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Peter Pan Goes Wrong - Episode 2, Stage Management

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This is the Mischief Makers podcast and I'm Charlie Russell, hosting brand new episodes, chatting all things Peter Pan goes wrong, recorded on Broadway in New York City. Welcome to the Mischief Makers podcast in New York City. I'm Charlie Russell and today I have.00:15
pleasure of Adam Hunter and Christine DeMore as guests on our show. They are the stage managers on Peter Pan Goes Wrong on Broadway. Hello! Hello! Hi Charlie! Hi! I would love it if one or both of you could briefly describe to us your job for anyone who doesn't know what a stage manager might do on Broadway. Christine?00:36
A stage manager on Broadway is sort of like the hub of information, I think, where they're the person that doesn't quite create work creatively, but they'll facilitate every creator's contribution. So every technical department, every actor, the director is certainly at the helm of deciding those elements of the production. But I think of the stage manager as sort of like the switchboard operator or the conduit to help people execute their creativity.01:06
Wow, that's a really amazing description. I suppose I've never really thought about it like that, but we would be absolutely useless without you. Would you add anything to it, Adam? No, I mean, I think that's the pretty accurate description of it. You know, on a day-to-day basis, the job is just making sure people know what they're doing and when they're supposed to do it. But Christine's description is accurate of sort of the overall arching responsibility of the job. Hmm, very good. Did you always want to be stage managers in theatre? Like, what led you to this line of work?01:36
Yeah, I mean I did once I figured out what it was. I've never been a performer, never been on stage. I did some design. I mean I was forced to do some acting at college, but it was never like, oh I'm gonna do that, because a lot of people transition from being a performer to being a stage manager for whatever reason. But no, I just once I found out that it was a job and a position I did it.01:58
I did it, I liked it and I just kept doing it. People ask you to do something also, that happens. People ask you to do something and you say yes and all of a sudden you realize like five years later that you've been doing it for five years and oh, this is now what I do. Wow. Yeah. How about you, Christine? You're always wanting to be a stage manager.02:13
No, I also didn't know what it is. I think it's really hard to learn, especially when you're doing theater as a kid or even in upper levels of school. It's not a job that gets explained easily or depending on the resources of school, your access to theater that it's not available to people or they don't have a stage manager, most likely. But mine is very simple and silly because I love and respect actors so much and I'm so jealous of the confidence of it and I just wanted to make02:43
for my high school play as a freshman. I was just waiting in line and I felt like garbage. I had no interest in going there and doing a monologue and I was like, this is terrible. And I saw somebody speaking to the director about what they wanted to do next and had a little list of things to do and got to talk to all the actors and they felt so confident and so involved in the process. And I was like, she's got a better gig than what I have right here in this line. I'm gonna go figure out what she's doing. But I obviously had no idea.03:13
of personality I suppose. Oh for sure, I mean I have never once desired to be in your position. It scares the hell out of me. Yeah, the more in the right seat. Yeah, for sure. Definitely. The responsibility you guys have, and I know it from our experience doing the show on Broadway, the stuff that you have to cover, it scares me a lot. I would hate the responsibility. And yet, to be fair, going out in front of a thousand people, I'm not sure, whatever. Right, and I would not want to do that at all. Well absolutely not. Oh, ideal.03:43
So we first met back in person in February 2023, which is this year for our rehearsals. I would love to know, and you are allowed to be honest, what were your first impressions of the company, of Mischief? Because this is a Mischief Makers podcast. Sure, sure. I don't know. I mean, we were so, it was such an unorthodox situation that Christine and I were brought over to London for one week of rehearsal without really there being a show. Like I think previously the show was up and running.04:13
and learn and get the knowledge where we were going into a rehearsal room and you guys all knew the show very well to the point that you didn't need really any props and Christine and I were just trying to like figure out what it was so frankly I think I was so focused on that that it was hard to sort of get a sense of mischief as a whole until time has gone on and I got a strong sense of it but first impression was more just like ah how are we gonna get this done04:39
because you guys all obviously know it so well and have been doing it for so long and we were just sort of like, just sort of wading through and trying to learn what the show was.04:48
