← Broadway Breakdown
Loading summary
Transcript316 lines
- [00:32]
A
Different names.
- [00:33]
B
So look it up in your program. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
- [00:38]
A
Hello, all you theater lovers both out and proud and on the DL. And welcome back to Broadway Breakdown, a podcast discussing the history legacy of American theater's most exclusive address. I am your host, Matt Koplik the mo. The most opinionated, least famous of all the Broadway podcast hosts. You are not mistaken. I still have the laryngitis from Ali Gordon's episode. We recorded this in one day. Backstage tea with me today is a long time friend of the pod. She's been so overdue. Like Norma Desmond, she's come home at last. She recently had a show at Joe's Pub, Mad Scenes. She is a drama desk and Lucille Ortel nominee. I either they made a mistake or she made a mistake coming on here. We're gonna figure out which one of them it was. Please welcome back friend to everyone, Natalie Walker.
- [01:27]
B
Yes, the drama desk made a mistake. Honey, that's the only mistake that's been made. Powers that be have they have no idea what they've wrought. They're so opening the door to me.
- [01:41]
A
I'm gonna say this is where I belong. Natalie Walker got nominated for Big Gay Jamboree, and Gray Henson got nominated for ELF at last year's Drama Desks. And I texted both of these people and I said different things. There was a person that Natalie Walker absolutely bumped off that list, and I was thrilled. And I won't say who, but I said to Natalie, thank you for your service. And Gray got nominated. And I said to him, you're welcome. Because I spent the entire year after ELF being like, gray needs to be nominated for Shift for this. And then he was. And I was like, you're very welcome. So just know, Natalie, you did that for yourself. But I helped Gray.
- [02:19]
B
That's true. That's true. But you did it for me, too.
- [02:22]
A
Well, I. I did sing your praises, but you didn't need my help. Like, the gays on Broadway world also were like. Someone was like, oh, my God. Like the blonde girl in Big Gay Jamboree stole the show. And someone's like, it's Natalie Walker. No surprise. I was like, how dare you know what I've known for?
- [02:36]
B
She's in disguise.
- [02:37]
A
She's in a blonde way in disguise, acting so dainty. And then when I remember talking to you about it after the. The first time I saw it, and I was like, are you doing Megan Hilty as Marilyn Monroe in smash? And your eyes lit up because you're like, you' kind of right. And you're kind of wrong. You said you were doing Jane Powell as Marilyn Monroe. Correct. No, not Jane Powell.
- [02:58]
B
Jane Russell.
- [02:59]
A
Jane Russell.
- [02:59]
B
Different gene. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It's like it's both. But then the singing. The singing is purely Megan Hilty and let's be bad.
- [03:07]
A
Yes.
- [03:08]
B
When. Whenever there was singing stuff going on and then most of the spoken stuff was Jane Russell's impression of Marilyn. And Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
- [03:17]
A
Yes.
- [03:18]
B
I felt very mixed with, like an alien. The accent sort of snowballed into girl accents are hard.
- [03:31]
A
After the cast of Punch in Manhattan Theater Club. Accents are hard. Okay, Natalie, what are we talking about today?
- [03:39]
B
Oh, we're talking about the great comet of 1812. The brilliant comet of 1812. Natasha Pierre. And the great comet of 1812, which I think on Broadway was just the great comet, but it will always be the long title. To me.
- [04:02]
A
They.
- [04:03]
B
They.
- [04:03]
A
It. It was still technically called Natasha Pierre, but similar to how we call it Sunday in the park or Les. It became Great comment. They had. They had branding to do. They had. They had moms from Jersey to appeal to. So they were like, I'm not giving you.
- [04:15]
B
Of course. Yeah. They're not going to remember all the names.
- [04:17]
A
No.
- [04:19]
B
Names and numbers. Come on. Too much, too much.
- [04:23]
A
And items. God. Nouns, names and numbers. No, thank you. Three. Those are three ends I cannot get behind. But you're an N. I can get behind. That also sounded incredibly racist.
- [04:32]
B
Nope, nope. Goodbye. Run it back. Run it back already. Off the rails. Perfect recording already.
- [04:41]
A
Oh, God.
- [04:42]
B
The episode is over.
- [04:43]
A
I'm gonna get my next one star rating after this.
- [04:45]
B
My God, we did it.
- [04:47]
A
I am going to quickly read the synopsis as per Concord Theatricals, I'm Natasha Pierre, the great comment of 1812. And then we're gonna get into this. Set in Moscow in 1812, Natasha Pierre on the Great Comet of 1812 is a vibrant electro pop opera adapted From a scandalous 70 page slice of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Young Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow while her fiance Andre is away at war and falls under the spell of the charming but reckless Anatole. As Natasha's world unravels, her fate becomes entwined with that of Pierre Bazookov. They never say Pierre's last name in the musical, but it's Bezukov, I think. Yeah, okay. A weary aristocrat searching for meaning in a chaotic world that's not too shabby. Natalie, Natalie, Natalie, Natalie. I must love you or die. How did Great Comet come into your life? How did it enter your chat.
- [05:39]
B
Great comment. Came into my life because of a shared connection of ours. Shana Taub, now Tony Award winning writer of Suffs Actress. Yes. Yes. We went to stage door with her. She was like a senior when we were freshmen. Kind of was the vibe. And she was the lead of the very first show that I did at Camp Jekyll and Hyde. And I just remember thinking she was the coolest, most talented person alive. And she would play our rehearsals on the MDs off days and stuff. So I was just like, this is the most talented woman who's ever lived. And she graduated from nyu. And then I. And I was always going, what is Shayna up to? Shayna's the most talented person. Like, what's she doing now? And so the fall after I graduated college, I see that she's doing this show that I'm like, what the hell is this title? And it's at a tent downtown. It's in a tent. What the heck is this? But I'll go see it. Cause I'll. I have been so desperate to know what she's been up to since she. Since she graduated. And I went, not knowing anything. I didn't even know it was a War and Peace adaptation. I just went, I'm here for Shana Taub. She was. She had replaced Gelsey Bell as Mary. And I sat there and the doors shut, and there was like a rush of cold air into the tent. And then it started, and I just lost my whole mind. I had spent most of college going. Musical theater is not for me anymore. New musical theater is not for me. I'm just not seeing things that grip me. I'm not seeing performers, new performers. The performers I was already obsessed with. I continued Audra. But I just. Nothing new had really taken hold of me that way. And then I sat there. Philippa Sue, Dave Malloy had left by that point. So I saw David Abeles, and I thought he was incredible. And Grace McLean just. Grace McLean really said, I am for you. I know you, and I know what you like. And here it is. And I went insane. But, yeah. And then I just could not get enough. I rushed it a million times. It also got to a point where my friends and family members would just. Like, when it was my birthday or Christmas, they would just be like, here, go see Great Comet. Like, here's to Great Comet again. Because I just fell so in love with the world of it, all of the voices, the music of it. I just. It was just such a lightning in a bottle thing. That really was the beginning of Me falling back in love with musical theater and seeking out the more off the beaten path, less commercial songwriters and creators of musical theater that I realized, oh, these people are around. They're just not being produced on the Broadway stage. And knock, knock, Natalie, Broadway is not the end all and the be all of musical theater or art. And yeah, it was a very immersive, eye opening, transformative experience for me. And I was fully a Stan. If there I was, I was. Great Comet to me was what Timmy Timothy Chalamet is to Club Chalamet. I know her real name. It's Simone. But for anyone listening who's not as chronically online as I am.
- [10:02]
A
Oh my God. Okay. Okay, great. That's it. That's it. That's what it is. Comet entered my chat. Similar timeline to you. I did not know Shayna was actually in it. I had heard about Great Comet when it was in the tent in the Meatpacking District. So we'll get into more like the origins of all this, guys, in a second. Obviously, Great Comets began at ars Nova in 2012. They then move it about a year later to this tent casino in the Meatpacking District that they had personally designed for the production. And I had. All summer long, people were telling me to go see Great Comet and I'm like, if there's one thing you don't do to Matt Copley when it comes to theaters, you tell him he has to see something because he gets. I'm. I am a child this way. I'm like, I don't want to now. So. Great comment. It was a lot of people who. I didn't necessarily appreciate their opinions going, I've never seen anything like it. You gotta go. And I went, okay. Basic. And then the rush policy, I think was in person at the time, so. Because. Because when it was in the Meatpacking District, it was a pretty hard ticket. I remember. Cause it was. It ended, I think, like that September of 2013, something like that. Um, but so I. I go towards the end of the run and. And Dave had left. Who you had seen, I think was. Had left because. So I saw Scott Strangland. Is that how you say his name?
- [11:18]
B
Stankland? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's incredible. Was also just in three houses. Is.
- [11:22]
A
Yeah, yeah, he's. He's. He's wonderful. I. So he was my peer and everyone else was in the show except for Kelsey, who became Shanna Taub at that point. And I remember going and seeing the program and going like, oh, my God, Shannon Taub. That's Amazing. And I was so. It was. I remember watching it, and I was impressed with the cast. I fully fell in love with Philippa sue, and I. I intend to talk a lot about her performance in that as we move forward. And. And I think it was really inventive. The crazy thing was, I walked out. I think I appreciated that. I don't know if I loved it. And then talk was coming of, like, what might happen if it's gonna go to Broadway, whatever. And they announced that they're gonna do Midtown. They're gonna do the Tendic and Midtown. And I keep sort of, like, saying to people, yeah, like, all the ways in which I admired but didn't love it. And one of my friends was like, for a show you claim you didn't love, you sure do talk about it a lot. I was like, huh, you're right. Because I wasn't even, like, shit talking it. I was like. I would just kept analyzing it, and, like, you're. It's one thing.
