
Phillipa Soo (Hamilton, Dr. Odyssey) shares the stories of her childhood home, where doors were held shut then magically opened and sensitive real estate agents refused to enter. Plus, Phillipa talks Chinese New Year so hold on to your hats because it’s the year of the FIRE HORSE!
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Philippa Soo
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Rachel Dratch
Welcome to Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch, the podcast that explores the unexplained with humor and curiosity. Hello and welcome to Woo Woo with Rachel Dutch, here with my pal and co host, Irene Bremes. Hi, Irene.
Irene Bremes
Hello, sweetie.
Rachel Dratch
Hi, sweetie. Irene. Today we have a Broadway superstar, legendary performer, and I got to do a show with her a couple years ago and now we're about to do another show together. And you know her from the original cast of Hamilton. Please welcome Philippa Sue.
Philippa Soo
Hello. Thank you for that introduction. Hi.
Rachel Dratch
Thanks for being here.
Philippa Soo
My pleasure.
Irene Bremes
Hi.
Rachel Dratch
Yeah, so Philip and I were in a show at the Kennedy center, and I'm gonna stick the landing on that name doing Guys and Dolls a couple years ago, and Philippa was the lead and I was a wacky walk on. I played this tough gangster that's usually played by a big dude. But anyway, that's how I got to hang and know Philippa. And now we're about to do a show at City center called High Spirits in the Woo Woo theme. It does have to do with ghosts. And yeah, we're about to do that. So it's our second show together. Pippa.
Philippa Soo
It's amazing. I can't believe it. I feel how lucky I feel. You must know this. I feel so lucky that I get to work with you. Not just once, not just twice, but also, let's not forget three times that I've worked with you. What's the three time doctor Odyssey?
Rachel Dratch
Oh, my God. How can I forget the big TV thing? Oh, my gosh. Okay. The show doctor Odyssey that Philippe was on and I should have stuck that in the credits because, of course, you've done so much past Hamilton. But yes, there was a show A Ryan Murphy show. Wait, last year?
Philippa Soo
Yeah, last year.
Rachel Dratch
Called Dr. Odyssey. And you were one of the lead people in that. And I got to be in the pilot episode playing kind of an obnoxious cruise ship passenger who kept getting injured.
Philippa Soo
Wait, remind me. You were injured. You went down a water slide or you got shrimp poisoning.
Rachel Dratch
So my husband kept getting injuries because it's kind of a medical show. And my husband kept getting into mishaps, like he ate too much shrimp at the buffet and he got food poisoning. And then there was a scene, this is the humiliation of sometimes being an actor, that I had to do a scene in a bathing suit and I had to go down a twisty water slide, literally.
Philippa Soo
And.
Rachel Dratch
And the stunt was to run into him, and then I broke his. I almost killed him. Cause I ran into. From the water slide. But I actually, like, in case you're wondering, for TV magic, actually they did have the whole cruise ship set, which was, like, unbelievably decadent. I guess the Ryan Murphy money for a set is no joke. But anyway, they had a twisty, like, three loop de loop slide. And by the time we shot it, it was like three in the morning. This is one of those things where you're like. You're in your bathing suit going down a loop dealer literally screaming, I didn't have to fake that. Then you're like, this is my job.
Philippa Soo
So, yes, it was amazing. We were all very jealous of you because you actually got to go down the slide. The rest of us, like, I never went down the slide once.
Rachel Dratch
The slide was pretty fun. I know, but you did a whole season of that.
Philippa Soo
I did did a whole season of that. And now back in New York doing some theater with my favorite pal, Rachel.
Rachel Dratch
Dratch, and your real life husband, Steven Pasquale, your husband in the show, which you guys did that in guys. And. Well, wait, you guys were love interests? We were love.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, we were love interests. I guess by the end, we ended up getting married.
Rachel Dratch
Is this the second time you guys have played a couple, or have there been more?
Philippa Soo
Well, we did a TV show during the Pandemic where we played a couple, and then we did a reading of Kiss Me Kate way, way back in the day. I think this was like, oh, gosh, maybe 2017, 2016. And that was the first time we had actually worked together, but this is our first time doing a show, a theater show in New York together.
Rachel Dratch
Oh, okay. And is it like. I'm gonna ask the most cliche question, but, like, is it fun to work with Your husband?
Irene Bremes
Yes.
Rachel Dratch
I love this question. You get it all the time, I'm sure.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, I love it. Well, you know, it's because it's like, I think for a lot of people, you want to be able to work with your partner, and sometimes it just doesn't work out for one reason or another. Or even just, like, the sheer fact that we're so lucky that we get to live and do this job and make a living doing it. But the fact that, like, we get to be in the same room together multiple times is just such a gift. And truly, after Guys and Dolls really, like, that was like, the sort of big test of, like, do we like working together? Is this a thing that could really work out? It was so much fun. I mean, we had a blast. And I think that's because we have a very different way of working, but we have really similar values in terms of just, like, how we want the room to be morale for everyone having fun. Making something is really important because, like, why are we doing this if it's not fun?
Rachel Dratch
You guys were like the den parents. Because the bar closed super early at the hotel we were all staying at, and you guys had, like, I forget what room it was like, are you going to room 419? It was like the secret club, like, where you had the whole fully stocked bar and we had all cram in there. But you guys really created, like, the camaraderie together. So that was fun.
Philippa Soo
Basically every night, once the bar shut down really super early, which was kind of ridiculous, we were like, come to our room and we just bought a bunch of alcohol for ourselves, and we would order pizza, and we would sit on the floor of our hotel room and just talk and eat pizza and drink until, like, 4am it was really fun.
Rachel Dratch
It was like we're show folk sitting on the floor. Yeah, it was fun. It was great, but I can't. I can. I can carry a tune, let's put it that way, but I cannot sing like, Broadway sing. And you two both have the voice of an angel of two angels.
