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[0:20] Lara Scott: It's curtains up on a mini episode of West of Broadway, a celebration of musical theater in Los Angeles.

[0:26] Will Armstrong: I'm radio host and theater enthusiast Lara Scott, along with celebrity publicist and theater veteran Will Armstrong.

[0:33] Lara Scott: And we're talking about a really fun show today, Little Shop of Horrors at the Pasadena Playhouse's.

[0:38] Will Armstrong: It is on through October 20th.

[0:40] Lara Scott: Fantastic.

[0:41] Will Armstrong: We've already done a fantastic episode where we got to interview George Salazar, who's starring as Seymour.

[0:46] Lara Scott: And I get to see the show on the 26th, which I'm super excited about.

[0:50] Will Armstrong: But we actually sent one of our West of Broadway correspondents to the opening night, and we're gonna talk with her, uh Nikki Diaz World on Instagram, just so you know, follow her.

[1:00] Lara Scott: And um, but yeah, so we're gonna talk to her and we're gonna see what she thought, and then I'll probably come back and talk again.

[1:06] Will Armstrong: We'll do a third episode on this red time.

[1:08] Lara Scott: It's all little shop of horrors from here on out in some way, shape, or form.

[1:12] Will Armstrong: Yeah.

[1:12] Lara Scott: It's the little shop podcast, the little podcast.

[1:15] Will Armstrong: Little pot of horrors.

[1:16] Lara Scott: Welcome, Nikki to West of Broadway.

[1:19] Nikki Diaz: Hi.

[1:20] Lara Scott: I was so excited to see that very cute picture of you and your son standing in front of the Pasadena Playhouse's when you guys went to this show.

[1:28] Nikki Diaz: How did he like the show?

[1:29] Nikki Diaz: Um well he's already a big musical theater enthusiast, and he's obsessed with Little Shop. He's watched all the original movies, so he loved the show and actually said that he loved the show better than any of the movies that he's seen.

[1:42] Lara Scott: Aw, yeah, that's very cool.

[1:45] Lara Scott: And how old is he, Nikki?

[1:46] Nikki Diaz: He's seven.

[1:47] Lara Scott: Oh, that is so cool that he is already like a seasoned theater person and musical kid. Good for you, Mama.

[1:55] Nikki Diaz: Thank you. Yeah, he's always my little date.

[1:58] Lara Scott: That's great.

[1:59] Lara Scott: Yeah, I do the same thing with my son. That's so funny. Like the moment he turned six, which is about the age I think where they will let kids in, I was like, all right, we'll have a date now for all these shows because my husband wants nothing to do with it.

[2:11] Nikki Diaz: You had a um you saw um George Salazar who played uh uh Seymour, which uh we recently interviewed and he was incredible.

[2:19] Lara Scott: And I I haven't seen the show yet, I'm seeing it on the 26th, but um I'm dying to know how was he?

[2:25] Nikki Diaz: He is amazing. I could not it I mean I've heard his name before. I've never seen him in any other show, but I mean he has this character down. It's just uh really, really fun to watch him, and then his voice is amazing. I mean, obviously your voice has to be amazing, right? To be in a in a musical, but his voice is just I I could not get over how amazing his voice was.

[2:47] Nikki Diaz: He just got off a Broadway run of a hit musical called Be More Chill, where he originated uh the lead role, and then he came straight out here to uh to take over as Seymour in uh the at Pasadena Playhouse's. And so we're thrilled to have him here on the West Coast, and uh I'm so glad that he is living up to his reputation.

[3:02] Lara Scott: Uh what about uh uh Audrey, uh played by MJ Rodrigues?

[3:07] Nikki Diaz: Um she has a beautiful voice as well. I never heard her sing before. And I mean they they all have incredible voices, but I think just seeing them and then our our seats are really I mean if you don't have a bad sea at the Pasadena Playhouse's, but we were right there up front and center, and it was just it was magical watching everyone perform, and they each held their own, and all they all, you know, they they shined up there, and it was just amazing to watch.

[3:31] Nikki Diaz: And I they just all have their beautiful unique voices, and I I don't know, it was incredible. I actually am considering going and watching it again.

[3:38] Lara Scott: Cool, that is high praise. Did you have a favorite part of the show?

[3:43] Nikki Diaz: I think when George and MJ sang Suddenly, See More, I think that was my favorite part of the show. Their voices together are amazing.

[3:51] Lara Scott: That is so good to hear. I'm so excited.

[3:55] Lara Scott: And so were you uh a fan of the television show Glee?

[3:58] Nikki Diaz: Yes, I was.

[4:00] Lara Scott: So how trippy was it to see Amber Riely as the plant?

[4:03] Nikki Diaz: I actually thought it was pretty cool because you know sometimes we see uh Audrey II played by a man by a male. So to see her do it and have like a different take on it and to kill it how she did was also pretty amazing and I liked it a lot and I could still appreciate the character even though it was a woman singing it. Like she has an amazing voice. And her character really shined through as well because she just put her own spin on it. So it was it was really cool. It was fun. Everything about it was awesome. It went by way too fast in my opinion.

