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A
Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. The Real Housewives is a guilty pleasure for most, but if you're looking to not feel guilty about that pleasure, tune in to Everything Iconic with me, Danny Pellegrino, where I break down all the messy moments and behind the scenes antics of Bravo's popular franchise. On Everything Iconic, I also interview celebrity guests like Kelly Ripa, Keke Palmer, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and more about their guilty pleasures, their past work and so much more. So if you're pop culture obsessed and find yourself watching way too much reality TV like me, tune into Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino. Wherever you listen to podcasts, ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com oh my God. Hey. Something very exciting is about to happen because I have been given the opportunity under embargo, to speak to the actor, as yet unrevealed, who is going to be playing one of my favourite musical theatre roles of all time. This is going to be the Baker's Wife in the upcoming London revival of into the Woods. I'm about to go on zoom with the person that it's going to be and reveal it for you. All right now, I am overwhelmingly excited to be joined today by the performer who is going to be playing the iconic role of the Baker's Wife in the very highly anticipated upcoming revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's into the woods at the Bridge Theatre. I had been so looking forward to this production already as a huge fan of the show and of this role, but when I began to hear this particular name, it made so much sense and it made me even more excited for the show. I am delighted to be joined by the multi Olivier Award winner of London and Broadway Stages, Katy Braben. Oh, my God. Hey.
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B
Hi.
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A
Hi. It's very exciting to meet you.
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B
Oh, it's so nice to meet you. That's quite an introduction. Thank you.
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A
Well, it's, it's a, it's a really tremendous piece of casting. Like I said, with the creatives involved and with all the success that the Bridge Theatre's had over the last couple of years, to be doing into the woods is exciting enough. But when we started to hear Katy Braben, Baker's Wife, I thought I hadn't conceived of that, but it makes really perfect sense.
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B
Oh, that's nice to hear. Yeah, I'm really excited to be undertaking the role, but especially with Jordan and Tom Scott as well. I've Worked with Tom Scott. This will be the fourth time now as a designer. I think they're such a great team, those two. Obviously, we've seen Fiddler on the Roof, and it's gonna be really exciting to see what they come up with for into the Woods.
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A
Yes, yes. Now, I'm curious because I'm a huge fan of this show, and it was sort of a part of my gateway into musical theatre, really, as a precocious teenager. What is your background with into the Woods? What is your familiarity with the show before this?
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B
Have you seen it before?
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A
Yes.
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B
You have? I saw it at Regent's Park. Did you see that one?
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A
I did, I did. That was. I was 16. That was. That opened my brain to, like, oh, musicals can be this. Yeah, yeah.
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B
A tiny baby. Yeah, yeah. So I saw that production. I didn't know what to expect, to be honest with you, and I was kind of bowled over with how. How funny it was to begin with and how sort of dark and sort of. And heartbreaking it is by the end. It does this amazing thing of kind of being able to tell many different stories and in many different ways. It's sort of uncategorizable in that way. Is that even a word? You know, And I love that about it. It sort of has many different faces, this show.
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A
Yeah, yeah. And then the Baker's Wife is this gorgeous role in there. I mean, there's a lot of fantastic characters. The witch is wonderful. But to be. I think Joanna Gleeson described those characters in the original production as feeling like very ordinary people who had maybe bought property in a bad economy and have ended up in this sort of fairytale neighborhood. They feel her especially very relatable and very familiar to us, and they're surrounded by all of these fairy tale characters.
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B
Yeah, I love that. I think that's a great way of putting it. I've not heard her say that. Yeah. Obviously, Joanna Gleeson, incredible actress that took on the role the very first time. Yeah, I love that. I think that's true. They are sort of. The Baker and the Baker's Wife are the only two characters, really, that have not come directly from a fairy tale. So James has written them into the piece as these sort of. Yeah. As you say, like they just wandered onto the stage of a, you know, a fairy tale. It's kind of like they are the kind of the real, if you will, real people of the piece. And in that way, we can see, you know, the audience can see the show through their eyes, I think, a bit more than they can maybe the other characters and see kind of like. Because this is incredible ensemble of, like, extraordinary characters within the piece, I think it's nice to also be able to see it through the eyes of these sort of people. Like, it's happening to and around, you know.
