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[0:00] Alan Seales: Welcome to another episode of The Theatre Podcast. Intimate personal conversations with some of theatre's biggest names. I'm Alan Seales and this episode is with Jana Robbins and Haley Swindal, who they reached out and I wanted to interview them very quickly. We're actually releasing this episode at the end of a week, which we don't normally do, but I wanted to get this episode out very quickly because they're currently in the middle of a run at 54 Below of a special show that they put together. They're returning to the venue with their show called We Just Move On, where they did a successful run of it last summer. And it was so wildly popular that 54 Below asked them back, which they don't normally do and they don't normally give people multiple performance nights either.

They usually just give people one night to do a cabaret. But Jana and Haley, their show was so good and it's all in the press. Sarah Bareilles went to the last one and Laura Osnes and so many others. It's a show about John Kander and Fred Ebb, who are primarily known for their stage musicals like Cabaret and Chicago. And they've even scored several movies, including Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. So it's great music in general. But as we do in this podcast, we get into their past. We get into who they are and they are just two incredible people. And now, as you can tell from listening to the story, amazingly great friends as well. So I will let you get right into this. Please enjoy this episode with Jana Robbins and Haley Swindal.

[1:57] Alan Seales: I'm here today with Jana Robbins and Haley Swindal, who are about to start their second round of a very successful cabaret show at Feinstein 54 called We Just Move On, the Songs of Kander and Ebb, which I think it starts February 5th, right? At seven o'clock.

[2:16] Jana Robbins: That's correct.

[2:17] Alan Seales: And this episode will come out just after February 5th. But then if you're listening, please run out right now. Get your tickets for February 12th, the last show, which will be at seven o'clock as well the following Tuesday. And this is now the second incarnation. Thank you both for being here, by the way.

[2:33] Haley Swindal: Oh, we're thrilled to be here.

[2:34] Jana Robbins: We're excited.

[2:35] Haley Swindal: And we're thrilled to be coming back to 54 Below.

[2:39] Alan Seales: What prompted this to do the show again? Because you did it the first time a year ago, right?

[2:44] Jana Robbins: No, we did it in September. So that's less than six months ago, right? The show sold out and was so successful the first time that the truth of the matter is, before we even did, before our first show ended, they had already offered us these dates to come back and do a return.

[3:03] Alan Seales: No kidding.

[3:03] Jana Robbins: Yeah, it was exciting. I really mean it. They asked us like during half hour doing the show, we had already sold out both shows in September. And they said, we would love to have you back.

[3:14] Alan Seales: What is the process for those of us who don't know and have never done a cabaret? What is the process of putting this all together and getting it to Feinstein or getting it to another one of these venues where you can invite all your friends and invite your fans?

[3:29] Jana Robbins: I'll start, but Haley has a lot to say about this too. Both Haley and I had already done our own solo shows there. I have a show called One Hell of a Ride.

[3:40] Haley Swindal: No, that wasn't the show I did.

[3:42] Jana Robbins: You did. I'm Still Here.

[3:42] Haley Swindal: Thank you. I do have a show, One Hell of a Ride. The song's a side Coleman, but it never played 54 Below. Yeah, I did a show called I'm Still Here. And I had already done that Feinstein's and you had a show.

[3:55] Haley Swindal: I did. I had a show, two shows, Play to Win and Golden Girl, which I've done. I've been in there three or four times over the last five, since it's opened.

[4:04] Jana Robbins: So we had this Feinstein's 54 Below relationship already, and it's our favorite club in New York, I have to say. There's a couple I haven't played, so I might change my mind if they decide to have Robbins and Swindal at their place, but really our favorite club. So we had never thought of taking it anywhere else.

[4:26] Alan Seales: Now, as far as getting it booked there or creating the show?

[4:30] Jana Robbins: Well, okay, let's go back first to creating the show. How did you two meet and what did you come up with the idea? I should start this one.

[4:37] Haley Swindal: Go ahead, you start that one.

