This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Alan Seales: Welcome to another episode of The Theatre Podcast. Intimate personal conversations with theatre's biggest names. I am your host, Alan Seales.

[0:13] Jillian Hoffman: And I am your producer, Jillian Hoffman.

[0:15] Alan Seales: And we launched a Patreon.

[0:16] Jillian Hoffman: Yes, we did.

[0:17] Alan Seales: Please visit us at thetheatrepodcast.com slash Patreon to show your support in any way that you feel is appropriate.

[0:24] Jillian Hoffman: Our basic level is just for support. We have super, super duper levels that can get you merch that can get you included in these reflection sections that get you name and show notes. There's so many different options. And when we get to a certain number of patrons, then we're going to do a couple of nice things like one of my favorite things that I want to do is really start paying for a service to give us transcription so that we can make the episodes more accessible to those who may want to read it instead of listen to it.

[0:51] Alan Seales: But anyway, without further ado, this episode is with Christopher Sieber, who is now starring in The Prom on Broadway, which was just nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best New Musical.

[1:03] Jillian Hoffman: And Jillian, have you noticed that his character, Trent Oliver, continues a trend of characters that he continues to play who are really full of themselves?

[1:09] Jillian Hoffman: Yeah, Christopher has a habit of always picking up really great juicy characters who are just narcissistic, selfish, crazy men.

[1:15] Alan Seales: But he's nothing like that.

[1:26] Jillian Hoffman: Yeah, he's so nice.

[1:27] Alan Seales: He's nothing like that. That's acting. There was one thing that I wish I had asked him in the interview that in retrospect, I wish I had that I didn't was if he actually has a problem playing or not a problem, but if it's more difficult for him to play the real life character, play the not exaggerated character.

[1:40] Jillian Hoffman: He just plays narcissistic so well. Can you play non-narcissistic people? Chris, let us know.

[1:52] Alan Seales: But he also has a reputation. There's been several times when he's gone into full productions with like four days notice.

[1:59] Jillian Hoffman: Yeah, he is someone who has just jumped in and said yes, and he trusts his own abilities and knows what he can do. And he's like, yeah, let's do it. Why not?

[2:07] Alan Seales: So he talks about a couple different shows where he had sometimes less than a week to learn a whole production and make it happen. And that is some true artistry right there.

[2:18] Jillian Hoffman: Yeah, it was spam a lot. It was funny because he came in and the sides he was given. He already had memorized. He was a kid. He was a fan of Mighty Python fan. But yeah, anyway, everyone, please enjoy this episode with Christopher Sieber.

[2:39] Alan Seales: Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with two-time Tony nominated actor nominated for his performances in spam a lot as Galahad and in Shrek as the wonderful Lord Farquaad. He's also been seen in Matilda, Pippin, Chicago, La Cage, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Hair with a career spanning 25 years on Broadway and a successful TV career, which includes one of my personal favorites, Pushing Daisies. In addition to the role of Kevin Burke in Two of a Kind starring Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, he's now starring as Trent Oliver in The Prom, which has been nominated for seven 2019 Tony Awards, including Best New Musical. Chris Sieber, welcome to the podcast.

[3:17] Christopher Sieber: Hello. Hello. Hi. Gosh, when you say all that stuff, it's amazing. 25 years.

[3:22] Christopher Sieber: I know. I just kind of I've been very lucky. I just went from one thing to the next. So I could. But when you say it out loud, it's crazy.

[3:30] Christopher Sieber: I cut some stuff, too.

[3:32] Alan Seales: I know. You forgot into the woods.

[3:34] Christopher Sieber: Oh, yes. Yeah. Into the woods. Yeah.

[3:35] Christopher Sieber: With Vanessa Williams. And and a little show called Paper Moon that where Brooks Ashmanskas and I actually met. We actually did sign a Broadway contract. So we actually consider it a Broadway credit because we did get paid two weeks salary when the producer said we're not coming into New York. So I met that was 26 years ago where I met Brooks Ashmanskas. Isn't that crazy?

[3:56] Alan Seales: Wow.

[3:56] Christopher Sieber: But yeah, I mean, and now.

[3:58] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[3:59] Christopher Sieber: We think just thinking about all that stuff that you just said, it's insane, because like I said, 26 years ago, that's kind of when I started. And now we have kids in our show, The Prom, that weren't even born yet.

[4:13] Alan Seales: You have 13 kids.

[4:14] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, and they're all under 26 or less.

[4:18] Christopher Sieber: So it's the liver spots are bursting on my skin. Let me just tell you that.

[4:23] Alan Seales: You don't look a day older.

[4:24] Christopher Sieber: I don't. You know what it is? Sunscreen, moisturizer every day.

[4:28] Alan Seales: Every single day.

[4:29] Christopher Sieber: Yep.

[4:29] Jillian Hoffman: Jillian's point.

[4:30] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, Jillian, our engineer here is shaking her head yes.

[4:34] Alan Seales: I just don't wash my face.

[4:36] Christopher Sieber: Oh, you got to wash your face.

[4:37] Alan Seales: That's not true. I do wash my face.

[4:38] Christopher Sieber: Wash your face, sunscreen and moisturizer. I just do a 30 SPF every single day.

[4:43] Alan Seales: That's I actually I will do that.

[4:45] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, it's really your skin looks really good.

[4:47] Alan Seales: It's really good, right?

[4:48] Christopher Sieber: Yeah. Yeah, I know. Except for the inherited dark circles and eye bags under my eyes.

[4:54] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, I got those. Thanks, Grandma.

[4:55] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[4:55] Christopher Sieber: Thanks, Grandma.

[4:56] Christopher Sieber: Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks, Jane Sieber.

[5:01] Alan Seales: Well, tell me about tell me about grandma.

[5:05] Christopher Sieber: Well, let's talk about we just I go off on tangents just so you know, I will go off somewhere left field and then we'll finally get back to your question. Anyway, I will undoubtedly come up with five more questions on your journey. So all right. We're in good. You're in good company. But tell me about Jane Sieber.

[5:21] Christopher Sieber: Tell me about where you grew up.

[5:22] Christopher Sieber: Jane Jane Sieber, my grandmother. OK, well, I grew up in a very small town called Wyoming, Minnesota. And Wyoming, Wyoming, Minnesota. It was kind of like a really boring, sleepy little farm town. And they really couldn't come up with an original name. So they named it after a state. So Wyoming, Minnesota, the two most boring states. Actually, Minnesota is awesome. I love Minnesota. I mean, it gave me I think it built me who I am now. My resilience and my my my sense of humor came from that.

