This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Alan Seales: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The Theatre Podcast. I'm your host, Alan Seales, and this is Intimate Personal Conversations with the industry's biggest names. This episode with Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer is obviously no exception to that, who is currently seen as the amazing diva, the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot on Broadway. She's a returning guest on the podcast that I actually really love now having people come back with years between the episodes because we get to dive into how they've changed in the time between when we last spoke with them and now. And fortunately or not, depending on how you want to look at it, we've got a whole pandemic to put between the first episode with Leslie and this one, which has changed her perspective on quite a number of things.

So it's definitely fun to get into all of that. But anyway, speaking of getting into it, let's do it. Find me online, Instagram, threads, TikTok, all the places. Leave a rating and a review wherever you're listening now. And everybody, please enjoy this episode with Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

[1:00] Alan Seales: Today's guest is already a friend of the podcast, having appeared way back in episode 51, originally released September 10th, 2019, when she was starring as Delia Dietz in Broadway's Beetlejuice. The actress made her Broadway debut in Hairspray in 2004, followed by a string of amazing roles in Legally Blonde, A Catered Affair, Elf, and Something Rotten. And in the years since we last spoke, she's added quite a few things to her resume, including playing Carol Burnett on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And she is now tearing up the stage as the Lady of the Lake in the Broadway revival of Spamalot. I'm doing great this morning. Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, welcome to the theatre podcast.

[1:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Holy shit. Wow, that was like the fourth time I tried to say your name. Rodriguez. Some people say Rodriguez. Some people say Rodriguez. It's or Rodriguez. Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

[2:06] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh my goodness. Well, you've added that officially to your name since we last spoke.

[2:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I think so. I did it way before the pandemic. I did it... I'm trying to remember. I remember when they had to change the outside, the nameplates, as in honor of my mother who wound up subsequently this past May passing away. So thank you. So yeah, I did it in honor of her and that side of my heritage and family. And so now we are Rodriguez and we're Kritzer.

[2:44] Alan Seales: Yeah. You are self-proclaimed Jurekin, which I still love that.

[2:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Jurekin. Jurekin. Jurekin. Jurekin. Easy and sweet. Jurekin. Jurekin. Am I saying your first name right? Is it Leslie Kritzer? I'm just screwing up all your names.

[3:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: No. You already did it. You did it. You did it. Leslie Kritzer. Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

[3:08] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer. Okay. Okay. You can also say Leslie. Some of my friends call me Leslie and I don't care if it's a less or a Z. Most times people call me Kritz. They're like, hey Kritz, what's up? Kritz. So that's normal too. Okay. Call me Kritz.

[3:26] Alan Seales: Fair. Fair, fair, fair. I remember I listened back to our first episode back again, episode 51, and you had just joined TikTok. So how's that going? Let's check in on the TikToks.

[3:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's not. I didn't keep it up. I didn't stay there. You and the hubs had also just moved to New Jersey.

[3:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: What? Yeah. When was this? What year ago? What year? This was 2019. It was September 10th, 2019 when the episode was released. It was probably the end of the summer when we recorded it.

[3:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, well, we must have just sold our house. We hadn't been living there since 2011. So we sold our house. We were renting another house at the end of the pandemic. And then now we live in the city. So we moved back here as of like a month or so.

[4:18] Alan Seales: That's funny, because again, you had mentioned, you're like, I miss it every day. I hate the commute. I want to move back to the city. And you were like...

[4:25] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We're back.

[4:25] Alan Seales: So you're back. Okay. Well, in another four or five years when we do episode 600, who knows?

[4:30] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: God, if I'm still going to 600 episodes...

[4:34] Alan Seales: I'll be living in Morocco.

[4:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You'll be living in Morocco off of your Lady and the Lake Spamalot money.

[4:42] Alan Seales: Oh, right. So, gosh, this was summer 2019, right? So this was before the world turned upside down, before all of the drama that was the Beetlejuice closure reopening, all that stuff. So I actually think this is really cool to talk about it now after you've had some time to reflect on it. Because being in the midst of Beetlejuice, of being like, are we going to make it? Are we going to make it? And then I think it was like, I still want to attribute it to Presley Ryan almost single-handedly using TikTok to revive this show and bring it back from almost death. Then it did get killed. Then it came back from the dead. Like, let's just dive in there. Where do you want to start?

[5:27] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Okay. Well, all right. So the last time we spoke was end of the summer 2019. We had gone through the Tony Awards. Our album had come out. We were a huge hit. I mean, post-Tony Awards, we were a huge hit, and we didn't win any Tonys, and it didn't really matter. We were just riding this wave, and Presley Ryan, she was on that TikTok. People glammed onto it. Is it glammed onto it? What's the word? Glammed onto it?

[5:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But is it Presley or Presley? That's the real question.

[6:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I say it's Presley or Presley. A lot of people, we all say it differently, but it's Presley.

[6:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Is it Presley or Presley?

[6:08] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Presley. Presley Ryan. Presley Ryan. Who is now a full grown-up in college, almost unrecognizable. She's a full-on lady. She was onto something, and I think it totally changed the scope of the show. It was very organic, but also it was timing. It was that, our album, being on the Tony Awards. Shows were dropping like flies, and here we were. Personally, for me, it had been a great award season for me. I was pleasantly surprised at the nominations that I did get. I was so happy. It was just awesome, and we all were having a blast at work. Then, little did we know, March 10th would be our last show. Because of the pandemic, not because of Scott Rudin.

[6:58] Alan Seales: Right. However, before that, yes, we were like, are we moving? Are we whatever? Basically, what was told to us was that, you guys, basically, we have another theater. We can't talk about it yet. We will be moving. Also, we're doing a capture of the show. I was planning my vacation around that capture, and all of us were. You were told this early 2020?

[7:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Early 2020, right? Oh, yes, yes, yes. We were planning on moving. We had another theater. Yeah, Scott Rudin was taking the theater. We were all pissed. We knew that during Thanksgiving.

[7:37] Alan Seales: Right.