[4:37] Jana Robbins: So Jana and I were both cast in a show off Broadway, which is still currently running called This One's for the Girls. As a matter of fact, we just did a matinee before we came to you.

[4:44] Haley Swindal: And you're about to do another one this evening?

[4:49] Jana Robbins: No, no, it's only two shows a week.

[4:53] Haley Swindal: Two shows a week, perfect for me.

[4:53] Jana Robbins: And me too. So I just, from the first day of rehearsal, I was like, that woman is going to be my best friend, I said to the other cast member who I knew. And I said, wow, I love that woman. She's awesome. And we just, she produces, I want to produce and do produce, and I just loved her. So I had this idea, as we were going a little farther along in the rehearsal process and we got to know each other, we had similar styles, and I just really looked up to her style. And I had this idea because I've always loved Kander and Ebb, and I turned to her and I said, we should do The Rink, because I had always known The Rink. And I thought, sorry, Liza Minnelli, Geeta Rivera. So we started talking about that.

And there's a lot of, there is actually a lot of discussion about that in the show, and I'll let them hear the details of that. But that really was the beginning of it. And then Hayley also came and saw me do an afternoon show with my friend Richard Skipper of Kander and Ebb. David Sabella sang in it, Karen Ziemba sang in it, I sang in it. And afterwards, again, she said to me, remember what I talked to you about? We really ought to do The Rink. And then little by little, we just decided, why don't we put together a show of their songs first, before we would decide as actor-producers to actually do the full production of The Rink.

[6:15] Haley Swindal: Right. And we both loved about Kander and Ebb that they kind of showcased the strength and simultaneous vulnerability of women, their characters. And that's something we both gravitate to as women.

[6:25] Jana Robbins: And they're both men.

[6:31] Haley Swindal: What? They're both men.

[6:31] Jana Robbins: Kander and Ebb, right?

[6:31] Haley Swindal: Yes.

[6:35] Jana Robbins: Yeah. So they're both men. But the women that they write for.

[6:35] Haley Swindal: Yeah, they really do. And so ultimately, when we started working on the show, I took a look at the songs that I had a great affinity toward. We're not doing, And Then They Wrote. That is not what this is at all. This is a story of two women from different generations who come to New York with a dream of working in New York, and how we are fulfilled, and what the challenges are. And ultimately, Haley's a mother, and I'm a grandmother. And so talking about the trajectory, really, of our entire lives is what the show ends up being about through the music of Kander and Ebb.

[7:09] Alan Seales: That's really interesting. I follow Laura Benanti on Instagram, as I'm sure a bajillion people do. And she talks about, I'm a new dad, relatively. I've got a two-year-old and a four-year-old.

[7:23] Haley Swindal: I have a two-year-old.

[7:29] Alan Seales: Yeah, with the big hair. So I guess this question for you is coming from Laura Benanti, she's kind of like ripped back the walls a little bit for me of how hard it is. I didn't even think about this. How hard it is to be a mother of a young child while having a schedule that takes you out at night every single night if you're working, right?

[7:39] Jana Robbins: I always called, and forgive me, Eric, if you're listening, my son is grown, and he's giving my two granddaughters. I always said my son was a closet case, and what I meant by that was that I had him out on national tour with me from 16 months to 26 months with my first Broadway show, and I would only get rooms that had these big walk-in closets so that he kind of had a separate room from me. Because at that point, I couldn't afford the two-bedroom suites and that sort of thing. But I had Eric on the road with me a lot. And trying to be a mom and a good mom and pursue your career and your dreams isn't easy. I think it's different for everyone, and it's hard for everyone. For me, with my daughter, it's been, that's why this show of This One's for the Girls has been such a gift, because it's a couple of times a week, and it's in the city.

And I've been primarily working in New York, which has been great, because Lily's in school now and all of that. So yeah, it's incredibly difficult, but you just cherish and are grateful for the time you do have. And I think it's important for her to also see that mommy goes to work, mommy has a dream, so that she can follow in those footsteps as well. It's all a balance.

