Grace Aki (4:27)

I don't know. I'm. I think I'm personally not in a place to where I need to see an all female version of a misogyny piece. Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't like. That's not like revolutionary to me, but I do. I'm interested in whatever that could mean. I'm interested in what that cast would look like. I'm interested in seeing that show, like, prove me different in a way. Because I, I'm not saying like, don't do that, but I mean, obviously it would be cool and interesting and I, but I'm not immediately like, this is what I would quote, want because it's kind of like, you know, forever. I owned like the, the quote, female version of the Odd Couple. It's like, it's kind of dated. The, the gender swapping of things, like being like, ah, this was a take because they were played by women. It's like, okay, but was, was there something else there? You know, so I'm, I'm interested in what it could mean for everything and I hope I get to see. But yeah, like, I, when I immediately saw that, I thought, huh, it's hard. Maybe everything's funnier because it's a woman saying. But at the end of the day, I'm just, I think I'm not in a place to laugh right now with how life is going right now for people with. I don't know, I don't know. I feel like I'm getting too heady with it. But do you know where I'm going with that?

Matt Tamanini (5:43)

Like, no, I do.

Grace Aki (5:44)

Yeah. I don't feel like, oh, we've progressed so much. We can, we can laugh and in this kind of way. I don't know if I'm there, but I do hear it and I see it and I am interested.

Matt Tamanini (5:55)

Okay, so let me ask you this. The production that is currently running on Broadway, getting ready to open here in a few weeks, is directed by Patrick Marber. That 2018, 2019 production that was supposed to come to Broadway, that was supposed to be directed by Amy Morton, who is a great actress in her own right, a multiple time Tony nominee. Would it be different for you if it wasn't the same production, but Amy got a chance to direct her own version of the show, use the same set, but have it be a completely different take on the material rather than just having women swapped into Patrick's version of the show.

Grace Aki (6:32)

Yeah, maybe so. Maybe so. I think it's like ultimately, like, why, like why, why are we doing it? Is it too because we are so interested in the piece from a different perspective? Or are we, you know, saying, okay, so here is a different cast? The different cast also happens to be a different gender expression than the one that's presented on the page. Do you know what I mean? Like, what is the conceit for it and why are we doing it? But no, I think it's a cool conversation.

Matt Tamanini (6:59)

Yeah, it's certainly a very, very interesting take on this. Again, no word as to who could potentially be cast in this, but it is something for everyone to keep an eye on. Something else that I'm definitely keeping an eye on and actually ties into the Amy Morton of it all, at least a little bit. I've been hearing about this for a while, and I don't know, Grace, if you and I have talked about it, I think we might have at some point, maybe just in a text. But yesterday it was confirmed that there is a James Taylor musical in development. Now, before you start saying, oh, I don't need another bio musical, this is not going to be a bio musical. In fact, it is going to be a musical that will feature a book by Amy Morton's august Osage county playwright, Tracy Letts, and being directed by Tony winner David Cromer. Those are not two people that I would normally associate with jukebox musicals. Certainly not bio musicals. But the title of the show is currently Fire and Rain, obviously James Taylor's signature song. And that's really all we know about it at this point. But the fact that Tracy Letts is writing the book of any musical is interesting to me. But then the fact that it's going to be directed by David Cromer, who has directed multiple Tracy Letts shows, makes that even more exciting. I don't know that they are the people that I would have chosen for a James Taylor musical of any kind, Grace. But that actually makes me more excited about it. These are all people that I like. Never would have thrown them into a blender together. But that oftentimes leads to more interesting collaborations than if they had gotten something that just kind of made sense.

Grace Aki (8:40)

Yeah. I'm a fan of David Cromer's direction for sure, so I think that that would be very exciting to me.

Sponsor Announcer (8:46)

Yeah.

Matt Tamanini (8:47)

So if we go James Taylor musical, Fire and Rain is obviously. Probably. I don't know, I was gonna say it's the. It's the. The end of act one number, but I don't know that there's anything James Taylor that feels like you get a Defying Gravity moment. Like, you'd almost have to, like, go girl from the north country and do complete rearrangements to get some big build. But I'm fascinated. I. Go ahead.

Grace Aki (9:16)

I mean, you're gone to Carolina in your mind. I think that, you know, Drew Gehling, call him up like it's time.