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A
Yeah, yeah. Had this been on your radar at all as one of the great musical theater roles that you would like to play at some point? Because a lot of what you've done in your career, straddling plays and musicals, has been originating roles and creating these new compelling characters. Was this something that you conceived of?
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B
Yeah, I think it was. When I. When I saw it, you know, the. Maybe even the same show that you saw, I don't know. And I thought Jenna Russell was incredible in the role, and I thought that's. That. That is a role I would love to play one day. And I think it's interesting that I was thinking about this the other day. I've done musicals, but a lot of them have been, you know, quite unquote jukebox musicals. So the songs, you know, just done Girl from the north country, where, I mean, that's very, very different in terms piece, obviously doesn't. Doesn't, you know, stick to any rules of musical theater, but I tend to do shows like that, like, beautiful. Obviously, I did Tammy Faye, which were. The songs were written for the piece, but again, there were pop songs, you know, so it's really interesting for me, A challenge for me, I think, to do something like this, which is, you know, what I love about Sondheim is because he writes the music and the lyrics, it's this holistic, you know, everything is written so perfectly for the character that even the orchestrations will ding a thought, you know, and it's like, it has this beautiful sort of soliloquy sort of energy to it. And so that would be amazing for me as an actor, and I would love to. I mean, I'm going to enjoy the challenge of that, I think, and really lean into that, like, aspect of it.
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A
Yeah, yeah. But it's also not your first time doing a Sondheim musical, because was this shortly after into the woods was at Regent's Park?
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B
Yeah, probably would have been, actually.
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A
I think it was. I think it was. I think it was only a few months later, because I saw into the woods that summer at Regent's Park. I became obsessed with Sondheim. And then I went to go and see Company at the former Southwark Playhouse, which no longer exists. But that was the first time I ever saw you on stage.
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B
Wow. There you go. Yeah. Okay. It must have been fairly. Fairly soon after. I didn't realize that. Yeah. I mean, the score for Company, for Into the Woods, I mean, they're just extraordinary. And again, a real challenge for an ensemble. Real challenge. Vocally, you know the rhythms. But when you. The thing is with Sondheim, you feel like, I am never gonna get this. And then suddenly you just get into this Sondheim zone, and it's like. It's amazing. And especially on those sort of group songs. Thinking of the group songs in Company where, you know, it's like. It's almost like. I don't want to sound, but like. It's almost like a river going down. Stones. It's like there are things popping and happening and. And you're all in this kind of incredible harmony and rhythm, and there is nothing like it. Actually, when you sing a Sondheim score, it says just. It doesn't compare to anything else.
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A
Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking back on that production of Company a little the other day, because it's one of those cast that has now gone on to do fantastic things, like Cassidy Jansen, also. Olivia Wadwin, of course, also did Beautiful as well after you did it. Rupert Young. Terrific. It was you and Michelle Bishop.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Terrific people. Nice little gem of a theater piece. Under the Tunnels. Yeah.
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B
And again, another real ensemble piece is what I'm really excited about with into the woods because. And having done Girl from the north country as well recently, there's nothing really. There's nothing like a true ensemble piece, especially when you're. You have music involved with it. It's. It really brings you together. And I'm here. We have an incredible cast, and that. They're all really lovely, I hear, as well. So it really. It does. It kind of gels you. Brings you together. There's nothing like singing together. You know, it's sort of. It's. It's a true joy of. Of the work I get to do is to sing with other people and sing together. And, you know, having done an ensemble piece before, like, that was something I'm just. I'm really excited to get stuck into that score, to be honest with you.
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A
Yeah. Did you train as a musical theater actress? Was that the way which you entered the industry, or has that been incidental?
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B
So my. My mom is a singer, and my. My parents are in a band, and I used to. Well, I. I'm a songwriter myself, and I play instruments in that. And so I actually did a course at Rose Bruford called Act a musician, which was an act musician degree. And it was kind of one of the first of its kind. I don't even know if there are any others, to be honest with you. So it was like the acting. So it was an acting three year degree, but you also sort of played music on a Wednesday night and you like ended up playing a bit in shows. So we did nine the Musical and I played a bit of cello and that. It was kind of like that. It was kind of mad. But so musicals. Not, not so much really. I didn't, I didn't, I'll be honest with you. Like, I, I got into wanting to be an actor through watching far too much television. I didn't even really know much of theater until I started training and then I started to go to the theater, so, and then I was obsessed. But yeah, I, I, that's kind of, that's my, my journey really. I didn't ever think necessarily, even though I sang that I would do musical theater. It wasn't something that I really thought about that much.