[5:48] Christopher Sieber: But we grew up like a small town. It was a it was a town. It's mostly soybeans, cornfields and pigs is where I grew up. But we didn't grow up on a farm. But we grew up downtown Wyoming, which is, you know, it didn't when I grew up there, when I when I moved there, it had a population of 642 and they had a four way stop. That was it. We had a bar. We had a hardware store, a tiny, tiny grocery store and a gas station. And that is all we had. That's all we had.

[6:24] Alan Seales: Wow.

[6:24] Christopher Sieber: And a four way stop. Oh, we had a bank, too. Yeah. The first was it Wyoming's first state bank.

[6:31] Alan Seales: Did you have a blockbuster?

[6:32] Christopher Sieber: No, no, we didn't have anything. I mean, the nearest town was about five miles away. And that was even it was a larger, smaller town. But yeah, we're about 30 miles north of the Twin Cities.

[6:44] Alan Seales: Wow.

[6:44] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, that's incredible.

[6:45] Alan Seales: And you're the middle of three.

[6:46] Christopher Sieber: I'm middle three, three boys. Yes. Mike is the eldest. I'm the middle. And Mark, my younger brother, is the youngest. And they're both married with kids. And now my now my older brother has both his kids have left the house. They're empty nesters already.

[7:00] Alan Seales: Wow.

[7:00] Christopher Sieber: Oh my God. And my brother's a computer engineer. And he does all sorts of stuff with computers. And he builds firewalls for like McAfee and Norton by Arizona. It's really cool. He's got this huge computer screen craziness in one of his rooms in his house. And he works from home. And he builds firewalls. It's very kind of like FBI kind of cool stuff.

[7:22] Alan Seales: That's crazy.

[7:23] Christopher Sieber: He's got that nine screen layout that you see on the movies.

[7:27] Alan Seales: He's got that.

[7:27] Christopher Sieber: Yeah. He does that. And it's really cool. One of the screen always has the matrix.

[7:30] Alan Seales: Yeah, it does.

[7:31] Christopher Sieber: It's cool. He says, you want to see my office? I said, sure. So I went in there. I saw this whole huge thing. How do you see what what are you doing? I have no idea. I mean, he doesn't know what I do. I mean, he gets an idea. He says our finished product, which is, you know, the show. But, you know, I don't know what he does. But anytime I have a computer problem, I said, Mike, can you fix my computer? And he said, yeah, yeah, bring it over.

[7:54] Christopher Sieber: The answer is less porn.

[7:55] Alan Seales: Yeah, exactly.

[7:56] Christopher Sieber: That's pretty much the answer every time.

[7:57] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[8:01] Alan Seales: When did performing come in? And I guess, like, obviously, your brother, did you perform together?

[8:10] Christopher Sieber: Oh no, I was I was always the weird kid in school. I was a young, fat toad like boy with thick glasses. I mean, I have thick glasses now, but they're thinner lenses. But I have a very bad vision. And my parents had this fantastic picture window in the front of the house that was almost floor to ceiling, and they had the curtains that went from floor to ceiling, and they would open like a proscenium, like a theater. And I always pictured, like, the front yard as an audience. And I would put on shows in the living room. And my younger brother, Mark, would act as stage manager. And we would drop a needle on a record. And I'd lip sync to, like, you know, Fiddler on the Roof and Dinah Washington.

And Barry Manilow was quite the hit for The Grass. The Grass loved it. And unsuspecting neighbors driving by. Yeah, I put on shows. And the shows were about five minutes long. And I put on shows. And usually just for myself, you know, imagining, you know, one day that I'd be on a stage and looking out and seeing an audience or not seeing an audience because they're in the dark. You know, I would put on shows. And one was called, what was it? The Christopher Sieber Comedy Cavalcade of 1976. I thought it was funny. But I didn't have quite an audience, you know. And besides The Blades of Grass. Yeah, The Blades of Grass. And, you know, the dogs and the people walking by or riding their bikes. Yeah, I put on shows. But yeah, I would lip sync to records mostly.

[9:38] Alan Seales: When was this? How old were you?

[9:40] Christopher Sieber: I was probably seven. Seven, I started. So when did you know? But, you know, you grew up in a small town. There is nothing to do. And there was no internet. Internet. There was none. I mean, we had, what is it? I don't even know what you call it. Terrestrial TV. You know, the antenna TV. Yeah, that's what we had. And we had five channels. That's it. And I had the records. I had my parents had the vinyl records. So I would listen to records all the time with the headphones on and just scream at the top of my lungs and drive them crazy. But it would, it was, there was just nothing to do. So I had to entertain myself. And then I at school in elementary, it was a very, very small elementary school, too. I think there was maybe 60 kids from first to sixth grade, about 60 kids.

[10:24] Alan Seales: Was it all in the same building?

[10:25] Christopher Sieber: It was the same building. And there were only six classrooms. Wow. And first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade. And that was it. So you knew everybody.

[10:33] Christopher Sieber: You really do. You knew everybody. You knew everybody's dog. You knew everybody's car. And the gossip that went around was really juicy.

[10:42] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah.

[10:43] Christopher Sieber: I'm sure the dating life was either really good or really bad.

[10:46] Alan Seales: I would not know anything about that. But, you know, so there's nothing to do. So I put on shows and try to entertain myself. And I try to entertain others. But a lot of people just kind of, like, turn the other way. It was like, oh, that's Christopher. He's doing weird stuff again.

[10:59] Alan Seales: Well, where did, I mean, at what age, you said when you were putting on the shows. But at what age did you, did you then realize, like, oh, I think I kind of want to make a career out of this?

[11:07] Christopher Sieber: Or did that, it was around third grade. Like in this, so in the small Wyoming elementary school, I think her name was Miss Bobson, my third grade teacher. They decided that I was, I was special. And I had some sort of talent or something. And so they decided, or the gifted children. And so they decided that I should probably be shipped off to Minneapolis once or twice a week to go to the Children's Theater of Minneapolis, where you could be part of something and kind of be in a show or just kind of be around in it or whatever. And that was the first taste of actual experience in front of a huge audience where I was, I think I played a cookie. I think the play, the play was called The Cookie Jar and it was the Children's Theater.