- [12:26]
B
And remembering specific moments of it 1,000%.
- [12:30]
A
Yeah. It's like, this is. This was like, this is not a Finding Neverland, eventually Paradise Square situation where, like, this is your punching bag. You are talk talking about this show in a way that it sounds like you love it, or at the very least, like it's sticking with you. And I went, huh, Maybe I should go back. So I go. I go back to the tent, and at some point in between Downtown and Midtown, the cast album came out, and I'm, like, devouring the cast album. So I go back a second time in the tent. I'm like, oh, no, no, no. This is. This is very phenomenal. And then I eventually took my mom for a third time, and by that point, I knew the show really well. And I have a very distinct memory of sitting at a table with her at the exact right next to her, Philippasu sat for letters. And. And luckily, letters is an easy song to, like, mouth along to, but I clearly was, like, one of the few people around Philippa who knew the words. And I wasn't making a show of it. I was, like, enjoying it. And I whisper something tender to myself, mouthing the words. And Philippa Sue, Pippa, to those of us who don't know her, pointed at me with her. With her feather and was like, yeah, you knowing the words. I was like, yeah. And then I saw it on Broadway, and that was the only time I saw it on Broadway. And then I only rewatched it at the library this week, and I have thoughts about The Broadway production, Natalie. Positive, and I won't say negative, but things that, for me were not as good as in the tent. I just realized, by the way, I don't have my notebook with me of my notes from the library, so I will get that at some point during the break. And I'm not wearing pants, so you will have to make do with its moment of sexual harassment. Oh, no. Okay.
- [14:01]
B
We love to see it.
- [14:02]
A
We love to see it. So for those of you who do not know, Great Comet is the Masterwork by one Mr. Dave Malloy. Book, music and lyrics. And it is indeed Adapted from a 70 page chapter for More In Peace. This came about because Dave Malloy was sort of an up and coming musical theater writer in New York, mostly known for experimental work. Had done a few things with Rachel Chavkin as well. Her husband had worked with Malloy, and he was like, oh, he's weird. You're weird. Do weird things together. And they. They did a piece based on Schuber called Three Pianos. That's the first thing I can recall, I can find in my research that they worked on together. But what really kind of launched Comet was Malloy had done a piece called Beowulf, A Thousand Years of Baggage based on, you know, Anna Karenina. And it's based on Beowulf. And Ars Nova saw that and said, hey, do you want to be our artist in residence for the year? You can, you know, the. And as anyone knows, as an artist, resonance. The thing is, you know, you have to write something. It can be anything you want. And they open it up like, you do have to write something. It's not like a, hey, do you want money for the year? It's like, no, you got to give us something. So he had read War and Peace while he was working on a cruise ship, and he had always felt that this specific chapter would make a great musical because people have a hard time adapting really large works. We talked about Les Mis in the past, and I'm a big Les Mis defender, but I get why people don't like it. It does not get all the nuances of the novel. It can't. And so Malloy is like, well, what if we took 70 pages and, like, went in depth on that and Ars Nova said, yes, and they do it and their immersive ADC production with the entire original company that would go to Casino, mostly to Broadway as well. And from what I could recall. So you didn't see it at Arzinova. You saw it specifically at Casino, right?
- [15:47]
B
I saw it, yeah. I saw meat packing. Meat packing.
- [15:50]
A
So, you know, there's not a lot of footage of Ars Nova. There's like A. There's 90 seconds of the prologue and there's a couple of photos and it's. The aesthetic is similar, but obviously, like, with each iteration, there's more money. Most importantly, it was purely the principles. There was no ensemble. It was just the 10 or 12 principles. There were rewrites between Ars Nova and Casino. I did not know this. No one else was not in the Ars Nova production, as far as I'm aware of. That was added for Casino. For Philippa Sue.
- [16:22]
B
Yeah.
- [16:22]
A
Which is.
- [16:23]
B
I mean.
- [16:23]
A
Yeah. Which. Why that song's so hard to sing. Because her voice is crazy. Yeah. They would make, like, all their alterations. One of the, like, the sticking points that Molly talked about in an interview was what's the song called With. With Andre's Family. It's the house.
- [16:40]
B
Private and intimate Life of the house. Of the house.
- [16:44]
A
Yeah. That was the most. One of the more worked on pieces because it was a large. It was longer. It was sort of secluded. And a review had called it like a narrative cul de sac. And Malloy read that. He was like, oh, you're right. It does kind of go on for too long for something that seems so separate. And so he shortened it. He added Natasha sooner into it. And. Yeah, for. They go from downtown to midtown. They then go to Ars Nova to see how they can work in a proscenium production. They then finally open in 2016 at the Imperial without Dave Malloy, but with Josh Groban, without Philippa Soo, but with Jonathan.
- [17:19]
B
They don't go to Ars Nova. They go to Art.
- [17:22]
A
Did I say Ars Nova?
- [17:23]
B
Yeah, you did, but I knew what you meant. But just for the. For the kids at home.
- [17:28]
A
For the kids.
- [17:29]
B
That's why you get a Scholar. That's how you get a scholar. To talk to a scholar. Because. I know. I know what he meant. I know what he meant.
- [17:37]
A
This is why I don't like recording alone, guys. This is why I try to do as many combos as I can. Yes. Art. Art. American Repertory Theater. That's where they did the. We're not going to call it an out of town tryout. It was like an expensive workshop to see how it would work in Exactly. In a more traditional space.
- [17:53]
B
Yes. It was a lab.
- [17:56]
A
And when they got to the Imperial, it's kind of like a combo of the two. They took what they learned at Art and put it at the Imperial, but kept a lot more of the Immersive stuff from Casino. And it got very strong reviews. Twelve Tony nominations, only winning two at the time, because that was the year of Dear Evan Hansen. And then they closed, and I know. We will talk. We will talk. Do my. My other hot take is.
- [18:16]
B
I actually just breathed. I only breathed.
- [18:20]
A
You only breathe. It's fine. But a breath from Natalie Walker is fire. From anyone else, it's. I will. My hot take is. I will say, I do think that is the last great, best musical lineup at the Tonys that we've had, especially because they're all so different from each other. So even if there's one you don't like, you can't be like, Great Comet is exactly what Jeremy Hansen does. They do very different things.
- [18:41]
B
Yeah. No, that year was looking back. It's crazy.
- [18:45]
A
And it says a lot about me that my two favorites that year are Great Comet and Groundhog Day, because I'm Groundhog Day.
- [18:51]
B
Rules.
- [18:52]
A
Right?
- [18:53]
B
It rules.
- [18:54]
A
It rules.
- [18:55]
B
I'll say rules.
- [18:58]
A
I'm also. I am a. I didn't. I did a deep dive on Come From Away with Lauren Chapman. I. I'm a defender of that show. It is treacle, but. But it does work, and you don't appreciate treacley working until you see treacle not working. And. Dear Evan Hansen, I think most of us have an appreciation for the musical now that the movie exists. And, like, the musical is better.
- [19:21]
B
Yeah.
- [19:21]
A
I don't think Dear Evan Hansen has the score of Great Comet and at the very least, and the orchestrations especially. So I don't. I don't think I'm speaking out of school. I don't think anyone's gonna get mad at me for that. But we'll get to all that.
- [19:35]
B
We'll get to all that.
- [19:35]
A
Stop. Stop distracting me, Walker. I have things to get to. Okay, Natalia, if you had to pick a song from this show where it's like, this is you. You get one song out of the score to put in your desert island playlist, what would it be?
- [19:53]
B
I think it's going to be the duel. I love that entire sequence. It's, like, kind of cheating because I. I think the duel involves the entire, like, party. Let me. The one.
- [20:06]
A
Yeah, I think so. That might be.
- [20:09]
B
Yes, it is. The duel is everything. And it. Oh, man, there's so much. The doctors warned me that with my coffulets. Vodka, but I drink a great deal of.
- [20:25]
A
You drink it, old man.
- [20:26]
B
Oh, God, it's so delicious. All of the little pot. You just get so much. I mean, talking about Les Mis. Like, it feels one day more adjacent to me almost in that, like, you really get a little flavor of what every person in that sequence is going through. And it just, it. I just adored it so, so much. And Amber Gray. Amber gray. I mean, that voice. Oh, God, Earth.
- [21:04]
A
The kid is alive and well with him, right?
- [21:06]
B
Yeah. Like, the duel, I think is just. Is really remarkable. And I listened to the Off Broadway version of it so much because that was really the most. The greatest combination of like insane voices all doing musical. Something that is musical theater, as opposed to the sort of more homogenized new musical theater sound I had grown accustomed to seeing on stage at that time. Just all of these fascinating, idiosyncratic sounds all coexisting and creating this whole. I really was so bowled over by the sonic landscape of that. And I just love all of the orchestration of that. But really like the whole score, it's just. Yeah, I really go through random hyper fixation avenues of it. Like, if you talk to me in two months, I'll probably have another one that is really sticking in my brain. But. But I do just love the infectious joie de vivre of that sequence too. It was just such a breath of fresh air, that sequence in particular. But then all the solos I just like. I mean, no One Else is crazy. The light hitting her at the top of no One Else. Bradley King. King, indeed. When that light hitter, I went zoom.
