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Meet The Cast of GREASE - Part II: The Pink Ladies
Nov 11, 2022
BroadwayWorld continues its three part video series introducing you to the cast of GREASE. In this second part, Jenny Powers (Rizzo) introduces the Pink Ladies...and Patty. Featuring highlights from this brand new revival starring Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, winners of 'Grease: You're the One That I Want,' you won't want to miss this special series!
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0:00
We'll be right back
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Grease is the time, it's the place, it's the motion Grease is the way we are feeling
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Good morning, BroadwayWorld.com. This is Jenny Powers playing Rizzo in You're the one that I want, Grease, on Broadway
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And in just a minute, I want to introduce you to my babes, the pink ladies, here at Ride L. High
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I got involved in Grease, the casting process in November, late November, early December
1:02
It was actually the second round of auditions where they had already cast half the principals
1:07
And I had a work session with Jay Bender. I guess he didn't think I could be tough enough to play Rizzo
1:13
And then after that session, two weeks later, I saw Kathleen Marshall and I auditioned for her
1:19
And then I had to wait about a month and a half for my final callback in front of David Ian, the producer
1:26
so I found out late January that I was going to be playing a role with Rizzo on Broadway
1:32
I'm approaching the character of Rizzo, Betty Rizzo, I think in the most honest way that I can
1:39
given Jim Jacobs' book and the history of these characters based on Kathleen's research
1:47
and also what Jim Jacobs has also told us almost through Kathleen
1:52
I mean, I'm trying to flesh her out as much as possible and really make her..
1:59
So you can see all layers of Betty Rizzo. And, yeah, in the most grounded, honest way
2:05
I think going to the dance, always, in high school. Whether it was a spring fling or the holly ball
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My girlfriends and I, we loved to, we would always say, let's go bust and move at the dance
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And, yeah, those were my favorite times in high school. A little, uh, I was crazy back then. Definitely more Rizzo than Sandy Dee
2:28
Here we are with the pink ladies and Patti Simcox, and I'm going to let them introduce themselves
2:35
Here we are, Patti Simcox. Hi, I'm Allison Fisher, and I'm playing Patti
2:39
I'm Robin Herter, and I'm playing Marty Maraschino, like the cheery. I'm Kirsten Wye, and I'm playing Frenchie
2:48
And I Lindsay Mendez and I play Jan Stanacek Yeah we definitely bonding off stage and on stage And you know we I mean our show is about a lot of firsts
3:02
You know, first kisses and first time you lose your virginity or first time you have sex
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you know, you'll lose your virginity once. I didn't mean to say that. Right
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And then off stage too, we've had a lot of firsts. Going to the spa
3:17
When I started, the four of us got to be on the last episode of Grace, you're the one that I want
3:23
And so we all met out in L.A. for the first time. And that was a really great bonding experience for us
3:30
That happened three months before we even started. It was like the end of March. Yeah, that's right. So that was so surreal
3:34
You don't usually get that experience. And the mariachi band was like my favorite
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We went out for Mexican food and there was this mariachi band. Oh, yeah. We did
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That was like our first pink lady cheers at the margarita. and I mean it was it was harmony from there yeah good times I was the really
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cool thing about it is this show is cast so well I think and we're all we're all
3:58
very close to our characters as human beings and so no one is the same and we
4:03
all kind of it just mesh together so well like everyone has their thing and
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is like in their place and it's just we have great chemistry it's also good that
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We all have extremely laid back and humorous personalities. I mean, really, we're all just really laid back and we all have great dressing rooms
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We're side by side. It's really, it's just awesome. We're loving rehearsal. Yeah
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We do. We're a little sweet. In our dressing room, we like to have a dance
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Me and Patty and Rizzo share a dressing room. We like to have a little dance party. We sing Kelly Clarks
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We put up our, yeah, at our, before we go on every night. At our fire
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And again and again and again and again. Yes, and Robin and I share the room next to theirs and hear it every night
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I'm seriously always wondering when we're going to be told to shut up. It'll be any time now
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No, I'm just kidding. Any time now. I know you guys are always playing the rock music and then we're listening to, like, jazz
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I think that, like, our friendships offstage totally help our friendships onstage and the show is such a..