So of course it's cookies. So I was dressed as a cookie. I didn't have any lines, but I felt the rush of the audience, you know, the applause from the audience. And I was like, oh, this is amazing. This is exactly what I want to do. Oh my God. People get paid for this. Oh my God. And I wanted to do that. I did eventually play, I think I was in, yeah, I was in a play called The Little Match Girl as well at the Children's Theater.

[12:19] Alan Seales: Did you play the girl or the man?

[12:20] Christopher Sieber: No, I didn't. I was, I was just a townsfolk, but they had all these layers and levels and stuff like that. And, um, where you could just jump off because one scene you had, there was a blackout and the entire town had to disappear. So everybody had to basically jump off these ramps into these big crash cushions. And I remember that was the greatest thrill of all, just being on stage and that disappearing and then getting to fall on a big mat backstage. That was, that was fun. But then hearing the audience applaud was that I was just, that was like crack. What is that about?

[12:51] Alan Seales: I mean, a lot of, a lot of actors, is it validation? Is it attention? Is it like, what were you getting from the audience?

[12:59] Christopher Sieber: I think because I'm in my living room, I didn't have applause. You know, I was all alone in the swing, you know, the wheatgrass out the front swaying back and forth. But I think I had finally, yeah, I guess maybe validation, you know, but I liked, I liked making people laugh. And it was, it was kind of like, you know, I was the class clown and I turned it into a career. I always say, cause I just made people laugh because I was, like I said, a fat toady little boy and the bullies would come after me. And the best way to make them get on your side is to make them laugh. And I would do that. And it just kind of turned in, I knew how to make people laugh. So that's, that's, I guess how it happened.

[13:38] Alan Seales: And so, yeah. So then you were doing, you were getting shipped off to Minneapolis.

[13:43] Alan Seales: Yeah. And then was high school different or did you?

[13:47] Christopher Sieber: You know what? And then I skipped and then I skipped because you go through puberty and you go through all the ugly phases and you're just, you know, you're just odd. You don't know who you are and you're trying.

[14:55] Christopher Sieber: What do you mean? And I'm like tearing up and everything. You were in trouble. I thought I was in trouble because, you know, I was hung around not older people but more mature people because, like I said, I didn't play the games like high school and all. I didn't, you know, I learned that being in a clique doesn't make you popular. Being in the clique makes you popular. You know, being part of that makes you popular, but when you actually break it apart, there's nothing there. I mean, I wanted connections with people. So I actually knew people's middle names. I knew their eye color, but you ask anybody in the clique, you know, the popular clique—I'm using air quotes—how boring. But if you ask anybody in that clique of the perceived popular people, they couldn't tell you anything about these people.

They were just a group en masse, and they were protected because they were part of this weird group, and I went opposite of that. But anyway, so my teachers, they took me aside and they said, "You need to get out of here. You need to find a school in New York." Like, and they make this happen because this is something you should really do. And I said, "I don't know where to start. I don't know what to do. My parents didn't have any money." So they said, "Well, we'll help you." And they did. They drove me to Minneapolis, and we went to the Minneapolis public library, and we looked for schools, and we found a few. And then I was accepted to the American Musical Dramatic Academy in New York City.

And then from that point on, I worked my butt off to save every dime I possibly could to get myself to New York. I came to New York with about, I think, $6,000, which is a lot of money in a year for working basically two or three minimum wage jobs. But I worked every single day after high school, after school, before school, every weekend. I never had a break. I was just go, go, go because I knew I had to do this. So I paid for my own airfare, and I paid for my own apartment. And I came to New York, and I soon realized that toilet paper just doesn't appear, and soap just doesn't appear, and no one does your laundry. You have to do it. So it was quite the shock for me. But also, $6,000 in 1988, you know, it was a considerable amount of money, and then you live in New York City, and it goes past. Boy, did it go fast? So I was out of money probably within less than six months.

[17:20] Alan Seales: No kidding. Yeah. So do you have survival jobs?

[17:26] Christopher Sieber: Well, 'cause I go, yeah. I worked at the last—there was a toy store called The Last Wound Up on 73rd and Columbus Avenue. And it was in 1988, 1989, 1990. I worked there part-time, and it was a little wind-up store. So all these little toys, they had hundreds and hundreds of different kinds of wind-up toys, little plastic things, you know, made in Japan and China. And it was cool. And they had music boxes and everything. And so that's what I did probably seven hours out of the day. I worked at a wind-up store, plus I went to school at the same time. Then I worked at Men's Express, you know, the fashion store, and then I worked—I was a personal assistant for this guy named Barry Hendrickson, who had done hair and wigs for The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the original production.

And I got to know—and that was one of my first, I guess, mature—he wasn't mature. I mean, right now, when I met him, he was younger than I am now, but he was probably in his mid to late 30s. And he was the first kind of comfortable, openly gay man that I met in New York City. And he was just fine. And I grew up in Minnesota in a small town where, of course, you can't do that. You can't be that. Of course, I was, but he did. Barry was this wonderful, wonderful guy who taught me just chill, be cool. It's okay. So you're gay, whatever. And he brought me out. He brought me out that—he brought me to—this is so gross—but he brought me to—he said, "We're going out." I was like, "Okay, great. We're going out."

I think I'm 19, maybe at this time. And he said, "We're going to The Eagle," which is, you know, for those of you who don't know, The Eagle is pretty much an S&M leather bar for bears, you know, hairy big guys. And there is a back room there. So he says, "I'm not going to let you out of my sight, but we're going in here just so you can see. I'm giving you slices of life. Okay, we're not going to stay long, so let's just go." And I just want to show you stuff. So we went down there, and he said, "So just come with me." And I got in there, and it—like, listen, I am adorable. Now, you should have seen me when I was 19. I was adorable. So cute. So I walk into this bar, this darkened bar with all these, you know, guys in leather and chains, and they're kind of like, "Yeah, look at this guy.

Look at this young little thing popping in there." Oh, yeah, and I'm very, very, very—don't let me go, don't let me go. So he says, "Now come with me. I just want to show you. We're not doing anything." I just—when he brings me back to the back room, that's just peek in, and I was like, "Oh, oh my, oh, oh, wow. Okay. Oh, wow, they do that. How do they do that? Oh, that's happening. Oh, wow. Oh my God. Oh, okay, you've seen enough. Now we're going to The Monster," which is still there. It's in Greenwich Village. And upstairs is a piano bar. And he says, "So what can I get you to drink?" And I said, "I don't know. I heard something called the zombie," which is like 13 different kinds of rum or something.

