Trump Declares Ballroom His Gift to Americans | John Travolta, Ana Gasteyer | Tuesday, May 19

Summary

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Episode: Trump Declares Ballroom His Gift to Americans | John Travolta, Ana Gasteyer
Aired: May 20, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This lively episode of The Tonight Show features Jimmy Fallon's signature comedic monologue on the latest political and cultural happenings—including President Trump’s plans for a White House ballroom and quirky news of the day. The show welcomes two acclaimed guests: John Travolta, celebrating his new film Propeller One Way Night Coach and a Lifetime Achievement Palme d’Or from Cannes, and Broadway star Ana Gasteyer, fresh from Tony-nominated musical Schmigadoon. The episode is packed with humor, storytelling, Broadway nostalgia, and playful vocal warm-ups.

---

Key Segments & Highlights

1. Jimmy Fallon’s Monologue: Politics, Pop Culture, and Beef Prices

[01:10 – 06:08]

• New York City heat wave: Temperatures hit 95°, with Fallon quipping:

  “I was sweating like Marco Rubio at a roller coaster height chart.” [01:15]

• President Trump’s White House Ballroom: Jokes about Trump’s declaration of a ballroom as “his gift to the country,” likening it to “an all cantaloupe edible arrangement”:

  “It’s a gift that no one wants. I mean, it’s like an all cantaloupe edible arrangement, you know what I’m saying?” [01:25]

• Cognitive tests and drone-proof ballrooms: Fallon lampoons Trump’s claim that the ballroom will be “drone proof”:

  “It’s going to be less ballroom and more bouncy castle.” [01:49]

• Trump’s approval rating:

  “His second term approval rating just hit a record low of 30. But now Trump’s trying to make it cool by walking around going 3, 7.” [02:05]

• Cultural pot-shots and parody decision-making: Fallon humorously ranks Trump’s Iran decision among other “great decisions”:

  “Right up there with giving Felicity a haircut, investing in Spirit Airlines, betting on Mike Tyson to beat Jake Paul…” [02:33]

• Senator “You think that’s bad?” roast: Parade of fictional (and absurd) senator responses to a defeated Senator Bill Cassidy:

  “Senator Pete Ricketts said, ‘You think that’s bad? My own kids call me Wimp Diesel.’” [03:22]

• Tech & Fast Food Skits:
  • Amazon Alexa now creating “full AI podcasts with fake hosts.”
  • Rising beef prices prompt spoofed statements from Wendy’s, Burger King (“Thanks for your patience, Burger King”), and Taco Bell (“...because we don’t get our beef from cows.”) [05:45]
  • Anna Gasteyer: “Ridiculous.” [05:58]
• Quirky news: Firefighters rescue 25 million bees in Utah. Fallon jokes:

  “On the bright side, now their lips look amazing.” [05:59]

---

2. Interview: John Travolta

[07:13 – 15:07]

Travolta’s Star Power and Cannes Triumph

• Welcomed with warmth and nostalgia:
  • Travolta and Fallon on mutual admiration and lasting fandom:

    Travolta: “I love this man. And I love all of you. And thank you for having me.” [07:29] Fallon: “Does that ever get old? Never go nuts for you.”
    Travolta: “I don’t know what I’d do without it.” [07:39]

• Ringo Starr & Paul McCartney stories:
  • Travolta recounts singing with both Beatles:

    “I went to this Florida performance and went backstage and he said, why don’t you come sing with me?... It was the second Beatle I had actually sung with because I had also sung with Paul McCartney in the parking lot of a Tom Ford party years ago.” [08:11] “He said, well, I represented the 60s, you represented the 70s. We should sing.” [08:38]

• Cannes Film Festival and Palme d’Or:
  • Fallon marvels at Travolta bringing the Palme d’Or to the show:

    Fallon: “Before you came on, I go, oh, man. John, could you bring the Palme d’or to our show? Could you? And you did? ...I’ve never seen this before…” [09:28]

  • Travolta shares his surprise at the honor:

    “No one in my team knew. No one. The Apple team knew. No one did... five months prior, they had made a decision about me that was unheard of in the history of Cannes... I want you. I’ve done something I’ve never done before. I’m going to accept it as the first selection now.” [09:55–10:20] “It’s such a privilege to have a film at Cannes.” [10:40]