Have you ever done that before, sort of gone into a show like that where it's already existed? I mean, I've done, I've taken over shows here in New York, but the show was up and running, so you were able to sort of see it all. You know, we were watching, you know, there was access to videos of other productions, but they weren't your production, right? It was another production that was in between with the set that we were going to do, but you guys had done different things, so we were really sort of in detective mode. So I didn't really get a great, I wasn't thinking about, like...05:16
you all, unfortunately, as individuals at that point, it was sort of as a collective. I do remember that improv that you guys did that was quite funny. That's when I was like, oh, right, this is really, really funny. Yeah, that is the day that I feel like that we, at least I was like, oh, I understand now maybe that this is the core of it all that we hadn't gotten a chance to see. If we had started a normal process with you of building a show or doing the show with you all for the first time, I imagine we would have seen tons of an exercise like that. So05:46
to business really of like the lines are done, the show is done, it's still sort of refining little bits but the idea of, which is the core of Mischief I think right, like new ideas and creating work for yourselves and with each other, like we didn't get to see any of that until really the end of rehearsal and just a brief glimpse. Oh yeah, so for anyone who didn't know, we were doing our rehearsals and we were feeling quite confident I think so Adam, Megiddo, our director, suggested we have a little improv06:16
Technic Drama Society coming in and finding out that they had a Broadway show and then how they would handle that and all the different relationships and all the different status and then we played games didn't we like pointing to who's your best friend in the room who's the person you're most afraid of who would you go to in a crisis and it was yeah very fun it was it really made me laugh and to watch you surprise each other in a way too I think some of the pointing especially in the relationships like I saw some people get surprised sort of06:46
Okay, so maybe I need to ask like actually now then what is your impression of mischief as a company like obviously It's not just changed. It's actually grown because you weren't able to get one Before Yeah, what would you like? What would you say if you were meeting someone in the street and someone's like what's mischief like? What is who are they? What might you guys say? It's I mean, there's a unique level of collaboration that I think is specific to it Maybe it happens more commonly07:16
It's the first time where I've seen, you know, 10, 11, 12, 14 people be so collaborative together and be able to take...07:25
a moment in any direction based on that individual and have it not really, it's not a typical structure, it's not a hierarchical structure in a classic sense and that's very interesting to work in. I mean, frankly, from a managerial side, it can cause some difficulties, but from an artistic side, it's very fun to watch and very interesting to be a part of and see how things can change and evolve and that anybody's idea at any moment can alter the course of.07:54
of the thing, which is really interesting.07:57
Yeah, would you say that's different from... Because I was thinking about musicals are really... There's a lot to do, right, for you guys and you've got a lot of cues and a lot of stuff. But do they change in the same way throughout a run or is it a little bit more like this sort of prescriptive? In terms of like material? Yeah, because I suppose we were changing quite a lot in the previews and I was just wondering like what's harder in a way? Right. I think that's not... I think musicals often change quite a bit in previews like depending on the style.08:27
But once the show settles, and certainly if we had been taking over a musical that had been done in multiple locations over nine years, I wouldn't expect there to be probably any changes. So I think that did surprise me quite a bit. That even like we had conversations last week about changing some things about the show with an actor or two, or even something as small as like a prop or a sound cue. The fact that the work is always top of mind, that you're always sort of refining and always pushing for it,08:57
companies wouldn't do that or wouldn't have the people in the building to keep asking those questions, right? The fact that you guys are creators and in the show every night. Yeah, very unique situation I wonder if it's different with like if it's American and British or if it's weirdly mischief But I suppose I can't know because You're both Mischief and I don't know which one is the is the unique factor and you guys have worked together for a long time Yeah, that's something I'm not like I wasn't aware of in the UK I don't know if it's the same over there09:27
where people sort of tend to find a team and then move around. But can you explain that to anyone who doesn't really understand how it works? Like how come you guys are always working together? I mean, because we can, we've been afforded the opportunity and it's great. And we work really well together. And I think that that is great. It allows us to, because we both know each other so well, we know how we like things to go, and we can take responsibility for certain things. And it allows us then to sort of always open up. Like once we get system in place,09:56
