Surprise! TITANIQUE w/ Courtney Bassett

Summary

Broadway Breakdown – Surprise! TITANIQUE w/ Courtney Bassett

Podcast Host: Matt Koplik
Guest: Courtney Bassett
Date: June 22, 2023

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Episode Overview

This lively and unfiltered episode of Broadway Breakdown features Matt Koplik in conversation with Courtney Bassett, star of the off-Broadway musical Titanique. The episode focuses on the phenomenon of Titanique: a parody musical that mashes up James Cameron’s 1997 Titanic film with the music (and persona) of Celine Dion. Matt and Courtney gush about the show’s brilliance, dive into off-Broadway culture, the legacy of Titanic, queer theater, Celine Dion’s quirks, building queer community through musical theater, and Courtney’s remarkable career—including her time in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. The conversation is peppered with raunchy humor, zany digressions, theater in-jokes, and openhearted reflections on the joy and weirdness of theater.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Titanique Works: Smart Camp and Queer Joy

• Titanique is a parody musical blending the plot of Titanic (1997) with Celine Dion's music and persona.
  • Courtney’s pitch: “Titanique is the story of the blockbuster 11-time Academy Award-winning movie Titanic as told by and through the music of Celine Dion, international superstar, pop alien diva.” – Courtney (07:00)
• The show’s campy, “intentionally stupid but so smart” sensibility is seen as a love letter to both 90s pop culture and queer audiences.
  • Matt: “It is a gay fantasia on national themes. On international themes. Gong. Gong. I love it when a show that is intentionally stupid is so smart and tasteful about how stupid it is." (07:28)

2. Off-Broadway vs. Broadway & Audience Makeup

• Titanique deliberately chose not to move to Broadway, sensing the moment and audience was right off-Broadway.
• The audience is a mix: “Fire Island gays” on one side and “a gaggle of Long Island women” on the other (12:06), creating a unique, cross-subcultural New York experience.

3. The Queerness and Community of Titanique

• The show is overtly, joyfully queer—celebrating bi, gay, and non-binary identities in the cast and audience.
• Matt describes the show as a rare space “where bachelorette parties and Fire Island gays come and enjoy each other… we're bridging the cultural gap here at Titanique.” (13:01)
• Discussion touches on queer terminology, representation, and the importance of “embracing the weirdos” in theater: “I love it when the weirdos win. That's gonna be the tagline for this episode.” – Matt (36:07)

4. Celine Dion: From Idol to Stage Persona

• Courtney’s lifelong adoration of Celine Dion—she grew up emulating her voice and style:
  "Listening to her taught me how to sing. Everything she does is just ... technically perfect." – Courtney (09:45)
• The show lets Courtney fully “channel” Celine—mimicking her vocal quirks, physical movement, and sense of wonder.
  • Her impression grew from previous roles, including playing a Celine parody in Bedbugs! The Musical.
  • Celine’s earnestness and childlike joy are central: “She is plucked from another universe … in utter amazement with the world at all times.” (31:05)
• Notable recurring Celine-isms: pounding her chest, her unique accent, and being unguardedly weird and loving.

5. Backstage & Onstage Stories:

• Cast Recognition: Audience interactions include humorous moments, like someone pretending to be Courtney's brother at Great Comet's stage door (02:58).
• Crossover Roles: Courtney has played Celine, Rose, Ruth, and a backup singer—sometimes even in the same week (24:41, 26:46).
• Improv Moments: Each performance features new improv, especially “spooky scary” moments that satirize pop culture news (such as Bill Murray dating Kelis, Al Pacino’s late fatherhood, or Jessica Alba's inscrutable career).
  • “The milkshake brought the guy from Groundhog Day to the yard. And that is so spooky scary to me.” – Courtney (19:32)

6. The Queer Vibe of the Show and Its Characters

• Characters like Jack and Cal are playfully reimagined with an array of queer-coded jokes (“Jack is a high-end gay… Cal is just taking loads, power bottom on Grindr with all the eyeliner.” (18:39–19:01))
• “Dom top vocals with a sub bottom attitude” is how Matt describes the vocal approach (88:58), capturing the show’s mix of musical bravado and campy humility.

7. The Titanique Family—Guest Stars and True Fans

• Titanique has attracted Broadway legends and celebrities: “Amanda Seyfried... Jane Krakowski, Darcy Carden, Margot Robbie…” (64:00)
• Victor Garber, the original movie’s shipbuilder, saw the show and embraced the in-joke of being referred to by actor's name, not his character.
  • “One of my favorite jokes is how Victor Garber is just Victor Garber. They never say his character’s name.” – Matt (14:24)

8. Career Trajectories: From Ruthless to Comet to Titanique

• Courtney’s journey: from playing subversively queer roles in Ruthless (while she was still closeted), to princesses and avant-garde divas in Great Comet, to full-on camp goddess in Titanique.
  • “I understudied Sylvia and I went on covering a man playing a woman. So I was a woman playing a man playing a woman. Very Victor Victoria. Very gay.” – Courtney (04:57)

9. The Titanique Creative Process & The Celine “Dialect”

• Courtney discusses developing the Celine impression with intensive voice lessons, focusing on “the honk”—a specific nasal resonance typical of Celine (73:08).
  • She coaches Matt in Celine’s physicality and speech (“Curl up your left lip... a lot of smirking... goose sound, honk.” (73:27))
• On the shifting script: changes over time have included new punchlines (“Feckless queef” became “Walking yeast infection,” riffs on Rose’s mother Ruth, etc.) (25:57, 63:01)
• Rights issues nixed certain Celine songs (“It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”), requiring creative workarounds that, as Rachel Bloom said of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: “limitations make for better writers.” (38:41–39:46)

10. The Impact and Importance of Weird Theater

• Both Matt and Courtney reflect on why “weird” works matter in theater—highlighting the importance of celebrating outsiders.
• Courtney: “I love it when the weirdos win. That’s the beauty of this show and of theater.” (89:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the essence of Titanique:
  • “It is a gay fantasia on national themes. On international themes.” – Matt (07:28)
• On Celine’s persona:
  • “She is in utter amazement with the world at all times. She has this childlike wonder… I swear to God, every time she hits her chest, the whole world feels it.” – Courtney (31:05)
• On audience mix:
  • “Maybe the only time I can think of where bachelorette parties and Fire Island gays come and enjoy each other's company.” – Matt (13:01)
• On queer theater experience:
  • “I love it when the weirdos win. That's gonna be the tagline for this ep.” – Matt (36:07)
• On the challenge of camp:
  • “I love it when a show that is intentionally stupid is so smart and tasteful about how stupid it is.” – Matt (07:35)
• On Celine’s signature:
  • “That honk, but that's just a part of the French Canadian dialect. This, like, goose sound, like honk. Hello.” – Courtney (73:27)
• On Titanique’s musical energy:
  • “Dom top vocals with a sub bottom attitude.” – Matt (88:58)

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Timestamps – Important Segments

• [01:14]: Introduction of Courtney Bassett and the special bonus episode theme
• [06:47]: What Titanique is—Courtney pitches the show for “uncultured” listeners
• [09:45]: Courtney’s journey as a Celine Dion fan and developing her impression
• [12:00]: Discussion of off-Broadway audiences—Fire Island gays vs. bachelorette parties
• [19:32]: Improv moments—Courtney’s “spooky scary” Bill Murray/Kelis gag
• [24:41]: Courtney on rotating between Titanique’s lead and supporting roles
• [31:05]: What makes Celine Dion magical (Courtney’s deep dive on her energy/voice)
• [36:07]: “I love it when the weirdos win.” Embracing queerness in theater
• [46:22]: Deep cut theater TV: loving The Other Two, Great Comet recollections
• [51:54]: Great Comet—rehearsal, energy, and the importance of audience engagement
• [63:01]: Script changes from Asylum to Daryl Roth (venue move)
• [70:19]: The origin story of Titanique
• [85:12]: Celine Dion deep cuts—Courtney’s recommendations for underrated tracks
• [88:58]: “Dom top vocals with a sub bottom attitude”—Titanique’s musical identity
• [91:53]: Matt on seeing multiple versions of the show and cast; show’s consistency
• [96:44]: Closing: Courtney’s shout-out for Patti LuPone as a Broadway diva outro

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Additional Highlights

The Titanique Community

• Major celebrities and Broadway insiders have attended or praised the show, from Victor Garber to Margot Robbie.
• Courtney gives insight into the ever-evolving script, the freedom for improv, and the teamwork needed for nights with multiple covers/injuries.

Courtney’s Other Work

• Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812: details on the process, the experimental nature of the show, and Rachel Chavkin’s direction.
• Her alt-pop band, Starbird & the Phoenix: “An indie queer pop dream pop band… harmonies on harmonies on long legs.” (57:34)
• Upcoming musical project: Kill the Whale, a Moby Dick rock opera in development. (81:25)

Celine Dion “Techniques” & Influence

• Courtney describes the technical challenges and comedic opportunities of playing Celine—from the chest pounding to the specific “honk” of Francophone English.
• Stories of Celine’s humility, fear before going on stage, and knack for self-parody are lovingly referenced.

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Where to Follow & Listen

• Courtney Bassett: courtneybassett.com, Instagram: @courtney.b
• Matt Koplik: Instagram: @mattkoplik
• Titanique Tickets: Official Site
• Podcast Reviews: Encouraged, with shout-outs to thoughtful listeners (see [96:07] for a touching Alaska fan message!)

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Closing Diva

• Courtney chooses Patti LuPone as the Broadway diva to play listeners out. (96:44)

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Final Takeaway

If you love queer joy, camp, musical theater history, and insider stories—plus a riotously good time recapping Titanique and all things Celine—this episode delivers both the laughs and genuine heart that define why off-Broadway, and the theater queer community, matters.

Weirdos win. Always.

Transcript

[Courtney Bassett]

Sat.

[Matt Koplik]

Hello all you theater lovers both out and proud and on the DL. And welcome back to Broadway Breakdown, a podcast discussing the history and legacy of American theater's most exclusive address, Broadway. Normally, we would be doing the big move, and we will get to her next week. But as a nice transitional bonus episode, I want to talk about a show that is off Broadway and chose not to move to Broadway because they recognize the moment, and the moment is now. And I have with me my second favorite redhead, but my favorite redhead with legs. She knows all things about this show, all things about the subject matter of this show, and she's become a very fast, dear friend of mine. Please welcome Courtney Bassett, otherwise known as Courtney Bassett.

[Courtney Bassett]

Courtney Bassett of Titanique.

[Matt Koplik]

I love that.

[Courtney Bassett]

Bonjour, Matt Koplik. Thank you for having me.

[Matt Koplik]

Bonjour. Thank you so much for being here. So, Courtney, I know we haven't known each other very long, but I feel like you have gotten to know me pretty well through texts, meeting, social media, and you know that I'm a very discerning faggot.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, you are. I I Earlier today, I called you a fagot of the highest order.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes, I am the faggot. G O a T. Yes. But my point being, I have pretty discerning standards. I've been very open on this pod about how much I love Kimberly Akimbo and been underwhelmed by other shows. When I tell you that Titanique is tied with Kimberly Kimbo as my favorite musical of this season, I'm not saying this to blow a smoke up your ass. And it's not because you're so pretty and sitting in front of me. I've seen it three times. I and the last time I saw it, you were on a Celine. And we will get to all of that. And I got to tell you something. I told you this at the time. After the show, I got recognized by someone in the audience. They were like, oh, my God. Hey, you're Matt Koplik. I was like, yes, I am. And that was the joy of that moment was second only to watching Titanic for a third time.

[Courtney Bassett]

Wow work, Matt. You got recognized before I did at your own show.

[Matt Koplik]

Notes.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, technically, it was the second time. The first time I was at the Shubert Alley as I was waiting for my mom to go see Kimberly Akimbo for a film. Fifth time. But it has happened twice in my life in those short periods of time. I don't expect it to happen for another five or six years. I assume you're going to get Recognized far more often, much more quickly.

[Courtney Bassett]

Well, here's a funny story about being outside of a stage door. Just. Just really quickly. Somebody pretended to be my brother outside of the Great Comet on Broadway. My brother, my actual blood brother, did not get to come see the show while it was running on Broadway, but someone pretended to be my brother.

[Matt Koplik]

What was their end game?

[Courtney Bassett]

I don't. I really don't know. Just to, like, get it. Just to feel good, just to feel cool.

[Matt Koplik]

So they just said it. They didn't, like, get to come into the theater or. Or did they?

[Courtney Bassett]

No, they just told everybody. They were like, I'm Courtney Basset's brother.

[Matt Koplik]

The Basset Brothers.

[Courtney Bassett]

The b. The Basset Brothers. Like, blood brothers.

[Matt Koplik]

Like, tell me it's not true.

[Courtney Bassett]

Which is a musical that I saw.

[Matt Koplik]

When did you see it?

[Courtney Bassett]

I saw Blood Brothers on a trip with my high school drama club when I was 18 years old.

[Matt Koplik]

That's amazing. I saw Blood Brothers at Everyone Take a Shot. Stage Door, Manor Performing Arts center.

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol.

