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[0:00] Alan Seales: Welcome to The Theatre Podcast, intimate personal conversations with theatre's biggest names. I'm your host, Alan Seales, and this episode is with Lisa Goldberg, who is a publicist that I know through the scene here in New York, but she reps people across the board in film and television and theatre and music, and, I mean, even venues. Because yes, even a place can benefit from a publicist because you need to try to get parties there. You need to try to get after parties with your big celebrities and get these places shown in movies and TVs and whatever the case is. She made her mark a long time ago, put herself on the scene just thinking outside the box. She started repping restaurants and venues, started meeting high profile people, VIPs through those things, and then all of a sudden just morphed naturally into representing them and so on and so on.

And of course, we recorded this in quarantine. And recently, the Broadway community was greatly affected by the loss of Nick Cordero, who actually is a former client and was a very close friend of hers. So, she was talking about how that affected her and how she's handling being in quarantine. And of course, she is a performance person, and stage people are people who need people or whatever that quote is, of course. But it was just a great story. Again, a testament to how many opportunities there are to work in stage and screen without actually being in front of the camera. As always, before we dig in, please find me online on Instagram and Twitter at Theatre Underscore Podcast or on Facebook slash Official Theatre Podcast. Please leave a rating and a review wherever you are listening now. And everybody, please now enjoy this episode with Lisa Goldberg.

[1:53] Alan Seales: My guest today is the owner of LSG Public Relations in New York, LA and London, and representing talent and creatives across the board in film, television, theatre and music, as well as charity work, restaurant and bars and red carpet events. Prior to becoming a publicist, she was a professional dancer working in the theatre. And I am very excited to dig into her story as just scrolling through her Instagram account is post after post of some of the most amazing pictures with people like Mark Hamill, Gerard Butler, Montego Glover, James Van Der Beek, Katrina Bowden, Mark Kudisch, Paul Rudd, Mick Jagger, so, so many more. Lisa Goldberg, welcome to The Theatre Podcast.

[2:33] Lisa Goldberg: Hey, thanks for having me, Alan.

[2:36] Alan Seales: No problem. So, gosh, being a publicist right now in the time of COVID, it's mid July here while we're recording this. And Broadway has, I mean, I will say has no sign of returning. But you know, there's sort of the hint that it's going to return in early 2021. I don't know. But before we get into that, which we will, standard stuff on the podcast, obviously, we'll start about where you grew up and, you know, what your childhood was like. So, you were originally from South Carolina?

[3:08] Lisa Goldberg: Yeah, that's correct. Yeah. Born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, home of the Fighting Cox, Bill Gingcox. That's right. I used to have a hat in college. I was like, look how ironic I am. I have a hat that says Cox on it. Yeah. My favorite thing is when I'm walking down the street, when we used to be able to walk down the street, and some dude would be walking towards me who had a Carolina hat on that just said Cox. And I'd be like, hey, did you go to USC? And he's like, what? That's actually a school. But okay, never mind. So yeah, so born and raised in Columbia, and we grew up a very serious ballet dancer. And I would leave during my summers and go away and study with ballet companies across the country and in New York.

And then I did not want to go to college. I wanted to move up to New York right away, 18. And my parents convinced me to go to school and said, you know, it's an experience that you'll never have again, best time of your entire life, which thank God they made me go because it was the best time of my life. And I started auditioning and it was between Indiana University and Florida State. Indiana had a huge dance program that was amazing. Campus was gorgeous. And Florida State has a huge musical theater program and dance and voice program. And Florida State ended up offering me money. So I went and became a seminal.

[4:38] Alan Seales: That's cool of your parents to pitch college to you as the time of your life. Because I mean, it's true. It's very true for everybody listening now, who's like, I don't think I need to go to college. No, you do just to like, get that out of your system. You will never have a time as great as college in most cases. But I've heard so many people whose parents are like, you have to go because of the education. You need the degree, you need the degree.

[5:05] Lisa Goldberg: And that's actually something that my parents instilled in me. I sort of have guilt about even considering not going to college because my parents were like, it doesn't matter ultimately sort of what degree you get. You just need to have one.

[5:16] Alan Seales: Right. Yeah. I mean, obviously that was behind all of it. But it was definitely the smart move to make in trying to talk me into it because I was a bit of a party girl. And I don't know what connotation that has in this day and age. I wasn't doing drugs or drinking excessively or, you know, running around naked. I just, you know, I was student body president type party girl. It was that kind of thing. And socialite, like it led you to a social life. I wanted to go and, you know, hang out with boys and go to fraternity parties and go to football games. And, you know, so that was the way to talk me into it. But I am truly grateful that I listened to them and they said it because it really was the best time of my life. One hundred percent. And still my some of my absolute best friends are the people that I met in college. And, years later, there's some of my best friends.