the system works, we know how each other works, so then we can start like maybe doing a little bit more or focusing on different things because we have a familiarity where you're not trying to build the system from the ground up every single time. And it's not to say that we're locked in either, like we can also then evolve more easily because like, oh, we try remember two shows ago when we did this, like that didn't work out. So let's not do that. Um, it just saves a lot of time and I think allows us to open up and be more responsive because we have a short hand.10:26
Yeah, I suppose it's a bit like Mischief in a way. You're your own double act. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We are, yeah, definitely. What other shows have you done together? There's over 25 of them. Really? Okay, give us... What was the last show you did together before Pizza Bang goes wrong?10:41
Well, we did a new musical that was doing an out of town tryout in Philadelphia with some folks at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. They were making a new musical there and that was very exciting, but it was only a couple of weeks. And then before that we were on doubt fire for quite a long time amidst the pandemic. So that's been quite a lot of time, but not in very many performances, we like to joke. It's probably over three years of time, but I don't remember the11:11
the end. Not nearly as many as you would think if we're working on it for three years. And then we worked on a series here in New York called Enchores, which you do like two weeks of rehearsal and a week of performances, but they're very big. And so they're classic musicals generally, or musicals that aren't done very often, or haven't been done a long time for whatever reason, or they were found in a box at the Library of Congress and they restore the score and they do this musical. And we did 20 of those, you know, so you do,11:41
And that was really where we were able to develop a really strong shorthand. Yeah, it was great. And so there we did a production of 1776. We did production of Cabin in the Sky. Some of them you've never heard of, some of you have heard of. And they're big. They're big shows done very quickly. It was really, really incredible.12:03
Broadway New York actors or larger movie stars or whatever who just want to play and come to boot camp and are very excited. Like it's sort of, that aspect is sort of similar to Mischief where everyone showed up to Encore's very excited about the specific nature of the way Encore's is made and what you get to do for a very limited amount of time. So that energy is nice to be around again and similar. Would you say that's the sort of a useful factor in terms of how much you're going to enjoy a job? Like you've got a new gig you've been employed to do12:32
musical, a play, and what are those moments where you're like, oh, this is going to be a good one for you guys? I think it is, I mean because we have such a unique view on the process, like literally where we get to sit, you know, we're in the front row of rehearsal, so I think when it's a good company and it's a collaborative and it's fun, those are more interesting and you can sort of see that there's magic happening, right? And that's when you know that, oh, then it does elevate, it elevates you in art.13:02
jobs because you want those people to succeed. They're having fun together, they're respectful of each other, and work is always, things are always moving forward. And when you see that, you know that you're involved in something that's fun and exciting. Okay, so what are the downsides of being a stage manager on Broadway? It doesn't seem like there are any. Of course not, nothing. It's wonderful. It's the best double world, it's very glamorous.13:27
You know, shows close. Like, that's the nature of the business. That's also like, also a very, like, could be a stressful part of the business as an actor or as any kind of person in theater. Like, show, it's very rare to be on a show that runs forever. And even if you are, like, do you want to be doing that? Is that something, do you want to do the same show for 30 years in a row, but have the financial security or the job stability in exchange? So that can be stressful at times, trying to think about, you know, what's next13:57
But I think that is what is the positive side also about Mischief or Adam and I working together is you have a stability of knowing that you have a teammate and like maybe your new project will be different, but hopefully you'll be with your team. Yeah. And then there's the horrible actors. No, I mean, for both of us, like Christine said earlier that it is our favorite part. I mean, I think we share that, that that's what sort of got us in to it and what like14:27
It's exciting. It's exciting to have an insider view of the process. So no, actors are, actors, frankly, are never the problem, quote unquote, right? It's always circumstances that are annoying. Like, I think an unfortunate, like a drawback of commercial theater is just sort of sometimes how the teams get put together. And the way that I like to work, I feel like I'm very strongly influenced by people's personality. And you don't always get to know in commercial theater, there's just, you14:56
There are certain people that are just on the show and that can have a tremendous impact on how.

