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Video: Eva Noblezada Talks HADESTOWN Exit, THE GREAT GATSBY and More
May 17, 2024
Eva Noblezada is trading in dirt for glitz this fall. The longtime star of Hadestown recently left the underworld for her next project- the world premiere of The Great Gatsby musical, which begins next month at Paper Mill Playhouse. In this video, she chats more with her pal, Richard Ridge, about her amazing time on Broadway (and beyond) as Euridyce and looks ahead to what's up next.
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♪��
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Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge. One of Broadway World's favorites, Evil Noblezada, just took her final bow
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in the smash hit musical, Hadestown. And I caught up with her in the Rick Miramontes Atelier
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here at The Civilian to find out how emotional her final performance was
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and to chat about her residency at Joe's Pub and preparing to co-star opposite Jeremy Jordan
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as Daisy Buchanan in the new musical, The Great Gatsby. ♪♪ Well, first of all, you look sensational
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Richie, are you joking? Look at us. Now, where are we? We're in Rick Miramontes' Atelier
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Soon-to-be Atelier Cabaret. No, I'm just kidding. Maybe. At The Civilian. You've been in this room before
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Yes. I love this hotel. I love this room. Civilian is the best
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Yeah. David Rockwell. Yes, David Rockwell. Yeah? Yes. So, first of all, it's so great to be catching up with you
1:01
I know. Okay, so, the last time I saw you, you were in the middle of the run of Hadestown
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Yes. You just took your final bow just the other day. Huh? I did
1:09
Yeah, totally. I did. What do you remember about that day? I..
1:15
Very good question. It's gonna take a while. It was so long ago
1:19
I mean, it's interesting. I feel like the harder show was Saturday night
1:24
because I had more to prove, you know? Yeah. But Sunday, I was..
1:28
We were just so carried by the love of the audience and just how much work had been put into the show
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for so many years. I think I could just go in and enjoy the day
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as much as possible and let the show and the music carry me
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I didn't feel like I had to work at all. I just felt like it was more cathartic
1:47
than anything during that last show, and it was excruciatingly heartbreaking and also very beautiful
1:52
Yeah. Did you know who was gonna be there from the original company
1:56
I didn't know anyone was gonna be there. I didn't know there were gonna be speeches at the end
2:01
which is why I prematurely started to celebrate in my own special way
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Okay, so when you found out who was there, who came from the original cast, it was Amber Gray
2:11
Amber Gray came out first, and then Andre De Shields came out
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and then Patrick Page came out. And it was just, it was great
2:19
because I felt like the show needed, not needed, but it was so nice
2:25
that the show was receiving so much love and praise from that audience
2:30
And it really felt like it filled up the love meter of love for the show and for The Curse
2:37
and for everyone who worked there, because it's not just the company that puts the show on
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It's the crew, it's stage management, the audiences, the front of house. So it was nice for everyone to be celebrated
2:45
I hope that's how everyone felt. Yeah, because we have some beautiful pictures at Broadway World that Jenny Anderson had taken
2:51
Jenny Anderson. But I mean, who was there to capture those actual moments
2:54
because you just sort of lived through them until you get to see a picture later on
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and like, oh my gosh, this is what happened Sunday afternoon. Yeah, it's all one blur. And so you look back at the pictures
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you go, oh my God, that's what I looked like. But it was so beautiful. It was, I'm still recovering
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because it was such a massive closing in many ways for me
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but the day was so beautiful. You've had quite a journey with this show