• Discussing Propeller One Way Night Coach:
  • Travolta’s multifaceted role (writer, producer, director, narrator) and personal connection:

    “I wrote a novella 35 years ago.... because it’s my own life I’m portraying in this film, I knew it was too personal and too intimate to let anyone else do it.” [11:35–12:00]

    • Analogy to old family dinnerware:

      “It’s that kind of thing when your grandmother has plateware and a cupboard and she’s 95 and you say, well, are we going to use this plate? ... ‘Oh, no, we’re waiting for a special occasion.’” [12:00]

  • The story’s heart:

    “It’s a little boy—it was me—and he’s taking a trip across the country for the first time. He’s obsessed with aviation and he’s resilient and hopeful and everything he looks at is a glass half full.” [12:40] Fallon: “He’s a dreamer.” [12:58] Travolta: “He’s a dreamer.”

  • Homage to 1960s style and music:

    “An homage to the best masterpieces of cinema soundtracks… Henry Mancini and Gato Barbieri... the atmosphere of 1962—the architecture, the clothing, the aircraft, the cars, the details down to the details down to the Buster Brown shoebox…” [14:07]

  • Animated opening credits:

    “That’s Shag. Now Shag is kind of the equivalent of Andy Warhol today. He’s got Picasso-esque type... sketches…” [14:41]

Notable Quotes

• “Give John Travolta every award. ‘Cause you deserve all the awards because of what you’ve given us as an artist.” – Jimmy Fallon [10:47]
• “Don’t give up. Just go, yeah, I’m gonna make this myself. Watch. Watch what I do.” – Jimmy Fallon [12:26]

---

3. Interview: Ana Gasteyer

[15:36 – 24:39]

SNL Memories & Broadway Buzz

• Celebrating her Tony nomination for Schmigadoon:
  • Fallon raves about her SNL 50th Homecoming concert appearance:

    “You stole the show... you didn’t miss a beat and you crush it and kept crushing.” [16:13]

  • Anna reflects on SNL chaos and backstage celebrity encounters:

    “It was all these cool musicians. Cause it was the music night. So it was like, literally the coolest people in American culture for 50 years… My dressing room was between Jack White and Cher’s… I touched Cher’s wig.” [16:54–18:02]

• Classic SNL Sketch: “Riding My Donkey”:

  “It was a political talk show...We were sitting atop actual asses. That was the idea. And we were talking about the politics. It was insane.” [19:30] “There were a lot of donkeys and they had not been trained or drugged in any way. And... they were not comfortable with live television. It wasn’t a great setting for them.” [19:42] On set chaos: “Was one of them biting Daryl Hammond?” [19:51] “There was probably eight donkeys on the set.” [19:41]

• Broadway roots and passion:
  • Anna’s Broadway journey:

    “This is my sixth Broadway show. I am so excited to be nominated because, you know, my first Broadway, you came to my Broadway debut, to Rocky Horror Show...I played Elphaba [in Wicked].” [20:33–20:52]

  • On Schmigadoon:

    “A parody of the golden age musicals... It’s about a couple, a modern couple that gets trapped in a golden age musical... So it’s just this great love letter to the American musical theater tradition.” [21:15] “It’s super analog. The sets are hand painted. We have 14 pieces in the orchestra...I obviously play the villain. Duh.” [21:35]

• Vocal warm-ups and rituals (playfully demonstrated with Fallon):

  Gasteyer: “And then I do like, I do tongue strech and I do a lot of like, you know, nebulizers and steam and stuff... I throw on a little bit of red light mask because…” [22:43] Fallon: “I want to make my face...Wow.” [23:52–23:54] Gasteyer: “And I do some tongue trills. This will really keep everyone out of your dressing room.” [24:14]

Notable Quotes

• “People to this day are very confused by the fact that I do theater or sing. And Schmigadoon is so fun. Cause it kind of smushes it all together, you know? It’s Lauren [Michaels] producing it, which is incredible.” – Ana Gasteyer [20:57]
• “You’re always like, yeah, come on, bud.” – Jimmy Fallon (on Gasteyer’s showstopper) [22:14]

