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[0:00] Alan Seales: Welcome to The Theatre Podcast. Intimate, personal conversations with theatre's biggest names. I guess today I'll be myself. I'm Alan. I'm Jillian. This is the next episode of the Beetlejuice Takeover Month, this time with the self-proclaimed Jew-rican Leslie Kritzer.

[0:24] Alan Seales: Makes me so happy. Yeah, her dad was Jewish. Dad is Jewish. Mom is Puerto Rican, and it led to some interesting times at home. Quite the combination.

[0:37] Alan Seales: It's just walking down the streets in New York. Yeah, pretty much. Interestingly enough, she is now the second person that we've interviewed that's literally said theatre saved her life. She was a troubled teen. Troubled teen. Not entirely her fault. She had some stuff going on, and theatre gave her an outlet and gave her something to be productive with as opposed to, she said she used to steal and cause trouble and all these different things, and she found her place.

[1:03] Alan Seales: It gets better. Yeah, well, it gets better, and it allowed her some self-expression and connecting with the word tribe. I don't know if that's overused yet, but she found her tribe. She found her people and fell into being comfortable in her own skin for the first time in a long time, but this is all serious stuff, but she's a funny person. She's a very funny person.

[1:26] Alan Seales: Now, currently starring as Delia in Broadway's Beetlejuice, this woman just steals every scene she's in. Really funny. She's good. Well, her and Alex Brightman on stage, geez, the two of them are incredible, but we got into how she was saying that the show, and especially now the soundtrack, are bringing in a new generation of fans that are sharing the same love of the story that their parents did because their parents watched the movie, and then obviously the children coming in now were born after the movie was released and are falling in love with it again in a slightly different form because they've changed a few things, but it's just incredible.

[2:08] Alan Seales: She was saying the stage door feedback, it's like teenagers and adults who are just following the cult classic following adults, but it's a really interesting episode. She covers so many things, and we bounce around in a few topics, but it's worth it. Stick with it. It's a great interview.

[2:26] Alan Seales: Before we get into it, as always, ttp.fm to subscribe, to listen, to rate, to review, and show your support on ttp.fm slash Patreon. You can get some really cool rewards and help us continue transcribing these episodes. We've started transcribing to get ourselves more accessible to the world, and that's all thanks in part to all of you. So, we appreciate it, and now please enjoy this episode with Leslie Kritzer.

[3:03] Alan Seales: Currently starring as Delia Dietz in Broadway's Beetlejuice, this 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. With a national tour and 10 off-Broadway credits to her name, she's currently proving herself as one of the funniest people on Broadway eight times a week. Leslie Kritzer, welcome to The Theatre Podcast.

[3:28] Leslie Kritzer: Hi, thanks for having me.

[3:30] Alan Seales: So, yeah, you had puppy troubles at the stage door today?

[3:34] Leslie Kritzer: Um, what do you mean? You said you were held up by a puppy.

[3:41] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, no, no, no. Actually, I went to the wrong address, and I went to our press office, and I got to meet Molly's gorgeous little puppy, which was like a kismet, because I watched this puppy on Instagram. The puppy has its own, what's the puppy's Instagram account?

[3:53] Leslie Kritzer: No, no, it's just Molly's Instagram account, and she has the puppy on there, and I finally got to meet her, and she's gorgeous. I think she's a pug.

[4:03] Alan Seales: Okay, well, let's start, let's go back to Baby Leslie. Where did, where did you start? Like, you grew up, you were born in Manhattan.

[4:06] Leslie Kritzer: I was born in Manhattan.

[4:12] Alan Seales: You didn't grow up in Manhattan.

[4:12] Leslie Kritzer: No, I grew up a little bit in Bergen County in Fort Lee, the Fort Lee area, and then when I was about five, we moved out to Livingston, New Jersey, where I stayed through high school, and yeah, so I'm kind of, I'm a New York girl, but more a Jersey girl, really.

[4:25] Alan Seales: So, you still consider yourself a Jersey girl?

[4:30] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah, I mean, I still, I lived there. I moved back after a number of years. My husband and I moved back, and I moved back with him to New Jersey. We now live in South Orange.

[4:35] Alan Seales: Is that hard commuting after shows at night?

[4:41] Leslie Kritzer: Yes, I always, I always want to come back. Now, I'm like, oh, I don't know if I can do this. It's been eight years. It is hard. I mean, it's because, you know, you live in, you live in the city.

[4:51] Alan Seales: Brooklyn, yeah.

[4:51] Leslie Kritzer: Brooklyn, yeah. That's kind of where I want to go, but it depends, right, with your train ride.

[4:56] Alan Seales: It's the same with us, with your New Jersey transit. It's like, one day it could be normal, the other day it could be terrible, you know, the MTA, same thing.

[5:07] Leslie Kritzer: So, what is this saying, three and a half, one dozen, the other?

[5:10] Alan Seales: Six of one, half dozen of another.

[5:10] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah, yeah, it's like, you know, my commute's about 30, 35 minutes, but it feels longer because it's a different state. I don't know.

[5:20] Alan Seales: Yeah, I mean, for you, it's a river. For me, it's like a tunnel, and then a bunch more.

[5:25] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah, depends on what line I take. I either get stuck on a tunnel or stuck on a bridge, but yeah, I'm stuck on the MTA either way.

[5:30] Alan Seales: But your childhood, father is Jewish, mother's Puerto Rican.

[5:40] Leslie Kritzer: Yes.

[5:40] Alan Seales: What was that home life like?