And I'm 19 at this point. He says, "Don't worry about it. It's New York. Nobody cares." So he got me a zombie, and I'm like sipping, and it's like it's drinking sweet lighter fluid, basically, is what it is, with some orange juice. And so then we stayed there for a little bit, and some lovely people got up to sing, and they're at The Monster. It's, of course, it's the community, so it's like a slice of everybody's there. So it was great. And that's when I realized, wow, you know, I shouldn't be—I have to hide anymore, and that was great. So I credit a lot to Barry Hendrickson. He was one of the craziest characters. He's still alive. He's got a little place called Bits and Pieces over on Broadway right now, and he sells makeup and hair stuff, and he did Cher's wig at one point.

[21:25] Alan Seales: Really? Yeah.

[21:28] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, so he's a picture of Cher and—or actual Cher, not—

[21:28] Alan Seales: No, the actual Cher.

[21:28] Christopher Sieber: Yeah. Anyway, so wow, where did we go? We took a left turn. We were talking about your grandma.

[21:39] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah. Thanks, Jane. Yeah. Oh, my grandmother is very cute. When I moved to New York, that was one of the funny things. She would—I was only here not even a year, and she made all these postcards for me already, pre-stamped, so I could write her every day. Oh, I know, isn't that sweet? Oh, so I wrote her—I wrote her a postcard every—she gave me like 300, so I had my work cut out for me. But I would write her like, "Grandma," because it's a postcard, there's not a lot. You can't just write a tome. "Grandma, I saw the back room. I saw the back room of The Eagle, and I went to The Monster, had a zombie, and sang at a piano bar. It was awesome." But she sent me all these postcards, and she sent with them with me, and I would write her every now and then, and then we would speak on the phone because they said, "Call collect, call collect. Talk to the side, call collect." And she said, "Oh, why don't you sign up for one of them soaps?"

[23:01] Christopher Sieber: "What? Why don't you sign up for one of them soaps, the soap, soap, soap operas?" Yeah, so just sign up. Like, I haven't thought of that, Grandma. Why did—of course I'm going to just sign up and get on one of those soap operas, show up and say, "I'm here, I'm here, I'm signing up." She said, "Why don't you sign up for that Regis and Kathie Lee show because then I can see you." So sweet. I mean, come on, that's so sweet. Anyway, so that's Grandma. I love Grandma Jane. People have no idea what the industry—how the industry operates.

[23:58] Alan Seales: Oh, I—you know, I—you know, why don't you just go on TV? Why don't you just go on? Why don't you just sign up for one of them shows? Just be on one of those shows. It'll be easy. Believe me, it is not, as one who has done a few, it is not.

[24:10] Christopher Sieber: Well, did you—were you 88, you said? Did you have at any point, like, regret of like, "What am I doing here?" I mean, you went from this tiny, tiny town to the city of millions.

[24:18] Christopher Sieber: Oh, yeah, it was a shock. I mean, I remember getting on the plane October 3rd, 1988, and with my—the plane ticket that I purchased myself, and I sat down in the seat, and it was in the very back of the plane, and I didn't even have a window. That's how far back it was. And it was filled with—I like to call these guys Bill Brasky's. It's like the business guys with the pagers on their belt and stuff like that, and they have their briefcase, and they've traveled all the time, and so they're just grumpy. I was sitting next to a Bill Brasky, and I was in on the window. I always like the window. And I just burst into tears because I was just—it was scary as hell. It was scary as hell, and you know, no one there to hold my hand.

It was all by myself. I did this all by myself. To take a leap like that is immense. That's insane. You know, you're moving to a city you don't know. I've only been to once, and that was only for like three days, and that was like just to check out the school and maybe see the Statue of Liberty, and that was it. So I didn't know the city at all. And I got on a plane, I landed LaGuardia, and I took a cab to 73rd and Broadway, and I met the people at the school, and then I was in my new apartment, which was a shithole. It used to be an SRO, and they decided, "No, you're going to be rooming with somebody." So it was maybe a 200—maybe less—150 square foot studio apartment, and I shared with my roommate Dirk.

And we made the best of it. We had a closet that was about as deep as your palm. You could open it up, and you could hang a jacket. I was like, "Why do they even put a door on here? I don't even know why they put a door on here." We had a small, small refrigerator and a hot plate. I didn't have enough stove. No stove. Yeah, and barely a refrigerator. It was like total college dorm. Luckily, we did have our own bathroom because there were apartments in that—and I use apartments quite loosely. They were—it was—but it was mine, and it was $275 a month. Can you imagine? Oh my God. Can you imagine paying $275 a month? It was a slum, basically. Yeah, for New York.

[25:33] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, and I asked the housing coordinator, "So what kind of view do I have?" And he says, "Well, you've got a view of a tree." And then when I finally got there, I was like, "I want to see my tree that I saw." No, it was just a dead, dead poison sumac tree. That's all it was. Great. And but I remember trying to find a job when I finally did get there, and I was so terrified that anyone who knows New York City—so I was on 73rd and Broadway. I went down across 73rd East to Columbus Avenue, and I went south on Columbus Avenue to 72nd Street and came back west on 72nd Street and ran back to my apartment, and I didn't find a job. So it was useless. It was pointless. Not going to find a job. I went a block. I went one New York City block, and I didn't find a job. So I thought, "It's over. I'm never going to have a job. It's over." And you went back and cried.

[26:30] Christopher Sieber: And I went back and cried. So that was—that was '88.

[26:36] Alan Seales: And does—did you get your two-year certificate?

[26:36] Christopher Sieber: Yes. What's this, two-year certificate? Yes. Yeah. So then—so then '90, you graduate.

[26:42] Alan Seales: Yeah, you're out in the world.

[26:42] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, and you mean your Broadway debut in '94?

[26:47] Alan Seales: Uh-huh.

[26:47] Christopher Sieber: So four years is not bad for Christmas Carol.

[26:47] Alan Seales: There was a Beauty and the Beast.

[26:54] Christopher Sieber: Beauty and the Beast guest on—was that '94? No, it wasn't. It was '99.

[26:54] Alan Seales: No, it wasn't. It was '99.