5:07
Except that I hate you. Oh, well, nice to have you. But, no, but seriously, like, you know, I think that our, we have so much fun on stage
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just with the great music and what's going on, and we had so much fun through rehearsal
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and then once the audience came in, we were all just like, wow, excuse me
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It's just been, it's been crazy. Once the audience came in, and now we have real pudding
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Yes, yes, we can do it. We have a pudding fest every morning
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I'm not sure I'm putting with you. So what would you guys say are your favorite moments in our show thus far
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I like the bedroom. That what I was going to say I love the bedroom seat I mean not that my song in it but it just because there so much freedom Yeah yeah yeah That not it No I just saying that we have the most fun the most freedom like we being ourselves really
6:02
It literally is like playing in a little dollhouse. It is. And that's, you know
6:06
Magazines, nail files, cigarettes. My favorite is the dance scene, just because I don't really get to interact with everyone all at once
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and in that scene, it's really all about just having a great time. And you're wearing a fabulous dress
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And my dress is awesome. It's like a pineapple. It's really cool
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All right, so let's talk about our favorite high school memories. Lynn's
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Always from California, right? Yeah. I went to a performing arts high school, the Orange County High School of the Arts
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So we had like a weird high school. But every Christmas, our performing group would go on tour with Don Ho
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Rest his soul, Don Ho. And we would go to Laughlin and Las Vegas for like three weeks. Wow
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Yeah, I mean, I don't know what they were thinking, like letting us stay in hotels and stuff
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So we had a lot of fun and got into a lot of trouble there. And it was great
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It was like really good times. Good times. Good times. That's awesome
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That's awesome. Grunge? You ready? Yeah. Oh, God. I know what it is
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So when I was in high school, my friends and I used to drive around in a car
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And we used to go around the neighborhood and steal all the for sale signs
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And then we put them in our teacher's yard. Yeah, sorry, Mrs. Blue Harding
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Blue Harding. Yeah. She was tough. She was tough. Do not do this
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Do not do that. That is very bad. And I hope no one presses charges against me for admitting that
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But it's very bad to do. It's not funny. Robin? I'm afraid to ask
7:46
This is so random. I mean, I come from a small town called Windham, Maine
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And my senior year of high school, literally, this is what I took back from high school
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because I was so involved with musical theater and dance. My best friends, Christy Webster and Richard Gagliano
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we would skip third period study hall and always drive to Mr. Bagel and my Suzuki sidekick
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And literally, we got the biggest kick out of when we would see people, we'd drive, it's like a 10 minute drive, we'd see people outside doing yard work or like trash men like collecting the garbage
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We would just roll down our windows and scream at them just to see their reaction
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And then we'd just go off. And it was the funniest thing ever
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That's what you do in Windham, Maine. And Allison, who just recently graduated
8:37
Yeah, I just. Thank you I just recently graduated So I have a bunch that I still remember But I have to say we had our whole senior class in one of the lunches We started a food fight and it was like this whole planned thing And I think someone threw like mustard at someone
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And then it just like escalated and got into this huge food fight throughout the whole entire cafeteria
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And all of us thought it was hysterical. But then a bunch of us, the seniors got out of school early, like just ended into summer early
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and all of us had to come back and clean the entire school
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So it's like, your seniors were out of school, and all the students were walking in the hallway
9:23
and they see us inside mopping and cleaning. But it was so worth it
9:27
That's such a school night. I know, that's why we're even proud of being in a room
9:33
That's fun. My best friend and I would call up boys, and of course they knew it was us, because we do it all the time
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and like saying, you know, lollipop, lollipop, like in harmony, and then hang up
9:45
Oh. Like stupid, or in the jungle, and like do that, ooh, wee
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That was hysterical. That was excellent singing right there. Anyway, we were crazy like that
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We thought that was so hysterical. I was like, hey, hey, is your refrigerator running
10:02
I feel uncomfortable. Better go catch it. Well, thanks for joining me and my pinks and Patty
10:08
no we love Allison they really do like me we do we love Allison
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she's really not Patty at all I'm not I'm not she's not I'm cool
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but anyway we hope that Broadway World you know all of your followers
10:23
come and join the Pinks for our party over at the Brooks Atkinson Theater
10:29
it really is a rock concert it's awesome it's so much fun it is so much fun yeah
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I mean really yeah we invite you to come and like celebrate with us and bust a move
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