[5:47] Leslie Kritzer: It was nutty. I mean, but it didn't feel, I mean, let me think. Now I'm going back. It was always full of music. I mean, my dad was a musician, so he actually did the Catskill circuit as a saxophone player, but also was an accountant, and then realized he was never going to make enough money being a sax player in a band. He was on American Bandstand for those people who are listening that remember what American Bandstand was with Dick Clark. He had a band on that. He grew up as a musician, and then realized that wasn't going to happen, but he was always playing saxophone in the house, and then my mother was always playing music. She was very musical. She didn't study an instrument, but music was a big part of our house. We played all different kinds of music all the time. We were always dancing, so it was a very musically inclined, also very funny. My dad is very funny, so we had that, and Spanish food, Jewish food, all different kinds.

[6:54] Leslie Kritzer: My family is Hispanic and Polish Jewish, so it was definitely an eclectic sort of family. I grew up in what felt like a predominantly Jewish town, Livingston, so there wasn't really any Puerto Rican people in Livingston at all, but it didn't ever feel like I was different, really. I didn't go to Hebrew school, and I didn't have a bat mitzvah or anything like that, but I always say that I'm Jew-Rican because it's the easiest way to explain it, and it's very funny. It's just funny. It's like, what? So, I always say I'm a Jew-Rican princess.

[7:27] Alan Seales: Did either of your parents... I mean, you were raised Catholic, right? That's what...

[7:31] Leslie Kritzer: I was raised Catholic, yes.

[7:35] Alan Seales: So, did your father convert at all, or did he just not care?

[7:39] Leslie Kritzer: My parents were like, what do you want? And I was like, I don't know, and my mom's like, you're going to be Catholic. I was like, okay. My dad's like, and so that's kind of what happened. My sister and I were both baptized, confirmed. Baptized communion confirmed all in one swoop when I was, what, 13 and she was eight or whatever. So, yeah, it was just kind of the decision was just made, and I was like, okay, and then the fear of God was put into me.

[8:04] Alan Seales: Of course.

[8:05] Leslie Kritzer: You will be punished, but no, it was great, and my mother is semi-religious, and it was a thing every Sunday, and it was nice. We would dress up and all that, but I'm not really a practicing Catholic anymore. I'm more spiritual.

[8:20] Alan Seales: Well, yeah, that's good. The performing, you said you're always singing and dancing. You said we, I guess it was you and your sister and mom and dad and everything. When did you start getting on stage and realizing like, oh, I like the attention, or was it about the attention?

[8:36] Leslie Kritzer: Well, I guess my first memories of having theatrical experience was when I was, I think I was five or six. We did this play called The Crocus That Wouldn't Bloom, and I was the caterpillar that turned into the butterfly, and my parents videotaped this. It's probably somewhere, I don't know where, but I remember being older, going back and watching this. My mom made the caterpillar costume, and she told me, she's like, you were very particular even then. You wanted to make sure you knew all your lines. You were upset with other people. They didn't know their lines. You had your blocking. I remember doing a quick change with my mother, and this is in elementary school, and being like, mom, it's not like being like, I can remember that, and then watching the video years later, I had blocking. I was looking, when I turned into the butterfly, I was doing all this stuff, and so it started then.

[9:32] Leslie Kritzer: I just think I had a natural inclination to play pretend, and to have fantasy, and all of those things, like most other kids, but then it started to progress. So it started there, and then when I was seven, I started studying classical piano, and I was a classical pianist for years, and that's kind of what I did. My dad was my coach, because he was a real musician, and so I studied, and then I played Carnegie Hall when I was nine. I did a national competition, so that was a big deal.

[9:59] Alan Seales: Played what?

[10:05] Leslie Kritzer: A piano. A piano, yeah.

[10:05] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[10:09] Leslie Kritzer: So I was second place in this national competition for my age group, so all the different age groups, they played at Carnegie Hall. Not the big, big one, but while recital. That's the smaller one, but it was a big deal. It was a really big deal, so that's kind of where it started, and then I knew piano wasn't for me, because just classical, because I wanted to get up from behind the piano, and I wanted to sing, and so I started. My parents started noticing that when they were playing music in the car and stuff, I could hold a tune very easily, and then I started to want to sing.

[10:39] Leslie Kritzer: Then I was always doing the plays as a middle school, you know, getting older or whatever, and then in high school, when I was 16, my piano teacher said, you know what? I think you should start, if you want to take voice lessons, go to Jane Bonnell, and Jane Bonnell was an opera singer at the time at The Met, so I started studying classical voice. So for a belt, now belter, and I also sing classical, like I sing soprano or whatever, but I was a legit singer, soprano one. I was not belting at the time, like it was just only that.

[11:08] Leslie Kritzer: Like Glinda sort of stuff.

[11:13] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah, like Glinda, and I did all state chorus, all region chorus, so I started really moving in there, and I was like, oh god, wow, maybe I'm gonna, maybe I'm gonna go to school for classical voice, you know, but as high school went on, I was like, wait, and you know, I did chorus line, I was Maggie in a chorus line, I was, you know, I did random, you know, little shows here and there.

[11:30] Leslie Kritzer: Funny story, fun fact, Stephen Oremus, who also grew up in my town, who's, you know, really big musical director, wicked, having a cue, you know, the list goes on and on, and an orchestrator, he was the musical director for my first community theater production of Baby, because he grew up in my town, so we worked together when I was 16.

[11:48] Alan Seales: Wow.

[11:48] Leslie Kritzer: And I have video of that, that's hilarious, and so many photos. So anyway, so I was like, oh wait, I like to sing, I like to act now, I'm funny, did some plays in high school, I think I want to go to school for musical theater, and so it all just shifted, it all happened naturally.

[12:11] Leslie Kritzer: I did not, you know, I would like drive to Montclair, New Jersey, and get backstage, and like look, but my parents weren't like, yes, you have to go into the city audition, like Presley Ryan in our show is 15, she's a Lydia understudy, like her parents, like she's a full-on pro. My parents were not like that, and I'm kind of glad, because I had normal, like sort of a normal upbringing, I don't know if I would have done well.