---

Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “It’s like an all cantaloupe edible arrangement.”
  – Jimmy Fallon on Trump’s new ballroom [01:25]
• “It’s going to be less ballroom and more bouncy castle.”
  – Jimmy Fallon, riffing on “drone-proof” claims [01:49]
• “Wimp Diesel.”
  – Imaginary senator nickname roast [03:22]
• “Our prices stay the same because we don’t get our beef from cows.”
  – Fallon, as Taco Bell [05:45]
• “Are you at, like, an icon convention?”
  – Fallon jokes to Travolta about hanging with Ringo Starr [08:06]
• “I wrote a novella 35 years ago...I knew it was too personal and too intimate to let anyone else do it.”
  – John Travolta [11:35]
• “A star is born.”
  – Both Fallon & Gasteyer praise Ella Travolta [13:43]
• “It’s a love letter to the American musical theater tradition.”
  – Ana Gasteyer on Schmigadoon [21:18]
• Red light masks for vocal “inflammation”: Playful Broadway performer ritual [23:21]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Monologue & news satire: 01:10 – 06:08
• John Travolta interview: 07:13 – 15:07
  • Cannes & Propeller One Way Night Coach: 08:53 – 15:07
• Anna Gasteyer interview: 15:36 – 24:39
  • SNL concert & sketches: 16:13 – 20:21
  • Broadway and Schmigadoon: 20:33 – 23:52
  • Vocal warmups: 22:45 – 24:14

---

Episode Tone & Takeaways

Fun, high-energy, and filled with in-jokes and affectionate jabs at celebrities, the episode mixes playful celebrity admiration with genuine artistic insight. Travolta reflects on creative perseverance and legacy; Gasteyer delivers Broadway wisdom, laughs, and quirky rituals. Fallon’s monologue pokes at current events while maintaining the Tonight Show’s trademark warmth and silliness.

---

Miss this episode? You’ll feel caught up and entertained—just as if you were watching from the front row.

Transcript

[Jimmy Fallon]

From 2006p in Rockefeller center in the heart of New York City, this is Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon. Tonight joins Jim and his guest John Travolta on the gas fire. And featuring the legendary Ruth Cruz. And now here he is, Jimmy it. Yes. Thank you very much, everybody. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Tonight Show. This is it. This is the show to be at.

Come on, guys. Today was one of the hottest days of the year here in New York city. Temperatures hitting 95 degrees. Whew. Yeah, seriously, it was so hot today, I was sweating like Marco Rubio at a roller coaster. Hike chart. Meanwhile, it was also 95 degrees down in Washington, D.C. it was so hot. President Trump spent the day rubbing gold bond powder on his ballroom. Well, speaking of this morning, Trump toured the White House ballroom construction site, and he called the ballroom his gift to the country. Yeah, it's a gift that no one wants. I mean, it's, it's like an all cantaloupe edible arrangement, you know what I'm saying? We know it looks like a rose, but yep, Trump toured his new ballroom, but he didn't wear a hard hat. And if you saw the results of his last cognitive test, you'd understand why it wasn't necessary as well. Trump also said the new ballroom will be drone proof. He said so if a drone hits, it bounces off. Which makes me think it's going to be less ballroom and more bouncy castle. See what I'm saying? Yeah. These are stressful times for Trump. And get this, his second term approval rating just hit a record low of 30. But now Trump's trying to make it cool by walking around going 3, 7, right? 3, 7, 3, 7. Some more political news. Late yesterday, Trump announced that he was canceling a massive attack on Iran that was planned for today. So like everyone else with plans on a Tuesday night, he just wasn't feeling it and bailed. Meanwhile, according to a new poll, most voters think Trump made the wrong decision to go to war with Iran. Well, not me personally. I think it was a fantastic decision. One of the best in history. You know, right up there with giving Felicity a haircut, investing in Spirit Airlines, betting on Mike Tyson to beat Jake Paul, that ad where Kendall Jenner gives Pepsi to a police officer, The Godfather Part 3, Toy Story Part 4, and of course, licking the captain's hand on that cruise ship last week. Great, great decision. Some more political news. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy was just defeated in his primary, so he's losing his seat in the Senate when they heard a lot of his fellow senators reached out to console him. For instance, first up, Senator Jon Ossoff said, keep your head up, Bill. At least everyone online doesn't call you Temu Timothy. And Senator Pete Ricketts said, you think that's bad? My own kids call me Wimp Diesel. And Senator Ruben Gallego said, you think that's bad? My own wife calls me J.D. vance. And Senator Jerry Moran said, you think that's bad? I passed out in a tanning bed and they didn't wake me for two whole days. And Senator Ted Budd said, you think that's bad? I can hear everything happening in a six mile radius. And Senator Adam Schiff said, you think that's bad? I can't open my mouth wide enough to eat a grape. And Senator Cory Booker said, you think that's bad? I've been storing a grape in my mouth for a month. And Senator Ron Wyden said, you think that's bad? I didn't even audition, but I got cast in the new Lord of the Rings movie as Gollum. And Senator John Fetterman said, you think that's bad? I didn't even audition, but I got cast in the new Harry Potter show as Hagrid. And finally Senator Rick Scott said, you think that's better? I showed up in the UFO files 700 times. Hail Gorgax.