Philippa Soo
Oh, my gosh, no.
Rachel Dratch
Your voices are incredible. And I got to listen to you guys every night at Guys and Dolls blowing the roof off the joint. So I can't imagine, like, living in a house where two people are just. I don't imagine you guys, like, singing in the shower and stuff.
Philippa Soo
We do. We sing a lot, but also we make fun of each other a lot. I think our singing in the house together, people imagine it being like. And then they're singing some duets together, like in their house. It's a lot more silly than that, but yes, it does happen.
Rachel Dratch
Okay, good to know.
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Philippa Soo
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Rachel Dratch
Well, so just for like I was thinking, you know, what to ask you about the whole, your whole career and of course I just figured I'd ask you a little bit about Hamilton because you're in the original cast and they just celebrated their 10 year anniversary. And I know there was stuff around that too. But I guess I was wondering like when the origins of Hamilton, when you got the show, were you like oh my God, this is gonna be amazing. Or were you what was your vibe on it when you first got the show?
Philippa Soo
Well, it all started with a reading that I was asked to DO of Act 2. They had already worked on Act 1 that summer at New York Stage in Film I think is where it was. And I knew of Tommy and Lynn because of in the Heights. And I had a friend at drama school who one day in between class was like, check this out. And he showed me this YouTube clip of Lynn rapping at the White House doing The first number of the show. And when they called me to ask if I wanted to do this reading, they were like, yeah, so we're making a show. It's called Hamilton Mixtape. And I was like, oh, like that video that I saw of Lynn at the White House. And they're like, yeah, we're making it into a whole show. And so I had this wonderful phone call with Tommy Kail where he was like, we want you to come and read and play Eliza. And, you know, we're going to do a week. We're going to work on Act 2. It's not done yet, but we're bringing in some other folks. I think at that point, David was coming in, Leslie was coming in, and it was just going to be a very small, intimate table read. And I was like, great, great, great. And I get off the phone, I'm like, who's Eliza? I had no idea who she was.
Rachel Dratch
And, like, why would you kind of. Yeah.
Philippa Soo
Like, I barely even know who the founding fathers are. You know, bad civic person over here. But, like, I didn't have a relationship to history before that. And then certainly, you know, after my involvement with the show, it became everything. Just legacy and history and being a citizen and what that means and democracy. And it just, like, opened up a whole world of thinking that I just hadn't thought about before.
Rachel Dratch
Yeah.
Irene Bremes
Wow.
Rachel Dratch
And so I know it started at the Public, right? Was it always like, this is definitely going to Broadway? Or like, did you have a feeling like, this is gonna be the biggest thing ever? Did you have that vibe? Or do you never know that?
Philippa Soo
Yes. So Hamilton was my first Broadway show, and I was probably 23 when I did the first. Oh, wow. When I did the first reading. And then we went to the Public when I was 24, and I turned 25 the summer before going to Broadway.
Rachel Dratch
Wow.
Philippa Soo
So, yeah, I was very young, and I didn't know anything. I didn't have a metric, you know, for what was really good, what succeeds, what doesn't. I just knew that from the moment we were all standing at the music stands and doing the show from top to bottom, that it worked, that it was amazing, and that it was definitely gonna change the world and it was gonna change people. I didn't know how much, and I certainly didn't know how much it would change me and my life. And I'm still, like, 10 years later realizing, like, whoa, there's just so much that has happened and that keeps happening because of this show. It's really, really amazing.
Rachel Dratch
Well, what's the 10 year anniversary special thing that you guys did.
Philippa Soo
So for the 10 year, we had a series of. It was actually kind of amazing. We thought that maybe we would have one big event where we all got together for the 10 year. And it ended up being like a lot of little events in the tenure. So we all performed at the Tonys.
Rachel Dratch
Oh, right. Yes, I saw that.
Philippa Soo
That was sort of like our biggest coming together moment. And then we also had a theatrical release of the film, which was really exciting because the film came out during the pandemic and we didn't actually get to see the film together. So the premiere, which was, I believe in September at the Delacorte, it was really our first time to be able to like sit and enjoy the show all together. And it was. It was so much fun. There was so much audience commentary, so much laughing and screaming and like, it was just clapping. It was just so great.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Cool.
Philippa Soo
Yeah. So.
Rachel Dratch
And then I know you've gone on to. I know you did Camelot and I don't. Not that I have to like go through all your entire resume, but. But what? Okay. And now we're about to do this show which has a very quick run at City center, the encore series called High Spirits, and it's based on a play by Noel Coward, Blythe Spirit. And it has to do with ghosts. So I'm getting all these like, woo, woo. Little jobs. Long wait. Now this is kind of funny because if anyone listened to the Amy Poehler my episode that I did for good hang, Amy and I were talking about, like, what we want to do. And I said, I want to play a maid on Broadway. Now this is. Did you know this? Yeah, no, I know this isn't Broadway, but we were joking and I was like. I think I said something who's just like running around dusting things, like, something like that. And then by the time it aired, like two weeks after it aired, I get the call to play the maid in this High Spirits. And so I instantly texted him. He was like, I got to go.
Philippa Soo
To be the maid.
Rachel Dratch
Cause I was like manifested it.
Philippa Soo
That's right.
Rachel Dratch
But it's exactly the kind of maid that I wanted to be. Cause I don't have many lines in this play. I just scurry around in the back and like, I'm a good scurrier. So I'm glad to play Made in this. I don't have much to do in it. But you have a lot to do. You have a lot to do in this.
Philippa Soo
I think we all have a lot to do. We only have, by the way, for those of you listening, the City Center Encores series used to be like a reading series where you sort of put up a show in like two weeks. And in recent years, you know, the productions have become way more, I would say, non reading.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Esque.