[7:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Because one of the videos I made, David Josephs and I were rapping about it. Basically, taking our theater, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's a joke without saying his name, knowing that Music Man was going to come in. But we were doing so well that, most likely, this new theater was a lock, and it was basically in process. We were about to do this capture in April. We were planning our vacations around this capture, which was going to be amazing. Then, Tuesday, March 10th was our last show. We were planning a move. We were planning this and that. It just all went to shit, obviously.

[8:22] Alan Seales: That's insane. The capture never happened?

[8:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Nope.

[8:23] Alan Seales: Wow. Oh, that is so crappy.

[8:25] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It never happened. We needed a live audience for it to have happened. We needed to do it the way that Timbers would have wanted it, which was totally out of the box and cool and different. Not your straight up normal capture. Even the way we shot the commercial was really fun. Now, it's kind of like-

[8:46] Alan Seales: Yeah, you update the lyrics for whatever venue that you're singing in or performing in. That's always something that the show did. It was always playing to whoever was watching. Pro shots, in general, for those who don't know, literally cost millions of dollars. It's not just showing up with a couple cameras. It's multiple nights with live audiences, cutting together the footage of multiple takes, again, for multiple performers. It's not like TV and film where you're starting and stopping and redoing the same scene. You're running through the whole show multiple nights in front of a full audience. When I heard that a pro shot took over $1 to $2 million, my jaw hit the floor. My floor hit the jaw, too, for that matter. I was like, what the actual F, right? But then it's New York, right? It's New York. It's union rules and all the other stuff. Anyway. Anyway.

[9:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: A cup of coffee is $5. $5.

[9:48] Alan Seales: And depending on what union coffee house you're in, you can't pour it yourself.

[9:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Right. I mean, New York has gotten so expensive, let alone union. So like, yeah. It's nuts. Jesus.

[10:00] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's nuts. So yeah, we're all expensive now. Everyone's expensive. Even coffee is expensive. And we know that water is expensive. So it's laughable when I pick up a bottle of water in the store and I'm like, you're joking, right? Give me a water fountain. Where the hell is a goddamn water fountain around here?

[10:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: There was years ago. Years ago. It's probably 10 years ago. I was walking through Times Square with my big camera, because I have a nice camera I shoot with sometimes, hanging from my neck. And I go up to a vendor. I'm thirsty. It's the summer. I'm like, just give me a bottle of water, please. And I hand him $2 because I'm like, I'm going to pay the Times Square upcharge. The tourist taxes, I call it. And he's like, no, it's $4. And I was like, for a bottle of water? No, I'm going to give you $2 for this bottle of water. And he goes, but you're a tourist. He points at my camera. And I said, no, I live in Washington Heights. I live at 189th Street. I do...

[11:00] Alan Seales: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I live on...

[11:00] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Really?

[11:00] Alan Seales: I'm down the street from you.

[11:03] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, I was 189th and Bennett. I love that area up there.

[11:14] Alan Seales: I mean, I just told everyone who is listening where I live.

[11:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'll bleep that out. I'll bleep that out.

[11:20] Alan Seales: Yeah, bleep that out. Anyway, go ahead.

[11:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'll bleep that out. No, I love that area.

[11:24] Alan Seales: We're a smart critter. Oh, it's great. But you know, I want to come to Brooklyn now.

[11:29] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Well, I've got a spare bedroom. You can come up. You can come down here. I'll come visit and we can make a podcast. What's his face on the shelf behind you?

[11:37] Alan Seales: Oh, that's Mr. Elf. Yeah, that's Will. Will Ferrell, the Elf.

[11:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh my God. Anyway, sorry. I keep messing your train of thought.

[11:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't have a train of thought this morning. I need more coffee.

[11:45] Alan Seales: You do have a train of thought.

[11:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: My train is a hoverboard that doesn't have a track. I'm not going in a straight line.

[11:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That is for sure. So, okay. Beetlejuice, tourist tax. Anyway, tourist, if you're listening, you don't need to pay more than like two bottles for a dollar of water. I am so good this morning. This is... but I follow it. I follow it.

[12:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Tourist, you don't need to...

[12:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You and I both got onto this thing going, we need coffee. There's not enough coffee in the world and literally raised our mugs together in solidarity.

[12:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: This morning, I got up early, went into town, went into Midtown, have come back and because I went, I had to go up like this Kenneth Cole, wellness at work presentation thing this morning. So, I was like, I was just hanging out with Kenneth and Katie Couric this morning and Mayor Adams.

[12:34] Alan Seales: Oh, okay. Cool.

[12:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Like you do and came back for the interview with the crits. So...

[12:40] Alan Seales: Amazing.

[12:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, there you go. Anywho, what are we talking about? What are we talking about?

[12:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: My toe hurts from dropping all those names. Goodness.

[12:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, we did... we were supposed to do the capture. We're supposed to do the capture. Didn't happen. Probably won't ever happen. And that's too bad. But guess what? That's life.

[13:02] Alan Seales: I mean, Timbers is doing okay for himself. I think like he could get...

[13:07] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: No one's worried about him.

[13:08] Alan Seales: Yeah, I think we could get the original cast back together and do this.

[13:11] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: If they wanted to, they totally could. I mean, and or, I heard that they may do it in London.

[13:18] Alan Seales: Surprise. Surprise, not a surprise. Everything winds up going over there. Like, who knows? Anything's possible.

[13:24] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Would you go over there to revive any role if Spamalot is not conflicting or something?

[13:29] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Not just any role. I'm not playing Lydia.

[13:32] Alan Seales: No, I mean...

[13:32] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Any role, like...

[13:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Did I really just say any role? I meant if any role does not conflict.

[13:39] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It was cute. It was very cute. I was like, well, I'd like to do Charles.

[13:43] Alan Seales: Would you do Otho? Because you'd be great.

[13:47] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. You'd be like, can I do Otho, but also maybe do Guys and Dolls, do a simultaneous thing. Swap out with Marisha, who I know over there is playing Adelaide. Yeah, you know, anything's possible.

[14:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's always timing, it's always schedule, it's always what does it entail, how long.

[14:07] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I never say no. I always say, yeah, let's talk about it, you know.

[14:11] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, I mean, I love the West End. I've always wanted to work in the West End.

[14:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But, we'll see. I don't even know when that is. I think it's far off, though.