- [22:54]
A
There's. There's crazy. There's an argument to be made about this just being a nine hour deep dive on the entire score because there is so much to discuss. This is. This is why we have lengthier episodes than most Broadway podcasts. Because how can one talk about the origins of this show and the reception of the show and the score and the characters and like, things about war and peace that I had to read about after the fact because, like, get more information on this and like the careers of that this show launched and have this be, what, 20 minutes that in the year. I mean, no One Else is an incredible song. Philippa, Sue. I cannot. I do not want to say name names, but it's happened with a couple of different people. And I realized that they all had a similar narrative with Philippa, which is that there are a few gay men in my life who are involved in theater. They're actors or their music directors. They did not see her. And Gray Comet, their introduction to her was either Hamilton or Amelie or the Camelot slash camel toe, as I call it, that production in particular and would say they, you Know, you sit with friends and there's being on this podcast right now is we're trying to be eloquent, and we're trying to come out different sides, and if we don't like something, we want to say so in a way that's respectful because no one wants to be doing a bad show. But, like, when you're alone with friends and you're drinking, like gets said, it's the duel and gays telling me, like, after seeing her in Amelie or Hamilton, me, like, I don't get it. I don't get her. And I'm sitting here going, you did not see Great Comet. And I cannot tell you the multitudes this woman contains because, like, lovely as she is in Hamilton, Eliza is not as good a role as Natasha. Amelie is Amelie, like, Natasha is. It's such a phenomenal role, and it was so perfectly tailored for her. And I just. It was one of those things where, like, I can't describe the feeling of seeing someone so perfectly suited for a role that shows off all of their talents that you've never seen before, a woman you've never seen before. And just like. And it's not just like. Not just her performance. The whole show works. So it's not like she's carrying it. Everything bolsters everybody. So that's what it is. And it's ultimately that I have not seen her be in anything that is used her as effectively, and I would love to see that happen. Like, she's about to be in high spirits at Encores, which is fun, but, like, she's playing in the Wet Blanket Wife. Like, let's get Philip a Sue to.
- [25:06]
B
Play a warmer blanket so much.
- [25:09]
A
Yeah.
- [25:09]
B
That performance as Natasha is. It was everything. You had forgotten that an ingenue type of role could be that Natasha, because he condenses it to those 70 pages. She is allowed to be beautiful and innocent and infuriating and judgmental and all of the things that a young woman coming into her own is. And she doesn't have to be perfect, sweet girl. Like, it doesn't have to get flattened out the way that it might if you're doing the whole thing. And then we have to. And then it's. You're going, okay, well, we can only be mad at her for two minutes of the runtime, and then she has to immediately atone for her sins. It's really beautiful to stay in that place, to stay in that agony of going, oh, no, this is not gonna end well. And we have to wait because, like, she's still in the part where she doesn't know she can't. That it's not gonna end well and this is not a good guy. And then. But because she was so magnetic and found humor in parts that you might not expect there to be humor in a role like that. And sounded like she sounded and looked like she looked. It was just this perfect storm of just. I've never. I have never in my life. Tyra Banks. Tyra Banks. But positive. I have never in my life rooted for an ingenue like this. And I was going crazy. I was like, I love this girl. I freaking love this girl. And who is she? And we don't know.
- [27:13]
A
No.
- [27:14]
B
And. Yeah. It's just an astonish. It was an astonishing performance. Entree to theater. And I just was like, this is one of the greats. Instant. One of the greats.
- [27:27]
A
I will. I'm going to talk about Philippa for a little bit right now, and I will tie it to Danae and the Broadway production eventually, but with Philippa as Natasha. When. What. Sometimes I'll tell people. So, like, sometimes I get listeners who are writing or listeners who are auditioning for stuff, and they'll ask me for advice. And a few times I've had young women ask me, oh, I'm going in for Anne in a Little Night Music. And you've talked about how, like, tricky that role is. What advice do you have? And I always say, watch Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. Watch how she is. And then try to apply that to 19th century Sweden. Like, take that mentality, which is ultimately what Philippa did as Natasha, which was like, everything was very real for her, and. And everything was high stakes. Everything was important. So her. Natasha was funny to us. Not because she was like, ain't that funny? But it was. It was the ridiculousness of this young woman and all the things that she thought were important and how wrapped up she got in this romance. And like, I remember when she.
- [28:30]
B
The way she played the meeting with Mary.
- [28:33]
A
Yeah.
- [28:34]
B
Like that there is a moment of, like, her being audience surrogate and being like, this girl is weird then. And the. And the other side of that, of Mary being like, this woman is so obsessed with herself. And, like, just that clash was so perfectly played. And the way that Dave Malloy.
- [28:56]
A
Yeah.
- [28:56]
B
Did that vocal writing of it just being the crunchiest atonal. When you realize that it's on purpose. Cause, like, when that note started at Casino, I went, who's off? And then I went, no, you sly dog. You've done it again. I don't know you yet, but you've somehow done it again.
- [29:18]
A
You've done again for the first time in my life. But I know it's not your first. It's because I remember the way that Shayna played Mary. I remember was so dead face and like pious.
- [29:28]
B
Yes.
- [29:28]
A
But. And so it was, it was like, if Gollum went to church, does that make sense? Like, yes. Like she was a little.
- [29:38]
B
Yes.
- [29:39]
A
And yeah.
- [29:39]
B
And if Gollum went to church is incredible.
- [29:42]
A
Thank you. And, and, and, and Philippa as Natasha, like, it was very like, who is this girl? But also being like, I am a countess. And I. So they're like there. So there was a posture about her. There was a posterity. And so it was like sort of when staring at Shayna, she'd be like. And then looking over, being like the fuck. And that was always very funny. But also. And I just remember after letters, when she gets Anatol's letter and she goes, yes, yes, I love him. How else could I have his letter in my hand? And the way she like would whip out and do that, it was. Was all the love in her heart. And the audience would laugh because they were like, oh my God, you teenager. Yes, but she didn't comment on being a teenager. She was just like, like, I have it. And, and yes. And also, like, roll has never been sung better. It's. It's her voice. Like when people talk to me about like, what's so special about her voice and Amelie, I'm like, amelie's not special. Listen to like, so my. The song that I've been listening to a lot of. And I do. I have listened to the Broadway recording a bit for this episode since it's the most up to date version of the score. But when push comes to shove, I listen to the buff Broadway and I listen to the opera a lot.
- [30:53]
B
Yes, yes. It. That in the same. In the same mode as the duel, it's just like you're getting all of these sounds.
- [31:03]
A
It's a lot of songs. Like, girl, wait till you hear what my song is. I.
- [31:08]
B
It's just so, so delicious. Bare arms and shoulders. Hundreds of eyes. Hundreds of eyes.
- [31:18]
A
I mean, that's so we. You were talking about sort of also.
- [31:20]
B
You get all the girlies. You get all the girlies in that one. And that's so delicious. Yeah. The duel. The duel for me is like the combination of sounds and like, it just gets stuck in my head in a way that I'm like, I need to hear that Bomp. Like, I need to hear It. But the opera, you truly get. Ooh. It's just actresses acting through song.
- [31:44]
A
The hours found dead in a ditch. Because this is the hours to me, honey, I'm telling my children it's for the hours.
- [31:51]
B
Absolutely. This is the final trio from. Yay.
- [31:58]
A
Yes. And we're going to say quartet as well. One of them, Sonia, is Kitty, as far as I'm concerned. But. But it's because it. It's Natasha in this point in the novel from. So I. I did have to do some research on War and Peace. There's no world in which I'm reading that whole book. I'm sorry, I'm. I don't have the attention span. But in the novel, we meet Natasha when she's 13, and then by the time Great Comet happens, she's, like, 17, 18, and so, you know, she knew Pierre young and then hasn't seen Pierre in many years. She meets Andre when she's 17, and he's, you know, 32, 33. We'll let that. Which was already a big age difference then, and which is why Andre's father says, you're gonna wait a year before you marry this child. Because, like, he's like, I know you think this is love. It's just that she's young and hot and thinks you're cool. It's like, wait a year.
- [32:49]
B
A bit of a slay from his dad. Yeah. People say he's crazy.
- [32:53]
A
He may be crazy. People enjoy him, though.
- [32:55]
B
He's got a point.
- [32:56]
A
He. He ended up being right because he's an icon.
- [33:00]
B
He's a legend, and he is the moment.
- [33:02]
A
I was reading a Reddit thread as well. I was like, what do people have to say about Warren Peace? And someone, like, made a whole post about this section of the book without knowing about Great Comet just being like, natasha, girl, what's your problem? You've been in love with Andre for almost a full year, and then the week before he comes home, you pull this like, you had one week left, girl. And everyone's like, that's kind of the point, sir. Like, why are you mad at Tolstoy for, like, showing human behavior? But she is. When we meet her in Comet, she's the prettiest she's ever been. Which I know we all talk about, like, oh, beauty. Skin deep. But, like, no, like, there's a. Whether you want to agree to it or not, the world does treat people differently when they find them attractive. And especially in a place like Moscow in this era where, like, it's high society, people know of Natasha's family, she hasn't been seen in many years. So it's sort of like a reintroduction to society of, oh, this girl we all like, sort of remember by name has just shown up being the prettiest, like, played by Philippa sue on stage, played by Audrey Hepburn in the movie. That's the kind of pretty we're talking about here, everybody.
- [34:02]
B
Yes.