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our jobs go and what it feels like to show up to work every day based on people's personalities. And we don't have any control over that. And maybe if we worked in more of like a regional theater setting or in a company, you would start, at least you would have enough time to then develop a relationship or break things down or like get to understand somebody whose personality maybe doesn't jive with yours. And so, but in a quick hit commercial theater environment, it's hard and you don't know if they're going to be successful or if they're
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stuck with people. And that can be particularly hard, I think, in what we do, because we are often just there to resolve conflicts. And it's not our conflict, right? We are in the middle of a conflict, but it's our responsibility to resolve it. So personality then can have a big influence on that. That's a tricky thing to negotiate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, Henry Lewis. What a...
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I'm joking, we're using his apartment to record this, I can't be mean. That's really interesting, I suppose, makes me think about when, you know, as an actor who doesn't, I've tried to understand about stage management, I did a bit of it at school for a while, after I'd done a bit of training, I did some stage management to kind of learn, but I think that's something maybe people don't understand, that it's a much more people kind of job than they think. You are the one who has to do quite a lot of negotiations.
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and people management. How do you develop that over time? Was it something you naturally felt good at? Do you have any tips for people who are going into stage management? Things they need to think about maybe beyond what they might immediately assume is part of the job? It's hard because I think at least for me like...
16:47
the more I maybe were to self-analyze about it, the more I might get in my head about it and then maybe naturally not do the thing that's been working for me. So I see. But I think that there is a lot more leadership and compassion than people realize in the job. I think it is very easy to learn the technical jargon that might scare people or learn the technical parts of theater that seem complicated, but a lot of the job,
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until you learn or you can learn very quickly but if you can't have a conversation with many different types of people and maintain like a level of mutual respect and moving the ball down the field then you're sort of toast. So it's not really that important if you understand a lot about automation and very complicated things. And if you do and you can't execute explaining what a director wants to accomplish or how to do some kind of work around to get a goal done, it doesn't really matter.
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be comfortable like doing I always say this doing nothing but being responsible for everything you know like we don't physically do anything right we're just there we are middle management and like the clearest definition of middle management we are in the middle between everybody yeah so you just sort of have to be comfortable with that that you can't you all you can do is try to get that you have to be able to get things done for the good of the show by convincing people.
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that that's what needs to happen. Yeah. You know, and you want, cause you want people to be invested. The show is always better. The experience is better for everybody. The feeling backstage is better if everybody feels invested in the project. And we can, we have a keen place in all of that. Because if you just walk up to somebody and say, no, you have to stand on six, you know, they're going to be like, well.
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now I just stand on six, but they're not invested in like why they need to be on six. And you can, there's many ways to then do that. You can find out that someone is really sort of interested in the technical theater or they want to be a director and you're like, well, it's important that you stand where you are because if you don't, then it's gonna trickle down, it's gonna have this effect. Or you can, some actors just wanna be told to stand on six and they don't really care. And you just have to like, you know, you have to do that. Or if it's talking to a technician about, you know, some technicians don't care about the show and that's fine. It's their job. And as long as they do their job.
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then the show will happen. So there are people that just want to be spoken to that way. Like, no, I just, where do I put the glass? Like you just put it right there. And some people want to know, like, some people will be like, well, why is the glass there? And then you can, you know, but you have to just be willing to read people and get them.