[6:12] Lisa Goldberg: Right. Yeah. Mine, too. I agree that, like, because you're sort of going through, you know, it's an intense experience. I was going to use the word trauma, but trauma is, I think, misused. I was about to use it, I guess. But like going through an intense emotional experience, whether it's, you know, finding your own in college or whatever that comes through. Or like that's why theater, I think, in general, right, is the theater troops and casts are so close because you have that intense experience where you have to go through rehearsal and tech and opening. And then all of a sudden and to be good at your job, you have to be emotionally vulnerable anyway. But so I think college is sort of a longer version of a shrunken production timeline. Right. But that's a really good way of integrating it into a podcast about theater. Possibly. What was it, though, like when, as a child, what was it that made you, like, attracted to theater and dance in the first place?

[7:14] Lisa Goldberg: I don't know. I think I came out, I came out of the womb dancing, I think. You know, my mom put me in dance classes when I was three. I started in tap classes at three and then started ballet at six. You know, as soon as I was old enough and allowed to be in ballet classes, because you have to be of a certain age. And it just turns out like I, you know, without sounding like a jackass, like I had a real natural ability for it. So and I loved it. So those two things combined, it just made perfect sense. And there was never a time from that point on that I wasn't in dance classes all day, every day, or forever. You know, in high school, I would obviously go to school all day. And then I'd get out of school at like, what, two, 33 o'clock or something and go straight to the dance studio.

And I used to teach when I was a teenager, I teach the younger kids ballet. So I would go and teach a class or two. And then I take, you know, our company class, and then we'd have a reversal afterwards. And I wouldn't get home until like 11 o'clock at night, do my homework, go to bed, get up, do the whole thing all over again. Somehow, I also still had time to go out on dirt roads with friends on the weekends here and there. I was very good at finding ways of still having a life. But I danced all the time. And like I said, I would go away during summers to stay at Washington Ballet, stay at Gillespie Ballet, I would come stay in New York, study with David Howard, studied with people at SAP.

It was just, you know, that was what I wanted to be. Now, I did not have the body of a ballet dancer. I was very thin and small and dancer-like, but not ballet dancer-like. I always had the TNA. So that was never going to translate into me joining a ballet company. I think my feet kind of sucked, too, to be honest. But, you know, I would say I started getting into musical theater probably in middle school. I think my parents went to London for their 40th wedding, no, 40th birthdays, rather. And they saw the original Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera, if I'm not incorrect, and brought back, not CDs, whatever it was at the time, I guess, sheets for me. And so I started listening to it and then fell in love with musical theater and started doing community theater in Columbia, as well as the ballet company, and taking voice lessons from the University of South Carolina. And it just spiraled from there.

[9:58] Alan Seales: That's so cool. Yeah, it's fun to me. Like, I sort of have something similar that my parents or my mom listened to the Phantom soundtrack a lot. But then, like, I had VHS tapes that I wore out of Singing in the Rain, Music Man, and West Side Story. So I was like, oh, like, and for me, I've always tried, as an adult now, I've tried to look back and sort of figure out what it is about that scenario that I really was attracted to. And the scenario being, like, the song and dance sort of guy, being able to dance, being able to sing. And for me, it was a little bit of, I guess, it was a way to be instantly sort of accepted and liked, because I was always felt a little bit out of place. And I don't know if, like, that's what all kids felt, or if it was just me, but it was kind of a home for me to be able to go into a cast and be told how to act, given lines to say, and not to worry about being liked or not.

[11:00] Lisa Goldberg: I think, I mean, from interviews I hear all across the theater all the time, I think the majority of people feel that way as well, as you did. I mean, that was not my scenario. I did it because I, you know, I was pretty good at it, and I loved it. And like, that's just what I wanted to be. That was just the end of it. Like, I've always been a person, like, once I made up my mind with something, that was what it is. They don't have to have a reason behind it. So, yeah, I mean, I never, I luckily never had that experience where I felt that way. I can certainly empathize with it. And I definitely think the theater is a home for a lot of people and not in that way. And that's how they found their way there. So at what point, then, did you transition out of performing and start doing the behind the scenes? And I mean, what made you decide PR, you know?

[11:47] Lisa Goldberg: Sheer luck of falling into it in circumstances. So when I got up to New York, I actually quit school after my sophomore year. Don't quit school, kids. But I left school when I was 20 and moved up to New York when I was 20, started auditioning, got my first national tour six months later. So I was working for a while. And then I started getting sick. I got really sick with some autoimmune stomach issues that escalated pretty severely and got to a certain point where I couldn't dance or perform anymore. And, you know, I was trying to wait tables so that I could, you know, stay here. The last thing I wanted to do was move back to South Carolina, but it got to a point where I was so sick that I needed some, you know, help and ended up going to Mayo Clinic with my mom and having to move back to South Carolina for a few years and living with my parents.

And then once I got into some sort of remission of sorts and got it all cleared up, I packed my bags and moved back up to New York. At that point, you know, I crossed over 30. And that's starting to get a little old for a dancer. My agent had, you know, moved to CAA in LA and certainly like I wasn't going to start back up with them. They weren't going to care about, you know, what are we supposed to call us now? Gypsies? We were horse girls, but we're not allowed to say gypsy anymore. What did you say? Ensemble. Yeah. I don't remember. Yeah. Because I don't even remember what that new name is. A robe. Anyway, so I had to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I took a job, a friend of a friend had a restaurant in Chelsea, and I took a job where they thought was going to be waiting tables while.