- [34:02]
A
And she's getting this kind of attention for the first time. And it's intoxicating to her because she is a nice person. She has good intentions, but, like, she's privileged. She's. She's comes from a, well, formerly wealthy family, but still a wealthy family of class. People have always been good to her. And getting that kind of attention is a drug. And then with Anatol, you know what? We'll get into the Anatol, because there's. Anatol is a storyline that you either get because you've experienced it once in your life, or you don't get. And you can analyze it to death all you want. Like, all the ways in which. Oh, they're meant to be. Or it's problematic. I'm like, no, it's not. It's neither. It is neither.
- [34:45]
B
It's a thing that happens.
- [34:47]
A
It's a thing that happens when you.
- [34:48]
B
Meet David Bowie is the Goblin King.
- [34:52]
A
You want to know what the Anatole Natasha storyline of Greek Comet is? It's Meadowlark. The whole thing is just Meadowlark.
- [34:58]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. Philippa Sue's Meadowlark.
- [35:04]
A
Where? Give it to me. Why?
- [35:07]
B
Yeah, consider. Just considering.
- [35:12]
A
Consider the lilies. So, okay, I'm just gonna go to go into no one else for a second because it's just such a beautiful aria, which Dave Malloy has said, like, oh, that was my version of Angelo Webber. I'm like, that's your version of Angelo Webber. He's like, yeah, that's my memory. I'm like, compare no one else to memory. One is one melody over and over and over again. And you have your leading lady running up and down the track field.
- [35:36]
B
Yep, yep. But that's beautiful. Oh, it's Gordon's beautiful.
- [35:40]
A
It's beautiful.
- [35:41]
B
But, like, this is me writing my writing my basic hit.
- [35:46]
A
Yeah. I have a few friends.
- [35:48]
B
I love him. What can I say?
- [35:50]
A
I love him. I know him. He loves me. Only not me trying to sing this whole score with Laryngitis. But I have friends who, like, are phenomenal singers who have tried that song. And they, like, they eventually get it. But it's like, A glitter and bk. It's like, oh, no, this is not something you attempt on a first try. You, like, build your instrument up to it.
- [36:09]
B
Right. Well, it's also that tessitura is, like, so treacherous because people don't know where to place it. And Philippa sue just seemed to naturally. It just poured out of her. There was no. There was no sense of her negotiating through it, which now even I'll hear brilliant singers do it. But I am going, oh, you're negotiating where you're gonna flip and where. And Philippa suit just was happening in a crazy way.
- [36:45]
A
I think it's the benefit of the song being written for her. Of all the money, notes were in her sweet spot. So, like, where her mix is at its beltiest. That's where Dave's like, well, that's the final note for you and I. Yeah. And a lot of other women. I'm like, it's like, oh, it's a little too high or it's a little too low for me to do that. And because, like, I remember every time I would see Comet, she would do the first. Natasha is young in the prologue. And it was like, always plays very beautifully, but it was always very light and head voicey. And I was like, oh, no, does she have a cold today? Is that. Is that final note and no one else gonna come out all right? And of course, it always came out perfectly. Every bowl beautifully effortless.
- [37:17]
B
She brings it to every bowl.
- [37:18]
A
Ta da. Still got it. It's just. Yeah. Why are we gagging? So I'm trying to, like, think of more ways we can get into this. I'm. Every time I, like, start a conversation with you, we go down a little rabbit hole, and then we find our way out of it. I'm like, no, that rabbit hole is supposed to go to another rabbit hole. What's like, what?
- [37:36]
B
So for you, Ms. Natalie, there's another.
- [37:38]
A
Wig under the figures. Another wig. There's a pussycat wig under the other pussycat wig. What. What is something that you've. That you would like to talk about When I. When I offered you this show. Some. A thing, a song, a person, whatever that you're salivating. The chance to go on Mike and. And just talk about.
- [37:56]
B
Oh, gosh. I mean, I just love gossiping about the show. And by gossiping, I mean just like, hyper fixating on random things from the score. I could. I could truly talk about that cast for 1 million years, Grace McLean. I guess I'll just get more into Grace because I then was lucky enough to be able to understudy her. A few years later, I worked on Alice by Heart at mcc and it came about in a very roundabout way where Grace was working on her show in the Green about Hildegard von Bingen that was gonna be at LCT3 and she was working. She was gonna be doing a workshop of that that was non negotiable at the same time that Alice was teching and doing its first weekend of previews. And so they were trying to work out. At first they thought, okay, on Alice's part. They were like, that's none. We. We have to find another cover. We can't. We have to find another actor. It wasn't gonna be a cover situation at first. And then I got called in for when they were just looking for people to do the Queen track. But then after I auditioned, they were like, well, maybe, huh? Maybe it would be okay for this girl to do the first weekend of performances because we could also have her cover Alice. So. So that's how that ended up coming about that. Then they were like, okay, we can have Grace. We can have our cake and eat it too. Will have Grace still do the role? But then I was hopping in and out of tech while Grace was in and out of. In the Green workshop. And I got to just watch her build a performance and watch her tailor everything to her very specific skill set, which is. I say specific, which makes it sound like I'm saying narrow. But actually she can do anything. She really. The voice can go anywhere. It just. She just will calibrate it so precisely. The way that she wields her massive range and power gets very laser focused, which is so thrilling to watch. And as a human being over that process. That's the kind of thing. That's the kind of thing that was asked of both of us that as I get further from it and work on more shows, I go, that could have been such a nightmare. There is no reason that she had to be as generous with me as she was during that process of walking in, walking into tech when I would be on stage as her track and like, she would always be the warmest and kindest. When I was hopping off and I. And it just sort of was a massive lesson to me in, oh, if you are certain of your talent, if you are so good that you know what you bring and you know the work that you do, you don't have to be an asshole to other people because you're threatened. Which seems like a very natural lesson to learn. But there are so many people that refuse to treat understudies kindly, to navigate situations like that with compassion for the person on the other side of it. And a lot of it. If you have gone to therapy literally once in your life, you're like, this actually has nothing to do with me and entirely to do with this person. Feeling anxious, feeling not confident in what they're doing yet. Fine. But Grace is really a person that it's like, oh no. She prepares like a motherfucker. And she is very humbly aware of what she brings to a process. And to get to bear witness to that up close after falling so head over heels in love with her in Comet was insane. Like another, I would say probably my number two, this would be on my desert island song is oh God, in my house. In my house. Yes, it's gotta be in my house. It's got. That was something that I could not believe what was happening. I was levitating at every choice. She's just, she's just a bee's knees. What can I say? What can I say? Yeah, what can I say? Every time I get to see her, there's some new thing that she is doing that I'm like, and you can do that too. What are you talking about?
- [43:49]
A
What are you talking about? Her in my house and the letter to Pierre are. That's a combo track I listen to all the time. Ruin at the doors. Ruin at the.
- [43:57]
B
Yes.
- [43:57]
A
Yeah.
- [43:58]
B
Oh God, yeah.
- [44:00]
A
Good times. I, I feel like I said this on an episode recently, I can't remember, but I had a breakthrough in therapy recently of the difference between being proud of yourself and bragging of just like it all. It always just comes down to insecurity because they're both just a factual compliment. But one is a factual compliment dripping with insecurity. You can tell, as you said, it's the feeling defensive and going on the attack of, oh, is this person gonna be a threat in any way or do Is my self esteem being threatened? And then of course the problem is some people, it's like, well, if my self esteem goes below a nine of a out of a ten that I'm threatened, I'm like, nine out of ten is like my best day. That is coming out of the car wash. That is therapy. Like, what do you mean below a nine? But that's also, you know, coming back to this show, that's kind of Natasha. Her self esteem skyrockets so much that then only the most immediate attention from the most handsome man nearby can really get to her. I, I, there's a Question to ponder. Like, if Andre were around, would Anatol have affected her as such? And I would argue yes.
- [45:05]
B
Yes.
- [45:06]
A
Whether she would have gone through all the stuff she goes through in Act 2, that's another question, because that's just a matter of logistics. But, like, the effect Anatole has on her would absolutely happen, because for those of you who don't know the arc of Meadowlark, Patti LuPone describes it at Les Mouche, where you're in a relationship and it's not exactly the best, but it's not exactly the worst. And then all of a sudden comes this hunk, Meadowlark, and that is Anatole. Natasha is a young girl, just representative.
- [45:32]
B
Of such a different thing.
- [45:35]
A
Yeah.
- [45:35]
B
To her, it's.
- [45:36]
A
Yeah, well, it's. It's. It's. It is actual. It's a. He is a sexual awakening for her. Yeah. Because until Anatole.
- [45:43]
B
Sex and Andre was sweetness.
- [45:45]
A
And in a world that at large does not like to talk about sex, but is specifically in a century where that is not in a country where that's not really happening and we're. So Sex is cold. Yes, it's very cold. Well, there's a way to warm up. But you.
- [46:01]
B
You.
- [46:01]
A
Which is like. Yeah, yeah. Under the fur coat, the. But, like, Natasha is this young girl of society who meets a man of prominence who is much older, who is sweet and comforting and like is love in a more perhaps friendly way, but because she cannot differentiate what love is and the ways that one can love another person. Because in the novel, I found out she was in love with someone at a young age as well, before she met Andre. She had a childhood love, and then that guy goes away and she forgets all about him, and then in comes Andre. So, like, Natasha is also very somebody. Like, you have to be in front of me for me, for me to love you. But. So she. She gets engaged to Andre, who, again, is much older than she is, and when he has to go away for a year and she meets Anatol, who's probably closer to her age and is dripping with sex, she mistakes the lust she has for love, and he, the experienced predator he is, pounces on that and confuses her. So that way, if she can still think that this is love, she can then give me what I want, which is that undercarriage. And I don't know what any other words to use for a vagina are, Natalie. It's vagina and undercarriage. Front bum. He wants her front bum.