[9:04] Alan Seales: Do you have guilt? Do you have to overcome guilt?

[9:07] Haley Swindal: Every day of my life, mother guilt, yes.

[9:12] Jana Robbins: I have dad guilt when I work my nine to five.

[9:16] Haley Swindal: But then I just remind myself that it's about the quality of the time that you spend with them and not always the quantity, and that I make sure that she's surrounded by love when I'm not there, and people that she loves and is comfortable with, and it works for us. I mean, I look back. I look back, and people can ask me some things, and my son would never say that he feels this way, because he always tells me that I was a great mom, and he's the proof in the pudding, because he's a great kid. But no, I do look back, and I think that ultimately, having reached the age that I have now, that family is everything, hon. Family is everything, and your loved ones, and I do look back and think at times that it was all about what I could get and what I could accomplish in my career, and I love my career, and so I'm happy that I had the opportunity to do it all.

Does a little bit suffer here and a little bit suffer there? Probably, but I think as long as you put your heart and your soul into your parenting as well as you do your career, we're lucky that we can have a little piece of all of it.

[10:23] Alan Seales: That's beautiful, and so speaking of careers, let's talk about how you both got into yours. I want to know, like, what were you two as young children? How were you like, and where did you grow up?

[10:33] Jana Robbins: Well, this is on our show as well, and because I asked her on stage why she came to New York, and then we talk about it. I grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and my mother used to take dance class with Gene Kelly. Really? And she had a big crush on Gene Kelly, and always wanted, that's correct. Well, my dad kind of looked like Gene Kelly, and she never went into having a career. She met my father when she was 14. They married at 19, and I am, I just am my mother, so I'm living her dreams, and she was very supportive of me. I was in all my high school musicals. I majored in theater, went to a women's college called Stevens College in Columbia, Missouri, came straight to New York, and without going into any more, you know.

[11:22] Jana Robbins: My entire life and career has been being on stage as an actor, and now I wrote this show, I've directed this show, and I'm also a Broadway producer now, so I love what I do.

[11:34] Alan Seales: And so, you always knew from the very beginning, it was never a question for you that you wanted to do anything else.

[11:40] Jana Robbins: Never. This is all I ever wanted to do. They say I came out singing and dancing.

[11:44] Alan Seales: In your playpen.

[11:46] Jana Robbins: In my playpen. You know, when the Pennsylvania Polkas would come on, I was up holding the bars, rocking it. And yeah, mom knew from the beginning. Never. This was it. This is who I was.

[11:58] Alan Seales: Wow. Haley, what about you?

[12:00] Haley Swindal: So I come from a family that is not remotely in theatre, but is in a form of entertainment. My grandfather was George Steinbrenner, who owned the New York Yankees. So my family is a big sporting family. I grew up around, you know, it was going to be a good night in my house if the Yankees won, maybe not so much if we lost. So they didn't know a whole lot about theatre, but I was exposed to theatre because the Yankees were in New York. So when I was growing up in the 90s, I would come up for the postseason, was when the Yankees were always winning. And I would kind of sneak out and go to open calls. And I'd bring like my freshman year picture and learn Kyler Oakes. It's always what I wanted to do.

My grandfather and both my grandparents and my parents exposed me to Broadway from a young age. My grandfather produced on Broadway. He produced Applause. So there was this love of Broadway in my family, even though there wasn't necessarily, you know, nobody else was in theatre, nobody else sings. I've just kind of came out singing and, you know, they'd be watching the baseball game and I'd be singing Don't Cry for Me Argentina on the top of the stairs. And, you know, oh God, she's singing again. But then eventually they got used to it. And I watched old movies growing up and the golden age of Hollywood. And I knew that I wanted to be singing. And to me, that was New York, because that's where I grew up.