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longer than people think. Because when did this start for you, Hadestown
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Well, for me, it started in 2017. That's when I first auditioned. It was July
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I did my first and only audition with Reeve. It was a chemistry meeting
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And I thought I was gonna be blacklisted from the industry. It was such a bad audition, I thought
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And Reeve sat at the back and watched me do flowers. And I was like, there's no way
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there's no way I'm getting this job. And thankfully that wasn't the case
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And I joined the company the following year. We did a music workshop in March
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I wasn't able to do Edmonton because I was doing another project. And the insanely talented TV Carpio
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played Eurydice in that. And then I joined in London in 2018. Because Reeve had worked with her
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Yes, in Spider-Man. Which is, there's some stuff on the wall back here. Botto and the Edge here at the Atelier
4:07
Exactly, in Rick's Atelier. And also, I have been a fan of TV Carpio
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since Across the Universe. The movie Julie Taymor did. She also did Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark
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With the music from The Beatles. And I just admired TV so much. Because I was like, wow, look at this stunning Asian actress
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And I was really inspired by her. So it's crazy how small the world is
4:29
Okay, then there's the fans of Hadestown. That people have flown in all around the world
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and continue to do so to see this show. Have you named the Hadestown fans
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Do they have, is there like a fan name? I don't know, but if there is one, please tell me
4:43
I would like to know. But they're just incredible. I mean, the show is a legend and a myth in itself
4:49
As much as the Greek myth was. So I think that's, I mean, it's such a fantastic show
4:54
I watched it for the first time on Tuesday. And I was blown away
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My eyes were so puffy. It looked like I had an allergic reaction. So you actually got to watch the show Tuesday
5:05
I had never seen it. I had never seen the show. From the second it came out, I was bawling
5:10
Because it's also, you know, family. Those are my family members. And also to celebrate Celia
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and her stunning Eurydice debut. And to see Reeve do Wait For Me in the audience
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just took my breath away. I was, it was so remarkable. Because people who are doing a show
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you have a whole different perspective because the lights are coming at you and you're seeing an audience
5:29
But then sitting in the audience for the whole, when it's all turned around and you get to watch
5:33
the magic that is Hadestown. Most of the times when you've watched from the house
5:37
you're watching rehearsals, you know. No one's really going full out and it's like
5:40
it's show lighting, but you know, you're in normal people clothes. And this was, you know
5:45
I was just able to experience everything. And my God, like, Reeve is just out of this world
5:51
He is the most incredible, yeah. I don't have the English word
5:55
I'll find it one day to describe how potent he is as an artistic
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Just going back to that chemistry audition, you really didn't think you were gonna get
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to work with him, did you? I didn't, I thought it was a joke, Richie
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I walked in, I, those days I just walked into auditions. I didn't even warm up
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I just had, you know, the passion of a naive, you know, young person
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And the second I saw him, I was like, oh, come on
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Like, he's gorgeous. There's no way. Because I didn't have enough makeup on, you know
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my hair wasn't done. You know, I didn't look my best, but I gave my best
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But yeah, I was, I really didn't think I got the job. What do you remember about your first performance