[14:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, I haven't heard anything about it lately. Everything this fall, right now, is all like the notebook.

[14:26] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That's all I hear about.

[14:27] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Not the notebook. I hear it's good.

[14:29] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I do, too. I do, too. And, I also hear Water for Elephants is going to be brilliant.

[14:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Beautiful.

[14:35] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But, it's got a million, over a million dollar a week operating budget.

[14:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, people are like, how is it going to survive?

[14:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, I don't know. But, it's all, again, it's all expensive.

[14:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: The Outsiders, I hear, is very exciting. I really want to see that.

[14:48] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I really want to see Lempicka, Eden.

[14:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yes.

[14:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, I want to see everything. Problem is, I'm in a show.

[14:53] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, I probably will not see most of them right away.

[14:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But, maybe. Who knows? I love getting invited.

[15:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I just saw Eden the other night in Gardens of Anintia.

[15:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Ah, I heard it's great. Listen, Mary Testa.

[15:08] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It was beautiful. It was Mary Testa.

[15:09] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Tell us sessions.

[15:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Mary Testa, I mean.

[15:12] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Come on. Come on.

[15:13] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It makes me appreciate the time I have left with my parents.

[15:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Because, it's a story about, you know, like a flashback.

[15:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: An old lady telling the story through her younger self.

[15:25] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And, like, Eden is the mom.

[15:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And, it's one of those things that, I saw that last week.

[15:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And, then last night saw Mad Women of the West.

[15:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Which is also, it's all women.

[15:39] Alan Seales: Where's that?

[15:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That is at the Actors Temple with Mary Lou Henner.

[15:43] Alan Seales: Nice.

[15:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Mary Lou Henner and Caroline Aaron from Maisel.

[15:46] Alan Seales: Oh, very cool.

[15:47] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, and it's four women that they're all talking about.

[15:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's a lot of menopause jokes.

[15:54] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But, it's basically like we are all of a certain age.

[15:57] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And, holy shit.

[15:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I hope we didn't just screw up our lives real bad.

[16:00] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But, we got to make the best of it and move forward.

[16:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, it's really funny.

[16:03] Alan Seales: Where is it again?

[16:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: The Actors Temple on 47th.

[16:05] Alan Seales: The Actors Temple.

[16:06] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, my God.

[16:07] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Looking it up.

[16:08] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[16:09] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Wow.

[16:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I love those women.

[16:11] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[16:12] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, I really love those women.

[16:13] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So.

[16:14] Alan Seales: Yeah, they're great.

[16:15] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's a good show.

[16:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's a tiny little place that also is a synagogue.

[16:18] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: If you're in the mood.

[16:20] Alan Seales: I have walked by it so many times.

[16:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[16:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, there you go.

[16:24] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, Beetlejuice, just to put a pin in that or wrap it up or put a bow on it.

[16:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't know how to make a metaphor this morning apparently.

[16:31] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Tie it up.

[16:33] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, excuse me.

[16:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Excuse me.

[16:35] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I will not be taking this.

[16:36] Alan Seales: Oh.

[16:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Go ahead.

[16:38] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Put it on speaker.

[16:39] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Who is it?

[16:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Hello, Andy.

[16:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Hello.

[16:43] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Kristen Chenoweth.

[16:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We're in the middle of.

[16:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Kristen Chenoweth.

[16:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Hello.

[16:47] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Is it Taryn Killam?

[16:48] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, he's so nice.

[16:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: He's so fun.

[16:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We're dressing room floor mates and he is just, he's just great.

[16:55] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: He's just great.

[16:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: After seeing him in the show and Alex Moffat in The Cottage with Laura Bell Bundy and others,

[17:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: right?

[17:03] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Also wonderful.

[17:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Is and I guess, I guess for a while now, like, what's her face from Schmigadoon?

[17:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Like the SNL cast is starting to make their way onto Broadway a little bit.

[17:13] Alan Seales: And is it?

[17:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[17:15] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[17:16] Alan Seales: Can you talk a little bit more, Taryn, about, about his aspirations?

[17:18] Alan Seales: Like, in terms of like bringing in or I guess wanting to be on Broadway, because I feel

[17:23] Alan Seales: like coming out of SNL and then also additional question, would you want to go onto SNL?

[17:28] Alan Seales: Is that sort of thing that like a stage actor wants to do?

[17:31] Alan Seales: But like this crossover going back and forth, because it is just a live performance in front of an audience.

[17:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[17:38] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, they're different skills, right?

[17:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But I think you can do it because you're funny AF.

[17:43] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I could do it.

[17:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I've always wanted to do it.

[17:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I did audition.

[17:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I never got on the show.

[17:47] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I sort of, I was in the improv world.

[17:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I sort of gave it up to stay in the musical theater world because I kept working and you kind of can't do both.

[17:55] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I wasn't immersed enough in the comedy world to go that route.

[17:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Taryn and I have had numerous discussions about this, that I'm kind of in working with him and some of the other SNL people I've worked with, Rachel Dratch and gotten to know Anna Gasteyer and that I get a sense of what it must have been like to work with them, obviously.

[18:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But the bottom line is Taryn is a musical theater person.

[18:21] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, he really studied it.

[18:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm pretty sure he went to college for it and then wound up for a little while or something was very serious about it and then wound up kind of going into more comedy and the Groundlings and then SNL.

[18:32] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But this is his love.

[18:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, he loves doing musicals.

[18:38] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I always tell him, I'm like, Taryn, your voice, like you really can sing.

[18:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I was like, I said, I'm serious.

[18:43] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Like, I would love to hear you sing some other stuff just because I know it's like there's so much there.

[18:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: He's so brilliant in his mind and the comedy and he takes it so seriously and jokes and putting things together.

[18:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's very inspiring to be around.

[18:57] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I have.

[18:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, it was a lifelong dream.

[18:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I almost went to L.A., did the Groundlings, did the whole thing.

[19:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But I kept doing musicals and I went to school at a very high, prestigious, very highly prestigious sentences, like musical theater school.

[19:11] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I was groomed to do that.

[19:13] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I was determined to do that.

[19:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then, you know, but I think now in my my life, what I get to do in Spamalot is I get to marry the two a little bit because I do do it.