[Matt Koplik]

That show is bonkers. I did an episode on it with Kyle Marshall, and we basically are like, take a shot. Every time they mention Marilyn Monroe. Any hill. Courtney, I. There's gonna be no structure for this episode. Yeah, we're just gonna gab. And I want to talk about your journey with the show. I want to talk about the show itself. I want to talk about Great Comet as well. I also, in my research, remembered that you have done Ruthless, and I want to ask you about that. I do have an episode about Ruthless. Talk about a show written by and made for faggots. It is that show, which is ironic, is that that that show is mostly all women. Sylvia can be played by a man in drag. But yes.

[Courtney Bassett]

And along with. First of all, I'll say that I was not out of the closet when I did Ruthless the musical.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, no.

[Courtney Bassett]

I am now bisexual. That wasn't the show that did it for me. But I will say that I played Eve slash Louise.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes.

[Courtney Bassett]

Right. But I understudied Sylvia and I went on covering a man playing a woman. So I was a woman playing a man playing a woman.

[Matt Koplik]

Very Victor Victoria.

[Courtney Bassett]

Very gay.

[Matt Koplik]

Very gay. I love that. What did you say? Anxiety riddled bisexual?

[Courtney Bassett]

I'm just your average anxiety riddled, happy bisexual.

[Matt Koplik]

Now she is. Yes. Titanique helped us with that journey. For. For the. I call my listeners who don't know of what I'm about to speak of uncultured. It's like, oh, it came from my A Little Night Music episode when I had Charlotte Malpiant to dissect it with me. And we're talking about the original company of a little night music. And we're talking about Glynis Johns, the original Desiree. And we're talking about like her smoky silver. Yeah, exactly. We're talking about her smoky silvery voice. And Charlotte's like, you want to know? She sounds like the mom in Mary Poppins. And I took a beat and I said, she is the mom from Mary Poppins. You uncultured.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's. Of course she is. She is Suffragette.

[Matt Koplik]

Suffragette. Votes for women.

[Courtney Bassett]

I watched that every night stoned in college.

[Matt Koplik]

It's a great movie. A little too long, but she's great. Point is, that's now become a going joke here for my uncultured fucks listeners. Can you pitch them Titanic? What's it about?

[Courtney Bassett]

What's its vibe for the uncultured fox? Titanique is the story of the 1997 blockbuster winning film. Let me start over, actually. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Matt Koplik]

She's already shot the bed.

[Courtney Bassett]

How many? 11 Academy Awards.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I think so.

[Courtney Bassett]

How did it win? Okay.

[Matt Koplik]

I probably could tell you off the top of my head. Picture direct. I hate myself. Picture director, score.

[Courtney Bassett]

I hate you too.

[Matt Koplik]

Sorry.

[Courtney Bassett]

I hate you too.

[Matt Koplik]

Special effects, film editing. I think that was when there was still two sound categories of sound. Cinematography, costumes, production design. Yeah, 11.

[Courtney Bassett]

Okay, I'm. I'm awful for all of the uncultured. Titanique is the story of the blockbuster 11 time Academy Award winning movie Titanic as told by and through the music of Salem Dion, international superstar, pop alien diva.

[Matt Koplik]

And the reason, say, at the top of the show. But Seline, you just sang the song from the movie. You weren't actually on the Titanic.

[Courtney Bassett]

Or was I?

[Matt Koplik]

Bom bom.

[Courtney Bassett]

Exactly. She is the puppet master of everybody on that ship.

[Matt Koplik]

She is.

[Courtney Bassett]

She weaves her magic throughout. It is a gay fantasia on national themes. On international themes.

[Matt Koplik]

On international themes. Gong. Gong. It's so. I've talked about this before on the pod. I love it when a show that is like intentionally stupid is so smart and tasteful about how stupid it is. And you don't realize how difficult that is to do until you see a show try to do it and just piss all over itself. I could name names, but that's not what we're doing today. This is not a Burn Book episode.

[Courtney Bassett]

Shady Queen.

[Matt Koplik]

Listen, they're. They're around, but.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

But Titanique, the reason why it's my other favorite musical of this season in addition to Kimberly, is both shows are so fully in command of what they are, how they go about it. And just, like, I don't know. I. It's hard to talk about this in a way, not sound fangirly, because, like, you're, like, in it. You're in the sausage bisexual. But, But I don't know. Like, I just come in from the outside and I saw it. I saw it first at the basement under the now defunct Christie's. So lovely. And then I saw it at the Daryl Roth right before I start to see you. And I would like to come back at some point. Fun fact, I don't know if I told you this all three times I saw it. Constantine was not in his Jack. I'm still bitter about it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, lol. I'm so sorry.

[Matt Koplik]

I've loved all the Jacks I've seen.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, rest in peace, Constantine.

[Matt Koplik]

Rest in peace. He's not dead like John Miscavige. He's not. He's not dead. But we still say rip.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Rip.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I did have a listener once when I said RIP. John Miscavige. They texted me, DM'd me, and they were like, is he dead? And then they waited five minutes and they went, oh, never mind.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, no, he's fully alive.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I feel like I, I, I, like, listened to a little bit more of the episode, and Prescott informed us that he's not dead. Yeah. And you know, Mr. Wiscavage.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. I love you, John, if you're listening.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. John sometimes listens. I, I'll bet you he's going to see your name pop up. And I'll be like, oh, I think I'll listen to this one.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Or he'll skim through.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

John, I hope you're hearing this. 30 seconds here. I love you so much.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you so much.

[Courtney Bassett]

I will pop in and out just for all. What did we call them? Listeners that don't know. I will pop in and out of Celine.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Throughout the. Throughout the episode. I can't help it.

[Matt Koplik]

As well you should. So were you. Were you a Celine fan before Titanique?

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, absolutely. I have been a Celine Dion geek my entire life. I always say that listening to her taught me how to sing. And it is so, so true. Everything she does is just. I could. I could go into how it is technically perfect, but we'll get there. Let's say I. I loved Celine my whole life long, and then I did a show called Bedbugs the Musical. This is a deep cut. Do you, do you know it?

[Matt Koplik]

I do not know it.

[Courtney Bassett]

So it was off Broadway in 1978. I'm kidding. In.

[Matt Koplik]

That's a. That's a full Celine.

[Courtney Bassett]

LOL. In 1978? No, in2014. And along with being in the show, I also covered another role that was played by a man playing a woman. And the role was called Dion Salon. It was like a send up of Celine Dion and I really discovered them. This is my first off Broadway show that I had this. This Celine Dion impression and that I could sound like her. So I kept honing it through the years and then this Titanic Titanique audition came along and I was like, oh, God damn it, this is perfect. I guess I can't quit musical theater. I got to go in for this. And I did. And I was swept away and fell in love again with like, what you said. The book is so smart, so funny. Marlo Mindel, Ty Blue and Constantine Rauli have written this absolute gem of a funny love letter to the gays and love letter to 90s culture. I fell in love with it and, you know, of course I was gonna do a Celine Dion musical. Of course.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. It pops up and you go, hello. Written for me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, I will say so.

[Matt Koplik]

The last time I saw it. The last time I saw it. Every time I've seen it. Sorry. Every time. The first few times I saw it, I was only in a cluster of gays. So I was just like, I don't really know who this show is for other than us. I mean, we will keep it alive because we have disposable income, because most of us don't have children. But the third time I saw it, the time I went to go see you, where I got recognized. Thank you. So much work. I was sitting in between what I can only describe as a line of Fire island gays. So not just homosexuals. Like I'm talking the homosexuals that Constantine knows.

[Courtney Bassett]

High homosexuals.

[Matt Koplik]

Exactly. High level homosexuals.

[Courtney Bassett]

H E A U X Mosexuals.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes. The kind who sneak into everyday conversation that they have a time share on Fire island, that their house faces the ocean.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, that's right.

[Matt Koplik]

But they were on one side of me and the other side of me were a whole bunch. Bunch of ladies. Capital L. Ladies. I don't know if they were on the Isle of Man or if they were from Long island or New Jersey. I don't know. They. They. It was unclear, but what was clear was that it was like their girls night out. And I just. I remember sitting there going, this is sort of that it reminded me of the Line. Sherry Renee Scott says in Everyday Rapture about having two slips of paper, one in each pocket. One, I'm a speck of nothing, and two, the universe is created for me to have that balance. And I was like, this is maybe the only time I can think of where bachelorette parties and Fire island gays come and enjoy each other's company because.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow, we're bridging the cultural gap here at Titani.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Performing miracles, honestly.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, I, I will say, I don't know if it was this night that you were there, but people, there was a gaggle of Long island women, middle aged women who came to me after I, I came off stage and threw, threw their arms around me and it was like they were all my auntie, you know, because people, it is such a crazy thing because it does appeal to the Straits.

[Matt Koplik]

It does.

[Courtney Bassett]

Because Celine just transcends.

[Matt Koplik]

And Seline and Titanic. What we.

[Courtney Bassett]

And Titanic. That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

The thing about Titanic that it's so hard to tell younger people who were not around for that era moment that, that moment of time that how historic that movie was, how big it was because we haven't really had a movie like that since we've had blockbusters. But to be a movie that everyone saw that won the Oscar, that was a cultural moment. Everyone knows my heart and everyone knows I'm flying Jack. I'm king of the world. These, these iconic things. And you know, as with everything that's super successful then goes through backlash and then the backlash gets backlash and now it's sort of in a sweet spot where it's come back and everyone's acknowledged, yes, it's corny. Yes, some of it doesn't make sense, but like, it's a magnificent movie and I'm okay admitting that now.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

And Titanique comes in and it's like, oh, no, no, we are going to serve you all the things you love about the movie. Well, also like acknowledging the stuff about it that's ridiculous. And also like the things that have kind of become simplified over time. One of my favorite jokes is how Victor Garber is just Victor Garber. They don't, they never say his character's name because every time we talk about the movie we're just like, yeah, and Victor Garber.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, that is. Oh God, that is so smart. I will say also that the Victor Garber came to see the show. Shut the up. That's right. And he was a sweetie.

[Matt Koplik]

He's gay too, you know.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, he's gay.

[Matt Koplik]

He's a homosexual.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's why he came to the show.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, he. He's the high end gay.

[Courtney Bassett]

He is a high end gay.

[Matt Koplik]

He's the kind of gay that would have murdered Jennifer Coolidge in White Lotus.

[Courtney Bassett]

Absolutely. He. He would have. He would have run that gang. Yeah, he. Maybe he should have played that part. He.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, sure.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, that guy is terrifying. What is his name?

[Matt Koplik]

It's Tom Hollander.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, he's terrifying. He was perfect.

[Matt Koplik]

He was Mr. Collins in the Cure and II, Pride and Prejudice.

[Courtney Bassett]

And I was just gonna say that. I was just gonna say the guy that played Mr. Collins. That's what I was gonna say first before Pirates of the Caribbean or any of his other.

[Matt Koplik]

Sure, sure.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. He's the cousin that she almost married. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Another. Another queer moment.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Because. Yeah. The little baby gave me was probably like Karen Knightley. Oh.

[Matt Koplik]

I mean, I'm gay. I'm literally wearing a shirt that says sounds gay. I'm in. I would absolutely have sex with Kiera Knightley. Oh, Hondo P. That's not bisexuality. That's just me recognizing a. A person that I am able to have sex with.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. You're objectively stunning. It's not difficult for me to want to have sex with you.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. And her, especially as Elizabeth Bennett.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, yeah. Her wet in the rain, yelling at Darcy.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, my God. And then culture. Wow. We're. We're going on a tangent right now.

[Matt Koplik]

Welcome to the pod.

[Courtney Bassett]

But then what is it? Tom. Not Tom. No, his name's not Tom. His name's Tom. On succession. Matthew McFadden.

[Matt Koplik]

Matthew McFadden. Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, God.

[Matt Koplik]

I just.

[Courtney Bassett]

And I'm, you know, I'm bisexual and. Yeah. I'm dating a woman right now, and. But I would. She goes on my. I mean, Matthew McFadden goes on my list on Friends, where Ross has the list.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Celebrities that you get a passport. First of all, I call Matthew McFad and she all the time. I call everything she. She. But I bet as a bisexual, that argument between Kira and Matthew in the Rain was just like, everything. Yeah. Courtney sandwich on British bread.

[Courtney Bassett]

Everything.

[Matt Koplik]

Courtney sandwich on British bread. I say I. Yeah. Also tangents upon tangents. That's this podcast. But also, like, I mean, tight technique has tangents. We have a moment where if you are playing Celine Dion, and I'm gonna have a moment where I need you to coach me on how to do the accent.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Because I keep trying, and it just sounds not right. It's like Anna Faris trying to do Celine Dion. Which I'm not mad about. It's just not accurate. But you or Marla or who else cover Celine?

[Courtney Bassett]

Christina Walls, who I saw play Rose.

[Matt Koplik]

Who was so delightful.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right. She's so good. She's a sweetie.

[Matt Koplik]

There's a moment where Rose meets Jack at the clock as planned.