[13:50] Lisa Goldberg: I decided what I could be. And he, he, I was like, I was a good chooser on my own behalf. I didn't know that translated into the job, but he hired me to do is an in-house PR with absolutely no experience. And within a couple of months, I had a second restaurant that I was doing PR for, and I was harassing George Clooney's publicist in LA to get George into the restaurant for a film premiere. And luckily Stan, his publicist, Stan took a liking to me and took me under his wing and said, you know, you should start your own firm and here's how you do it. And I just did it. And that was almost 14 years ago.

[14:32] Alan Seales: Wow. So how do you, how do you do that though? When, you know, here's, okay, so you're deciding I'm going to go off and do my own PR. Like if you had, you have clients, I mean, you've had some clients now in your roster for years. And I mean, is it like, if, I mean, I'm not, I guess asking to reveal all your secrets, but if I were like, okay, I'm completely reinventing myself and I want to go out and do my own thing. Now do, do I go find actors who are also fresh out and hope that they, they succeed with my help?

[15:10] Lisa Goldberg: You get to prove yourself as much as your clients do. And sort of, it's kind of sort of a chicken and egg scenario, I guess. Right. Yeah. Uh, you know, everybody's different in the way that they handle their business. Obviously I'm not giving up any secrets by telling you what I do. I mean, and continue to do. Um, I mean, obviously 14 years later things have changed a little bit where people come to me a lot more than me having to chase someone down. But that doesn't mean that I don't see someone straight out of school or someone who's making their Broadway debut and I, somebody has tipped off their name to me or I happen to catch something on YouTube and I'm chasing them down either through their agent or through their social media or however I can get to them.

So I'm, I'm not about that. Um, you know, in the beginning I started going after some big fish, obviously like Clooney, but, but to get because I was representing venues at the time and still do so and still would do this for a venue where I, you know, befriended people at Saturday Night Live so that we could host the Saturday Night Live parties after parties at the venue and host film premiere parties. We did like a movie with Michael Keaton that was, you know, a big get.

[16:24] Lisa Goldberg: We got, um, I would go after, um, movie scout film and TV scouts so that when they needed a restaurant to shoot for their TV show or film, they would come shoot in our place and we'd have a buyout for three days where Colin Firth and Uma Thurman came and shot a restaurant for two weeks that we shut down, but also negotiated where, okay, for a certain amount of money you're going to close down the restaurant and you're going to pay us, you know, to just shoot here. But for a little less money than we get a guarantee that you're going to show the front of the restaurant, including the name and a menu front cover, you know, that kind of, you just can't buy that kind of publicity.

[17:01] Alan Seales: So in a way, well, that's, that's why people do billboards in Times Square, right?

[17:09] Lisa Goldberg: I mean, part of it. Absolutely. You get a wide shot of Times Square in a movie and then that advertisement is in that movie for life. Yeah. And there's a really not so great film, um, starring Colin Firth and Uma Thurman. I cannot be the life of me, because the name of it, that they shoot in a restaurant called Sapa, which was stunning. And you see the name Sapa and Bruce, Bruce, Oh, actually no wrong movie. It was a different movie. Sorry. Colin's movie, Colin, the Uma's movie was actually kind of cute. This was a Bruce Willis Halle Berry movie that shot in a restaurant in Sapa. So in this one we negotiated that Bruce Willis actually said the name of the restaurant in the film and the film will still show on TV.

Now it's a really not good movie, but Bruce Willis and Halle Berry are sitting at the bar and he starts talking about a Hemingway daiquiri and that Sapa is one of the only places that makes a Hemingway daiquiri correct or something like that. And then I got that on page six after that. And, you know, it was like, they called me restaurant manager, which kind of hits me. It was my first page six and they talked about Bruce Willis talking about Sapa in the restaurant. So that's how, you know, you just kind of spiraled off of that and I would meet people that way.

[18:32] Lisa Goldberg: So one of my first actor clients was Martha Plimpton. I mean, Martha has been with me on and off for almost 14 years and I met her at a Saturday Night Live after party that we held at the restaurant. She was dating somebody who was on SNL at the time and Martha and I met and hit it off. And then when she needed the publicist about four months later, she remembered me and called me. So yeah, it's all about being a nice person and keeping the connections going.

[19:03] Alan Seales: I didn't even think about that. I've, I've, I've been doing SNL after party and you know, it was down in the West Village somewhere and yeah, I just assumed it was someone from the SNL team who just had a standing reservation with some place. And I'm like, all right, we'll just send other people there. Here's where the cars go. And uh, and no, I guess there's, yeah, it's like thinking outside the box and getting influential people to a place for reasons other than just let me promote you. It's, it's the whole project. So yeah, plus back, you know, back in that day. Um, but, but then also, you know, the weekly magazines were very important. Like current was way more important then. So it was all about getting your product or your venue or your person in us weekly or in touch or whatever.

You know, one of the weeklies was where it mentioned so-and-so was in Sapa eating a fish sandwich or whatever it may have been. I mean, actually like in the history of all the placements I did, the semi most amusing one was, um, I've got, I've bought Ivana who's about to say Ivanka. Um, whoever her name is. She and Jared came in to our restaurant on their first date and then it ended up in People magazine. And then I saw them at a party like a month and a half later and he started screaming at me about the People magazine.