Rachel Dratch
Yeah. Like slick and produced.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, like really polished, which is awesome. But yeah, like, I think it's one of those great opportunities to look at a new piece or an old piece of material and dust it off and figure out what's new about it and really just try to put it on its feet in two weeks.
Irene Bremes
Yes.
Rachel Dratch
And Andrea Martin plays this basically like a medium so much woo woo. But basically the premise is just to get the woo woo out there. Is that the guy?
Philippa Soo
Steven Charles.
Rachel Dratch
Charles. Thank you, Charles. And you play his wife, but he has a. He's a widower and has his late wife comes and starts haunting your relationship. And so it's truly about ghosts. So high spirits February 4th through 15th. Hopefully this will air before that. But anyway, it's a very quick run, but Pippa and I on stage together again.
Philippa Soo
Once again.
Rachel Dratch
Once again. So I think I was mentioning this pod to you a while ago and you were like, oh, I kind of grew up in a haunted house, I think is what I remember you saying way back when.
Philippa Soo
And then I think we actually talked about this when we were eating pizza on the floor of our hotel room.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Oh, okay.
Philippa Soo
I think that's where this all started. Or at least that's where I remember hearing your ghost story.
Rachel Dratch
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Well, I know you have some sort of a ghost story and then I roped you in like I do to anyone that crosses my path now. But so how woo woo are you? And I think you grew up in some sort of a haunted situation.
Philippa Soo
Yeah. So how woo woo am I on a scale of 1 to 10 being the wooiest? I feel like I'm like a good six, maybe a seven since I'm an actor. Like, it just goes without saying, like, all actors are a little bit woo woo no matter what. But yeah, I'm like right there in the middle. Like, I don't know how much weight I put in it, but also definitely have had woo woo stuff happening which I openly invite into my life.
Rachel Dratch
All right.
Philippa Soo
Yeah. Like things like rituals I find to be really important and meaningful and actually can affect your whole day, can affect a performance. Do you do like rituals before a show? Do you guys have like pre show? I don't.
Rachel Dratch
Do you?
Irene Bremes
Well, I mean, I think that we all have like little superstitions sometimes. Like we really have to do something. So we have like a good set. And we've had guests on this show that definitely perform rituals that talked about getting on stage.
Philippa Soo
Yeah.
Rachel Dratch
Do you have one?
Philippa Soo
Well, I feel like I'll make them up as I go. Like, I feel like for some shows, you know, it's really important to like, like if I have a postcard that reminds me of the character that I'm playing, like I'll make sure to like.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Look at it before I go on stage.
Philippa Soo
But I also don't put too much weight in it because I'm like, well, what if I can't look at the postcard? Or like what if I can't listen to the song? That really gets me, me excited about playing whatever a ghost. Like, so I don't put too much weight in it, but I do like it. Like it really makes me feel touchstone or something. Yeah, it makes me feel great. Like an artist. Yeah.
Rachel Dratch
Sounds like good actor. Background activity.
Philippa Soo
Yeah. And also I feel like, you know, I've done some like meditation and I've worked with a Reiki specialist who told me, well, she told me a couple things, but she was like, you have two spirits always following you around. And I really believe her. Actually. She said I have two like male figures who follow me around. One's like Poseidon and one is like a sort of like grandfather, like elderly figure.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Huh.
Philippa Soo
And I was like, great. I believe that. Like that's totally, that's totally in the realm of possibility. I don't feel like I've ever experience them personally, but I feel them. I feel them if that's true. Yeah. So I guess a long, long story short, to answer your question, I'm like not the woo wooiest person, but I definitely grew up in a haunted house.
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Rachel Dratch
So the haunted House. Yeah, how old were you when you had your like take us through the haunted house tale.
Philippa Soo
I'll take you through the tale. It turns into other tales which is really fun. But I sort of did some digging in prep for this podcast because I know my actual story and then I was like, oh, but I have to go in and like check some facts. So I talked to my mom and there's also more stories there which I didn't know, which I just found out like two weeks ago.
Irene Bremes
Ooh, we love it.