My grandfather used to stay at the Regency. And so I would go down into Feinstein's and watch, you know, Barbara Cook and Rosemary Clooney and all of those people sing as a little girl and just that's what I want to do. And my grandfather always called me Broadway. So the last thing he ever said to me was, I love you, Broadway. So I knew I had to get there and I did. But it's interesting in the family that I'm from trying to explain theatre because my first Broadway role was a swing. And they're like, what is that? You're not going to perform every night? What does that mean? And I said, well, is it better to be the second catcher for the New York Yankees? Or is it better to be the first catcher for the farm team in the middle of Staten Island? And so everything is like an analogy for them. But yes, so my story is a bit different. But ultimately, yes, all I ever wanted to do was be on stage.

[14:04] Alan Seales: But you said you were telling me off, Mike, that you grew up in Florida, right?

[14:07] Haley Swindal: I did. Yes.

[14:08] Alan Seales: Yeah. So you grew up in Tampa.

[14:10] Haley Swindal: The Yankees spring train in Tampa.

[14:12] Alan Seales: Right. Oh, okay. So that's the connection.

[14:14] Haley Swindal: So that's where everybody, my family never lived in New York full time. My grandfather wanted our family to be in Florida.

[14:19] Alan Seales: And you just came up, you came up here whenever, I guess.

[14:22] Haley Swindal: During the playoffs and for games. And I just, I would sneak off to the open calls and try and figure it out myself and, you know, get up at five in the morning and be like, hey, what's up? So, yeah, yeah.

[14:36] Alan Seales: That's great. I love—

[14:37] Haley Swindal: Random.

[14:38] Alan Seales: I really love how some of this stuff comes together and people find their way on the Broadway stage. It's just, it's so totally random and haphazard. And it gives more merit to the saying that it's like, was it one third talent? One third, what is the thing?

[14:51] Haley Swindal: Luck?

[14:52] Alan Seales: Yeah. Well, luck is the last thing. Yeah.

[14:54] Haley Swindal: Luck's a big part of it.

[14:55] Alan Seales: Yeah. One third talent, one third something that I can't remember.

[14:57] Haley Swindal: Probably perseverance and courage.

[14:58] Alan Seales: Right.

[14:59] Haley Swindal: Memory would be my thing.

[15:00] Alan Seales: Right.

[15:01] Haley Swindal: Yeah. One third memory, which I don't have. And then one third talent.

[15:03] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[15:04] Jana Robbins: And so now, Alan, you were talking about producing. You've been, gosh, your Broadway debut in 1974, right?

[15:11] Alan Seales: Oh my God. He gives dates.

[15:13] Jana Robbins: For Good News.

[15:14] Alan Seales: Yeah. That is Good News with Alice Faye and John Payne. I had only been in New York a short time. The first audition I ever had was for Aldonza in the National Company of Man of La Mancha, and I got it. And I was 21 years old. And then the first Broadway show was Good News with Alice Faye and John Payne. And that's the one I was talking about. I used the word schlepper because we'll get on to some other things. So I was schlepping a baby around the country with me while I was doing Good News.

[15:50] Alan Seales: Oh, wow. Wow. So yeah, it was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. So you did six shows up till 2000 as an actor. And then the first producer credit I could find was Little Women in 05, right?

[16:01] Jana Robbins: That's really true. I was on Broadway in Gypsy. I was covering Tyne Daly, His Mama Rose, and I was on stage in that all the time. But I was actually playing Mazepa, the trumpet stripper, on most nights. But I was on a lot. And while I was doing that, I actually started raising a lot of money for my son's private school. So I would get all my friends. I would call everybody I knew in Broadway shows. I'd write the show. We'd all sing. I'd even raise the money for the bake sale. I'd raise a lot of money for the school. And all of a sudden, also when the AIDS epidemic hit in the 80s during Gypsy, I was raising a lot of money for Broadway Cares. Actually, it was Equity Fights AIDS then. And I was producing major AIDS benefits.