[12:30] Leslie Kritzer: Presley's like a pro, I was never that normal. She's just like on it, I was a mess when I was 16, 15.

[12:34] Alan Seales: That's what you're supposed to be.

[12:41] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah, I mean, I was like, you know, getting in trouble, I don't know, I got kicked out of camp.

[12:46] Leslie Kritzer: Anyway, so I got kicked out at Lohican, but that was in seventh grade, I got kicked out for stealing, which I talk about, I do a show called Beautiful Disaster, which is actually about my senior year of high school, and I talk about how I had a stealing problem. I had a stealing problem for quite a number of years.

[13:06] Alan Seales: You're a legit klepto?

[13:11] Leslie Kritzer: I was a legit upset, because my parents were getting a divorce, and I wanted to feel like I had control, so I would steal, you know, and something I openly...

[13:47] Leslie Kritzer: And I know Fake Prince because of Guys and Dolls at the time. I looked at that playbill, I saw where she went, and I had my mind made up. And I auditioned, and I got in. I mean, it was a miracle, because really, and this show that I do, Beautiful Disaster, goes all through that senior year. I play all the characters, like all these people that I went to school with, the teachers, and how I literally passed with, I think, like a perfect D average, right over. I just made it, because I had done so terribly. And it wasn't that I wasn't smart. It was just that I just had not applied myself, that word, applied yourself. And I was going through a tough time, and all I wanted to do was perform. I mean, when I say that theater kind of saved me, it was true, because I could have wound up having a very different life.

So that's a really long answer. I went through a whole, but that's kind of, in general, what happened. And then the rest is history. And then I went to school, and I stopped stealing. When you first said that, I thought it was like one of a jokey thing, like, I want to impress my friends. But no, there was like a real psychological need.

[14:52] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, yeah. I wanted, I mean, if we're going to get deep for two seconds, as a kid, when my parents were going through a lot, it was very difficult. It was on many years of difficult relationship that they had. It was the only one of the few things, and thank God, it wasn't drugs or anything else that you can act out with, that I felt like I had control. I felt like everything at home was falling apart. So the one thing I could do is take something for someone else. And that's so wrong. It's terrible. But I have, it took me many, many years to actually feel like forgive myself for doing all those things. And I've done things in order to repair that for myself. I've given back a lot. I've given money to charity.

I've done many, many good things. Even as an adult, you think, oh, seventh grade, you're in seventh grade. And I'm like, oh, I still feel bad about it. But I've done things in order to forgive myself from those times, because I was a kid. I mean, even 16, 17, you're a kid, especially if you're going through a difficult time. So I've done many things in order to let go of that. So now as a 42-year-old woman, I don't feel bad anymore, because I know I've done a lot of good things in the world.

[16:09] Alan Seales: So the Catholic guilt sort of creeping in a little bit.

[16:14] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, God. But anyone, I always believe that people can redo. They can learn from things if they choose to. Well, change, you're not going to keep the same friends when you're changing. And a lot of times, if you're in a bad situation, that's for the better, because you want to go to a different place that is a better place. But it all informed everything that I do now. I mean, I don't think I'd change anything. It's just like, you can't, really. So why even think that way? I think everything was supposed to happen exactly the way it did. Maybe if my parents were super great and everything was good, I wouldn't be like, oh, you know what? I'm going to go to Brown or something. I don't want to do theater.

I'm going to do great in school now, and I'm going to go and get a liberal arts major or whatever. But it didn't happen that way. Maybe everything was supposed to happen exactly. Now, I'm not promoting, don't do it in school. I'm not saying that at all. I'm actually saying, don't do my career. If you want to do what I do, great. Make sure it's the only thing that you do, and you don't want to do anything else. I never say, get into this career, unless you really, really want it. So I guess I wanted it bad enough.

[17:26] Leslie Kritzer: That's what somebody told me. They're like, if you can see yourself doing anything else, do that. Because this is one of the worst businesses that there is. It's so hard. I mean, it's so great. I always tell kids when we do talkbacks, this is amazing. Our world that we live in is the craziest, most unique, amazing job. And it's also the hardest. Then it can chew you up and spit you out in every aspect, from producing, to being an actor, to just anything. It's just so fickle and uncertain. But the rewards of it can be amazing.

[18:02] Alan Seales: Yeah. Well, you got to be strong enough in so much as that you have to handle all the rejection, because there is tons and tons of rejection. Because all you see, like we see you on stage now in Beetlejuice, and this credit, this credit, this credit, but there's all those times in between.

[18:17] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, and even within Beetlejuice, even within it, even going through three years of developing the show, you constantly have to weather things. You don't necessarily always, and I'm just saying generally, you do a show, you want award nominations, or you want great reviews, or you want this. Then you think you're doing the best work of your life, and you don't get this, or you don't get that. And you're like, wait, is it me? Did I do something wrong? No. It's sometimes there's no... It's like the way the wind blows sometimes. Then you'll be doing a show where you're like, I'm okay in the show. And then you get all these awards, and you get all these reviews, and you're like, I think I'm terrible in the show, but people love me. Okay. You know what I mean? It's truly, it's crazy.

[19:01] Alan Seales: Do you read reviews?

[19:06] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, I read all of them. Really? I read all of every other show's reviews. I read all of my reviews. I find it interesting. I like to be knowledgeable about how things are going. I look at grosses. I look all... I'm at the point in my career where I'm like, cool. You don't like me? Great. You like me? Awesome. Can't control it. Five years ago, maybe I would have been crumbling on the floor if I got a bad review, but now I really kind of go, well, it's just your opinion. I still have my job. As long as I feel I can go to bed at night going, I am literally doing the best I can possibly do every single show at the highest level that I can do it for that day. I don't care what anyone thinks because I can't really can't control what anyone thinks. I mean, none of us can.