Philippa Soo
So I grew up in this house that was built in the 1920s in Illinois, in the suburbs of Illinois. And it was this really old brick bungalow and it was built by this guy Michaels and he even like carved his last name in the front of the house and we moved in there when I was about 2 years old. So this is the early 90s. And I remember when I was about 8 or 9 I had a cousin that was moving to the states who was about 10 years older than me, so she was almost in her 20s and she was like going on a huge adventure and moving to the States from London and she was staying with us for a little bit and it was early morning, she had just flown in the day before and my mom asked me to go wake her up because she was sleeping upstairs in the guest room. This is like a one and a half story. So there's my parents bedroom upstairs, a guest room, a bathroom, an attic, and then downstairs is where I slept My brother slept. There was like an office living area and then there's a basement in the house. So this like one and a half story house. So she's staying up in the guest room on the second floor. And I go upstairs to wake her because my mom was like, I don't want her to sleep too much. I don't want her to get jet lagged. She should like wake up now. It's probably like 9am So I go up and I'm like trying to open this door, which the doors are always like creaky. They're old, so they're always a little sticky. Always like a little creaky. But I cannot for the life of me open this door. And so I'm like twisting and pushing and like twisting and pushing and I like can't open it. And then my cousin opens it from the inside and I go, oh, thank you. That was so. And I look and my cousin is still asleep in bed. So it felt like someone had opened the door. And I was sort of startled, but more just like I thought it was kind of funny that I was struggling so hard. And then the door just opened. And so I wake her up and you know, get her out of her like very deep sleep. And I go downstairs and I'm like, mom, this weird thing happened. This funny thing happened. I just tried to open the door and then it felt like somebody opened it for me. And she just looks at me and smiles and she's like, oh, that's funny because a couple of years back, I guess this is when I was like a toddler and we'd first moved in. They had had a housewarming party and my mom's friend was looking for a place to breastfeed her baby. And my mom was like, well, why don't you go upstairs to the guest room? And I guess the same thing happened to her that happened to me where she was trying to open the door and couldn't open it. And then somebody opened it for her and she told my mom this and my mom sort of like laughed it off. But ever since that moment with my mom's friend and then with me coming to my mother, there had been like a series of really strange events in the house. So these, all of these events I end up learning later. What I do know is when I was a teenager, I was standing in my house just sort of like looking out the window. I think I was like waiting for my friend and like looking for her car or something. And I felt like someone had pushed me from behind, like, almost like a shiver, a shiver down my spine. And I just sort of laughed it off because I was like, I think my house is haunted, but maybe that was just me. And then I tell my mom this story, and she's like, oh, that's so funny. Well, our house is definitely haunted. I've, in fact, haven't told you this, but I've brought people over here to come and, like, sage the house. I've talked to these ghosts. I've asked them to, like, go away, and I'm like, oh, that's so funny. So I go off to college, and, you know, I'm living in the dorms, and I do realize that I feel actually alone when I go to sleep. That there is, like, a sense of aloneness that I had never felt growing up. And anyway, so I always knew that I had a haunted house growing up and was ready to tell this story to you here today. And then I went to my mom to confirm some of these details, and she was like, oh, well, that's really interesting, because I have a whole bunch of other things to tell you about the house. One being when we first moved in, we had some friends over, and there was a couple, and the guy in the couple was like, there's many spirits in this house. Like, he was sort of like a medium. He claimed to be a medium, and he said, there's, like, six spirits in this house. And my mother had another experience where she was alone in the house, and the wine bottles just sort of went, like, flying off the shelf. There was another experience where I was in the house, and I was. I was, like, dead asleep, like, in the middle of the night. And I had this leaning bookshelf that just fell in the middle of the night. And, like, when you take these things apart and you look at them separately, you're like, that's not that weird. But then my mom was selling the.
Rachel Dratch
House, and so they're not there anymore.
Philippa Soo
They're not there anymore.
Rachel Dratch
Okay.
Philippa Soo
My mom was selling the house, and there were some realtors that came in and they were showing the house, and this was probably about, like, 10 or 12 years ago. And they were going through and, like, turning off all the lights before they were going to show it the next day. And they heard this dinging sound because my parents had this alarm system. And this dinging sound went off because it would happen every time you would open a door. And she looked at the alarm panel, and I guess the downstairs cellar door, which led to the basement, had opened. And so she was like, oh, I'm going to go close that. And she closed it and sort of laughed it off and said something about like, oh, you know, my house is haunted. Hahaha. And the realtor was like, has anybody ever told you that there's ghosts here? And my mom was like, oh, why do you ask that? And she said, well, because my husband has had a lot of. He's also a realtor and he had a lot of experiences with ghosts that were not so positive. And so he has been in your house alone trying to like, turn off all the lights and he feels a presence here and he actually won't come back. Wow. So. So my mom was telling me this over the winter break and I was like, that's so weird. Who do we think this ghost was? And she's like, well, I do know that the wife of Mr. Michaels died in that house. And I also know that when we put the bid in for the house and we were living at our old place, you and your brother, I was putting to bed and I looked into this mirror and I could have sworn that I saw somebody like, walking around the house. And when we moved into the house, she put us to bed. And my brother and I woke up screaming one night. This was like one of the early days. And so I've always felt like whatever spirit was in the house, be it one or many, there's definitely like a feminine presence, a lady. And it definitely was just a ghost that was like kind of annoying. Like, it wasn't, it wasn't mal intended. It was like kind of a funny ghost. Like it would just throw things off shelves and, you know, throw the wine bottles or it would push you or, you know, like it was just a silly, kind of like a silly, funny, annoying ghost.
Rachel Dratch
So you weren't like really scared there, like, unsettled?
Philippa Soo
I wasn't. There was one night when I woke up and I felt like somebody was like pushing on my chest.
Irene Bremes
Well, that's scary.
Rachel Dratch
That's like a trope. And I never know if that's like some scientific explanation of it, but I had that happen too, and it was terrifying.
Philippa Soo
Me too.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Well.
Philippa Soo
And at the time I thought, oh my God. Oh, I'm probably just having like some sort of breathing issue. But now that I look back and I think about all these weird things that happened in that house, I'm like, oh, there must have been something going on there. Wow. Yeah.
Irene Bremes
Some activity, some negative energy. How dare they throw wine off the shelf, sweetie.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, like, this is good stuff. You can just throw the wine off the shelf Disrespectful.
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Rachel Dratch
Wait, so I have a question. When you said you went to college and you finally felt alone, did you mean like in a good way? Like you're like oh, this is what it's like to be or were you feeling, like, lonely, like, where are my ghosts?
Philippa Soo
Well, that's a good question, I think in a good way. Because when I. When I would go to sleep as a kid, like, I always had to be completely covered. Like, I always needed the covers to be, like, up, like right below my eyes. My hands had to be inside. I didn't like sleeping outside of the covers for some reason, and I think that might have been why. And then I got to college and I was sort of like, alone in my dorm room and really being like.
Rachel Dratch
Oh, wow, ghost free.
Philippa Soo
I feel alone. I feel alone. Yeah.
Rachel Dratch
Well, it sounds like your mom's kind of woo woo. If she was doing like sage things and like bringing in experts and stuff.
Philippa Soo
Totally. But I have to give her credit because I think as a kid, if I were like, mom, I think something weird happened and if she were like, it did.