[Courtney Bassett]

And that was actually perfect.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you so much. That's. That's me imitating you and Marla. That's not. That's not me channeling Celine. But does you do a whole improvisational moment where Jack and Rose talk? Because Celine says, I got the little faced and I don't remember these next parts. I'm going to improv. Is that okay? And then they make their way down through the ship to the party where it's all spooky, scary, and it's always on the fly. And each time I've seen it, it's always been something wonderful and crazy. And then there's like one video on Instagram where Marla. It's very clear. Marla was just hungry that night because she has a stage come out with chicken fingers. I'm like, I think Marla just wanted chicken fingers that night.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, lol.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Chicken fingers are her favorite.

[Matt Koplik]

They're delicious.

[Courtney Bassett]

Fried chicken is her favorite fried food in general. Have I used food before in the improv? Yes. I've used gummy bears.

[Matt Koplik]

What? What did the gummy bears do?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, my. Now I'm forgetting. I think the gummy bears were some kind of drug that Jack and Rose took. I think it was pcp.

[Matt Koplik]

I love that.

[Courtney Bassett]

That night.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Well, speaking of high end gays. Jack is a high end gay.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, Jack's a high end gay.

[Matt Koplik]

He is. I mean, well, let's high end bisexual because he's able to do the deed with Rose in Titanique.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, hell yeah. He's just a queer.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Whereas. Whereas Cal is just taking loads. Power bottom on Grindr with all the eyeliner.

[Courtney Bassett]

Right. He really is.

[Matt Koplik]

I love it. I love it so much.

[Courtney Bassett]

100% power bottom.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Oh, we love a good power bottom.

[Courtney Bassett]

Power bottom in a tuxedo work.

[Matt Koplik]

They know their worth.

[Courtney Bassett]

They do.

[Matt Koplik]

They suck up all the value in the room.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Through their. Literally through their gaping holes. But that is. Yes.

[Courtney Bassett]

Am I coaching you now on the dialect? Are we doing that later?

[Matt Koplik]

Later. Let's do that later.

[Courtney Bassett]

Great.

[Matt Koplik]

Because that's going to be a whole moment.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yep.

[Matt Koplik]

Tell you just had a performance of Sale.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes. Last night.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes. What was your spooky, scary improv that night?

[Courtney Bassett]

Okay. To write let's get into it. And so in the improv, we get to the moment where it's to Jack and Rose went downstairs. And this is the part of the story that gets so spooky scary. My spooky scary. Last night was to their right. Okay, this is a deep cut, but do you know. Do you know who was there? It was Bill Murray. Do you know who's dating Bill Murray? The girl who sings my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like, it's better than yours. She. The milkshake brought Bill Murray to the yard. The milkshake brought the guy from Groundhog Day to the yard. And that is so spooky scary to me. They're actually dating right now.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And then I would have said, I'm sorry, Celine. I think something got lost in translation. No, that is so spooky scary to me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Another one, too. Speaking of scary, older gentlemen. Oh, the other scary thing to the. To the right was Alpacino, who just, at 83, had a. A baby.

[Matt Koplik]

What's the point of having a baby at 83? You're going to be dead before that thing graduates middle school.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, it's terrifying, right? That's. That's spooky scary.

[Matt Koplik]

Also, I did. Did I call a baby a thing? Sure did. I love it there. And this one, I think is always in the script because I recall it happening each time. But then there was on it was a poster of Jessica Alba.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, that's the one in the script.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes. Because it's. What's the line? It's like, because what is your career? Is it comedy? Is it drama? It's so.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, my God. Do you. Do you want to go on?

[Matt Koplik]

No, my heart. My heart won't let me go on.

[Courtney Bassett]

What is her career? Is it comedy? Is it drama? I don't know, but it's scary.

[Matt Koplik]

Jessica, of all the people. Because I was like, I remember when I first saw that, and then I forgot about it because it had been like nine months in between viewings. And then when I saw it again, I just remember going, of all the people, Jessica Alba. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a Jessica Alba movie.

[Courtney Bassett]

I think that's why. You know what? That's a moment I've never asked Marlo about. I'll have to ask her. Why Jessica Alba? Where did that come from?

[Matt Koplik]

Because you could also do Jessica Biel.

[Courtney Bassett]

You could do Jessica Biel. What is her career? Is it comedy? Is it 7th Heaven?

[Matt Koplik]

Is it movies? Is it TV. Is it being Mrs. Timberlake? Who knows?

[Courtney Bassett]

It's being Mrs. Timberlake.

[Matt Koplik]

It's being Mrs. Timberlake.

[Courtney Bassett]

Sorry, Jessica.

[Matt Koplik]

Jessica, have you ever watched BoJack Horseman?

[Courtney Bassett]

No, what's that? Wait, Yes, I know what it is, but I've never watched it.

[Matt Koplik]

That's okay. I just loved the three act journey we went on in four seconds.

[Courtney Bassett]

No.

[Matt Koplik]

What is that? I know. Yeah. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a Netflix animated show. It's sort of a satire on Hollywood while also being a deep dive into mental health. But it's mostly very funny, but often can get very dark. And part of the whole thing about it is that it's real people and then animals. And some celebrities get to play themselves and some people are faux celebrities, but Jessica Beal has been on it multiple times. And because she's the ex wife, I think of Mr. Peanut Butter. And anytime they do a flashback, I know every time they do a flashback of them together, she's always like a raging on it. And with her permission, they were like. Because she came on to voice herself. And one of my favorite lines she has is they're like, she's at Starbucks with Mr. Peanut Butter and she orders her drink and they go, okay, and what's the name? She goes, jessica Biel. Obviously, I'm one of the Jessicas.

[Courtney Bassett]

Work Jessica. Okay. So she gets it.

[Matt Koplik]

She get. Oh, she absolutely.

[Courtney Bassett]

At least she gets it.

[Matt Koplik]

She does get it. I love it. People who have sense of humor about themselves can stay.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes. Yeah, those people can stay.

[Matt Koplik]

Don't take yourself so seriously. Take the work seriously.

[Courtney Bassett]

The rest. Bye. Bye.

[Matt Koplik]

Bye. Oh, people. And there are people who are not Jessica Beal. They're not even on the level of Jessica Biel's hairdresser. And they have the ego of a country.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

A whole country.

[Courtney Bassett]

A lot of them are out there.

[Matt Koplik]

They are out there.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's scary.

[Matt Koplik]

It's spooky.

[Courtney Bassett]

Between 40th street and 52nd, sometimes 66.

[Matt Koplik]

If you want to be cultured by. That's right.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right. That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Just saying, there are a lot of theaters by Lincoln Center. Anyone in there could have some spooky, scary egos.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

So also, the night that I went to go see you on a Celine, because when you're not Celine and you're not Rose. Because you've also been Rose. Yes, but you've been.

[Courtney Bassett]

And I've also been Ruth.

[Matt Koplik]

You've been Ruth.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

What do you call Rose when you freak out at her? When you're Ruth.

[Courtney Bassett]

That is the same. I. I say walking yeast infection.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, walking because it was feckless queef at Christini's.

[Courtney Bassett]

It was a feckless queef which I.

[Matt Koplik]

Quoted in my review.

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol.

[Matt Koplik]

Because that made me piss myself.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Walking yeast infection, I call her.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, walking yeast infection is also quite amazing. It's unfair that plan B only works on skinny pictures.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's. Yeah, that's what Russell says.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

I say fair this, what's in the script is these pearls from Forever 21. And then because the pink shirt that I have to wear, that same pink shirt is so big on me, I say this Pepto Bismol colored moomoo isn't fair.

[Matt Koplik]

Ruth is Rose's mother. For any. Anyone who hasn't seen Titanic, if you haven't watched Titanic, get the up.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Get out of here. I'm doing my very best. Francis Fisher, who is the queen of all acting. We'll just. For anyone, if you have, if you have seen Titanic, it's like, this is not a game.

[Matt Koplik]

You know, the money's gone.

[Courtney Bassett]

Of course.

[Matt Koplik]

Of course I know it's gone. You remind me every day. I haven't seen that movie.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

You know, my, my brain is stupid. I remember things so well, things I haven't seen in years.

[Courtney Bassett]

And.

[Matt Koplik]

And it's like certain pockets, like, I just remember because I feel like that whole thing was recorded with asmr because it's all very quiet.

[Courtney Bassett]

This is not a game.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes. She says, like, do you want to see her find things sold at auction? Do you want to see me as a seamstress? Is that what you want?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, it's so good.

[Matt Koplik]

It's so good. And Russell, who now plays Ruth, is so amazing. I know it's a line in the script and I actually someone posted footage of an old reading, I want to say, from 2019, maybe 2018, from LA. Whoever's playing Ruth stands up. It's the original Ruth.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Stands up for their intro. They go. And then the Rose's mother, Ruth was also there. And the line now. Sorry, the line then was like another gorgeous day to be like a skinny white racist. And then, and then it became.

[Courtney Bassett]

It was that. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And then now it is another gorgeous day to be a rich, skinny monster. Which I think is funnier that.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's very. It's much funnier.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I love it. A rich.

[Courtney Bassett]

And when I do it, I do it a broken doll. Which skinny monster.

[Matt Koplik]

It's very funny. I love broken dolls. You're like Kate McKinnon in the Barbie trailer.

[Courtney Bassett]

LOL.

[Matt Koplik]

Which you're gonna see, right?

[Courtney Bassett]

Of course I am.

[Matt Koplik]

Good. I just want to make sure that you're.

[Courtney Bassett]

I don't get out, though.

[Matt Koplik]

You don't get.

[Courtney Bassett]

I don't get out much. They just. They keep me in the Daryl Roth, and then they let me out to do podcasts.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I had to sign a lot of waivers to get you out of there. It was. It was like getting Hannibal Lecter out for a day.

[Courtney Bassett]

Scary, right?

[Matt Koplik]

It was spooky scary.

[Courtney Bassett]

I'm so sorry about that.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, God. So I was gonna say was the night that I saw you on a Celine, because normally you're one of the ship singers.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

What's. What. What's the title for that?

[Courtney Bassett]

They back up singers.

[Matt Koplik]

The backup singers.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

But that night, I guess because most of the principals were out, all of you had to go on as roles, so there were no backup singers.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow. I'm sorry about that.

[Matt Koplik]

I'd seen the show twice before then. I had seen it how it was supposed to go. This was fun for me because then I. Because there are things that the backup singers have to do with sets and props that you couldn't do. So it was fun to watch you guys kind of figure it out with, like, a shrunken cast and some stagehands.

[Courtney Bassett]

Right.

[Matt Koplik]

So I. I was living my best. Truth. It was. It's how I watched Moulin Rouge both times I saw it because I know how the Al Hirschfeld works and I know how small it is. So I would watch that separate part. Like, how are they fitting the set pieces? This is. This is what's interesting.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, exactly. Well, you know, and then one of the backup singers is supposed to sing who Lets Lean Out? And instead, that night when you saw me, I forgot that that night, I. So I had to do who lets Lean Out?

[Matt Koplik]

Me, me, me, me.

[Courtney Bassett]

You know?

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. No, you guys. You guys figured it out. It was. It was honestly a joyous evening, and not just because I was recognized by the entire theater. And yes, I know I said earlier it was one person. I'm changing that now to the whole theater. Everyone stood up and applauded me.

[Courtney Bassett]

You're like Matt Koplik. Oh, my God. Sounds gay. I'm in.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, my God. Gay. Now we are on the gayest night of the year at Titanic with Matt Coptic. What is a moment in the show that you always look forward to either as Celine, as Rose, as a backup singer?

[Courtney Bassett]

My ultimate favorite moment, I gotta say, is the best diva moment of all. Diva moments. That I've had on stage is singing the I surrender bridge. And I surrender.

[Matt Koplik]

At what point of the show does that happen?

[Courtney Bassett]

That happens when the ship is sinking. So Victor Garber has just gone down. He's just.

[Matt Koplik]

And not on me.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, he has not gone down on you. Oh, maybe. I mean, maybe he would. Victor Garber, are you out there? So he's. He's just gone down with the ship, and Celine gets to come out, and every night's getting longer, and it's just. And I. I get to option up to a high A and. And scrout my titties off and, you know, it's just a moment in communion with. With. With the musical theater gods.

[Matt Koplik]

I love it. I also love the. Wait for it. That's fun.

[Courtney Bassett]

You go, no.

[Matt Koplik]

I also. I just. I don't know. I love the vocal arrangements for the show. As someone who is a Barry Tenor, I'm like, oh, I could never sing this eight times a week.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's.

[Matt Koplik]

I would kill. I would die. But I love listening to it. The taking chances arrangements always. Always does it for me. I don't like that. What's the bridge? The end. I've had my heart and beaten down But I always come back.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

How many harmonies are there in that for Titanic? Is it three or four?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, sweetie, I don't know that I even know the answer to that question.

[Matt Koplik]

I. I didn't really ask. Hoping you would know.

[Courtney Bassett]

I. I think it's. It's. It's probably just an satb, right?

[Matt Koplik]

Probably. I don't know. It's. Whatever it is, it's very. It's very lovely and always fills me with joy every time because I love that bridge in general. And then I'm like, oh, and harmony.