[John Travolta]

What?

[Jimmy Fallon]

What?

Well, switching gears, Amazon just announced that Alexa can now produce full AI podcasts with fake hosts. Because if there's one thing this world doesn't have enough of, it's podcasts. While beef prices are soaring at a record pace. And for the first time ever, it now costs $7 a pound and it's affecting a lot of restaurants. Check out this message from Wendy's. At Wendy's, we serve the best ingredients. So when the cost of beef goes up, so do our prices. But we'll get through it together. Wendy's. Here's another message from Burger King. At Burger King, quality matters.

[John Travolta]

To bring you the best beef, we're adjusting our prices.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Thanks for your patience, Burger King. That's nice. Now here's a message from Taco Bell. At Taco Bell, when the cost of beef goes up, our prices stay the same because we don't get our beef from cows.

[John Travolta]

Anyway, call us when the price of

[Jimmy Fallon]

raccoon comes goes on Taco Bell. Why would they run that?

Why would they do that? Why would you run it out like that? I don't know.

I don't know.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Ridiculous.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Finally, I read that firefighters in Utah had to rescue 25 million bees that were stuck in a broken down semi truck. On the bright side, now their lips look amazing.

We have a great show, you guys. The one and only, my favorite John Travolta is here tonight. Anna Gastire is joining us.

We'll be right back with more tonight too. Everybody.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Bud. Is a two time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe and Emmy winner. He's now making his directorial debut with the new film One Way Night Coach, which premieres May 29th on Apple TV. Please welcome the one, the only, John Crevosa.

Come on, please be my guest. The one and only John Travolta. I love you. Welcome back.

[John Travolta]

I love you, too.

[Jimmy Fallon]

They love you. Come on.

[John Travolta]

Thank you so much. That was a gorgeous.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, my gosh.

[John Travolta]

I love this man. And I love all of you. And thank you having me.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Does that ever. Does that ever get old? Never go nuts for you.

[John Travolta]

I love it. I don't know what I would do without it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Congratulations on the movie. I can't wait to get into it. It's fantastic. You brought me something which is fun. You brought a photo of you and another pop icon. And I just wanted to ask you what goes through your brain when it's you and Ringo Starr just hanging out together, Beatle and drum. Travolta, I mean, this is like legends, icons. Where do you meet? Are you at, like an icon convention?

[John Travolta]

I wanted to see Ringo perform. I wanted to meet him.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[John Travolta]

So I went to this Florida performance and went backstage and he said, why don't you come sing with me? So we sang. I get by with a little help from my friends.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, of course. Oh, my gosh.

[John Travolta]

And it was the second Beatle I had actually sung with because I had also sung with Paul McCartney in the parking lot of a Tom Ford party years ago.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. How's that work? You see him in the parking lot and you just go, hey, Paul, let's go.

[John Travolta]

He said, well, I represented the 60s, you represented the 70s. We should sing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You also represented the 80s, the 90s. What decade did you not represent? You can't miss.