Rachel Dratch
Right.
Philippa Soo
You know, that would have scared me. But instead she was just sort of like, I know it's haunted. Like, she just sort of brushed it off and laughed about it and made friends with the ghosts. I mean, I just think that if there are spirits, like people, they all have different personalities and different reasons for being around. And, you know, we can communicate with them and ask them why they're here and ask them nicely to, like, go away for a little bit. But definitely, as my mom was preparing to sell the house, there was way more strange things happening.
Irene Bremes
Wow.
Philippa Soo
I think she says they were trying to, like, prevent the house from being sold.
Rachel Dratch
Yeah, they liked you.
Irene Bremes
They liked you. Yeah.
Philippa Soo
Or. Yeah, or they liked us. Or at the beginning, like, when we first moved in, she thinks the ghosts or ghost was like, trying to keep tabs on us, like, oh, who are these people? Who are these new people coming into my house? Like, what is this?
Irene Bremes
Right. But then they fell in love with you and now you're leaving. It makes sense if they have that same personality that they get accustomed to your energy as you're also also getting used to them.
Philippa Soo
Exactly.
Irene Bremes
I'm interested about the real estate guy, you know, because I wondered so many times if real estate people have these occurrences. And it's funny that he wouldn't come back to the house. He was so scared.
Philippa Soo
Yeah. I mean, that was sort of like, I was like, oh, dang. Like, are we not feeling something that he is. He said that he felt a cold spot upstairs, that he was like, this feels like something that I've experienced before.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Wow.
Philippa Soo
And apparently, and I don't know if we've ever had any realtors on the show but apparently when you go to like realtor conventions, there's like a bunch of these people that are like, having similar experiences in these houses that they're trying to sell. And there's a bunch of stories there.
Rachel Dratch
Apparently we did have one realtor on because there's a famous case in Nyack where like someone tried to sell a house and she told the prospective buyer, like, this house has a ghost. And the person was like, we don't really believe you. And then they bought this, but then they wanted the. They wanted like a ghost refund. It was this like, famous case, I guess. And I guess for a while you had to disclose if you were selling a haunted house. But I don't know the rules on that now or state to state or all that.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, like, if you know it's haunted, how can you prove it?
Rachel Dratch
That's true, right? Or are you supposed to tell. I wonder if the people there now are experiencing strange phenomena.
Philippa Soo
I know it'd be. It'd be interesting to know. I bet they are. I bet they're sort of like, why does this picture keep falling off the wall?
Rachel Dratch
Or sounds like you had actual, like poltergeist experiences with objects. Like, I've never experienced anything like that. Like, that sounds like something out of the movies. But I've heard now that we do this pod, we do hear some stories like that where like, physical things are moving. And I guess you could always be like, well, there's a scientific explanation, but we've thrown that out the window. Now that we've been doing this for a couple years. It's more fun to believe it's a ghost, you know?
Philippa Soo
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I guess like the scientific explanation, there's probably a truth to it. But also like, again, I think woo woo. It's like everybody's an artist. It's just a matter of tapping into it. Like, I just feel like everybody's woo woo is just a matter of like, opening yourself up to the things that are giving you signs. And I feel like moments like that when the bookshelf falls in the middle of the night, it's there because, I don't know, the floor was slippery or it's there because you've got some thinking to do.
Irene Bremes
Right.
Philippa Soo
There's a transition happening. You need to take some time to go through your books on your shelf and put it back up again and figure out what you need and what you don't need. There's a reason for that. And I guess when I'm a six or seven on the woo Woo. Scale. That's kind of what I mean. You're as woo woo as you make it.
Rachel Dratch
Have you had any ghost experiences since? Because I only had my one little experience. And that's been it for the whole time. Or is that it for you?
Philippa Soo
Oh, I definitely can feel. I think that I have a sense of when a place is haunted. So Steve, my husband Steve, who you know, but the listeners don't. Which is why I said that in that weird way, Steve is really afraid of ghosts. In fact, Steve is seeing a show right now because if he were here and I was telling the story, he would be crawling out of his skin. He would not be able to be in the room. Like, he's terrified of ghosts. He's an ex Catholic, so he's like, terrified of ghosts and terrified of the devil.
Irene Bremes
That makes sense.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Oh, my gosh.
Rachel Dratch
I was doing a little photo shoot for High Spirits and we had a Ouija board there. And there were two people in the little crew. And like, they would not touch the Ouija board. They didn't want to touch it, but I. I didn't care. But that sounds like Steve.
Irene Bremes
Yeah. And like me, I wouldn't touch it either because I'm Greek Orthodox. It's like the possession of the devil. You know what I mean? Like, you get scared of that.
Rachel Dratch
Yeah.
Philippa Soo
Like, he's like, I don't even want to go near that. So we've gone apartment hunting before, and there was one specific house that we walked into once, and I was like. Steve was like, what do you think? And I was like, mm, mm. And sort of we, like, walked through the whole house and I was sort of looking around. And then the minute that we got out, I was like, steve, that place is 100% haunted. I don't know how you didn't feel that. So for. So for a guy who's, like, super scared of haunted stuff, he, like, has no sense of the hauntedness.
Rachel Dratch
Okay.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Pippa.
Rachel Dratch
We had two guests who have a similar thing. You gotta listen to Anagaster's episode. And Kate Micucci, because they both were doing like a tour of a house. And for Ana, anyway, like. Cause Charlie, her husband, was like, all excited about this house in la. He's like, oh, it's going to be great. Like, I think he put deposit down. It was like a rental or something. And then she gets there and she's just like, no. Like, it looked ostensibly cheery, like there was nothing about, but she just like, I got a really bad feeling.
Philippa Soo
Yes.