[Courtney Bassett]

The answer is four. The answer is A. Is your standard satb? Actually, it's probably five because there's two middle parts.

[Matt Koplik]

Sure.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

So smat, burr, smatter. That sounds like a Celine word, don't it?

[Courtney Bassett]

Schmatber?

[Matt Koplik]

What is it about Celine that you. Oh, wait, hold on. What time is it? Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna take a quick break.

[Courtney Bassett]

You're the top.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

You're an arrow collar. You're the top.

[Matt Koplik]

You're a Coolidge dollar.

[Courtney Bassett]

You're the nimble thread of the feet.

[Matt Koplik]

And we're back. Sorry, I. I keep forgetting. I've been. I've been a lot better about it lately. But when I'm having fun with the guest, I'm like, let's just Keep talking like, oh, I have to take ad breaks.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

She's on. She's on a network. She has to make those $5.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, you are.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes. So what I was gonna ask was, what is it about Celine that you gravitate towards as an artiste?

[Courtney Bassett]

What a delightful question. Well, Celine, beyond the voice. Beyond the fact that the voice can do anything. That it is the. She's the greatest singer. The greatest singer in the world. It's her. The fact that she is plucked from another universe. She is in utter amazement with the world at all times. She has this childlike wonder where, you know, to do a little bit of her and, you know, our listeners can't see. But I'm going to make Matt look around the room. Like, he's. Like, he's just amazed. Like he's never seen planet Earth before. Like, what is this? Oh, my God, how are you? And I love you. Like, she is full of love. And it. It radiates out of her. I swear to God, every time she hits her chest, the whole world feels it. It's like a love shock. She's. She's. We call her like an alien diva. She's just a goddess. And. And I identify with her the most because I love to sing like that. I love her style of riffing. I grew up singing like that. But she's also just essentially a weirdo. As am I, and as is Marla. And I think that that is a rare quality to be found in an international pop diva. That purity of heart and that quirkiness.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I've mentioned before with musical theater. I really want more embracing of the weirdos, of the aliens. Those are the people, for me, that make the most interesting art.

[Courtney Bassett]

Like, and that's on fleek.

[Matt Koplik]

And that is on fleek. Titanic.

[Courtney Bassett]

That is on fleek. Titanic.

[Matt Koplik]

You are just a natural songwriter, aren't you?

[Courtney Bassett]

I am a songwriter. We can. We can get to that.

[Matt Koplik]

See, this is how I'm good at my job because that was a natural transition. We could talk about Courtney's compositions, but no, I guess as I was preparing for this episode, because I've always enjoyed Celine, but, I mean, I don't have a ton of pop divas. I'm truly a musical theater fan. Like, I. If I met Selena, I would be gobsmacked. But like, I fully met Judy Kuhn Kunzy, as we call her, on this pod at the fun home theater, and word vomited all over her in a way that like most people would on Beyonce or, you know, Whitney, if She were still alive. And I'm like, no. Judy Kune. The best vanilla ice cream that's ever existed. Because that's me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

On Maine. But as I was preparing for this episode, I was watching clips of her performances and interviews and I was taken aback at just really how honest and earnest she is. There's. I mean, she is odd. She's absolutely odd. But it's not an act. It's all earnest and. And real. There's no falseness about her. And I love that because even some of my favorite movie actresses, theater actresses, pop stars, whatever, there are some who are very, you know, honest. And then somewhere it's a little more not calculated but reserved. It's something that I know Anne Hathaway always got very unfairly maligned for that. She always. She thought a little too much before she spoke, which I'm like, that Isn't that being an adult? Like thinking of your sentence.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Thinking of your sentence before you say it. But still think attitudes like that you can see in some performers and artists. And Celine is just. I don't know this. It's just all there. And she has. I think because she's got nothing to prove and nothing to hide. It's just right out there.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And I never knew about the. The chest hitting until I saw Marla do it. And then once I saw that in Titanique and any video content I've seen a sleep performing, it's all I can see.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Famously did it on the Oscars for My Heart Will Go On.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right. Wearing the like million dollar necklace.

[Matt Koplik]

Yep. The heart of the ocn.

[Courtney Bassett]

And she talks about how she's like those security guards, they stared at me when I was. When I hit my chest. It's like, I'm not gonna break the jewels.

[Matt Koplik]

I love that.

[Courtney Bassett]

And she did Family Jewels.

[Matt Koplik]

She didn't want to sing My Heart Will Go On. She didn't want to record it.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

And when she first heard it, she did not like the track. And I believe that we'll have to fact check this after the episode. But the vocal that is in on the soundtrack was a scratch vocal.

[Matt Koplik]

I believe that is true.

[Courtney Bassett]

And the Oscar performance that you just mentioned is the only time that I have found recorded that she has sung it in the original key.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes, yes, yes. I do know that the take they have of My Heart Will Go On. Yeah. I don't think she did many takes of it. I think it was like that one. One and done same thing with Angela Lansbury. And the title track of Beauty and the Beast. It was a one and done.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow. What a crossover.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. It was like. It was gonna be a mic check and. And they listened to it and they're like, actually, Angela, I think we got it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow. I love that so much.

[Matt Koplik]

I love it when nice people do good work. And we're all nice about it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Me too. And I love it when the weirdos win.

[Matt Koplik]

I love it when the weirdos win. That's gonna be the tagline for this ep. Love it when the weirdos win.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. What is your favorite Saline song?

[Courtney Bassett]

My favorite S song. Oh, God, I'm gonna. It's. It's gotta be I Surrender still. It's just freaking epic. But I will. Can I give a deep cut?

[Matt Koplik]

Sure.

[Courtney Bassett]

So there's a song on her falling into youo album, one of her first albums. When I. I remember when I was auditioning for the show, actually, I listened to this album while I was, you know, putting my makeup on in the morning and curling my hair. It's called make you happy. You gotta listen to that one. I will make you happy.

[Matt Koplik]

I mean, again, I'll be honest, I don't know her discography extensively, partly because I'm. Again, I'm. I'm not a pop person all that much. I mean, I just got into Kelly Clarkson four years ago. It was a very big deal for me. And now I love her.

[Courtney Bassett]

Okay. Work.

[Matt Koplik]

But. Yeah, I. I also, like, don't know all of Mariah's stuff. It's. That's. That's just me. I'm like. I can tell you every album Audrey's ever done. Mariah Carey, you called her. What's her name?

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, that's me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Wow.

[Matt Koplik]

But I do know some of stuff. And then watching Titanique, I was like, oh, I didn't realize that that was also a Celine or like, Celine had covered that. Like, I know. I always. I know that she's done all by myself, but I always forget she's done all by myself and. Because that's not her original song, is it?

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, she's the original.

[Courtney Bassett]

She's the original singer.

[Matt Koplik]

I thought she covered it. See, this is where I'm ignorant. This is where I'm an uncultured.

[Courtney Bassett]

No. But I will give you a deep cut that she covered. Power of Love that was actually written by somebody else. We did not get the rights for that one because it was written by somebody else.

[Matt Koplik]

That's unfortunate. Yeah. What are other songs that could not.

[Courtney Bassett]

Be gotten it's all coming back to me now. Yeah. They wouldn't even let Peloton have it.

[Matt Koplik]

Was there a place that they wanted.

[Courtney Bassett]

To have the show used to begin with? Let's see, what else do I remember? And there were nights when the wind was so cold.

[Matt Koplik]

That's a. That's a good way to open it. But, I mean, I'm not gonna lie.

[Courtney Bassett]

I'm alive. Is it it?

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, it really. It really is it, y'. All. This is the other thing I. I love about creatives, when they're good, and it's so. I'm so glad that you decided to be in a show I like, and because it makes this less awkward, it shows me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Sweetie.

[Matt Koplik]

Have you ever watched Crazy Ex Girlfriend?

[Courtney Bassett]

No. I'm so sorry.

[Matt Koplik]

It's good.

[Courtney Bassett]

I do know that Rachel Bloom is.

[Matt Koplik]

A fan of the show, as well she should be. It's right up her alley. But Rachel Bloom has talked about with Crazy Ex Girlfriend, because that show was originally gonna be on Showtime. That's where it got greenlit. And then Showtime ended up not picking up the pilot, so they had to sort of recut the pilot in hopes that a network would pick it up and a network, National Network Television, whatever, would pick it up. And so the CW did, and they then had to start writing with that in mind. Oh, we need to have commercial breaks. It needs to not have any swearing. Oh, but we want to talk about this sexual thing, but how do we do that without saying it? And she said it made us better writers because we had to be more creative about doing what we wanted. And it's those limitations that really kind of push you as a creative. So the fact that you guys couldn't do It's All Coming Back to Me and found a way around it, I think is a testament to the creativity of the writers as well as just, you know, making the most of what you got.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, absolutely. My heart was broken, so I joined the show. I auditioned in 2020 right before the shutdown.

[Matt Koplik]

I'm so sorry I did that to you.

[Courtney Bassett]

Crazy, right?

[Matt Koplik]

That's me.

[Courtney Bassett]

I know it's you. It's you. And the pandemic happened. Kept working on my Celine. Knew it would come along. 2021 comes along, and we do a concert of it at La Pousse Rouge at lpr. And it's all coming back to me was in the show then. And then when I got the new script in May of 2022, before we started rehearsals for. For the Asylum, I saw that it's all coming back Gone. And I was heartbroken. I was like, oh, come on. But I'm Alive is now become one of my favorite parts of the show to perform as Celine, because it is directly plucked from her Las Vegas 2007 DVD A New Day, her performance of it. She's wearing a white pantsuit. She famously does a little grapevine, and she says, and so are you G. It sounds like ka. It sounds like ka. Right? And here's a funny thing. Marla even thought it was caught. And I was like, marla, I think. I think it's. Come on. Because that's, you know, in my band, Starboard in the Phoenix, which we can talk about. We. My bandmate will say a lot. Come on. You know, it's like a. It's a rock thing that you do. And Celine does that all the time. Come on. So she. It's. But it sounds like she's being a bird. And so are you. I'm alive and so are you. God. And so all of that in that number is just exactly, you know, what Celine does on that. On that stage. It's. And now it's just. Oh, God, it's so fun.

[Matt Koplik]

It is so fun. And it hypes the audience up so much.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

For the energy of it. I love it and so very much.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. And there's so many deep cuts in there. Like when. When I do Celine, actually, Celine. In that same dvd, for any Celine nerds, she says, call me after. She's like, when you call on me, call me after the show. Okay. And I. I had to throw that in there. I do that one. Call me after the show. Okay.

[Matt Koplik]

My only, like, deep cuts of Celine actually come through. Second Six Degrees of Kathy Griffin. Stand up because. Kathy Griffin. Have you watched any Catherine. Kathy Griffin stuff?

[Courtney Bassett]

Not in years.

[Matt Koplik]

I'm sorry, why? I don't know why you keep being homophobic towards me, but it's fine. No, she has a whole segment about Celine Dion where she. She. Because she's, like, done stuff about all the people.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right. That's right. That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

And she has one where she meets Celine at her Las Vegas show for a charity.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, yes, that's right. I need to see this.

[Matt Koplik]

It's very funny. And I mean, most Kathy really only kind of drags the Vegas show. Not that it's bad, just because. How odd it is.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

But she loves it.

[Courtney Bassett]

It is strange.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And she's like. And I. But she's like, I keep going back clearly for a reason.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

But she's like, you know, Celine sounding beautiful, singing My Heart will Go on. And then like a clown will just be playing a golden piano floating across the stage.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, it was Cirque du Soleil. And they infamously got bad reviews at first.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And then, but then it became an institution. But she talked about Celine the person, the individual comes off very well on it because, you know, it's someone who I guess like donated all this money for a charity and exchange to meet Celine. And so Kathy Griffin is sort of like the liaison for that. And then she was having brunch with all of her gay friends and two of her friends were like, oh, you're meeting Celine. I love her. And she's like, I know you do. He's like, can I meet her? She's like, no, I can't do that. But like, if you want, I can have her sign something for you. So like he and his husband go to the Celine gift shop, buy out the entire store and then like ask her to sign it. But like they have post its on each thing of like what they want her to say on each thing. And Kathy, and Kathy Griffin brings it and she's like, I can't, I can't do it. I can't do it. And so she, all she's, all she's able to do is like, give Selena poster. Celine signs it and then she sees all the other stuff. She goes, you have other things? And she goes, no, it's, it's for my friend Tom. He's a teacher. And she's like, if you want me, it's like, it's what I'm here for. Like I, I sign it. And she's like, are you sure? It's a lot of stuff. And she's like, yeah, it's fine. So she's signing all the stuff and then they're doing the photo and Kathy Griffin realizes in as they're taking photos, she's petting Celine's hair absent mindedly. And she goes, I'm so sorry, Celine. I just realized I'm petting your hair like a dog. That's weird. And then Celine just goes, then I will bark for you like a dog. Oh yeah, she's got a sense of humor. I love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

She's an absolute clown.