[19:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: My improvise bits a little bit.

[19:24] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I get to do a lot of comedy in it, not just sing.

[19:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then in my shows that I write, that's when I get to kind of really express that, use that skill.

[19:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But now being around Taryn, especially, it's very inspiring.

[19:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Hang on, everybody.

[19:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We're just going to take a quick break.

[19:46] Alan Seales: All right, now we're back.

[19:47] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: The difference is people that do SNL, they have a very specific skill set.

[19:53] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Not everyone that does musicals can do SNL and improv comedy and vice versa.

[19:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: The people that are meant to and that are drawn to it, like Taryn, like Rachel Drash, like Anna Gasteyer, Alex Moffat.

[20:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Well, he doesn't do musicals, but you mentioned her name and I'm totally...

[20:09] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, Smigadoon.

[20:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Smigadoon.

[20:11] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You know, they're drawn to it because they have a natural affinity and they can sing and do all the other things.

[20:18] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Sicily Strong.

[20:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Sicily Strong.

[20:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: There you go.

[20:21] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You know, there is crossover, but very few people can do that.

[20:24] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I appreciate you saying that.

[20:26] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It was a lifelong dream.

[20:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But I think in talking to enough people who have been on the show, they're so glad that they were on it.

[20:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It changed their lives, but also it was a very difficult place to be and a difficult place to work and, again, changed their lives.

[20:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But I've kind of gotten the feeling that, hey, if I was meant to be on that show, I would have been, you know?

[20:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And it's kind of like, don't you feel that way about life?

[20:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: If certain things were meant to happen, they would have, and I'm experiencing it in a different way by getting to do that in my shows and then in Spamalot and, you know, it kind of works, right?

[21:02] Alan Seales: Well, then, The Lady of the Lake is, I mean, Sarah Ramirez, her portrayal, her origination, like, the performance is everywhere and you can't look up Spamalot without seeing her sing one of the songs and coming into, I guess, the revival for you was at the Kennedy Center, right?

[21:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So you were part of the original cast, and when you're presented with this material, with this character that is very iconic, and I sort of equate this to being a Glenda or an Elphaba, but being a comedy, you have, I think, a little more liberty in being able to sort of go off the rails a little bit, right?

[21:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So you have to come in and you have to fit a certain mold, but not completely.

[21:57] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So you, as Leslie, as the Kritz, when you're coming in as the Kritz, coming in and being like, all right, I'm going to make this mine, I'm going to be the best Kritz I can be, while still honoring this iconic role in this iconic show, in this iconic story, because Spamalot in general is completely ripped off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the movie from, I think it was 79 that came out, right?

[22:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That makes sense.

[22:24] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So how are you approaching this to make it your own while still keeping it familiar?

[22:33] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: First of all, I love you. I just love you. Can we do this all the time?

[22:36] Alan Seales: Yes, please.

[22:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: No, we need to do more stuff together.

[22:39] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm just saying this to you because I just adore you, number one.

[22:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Number two, okay, first of all, SADA now has changed pronouns, so is referred to as they.

[22:48] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I did not know. I am sorry.

[22:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: No, that's okay. We educate each other.

[22:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We educate each other, so I'm carrying along that message.

[22:53] Alan Seales: Thank you.

[22:55] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: First of all, I saw SADA 20-something years ago when they did this, when they were maybe 26 or 27.

[23:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I think we were around the same age.

[23:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Blown away by them, absolutely.

[23:06] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Don't remember anything about the show except them, and also never in a million years would have thought that someone like me, all five foot two and a half of me, would ever play Lady of the Lake because I'm not a tall, goddess-y kind of woman.

[23:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm petite, and I have a big voice, but I'm not that visually, right?

[23:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And that's how, by the way, you come into New York, are you tall or are you short?

[23:32] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Are you a tapper or are you not?

[23:33] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Are you this or are you that?

[23:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's very much when you come here, at least when I came here, it was that.

[23:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So I didn't fit the mold, right?

[23:39] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Cut to, I get the call from Jeffrey Finn.

[23:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Do you want to play Lady of the Lake and Spamalot?

[23:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm like, uh, I guess.

[23:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I never really thought, but look at this cast.

[23:48] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, hell yeah.

[23:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Love the Kennedy Center.

[23:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Love Jeffrey Finn.

[23:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Love my group of actors.

[23:53] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Are you kidding?

[23:54] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Sign me up.

[23:55] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Where do I go for a day rehearsal?

[23:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: How I approached it was I didn't re-watch the movie.

[23:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I didn't listen to the album except for one, a piece of whatever happened to my part because I wanted to change vocally what I was doing, but I didn't, which what they maybe had done, but I didn't want to mess with it too much.

[24:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I wanted to kind of clean slate, you know, no real, if anything, the end of grail.

[24:21] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I just wanted to hear the end of grail, chorally what it sounded like, structurally what it sounded like with everyone singing.

[24:27] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then listen to what they did vocally and go, oh, these are interesting choices.

[24:33] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm going to keep this.

[24:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm not going to keep this.

[24:35] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm not going to keep this.

[24:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I am going to keep this, and I'm going to build on this.

[24:38] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And that's kind of how for me musically, I go, what can I do to infuse what I do still honor what's written?

[24:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then character wise, I come in not remembering what Sada did and also not remember, not watching any bootlegs.

[24:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: The only bootleg we watched was a costume change thing at the end of the show without ruining it for people who were listening because we couldn't figure out this dress that is a trick thing.

[25:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That's the only thing I've ever seen.

[25:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I come in and I said, okay, my Lady of the Lake is different vignettes, different versions of Lady of the Lake.

[25:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Camelot Lady of the Lake is a lounge singer.

[25:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Grail Lady of the Lake is a pop star.

[25:17] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Beginning of the Lady of the Lake is the diva, more of the siren, the siren.

[25:25] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Then whatever happened to my part is the actress that's playing Lady of the Lake in the show, Spantlon, who is the quintessential diva.

[25:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then the end, Guinevere, is this purest form of Lady of the Lake, almost like at the end of Wizard of Oz when Dorothy is like coming back home.

[25:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's just like a pure, beautiful, real scene.