And little by little, I realized what I was doing was producing. So I started small and did some producing out in California. I was out there for a while and came back. My first major Broadway, what made me a Broadway producer, was Little Women. And I was mentored by a wonderful producer named Randall Regget, who I miss very much. He passed away at 55 years old. And I've been going ever since as a producer as well. It's only recently that I've actually come back to performing at the same time. This was in about a 10-year period. My father passed away 15 years ago. And I moved my mother up to New York. And I didn't want to tour. And I'd done a lot of tours, Footloose, Gypsy, Pre-Broadway, and other tours. And I wanted to stay in New York. So that's really when the producing started to really move forward. Because I could stay still in theater and not travel as much if I wasn't in a Broadway show.

[17:42] Alan Seales: And you moved your mom up from Pennsylvania.

[17:44] Jana Robbins: I moved my mom up. And also, we say this in the show, I live with my mother. The truth is my mother lives with me. She's too much shy of 97 years old.

[17:55] Alan Seales: Wow. That's great.

[17:56] Jana Robbins: Kelly was over visiting at the house last night. And we were singing together. She's amazing. We had a great time.

[18:02] Alan Seales: And then you were saying that you are your mother. She didn't make it onto the Broadway stage herself. When you started to go down this path and made it on Broadway, did you see a transformation in her? Was she living vicariously through you as a stage mom, even though you were already legal and left the house?

[18:25] Jana Robbins: I don't think of my mother actually as a stage mother. She's just always been 100% supportive of me doing it because she didn't do it. She was always there. She sent me to dancing school. She was the one out there clapping when I got the leads in high school. She is the one that said to my dad, oh, yeah, she wants to major in theater. She's going to go. My dad drove me here. And I stayed at a woman's hotel at the Barbizon Hotel. A ladies hotel is what I stayed in when I first came. They were just always supportive. And then they flew and saw everything I did.

[19:01] Alan Seales: Wow. That's crazy. And okay, so Haley, do you say you're producing the show at Feinstein's too? Are you co-producing the show?

[19:10] Haley Swindal: Jana wrote and directed it and we produced it together.

[19:13] Alan Seales: So you're producing it together. So is this your first foray into producing as well?

[19:16] Haley Swindal: No, I've been producing for maybe four or five years. I started when I first moved here producing my friends who were our writers producing their work. I did something at Manhattan Repertory Company. I put something up at the 25-Hour Play Festival and Midtown International Theater Festival. The works of my friends that I've been working with in college who were in grad school at the time at NYU. And I found that I love putting people in projects together as well as performing.

[19:44] Alan Seales: And I'd always thought, well, how do I bridge these two things? Can I do these two things at once? And people told me no until I met this one who does it pretty well. So then I got farther into it. The first piece that I co-produced was a piece called The Lion Off-Broadway starring Benjamin Troyer, which I was a co-producer with Jamie Drury and Dan Shaheen on that through Ava Price, which I loved. And I've invested in several pieces and joined Jana with a few of her pieces actually. So I'm dipping heavier into it now than I ever did before, but it's something I always knew I wanted to do.

[20:18] Alan Seales: How do you explain a producer to your baseball parents?

[20:21] Haley Swindal: Oh, my grandfather produced on Broadway.

[20:22] Alan Seales: Do they get it?

[20:23] Haley Swindal: Oh, they get that part.

[20:24] Alan Seales: Yeah, no, they get that part.

[20:26] Alan Seales: And who did your grandfather produce?

[20:29] Haley Swindal: He produced, what do you mean?

[20:30] Alan Seales: Oh, he produced—

[20:31] Haley Swindal: The link to Fiddler on the Roof, which I'm working on now.

[20:35] Alan Seales: Oh, produced George M. with Joel Grey.

[20:38] Haley Swindal: Wow. It all comes full circle.

[20:40] Jana Robbins: No, it really does.

[20:41] Alan Seales: Oh my gosh.

[20:42] Haley Swindal: Now I'm producing the Fiddler directed by Joel Grey.

[20:46] Jana Robbins: Which I invested in.

[20:48] Alan Seales: That's ridiculous. So you guys have been like friends and cast mates and co-producers. Just like everything. We've only known each other a year and a half.

[20:52] Haley Swindal: But we've only known each other slightly less than a year and a half.

[20:57] Jana Robbins: Crazy.