- [47:10]
B
I think it's. I think it's beautiful.
- [47:11]
A
Thank you.
- [47:12]
B
I think it's beautiful, and I. I love it, and I'm gonna start using it.
- [47:16]
A
I think. I think the. My only flaw with Dave Malloy's lyrics is that he could use the word front bum a bit more. Anatole should say, let's bring it in. Exactly. It is essential that I see Natasha end that front bum. Back it up up here. But, yeah, like, I. And this is. I'll tie this a little bit to Broadway for a second. Sort of a little snippet of. As much as I really love the show, and I do, I. I want to make this clear as. As I nitpick certain things, I want to make it very clear. I love this show, and I think this is one of the top five scores of the 21st century. Don't ask me to put them in order. I can't do that. That's a Sophie's Choice. But I got a five. Broadway. I thought what the best achievement they did was that they were able to capture the energy of the tent in a much larger space, and there were things with a bigger canvas that Chaffkin was able to do physically. That was really beautiful. And some performances that I actually were sort of mid on in the tent, I thought improved by having to go bigger. Like, Britain Ashford did not register for me as Sonya in the tent at first, and then on stage on Broadway, she had to be bigger. I was like, oh, I. I'm liking this a lot.
- [48:19]
B
Yeah, She's. Oh, man. Oh, man. That voice, too, was one where you're just like. She starts, and you go, this sound on. On Broadway. That's so cool and exciting in this economy.
- [48:32]
A
No, like, every voice. Every voice in that original cast is so unique from each other, which I appreciate.
- [48:36]
B
Yes.
- [48:37]
A
The thing. One of the big things for Broadway, and we'll talk about this more later on, is by. Have. By going for that energy for a bigger room, there were certain things that I felt got a little bit lost. I felt some of the genuine, earnest emotion from the tent, specifically. And part of this was Philippa wasn't a part of it anymore. But, like, some of that genuine emotion for me kind of started to go away. And I'd seen it with Groban at first, and then seeing it at the library, because at the library, it's last week of the run. It's. It's a blessing and a curse because the audience is into it. They're attentive. Malloy is. Is Pierre. And I never got to see Dave Malloy play Pierre, and he's incredible. The other thing about it being the last week of the run is like, some performers are definitely indulging. It's like, yeah, we're closing. All the fans are here, the cameras are here. There's a performer to where I'm like, oh, you're milking this in a way that I'm actually kind of a little turned off now. Like, the abduction, I'm convinced, was, like, twice as long on at the library than it normally was.
- [49:38]
B
Right, right, right.
- [49:40]
A
But this is to say that I was talking about the emotion. Sorry. You know, just.
- [49:48]
B
Yeah, just. It.
- [49:50]
A
I lost my way.
- [49:50]
B
You're less. Because I see what you're saying. And part of. I think the magic that we were talking about in the tense with the character of Natasha specifically, is like, we are infuriated by her sometimes and just. But part of the agony is, like, that we are so with her. We're so inside of this love. We're so. In the seduction, you felt like being. Having that intimacy in the tent meant that you felt the sparks between them. You were like, I'm a voyeur.
- [50:31]
A
Yeah.
- [50:32]
B
Because, like, they want to fuck in this opera box, and I am. Oh, heavens, heavens, me. And if you don't have, like, that sort of like, oh, my God, they're. Oh, my God, this is hot into. Oh, no. You think that the lust is love and. No, my heart. My heart. I'm you, and I'm back in high school, and I'm that. And losing that element, the bigger that it got, I think, is. Is hard. It's. It's hard because then it does become more about. Okay, well, like, the big stuff is more amazing.
- [51:12]
A
Yeah.
- [51:13]
B
But we're not as keyed in. And I think that is actually sort of like the. The secret special sauce of the piece is when you really are like, I'm Natasha or I'm Sonia. Like, for those two roles, I think it's really important for everyone in the room to be sort of locked in with them and remembering and remembering what it is to be them. And I say. And Pierre, too. But I think the Pierre stuff, especially with Dave, when Dave took over during the Broadway run, like, you do feel for me what's fun about listening to it now? And even then, I still had struggles with depression and shit when I saw it then. And so it is like, oh, Pierre. Like, I feel like this.
- [52:08]
A
Yeah.
- [52:09]
B
When he. When he is discussing his. His station in his big opening number after the prologue, it is like, oh, I'm this. And I remember what it was to be Natasha, which is fun if you're an adult seeing it, whereas, like, the younger people seeing it are just going like, oh, I'm Natasha or I'm Sonya. Yeah, but, yeah, I think it is necessary to be just as. Just as locked in on the experience that Natasha is having, to be sort of immersed in that world.
- [52:55]
A
Yeah. And it was two things, I realize, and then we'll take a quick break and continue on with this episode.
- [53:01]
B
But I'll get to see you in your undies.
- [53:03]
A
Yes, you will. But part of it was staging, and part of it was tone for Broadway, obviously, having more space. Some things had to get restaged. And there were two. There are two specific scenes with Anatol and Natasha that are imperative to Natasha getting wrapped up in the intoxication of Anatol. One is the opera scene when he goes into the box and they have their tete a tete, and the other is the ball that ends the Act 1. And because Chafkin and Pinkleton. Sam Pinkleton, everybody. Tony winning. Sam Pinkleton and Tony winning. Chaffkin, give them both their props. They. They had Danae Benton and Lucas Steele move all over the ramps in the stages and be a distance a lot. And I get it from a visual perspective, but it kept Casino. Philippa and Lucas were close to each other a lot, and that was sort of. The change was like, you can only get away from him by, like, a foot. So if something gets too hot, you get. You get a foot of safety, and he's gonna find again. And that's what kind of kept it percolating. The other thing is the tone of just. It felt for me on Broadway that they. And I. I felt like in the tent, as they got towards the end of the run, there were. People were starting to find ways into their characters that were maybe less sinister and were trying to find the love in things. Like, I remember the last time I saw it in the tent, it was towards the end of the run when Pierre demands Natasha's letters from Anatol. And I remember Lucasliel, like, took them out and, like, quickly kissed them before he gave them to Pierre. And I was. I was like, oh, that's a sweet touch. Like, part of him does kind of care for her and, like, things like that. And then all that got removed when they went to Broadway and was like, no, no, no. Anatol is a shit. Helene is in on it. Like, everything is like, this is a bad choice. We want to project that. And I got that. The reason for that. But I also felt that it was important that the audience have more conflicted feelings about it at. At the onset. Like, as you said, when we realize what Natasha is willing to do, which she thinks it's going to be eloping with Anatol, not knowing that he's already married and has no intention of, like. Like, the marriage isn't going to be valid, and then he's gonna fuck her, and then he's gonna leave her and she's gonna be ruined. And when you realize what's at stake, you're like, oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. But before then, it's not that you're rooting for them so much as you're like, I'm conflicted. What do. Like, I want this girl to get her zhuzh. I just. I don't know if it's this guy, but she's the one that's doing it for her, so, like, what do I want? And, yeah, and it just felt like on Broadway, especially watching again on video towards the end of the run, that, like, everyone's like, no, no, we want to make it very clear he's a villain and you should not want this for her. And I'm like, but then I don't have that tension anymore. And then when the rug is pulled out from under her at the end, I got less emotional because. Not that I was judging her so much, I was like, it was obvious to us from the onset, girl, as opposed to in the test, it was always like, no, I was there with you. I got why you got there.
- [55:44]
B
I got. Yeah, I got it. You were like, well, I really want this guy to fuck me. I think he knows how to do it. And it. And in this time, you gotta be married.
- [55:54]
A
Yeah. And when you. And when you've never felt that feeling before, it's very easy to think that it's love. And when. When someone you find attractive looks you in the eyes and says, no, I love you, and, like, keeps pursuing you to say it, how are you to know that they're lying?
- [56:10]
B
Yes.
- [56:11]
A
Yeah, I get. I'm been there.
- [56:18]
B
Oh.
- [56:19]
A
Oh.
- [56:23]
B
Boy, howdy, guys.
- [56:25]
A
I know it's hard to imagine we're smoking.
- [56:27]
B
We're smoking our fake little.
- [56:29]
A
Oh, this is gonna be. This is gonna be the. The. The Instagram reel that we do.
- [56:32]
B
This should be. Yeah. Is us going, oh, oh, oh, Tasha. Oh, I've been there, honey.
- [56:42]
A
I know. I know it's hard to imagine two people as beautiful and sexual as me and Natalie could be so hurt. Ever wronged in this way, but. Oh, Boy, were we. Natalie has the battle scars to tell you. And I have a play, and that's beautiful.
- [57:02]
B
That's so gorgeous for both of us.
- [57:05]
A
We love it for both of us.
- [57:07]
B
For all of us.
- [57:08]
A
For all of us. All right, on that note, let us take a quick break.
- [57:13]
B
You're the top.
- [57:14]
A
Yeah.
- [57:16]
B
You're an arrow collar. You're the top. You're a coolidge dollar. You're the nimble tread of the feet Afraid of Stan.
- [57:27]
A
And we are back. So I'm glad you brought up here. I never really understood in the tent at the time why Pierre closed out the show. Wonderful. As Scott was. I think I was just so in my Philip Pisu. Like, why is she not singing the. Like.