Rachel Dratch
Well, she finds out afterwards that there.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Had been a murder suicide in the house.
Rachel Dratch
I mean, I'm sorry that. That's so grim, but that's the reality of the story. And she just had that feeling. Anyway, that's her episode.
Philippa Soo
You know, you can tell. You can tell the energy, it's there.
Rachel Dratch
I mean, I can't tell. I feel like I'm more like, if the place looks like a Scooby Doo dilapidating, then I'm like, oh, this place. But I don't have the vibes for, like, if something looks really cute and then it's haunted.
Irene Bremes
Yeah, but, sweetie, what if. If we. Have you ever. I've never been in a dark situation like that. You know what I mean? We don't know because of energy, I feel like.
Rachel Dratch
But I've never walked into a place except in a restaurant when I'm like, I don't wanna sit at this table. That's why I have feng shui. Haunted. I'm like, this table is not giving me good vibes. But it's more, like, atmosphere. Like, I'm more attuned to, like, the space in the room, except for my own place, which is a dump. But aside from that, I'm great when I walk into a restaurant. Like, we want this table anyway. But no, I've never had. I've never had, like, haunted vibes when I walk into a place. You have a special.
Philippa Soo
You know what would be really fun?
Rachel Dratch
Yeah, what?
Philippa Soo
To find out what restaurants in New York are haunted.
Rachel Dratch
Well, I've heard that. Have you heard of the restaurant Il Buco? Have you heard of that one?
Philippa Soo
Yes, I heard that.
Rachel Dratch
That's haunted.
Irene Bremes
Really?
Rachel Dratch
Yeah. And I thought of asking them to do an episode.
Philippa Soo
I don't know.
Rachel Dratch
They seem like they wouldn't.
Philippa Soo
They might want to bury that.
Rachel Dratch
Well, I know.
Irene Bremes
Wait. So we went to the Bowery Hotel and I didn't get any haunted vibes. Did you get any vibes at all when we were there?
Rachel Dratch
I think that place looks good. Creepy. But that's. That's what I mean. That looks just, like, old. Even though it's actually not that old. It's made to look old. It looks kind of like haunted mansion from Disney World. The Bowery Hotel. Oh.
Philippa Soo
Maybe that's why people think it's haunted. Maybe it's not really haunted. Well.
Rachel Dratch
Oh, my gosh. So that's. So now I know Steve's afraid of ghosts and so terrifying. So do all our listeners. And yet he's doing a show with ghosts. So he's conquering his fears, I guess.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, yeah.
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Rachel Dratch
Irene, do you want to try to guess? Sometimes Irene tries to guess the sign of our guest. Do you want to try to guess or do you have it?
Irene Bremes
Well, I'll try. I'm feeling a little deflated, but let's see. I got this. I got this because I haven't been hitting my mark.
Rachel Dratch
But she's giving you vibes.
Irene Bremes
She's giving, but you're giving me vibes. And I like this that you're putting out your hands.
Philippa Soo
Yeah, I'm putting my hands in a sort of vibey dance.
Rachel Dratch
Oh, a vibey dance.
Irene Bremes
Man, this is humble. The vibey dance I like.
Rachel Dratch
Okay. I mean, what do you think? I'm really bad. I don't know much about the signs, so I never guess.
Irene Bremes
Yeah, but she always nails it.
Rachel Dratch
No, but if I have a really strong feeling, but I only really know the vibes of like four signs and the other ones I don't know. So I'm gonna guess one when you're done or maybe.
Irene Bremes
Okay, I'm gonna guess one and I'm hoping I'm right this time. But I'm getting something. I'm getting Aries Pisces.
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Philippa Soo
No, that's not right. Well, sweetie, a little head to me.
Irene Bremes
Can I make a guess?
Rachel Dratch
And this is totally not based on anything I was gonna say. Capricorn. No, no, no. Okay.
Irene Bremes
Not a bad one, though.
Rachel Dratch
Okay, what's your third and final guess? Because you had two.
Irene Bremes
Yes, that's right.
Rachel Dratch
I'm only gonna guess that one, and I'm gonna give myself a goose egg.
Irene Bremes
Okay. I'm gonna go with, let's see. Gemini.
Philippa Soo
Ding, ding, ding. You got it. Oh, okay.
Rachel Dratch
All right, Whatever.
Philippa Soo
I'll.
Rachel Dratch
I don't know anything about Gemini.
Philippa Soo
People have told me that I'm the least Gemini y Gemini that they know.
Rachel Dratch
What are they supposed to be like?
Philippa Soo
I don't know. Everyone's like, two faced. I'm like, what is that? No, I don't know if that's true.
Rachel Dratch
Okay.
Irene Bremes
There's two of them, and the women are so different than the men. I know I say that a lot, but it's true.
Philippa Soo
Yes. Very true.
Irene Bremes
It's very true. I don't really care for Gemini men, but women, I think they're very creative. Creative. And they can really do a lot in terms of art, like, what they're working on. They can grapple a lot artistically and make it happen. I know a few Gemini women. Rachel Curran, who's a friend of ours who's an artist, as a Gemini. I know, like, three other Gemini women that are artists, and they put out a lot of work and they have, like, this very effusive personality, very positive.
Philippa Soo
Yeah. And I'm.
Irene Bremes
I'm guessing that's you. I mean. Yes, it's me.
Philippa Soo
You know what? I feel like I do relate to the two sides, the two face Gemini sign in that I am the kind of person who can find happiness in either or. Like, I'm the worst person to decide where to go to dinner or what to have for dinner, because my response will be, I could do that.
Rachel Dratch
Yeah.