[20:58] Haley Swindal: What?

[20:59] Jana Robbins: That's crazy.

[21:00] Alan Seales: We met doing This One's for the Girls a year ago.

[21:03] Haley Swindal: October.

[21:04] Jana Robbins: September.

[21:05] Haley Swindal: September.

[21:06] Jana Robbins: We went into rehearsal in September, right?

[21:07] Haley Swindal: September 2017.

[21:08] Jana Robbins: And all of this has been created since saying hello and meeting one another. And there's just like, I've never seen anything. What people say, but of course I would allow the audience to judge for themselves. But I feel this way. Is that I hope that there's a talent in a force called Gianna Robbins and there's definitely a talent in a force called Hades Wendell.

[21:32] Haley Swindal: We have to keep up with our—

[21:33] Jana Robbins: But the truth of the matter is the two of us together absolutely create something that's much bigger than one and one equals two. It becomes something else. And that's what's so exciting about doing this Canter and Ebb show. And not only are we coming back to 54 Below, we just played it at the theater in Connecticut. We're going down to the Strass Center in Tampa. We hope to have dates in Tokyo and to this other places as well.

[21:59] Alan Seales: That's ridiculous. A year and a half. Yeah. When you guys, when I'm watching you two together, your banter, I would have assumed you've known each other for a decade.

[22:04] Haley Swindal: No.

[22:05] Jana Robbins: No.

[22:06] Alan Seales: How you walked in the door earlier when we all met. I was like, oh man, these two are friends for years.

[22:13] Haley Swindal: Yeah.

[22:14] Jana Robbins: It just seems that way.

[22:16] Haley Swindal: Yeah.

[22:17] Jana Robbins: But we've created so much. Yeah. It's amazing to have two souls come together and then all of a sudden, wow, we didn't realize our coming together would create all these things.

[22:26] Alan Seales: Do you see yourself doing, the two of you doing more production together, like producing work, co-producing in the future?

[22:31] Haley Swindal: Yeah. We're already doing that.

[22:32] Alan Seales: Are you?

[22:33] Haley Swindal: We're already doing that. Hayley did invest in Fiddler, but that's because she's busy working to come on another show that I will most.

[23:12] Jana Robbins: I just forgot that that's where I was going is that I was producing for quite a while. But as mother has aged and aged and aged, as much as I love producing, and I do, it truly doesn't matter whether I'm directing it, producing it, or starring in it. To me, it's the same thing. If I'm creating great theatre, I'm very fulfilled. However, having said that, when you're on stage, and you're acting and you're singing, you're using your talent, your heart, your soul in the moment, in the moment, in the moment. And I know given that mom is 97, let's be honest, my mother is not going to be with me forever. And I felt very strongly that I needed to, while I was producing, get myself back on stage just a little bit so that when I no longer have mom, I can find some comfort really in sharing my heart and soul and talent on stage.

And that's why I wrote about a year and a half ago, "Jana Robbins, I'm Still Here." Because at that point, I said, "Would you know why I'm calling my show I'm Still Here?" By that point, I really wasn't performing that much. Everybody thought of me as a producer. I said, "Well, it's because I'm still here." And right after I did "I'm Still Here," actually, I believe that that's why Bill Franz Blau, the producer of "This One's for the Girls," heard of me. And when he was looking to cast a particular part in "This One's for the Girls" that I play, he called me. If I had never written "I'm Still Here," I wouldn't be in "This One's for the Girls," and I wouldn't have met Haley Swindal. Crazy. So it was my taking that initiative to put myself on stage.

[25:01] Haley Swindal: Do you think you want to continue acting primarily or producing?

[25:04] Jana Robbins: At the moment, I don't mix the two. I don't act in things I really produce. But as long as I—I mean, I am—I don't intend to stop my Broadway career. I'm going back into a show. But more on that. I'm going into a show on Broadway soon, and we'll go into that later. But maybe, but it's not official yet. But I love producing. I love being. But listen, I mean, what's so great about actors is that we lead with our hearts, and I believe the best producers lead with their hearts, and they follow the passion with their hearts. And that's what I admire about Jana, certainly, is that the projects that she comes on to, she just pours her heart and soul into them. And whether you're acting or producing, it's really as long as you have to throw your heart behind it. It's the creative spirit. It's the creative spirit juices inside of us to use.