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invested in. It's like being able to speak many different languages. I think that's really smart. I think knowing how to read people instantly and know, oh, without actually speaking a different tongue, like, oh, if that person spoke Greek and that person spoke Spanish and that person spoke Italian, you would have to literally change your language each time. And I think that's what we do, depending on who we're speaking with, in the way that they need to receive information and the way that we think that they're going to get that thing accomplished. Wow. Now, for those who don't know,
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on six? Yes, but it's musical theatre term. Give us a little of that Adam. Well over here and on musicals now, they literally across the edge of the stage there are numbers and center stage is zero and then you go out by twos left and right so there's two stage right, four stage right, six stage right until you get to the edge of the proscenium and so in musicals it's really for dance numbers and formations and there are people like what's my number and the person people in the front row are on two and the people in the second
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can be seen in the window, but then it also becomes useful even in just blocking. It's there for musical, for dance number formations, but then it's very useful for people to just be able to say like, oh wait, where am I? Where do I need to stand? Because the sets change, but the edge of the stage never does. So one scene is in a backstage dressing room, the next stage is at a train station, but the edge of the stage is always the same and you need to know where you stand in relation to a constant and not.
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the set that's always changing behind you. Thank you. I've learned a lot acting by numbers. Now, you did say, oh, you don't do anything, but I know that's not true because I do the show with you every day and you're there. So you're cueing the show most of the time, Adam, and Christine, you're backstage kind of organizing everyone and making sure everything's okay. How do you find, so cueing a show is saying go, the lighting or the sound or the...
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set. Yep, the automation, the flying and things like that. Okay, how have you found queuing Peter Pan Goes Wrong in comparison to other shows? Is it the same? Is it more tricky because it's a comedy or because it's frenetic? How have you found it? It's more complicated than most plays are, but it is structured very much like a musical. I mean, I think that there are moments where, you know, there are heightened moments in Peter Pan Goes Wrong that you could think of as like, oh, that's a musical number section. And then we go back
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into a scene and then you know and there are transitions like when we go from the nursery to the rooftops to the forest the first time that's like a transition and people often people say oh musicals are just transitions like it's not necessarily true but like this show has transitions in a way that are very musical theater like so it's not uncommon to things that we have done before but i think it would it's a little uncommon for uh for a play how much things are overlapping and
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happen in a certain very specific way. We always talk about the stage, the set, being another company member, another actor on stage. Because without you queuing something to fall at the right time, it's not as funny. Have you felt any pressure with the jokes? I mean, you're making some of the jokes happen. No, I mean, I think you guys have always, you've done a good job of...
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making it all feel motivated. You know, there's a reason why it happens and that makes it easier to call than it does if it's, again, like if it's arbitrary or if you're just being told something needs to happen, then you're not invested in it. But everything that happens is motivated by something else and so it makes it easier to follow along and sort of play along. It's interesting how you guys have done that. Like you're right, I've never, didn't think about it until now, how the physical production is another character in the shows always and you take advantage,
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It's not just a pretty background. It's something that needs to be interacted with and can influence what happens to the characters. Right, and if the tree doesn't fall, then we're... Yeah, then you're all stuck. We don't have a ruined Lucy. On that, do you have any moments in the show that even now you dread, you worry about, either of you?
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Dread is a strong word. I think every night I will never be comfortable during the final revolve, and that's my job. That rightfully so, I also don't want to be comfortable watching the final revolve, you know? I think there's just a lot of things to watch and a lot of things that I've become more confident in variables of, knowing more about each of you and each of your journeys. But yeah, that's the one thing every night that you have to pay the oddness to death.

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that falls from above. Really? Yeah, because it is a thing that if it were to, people are underneath that trick. And all the other tricks are dangerous. But when even Pan at the end of Act 1, hashtag spoiler alert, if that were to happen at the wrong time, generally it's gonna hit something else first, the way that it was designed. But that light is just there.
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until it actually falls. It is just there where a lot of people spend a lot of time. So if it were to fall early... Yeah, that's just that's the one that always gets me a little like, oh right let's see, yeah that's the one that keeps me a little like... So in the show we have a, yeah if people haven't seen it, it's not a major spoiler...