[20:06] Alan Seales: Right. Did you, when you used to read bad reviews, did you try to adjust your performance after that or how did that affect you? And I shouldn't say like, if I don't read, like if I get a weird review now or someone says something, it doesn't like twinge me, of course, like I'm a human being, but how did I? No, I don't. Because I honor what the director and the writers have and what we created in the room. Period. I don't adjust it. I mean, we created it together. It's not my choice to adjust it. It's I'm not a one man band. I'm one of many. So that is just it would just be bad.

[20:29] Leslie Kritzer: Well, yeah. Okay. Well, you said getting a Beetlejuice for a little bit. You said that three years, three years that you were involved with the development of the show. Tell me about how you got involved. When did it first start for you?

[20:41] Leslie Kritzer: Well, I was doing a show called The Robert Bragg Room with Alex Timbers at the Roundabout, Laura Pels. And that's the first time that Alex and I started working together. And then I found out, you know, like we all found out he was doing Beetlejuice or knew. And then I was like, oh, man, great. If I could do Delia, like it was in the back of my mind, but I never said anything. He came to me and he was like, would you be like, Alex is so funny. So, you know, I'm doing Beetlejuice. And she's like, you know, would you like be interested in doing that? I was like, yeah. I was like, yes, of course. Like, yes, yes. And then we did our first I think it was a workshop or reading. I don't remember. I think it was one of them.

Yeah, about three years ago, because Sophia was not the first Lydia. There was another actress that was Lydia. And then when I met Sophia, she was 15. So it was three years ago. She just turned 18. So, yeah, it's about it's about three. It's about three years. And that was it. I stayed with it the entire time. And Delia has morphed into many different like so much has changed with her, not like lines and so many different versions. But yeah, and that's how that happens. And that's very rare. It was changed from the film, the character.

[22:01] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, it's so different. Yeah, it's very, very different from the Queen.

[22:07] Alan Seales: Right. Right. Because Catherine O'Hara. No one can touch her. That character in the film was an art and art sculptor.

[22:14] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. And now you're Celia is a or Delia is a life coach is a life coach. Yeah. Was was that you?

[22:22] Leslie Kritzer: No, that was them. They set up. She's a life coach. She's the girlfriend comes in to try to help Lydia. Yeah. Love, you know, there have a little relationship that was set up everything. And that was all there. I did not add that. I added my other stuff. But, you know, the basic character was on the page. Right. When I came in. So the I mean, the character is overdramatic and this sort of like super insecure person.

[22:49] Alan Seales: Yeah. I don't know anything about that. How much of yourself did you bring to this versus how much you like over the top? Did you go and you're like, I'm just going to go as hard as I can and then tell Alex, tell me to come back.

[23:00] Leslie Kritzer: I mean, I think because I think when I create like on my feet, I just kind of I read it on the page. I and then I just kind of add things as I go along like I literally paint and that's what it is. I paint with comedy. I paint with inflections and I take all of my stuff that I've learned in my stick from over the years, all of it. And I bring it. And then, you know, for her, she reminded me a little bit of this character that I did called Pickles in the Great American Trailer Park musical. I always say she's she's as close like I took a little bit of that that kind of wonderment, that kind of like, oh, because she believes in all of this. So, you know, it's like, as my guru says, you know, sadness is like kale salad.

No one likes it. Throw it out. You know, it's like these goofy sort of things. And then plus the whole spiritual warrior movement. Like now it's like everything's about cleansing and spiritual, but it's all kind of BS also. You know, it's kind of like bullshit. So I just pulled from all this stuff. And yeah, I can go as far as I want with things. And Alex, Alex always will say, yeah, like take that back a little bit or do take that moment and then take that moment and do that bigger. So I just kind of play. I mean, with our cast, too, it's just like a fun group. So we can just we just get on that playground and see and then cut snip and and that's kind of how it happens. And he trusts me, which is a big thing.

You know, he trusts me to do what I do and he stays out of the way. And I think the the best directors do that. They shape. They have a good eye. They know how to cast and then they stay out of the way and then, you know, shape and after that.

[24:53] Alan Seales: Right. Because if you hire good people, they'll do the work for you. It's it's always been in my experience. That's how I see.

[24:59] Leslie Kritzer: Right. Well, we are working with Alex. I mean, the cast is so incredible anyway, like Sophia came out of nowhere, out of nowhere, and it just is incredible. Like her voice for this tiny little package, just this this great thing. And you've got Kerry Butler, Rob, Rob McClure, Alex Brightman, the rest of the cast. They're all so incredible. And you guys have found these moments on stage that I don't know. I'm always I'm always envious of the process of, you know, of course, when you're running it over and over and over again, you find things that that you didn't know were there. And I mean, do you still get surprised on stage by these people every night or is it just kind of like, all right, we're locked in, we're doing our thing?

[25:39] Leslie Kritzer: Yes and no. A lot of times we're locked in, we're doing doing our thing because there's not much else to do with that moment. Otherwise, we'll change the entire moment. That makes sense. Like there's certain things that are laid in. They have to be there and they have to be done a certain way for the audience to understand, to set up other things. A perfect example of it, like one moment that Alex will play, Brightman, is when Shageth comes and it's like, oh, when she's like, oh, Lawrence, you know, when you think they're going to make up, you know, and she's like, oh, that was beautiful. Sometimes Alex will look around and he'll do these like weird little faces and he changes that up every night because he can. Nothing is reliant on him to be a certain way. So as long as he's with Jill Abramovitz, who plays Shageth, and in the moment with her, but he can add stuff. So I find it funny because I love his facial expressions.

[28:05] Leslie Kritzer: But I'll take it. Do you have a favorite song in the show? Is that it? That one, yeah. It's really fun. It's really fun. You know, the makeup, getting in and out of it is a lot. It's like a little bit exhausting. But I have such a good team of people getting me in and out that we have good, we have fun together, you know? It's full like paint? It's neck up, it's all makeup. So neck, front and back, whole face is painted green.