- [57:49]
B
Actresses.
- [57:50]
A
Yes, yes.
- [57:52]
B
We love actresses.
- [57:54]
A
And it wasn't until Broadway with Josh Groban that I understood the finale and why it was there, because for me, the balance actually shifted. I felt that Pierre as Josh Groban became the heart of that show for me more than Danae as Natasha. And I enjoyed Danae's performance, but I will talk about that more later. And then watching it at the library with Dave as Pierre, I was like, oh, oh, oh, oh. It's been him the whole time. He is the arc the whole time. Like, Natasha's the action. He is the message.
- [58:24]
B
Yes. Yes, because that.
- [58:26]
A
His opening song, I remember especially because, like, the prologue is so funny and charming and. And, like, the show is a lot funnier than people realize, I think, because. Yes, because we. They hear, like, the esotericism of.
- [58:37]
B
Right.
- [58:37]
A
Like, the mixed genres of the score, and it's War and Peace. I'm like, no, it's fucking funny.
- [58:42]
B
Yes.
- [58:43]
A
And exciting. But Pierre's, like, song is, like, sort of the first down. Not downer, but, like, you know, it's. He's going through a midlife crisis. He has. He has depression and.
- [58:53]
B
Yes.
- [58:53]
A
Crisis of conscience, and that's. You can't really make that song a banger, though.
- [58:59]
B
Better.
- [58:59]
A
I used to be better. I pity you. I pity you.
- [59:04]
B
I'm gonna. I'm gonna freaking get back. Get back in. Like, it's 2014. 15. I am. I can't wait to dive all the way back in. Oh, God, it just rules.
- [59:21]
A
It does. At the end of the day, Natasha, comedy 1812 just rules.
- [59:25]
B
It simply. It rocks, it rolls, it rules, and. And what else do you want from a damn score?
- [59:34]
A
Yeah, from a damn score. I think the thing that's really impressive about what Malloy does with the show is that having not known anything about the characters In War and Peace, I got a good idea of who these characters were in the show already. Reading about who they are prior to these events makes certain things make more sense. Like for Pierre, he is one of the many illegitimate children of this like, major Russian nobleman who is this man's favorite child. And thus he like gets to go abroad and study and all these things. But he's awkward and he doesn't really get how society works. So like, he's learned and he's loved and he's sheltered, but he's like, he doesn't fit in and he's heavier and he's like a little homely. And then to top it all off, his father dies and leaves him his entire extraordinarily vast fortune and he becomes this like, target for society women to marry, which is how he ends up with Helene. And like people who ignored him are now trying to be his best friend. And he gets like, like a Natasha. He gets swept up in it at first and then realizes, oh, not only do I not like the people around me, I don't like the life I've inherited and which is like, you know, obviously champagne problems of oh, I'm so rich and whatever. But like, yeah, depression is depression. You look around and you hate the life you have. Like it affects you. And, and that is sort of where he's at, is that he's part of his. Why Pierre is not the action for so long is he is comatose. He is removing himself from everything. It's the only thing he can do to kind of self preserve is I don't like anything around me, so I'm just not going to be a part of it for a while. And it's not until he learns of, of what's happened with Natasha that he's thrust into action, that he's kind of forced into action by Maria of like, oh, it's not just about me anymore. People I care about are now being.
- [61:15]
B
Affected, are getting hurt.
- [61:16]
A
Yeah, yeah. By my laissez. Fairness. And so I have to go into action now. And that is why the show does end with him and that beautiful scene between him and Natasha with the simple, with a simple piano. My God. And the thing about the score is also Maloya said himself, like he said, part of what makes War and Peace a great novel is not like necessarily the plot, but like Tolstoy's writing, the way he describes things, he's like. So I, I describe. I decided to have characters sing actions and descriptions mostly as a cheat because I wanted to include as much of Tolstoy as I could. But the beauty of that is you get a lot of very accurate dialogue from the, from the novel. And I love envy Pierre Natasha scene, which is so simple and reminds you how young she is because she's just come out of the other side of having poisoned herself and getting rescued from that. And so she's pale, she's sickly, she's like in a simple little nightgown. Her hair's in a braid. She's no longer done up like a hot thing. She's just a child. And she's knows that everything that everyone was so excited for her is now ruined. Andre has broken off. She already broke off the engagement. And Andre will not take her back. And when Pierre asks her, did you love that bad man? Anatol is his brother in law, everyone, in case you didn't make the connection. Well, we should maybe do like a quick family tree in a second. Which they did do in the program, which I appreciated.
- [62:30]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [62:31]
A
But he already knew that Anatole sucked as a, as a human. Right. But it was always, like, entertaining for him because it never. The women that Anatole would seduce were never people Pierre cared about.
- [62:41]
B
Right.
- [62:41]
A
And so when he asked Natasha, did you love that bad man? Part of it is him, like, you know, placating her. But also he's like, I need to know that you, this person who I think is a good person, did not know who Anatole was and see that and go, yeah, that's amazing. It's like, that gives me less faith in humanity. And her response is, don't call him bad.
- [62:57]
B
Yeah, I don't know, but I don't, I don't know.
- [63:01]
A
Don't call him bad. But I don't know.
- [63:03]
B
Right? I know what I thought he was, but I, I, I, I'm realizing how little I actually know about anything about how this world works, about how men work. It's just so.
- [63:23]
A
Yeah, because that, that whole journey with her after the abduction of Anatol, saying, you know, I'm gonna take you away. We're gonna get an elopement. And Sonia finds out. She tells Maria, and Mario puts a stop to it. And then we have in my house, which is the first time that someone's actually like, well, Sonia is also kind of doing it with, between Natasha and Sonia, but Natasha's not hearing it. But, like, Mario lays it out very cleanly for her of like, why didn't he come to the house and ask for your hand? You're not kept. Dr. Lock and Key. And Andre said, you're free to refuse him at any point. Like, you didn't have to do this. The fact that he's doing this proves the kind of morals he has, that.
- [63:57]
B
His intentions are not right. Yeah, yeah.
- [64:00]
A
Like the fact that he wouldn't do this publicly. Like this. This didn't have to be crazy. Like this. And then when Maria finds out from Pierre that Anatol is married already and Marya tells Natasha, that's when everything finally breaks. Because first Natasha's like, that's not true. It can't be true. And she decides to poison herself. Not out of I've lost my love, but out of the world. Just makes no sense anymore. Yeah. Shame in the world makes no sense. And I always loved that because it is in the novel that she regrets doing it. And she goes to Sonia and she's like, I poisoned myself. And I. And I decided, jk, can we do something about this? But I love the moment in the show because it's so quick. But, like, I remember Philippa because it's during the scene between Pierre and Anatol that Tasha comes out. In this brief moment, she has water glass. She pours the arsenic into it. And her summer, Philippa drink, drinking it through tears, putting it down, and in a single beat, grabbing her throat and running off stage.
- [64:51]
B
Throw up. Yeah.
- [64:52]
A
Yeah.
- [64:52]
B
Like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- [64:55]
A
Yeah. Just like, she made an impulsive. Yeah. Made an impulsive decision. Like, I don't know what to do. And then she's like, oh, no, it was not that choice. Yeah, Anatole come back betrayed. And it was. I was. And, like, I just. It was a moment of, like, I've been there. Not that bad stream. Never gotten that far. Just like, of going, oh, I need to make a bold choice because I. Nothing makes sense anymore. And then I make the choice. I'm like, oh, this was a mistake.
- [65:16]
B
Yes. Just.
- [65:19]
A
Yeah, but that's.
- [65:20]
B
I feel in this moment that I'm tired of living, but, oh, I'm scared of dying.
- [65:28]
A
How dare you. Oh, no. Man river.
- [65:33]
B
Oh, no.
- [65:34]
A
No, Guys, that will be it. Well, by the time this episode will come out, the performance at Green Room will already. So I was gonna be like, guys, wait till you hear my old man River. Well, Natalie does interpretive dance.
- [65:51]
B
Yeah, exactly.
- [65:52]
A
Yeah.
- [65:52]
B
The way that the song should always.
- [65:54]
A
Be done, it should always be interpretive dance. But we finish with Natasha and Pierre, and he goes out into the snow, and he sees the great comet. And what do we think he learns from this moment, Natalie? From this from his interaction, from this story and then from seeing the comet.
- [66:12]
B
It feels to me one of those moments where you remember how huge the world is versus all of your problems and everything that you are going through. And it's just as sign of time changing. It's just like this. Also the lyric, this bright star having traced its parabola, like this thing has found its path, has gone on its path. And perhaps the world can rewrite its own path as well. The world around me and just like the wonder of nature, I think, I think Pierre being so isolated and so in his books, you forget sometimes that you can step outside and see beauty and you look up and remember to be alive and that you're a part of it and you don't have to be constantly escaping into it. The way that Pierre interacts with, you know, his books in the show feels like in modern times, someone that is depressed will be like, I'm on my phone scrolling all day. You know what I mean? And now it's like, oh, I would. Would love for someone that is depressed to be like, let me read a book versus being on my phone. But I feel like in those days they're responding to it as like, oh, this, this incel on his phone.
- [68:02]
A
Yeah, well, you know how people say online like, touch grass.
- [68:08]
B
Yeah.