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what looks like a giant light falls from the ceiling. And it's not actually a light, is it? No. You asked me recently. But it isn't light. It is not light, that's the thing. It is not physically light. It is heavy and makes a big sound and would fall on you. It would not be good, yeah. And it falls from quite a height. You have quite a height, yes. But yeah, very, very high. Yeah, it's like almost 40 feet, probably, 30 feet. Yeah, 30 feet. Anything falling from. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's the one. That's on a great speed. Yeah, yeah. That's the one that always gets me a little like, yeah.
25:15
We're a little relieved when it happens because then it's done. It's down. It's fallen. We have the rest of the show It's not actually queuing it. That's the problem. It's just that it lives up there that it's just there There yeah Right. Yeah, it's good to know now actually. Yeah, I don't think I go in that area. So I'm safe and that's what matters That's not not until after it falls. Yeah, you're not over there much And the final revolve is again spoilers But I know a lot of people have seen the show or know it from the BBC production is where the the revolving stage goes at quite a lick and
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lots of things happen very quickly including knockouts and falls and rips of clothing and pyros and yeah Christine you have to you have to sort of quarterback that whole thing. I'm just keeping an eye on it in case something looks off or somebody needs something moved or someone needs help with something or we have to call something to stop because something's not in the right place. Yeah. No it's it's very well choreographed it's been going very well and there's no reason not to but it is it's a lot to watch at the same time.
26:15
Yeah, it's interesting how You guys are all so willing to accept a level of Like dealing with something
26:25
going wrong that wasn't meant to go wrong. It's something that a lot of effort, a lot of conversations, a lot of time is spent to not have happen in shows, that every variable is taken care of and that there aren't any. And I feel like you guys are willing to roll with it and adapt if something doesn't happen in a way that's great, which is what keeps it frenetic and frantic and funny and on the edge. And the audience can feel that there's a level of on the edge because there are like the final revolve,
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things that if it doesn't go just right, but you all are willing to accept that and willing to adapt in the moment and sort of I don't know that you want things to not go the way you want them to go the way they're supposed to go. But if they do your understanding that this thing has been built that it's very complex and it might there might be.
27:13
Things and you know, like the contingencies and things like that are all sort of you know thought about and accepted There's an acceptance that Things can go wrong wrong not right wrong wrong wrong exchange might be like An over sterilized bit like if everything had such a thought through like oh, but what if that happens? What if that happens? What if that happens then you can sort of end up with like a very sterilized not funny bit because it Obviously looks safe to the audience like everyone is like, oh he's four feet away from the pyro like
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Who cares like it's not as good but if 100 times out of 99 times it works and it's worth it to have a little bit of Yeah, but also like having enough respect for the actor to say that you know, what's happening You know how it's dangerous and so you are taking on a bit of responsibility Where oftentimes that is removed and it's sanitized or it's made overly safe, but you guys it's like what no we you know We trust it like we know this is the bit so I can get I know
28:13
I can get this close to it because I know it's happening. Yeah. Right. And that's huge and it makes a huge difference. It's really nice for us as well because you talked about everyone being invested in the show. The more you're invested in it, the less you've learned it just by like, oh, I stand here, I do this, but I don't know why. The more you can get around a problem, if you know why you were trying to do that thing, even if now you can't pick up that item, you've still got the intentions that you can adapt. I have a genuine question.
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You can be honest, does the show still make you laugh ever? Do we still make you laugh? Yeah. Oh gosh, my ego. Oh yeah. You make us laugh every night. Oh, thank you. Oh, very kind of you. Sandra, so funny. I just slide over $10. What's your favorite joke in the show? All over, like the whole show. It doesn't have to be your moment, but it could be yours. What's your favorite bits?
29:05
I noticed something as we went along. It's just a tiny little thing, but it really makes me laugh after.
29:13
after Annie comes back to life, hashtag spoiler alert. Yeah. Jonathan takes her over to the turntable and he's, and when they get back into the show and the turntable just starts spinning to go into the yo-ho sequence. And they say, it's hooker me this time. And he throws his hand up and she's like this. And then he reaches behind her and he grabs her arm and he just flips her limp arm up like this. Just sort of as the revolve is going away. So it's sort of a fleeting moment. It's not lit, it's not highlighted. It's not like trying to get a laugh. And it really makes me laugh because it's just.