[28:26] Alan Seales: Wow.

[28:27] Leslie Kritzer: And then it's a bodysuit. The rest is a bodysuit.

[28:32] Alan Seales: Yeah. I wondered about that when I saw you come out. I was like, did she just like get her whole body airbrushed or something? And then you got to like go and do a shower afterwards and then come back out on stage or something?

[28:41] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. No, it's crazy. It's like the, I never got to play Elphaba. So I always, a friend of mine who was an Elphaba said, see, you're dead Elphaba now. I'm like, yes. And we're right across the street from Wicked.

[28:59] Alan Seales: That's right.

[29:00] Leslie Kritzer: So the out of town tryout was in DC. And I was talking to Mark Kaufman, the producer once a while ago, and he was saying that the crowds, when you first started performing, you came out and you opened in DC and the crowds immediately, you opened day one with this huge fan base because it's become like the cult following of the movie, like preceded the opening of the show.

[29:19] Alan Seales: Yeah. And now it's changed, to be honest.

[29:27] Leslie Kritzer: Has it really? Yes. I really think it has. Now, you know, at first we knew when the movie people were there. People that know that movie, they know the plinth, they know the certain lines when she goes, I am strange and unusual. They'll go, woo. You know, you know, it's like when I did Legally Blonde, you know, whoever said pink or orange is the new pink is seriously disturbed. Like they'd scream when they'd hear lines from the movie and certain things. We still can feel the movie people, the people that know the movie, but now we have a whole other fan base that is coming. Tons of people that just have heard our cast album, which by the way is one of the best I've ever been a part of, that are coming because they heard that first and then they became Beetlejuice fans or they heard it first, then they watched the movie, then they wanted to, you know, come and see the show.

So it's been like a really interesting progression since DC. You know, first you have that fan base, which is still great. The movie people that are just fans from that. And now we have like a crazy mix and all of these young people like coming and dressing up and doing are the, you know, lip syncing stuff on TikTok on this app that now I'm on TikTok too. So I'm learning.

[30:36] Alan Seales: I refuse. I refuse. I'm 38. I refuse.

[30:40] Leslie Kritzer: You don't have to do it. I'm an actor. It's different. They want, they want me to do little things on there. I'm like, great. I'm game. Thank God you don't have to do that. It's a lot of work.

[30:47] Alan Seales: But yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's the fan base is expanding and expanding and expanding. And it's just amazing. The artwork that we get from, from kids, the letters, I mean, I get tons of, you know, fan mail, not to like toot my own horn, but like also people reaching out saying that we're making them happy. Young, young people. I get most of the letters I get are from 13, 14, 15 years old and they're just reaching out and they're saying, we love the show. I love the cast album. It makes me feel so good. It makes me so happy. You know, people that have never even seen the show, they just have seen the cast album or our Tony awards performance. So, uh, or anything else that we've done on television. And it's, it's kind of amazing. I've never been a part of something that feels like it's just getting bigger and bigger. Like the show is already big physically. And then now it's, um, I've, I've never been a part of something like this before.

[31:46] Alan Seales: Is the stage door feedback, like sort of representative of, of the fan mail you get?

[31:52] Leslie Kritzer: Yes. I mean, it's crazy. I have today, I got, I got a piece, someone, I don't know how they got this. It's a piece of the wallpaper. They printed a piece of the wallpaper from the Maitland's house. I don't know how they, they were like, I, and they, they gave it to me. I'm like, this is crazy. I don't even know what this is, but it's cool. Um, I haven't even really looked at it, but it literally is the wallpaper from their house. Um, and yeah, they're, they've, they're freaking out. They love it so much. I mean, I met a girl today on the subway. I'm doing this blog right now for eight weeks and this girl came up to me on the subway today at an audition this morning before the matinee and I'm on the train and whenever anyone comes, like I have my earphones and headphones in and when someone taps me automatically, I get nervous.

I'm like, Oh my God, something's out of my bag or something. I'm like, uh, you know, like what's, I just get nervous immediately. And she goes, Hey, I'm sorry. And she goes, um, I'm a, I'm, I've seen Beetlejuice five times. I just want to tell you, you're amazing. And I'm a costume design major, blah, blah, blah. I was like, come with me, come with me. And I, you know, I exchanged, um, information with her and I'm going to give her a tour of the costumes and everything. Cause she's the costume agency senior year in college. And you know, people are, you know, it's like so cool for me to like do something like that for her because I remember at her age, I never had access. Like we don't have kids now have access.

Like we never had. So for me to like be able to go, yeah, you know what? You're going to come backstage. We're going to, we're going to meet, you're going to meet some people, let you look at the costumes, touch the costumes. And this is, you know, she's here doing a summer internship. It's, it's awesome. And that's how the stage door is. These, these kids are like flipping out. They're all with their parents. Um, and they, they love it. And the adults love it. It's like, not just, I mean, a lot of young people wait by the stage door, but it's a, their parents and then B all these adults that just love it. It's like, I'm like, great. I'll, I'll stay in this show. Let's ride this out. I love it.

[33:48] Alan Seales: It's both generations because the parents saw the movie.

[33:53] Leslie Kritzer: Exactly. Falling in love with dad. I mean, that was, that was my first exposure to Gina Davis. And I was like, Oh, there's Gina. Right. I know. Yeah. Hello. And, and then now the kids, like you said, the access they have is incredible. I was talking with Andrew Barth Feldman the other day, right? And Jeremy Hanson duties talk about like teen depression and suicide and these heavy, heavy things that when I was his age, like, like you said, you're just out getting, getting into trouble. That's all I did. I was literally jumping my car across intersections.

[34:26] Alan Seales: So we see, I was stealing and you were jumping your car. I mean, come on. We're like cut from the same cloth. I could have really hurt myself.