[20:38] Lisa Goldberg: So as a publicist, people do people still reach out to you and they're like, I know I have an influential other publicist for big influential clients are like, they're about to go on a date with somebody or we need a cool place to go tip off the press that these people are going to be here.

[21:02] Alan Seales: It depends on, it depends on who we're talking about. You know, for the most part people aren't tipping off as much anymore. Um, like, yeah, that does happen. I would say it's 50 50. Sure. And certainly when you see, and again, like, you know, it's not as prevalent right now because you know, print as isn't as relevant to see people aren't getting their weekly magazines that they're reading through. They're looking at it online. So everything is happening much faster on a daily basis. But when it was more about the print, you know, if you saw a celebrity walking through the airport drinking a Coke, like I, if it was my celebrity, I was the one who also brokered the deal where they happened to be drinking a Coke and there happened to be a star or there was none at all of that. Like I'm giving away secrets, I guess, but I hate to burst anyone's bubble. Like it's all set up.

[21:53] Lisa Goldberg: That's gotta be so stressful though for, for the people, like the humans that want to like your clients, right? Do they, I guess they must get paid for that, right? Is that a paid endorsement?

[22:04] Lisa Goldberg: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. It's basically like as if you, you know, you would think as if you were doing a commercial, but it's, you're just, you're setting up a paparazzi shot. Now my clients in general, like I've had some weeks that those things up, but we don't, I've never been the sort that tipped off a restaurant in exchange for, you know, that's just not my thing. I've had other publicists do that to me and everybody's different and it depends on the client, you know, especially if you're dealing with reality stars or, you know, I guess nowadays there would be influencers, quote unquote, whatever that means, you know, YouTube stars, that kind of genre, I think it will probably be more about tipping off the paparazzi than, you know, certainly no A-list movie stars doing that.

[22:55] Alan Seales: That's, I think that's a good segue though, into, you know, the 14 years between when you started and now obviously Google's come about, YouTube's come about, Instagram, Twitter, all the, now it's TikTok, right? Is assuming that by the time this airs next week, it's not banned in the US, but this is like such a change into the digital world. And I found, I don't know how it is in TV and film, but like my personal experience with theater is that the producers and directors in the world of theater is like the last to adopt technology change, technological change and get in, get hop onto a social bandwagon of any sort. And so we're, I guess for you, where did you, when was there a point when you're like, Oh, I'm behind the curve on this?

Or do you see these things coming? And they're like, all right, let's get ahead of it and I'm going to do that. Like Katrina Bowden, I see her all over everything. And you know, is it because she's good at social media is because you as a publicist are good at putting her in social media or like, do you see ahead of time? Like, Oh, have you sat down with any of your clients and you're like, all right, TikTok is the new thing. Here's how you do it.

[24:13] Lisa Goldberg: Sometimes I do. It depends on the client. You know, it really depends on if they're an actor in theater, TV or film versus, or, or a choreographer or director. Cause sometimes I find it's not as relevant. It doesn't help. And Katrina does her own social media and she does it fantastic. So, you know, that's, let's, we'll give her credit for that. Cause that's all her. Um, yeah, I don't really know how to answer that. I, I try, I try and give them advice when it's warranted. I mean like a, like Mark Kudish is like not active on social media and they're like, there's potential there because he's so loved and has been around for so many decades in the theater that he could, if he would play the game could get a huge following, but he doesn't care. So is that you like, do you have a conversation with him and like, Hey, we should hire somebody or you should try this or there's a missed opportunity. Are you cool with it?

[25:09] Lisa Goldberg: Uh, I mean actually Mark and I have that conversation a couple of years ago, especially when he started working in TV a lot more. Um, and that was when he actually joined Instagram. It was probably two or three years ago. Um, and started, you know, posting a little bit on Twitter because he and I did have a conversation where I was like, dude, you've got, you've got to at least have a presence on here. You know? Um, and he was, he was good with it for a little bit, but yeah, it's just not, he's just not interested in it and it's not who he is. And I'm okay with that because I don't think it's gonna make or break his career. Um, especially, you know, at the age and range that he's playing. I don't think it makes that much difference.

Like he's not looking to be the next TikTok star. I don't even think he would know what TikTok is. Maybe he does. It's just not, you know, it just doesn't, it doesn't matter to him exactly like you said. He doesn't care and that's fine by me because I don't want to make somebody do something they don't want to do. I don't think it's detrimental for Mark Kudish's career. Whereas if it was a 21 year old female just starting out, that would be different.

[26:33] Alan Seales: Right. I've, I've had a, I've asked this question of a lot of older people. And I think Nancy Opal gave me older. That's people of a certain age. We'll rephrase it. I've asked, I've asked this question of people of a certain age, um, older than 21. Um, and I think Nancy Opal probably gave me the best answer is that, you know, she said that like for younger people now, yet it is a game where all things being equal. Normally she just sees people getting hired that have a higher social media account, higher, uh, bigger following because that's going to sell more tickets. And if they're more active on Instagram, that's gonna get more. It's the free advertising. I mean, look at how TikTok essentially saved Beetlejuice.