[26:59] Christopher Sieber: What? It was '99, I think. Yeah, I did—I typo? Yeah, I was—it was '99.

[27:05] Alan Seales: All right, but '94—that would—no, that was around when Brooks Ashmanskas and I did Paper Moon.

[27:11] Christopher Sieber: So you are technically correct.

[27:11] Alan Seales: There you go. '94, correct. Brooks Ashmanskas and I met. We were adorable. We were adorable. And it was this new show based on the novel and movie of Paper Moon, written by Larry Grossman and the lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh and Carol Hall. And we had—who was it? Christine Eversole, Greg Harrison, Linda Hart was in it. And we thought we—both of us, it was our Broadway debut. So we did it out at Paper Mill Playhouse, and I had never worked there before. This was kind of a humongous deal for me. I remember I had a line, and I had to audition for the show.

[27:50] Christopher Sieber: Well, of course, I had to audition for the show, but my roommate, my former roommate, Katie Finneran. It's so crazy how you know people from your life. Andre Burns was my roommate at one point too. Crazy, crazy. Anyway, so I called her when I got this audition. They said, "Hey, here is a line that you have to say in the audition. And so come in with your song and come in with your dancing and blah, blah, blah. And we're going to, but you're going to have to read this line, you know, cause we want to see if you, how you do it." I'm fine. And the line was, "Well, there you are. I wondered where you'd gone to. Hey, where's your paw?" And so I called Katie Finneran on the phone. I said, "Katie, can you help me with an audition?

I have a line that they want me to say, and I want to make sure that I'm saying it right." And she was like, "Yeah, okay." Cause she was in my favorite year at the time at Lincoln Center. And so I said the line to her, she says, "Chris, that is so good. You're, you're so good. It's, you're going to get it. You're going to get it." Like, "Do you think so? Do you really think so?" And, um, she was right. I got the part. I got this part and it was the photographer in the show. I mean, I was other parts as well, but I played the photographer that I put Addie Prey on the moon and there's a sad picture of her alone on the moon. And, and that's my line. "Hey, there you are. I wonder what are you gone to?

Where's your paw?" And I'm thinking, so I got this part. Now I might be eligible for a Tony award. I might have myself a Tony nomination for my very first, for my one line, one line, they should be a category for best. One line, one line, best, best, best role with best cross, best cross with under 10 lines in a production. Yeah. Yeah. Best breakout role. Well, what happened? So, so I'll just, I'll just wrap up on Paper Moon. Cause it was quite the experience and it was quite the awakening for a young actor who wants to be on Broadway so badly. And the first time it ever happens to you, it doesn't happen. The box office was open at the Marriott Marquee Theater and our poster or our marquee was up and our names were on the poster board, you know, the, the, the, whatever they call that, what do they call that?

The box, the name box, the name box names, the, you know, our names are on it. So come on, we cast box names. Yeah. It's the thrill of seeing your name on a Broadway theater in a Broadway show that you're part of for the very first time. That is insanely cool. That's great. So, uh, Roger Berlin, our producer, um, things weren't going well out of town. Um, people were fighting and it was just, you know, but Brooks and I, we didn't really know this cause it was our first, first experience. So we're just like, "Hey, I guess this is what it's like. Fine. Yay." But we were so excited. So Roger Berlin comes in one day, about two weeks prior to us closing, uh, at Paper Mill Playhouse. And he, and he has, he says, "I just wanted to talk to everybody.

I have everyone's Broadway contracts right here." And he said, "I want you all to sign them right now." And we all signed that Broadway contract right there. Then in there, he says, made sure that everyone got signed them and got them back to him. And then after he says, "As long as now that I have them all back, I just want to let you know, we're not going to Broadway." Now, the thing about that is per equity and the production rules is you, you, if a show closes after you, after you sign your Broadway contract, but you never go to Broadway, you get two weeks pay of Broadway. Now, some producers would never, ever do that. But Roger Berlin was not that producer. Roger Berlin was classy. He's always still, I think he's still alive, but he was wonderful.

He was wonderful. And he made sure because he knew that a lot of people are going to be crushed and disappointed. So he made sure that we signed a Broadway contract and we got two weeks Broadway pay. I mean, that is cool. That's classy. Yeah, that's respectable. Really classy. So that's why I count Paper Moon as a Broadway show. Huh? Yeah, that's very cool. He didn't have to do that. No, he didn't have to. No, that's good. He said, "We're not going in. Bye." Yeah, that speaks, speaks a lot to someone's character doing things like that. But the other roles you've had, so you've been guest on Invading the Beast and Lord Farquaad in Shrek or Galahad in Spamalot. Even Trent Oliver in The Prom. All of them are kind of full of themselves.

[32:10] Christopher Sieber: Yeah, yeah. Apparently that's my gift. There's two things. If it's funny and I can hurt myself, get CBER. I've hurt myself so many times. And yes, I play arrogant very well, apparently. I guess, I guess, because I'm completely not that way at all.

[32:35] Alan Seales: Yeah, you don't seem arrogant.

[32:37] Christopher Sieber: I am not. No, no, anything. I'm just like, but yeah, I found a niche and also a quick replacement. If you need someone in a second, I'm your guy. I'll go in a show in four days, which I've done before.

[32:50] Alan Seales: For which show?

[32:54] Christopher Sieber: Well, two. Well, three, maybe four. I don't know. Let's see. Well, Spamalot was one because what happened was I was supposed to audition for the show originally, but I had just come back from doing Company in Los Angeles at Reprise and playing Bobby. And that show and that role will make you kind of go down a rabbit hole. So I was so emotionally and physically exhausted. And I took the red eye home to audition at like 11 a.m. from Los Angeles. And I slept through the whole thing and I didn't wake up till four. My phone was ringing like crazy and people thought I was dead. My husband finally came in and he woke me up. He says, "You missed your audition." I was like, "What? What? What? What happened?"

So I missed the audition. So I didn't get the job. Doug Sills got the job. Anyway, months, months had passed and Doug decided that he doesn't he doesn't understand the comedy of this and he wanted to leave. He wants to go. I know he was like, "I'm it's time to go." So Bob Boyette, who is the producer of the show, is a friend of mine who produced my first TV show. He said, "I have something for you and you can't say anything. All I have to say is. I need you tomorrow and call have your agent called Tara Rubin, the casting director." I was like, "That's very cryptic, Bob. That's very cryptic. What is it?" He said, "I need you to come in to replace Doug Sills in Spamalot." I was like, "Well, shit, that's insane.