[34:31] Leslie Kritzer: Yes. Yes. That's you, you, you, wow. You trumped me. Wow. You never got hurt?

[34:38] Alan Seales: No, no. Cause I was always going in a straight line.

[34:42] Leslie Kritzer: Oh my God. Wait, where are you from?

[34:42] Alan Seales: I'm just in North Carolina, North Carolina. Long long four years apart. So you were a freshman when I was a senior.

[34:47] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. Wow. So we grew up in the nineties. So I didn't have, I didn't have broadband until college in 98. I said the word broadband to Andrew and he was like, what?

[34:56] Alan Seales: I graduated in 99. We still were, when we were doing a, we were printing papers, we still had to do the preparation on the side. Remember that?

[35:02] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. You remember, um, uh, was it paint, paint shop pro? Was that what it was?

[35:08] Alan Seales: I'm sure it was something where you could make those long banners on the perforated paper.

[35:12] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. On the perforated paper. That's right. Paint shop pro.

[35:17] Alan Seales: Yeah. And then when the, when the, when the laser printers came out, it was just like, when they just came out, you were like, whoa, now pay phones are like a museum thing.

[35:27] Leslie Kritzer: Right. It's crazy. Yeah. Landlines like the, Hey, Hey, Mr. Seales is your, is your son there? Like no one's good. My kids aren't going to have to do that because everyone's going to have a cell phone.

[35:39] Alan Seales: Or like the digital voicemail, like you had to put in the code to get your like thing.

[35:44] Leslie Kritzer: When I got my own phone line, that was cool. I was like, wow. And my own phone line that got taken away real quick.

[35:48] Alan Seales: Oh yeah. I think all the teenagers that are listening now just fast forwarded. They just, yeah. They're like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[35:57] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. They're wearing all the clothes that we wore back in the day. Walk into any urban outfitters. They're all the clothes that we wore in high school. All of it, all the t-shirts, all the flannels, it all comes back.

[36:07] Alan Seales: It's so funny. I used to wear, I'm like 170 something pounds now and I was 6'1", 150 until my mid twenties.

[36:15] Leslie Kritzer: Wow.

[36:16] Alan Seales: So, but I would wear larges and extra larges assuming I was going to grow into them.

[36:22] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, hilarious. So I never had any fashion sense. No one told me differently.

[36:26] Alan Seales: There you go. So now when I, you know, I see people like I wear, you know, fitting clothes now.

[36:30] Leslie Kritzer: I know you look good.

[36:31] Alan Seales: Um, Stitch Fix. I don't buy my own stuff. I don't know how to, I got to turn my husband onto that.

[36:37] Leslie Kritzer: Stitch Fix is the best. He won't listen to me.

[36:40] Alan Seales: Okay. So back to the theater and you married a, you're married to Adam Feichner. Is that how I say that right?

[36:48] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. Vadim.

[36:49] Alan Seales: Oh, Vadim?

[36:50] Leslie Kritzer: Vadim Feichner. Yeah. But no one gets it right. So that's normal. You're normal. I was like Feichner. How do you pronounce that?

[36:56] Leslie Kritzer: Vadim.

[36:56] Alan Seales: Okay. Feichner you got perfect. Most people say Feichner. So you got Feichner right.

[37:00] Leslie Kritzer: Oh, well, um, so you married him in 2013.

[37:07] Alan Seales: I did. Married, married a non-civilian.

[37:12] Leslie Kritzer: I did. I did. Yeah. He's in the business.

[37:12] Leslie Kritzer: It makes it most times easier because we get our crazy schedule, you know? I mean, we both go through tech. We both get that. We both understand crazy, uh, creative teams and processes and heartaches when shows happen or they don't, or you know what I mean? Like we get the lingo. We have shorthand, you know? Um, where that couple that is sitting in bed up at 10, 15, 10 30, when the Ben Brantley review comes out on a new show. I mean, we're nerds like that. Uh, and we love it. We love, he does, he, he will still occasionally, if it's my show, he will go on the message boards and look what people are saying. He does not tell me that he nerds out on that. He does not post, but I'll out him on that.

Um, yeah, it's, um, we have, we, we get it, we get the business and I guess the only downside to it is that it's not, if I, if one of us had married a muggle, uh, we could possibly have a more stability in the sense of like, although what is stability in our life right now in this day and age, but in this area and this, yeah, it's craziness, but, um, you know, not one of us is not a nine to fiver, you know, we're both freelance. So anyone who's freelance and in the arts, it's crazy. So, so maybe, but again, it, it works and we, we make it work and sometimes he'll be out of town for periods of time. He just got back into town. So like I was a single mother to our two animals and I had to deal with all that stuff and, you know, but that's like small potatoes, you know, most of the time it's, it's wonderful, you know, to, to be with someone that's in the business that gets it.

[37:19] Alan Seales: Does that make it easier or harder?

[39:02] Alan Seales: Yeah, I, I think that my wife, um, she's in finance.

[39:08] Leslie Kritzer: Nice. Good job.

[39:09] Alan Seales: Does not get married up. Yes, I did. I'm married out of my league. Most definitely. Um, good for you.

[39:15] Leslie Kritzer: Uh, yeah, I, I, I miss, I used to perform. So like this is, and then I got a technical, I went the technical routes that I was saying, I know you have, you do a lot of things, right, right, right. So like this is getting back into it and she's like, okay, I support you, but make sure you come home every night or whatever, you know, the case may be right.

[39:30] Leslie Kritzer: So, so it's really, it's artistic. That's cool.

[39:35] Alan Seales: I know. And nine to fivers, a lot of times, like she must love that about you, you know, because she married you.

[39:40] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. I hope so.

[39:41] Alan Seales: Yeah. So that's more interesting. A lot of nine to fivers are boring. At least the ones that I used to date.

[39:44] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. Sorry.