[25:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: There's one turn at the end, but it's really about, you know, you've been here all the time.

[25:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You know what I mean?

[25:57] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It feels like that in Wizard of Oz.

[26:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Like, you've always been home, Dorothy.

[26:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You know what I mean?

[26:06] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And it's just beautiful and heartfelt.

[26:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I feel like Chris and James and I have like this beautiful scene there that is obviously comedic, but it's rooted in truth.

[26:15] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And, you know, our whole show is about joy and laughter and fun.

[26:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So that's kind of how I approached it without even, and by the way, like, I don't think too hard about it.

[26:26] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't intellectualize it.

[26:27] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't overanalyze it.

[26:29] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I try to write jokes.

[26:30] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I try to put my stuff in.

[26:32] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm inspired by the audience.

[26:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm inspired by my peers.

[26:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I feel safe in a show with this group of people to do that.

[26:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Am I limited because of my stage time?

[26:43] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Sure.

[26:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But I've always, most of my career, I've, I'm always, like, I come on, I do it, I get out.

[26:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So I know how to make the most of what I'm given, especially since this character is not in the movie.

[26:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It is a new creation for the show.

[26:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So, you know, how do I do that but not try too hard?

[27:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And my interest too with comedy is subtlety.

[27:09] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You know, how subtle can I be when I have them in the palm of my hand?

[27:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: How much can I do, or how much or how little can I do to make them laugh?

[27:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That is, and the timing of it is really important to me.

[27:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It makes me excited.

[27:24] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It makes me, it makes me feel challenged in a way that most, in a way that I feel different in this musical than other musicals that are way more crafted and very consistent.

[27:35] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I have freedom in this.

[27:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And the guys do too.

[27:37] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So that's, that's kind of how I approached it.

[27:41] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then I really wanted to stretch myself vocally.

[27:43] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I was like, what if I go higher here?

[27:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: What if I do, what if I do this and totally do my operatic range here, go to this high thing and then belt right after that?

[27:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, I'm 46 years old.

[27:54] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I got pipes.

[27:55] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'm in, I'm in my prime.

[27:57] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Let's use these fuckers.

[27:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Like, you know, let's,

[28:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We've got here I'm a hot rod, you know, like let's let's see within reason what I have and what I can give while I have it, you know, because I will not have this range forever and I have it now and it's amazing to use. I do. I feel like sometimes when I'm out there, I'm like, God, I'm a Porsche like this is this. I am. This is amazing. But I know how to drive my vehicle and I know how to not burn myself out. And that's another, you know, I've worked very hard with my voice teacher to know how to be a Porsche, but to maintain my vehicle. Right. I've never used the Porsche comparison except with you.

[28:44] Alan Seales: I well, I enjoy that. And it's ironic you said that because maybe not ironic. In our first episode, episode 51, we got into a just a real quick conversation because Casey Levy had just started bringing to the forefront on social media, her vocal injuries. And you would actually said to you're like, Yeah, I've gone through it. And everyone's afraid to say it. But now we're not. And now we but then we are, but now we're not. And, and it's, it's really interesting that we've gone through this time of like crawling into a hole and quarantining in the pandemic. And who knows what who was doing what during this time, and then coming out. And I mean, just like any athlete, right? You have to keep training, you have to keep training in the off season.

When you're not on stage, you have to keep performing. So were you tuning your engine? Were you cleaning your pipes? Were you upgrading? Were you putting your nitrous oxide into your, your fuel injection before spam a lot? Or like, how do you maintain? How do you keep your engine running smoothly?

[29:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Well, I think was I doing a musical before spam a lot? I don't remember what I was doing. We had Maisel. Oh, I did Maisel. But I did a play. I did a play at Lincoln Center. And, you know, during the pandemic, I really didn't sing very much. I sang a little, but not really. And I kind of felt like, well, first of all, it's not like, where am I gonna sing? But it was kind of a quiet period, which was fine with me, because I had done Beetlejuice and one after the other. When I did Maisel, it was really fun, because I got to like, and which was so quick to embody her. Although I had been embodying her in my mind for decades, because I'm a huge fan. But I think it was important for me to have a break from acting for a while, even though it wasn't my choice.

It was nice to feel like a normal person. Normal in the sense of, you know, not always having to just be an actor. And that's like, my identity. To answer your question, getting ready for spam a lot after doing this play at Lincoln Center, where I just used my voice, it was very interesting. I was like, Oh, this is I know exactly what to do to maintain vocal, I didn't have mics or whatever. And then I worked with my teacher. And then as I knew spam a lot was transferring. Oh, wait, no, when spam a lot went to DC in May, before I did the play, I was training way before that to do the show. Because I knew, wow, I hadn't done a musical in a long and I hadn't done a musical since Beetlejuice closed.

So I had a little break. I think we closed in February, I had a little break, started working with my teacher on the spam a lot stuff once I knew Kennedy Center was ago, did the Kennedy Center, then we found out Yep, we're going. So I did this play, I started working just vocally on speech, to make sure because sometimes talking really can mess up your voice. And then once we knew that spam a lot was transferring, I went back right back in started way, way before rehearsal, and really mapped out exactly what to do. Joan later has seen me through two injuries. I have the pictures of my vocal cords to prove it. I'm very open about what has happened to me with hemorrhaging. Thank God I've never had to have surgery or any of that.

But yeah, it happens. And it happens easily, easily, it could be a minor injury, it could be a severe one, the most I had to minor, the big one where I really, really got hurt was when and I want the people listening to this to really take it in, because this is what we do. We're like, no, no, no, we push through, we push through, we push through. I was doing Robert Bragg Room Off Broadway, one of my favorite shows that I've ever done. I had overscheduled. We were doing the show, we were recording our album. And then I had a concert after we closed. And I was sick, I had a concert up at the Berk in the Berkshires. And I said, No, no, no, it's okay. I'm just gonna, you know what, I'll get through the sickness, I'll get through the sickness.