OK, great. OK, so the next morning I get a call from Tara Rubin and it's 7 a.m. and I'm doing City Opera at the time, so I'm up until 11:30, you know, late and get a call. So I'm sleeping in normally and she says, "Hey, can you be front of Mike Nichols and Eric Idle the next day at my I think it was 9:30 or 10 a.m. or something. Can you do that?" And I said, "Call me back because I really don't know what I'm what you're saying anymore because I just woke up. Hold on. Just give me a second." So she sends me the script and she sends me the sides. She said, "Can you read the script?" I was like, "I have an hour to read an entire script and memorize the sides." She says, "Yeah. Do you have a comedy song?"

I said, "No, but I'll find one. I'll make I'll make something up. It's fine." So I go in there. And luckily, the scene that I was doing because I love Monty Python and I grew up watching that because that was a one channel that you could get in Minnesota was PBS. They would play Monty Python after 10 p.m., which is way past my bedtime. So I would sneak downstairs and watch it, watch Monty Python and made me laugh. But then the Holy Grail movie came out and I watched that incessantly, like to the point where it was like crack. It was like I had to have it. I had to have it. I had to watch it. So the scene they gave me was Dennis Mudd scene, which we called Dennis Mudd scene. And I knew it like the back of my hand because I've known it my entire life.

And so I looked at the side and I was like, "Oh, I know this. I even know the dialect. I know everything about it." So I went in there and I that was and Mike Nichols even said, "My boy, how do you know this scene? It's so complicated." And I was like, "I've known this since I was nine." OK, he says, "OK, all right." And I said, "And then I sang and then I sang Agony from Into the Woods, but I sang it like someone with a split personality." And apparently it worked because they laughed. So and then then that day that that day I started rehearsals and they were we were going to Chicago to to to start the show at the Shubert Theater in Chicago. I the first thing they did was they threw me into the other room to get my measurements and put a costume on me and started doing the costumes.

And then at this first time I ever met Sara Ramirez and they shoved me in a room with her and we did the song that goes like this. And then that night I burst into tears, crying, freaking out because I was like, "Ah, what's happening?" So but that was and then, you know, so fast. That was a quick replacement. A quick replacement was in Thoroughly Modern Millie after I took over for Mark Kudisch after I did Into the Woods. No, was it? Yeah. Into the Woods. And they gave me four days. And so I did that, which is crazy to learn a patter song like that in four days. You know, you'll never forget a patter song. Close. You'll find a small container of the stuff I talk about. Just carefully remove the lid and take it with a few of that.

You never forget those. And then I went into and see, oh, La Cage aux Folles with Harvey Fierstein at the Longacre Theater where The Prom is playing right now. And Jeffrey Tambor, who was playing George at the time, had hip surgery or something and he just couldn't even he could barely move anymore. And so I was going to go back into the show. This long, long, sordid road that I'm telling you. But I was so I was going back into the show Chicago to play Billy Flynn, which I think was my third time playing at the Ambassador Theater. I get a phone call while I'm at the box office and them saying, saying, "No, we don't want you to see Chicago today, you know, to refamiliarize yourself with the show that you're about to go into that you haven't done in five years.

So, yeah, let's go see another show instead. Let's go see La Cage aux Folles," which is great. Fine. Whatever you want. I went over there. Harvey is a good friend of mine, so I'm watching him and Jeffrey Tambor is nowhere to be found. So I was like, "Well, that's odd." My friend, Chris Hoke, who'd understudied me many times, is on stage opposite him as George. And after the show, David Bavani, the producer, finds me in my seat and he grabs me. He says, "Harvey wants to see you." And I was like, "Of course, of course, absolutely." So I go up the backstage after the show and I knock on Harvey's dressing room, dressing room door. And he's trapped in like a towel, like robe with like a turban on.

And his eyes get really big and he opens the door and said, "Get in here." He grabs me, he slams the door, he throws me on his couch. He says, "Are you going to do the show with me? I can do the show with me." It's like, "What are you talking about? I have no idea what's going on." He said, "Jeffrey Tambor just up and left. He just happened, left me at one night, one night stands that lasted longer. And so Jeffrey just left." So I said, "I don't OK, what what's happening?" He says, "Yeah. So I want you to do it opposite me." And I was like, "Oh, yes, yes. When do I start now? Like, OK, OK, OK." So seven days later, I'm playing opposite. They gave me more time, but I was like, "Come on, let's just do it.

Let's just throw it in there. Let's just go." You know, anybody who knows the show knows Harvey. And at this point, anybody seeing the show knows the drama because it was, you know, Michael Reel did a thing about it and it was like crazy, you know, look at him go. And it was, of course, just terrifying. But of course, I was there with my friend Harvey. So yeah. And he guided me. And to watch him do that was was insane. It was a very good impression.

[39:37] Alan Seales: Do you ever impersonate him for him?

[39:42] Christopher Sieber: No, but I can tell when he has a cold.

[39:53] Alan Seales: So I want to fast forward to the to the prom here, because you've been you were involved, gosh, since day one, day one, seven, seven years ago. We're not quite sure the date, but it's we just keep saying seven. Yeah, because it is pretty much seven years. But you've like the character was created for you. Yeah. Tell me that whole story.

[40:07] Christopher Sieber: Well, it. So what happened, you know, Casey Nicholaw and I worked together a couple of times as Thoroughly Modern Millie. He was in the ensemble and I was Trevor Graydon. Yeah, Trevor Graydon. And and but, you know, Broadway is weird because, you know, everybody, even though if you never work with each other, you you just know each other. It's just high school where everybody's cool and everybody's fun. And so I was walking on the street one day and we did Spamalot, of course. And after he just approached me, he says, "Hey, hey, hey, I was I was about to call you." I was like, "What? I got something for you." It's like, "What? What? What is it? We don't know." Like, "OK, great. Sounds fun." He says, "I'll call you in like two weeks and we'll meet up at my place and we'll just read it because we don't know what it is, but we think there's something."