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A
Yeah, and you've had a really fascinating career working at a lot of really prestigious venues with a lot of brilliant directors and writers and you've had tremendous success in plays and in musicals. And that's not something that everyone gets the opportunity to do and sort of a lot of commercial shows, but also then in like places like the Almeida and having just worked at the Old Vic and then this show coming up at the Bridge as well. Do you have a preference having done Beautiful and then obviously you've worked a lot at the Almeda and with Rupert. Do you have a preference as to where you kind of like to work?
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B
That's a good question. I really like the intimacy of small venues. The Almeda was somewhere, you know that when I was at college I went to see a show there and I was just mesmerized by the experience, you know, the experience as an audience member. It's so rare to have that, that intimacy with shows that are able to, you know, able to have the money in them that, you know, you get these great writers and you get these great sets and design and these people working on them. And so the Almeida, you know, places like that, they're really special venues. And I've been so lucky. I worked with Rupert Gould on American Psycho and then since then I've done four shows there. So, you know, I've been incredibly lucky to have that experience with the Almeida. And especially because it was a place that I desperately wanted to work at as a young person. And I also love. I do love those bigger venues as well. But I think it has to be the right piece. You know, you have to have the right thing in the right venue. You can't. You know, some places are too big to play, and I think you have to be careful of that. You do lose that intimacy and that, like, connection with the audience, which I think is so important. So, yeah, I would say smaller venues are probably my favourite, but, you know, it's dependent on the piece.
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A
Yeah. On that point, obviously, Tammy Faye had a very different life on either side of the Atlantic, and you must have had a pretty great vantage point for being able to experience how different the energy of the show was in each instance, because they were very different theaters. You're doing it in the intimacy of the Almeida versus the vast space that is the gorgeous refurbished Palace Theater on Broadway. But was there a different quality in performing the show and how you felt like it played in that big auditorium?
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B
Yeah, I think. I think what happens is your performance has to meet the capacity of the play. So that's not something that personally, I think you think about. I think it's something that you are aware of and you kind of. Whatever space you're in, you know, you've got it. You've got to give it to. To the back of that space. Yeah. But I do think, you know, the Palace Theater is huge. I mean, it's. It's a big space, even for, like, massive, massive shows. And it is an absolutely gorgeous theater. But I think, I mean, it was. It was very big. I mean, it's nearly 2,000 seats.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And we. 350 seats. So, you know, we worked really hard on making that transition, you know.
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A
Yeah, yeah. And your performance was remarkable. And everyone I spoke to, I have a lot of friends in New York who delighted in how great you were in the show.
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B
Oh, that's tough.
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A
Yeah. Certainly a character that you can throw to the back wall of that auditorium.
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B
Exactly, Yeah. I mean, luckily, she's. She's. She's not shy, so. Yeah. I mean, and I love that. I love being able to play these very, very different characters. I've been very lucky in that respect that, you know, people have given me the opportunity to do that.
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A
I wouldn't be a Sondheim fan if I didn't ask you whether there are any other Sondheim shows, Sondheim roles, beyond what is about to be a wonderful into the woods that you may have your eye on or that you would like to give A go in the future, whether something like follies or a Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.
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B
Oh, well, yeah, Mrs. Lovings. Really Todd, for sure. That's, that's on my bingo card somewhere. Yeah. And I don't know the show Sunday in the park with George, but I have listened to it and it's just extraordinary. I don't know, I think any, any of those shows. Yeah, Follies at the, the National a couple of times. Thought it was again, remarkable and fantastic roles for, you know, for older, older women. And I was like, yeah, so hopefully that will be now and there one day. What was the other one I was thinking of? Merrily We Roll Along. I, again, it's something that I've heard a lot about. I've never seen it. I really, really want to see it. But that again, it's really interesting because that was a show that.
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A
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B
That didn't do well on Broadway, did like, I don't know, a week of shows or something.
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A
Oh, yeah, famously.