And I'll maybe I'll take a, you know, by the way, steroids are not the devil, you take them. If I ever need one in an emergency, I will take it. Well, this was an emergency. However, I was not using my voice properly at the time and singing through a very, very difficult chest cold. And it was a recipe for disaster. I went to my doctor after I figured out my range was a little wonky. And he scoped me and for people that don't know what that is, they stick a camera down your nose or down your throat, they it does not hurt, they numb you so that you don't, you know, gag. And he looked at me and he said, What happened? Now, Dr. Wu, the amazing Dr. Wu is very serious, you know, he's a very well known, very, very high level doctor ENT.

And then he pushed the screen towards me and my vocal cord was bloody red. There was a vein that a vein, a blood vessel that had burst, it was bleeding. And he's like, we got to go in there, we got to cauterize it. Now you're asking me sorry, guys, it just says a spoiler alert, I'm going to tell you what, what cauterizing a blood vessel on your vocal cords is like. They stick a laser down your throat, and they burn it so that it stops bleeding. Yeah, it is not painful. But I can't tell you what the smell is like. I will hope I never have that experience. Again, flesh in general is not cool, not fun. But I'm again, this is good for people to know so that when you're out and you're singing at one in the morning, and you think that you're invisible, and you're doing this and you're doing that, and you're like, Oh, I got a show to do, but I'm fine.

And I'm 25, that this stuff still happens. And I was not 25 when this happened. But taking care of those beautiful little vocal folds that are so delicate, it doesn't take much. I had extensive rehabilitation, I had to be quiet, I worked with Joan and I was going into something rotten month later. So nobody knew I had this injury. I certainly wasn't going to tell anyone I told my agent, but I was like, I can do this, Joan thinks I can do this, I will be rehabilitated, I will get better. I did everything they told me to do. And I spent a lot of money to rehab. And I walked into something rotten, no problem, was consistent to the end to be closed, never had a vocal injury. And I and I've been basically okay since during Beetlejuice, I did get sick once and I had to be out for a couple of days because it was a little wonky.

But I know exactly what to do now. I know my limitations. Everybody has limitations, especially as you get older, you know, even with Spamalot, my voice teacher, Joan says, you just have to know when it's enough, when it's too much, like, you know, you want to drive that porch and go 150. No, maybe you should just stay at 100. Oh, but I'm feeling it. I'm feeling I want to, I want to like go up there and just go nuts and live in the moment. Okay, well, what's tomorrow going to be like for you? Can you even go up there at all? And that is when you're doing eight shows a week, and you are my age, you just even though I'm a Porsche, I, it is not the same. It is not the same. Okay, you're not a showroom floorport.

No, I'm well maintained. Yeah, I'm a well maintained vintage Porsche. Okay, I'm not a brand new Porsche. Okay, with with these new, you know, all this new technology. So the long answer to your question is, I could get injured anytime I try to prevent it. But I also still have a life. I will have a glass of wine once in a while or a cocktail. I know when it's time to go home. I know when it's no, I won't do your concert on a Monday. I'm so sorry. I don't care if it's raising money for children. You know, I will do it at some point, I promise. But I my job is to show up for my job and my anxiety mentally, which is connected. If I feel like I'm getting into a position where I am putting myself at risk, I have to take I have to because there's nothing worse.

And if singers are listening to this, there is nothing worse than waking up and going. Is it there? Oh my god. Is it there? Is it there? I don't think it's gonna be there. I don't think it's gonna be there. Oh my god. Okay, what do I do? When do I call? Okay, let's wait another hour. All right, let's wait another two hours. Let's warm up. Let's see. I mean, it is you can really go crazy. So you know, you got to sacrifice can't can't go to every party can't sing all the benefits can't do all the sometimes auditions like it is what it is. So it's a very long answer. I like watching the clock go. I'm like, I think I've been talking straight for 10 minutes. Oh, it's easy for me. I don't have to say anything. I appreciate it. Hey, everybody, we're just gonna take a quick break. All right, now we're back.

[37:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It depends on like, where you know, the vocal demands like I'd watch Elizabeth Teeter and before her Sofia and Caruso, you know, sing the Lydia track and Beetlejuice, which is so difficult and so high, and watch them both go through their own anxieties. And even though they're both like tough as nails and unbelievable talents, you are out there expected to deliver. And there is no funny voice over it or or character voice. It is your voice pure and you have to be vulnerable. And vulnerability and vocal quality, really understanding how to harness that is a skillet in itself. You know, I watched the both of them having to go through it a lot of a lot of anxiety and, you know, wanting to deliver.

And, and the both of them are incredible. But as young people with that kind of pressure, that's really difficult. I have that kind of pressure now. You know, at end of end of grail, I'm doing this, basically this riff from Wicked, but a step higher, I think, or a half a step higher than right, right. That was that's awesome. And it's really fun. But when the when they go, ah, and there's a space, and I'm supposed, it's either sink or swim. And every night, I know how to place it like I'm up there. I'm harnessed with people that haven't seen the show. I'm harnessed to a on a safety belt that matches my dress, which is very cool to a wall. I am I level with the mezzanine up on this platform, no safety rail, okay, just freewheeling on a three foot platform above the ground, up, up, up there.

And that space is like, okay, you're either going to deliver, what else could you do here? There's no safety here. So you got to figure it out. I know exactly how to place it. I've worked with Joan on how to place it exactly to a T to deliver it. And then once I hit it, that, ah, and I have to hold that note, I know exactly where to hold it. And I watched john, our conductor, holding the note, and I know how to cut off and it is that is something I don't mess with. I just know how to get right into the pocket. That's a moment where sometimes I want to go off the rails a little for fun. And I have to remind myself, slow your roll. You know, your vintage porch, Porsche, like, slow your up, you know, you're not 24. And then the, you know, and then six, you know what I mean? Like, you are the musical.

[40:09] Alan Seales: Oh, I love. I'm going to tell you, john bell, your your conductor. He was our musical director when I did forever planet pray there's like a bajillion years ago. And I'm so happy to see what he has done. Yeah, john, john is the he is. He's incredible. Anyway, moving on, moving on. Oh, real quick. So so you can't succeed on Broadway, if you don't have any Jews, you were doing rehearsal, you were in rehearsal when the conflict in Israel and Gaza started. How did that conversation? Did that? Was that a conversation about that song about that number?