6:36
together on stage with Reeve doing that show? Oh my gosh, the first performance
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Well, we were in London. The only thing I can remember is from working with him
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in the music workshop, that's kind of when I got to work with him the first chunk of time
6:53
Just the professionalism, the mastery of craft and of music, how much of a foundation that is to him
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really had me step up my game. I was like, oh, like, this is a musician
7:08
that's like legendary. Like, you know, and for me, I was like
7:13
I have to step it up. I have to, you know, get my stuff together
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I have to make sure I'm coming in and I'm crisp and I'm prepared and I'm ready so I can match
7:22
Cause I didn't want to get, you know, would have been really embarrassing to get fired after the casting announcement
7:27
Oh, pink slip. Thank you so much. The following Sunday. Yeah, right
7:31
Goodbye now. Thank you so much. But I mean, what a company you got to work with. Like you said, the other night, Patrick Page came back
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Andre De Shields came back. Amber Gray. That's the Hadestown Company. That's how close your company is, right
7:43
Everybody looks out for everybody. Everyone looks out for everybody. And then we have the tour family, which, you know
7:48
I never got the chance to do the tour, which was, I'm kicking myself. I have time now
7:53
But it's cool because some of the members from the tour company come in to the Broadway company
7:58
and it just feels like one big family. And the great thing is Hadestown
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isn't a particularly large cast. So it really does feel like a close-knit company
8:07
and it's magical. I'm really lucky. Why do you think fans have fallen in love with this musical
8:14
Many reasons. I think, you know, you can't say no to a love song
8:18
and you can't say no to an A.S. Mitchell love song. I mean, she writes in a way that is, you know
8:28
Like, I feel like if she wrote like, all of a sudden you were flying, then we would just start flying
8:32
Like she has a magical pen. And also it was, it's so cool to see a myth
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that's relived in a way that is fresh and raw and in your face and relatable
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and with characters that everyone can relate to at certain times. And there's multiple love stories in this show
8:53
And I feel like anytime you go, you relate to a different character and you feel changed
8:57
You feel, you leave the theater feeling inspired by Orpheus and the purity of their love
9:04
And also the power of spring, the power of rebirth. Yeah, it's kind of impossible to leave
9:10
without feeling wonderful. Yeah. I know you just left the show, but what are you missing the most
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or what will you miss the most? About not being a part of the family or playing Eurydice
9:20
I like a paycheck. I like getting paid. Totally. Yeah, I, I
9:28
I don't know if I'm gonna miss anything because it took a lot of pain to make the decision to leave
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but I knew that was best for me because I think once you do a long running show
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when you start to feel like it takes a little too much effort to get yourself together
9:42
to go through your good job, just for me, I felt very unaligned
9:49
which was, it's just a good, it's a good thing that I was aware enough to go, okay, this is a sign for me to move on
9:54
There are other projects in my life that I thought they didn't want to be in the back burner anymore
9:58
So I had to make space for that. So that was a painful thing to decide upon
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but it was the best decision. But I'll miss the people. I'll miss seeing them every day
10:09
I mean, I'll miss not seeing Reeve for like those hours of the day
10:14
And even now I'm like twiddling my thumbs and like, miss you, you need anything
10:19
You know, just, you know, cause it's like, you know, Reeve's, I mean, he's my best friend
10:23
and it's weird not working with him, but you know, we got the rest of our lives
10:28
Do you know how many performances you did in Hadestown? 15,000, three, no, I'm just kidding
10:34
Well, Reeve will actually, Like Carol Chatty. Literally, that's scary. I'm flowering
10:40
I actually don't know. I think it's around 1500 because the Tuesday before I left
10:46
we had just surpassed Cabaret. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Which is cool. That's a lot of performances