Matt Tamanini (9:24)

Oh, my God. I mean, he's kind of perfect for James Taylor. I mean, this isn't A bio musical. But if there's a character that kind of is a stand, embodies it a little bit. Yeah, yeah, he definitely gets there. Of course, this is not going to be the first time that James Taylor music is represented on Broadway. Lest ye forget, James Taylor was one of the songwriters for the musical Working that premiered on Broadway in 1978. The show was mainly conceived and written by Stephen Schwartz, based on the nonfiction book by Studs Terkel. But there was a ton of really great writers who wrote songs for that show, including James Taylor along with Craig Carnelia, Mickey Grant, Mary Rogers along with Schwartz and others. So he will be back. He's also, I think, contributed some music to Chita Rivera, the Dancer's Life, but not written for that. So James Taylor coming back to Broadway, I love it.

Unknown Speaker (10:29)

New work most often is a goddamn awful, boring job. And I'm waiting for a daydream to take me through the morning, put me in my coffee break where I can have my sandwich and remember. And it's me.

Matt Tamanini (10:51)

All right, Grace. This has been a big will he or won't he question since the announcement came out that Orville Peck. Was it Orville or Orville?

Grace Aki (11:00)

It's Orville. I don't know why people keep saying Orville like they've never heard of a Southern name before.

Matt Tamanini (11:06)

No, it's a. Isn't it? Isn't it Orville, Orville and Wilbur Wright, or is it Orville? It doesn't matter. They're from Ohio though, so it might be different.

Grace Aki (11:13)

Anyway, Orville Redenbacher is how I remember it.

Matt Tamanini (11:17)

That's a good point. That's a good point. All right, I'm keeping this in. Orville Peck will take over as the MC and Cabaret on March30. And a lot of people have had questions about whether or not he would be masked when he did the show. If you are unfamiliar, Peck is a country music star who always wears a mask, apparently. Though it has been confirmed that he will not be wearing a mask when he takes to the stage at the Kit Kat Club later this month. It will be a four month run, so he's going to play through July 20th opposite Evil Noble Zada. I've loved. I don't know if you. Well, you work on the show, so you've probably seen all of this. They put out a bunch of pictures of Eva and Orville in costume and everything, but all of the pictures of Orville like cut off under his eyes, which is absolutely brilliant. I love that little, little touch that they've done in the Marketing materials, Grace. So just another little exciting little thing with the casting that Cabaret has done so well so far in its run on Broadway.

Grace Aki (12:16)

Yeah. I mean, this is how you got to do it. I'm thrilled. I'm very excited. I can't wait to see them. But I think this is how you do it. Everything is, like, you know, a little bit of a tease. It's like, you know, what are they going to do? And it's like, of course he's not going to be masked. Like, you got to keep it in the club. That is the slogan of the show. The stickers on the camera, like, it's exciting. You're going to see this person in this Persona, but also this actor and this performer in a way that no one else has. And I think that that's very thrilling. And that's something that we don't often get to experience in the Broadway space of a person and a Persona that has built their life. And because I was discussing this with f of, like, if a luchador, like, removed their mask, like, it's like, a huge deal because, like, that's their Persona. That's their stage Persona. So, like, what does this mean for theater? Like, I don't know anybody else that would have something like this. If Dolly Parton stopped wearing her wig and she decided to do Gray Gardens. Okay. You know, like, it just wouldn't happen. So. Yeah, I just think that that's very cool. So I can't wait.

Matt Tamanini (13:24)

Yeah. And if you are unfamiliar, which I didn't know who Orville Peck was before, but before becoming a country music star, he was a working actor and dancer. So it's not like he's coming into this just some country music singer that they're throwing on stage. He was a professional actor and dancer in musical theater, now getting an opportunity to make his Broadway debut. All right, Grace, before we talk about your trip to London real quick, I mentioned it on Friday's show. I went over to see Cirque du Soleil Drawn to Life this weekend. Lovely show. If you're down here for a trip to Disney or something and you want to see something a little bit more theatrical, Drawn to Life is a wonderful, wonderful Cirque show. I'm sorry that it's taken me a couple years to get over there, but over at Disney Springs, great show, great theater, really cool acts and everything. So I really enjoyed it, so that's a recommendation for me. But, Grace, you went over for work, so there are some shows that you're not going to talk about because of work obligations and all of that stuff. But for the ones that you can talk about, let's go in chronological order. What did you see first?

Grace Aki (14:24)

Oh, gosh. I don't honestly remember, but I. Oh, oh, oh, Benjamin Button. So I was.