[40:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It was that it was absolutely a conversation. Josh, our director, Josh Rhodes, you know, a bunch of people had come to him said, you know, we're concerned, are we a little nervous, whatever. He's like, let's have a group discussion. We sat down in rehearsal, all of us were together. And we really talked about it. And it was a good discussion. And we kind of basically decided, by the way, this was before the actual war in in, do you say invasion of Gaza happened? Or, you know, conflict in Gaza in the sense of troops coming over and being told to evacuate happened. That was while we were in previews. So basically, we decided, as a group, I think, even though we were all conflicted, we were going to do this number in the spirit of joy in which it was written, which is not about Israel, not about Palestine, not about anything having to do with that.

This is about the celebration of the Jewish contribution to the arts, particularly musical theater, which is huge, and should be celebrated. And the joy around this number, that is the aim here. We are allowed to celebrate that.

[42:02] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: There's nothing bad about it. It is going to maybe trigger people, as it should in a time where it is a terrible, terrible thing that we're watching, that we're all feeling, that we're all processing. However, theatre is always there for us to also enjoy, to escape, to reflect, to fill our tanks, so we can go back out in the real world and go, okay, I can keep continuing to process this, knowing what I saw. Now, with that said, people are allowed to come to the show and also be triggered by it and angry by it. That is okay, too. This is live theatre. We don't set the rules about how the audience feels. A friend of mine said to me once, I think it was either, not Philip Seymour Hoffman, maybe it was Philip Seymour Hoffman, I don't remember, but it was a famous person and said to someone else, wow, I'm really butchering this.

It's not for, oh, he said, okay, I think it was either Philip Seymour Hoffman or some actor was like, yeah, I don't think I was good tonight. I don't think I did my best or whatever. And the person said to him, it's really not for you to decide. It's not up to you to decide. You did your work. It's the audience. They are the ones that experience how they feel. We're doing it for them. We're doing it for them. So, how they interpret, how they experience it, that is their right. So, when someone says to you, oh, you did so great. You're almost taking their experience away from them. So, if people come to Spamalot and they're triggered by it, they have every right to be. If they love it, they have every right to love it.

It's not our job to take that away from them. Our job is just to do what we know how to do best and go and be specific. And I think the way Michael Urie and that entire company that is on that stage deliver that number, you cannot, at least for me, it's hard to walk away from that and watch it and go, wow, that is just what a great number, what a great performance, full of love and heart. Michael Urie is one of the people that is the heart of our show. I just love him. That's how I feel about his little contribution. Everybody, but him in this show and that number, it is just all pure love. So, yeah, that's kind of how we're doing it. Yeah, I love it. And I can read that from the audience. It's joy, it's celebration, it's excitement.

And I think if you're a fan of Mel Brooks, if you're a fan of Monty Python, even kind of the extreme of South Park, when you get that they're bringing comedy, I mean, even Book of Mormon, right? So all these jokes are based in truth. The jokes are bringing up tropes, but it's all satire. And I mean, look at the rest of the show, right? You're making fun of English the entire time and the French and so many other groups of people. I mean, gosh, even Chris Fitzgerald, just everything he brings to his role is so subtle and amazing. Just the best. And carefully thought out with the effort, carefully thought out with the element of play and spontaneity. That is how I feel about our group of knights.

And Chris, especially because Michael McGraw, who played Patsy in the original, who had passed away not too long ago, Chris embodies it. It's not that he embodies Michael. Michael has passed the torch to Chris in a way, and it might sound woo-woo spiritually to me, that I feel when I watch Chris, it is the best of Chris. This part is truly the best of the heart of who Chris Fitzgerald is, not only as a good person and a good man, but as a supremely gifted comedic actor, who is generous on stage and very supportive. It is a joy and a privilege to watch him work and to be around him, and also for him to try to make me break on stage.

[46:27] Alan Seales: Really?

[46:30] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: He hasn't fully, but he might achieve it. Someday he might achieve it. That's a really good summary. He's generous. His performance is scene-stealing without saying, look at me. And that's what, I mean, all of it, Michael Urie too, and you and JMI, James Norton, Michael Hart, just literally everybody. There's no single comedic star. All of you are building each other up in a way that I haven't seen in an ensemble. I don't know if ever. It's, oh, maybe since the Money Python crew. It's a crew. It's legitimately a crew.

[47:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It is. And you got Taron, who, by the way, could, if he wanted to, just take over, right? In many of those, he knows what to do. He knows when to get out. He knows when to take the floor and to give the floor. Ethan, also subtle, funny, also knows how to pass the torch. Nick Walker and James, and also Jimmy Smigoula, who doesn't have a huge part, but when he delivers his thing, it's specific, it's on. He also, when someone else has more lines than you in a group, if you have the ability to watch and be present and not have to be busy, just pull, know where the focus is supposed to go. That is a professional. That is a true pro. And this group, including me, knows how to do that. We give each other the floor with generosity and love because the parts make the whole.

There's no star here. James, he's King Arthur. He's not the star of the show. He is one of the hearts of the show. He is certainly, King Arthur is the top of the food chain, but he also knows, because this is also James and who he is, he knows he is one part of the whole. And then you put the ensemble into that, the most incredible ensemble, who also understand focus and who also understand the chemistry that all of us have to have on stage to make it work. I mean, I'm truly so grateful when our cast changes. If it does, it's going to be an adjustment. And what we're hoping is that when that does happen eventually, that we maintain this spirit. And I think the show will attract people like that.

I think we're always, and to our producer, Jeffrey Finn's credit, he wants that. He wants that for us, because that's also who he is. And Josh wants that as well. Josh Rhodes, our director. So it's really special. I mean, for however long it lasts, we're enjoying it for as long as we can.

[49:31] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And you should. And I love being the, I love being, I am the only female principal. And it's real cool, I have to say. At first, I was like, wait, really? I'm usually the person that comes on and I sing and I get to leave. I do that in the show, but I'm the only one that does it. So it's kind of like, okay. And now I'm like, oh, this is rad. I kind of like it. I'm the queen. I kind of like being the queen. Okay. I could do this for a while. Cool, cool. It's nice.