[40:21] Leslie Kritzer: I talked to myself out of like a, like a, oh my God place the other night. I was like, Kritzer, you do this shit on Instagram like all the time. Like you, you, you make stuff all the time. This is easy for you. So just because it's going to be on a, maybe like a bigger platform in the sense of, and it also has to be a certain way and you have to put Beetlejuice the show into it a lot, doesn't mean anything. You can do whatever. And they said, do whatever you want. So, um, so we're on, we just released the second episode, so we have a bunch more to go. And it's been fun because I'm trying to really show what our, like our show is like. This past episode, Presley Ryan got to go on for Sophia for the first time as Lydia, which is very exciting.

You know, people love to say, oh my God, how does that work? You know, she's going on out of nowhere. She's well rehearsed. I mean, they, our stage management team got her ready and it's exciting. The entire building was so excited for her. Of course, you know, we love Sophia, but everyone's going to be out at some point. Everybody, that's the name of the game. That's why we have understudies and standbys and swings. Um, and everyone in that building will be out at some point. So it's not a big deal and she did great. It was good for her. So that was something I got to show, you know, I'm starting to make up characters around, which I'm going to do more of. I think we're going to do this segment called Real Housewives of Beetlejuice, which we're going to start, you know, featuring some of the characters and like, do what they do on the Real Housewives.

Um, and then of course show the show behind the scenes within reason without showing too much, um, of the secrets of the show. And, um, people have been asking me, oh, are you going to show the Argentina change? So I'm like, well, you have to watch the entire series to see if we do it or not. So I love, I love the behind the scenes aspect of it. Yeah. It's fun. Cause as like a theater nerd that, that, I mean, any big show, I'm always looking at the technology behind it. And then to see the human side of it too, I think is incredible. So I enjoyed, I enjoyed watching it.

[42:07] Alan Seales: Oh, thanks. I'm going to show more, like I'm going to do a whole thing with Austin who is on props and like, how, what it's like to kind of deal with that. And like, so mix in the show and people that make the show happen and also funny stuff and stuff that I do. And so that it's like, and I think one other thing I'm going to do is like real things. Like how do we, you know, the big question that a lot of people want to know is how do we maintain this eight show a week thing? So I think we're going to put something in about vocal health. A bunch of us have had, um, in the community have had vocal issues. I mean, it's like being an athlete. Wasn't it, was it Jessica Vosk that just started, it was a couple of days ago, I think.

[43:00] Leslie Kritzer: Casey Levy.

[43:03] Alan Seales: Oh, Casey Levy. Yeah. And I just texted her today because she, and I mentioned something, Brightman mentioned something somewhere else. And so I think at some point down the road, um, so I'm starting to learn how to like plan these things. Um, I'm going to have a, like a couple of minute conversation with some actors that people think, oh, they must've never had vocal problems. And Casey was like, yes, we have to do this because there's a stigma around it. There is no possible way you can't get tired. We're an eight show a week schedule. Opera singers don't do that and they don't do that for a reason because it is really grueling. We can do it, but it takes a certain amount, depending on the show, uh, real work and dedication.

And when you get hurt, I have, I've, I've hemorrhaged twice and it is not fun. And it's terrifying. I've had to have a, I had a blood vessel on my cord burst and I had to have it cauterized. I had to put a laser down my throat. I mean, that was terrifying. I was like, oh my God, what if I, my voice never sounds the same again? What if I, you know, and, and so there's a stigma around it. Like people don't want to talk about it. And it's like, wait, but we're athletes. Athletes break their legs and they sprain stuff and they're out for a whole season. And you know, why are we trying to be superhuman? There's no way. They're two little tiny folds of skin rubbing together. This is, this is like, it's like in the Olympics of Broadway.

[44:28] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. That's, that's, you know, it's, it's, it's impossible. So I also agree in, in every sense of the word, mentally it's difficult. I mean, you know, it's a job and it's a great job and it seems like fun and it, to a lot of people, it seems like a hobby, but it is not a hobby. It is, it is, it requires a certain amount of energy. So to, even now when I say, oh God, I feel so like I'm getting down to myself for being tired. I'm like, you don't have to be tired. You only work two and a half hours a day. I'm like, no, but it's really more than two and a half hours a day. Like you're sprinting for two and a half hours.

[45:04] Alan Seales: Yeah. It's, it's a focus that requires more. And at my age too, it's not like 15 years ago, even 10 years ago, you know, it requires something different. So someone, someone that is five years younger than me or 10 years younger than me can go out for drinks and stay out till two in the morning and come in and sing a two show day and be fine. I, that's not me anymore. Um, and it doesn't make me sad. It's just the reality, you know, it's like, well, my priority is my job, you know, and, um, and my health because I like my job and I like making my money, like affording my life. And I don't want to be out if I don't have to be, but if I need to be out, I do not feel bad about it. And I don't, um, I don't kind of beat myself up if I need to be out of a show for the longevity of my career.

[46:49] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. The first time I talked about this with somebody was Patty Murin. She posted this whole thing about like just feeling so incredibly guilty around calling out of a show and the responsibility of like letting down her fan and even Laura Benanti too, because she's, she's very vocal about her autoimmune disease. Um, every time she calls out, it's just, she's like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And everyone is so supportive yet. You still feel bad about it, right?

[47:00] Alan Seales: Well, yeah, because you're on the poster, right? You're in the pictures. You're your original cast. You're on the cast album. Every, you know, that person is sitting in that, you know, whatever price ticket seat. And a lot of times they're very expensive and they're coming to see the cast that they want to see. So you feel bad. You, you feel you have a responsibility at the same time you are a human being and you're not a robot.

