Grace Ake (3:28)

Yeah, and that's the thing. It's like, you know, most performers don't set out to be just on one type of medium. Like, I don't know any performer that's like, I am just a TV actor, or I am just, you know, a black box theater actor, or I'm just, you know, a film actor in short form comedies. You know what I'm saying? Like, I think that people set out in school and in their study and in their summer stocks or whatever that might be to play on all these different types of mediums. I think what we always hope is that, like, people will want to do all of those different things and not just, you know, one. Because the more that a, quote, theater person is able to, quote, make it in the TV and film world, the better supported it is when they return to any kind of theater. The same for, like, any TV and film actor. If they are excellent in those spaces, we hope that they are excellent on stage as well. Because a lot of times that major larger audience base is utilized in factoring in, like, what could possibly be achieved in ticket sales on Broadway. So I. I know it vacillates for every medium, but I do think it's interesting that, like, that's. That's what we want. Like, I'm never, ever mad when someone, like, is, you know, leaving a Broadway show to go do a film or something. Cause I'm like, yeah, good. That's what they're supposed to do. Like, Someone thought that they were good and then it continued or whatever it might be. So I think it's. It's good. All.

Matt Tammanini (4:53)

The only thing that I don't like about it is, is when they leave theater and never come back. Like, that makes me sad because we've seen how good they can be on stage. So as long as they leave and come back occasionally, that makes me happy. But you know what's great about Joe and Kit Harrington and some of these other people is that they're thriving in all of those. Just because you're good on one does not necessarily mean you're good in all of them. So it's fun to see them have the opportunity to not only perform in the different mediums, but to be really, really good in all of those mediums as well. All right. Sticking with another Netflix star coming to the stage, it was reported exclusively by Deadline that Bridgerton star Luke Newton, who. I have to admit, I've never seen an episode of Bridgerton. I've never. I don't even know that I've heard the name Luke Newton, but I know that there are people who are very excited about this. Is going to be playing Alexander McQueen in a new off Broadway production called House of McQueen that is going to play this fall off Broadway. He will be joined in the production by Emily Skinner, who is playing his mother. The show is written by Dara Cloud and it is going to be playing the new Off Broadway venue, the Mansion at Hudson Yards. Never heard of it. Grace, are you familiar with this new performance venue?

Grace Ake (6:08)

No, but I'm very curious about it.

Matt Tammanini (6:11)

Yeah. Calling it the Mansion sounds super fancy. It is going to begin performances on September 9th and the limited engagement currently runs through November. The show is being directed by Sam Helferich who is a. Is a great, is a great director. The show follows McQueen's entire career up until his tragic passing in 2010. But what I found really interesting about the press notes is this, is that they talk about how highly produced the scene, the scenery is going to be, which is something you would expect for somebody whose work is so visual, but they talk about floor to ceiling LED panels that are designed to, quote, shift environments on stage. So. So I don't know if that's just like the normal projection LED stuff that we see on stage all the time or if this is something a little bit more extensive than that. But it'll be interesting to see what happens with this when it begins. Performances off Broadway. Now, Grace, are you a Bridgerton person? Because I am obviously not, as I.

Grace Ake (7:09)

Admitted, I have watched it. I know that there were conversations around that actor possibly joining another musical on Broadway last year that did not happen. So I'm excited that he very clearly wants to do something on stage. So I think this is going to be great.

Matt Tammanini (7:25)

Another musical on Broadway. Hmm. Okay. All right, interesting. I might have to quiz about that afterwards, but all right. Yeah. So again, people moving between mediums is always good, especially when they bring fan bases as big as the ones with Heartstoppers and Bridgerton. All right, let's take a break from the news real quick to talk about our sponsor for this week, surfshark. I hate to say it, but all of our digital privacy is under attack every single second of the day because we basically spend every single waking second online somewhere. Whether it's for work on our phones, doom scrolling while we're watching tv, while we're commuting, on the train or bus, whatever, we are almost always connected to the Internet, which means that we are always vulnerable. But don't worry, there's a solution, and that's with our sponsor for this week, surfshark vpn. With surfshark, your online activity is encrypted. From prying eyes, you can think of it as a secure digital vault for your data that encompasses you while you're online. Whether you're researching some sort of sensitive topic that you don't want other people to know about, or just browsing the news, your activity stays private. Since installing Surfshark a couple of years ago, at this point, two, three years, at this point, I felt so much calmer. When I'm browsing online, I don't have to worry about all of my data being leaked and end up on all of those different lists with my passwords and account information available to the highest bidder. Now, Grace, that's not the only thing. The digital security is very important. But when it comes to watching different TV and movies, surfshark also helps with that as well.

Grace Ake (9:00)

Listen, you know me, you know that I'm watching so much film and television all the time. And one of the big things that I run into is the fact that I can't stream every single TV show or film on the face of the planet because we are limited to what the streaming is allowed for in the us but thanks to surfshark vpn, I'm able to actually access other streaming platforms, whether that's in the UK or, or in Asia or something like that. Like, I get to see the films that I otherwise wouldn't see or that got taken off of a streaming service here because let's face it, there's not enough entertainment going on here all the time. So I need to be able to access them and the only way to do so is through a vpn.