[27:42] Lisa Goldberg: You know, from a PR standpoint, it certainly helps me if somebody has a large following. You know, it makes it easier because the outlets really do. Obviously, you know, every outlet wants to get as many clicks as possible, and you know, have somebody promote it. And the only way to do that nowadays really is by a large social media following. So, you know, I kind of tell, my rule in general is either you go full force with it, and you try and build up your following as much as humanly possible, or just don't be on it and have, you know, 15 followers that are your family and your wife or your husband or whoever, you know, because then it's clear, like, I'm not participating in this, you know, but if you're like somewhere in the middle, or even you know, what my following is, you know, you have like 1500 followers or whatever, that's fine for me, I'm just a regular person.

Like, I don't care one way or the other. But like, if you're a quote unquote, celebrity or actor trying to be a celebrity or whatever it may be, and you're finding yourself somewhere on that low end middle area, that's a problem. You got to make a choice one way or the other. It's hard. I go back and forth. Because I'm like, I really I want to do this. I want to get following because it'll help you help get more awareness more this more that. And then, you know, three days in, I'm like, Oh, God, this is so much work. I just don't know how to do it anymore.

[29:11] Lisa Goldberg: Yeah. Well, but now there are people you can hire, you know, and, and, you know, I send a lot of people to him, it's if somebody wants to be able to have that kind of vision, so to speak on social media, but they don't want to have to do it. I mean, there are companies and people that do a really good job that you can hire. And that's, that's the suggestion that I made.

[29:39] Alan Seales: Right? Well, so so pivoting then, I mean, into the digital, everything's come around. And, and, you know, obviously, it's not, it's not analog anymore. But now, even specifically where we are today, in the time of COVID with Broadway shut down, what are you what are you doing? What's how's the livelihood?

[30:01] Lisa Goldberg: I'm doing okay. Thank you. Um, you know, I was lucky in that a lot of my clients stayed on retainer quite a bit longer than I guess I would have expected. But there was also a ton of content needed for major outlets like Variety and Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, you know, so there was a lot to be done, especially like, that last half of March, all of April, May, and then you kind of go into me campaigning as well. I mean, so my TV clients have been on and I've been lucky that way. Yeah, I don't know. I just take it. I mean, I hate when people say this, it usually makes me want to hit them like anybody who would say, Well, I just take it day by day. It's just so not somebody I need to be friends with.

But I just take it day by day. I don't think there's right now. Okay. Yeah, I don't think there's anything we can do it right now. Other than that. I mean, literally, because our orange in chief just spouts off so much different crap every day that we don't know what's coming. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, when you break it down, like your ultimate goal right now is one not to die. Yeah. You know, it's not even funny. Like, don't die. And, um, you know, as long as my family's okay, and they're not sick, I'm okay. And I'm not sick. I haven't, you know, I'm lucky enough that I've got money saved and making money still where I can pay my rent and my bills. And I mean, I do I am the person who's staying inside all the time, you know, I'll take walks, but I stay inside. I'm not I'm not messing around with this, you know, and I'm not spending any extra money either. But, yeah, there's nothing you can do but just just try and stay sane. And, and take a dab at it.

[31:57] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, I I'm just I'm flabbergasted sometimes by sort of the flagrant disregard for obvious safety, you know, I think youth is wasted on the young. But and we'll we'll leave it there without getting too political. But I mean, Broadway, I often wonder, though, I try and think back, like, okay, when I was 25, what I would I be ignoring all this, like, what I would be like, yeah, fuck it, I'm gonna go do whatever I want walk around streets, not wearing a mask, make out with people go drinking, what I mean, would I be behaving? I hope not. But I don't know, maybe I would. But, you know, it's just so we've never seen anything like this. And politics aside, it's just common sense and science.

I don't understand there are no politics involved when you have friends dying and family dying. And you know, it's just, it's insanity to me that anybody would just, you know, say, fuck it and go about their business. It's so selfish. And I have no understanding of that level of selfishness in another human being.

[33:10] Lisa Goldberg: It's, it's easy for us, in New York, to see, like to look out our window and see 100 people walking down the street, because it's in front of us. And we're like, oh, it's easy to touch people, or it's easy to bump into them. And any one of them might have it right. And, you know, I just think back to where I grew up in this tiny town in North Carolina, where, where I was lucky to see three people walking on the street, at any point, like everyone's in their cars. But you just go from house to house in your car. And if anyone's outside, you don't bump into people. And like, I don't, obviously, I obviously don't agree with like, the whole wearing a mask is encroaching on your rights and all that. I mean, it's just plain common sense and safety. But the mentality of, of people who have never been to a big city, I get I get that. Because I was there once.

[34:04] Alan Seales: Sure, but I don't know what that really has to do with not believing it's a hoax.