Philippa Soo
And then, of course, people like my partner or, like, my friends or my family are like, do you want to do that? Yeah. Like, well, yeah. But also I would want to do the other thing too. Like, I'm really okay with both ways. I like my quiet, but I also. I love being an extrovert. Like, I love. I love both things. I really, like, don't see myself as an introvert or an extrovert. Yeah, that's my read on myself.
Rachel Dratch
All right, well, I was just throwing in a little bonus astrology there.
Philippa Soo
I love that.
Rachel Dratch
So finally, I don't Know if you saw that we did this little pendulum reading. Did you see that?
Philippa Soo
Sure did.
Rachel Dratch
In the. In the literature.
Philippa Soo
Peny.
Rachel Dratch
This is my new pen. And Irene has. Irene has hers.
Philippa Soo
So.
Rachel Dratch
So what we have you do is think of the question, then you're going to reveal it after we give you the answer. A yes or no question. And we always say, don't ask anything that's going to make you, like, really bum out if it's not the answer you want. Okay, but Penji is mostly right. But I'll just give the loophole that sometimes Penji's wrong. Irene doesn't like when I say that. But anyway, mostly right. Sorry, Penji. You're going to get this one right. Okay. So are you thinking of your question?
Philippa Soo
Yep.
Rachel Dratch
Okay, here we go.
Philippa Soo
All right.
Rachel Dratch
Okay, I have my answer.
Irene Bremes
I have mine, too. It's yes.
Rachel Dratch
I got a yes, too.
Philippa Soo
This is great news.
Rachel Dratch
What is it?
Philippa Soo
Okay, so in the spirit of woo woo, I was also thinking about the Chinese zodiacs, which is like, a very big part of my life. And this year is the year of the horse.
Irene Bremes
Fire Horse.
Philippa Soo
Oh, yeah. Fire Horse, baby.
Rachel Dratch
Fire Horse.
Philippa Soo
And I was also born in the year of the horse. And also my name, Philippa, means lover of horses. But let me tell you, I really don't interact with horses. I just, like. I don't. I don't know any horses. I don't talk to horses. I don't see horses. I've ridden a horse once, like, at like, a western riding camp thing that you could just, like, go on a horse ride for a day, like in Illinois, like back when I was, like, 10. But since then, never really have ridden a horse. And tried to thinking, like, I've ridden a horse before, but I. I can't. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm terrified of them. They're so big. I'm like, ah, this is overwhelming. But I'm so intrigued by them. So my question was, will I have a meaningful personal interaction with a horse in this next year? And I guess the answer is yes.
Rachel Dratch
I like that because now you can keep your eyes open for the horse signs.
Philippa Soo
100%.
Rachel Dratch
And I always love that when you ask for something. Yeah, I mean, I know you're talking about something a little bit different, but now you're going to really notice. Like, maybe you'll notice significant horses.
Philippa Soo
Or maybe I'll go on a trip and they'll be like, we've got a horse ride available. Want to ride a horse? And I'll be Like, yes, right.
Irene Bremes
Or maybe it'll be a merry go round, but you will see a horse.
Philippa Soo
Or not.
Rachel Dratch
I'm taking you to Bryant Park, Philippa.
Irene Bremes
You're going to Coney island, sweetie.
Philippa Soo
We'll go between shows.
Rachel Dratch
Wait, I do have a question, though, because you just touched on this. But you said you're really into Chinese astrology, and we've never talked about that on here. And tell us about that.
Philippa Soo
Oh, my gosh. Well, I don't really know a whole lot other than it's been a huge part of my life. Just growing up, I guess. Sort of how the astrological signs are where, oh, your brother's a dragon. So that explains a lot. And also finding camaraderie with people who are also born in the same year as you when they share your Chinese zodiac. But also celebrating Lunar New Year and every new year having a new animal, which sort of signifies the thing that we should all be thinking about or, you know, pondering upon that year. And if it is your year, it's supposed to be a very auspicious year.
Irene Bremes
Yes.
Philippa Soo
And it's so funny because auspicious, I always thought meant, like, lucky. And then I was like, oh, no, it doesn't necessarily mean that. It means just, like, a lot of big changes, really intense things can be happening, good and bad, in a year for you. And also, you're supposed to wear red in your auspicious year. So this year, I should be wearing red. But then somebody clarified this for me, which I'm so grateful because I've been doing it wrong for a very long time. You're supposed to wear red that was given to you, not red that you buy for yourself. So, like me going out and, like, buying a red scarf and wearing it and being like, ah, this is like, helping me in my auspicious year is not going to do the trick.
Irene Bremes
I'm learning new things. That's amazing. Okay, so first, let me add to that. Yes, this is our year. The fire Horse is also our year.
Philippa Soo
Rich.
Rachel Dratch
It is a horse.
Philippa Soo
Okay.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Absolutely.
Rachel Dratch
Okay.
Philippa Soo
We're all horses. Oh, my God.
Rachel Dratch
We're all horses.
Irene Bremes
Let's Winnie, sweeties. Anyway, we're all horses. It is our year. And I love that you said red because I went to a thrift shop and I. I actually bought before I knew that it. First of all, it starts the year of the Fire horse starts on February 17th. February 17th. So it starts like in the Pisces. Sweetie. Okay, Pisces.
Rachel Dratch
That's me. I'm a Pisces.
Irene Bremes
It's all three of us. But I went into a secondhand shop and I picked out. I was drawn, eerily drawn, to a red kimono dress. And I bought it.
Philippa Soo
Yes, honey.
Irene Bremes
Cause I am crazy.
Rachel Dratch
Did I see you in that already?
Irene Bremes
No.
Rachel Dratch
Okay, okay. Sorry. You were in.
Philippa Soo
Some of.
Irene Bremes
This is a red.
Philippa Soo
Irene kimono.
Rachel Dratch
Was wearing a different red dress. Irene, we'll have to.
Philippa Soo
It's beautiful.