[Matt Koplik]

Yep. And then Kathy did have to lie to her because sleep's like, oh, he's a teacher. He's a music teacher. And Kathy's like, yeah, sure he is. He's a history teacher. But she's like, Celine asked and I wanted her to feel like she was helping the music I love. I love music so much. But, yeah, she said exactly. What you said was every time she comes out to do her concerts, she's always so surprised that people showed up. She's like. As if she's unaware that it's been sold out for months. But I think, like, part of. She may not know. She might genuinely not want to know. I think part of the. The thrill as a performer is going out there and being like, I don't know what tonight brings. And even the most successful people, like, Audrey talks about it all the time. She's like. She wakes up every morning and she goes, is today the day that everyone decides that I'm a fraud? And, like, it all turns on me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow.

[Matt Koplik]

Because that's. Even as you get success, like, there's always the. The fear that it goes away or.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

People who like you will no longer like you and what happens then? So I do think it's genuine surprise. Every time she comes out, she goes, they did not turn on me today.

[Courtney Bassett]

No. I think, oh, God. She. I've obviously watched so much of her, and I feel this exact same way. She says, like, before I go on stage, I'm like. I have all this energy, and I'm like a tiger in a cage. I just need to be unleashed, you know? And I feel that. That same way. And you get out there and you're like, oh, my God, It's. It's real. And also, it's a feeling I think, for me, I can relate to. To that what I. What I see in her is like, this is what I was put on this earth to do. Oh, my God. Ah, here it is. Here's this moment, you know?

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, yeah. It's a ring of keys moment when it all syncs up.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And you're like, oh, this is. It makes sense to me now.

[Courtney Bassett]

The musical theater references are. So I am not as much of a musical theater geek. I'm more of a Celine Dion geek. And I'm learning a lot from you today, so thank you.

[Matt Koplik]

And I'm learning a lot from you. This is your keys. I keep mentioning things that I'm just convinced you no. And then you don't. So I just keep on getting knocked down. The other 2. The TV show. The other two.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh. Do you know how obsessed I am?

[Matt Koplik]

Thank God. Okay. We found middle ground. We found middle ground deep. But the first season, they go to that middle school, so Chase can escort that girl to, like, her middle school dance or whatever. And there's this girl who. Who Sees them. She's like, you guys are in the music industry. And they're like, sort of. And she goes, and your keys.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

And I love it. I love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Applause for that. Applause.

[Matt Koplik]

I love. I mean, I said just.

[Courtney Bassett]

The episode that takes place at the Imperial Theater, I have watched three times, because obviously the Imperial Theater was my home doing the Great Comet. And that episode, the theater tropes. It is. It is. I. It needs to win an Emmy. I'm so obsessed.

[Matt Koplik]

Eight gay men with a. It's a poem in many hours.

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol.

[Matt Koplik]

How many hours? Why?

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes. And all of them going to sleep. Speaking of people who don't take themselves too seriously, Kieran and Shivka in that. That episode, she's like, hey, you want to take a pic with me? Like, I. I love that.

[Matt Koplik]

When. For those.

[Courtney Bassett]

I think about that daily, actually, what.

[Matt Koplik]

I started to do, I found myself. Sometimes I find myself absorbing the. The traits of certain characters I love. So, like, I. Sometimes I fully become Roger from American dad. And I have often. I've often walked with my hands like Roger and American dad, just wrists completely free of cartilage. But for those of you who don't watch the other two, Helena York and Drew Carver, who play the siblings, they are both in the industry for a while. And then Helena York leaves the industry in season three, to quote, unquote, do good. And the moment that makes her realize she wants to get back in is when she's at the Imperial Theater with her fiance and Chase. Her brother is engaged to Kieran and Shipka. And because she's no longer in the industry, she can't talk to Kieran and Shivka the way she wants to. She wants to be like, oh, my God, we're peers. But because now she plants trees for a living, Kieran and Shivka's like, you want to panic? They're in the theater watching the play. And Helene New York tries to mouth to Kieran and Shipka like, I used to be in the industry. I used to be like, you and Kieran. And Shivka sees her in the boot in the box, and she's like, what are you saying? She goes, I used to be like, you, girl. And Kieran Shifka just says, I can't do it justice via audio because she's mouthing it. But, like, she does a little like. Like. Like her shoulders cave in. She points herself. She's like, oh, my God, thank you.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, my God, thank you, thank you.

[Matt Koplik]

I love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

You just did such a good job of describing that episode. Wow.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you. I. I tend to over explain, so I'm trying.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, it's beautiful. There's a. I don't want to ruin it for people who haven't seen that episode yet, but there is a moment, a little love letter to the Baz Luhrmann. Romeo and Juliet. That episode that sent me to the moon and back.

[Matt Koplik]

The whole episode. That's Pleasantville. I love it. It's a great show. Everybody get into it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Speaking of the Imperial, let's talk about Comet for a second.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

I thoroughly enjoy Natasha Pierre onto the Great Comet of 1812.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Saw it in the tent three times. Saw it at the Imperial. Oh, wow. You understudied Princess Mary and took over Princess Mary and took over for Princess Mary. So. And then I guess also then the opera singer when they go to the opera.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

What was that process like for you? What was, what was your journey with Comet first? How did, how did that come about? Where did you join?

[Courtney Bassett]

I joined the show, let's say, for all the theater. I.

[Matt Koplik]

And theater allies.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, let's. Let's start that over.

[Matt Koplik]

It's. It is Pride. There are allies too.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes. For. For everybody this Pride Month. Well, Comet is a show where weirdos win. So obviously that's how I came to be a part of the great Comet. I joined in 2016. We did the out of town tryout at the American Repertory Theater. I was in the ensemble covering Sonya and Princess Mary. And then I played Mary over the summer of 2016, and then we closed prematurely. But it was a wild ride from start to finish.

[Matt Koplik]

Did you ever go on as Sonya?

[Courtney Bassett]

I actually did not. Oh, that's a shame.

[Matt Koplik]

Although that might have been a little low for you. You could go up to the rafters.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, no. Right. Right in my wheelhouse. But, you know, maybe someday.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, this. Listen, life is long and you keep staying out of the sun. You can play ingenues till you're dead.

[Courtney Bassett]

Exactly. It's just Retinoid after Retinol.

[Matt Koplik]

Absolutely. That's how we do. That's how we do it. I, I mean, I, I adore that score. I think it's such a fascinating, odd and like, very compelling score.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Had you seen the show before you went in for it or was it like all brand new to you?

[Courtney Bassett]

I had not seen the show. I listened to it a little bit. I honestly think I just learned the material and maybe listened to the Off Broadway cast. I fell in love with it because it was so strange. And, and, and for Princess Marian in particular. She's this mix of musical theater meets rock soul and kind of like a little bit of like Celine too. And he looked at her once was one of the moments that I get to sing as Princess Mary. It was just like nod to Celine too.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

What was the question?

[Matt Koplik]

Sorry, there was no question. It was, it was where did your journey begin with that show? And then what was your journey like for that show? But I guess something I want to ask because Comet, Titanique, both shows with like wild personalities in them and very specific tones. So do you remember anything that Tony winning director Rachel Chavkin said to you guys when working on the piece of sort of like, what. How to go about performing it? Sort of like, what was the world that was being set in this show?

[Courtney Bassett]

That's such a good question. The world was wild abandon and the. The peace part of the War and Peace, for anybody that doesn't know, this is Comet was based off of a 60 page slice of Tolstoy's War and Peace. So the peace part of it, where we're all like these wild denizens of Moscow living for the night, like marrying the night. A Lady Gaga, you know, just like drunk and high and wildly dancing. That world was such a fun place to live in. I think the world of the play theatrically, the thing that was the greatest takeaway for me, which has helped me with Titanic, and when Rachel Chavkin came, she came to see me as Celine. I said, thank you for this. The director addressed to the audience the. Using the audience as your diary, as God, as. As like a love letter, looking them in the eyes and making them part of the story. The gift of theater that is like no other. That we get to have this live exchange between humans is also happening in Titanique. I love that through line for me and for one other person, that was a Comet head that also did Titanic. Ken Clark, deep cut. He played Victor Garber for a time. I don't think I'd be able to do Celine justice and really look people in the eyes and have that experience if I hadn't had that training ground of Comet.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, that's absolutely true because I mean, also. Yeah, I always forget how much interaction there was in great Comet and I mean letters and then even Natasha and Mary.

[Courtney Bassett]

All of it.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, all of it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

I just remember I. I don't think they did this on Broadway because in the tent, Natasha and Mary, there were tables all over the place in the tent. So Natasha and Mary had to sit down at a table.

[Courtney Bassett]

We did.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, you did do that.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And. And made people move. It was. It was a lot of fun, but, like, never felt invasive. It was just. Just. And I know people were on good behavior. It was one of those things where when you can see everybody and you're so much of a part of it, everybody just wants to. Nobody wants to ruin the experience.

[Courtney Bassett]

The awkwardest moment. So awkward.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I mean, I also love the kind of. Just bonkers of the opera sequence, is that. Are there actual notes you have to sing or is it a pick your own adventure?

[Courtney Bassett]

There are actual notes in the score, but it is kind of like a.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, yeah, I love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

I love your own adventure. And pick your own. Gil C. Bell, who created the part, is like a extended vocal technique scholar. An extended vocal technique, I'm gonna say, from. From my vantage point, making crazy noises like. Yeah, that's her thing. And so obviously, anyone that was going to play Mary had had to do that. That was in the score.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I saw it. So I didn't see Gelsey in the tent. She had left. I saw her when she. When it moved to Broadway in the tent. I saw Shayna Taub do it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Talk about fun weirdos. And again, talk about Stage Door Manor. Everybody, I. You. Shows like this, like Comet, like Titanique, they're a breeding ground for the aliens, for the weirdos.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Who can then fertilize and then come out of those productions and flourish in the next thing they do. So it's very. I'm very excited to see your next thing because you've now had two beautiful breeding grounds that have just been bigger and better and bigger and better. You're welcome. It's Daria. That's.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right. Yeah, that's right. And I think if you're doing it in the French Canadian, like Celine, it's.

[Matt Koplik]

More like a. Yeah, there's a harder R. She talked about Celine. She has a bit in one of her concerts where she was taking an English class.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, yes, yes, I know this. How are you? Yeah, how do you do?

[Matt Koplik]

Because. Because the France, or at least the Canadian Front.

[Courtney Bassett]

Hello.

[Matt Koplik]

The H's are difficult. So. Yes, her teacher was very much about, like, hit the H's.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes. How are you?

[Matt Koplik]

How kind of.

[Courtney Bassett]

And then infamously, I got to do this at the Asylum. And an allusion to this. But.

[Matt Koplik]

They also have.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. If you saw the Asylum version, you might remember that there was a bit about being stuck in Panda Express.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes.

[Courtney Bassett]

We have been in this pandemic. This Panda Express. It was just me and this orange chicken. I say to this chicken, chicken, why you orange? I gotta go. And I, when I would go on, would go, like blowing on a hot chicken a la Saline in that same concert. Deep cut.

[Matt Koplik]

There's so many deep cuts. This might as well be a Ryan Murphy show, like Nip Tuck, because we're making the deepest of cuts.

[Courtney Bassett]

LOLs.

[Matt Koplik]

LOLs, everybody. Oh, God, I could go on.

[Courtney Bassett]

Sorry I took you up. I took no tangent again.

[Matt Koplik]

This is how you all know that Courtney's only listened to one episode. Because if you have listened to every episode of this podcast, Courtney, you know that tangent is the name of the game. We go on all the game. That's gonna be the name of my memoir. Tangent with an exclamation point. Egu. No, I. Honestly, I could go on about. Great comment forever, but I don't think I shall because I do want to keep this focused, or at least not focused centered around identity. Yeah, yeah, but we're. We have hinted at the fact that you write that you have a band.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

I think now is a wonderful opportunity. I've opened up a window. A window, A window. Courtney, tell the children. What do we write? Who's the band? What's she about? What's her life like?

[Courtney Bassett]

Starboard in the Phoenix is also a queer fantasia on national themes. Hahaha. An indie queer pop dream pop band in which my bandmate Andrew Swackhammer sings in the rafters above me, scrouting like Mika a la Mika. Yeah. And it's just harmonies on harmonies on long legs. On long legs, supported by crazy genius ukulele and auxiliary. Auxiliary instruments that come in and create a delightful pop dream.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

So pop is the genre that you would say. It is.

[Courtney Bassett]

I would say alt pop. We're gonna say alternative pop. Because in this day and age, if you're playing live instruments, that's considered alternative. Isn't that crazy?

[Matt Koplik]

That is crazy. That is crazy.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. So we have. You know, our album was produced by Daniel Amond, who is my roommate, actually, and also another collaborator of mine. I'll get to that in a second. And we have sax. We have strings. We have some harp on our album. Yeah. Live instruments of the wazoo.

[Matt Koplik]

Honey, for a second, I didn't realize you were saying sax. For a second, I thought you were saying sex oddly. And I was like, oh. I was like, oh, we're. We are.

[Courtney Bassett]

And we have socks.

[Matt Koplik]

We have socks.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, there's. There's saxophone.

[Matt Koplik]

I love that. Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Now, sometimes clarinet.