[47:29] Leslie Kritzer: Um, so yeah, it's, it's, it's difficult. It is. It's really hard, but you do, you do your best and our understudies and our, I've been an understudy. I've been a swing. I've been a standby understudies at our show are excellent and they all, and here's the thing too. And, and I don't, it's not a controversial statement. It's just the truth. Actually, we are all replaceable. A show moves on, people leave. There's new cast members. I've been in shows where I've had two or three different people replaced. Those people are great and they're not the original, but they're, they're great. Rob McClure and I came in and we replaced in something rotten. We had, we were awesome that the original cast, you know, what was it?

Um, Brian Darcy James and Heidi Blickenstaff were amazing, but we came in and we did our thing and people loved us too. So it's not like the person who replaces me, but I mean, knock on wood, our show runs and runs and like I go get another job somewhere. Um, at some point I don't want to, but the person who replaces me is going to be fabulous and she'll be her own Delia and Miss Argentina. I am replaceable. It's just, so the point is when understudies go on and they're ready and they're fabulous, which ours are, it is an invitation and experience for you to be able as an audience member to see someone else. And I think that's exciting. I saw Maureen Moore go on for Bernadette Peters and she was brilliant.

I will never forget. I will never forget her performance. I love Bernadette Peters. Don't get me wrong, but to see Maureen Moore, now I know who Maureen Moore is and I've known her for years. I mean, if I hadn't seen her, I don't know if I'd ever know who she was if I had seen her in something else. So it's, it's, it's exciting. We're a family, we're a team and we all work together and it's part of the deal.

[48:29] Alan Seales: Oh, I enjoy, I enjoy interviewing, like talking and meeting swings and understudies and alternates.

[48:34] Leslie Kritzer: Oh my God. It's the hardest job.

[48:36] Alan Seales: It's hard. Yeah. It's the hardest thing on there. Because especially swings, you have to know like four, sometimes like 10 different tracks. If you're a dancer, you have to know everything on stage.

[48:45] Leslie Kritzer: And our swings are brilliant. I mean, they're really on it. All of, all of the swings that I've ever met that are good at their job, they're good at their job for a reason. I was literally told by a stage manager when I did Bad Boy, it was my first swing job. He's like, you're terrible at this job. I'm like, you're right. This is not for me. I'll take one character role at a time. I could do it. And him and I are still friends. I love him. But I was like, you're right. I'm meant to originate a role in Sydney and that's it. I was like, wait, what? I have to, you know, so I appreciated that honesty. It is a skill and it's a skill that I don't have. And I'm, I'm okay with it. The people that have it are brilliant and they save our butts and they're there and they're also amazing. They're amazing.

[49:25] Alan Seales: Well, let's wrap up the episode here. So I'll give you my three standard closing questions I ask everybody. The first one is what motivates you?

[49:34] Leslie Kritzer: What motivates me? Oh God, like to what? This is terrible.

[49:42] Alan Seales: To get up in the morning, to do what you do eight times a week.

[49:45] Leslie Kritzer: Okay. That's okay. What motivates me? I get to play two different characters that I really love. Probably one of the best two characters I've ever done. I love coming to work and I love making people laugh. It's very healing. Even when I feel like crap, when I make 1500 people laugh, I mean, I'm like, okay, I'm doing something good in the world. You know, there's not much I can do to control what's happening right now, but that's one thing I can do and that's cool.

[50:21] Alan Seales: So what advice would you give to your younger self and younger people listening now starting out down a similar path?

[50:28] Leslie Kritzer: Learn everything. Immerse yourself in everything. Listen to every cast. If you want to do musical theater, I'll stick in that lane. Listen to every cast album. See as many shows as possible. Live at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts. I lived there. I used to listen to cast recordings there. You can go and watch shows for free. I still go and watch shows there. Yes. If I want to research something, I mean, if you're here, especially if you're in New York, it's an unbelievable resource. But immerse yourself in everything, even if it's community theater, even if it's a show at school. The more you know, the more you arm yourself with, the better. And train. Absolutely train. 100%. Don't just waltz in and think you could go just because you can sing. You have to train. Without training, I would not have been as successful, I think.

[51:22] Alan Seales: Well, like we were talking about, being an athlete, all athletes train.

[51:26] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. Off season too. Yeah. You got to keep going.

[51:30] Alan Seales: Okay. Final question now. 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 would you see?

[51:38] Leslie Kritzer: Any show that's running or not running or past. Yes.

[51:40] Alan Seales: As many times as I want.

[51:48] Leslie Kritzer: Oh my God. Here Lies Love.

[51:54] Alan Seales: What is that? What? You need to erase this. You need to erase that statement.

[52:00] Leslie Kritzer: Here Lies Love was a David Byrne and Alex Timbers musical that was downtown in the public.

[52:04] Alan Seales: Yeah. Just erase that part. Just go, oh, Here Lies Love.

[52:11] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah. Here Lies Love. It was an off-Broadway show and it was always different. It's one of my favorite shows ever. It's unbelievable.

[52:15] Alan Seales: Yeah. I'm joking. I've never seen Cats. I've never seen the producers. There's so many shows. I've never seen Phantom Live. So don't worry.

[52:20] Leslie Kritzer: Well, if you're already in shows, you can't see other shows all the time. I've never even seen Lion King.

[52:26] Alan Seales: Oh, okay. That's kind of a staple. We're equal. We're equal.

[52:33] Leslie Kritzer: We can find you online on Instagram and Twitter at Leslie Kritzer and of course, Beetlejuicebroadway.com. Play at the Winter Garden Theater. Get your tickets now. You can find more of me at thetheaterpodcast.com. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter as well at theater underscore podcast. Listen and subscribe. Please leave a rating, leave a review. It helps. This is produced by Jillian Hachman, edited by Matthew Hendershot. Thank you to Jukebox the Ghost for the intro and outro music you are hearing underneath us right now. And Leslie, thank you to you for coming out today. This has been wonderful.

[52:58] Leslie Kritzer: Yeah, you're the best. I've had the best time.

[53:00] Alan Seales: Oh, thanks. Thanks.