10:53
That's a lot of performances. Not including London. Yeah. Well, you brought a lot of joy to so many people
10:58
as you know, cause you have a huge fan base that flies in from everywhere just to see you
11:02
I can't believe it. And they bring me, I wouldn't, it really is a, without support
11:09
I wouldn't be where I am. It's very much, I want to make that very clear
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that, you know, it is hard work. It is, you know, the craft
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but a huge part of that is the support. And I would not be here feeling how I feel
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without the tremendous support that I'm extremely grateful for. Yeah. The fan base is amazing
11:30
Well, you don't have a lot of time off because you still have your summer residency at Joe's Pub. Yes
11:37
We have a final show this Sunday. Yeah. Very exciting. We're doing mostly 90s songs, which is fun
11:44
I just bought my outfit today. It's going to look, it's going to be very cute
11:48
We're doing, no doubt, we're going to do some Mazzy Star, some Santana
11:53
a little Broadway medley. Yeah. Stir it up a little. Because you've done three shows during the residency
11:59
right down there? I did two, and then this is my third. And then we'll put other shows in the books
12:03
but, you know, it'll be nice. Joe's Pub's amazing. Yeah. It's such an amazing venue
12:08
I'm ecstatic to be there. So are all the shows different that you put together
12:13
The first two were the same. They were piano only, and it was, you know
12:17
it was all a Broadway set, which was so nice. This is going to be rock
12:21
I've never done a show that was more like alternative punk grunge before. Yeah
12:26
So it'll be fun. I really want to go as crazy as possible for this one
12:31
So we'll see what happens. So is it more, is it just a piano, this one
12:35
Oh, band. I got Zayn Karni on guitar, Robinson Morse on the bass
12:39
Stephen Jackson Jr. on the drums, Ronnie Bush on the piano. Me doing anything, you know, doing other stuff
12:47
Maybe I'll do a back flip, who knows? Wow, so Zayn's coming in for this. Zayn's coming in
12:52
I would have asked Reeve, but he's a little busy. He's doing a show called Higgiestown
12:56
He's doing eight shows a week, yeah. Wow. I'm excited. It's exciting
13:00
You had a good time playing there already at Joe's Pub, right? It's just a great venue. Like, it's historic
13:04
I mean, you feel the performers who have been there before, it's like they leave essence on the wall
13:11
and it's almost like they're watching. So you have to be on. And it makes you, I don't know, it's just
13:16
it's a magical venue. Yeah. Okay, so the first two shows was a lot of Broadway stuff
13:20
Is there like a diehard role from a vintage Broadway musical that you'd be like, yeah. Vintage
13:27
I call it vintage, I call it old school. Oh, I love the word vintage. Yeah, vintage
13:31
She's shoes are $30. Vintage. Oh yeah, vintage store. I'm trying to think
13:37
I'd love to be Sally. Cabaret, let's put this out there. It's coming to New York now
13:41
Sally and Reeve as emcee. Yeah. Por que no? What else? I mean
13:47
That's good though. What? I don't know, I'm forgetting the. We'll play theater games, go ahead
13:53
Drowsy Chaperone. Yeah, the Beth Leavel role. Yes. Yes, the Drowsy Chaperone
13:57
That's all you have to say. The Beth Leavel role. The Beth Leavel role, that's what you wanna do. That would be great
14:01
Oh, there's so many. Yeah. I mean, it'd be cool to play, I don't know
14:07
Now I'm thinking. I'm seeing that there's like this design on this thing and I'm like trying to think like. Chicago
14:11
Roxy, Roxy would be fun. You'd be a great Roxy or Velma. Oh my God, I'd love to do that
14:16
We're just putting it out there to Broadway world. Sally and Reeve
14:20
Yeah, MC. MC. Reeve is MC. In cabaret. Yeah. The Beth Leavel role
14:25
Beth Leavel role. And the Drowsy Chaperone. Or I'll just dress up as Beth Leavel and just walk around Times Square. It'd be an honor to do that anyway
14:29
Anybody will take a picture with you. Anybody would do that. Everybody would love that. And of course, Roxy or Velma
14:33
That'd be fun. Oh nice, all right. Okay, so. Actually, I feel like we would be great as Velma and Roxy
14:39
We would be. But you'd have to be Roxy, I'd be Velma, then we could switch out. Great
14:44
All right? Yeah, per night. That's like Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon. Oh, done
14:48
We got boxes. Oh my god, I'm so excited. Okay, this is not done. I gotta get my Velma wig, right? I'll get my Velma
14:53
Very, nice finger waves. My finger waves. Absolutely. That's amazing. Okay, so then after Joe's Pub
14:58
you're getting ready to play Daisy Buchanan in the brand new musical, The Great Gatsby