So I said, "Great." So I get there and Brooks, Beth, Angie and myself are there and Matthew Sklar's playing the piano and singing. I think he had two or three songs already done. He didn't have all of them. Bob Martin was there, of course, and Chad Beckman were there and Casey Nicholaw was there. And we read this thing. It was no title. And I don't know if the characters had names yet. We had I think Trent was always Trent, but I don't think D.D. Allen was always D.D. Allen like Beth's part. And we read this thing and they didn't tell us that they wrote it with us in mind, that we just kind of read it. And it obviously clearly just clicked with all of us because they know us well. And it just turned into this. And we we all kind of after we read and it wasn't even finished. I mean, we.

[41:44] Christopher Sieber: We didn't really have the end of Act 2 until, gosh, right before we left for Atlanta, which was four or five years later. And we just clicked, and we all kind of sat back on our chairs like, wow, this is something. This is something cool. And we, all four of us, have never not been involved. No one else has played these parts ever. And that's a rare thing. And first of all, it's rare that somebody says, hey, I wrote something for you. Come play with us. Plus, then you know, I knew Bob. I knew Chad. I knew Matthew. I knew Casey. We knew everybody. So it was like getting into a room with people and just kind of playing. And it was the safest, most comfortable for comedy to be in. Because if we were going to make a mistake, make it.

And it was awesome. And then we can point and laugh at each other. That's what we did the entire process. The room that we were in creating this, the rooms that we were in there creating it, it was always fun. There was always laughter. It was hard, hard, hard work. But it was so much fun hard work. Beth, I always say Beth, because Beth is so brilliant. And she said it in an interview one time, and I always steal it. But she said it was the easiest hard work that we've ever done.

[42:59] Alan Seales: Well, you all seem like genuine friends.

[43:00] Christopher Sieber: We are friends.

[43:01] Alan Seales: Yeah, like we've known each other for decades.

[43:05] Christopher Sieber: We've known each other for a long time. And it comes across on stage. Someone asked me the other day, I was like, do you guys just like on stage, you guys like improv and fooling around? I was like, no, because it was created that way. It was created where we're just kind of throwing around things and, you know, using Bob and Chad's script. And then we would kind of add things. But if it worked, it was in the script. And if it didn't, it was out. It was fine. And we tried everything. And so people said, so you guys are just, it seems like it's just kind of happening, which is great, which is what you want.

[43:34] Alan Seales: Spontaneous.

[43:35] Christopher Sieber: Spontaneous, like it's happening, like you're actually having a conversation and that, you know each other and that, you know, there are, you know, lots of different energies that, you know, you like this person more than like this, you like this person and that comes across. And they said, so you're improving. I was like, no, all of that is scripted. If you look at the script at the same time that we're saying and doing the show, it's all there. It seems like it's kind of just like, whatever, you know, comes off the cuff, but it's not.

[44:00] Alan Seales: Yeah. The four of you together work absolutely brilliantly. And, and yeah, it fits like it was obviously made for all of you in mind.

[44:08] Christopher Sieber: And that never happens. That never happens.

[44:11] Alan Seales: Yeah. For the four originals to stick with it the entire time. Yeah. That's crazy. Whose idea was it to make your character all obsessed with Juilliard?

[44:19] Christopher Sieber: Well, there was, that was clever. There was a thing between, it was Chad, Bob and myself, because Trent was kind of the character that they didn't. Cause they really wanted to develop a story with, with Barry Brooks and Caitlin, Emma. They really wanted to develop that story. And then the devote to develop the story with Beth and Mr. Mr. Hawkins, the principal. And Angie and I are definitely supporting characters, but, but so you, the one thing is you knew who Angie was, you knew who Brooks was and you knew who Beth was, but you really didn't know who Trent was. You didn't really know who he was. And so I was always trying to find ways. How can you make him, who is he? Why is he, you know, you, you know, just to make the character real and breathe.

So, um, I kept coming up with this ideas that he was obsessed with. I based him on a couple people, one in which that he had a Tony nomination long, long time ago, but he's still living and dressing as if he is in that era. And he won't let you forget about it. That he was once nominated for a Tony award way, way back, way, way back a long time ago. And so one of the ideas rather than Juilliard was that he would be wearing a show jacket from that era of some obscure show. Or then I thought maybe if it was like starlight express, you know, that he still, but he's wearing like, it's a satin jacket, you know, so dated, but it was his glory day and he can't let go of the glory day. Um, and so they decided how about, uh, that he's obsessed with Juilliard and he would just never shuts up about it.

And that was one of the ideas or, or, or he talks about starlight express. He's always talking. So we decided because who knows if, who knew if there was going to be any sort of a lawsuit, it was like, you can't talk about starlight express like that. But Juilliard, we've had a lot of Juilliard students come and they were like, Oh, you nailed him. You nailed him. I know him. I completely know who he is. And, um, so, but yeah, it, it, he was, he was at, you say he's a hard character to play because if you read, if you read it, um, it's he, Trent's not funny. I mean, that's part of the humor and why he is funny is because he's not funny. He tries to be, but he's just a bore. He's a weird, weird man and he's not funny. And that's, what's funny about him. He's just boring as hell. And it's just like, he just goes on and on and on. And that's funny.

[46:57] Alan Seales: Yeah. Yeah. But so the, the show itself, I mean, there's the four, the four of you are the four, I'll put in air quotes, washed up celebrities, exaggerated versions of your real life selves. Um, but it's also like the stu, the story of 17 year old lesbian played by Caitlin, uh, who's barred from taking her girlfriend to the prom. So there's like a real, there's a real message. There's a real retribution going on underneath. Uh, like what kind of audience feedback do you get? Has this, and then is this like sort of changed you as a, as a person?

[47:27] Christopher Sieber: Well, the one thing, one thing that, I guess I, I don't know if it's surprised. I think it surprised me. Yeah. I'm pretty sure when we were in Atlanta, we were at the Alliance theater and we tried it out there and we put it up and that's where we finally staged it with a set and costumes and orchestrations and everything. And that's when your show really comes together and you kind of need all, of course you need all those elements to make something happen. We would have talk backs after the show and we were still in development. So the show was not set by any means. We're still futzing with stuff and, you know, seeing if we change this or we change that maybe, you know, and we would have talk backs afterwards and there would be young, you know, it's Atlanta, Georgia.