Matt Tammanini (9:35)

So it's time to take control of your online security. Try Surfshark risk free today and enjoy their 30 day money back guarantee. Go to surfshark.com tob for four extra months of Surfshark. That's code tob@surfshark.com URL and code can be found in our show notes. All right Grace, We've recently seen the success of Stranger Things. The first shadow of not only bringing a beloved property that doesn't feel like it would naturally lend itself to a stage production to New York, but we've also seen a really successful version of what theater can look like in the horror genre. Well, yesterday we got details about another version of that beginning a US tour before heading over to London's West End. And that is Paranormal Activity. It is. They are calling this a news story live on stage. It is going to hit the US later this year before going over to London's West End. It already had a sold out run at the Leeds Playhouse in the UK last summer and it will begin it's North American tour this fall with stops in Chicago, Louisiana, Washington D.C. and San Francisco. Then it is gonna go over to the Ambassador's Theater in London from December 15th for a 12 week run. It is inspired by the horror film franchise, but it is directed by Punch Drunk founder and artistic director Felix Barrett and written by playwright Levi Hollowell, who you might remember was the playwright behind Kind of Broadway's last attempt at a horror show before Stranger Things. Greyhous. So some really good horror folks involved in this production, Grace, and you know, who knows if it does well on this tour has another successful run in London. We could see Paranormal Activity and Stranger Things on Broadway giving us two horror play options at the same time.

Grace Ake (11:34)

That's so wild. I don't think of Stranger Things as a horror play, but I understand what you're saying. Like I think that. Yeah, I mean scary at times. Oh I agree, I agree. But it is funny because I think the whole conversation around Gray House especially was like the thing that I found to be the most horrific of that piece was not the horror, it was the reality of the story they were telling with the twists and like I love that this playwright has been tapped for this specific project. I think it's going to be excellent. That is not for me but I do respect like, his writing so, so, so much. Like, I genuinely was so shocked and moved by Gray House. It was, it was, it was alarming, but in, in a really insightful way. I feel the same way as you, though. Like, if you're gonna get somebody, get someone who genuinely understands and has created something like that in a very respected, like, theatrical way and not just like a shock, horror value kind of way. I mean, I'm very surprised to see this happening, but I'm also not, you know, we're in the world of like, you know, Hunger Games is happening. You've got Stranger Things. Like there's all this like. And supernatural is probably the wrong word, but there's a lot of like beyond like the regular like, you know, sci fi, etc. Medium. Like it's, I guess, yeah, it is horror. Like, it's suspenseful, it's thrilling. I think I would call it a thriller. I call Stranger Things a thriller. I don't. That's not like a talking point that I've been told or anything. It's just what I'm calling it. But I think, yeah, I think this is going to be really cool and I'm curious to see the reception of it.

Matt Tammanini (13:14)

Yeah. All right. Going over Off Broadway, we found out yesterday that the off Broadway show Delaria that is currently running at the Dr. 2 Theater has been extended. It will now play through August 8th. It is a world premiere from Julia Randall. I know a lot of people that have gone out to see it and have really liked it. What's interesting is if you go out to see the show this weekend between now and Sunday, you will catch Kiara Aurelia in the role of Georgia. But then she is leaving after this week because she's going to go onto Broadway and take over for Sadie Sink and John Proctor is the villain. So you have an opportunity to see her in two different shows if you head out to the Doctor too this weekend.

Grace Ake (13:54)

Well, you would have had three if you saw her an all nighter, which I think is crazy if you think about it. Like those are.

Matt Tammanini (14:00)

Was she one of the replacements? Was she one of the replacements?

Grace Ake (14:03)

And I believe so, or one of the standbys or something.

Matt Tammanini (14:07)

But like, oh, maybe she was a standby. Yeah, yeah.

Grace Ake (14:09)

But it's fascinating. Like this person has had like three back to back to back. I'm going to argue, like Gen Z plays. Like, I think that that's really fascinating. So I'm hoping that that is something that someone's able to shine a light on because I think it's really cool.

Matt Tammanini (14:23)

Very nice. Very cool. All right. This is a very cool story and it's probably only possible in a very, very limited scope of people. Currently right now at the Muny they are having their production of Frozen the musical, obviously a show of grace that you are very familiar with. It is playing through Monday night. Unfortunately, they have had an injury in the cast where Mark Saunders, who was playing Oaken, was unable to perform. These are obviously very short turnarounds. They don't really have a lot of time to rehearse, a lot of understudies and I don't even know how they do it with that. It's only a week long run. So what do you do when one of your principals is out and you have to replace him in the show? Well, fortunately, when your director is also a Tony nominated actor, your director can step in. And John Tartaglia who directed the production at the Muni stepped in to play Okun and I guess will continue to do so through however long. Saunders is out but very cool and I would love to see some video of that because Johnny Tartags is always one of the most fun and energetic performance and he feels like he fits really well in the Frozen universe. All right, and let's wrap up with a pair of recommendations. Two of my favorite performers we have videos from. The first one comes from the world premiere of a Wrinkle in Time musical that is happening at Arena Stage currently. It is set to close on July 20th. And this is the song Meg Inside out which is sung by Taylor Iman Jones, who I think is absolutely one of the best. And then the other one is coming to us from Marisha Wallace who is getting ready to step in to the role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway on July 22nd. So if you want to check out both of those videos, we will have them in the show notes. All right, everybody, that's all that we have for today. Thanks for listening to Today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Rodrigue. And if you want all of Broadway radio, head over to patreon.com broadwayrad radio Grace, where can people find you?

Grace Ake (16:29)

You can find me at Grace Saki.

Matt Tammanini (16:31)

All right, everybody, have a wonderful Thursday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.