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B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think it's so interesting with Broadway because that happens a lot. That, you know, really amazing work is just not, it's not kind of digested by the moment. But then in the future it goes on to have this like other life. And that's what I'm kind of interested in. Shows like that that maybe didn't in the moment kind of hit and then it's like, okay, you had to wait 10, 20 years to realize what this show is and what it can be and, and who it speaks to, you know, so I'm Interested in going to see that? I think more than I generally don't have, like, I generally don't go, I've got to play that role because I think I'll only be disappointed. But I do love pieces and I love people's interpretation of roles, and I think that's, for me, like, I'm. I love people's performances. I. That's what keeps me interested all the time in this industry is watching people just do their thing so brilliantly. Yeah, yeah. Rather than kind of going off, I've got to play that role.
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A
Yeah, yeah. You bring an awful lot of depth and detail to the characters that you portray, a handful of which in some of your most acclaimed performances have been real people whose likenesses you are capturing. Had anyone ever said to you before, by the way, that you have an incredible visual similarity to Carole King? Had that come up previously in your life? Because the pictures of you, when Beautiful happened, when you were coming to Broadway and Tammy Faye and I was telling my American friends to get ready for how great you are, they were talking about, I said, like, she was our Carole King. And then I showed the pictures and they were like, oh, yeah, no, that makes sense.
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B
Yeah, no, it's funny. Not until. And you know, I'd listened to Carol King all my life up to that point, and I had not thought of it at all. And then my friend called me and said, you know, this show is coming, coming to, to London. You should really see if you can be seen for it. And by the way, you also look a lot like her. And I was like, oh, yeah, like, that's crazy. It was one of those moments where I was like, oh, this, you know, a lot of time, you auditions for. You audition for things and you're like, you give yourselves reasons why they're not going to go for you give yourself reasons why you're not the right person for the job. And I literally, I couldn't find a reason. I was like, I cannot find a reason why they would not, like, maybe cost you in this. So I had to just like steel myself, you know, for the audition and be like, okay, well, you can't mess this up because you might have a chance.
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A
And just going back to the previous conversation as it occurs to me, I would pay an awful lot of money for a one night only staging of Sweeney Todd done entirely traditionally as is. But you are playing Tammy Faye, playing Mrs. Lovett. I think that has a lot of legs. I think that.
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B
Layers, isn't it? Lots of layers. Oh, do you know what that Would be fun. Yeah, that would be fun. Tammy Faye would have been a brilliant Mrs. Lovett.
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A
I think that was an entire like musical theater career that could have happened. Yeah.
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B
Oh, for sure. I mean, you know, she was this sort of incredible interpreter of songs, actually, Tammy and I think she would have loved that.
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A
Yeah. We were robbed of the Mrs. We were robbed of the hello Dolly.
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B
No, true.
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A
Yeah. Anyway, returning to the world of into the Woods. At the time that people are seeing this, the cast will have been thrillingly revealed. But as of right now, I am only existing on the rumoured names that have been circling around. You don't have to tell me who it is, but do you know who you're going to be playing opposite? Do you know who your baker is?
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B
Yes, I just spoke to Dean, actually. I know.
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A
Uh huh. So the name that I've heard is Jamie Parker.
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B
That's correct, yeah.
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A
Which is also very exciting. I don't. The two of you haven't worked before, worked together before?
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B
No, we haven't worked together before. But I remember. He won't remember this, but I, I remember being in a sort of final audition with him for something, but I can't remember what happened in the audition. I didn't get the job. I remember that, but I don't remember what happened. But I remember he thinking he was really good and I've seen him in shows before, so I'm. Yeah, I'm really excited about that. I think that's going to be fun. Yeah, he is brilliant. So, yeah, I'm very much looking forward to that.
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A
Yeah. Yeah, I look forward to finding out everyone else who is going to be a part of the cast as well. And I so look forward to seeing you in the show. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me about it.
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B
Oh, so nice to see you.
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A
Thank you so much for watching this interview. I hope that you enjoyed listening to that conversation with the remarkable Katy Braben. As much as I enjoyed having it. I cannot wait for the show. Make sure to get your tickets to what promises to be a very exciting new production of, of one of the greatest book musicals ever written, into the woods at the Bridge Theatre in London. Coming later this year. I cannot wait to go and see it and maybe I'll see you there. In the meantime, I hope as always, that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey Day.
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B
Subscribed.
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A
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