, and dancing. And so, it's such a beautiful ode to women, and it's a great love story. He always talks about the love story, and I always talk about the ode to women, and really, the way that Dorothy just makes it happen. It's powerful, and every woman leaves the show with an oomph in her step. Speaking of Robert Horn, he was next to swing by the microphone. He ended up later winning the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Tootsie. We talked to you at the Drama Desk Awards, and you were... I was nervous and excited, and I'm nervous and excited tonight. So, is this different for you than any other awards show?

Is this like the pinnacle of everything? This is the top of the mountain. But you know what's great? Is that tomorrow morning, we get a little hangover, and then we all get up, and go on to our next project, and work as a community. So, it's pretty great. Now that Tootsie is open, do you go back, and do you fine-tune that, and are you always going back? Well, I go back to... Do you want me to be honest? I go back because I love to hear the audience laugh. It's such a drug for me. Because you work so hard on it, and to hear the audience respond like that, sometimes I'll just go in, and stand in the back, and listen to them laugh. And I'm also thinking about what I want to change for the tour.

Continuing with book writers, next is Dominique Morisseau, who was nominated in the same category as Robert Horn for her work, creating Ain't Too Proud. When you see the show brought to life now, is it everything you had originally imagined? It has exceeded my expectations. I did not know how to imagine all of this, but it has come together by way of beautiful collaboration with some of my favorite artists to ever work with, and I'm blown away. I'm always blown away when I see them. I'm humbled by this creativity. James Harkness, who plays Paul Williams in Ain't Too Proud, walked the red carpet with his fellow castmates, and expressed his love for what he does, and who he does it with. I love getting to do this with Derek, and Ephraim, and Jeremy, and Juwan.

We get to share it, and it's an incredible thing to be able to do. So it's awesome. We were just talking to Dominique, just talking about how she brought the story to life, and she said you and the other guys just exceeded her expectations. We're talking about bringing this story, putting it on stage. Do you feel this from the audience every night? Like, they're standing ovation every night, and they're like, this is what I want. Yeah, well, you know what I love about it? Because she has written an incredibly rich story, and sometimes the simplest line means so much. You know what I mean? And getting to tell this story with these five men, and the rest of the company, because it really takes all of us.

It's incredible, and you definitely feel it back from the audience. And you feel it back every night. Moving on to Hadestown, Bradley King, who will later win the Tony for Best Lighting Design of a Musical, helps put all of this glitz and glamour into a little bit of perspective. We talked to you after your Drama Desk run. Yeah. A week ago, exactly. Was that really a week ago? That was now a week ago, and now we're here on the red carpet of the Tony Awards. My, how time flies. Are you excited for tonight in any sort of different way from last week? Oh, I mean, yeah, the stage is a little bit bigger. You know, the Drama Desks are great because, you know, it's got a little bit of a downtown vibe with your friends.

You go out for drinks beforehand. Like, I would be lying if I didn't say the glitz and the glamour didn't affect or get you a little bit here on this red carpet on 6th Avenue. Yeah. But at the end of the day, it's also just, you know, it's the family from the show, and we're here to celebrate no matter what happens. Yeah, I still feel like this is a theater community. It's Manhattan, it's New York, and so everybody still knows everybody, and you're still with your family. You're just on a much bigger carpet right now. Exactly, yeah. We've taken it uptown. Right, right. Hadestown wouldn't be Hadestown without the work, perseverance, and incredible talent that poured out of Anais Mitchell. Your first Broadway everything, and you are just taking it by storm.

Oh, man. Most nominations for Hadestown. Like, how are you feeling right now? Is this like, I mean, you've been performing for so long. Is this kind of like an old hat, or is this still like kind of a pitch me moment for you? Yeah, no, this is something different for sure. I've never seen a red carpet this long in my life. And as you know, I've been working on this show for a long time, 13 years. So many different artists have put their hands on it, put their fingerprints on it along the way. And so to have those 14 nominations, it felt like I took a village, and then like a lot of villagers got recognized. I'm so proud to be here with so many of my dear friends and fellow workers on this show, as well as all of the beautiful shows that are up right now.

Perhaps unsurprisingly to some, based on her work writing and performing music outside of the theater, when asked about her childhood, she said she wasn't the cast-recording-obsessed kid. But still, she saw some live theater that made a tremendous impact on how she grew up. I don't fit in the category of the person who listened obsessively to all those soundtracks and stuff. But I did encounter Les Mis at a young age, and The Fantastics. My mom took me to see both those shows, and they made an impression. And then later I fell in love with Sweeney Todd, and of course Hamilton, and The Great Comet. And all of those shows, what they have in common, I think, is they're sung through their operas.

And so that's the realm we've tried to exist in with Hadestown. You write home to Ani DeFranco, and you're like, thank you for helping me with the concept album. Just look at where we are. Yeah, you know, Ani came to our opening night, which was so sweet of her. Yeah, she was telling me, yeah. And I owe a lot to her, not just as a songwriter. She really gave me my first major opening to open up for her when I was on her record label, and her record label put out my early records. And she also believed in this piece before it was that it is now. And she agreed to sing the role of Persephone on that album that we made before any of the other singers were on board. So it really was a leap of faith for her, and I'm so grateful.

And as always, here's a great answer to one of the standard closing questions from Clint Ramos, who was nominated in the category of Best Costume Design of a Play for his work on Torch Song, which was also nominated for Best Revival of a Play. So what advice also would you give to your younger self or younger people now who are listening starting out down a similar path? I would say relax, but work a little harder. And I would say go where the love is. Don't waste your time trying to chase a community or people that don't love you. Go where the love is and stay there. Did you have to do that? Did you have to go and find your love? Yeah, I think that's sort of like, you know, as a young gay man of color, there are things that you don't realize about your identity or you don't like about your identity, and you kind of try to stifle that by trying to belong and think that you can't belong.

And so, you know, it took me a little time to actually realize, you know what, go to your people. And I mean theater people, you know, like go to them. They will coddle you, they will love you, they will support you. That is wonderful. Thanks for listening to Episode 4 of Serial, part of the Broadway Lover's Complete Breakfast. Visit us online via theater underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter, via thetheaterpodcast.com or send us an email via feedback at thetheaterpodcast.com. And make sure to follow Parody Bill on Instagram for more amazing Playbill mashups. Yeah, I know, when you have podcasts you have to decide like what side your stuff goes on. I know, my phone goes on this side. I know. It's not working. I know. Nothing is working. Um. Oh, this isn't on. Oh, did I mute it? Yes, I did. There we go. Okay.