[Matt Koplik]

Sometimes I just go, oh, We're. We're confessing stuff. Lol. Because I'm always confessing. But. And. And my guests sometimes will be like, Matt, you don't have to say everything, but I don't know. We like to be honest here.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

What is your writing process like? Do usually. Are you a. Words first, music first? What's. What. What?

[Courtney Bassett]

Words and melody come together. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. So what?

[Courtney Bassett]

Always.

[Matt Koplik]

So talk to me about the last song you completed. What was that process like for you?

[Courtney Bassett]

Usually comes from the heart, from something that I need to get out of myself. Get out melody. Get out melody.

[Matt Koplik]

And who do you think you are?

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, yes, exactly. Melody and words come. Come together, and then I'll. If I'm working with a collaborator, I'll go to the collaborator and we'll figure out chord structure. Yeah. You know, whatever's supporting it in terms of instruments. And if I'm writing it on my own, I'll go to an instrument of choice, either piano or guitar, and I'll. I'll figure it out from there.

[Matt Koplik]

Awesome.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, I love that.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Very melodically driven, though.

[Matt Koplik]

Everybody has different processes, so I always like to ask people because, yeah, it's all. It's always different. And I know some people get in their head about, like, oh, how should I go about this? The whole, like, oh, writing every day. Do I do an exercise? Do I do whatever? I'm like, just, just, just do. Do what comes naturally to you. Like. So for me, for example, when I write, if I'm doing creative writing, like a script or something, I tend to start with just dialogue and, And. And have people kind of bounce off of each other and then sort of see where the scene can go from there. And then I'll come back and cut and try to find more dramatic structure. If I'm doing a review, I will just start writing about whatever first comes to my mind about what I'm reviewing. And honestly, 85 of the time, that thing doesn't make it into the final review. But it gets me going. And then I'll just find things to come back to. But yeah, I always like asking people about their process.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's a beautiful way to work the. What you just described.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, thank you.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Just starting with something, even if it doesn't end up in the final product, you have that as your. As your little germ.

[Matt Koplik]

Absolutely. And a little seedling. I'm a. I am a massive procrastinator.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

I do. I use. Am in the middle of writing. So I. In addition. So in addition to this podcast, I Do have a Patreon and then I have an Instagram that sometimes people like to look through. But then I also get commissioned to write reviews for cast recordings. Not a lot, but, you know, every dollar helps. If I'm gonna see the Barbie movie 20 times this year, I need every dollar I can get. But I'm in the middle of writing my reviews for this Some Like It Hot cast recording and the soundtrack for the new Little Mermaid, which will be out by the time this episode drops. But I mean, I've, I've owed my editor these reviews for like two weeks now. And ultimately, ultimately, because there is no deadline, I'm always like dragging my feet about it. But finally last night I like sat down and I was like, I'm gonna write this on like a hot review if it kills me. And I, I started, I had a thought, I was harping on it and then I started writing specifically about something else. And by the end of it, like the thing I had started with wasn't in the final review and it didn't end up mattering.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's magic.

[Matt Koplik]

Is magic. Yeah. What has. What changed in Titanic besides the no longer talking about the Panda Express from the Asylum to Daryl Roth? And also, let's be honest, a glow up in set design.

[Courtney Bassett]

In terms of script or in terms of staging?

[Matt Koplik]

Well, staging, I.

[Courtney Bassett]

Well, I'm sorry, staging is pretty similar.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I know it. So at the Asylum it was not totally three quarter thrust, but a little bit of a three quarter thrust. And it's much more proscenium now.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, I do miss that intimacy a lot.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Being on the same level.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I feel that. But I will say, I mean again, with. With each new incarnation, new things come. But yeah, script wise, any major changes? Feckless Queef became Walking East Infection.

[Courtney Bassett]

There's not a lot of major script changes in this one. I would say. Oh, one big thing for, for Seline is that Celine now plays these up two little characters that like the backup singers were before, which is Celine comes out and she's like, flush. Looks like you're never getting that ticket to the Titanic. The mobster, we call the mobster. And then later, Bernard the violin player.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes.

[Courtney Bassett]

Titanic, which when I play is, is a Russian gentleman.

[Matt Koplik]

I love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

You don't have to pay me, sir. Since you know this is the end for all of us.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes, everyone's dying.

[Courtney Bassett]

All I need is my crisp tuxedo jacket and my world renowned while in playing skills.

[Matt Koplik]

Guys, it's this. This is talent. If ever I. If ever I Saw it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Who? Besides my future daddy, Victor Garber. Who else? Who else has popped by the Titanique?

[Courtney Bassett]

Well, last night we had Amanda Seyfried. Yeah, I know.

[Matt Koplik]

I really like her.

[Courtney Bassett]

She was. She was great. She was a sweetheart.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Who else has come? Jane Brachowski, Darcy Carden. Oh, I cannot say enough beautiful things about Darcy Cardin. She's loved meeting her. What an angel.

[Matt Koplik]

Never met her. But I did sit behind her at the Theater World Awards when she won her Theater World Award, and she was very excited and very gracious, and she got it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Was it this year?

[Matt Koplik]

It was this year, yeah. She got it. She got it towards the end of the night when we all were just cold and tired and she was still so excited to win and it was very nice.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, that's so sweet. She's a sweetie. Colby Smulders.

[Matt Koplik]

You're saying all the people.

[Courtney Bassett]

Margot Robbie.

[Matt Koplik]

Wait, I'm sorry. Barbie came.

[Courtney Bassett]

Barbie came.

[Matt Koplik]

Please tell me she's as stunning in person as I imagine she is. And lovely.

[Courtney Bassett]

She didn't stay after, but we just saw her in the audience, and she was like, wait, Yeah, I know.

[Matt Koplik]

She's. How dare she go off and change the world and not stay afterwards? Like she's too busy creating the movie of the summer.

[Courtney Bassett]

Who are my other favorites? Well, I'll tell you that my. My dear friends, Ingrid Michelson came, and obviously, it's always good to see her.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Who else do you know? Oh, God. What is his name? He's so famous for coming to see Titanique on a Friday evening in May. His name is Matt Koplique.

[Matt Koplik]

He was very famous for doing it. And honestly, who knows how many more times he's gonna go see it.

[Courtney Bassett]

It.

[Matt Koplik]

I've. I keep telling. Okay, so I famously have a lot of straight people in my family. I'm. I'm pretty sure I'm the only.

[Courtney Bassett]

It takes straights to make a gay. Unfortunately.

[Matt Koplik]

Unfortunately. But that's where science comes in. Work, work, science. Look at you go.

[Courtney Bassett]

Thanks, Bill Nye.

[Matt Koplik]

Bill Nye is the reason I can have.

[Courtney Bassett]

Bill Nye is science.

[Matt Koplik]

Bill Knight is science. That is our other tagline. Bill Nye. She's science. But.

[Courtney Bassett]

But I.

[Matt Koplik]

Again, I think I might be the only gay in my family.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And that family of mine, you know, I have some who are very sondheimy esoteric. And then the other half, which is very like, we're gonna go theme laundry for the fifth time. We're taking our friends around a town to see and Juliet and I'm like, yeah, sure, work. Go for it. But I keep telling them, I really think you should go see Titanic.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And I'm oh, every time I do, I'm like. And I mean, if you wanted to buy an extra ticket, it. Yeah, I'm going with you. But so far I've been able to convince half of them to go, but not take me. So I proud of you guys. Happy for you. But I'm also like, tang me. It's my. It's just that show is just serotonin. It's just it injected into my veins. It's just. It's what, 95 minutes, 100 minutes.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Give or take, depending how the spooky scary goes.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. 100 minutes.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Give or take on the audience too.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, absolutely. And which listen again, I'm all for a three and a half hour Angels in America. I'm all for 100 minute Titanique. I'm always just about know exactly how long your story goes for.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And that's the other thing about it I love because there are some other shows that may or may not be on Broadway now that may or may not have closed on Broadway in the last year or so that did not read the room of how long they really have on. On the stage.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Especially with something that is silly. Silly, silly scary. It's like you don't get four hours to do it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, you gotta. You gotta. You gotta button that up.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. You gotta know how long you have before an audience begins to turn on you. So with Titanique, what makes it so great also is the movie. She famously very long. You know, she's. She's Jesse Williams. She's long, but. But although very still very compelling. But so to shrink it to 100 minutes, it's like, it's very. It moves very quickly and is very exciting. And so I'm always telling people, I'm like, I'm sorry. In and out in a hundred minutes with Celine Dion songs and a story that you know.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And you're downtown so you can feel hip about it. Like.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Just.

[Matt Koplik]

Just do it.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's very, very fun.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

And it's like candy, you know, you just want to keep one. Keep on imbibing.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

What's a candy you enjoy?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, gosh. So I'm obsessed with these Haribo twin snakes. I know. It's so. It's such a deep cut. They're a gummy. Yeah, they are. One side is sour and the other side is sweet.

[Matt Koplik]

Kind of like me, like all redheads. One Might say.

[Courtney Bassett]

Exactly.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I'm a big fan of the watermelon Sour Patch.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, Sour Patch Watermelons. Tried and true classic. The best wins everything.

[Matt Koplik]

Right?

[Courtney Bassett]

Sour Patch Watermelons is it Boots house down. But right now, I would say go out there, listeners. Try yourself a twin snake.

[Matt Koplik]

Listen, as a gay man, that sounds pretty good. I'm about to say I'm a big fan of the twin snakes. Two snakes in my mouth. Yes, please. Hi, Grandma.

[Courtney Bassett]

That sounds like a menage trois.

[Matt Koplik]

I also. Okay, do you know whose idea it was? Because I know you weren't there for, like, when the baby got.

[Courtney Bassett]

I know the origin story.

[Matt Koplik]

Okay, I figured. I figured. Who. Do you know whose idea it was that everyone, first of all, let's make the iceberg Tina Turner. And then to make everyone who had to get on a lifeboat lip sync for their life.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, you. Oh, God.

[Matt Koplik]

I asked the one question.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, you asked the one question. I don't know.

[Matt Koplik]

This is why I'm good at what I do.

[Courtney Bassett]

I do know that Ty Blue, our director, was a casting director for RuPaul's the Drag Race. Yeah, let's. We're gonna have to fact check all.

[Matt Koplik]

We'll have to fact check that. Listen, I. I think I thought you.

[Courtney Bassett]

Were going to ask the origin story of how they came up with the idea.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, so that I do know. But then I realized my listeners probably don't because they're not me. Who a. I did research for this podcast, but also when I'm bored and thinking about a show I like, I just start Googling it and then I start to see things. So I've seen it, but I'm going to do my best acting. And I'm gonna ask you, Courtney Bassett, for my uncultured fucks who don't do what I Do.

[Courtney Bassett]

Okay.

[Matt Koplik]

What is the origin story of Titanique?

[Courtney Bassett]

The origin story of Titanique. The legend goes that Broadway's Marla Mandel and Constantine Rasooli were doing dinner theater for $75 and fish and red sauce in Los Angeles. And Constantine's. They were doing these movie music parody musicals like Scream the Musical and Cruel Intentions. And Cruel Intentions. Etc. And I believe that Constantine had the idea, we're gonna do Titanic. I'm gonna be Jack, and pointed to Marlon, said, you're going to be Celine Dion. And she said, absolutely not. And he made her do it.

[Matt Koplik]

It.

[Courtney Bassett]

And the rest is history. So Thai Blue, Constantine Rasooli and Marlo Mandel write the book of this musical. They weave in in such an amazing, brilliant manner. The songs of Celine Dion. And there you have the baby, Titanique.

[Matt Koplik]

And before y' all get in your heads about your own process, just know it took a few years to get to where we are now.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, yeah, well, yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes.

[Courtney Bassett]

They did it. They did it in Los Angeles. They brought it to New York City. They do some readings at Green Room 42. They get the support and the love from David Foster, producer of Celine Dion's music. He gives the thumbs up. And they get the sensational Broadway producer Eva Price to come on board. And.

[Matt Koplik]

And there we go.

[Courtney Bassett]

There we go.

[Matt Koplik]

That's the history, boys. Do you, do you know officially now if Celine knows about the show?

[Courtney Bassett]

She does know.

[Matt Koplik]

Do you remember the day when everyone found out that she knew?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, I don't remember that day in particular. There have been several days where Celine's people have come around. Her backup dancers have come. I met her tour producers. I talked to them about. It was her birthday the day that they came. So they were telling me what she's doing because it's her birthday. We talked about her influence on all of us. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And obviously she hasn't come to see it. She's also not in wonderful health these days. But do you know she's been able to see any content from the show?

[Courtney Bassett]

I don't know if she's been able to see content from the show. I just know that she knows of it and has heard wonderful things.

[Matt Koplik]

That's good. Yeah, that's good. Again, we like it when nice people are nice.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Yay. What is a trick then to be to place lean? I mean, you mentioned sort of the wide eyed innocence, but you know, when you have to go on for her because you, you have a very specific take on her when you do the role, which I love. You know, obviously when you're going into a part that has been set before you take over, there are things you have to do. And the same thing with Comet. Right. Like there's. There's staging you have to do. There's. There's certain moments that are always planted, but you also have to bring your own sense of self to it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

So what is something that you do? How. How do you approach Celine?