You're John Travolta, Buck. Thank you. And you're everything.

You had an incredible weekend over at the Cannes Film Festival. Not only did you premiere your movie, One Way Night, Coach, congratulations on that. Thank you. But you also got the prestigious Palme d' or award for lifetime achievement in film. This is how cool John Travolta is. I go. Before you came on, I go, oh, Man. John, could you bring the Palme d' or to our show? Could you? And you did? Yeah, I brought this to the show. I've never seen this before, so.

[John Travolta]

All right.

[Jimmy Fallon]

So how do I even open? Like this?

[John Travolta]

I think so. There you go. Holy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Holy mackerel. I don't want him dropping.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Now.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This was. Thank you for bringing this. But you were so surprised in the video I saw when they gave this to you and you got emotional. I mean, this was not planned.

[John Travolta]

No. Well, it was a complete secret. No one in my team knew. No one. The Apple team knew. No one did. And I think what happened was, five months prior, they had done made a decision about me that was unheard of in the history of Ken. Thierry Farmaux saw this film, the one that you saw, and he loved it. He thought it was great. And he said, I want you. I've done something I've never done before. I'm going to accept it as the first selection now. Which he had never done five months early. And I think he said, but I'm going to make it a very special night. So I think he was planning this for five months.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But you're like, a special night. You're like, yeah.

[John Travolta]

It's because I was happy just to be there. I didn't expect this at all.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[John Travolta]

You know, it was just. It's such a privilege to have a film at Cannes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's a prize in itself.

[John Travolta]

Exactly.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But I think, give John Travolta every award. Cause you deserve all the awards because of what you've given us as an artist.

Yes.

I just loved it, and I love that. I just love how humble you were there. I'm like, dude, this guy's been through everything. He's seen everything. But you still appreciate it. And I'm like, that's why everyone loves you.

[John Travolta]

Well, thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And congrats on this movie. Why did he love it so much, do you think? Propeller.

[John Travolta]

He said it was perfect. There's nothing wrong with it. And I want the most discerning opinion in the world. In cinema.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, of course. I think so.

[John Travolta]

He was telling me. I cried. I couldn't believe that he felt that way. And I was just relieved and glad that he did.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I love the story behind this, because you wrote this, you produced this, you directed this, you narrate this. This is based on. What was it, a book that you put in?

[John Travolta]

I wrote a novella 35 years ago, and then I published it with Warner Books. And then I decided I was gonna make it into a film, but I waited all this time, because anyone who was supporting it had a lot of ideas about how they would do it. But because it's my own life I'm portraying in this film, I knew it was too personal and too intimate to let anyone else do it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Take it.

[John Travolta]

Yeah. So I just waited until I thought, but, you know, it's that kind of thing when your grandmother has plateware and a cupboard and she's 95 and you say, well, are we going to use this plate? Oh, no, we're waiting for a special occasion.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, yeah.

When are we going to use these plates? Yeah, yeah.

[John Travolta]

Well, that's what happened last year. I said, john, you're this age. You said, when are you ever going to do this?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, you got to do this.

[John Travolta]

So I had to do it, but

[Jimmy Fallon]

you got to do it yourself. And that's such a good lesson to everyone out there. Don't give up. Just go, yeah, I'm going to make this myself. Watch. Watch what I do. And it's fantastic.

[John Travolta]

Thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's semi autobiographical. It's about your first ever flight as a kid.

[John Travolta]

Yes. It's a little boy. It was me. And he's taking a trip across the country for the first time. He's obsessed with aviation and he's resilient and hopeful and everything he looks at is a glass half full. It's very, very beautiful and positive perspective on life.

[Jimmy Fallon]

He's a dreamer.

[John Travolta]

He's a dreamer. So his mother has this promise of being in movies if she goes out west from someone in summer's theater that promised her.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This is another dream.

[John Travolta]

Another dream.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[John Travolta]

So here we are. But we couldn't afford a real jetliner ticket because they were too expensive. So you had to go into the schedules and look for the cheapest ticket, which was propeller, one way, night coach. And that was what we could afford. So you get on the plane, but it makes all these stops across the country and it's all the people that we meet going out to la. But in the clip you're gonna show, it's funny cause my daughter Ella, who

[Jimmy Fallon]

plays, by the way, she's fantastic, isn't she?