29:41
It's very funny, but it's not like hammered home. Yeah. And you just see Annie's arms are sort of like flop up over her head, totally limp. And his arm is up stiff. And you can see his hand holding her arm. And it's just really, I really like that. I like everything about it, like its existence. I like its existence. Oh my goodness, how lovely. My.
30:00
Kind of new-ish too, I think. There's this new thing that sometimes Chris is doing as Trevor, where right after, spoiler alert again, the narrator gets knocked out for the final time before he can't finish the story, that Chris just is like an extra big, like slam against the wall, and like clearly like his hope finally gets extinguished. Like, just like he's been, we've been watching him try so hard all night to keep this play moving. And he really like, I think he really thought like,
30:30
he's got the book no problem and then just he's been extra crushed lately when the narrator goes down yeah yeah yeah I find particularly Chris Lee's like people's improv in those vamped moments can we all have a lot of fun like coming up with different things I was shouting at Chris Bean for spending all the money on his wig and on the revolver but then if you're not careful you can make yourself laugh by doing all the things and Chris can always crack me up
31:00
Oh, fantastic. You guys had it last night, right? Didn't they get you out? Didn't Jonathan, I mean, Henry and... Yeah, they got you last night. I'm not, I am officially the worst at corpsing on stage and I can't deny it. I'd love to say it's for some great reason that it's, you know, I'm so joyful, but I think I'm just a bit silly. But they were doing their... The guy in the front row, they got that guy in the front row, right? Yeah, they were shouting at a man in the front row saying like, he understands and he was asleep.
31:30
it was John said, oh the deep blue sea and Henry Lewis goes, not the deep blue sea, I just said the suit. Well you made up the deep blue, that was in your head. I just started losing it, it was so bad. I have to find ways to cover it all the time. And the other day Harry Kershaw had to be a cow and he milked himself. He milked himself. He milked himself a cow but from where I was standing it did not look like he was milking himself.
32:00
We were sitting together and I think I just kept saying, why doesn't he just moo? Why can't he just say moo? Just moo. That's what I love about this moment with Harry when he's the narrator and he's doing the covering moment because he doesn't do the obvious thing. No, never. The best part of it, it just makes you. Yeah. Such an interesting. Yeah, he doesn't meow as a cow. Doesn't meow as a cat. Yeah, no, he makes the hard choice. He makes the hard choice. Yeah, yep. And the other day he had platypus and he didn't know what it was.
32:30
And so him trying to improvise what a platypus was when he doesn't even know it cracked me up. That's fantastic. It's so funny. Well, there you go. I love all those moments as well. I'm so glad it still makes you laugh. That's really lovely. Yeah, it is. It helps go to work. I bet. I can't bear. So if you, alright, if you have to perform in the show, you have to go on in Peter Pangas role, which role do you want to play and why?
32:57
Oh, I wish you guys could all see this. They're both sat there shaking their heads. I mean, obviously, Jill and Trevor, like they have the least amount of lines, they execute tasks. Right. Right, if I gave you this gift, that you would be able to remember all the lines, you'd be able to do it. Oh, we'd remember the lines. So which one are you gonna enjoy? You feel the most connection with Trevor and Jill? The stage management. The path of least resistance. Right, yeah, absolutely, right. So you really, it's funny, I thought one of you would be like, I know, I'd wanna be Wendy,
33:27
No, no, I mean I guess I mean Dennis would be fun. Oh, yeah Yeah, I feel like a good Dennis feel like I could pull that off just this monotone. I could just really Lean into that maybe the headphones could be real. Yeah, maybe the headphones could be real. Oh, you could be giving me the lines Oh, I see. Yeah, yeah, we good. I could just play Jerry in the booth
33:48
That could be my jam. No, I'm going to make you be on stage. You're at least going on with a hammer. I, if the question were reversed, I actually don't know if I like had to be backstage for a show, which one I would do. I think maybe flying. Yeah, sure. Just the power of it. Yeah, absolutely ruin people. All right, well, this has been so lovely. Now I usually like to end the New York podcast with a little fact about New York.