[34:12] Lisa Goldberg: Well, that's different. That's, yeah, that's just porn idiocy. Yeah, right. I mean, like, I don't know what that has to do with just going about your business. Like, that's great. If you can go, you know, for five days without seeing another soul, you don't have to worry about anything right now, you know, but like, you're still not gonna go take a trip somewhere. Or, you know, I don't know. It's just, you know, my family still lives in South Carolina. And it's not like some small town or anything. But my mom, my parents are staying inside. My dad is working. But, you know, and my brother and sister-in-law are working, but they're all taking like serious precautions. No one's going out to eat. No one's, you know, no one's doing anything. What I would call stupid.

[35:54] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, my mom, my mom, luckily her paranoia and anxiety works to her favor works to our favor in this case, because she's got like, you know, almost a full hazmat suit that she puts on when she goes outside. So it's, it's also not to say that I don't understand how hard it is, because I do live alone. And I live in 400 square feet. And, you know, I've had autoimmune issues. So I can't take any risks. So I stay inside no matter what, unless I'm going for a walk with a mask and have everything delivered. And it has been four and a half, you know, almost five months now since another human being has touched me in any manner, handshake, hand on the shoulder, a hug, nothing. And you, you know, everybody has their issues. People are complaining about being stuck at home with their children or their parents or whatever. But it's not easy. It's not easy, just because I say I'm following the rules.

[36:57] Lisa Goldberg: Oh, no, no, I get that. Because because entertainment people like in this industry in general, like we are people who need people. And if I was by myself, I would I would, I would have to find a way to go out and, and just like a stoop stoop parties or, I mean, like socially distant park visits or whatever the case is, you know, like, there's, there's things to do. But yeah, it's just, I miss hugging. I mean, nothing against my family, but I miss hugging my friends, you know.

[37:05] Alan Seales: It's chemically, it's chemically proven, right? Like touching people and prolonged eye contact or leaks releases oxytocin. It's one of the pleasure chemicals, like your brain needs it to regulate and you need other human contact evolution, evolution wise, we are herd animals. Yeah. So anyway, um, yeah, I mean, you've, I've lost some people to COVID actually. And I know you have to and I and if you're okay, like, can we talk about Nick Cordero for a little bit? Because he was one of your former clients?

[37:30] Lisa Goldberg: I will say, you know, I do FaceTime a lot. I make FaceTime dates. And I don't mean like romantic dates, just in general. And, you know, that is very helpful. I mean, last night, Montego and I were on FaceTime for two and a half hours. And all of a sudden, we were like, Oh, it's 1130. We got to go. But it's just so helpful. And I do think it does make a huge difference. Because you, even though you're not standing next to that person or touching somebody, you know, it at least like makes you feel normal to have a conversation like that. So I would strongly suggest that to anyone who's in the same position I am in.

[37:36] Lisa Goldberg: Yeah. Yes.

[37:39] Alan Seales: Well, so I mean, so Nick, obviously, just tragic. And I mean, in the industry in general, though, has responded to him in a very sympathetic way. But I guess this sort of ties back to what we're saying earlier is that, you know, it doesn't sort of doesn't matter. Age isn't all that. Let me rephrase this. That COVID does not discriminate, really by gender, by gender or by by race or by whatnot. And then it obviously affects people with underlying health issues and older people a little bit more. But Nick had, he was healthy. He was fine. He was with 39. Right? 41. 41. Yeah. So it was one year off of me. Yeah. So and just out of the blue, and, and, like, has this has it affected you in a way in any way that, like, has helped you or hurt you?

[38:49] Lisa Goldberg: Certainly haven't helped me in any way. I mean, it's been devastating. He, he was a client and, you know, we worked together and ran, I ran this Tony campaign for Bullets Over Broadway. And, and we worked together on and off for a while. And at one point, he was one of my absolute best friends. You know, no one made me laugh more than Nick. We used to laugh constantly. And, and, you know, time goes on relationships change. When he got married and moved to California, and you know, people grow apart. But that love is always there in your heart for somebody, whether it was romantic or friendship. And it's, it feels like a it feels like a prison shank in the gut, to be honest, like, I have. I've had many experiences ever since high school, where unfortunately, like friends have passed away for one reason or another.

And it's always been tragic and hard, but I don't know this one hit way harder than anything. Recently, I just felt like my heart was being ripped out, to be honest, it was awful to know that he was going through that much pain and on the machines for as long as he was. That was heartbreaking. And then, you know, to know that the likelihood of him coming out of that was very slim. And I mean, a part of me was relieved that once he passed, at least like he wouldn't be in any pain any longer. And then I think like, maybe about five days after he died is when I just kind of lost my shit. And he spent like three days just absolutely sobbing. Because you realize that it's just that it sounds so stupid.

But I don't think that you realize like, I'm never going to see this person again. I'm never gonna have a chance to talk to him. I'm never gonna be able to go over Oh, but that this is the last thing we said to each other. And I don't want that to be like, you know, that kind of thing. Like, it's just really, really difficult. And yeah, it's, it's literally hard. It's literally heartbreaking. I'm still having a hard time with it, obviously.