[Anna Gasteyer]

Yes.

[John Travolta]

She's Star is born. Right?

[Jimmy Fallon]

She's great. A star is born. I just loved it and I loved the magic of it. Cause I think sometimes you forget, you know, because we get old, of what life is like when you're a little kid and you know, going into a living room. It's a big room.

[John Travolta]

Yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're like, this is the biggest thing I've ever seen. You Know, seeing a plane for the first time, it's like going to. It's just. It's fascinating. I think you shot it perfectly. I think it's gorgeous. The music is great.

[John Travolta]

An homage to the best cinemasterpieces of cinema soundtracks. You know, Henry Mancini and Gateau Barberi and all these beautiful pieces of music that I laced through the film because it was 1962 is when this takes place. So you have to have the atmosphere of 1962. So the architecture, it's an homage to the architecture. The clothing, the aircraft, the cars, the

[Jimmy Fallon]

details down to the details down to the Buster Brown shoebox that I love that little detail as well. But also who did the animation at the beginning?

[John Travolta]

That's Shag. Now Shag is kind of the equivalent of Andy Warhol today. He's got Picasso esque type sketcher and painter. And he was so excited because it was his wheelhouse, the mid century's wheelhouse. So he did a bunch of sketches that reflected the scenario of the film and we put it together and made an animation for the opening credits.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It just worked. And it's the boy and his mom and it's just a great trip.

John Travolta, everybody. Propeller One Way Night Coach premieres May 29th on Apple TV.

Congratulations on your name. You're the best.

We'll be right back, everybody. Come on back.

[Musical Performer]

Thank you for dreaming I hurt myself to see if I could feel Then I began to try to see if it was real I set off seeing for real to me that's what's concealed let's go keep her mommy cool in the hill all she ever seem to do is play it cool for real yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Our next guest is a Tony nominated and Emmy winning performer who is starring on Broadway in the 12 time Tony nominated musical award Schmigadoon which is now playing at the Nederlander Theater. Please welcome Anna Gasteyer.

Thank you, Anna. Oh my God. Wow.

Oh my.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I gotta smell something real quick.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh.

Oh, sorry. Well, welcome back to the show.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Hi.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You look fantastic. Before we talk about Schmigadoon.

Schmigadoon.

Congratulations. The Tony nominations here, I gotta say, last time I saw you was at the SNL 50th Homecoming concert at Radio City. Watch it on Peacock. If you haven't seen it, you stole the show with Marty and Bobby Mohanko. It was un Ana Kastire. When I tell you it was unbelievable and you didn't miss a beat and you crush it and kept crushing.

[Anna Gasteyer]

You know what was so fun? So first of all, it was so great because you were there. And remember, it was chaos. SNL's always chaos. This was like the Friday night kind of pre game.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But it almost felt like the 40th anniversary in a weird way. Remember the after party?

[Anna Gasteyer]

Oh, my God. That's exactly what it felt like. And it was all these cool musicians. Cause it was the music night. So it was like, literally the coolest people in American culture for 50 years.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And then Nirvana reunited.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Nirvana reunited.

[Jimmy Fallon]

The Roots played.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Roots played everything. Right, Right. We're backstage kind of panicking, you know, dressed as these. Dressed as these jokers.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[Anna Gasteyer]

And we're like. And everyone was kind of blowing us off a little bit because I think they were like, who are these nerds? You know? But that's perfect. I'm, like, trying to make, you know, chit chat with Chris Martin. And it's just like, whatever, ladies. Nice striped dress.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But that's perfect to stay in character.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I just don't think they knew who we were, which was great. Like, I love the idea that Bobby and Marty themselves just kind of wandered in to do a gig at Radio City.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, of course.

[Anna Gasteyer]

And we were so. We kept. Will and I were so happy because we were so happy. Because they would have been so excited to be there. Bobby and Marty, with all the musical artisans.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Of course they would. With all the musical artists.