34:18
the first ever pizzeria in America was actually in New York City. Did you guys know that? I think we do know that because we've been, accidentally, we went out to lunch, we were hanging out downtown, Christine and I and my kids, and we were like, let's get some pizza, and we walked into this place, and then we opened up the menu, and they were like, this is the first pizzeria in the world. We were like, no way. Historical landmark, we're like, sure. How many restaurants downtown say that there are the best pizza in New York? Everybody says that, but apparently it is true, and we just stumbled into it,
34:48
that they serve you pepperoni if you want it in a bowl on the side. Watch like it's been cooked on just the pepperoni but it's been cooked so it's all curled up like it would have been on the top of the pizza but it's just a side dish of pepperoni.
35:01
Only in New York? Yeah, it was great. It was amazing. But sometimes you just want to go for the pepperoni. You just want to go for the pepperoni. I suppose if you're doing some kind of diet where you're only allowed greasy meat. That's right. All right, but this also leads me to the big question because the last podcast I did, the last episode was just with the Brits, right? So we had like top tips for New York in terms of how we've been experiencing it. But I know that asking a New Yorker or someone who's lived in New York a long time about which pizza you should get is potentially dangerous.
35:31
might start an argument and this might be the end of your beautiful partnership but where would you guys suggest for your pizza coming to New York where's the best pizza? There's a place
35:42
in Brooklyn called F&F Pizza. F&F. Yeah, it's not, it's relatively new. It's only a few years old and it's really, really good. What makes it so good? It's just they have a whole, I don't know if it, you know, they have a whole thing about their dough and the yeast and somebody came out from Seattle who was really good at making pizza dough and got hooked up with these people who run a small restaurant chain out there called Frankie's 457. They started this very well regarded restaurant and they have a couple of restaurants on this same strip, on this same block. And then they opened up their pizza place
36:12
like F&F pizza. Oh right. F&F pizza. Nuvo. Yeah. What's the name of that very good dollar pizza but more than a dollar pizza? Oh, Upside. Upside. Like there's this thing in New York, especially in the theater district.
36:28
dollar pizza where like it's just advertised in like every street corner and it's usually like a mediocre but fine like bag of cheese on a toasted piece of pizza and you get it for a dollar with a soda. And sometimes it's everything you need. Yeah and it's just fine and you move along and you're able to get to the show on time or whatever and it was a dollar fifty but there is one that is using a little extra better ingredients and is just a little fancier and a better pizza oven and I think they charge like two fifty probably. But is it worth that extra dollar? Yeah totally.
36:58
the alternative, yeah, and it's just like a fast, good piece of pizza. Yeah, that's something I absolutely love about being here, is that any time of the day or night you can get a slice of pizza somewhere that you can get it. That's true. Because you have this problem in London, if you're out late, you know, and you're hungry very quickly, your options are very limited. But because your bars stay open later here, then your pizza places stay open and you can always get a slice, certainly in Midtown anyway. Oh, delightful. Thank you both so much for coming on and speaking.
37:27
to be today. I know we're all off to an understudy rehearsal. That's going to be great. I'm really looking forward to it. But thank you both for your time and for all the information about stage management. We're learning so much and also thank you for being part of the show because I love working with you. We love working with you.
37:44
Thanks, Charlie. I was like, no, I'd just love to spend time with you because we're all so busy at the theater. And I always tell Charlie that our journeys are quite different. For some reason in the show, like our journeys are quite different. So we hardly see each other in person. I'm obviously watching her on stage all night long, but like the backstage moments, our journeys are very removed. So it's nice to spend time with you. Yeah, well, we've had such a lovely, lovely experience here on Broadway and the whole team, the crew, everyone backstage, are just wonderful. Thank you so much to everyone at home. Thank you so much for listening.
38:14
soon with another episode. Keep your eyes and your ears peeled. Lots of love!