[41:32] Lisa Goldberg: But I mean, I hope that I mean, I hope that with time obviously it's easier to deal with this. But I hope also it just helps somebody else to stay at home to know that just because you know, you're healthy. I'm 40, you know, 40, 41 years old, you can't just go about your business because you never know like it's a complete crapshoot. I mean, Nick came to New York to start moving his furniture from all of his belongings from New York to LA and a couple days later he said you know and it was right when we had locked everything down in New York in LA. And I'm sure if anybody could go back and do something over again they would but I mean who knew that was gonna be this serious and certainly at the time everyone was saying, you know, unless you're old or you know have cancer or whatever it may be and no one was wearing masks because you weren't supposed to be wearing masks then, you know, so it's just so many what-ifs and yeah, I'm not making much sense but it's just devastating and sad and I miss him.

[42:40] Alan Seales: Yeah. Yeah, I never had the pleasure of meeting him. But you know everybody like even people outside of the theater and the Broadway community heard him being talked about and read articles about him and it yeah, it was just one of those things were just so unexpected and it became personal for a lot of people I think it you know, for whatever reason it was just a human story that people wanted to talk about. It wasn't like you said an old person or someone with asthma or someone with cancer. It was just a regular healthy guy that all of a sudden was just gone.

[43:19] Lisa Goldberg: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It hit me in a like a you know, kind of like a whoa life is really short sort of thing. And then you know as I approach 40 question my own mortality. Anyway, I think that you know, it's just part of growing up and getting older, but focus on that too much because then you're gonna drive yourself crazy and be very depressed.

[43:50] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, like, you know and I and that's aside from Nick like I don't mean that about Nick I just mean in general like you can't you can't sit around questioning your own mortality very often because that's that's just brutal.

[44:03] Lisa Goldberg: No, no.

[44:04] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[44:05] Lisa Goldberg: I'm somebody who likes to prepare for everything and like and have all options have a plan for all options. I'm like, you know what at this point? I just gotta kind of live day to day and you know what you were talking about taking everything day to day and say what am I doing today? All right, so I'm gonna make breakfast and make sure that my kids are fed so that everyone's happy. Okay, cool.

[44:25] Alan Seales: Exactly, and if it makes you feel any better, that's the way Nick lived his life.

[44:33] Lisa Goldberg: Not Nick at all, you know, he was uh, I think I've said this before but I mean Nick just was not about like accolades or even though this is you know, his former publicist saying this but he didn't care about press. He would have thought to be honest like all the press and all the nonsense about him was absolutely that complete nonsense he would have hated it and he just would have been like well, why is anybody making this about me? You know, he was always a guy that wanted to make sure everybody else was taken care of and he was just about enjoying the ride. He was having a good day that day and had his guitar to play music and you know, everybody was happy. That's all he cared about.

[45:17] Alan Seales: Do you do you get involved? I mean, it sounds like you really really obviously it's obvious that you really cared about him and had a very special relationship with him. But I think you know in knowing you and knowing and I've interacted with you off and on for a couple years and through various things but like you always are so protective and so invested in all of your clients and I was actually kind of surprised in researching like how many you have because it takes a lot of effort to care about people genuinely like that.

[45:47] Lisa Goldberg: Yeah, it does. It's just yeah, I guess it's just my nature although, you know, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people that hate me and probably say I'm cold and awful, but if you know me, I'm not and yeah, I did I mean like most of my clients are very good friends. I do take it all very personally with all of them and and it's from a professional standpoint of if somebody was if I was still performing if I was in their shoes and somebody was doing publicity for me like how would I want them to be interacting with me and how would I want them to go about getting press and coverage for me? And I would want it to be as important to them as it was for me and so that's what makes it so personal because I feel like it is the same like getting somebody on the Today show or the nightly news or whatever it may be.

It's just like if I got on, you know, only thank God they're not showing my face they're showing the gorgeous faces I work with you know. So I do and you and you also you spend a lot of time with these people so you grow very close and and I am by nature somebody who's very protective over people I care about and friends and family and loved ones so I that does extend to my business. It's you know for better or for worse. That's who I am.

[47:26] Alan Seales: Wait, why are you? Have you ever I guess have you ever just thought about going or joining more of a formal company an organization or like because you've always used I guess you've always worked by yourself for 14 years, right? So were you ever we're like, oh aka Serena BBB, whatever all these companies that are out there. Have you ever just been like why am I doing this on my own? This is so hard?

[47:48] Lisa Goldberg: No, I don't. No, I like it. I mean I have three or four publicists in New York who freelance for me and I to in LA and one in London so I have people that help me out but no, I mean, I've been lucky enough to receive offers from other firms to join them, but at this point in time is not something that I'm interested in and hasn't been something I'm interested in that doesn't mean like three years from now I may change my mind, you know, but yeah, I don't I don't really want to have to answer to anyone else or even compare notes with someone else. I don't want somebody else's opinion on whether or not I signed someone or not if I like them and they like me and I feel certain I can tell their story. I want to be able to work with them. I don't want to have to have a conversation about it. So after and after doing it for almost 14 years on your own that way or be really hard to adjust but never say never.

[48:46] Alan Seales: Well, how do you how do you pick new clients then?