[Anna Gasteyer]

All the musical. And my dressing room was between Jack White and Cher's. Dressed like this jackass. You know, I touched Cher's wig.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, for good luck.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Yeah, for good luck. You gotta do that. You gotta touch. It's like touching, you know? I don't know. Like, Cher's wig. It's an amulet.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes, it isn't it. You never broke. When we were on Sirentlive together, you were very professional.

[Anna Gasteyer]

It wasn't my jam. Cause I would dig in deeper. I don't know. It's like the Will Ferrell school or something. But I would just try to go deeper sometimes. One time I broke. One time I broke. I don't know if you were there. I think you were. You came. My second season, third season. Harper Steele wrote this insane sketch called Riding My Donkey.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, my God.

[Anna Gasteyer]

It was a political talk show.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Riding my donkey.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Was that fair? It was during the Clinton impeachment scandal. And it did air.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It did not air, but I know

exactly the same air.

[Anna Gasteyer]

No, it did air. It did air, but not. I didn't break on air. But what happened was it was a bunch of CNN talking heads. A political talk. It was called Riding My Donkey. Riding my donkey. Talking about what's in the news.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I'm riding my donkey.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I don't remember the second four people who wanna know.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I'm riding my donkey.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Yeah, I'm riding and talking and riding and talking.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Riding my donkey.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Political talk show. So we were on.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I totally remember this.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Riding my donkey.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Riding my donkey. So I was playing some CNN talking head political lady. And by the way, my whole impression was my face going like this. Yeah, that was the impression. So I didn't have. The reason I say that is because it was bad to break in because I kept going. Right. And the donkeys.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Well, tell everyone that you were on actual.

[Anna Gasteyer]

We were sitting atop actual asses. That was the idea. Right. And we were talking about the politics. It was insane.

[Jimmy Fallon]

So it was the talks. You were all CNN people were on real life, Don.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Real donkeys. And everybody was.

[Jimmy Fallon]

There was probably eight donkeys on the set.

[Anna Gasteyer]

There were a lot of donkeys and they had not been trained or drugged in any way. And they were not obviously comfortable with live television. It wasn't a great setting for them.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Was one of them biting Daryl Hammond one bit?

[Anna Gasteyer]

Daryl. In the. I think. And I mean, it was a pretty active, like, pow. Like in the middle of the talk,

[Jimmy Fallon]

you almost fell off the donkey.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Were you in it?

[Jimmy Fallon]

No, I.

[Anna Gasteyer]

But we kept, like, lunging.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Beth and Karthi Miller would play it to the crew just to make us happy. It was the, like, while we were rehearsing, like a late night on a Friday night.

[Anna Gasteyer]

And you were like playing to specific cameras on snl. So each camera for your character is like, so. But they kept zooming past one another's.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Right in my dog, you know.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Oh, it's fantastic.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Political times.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Anyway.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And then look at you getting nominated for a Tony Award. No big deal. On a gas star.

So excited. Are you kidding? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?

You love Broadway.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I love Broadway.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You always have.

[Anna Gasteyer]

This is my sixth Broadway show. I am so excited to be nominated because, you know, my first Broadway, you came to my brother debut to Rocky Horror Show. I remember you were in Rocky Horror Crazy and. Yeah, and I played Elphaba.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And then I was there. I saw you as Elphaba too, because you were defying gravity.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I defy gravity.

[Jimmy Fallon]

In Wicked.

[Anna Gasteyer]

In Wicked.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But you love it. I love it.

[Anna Gasteyer]

And I have to say, like, a lot of this was pre. Pre social media. So, you know, when people know you from snl, the power of television. There's still. People to this day are very confused by the fact That I do theater or sing. And Shmika Doon is so fun. Cause it kind of smushes it all together, you know, It's Lauren's producing it, which is incredible.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I know.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I love it. And it's a parody of the golden age musicals. It's about a couple, a modern couple that gets trapped in a golden age musical and they can't get. One really hates musicals. And one loves them, but. So it's just this great love letter to the American musical theater tradition. And it's super analog. The sets are hand painted. We have 14 pieces in the orchestra. The music is glorious. I have obviously played the villain. Duh. I play the.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You play the villain.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I play the uptight white lady. What else is new?