[50:03] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. And the voice, the part is vocally all over the place. Very vocally challenging. But I think very apropos, you come in the second act, you're like, whatever happened to my part? You do have a good chunk of time where you can go back and do a crossword puzzle. So at least—

[50:20] Alan Seales: It's terrifying, but I could. Oh, I feel like if I'm not, no, although I'll FaceTime my friend Lindsay. I'll do stuff. I could keep busy. That's when I should pay bills and go through my thing. But then you can get too immersed in something. It makes me very nervous. It makes me very nervous. Even during Beetlejuice, people are like, wow, you can continue to write or play if you want. I was like, play? I can't. Unless I was offstage cover. Sure. But even 20, 25 minutes makes me nervous I'm going to miss my cue. So yeah, it's a blast. I'm having a blast. I missed a cue once and I was terrified I will never do it again. It was the worst. When you are flying down two sets of staircases and jumping over six of those steps, possibly going to break your ankle to make an entrance. Terrifying.

[51:15] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Terrifying.

[51:17] Alan Seales: All right. Well, let's wrap up with the same—

[51:18] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We're wrapping up.

[51:20] Alan Seales: I know. Well, we're at the hour, brah.

[51:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We got to do it. We got to do it, brah.

[51:25] Alan Seales: I know. Well, I'm telling you, we're going to come back. We got to do something else together. We got to do more things.

[51:27] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: No, I would love it. And I want it to include video too next time.

[51:31] Alan Seales: Okay. I'll do my hair next time.

[51:32] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We'll do it. We'll do it. No, no, no. But our own thing. We'll discuss.

[51:35] Alan Seales: Yes, please. Please. Okay. So these are the same questions I asked you before. And I wrote down your previous answers. And after you answer them this time, we'll see how they changed.

[51:44] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Okay. Okay.

[51:44] Alan Seales: Number one. This very simply is what motivates you.

[51:48] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: What motivates me.

[51:49] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[51:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: In general. In life.

[51:50] Alan Seales: In life.

[51:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Curiosity.

[51:55] Alan Seales: Before in episode 51, you said, making people laugh.

[51:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, okay. Okay. Very cool.

[52:03] Alan Seales: Okay. Question—

[52:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: The curiosity is like wanting to learn more. Like curious about the world and people. Wanting to learn more. So this is very cool.

[52:10] Alan Seales: Yeah. Yeah. No, it's interesting. I mean, like this is four and a half years later. So we all change. We all change. So—

[52:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: My motivation is going to be different every time.

[52:22] Alan Seales: I literally can't see now with glasses four years later. So I know I'm—

[52:25] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I recommend LASIK. I got it. It's great.

[52:28] Alan Seales: Okay.

[52:28] Alan Seales: Okay. Question two. What advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now starting out down a similar path?

[52:35] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Similar path. Listen to your gut. Listen to your gut and learn as much as possible about what you're passionate about.

[52:42] Alan Seales: Similar to what you said the first time. You said, learn everything, immerse yourself in everything theater, train, train, train, never stop training.

[52:54] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[52:55] Alan Seales: Yeah. So very similar.

[52:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. Yeah.

[52:57] Alan Seales: Okay. Last question then. 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?

[53:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: West Side Story.

[53:07] Alan Seales: You said Here Lies Love.

[53:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Wow.

[53:10] Alan Seales: Because this was long before it was coming to Broadway.

[53:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. Oh, well, yes. I mean, I loved it. I do love that show. And I think now a classic, I just— the West Side popped into my head because it's like, come on, Dance at the Gym. Come on, cool. Come on. The opening overture. Like, yeah, the whole sequence. That movie was amazing. I actually am going to go back and watch that movie again.

[53:34] Alan Seales: The recent, the Spielberg one or the original?

[53:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, Spielberg. Well, the original is amazing. I have watched it so many times, but the Spielberg one, man. Wow. Wow.

[53:43] Alan Seales: Speaking of recent Spielberg one, Ari DeBose, can we just give her a what for a second? Like, have you seen this yet? Have you been out to the theater to see this?

[53:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: No. Is it good?

[53:51] Alan Seales: She's so good. It's incredible. It's incredible. My kids love it. We listen to the album at home all the time and I'm like, that's Ari.

[53:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: That's Ari, baby.

[53:59] Alan Seales: All right. Where can we find you on the socials now? I mean, I guess you're still on the Tiki Talks.

[54:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Okay. Wait, should I really learn? I feel like it's like old hat now. I still like doing Instagram. I'm on Instagram. I'm not really on Facebook, but like TikTok, it just seems like, I don't know, for the young, but it's not. I see like old people making like videos and they're like, look at me in my kitchen. I'm making a French toast. And they have like a million followers.

[54:27] Alan Seales: You know what you can do is find videos of people performing Beetlejuice or singing and just use the green screen feature. And all you do is just sit there and watch and nod and be like, oh, you don't have to say anything. You don't have to do anything. Just react.

[54:43] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Okay. Wait, I would love that. Also, if so many of my videos, bootleg videos have gone viral on TikTok, so many people like don't know my name. I don't know. Okay. I'm going to ask our social media people what I should do. So it might be fun. If I learn, I just need to learn. It makes me very nervous.

[54:59] Alan Seales: Curiosity.

[54:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yes. There you go. There you go. There you go. Yes. Well, I'm on threads and Instagram, which is where I primarily post. I try to post on TikTok. I need someone to help me. If you're listening and you want to help me be an intern or something, God, I need help.

[55:15] Alan Seales: I need help too.

[55:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. All right. Well help Leslie and me.

[55:18] Alan Seales: You need it. You get it. You get an intern first and whoever isn't your intern, can they be my intern?

[55:25] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yes, because we'll share. All right. If you want to share.

[55:28] Alan Seales: We'll share interns.

[55:29] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Share interns.

[55:32] Alan Seales: And leave a rating, leave a review wherever you're listening now. Turn to your friend next to you and be like, Hey, I'm listening to this great episode with the crits. You got to listen to it. Share the podcast. Thank you to Jukebox and Ghost for the music you're hearing right now underneath and Leslie Critz. Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

[55:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Critza.

[55:51] Alan Seales: So much. I love you. You're the best. Thank you for doing this again.

[55:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You're the best.