[Courtney Bassett]

How do I approach Celine? I gotta get to that really earnest place in myself, in my heart. I have to, you know, the, the touching of the heart. If you want to, for me, curl up your left lip.

[Matt Koplik]

Huh.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's a lot of like smirking.

[Matt Koplik]

Smirking.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's a lot of like looking around like you, like Marla always says, like you just smell the fart or like you're seeing the world for the first time, and I give it like a honk. So I take voice lessons with the legendary Joan later. And a lot of what we've worked on with Celine is the honk, but that's just. That's just a part of the French Canadian dialect. This, like, goose sound, like honk. Hello. Drive for me. Hello. How are you?

[Matt Koplik]

How are you?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, my God. That's amazing. Is it? Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh. How are you?

[Matt Koplik]

Oh. How are you?

[Courtney Bassett]

Bonjour. Yeah. Yeah. Whoa. That was great.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you. Oh, that I can't do.

[Courtney Bassett]

You just did it.

[Matt Koplik]

I. I did it.

[Courtney Bassett]

You said you can't and you did.

[Matt Koplik]

Joan, get at me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Weirdos win.

[Matt Koplik]

Weirdos win. Oh, God. All right, I'm trying to. Okay. I'm trying to do. Let's take a line from the show.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Not just the. The Rose met Jack of the Clockish plant, which is. I don't know why that's stuck in my head forever.

[Courtney Bassett]

I don't know.

[Matt Koplik]

It just is.

[Courtney Bassett]

Because you're gay.

[Matt Koplik]

Because I'm very gay. I'm gay.

[Courtney Bassett]

Okay. What line do you like?

[Matt Koplik]

I don't know. Now I'm on this path.

[Courtney Bassett]

Bonjour, everybody. It is me, Celine Dion.

[Matt Koplik]

Bonjour, everybody. It is me.

[Courtney Bassett]

A little bit more heft. Give me. Lean into your. Bonjour, everybody.

[Matt Koplik]

Bonjour, everybody.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Okay.

[Courtney Bassett]

It is me, Salerno.

[Matt Koplik]

It is me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes. He hit his chest.

[Matt Koplik]

I did. Haha.

[Courtney Bassett]

Bonjour, everybody. It is me, Celine Dion.

[Matt Koplik]

Bonjour, everybody. It is me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Wait for it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Wait for it. Shall we go for it?

[Matt Koplik]

Shall we go for it?

[Courtney Bassett]

Honestly, you're a slay. You're a work and serve.

[Matt Koplik]

I think you're only saying this because you're in my house right now. You're on my home turf. And you know that I have people in the back who will slay you for realsies.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, she always does like a. You can't. You can't see this, but she's got. She's. She does like the. Okay. Sign with her hand.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

And she'll keep it here, but she'll also have it on her hip when she's singing. It's kind of like a grounding. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Was. What was the Victor Garber movie that they reference at first because they say Kung Fu Panda 2. That was my favorite movie. Girlfriend. High five, Girlfriend. But there was another one. Oh.

[Courtney Bassett]

Victor Garber of Alias TV show Alias.

[Matt Koplik]

Alias. That is Legally Blonde Erasure. And I won't stand for it. That is life of Mikey. Victor Garber, man. That man.

[Courtney Bassett]

Well, I mean, he was a villain in Legally Blonde, though.

[Matt Koplik]

Sure was I. But. But that's sort of the thing about Victor Garber. And actually, actually, this is what I'll say when. When Ruth says, you've been in so many movies. I can't think of any right now. But every time I see it, I'm like, there's Victor Garber. I'm like, first of all, we're all faggots at heart. We all. All immediately think of Legally Blonde. Sure, he's a villain in it, but Legally Blonde, he's. He's also the head of wool in 30 Rock, but that's a deeper cut.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, you know, I don't know that deep cut.

[Matt Koplik]

I'm so sorry again, homophobia. But speaking of, James, Jenna is auditioning to be the spokeswoman of wool. Just Wool and.

[Courtney Bassett]

Just wool in general.

[Matt Koplik]

In general. And. And Victor Garber is like the CEO of Wool. And every time him. He sees something that Jenna does that he likes, he goes, oh, very wool.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's gay rights.

[Matt Koplik]

That is gay rights. Listen, Victor Garber can cover me in wool if he wants. He may be 75 years old, but I will still stand for it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, he's an absolute zaddy.

[Matt Koplik]

He's. Oh, yeah, He's. He's also been a daddy since, like, 1980, so it doesn't matter how old he gets. It's always.

[Courtney Bassett]

He's gorge.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Love him.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I mean, those mutton chops and Sweeney Todd, they're disgusting, but on him, I take it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Swing that razor high Sweeney right into me.

[Matt Koplik]

Sweeney. Yes. Speaking of which, are you going to see your castmate?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, my pal Joshie. Gosh, when I. Maybe over the summer.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, try over the summer. See Ms. Groban if you can.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

She. She doesn't get very messy, but she sings real good.

[Courtney Bassett]

One of their sweet producers, Matt Ross, came to see our show last night. I. I can't wait to see this. Fully, fully realized Sween.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And. And they do drop sween.

[Courtney Bassett]

I bet.

[Matt Koplik]

Full. All nine inches of sween. No, it's. It's. It's. It's a fun show. How long are you in Titanic? Are you allowed to say?

[Courtney Bassett]

I am allowed to say I will be in the show, and I'll be taking a break starting July 9th.

[Matt Koplik]

Okay. Well, luckily, this episode will be coming out before July 9th.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yay.

[Matt Koplik]

So, people, you can get those tickets now.

[Courtney Bassett]

Get those tickets now to Titanic if you can.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, God, I'M gonna try to see it again if I can.

[Courtney Bassett]

Please do.

[Matt Koplik]

Who in my family have I not emotionally blackmailed yet to pay for a ticket for me? Because they all like me. But I've. I've asked for enough favors. Now I have to go into the like. I think you owe me this one.

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol. A friend of mine is. Is queer and dates, you know, people of all genders. And she said to me last night, she was like, I'm only dating men if they buy me tickets. Tickets to things. So I had someone buy me a ticket to this tonight.

[Matt Koplik]

That is what we call a queen.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

On that note, let's take one more break.

[Courtney Bassett]

You're the top.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

You're an arrow collar. You're the top. You're a Coolidge dollar. You're the nimble thread of the.

[Matt Koplik]

And we back.

[Courtney Bassett]

Cool.

[Matt Koplik]

So after Titanique, besides seeing Josh Groban show Sween, do you have any other plans for July? And also, by the way, seeing Barbie.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, gosh. Other than the Barbie movie and other than Little Mermaid.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, I have not seen this new Little Mermaid that will be happening on Disney plus. But I will say once Barbie comes out, that's not just, you know, my whole weekend. That's honestly, my whole August is. I'll just be seeing it, taking other people to see it. I'm so sorry. It's gonna become my personality for a while, Bart.

[Courtney Bassett]

The Barbie movie? Yeah, just the Barbie movie.

[Matt Koplik]

Just the Barbie movie.

[Courtney Bassett]

Become my personality. Oh, gosh, I don't know. My personality is already hair and crop tops.

[Matt Koplik]

I mean, you. You are you. You have a magnificent head of hair.

[Courtney Bassett]

Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Matt Koplik]

I thank you so much. I would. I don't think I'd murder someone, but I would frame someone for murder to have your hair.

[Courtney Bassett]

Well, if I ever chop it off, I'll just. Just send it to you in the mail.

[Matt Koplik]

Thanks.

[Courtney Bassett]

To make you feel really weird.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you so much.

[Courtney Bassett]

What are my plans? Oh, gosh.

[Matt Koplik]

Or is your plans to have no plans?

[Courtney Bassett]

My plans, I'm gonna be going to the Grand Cayman on a. On a romantic vacation. And I'm gonna be going to be on the beach. And I am working on a new musical. Hee hee hee hee. That was written by my friend Daniel.

[Matt Koplik]

Emond and who she does not have socks with.

[Courtney Bassett]

I do not have socks with. That would be like having socks with your brother. And this is not. This is not Helene and Anatole in the Great Comet. Okay?

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, were they incestuous?

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, Hondo P. I I didn't go watch it. Just go back and watch some clips.

[Matt Koplik]

I watched some clips also.

[Courtney Bassett]

Read, you know, a little bit of more information.

[Matt Koplik]

I'm sorry, did you just tell me to read? In this economy?

[Courtney Bassett]

In this economy, Courtney, really? In this climate, you're telling me to read?

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, my God.

[Courtney Bassett]

What's reading?

[Matt Koplik]

I don't read. I only write.

[Courtney Bassett]

What is reading? Follow me on Tick Tock. Bye.

[Matt Koplik]

I was gonna make a flowers in the attic joke, but.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, you were?

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, because those. Those siblings be in that attic.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, well, okay. So, yeah, Helene and Anatole just go see about it.

[Matt Koplik]

But I'm gonna go see a horse about that.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes, go see a horse about that. This musical is called Kill the Whale. It's based off of Moby Dick. It's a rock opera, and the music is just sensational. And we're working on it. Hopefully we're gonna have a concert coming.

[Matt Koplik]

Up that's very exciting. I mean, I've.

[Courtney Bassett]

I followed killthewailofficial.com.

[Matt Koplik]

I have followed Daniel's work on that for a while now, and it's. But it's been a minute since I've seen anything, so I am looking forward to all the new content.

[Courtney Bassett]

We would love to have you in the audience and get. Get recognized.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, first of all, Courtney, let's be real here. I could go to a Starbucks in Arizona and get recognized. They would say, hey, you're that gay with opinions, right? And I'm like, thank you so much.

[Courtney Bassett]

Thank you so much.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you so much. Yeah, no, it's. I know. I think I. I think the magic is that it has. It has to be a production of Titanic somewhere. So it'll be like Korea, Australia, but only that show.

[Courtney Bassett]

Anywhere else that will happen, I think.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, that will happen.

[Matt Koplik]

That's very exciting. I look forward to being able to travel the world.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. And I look forward to shipping you out wherever I'm selling.

[Matt Koplik]

I look forward to that too. That is gonna be a great day. I'll be. I'll be on the ship of dreams to see the ship of dreams.

[Courtney Bassett]

Please, please, please do.

[Matt Koplik]

Ship of dreams. What is.

[Courtney Bassett]

It's getting better. It's getting there. It's.

[Matt Koplik]

It's. It's not getting better. It doesn't get better. For some of us, it only gets worse. But what is a seline song that you think doesn't get enough love? Oo I'm talk about love? Because that's the title of that album. I had that album, actually.

[Courtney Bassett]

Do you know there's a Song I'm falling into you. That song is a deep cut. You are the reason. Do you know that song?

[Matt Koplik]

It sounds familiar. Go. Go on.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's. That's. I'm so sorry.

[Matt Koplik]

She's got a show later today. She can't.

[Courtney Bassett]

No, no, no, I can. But you are the Reason is one of my favorites. Oh, also just like her courage. Don't you dare fail me now I need you to keep away the doubt. That song, you know, after Renee passed and. And the courage to go on. The courage to go on tour, the courage to live without the God, it just breaks my heart. And I got to see the Courage world tour in 2020, so I. I don't know if enough people are talking about courage in that album, which also has you Love Me Back to Life. Do you know that one?

[Matt Koplik]

I don't.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, please go listen to that one. This album is very Sia influenced. In fact, she worked with some of the same songwriters about to fact check this.

[Matt Koplik]

Okay, I'm not. I'm not gonna fact check nothing. I'm gonna take everything you say as fact. And if they want to sue us.

[Courtney Bassett]

For it, it I just say, listen to Love Me Back to Life.

[Matt Koplik]

Love me back.

[Courtney Bassett]

Listen to her new. Her new stuff. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Okay, that's that. I will. I will. I will do that. I am. Listen, I. I've always liked her. Daddy of the podcast, Tyler Milian, whose studio we are in right now, famously. Daddy, Bonjour, Daddy Tyler. Love Celine, Daddy.

[Courtney Bassett]

Tyler, I love you so much.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, Tyler. He loves Selena mine. When we lived together, he would talk about her, and I'm like, what an interesting person for you to love.

[Courtney Bassett]

Tyler, I didn't know you were a Celine Dion geek.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, Tyler. Am I making that up? I know. I remember he talked about rest in peace, Rip Tyler. She did. She moved to the city. Now she's dead. But, you know, he talked about her all the time. And I was like, it wasn't that. It was a random person, but of all the people for Tyler, I was like, oh, interesting. So she's always followed me. But after today, I gotta say, I'm, like, looking forward to going back out.

[Courtney Bassett]

There and getting into more deep cuts.

[Matt Koplik]

Please do.

[Courtney Bassett]

Well.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, I enjoy watching her on the duck shows. I enjoy watching her performances in award shows. Her. She did. When she did. My heart will Go On. I think it was the VMA. No, not VMAs. The Grammys. When she. It was because it was the anniversary and she had the big puffy white sleeves.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, yeah. I think that was the Grammys.