[48:50] Lisa Goldberg: Um, it varies, you know. Sometimes a lot of times now I'm lucky enough that they come to me where agents or managers, you know, have a client with a new Broadway show or TV or film or whatever it may be and they think of me and think that our personalities will get along and so they contact me and set up a meeting or it's like what we talked about before. I mean, I look at what's coming up with what's shooting TV wise and film wise what's coming up in the next two seasons of Broadway and you know try and get the you know inside scoop on who's maybe getting cast kind of situation and I reach out to them. I mean Mark Kudish me Mark's been a client for I guess I think like 10 years but it marks a Emily Mark and Shannon our family.

But I met Mark because he was getting ready to do nine-to-five and I sent him a message on Facebook you know and was like, hey, do you want to get together for a coffee or a drink and I did not realize at that time that that meant four hours.

[49:57] Alan Seales: He's chatty.

[50:00] Lisa Goldberg: Okay, I know I love him so much so four hours later at a place in Midtown we ended up starting to work together, but you know, I also I'm friends with a lot of managers and agents and in nowadays I would go certainly go through them before I like reach out to someone on social media directly. I think that's obnoxious unless they don't have representation but yeah, it's half and half of people that come to me and people that I seek and go after because I want I want to work with them you know and then it comes down to you we meet in person and whether or not we click. I mean really it's kind of like dating, you know without the physical involvement. It's you know whether or not you feel like you can spend a lot of time with this person because you really do and if I believe in that person and their talent and their story and I think that there's a good story to get out there then that's the person I want to work with. I don't know what their train of thought is working with me.

[51:04] Alan Seales: Do you have time for personal relationships like with traveling and red carpets and everything? Like how do you make time for yourself?

[51:12] Lisa Goldberg: I do. You know, I'm I keep my private life relatively private. I try and not date in the business as much as possible.

[51:25] Alan Seales: Good idea.

[51:26] Lisa Goldberg: They have to be a very secure person in their own right to be okay with what I do and not have it bother them so that that narrows the field.

[51:35] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, I guess that yeah, I didn't think about that but it makes total sense that that you have to have a partner in life that is completely comfortable with the two of you because you were around so many other influential powerful people that you know stereotypically always get a lot of what they want, right?

[51:53] Lisa Goldberg: Okay, so this has been a lovely conversation and I want to wrap up with the three standard closing questions that I ask everybody. The first one being very simply what motivates you?

[52:05] Lisa Goldberg: I grit but that makes sense the drive the passion. Yes.

[52:14] Alan Seales: Yeah, I mean, I mean, you know, you have two choices you can stay under the covers or you can get up and go fight for whatever it is that you need and and I choose the latter that keeps me going.

[52:26] Lisa Goldberg: I like that. Okay, and then what advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now? Starting out down a similar path.

[52:33] Lisa Goldberg: Oh God, I don't know. I hate that kind of question. I there is no advice I give to my younger self, which is a horrible answer, but it's just I don't I I’m a person who does not live with regrets. So I really don't have that advice to myself. Um to other people I mean it's an easier said than done but I think that the primary focus should always be to keep your eye on what it is you want to do and don't be afraid to go after it, but also don't be an asshole.

[53:11] Alan Seales: I like I like don't be an asshole that's just generally good advice.

[53:15] Lisa Goldberg: Generally the advice everyone should take yeah.

[53:18] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[53:18] Lisa Goldberg: And then hardest question if you can only see one show for the rest of your life but you can see it as many times as you want. What would you see?

[53:23] Lisa Goldberg: Ooh Broadway show. Yeah, anything you you cover the gamut. I'm gonna make it as hard for you.

[53:28] Alan Seales: Oh well, yeah, no, that would be too hard. I didn't have to pick a genre. Um, let's go on the Broadway show. Okay, um original cast of kiss of the spider woman.

[53:47] Alan Seales: Oh wow.

[53:50] Lisa Goldberg: How about that?

[53:52] Alan Seales: That's it. That's a new answer.

[53:55] Lisa Goldberg: Okay, there you go new answer in a hundred and something episodes, that's the first time I've heard that I think.

[54:02] Alan Seales: Fantastic.

[54:04] Lisa Goldberg: Amazing and also it was just um, you know a whole line of gorgeous men dancing and singing that were a whole lot of fun back in the day.

[54:19] Alan Seales: Picking up on a trend with you.

[54:25] Lisa Goldberg: I get you. I get you.

[54:27] Alan Seales: All right so we can find you on Instagram and Twitter at Lisa Goldberg PR and on your website at LSG public relations.com the S for Shannon, I think.

[54:39] Lisa Goldberg: Yeah, Sharon.

[54:43] Alan Seales: LSG public relations.com you can get more of me at the theater podcast.com on Instagram and Twitter at theater underscore podcast on Facebook official theater podcast, please leave a rating in a review if you enjoyed what you heard today and thank you to jukebox the ghost for the intro and outro music and Lisa. Thank you. Most of all this has been a wonderful conversation.

[55:01] Lisa Goldberg: Thanks Alan. I had so much fun. Thanks for breaking up like quarantine anytime.

[55:08] Alan Seales: Yeah, we can we'll have FaceTime anytime you want. I think this is fun.

[55:12] Lisa Goldberg: We do need to have more FaceTimes in our life rock on. I'm all in.

[55:19] Alan Seales: Make the world a little colorful.