- [68:11]
A
He'S touchy grass at the end. And I think that touch grass isn't necessarily a dig. It's. It's more of a slap in the face of like, you are too inside of yourself right now and you need to go out and experience some of the world for any other reason, just to other to understand how big the world is and how bigger things are than you and this moment. And that shouldn't be a shock, and that shouldn't be a depressing thing. Like, it is depressing in a sense to be like, oh, I'm one of billions on a planet that's one of billions of billions. But like, then it's also like, isn't that also a little freeing to know that while it's important to you, it's not as if everything is. Is such high stakes all the time. Not everything has to be of the utmost importance. There's not going to be one thing in your life that's gonna make it all worthwhile. It's all the little things like, and this great comet that you're seeing is gonna be one of many comments throughout the history of the world and how lucky it is that you get to see it. And. And I think that it's a beautiful Thing to. Yeah. If anything, the message of Great Comet is go touch grass.
- [69:15]
B
Absolutely. Well, there's also. I, I also. You saying that reminded me of the Jemima Kirk Q and A. She did like, an ask me anything on Instagram. And there was one question that someone said, what advice do you have for young women who are insecure? And Jemima Kirk just responds, I think you guys might be thinking about yourselves a little too much. And I'm like, that might be it, too. Of just Pierre. You might be thinking about yourself a little too much. And look beyond. Look beyond. I get that you feel awkward. I get that you feel insecure around people, but maybe part of that is that you're thinking about yourself a little too much. And instead you can go talk to some. Someone that is having a bad time and try to cheer them up. And you can go outside and look at a wonder.
- [70:10]
A
Yeah.
- [70:10]
B
In the sky.
- [70:12]
A
Look at, look, look at this guy, baby. Because, like, he's so. I think he's so used to being made the fool of by everyone in his life. And that is, that is also just a case of him surrounding himself with the wrong people. But you. I think it's so important for everyone to know, like, 99.99 of the time, other people are not thinking about you. They are thinking about their own stuff. So there's no need to get in your head about the correct moment to go out and do something or meet someone or talk to someone. Like, just do it. Yeah, just do it. So that's, that's just. Okay. I have my notes here from the Broadway viewing party. Yes. The curvature platforms and the stairs. It has been so many years. I forgot that at the start of the show, before we even got to the prologue, that they threw out those egg shakers at everybody.
- [71:00]
B
Yeah, man. What a time.
- [71:03]
A
What a time. And I used to. I used to hold on to mine from the, From Casino. And yet I forgot, all these years later, this is what it is.
- [71:10]
B
Yeah. No, I had a bunch of them, and then I moved apartments and they all got lost in the move, and it was very sad, but also, like, was kind of a hoarder. Would have been a hoarder. But, yeah, I felt so bad because I had been like, hey, if people want, like, an egg shaker from the production, like, I can send it to you. And then I felt so bad, I, like, moved apartments and I lost all of them. And then there were, like, still people, like, on Twitter that were like, are you ever going to send the egg shaker? And then I Just fell off. And so if anyone listening to this remembers that era, know that they got lost and I am sorry. And I should have responded about it, but instead I got scared and stopped talking about it. They are all gone. Yeah.
- [72:10]
A
Yeah. Like, Peter, you have been studying lots of weaving in the prologue. Oh, it's a different Andre at the Lincoln center library. So I asked my friend who. Sorry, let me be a little more vague about this. I have a few friends who are in great common on Broadway. We both do. I asked one of them, do not ask me who. Because they did not consent to me sharing this interaction. I asked one of them, who's the Andre in the Lincoln center video? Because I see you in it, so I know you're there. Can you. Do you remember who was Andre? And the person says, yes, that the Andre was Ken Clark. I believe Nicholas Belton was out by the end of the run because there were a couple different covers doing it the whole week, and there was a cover for the final performance. So I'm. Either Nicholas was sick or he was out, whatever. But. So, hi, Ken Clark. You did a very nice job. But I did. I did notice he was Andre slash Prince Bulkoski. And I was like, oh, hello, handsome man that I've never seen before.
- [73:06]
B
Yeah, yeah, I know. A nigga's Prince Walkonski is crazy and.
- [73:13]
A
Mary is plain.
- [73:17]
B
Totally, totally messed up.
- [73:19]
A
And Belaga's just for fun. The war can't touch us here. That is the lyric that I feel like Rachel Chavkin took and ran away with in the best possible way.
- [73:32]
B
Yeah.
- [73:32]
A
One of my favorite moments in all of staging. Because the whole thing about great comedy is like, yeah, there's a war going on. It's not really affecting anybody here. Pierre's the only one who's ever really talking about it because he wants to go. They do. I think there's a little bit of artistic license they do in the musical. They do not tell us that Andre's gone on basically a sabbatical by his daddy's demand. They tell us that he went away to fight, which he does eventually do, but what he fights after the events of Great Comet, where he then dies. But in the musical, Andre is off fighting, which is partly the reason why Natasha is so scared to have him go. But when they're at the opera and they're doing the ending of the section. So when Anatol has entered the Opera House and they have that whole new section there, what? The opera is happening on stage, but Andre has become one of the characters in the show. And so. And he's in his army outfit as they're tearing fake blood sheets out of him. And it's this great way of, like, in the back of her head, while this is happening, Natasha is still thinking about Andre and the danger he's in. But in a lot of ways, it has become a presentational false story to her. Whereas in no one else, he was right there for her to think about. And I love that moment when he comes out reading her letter in the snow. And then he goes off when she hits the high note. It's so beautiful. And then at the opera, he's back, but he's part of the performance. It's very round and round in the fantastics. And you're realizing how far away in her mind Andre is becoming. And it's just a great moment. And, like, just little touches like that that Chafkin would do in the staging were. Don't forget, while all this is happening with champagne and caviar, there's. There's. There. There's a war happening. Is good. It's good stuff.
- [75:21]
B
It's good stuff.
- [75:24]
A
Sorry, I'm just. I'm looking at these notes again, trying to, like, find one more subject before we close out this part one. And I just keep looking at me like, no, I want to talk about this more in my part two. But I'm thinking, How many different Natashas and Piers did you see? Did you think when you saw the show?
- [75:47]
B
I think I saw Pippa every time.
- [75:51]
A
What a trooper.
- [75:52]
B
I can't. Yeah, I can't remember seeing in the tent someone other. I honestly, I think I saw only Philippa and Dena and the Piers. I saw ab three times. Stanglin twice, Groban, like, three times. And then Dave Malloy. I saw the final. The final week. I never got to see him at the tents, but I saw. I saw him the final week on Broadway and lost my mind. And then Heath, um, my best friend Heath, who, like, I'm not telling any tales out of school, so I'll. I can say their name. Um, Heath brought me backstage when Dave was in the show, and I got to meet Dave Malloy for the first time, and I went so crazy. I was so overwhelmed. Cause by that point, I had been obsessed for so long. So getting to. Getting to meet him was very, very special to me. And I have now gotten to, like, interact with him in person more times and online more times as I've become an even bigger fan from being obsessed with Octet and then being obsessed with Three houses. I'm just like, full on Stan. But to meet him for the first time after being like that made me love musicals again. And I'm a. As you know, I am a musical theater scholar, obsessive of many, many years, but I went through, like, a period where I went, I don't know if this is for me anymore. And then it really brought back my love.
- [77:48]
A
If I'm being honest. I'm kind of going through that stage right now with musical theater. Like, I'm a little bit on my PR stage with modern musical theater. So I need a new gray comet to come in and. And comet into my face.
- [77:58]
B
Yes. Yes. And that's. I feel like that's where we end part one.
- [78:05]
A
I think that's where we end part.
- [78:06]
B
One with the comm shot with.
- [78:08]
A
With. With the comm shot all over my 1812. Um, yeah. Okay, so we will go on more about Great Comet and 1812 in part two, specifically, more about the Broadway production, some of the changes, and my notes here. Natalie, two questions. First is, where can the listeners find you if you want them to find you?
- [78:25]
B
Ooh, the listeners can find me @nwoks on Instagram. I have no other social media at this point. I wiped my Twitter. It's all gone. The library of Alexandria burned many years ago. TikTok I do not use. I'm a hag. I can't do it. But, oh, if this is gonna be being posted after November 14th, then I can say for December, I am going to be doing a limited edition substack that will be an advent calendar every day of December. It's. It's going to be called Mental Extravagance, which is based on Joan Crawford in her book, basically described hyper fixation, but called it being mentally extravagant. So every day in December, if you want to subscribe to the substack, I will be in your inbox every day with a hyper fixation or recommendation from far outside the zeitgeist.
- [79:43]
A
I love that. If you guys haven't already subscribed to our substack for Broadway Breakdown, I don't know what the fuck you're doing, but yes, Natalie's such a wonderful writer, so by all means, please check that out in December if you can. We also have a Discord, so make sure to check that out. I'm hoping to be able to post some footage from November 14, because it's shaping up to be a really bonkers evening. I think it's going to be fun. It'll be fun. Hell, yeah. Yeah, it's like, less than three weeks, more than two weeks away. And I am confident in my throat that she will heal by then. She's been through worse.
- [80:19]
B
Absolutely. She's gonna. She's gonna rise. She's gonna. You're getting all of this illness out of the way now. Honestly, you're getting it all out of the way now so that you're gonna be Pristine Dae on the night.
- [80:32]
A
Oh, did you say Pristine Tai?
- [80:34]
B
Yeah.
- [80:38]
A
Wait, did you just come up with that?
- [80:41]
B
I'm a sicko. Yes. Yes, of course I came up with it.
- [80:45]
A
How has no one done that as a drag name? That's a. Please welcome to the stage Pristine Da. My God. And Natalie, I was groomed by my voice teacher in high school, so it all fits. And guess what? He dead now. So, like, it's fine.