[25:49] Jana Robbins: I love that you just said the actors lead with their hearts. I've been doing this podcast for a couple months now. Really, I'm still a young podcast. And what I—the more I talk with people, what I'm finding is the people who are the most successful in this business are the people who just don't—they don't care. It's gonna come out the wrong way. You don't care what people think. But at the same time, you have to, right? Because it's like it's a—you’re a group of people that needs validation. That's why we're in this in the first place. But at the end, like you just—you put yourself out there, and I guess it's a comfortability with being vulnerable.

[26:29] Haley Swindal: Sure.

[26:30] Jana Robbins: That most people don't have at all in this business. I mean, not in this business, but in the world in general. And I think it's very unique to this business to be in touch with your emotions, to be in touch with who you are on a much deeper level. It almost helps to define you in some ways. It can be very therapeutic. I mean, acting class or playing a role, every role I've ever played, who I became, what I found inside of me, what aspects of my spirit that I didn't know, they were all brought out in me by the different roles that I've played. And that's why I said to you that as much as I love producing, I knew that when I lose my mom, I need to be on stage using that, you know, sharing my tears and my laughter and my joy and that sort of thing on stage, because somebody would say that doesn't know anything about acting.

They go, "Well, you know, are you acting now or are you acting?" And I go, "See, real acting isn't acting. Real acting is going deep inside of yourself and finding those real, true emotions and putting the right ones with the right character in the right moment." I have always been able to show things better on stage than I do in life at times. You hide things as a person to protect yourself in real life. But if you're really leaving it on the stage, it gives you the opportunity to put it all out. It's a very, very brave thing to do, to be vulnerable, right?

[28:06] Haley Swindal: Oh, extremely. And I think for me as an actor, my career has really started to take off more as I, you know, I had this idea for my life. I'm going to do this by the stage. I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that. Well, the universe has other plans while you have plans, right? So it's really just been about embracing where I am now, who I am now, gratitude for where I am and the work I do have, and kind of just staying open and vulnerable in life that has brought in so many great things as opposed to I'm not on Broadway by this point or I don't have this or I don't have that. I don't focus on what I don't have. I focus on the opportunities that are presenting themselves to me and what I hope to create and then I try to manifest.

[28:48] Jana Robbins: As a new mom, is this your first child now?

[28:49] Haley Swindal: Yes.

[28:50] Jana Robbins: So as a new mom, have you—the layer of emotional vulnerability is kind of big.

[28:55] Haley Swindal: Oh, God, absolutely. Oh my God. She's the joy of my world. I mean, you know, I just even talking about her, I get emotional. But yes. Yeah, and in my last show that I did, "Golden Girl," I had a whole section to her, a Rosemary Clooney song, "I'll Be There with You Whenever," and "Baby Mine," which is kind of our song. Now she sings them back to me or says, "Mommy, my song, don't sing." We're in a different place now. But no, she's only two years old. And you told me that one day recently, she said, "Mommy, my solo, my solo, give me the microphone, grab the hairbrush." But the last "Rent Live" a few nights ago, she during "One Song Glory," she grabbed her little fake guitar. She'd never heard the song.

But by the end of the song, "One Song," I mean, it was like, it's just like, what are you doing? You've never heard that song before. By the second minute of the song, she knew the song. She's very musical. That's a smart, smart kid. And that's the greatest gift that I could give her. Because for me, you know, my music, singing and listening to music and being involved in this world is very, very important to me, and for her to be able to have that gift is really exciting.