Rachel Dratch
Irene, we'll have to give each other red things.
Irene Bremes
Let's do it, sweetie. Let's do it. I'm gonna buy you something red. You too, Pippa.
Philippa Soo
We have to.
Rachel Dratch
I have to find a red thing for you.
Philippa Soo
I'm gonna go find some red things right now.
Rachel Dratch
This is awesome, because I knew nothing about that. I mean, I barely know about the zodiac signs, so then to learn about a whole other system.
Philippa Soo
Oh, yeah.
Rachel Dratch
Is there a thing, like, horses are supposed to be, like, characteristics, or is it more.
Philippa Soo
I'd honestly. Well, do you know, Irene?
Irene Bremes
Well, I'm a Sagittarius, so I'm already a horse.
Rachel Dratch
No, but I meant Year of the Horse. Like, if you're a Year of the Something, is it about your character? Because I'm thinking, well, everyone the whole year can't have the same. Like, I don't know how that works, but do you.
Philippa Soo
Or maybe I'd have to look it up.
Irene Bremes
Well, I did look some stuff up when I was. You know, I texted you that it's our year and it's Year of the Horse. I don't know if you remember I texted that to you. Fire Horse. But a lot of it is, like, taking risks. It's about risk taking.
Rachel Dratch
Okay.
Irene Bremes
And having, like, this fearlessness and freedom and just go for it. It's like the energy is just basically, go for it.
Philippa Soo
I love this.
Irene Bremes
And don't put any perimeters on yourself and just. Just go for it.
Philippa Soo
Be free like a. Like a wild horse.
Irene Bremes
Like a wild horse on.
Rachel Dratch
Like.
Philippa Soo
Be free like a wild horse on fire.
Sponsor/Ad Voice
There we go.
Irene Bremes
That's what I was going to say. On fire, sweetie. We can't do that. Out.
Rachel Dratch
So Pippa will be seeing you in high spirits. And is there anything else you want to, like, plug? Not that you have to have anything beyond that, but is there any. Are you doing other things we should know about?
Philippa Soo
Well, let's see. Last year, I did a really amazing album called warriors by Lin Manuel Miranda and Issa Davis that I'm so fortunate to be a part of. So that's out now, and you can listen to it. And I wrote a children's book called Piper Chen Sings, which is available for purchase.
Rachel Dratch
Wait, tell us the name of it again.
Philippa Soo
I wrote a children's book called Piper Chen Sings.
Rachel Dratch
Piper Chen Sings Children's book. Check it out.
Philippa Soo
And it's about a little girl who learns to overcome her nervous performance.
Rachel Dratch
Butterflies.
Philippa Soo
And I wrote it with my sister in law, Maris Pasquale Dorn.
Rachel Dratch
Nice.
Philippa Soo
And yeah. And then High spirits coming up. Cool.
Rachel Dratch
All right, well, thank you so much for doing this.
Philippa Soo
Thank you.
Rachel Dratch
It was really fun.
Philippa Soo
This was great. Thanks, guys.
Rachel Dratch
See you on stage. Pippa.
Philippa Soo
Have a good horse year, everybody.
Rachel Dratch
Have a good horse year.
Irene Bremes
Good horse year.
Rachel Dratch
And you can find me on Instagram at Ray Dratch. That's R A E Dratch. And you can find Irene at IreneBremis. That's B R E M I S Bremes. And thanks for listening. Thanks for joining me on this journey into the world of woo woo. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch is a Q Code production executive produced by David Henning and Steve Wilson. Produced by Alexa Gabriel Ramirez, edited by Will Tendi.
Episode: Phillipa Soo: I Grew Up with a Poltergeist
Date: January 28, 2026
Host: Rachel Dratch, with co-host Irene Bremis
Guest: Phillipa Soo
In this lively and candid episode, Broadway star Phillipa Soo (best known for originating Eliza in Hamilton) joins Rachel Dratch and Irene Bremis to talk all things "woo woo": the unexplained, eerie, and supernatural happenings. The conversation winds from backstage Broadway goings-on to Phillipa’s upbringing in a haunted house, with ample humor, personal stories, and just the right dose of skepticism.
On the fun of working with a spouse:
“We want the room to be morale for everyone—having fun, making something is really important, because like, why are we doing this if it’s not fun?” — Phillipa Soo [05:30]
On the supernatural scale:
“Probably a good six, maybe a seven. Since I’m an actor, it just goes without saying—all actors are a little woo woo.” — Phillipa Soo [16:50]
On growing up in a haunted house:
“It wasn’t mal-intended. It was kind of a funny ghost. Like, it would just throw things off shelves…push you…just a silly, kind of annoying ghost.” — Phillipa Soo [28:46]
On family handling the haunting:
“My mom just brushed it off and laughed about it and made friends with the ghosts.” — Phillipa Soo [32:29]
On sensing haunted places:
“There was one specific house we walked into … and [after leaving] I was like, Steve, that place is 100% haunted. I don’t know how you didn’t feel that.” — Phillipa Soo [37:11]
Pendulum bit, Chinese zodiac:
“Will I have a meaningful personal interaction with a horse in this next year? And I guess the answer is yes.” — Phillipa Soo [46:31]
The episode is a rollicking, warm, and irreverent conversation between friends who are open to the idea of the supernatural but never lose sight of their comedic chops. Phillipa’s tales are storytelling gold—detailed, relatable, and told with gentle self-awareness and humor, while Rachel and Irene keep the questions both insightful and light.
For fans of theater, ghost stories, and the in-between, this episode is a delightful blend of showbiz anecdotes and legit chills. Phillipa proves herself not just a Broadway standout but a top-tier haunted house raconteur—and the perfect guest for Rachel Dratch’s “woo woo” world.
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