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Great Gatsby. How did that come about for you? Crazy. You get an audition. Okay
15:11
And you go in and you just lay it all out for these people
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I never prepared this hard for audition before. Okay. I really thought I needed a sunshine role
15:24
which for me was something that didn't involve me dying, allowed me to be a little more attractive on stage
15:30
and not just wear dirt and no makeup, which is fine. But you know, I've done that for like 10 years
15:36
You have done that. I did, for 10 years. Totally. And something that was so different
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a completely different world that allowed me to flex my, oh my God
15:48
Flex my muscles and really delve into a part of myself that had been waiting and patiently in the wings
15:54
So, and the team, oh my God, the team was so lovely. Talk about the team
15:59
Jason Howland and Dominique Kelly and Kate Kerrigan and- Nathan. Nathan, yes
16:08
And I'm being Jeremy Jordan. I mean, 16 year old me, 15 year old me who watched Smash
16:13
Let's talk about this. Jeremy playing Jake Gatsby and you playing Daisy opposite him
16:19
How incredible is that gonna be? Pretty incredible. Yeah. I would say
16:23
Did you do a chemistry? No. Working with him? Not at all. Okay
16:28
They were like, this is your role. You're gonna be Daisy. I guess, but they were so great, generous. And I, yeah, I really prepared hard for that role
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because I wanted to prove that I could do something other than, you know, tragedy
16:40
The dirt. The dirt ladies. The dirt ladies. The miserables, you know
16:45
But you do them well too. Thank you very much. So what did you, did you have to prepare stuff from the show
16:49
Like how intense? Cause everybody asks, what are these audition processes like
16:53
So was this really intense for you? It was intense for me because I wanted it to be intense for me
16:58
I wanted to make sure that I was pushing myself as much as possible. And it depends
17:02
Sometimes a show wants you to sing what you want to sing. This, they gave us the songs
17:07
They gave us the scenes, which there are scenes. And for me, I'm very excited to sink my teeth into that
17:15
It's just so beautiful. And to me, it was beautiful how easily
17:20
the script turned into song. I think that that is a very
17:26
not, very difficult and also magical thing to have in a show when you don't even realize
17:30
that the actress is singing. You're like, whoa. And it just takes you away
17:36
And for Daisy, I mean, I mean, I don't know who's read The Great Gatsby and hasn't fallen in love with that
17:40
You know, American literature that's, you know, historical. It's gonna be the biggest
17:48
most glamorous challenge so far of my life. I'm very excited. You're gonna have some beautiful costumes
17:54
They told me. I have a new costume every time I walk on stage, which is so crazy to me
17:58
because most of my costumes go from, you know, dirt to dirtier to dirtiest
18:03
And now you'll be in glitzy, like sequins and beads. Sequins, beads, a fall flash
18:10
Who knows? Yeah. Oh my God, the opportunities are endless. It all takes place in the 20s, right
18:16
That's an exciting time period. I know. I mean, we're in the 20s now. Yeah
18:20
So I feel like everyone wants to party hard and look amazing
18:25
You know, you leave us sometimes for like film and TV and everything else
18:29
but you always come back to the theater. Baby, the theater is- Tell me why, yeah. The theater is it for me. Yeah
18:35
I don't know why I wanna say this so much, but you know, there's no place I'd rather go number two
18:40
than at home. Do you know what I mean? There's a comfort there
18:45
I can do it anywhere else, you know, but there's a magic of stage. Yeah
18:50
Like for me, I feel like Nicole Kidman at AMC theaters. You know, we come to this place for magic
18:56
That's how I feel when I go to the theater. Anything's possible
18:59
Movies and TV is also magical, but for me, it's like a short fuse magic
19:06
Like you prepare and then once you film the scene, it's done. You don't do it again
19:09
For me, I love that we do it over and over again. I don't know
19:15
And you get to have a new audience every night. The world is different every day
19:19
You're working with new energies. It really is the ultimate like energy master kind of craft
19:26
I love it. But you change people's lives too, because a lot of people don't know what live theater is
19:32
They know someone from something else and they're like, oh my gosh, there are live people up there
19:36
They do this. Yeah, we're not robots. Yeah, but they do this eight times a week. They do this live
19:40
Eight times a week. And you also, someone may see themselves in you saying
19:44
oh my gosh, she can do that. I can. I want to do that too