[John Travolta]

Wow.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Are you going through your villain era?

[Anna Gasteyer]

I'm in my villain era and I get a little redemptive arc, but I get to yell at everybody, which is fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You have a Showstopper song.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I do. I do it. My song is based on Trouble in River City from Music Man.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, of course.

[Anna Gasteyer]

And it's a pattersong, which I thought would be easier, but it's actually as hard as Elphaba, which kind of sucks. Cause it's hard because you got to talk fast. You gotta breathe fast. And then I belt and sing at the end of it. Cause it has sort of a tent revival characteristic, but you have to run it all the time. Fatmouth, drasher, the. And flap, doodle, clap, trap, fiddle, faddle, jiggery, pokery, you know, stir, scream.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're always like, yeah, come on, bud.

[Anna Gasteyer]

It's fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Anna, you're crushing it.

[Anna Gasteyer]

It's fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Congratulations.

[Anna Gasteyer]

It's really, really fun. And our. Our ensemble, please, if you like watching people sing and dance on Broadway, come see Schmigadoon. Because our ensemble just won the Cheetah Rivera Award last night.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Hey, that's what I'm talking about.

[Anna Gasteyer]

They're amazing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I believe you're performing on our show in a few weeks. Yeah, we are.

[Anna Gasteyer]

We're going to come do Tribulation.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Yes. Which is my. That's just my number.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I was gonna ask you if you could show me maybe a warm up of something to do.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Oh, yeah. Cause you like the vocal arts.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I do love the vocal arts.

[Anna Gasteyer]

And you take your craft seriously.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Thank you very much.

[Anna Gasteyer]

That's one thing I know about. You do all your stretches to Alexander technique and stuff before you come out here, right? Roll around on some balls and stuff and. Yeah, Yes, I do. I do a lot of things. I try to I have a lot of weird like tinctures and stuff. Like all singers, I'm overly oils and lot of oils and tinctures. It's not good for marriage, but I like it. And then I do like, I do tongue stret and I do a lot of like, you know, nebulizers and steam and stuff. And then this probably does nothing. I brought it for you. I also do I throw on a little bit of red light mask because,

[Jimmy Fallon]

you know, doesn't do anything.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Well, supposedly it grows plants in space. Red lights.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, yeah.

[Anna Gasteyer]

I mean, you guys know that.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Sure. Of course. So why not put it on your face?

[Anna Gasteyer]

Why not put it on your face? And it's gonna take down inflammation. So you want to take down inflammation, right? So you do that. I do. But we could try it together if you like.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And can we?

[Anna Gasteyer]

It's good for just keeping people out of your dressing room too. And then you can do a couple. Turn it on and is it on? Yeah, if you do that. And then you can do some soft vowel exercises. I get with my teacher. And here's a good little phrase.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Wait, wait, wait. I want to make my face. Wow.

Wow.

[Anna Gasteyer]

There you go.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Hey, looking good.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Okay, ready?

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're wondering who I am.

[Anna Gasteyer]

There you go. Perfect. And now we can just do some basic little seconds.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Okay.

[Anna Gasteyer]

This sucks.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This sucks.

This is.

[Anna Gasteyer]

This sucks.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This sucks.

[Anna Gasteyer]

This sucks.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This sucks.

Look at how frightening this is.

Scary.

[Anna Gasteyer]

See? And I do some tongue trills. This will really keep everyone out of your dressroom.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes,

[Anna Gasteyer]

Yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I feel like a Broadway star on a guest hour.

Can you even see this?

Snicker dune is now playing on Broadway as a Nederlander theater. More Tonight show after the break. Stick around everybody.

[Anna Gasteyer]

Come on back.

[Musical Performer]

Let's have it, Mr. Old NASA. Stop, stop. Whips my joints could go hat lit.

[Jimmy Fallon]

My thanks to John Travolta on a gastire Slater once and the roots right there from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Good night everybody.

Thank you. Get involved. Better get involved. Get, get, get involved. Get into it, do it. Uh huh. Yeah. Get involved.

Thanks for listening to the Tonight show starring Jenny Fallon. Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes weekday mornings wherever podcasts watch the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights on NBC and streaming on peacock.