So it's kind of a purple city. So we would have people, um, saying, you know, young, young lesbians or young gay kids, um, would say stuff and get choked up because they finally saw themselves represented. And then we had people say that, um, if I really truly know what the show was about, um, if I knew what it was about, I probably wouldn't have come, but I'm so glad I did because it changed my mind. And, um, we had one woman's, say, uh, Mrs. Green is kind of like the antagonist in our show. And she is, um, Emma's not Emma's, uh, Alyssa's mom. And Alyssa is the other lesbian in the show. And we didn't want to make her an enemy, the mom, she's the antagonist, but we didn't want to make her an enemy.

So we made her just, well, eventually, uh, a mom who just cares so much about her daughter and doesn't want her daughter to have a hard life. And so that was really hard. That was one of the hardest things we had to, well, Bob and Chad did, you know, um, but there was a woman at a talk back and she says, I am Mrs. Green. I am Mrs. Green. And she started getting choked up. And then we went out to the lobby and she said, I would like to introduce you to my grandchild. And this is my daughter and this is my daughter's wife. I mean, right. Are you crying? Come on. Yeah. I mean, that's how beautiful is that? I mean, that we hear that as far as feedback, we hear, you know, Ryan Murphy bought out our show one night.

He, he had kids from the Hedrick Martin Institute there, about 300 of them who had probably, A, never seen a Broadway show and B, never saw themselves represented in such a way. And, uh, it was the response from them was insane. It, it was like a sitcom audience. It was the best audience we've ever had. It was just immense and the tears they had. And I have a song in act two called love thy neighbor, where it's about the Bible and it's about, um, you know, you can't just say get, it says to be gay in the Bible is wrong. So you, you know, it says so in the Bible and we follow the Bible. And I said, well, there's a lot of other things in the Bible that you're probably, there's a lot of rules that you're probably breaking too.

And they're like, well, that's different. One of the kids says, and then the entire audience of these kids are like, how, how is it different? How like anger? Cause that stuff, you know, you had to deal with their entire lives, including mine. I was like, how? And nobody ever responds like that, but they were there because they were trying to defend themselves. But then, you know, it's a great number. And of course everything ends up in the happy place at the end, but, but, uh, and at the, Oh, it was insane. The tears and every night after, after a show, every single, every single show at the, uh, outside the stage door, someone's signing autographs. There's a kid or two or three or 10 shaking and crying, shaking and crying. And I give him a hug and, you know, and I say, thanks for coming, you know, and I, I see you, you know, and you matter. So, wow. God, I wish I had a show like this when I was growing up.

[51:26] Alan Seales: Right. Yeah. That's what I've heard. Uh, I've heard from a couple others in the show too, that I've talked to that just, they, they just, they see themselves represented for the first time. And, uh, yeah, it's, it's just like, I, I can't talk enough, say enough good things about the prom without making, you know, we don't make fun of anybody. If you're anything, it's all us. We make fun of ourselves, Broadway. We make fun of Broadway and ourselves. Um, I remember if somebody was writing, it was like the finger point, like the love thy neighbor, my number, it was like a finger point to read number. And I was like, well, it's really not. Cause it's all true. We're not pointing fingers at all. We're just kind of saying the truth, you know? Yeah. And, you know, we say Trump 12 times in the show and the song. So if you're, you know, if you're a supporter, you know, be happy.

[52:14] Christopher Sieber: Well, um, in the interest of time, I know we're going to wrap this up. I gotta go. I gotta go to the gym.

[52:20] Alan Seales: Yeah. Oh, I know. I know. I gotta keep myself in shape for Broadway. So we have three questions here that, uh, yeah, this is the wrap up. I always ask everybody to close this out. First question, simply what motivates you?

[52:29] Christopher Sieber: What motivates me? Yeah. Fear. I guess fear of fear of like not being able to do this. I gotta go. I gotta keep going. I is stagnant. I can't be, I can't just sit around. I have fear of being doing nothing. I have to do stuff. I have to do create something fear of not creating. How about that?

[52:58] Alan Seales: Okay. Yeah. Okay. I accept.

[53:04] Christopher Sieber: Okay. What advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now starting out down a similar path?

[53:08] Christopher Sieber: Don't sweat the small stuff. You know, as you get older, everything is, you don't know everything first and foremost. Yes. I still don't know everything. I'm a lot calmer now that I've gotten older. Don't sweat stuff. You know, if the stuff you think is really important right now, you'll realize probably in five or seven years, maybe even less, it's really not that important. As long as you're healthy and you're happy and you're kind, you should be good.

[53:39] Alan Seales: Cool. And then last question, if you could only see one show for the rest of your life, but you can see it as many times as you want, what show would you see?

[53:43] Christopher Sieber: Not including ours, any show, including, you know what the thing is about doing a Broadway show that you're it's a hit, you know, and you're in it. You never get to see it.

[53:56] Alan Seales: Have you ever seen your own show?

[53:59] Christopher Sieber: I have never seen my own show. No, I never saw Shrek. I, you know, cause I was in it. Yeah. Never saw it. Well, I saw it afterwards, but it's not with us, you know, you know, I was like, I saw the other production. I saw the same. So I would love to see, I would kind of like to see me and the everybody in the cast in the show at the prom. I would love to see that.

[54:21] Alan Seales: Can you, can you call out one day and just,

[54:26] Christopher Sieber: I can't see that's the thing you have to be in it because we're the four people that are kind of like the clockwork. So if I was out, it would be really weird for me. I would have to watch me do it, you know, you know what I mean? Like step outside, like being a, like a, you know, what is that? Bizarro world? Bizarro world where I, you know, cause I'd have to see the whole thing with everybody, the original cast. That's all. And that's the thing when you're in a hit Broadway show, you never get to see it.

[54:48] Alan Seales: Well, we can find you online on Twitter at the real Sieber and it's Instagram.

[54:55] Christopher Sieber: Man, great, great with the typos. Instagram at Christopher underscore Sieber. Anywhere else?

[55:01] Christopher Sieber: Not yet.

[55:03] Alan Seales: Not yet. All right.

[55:04] Christopher Sieber: They'll find me.

[55:05] Alan Seales: Yep. You can get more of me and the theater podcast, theaterpodcast.com slash Patreon to support us at theater underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter, facebook.com slash official theater podcast. Please rate review, leave a review. We love to five stars, five stars. This is produced by Jillian Hockman, music by jukebox, the ghost, Chris Sieber. Thank you. I've enjoyed this so much.

[55:28] Christopher Sieber: And me too. Have a nice time.

[55:29] Alan Seales: Thank you.