19:48
You know, right? And anybody. I love it when people come to the stage door
19:52
and at any age, it goes, well, I've always wanted to be an actor. Or they say, I used to act
19:56
And I'm like, well, once you're an actor, in my opinion, you're an actor
20:01
Even if you're not acting right now or doing a job, you're still a performer. I'm a clown for life
20:06
Oh, I know that. You know what I mean? I just think that's so, what a badge to wear
20:10
that we go on stage and we can mold the energy in the room
20:17
to tell a story and we can all go on it together. That is so powerful
20:22
And I love making people cry. Just like I love making people laugh
20:26
because I'm experiencing that as well. So it's a give and take
20:30
It's beautiful. Okay, so I remember you telling me when you did Les Mis, there's the turntable
20:34
Oh, yes. And it never stops. It's very fast and it's also raked
20:38
Okay, so did you have anything go wrong for you on the turntable
20:43
Did I have anything go wrong? Is an elephant heavy? Did anything go right
20:46
Well, there was one day, first of all, when they teach you how to use your revolves
20:52
in Les Mis, they really, I mean, they don't have revolves anymore, but back in the day, back in the day
20:58
they tell you there's a certain exit downstage right at the end of the day
21:02
And you're in these, you know, oversized cloaks, trying to be the people, the beggars of Paris
21:08
And if you don't make your exit within a second, you will get crushed by the revolve and by the barricade
21:16
You have very little to exit because I don't have the greatest eyesight
21:20
You know, I have to wear glasses and I don't wear contacts because I cry a lot
21:24
I was really excited. It was my first, you know, few shows in the show
21:29
I said, at the end of the day, we're waiting to exit. I realized I've missed my chance
21:32
and I just have to jump off. And I jump off straight into the barricade and I go, boom, tumble down and I fall to the floor
21:38
And the funny part for me was that the costume women were not at all surprised
21:43
They just helped me up and they just kept getting me ready. Because I guess people did that all the time
21:48
But they don't use a revolve anymore. I think it's a safety hazard. That was the worst thing that ever happened to you
21:52
Um, well. Did you fly off once? Just fly off in general? I flew off a few times, Richie
21:58
Also on Lovely Ladies. There were a few times that I flew off
22:02
You can't see it because it moves so fast. The stage is also raked
22:07
And you're too busy doing five rolls at once. I will say, the revolves in Hadestown sometimes
22:13
the ending, that one time where it didn't go down. Oh, it didn't
22:17
At the very end. It went, And I'm like, oh, it's not gonna go down
22:21
So I had to look at Orpheus and go, Oh, Orpheus, he's as humid as he
22:26
And I go, I just walk off stage. I just walked off stage
22:31
Like I forgot something in aisle three. That's the craziest thing that would happen
22:35
I've never asked you in Hadestown, with all those things. That was the craziest thing that went wrong
22:39
I'm trying to think of the craziest. Well, we, oh my gosh, there was so much that happened
22:43
I feel like the craziest thing that ever happened were in Saigon because there was so much going on
22:47
But we had a few times in Hadestown where some things weren't working
22:52
but you know, that's the job of the actor. You just keep it rolling. I mean, I did have a
22:57
I was just telling Richie about the lyric mishap that I had on Les Mis
23:02
And I don't know why I said this. I really do not know why I said this
23:07
Sometimes you're thinking of your grocery list when you should not be. And in London, I said, on my own
23:13
pretending he's, and the correct word is beside me, but I chose to sing another word
23:18
that rhymes with beside me, but wasn't beside me. It was inside me
23:26
And no one knew? Well, I don't think, I don't think the audience knew because it was
23:33
I tried to cover it up as good as possible, but in my brain, I thought I'm getting fired today
23:37
Here's your pink slip. Thank you very much for your run. Thank you so much for coming. Literally go home to New York
23:42
Thank you. Here in London, go home. Here's your flight ticket. That's crazy
23:46
Thank you for sharing those. Anytime. I love you. I fell in love with you the day you arrived in New York City
23:51
And now look at us now. Look who we are. You know what? The Broadway community is so lucky to have you
23:55
And I know, I hope you know that I feel that deep down. Just like when I saw Jenny on my last show
24:01
I was like, it's home. That's how you make people feel. I love you for that
24:05
Thank you. Anytime. There's nothing there. There is. I don't be used to this again
24:09
I love you. I love you
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