Matt Tamanini (14:31)

Yeah, well, first off, tell everybody about the text message that you sent out to me and somebody else before you saw it.

Grace Aki (14:38)

I said, if I don't like this, I am personally going to come for both of you, because I might have. Could have seen Totoro on this night. And you all know how much I love that show because it was. Was the only night where I was like, oh, what? What would be, you know, the thing that I could go to tonight. I'm so fortunate that I went to see the show. It gave me kind of, like, the goosebumps of, musically. If you guys remember, Islander, that came off Broadway a few years ago from the Edinburgh Fringe. It was like. It was beautiful. The music was beautiful. It reminded me of that Come From Away once. Also some vibes of Peter and the Starcatcher in terms of storytelling. Those are some really good shows to be compared to. I just want to say. And this show did not disappoint me for any second. I was just like, who can develop this in the US like, when are they gonna bring it? I just. All I could think was, like, bring this to, like, the Norma Terrace at Goodspeed Opera House and, like, Goodsby musicals, and then bring it to Broadway because, like, it just hits. And I didn't have to have any frame of reference for the TV or for the. The book or the film of Benjamin Benton. It was its own thing, and it felt like a totally original musical, and I loved that. So just saying, really, really enjoyed it. And then I also got to see the Years, which is a masterful play. I don't want to spoil anything about it, but it's about one woman's life through, like, 1946, through, like, 2006. And it was fascinating just to hear. And she's a French woman, but, like, world events juxtaposed with, like, her experience living through these things. When I was describing it to a friend today, they said, oh, it's like Forrest Gump. And I said, it could not be less like Forrest Gump, but I do see how you got there, and I respect it. So all that to say, really stunning play. I also hope that it comes here, but if you have an opportunity to see that. It was incredibly moving. It was disturbing at parts, but in the way of necessity. And then I also got to see Much Ado About Nothing, which is Jamie Lloyd Company's production happening at the Royal Drury Lane. I'd never been to that theater. It is incredible.

Matt Tamanini (16:41)

So nice. Oh, my God.

Grace Aki (16:43)

Oh, I was like. I was, like, shook, literally, like, Mason Alexander park, who's in the show, they brought me backstage and the stage is so massive that I, like, almost faint. I was like, the amount of confetti, like, I need to know. Buckets, pounds, like, how much do you guys go through? It was just beautiful. And, like, they have these gorgeous, like, lobby spaces and bars and it's just like, the amount of square footage alone. I was like, this is Madison Square Garden. Like, just. But it was beautiful and the production was superb. Like, it was hilarious, joyful, sexy, funny. Like, I loved every single element of all of it. And I famously don't enjoy Shakespeare, like, in general. I always give it the benefit, but most of the time I have a hard time because I'm like, speak how you would now.

Matt Tamanini (17:29)

But it felt natural. Like, it felt very natural. Felt real in their mouths.

Grace Aki (17:34)

Yeah, yeah. And I am a big fan, thanks to my partner for showing the movie with Denzel and everyone in, what is it, the late 90s, there wasn't much ado about nothing with Kenneth Branagh.

Matt Tamanini (17:44)

98, I think. Yeah.

Grace Aki (17:45)

98, yeah. When he was still married to his co star Emma Thompson at the time. And so, yeah, all this to say, I want the world for that show. If. If they transfer that with that cast, it's great. I also think they could do it with other people because I just think that Jamie did an excellent job. I think it. I think it's really good and so good. I want the world to be able to see it, honestly.

Matt Tamanini (18:10)

Yeah. I mean, I didn't see the years, but having seen Benjamin Button and Much Ado, those are two shows that I would give anything to see not only again, but multiple, multiple times. And if I was living in London or the uk, I probably would have seen them again multiple times since I saw them. So if the only chance I have is to have them transfer over to New York, I would die for that, because I think they are such incredibly special but very, very different productions. So I'm glad that you did not get angry at Ashley Hufford and I with the Benjamin Button recommendation and appreciated it as much as we did. So I'll have links to all of those shows in the show notes if you want to check them out on any trip coming up to the uk. 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 at Broadway Radio. And you follow me on Instagram @bww. Matt Grace, where can people find you?

Grace Aki (19:03)

You can find me at. It's Graceaki.

Matt Tamanini (19:05)

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

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Grace Aki (19:33)

Let's go.

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Grace Aki (19:41)

You're on mute.

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