[Matt Koplik]

I think that was the Grammys. And because it was. I believe it was the 20th anniversary of Titanic of maybe.

[Courtney Bassett]

I'm not sure. I just. I know the dress and I know the updo.

[Matt Koplik]

Yep, the updo. And they.

[Courtney Bassett]

And I know it was a half step down.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And she. And she was. Well, she was. You know, it was circular stage and like a sea of people. And then on the other end of the arena or whatever the they were at was the. What was it? What's the instrument? Is it a oboe? Is it a clarinet? Is a. The.

[Courtney Bassett]

The tin whistle?

[Matt Koplik]

Tin whistle. They had a soloist tin whistle. Do the bridge, like on another island across the.

[Courtney Bassett]

The.

[Matt Koplik]

The audience from her. It was very fun.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, wow.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Courtney Bassett]

Deep cut. It's. When you go to see Titanique the Musical, you'll hear a voice at the beginning. And that's my voice.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, it is.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's me.

[Matt Koplik]

And you guys hear that nice little clean soprano. She's played Clara. In Light of the Piazza, everybody.

[Courtney Bassett]

Ha ha ha.

[Matt Koplik]

She has.

[Courtney Bassett]

Has she fell? Yes, that's right. These are very popular in Italy here.

[Matt Koplik]

She fell.

[Courtney Bassett]

And. And Matt's played Margaret.

[Matt Koplik]

I have played Margaret. Listen, I will not rest until I have sung all of Victoria Clark's resume.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, really?

[Matt Koplik]

Next up, Kimberly Akimbo work. Listen, when I'm alone in my apartment, do I sing Make a wish. Yes, I absolutely do. Which is such a weird song to sing by yourself. It's a beautiful song, but it's not one where you're like, I'm home alone. I'm gonna diva out.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, I need to see the show.

[Matt Koplik]

It's so lovely.

[Courtney Bassett]

I really need to see. Yeah, Listen, speaking of which, Bonnie Milligan did come to see us. Oh, God, yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

When she's done with. With Kimberly.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Ever going to whatever role she wants.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

[Matt Koplik]

It's. I feel like you like quirky shows, right?

[Courtney Bassett]

A hundred percent fantastic.

[Matt Koplik]

I've known some people who did not love Kimberly. I understand why. But also, I think people had heard such amazing things about it. And they went in expecting, like, les Miz level of musicality of just like, bowl you over with, like, sound and like. No, it's a quiet show.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

It's like being. I described it in my review as like being lowered into a warm bath. And it's not until the end, you're like, why is my face all wet? It's like, because you've just been.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

You've been sitting these characters for two and a half hours. But yeah. No, know it's it's just delightful. But when you're done with that, not you, but my listeners, when you're done with Kimberly, then go see Titanique. Honestly, a perfect two show day for me.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yes.

[Matt Koplik]

Those two shows back to back, which in whatever order you like, that's. I described. I did a post a week or so ago which was. Okay, so the day. The day that I saw you, I had done a post which was underrated musical theater scores. And then like a week or so later, I did shows to rec. Musicals to recommend the musical theater hater. And I did one for Titanique, which was the recommend this to the hater who just wants to stay in and binge Friends all night. And I said, you know, like an episode of Friends, you know what the plot's gonna be, but unlike Friends, you don't know how it's gonna get there. And it's downtown where the friends lived. And also like, like friends 90s nostalgia. But I described the vocals as. I think it's a dom. Top vocals with a sub bottom attitude.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, God damn it. That's good, Matt. Yeah, I mean top vocals 100% man.

[Matt Koplik]

But everyone has a sub bottom attitude about it. So it's like, it's. To bring it back to Drag Race when they did the Divas live lip sync and Shangela was Mariah Carey and ends with a giant rift. She goes, tada. Still got it. For me, it's y' all pissing all over the floor with the vocals. And then once you're done, rather than being like, yeah, it's like, look what happened by accident. And then like walking off stage. I love that. I love that. I love that when you. Again, it's the having nothing to prove and just doing a good job.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah, yeah. Gosh, yeah. And I think that that's the essence of Celine Dion is just that. That humility and like, oh, this is just. This is what I do. This is. This is my gift. Gift to you. And in turn, you gift me with just by being here. And that's. That's the beauty of, of this show and of. And of theater.

[Matt Koplik]

And she does. She does it for the parents and the children of the world.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. For the, for the, for the mothers of the world, for the fathers and for. For all the children. So everybody in the whole world.

[Matt Koplik]

Yep. Which speaking of Kathy Griffin, she. She references that because that was in her concert.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Kathy talks about how Seline, she comes out to like, may I sit with you, please? And sits at the edge of the stage and everyone goes oh, my God. Seline sitting with us. Then Seline goes, I would like to take a moment. This song is for the parents of the world and the children of the world or. And Titanic, the mothers, the fathers, and the children of the world. And then just ends it there. But Kathy Griffin, in her stand up, she goes, so everybody.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

And it's. It's. It's. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful moment. Kathy Griffin, another redhead I love.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, gosh.

[Matt Koplik]

Although I would never want to see her sing. I would never want her to sing Titanique ever.

[Courtney Bassett]

Sorry, Cath.

[Matt Koplik]

I hope she comes to see the show, because I think she would love it.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, yeah, that would be great. I'm sure she will.

[Matt Koplik]

If anybody who listens somehow knows Kathy Griffon, tell her she must come see Titanique.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. Come on, Cal.

[Matt Koplik]

And then take me with her, because she's got the money. She can bring me.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

And we'll both get recognized.

[Courtney Bassett]

You'll get recognized.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. They'll. Well, they'll say, who's that redhead with Matt Copley?

[Courtney Bassett]

Exactly.

[Matt Koplik]

I'm like, that's got the Griffin. Oh, no. Another one of your Kathy Griffon. Another one of your stories. Anyhow, Courtney, this has been a blast.

[Courtney Bassett]

What I treasure.

[Matt Koplik]

I.

[Courtney Bassett]

You are.

[Matt Koplik]

You are the.

[Courtney Bassett]

The unique. The chic. Met Kopique.

[Matt Koplik]

Thank you so much. Was there any. I feel like we. Before we recorded, we talked about, like, an anecdote that we wanted you to talk about. Did we? I don't know. This is the problem. We. When we don't plan this out is we're like, we're totally going to cover this, and then we just get into it and we enjoy each other so much that we just. Or at least I like to think was.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. No. Was there anything that was different, seeing me as your first other Seline? Was there anything that was different about the show that you were like, oh, my gosh.

[Matt Koplik]

That's the thing is. I don't think so. Like, while you and Marla have very. Because it's not wildly different, but it's also not the same. It's like, like cousins approach to Saleh. It's in the same family. Not siblings, close cousins. Cousins that see each other once a month. That kind of. That interpretation. And I have seen three different cows. I have seen two different jacks, two different roses, two different roofs. The show itself does not change. The energy doesn't change. Even though the performances have similar but also different vibes, which I think is a really important thing to Have. Because the show has to have a similar impact each night. And you don't want to stifle the people who are going into each role, but they. But the result still has to kind of be the same. So I think what I've enjoyed is that it's everyone sort of coming together to make sure the journey ends the same way whilst doing your own things with it. So I enjoyed watching you, and I think I wouldn't have enjoyed watching you if my final results with the Journey was different. If I was like, I'm not as happy right now. I don't like Courtney. But, no, I was just as titillated by the end, so why wouldn't I love you? You were. You were. You were wonderful. Yeah. My Cal. My first cow was John Riddle. My second cow was Mark Evans. Shout out to my English daddy. He did a reading of my play. Yes. Yeah, he's a. He's a talented man. I got to act opposite him that day and act like we were in love and it was not a burden, let me tell you. He's a very handsome gen. He knows that.

[Courtney Bassett]

Sexy.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Yeah. And it was nice to see him be, like, sassy for once, because when I saw my Mrs. Doubtfire, I was like, I love you, but you're wasted in this role. Like, you need to, like.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

You need to let loose, baby. And he does his Cal or did. He's gone.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Rip. And then my third Cal was when you went on and he had played Jack the week before. What's his name?

[Courtney Bassett]

Brad.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, Brad. He was a wonderful cow.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

But, you know, the. The journey's always been the same, and it's always been. It's always been a ship of dreams.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah. I can't think if there's anything else we were gonna. We're gonna do, but I think that's it.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. If I were to go into Titanique, where would you want me?

[Courtney Bassett]

Victor Garber. Are you serious? I'm the gayest role.

[Matt Koplik]

It is. And you get to be Louis Mario. No. Luigi. Luigi. Right?

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. This has been. And Gorgine.

[Courtney Bassett]

Courtney Gorgine. What a delight.

[Matt Koplik]

Where can people find you if you want them to find you?

[Courtney Bassett]

Courtneybassett.com or on my Instagram. Courtney B. You'll find me Courtney Bassett on the Instagrams.

[Matt Koplik]

Yes. She's. She's everywhere. She's like a herpes. You want.

[Courtney Bassett]

I'm everywhere.

[Matt Koplik]

She's red and everywhere.

[Courtney Bassett]

You'll never get rid of me.

[Matt Koplik]

No, we. Nor would we want to. If you want to follow Me. Me. I'm on Instagram at Matt Koplik. Usual spelling, no other social medias. If you like the podcast, you can give us a nice little rating. Five stars, if you please. Or our little review, as I've been mentioning. You guys have been really killing it with these reviews. We have a new one and I'm going to read it now. Cue the Light in the Piazza Overture, please. Five stars. The title is Matt cries prettier than Philippa. Sue Courtney is laughing into her hand right now. I had to delete my previous review, but a lot has changed with me since my last review. So, Matt, thank you so much for this podcast. I live way out in the sticks, AKA I can't stress this enough. Very conservative. Nikiski, Alaska.

[Courtney Bassett]

Alaska.

[Matt Koplik]

I wanted you to know how far and wide your podcast is has spread. Thank you. I don't have a lot of friends who are as passionate about musical theater as me. And when I see a new episode in my feed on Thursday morning, I jump for joy. I often find myself listening to past episodes many times over. For example, I will listen to the Smile Doubt and Kimberly Akimpo episodes till the day I die. Two of those are with Ali Gordon. You have gotten me through some rough times and have taught me so much. Like, which is the superior wild party and why finding Neverland is trash.

[Courtney Bassett]

Lol.

[Matt Koplik]

I do say that a lot. This pod and all its LGBTQ plus host guests have really been helping me step into my own skin. And for that, I thank you, Heart emoji. Thank you, Jackson. That was lovely. I'm not crying, but I. My eyes are a little wet. Yeah, as I. I've said this many times, I cry way more easily these days. But. But sometimes you guys just really hit me in the ovaries with your reviews. We close out every episode of this pod with a Broadway diva. Usually Broadway. Sometimes we'll expand. Is there a Broadway diva you would like to play us out today?

[Courtney Bassett]

Patty lupone. Yeah. I love her so much.

[Matt Koplik]

So, fun fact, when we do our commercial breaks, when I say, let's take a little break, Patti LuPone is our transitional music. Thank God it's Patti LuPone. And anything goes good.

[Courtney Bassett]

There's a cutout. There's a cut out of her backstage, as you know, and sometimes on stage. And when I'm having a rough moment, I really do go over to Patty and be like, hey, Patty, what would you do? Wwpd. What would Patty do?

[Matt Koplik]

What would Patty do?

[Courtney Bassett]

And she'd say she would have boundaries.

[Matt Koplik]

She would. She would have boundaries and she's like. And then have a chardonnay and the hottest guy in your cast.

[Courtney Bassett]

That's right.

[Matt Koplik]

Patti LuPone would break you in half. All of you. Every single one of you.

[Courtney Bassett]

Dom top.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, dom top with a power bottom bevel. She. Because I think Patty. No, I think Patty is a dom bottom because.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, really?

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, I think she has broken many a dick in half.

[Courtney Bassett]

Oh, yeah?

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Because the. The. No maybe dumb top. The way I described the difference between dom tops and power bottoms with women.

[Courtney Bassett]

Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Is the. The mind frame of a dom top is this is mine. And power bottoms are. Give it to me. So it's the thing. It's. You have to look at the item.

[Courtney Bassett]

You could also call that a verse bottom.

[Matt Koplik]

Verse bottom. We've. We've. We've known many of them. Their versatility is the key of life, y'. All. That's what makes all of us weirdos. So we're gonna do Patty. We're gonna do Patty.

[Courtney Bassett]

Love you, Patty.

[Matt Koplik]

Love you, Patty. It just can't be anything goes. So I gotta think of something else.

[Courtney Bassett]

How is Patti LuPone doing over there? I love you, Patty.

[Matt Koplik]

I love you, Patty. What do you think? You.

[Courtney Bassett]

Ah.

[Matt Koplik]

All right, that's it for us. You guys have a great week. Thank you so much for listening. I believe next week. Oh, so next week will be our return to the big move shows that moved from off Broadway to Broadway. I'm not going to tell you what it is or who the guest is, but it is a fun Broadway guest who was in the show that we discussed. Yeah, that's it. Have a great week, you guys, and take it away, Patty. Bye.