- [80:59]
B
That rules. Rest in piss, brother.
- [81:02]
A
Yeah, we'll talk more about that on the How I Learned to Drive episode, because it'll be. What, Relevant? It's fine. But no, like, I will. I will be slender from my throat injury and food poisoning and gastritis. The throat will be healed from the. From the laryngitis. No, it'll be a good time. I'm very excited for it. I feel like I want to say, like, one last thing about Khan before we eventually close out. While I talk, think about the diva you want to close this out with today. But we'll talk about this more in part two a bit. But, like, think about for a second, guys. When I talk about, like, the talent aliens of the world and people who are also very talented, like, come out of, like, cookie cutter programs to, like, train to be hired to get as many jobs as possible. And think about all of the special folks who came out of this cast of Great Comet, who we now look at as some of the primes of. Of the generation. The Amber Grays, the Philippa Sues, Shayna Taubes, people who just have this, like, unique sound and unique look and perform in a way that is passionate and earnest and isn't just safe. And I think that is something to relish. And when you're casting a Great Comet, a. Yes, you want to do this phenomenal music justice, but you also want to cast personalities, and you want to cast people who are going to be game. This is a show where you have to be game to do it. If you were. If you had to play a role. Natalie, just one. Just one. What would it be?
- [82:27]
B
Oh, God. I mean, I feel like we're going to get into it in part two, because are we doing dreamcasting in part two?
- [82:40]
A
Yeah.
- [82:42]
B
Okay. Because my. My kind of thing is I kind of think, like, it all needs to be, like, gender free. Like, everything is whatever. Because when we get into that, because of what you're saying, like, I think Comet has to work best if you kind of don't know any of the people that well. So when we get into. Maybe we'll just do the dreamcasting bit here. Because it's gonna be boring when I actually get to it, because I don't have a dreamcast. I'm like, I don't wanna know anyone. So if I'm in it, then I. I kind of wanna be like Pierre. I want it to be like, I don't know how this will sound. You know, I don't wanna. I think that's the magic of it. That's why I was so. I so bummed that I didn't get to see it in London. Cause I hadn't heard of any of those people. And then I heard. I saw a video of the Sonja from that production, and I was like, who is this? What is this sound? This is so thrilling. And I'm like, there are a ton of brilliant young musical theater actors around right now that I'm sure would sing the hell out of it, be great. But I just love, like, the very punk aspect of that original production of having no idea what sounds were gonna come out of anybody. And it was just such a. Such a thrill. And so I feel like, for me, I'm like, I know how I would sound on X, y, and Z things. Any of the roles traditionally played by women. I am sort of, like, I will sort of be doing a bastardization of the original ones just because they're so iconic in my ear. But then I go, what would my Pierre sound like? I would have to be starting from scratch because we would have to figure out key or whatever. And so I'm like, I kind of think Pierre would be. Yeah.
- [84:54]
A
Yeah. Because here's the thing. I. My dream role in that show is Natasha. I just. Well, yeah.
- [85:01]
B
Well, let's get at it.
- [85:03]
A
That's gonna be like, who doesn't want to be the pretty girl who everyone says is pretty and sing the most amazing music and suffer and pine and almost die? Oh, that's just amazing. But I would say I probably would have more fun and would typically be cast in a gender pen production as Maria. I'd be honest. And Mario's amazing. Like, yeah. Am I gonna complain about playing Mario? Absolutely not. But, like, I. I Think it's more like I would want to be Maria doing the Letter to Pierre. I, I. Or in. In my house. Like, I also want the Natasha in. In my house going up to that super crazy high note. Going away. I'm not doing any of it justice because my throat is fucked. But. But I can sing everyone, I swear. But it's, It's. I love the idea of a gender band and just like everyone fucking around with it and finding out. I mean, I'm sure. And I think the only person on the music side of that who would love that is Dave Malloy. Because he hears things like that. He's like, oh, my God, a new puzzle. Let's go for it. Whereas the music director is probably. Oh, my God. All the new arrangements I have to do, and Malloy's. All the new arrangements we have to do.
- [86:03]
B
Yeah, poor. Or Matthias.
- [86:06]
A
Poor man.
- [86:07]
B
Poor man who made Octet work somehow by some magic. My God. But wait, just because you. Just because you went to that line, I do have to say, like, it's so funny that. And so teenage that she goes, go away. Go. I'm also giving you Octagon. Go away. Go away. You all hate and despise me. It's not me that I hate you guys right now. It's actually, you guys hate me. You guys hate me. Say you don't hate me, and then I'll stay. Maybe. But for now, go away. Because you guys. You guys hate me. On. You guys. Everybody hates me. You guys hate me. I'm not even doing anything.
- [86:52]
A
Yeah, it's. It's very. Yeah, perfect. So in Natalie's show, her critically acclaimed show at Joe's Pub, and I'm saying critically acclaimed because there were two critics there, me and Juan Ramirez, and we both acclaimed it. But. But the. She had a section that was tying up opera arias with Real Housewives, Specifically Housewives in New York, right?
- [87:16]
B
Yes.
- [87:17]
A
Okay. She also had text on screen that came very hard for me, specifically because I don't watch Real Housewives. And it was saying, like, get over yourself and grow up. You start watching Housewives. And I remember sitting there going out, Natalie Walker, you and Ali Gordon, two of the most intelligent people I know, go so hard to the mat for Housewives, which is the only reason I'm even considering it. Only reason. But. But it is like, Housewivesy of, Of like, the senior causing is like, you made drama. And rather than saying, I hate you all, it's like, well, now I fucked up and everyone hates me.
- [87:51]
B
Now you're all being so rude to me right now. You are all being so rude to me right now.
- [87:57]
A
Oh, how dare you speak ill of the man who was trying to steal me from this home just now. No, no. Go away. Go away. Go away. And then throws herself down on the sofa. It's great.
- [88:06]
B
And like, well, I guess you guys all hate me, so.
- [88:11]
A
Sorry.
- [88:12]
B
I'm the worst person in the world. Sorry. You guys all think I'm the worst person that ever lived. So.
- [88:20]
A
But then it gets sad because then. Because then Maria tries to help her and. And Natasha sings. She was not asleep. She was staring out the window waiting for him. And he doesn't show.
- [88:31]
B
No.
- [88:32]
A
The Heiress. The heiress vibes here of just waiting for him of that man to show up in the carriage. Never comes. Yeah, it's.
- [88:41]
B
You gotta walk up the stairs slowly at the end.
- [88:44]
A
Walk up those damn stairs slowly. But it's also like, tricky as this score is, and the heights that it makes you go in your range, it never feels like it's using you for your agility.
- [89:01]
B
No, it's not like clap. It's not the type of thing where they're having you hit a big note. So the audience starts clapping in the middle of it and gets tricked into feeling like. Like lifted up. It feels very Sanhemian in that it is all. It's rising. When the emotion is rising, you're hitting a big note out of nowhere because there's been a massive shift that has happened. It all feels very dramaturgically compelled, which is such an exciting thing that it's not just about, here's my big trick note. Except for the times that it is. Because Anatol is the type of person that goes, here's my big trick note to make you want to fuck me. To make you go, who is this sex alien that walked in the room and stop and did a big note? That's crazy. Have him.
- [90:03]
A
I appreciate that. Malloy musically makes Anatol the kind of swoon worthy hunk where it's. He's not always a high tenor, he's not always a bass baritone. He goes up and down because he's also keeping you on your toes. You never know what his angle's gonna be.
- [90:15]
B
Absolutely. It's so thrilling. And Lucas Steele did it so beautifully. And I'm so. I was so obsessed with him too. And I was like, you're an alien from outer space.
- [90:26]
A
Also, if I may objectify him for a second, his ass in those pants. My God.
- [90:31]
B
My God. The Fieros wish.
- [90:34]
A
Yeah.
- [90:35]
B
Sarah wishes.
- [90:36]
A
He wishes. It Somebody. Somebody ordered an ice cream cake. I'm gonna say that.
- [90:41]
B
Yeah.
- [90:42]
A
Because it's two perfectly scooped pieces of ice cream cake in them. Yeah. Dead in a ditch. Jonathan Bailey.
- [90:48]
B
Who?
- [90:48]
A
Don't know her. No, it's great. We'll talk more about this in part two, I swear. So thank you everybody for listening again. If you want to follow us on Instagram at my Copolic. Usual spelling, 5 star rating review always help substack discord. Natalie, what diva are we closing out with for part one?
- [91:05]
B
We are closing out. Do I choose the song as well or I just choose?
- [91:08]
A
You can if you want.
- [91:10]
B
I would like to submit Donna Murphy doing Me and my town.
- [91:17]
A
Okay, then I. I'm sorry.
- [91:22]
B
A lady has responsibilities and I have a responsibility to the Donna Murphy community.
- [91:30]
A
Okay. Okay, then I am okay with that. It's always a little hard to find to find good audio from Boots, so. From a slime tutorial. But there is a solid one. So I will. I will. I will make it happen because.
- [91:49]
B
Because now that I'll choose, I'll choose a formally recorded one for the next.
- [91:53]
A
But any formally recorded you want, baby.
- [91:55]
B
Yes.
- [91:55]
A
All right, so Donna Murphy it is. All right, so we will see you guys for part two next week. And make sure you check out this video on YouTube so you can see that moment right in my underwear. All right, bye.
- [92:20]
B
Never love my child.