[30:02] Jana Robbins: I wonder, like, there's studies and stuff, and I didn't—I don't read a bunch about these, but I'm interested, like the children who are like they're inside you for nine months and hearing you sing. And sometimes they're on stage with you, you know, while you're still growing them. I did a 54 Below show with her. I did three readings, and I did "Secret Garden" at Lincoln Center. So I was like dancing around. I mean, I was—and then at nine months, I did a—I went into a studio and did this major recording, and I could barely fit behind the microphone. What are you doing? You know, she'd kick at me because I was like crunched. And I knew she loved—and like I saw "Color Purple," and she would kick more. She loved gospel music. There were certain music she liked, and then there was other music, not so much.

[30:46] Haley Swindal: Oh, that's crazy.

[30:47] Jana Robbins: But yeah. No, she was always exposed to that. I was always around seeing shows and out and about and singing.

[30:52] Haley Swindal: Wow. What's some of the feedback that you guys have received after the first round of your "Just Move On"?

[30:55] Jana Robbins: Well, one of the things I told you, of course, it was before we even got the first show up that we were invited back because we were such a hit. But the validation beyond that is that we were chosen to be one of the top ten cabaret shows of 2018. I think Theater Pizazz put us in that category, and we were really happy to have that word of mouth is that our shows are really good.

[31:21] Haley Swindal: Well, I read these press articles that like Sara Bareilles was there and Laura Benanti, Laura Osnes showed up and everything.

[31:27] Jana Robbins: Yeah. Yeah. I guess Frank Wildhorn was there.

[31:34] Haley Swindal: Yeah. He was there. All kinds of people. It's a good group. We've got a good group coming. It's fun.

[31:40] Jana Robbins: Do you have you heard buzz about this current round? Did you think you're going to like, why only two shows? Why? Why not? If it's this popular, why not do more?

[31:46] Haley Swindal: Well, you know, I'm not clear that Feinstein's offered us more than I think we wanted to do two shows. She's got—oh, she's got—we've both got a million projects going on. I've got stuff coming in. Right now I'm going into a preview start on "The Yiddish Fiddler" on February the 11th, and trying to keep the commitment and do the show at Feinstein's and produce that at the same time is also really difficult. So right now I say, thank God it's two shows, and we'd be perfectly happy to bring it back again.

[32:21] Jana Robbins: I love doing these shows because, you know, as an actor or whatever, you are given this is your script. These are your lines. These are your things. This is like we get to create our own thing. So it's to me, it's kind of like the dessert. You know what I mean? So it's a special thing. You get to do it. For me, I like to go back between six months and a year. I don't like to go right back. It's been six months, which is like the minimum time. And I love it. It's like it's just like it fuels me. When I was a swing on "Jekyll and Hyde," I was grateful I was on Broadway. I was on the road for seven months, and I was like, what do I do? What do I do? I'm not performing. So that's when I started, "Okay, I'm going to start putting together these shows." But we want to stay our way. Right. That's what's so exciting. Jana's crafted this show, which is just an incredible job.

[33:04] Haley Swindal: Thank you.

[33:05] Jana Robbins: Well, everybody, please get your tickets now for February 12th at seven o'clock, Feinstein's 54 Below. If anybody wants to connect with you online, how can they find you? What are your social handles?

[33:16] Haley Swindal: Facebook, Haley Swindal, Twitter, Swindle, Instagram, H Swindle.

[33:25] Jana Robbins: Well, wow. And they can find me on Facebook because I'm definitely there, and they can find me on my website, which is JanaRobbins.com.

[33:34] Alan Seales: All right. Well, you can get more of me, Theatre underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Thank you. Rate and review it. Send me an email feedback at thetheatrepodcast.com. This is produced by Jillian Hockman, and music you're hearing right now is by Jukebox the Ghost, friends of ours. Thank you, guys. Jana and Haley, thank you so much.

[33:52] Jana Robbins: Thank you.

[33:53] Haley Swindal: Thank you.

[33:54] Alan Seales: Thank you.

[33:55] Jana Robbins: Thank you.

[33:56] Haley Swindal: Thank you.

[33:57] Alan Seales: Deep breath. Make the world a little colorful.