[4:37] Lara Scott: That's so great. And then so you would recommend this if somebody has a child six, seven years old it's probably okay for them as long as they're kinda into musical theater right and can sit there for a couple hours?

[4:47] Nikki Diaz: Yeah oh yeah of course I think I think that age is fine like seven eight years old. Um obviously Kai's a little bit more it might be a little bit more into it than other kids but I mean it's fun to watch you're seeing you know all the puppeteering and how they do everything. It's very it holds your attention so yeah definitely.

[5:03] Lara Scott: Yeah so I always get nervous when I'm with my son and it's a very quiet show. Like I'm afraid he's gonna whisper a question at that moment.

[5:10] Nikki Diaz: Yeah I had to shut mine a couple times because he was singing along he knows that's so cute.

[5:16] Lara Scott: I'm like, this isn't a sing along. Maybe next time.

[5:18] Nikki Diaz: Maybe they should consider doing a sing along version.

[5:21] Lara Scott: Uh Pasadena Playhouse, if you're listening, uh, Nikki Diaz with a brilliant idea.

[5:26] Nikki Diaz: Yes, wouldn't that be felt like a sing along Little Shop?

[5:28] Lara Scott: It would be so fun.

[5:30] Lara Scott: That's so great. And now, did you guys have dinner beforehand or do any like fun family things in the area?

[5:35] Nikki Diaz: We had dinner across the street at The Stand before.

[5:38] Lara Scott: Oh, nice.

[5:39] Nikki Diaz: And it's directly across the street. And they actually have like a Little Shop salad, which is like an O2. I think a Little Shop is kind of cool.

[5:49] Nikki Diaz: Um I didn't have the salad though. I had a big burger and we had grilled cheese and French fries and everything, and then we just walked right across the street for the show. It was pretty awesome.

[5:57] Lara Scott: Perfect. That's perfect. Dinner and a show. What's better than that?

[6:01] Nikki Diaz: Yeah, and no growling stomachs. My son got to meet George after the show. We waited. And we we took a picture and they they got to talk a little bit. And yeah, it was very exciting for him. He loved it. And of course, I loved watching all that interaction, so it was really cool.

[6:15] Nikki Diaz: Oh, he met Amber Riely as well.

[6:17] Lara Scott: Awesome.

[6:18] Nikki Diaz: I bet they were so excited to see him.

[6:20] Lara Scott: We have to rename you the musical mama.

[6:21] Nikki Diaz: Yeah.

[6:27] Nikki Diaz: I think I'm gonna take him to watch Hamilton. We'll see.

[6:29] Lara Scott: Yes. And you know what? If he ever wants to be on the podcast, that would be great to get like your point of view in his point of view. So you know, as you guys go to see things, please keep us posted.

[6:39] Lara Scott: And you know, again, we'll mention your Instagram, Nikki Diaz World on social media, so we can keep up with all of your adventures.

[6:45] Nikki Diaz: And Nikki, thank you so much for joining us on West of Broadway.

[6:50] Nikki Diaz: Thank you so much.

[6:51] Lara Scott: Larry, you have the coolest friends.

[6:52] Nikki Diaz: Thank you.

[6:53] Will Armstrong: Well, you're one of my friends, well, so yeah.

[6:58] Lara Scott: No, but I mean it's just like the I've met so many nice people that well, I've theater just I think attracts nice people.

[7:05] Will Armstrong: Yeah, I was gonna say I keep the crazy ones away.

[7:07] Lara Scott: No, I'm kidding. I keep them away from you.

[7:09] Will Armstrong: No, they're all nice. But it is really fun. You know, thanks to social media, I get to keep up with everybody's adventures, and I can see when people are going to see things. Oh, that person would be great to talk about this. That'd be really fun to bring them on because, you know, as we say, we want to go see every show, but and and I will say it's super cool to be able to interview like the lead of a musical or a show or something like that. But to get a firsthand account of a patron and like what they thought, I feel like that's really valuable information.

[7:33] Nikki Diaz: Yeah, and they were so nice to her son. Like that. What what a beautiful moment.

[7:37] Lara Scott: So if you haven't listened to the episode with George Salazar, this is the perfect time to do that and binge all the episodes. We appreciate you joining us.

[7:44] Lara Scott: And you can find me on social media at Lariscott Media.

[7:47] Will Armstrong: And I'm Will Armstrong, PR on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

[7:50] Will Armstrong: And I'll be um doing stories for from the Pasadena Playhouse's on the twenty-sixth.

[7:54] Lara Scott: So are you doing a takeover?

[7:55] Will Armstrong: Uh oh no, I'm just gonna.

[7:56] Lara Scott: Oh, you're just gonna take it over.

[7:58] Will Armstrong: Take it over your own Instagram.

[7:59] Will Armstrong: But I'm I'm gonna I I will be at that stage door to see George and Amber and MJ and Pasadena Playhouse's.

[8:06] Lara Scott: After you take the idea for the sing along, let will do a takeover on your Insta stories, please.

[8:10] Will Armstrong: So yes, if you're looking for she can find us in Pasadena or just west of Broadway.